My garden is the venue and source for many stories. This is my chronicle of life in my garden, the garden knowledge I have acquired, and any other garden legend and lore that I see fit to add. Enjoy! Photo by Tom Sundro Lewis, Autumn, 2011.
Okay. There is really one that stands out way above the rest. My garden knife. It is the best thing I ever bought. It is from Fiskars, the company know for making scissors. This thing is AWESOME!
You can see by how dirty it is that I use it a lot. It has a plain blade on one side, a serrated edge on the other. Not terribly sharp or I would have lost a finger by now. The point is perfect for digging weeds and the width makes it more efficient in the task. The shape means I can use it as a trowel. The edges help cutting through turf or other roots. Just the best thing ever.
Other items that I couldn't do without are the flat-pronged pitchfork for turning compost, really good clippers in two sizes for large and small tree shoots and branches, a hand cultivator for breaking up soil, and a broom and a hand brush for sweeping up the patio and sidewalk.
Buckets are always a great thing to have around. I eventually plan to kick one, but not for a few decades. They can be great for storing things -- like the cat.
Yeah, I've used this photo before, but I love it so much that I have to put it out there again. Naomi is also a great garden tool since she is a hunter and will chase birds, mice and insects that might damage my fruit and veggies. Not so much with the squirrels since she has made friends with them, but they are still cautious. She is a predator, after all.
The most heavily used tools in the garden, by far, are my brain, my hands and my back. And, of course, my butt. I would be nowhere without the back of my front.
This was a busy week in the garden, trying to get the spring work done. I spent up to six hours a day out working away. There is soooo much to do at this time of year. A character on an old British sitcom, Good Neighbors, said it best -- she's angry at "that Mother Nature person. She sleeps all winter and then wakes up and goes stark raving mad!"
I spent a great deal of time out in what I call "the north forty." This is the three raised beds at the north end of my lot. I was turning soil, amending it, and removing weeds and wood chips. This is where the majority of my Egyptian Walking Onions are planted, and my sage, oregano and leeks are growing. I had a lovely chat with the bees in the purple sage flowers. I also ended up in a rather strange conversation with a couple of homeless men who were walking by and came over to talk with me. This was rather alarming since most people just talk with me from the sidewalk. One of them was asking me to hire him to work in the garden -- a trailer park is not the greatest place to look for someone who has the money to pay for odd jobs. The other was telling me about the garden he had worked in while he was in jail. I couldn't help but wonder about these two. I certainly hoped that they were just passing through and not looking to create a problem. Apparently they were okay. They finally ambled on after a third man who had no interest in cornering me in the garden,
At the top of this photo you can see the north 40. The nearer garden bed is a "pond." I wanted to put a pond into my garden, but couldn't see trying to keep pouring water into a real pond in such a dry climate. So I made a representative pond. You will see more of the pond as the spring progresses and I get more of it cleaned up. There are frogs and swans in there, and Huck Finn goes fishing there.
A neighbor stopped by one evening to ask gardening advice and what to plant that the deer won't touch. This is a very limited list, but she was happy with what I had told her -- onions, sage, oregano, and irises. For some reason the deer haven't been around lately. I miss them, but I am grateful that I haven't needed to use the stinky spray to keep them away from the roses and clematis.
Naomi was as entertaining as usual. Especially when I found her curled up on a bunch of mulch and a bit of trash in a bucket:
This is the same cat who has her own chair on the patio just a few feet away. Go figure!
It was also time to mow the lawn this week. This is the only thing I don't do myself. I really hate mowing, so I find it better to let someone else do it.
My fantastic photography skills are clearly apparent in this one. I have a cheap little digital camera that doesn't have a screen to review the photos I take. I will be better once I get used to it.
Thursday night I stayed out late working in the north 40. This meant that I was out there when the Cruiser Ride came by. They come by most Thursday nights and there are hundreds of them. There is a bike path at the end of my street so it is a natural route for them. Here is a video of the Cruisers made by my friend Jonathan Machen. He's the one singing. The one swinging is his son, Orion. Jonathan is an amazing artist.
They generally shout "Happy Thursday!" to all and sundry along their route, although some abandon that to yell "Love your garden" at me.
Life in Boulder is rarely boring. There are too many of us oddballs and weirdos here. I am pleased to be one of them -- and a native of the city. I actually live on the same street I was born on. Few people in this country can say that.
There is a reason that professional photographer Tom Sundro Lewis took my picture sitting on the ground in my garden. It is because that is how I do all my gardening. As my Buddha appearance suggests, I am on the hefty side. Heftily on the hefty side (thought thankfully, not at my highest weight). The weight puts a lot of pressure on my back, creating pain, so I sit. Weeding, planting, tilling, mulching, even watering -- I do it all sitting down. Sitting though I may be, it is a great source of exercise for me.
Some of my neighbors say that I am my own garden gnome. They know that spring has truly sprung when they find me sitting there.
The cat, Naomi, is the gardening supervisor. She also likes to sit, but not always in the best spots for the garden.
She has favorite spots to try to lounge in the patio pots. Here she is in a bowl of young greens moments before we had a loud argument over her choice of venue.
She does actually stop by once in awhile to check on my progress. She is particularly fond of checking up on my rate of weeding and clean up.
Here she is checking on the bag of weeds. old leaves and twigs. She not terribly happy that there is not enough room for her to go in and check the contents more thoroughly.
One of the problems with gardening by the seat of my pants is that it can be a slow way to do it. But there is something extra Zen about having to do it more slowly. I find it relaxing and thought provoking. It is working in the garden where I am inspired for my writing, work out writer's block, and come up with new ideas.
I'm not alone. I have heard tell of a woman who loved gardening so much, that as her body was losing its functionality, she would tend her garden lying down. When it comes to gardening, it doesn't matter how you do it -- just do it.
Some of my patio pots have not been growing -- or at least growing properly. I have been wondering what could be happening in this lovely, strangely early spring. Then I noticed the cat. She was trying to eat a radish sprout. Then she tried to curl up on the lettuce. Uh-huh. I was beginning to get the picture.
The lettuce survived, but I have had to replant radishes and carrots. I need to replant spinach and possibly beets. Hmmm. We had two fights yesterday -- it included some rather colorful cat language as we hissed at each other. She didn't want to get out of the lettuce in the morning, and didn't want to get up off of the red cabbage plant in the afternoon.
I'm still getting used to how my new digital camera works or you be able to see that she is curled up next to a red cabbage plant. Moments later she tried to curl up right on top of it to take a nap. She was not happy when I tried to move her on. After sulking for about ten minutes she took a stroll through several other pots.
You can see by the look on her face, I was still not her favorite human right at that point. I am now wondering if she might be just a little jealous of all the time I am spending with the pots. She doesn't act like this when I am out in the raised beds.
After almost six hours at hard labor yesterday I stank, was covered with topsoil and sheep manure, and when I sneezed, mud came out. Do you supposed I took up gardening because it was a great outlet for my OCD? The cat thinks so. She kept staring at me like I was crazy when I was working in the rain this afternoon. I was racing the storm to get my cilantro plants in. I almost made it and only got mildly damp. She was certain I had lost my marbles when I went back out in the rain to pick onions to go with dinner.
On the other hand, now that it is really raining, she is the one sitting outside on the covered part of the patio. There the spoiled girl has her own towel-covered love seat to curl up on. If this does not suit, she heads for the neighbor's patio where there are three cozy cushioned chairs from which to choose.
