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July 2009Construction – Production
July 2 The name of this game is economy. I use everything – even the skinny box elder I tried to cut down but couldn’t. Where are box elder bugs when you need them? I removed lower branches and will somehow get the upper ones but moonflower (RG) will soon cover it and scent the night. Stones get piled at edges of fence beds like stone walls in the woods. Pulled weeds from garden and elsewhere get laid in the 3-foot paths as mulch. Mel Bartholomew told me that you need a 3-foot space between beds if you have tall or trellised plants for the ones behind them to get sun. So that’s what I’m doing. The eventual fruits and flowers and layout will make the garden pretty. I realize now what makes me not 100 percent committed to the idea of Square Foot Gardening: I love my garden as a parterre. That is the look I missed with SFG – although most principles can be the same. The soil near the fence is lighter and fluffier from decomposed grass clippings left where they fall. The guys who rototilled the pen said the soil was nice but sticky. What does that mean? The tomato is now against the other fence and in its place is a Gigante parsley plant (CR). Next come all seeds: Galia, Earlidew & Solid Gold melons (RG), sunflower 4620 (TM), Cardinal Climber (RG) and moonflower. On the little spit of fence by the gate I planted Mammoth Dill (Burpee). The bed there is only 4-5 inches out from the fence. Check the July link to the right for photos. July 1 My corn is ankle high by the 1st of July. And everything else is coming up! My exotic eggplant turns out to be an heirloom tomato. I’ll move it against the fence because it’s indeterminate. Work begins on the last fence line – just 24 feet and on the other side near the gate. I plan to have a little patio on one side on the existing marble and slate. The 2-foot veggie garden along the fence will come up to the patio and a 1-foot fence garden with climbing flowers will extend around it. The stockade fence on the outside of the chain link must come down. it was originally placed there to block the dogs’ view of walkers and bicyclists on the road so they wouldn’t bark at them (and it did work). The nerve. Yesterday as I pulled into my driveway I saw the hind end of a deer sticking out from between the huge mock orange and the monster forsythia. My cohort Kathy got out of the truck to get a look and the deer sauntered straight into the garden. I ran down the hill yelling and it bolted out, up the hill and across the road. I must remember to close the gate. I’ve ditched regular “exercise” while I build my garden. I am getting in better shape doing the garden than doing official exercise. I think of a professor I once knew who wondered aloud why young male students went to the gym to work out when they could be working out on his wood pile. Comments? Questions? Answers? Please email me: mary@dig-itmag.com |
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