When a garden isn’t working as planned there’s no better therapy than complaining. Come to think about it, when does a garden ever go as planned? My poor husband! So, here I am complaining to the world instead of my husband. That’s the beauty of blogging I guess. This really should be no surprise. Back in January I wrote about the reasons my vegetable garden has been going steadily downhill with each passing year and sure enough this year is the worst yet. It is dry again. I feel like the ground never fully recovered after the drought last year. The soil is hard as a rock despite adding 3 bags of store bought compost which I didn’t work into soil because tilling is bad for the soil structure. Dragging enough buckets of water from the rain barrels is a real chore especially in the muggy morning heat when because of mosquitoes, I have to cover my entire body and wear tall rubber boots. Something keeps snapping off the pole beans at the base of the plant even after I tediously wrapped them with foil. There is nothing worse than spending time and energy watering something you’re pretty sure isn’t going to provide. One of the pepper plants I actually bought (instead of grew myself), got taken out by probably the same thing that took out my beans. Voles? Cutworms? Everything is working against me. This is a conspiracy. Do I continue trying to make it work or do I call it quits for the year and just work on restoring my soil. But I don’t like buying compost in bags because of all the plastic and I don’t need 3 cubic yards, the amount that I’d have to order if I had it delivered and I can’t put it in our car loose. Not the new used Honda Fit. Never! Where would I even get the stuff? Nothing seems to make sense. I’m dying here.
Ok, that should do it. Feeling better already. Thank goodness the rest of the garden/wilderness is doing just great. And, so far, knock on wood, so are the tomatoes and one pepper I planted in other locations. There’s some healthy looking beets and chard miraculously growing in the brick soil. I also got some decent salad turnips out of it so it isn’t all bad.
And, then there’s the black raspberries. Whoa, can they produce! I’ve canned 9 jars of jam so far and still have plenty of fresh picked to put in our oatmeal and on icecream. They are seedy, I’ll admit, but delicious nevertheless.
As for bugs, well after visiting my parents who live on a wooded mountain in Pennsylvania where there were so many more bugs, I kind of feel like my garden isn’t such a great ecosystem. Yes, there are plenty of bees and flies and plant hoppers and such but from what I’ve observed there really is no comparison which is not a surprise given I live in a busy urban area. Nevertheless, I still enjoy observing the bugs in my garden more than anywhere else. I guess I feel like they’re family or something.
I’ve discovered a little ecosystem in the driveway under the chestnut tree where for some reason there’s a healthy colony of black snakeroot (genus: Sanicula), honewort (Cryptotaenia canadensis) and some sedges I can’t identify. Every year I’ve gotten photos of this beautiful fly which I found out is a type of soldier fly. This year I somehow realized if I focused my vision not on the plants but on the area above the plants I could see dozens of these flies zipping expertly to and fro around each other. I also noticed tiny sweat bees and grass skimmer flies visiting the honewort and black snakeroot. There are orchard orbweavers and some strange bug which I think is a spittlebug of some kind.
Today is the longest day of the year I guess. The robins are quieting down as the house wrens pick up with their rattle snake warning calls. The freshness of spring has given way to the white heat of summer. I have to fill the bird baths twice a day now. But, at night the real show starts with the silent blinking lights of the fireflies. Not all is lost in the garden. No, not at all.
The Dirty Sneaker 
Your vegetable garden may not be doing as well as you would like 😦 But there’s still a lot going on that should be cause for celebration 🙂 Just the other day, after my okra and string bean seeds failed to germinate, I told my son that growing food is not easy. I have so much more respect for our farmers.
You’re right, Rosaliene. There is so much to celebrate! As for your okra, I agree that one has a hard time germinating. I’ve read soaking them overnight helps. Farmers are truly amazing people. I always want to give them the third degree at the farmers market. 🙂
Mara, thanks for the tip about soaking okra seeds. Will try it this weekend 🙂
After replying I wanted to make sure I wasn’t giving bad info so I Googled it which as always results in a confusing mix of info but the National Gardening Association suggests “To get quick germination of okra seeds some people soak their seeds overnight. Better yet is to freeze the seed a day or two before sowing. This breaks the hard seed coat and works much better than soaking.” Anyhow, wishing you much success. I love okra.
Just put a few seeds in the freezer as a test. Thanks again. We ate okra as kids from our father’s vegetable garden. I get it at an Indian grocery shop in our neighborhood.
You’re welcome, Rosaliene. I sure hope it works!
Me, too!
I do love these excursions into your garden and wildlife area, Mara. I’m so sorry you’re struggling with your garden and must report that Zippy is struggling, as well. The rabbits wipes out most of his seedlings of this and that and he now has squash blooming better than anything else, though he’s not sure what kind of squash as it’s apparently sprouted from a seed from last year. Despite your woes, there was much in this post that made me smile and this especially made me happy: “I still enjoy observing the bugs in my garden more than anywhere else. I guess I feel like they’re family or something.”
May the heat and wind lessen and rains gently bathe the ground….
Keep
I’m so sorry Zippy is having gardening issues, Tracy. I do know rabbits just love fresh seedlings. Very frustrating but I hope that volunteer squash turns out a winner. Gardens sure do have a mind of their own! Thanks for sending thoughts of nice weather. We’re pretty used to heat but rain, oh that would be nice.