Garden

Friday morning. Quiet, soul-enriching playlist on Spotify and my hands in the dirt, propagating life in the only way available to me now.

I’m reusing last year’s bamboo tomato teepees (assembled and installed Martha-style last spring) to support my tomato plants. Bamboo supports are natural and biodegradable, cheap, and a lot nicer in appearance (in my opinion) than metal cages. This year I added jute twine to provide side support for the plants as they grow in the center of each teepee, something that Martha’s gardener did not really discuss but something that I definitely could have used last summer. I tied one end of the jute to the first pole, wrapped the twine around the second and third poles, then returned to the first pole and tied it off. I added enough layers of these “triangles” to hopefully let me weave the growing plants in and out for support. ...

I receive an email from my landlord. Our lease here will be renewed for one final year. Two hours later, I plant the first seeds of spring in newspaper pots and set them under the grow light to germinate. I’m so far behind, but I couldn’t bear to start seeds this year, not with a household move looming. But now, this unexpected change of plans. I think I can catch up. ...

I bought a fluorescent light fixture with two full-spectrum grow bulbs and installed it in our basement pantry. I made pots out of newspaper and we planted seeds. I water them twice a day and imagine them tall and strong in the sunshine.

I saw a flash of yellow behind big green leaves and called to my kids to come see what I’d found. They dashed around our tiny backyard and squeaked with excitement. We had no idea these Boothby’s Blonde cukes were even growing deep in our jungle. Now to find the best sweet pickle recipe…

In late winter we huddled around a Baker Creek seed catalogue and considered each variety. They ordered whatever struck their fancy. At sowing time they pushed the seeds into whatever corner of the raised bed felt right–their harried mama was in full surrender mode and did not pay attention to bush versus climber, big versus little, high versus low. The result? Jungle. I mean serious jungle chaos. ...

This early summertime has been lovely. Some notes: We waited with bated breath for cicadas to visit, but in the end had to settle for finding a few husks out at a friend’s place in Haymarket. My kids were the very first people in our community pool on the Friday before Memorial Day. It was 54 degrees outside. We three went strawberry picking, our first time ever. My first time ever. There is no thing sweeter than a freshly-picked, ripe, red strawberry. Except for maybe a ripe and juicy peach. ...

I have tons of soft, sweet clover growing all over my backyard and I and refuse to cut it short or spray it with herbicides. I just can’t do it. I often sit on a bar stool in my kitchen and watch the bunnies and birds hang out. The bunnies chow on the flowers and the birds look for worms near my de facto/illicit compost pile. On warm spring evenings, our neighbor carries his huge bass across the driveway and plants it in the front yard. His little ones often follow him over. We grab the sidewalk chalk and whatever instruments are handy and then we jam. People dance, people draw, people come out and stare. ...