Vitamin G: A Heavy Hit of Garden Love

Early to the nursery, that way I get a good parking place and a wagon to stack another 4 bags of soil. Sometimes I pick up four bags on Saturday and go back on Sunday for another four but yesterday was a retreat at the Buddhist center so my weekend soil ration was halved.  I’ve come to appreciate the houseplant greenhouse at Tillery. It’s a complete jungle. It puts me in a different mental state. I cannot be trusted with a houseplant, it would mean certain death for any specimen that I brought home but I like to visit them.  I took my new camera and am feeling a little underwhelmed with the photos. It is a nice size but has a wide angle fixed lens that I am having a difficult time adjusting to.  We laughed at how bad my photos were. I promised myself to go back with a different camera. And lo, I bought two of the tiniest houseplants I’d ever seen. Three bucks a pop. They were only labeled as “assorted houseplant”. I hope they don’t die and I hope my photos improve.  ...

Today’s goal was to plant the thyme in the galvanized bucket that I picked up at Callahan’s last Saturday. The bottom of our last 16 gallon bucket rusted all the way through.  Of course one thing leads to another. I spent a few hours pulling weeds first in order to clear out a space for said herb bucket. Depending on the kind of weeds you have, removing them can be very satisfying. You have to grab them at the base and pull straight up, sometimes rocking a little. If the roots release from the soil, and you can tell if they do by the sound and surrender, you’ve done a good job. I mostly have hedge parsley and rye near the raised beds, the satisfying, easy to pull weeds.  I had to use two bags of soil to fill the bucket. The thyme slipped into place easily. But it seemed so bare. There was enough room for chives so now I have a thyme and chive bucket. I’ve always had tremendous luck with thyme so I don’t doubt that the French and Creeping thyme that I planted will do well. We s...

   

Remember me? No? That’s okay. It’s been a minute or two, or three. I lost control of the garden. It was a slow descent. It could happen to any gardener, really.  Where there once were eggplant and melons and lavender is now a matted mass of weeds, both low growing and tall. It was overwhelming so I turned my back on it. Even my very small meditation garden was neglected.  Last year I had a heavy snail infestation. They were absolutely everywhere. Now, I fear, my soil is harboring their eggs. What to do, what to do? Baby steps. Pull up all snail habitat which was primarily baby blue eyes. That is about 90% done. There are still little clumps here and there but mostly it’s gone. However, more weeding is required. Much, much more.  I am clearing out areas and putting in new plants right away. I’ve actually been much better about planting what I buy. I have introduced Amethyst Falls wisteria, Magic Carpet polygonum (forgive my spelling errors), I put some bacopa in a containe...