I was going to write about Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel today but it snowed and I am tired of snow and it is the middle of February which means there is no better thing to do on a day like today than plan the garden.
Bookman and I enjoyed the vegetable garden so much last year that we decided to expand it. But instead of waiting until spring and the very hard work of digging up long established grass, we put down black plastic to kill the grass. Once the snow melts and the ground thaws, it should be a piece of cake to dig it up. In theory. We’ve never tried the black plastic kill your grass method but the get rid of your lawn gardening books tell me that’s the way to go. If it works our neighbors will have the pleasure of seeing black plastic on a few different areas of our yard through the summer. But when we have prairie meadow and other beautiful things growing in those places (eventually) the ugly black plastic stage will be a dim memory.
So I inventoried what seeds we didn’t use from last year’s garden and then Bookman and I sat down with the Pinetree Garden Seeds catalog and started figuring out what we are going to plant in our expanded garden. Last year we grew beets, peas, beans, cantaloupe, pumpkin, radish, tomatoes and bell pepper. Oh and lettuce but we had a sudden heat wave in May following lots of rain so the small lettuces didn’t make it. This year we are going to do everything we did last year plus kale, pac choi, red cabbage, sweet corn, pole beans, summer squash, cucumber, kohlrabi, spinach and mustard greens. Yummy!
In addition, the side of the house where we put up bamboo fencing last year and I attempted to grow a native woodland garden. Didn’t make it. It turned out to be too hot and dry and sunnier for longer in the day than I ever noticed. So this year I am going to try herbs. I haven’t decided on all the herbs yet but there will be basil, chives, lemon grass, borage, bronze fennel, and thyme. Also, there will be some edible flowers like nasturtium and Johnny jump-ups, bachelor buttons and calendula. Pinetree Gardens doesn’t have bachelor button seeds though, anyone have a favorite seed place that sells them?We’re doing more ornamental annual flowers this year too. I found out nicotiania planted near the vegetable garden will help keep pests away so I’m going to try that. There will also be zinnias, morning glories, and sweet peas. And we always do sunflowers.
I’ve also been looking at the Prairie Moon Nursery catalog for native plants. We’re going to get some varieties of coneflower we don’t have and might try a few other prairie plants from seed too. We are also going to get some wild strawberry plants from Prairie Moon. These are native strawberries that will tolerate shade. We are going to see if they will grow under the apple tree in our front yard.
All that and we haven’t even gotten the catalog for the big local plant sale we go to every May. I do know though that we will be purchasing two blueberry shrubs at the sale. We will be building a raised bed for them because they need acidic soil and my garden soil is too sandy. I have big garden dreams this year!
A large part of the garden dreaming has been driven along by a few books I borrowed from the library. The Edible Front Yard is a practical how-to book garden design tips, and suggestions on how to mix food plants with ornamental plants. Edible Estates is less practical and more inspirational, showing how one can turn a grass-covered front yard into a beautiful edible garden. And the best part is that the majority of the front yards they transform are regular urban and suburban front yards. American Green: the Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Lawn is part social history part horror story. It looks at how the lawn became such a pervasive part of the American landscape and why that perfect lawn is so environmentally dangerous.
I’ve been slowly digging up pieces of my lawn for years so I don’t need to be convinced. What grass I do have left, and there is still quite a lot, only gets mowed never weeded, fertilized or watered. I am trying to kill it with neglect but darn it, it is hardier than I would like. Still, I hope within the next two to three years Bookman and I will be able to mothball the lawnmower for good. It’s about time we make that final push and with the expanded veggie garden, the flower seeds, and the prairie seeds we’ll be making big strides toward that goal.
We’ve been working on the same premise now for three years since we bought our house. Every year we get rid of more grass and turn it over to ornamental and edible plantings. It’s been a lot of fun and a lot of trial and error and error. But we enjoy it and every year the garden grows a little larger and the yard a little smaller. Thanks for the update!
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severalfourmany, isn’t it wonderful getting rid of the grass? And I am very familiar with the errors and errors and errors! But those are fun too because I always learn something.
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I was just sitting down to do my own garden planning and saw your post! You reminded me that I want to do butternut squash this year. I’m not doing potatoes again, however. They are tempting because so easy, but I only get enough for, say, one potato salad, and it’s just not worth it. However, lots more basil (I am enjoying the basil I preserved last year — whirled it with some olive oil and froze it in ice cube trays — it is SO GOOD in sauces and soups!). Lots of tomatoes, some lettuce greens, lots of cucumbers, and maybe some kale or chard later in the seaon.
Will you post some progress photos? I’d love to see how your garden dreams grow!
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wherethereisjoy, yay for garden planning! I won’t get to plant anything until the middle of April but ordering early helps me get everything organized so when I am marginally ready when I can start planting. I was going to ask you about your potatoes but your comment answers everything I wanted to know! I will try and remember to post progress photos. I intended to last year but completely forgot!
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Your garden sounds like it will be wonderful! Ours is very small and we have so little room for growing vegetables, which is fun and can be rewarding (depending on the weather!). I’m also a keen herb grower – they are very good natured and tend to thrive in most places. Do post pictures, won’t you, as you go along?
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Litlove, I hope it will be wonderful. It is always easier to plan it than it is to implement! herbs do seem to be rather hardy and I am hoping they will be satisfied with the hot and dry side of the house where weeds don’t seem to ever have any trouble growing! Will try to remember to post photos as it goes along.
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This sounds amazing! My gardening for the day consisted of going out with my one-year-old and planting all my unlabelled or out-of-date seeds into the one pot.
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Ophelia, I am familiar with unlabeled seeds. Sometimes they can provide some pleasant surprises! Garden planning is the easy part. We’ll see how it goes beginning in the middle of April when I can start actually planting!
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I’m hoping some of the surprises are edible! We do all want to see your garden pictures now
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I’ll keep my fingers crossed your mystery seeds will produce something edible! And I’ll try to remember to share photos of the garden through the season.
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thanks!
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The black plastic works! So does being way too lazy to carry the bags of leaves to the curb for pickup, but rather, tossing them in a far away corner of the yard and allowing them to sit for years – as my ex did. I tried to drag them away (all the while cursing his name) but they broke open and voila! What did I find? Gorgeous gorgeous compost and a bazillion lovely earth worms! And the spot where the bags were laying was rich and soft and fluffy – like new earth – and right there I planted what became the best shade garden I ever had. (I decided to reprieve my ex-husband from the hell to which I cursed him and allowed him back into God’s good grace – but it was a close call, I can tell you). I stopped gardening a while ago, but was just thinking wistfully of beginning again. That’s the great thing about a garden…there’s always a new beginning and new hope. We expect some lovely pictures.
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Grad, so glad to know the black plastic works! Your story about you ex and the bags of leaves made me laugh. Leaves make great winter mulch and marvelous compost. I can’t remember the last time we but a bag of leaves out to be picked up by the city. It feels so efficient to use them up in the garden. Yes, you are right, one of the best things about a garden is you can always start again. Our veggie garden last year was the first in about four years. We stopped because I was in library school and had no time and we had joined a CSA so let the farmer do all the work in his fields. But once library school was done we both decided we missed the veggies. I love the beginning of gardening season because it is such a hopeful time. It feels good π don’t just think wistfully of gardening again, get out there and get some dirt under your fingernails! And everyone keeps asking my to post pictures, so I will, I promise!
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How inspiring to think of your garden–especially as I was so bundled p this morning for my morning walk to the bus stop! If I am up your way anytime soon–I’m dropping by for a yummy salad! π I am not a gardener, though I like thinking about them and reading about them. This makes me want to do a little reshuffle of books again and pick out a good NF book on gardening or nature! See what problems you cause…
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Danielle, oh yes, you are welcome to drop by any time for salad and book talk! π I suppose there are worse things I could inspire someone to than picking up a good book on gardening or nature π
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I’ve used black plastic to kill areas of lawn, before. It worked very well, not until a year later when I neglected that bed and quite weeding/planting it, did the grass come back. And then spotty- mostly weeds in that patch now!
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Jeane, glad to know the black plastic works so well. I am not always very good at keeping up with weeding but this year I am determined. Even when I am good at weeding beds that used to be grass, it seems to take years before the grass stops trying to come back.
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