In the aftermath of a recent derecho, Judith is thankful for her garden, which is a constant source of solace and inspiration.
Greetings fellow gardeners,
The mosquitoes and I are writing to you from the back porch where my little barbeque is chugging along attempting to boil water. I can make it through power outages, but I cannot survive without coffee.
The damage around my garden from the recent storm is minimal compared to the areas around me. I have a lilac that is going to need some severe cutbacks and my wood storage was toppled in the storm. Many of my friends are dealing with upturned trees and severe damage. I feel so very lucky. My amazing neighbours have come by to help me get the wood storage back to where it belongs. I cannot believe that a wind could be so fierce as to topple such a heavy structure.
My toppled wood storage
And now it is upright
Last week, for fun, I made a little fairy garden. I received some fairy accessories for Christmas and also a glow-in-the-dark dragon. I put in a little dish of stones and covered them with water so the bees and butterflies could have a safe water source. Behind the little house I put a solar light so that my fairy garden could look shadowy and spooky at night. I have been bringing the solar light in to the house at night so I could have extra light until the power returns.
Fairy garden with handy solar light
Living without power is difficult and I am trying to remain positive while I adjust to the situation. This is the time of year that I like to get my vines and more tender vegetables started. The weather is still too uncertain so I will start my seeds in pots and leave them outside in the greenhouse to harden off. Puttering about in the garden should keep me from dwelling on what is happening to the food in my freezer.
This year I would like to have lots of cucumbers. I ran out of my bread and butter pickles last month, and I don’t want that to happen again. I have chosen an old workhorse of a cucumber that is called Marketmore. It is a good producer, and the cucumbers are the perfect size for my pickles. I like to let my cucumbers grow vertically as it saves space and also makes for cleaner straighter cukes. If you have a limited space, you can grow the new tiny, hybridized cucumbers in a hanging basket. They are smaller than regular cucumbers and are often referred to as patio cucumbers. Dill cucumbers come from a specific seed and are the right size for dill pickles, but I find they are not as tasty to eat off the vine.
I have searched in my pile of seeds and found a few big squash seeds that I had collected from my father’s Queensland Blue Hubbard squash. This is a huge hubbard squash and it is a grey-blue. This squash is not one that grows well vertically so I shall have to find a spot for it to ramble about. Squashes are susceptible to the squash borer. This bug can destroy your plant in a day. I have found that wrapping the lower stem in tinfoil has helped to keep the bug at bay and I read that Nikki Jabbour, a dedicated vegetable gardener, also uses this method. As well, I am starting some mini pumpkins and while the squash is not able to grow vertically the little pumpkins can scurry up a trellis and look adorable.
It is also time to start the zucchinis. I find zucchinis can be vigorous producers, which used to make me cautious about growing more than one plant. Now I grow several plants and freeze bags of cut up zucchini for soups, stews and various baked goods.
This power outage has given me time to reflect. I am grateful for all of my technical conveniences and for running water but also, I am grateful for my garden. It supports me and nurtures me and gives me my life.
Judith
(Email: sghorticultural@gmail.com)
Veggie Bites are available at https://sghorticultural.wixsite.com/website or https://gardeningcalendar.ca/articles/veggie-bites/
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