There are things that are going well…
There are many things going well at Larrapin Garden. Keeping up-to-date with blog posting is not on that list! But I thought I’d do a series of posts on things that are working well —as well as as things that aren’t—and what I’d like to do better or different next time.
We could start with the weather. After an entire summer’s worth of rain in one week in late spring that nearly washed away a lot of the state, we’ve hardly seen a drop since the first of June until we were gifted with a lovely forty minute rain day before yesterday. Who cares that the wind blew just hard enough to blow over the corn and beat down the cowpeas, it was rain. Those bone dry fifty days in-between were what was tough, especially with the knowledge that it covered the month and half *before* the month and a half of late-July and August that are more traditionally bone-dry and hot as hell here. And nobody, including myself, seems to think it just ‘came early’….no, more like we may be in for what feels like a hundred dog days of August.
And while I obviously can’t change what the weather is going to do, it did become clear to me that I can be more prepared next time with more mulch, more land forms that hold rainwater so it can sink deep, and soil with a higher organic matter content. All of those things can make a huge difference in how your land holds rain.
This is one of the things I love about learning the principles of permaculture—how the goal is to build a system, a human-made landscape, with a similar intelligence, diversity and resilience as a nature-designed landscape. Nature designs landscapes that are self-sustaining and tend to grow in abundance with time…all without additional inputs or help. Now *that’s* a garden design! And this is for another post! Back on topic:
'Art' & Arp Rosemary under Apple Tree...
So what are some things going well at Larrapin? For one, garden art. Now let me say I have a low-bar definition of garden art: stuff I build that makes me feel happy somehow to look at it! (Fine artists are cringing about now, but I know even you guys know what I mean!) This year one of my garden resolutions was to make more garden art and to my surprise, it was a resolution I actually kept. So in the pic above, a wonderful metal stepping stone is instead placed on an overturned pot by a giant rosemary plant. It’s nobody’s picasso, but I love looking at the beautiful disk floating there in a fragrant mound of herb…all providing some company for a young Arkansas Black apple tree.
Logs as garden art...
Meanwhile, down on the bottom edge of the veggie garden, a piece of would-be firewood got interesting with a dash of blue glass and a stack of rocks. Like I said, it doesn’t take much to entertain me.
The garden, meanwhile, creates the finest of art every day in the form of beautiful flowers dancing with bees, vines covered with tomatoes, making soil become darker, deeper and more alive. But in case I miss it, sometimes the garden sends little messages that all the love and attention I give her is noticed, and the feeling is mutual. These often arrive in the form of heart-shaped rocks. The latest valentine however, was with the red potato harvest:
What kind of art are you finding in your garden?
—A Larrapin Garden www.larrapin.us
Posts most wednesdays & weekends; exceptions, sometimes long ones, or like today’s post on a amonday, do occur. Don’t miss any—you can subscribe by Email here. You can also get bonus links and recipes by “liking” our Facebook fan page atwww.facebook.com/larrapin.garden. We’re even on Twitter athttp://twitter.com/LarrapinGarden. Thanks for stopping by!
Friends in green places…Just add water!
Plants ready for potting...
Wait a minute...who is this?
Gorgeous leopard frog!
No doubt taking a rest from the heat, the dry dry wind and the longest day of the year! We’re having to fill bird baths, frog watering dishes, the bee-beach*, and other watering holes daily. So many birds, butterflies and creatures need water bad about now around here as we’ve had no rain here at Larrapin for a long while.
Be sure to keep your waterers full and fresh and make sure some are on the ground for frogs like this one and those cute toads that are your garden’s friends. For ideas and tips on watering, here’s a previous post on easy ways to water: http://ozarksalive.org/larrapin/?p=910
—A Larrapin Garden www.larrapin.us
*will explain the “bee beach” soon… Posts most wednesdays & weekends. Don’t miss any—you can subscribe by Email here. You can also get bonus links and recipes by “liking” our Facebook fan page atwww.facebook.com/larrapin.garden. We’re even on Twitter athttp://twitter.com/LarrapinGarden. Thanks for stopping by—leave a comment and share what’s at your water source this week!
Blog vs Garden…Garden Won (& Onion Harvest!)
It happens regularly, I drift away from blogging about the garden because I’m OUT in the garden all the time I’m not working! (Note: gardening, even chain-gang style busting up rocks to plant trees around here never counts as “work” to me. Family and friends have gently let me know this feeling is not universally shared…)
OK, so I’m not really in the garden “all” the time because it’s so hot mid-day to mid-afternoon that there’s a long retreat time that would be perfect for blogging…but ahhh, what can compete with a summer nap? Not much.
Meanwhile the onions are in. And I must say, an onion harvest like the one above, makes me feel RICH.
It took me a long time to figure out that onion love rich soil and never being too dry or too wet. They look tougher than that to me so for years, my onions were pretty small. But get the soil and the watering down and onions really plump up well.
While “too wet” was the theme of May, the raised bed must have saved them because they look pretty good. The pics above are from June 5th. I planted these quite early — the last of Feb I think — in a heavily mulched bed because I had to plant *something* or go winter crazy! Turns out they seem to like that and I’ll try it again next year.
I let them cure in the sun for a day since rain was expected the next. Normally you would let them cure a few days in the sun, with the green tops somewhat over the bulbs to protect them from sunburn. I had to hurry, so after their day in the sun, they were moved to a dry & shady open porch to finish curing. Still, because of all that rain in May, I wouldn’t expect these guys to keep as long as usual, so we’ll be using LOTS of onions this summer and fall. If they don’t store well, I will chop them and freeze in typical recipe portions to be easily grabbed when needed for any cooked dish or soup.
—A Larrapin Garden www.larrapin.us
Posts most wednesdays & weekends —except during garden season and then I just don’t know! But you can subscribe by Email here. You can also get bonus links and recipes by “liking” our Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/larrapin.garden. Geesh, we’re even on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LarrapinGarden. If you have good onion growing tips, please leave a comment and tell me about it!
Weekend Holiday!
Garden's growing like mad with all the rain just past...
Mulching paths with wood chips over newspaper...love those beets too!
Garlic still growing...LOTS of kale, collards, sugar snaps to eat...
West & East Queendoms...Beekeeping IS addictive...
Gift of this little vase: the way to a new beekeepers heart! (Thank you Mendy!)
Random May Garden Pics…
Peonies: High Life and Fairy's Petticoat
Bumble Bee on White Sage Bloom
Guard bees saying, "Everything allright in there?"
First Apples of 2011: Liberty
Love it: Assembling & Painting bee boxes...
Peony: Moon River
Larrapin Honeybee on Blackberry Blossom
—A Larrapin Garden www.larrapin.us
Posts most wednesdays & weekends —you can subscribe by Email here. You can also get bonus links and recipes by “liking” our Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/larrapin.garden. Geesh, we’re even on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LarrapinGarden.
