Gardening isn’t my thing. Not because I don’t like it, but because I forget to do important tending activities. Watering, for example.
In my house, only plants like spider plants survive because they can live on air for weeks.
But every spring I get the same itch that the rest of you get to grow something and make the world a greener place.
Yesterday I burned a few gallons of fossil fuels on my way to a big box store where I picked up a trunkload of cheap plants.
But the pots are supposed to biodegrade, so it’s ok.
My mom’s visiting, which is great, because she has a vision when it comes to these sorts of things.
Here's the new planter and garden.
Instead of letting me put the vegetables with the strawberries (which she calls “aphid magnets”), she helped me peel some huge branches that came down during the winter ice storm so we could make a new planter area.
We cut them with a hand saw, which sucked. I felt like Dick Proenneke. My arm still hurts.
If you don’t know who Dick Proenneke is, he’s the Alaska guy from the Alone in the Wilderness video (on PBS all the time) who makes his own cabin by hand and lives by himself until he’s really old, surviving in the harsh Alaskan wilderness.
Anyway, I could never be that guy.
Mainly, I just want the plants to grow magically and produce good food, while I sit around feeding my chickens and reading.
Guess it’s a good thing I live in a rainy-ish climate. Mother Nature does my work for me.
I’ll let you know if anything grows.
P.S. Don’t you think those chickens are cute!?
talesfromthemotherland-
Nice! I’m jealous! Your new garden and hand hewn border is wonderful! I think these things, but never seem to see them to fruition! And the chickens: Oh how I’d like some… if they cleaned up after themselves and never made a sound! Bravo for you Meagan! (and you even found time to write about it….!)
meagan mac-
Oh Dawn! I would never have made that planter without my mother’s hutzpa. She’s super motivated, where I am not. And my husband takes care of the chickens. I mean, I did actually clean out their coop the other day, but usually he waters and feeds and does whatever you must do to keep little birds alive and well. And since we have no roosters, there’s not much noise. The hens are pretty low-key, except when they lay and egg and want the whole neighborhood to know about it. They cluck for a few minutes like they just laid the fix to global warming.
talesfromthemotherland-
I love the idea of it all… but it exhausts me just thinking about it! I’m still very impressed! 🙂
Ann B. Hursey-
Hey Meagan,
Those chickens offer GREAT composting material. Once you plant something, you are a gardener. It’s pretty simple. Ann
meagan mac-
Chickens are also good weeders! But isn’t there some sort of standard before you get your official gardener badge? Like you have to actually produce something? Make a plant grow or at least keep one live?
Would you call yourself a gardener, Ann?
Porter Pond Farm-
You have herbs already! That basil will produce seeds if you let it dry. I put them in a Baggie and sprinkle back on the dirt the next year and voila! More basil! The rosemary may stay green all year. Mine does.
meagan mac-
Hi Porter Pond Farm! This is my third year trying to get rosemary to winter over. So far, no dice. I’ll try saving the basil seeds, though. I think I can do that with cilantro/coriander, too, right?
Porter Pond Farm-
not sure about the cirander. I always eat all of it before it goes to seed. I have three rosemary plants that have been growing for about six years. They look like a bush and they are green all year. We’ve actually rooted some this year for friends.
Porter Pond Farm-
That’s supposed to say coriander.