Victory Garden, Pine Roots, and Such
May. 18th, 2020 12:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lydamorehouseAfter considering doing a little guerrilla gardening in the empty lots across the alleyway from my house, ala, rachelmanija I decided, instead, that more more prudent choice was to dig up the front area where the pine tree used to be.
The lots behind my house would be lovely, if it were not for the two very much occupied houses on either side. Maybe if people weren't all at home right now, I could get away with it. The lots belong to some bank or other and occasionally a crew will come through with riding mowers and just clip everything to the ground. This is how, in fact, I lost my wildflower guerrilla garden the very first year the lots were empty. Boo.
Anyway, the front of the house has been kind of a wild tangle since the pine tree came down in a storm. We've been going back and forth about what to put there. We really want some kind of tree, but there's a gas line only 16 inches beneath the soil. While we continue to try to decide, the land has just gone to waste. I don't like mowing, so I never intended to put in grass. We've been tossing wildflower seeds into it to gussy it up, but really it's been junky and unused.
Well, after pulling up some huge rotted pine roots, I planted a vegetable garden:
Image: gnarly rotted roots, with the foundation of the house as scale.
Even though they were waterlogged from yesterday's all day soaking rain and not very heavy at all, I still felt really butch to haul those up out of the ground.
Then I planted whatever we had to hand. The other day when we were cleaning out part of the downstairs porch, I discovered a bunch of seeds I'd bought God(dess) knows how long ago. I have my doubts that anything will spout, but sun and soil and rain are magic so who knows? I planted honeydew melon, watermelon, pumpkin, corn, radishes, beets, and arugula. I was a bit haphazard with it all because it feels like it might start raining again at any point and I wanted to get things in the ground before that happened.
Image: dirt, really, but one day hopefully a lovely vegetable garden.
Like I say, I'm hopeful, but not too invested. We bought into a CSA so it's not like we really have to live off this. It's a fun use of an otherwise wasted space, too. So, I'm happy.
Now I'm going to go collapse into a heap. That was a lot of work!
rachelmanija I decided, instead, that more more prudent choice was to dig up the front area where the pine tree used to be. The lots behind my house would be lovely, if it were not for the two very much occupied houses on either side. Maybe if people weren't all at home right now, I could get away with it. The lots belong to some bank or other and occasionally a crew will come through with riding mowers and just clip everything to the ground. This is how, in fact, I lost my wildflower guerrilla garden the very first year the lots were empty. Boo.
Anyway, the front of the house has been kind of a wild tangle since the pine tree came down in a storm. We've been going back and forth about what to put there. We really want some kind of tree, but there's a gas line only 16 inches beneath the soil. While we continue to try to decide, the land has just gone to waste. I don't like mowing, so I never intended to put in grass. We've been tossing wildflower seeds into it to gussy it up, but really it's been junky and unused.
Well, after pulling up some huge rotted pine roots, I planted a vegetable garden:
Image: gnarly rotted roots, with the foundation of the house as scale.
Even though they were waterlogged from yesterday's all day soaking rain and not very heavy at all, I still felt really butch to haul those up out of the ground.
Then I planted whatever we had to hand. The other day when we were cleaning out part of the downstairs porch, I discovered a bunch of seeds I'd bought God(dess) knows how long ago. I have my doubts that anything will spout, but sun and soil and rain are magic so who knows? I planted honeydew melon, watermelon, pumpkin, corn, radishes, beets, and arugula. I was a bit haphazard with it all because it feels like it might start raining again at any point and I wanted to get things in the ground before that happened.
Image: dirt, really, but one day hopefully a lovely vegetable garden.
Like I say, I'm hopeful, but not too invested. We bought into a CSA so it's not like we really have to live off this. It's a fun use of an otherwise wasted space, too. So, I'm happy.
Now I'm going to go collapse into a heap. That was a lot of work!
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Date: 2020-05-18 09:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-19 03:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-19 01:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-19 03:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-19 02:40 pm (UTC)Also dug up a stretch behind my studio, in a hot, south-facing alcove and planted sunflower seeds, hoping to cool things down a little by soaking up sunshine.
The food garden raised beds are planted, pole beans, sugar snap peas, half a dozen tomato starts. Have already harvested rhubarb once, and the raspberries (and wild blackberries) are blossoming and starting to set fruit. As is one of the apple trees. The other seems to put most of its effort into trying to take over the yardbird it refuses to believe it's on dwarf rootstock.
Oh, and the filbert the squirrels planted behind the rain barrel seems to be growing nuts. We'll see if any actually survive to harvest.
no subject
Date: 2020-05-19 03:38 pm (UTC)If I had a spot that would be hot enough for sunflowers, I would totally do the same. I loved growing them when we had a sunnier backyard (before we put a tree in). The fact that they really do turn their heads to follow the sun is just plain nifty.
The rest all sounds yummy (except, for me, of course, the tomatoes.)