They’re coming!
- At June 13, 2011
- By Molly Chester
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8
Is there anything more exciting than the picture above? OK – probably child birth. And alright – animal birth, but plant birth is pretty cool in its own right. And, our garden is currently having a whole heck of a lot of babies.
I’ve been the laughing stock of my marriage lately. You see, those are John’s boots above. And, what you can’t see are the heavy duty cargo pants just north of those shoes. Me? I prefer these…
Those are called my “pinks.” And yes, those are yoga pants. But don’t let the girly fool you, I’ll swing a hoe with the best of ’em.
Not the most flattering angle of my legs, I gotta be honest. But, it gets the point across.
I’ve spent the entirety of the past two Sundays in the garden. The end of day feeling, including weak limbs, sun-kissed sleepiness and true hunger keeps pulling me back. Last Sunday, I got a mean spider bite on my middle finger. I have a picture of that, too, but I’ll spare you. I thought it was a blister, but woke up the next morning with a definitive red ring around my little blister that screamed spider bite. I watched it closely, soaked it in some Epsom salts, and it eventually faded without incident. I wear my increased bug tolerance like a badge of honor.
I’ve never gardened anything close to the size of this year’s garden, so my learning curve is predictably steep. I’ve been picking up a few things out of necessity, and here’s a few cool things I’ve learned…
* When weeding a plot that is too big to do 100% by hand, I first locate the new shoots. I weed the immediate surrounding area by hand, creating a 6″ or so circle around the new growth. After doing this to an entire row, I come back through with a hoe to turn up the remaining weeds. Things go much faster this way!
* Many garden pests can be easily controlled with organic sprays, such as Neem and Cayenne Pepper, but others are simply native to an area and best avoided through crop choices. For example, a pest is eating our Pole Beans, and we’ve identified it as a Cucumber Beattle. Well, there’s not much organically that can be done with a Cucumber Beattle because they are a very transient pest that is very prevalent in Southern CA. Therefore, a different crop choice next year may be advisable.
* A pair of quality garden gloves are a great thing, and when finished for the day, try storing those gloves in a baggie to avoid the aforementioned spider bite.
* I suggest bending from the waist when gardening or kneeling with knees down on a mat. I find that kneeling with my knees above my hips (like I am doing in the photo above) isn’t sustainable, nor is slouching into it. Extensive gardening requires good posture for sustainability.
If you’d like to continue this discussion, my Seeds of Change blogging friends and I are having a TweetChat on June 21 from 10AM – 11AM using the tag #sowingmillions. Come join us!
I wrote this post while participating in the Sowing Millions Project by Real Food Media on behalf of Seeds of Change. I received product and exclusive content to facilitate my post. My thoughts and opinions are my own and not those of Real Food Media or Seeds of Change.
8 comments
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Marla
Molly you look like you are in true bliss out there. Love the pink shoes girl!
June 13, 2011 -
Anna
Plants are very amazing! Thinking of how they start as a tiny seed and take the soil, sun and water to make a plant and fruit, I think it is pretty incredible.
June 13, 2011 -
Kristen
Yay for baby plants!! Woo-hoo :)
June 13, 2011 -
Brooke@Foodwoolf
Keep those gardening tips coming. I need to learn from you for future gardening endeavors. What a beautiful and exciting new venture.
June 13, 2011 -
Lucy Lean
I think your gardening get up is just perfect!
June 13, 2011 -
Winnie
Love “the pinks”!
June 13, 2011
Ann Marie @ CHEESESLAVE
Love the outfit, Molly! Can’t wait to come up and visit you!!!
Molly Chester
Can’t wait for you to come! xo