Justified By and By June in the Garden 2008

I only have to spend a few moments bent over my green bean patch to remind myself, that what I have done over the last two years is working. In the last three days I have harvested 2 pounds of lovely, pesticide free, non-chemically fertilized beans. And I note the word harvested, the plants are so loaded that I have had to decide at what point I will pick which beans. I have alloted myself 20 minutes of picking every other day. If it continues, I should have enough to easily begin my journey into "putting by" a good deal of fresh beans for winter eating.

This year I put in a new tomato area. It is not your classic every day garden area, my gardens rarely are. Last year I tried a generally more well accepted approach of spacing and tending and it did not work for me..."lots of wasted space, and extra watering and bug watching, and weeding"

This year I picked a spot that I started last year with strawbales, raised it to where the plants are at eye level and have gone back to my usual, what I call "jungle planting", where as the plants grow up and reach a certain point I then allow them to canopy. Living in the woods now as I do, this fits my surroundings much better, an I am having and easier time of "critter control".

I have taken more time for herbs and flowers this year, having overwintered some in the hot house and saving seeds from last year. I also have picked varieties purposely that might come back voluntairly and "fill in" voids where the earth is to rocky and to red with clay.

I am just begining to get pretty places, spots I can look at and see taking shape, defining them selves, even enough to start placing flat rock to form walk way paths from one area to the next.

It might be a year or two before I would boldly tell someone to"just drop by" I definately took a much bigger bite, sorta like the never ending spagetti noodle, than I ever immagined...I immagined that I would be working less....I immagined there would be less bumps and bruised muscles...I immagined there would be a few more interested family members helping out.

Many, many times I have crumbled into a heap, in a cramped corner of my three room abode that continues to be a three room abode....and thought to "let the whole idea go"

Then a flower pops up....a neighbor drives up and says" looking good"....someone who has bought one of my tomato plants tells me how good they are looking.....OR....like the other day, I drove through a wooded pass, that when we moved here was for all pratical purposes a "dumping ground", and see that others besides me have helped pick up, and I am renewed enough to go one more step! Haul one more rock! Wash one more load of very very dirty clothes!

 In the movie "Field of Dreams" it is said, if you build it they will come....

In my garden, it is evident, if you plant it it will grow!