Happy Earth Day!
Happy Earth Day!
Today is the 38th annual celebration of the planet we call home, and a day to step back and think about things we can do to preserve and restore our natural resources…
So that’s the official line on Earth Day, but I want to know: what do YOU think about Earth Day?
Is it a time to reflect on accomplishments?
A time to call for more action?
Or something in-between?
Send a post, let us know, then go outside and do something good for the planet.
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2008 > May > 28 > Entry
By Matt Cunningham
| Wednesday, May 28, 2008, 03:45 PM
I’m discovering a green thumb is not a god-given right.
Most of the plants on my little porch garden are digging their roots in and stretching for the sun, but a few of the vegetables I so excitedly started this spring have gone belly-up. A pot of oregano died like it was on a mission, and I discovered too late that the leafy greens of spring do indeed need to be planted early. I may be able to salvage some Swiss chard, but my homemade salad is becoming a hard lesson in the steps between the flower pot and the dinner table.
Thankfully, the cherry tomatoes are climbing like monkeys, and my basil has recovered from a near brush with disaster involving too much green in too little dirt.
I’m learning there’s a lot that goes into feeding oneself directly through one’s own labors. Gardening for my parents was a hobby. For my in-laws, farming was a family tradition they worked hard to move away from as successful businesspeople. My wife and I are doing the homegrown veggies thing almost from scratch, and the wilted herb on my porch is a reminder it’s a fairly steep learning curve.
As a reference on the topic of DIY foodstuff, a family member sent me a copy of Barbara Kingsolver’s “
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.” I’ve enjoyed Kingsolver’s other nonfiction work, and the first few chapters of the book feature the passionate, colorful prose that has made me a fan of her writing.
The book follows the author and her family as they move from Arizona to a family farm in rural Southwest Virginia. They attempt to spend a year eating only local foods - those produced as close to their home as possible.
I’ll post any interesting notes I have as I work my way through what looks like it could be another memorable book from an excellent wordsmith. Until then, how is your garden growing? Any suggestions for keeping oregano growing on a south-facing porch? (attempt one may have failed, but, darn it, I will persevere!)
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Comments
By Mike
June 2, 2008 11:22 AM | Link to this
Sorry to hear about some of your troubles. It’s kind of odd that the oregano died so quickly. It is a very hardy herb that thrives in full sun and well drained, almost dry soil. Just the kind of conditions you will get from a south facing location. I’ve grown it many times and it’s one of those plants that once it gets established it requires almost no care, other than a cursory watering when the soil gets completely dry. For oregano, over-watering is much more detrimental than under-watering. I left last years oregano plant outside in a pot over the winter, just sitting out in the elements with no protection. And it came back this year like crazy. So give it another shot. Your basil plants will like the same soil conditions as the oregano, though a more regular watering schedule is probably required since they are a bit more leafy plant. They key to the basil is to keep it from blooming for as long as possible by pinching off the top sets of leaves as soon as the plant is about 6 inches high. You can use these leaf sprigs fresh or you can dry them by laying them flat on an old window screen in a warm airy spot or bundling 5 or 6 of them together with a rubber band and hanging them to dry. Don’t store them until they are completely dry or they will mold on you. You can also freeze the leaves on a cookie sheet. Once frozen you can keep them in the freezer in a plastic zip bag. Your troubles as far as the greens are not unusual if you plant them too late. You should seed greens as early in the spring as the soil conditions will allow. Sometimes you can provide them a little shade with a homemade lean-to if spring weather is unusually warm and sunny for brief periods. This will help keep the hottest of the direct sun off them and might prevent them from burning. But if the ambient air temps get high and stay high, there’s not a lot you can do. You just have to wait till it cools down in the early fall and plant them again. The heat will just accelerate them bolting to seed and they will get very bitter. You will enjoy your tomatoes if we keep getting the warm weather like we have had lately. If your tomatoes are in pots, keep a very close eye on the moisture content. Pots dry out very, very quickly. And if you let them dry out too often when they are in the process of forming blooms, your yield will be greatly reduced, the chance of disease heightened and the overall health of the plant will be compromised. Plants, like all living things, can only take so much stress before it takes a toll. So keep plugging away. It is a lot of fun to learn and experience the good tastes of homegrown food. We just got our garden in on Memorial Day, much later than usual. But since May was really cool and damp we really didn’t worry about it. Many people I know who planted in early May, which is kind of customary in this area, have watched as their plants just sat there during the cool, damp May days rotting in the ground or succumbing to mold or other problems.