Since we moved in to the house last June, I have become friendly with two women in the neighborhood that have each lived on Talahi since the 60's when there were ten houses and you could ride your horse around the trail where my street is now. They are both in their 70's, walk together nightly, garden, and live next door to each other on the pond-side of our island. Though I am sure that their lives are as involved as anyone else's, I prefer to picture them making sun tea and gossiping after a long day of weed pulling and a weekday senior's tennis match. I am usually sweating and bug-bitten in the yard on the weekends and they have been tracking my yard progress from a distance as they walk by in the evenings. Though I had spoken to them only briefly (in that casual neighbor way), when I installed the split rail fence one of the ladies offered me some additional rails that had been in her shed since her husband passed. A begrudging Dave and I procured the said rails on a Saturday and had the pleasure of hearing about the way our neighborhood used to be, and seeing the properties that are on the pond-side of the island. Sucker that I am, I also ended up buying crafts from the craft show that the ladies were putting on. I am now the proud owner of three small hand-painted pots (pictured below).
Anyhow, I used the additional rails and some leftover posts to surround what would become a rustic vegetable garden in its new experimental location. The garden has been in the ground about four weeks now, and I have some small tomatoes and squash and lots of flowers on the zucchini and peppers and cucumbers. I get out there nightly and check on things. Sometimes the squirrels assassinate a flower or knock over a mini-irrigation head, but other than that the maintenance is minimal. Upon doing my nightly check a week or so ago, my friends came by to inspect my garden and invited me to finish their walk with them so that I could see how their gardens are coming along.
Let me start by saying that they each have roughly two acres of pond-front property, and of that property they each probably have a half acre of garden space. While I piddle with 10 or so plants in a ten by six plot meant to supplement our summer vegetable needs and screen our garbage cans, they plant ROWS requiring tiling machines. Not wanting to waste space, I grow useful things that I know we will use. In addition to useful things in copious quantities and varieties, they grow things like Chinese okra and corn that I dream about growing when I own a farm someday. As a focal point, one of the ladies has a five foot tall trellis that grows local grapes. When I stated that I wished I had room for watermelons in the yard, she offered me a whole row if I'd bring and plant the seeds.
We chatted for a while about climactic plant concerns, garden pests, and squirrel remedies and before I knew it I was out the door with an armload of some uprooted bell pepper and tomato plants (because I definitely needed more),lots of new plant knowledge (who knew how nice red honeysuckle is in the spring), and an offer from the guy down the street who has chickens to lend me his supplies for the chicks that are coming this week.
So back to my tiny garden. I don't have grapes or okra, but it's mine, and it is my therapy - along with the other yard work - from the day to day grind. And someday, when I have multiple acres and weekday tennis and 'Mimosa Thursdays' with my senior friends, just maybe I'll take a break to help out the new girl. Some garden pics and what else is blooming right now.
Anyhow, I used the additional rails and some leftover posts to surround what would become a rustic vegetable garden in its new experimental location. The garden has been in the ground about four weeks now, and I have some small tomatoes and squash and lots of flowers on the zucchini and peppers and cucumbers. I get out there nightly and check on things. Sometimes the squirrels assassinate a flower or knock over a mini-irrigation head, but other than that the maintenance is minimal. Upon doing my nightly check a week or so ago, my friends came by to inspect my garden and invited me to finish their walk with them so that I could see how their gardens are coming along.
Let me start by saying that they each have roughly two acres of pond-front property, and of that property they each probably have a half acre of garden space. While I piddle with 10 or so plants in a ten by six plot meant to supplement our summer vegetable needs and screen our garbage cans, they plant ROWS requiring tiling machines. Not wanting to waste space, I grow useful things that I know we will use. In addition to useful things in copious quantities and varieties, they grow things like Chinese okra and corn that I dream about growing when I own a farm someday. As a focal point, one of the ladies has a five foot tall trellis that grows local grapes. When I stated that I wished I had room for watermelons in the yard, she offered me a whole row if I'd bring and plant the seeds.
We chatted for a while about climactic plant concerns, garden pests, and squirrel remedies and before I knew it I was out the door with an armload of some uprooted bell pepper and tomato plants (because I definitely needed more),lots of new plant knowledge (who knew how nice red honeysuckle is in the spring), and an offer from the guy down the street who has chickens to lend me his supplies for the chicks that are coming this week.
So back to my tiny garden. I don't have grapes or okra, but it's mine, and it is my therapy - along with the other yard work - from the day to day grind. And someday, when I have multiple acres and weekday tennis and 'Mimosa Thursdays' with my senior friends, just maybe I'll take a break to help out the new girl. Some garden pics and what else is blooming right now.
The Garden
A tiny tomato
A future zucchini
Originals from the craft show
A walking iris that popped out the other morning
A yellow bearded iris
lots of amaryllis this year
Confederate Jasmine is blooming
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