Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Denninmi

(6,581 posts)
Mon Jun 11, 2012, 09:45 AM Jun 2012

Interests wax and wane for me. How about you?

My garden interests seem to change with time, and then I end up switching gears. Many years ago, we as a family were into growing produce in a major way, selling some and preserving a lot for our own use. Of course, things changed with time, we stopped using so much, and children left the household (except me, I never left, what can I say!). So, I switched gears from utilitarian to ornamental, putting in a lot of decorative features such as water gardens, mixed borders, etc.

Then I became concerned about food and health issues, and went back heavily into growing edibles. And then really had kind of a big freak out with the economy going south, the "global food crisis" etc. a few years back and planted edible plants anywhere and everywhere.

Only really to discover that my ability to produce bounty is vastly out of proportion to my family's needs. And, giving it away hasn't really worked all that well, either. People are willing to take the common things, IF I do all of the work and basically give it to them ready to use in the state they would buy it from the store. But anything slightly out of the ordinary gets weird looks or "we don't eat that" or whatever. Fine, I say, be that way, your loss.

So, now, I think I'm going into a new phase where I am "window dressing" the utilitarian plantings and making things pretty as well as productive. I am cutting back on the produce I grow to "just enough" for household use, and well, the extended family can just do their own if they want it. My biggest project vis a vis that is a garden I created in the 1990s, which is about 70 x 70. I initially used it for an herb/perennial garden, with raspberries, blackberries, and currants as borders around it. Then, I ripped out a lot of the herbs that were excessive (who needs a 25 x 3 solid block of Oregano???), some of the perennials died off, and I have planted it mainly in vegetables such as peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, squash, potatoes, and corn the past few years.

I decided yesterday that, since its already dry here, and we have had several hot days, I'm just NOT planting anything in there this summer. I am going to work on getting it all prepped for late summer planting, and going to put it back into mostly herbs, perennials, ornamental grasses, and some spring and summer bulbs, and leave just a few spots to grow a couple of the more decorative edibles there, especially eggplant which for some reason just LOVES the soil and site in this garden and thrives.

So, that is my latest phase. How about you?

5 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Interests wax and wane for me. How about you? (Original Post) Denninmi Jun 2012 OP
OF COURSE, Den! elleng Jun 2012 #1
I stopped banging my head against the summer heat wall... Javaman Jun 2012 #2
Change or stagnate! Of course we change Curmudgeoness Jun 2012 #3
I sowed greens in my coldframe during that crazy-warm March and they didn't germinate Kolesar Jun 2012 #4
What keeps my landscape fresh and intersting BlueToTheBone Jun 2012 #5

Javaman

(62,500 posts)
2. I stopped banging my head against the summer heat wall...
Mon Jun 11, 2012, 12:39 PM
Jun 2012

I would make myself nuts each year trying to plant things during the Texas Summer.

No more...with one qualifier.

I will be putting in pumpkin seeds the first week in July. That will be it.

By then most if not all my tomatoes and eggplant should be done.

Come the fall, I put in garlic, lettuce, beets, potatoes and onions.

I'm now working with the seaons rather than against them.

Curmudgeoness

(18,219 posts)
3. Change or stagnate! Of course we change
Mon Jun 11, 2012, 07:12 PM
Jun 2012

over time. I have been through lots of phases----perfect manicured flower beds with lots of annuals turned to a perennial garden turned to a wildflower garden turned to a mess that I could not keep up with turned to container veggies set in the mess. I give up trying to get that mess under control. I had an epiphany this spring while shopping for plants, and wishing that I could clean it all up and plant more flowers....well, it will never get cleaned up, so next year, I am going to add color with decorations instead of flowers. I will still do the container veggies because I love growing my own, but I am giving up on things that grow in the garden.

And the back yard is getting a wilder look every year, and I am loving it. I have so much privacy with overgrown bushes and all the imperfections are covered with Virginia Creeper.

Oh, and did I say that I have gotten lazier over the years?

Kolesar

(31,182 posts)
4. I sowed greens in my coldframe during that crazy-warm March and they didn't germinate
Tue Jun 12, 2012, 03:12 PM
Jun 2012

About a tenth of them germinated and I got about ten plants.

I sowed peas in May and the seeds rotted. I think the impromptu mulch of mowed grass somehow snuffocated them.

I am getting a little frustrated. My ultimate dream is three season harvests. I should be able to harvest greens from the end of May until Christmas in my climate. There are a few other crops with such potential.

BlueToTheBone

(3,747 posts)
5. What keeps my landscape fresh and intersting
Fri Jun 15, 2012, 09:03 AM
Jun 2012

is that I moved 3 xs in the past 10 years. So my gardens fit each of the different spaces.

This time (we've been here almost 3 years) I started with the hardscaping, building beds (we have several tons of rock lying around that we've used), seating the arbor and arches and benches, building the fence (one acre of deer fencing) and setting in the perennial bushes, trees and flowers. I'm still in the process of installing the drip system and hope to have that finished by the end of the month. So far, I've laid over 1500 feet of mainline tubing and I'm still working.

When we moved here, there was this LARGE expanse of grass with a row of cedar bushes that had overgrown into the house, blocking the sidewalk and all the light into the bedroom. Those and the useless Bradford pear trees were removed immediately after we bought the house and I've been working on killing all that grass ever since we've been here! It's a tough battle, but I'm determined.

My spring was very difficult with the death of my mother, dog and a broken kneecap. Things had almost gone to hell when I got my next wind; hired a man to weed eat and dig holes while I worked on the other stuff. The garden is starting to look lovely again. Next spring should be stunning and hopefully we'll get some food to eat this year as well.

Latest Discussions»Culture Forums»Gardening»Interests wax and wane fo...