It is the middle of May, and I am thick into gardening and preparing for my May recital. Funny thing about gardening in my family. Three of my sons, Joe (36), Chris (33), and Steve (32), all take after their Mom and Dad (Vern, who died in 1995) and love to garden. However, Nathan (40) doesn't know a tree from a bush or a flower from a weed. He will probably hire a gardener if he ever has a yard. But he loves books and has loved them since he was two years old. By the way, he is an English teacher.
Back to gardening. Steve just moved and is renting, so he doesn't have a garden this year. But Joe and Chris and I have been corresponding on gardening for some time now. Usually interested in flowers (I love roses; Joe, in southern Oregon, grows enviable dahlias; Chris lets the Portland climate grow his huge blue hydrangeas), However this year all we can think of is vegetables. Joe has been growing vegetables on a farm, where he built a greenhouse and has Rogue River irrigation. Chris plowed up his back yard in a Portland neighborhood and is using the lasagna gardening method. His garden looks beautiful.
I have 9 fruit trees (apricots, peaches, apples, plum, pear, nectarine cherry) and a large vegetable garden with about 15 tomato plants, swiss chard, beets, lettuce, leeks, carrots, parsnips, kwintus green beens, bush beans, winter squash, zuccini, crookneck, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and then the berries: 7 blueberry bushes, a row of currants, grape vines, gooseberries, raspberries, blackberries, guomi berries aronia berries, strawberries. I think that's all, except for the herbs, and I won't go into all those. The surprise is that I live on only 3/4 acre and also have 40 rose bushes and plenty of beautiful lawn and flower gardens. There's much one can do on a small city lot.
Val helps me with everything, even though isn't all that fond of gardening. I really think it is growing on him. He is a mail carrier who works hard all day. His life is all hard work and service and love. You couldn't find a better man.
Last year we gave away bushels of fruit from our trees and canned 400 quarts of fruit and juice and tomatoes besides.
2 comments:
Looking good Judy! The 1915 thing is funny :)
Hey Judy. Your garden rocks! I just moved into a house with a guomi tree that is full of fruit this year, and I see that you have guomis too. I don't like how they taste raw (waxy, ugh!). How do you eat your guomi berries?
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