Garden Report: May

I know we're not very far into May, but a lot has happened.

I planted the garden on April 28th. That should be the single most laborious thing that I do there. You feel working the soil, and you feel weeding, but the planting was more stooping, more digging, and much dirtier. I had thought maybe I would split up when I planted the plants and when I planted the seeds, but I ended up doing everything on the same day.

I worried about doing any seeds, but everything I was reading made it sound like I could still grow peas, beans, and pumpkins from seed, so I bought those, and I had received a seed packet for crookneck squash at an event, so I decided to plant those too. I bought three tomato plants, a six-pack tray of zucchini, another of marigold, and then five strawberry plants.

Once I started planting, everything seemed to go wrong. For the quantities that I had, and the recommended distances apart, and for what I had read on companion plantings, straight rows did not seem like they would work. The tomatoes are basically in the top row, with some marigolds, and then at the end of them the zucchini start, but they are in a cluster that moves into another row. To accommodate this, the strawberries are in kind of a W formation. To accommodate that, the beans start at the end of the strawberries, and curve around in a J-formation.

Beans and peas were the two things that were really supposed to be separated. Experienced gardeners have told me that doesn't really matter since then, but I was worried about it, so the peas are in the lower left corner while the beans are basically in the upper right corner, if you don't count the tomatoes. That left this diagonal swath for the pumpkins and squash. The squash have the upper left quadrant and then the pumpkins have the lower right. That was mainly because I can get in a second planting of peas, but the pumpkins will mature last, so it made sense to have them closer to the beans, I think.

Clearly, my patch is the least organized and messiest in the garden. Some of the other gardeners have amazing set-ups, and then there is mine. Still, the important thing is that it was planted, and could grow, and I felt good about that, until I saw how quickly the soil hardened after planting, and worried about that.

Despite that worry, little green shoots started popping up. Then I started worrying that they weren't deep enough, and would dry up, and then we got heavy rain, and I was worried that they would all be flooded out. Despite that, I still keep getting more green shoots, now with leaves, right on schedule.

The zucchini leaves that came with the plants seem very weak, but the stalks just started getting stronger, and it looks like they are putting forth new leaves. The tomato plants have not been getting taller, but we have some sunny days ahead, and that might do it. The squash are the only things that really seem to be lagging behind, but that was the gift packet, so anything I get is a bonus.

I suppose the first benefit of the garden is the endless entertainment. There is always something going on, and to me it is a real nail-biter. The second benefit, however, may be a reminder that I don't need to bite my nails. Things do work out, and this is still essentially a learning year. If that continues, the third benefit can be fresh fruits and vegetables.

It has been a remarkably social thing. I know three of the families with plots, but I almost never see them there. However, I see other people, whom I don't know, with plots, and we exchange pleasantries. Also, people without plots are interested, and will ask questions and want to look, and children will often want to help, and you can see where the community part of the garden comes in.

It's a good experience so far.