Last weekend, as the fabulous Endurer was making yet another delicious dinner, he stumbled across a sad, forgotten head of garlic. A rarity around here.
Happily, the timing corresponded nicely with art time. So the Hurricane and and I decided to do something with them and with an old pot.
While these won’t wind up as nice, plump heads of garlic and the pot won’t find itself at MOMA anytime soon, they will provide scapes for many mashed potato and roasted chicken dinners to come.
Cucumbers, oh, cucumbers. How we love thee.
(a paint job, perhaps, yes). A disease-resistant cucumber named the General Lee? Yup. Sold. Thanks, Organic Gardening, for pointing this gynoecious paradox out!Muskmelons! Such luciousness. And so many exciting new hybrids to try! (Side note: heirlooms are great, but will have to wait for the POD’s next, much-larger, raised-bed garden. Thanks for the courage, Michael Tortorello)
Tomatoes: After a string of planted-too-soon failures (both self- and nursery-started), we’re hoping these high-tech hybrids hit the sweet spot, timing-wise. Since Burpee’s home base is only 30 miles north of POD’s sladder, we’re optimistic. (And playing it safe, per last year’s notes, POD just fired off a note to Burpee’s asking for a later shipping date. [Let’s hear it for Burpee’s — permission granted!])
March happens. And for years and years it appears, Plants On Deck feels the urge to buy everything this time each year. Then, weeks and sometimes months later, when the precious cargo arrives, the reasons behind the carefully-researched purchases have been long forgotten.
So this year, we’re writing it down. Bit by bit. It’s an all-new crew, so there’s lots to remember. And hey, that was the original point of this here note-to-self blog.
Corn: Yes, corn. Like, on the cob. In a pot. So. Excited. POD’s managed to do okay with veggies, considering the space limitations imposed by a 10 x 10 mixed-sun (too much, then too little) deck and a 8 x 4 sun-struck expanse of concrete and exhaust. There’s this smell, though, that only a nice row of fresh corn stalks can deliver. It’s the smell of my mother’s garden. And, as she reminded me this morning, my grandfather’s garden.
It smells like home.
Peppers: Peppers are well-like at POD, but we’ve never planted all that many or paid that much attention to them. Now that we’ve given up on green beans (sigh), there’s an extra container begging for some color.
It’s March! Which is usually a time for celebration for Plants On Deck, but The Winter That Won’t End means that instead of running outside to plant leftover radish seeds, on the off-chance that they’ll work, we’re scrambling around the house, looking for more windowsill gardening projects. (Mission accomplished, btw, more on that later.)
Success: Peashoots
Fail: Radishes & Carrots (Too lazy to post progress, but in a nutshell: too gloomy, too tired of clutter to set up grow lights, too cheap to keep the house above 59 degrees for any length of time.)
Plants On Deck 