The Jungle Becomes a Garden

 6-6-21  Slowly getting there

I am still amazed at how some of the plants have survived through the eons of time that I was in that other dimension.  It's not just the ones that survived either that I still find amazing.  Some of the plants that died are still left hanging on the trellises and supports from before and give a ghostly perspective to something that was alive and active in ages past.  It's like an old stone foundation that is crumbled down and broken, but still gives the impression of the magnificence it had when it was in use.

I want to show you something.  Here is one of the tomato towers left from the last time the garden was active.  It still has the dead tomato plant still holding position on the tower, like vines hanging on that stone wall I was talking about.  It's like the bones of some animal that found this particular place to lay down and die to peak the curiosity of another generation as they wander this path.

I made these towers out of a half of a cattle panel and put a square top on them.  This allows the plants to grow up to about 9 feet tall before starting to bend back over toward the ground, and it doesn't leave an edge where the plant will break over, but allows a smooth curve back toward the ground again.

I'll clean this out, and move the tower to where I need it next.  In a garden, there is a common belief that the gardener is creating something that is permanent.  What I've discovered is that the very opposite is true.  In my case, I'm creating an eco-system that is flexible.  Even when I establish a bed of a variety of plant that comes back every year, I will still dig it up after a time, and move it to a new spot.  This lets me revitalize the soil in that spot and remove any root intrusions from outside the bed.  By digging the bed up and working my hands through the soil, I can find any bug larvae that are growing in there too.  Cut worms, grubs, hiding stink bugs, and who knows what else are pretty sneaky when they want to be.

I just turned the bed (above) over with a shovel.  This was probably one of the most recent beds to have been created, and the dirt is still clumpy with a lot of evidence of red clay in the mix.  Here's one (below) that is a row over from that one.  Notice how the dirt is less clumpy and is almost crumbly.  I think the experts call this soil condition "friable" and is much more along the lines of the perfect soil condition ... "forest loam".

  

The only thing different about these two beds is the number of times the bed was broken up and organic material was added.  It does look like the border of this bed has just about lived its life.  I think I can get another season out of it though, so I'm going to use it just like it is.

Here's a look at that first bed (the one with more clay) after it was broken up and planted.  I moved that tower over here for the tomato that is in the middle.  I put three bell peppers on each end of the bed.  As the tomato in the center grows up the cage tower, it will help to give the peppers a little relief from the hottest part of the summer in a few months.  The plan is for the tomato to grow up and make a nice little nest up at the top of the tower.  It will be easy to pick that way, and give it the most room to grow.  This is a "Sweet 100" variety and grows a very tasty, thick skinned cherry tomato.  They grow one of the largest plants of any tomato variety that I've tried.  I got one up to 16 feet tall once.  Not very practical, but really cool.  They will produce until the first frost in the fall.

Here's another plant that was hard to recognize at first.  You expect this particular plant to be low growing, and nothing like this.  This is what a carrot looks like when it is allowed to mature over a couple seasons.

The flowers of these carrots are about 5 feet high, and have become flat white umbrels or clusters of tiny flowers.  The plants are still soft and fern-like.  My wife pulled one up to see what the root looked like and I think it's still edible.  Might be a little woody in the center, but we'll add it to a soup and try it in small grated pieces.

Here's how the elephant garlic looks now.  I didn't even weed this bed, because the canopy of garlic leaves has pretty much shaded out everything else.  These opening flower pods are up to 6 feet tall.  I will dig this bed up after the leaves all turn yellow and it is finished flowering.  I'll replant singular cloves in the place of each of the divided bulbs that I find underground.  I think I can squeeze at least 25 new plants in this 3' x 3' bed, but I want to clear it out and revamp the soil first.  That will probably be in July.

I'll do the same thing with this bed of scallions when they die down too.  I won't get much from the tops of these plants this time, but you have to expect a smaller yield if you abandoned your garden.  I'll use the small pearl onions on the top to replant the bed, and harvest whatever is under the soil for the dehydrator.  They make a very sweet and oil filled onion that isn't hot at all.  When you dehydrate them in slices, they are perfect for soups, stews, beans, or any baked dish that will allow the dried onion to rehydrate while cooking.

I put in a bunch of "Early Girl" tomatoes in this bed.  I like the Early Girls because they grow a large plant, and produce through the entire season.  The tomatoes are medium sized with a beautiful pink flesh that holds its color when they are canned.  They have a heavy flesh with not as much juice, almost like a Roma tomato, and that makes them ideal for canning, sauces, and salsas.  The thick skin slips easily after a minute in boiling water, but it is thick enough that the Early Girl is much less resistant to insects that bite the fruit.

Went with the Jalapeno Peppers in this bed.  These are my favorite pepper.  They are spicy, but usually not overly so.  They are meaty and perfect for chopping, slicing, or stuffing.  They make wonderful pickled peppers in white vinegar too.  I may have broken the stem on one of them.  Hope it makes it anyway ... crossing fingers.

 Found a surviving Spearmint in another spot, and moved it over into this tire.  Anything in the mint family is usually good to add to drinks, candies, baked goods ... they're good to just nibble on a leaf too if you want to sweeten your mouth a little.  I've found that Spearmint leaves a fresher and more enjoyable aftertaste.  Don't try the Catmint (Catnip) ... I don't see what those critters find so compelling in that stuff.  I think it's nasty.  It makes a pretty plant though, and grows well even in the shade.  Here's that Spearmint.

The radishes and beets are just popping up in a couple other tires.  Here's the radishes.  They were up in 2 days, and they should be edible in about 25 days.  Grow little babies, grow.  The ones that we don't eat, will be allowed to mature to seed and we can get another large harvest of the Radish Peas.  Those are the seed pods that grow on top of the plant.  They have a mild radish flavor too.  You only get one radish per plant, but if they are allowed to grow to seed, you get hundreds of pea pods to munch on.

It only took a couple of days for a hummingbird to find the feeder.  It was a little female that buzzed my head while I was weeding the bottom.  The Golden Muscadine looks really good, and will help to shade the bird feeder to keep it out of the sun.

 

I'm still only about a third of the way through this Jungle/Garden.  There is still plenty to do, and there is still plenty of room to grow whatever we want.  There are several of the beds that are going to need new wood before they can be planted.  I'll concentrate on the ones that I can use now before I spend time on the ones that I need to rebuild.  If I can fix them before the end of the summer, then I can use the new beds for the fall/winder garden, and let the others stand down for the winter.

Glad you could stop by and spend some time with us.  At the beginning, it looked like a job that was too much to even contemplate, but now it seems like it is doable after all.  Small bites, one after another, still gets the elephant ate up.  See you next week.

Duane