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But it's my zucchini

Category: Liberty's "Victory" Garden | Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 3:26 am

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So ends another weekend. My new friend, Mallory, and I split the gardening work between each of our gardens today. Weeding is far more fun when you have someone working along side of you, and you can admire each others triumphs. And the husbands? They got together and drove down to Denver to go see a baseball game.

While we were pulling weeds, we got to talking about gardens of others. So many pictures of your gardens that I see on this site are intimidating. They're so beautiful that I just can't imagine the work and knowledge that goes into them. Just picking out the right plants from the thousands of varieties available just has me thinking that it will be impossible for me.

And I'll admit, I'll look at your gardens and then go out and look at mine and feel like it's child's crayon drawing compared to Michelangelo. I was talking about that today with Mal and lamenting about it. We were looking down at my zucchini and Mal said the most perfect thing to me to change my whole attitude. "But Libby, it's YOUR zucchini."

That's right, it's my zucchini, grown and tended from a seed. And while it isn't close to the masterpiece gardens some of you have, That zucchini is a perfect start. Next year I'll add to my knowledge. And more the year after that. I put too much pressure on myself thinking I had to know EVERYTHING about gardening right now.

I'm no longer intimidated but am now inspired. It's all thanks to Mallory and her down-to-earth advice. I'll continue to repeat it to myself to keep myself grounded in reality. It's my new gardening mantra...

But Libby, it's your zucchini.

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You weed, work, and water, and then one day it happens!!

Category: Liberty's "Victory" Garden | Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 3:51 pm

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It's finally happened. After weeks of digging, watering, weeding, and a little praying, the work finally pays off with a wonderful overnight gift. This morning, Liberty's Victory Garden took a giant step towards victory. A tiny, green, but beautiful tomato has appeared.




First fruits (well, fruit singular) ( photo / image / picture from Miss Liberty's Garden )



This is my very first garden and to see that it's working is very exciting to me. My husband, while thrilled about the new tomato, didn't share my total exuberance. Perhaps it was because I woke him up out of a deep sleep to share the news. Priorities, priorities...

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Sharing the Love

Category: Liberty's "Victory" Garden | Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2011 3:49 am

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One of the things about my garden that I'm excited about is the opportunity to share the bounty once it arrives. I dream about taking my neighbor some zucchini or a handful of radishes. I can't wait to have friends over while my husband grills corn that we picked only minutes before. I want us to be able to take a basketful of tomatoes to work for everyone.

At this point in my garden, everything is growing, but I'm still some time out before I'll be able to harvest anything. But I got to "share the love" today regardless. Since the garden is a labor of love, what better thing can you do but share it.

I was at church this morning (my husband was on duty) and I got to talking with another young couple who came for the first time. And guess what? She's been working on her first garden. We started talking about herbs and I told her how I'd taken some fresh sage right out of my flower beds and put it in some spaghetti the night before. She said that she'd been wanting to plant some sage.

Ah yes, ding ding ding! I have more sage than I needed. So I went right home, dug some that had escaped, put it in a pot, and I got to share :) She got some sage and we both got a new friend.

Such is the reward for sharing the love.

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What to do, what to do...

Category: Liberty's "Victory" Garden | Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2011 1:22 am

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My garden is just about a month old now. I go out every day and weed, water, wander, and wonder. When my husband first agreed to dig up the corner of the yard for the garden I was excited all day as I waited and watched.

And then I planted seeds. I was ecstatic as the first tiny leaves of corn and zucchini appeared.

I've misplanted, pulled up the wrong plant (thinking it was a weed), I've encouraged, planted more, got swarmed by mosquitoes, and I was ambushed and nearly eaten alive by a grass spider. And now, as the heat of summer moves in, I'm discovering something else about my garden. And I'm finding it difficult to cope with.

Nothing is happening.

Okay, that's not entirely true. Everything is growing and that's a good thing. But I'm at that point where I'm not waiting for seedlings to emerge. My weeding is under control, my arachnophobia is in check, and I water daily right on schedule.

Nothing is happening.

It's a lull in the Liberty's Victory Garden. I'm still a long ways away from harvesting anything. So what do you experienced gardeners do during this time?

I need another project, and it just came to mind. I need to start a compost pile. Yep, nothing like rotting plant matter to spur a girl on. Thanks, everyone. Time to get this project rolling.

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The ugly side of pretty

Category: Liberty's "Victory" Garden | Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 1:32 am

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I love my garden. I have little doubt that statement reverberates as a global truth among everyone on GardenStew. But below the glorious colors of a multitude of flowers or the succulent tastes of homegrown vegetables, there is an ugly side to gardening.

I'm not talking about dirt. Even dirt, to the experienced gardener can be seen as a thing of beauty if properly prepared and maintained. Despite previous blog entries, I'm not even talking about the need for persistent weeding. Some might argue (in a demented way) that weeding is a way of getting closer to your garden, of getting to know it at a more personal level. I'm not even talking about slugs, aphids, raiding rabbits, or the occasional episode of problematic weather. No, I'm talking about {{{ insert shivers here }}} spiders.

Please don't start telling me about the invaluable role spiders have in the global ecosystem. If spiders were so beneficial they would not have caused me to kill three of my sweet corn seedlings. Understand that there are not a lot of creatures of nature that bother me. Snakes? No problems with them. Crawling things with more or less than eight legs? They don't bother me. But anything with eight legs exactly is more than I can handle.

Now I know there are spiders in any garden. I see them in mine all the time. There is a BIG difference between being in my garden and being on me. Early this afternoon, after church, I was out in the garden doing my daily weeding and verbal coaxing. At the particular moment in time this afternoon, I was talking to a transplanted squash, providing words of encouragement when I felt something on my leg. Fly, mosquito, grasshopper, not problem. But when I saw a rather large grass spider on my bare leg (I swear it was the size of the neighbor's cat), I freaked and fell backwards when I slapped at it. I not only killed three stalks of corn when I fell back, but I ended up with spider guts all over my leg (remember, big as a cat). It took all of my prideful girl reserves not to lose my lunch at the same time.

My husband, after he finished laughing (he witnessed the display while he was trimming along the fence), helped me wash the mess off my leg because I couldn't stand to touch it and then provided sympathy for the lost corn. I had to suck it up, though. After my "wonderful" hubby finished with me, he offered these words of consolation... "I'm still not doing your weeding."

Last edited: Mon Jun 27, 2011 1:40 am

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For the good of all, it has to happen

Category: Liberty's "Victory" Garden | Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2011 1:17 am

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I was able to get out to the garden for a good hour of weeding tonight. I'm really pleased with how things are growing. My mystery squash looks great. I may be getting some blossoms on my tomato plant in the next day or two. My corn is doing wonderfully. And the pumpkin finally seems to be taking off after adding some composted manure.

But as I was weeding, a dire revelation formed.

It's time to start thinning. It's hard to do. I've been nurturing these plants since they were seeds. I've watered and provided tender, loving care. I've weeded over and over again. I've fed and caressed their soft, baby smooth leaves. We don't have kids yet (we only passed six months of marriage) and probably won't for awhile. These veggies have become my kids.

My husband is far more callous about it. "Just pull the darn things. Do you want me to do it?"

No. This is something the mother gardener must do. Yes, tomorrow, for the good of the garden, I will go out and do my duty...

... and then make my husband take me out to dinner so he can console me for my loss.

Last edited: Sat Jun 25, 2011 2:15 am

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Weeds... A false sense of security??

Category: Liberty's "Victory" Garden | Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2011 2:45 pm

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From day one of Liberty's Victory Garden I have been going out and pulling weeds. This is a new plot of ground that my husband and I just turned and it had been severely neglected by the previous owners and covered in...you guessed it... weeds.

But after going out there day after day and pulling every little weed that makes an appearance, I noticed last night that there were fewer to pull. So I wonder, is this a victory in Liberty's Victory Garden? Or to carry the metaphor further, are the weeds simply regrouping and preparing for another assault?

In the meantime, I think I'll enjoy the weeding lull and continue going out there and raving to my hubby how well the corn is growing and speaking encouraging words to my summer squash. Although I don't think my "Give me zuchinni or give me mulch" speech will ever be covered in the history books.

Last edited: Wed Jun 22, 2011 9:51 pm

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My husband thinks I'm obsessed...

Category: Liberty's "Victory" Garden | Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2011 8:03 pm

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Yes he does. It can't be because I've made four trips to the nursery in four days. It can't be because I've just opened up another spot in the yard so I could plant more. It can't be because I planted radishes. My husband pointed out that I don't even like radishes. No, I don't, but I have friends who do. And if you can't share the bounty part of the fun is gone.

I walk out there several times a day. I measure. I take pictures. I read books. And my computer always seems to have GardenStew open.

I second guess myself on what I've planted or how I prepared the soil. I take advantage of every free tomato and pepper plant offered to me. I dug up mint from a community garden (with permission). I pull my husband outside when I found new growth on my previously atrocious looking rhubarb. That's when he told me I was obsessed.

Okay, well, maybe I am a little...

Last edited: Sun Jun 19, 2011 8:04 pm

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Back from a last minute camping trip

Category: Liberty's "Victory" Garden | Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2011 10:36 pm

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My husband came home Thursday night and asked if I wouldn't consider going along and being another volunteer for a church youth group camping trip. That dear husband of mine knows he only has to ask.

So we went out camping down in Colorado, in the Red Feathers area, for a night with a small, but great group of kids. The rain held off, except for a few sprinkles, and the mosquitoes weren't bad at all.

I paid the little girl who lives next door to come over and water my garden (with her mother's help). When I got home, the first thing I did was check my garden. Everything looks great. The corn is looking real good. I have some late planted zuchinni, yellow squash, and pumpkins poking through a couple of days earlier than expected.

The second thing I did, after checking my garden, was to take long shower to get all the campfire smells out of my hair.

It was a great short trip in some beautiful country, and I'm happy to have gone.




Pine cones in the making ( photo / image / picture from Miss Liberty's Garden )






The sunset last night ( photo / image / picture from Miss Liberty's Garden )





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Lessons in Weeding

Category: Liberty's "Victory" Garden | Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 2:49 pm

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This isn't a lesson in how to weed. It's lessons I've learned in a very short time (three weeks) of working in a garden. I would assume that many of these lessons will have you seasoned gardeners nodding your heads and saying, "Yep, know that one."

First off, the last real day I was able to spend in my garden was Sunday. Working Mon-Wed has given me only a little time here and there. I'm off for the next four days and the first thing I did when I woke up this morning was run out to see how the "kids" were doing. I spent the next hour weeding. While I was weeding my mind started making a list. Five quick thoughts came to mind.

Here they are:

1) I think weeds would survive a global nuclear event, with a volcano and a blizzard thrown in.

2) Don't turn your back. Weeds watch for that and that's when they pop up.

3) Fingernail polish is a girl's best friend -- it hides the dirt.

4) I now understand why my husband said, "After we plant, you're on your own."

5) Dang it, that wasn't a weed!





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