State park trail entry point.

Journey Home

Tales from the pilgrimage.

Garden 2022

  • 2022 Garden Summary

    The gardening season flashed by. The main issue this year was weeding: I didn’t keep up. Nonetheless the garden produced an abundance of vegetables and the integration of garden with kitchen and our local food bank yielded less wasted produce. Despite the failures, things are heading in a positive direction. Suppression of weeds is done… Read more

  • It’s Spring By The Calendar

    With intense heat, humidity, and heat advisories, my shifts in the garden have been shorter this year. When I get dizzy, it’s time to head into the house and cool down. There is progress, nonetheless. All the trays of seedlings under the grow light found their way to the greenhouse on Wednesday. I will need… Read more

  • Sunday Afternoon Walk

    Around 1 p.m. I finished in the garden and took a walk on the state park trail. The wind had picked up. While there was plenty of remaining work in the garden, onions were in and other plots tended, I was ready to break the tension from wondering how I would fit everything in the… Read more

  • Shift of Onion Planting

    On Saturday I spent seven hours planting onions. The names of onion varieties are delightful: Walla Walla, Red Carpet, Ailsa Craig and Rossa di Milano were started from seed. I emptied the wagon and hooked it to the lawn tractor to haul heavy things. I used to carry the 100-foot water hose, tiller and everything… Read more

  • Inch by Inch, Row by Row

    It is always upsetting to spade the garden in spring. When I do, it disturbs a world that became stable since the last growing season. One year I found a burrow of rabbits. This year it was a mouse maze under a section of ground cover. As a human gardener I have no choice but… Read more

  • Last Frost

    It is difficult to know when winter’s last frost will occur. I believe it passed, and especially after Mother’s Day, risk of frost will be minimal. The garden is as far behind as it has been since we moved to Big Grove Township in 1993 and dug the first plot the following year. Under row… Read more

  • Working Outdoors

    Everything takes longer than expected. It took about two hours to assemble the replacement frame for the greenhouse and transfer the seedlings from the dining room floor where they landed after a wind storm ruined the last one. Overnight temperatures were forecast to drop to freezing. At 3 a.m. I checked the weather’s progress then… Read more

  • Getting Started in the Garden

    The kitchen and garden composters are in position for the 2022 growing season. The pace of my garden work slowed in recent years yet I keep at it. Yesterday I made progress in the plot to be used for leafy green vegetables. Plot prep work has become straightforward, routine. I work for a while and… Read more

  • Planting Day

    High winds blew the row cover off the frame multiple times on Monday. I went outdoors and fixed it. I ended up using landscaping stakes to secure it in 40+ miles per hour wind. By sundown, the wind slowed. It was too late to get back to the garden. By the time I return home… Read more

  • We Need a Break in the Weather

    The forecast is cold and windy today: marginal for working in the garden. As temperatures climb to around 40 degrees, the wind is forecast to pick up, resulting in a wind advisory beginning after lunch with gusts up to 45 miles per hour. Once the sun rises, I’ll go out and see what can be… Read more