Garden Records

 

Garden records…I have a notebook from our first years here, with my original designs for the yard and gardens, which was not at all related to the reality on the ground, and a series of photos as we built some, but not all, of the beds. It’s entertaining, but not useful. We were always arguing over timing and weather—is this winter really long and cold or it is just me? When did we start the fall cabbages last year? Shouldn’t we be moving the coop again? Etc.

 In 2016, I got systematic. I found an old binder and divided it into four sections: order forms for seeds and potatoes, garden maps, next year’s reminders (plant mustard under the vines!), and a week by week accounting of events. The maps and order forms are nice, but the real useful information is in the weekly notes. For example, this is Week Nine.

2016: one egg, peas planted in greenhouse, Camilla and daffs blooming, 10 metal hoops from Sunbow.

2017: Daffs are blooming. Beehive out as a lure to wild bees. 1.5 inches of rain and chilly.

2018: Daphne is blooming. Chilly. School starts are looking good (home starts bad? I don’t know.) Lettuce and sweet peas starting in the house.

2019: Coop moved. Tomatoes started. Peas in the house. SNOW—twice.

2020: Plum is blooming. Rosemary is blooming. One egg every other day. Warm and sunny all week.

2021: Daffs blooming. Plants out. (I broke my arm that spring—it is a short note)

2022: Cold spell—20 degrees and clear. Cleaned and pruned the fig. Starts are in the house.

2023: Cold rain, sleet, snow, grim. Peas are up in the house. Snowdrops are still blooming. No daffs.

When I look back over the years, it is not unusual for the weather to be grim in the first week of March; I suspect I remember the few lovely weeks more clearly and fondly than the years of sleet, rain, and snow squalls.  There are clearly pea starts in the house every year, even though I have heating mats in the greenhouse and the spring greens are growing cheerfully out there.  That’s helpful. Next week, according to my notes, I will start the tomatoes and hop the coop over to the last bed of the season.  Making notes every week has cut down on the household debates, which is good, but it also reminds me of the seasonal rhythms of the year. It is time to spend the evenings with the peas, counting daily germination.