Monday, May 16, 2005
...And God said "Let there be corn"
I have become a gardener. This is my first foray into the world of green thumbing. I hope I have a knack for it. We have this little spot out behind our house hidden from view by a shelter belt. It had been grown over with weeds and grass. I decided a couple of weeks ago that I would like to try my hand at growing some food.
Now, you have to know that I have never been the kind of person who can just decide to do something new and then do it. First I have to convince myself that I can do it... then I have to ask my Dad how it's done (no comments honey)... then I have to make sure I have everything I need, and by the time I get there... I have usually talked myself out of it because it just seems like too much trouble. However, I have in the past couple of years surprised myself with my ability to produce some consumables: I have made some wine... I have made several batches of fantastic Sandhill Plum Jelly... and just recently I put my mind to baking and came up with a great pecan pie with Southern Comort and chocolate chips thrown in.
Now, you may be saying... "whooptee dooo Basil". But like I said, I'm not much of a self starter, so the fact that I have done any of these things is kind of amazing.
Anyway, back to the story at hand. I went out and turned this mess of a space into a nice little garden (with a little help from the boys). I must say, it looks pretty good. Judge for yourself with the picture below. I found out after I got started that the tree in the background is an olive tree planted by my mom. Now, I'd never heard of an olive tree in SW Kansas. So I thought that made our little garden kind of special. When I think "olive tree" I think of The middle east, and the garden of gethsemane, and the mount of olives... so, I wanted to come up with a name for the garden that was apropos to having an olive tree in it. Consequently I am tentatively calling it "God's garden". I know... not very original or catchy, but it is tentative.
God's garden
The tree is not in great shape, but I am in the process of pruning it to beauty. The garden is a beautiful spot... right smack dab in the middle of a grove of evergreen and pine trees. Perfect for meditation, or just sitting down with a cooler of beer and watching the corn grow. Speaking of which... corn is all I have planted so far. I put in six rows, and decided that wasn't enough, so I planted six more. I've got my own little field of dreams started here. I may not plant anything else until I see if I have inherited my Mother's green thumb. Next year's garden will have more variety. At any rate... we're going to have a boat load of corn in a few months.
Now, you have to know that I have never been the kind of person who can just decide to do something new and then do it. First I have to convince myself that I can do it... then I have to ask my Dad how it's done (no comments honey)... then I have to make sure I have everything I need, and by the time I get there... I have usually talked myself out of it because it just seems like too much trouble. However, I have in the past couple of years surprised myself with my ability to produce some consumables: I have made some wine... I have made several batches of fantastic Sandhill Plum Jelly... and just recently I put my mind to baking and came up with a great pecan pie with Southern Comort and chocolate chips thrown in.
Now, you may be saying... "whooptee dooo Basil". But like I said, I'm not much of a self starter, so the fact that I have done any of these things is kind of amazing.
Anyway, back to the story at hand. I went out and turned this mess of a space into a nice little garden (with a little help from the boys). I must say, it looks pretty good. Judge for yourself with the picture below. I found out after I got started that the tree in the background is an olive tree planted by my mom. Now, I'd never heard of an olive tree in SW Kansas. So I thought that made our little garden kind of special. When I think "olive tree" I think of The middle east, and the garden of gethsemane, and the mount of olives... so, I wanted to come up with a name for the garden that was apropos to having an olive tree in it. Consequently I am tentatively calling it "God's garden". I know... not very original or catchy, but it is tentative.
God's garden
The tree is not in great shape, but I am in the process of pruning it to beauty. The garden is a beautiful spot... right smack dab in the middle of a grove of evergreen and pine trees. Perfect for meditation, or just sitting down with a cooler of beer and watching the corn grow. Speaking of which... corn is all I have planted so far. I put in six rows, and decided that wasn't enough, so I planted six more. I've got my own little field of dreams started here. I may not plant anything else until I see if I have inherited my Mother's green thumb. Next year's garden will have more variety. At any rate... we're going to have a boat load of corn in a few months.
I have since discovered that the olive tree is a russian olive tree... apparently not completely alien to this area as I had believed. In fact it doesn't even produce olives that are fit for human consumption. Birds like 'em though. But no matter. I have an olive tree in my garden!
I'll post more pictures as the corn grows.# posted by Kyle @ 10:40 PM 
