I began this series with the first post on March 1st. In case anyone reading this article has been living in a cave or is just out of a coma, COVID-19 has thrown a wrench in just about everyone’s works. I had intended to post regular updates on the progress of the Secret Garden, but I have been busy… well, gardening.
Soil has been the only balm for the anxiety, remorse, and frustration of dealing with the fallout of a pandemic. I am so fortunate to still have my job and a nice place to shelter in place. Although it is bittersweet, I continue to plant and prepare for next year as my statement of faith in the future.
In addition to the calming effects of hands in the dirt, the practice of, and learning about, natural gardening techniques has been my guiding star. It is time to work with this world in a softer, gentler, and healthier way. The status quo cannot continue if our species is to survive and thrive. Using the philosophy behind permaculture techniques is our answer. The idea of working with nature instead of battling it is so much easier, more pleasant, and a no-brainer. You spend less and you work less. And what’s more, you improve your earth instead of mining it. And so I’ve taken another look at plans for the Secret Garden.
The Three Sisters were a mixed bag of success. The corn was not tasty, so we will try another variety next year, but their stalks provided great support for the beans. And the butternut squash produced was bountiful and delicious. I’ve cooked, put up, and stored a good supply of it, and we have already enjoyed many servings of the yard-long (red) green beans.
Once the girls had done their thing, I waited for a few final bean pods to dry for next year’s seed, and then chopped up the remains of the three plants and left them in place. The idea is to return the consumed nutrients to the soil by letting the roots, stems, and leaves—now full of the aforementioned nutrients—rot in place. The mound is then covered with rotting wood, topped with hay, and sprinkled with some lovely “gifts” from my rabbits, Peabody and Lapine. Composting in place will continue with the hopes of a nutrient-rich spot awaiting me next spring.
The tiered garden is on its second life. The top tier began with sugar snap peas. As those began to wane, I planted pole beans that have climbed the wooden stakes and now gone up the awning support. Our awning replacement is on backorder, so I decided I’d just grow my own. The beans are trailing across strings and look quite lovely dangling down where I can pick them right from my back door.
At some point, I noticed small caterpillars were tucked into neat little pockets they made themselves by folding over a piece of leaf and knitting it shut like a tiny sleeping bag. I tried removing them by hand and carried lots of caterpillars in leaf pockets off to other regions of the yard. But my efforts seemed in vain as the little buggers ravaged the leaves, perhaps at night while I was sleeping because I never saw one out and about.
Just as suddenly as they arrived, they were gone. Then I noticed the paper wasp nest around the corner. I learned from my research that paper wasps prey on caterpillars. They use them to rear their young. It’s all quite gruesome, and I’ll not go into the details as I have often found that truth is stranger (and harsher) than fiction. But everybody’s got to make a living.
Rather than applying a toxic cocktail of chemicals to kill the caterpillars on my beans, which I later intend to eat, then zapping the wasp’s nest with a harsh, long-distance, poisonous spray, I’ve opted to let the world do its own thing. Fast forward a week or so, and the caterpillars are gone. Soon the wasps will be too. The workers will die off after the first freeze, and the queen hibernates all winter. She will emerge to fly off and begin a new community somewhere else that will hopefully come back and help me care for my beans! No money spent on chemicals, no poison added to my little environment, and nothing toxic in my green beans. It’s a win-win.
The bottom tier provided a beautiful spray of nasturtium, calendula, feverfew, and marigolds. Tomatoes, basil, sage, turmeric, and dill were planted in the midst. The nasturtium wilted back in the heat of summer but is making a great showing as the temperatures cool, while the tomatoes, which were of the indeterminate variety, have grown leggy and are not producing much. The dill has gone to seed, and the basil is slowing. I’ll soon harvest what is left to prepare for new plantings. I’ve recently put in cilantro seed, and I spy some dill popping up as a volunteer. I plan to add arugula to see if I can keep some things in action over the fall and perhaps even into winter.
As the summer 2020 gardening chapter comes to a close, my plans have shifted far from those I made when I began this series. My intention is to convert the entire area of the Secret Garden into planting beds. Have you wondered what to do with all those Amazon and Chewy boxes? I’m turning mine into dirt. I am currently in the process of carpeting the entire area with cardboard. I’ll cover that with the dead wood from around the yard and from the trees we had to have cut down. And the whole thing will be treated to my kitchen vegetable scraps, eggshells, coffee grounds, and newspaper as the wildlife, mostly unseen beneath our feet, does its great job of returning these items into good, rich earth.
It’s a mess at the moment. We took out half of the shrubs. The place looks to be scattered with debris. But six months into the future, this plot should be ready. I may do the three sisters along the fence in between the azaleas I’ve left in place. They are blooming now and are gorgeous. Plus, they attract hummingbirds, butterflies, and pollinators so that’s the trifecta right there. They stay. I also kept the two Fatsia Japonicas who look so happy beneath the shade of my enormous camelia. The spot they hold would not be conducive to herbs or flowering plants, so why not?
At the time of this writing, the main goal for the Secret Garden is to plant the beds with culinary and medicinal herbs and flowers. As I’ve read more and more about what I don’t want to put in my dirt, on my plants, or in my body, my desire to only use homegrown or organic elements on my skin has been added to the mix. Growing my own food and creating my own personal products without taking a hit on the environment, if only in my small patch of the world, exhilarates me and inspires me to learn more. Stand by. More to come!
It has been a difficult and heartbreaking few months, but life happens and changes and goes up and down and back and around. I’ve experienced my dark days full of dread and fear of the future. But 2020 has put me on a new path. Is the phoenix rising from the fire?