October Memories

Reading through all the seed catalogues this time of year, it's easy to get a bit overwhelmed. The first list I made, "the wish list full of want" totalled almost one hundred dollars. Oh my! Get a grip Brenda; be rational and stop daydreaming. Definitely over budget for our small garden! One thing I do know is, there won't be any pumpkins growing in the garden this year; took up way way way too much room. Mind you, they did produce and I am very grateful to have enough cured to get through the winter. The same with the Carnival squash above...too much room, although I am sure you will agree, they are delightfully beautiful, each one with different markings, and sweet to eat. Trouble is, I sometimes see the fruits of our labour through an artists eye. "Oh, just think how beautiful that would look growing up the bean wall. You know... we gardeners are great dreamers! We have to be.

Autumn light here in Nova Scotia, is crisp, clear, and luminous. There's that window in the season where all in the garden shimmers in the sun, and reflection and moods of darks and lights along with the earthy smells of the garden touches your very soul.

Hearty soups are coming out of the kitchen to warm us on those coolish evenings; bonfires are lit to burn the garden debris; the smoke drifts over our hill, down to our neighbours. The last swims are done, the last of the short sleeve tshirts and sandals put away. The seagrass has turned to gold.

Now back to paring down that seed list and ordering what does well, and behaves more modestly than those pumpkins of last year. Wish me luck.

Flashback to September

Going through old garden photos reminds me what did well, what didn't and what we couldn't get enough of. Three top the list: tomatoes, beans and garlic. We have success with garlic in our garden, and even planting it in the raised bed cold frame in March last year, by September, it was ready to harvest. It's the first year I tried that, because I didn't get around to planting it in October 2013. The scapes below grew from Susan Delafield. Big thick cloves under the soil, a very tall scape, and a sculptural beauty in the garden.

As for the beans, seen behind the garlic above, well you know we built that back trellis especially for beans, and in fact, call it the bean wall. But the last few years, I find I cannot put seeds out too early because they get eaten, rot or get nabbed by the crows, mice or squirrels. Now, if I get them started inside, growing to about eight to twelve inches, and then plant out, all seems to be fine. Last year was a bit of a bust and in disgust, after planting three times I didn't want to buy any more seeds. I found a jar of organic dried beans in my cupboard, all different varieties, and so, I pushed them in the soil and hoped for the best. Well of course, some were climbers and some were just shrub but they gave a huge harvest and we had our fill. So the bean wall looked a little sparse in some places as you can see.

Tomatoes are probably the hardest plant for us to grow. For years we were trouble free, 'coasting' as one might say. Oh the bliss of it all. Then we were hit by late blight a few years back and that was the end of that. We now almost exclusively grow Sub Arctic Plenty, which doesn't mind a chilly spring, and gives us loads of tomatoes before the season of late blight. We also grow climbing Mexico Midget, chocolate cherry and sun gold which all seem to sluff off the blight. Plentiful, tasty and resilient are good hallmarks to aim for in a garden year after year and referring to old photos I find, are a great reminder.

My Get Up and Go

In the words of Pete Seeger "my get up and go has got up and went". Since August I've ignored the blog because I had lost my motivation and enthusiasm for writing. "Take a break" some of my friends advised but it seemed the more I was away from writing, the less inclined I was to go back to it. "What more can I write about that I haven't already written" I thought. Am I missing the point...why did I start the blog? That reason was based on keeping a journal for me to refer to, and to share my experiences growing our garden on the South Shore of Nova Scotia, Canada. Along the way, I met some wonderful people; the garden was photographed and published in two magazines and also a book. Who knew that could happen simply by making connections, sharing with others what is very personal, our own garden and what it means to me, to our family. Pete Seeger continues to sing, "but in spite of it all, I'm able to grin, and think of the places my get up has been". It has been a wonderful, and truly fulfilling joy, this blog. So, readers, I am loath to give it up.

The new year has begun with optimism. Last year was a difficult one but now, I am happy to say, or at least hopeful in saying, my Get up and Go, is improving. There's always something to write about when you have a three to four season garden. Even now, with snow on seedheads left for birds, beans that were never harvested and memories visited when looking at the bird bath not brought in, but forgotten, it is a beauty to behold.

Outside, the sun is shining so bright, the sky is 'hurt your eyes blue' and the snow is covering every seedhead and branch; fencepost and leaf.

But I know it will awake before I know it, and meanwhile, I will start growing pea shoots in pots, sprouts in a jar and plant Egyptian onion bulbs on the window sill to snip the fresh green growth. I will find primroses in the shops to brighten my January, and later, cut forsythia to force. And yes, I've written about this all before but perhaps that doesn't matter. Perhaps, what matters is that writing brings back the joy it always did, and to just put bum to chair and "write something for Heavens Sake!"