Category Archives: Poetry

Last year’s garden was a success.

Of course, there are always pests…like the small crew of cabbage worms that took a few heads of cabbage.

Or the swarm of Japanese Beetles that attacked the tomatoes and the trees in the swale and the sunflowers.

And the army of squash bugs that wreaked havoc on the pumpkins.

There are always things beyond our control.

Nature is funny that way.

But, overall, we had a beautiful and fragrant garden and a successful harvest.

The layout for this year’s kitchen garden looks much the same as last year’s…with a few minor changes.

I’m done messing around with ready-made tomato cages.

The plants are always too heavy and I end up with a garden full of twisted cages and tomatoes rotting on the ground. I’m done with them.

This year, we are building 8, maybe 10, tomato cages using wire mesh. Concrete reinforcing wire mesh to be precise.

I’m not going to let the volunteers overrun the garden again this year.

The borage, though beautiful, was completely out of control.

The tomatoes, though tasty, choked out the carrots.

The pumpkins, though plentiful, took over too much space.

I’ll try to stay on top of them and, as they pop up, transplant them in the swale or back gardens. Maybe I’ll try to pot up a few and give them away. Most of them, however, will probably go to the chickens.

But…if the broccoli forest and dill jungle come back…I’ll leave that for the boys.

The design of the garden is done
It’s time to start all of the fun
The seeds are all here
The planting is near
The joy of the season’s begun!

The herb spiral design is complete. Once the weather starts to warm up, we’ll start construction using patio pavers my neighbor gave us.

I picked herbs for both culinary and medicinal purposes. I’ll also plant herbs good for tea like lemon balm, bee balm and chamomile.

I added Nasturtiums and marigolds to the design too. Nasturtiums will ward off aphids and white flies while the marigolds will attract pest predators.

The (semi) final list:

• Sage
• Oregano
• Lemon grass
• Basil
• Lavender
• Nasturtium
• Chives
• Lettuce
• Lemon balm
• Bee balm
• Thyme
• Rosemary
• Parsley
• Marigolds

I thought about planting borage too, but it takes over any space it is planted in so I opted to skip mint and borage altogether.

Lemon balm and bee balm are members of the mint family, but they are a bit easier to control so I am comfortable putting them in the spiral. I’ve planted lemon balm in a container and it did not take over like the chocolate mint in the vineyard.

I want an herb spiral, not a mint spiral…although that might be nice for the front yard. Hmmm…

My spiral it will smell so nice
And look so pretty too
A yummy meal, a tasty spice
And healthy tea to brew