Er, you weren’t expecting anything from me, were you?
The garden has been, um, there. We’ve gotten some tomatoes, most of which went immediately into Chloe’s mouth. I picked two the other day. She pointed and whined, so I handed her one. She ate it like an apple, stem and all. She pointed to the other one. I destemmed that one and handed it over, and she ate it as well. She loves it when dinner includes a fine heirloom tomato, chopped up just for her. She doesn’t especially like the ones you get on sandwiches and burgers in restaurants, so clearly she inherited some good taste.
But yeah. Some tomatoes, some peppers–I finally grew Alma paprikas this year–some herbs, a couple of scallions, a few green beans before the teepee fell over. Three carrots and a solitary beet. A lot of raspberries and parsnips. There are probably still potatoes down there somewhere. But mostly, the garden is a wreck. This gardening-with-a-small-child idea is just not practicable, not for me. And next year is going to be even worse, because I’m doing it all over again next spring.
So I’m closing down the garden. I’ve been slowly making last harvests and pulling down stakes, and I’m going to move the few herbs and flowers I really want to keep (the cannas I planted way back when have just started coming up; doesn’t that figure?). Then I’m going to pull everything down, cover it with compost and black plastic, and let it sleep for a year. It makes me sad to do, but looking at the weed-encrusted rotting shadow of what a garden should be makes me sad, too, and I’m just plain not going to have the time or energy–if I didn’t with one baby, I certainly won’t with two, and first-trimester symptoms are even worse this time than last.
So next year will be a year without a garden, even if we sell the house, which we’re still trying to do. I’ll grow a few things in pots; I think I can manage that much, and Chloe’s appetite demands at least one or two tomato plants. But otherwise I’m closing down shop.
Which means I’m closing down the blog, too. I may come back to it, if I feel like writing and feel I have something to write about, but I’m also working on other projects, and my energy is wearing thin these days, so for now, I’m putting it into hibernation with the garden. Good gardening, everyone! Plant a seed for me.
6 comments
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October 15, 2010 at 7:09 am
Ottawa Gardener
Funny, it’s a year of moves for many of the garden bloggers I visit. This year, was supposed to be my year without a garden though because we are still living here (for another couple weeks anyhow) and because my garden contains so many food plants, we seemed to have ended up with lots of harvests nonetheless. Good luck with your future home.
My kids manage to eat most of the cherry tomatoes from our garden so that next year I think I”ll grow a wall of them – see if I can outplant their appetites 🙂
November 10, 2010 at 3:41 pm
Becky
Life changes and our gardens have to change with us. The important thing is to do what is right for you without guilt. At this moment in my garden, many seeds are being planted because I have’t been able to clean up. I hope spring will be different, but who knows. You will be missed!
November 30, 2010 at 6:46 pm
Annia
Oh, you will surely be missed but hopefully you’ll find the heart to write again. Best of Luck!
December 21, 2010 at 2:39 pm
The Farmer Pages
Miss you. Hope you’re well and wish for your return.
December 21, 2010 at 2:40 pm
The Farmer Pages
sorry – i misdirected you to my own site. i appologize.
January 3, 2012 at 12:54 pm
Emmy
Hello,
I heard a voice on your blog, it was the rarest voice in literature.
It was the voice of a mother to a daughter,
and as I read on
I found stories of a mother feeding her daughter sun ripened tomatoes from the garden.
2010 was a hard year for everyone, I think. I lost my baby. Many lost jobs. More lost houses. I wonder how many lost gardens.
I planted potatoes, lentils, and some other beans in a pathetic urban gardening attempt. I will keep it going now because of you.
This is a book for you.
It is called
On Being A Woman: Musings of a Radical Mother. by Sharon A. Myers. She is faculty at USC now but wrote the book years earlier to her daughter, long before she ever got a Ph.D. She says it was her daughter that gave her the most important education she ever had.
Please read it? It is short and well-written. Also it is very interruption-friendly, as it was written by a mother.
good luck