Applegater Winter 2012 5
DIRTY FINGERNAILS AND ALL
What did your mom tell you?
by SiOUx ROGeRS
Of course we never listened to mom,
especially when she said, “Do as I say, not
as I do.” What nonsense! Why did she do
it in the first place? Okay, this is easy. I
am not your mom, just an experimenting
gardener with very dirty fingernails and
cracked heels (ick) to boot. Never the
less, this is a great time to listen to my past
season’s flaws and successes. Nothing in
gardening is a failure, just an experiment.
Last “summer” started out very early,
like in the middle of a snowstorm. You
may have heard this story already, but just
humor me. I had a call from the Daily
Courier newspaper in Grants Pass. They
had read my article about cup gardening.
They wanted to come out and do a full
story on this crazy idea. My friend came
over and we planted these wee little plants
in ten-inch plastic cups, bottoms cut out.
The newspaper reporter came over, took his
pictures and it started snowing. The next
morning the garden was solid snow, like
really solid—no cups, no plants, nobody
was home. Moving right along into spring,
then summer, wow, giant healthy plants.
The cups had acted like mini greenhouses.
Granted these cup crops were cold-weather
crops, not tomatoes and yummy melons,
but still, can’t argue with success.
Now I forgot what the point was…
Oh yes, experiment—make it up as you
go along.
Experiments that did not work
Here is what did not work in my
summer garden. I’ll save the good stuff
for last.
My gutter garden failed, in that only
about one quarter was viable.
My squashes and melons planted in
five-gallon containers behind the asparagus
bed withered on the vine. Well, not the
zucchini, but I still did not have enough to
run to the neighbors and leave abandoned
zucchinis on their back porch, or feed
extras to the deer and chickens. Saga will
be ongoing, but I think nasturtiums will
win out, assuming I remember to water
them once in awhile.
Tomatoes in our microclimate were can easily lift them at the end of the season.
their normal struggling, icky flavor and I also did a “Mint Julep” cart. Mint needs
very sparse.
to be contained, we all know that, so that is
We also realized that the “new” very exactly what I did. I did a variety of mints.
black cherry tomato looks beautiful but This is the second year in the same cart.
tastes awful, even after it ripens, which They seem to hide in the cold but pop right
takes forever. Basically it tastes like a glass up again in the spring, bigger and better.
marble!
Japanese eggplant right outside the
My other melons and squashes kitchen door did great. I rotate every other
planted in big tires in full sun did nothing year between eggplant and basil. Pretty
except struggle. I do believe that out of the boring, but it works.
five tires, I had one unidentifiable round
I did more miniature lavender,
“melon.”
parsley, sage, rosemary, and other edible
Experiments that did work
herbs and flowers right outside the kitchen
Here is what I did right and what I door again. In the same area I have
will repeat next year.
horseradish in a large container. Even
Instead of fussing with trellises for though I have some of the same plants
all the climbing things we plant, I simply elsewhere, it is wonderfully convenient and
made eight cylinders, about one foot tall fun to just walk out the door and pick the
and three feet around, from some field seasonings for the feast of the night.
fencing wire I had salvaged. I hooked Experiments to try next year
the cylinders together however I could.
Here is what I should have done or
I planted on the outside bottom of the will do next year:
tall cylinder and vroom—up the climbers
The gutter garden would have worked
went, without any help from mom.
better if I’d had a deeper gutter to use.
I p l a n t e d Planted in a concrete sewer pipe next to the house, Given that I don’t
a few themed
this tomato plant is still putting out blossoms. and won’t, I need
w h e e l b a r row s .
to pay better
First was a
attention to
“lemonade”
what is planted in
stand. The old
them. I thought
wheelbarrow
that miniature
had lemon grass,
gourmet lettuce
lemon verbena,
would be perfect.
lemon geranium
The roots are
and stevia for
shallow and
sweetening. If I
lettuce tolerates
can beat the frost,
shade. The basil
I will unroot all
at the far end did
of these plants
great, but then
and place them
I seem to have
in pots because
good luck with
they are frost-
planting basil
tender. Next year
anywhere, so
I may do the same
why waste the
using a larger
gutter plan. The
wheelbarrow and
lettuce probably
sinking the pots
needed much
into it so that I
more water, like
Please support our advertisers!
They help make this paper possible.
The Gater thanks you.
Sioux Rogers—And the beet goes on.
twice a day in the hottest part of summer.
On the other hand, that is way too much
work, and we eat much more kale and
chard than lettuce. What was I thinking?
(Slap forehead.) Okay, no lettuce in the
gutters, but maybe some radishes. Small
ones though.
The other plan is strawberries—their
runners can just trail over the sides so
they will not replant and spread into
my everywhere. And last, but not to
be forgotten, are nasturtiums. I love
to decorate salads with them, and the
trailing varieties would be lovely backed
up to the chicken coop. Saga of decisions
will continue, but I have a hunch the
nasturtiums will win. Remind me to water
the gutter.
The squashes and vines, whether in
five-gallon containers or tires, need full
sun, more compost and regular watering.
They were clearly neglected.
One tomato, planted in a concrete
sewer pipe next to the house, is still green,
ripening up the tomatoes and putting
on more blossoms. Just thought I’d brag
because I have no more concrete sewer
pipes or room around the south side of
the house. So next year we will plant
tomatoes with our friends in their sunny,
lower-elevation, well-fertilized plot.
So what did mom say...geez, I cannot
remember. But I am telling you, there is no
such thing as failure, unless you do not try.
Dirty fingernails and all
Sioux Rogers
541-846-7736
mumearth@dishmail.net