Sowing
Last year while I was so badly anemic during my pregnancy, I thought I would never garden again. I couldn’t get excited about flowers, or canning, or any of it… so I promised myself that this year I would grow nothing but easy, easy flowers. No starting seeds, no planting, no wheelbarrowloads of soil amendments, no weeding, no harvesting/washing/preserving. I bought a half pound or so of wildflower seeds, and thought no more about it.
Now that I’m feeling a bit better, I am a little bummed that I didn’t start any veggie seeds. We really don’t need as many as last year though; we still haven’t gone through half the tomatoes I canned, or even made a dent in the cucumber relish and pickles. Maybe I could still start a few, because I do miss fresh lettuce and chard, and we love our cucumber water around here.
So when my friend’s husband came and tilled the back 40, I got those wildflower seeds sown but I left a few of the beds un-sprinkled and waiting for veggies. I also planted about 100-150 giant sunflowers, the kind that makes edible seeds, all in lines along the far fence and lining a few of the curving beds in the Fiddlehead. If the squirrels don’t get them, that will be a delicious and beautiful crop. (I also weeded a whole bunch – shoulda taken the picture afterwards!)
If all the rest of the seed comes up as well as the red clover I’ve sown (and IF it can outpace the nasty weeds back there) it will be just gorgeous. And the bees will love it. Perhaps all the bouquets – and the possibility of honey – will make up for the scarcity of fresh vegetables?