My father was a gardener of note in the town I grew up. He only grew flowers and trees. He must have been listed as having a noteworthy garden somewhere because I remember in my late teen years getting up in the late morning to go outside and smoke a joint and finding 4-5 old ladies touring our backyard uninvited. There would be a few drive by tours several times a day. My dad was also a renegade tree planter. He would buy 50-100 high quality trees once a year and plant them anywhere he thought needed a tree. He'd also do stuff like climb or break through fences on blighted land to sew clover anywhere he passed by often enough to hate barren ground.
None of his skills were passed on to me, I hated garden chores and did every thing I could to get out of them. I would cut wood for two hours to get out of one hour of weeding.
But, I just bought my own house, complete with a few raised beds and small fenced off garden areas. Can't say I chewed on the idea for more than 48 hours before, while shopping for groceries, I asked my wife if we could hit the garden section before we left.
I planted a few herbs, peas, green beans, brussles sprouts, a few varieties of peppers and two varieties of tomatoes. My wife bought some greens to plant but for some reason I just don't want to deal with growing greens, hope she finds the will.
There is a bunch of stuff already planted from the old owners, not sure exactly what or how alive it all is, I guess I'll find out in a month or so. I do know that there are some herbs, blueberry bushes, strawberries (I think), onions (which I have no desire to maintain or plant) and some kind of root vegetable (it's too small to figure out what).
I'm germinating a few things inside and planted a few things outside.
Anyone else planting a garden? What are you planting? What should I know before I kill off my bounty? I know many of you are still locked in ice and snow but by March 1 we have usually seen our last frost. Strange weather this year, I wouldn't be surprised to see a cold snap.
Salad, yo! In all seriousness, there's a lot more that you can do with, like, land than you can with like, window boxes. I had to haul 50 lbs of dirt up here to grow a handful of tomatoes. Totally not worth it. That said, my grandpa was a farmer and I've always dabbled with it. When I can get out of here, I'll be getting the hell out of here and onto some acreage. A recommendation? Two books: - Five Acres and Independence by Maurice Kains. This book was written in like 1924. It's a no bullshit "here's how you turn land into food and fuck the world you're self-sufficient." The thing I like about it is it focuses pretty cleanly on how not to spend a lot of time farming. - Gaia's Garden by Tobe Hemenway. "Permaculture" was created primarily by the Israelis and Australians as a way to reclaim land from the desert through careful planting of perennials. The hipsters got ahold of it and turned it into "lazy man's farming." Somewhere between there lies the truth; either way, Hemenway's book is a great way to plant things that don't require a lot of tending. It's also worth pointing out that the fastest growing print magazine right now is Mother Earth News. I've got a subscription. I should also mention that every pro gardener I've ever known calls the big box stores "buy and die" stores.
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I'd say I'm just a dabbler at this point but I'd buy my seeds from someone besides the big box store if I don't have luck this year. Plenty of garden resources in Portland, I'd guess that this city grows more pounds of food in the city limits than any other major city. I knew a guy who got three sheets of LSD at the beginning of the summer and lived purely off stolen fruits and veggies for a multi month trip.
I picked up "Five Acres" from my library. I don't have time for a full read right now, but I skimmed several chapters - interesting stuff, like how to build your own septic system from scratch. He also mentions that extracted honey sells for an average of 6 and 3/4 cents per pound !
I am starting a smallish raised bed asparagus patch this year. Ten crowns are on the way soon along with a couple of heirloom tomato seedlings because asparagus and tomatoes are buddies, apparently. I'll probably fill it out with some basil and parsley.
Marigolds will help keep bugs off your tomatoes if you have any room for them.
Good luck with your garden. I loved the story about your father. Does that town still exist somewhere? Can you go back there some day and say, my dad planted those trees?He would buy 50-100 high quality trees once a year and plant them anywhere he thought needed a tree.
The last of my family moved away from Michigan this year. I can't imagine that if I went back I'd do a tree tour and the chances of me heading back there any time soon are slim. I don't think my dad minds leaving the trees behind too much. He always looked at trees as an investment of 50-100 years. He would talk about what a great tree a white oak would become long after he was dead. He was saddened when he sold property and people cut trees down. It's hard to understand why anyone would cut down a nice hard wood that probably had a value in the hundreds of dollars (maybe more but it seems kind of crass to but dollar values on stuff like trees) but he knew it wasn't his tree anymore. A man who lived near a piece of property my family used to own came into the lot and cut down one of my fathers evergreens as a Christmas tree one year. My dad took him to small claims court and won a bit of compensation. He wasn't in it for the money (a guy who buys trees by the score to plant random places isn't in it for the money). Dad got into a bit of trouble with the city when he planted a Japanese maple in a nature reserve that was skipping distance to his property. There was talk of pressing charges and he was told that he shouldn't plant anymore trees on any city property (pretty sure he violated that more than a few times). Dad is a real strange guy who is very passionate about his hobbies. I stand to inherit more than 600 cookie jars and will have to deal with lot of other oddball stuff when he passes someday.
How great that he's still around and you can ask him questions. I wish my father was around. He died in 1969. In the 00s I started Googling my father and was able to find things he wrote before I was born and things that were written about him long after he died. It was weird and thrilling. Good luck with your garden! You must be somewhere snow-free.
I'm not planting a garden but I am really interested, however, I don't know much and would like to start with something relatively easy. But, the real reason I wanted to post a comment is because of how awesome I thought your dad's renegade tree planting was. Would you mind posting the progress of your garden and what trouble's/issues you encounter with it? And are you growing anything indoors or is it all outside?
That's right! I will probably space a flat of those out in there too.