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Kathy’s Garden Writing |
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REFLECTIONS ON THE GARDENING SEASON The harvest is in, and I can finally settle with my knitting and other pastimes forsaken during the gardening season. But gardeners are never really dormant. Now is the time to review my journal and plan for the year ahead, even while my hands are busy knitting socks. The strawberries were star performers, as sweet as the month of June. There were plenty for everyone, the chipmunks, friends, and the jam pot. I simplified my jam-making this year, slow-baking sliced strawberries with a sprinkle of sugar -- no added pectin, just a reduction to the essence of strawberry. Note: This recipe’s a keeper! Try with peaches too. A real surprise was the cut-and-come-again cabbage and cauliflower. I’ve always known that broccoli offers a full season run, with regular side-shoot encores. But after the main heads of my ‘Gonzales’ cabbages and ‘Green Harmony’ cauliflower were picked, along came smaller siblings for pastas, and slaws, and the freezer. All those missed opportunities of years gone by! Note: Add another colorful cauliflower for next year, perhaps orange ‘Cheddar.’ Nancy’s larkspurs (delphinium ajacis) won applause down by the pond. I scattered her tiny seed-gifts two years ago. As prima donnas everywhere, they waited for the perfect moment to make their entrance, pirouetting on stage for the Fourth of July. A repeat performance next year would be nice, decked out in their pink and purple and white frills. Note: Sprinkle Lily Ann’s foxglove seeds by the pond as well. However, the ‘Red Wethersfield’ onion sets can stay in Connecticut, where they originated. I was seduced by their description as “reliable keepers” but did not appreciate the implications of “fine strong flavor.” My dinner guests probably devoured breath mints after an otherwise palatable meal. Note: Start onions from seed, like sweet ‘Ailsa Craig Exhibition.’ The paprika peppers too were a big disappointment -- “mildly pungent, sweet flavor” indeed! My friend thought they were hotter than Scotch bonnets, and I had to agree. Perhaps the supplier sent the wrong seeds, because I’ve grown paprikas before and found them delightful eaten raw, cooked, or dried for seasoning. Note: Order paprikas from another catalogue. Cutting flowers were scarce this year. Perennials are always delightful in an arrangement; but big, bold shocks of color are also nice, like annual zinnias and dahlias. Unfortunately, local nurseries don’t generally carry market packs of taller annuals, perhaps because, as one grower told me, the larger plants are hard to work with. And dahlias have always felt intimidating, with their tuberous finickiness. Note: Start tall zinnias from seed direct-sown into the garden. Ask Ed, a landscaper/neighbor, about caring for dahlias. The season ended as it always does, with aphids in my Brussels sprouts. I keep trying to grow them for our Thanksgiving feast, as nothing is better than sprouts sweetened with late fall frosts. Once again, I’ll have to purchase them from our local farmers’ market. Note: Ask local growers about their secret for aphid-free sprouts. In reflecting on the gardening season, perhaps the most important lesson is that the harvest continues, yielding not only treasures for the table, but sweet memories as well. Indeed, research and reverie during the fallow season nourish the garden, as well as the gardener, for another fertile year. Note: Don’t attempt a new sock pattern while daydreaming about the garden! Kathleen Arcuri Published October 7, 2007 – The Danville Daily Item |