“To forget how to dig the earth and to tend to the soil is to forget ourselves.”
I tend to wholeheartedly agree! Working in the garden during this last 3-day weekend was the perfect way for me to transition into summer! After spending the better part of the last 10 months around thousands of impressionable teenagers, it is refreshing to be out in the garden in the back yard with the crows, the chihuahuas, a few stray cats and the husband. Fortunately, the only impression that I made was in the dirt to plant a few late seeds yesterday! HA! That is good because I pretty much spend the weekend dressed in apparel that could best be described as a strange combination of pajamas, a hippie cotton printed Hawaiian MuuMuus, Ugg boots and/or flip flops, a stripped dress that Craig laughs at because it makes me look like a page out of a “Where’s Waldo” book, and a 1950’s house dress that Grandma would be proud of (which is a dress that I could nap in any day… any time) Impressions in the dirt are so low key! What a wonderful weekend! I also got to see both of my boys so that always makes my world brighter!
The garden is picture perfect now, so I will try to upload a few “before” photos. If last year was the “YEAR OF THE CUCUMBER” this year is definitely the “YEAR OF THE HEIRLOOM TOMATO”! We met a wonderful woman who is a grower her between the city boundaries of Vista and San Marcos. She sells the most amazing assortment of herbs and heirloom tomatoes right here at the local Vista Farmers Market. So far we are trying 9 different varieties. She has a wealth of knowledge so I pretty much purchased whatever she suggested, except for one. I bought “Box Car Willie” just because it had a cool name.
We have this idea for making plant stakes with names on them. This year, for the tomatoes, I am going to use Ball Canning Lids with the name of the Heirloom Variety written on them in permanent marker. There are too many to paint a stake for each one! So…. EL MARCO … here I come. Then I will just punch a hole in each one and connect them to the cage. Then, the name of the Heirloom is easy to see, easy to document, and easy to reuse next year. I have a lot of old lids that you can only can once with! I thought of using a zip tie to connect them to the cage, but my love of rust is making me want to look in the garage for an old chain that I can remove a few links from. 🙂 Let’s see plastic or rust? There is NO contest. I love Rust! So much character!
Well, that is post for today. The photo of the finished tomato labels will follow!
Donna T's Garden 