The Garden of Eden Before the Snake
“Do you have any warts?” the conversation began at the morning breakfast nook under a giant pine with a view out onto the garden.
He didn’t have any warts left, so I guess the celandine that I replanted from my friend Jayn’s garden worked. And now it had spread throughout the garden and needed to be pulled up, even though the bright yellow sap running through the stalks was ready to heal others of warts.
Before the first sip of tea, the conversation had drifted to corn and beans. Rotate the corn, to where? Cover the beans so the rabbits don’t eat them before they have a chance to grow. The asparagus has grown a foot over night. The price of straw bales has gone up.
Oh, by the way, can you dig up the burdock and yellow dock that has volunteered? Only second year roots can be tinctured. Now, where did I plant those dahlias? Have you noticed that the scarecrow looks so not scary? He’ll need a hat when the corn comes up, something new to make the crows think he’s real.
Before the last bite of an egg covered bagel I had wandered over to the garden to examine what has newly sprouted and, like a detective looking for clues, to see what new invader was planning to intrude.
May 1st, 2009 5:17 pm
Wow, such morning conversation. I can’t believe how green things are there. What is your frost date? Ours is not until almost June. So nothing planted here… sigh…. I do love bagels
May 1st, 2009 6:59 pm
I think it’s the end of April, early May here but there is always a risk even then. I cover with remay if it gets too cold. Sometimes I plant early and the seed doesn’t germinate if the ground isn’t warm enough so I replant a couple of weeks later. I already have lettuce up and that’s no surprise because it’s a cool weather crop, but I just now saw a cucumber seedling!
May 1st, 2009 8:50 pm
LOL, LOL….I LOVE this post, Colleen…For so very many reasons..But, mostly, because you are growing all these wonderful goodies in your garden…And that you don’t think the scarecrow looks scary enough…lol! Well, maybe the Crows will still think he does look scary…Though you are no doubt correct, that a Hat will help make him look more like a scary “human” farmer….!
May 2nd, 2009 10:06 am
This makes me really long for my childhood garden, and wish I didn’t live in a high rise apartment in Manhattan with no outodor plot of dirt.
May 2nd, 2009 10:53 am
I have a flower garden only and this year only 5 tulips came up??? I am bummed and need to work more on it, but I am too busy.
I like the scarecrow!!! xo
May 2nd, 2009 11:10 am
great to know you not only eat from your garden but you also create medicinal tinctures as well!
wish we could plant seeds here. we just don’t get enough sun for them to do much. it usually isn’t really warm here until late july, and by the 1st week in september summer is gone. we will be in the 70s, but the warmth of the 80s happens mostly in late july and august. even planting tomato plants as early as possible we harvest only a very few before frost arrives. the vines are always loaded with green tomatoes which we pull off to ripen in the kitchen window. i always feel disappopinted remembering those southern vines with tomatoes all summer! we got 2 yellow squash last year! a wide variety of peppers is the only thing we seem to harvest fairly well.
May 2nd, 2009 8:47 pm
It’s amazing how consuming a garden can be. Wonderfully consuming.
May 2nd, 2009 8:55 pm
I love the double meaning of consuming.
May 2nd, 2009 9:55 pm
You craft magic with words and with things that grow. Beautiful post, Colleen.
Tanya will concur fully when she drops by.
May 3rd, 2009 2:45 pm
I have kale up, and this weekend we went ahead and planted the entire little patch, complete with tomato plants. I think they’ll be okay. If the weather keeps changing we’ll almost have two plantings to a year here.
May 3rd, 2009 3:51 pm
Trust you to have a benign scarecrow! It’s lovely to think about the garden, isn’t it?
May 3rd, 2009 5:42 pm
holding off to planting next week – after danger of frost