Planting The Veggie Garden 2009

I have spent the last two beautiful days in the garden and will be in there for a couple more days at least getting the seeds and plants in. I started by lining our fence that backs the garden with snow peas. I also will plant some more snow peas with the corn once the corn is up 4 - 5 inches. I thought I'd try waiting a bit because I find the corn struggles for the first little while because the peas overtake it. It all works out in the end, the corn does eventually get bigger than the peas but it may be less hassle to do it this way, at least I will avoid the frustration of trying to get a four inch corn stalk to support 12 inches of snow pea vine. Considering I have at least 50 or so stalks, that's a lot of accumulative frustration. The corn is from a couple of cobs that I saved last year so I'm hoping they'll sprout. The snow peas are actually called "snow wind" and they are supposed to produce more pods and less foliage. If they work out, I'll save some pods for next year, I really want to get away from buying seeds/plants as much as possible.

Around the area of my corn which is in the back at the top of the garden I put in my zucchini plants. The seeds are called 'Black Beauty' and they are not suppose to vine out all over the place.

In front of the Three Sisters, I have short rows of yellow bush beans and carrots. That combo worked really well last year. Once I harvested the beans and pulled the plants, the carrots had a lot more room to grow so I thin the carrots less. The yellow beans are "Super Wax" bush beans and the carrots are "Nantes half long".

Today, I'm plant my tomatoes, Roma and Beefsteak, and my basil with them. I will also put in my green peppers and see what else I can get in.

Early Morning Heron

The summer always brings an old friend back. I noticed him within weeks of moving to the DaM Farm. He's an early, early visitor and I hear him above me before I see him. The first time I heard him, I wondered what was making that horrible squawk. Turned out to be a heron on his way to the little dam. He fishes there every morning. And every morning he will greet me with his hoarse call as he flies overhead.

I enjoy watching him in the early morning before everything gets busy and noisy. There's nothing to break the silence except for the occasional splash in the water. Sometimes the splash is made by a fish jumping, blissfully unaware that a hunter is just inches away. Sometimes the splash is an announcement of a pair of loons who will fish with the heron. I love watching them in the stillness of a day about to be.

It's a nice way to start the day. On my porch with a cup of coffee before the heat and the mosquitoes make their presence felt. The sun is just touching the water, bejeweling the tiny crests with diamonds that disappear in a wave only to return in seconds. The living jewels are the most precious. You can't buy this kind of peace.