Testing the Soil

You can buy test kits and check your garden soil for acidity and alkalinity. I had a kit once, but I never tested the soil. And once I had a hydrangea that I experimented with, feeding it baking soda to turn the flowers purple rather than blue. The flowers on these lovely shrubs range from pink to blue to purple to green, depending on how acid or alkaline the soil is. If you have a lot of pine around, your soil may be more acid than alkaline This could determine how your garden grows. Oh, remember that poem, Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow? With cockle shells and may bells…

This reminds me, you can add sea weed to your garden. In Ireland the farmers haul buckets of seaweed to the fields. It improves the soil like crazy. We, the ex and I, did this with our last garden, only it is a very steep climb to the beach and back, so I believe it was only a couple of buckets that got delivered, so we couldn't really test the thesis. But if they have done it for centuries in Ireland and it works, they know the why of it all. Seems like there'd be too much salt it in and ruin the soil.

The grandbaby and I were at the beach the other day and he kept giving me handfuls of eel grass. I could have him amend the garden. Yes, tiny buckets of eel grass piled around the tomatoes. Ah, I must be too tired to write coherently. I went to two birthday parties today. It is late now, and I've had more cake than any one girl should eat. Well, any girl who wants to keep her girlish figure that is. I decided today that it wouldn't take very much time every day to really whip my garden plot in shape. This I'm saying at the end of the summer. But hey, remember I said you can winter garden. It all depends on how cold it gets, but it is worth a try. Helps with the winter blues too. At least that's what my friend Deb from http://www.rainyside.com/ says.

Okey dokey, have a good rest of the full moon and see you soon.

Peace, Flower Power

Two Birthdays and an Anniversary

In the fall, the garden dies, although some of the plants come back: rhubarb, herbs, horseradish, artichokes. And some reseed: sunflowers, lettuce, kale, tomatoes. That is if you let anything go to seed. I have had lots of kale reseed and potatoes I missed digging in the fall. And carrots come back, but they turn woody. In the fall, you can plant onions and garlic. I've heard that you can plant peas in the fall too, but have never tried that. Around here, it seems that they would rot. But I have some old seed, perhaps I'll throw it out in the garden and see what happens.

Right now the community garden is lush with sunflowers and dahlias the size of dinner plates. There are acorn squash littering one plot and beautiful corn another. And the plums are ripe, yippee—a drying opportunity.

Yesterday I picked several big boy tomatoes. And bought a bouquet from a sweet flower stand set up in front of a neighbor's house. It reminds me of the lemonade stands my sister and I used to have on Audubon Street across from Audubon Park. More my sister's project than mine. She was and still is the better entrepreneur of the two of us. Our father is an entrepreneur and it rubbed off. He has gardened on occasion and grew up in wheat country. His mother canned the prunes (Italian Plums) instead of drying them. Ooh, were they delicious.

Today is my daughter's birthday and the anniversary of my ex asking me for divorce. Need I say more? Holidays are important to me; I like to celebrate. It just so happens that all the bombs he dropped fell on holidays. That can't be by accident, as he's claimes. But now, I'm going to two parties, two lovely women celebrating birthdays. It's a beautiful sunny day, and I've moved on--that's the good part. There is power in moving on. It has to be this way—or one would go batty with grief. For finding meaning through the stages of grief see Elizabeth Kubler- Ross's book On Grief and Grieving

Yesteday my friend Brenda and I made Soul Cards to mark the this transition--turning away from divorce and focusing on the rest of my life. We also had a great meal and then went on a walk around the harbor. There a row of ragossa rose sports bright red rose hips, which I love. I ate a couple and when Brenda tried them, groaned and spat it out. Really, they are high in vitamins C and make great preserves. Try it. Delicious. And, the sunset and full moon: divine.

Okay then, off to the garden. And for all of you out there that are weeding your inner garden, love yourself to pieces. It's what the world needs more of—wasn't that a song?

Flower