12.6.11

Grow Grow Grow

We got our summer garden into the ground about a month ago.  This is our second year planting vegetables in this tiny spot on the side of our house and we are trying to learn from our mistakes.  Last year the deer ate up our green bean vines and powdery mildew infested our cucumber, zucchini and pumpkin vines, so our yield from the garden was only a few strawberries and a small crop of tomatoes.

I did research and learned that squash from the family Curcubita Moschata are resistant to powdery mildew, and so we planted butternut squash and a beautiful variety of pumpkin called Musque de Provence.  We also planted blue lake green beans, two varieties of tomato, carrots and we have strawberry plants which survived from last year (you can even see an eager strawberry, nearly ripe in the photo below!)  For good measure, I planted some morning glories & snapdragons and allowed last years nasturtiums to go to seed...

Every morning when I look over our growing garden I have a little poem running through my head.  The poem is by Woody Guthrie and I first heard it last week sung as a rhythmic chant to gentle percussion on the album You are my Little Bird by Elizabeth Mitchell.

Grassy Grass Grass
by Woody Guthrie

Grass grass grass,
tree tree tree,
leafy leaf leaf,
one two three.

Birdy birdy bird,
fly fly fly,
nest nest nest,
high high high.

Cloudy cloudy cloud,
wind wind wind,
rain rain rain,
mud mud mud.

Doggie doggie dog,
runny run run,
quickie quick quick,
homey home home

Beddy bed bed,
sheety sheet sheet,
sleepy sleep sleep,
dreamy dream dream.

Dancie dance dance,
singy sing sing,
grow grow grow,
biggy big big.

It's a good chant to sing over a garden but I think it's even better for singing over growing children...  our best, most beautiful little blossoms and blooms...

4 comments:

  1. Best of luck to you on your garden! We have a tiny space, too. This will be our first full season here. I'm a trial & error gardener, so we'll see how our lone strawberry, 2 sugar pumpkins, zillion snow peas, handful of carrots, drooping blueberry bush and pole beans do. At least my herbs are holding their own so far, and the nasturtium is growing like a champ :-)

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  2. What a wonderful chant! I love your little patch, may the sunshine and the rain bless your efforts. I adore gardening but have moved to an apartment that has little to no sun, but I keep trying and have a few herbs growing in containers. I can't wait to have my dream garden one day : )

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  3. Sound like we had similar garden luck...

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  4. ooh i like that chant! a friend of mine has been telling me to check Elizabeth Mitchell out, now is the time! i love morning glories.

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