Greengirls » Blog Archive » The promises of spring

The promises of spring

Posted on April 19th, 2007 – 6:00 AM
By Robyn Dochterman

While Jaime is busy planning what to grow, I spend these spring days shaking off my own version of dormancy and crafting a strategy to sidestep some of the problems that beset my garden last year. Ok, every year.

Each spring, I knock myself out digging in the dirt while riding a euphoric wave of energy, fueled by visions of huge harvests of sublimely juicy tomatoes, leafy salads, and enough potatoes and leeks to make soup for the neighborhood. But as the sun climbs higher, my attention wanders and my energy wanes. The honeybees need to be checked, or the house siding needs to be painted, or the kayaks call to me to head to the river.

By late summer, my garden is a sprawling embarrassment of good intentions. I wonder why I didn’t do more in the spring to avoid such chronic challenges. So this year, I vow to be better from the get-go.

I hereby promise to make enough tomato supports to actually support all the tomatoes I plant.

I promise to mulch heavily enough to keep the weeds at bay — from the beginning.

I promise to water before plants get stressed.

Promises, promises. Do you make them too? How have you kept your gardening vows?

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15 Responses to "The promises of spring"

Colleen says:

April 19th, 2007 at 7:05 am

Oh, yes I make promises…and usually end up breaking them early in the season. Your tomato support promise is one that I make every single year, and every year I end up looking for every spare garden stake, tree branch, and broom handle to tie my tomatoes on to. But I swear, this year I’ll have enough supports made and up before I need them. Really!

*Tracy* says:

April 19th, 2007 at 8:00 am

Hi Greengirls! This blog is WONDERFUL! I am a Master Gardener, and altho I have been fully trained in all the RIGHT ways to garden, I am a walking poster child for doing it the WRONG way. The tomato thing is my hugest sin ever, well, that and the mulch. I have a kind of suggestion- not that I have ever followed it of course, but my sister in law plants her tomatos between 2 fences- she uses something like cattle fencing- the spaces between the rows of the fence are large enough to get your hand thru to harvest the tomatoes, yet the fences support the tomatoes eliminating the need to rob your broomstick and treebranches for stakes. It seems to work slick for her- maybe this year I will try it. I Have over 100 tomato plants started in a mini greenhouse in my dining room- I better figure out something!

Anthony says:

April 19th, 2007 at 9:14 am

I read a study that tomatoes will grow better in the month of August if you let them grow wild. Well that’s what I tell my wife when the garden makes it’s annual transformation from neat and tidy to an out of control jungle.

But this year will be different…

kiwi9mm says:

April 19th, 2007 at 11:07 am

Yep, I always promise to plant less veggies than last year, but that goes out the window the minute my fingers hit the dirt!! (GRIN)

Husband tilled the garden last night, so the potatoes/onions are going in the ground as soon as I get home from work, screw making supper. This is the time of year when working a full time job indoors is less appealing than in the cold winter months! The sunshine is wonderful! Carry on…

Judybusy says:

April 19th, 2007 at 11:17 am

Whenever I feel too lazy or busy to prop up my tomatoes, I think about all the beautiful fruit I used to lose before I got all disciplined. I found really great stakes at Parkway Hardware on 48th and Chicago. They’re about 3/4″ spauare, with pointy tips. Of course, I typically grow only 6-8 tomato plants in my small garden. I have to have room for the other 100 (or so) varieties of stuff I cram into my back yard!

This year, I also pledge to use the cocoa bean mulch I bought last year, and which sat on the patio all summer!

Rebecca M. says:

April 19th, 2007 at 12:52 pm

Robyn, the mulching is the easiest part and about the only thing I actually do stick to all season long. I just use grass clippings. It’s a natural fertilizer, it’s free, and it doesn’t blow around in the wind.
Every week when my husband mows the grass (or for as long as I need mulch; at least every other week I re-apply), I have him bag the grass and dump onto my garden beds. It doesn’t work for things like beets and lettuce- they are too hard to mulch between, but it’s terrific for any larger plants (like tomatoes, peppers, broccoli and such). I put about an inch layer (it rots if you do more than that, and it’s pretty gross) on the bed and water down a bit if it’s really dry and windy, but it’s usually not necessary. That inch layer dries out to practically nothing, so the next week I add another inch, and maybe a third to get a nice dense layer. Totally blocks weeds and absorbs rain and literally takes 5 minutes a week (not counting the actual mowing).

I find the part that I slack on the most is actually eating my harvest. I’m so excited at first, but by the 10th pound of green beans and the 100th tomato, all I want is a fried taco I tend to compost a lot of tomatoes by the end of the season.

Jaime Chismar says:

April 19th, 2007 at 2:18 pm

The BF and I often fight over our grass clippings. I want them for the garden and he wants them for the yard! So, I’m going to try the cocoa bean mulch this year. I finally got rid of that bale of straw I bought two years ago. It looks pretty but it was a total pain to work with.

debw says:

April 20th, 2007 at 7:01 am

I mow the lawn so I rule where the clippings go! I also shred the junk mail that shows up uninvited and mulch with that as well as the newspaper when I am done. I figure that the brown stuff from the paper and the green grass clipppings make a crude compost and I can never have too much of that.
My greatest temptation is the heirloom tomatoes and peppers at the Mpls Farmers Market. Who can turn away a fuzzy skinned or wildly colored variety? I start off saying ” oh, maybe just one or two” and pretty soon I have three dozen in the car.
The neighbors lean over the fence to watch stuff grow, do you think I could charge admission?
Welcome back Greengirls!

Kristine says:

April 20th, 2007 at 10:08 am

Oh…. so it’s not just me:-)
Every year I promise: This summer I’ll till the ground properly, now, having recently bought my own little electric tiller makes this one pretty much a done deal, finally! And the bags of coco mulch? guilty. I finally dumped them way in the back, not many weeds there, but it had to go somewhere. I did finally spend a lot of time last fall moving “stuff” out of the garage and into a small shed, that I decided would work great for a little garden shed.
…It’s only taken 14 years to get to a point of actually folowing through on at least some of my “great ideas”.
So, take heart, just like a garden, with time, things do end up getting done, one way or another.

Robyn Dochterman says:

April 20th, 2007 at 12:09 pm

I like the way you think, Kristine. And I’m glad to know that I’m not alone in my wayward intentions.

Christy says:

April 20th, 2007 at 3:21 pm

Can someone share the pros and cons of using cocoa bean mulch? And where is a good place to get it? I would like to use some in my flower bed so it doesn’t look as messy as the grass we use in the veggie garden (which works wonderfully - esp around the tomatoes).

Peter Hoh says:

April 21st, 2007 at 12:16 am

This year, I promise not to buy more plants than I have space for.

Mulch: Don Engebretson, the Renegade Gardener, suggests waiting until mid June to apply mulch. His reasoning can be found in his “Don’t Do That” archive of 2003.

Cocoa Bean mulch: biggest downside is that it’s a nice growing medium for “dog vomit fungus.” It’s actually a slime mold.

I like to make a leaf mold mulch for my vegetable beds. This summer, I’ll be taking photos of that process and posting them on my garden blog.

laura says:

April 23rd, 2007 at 9:55 am

my promise is to stay on top of the weeds this year.

my biggest enemy - crabgrass!

that said, i’m interested in this mulching deal. cocoa bean mulch is poisonous to dogs, and my dog LOVES eating smelly things, so i wont be using that kind of mulch. i tried grass clippings late last year, and ended up with a rotting carpet. i guess i put it on too thick, as the crabgrass was still sprouting right on thru and i kept trying to cover it.

i have much to learn about mulching.

Sharon says:

April 26th, 2007 at 10:52 am

Oh, now I know why my dog barfed up the cocoa bean mulch he’d eaten! It’s poisonous! Talk about “dog vomit fungus!” I won’t be using it again either although it worked great. I only grow flowers but I hope it rains more this year so we don’t have to water constantly like last year.

Jan Solomon says:

May 27th, 2007 at 5:53 am

Where can I get cleaned BAGGED straw?