The Perma Life

First, let me preface this post by saying that I am a smart person well-versed in researching complicated problems. I can take a 45 page federal grant document and parse it into a beautiful proposal with every i- dotted and every t-crossed. But for some reason, I CANNOT figure out how to plant my blackberries!!! I have read and read and read garden forum posts, Extension Service publications and the growing guide my blackberries came with and I am still just as lost as I was when I started.

It all started last summer when I went online to White Flower farm to order a few tomato plants. The tomato order turned into an order for some alpine strawberries (a lesson in frustration in my zone, but that’s another story for another time) and two blackberries: Chester and Triple Crown.

When the plants arrived, the planting instructions for the blackberries alone was 3 pages. So I followed them to a T and then planted the berries in a couple of large pots and there they sat all year. Now I have come back to them in the hopes of getting some actual berries this year and that’s when things went to hell.

Primocane? Floricane? Which ones do you trellis? Which ones do you cut? Should the trellis have 2 wires and how high should they be? I thought blackberries were like weeds that would just grow with little or no care?!

This weekend I took the plunge and cleared out a long narrow bed by my greenhouse, concocted a trellis and transplanted the berries. I have no idea if they will grow because I still have no idea, even after hours of reading, how to plant those darn things. I guess we’ll see. If anyone has any advice, I would love to hear it!

This weekend I spent most of the daylight hours outside puttering around in the garden. I trellised some blackberries, took herb cuttings, checked on my growing seedlings and added compost to my new beds to an itunes soundtrack perfectly suited to spring and the return of the green from the brown.

If you asked me why it is I love my garden so much, I would probably give you a pat answer about the importance of eating local, of knowing where your food comes from, of being a part of the cycle of life. And those answers are all true for me. But, to be perfectly honest, I’m not really that good of a gardener. I make a lot of mistakes, I kill an awful lot of hapless plant victims. If I had to rely solely on my veggie patch to provide my sustenance I would, quite frankly, starve.

The reasons I love being in my garden are more visceral than intellectual or practical. Thrusting my hands in the dirt, working the soil and coaxing watermelons or squash or tomatoes to spring from the earth makes me happy and relaxed in a way that few things do.

The only other time I am completely relaxed is when I am listening to really great music that moves my soul, that says the things I would say were I a poet. So, having the combination of garden dirt, impending spring, warm sunshine and great music was almost too much pleasure to bear this weekend. Life is good and I am lucky to have a little patch of earth to call my own.

Soundtrack for the weekend (abbreviated):

As the man who introduced me to Theresa Andersson said, “It’s a wonder why other musicians even bother after hearing her.”

These guys are a little out there, but when you shut your eyes and just let your cells absorb the sound, you will be hooked.

I love every song from this band. They are optimistic in a sincere way that is sorely lacking in our jaded, cynical lives.

The trees know all and see all…

Now that I have my rain barrels up, it is time to start thinking about other ways to control water running off my yard. Stormwater pollution is a huge problem in South Alabama as we get more rain than anywhere else in the country- even Seattle! As more and more land becomes parking lots and roads and roofs, there are less places for the water to infiltrate into the ground. And since water has a pesky habit of picking up and taking whatever nasties it comes across, like fertilizer, pesticides and sediment, that can spell big trouble for our waterways.

I am in love with rain gardens (or bio-retention swales to use the correct terminology) and their potential to help curb stormwater run-off problems, and for the simple fact that they are beautiful.I wish that every home in America had a rain garden. Right now  I am planning one for my side yard. In the meantime, here is an excerpt from a brochure I did for a rain garden project at a local elementary school that I will use to build my own garden.

What is a Rain Garden?

A rain garden is a garden that performs a special function to help protect our waters. Rain gardens are essentially bowls that collect and hold the water that runs off of impervious surfaces (roofs, driveways, etc.). By   capturing storm water run off and allowing it to seep slowly into the ground, rain gardens protect nearby water bodies by absorbing and trapping pollutants and sediment before they make their way into our rivers and bays.  Some of these pollutants are absorbed by the plants and used, while others are broken down by bacteria and made harmless.

Rain gardens are suitable for any land use situation: residential, commercial or industrial.  They can be designed to attract birds, butterflies and other wild life. Rain gardens are a cost-efficient way to landscape; they don’t need to be fertilized or sprayed with pesticide– all they need is weeding and mulching.  Planting a rain garden may seem like a small task, but by catching rain where it falls, you not only are creating a  beautiful space for you and wildlife to enjoy, but you are also helping to protect the streams, rivers, lakes and bays in South Alabama.

Water running off my street during a rain.

Choose A Location

The best spot for a new rain garden is in a low-lying area where water flows naturally. Placing your garden near a hard surface such as a sidewalk or patio is an especially good location. They can also be built near gutter downspouts- just be sure to site your garden at least 10 feet from your home’s foundation. Rain gardens should never be placed over a  septic system.

Before you start digging, determine  your soil type. If you have soil with a lot of clay, your rain garden should be about 60% of the drainage area.  If your soil is very sandy, your garden should be about 20% of the     drainage area. If you have poor soil conditions, consider adding organic matter to your soil.

After you have located the perfect spot for your garden, you need to  figure out the size and shape of your garden– anything goes as long as the size and shape you choose can accommodate the amount of water that will be draining into the garden.

1. Calculate the necessary size for the garden by estimating the square footage of your drainage area. (length x width).   If your  drainage area includes your roof,  follow this example:

The area of your roof is 1200 square feet with 2 downspouts, one of which will connect to your  garden. Divide the square footage by the number of downspouts (1200/2=600). Then multiply your    answer by .2 (for sandy soil) (600x.2=120 square feet of garden needed).

2. Use a rope to lay out your garden area with the longest side facing the direction the water will be coming from.

3. Choose plants suitable for a rain garden. Native plants are best to use, as they are used to our climate and naturally resistant to pesky critters.

4. Start digging. The slope of your lawn will determine how deep your rain garden should be,. If your lawn is flat, 3-4 inches is an ideal depth. The bottom of your garden bed should be as level as possible.  Use any extra dirt to create a berm on the downhill side.

5. Maintain. Rain gardens require mulching and weeding and little else! You may need to water your garden until it is established if there is little rain.

I call this image “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” what a rude way to start the day!

There are certain things that I really look forward to. For instance, Friday afternoons when I have an entire weekend ahead of me with nothing on the agenda but my own fun projects, the moment when cookies are just about ready to come out of the oven, the day that my seeds finally sprout….and, the day that my Orion Magazine comes in the mail.

I subscribe to a lot of magazines ranging from Organic Gardening to InStyle to the New Yorker, but Orion is my favorite by a long shot. The writing is thought provoking, sincere but not too earnest and I almost always find at least one article or essay in each issue that really touches me in some way.

This month’s essay by Anthony Doerr really struck me. It made me feel like a tiny but precious part of the universe. Perhaps it is because I have been in a rather philosophical mood of late, or perhaps it is simply because I, like Doerr, find inordinate pleasure in finding pretty rocks, but I think the world would be a better place if everyone read this essay.

This weekend we completed a long-awaited birthday project…rain barrels for my garden. Since we don’t have gutters, we had to hang those as well, but the fun really began at the flea market where there were many shapes and sizes to choose from…I think these all once held Coca-Cola syrup because they smelled REALLY good!

Once we got home it was time to drill the taps. We tend to over-engineer things at our  house,  so the rain barrel design is going to pipe water from the gutter on the workshop roof, around the chicken coop, along the fence to 4 top taps which will all be connected- this will allow the barrels to all fill at the same rate.

We “hot-tapped” the holes to make the pipes stay. Essentially, hot tapping is where you heat up the metal piece and then when you screw it in, the metal melts threads into the plastic, so that you are essentially threading as you go.

Once all the taps were in place, it was time to connect everything up. We decided to place the barrels on top of my compost bins to create elevation that will allow me to have a little bit of water pressure. This meant we had to reinforce the bins as well as connect the boards the barrels lay on to the fence- this much water is very very heavy.

Now that all of the barrels are connected, it is time to connect the main pipe. Notice that we connected the barrels at the bottom as well…this will allow the barrels to drain at the same rate. That way I only have to have one spigot and won’t ever have one barrel that stays full of old water.

Here is the finished view of the plumbing that connects the gutters to the barrels. The T you see is actually a clean-out  that will catch leaves and debris before they reach the barrels.

Now it just needs to rain!

The Saucer Magnolias are blooming! Such beautiful trees…

This used to be a happy cabbage until the villianous chickens did it in!

I had a big weekend in the garden…

First, I had a large load of soil that we hauled in that I shoveled and mixed with my compost for about 5 hours. Then built 3 new 4×4 beds for extra veggies this year… I am a little worried about whether or not 2 of them will get enough sun. There is a fence on the south side of my property and it casts a shadow over some of the backyard. I think it will be fine, but I plan to grow my lettuce and peas in those beds since they won’t mind a break from the hot sun that comes too early in the South! I am still sore from shoveling shoveling shoveling!

After the beds were built and in place with the soil in, it was time to have some fun. I made 2 bean teepees out of bamboo I swiped from down the street, transplanted a few strawberry plants from one bed to another and then sowed some carrots and mescalun.

Then it all went downhill. I transplanted about 12 lettuce seedlings and 6 broccoli seedlings into the bed and then, after giving them a drink, called break time and went inside for a cool drink. That is when the chicken interlopers invaded. My new fence blocks the garden on 3 sides, but the back side is unprotected by the compost bins. I blocked that portion off but forgot about the tiny area between the coop and the greenhouse. This also happens to be a favorite chicken runway.

You can guess what happened next. I came back outside, whistling and ready for more planting, when I saw…nothing. Absolutely nothing. The chickens had eaten every single shred of veggie in sight. There wasn’t a stem visible anywhere! They had acted fast as when I came back out they were out of the garden, giving themselves a dust bath in the yard. Chickens 1, Bethany 0.

A colleague recently introduced my to one of the coolest blogs I have come across called The Illustrated Garden. This woman’s drawings are so so cool! When I saw that she was having a drawing workshop near me I did a happy flip. Count me in! I can’t draw at all, but I would love to pepper my own garden journal with little sketches…it would just be fun.

So, this morning, I planned to register. As I was dialing the phone number, an email came in- the organization I work for was getting an award! Hooray! Could I be there…guess when?! Yes, the same day as the drawing workshop. So now I am feeling sad and punished. The prize for working for such a cool organization is to never learn how to draw a beautiful sunflower or plump okra pod. Life isn’t fair! I will be stuck drawing stick veggies forever

My new chicken-proof garden fence

So this weekend was supposed to dawn rainy on Saturday and I planned to be in the greenhouse, planting seeds and (hopefully) getting my garden journal in order so I can actually keep track of what I planted and when so I can remember my successes and failures from year to year. But, the day instead dawned fabulously sunny and cool, so I of course decided that I needed to have a new fence.

One minute I was standing in the garden, thinking about whether the area I wanted to put 2 new veggie beds got enough sun and the next minute I was at Home Depot calculating how many pickets I would need to get all the way around the new garden area.  My husband was as bewildered as I was, since of course now he was going to be building a fence as well. I felt guilty for about 30 seconds and then continued to plot and plan…with a real fence I could keep the chickens out, which means I can plant flower borders and put a cute sign on the garden gate and…and…and…

I even had enough time to get those seeds planted in the greenhouse!