Beau Désordre

I was in Africa once. I saw what was called the "Zairoise miricle" that people could live and breed without any real government. I enjoyed the local music I heard there. Years later I bought a bunch of records at a flea market, 5 for a dollar or something. They were from the 70's I think. I had scant knowledge of what it was but I believe I found some Soukous. It was different than most of the African music I heard on the radio, and to my ear better. Zaiko Langa Langa was one artist and this was described as being "beau désordre", beautiful chaos. I think that that could describe my garden.

These pots are looking very nice. I got my lacinato kale, very stately, next to the salad bowl.

I just let the chamomile take over the swan. It looks a bit weedy perhaps, but I don't care.

My strawberries are getting luscious.

Mostly Blooms and my Berm

It's been cool and rainy, great weather for sleeping and other things. I have a rain collection system I am working on but it like most things I do is sort improvised. When and if I perfect it I will share details that a layman may read and see and apply to their own situation. I will say that in my improvising, that I have been careful about mosquitoes. Those mosquito donuts are available everywhere and should be used, indeed, even a birdbath can get infested with mosquitoes, they need very little water to breed.

We start this with my yarrow which was growing in the grass between the sidewalk and the street. I decided to let it grow wild and bloom this year. Last year I felt compelled to trim it with the grass. It looks pretty but untidy, musch like the chamomile growing in the cracks of the sidewalk but when these blooms pass, I intend to dig up my berm and give it structure so it really looks like I intended it to be wild. Anything to avoid having to mow it!

Another berm improvisation is this sea thrift. It is all but swallowed by the grass and clover. Again, I will try to change this.

There's chamomile all over my garden including, of course the berm. I planted this cabbage here for lack of another spot for it. I sorta wish they sold them in 2 packs but I guess I could have passed this on to somebody. The thing is that most people do not plant as early as me which means I either abuse the seedling by keeping it in its tiny plug or I have to transplant it to a slightly larger pot. I wish people would think more about their gardens in April, really folks, if you do, it usually comes together and grows better too. I might offer discounts for early bird gardeners, yeah I think I might just do that.

The pole are there because my landlord uses the detached garage in back to hold construction material so he drives down my driveway pretty often and kept running over things I planted here including my crocuses! Maybe he's gotten the hint and I'll take this down. I did widen the entry by a red brick and put a large cobble stone down as a barrier that can be felt as it is run over.

This next picture belongs in the dew post but is here. Yes I have strawberries. No, they're not on the berm. This is the 2nd year so they should be and certainly look more productive than they were last year. Maybe I should plant some of these in the berm? Most people who walk their dogs sorta avoid leaving anything behind here. Atctually, most dogowners clean up in general but there's always one who... OK, no strawberries on the berm.

Well, I sorta wish this blog wasn't so scattered but when you consider the structure of my garden, this makes sense.

End of April

This cat is feral. I have taken to calling her/him Orangy or Cheddarhead. Cheddarhead's left ear seems to be clipped. This might be an indicator that at one point thhis cat was caught, neutered, then released. She, I think she's a she, was around the day we moved in. She is actually more likely to be a boy because 75% of orange cats are male but I think she's a she. I am now feeding her almost everyday. She still hasn't let me touch her. Behind this feral cat is some feral chamomile. I also have feral red mustard, fennel and even a viola.

The salad bowl is filling in quite nicely, with Orangy behind.

This fennel survived the winter and has a lot of tender bulbs coming up. I am thinking of making something special with these.

I planted this strawberry last year. I just love the anticipation of the fruit to come. Next to it are 2 flowers I always have, pansies and allysum.

One thing I haven't mentioned is tha a year ago I had a major problem with slugs. I decimated them with sluggo, a bait whose active ingredient is iron phosphate which is safe for pets. There are other baits out there that are really toxic. Don't use them. Only use bait that is pet safe whose active ingredient is iron phosphate. If you do, your slugs will disappear.

Planning your garden

One thing that's nice about a vegetable garden is that in most cases, every spring you have a clean slate. You may rearrange your garden in new ways. Indeed it is often better that you do so. If you grow tomatoes and brassicas in the same spot year after year, it is highly likely that they will be afflicted with various diseases as pests settle in.

Last year was the 1st vegetable garden in front here and I had a lot of weeds and english ivy slowing me down. It started out being fairly structured but that didn't last. I don't seem to have any current full bed pictures this year. I guess there's a reason for that but these 2 '08 pictures were probably taken in late April. Maybe in a few weeks I'll have some idea of what I am doing.

I got trigger happy when I was uploading and lost track of an image. I guess I'll reload it. This one is my lovely 'stage left' garden bed. What looks pretty sparse here rapidly filled in. One thing that is different this year is that I have more stepping stones.

What you see here are 6 red cabbages, lots of lettuce, various onions, some pansies to pretty it up, and some tulips to pretty it up. When the tulips faded I ripped them out and planted tomatoes.On stage right I planted some strawberries in a nice diamond. They barely resemble this shape now but I think I'll let them be. I should have kept the runners in line but strawberries are so cute. This year I have taken the ivy back a bit more. Last year I spent a long time ripping it out of this bed. Sure, it's great groundcover but I like other things more and I just don't have much space. Again, I have put in more stepping stones.

I don't do rows but I try not to walk anywhere in my beds unnecessarily. It does not take long for them to become covered as I tend to overplant.