Join Delores, MotherOwl, and me as we dig for inspiration, plant idea seeds, and tend our poems with loving care. Hopefully you enjoy the bloomin' good verses we come up with and also hopefully they weren't watered with tears of frustration :)
You can do it too -- leave a poem in the comments, or post on your own blog. If you do the latter, please leave a comment so we can find you and applaud. Use the topic, or another of your choosing -- the idea is to have fun and exercise our gray matter.
*****
I plant flowers each summer but it's been awhile since I had a vegetable garden. My place of work is busy in late spring, making it hard to find the time to plant early enough to harvest anything in our short growing season.
You may also remember that deer often visit our yard, and they consider young garden plants to be delicious appertifs. This year they have even come up onto our front step to eat the blossoms of my geraniums -- the muddy hoofprints gave them away. I don't want to go to all the trouble of putting in a garden just to feed the deer.
But this year I had a plan.
The deck on the back of our house is too high for the deer to reach, so I decided to do some pot gardening. No no no, not that kind of pot; while marijuana is legal in Canada now, I have zero interest in growing it, smoking it, or eating it.
I meant the kind of pot you plants things in, of course.
What did I plant? A cherry tomato plant, a zucchini plant, three cucumber plants, some peas, some lettuce, and some micro-greens.
So ........ the crops are in, the crops are up, and in some cases, the crops already have fruit or vegetables on them. They're tiny, but they're there.
It just goes to show, you should never give up on your dreams.
Unless the squirrels and/or the birds get at your dreams and wreck them.
THEN, I might give up. Stay tuned.
*****
Never Throw In The Trowel
(Sung to the tune of "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands")
If you haven't got the time, never plant.
If the deer eat all your work, never plant.
If you haven't got the time and the deer eat all your work
If they drive you quite berserk, never plant.
If you get the urge to plant, squash it down.
If you want to buy some seeds, squash it down.
If you get the urge to plant and you want to buy some seeds
If you'd even welcome weeds, squash it down.
If the urge to plant gets strong, buy a pot.
If it's in you like a song, buy a pot.
If the urge to plant gets strong and it's in you like a song
If not planting just seems wrong, buy a pot.
Now your pots are full of plants: Hip Hooray!
Now your plants have grown a bunch: Hip Hooray!
Now your pots are full of plants and your plants have grown a bunch
Now go eat your home-grown lunch: Hip Hooray!
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Bunnies could also be an issue, even if the squirrels and birds behave. |
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Thank goodness we have indoor cats . . . Wait, the neighbours have outdoor cats . . . |
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Six inches apart? That won't be enough!! |
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I wouldn't mind growing a cat instead of a cucumber; no, sir. |
*****
Wishing you a week with good things springing up in front of your eyes as if by magic, and without any awful earworms such as "if you're happy and you know it, clap your hands" ......
Good job on the planting...and thanks for the chuckles!
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed, e :)
DeleteSPLENDID POST and FANTASTIC poetry dear Jenny :)))
ReplyDeleteyour intriguing words about gardening brought delight to my morning :)
your humor is incredibly awesome and delicate which is remarkable quality indeed
this is relief that back side deck has offered you space for peaceful planting my friend
dreams of all kind are so important ,they provoke us to dare and step ahead to fulfill them
i am glad you found way to have them as reality around you :)
enjoyed the each bit of your poem , equipped with accurate advises for plantation !
i am huge fan of your funnies ,wonderful selection and each made me smile
yes witnessing the magic of nature before eyes is blessing ,specially when we have time and sense to observe it !
Lots of love and hugs! have blessed spring days ahead my friend!
I'm glad you enjoy the funnies, baili :)
DeleteAnd I love how you have said this: "Dreams of all kind are so important, they provoke us to dare and step ahead to fulfill them" - so true and so well said!
Hugs back to you, my friend.
I grew pot back in the day. It's a lot more work than it sounds like.
ReplyDeleteOr it was when I did it, back when it was illegal and you had to try to hide it.
Imagine carrying water uphill. A lot.
Anyway, my friend Zsuzs had her potted garden in the back yard of our last house, and she just brought a few of them here, where they will be easier to care for.
Somehow, even though our last house was much closer to the bay, the sun and wind were especially harsh there, and even killed some of her cacti.
Last month's heatwave notwithstanding, the sun and wind are milder here, and we have hopes for a better outcome, without having to set up the big umbrellas that the wind kept lifting out of their holders at the last place.
Zsuzs likes to say that she needs to work with her hands in the dirt to stay sane, and this looks like a different place after all of the gardening and landscaping she did while she was here, so I really hope I can take care of her plants properly.
Do cucumber plants produce like squash plants do? I seem to remember having more squash than we knew what to do with every time we planted it when I was a kid, and everyone else's was ready at the same time so no-one wanted any.
No-one but me, that is, I really like it still.
I don't think your poem is an earworm, and I can relate to the feeling, and damn it's July already and too late to plant anything good to eat!
-Doug in Oakland
Do you think it might have been salt in the air that killed your plants? The salt carries here from the ocean, especially in the wind. Many evergreens along the coast have no branches to speak of on the ocean side - even the ones not right on the shore!
DeleteCucumbers don't produce as much as zucchini do, at least not in my experience. I love little zucchini - six inches or less - so I'm hoping to keep up with production (after all, it's just one plant), but I know what you mean about no one wanting the surplus :)
You could still plant micro-greens or leaf lettuce or radish or even peas if you have a somewhat shaded spot. Anything with a short growing season. If the peas find it too hot, they won't do well. But you could wait until August in that case, as the weather cools off. Go for it, Doug - ha ha
Tilling your garden poem has indeed given me a horrendous earworm.
ReplyDeleteI am very glad that your potted garden has survived (and hope it continues to thrive.
I'm sorry about the earworm, EC!! I hope it goes away quickly :)
DeleteI hope the garden continues to do well, too - it will encourage me for next year.
Wonderfuk poem! How good that you followed the urge to plant in spite of all adversity. I don't know if deer eat pot - the growing kind - maybe if you grew some, the deer would either happily nibble away on those or be deterred by the effects. In any case it is a pretty, sturdy plants and bees and birds love it. I don't eat, smoke, or deliberately grow it as I don't like it and the growing is illegal here. But once a seed from a bird feeding mixture sprouyted and grew into one of these. I let it grow and the bees swarmed around it all summer.
ReplyDeleteNow you make me want to plant some just to see what the deer think of it! It's interesting that the bird feed contained such a seed.
DeleteI LOVE your poem/song. I laughed and sang and laughed again at the pictures. Well done :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, River! I'm glad you liked it all :)
DeleteAn interesting post (and poem), though I'm not sure my grey matter needs any more exercise than it already gets. Like the rabbit!
ReplyDeleteI had a quick look at some of your poems, Nick - I really liked the ones I've read so far. I'll be back. Thanks for stopping by.
DeleteLoved singing along! It's a great idea, and if you have a screened porch on which to put your plants, all the better.
ReplyDeleteMy poem just tells the truth about my gardening ability!
If we had a screened porch, I'd have our cats out there, and then it wouldn't be safe for the plants! haha
DeleteI like your poem - I feel that way with indoor plants. They never do well for me.
If you want to have a garden, work a bunch.
ReplyDeleteIf you work at the garden you'll grow lunch.
If the deer drive you mad cause your garden they have had
If you move to PEI no deer will munch!
Hahahaha!! And it's TRUE!! No deer on PEI :)
DeleteI love your verse, Marie!
There are so many reasons not to plant, as gardening is a constant battle with nature and nature usually wins. I love the challenge though and am happy for you, Jenny, that you have found a way to have a garden out of the reach of those looking for a free lunch.
ReplyDeleteMy parents were both great gardeners (Dad with vegetables, Mom with flowers) so I'm glad to be doing a bit myself. It makes me feel connected, you know?
DeleteI like your poem this week and I'm waiting for the audio on this one. Yes, lots of clapping hands too!
ReplyDeleteDon't hold your breath, Red :) :)
DeleteI sang it and I laughed and I loved it...the pictures too. NOTES????? ah...musical notes, notes to the butcher, hold up notes....lots of notes to think about. This is going to be fun.
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it, Delores :)
DeleteHold up notes -- BRILLIANT! May I borrow that?!
your poem/song is funny! and for some people, wise.
ReplyDeleteI know having a potted garden isn't a new thought, but somehow this year I just had the energy and did it and I'm happy I did.
DeleteYour poem/song is perfect! We used to grow a small vegetable garden but have gotten too lazy as we got older! I have known many people to grow veggies in pots with success. I sometimes wonder if strawberries would do good in a pot? Of course you would have to keep the birds and squirrels away and that might be a challenge!
ReplyDeleteYes, birds and squirrels can get most anywhere - but it would be easier to put some kind of netting over some pots than over a whole garden, I would think.
DeleteI'm wondering how big the plants will get and how much they will produce as compared to in-ground planting. This will require a follow-up post, maybe :)
Dear Jenny, your lovely, lively, lyric made me happy and I know it. I happily and knowingly applaud!
ReplyDeleteExcellent :) Thank you, Geo.
DeleteI sang your poem. It's cute. When pot finally becomes legal in Florida, I will probably ask for a prescription (if it's required). My back always hurts. I've never wanted to get hooked on pain pills. A little edible pot might do the trick. If not, then at least I can say I tried.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
I agree - if I had chronic pain unrelieved by other means, I would want to at least give pot a try. There's a lot of anecdotal evidence that it helps. And after all, a great many mainstream drugs are derived from nature's gifts.
DeleteI love your cheery poem! I'm still humming the tune. Congratulations on your success so far - here's hoping those pesky critters leave you at tasty harvest.
ReplyDelete(And the pot full of kitties made me go, "Awwww...") :-)
Kittens pick the weirdest places to sleep!
DeleteSo far, so good - no critters on the deck! Now, at the front door, that's another thing altogether. Apparently the deer will eat anything they can reach.
Love the memes this week. They all gave me a good chuckle. I hope your anti-deer gardening plan continues to do well. Have a great weekend.
ReplyDeleteGlad you chuckled! Hope your weekend goes well also.
Delete