The $10,000 question

We had a little sewer issue a couple of months ago that ended up costing a not-so-pretty penny. Somehow it just seemed so unfair that so much money went into cleaning up our sewage (and perhaps the sewage of several rounds of homeowners before us, if I understand it correctly), that it really didn't seem real. Or maybe I'm just in a different place now than in the past, and I was able to just step back and roll with it. In any case, the most salient thing about it for me was the total overhaul of our side yard, which had been a neglected weed patch with a falling-down carport and all the random odds and ends not stuffed under the deck or in the garage. That backhoe made very quick work of a fairly sizeable stretch of land, leaving us with a fresh start (well, fresh may not be the most appropriate adjective when talking sewer pipe replacement).

So I began imagining what I might like to grow in what could now become my additional garden space. I was reminded of the transformation we made of our front yard the spring that we got married, and our "wedding garden" filled with gifts from our friends.

I had a few moments of inertia thinking of all the work to be done elsewhere in the yard, and the raised beds that had had limited use the past growing season or two, but that side yard kept calling to me. It called when I was thinking over the day, waiting to fall asleep. It called when I was following my daughter out of the garage for a trike ride in the alley. It called when I was reading Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/) and Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food (http://www.michaelpollan.com/indefense.php). It called during yoga, when I opened my mind to what wanted to be there. It called at work, when I didn't want to be there.

I listened, and got inspired. I love to garden, especially to grow vegetables and to be able to go out and see what looks delicious for dinner. I love how I can hoe and dig and haul dirt for what seems like a short while and am always surprised when hours have passed. I love weeding, and planting, and puttering, and don't even get me started about pruning. That is another post entirely. I have missed it dearly while I have been away, and I have been very excited by my daughter's enthusiasm for doing it with me. So, I'm gardening again. I don't have the long hours and hours to get lost in it that I once did, but I have so much more time now than in years and I have help. And inspiration. Because when your almost four year-old begs to plant more squash because she loves it so much and wants to eat it right away, you feel differently about sacrificing some hard-to-find free time to make it happen.

So, having spring break this week, and daycare for the next three days, I got busy. The rest of the yard is in good enough shape, much of it planted and waiting for sun and rain to do their magic, and the side yard was still mostly untouched, waiting for me to get a truck and get some soil. This morning it looked like this (thanks to Bill, who hacked up the carport parts yesterday):
The soil needed amending with some compost and I needed to create some squash hills, but mostly I needed to dig the trenches for the potatoes. Because that is what the side yard has been calling, all these weeks and months: "Potato Patch." The potatoes have been here for a couple of weeks now and are as of today officially preparing to be planted (they need a week or two of warmth and light to sprout before I can cut them and put them in my trenches). The other seeds have all been started inside or planted out. We will have a good variety of tomatoes, lettuces, squashes, cucumbers, peppers and herbs if all goes well. Oh, and pumpkins, by someone's special request. Inspired by what I had read lately, I ordered all heirloom seeds from Seed Saver's in Iowa (http://www.seedsavers.org/) and went for a variety of items I've never seen or eaten. Why not? The home garden is fairly fickle anyway, so what succeeds and fails will shape my planning for next year. But I was certain that I wanted to sample lots of potatoes as I want to make a difference in my small way to eat locally and seasonally, and potatoes are one of the things I can store without learning how to can or buy a freezer. I might do those things, too, but it might be wise to take this one step at a time. The seed potatoes are lovely, and they have lovely names like Cranberry Red, All Blue, Purple Viking and Austrian Crescent.
Here is how the side yard looks now, waiting for its lovely seed potatoes to fill the troughs.
I look forward to a week or two from now when my daughter and I can head out with our baskets filled with seed potatoes and lay them in the ground. A small step towards bringing eating locally even closer to home.