There was this beautiful yard in front before the drought hit hard, and I have this hairbrained scheme to make it an edible yard. ‘Plan’ is too strong a word. I want to toss out some herbs and let them intermix and grow together into a massive tangle of unruly goodness, and gaze out at it from the living room window. There needs to be anchor plants, and wildflowers, and a hospitable environment for bees, hummingbirds and butterflies with tanbark and river rock to hold the weeds at bay.
There is a modest herb garden on the side yard that has basil, marjoram, oregano, mint, sage, thyme, rosemary and scallions. It’s enough for us, but a big plant of marjoram reduces to just a few jars of dried herbs for gift giving. Ask me how we know that.
We are in CA Zone 9a, which says it should be ideal for a cool weather crop. Our first and only attempt at a winter garden of cabbage, kale, broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprouts happened the year of an unusually hard, extended freeze and all was lost.
The summer garden thrives pretty much on its own if we provide regular water, compost and ladybugs. We’ve got what they call farmer’s soil, nutrient rich and the color of deep mocha. In it we have had success with pole beans, cucumbers, eggplants, melons, peppers (sweet and spicy), tomatillos, and thank God for that!
Elsewhere there’s an artichoke, a couple of new boysenberry vines and a on-life-support nectarine twig/tree that we shamelessly neglect. That is on my list to nurse it back to health. It'll probably do fine if we actually water it. More of the property has established trees of several olives, two pomegranates and an old fig with lots of character that answers to the name Figaro.
We also have a colony of ground squirrels or maybe it should be called an army, so food can’t be planted the easy way, directly in the dirt. The garden is constructed with a ground layer of chicken wire, then raised beds, then walkway tan bark shredded from tree limbs, and finally a perimeter electrified fence. (Just kidding about the electrified part)
So far the enemy is not interested in herbs, and hope springs eternal for a dirt planting in the front yard that will not involve the roots being pulled down into the tunnels like a Bugs Bunny cartoon.
The farmers just poison them, but we’ve got dogs to consider, and the hawks and owls who are our first priority. It is maddening to watch those cheeky devils sun themselves in the yard in full view of the window. We have flooded them, gassed them, and sealed them in. Those little buggers push the empty gas canisters out of the hole. I think they like it.
I picked up a humane trap but how does one reconcile the moral dilemma of turning them loose 8 miles away to become someone else’s problem? The worst part is knowing all winter they are underground breeding Borg reinforcements.
We are in CA Zone 9a, which says it should be ideal for a cool weather crop. Our first and only attempt at a winter garden of cabbage, kale, broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprouts happened the year of an unusually hard, extended freeze and all was lost.The summer garden thrives pretty much on its own if we provide regular water, compost and ladybugs. We’ve got what they call farmer’s soil, nutrient rich and the color of deep mocha. In it we have had success with pole beans, cucumbers, eggplants, melons, peppers (sweet and spicy), tomatillos, and thank God for that!
Elsewhere there’s an artichoke, a couple of new boysenberry vines and a on-life-support nectarine twig/tree that we shamelessly neglect. That is on my list to nurse it back to health. It'll probably do fine if we actually water it. More of the property has established trees of several olives, two pomegranates and an old fig with lots of character that answers to the name Figaro. We also have a colony of ground squirrels or maybe it should be called an army, so food can’t be planted the easy way, directly in the dirt. The garden is constructed with a ground layer of chicken wire, then raised beds, then walkway tan bark shredded from tree limbs, and finally a perimeter electrified fence. (Just kidding about the electrified part)
So far the enemy is not interested in herbs, and hope springs eternal for a dirt planting in the front yard that will not involve the roots being pulled down into the tunnels like a Bugs Bunny cartoon.
The farmers just poison them, but we’ve got dogs to consider, and the hawks and owls who are our first priority. It is maddening to watch those cheeky devils sun themselves in the yard in full view of the window. We have flooded them, gassed them, and sealed them in. Those little buggers push the empty gas canisters out of the hole. I think they like it. I picked up a humane trap but how does one reconcile the moral dilemma of turning them loose 8 miles away to become someone else’s problem? The worst part is knowing all winter they are underground breeding Borg reinforcements.
