The Summer of Haphazard Gardening

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Haphazard. Sadly. All of my strategic plans so far have been foiled by the urgent need to fix up the house enough to move in. I suspect my gardening will continue to proceed quite haphazardly for the remainder of the summer as we continue to fix our city-violations and do other urgent home improvements.

Still, 40 days after purchase of our first home, we have repainted every wall and ceiling (except the bathrooms, they’re last on the list), we have sanded and refinished all of the wood floors. We have made a number of electrical upgrades (still more to go though). And fixed many other minor details.

And I’ve still managed to get some potato plants started, I finally put my tomatoes in the ground, and patience has rewarded me with carrot and pumpkin seedlings sprouting up! Of the bareroot plants I put in a few weeks ago, the grapes are sprouting happy little leaves. A “housewarming” rose plant is looking much better since I planted and fertilized it, it was not happy with my under-watering of it as a container plant. I’m feeling pretty good about those accomplishments, and it makes me happy to see these green friends popping up in the barren lawn-scape of the backyard..

The down side: the black raspberries are still looking “dormant”, I know I haven’t amended or conditioned my clay soil enough that those carrots are going to do very well, bunnies ate all but the biggest pumpkin seedling, my lettuce seeds and sunflower seeds have not sprouted at all (and I put those in before the carrots).

So it’s a mixed bag. I’m hoping to have my “potato trench” turned into a raised bed by the fall. I’m also hoping to explore some quick late-season crops in the fall like lettuce (trying again!) and radishes.

And I will have to consider the ornamental situation in the fall as well. There is a very silly looking round bare mulched spot right by the sidewalk in the front where some tree or shrub apparently died long before we bought the place. My hubby says he wants something there that “will look good in winter” and I’m considering deciduous winterberry holly or witch-hazel for winter excitement and color. I find both lovely and intriguing so I might try to work both in.

My last note: I have a mystery shrub in the back yard. My father-in-law suggested it might be an elderberry. Internet pics and descriptions seem to agree, but there are some similar looking plants that aren’t so pleasant. What do you think it might be?

• 26 Jun, 2008
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