The Americana and roots music authority
Where corn don't grow...
...by which I mean not once again to defend the voice and career of Travis Tritt, though I still think the body of his work is worth defending.
...by which I mean to type sadly that the three and a half rows of corn we put in some weeks back haven't come up. Probably the spring rains washed them out, or caused them to rot in the ground; possibly birds got at the seed, but I doubt it.
So, when we get back from a little jaunt to one of the places I used to live, we'll plant corn again. And beans.
Yesterday, just before the rains came back -- we've been planting all spring in very tiny windows when the sun has been out long enough for the ground to be dry enough to work and walk on -- we got two rows of tomatoes in the ground, along with a few basil plants (they grow well together; on the second row we stuck a basil plant between breeds just to keep the organization somewhat coherent...then we took the rash step of actually planting surveyors' flags and marking out what we'd planted!). That amounts to about 50 plants, plus the half dozen we spotted that we'd forgotten about, and so we stuck them down were some of the blackberries didn't make it. Not sure the tomatoes will like that soil, but it was what we had to offer. And then the rain came again.
Which reminds me, oddly enough, that I saw and deleted an e-mail about some new Scott Walker retrospective DVD something-or-other.
And so it goes.
Everything is, at least, green. And the potatoes came up, most of them, which was a bit of a surprise because we'd thought THEY had rotted in the ground. Instead, they look healthy as all get-out. The last couple days we've hoed (my father-in-law has hoed, that is) and surrounded those rows with shredded paper, by way of mulch. The paper is free from the recycling center here, and I note the irony of an old magazine guy covering potatoes with shredded newsprint.
My ancestors, way back in County Cork, are probably laughing.
...by which I mean to type sadly that the three and a half rows of corn we put in some weeks back haven't come up. Probably the spring rains washed them out, or caused them to rot in the ground; possibly birds got at the seed, but I doubt it.
So, when we get back from a little jaunt to one of the places I used to live, we'll plant corn again. And beans.
Yesterday, just before the rains came back -- we've been planting all spring in very tiny windows when the sun has been out long enough for the ground to be dry enough to work and walk on -- we got two rows of tomatoes in the ground, along with a few basil plants (they grow well together; on the second row we stuck a basil plant between breeds just to keep the organization somewhat coherent...then we took the rash step of actually planting surveyors' flags and marking out what we'd planted!). That amounts to about 50 plants, plus the half dozen we spotted that we'd forgotten about, and so we stuck them down were some of the blackberries didn't make it. Not sure the tomatoes will like that soil, but it was what we had to offer. And then the rain came again.
Which reminds me, oddly enough, that I saw and deleted an e-mail about some new Scott Walker retrospective DVD something-or-other.
And so it goes.
Everything is, at least, green. And the potatoes came up, most of them, which was a bit of a surprise because we'd thought THEY had rotted in the ground. Instead, they look healthy as all get-out. The last couple days we've hoed (my father-in-law has hoed, that is) and surrounded those rows with shredded paper, by way of mulch. The paper is free from the recycling center here, and I note the irony of an old magazine guy covering potatoes with shredded newsprint.
My ancestors, way back in County Cork, are probably laughing.
-
Comment by PB on May 14, 2009 at 8:46am -
Could be worse, the barren corn ground could've sprouted with Travis Tritt CDs. Pesky weeds, the whole lot of 'em!
As for "we got two rows of tomatoes in the ground" -- well now, that's much better, as Guy Clark would confirm.
We had some grand designs about a little gardening here, till I broke my arm at SouthBy. The arm's better now -- enough that I'll probably have to mow the lawn next go-round (ugh) -- but we've pretty much missed our window for planting. Though we may still try to get a few tomatoes in, and hopefully have better luck than we got with our rather mediocre haul last year.
As for Scott Walker, there's a song on the upcoming Minus 5 CD called "Scott Walker's Fault". Only Scott McCaughey doesn't sing on it; the guy from the Decemberists (Colin Meloy) takes the lead vocal. Go figure. Anyway, the songs lives up to its title pretty well, I thought.
-
Comment by Kim Ruehl on May 14, 2009 at 11:16am -
I'm about to get a chance to plant things in the actual ground this summer (my gardening has been confined to pots since I moved to Seattle six years ago). Being from the south originally, I'm a little at a loss as to what survives a PNW turn of seasons. I wanted to grow corn but have been told it's the wrong climate here. Any tips?
-
Comment by Danielle on May 19, 2009 at 6:39am -
A writer in this past Sunday's Boston Globe (my hopefully not-erstwhile primary freelance employer) pointed out that when print is dead, we're gonna have a lot of trouble with litter boxes, ransom notes and third-grade "volcano" science projects. Add potato farming to the list.
-
Comment by Mick Polich on June 4, 2009 at 7:56pm -
Grant,
Thank you - I love this. As an Iowan, I know too well about crops, soil, weather, and farming. In fact, I really miss the noon crop and hog market report out of WOI -FM in Ames,Ia. every day - that could pretty much set the tone for farmers and what kind of year they would have statewide in sales on a daily basis.
Good luck with the planting - I know from living down south since 2001, the soil needs alot of replenishing in spots. Don't give up - farming is an art, for sure.
Comment
© 2012 Created by No Depression.
Badges | ND Terms Of Use | ND Privacy Policy | Report an Issue | Terms of Service
You need to be a member of No Depression Americana and Roots Music to add comments!
Join No Depression Americana and Roots Music