Leaving a vegetable garden on the brink of blooming into full productivity is a tough gig. how do you say goodbye and hand over your baby to garden variety strangers? people who, even if they are your best friend and your mother, really dont care and love as much as you do? Detailed instructions to 'turn every cabbage leaf and look closely, keep an eye out for earwigs, monitor the corn munchers; "just gently rub your forefinger and thumb along the strand", watch out for 'the limp', carefully check carrot moisture, irrigate the basil WELL, apply liquid fertiliser on the 23rd and please dont forget to pick all the snowpeas and beans you can and use the coriander, yes lots of it'. This all seems a little OTT when you have to spell out loud your own gardening regime.
and sounds a bit too neurotic i might add. After all the hard work, time invested and diligent application of precious water, its difficult not to look at the potentially lost investment and want to aggressively stick up for it. Its a living, productive system that's offerring up its bounty, needing care and respect wouldnt you say? So i leave it with some trepidation about the state in which i might find it when we return.
9 comments:
Oh, I can fully understand all that. What a dilemma! We don't even realise what we do on a daily basis out in the garden. All these little things. Until we start giving instructions... *LOL*
Then it dawns on us how utterly 'weird' all that might sound.
I hope all will be well when you come back. Summer is the worst time to leave the veggie patch for a longish period of time. But it sometimes surprises how well it can cope without that much 'interference'. All the best! :)
I think your way braver than I could ever be about trusting someone else to my veggie patch.
But then we gotta do what we gotta do.
Good luck and I hope it all well for you when you get back.
I feel your pain :-/ Will keep all fingers and toes crossed for you that the weather is mild, rain is regular and the pests are few while you are away!
I can understand too, last Christmas I had to leave my garden in the care of the neighbour, I was quite surprised when I came back at what had survived and some things had even flourished. It helped give a better understanding of the micro-climates within the garden itself.
Hope you have a good holiday
take care
Pip
As is the nature of ungrateful gardens, some of your plants will die despite the devoted attentions of your garden minders, and some of the plants will do better than they ever have for you.
My word verification is "swore".
Oooh, i sooo understand your dilemma! It's why I won't go away from home for more than a day or so during the main growing season. Good luck! xx
veggie - yes, its a minefield. i have written instructions down.
stewart- yup when family calls ... thankfully both 'minders' have vege gardens of their own, so can empathsise somewhat and take instruction!
Julie - pain and thensome - i prolly will miss the first tomato- thats gotta hurt!
Rest NI - i take hope from your words! and its the first year i have had several large beds spread around the place so it will be interesting to see what makes it!
Inner city-
i shall have to kill them if that is the case. my mother like to garden, and likes vege gardening, she just forgets to water...
naturewitch- they're just like kids, only quieter, more peaceful and dont talk back!
It would definitely be tough. It looks beautiful by the way!
Here's hoping for happy surprises on your return!
This is weird but when I leave my garden I continue talking to it and taking mental walks through it from wherever I am. Somehow it seems to make the transitions in care go more smoothly or at least make them more tolerable. Have a wonderful trip.
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