Gardener of the Month: September 2010

LINDA you have been selected to be the "Freedom Gardener of Month!"

Location: Riverside, CA
Plant Hardiness Zone: 9-10
Acreage / Lot Size: 1/4 acre

(Freedom Gardens) Tell us a little more about your garden/ farm, what you grow, etc.

My husband and I live in an older neighborhood, built in the 30s and 40s, with small houses and small lots in a medium-sized city. I have a small back yard that measures 35’x65’, with a garage in that space. Of that area, I have cultivated a 350 square foot garden that encompasses my yard borders, 1 foot growing area by the side of my house, two areas fenced off from my dogs, and potted plants. I grow perennial herbs in the front yard, which are low-water users that landscape that area (thyme, oregano, rosemary, marjoram and bark mulch - no grass out there). Blueberries, a fig tree, lemon tree and lime tree all grow in pots on the patio, along with some other herbs (bay, tarragon, chives, lemon balm, mints, basil, lemon grass, aloe). I planted fruit trees this year, after spending weeks researching varieties that will give us successive harvests of fruit: peach, plum, apricot and cherries. I’m going to keep them small and well-pruned so they will all bear well in my small yard. As a bonus, my city reimburses me for any tree I purchase and plant on my property (up to 5 per year), so the fruit trees were free. I’m getting 5 more next year, different varieties of the same fruits mentioned above, so we’ll have 6 months of fresh fruit.

My first goal in gardening was to grow things that you can’t buy fresh and tasty at the store – tomatoes! This list expanded to green beans, flavorful lettuce and greens, apricots, peaches, blueberries, figs…the list goes on. Next, my goal was to grow something fresh year round. This was pretty easy to accomplish in Southern California, but I was amazed at how pleasant and easy winter garden was in my desert area – no 105 degree temps to deal with! What a luxury. My current goal for the garden is to try and grow as much of the produce that we like to eat. The new fruit trees are a place to start, I’m planning an asparagus bed and black berry patch for next winter, the blueberries will start producing next year, and in the meantime I’m growing as many different things at once as I can: tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, zucchini, corn, green beans, beets, chard, collards, okra, tomatillos, watermelons, winter squash, and potatoes.

(Freedom Gardens) Behind every garden, there must have been blood, sweat and tears. What have you felt was (is) the hardest thing you’ve faced (or are facing) in your gardening? Would you care to share a story?

Old fence posts and crappy soil are the hardest things I’ve had to deal with. In one growing area, I took out 6 old fence posts that must have been there since the house was built (1937). They weighed over 50 pounds, and took me DAYS to dig out and around them so I could wedge them out with my husbands help. When I started digging out the newest and last growing area, I was digging along nicely until I felt a clunk – yup, another old fence post, with the same circumphrence as the other 50 pounders. AUGH! I confess, I cried for a moment, then laughed, and then left that digging for another day. I will tackle that job next winter when I am emotionally prepared. As with a lot of people, I have compacted clay soil naturally, so I do a lot of amending. I see results in how easy it is to dig the next season, and how much better things grow the next year, but it’s a hard thing to know if you are doing right. Do I fertilize? With what? Did that do any good? Should I amend differently next year? Add more nutrients? It’s a tough thing to learn to do well, and I’m still working on it.

(Freedom Gardens) What do you feel is the most important thing in gardening?

Taking good notes has been the best thing I could have done in the garden. It’s part journal, part harvest total, and I’ll write what worked and what didn’t, future plans or changes for next year. I can look back and see what I did or didn’t do, or remind myself what worked quite well. I try to spend some time every day in the garden, seeing what is blooming, ripening, what bugs are out there, possible problems, checking irrigation, and harvesting. I work full time, so during the week my garden sojourns are limited to 10-20 minutes or so, but the weekends and at least one day I spend a good hour or so weeding and maintaining. Bigger projects like creating new beds or amending or planting are set for the weekend, when I have the time, inclination and after-gardening recuperation time.

(Freedom Gardens) They say that “when you garden, you grow.” Have you changed – emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually – since you’ve starting growing food?

I can’t think of one aspect of my life that HASN’T changed since I started gardening! From a food perspective, I eat much simpler now – a sliced tomato on toast, some blueberries and yogurt, fried okra – just because the food is good enough to savor on it’s own. I use more herbs (basil, parsley, cilantro, oregano, thyme are all favorites, and I’m trying to use up all this great tarragon and rosemary I have). I truly eat seasonally – if I don’t have tomatoes growing, I don’t eat tomatoes. In the winter we live on greens, beets and sugar snap peas. I haven’t bought produce in months, and when I do it’s a foreign experience. I honestly thought how strange it was to look at the produce section the other day, because nothing was growing on a plant!

I think the mental, spiritual and emotional aspects are the best changes though, and the most subtle. I find great satisfaction in coming inside after a day in the garden with dirt wedged under my fingernails. If it’s been a particularly difficult day at work, just being able to do a quick tour of the garden settles me down and makes me human again. People say that I must have a green thumb, yet I’m the one who thinks about how little I really DO in regards to my garden – I don’t germinate the seed, I don’t pollinate the flowers, I don’t provide the sun. Yes, I water and do my best to grow the soil, but in comparison to the BIG stuff, that’s nothing. Gardening makes me humble, and pleases me when things go well, because I can say I was some small part in that creation. It makes me realize how much a part of the natural world we humans are, and how far our society has strayed from it. It has made me patient – you can’t rush a good tomato – but it has also heightened my sense of anticipation. It has made me appreciate abundance, and the lack of abundance, and to know that both are necessary for a good life balance.

(Freedom Gardens) Has this social network (freedomgardens.org) helped you with your garden?

Freedom Gardens has been a HUGE help to my garden! I’ve been able to connect with local friends and people who have the same problems that I do (spider mites!), and get good information on ways to fight pests and the best times to grow things. Most gardening advice is for people who live in Maine (or those who actually HAVE seasons), so a lot of traditional/seasonal growing advice doesn’t really work for southern California. A lot of the help has just been encouragement to give it a try, and keep notes. That way, if I want to do it again, I’ll know how to improve it and do it better. And to always, ALWAYS try again. If you really want that tomato or that green, try it again and see if it works this time.

(Freedom Gardens) Anything else you’d like to share with other freedom gardeners?

There is almost always one star in the garden in a season, and at least one disappointment. Be happy with the star, and try the disappointment again next year in a different spot, with more soil amendment, better watering, etc. Keep notes and keep trying! You’ll find things that work, and some things that don’t, and you’ll find your own tastes and needs changing with the garden. Don’t be afraid to the let the garden change you! After 39 years on this earth I discovered just this year, that I LOVE beets. Love ‘em! Can’t get enough of them. As a bonus, they are super easy to grow and I have so far been able to grow them year round in my garden.

(Freedom Gardens) Thanks for taking the time from your busy life to share your gardening experience with us.  Happy growing!

Check out LINDA'S Freedom Garden profile