By Karen Cohen
Easy Does It
Well, home gardeners, the growing season is certainly slowing down, down, down. I am still finding some tomatoes, cucumbers, and zucchini but no longer on a daily basis. That’s sad because I managed to have a freshly made bowl of gazpacho for lunch every day for over a month. That really trims off some fat and calories along with roaming the mountains and hills, too!
We had a low of 48 degrees the other morning. Sweaters were donned for our early morning doggie walk. Fall is approaching and will hit mid-September. Leaves are blanketing our long driveway and sometimes falling like rain in the forest. Autumn is the best season of the year, but I normally say that about every change of season. What’s your favorite?
Fall veggie seeds directly planted in the soil have sprouted and have taken hold. Kale, cabbage, arugula, and chard are doing just fine after battling summer’s heat and leaf chewing insects. With vigilant watering, these will keep growing right up and into the first frost and snowfall, too. Our garlic cloves will be planted around November or late October and then the garden rests under chopped leaves, a few shovels full of horse manure, and a dusting of grass clippings. All those nutrients seep into the garden soil slowly over the months and reward us next year with abundance.
As I enter my own personal fall season of life, I tend to relax more. I don’t rest but just once a day and that’s at nighttime when I eagerly and quickly latch on to eight hours of shut eye. With exercise, wholesome food, one cup of coffee per day, daily nuts and fruits, I keep this body going. What do you do to keep your battery charged?
I strongly suggest the Ruth Stout no work gardening method. Ruth advises gardeners to not till your garden soil. Instead mulch with clumps of rotted hay which locks in the moisture and keeps out weeds, and plant seeds directly into the ground. I have followed her tips for over 50 years from her book called Ruth Stout No-work Garden book and highly recommend it. There are some videos you can find online to see the real Ruth Stout in action or kinda non-action! Search online: Interview and Garden Tour with Ruth Stout-Mulch Queen. Ruth lived to the ripe old age of 96; may we all be that lucky!
Eliminating chemicals from your food and your garden has been my objective in writing this garden column. Organic simply means: relating to or derived from living matter. Strictly organic means: no round-up, no biocides, insecticides, or herbicides, and no chemical fertilizers. Use only living matter which is the same way our forests all over this planet are nourished. Gardens should and can pump with life, bugs, frogs, bees, hummingbirds, because they are alive and not poisonous to anything including humans and four-leggeds. With fall coming and winter not far behind, I put down my paper and pen and head out to explore the world beyond my garden. I hope you have the energy and curiosity to do the same even if you do it by reading books of adventure and travel.
For now and for the future, for your garden and for your spirit, I wish you happy growing!
(Karen Cohen is an organic grower of flowers, herbs and veggies. She can be reached at natureswaykaren@gmail.com)
