In Search of the Glove

I went everywhere I tell ya….they want way too much for gardening gloves. After gardening my fingers off, I needed something that accommodates fingernails. But I didn’t want to spend a fortune and I wanted comfort and the ability to thin carrots with gloves on. Know what I mean?

The first hurdle is cost. What is too expensive? $20, 25? I thought under twenty for a year of gardening would be reasonable. And boy did I have a hard time finding the glove that fit the bill. Finally here they are.

My new Ethel glove. Leather tips for the nails and a very comfortable nylon for the body of the glove. I thinned my winter carrots just fine. $16.95 at Home Depot. I’ll let you know if they last a year.

BIRD SEED (FINALLY PART-TWO)

Part-one was about birds....part-two is the seed story

Boy is there a lesson learned here. Never publish any part of a two-part narrative before at least drafting all the pieces. My intentions were good, my excitement high and content absolutely riveting. And then the harvest came……..First there were beans and then the tomatoes; so many tomatoes. The potatoes were astounding and seemed to appear even after I was sure we had dug them all. Pumpkins, acorn squash and butternut squash were stored away. I even remembered to label the garlic after planting. And then the rain. And now that my beloved garden has been put to bed for the winter, I can write again.

Let’s not forget the title of this little musing…..Bird Seed in two parts. You can see in part one how much I love the birds in my garden. I enjoy feeding them; making the suet, cooking the hummingbird food and keeping the seed tray full. And that leads me to other seeds in my garden. I have always felt the pull to collect my own seed and move along on the path toward subsistence farming. So far I have collected and planted the easy things; marigolds, sunflowers, geraniums and beans. I always give up as my results the following year are not as great as I expect them to be.

But this year I had a few delightful experiences. The first was my lettuces. I had planted so much I couldn’t get it harvested before it bolted. One morning early I saw the lettuce flowers wide open. I was so amazed at how simple and beautiful they are. The color is a yummy cream yellow with a deep yellow center . They have tiny spoke-like petals and oddly enough they look just like lettuce flowers should.

The russet potatoes surprised me as well. They bloomed right on time and I knew that under that rich earth the little spuds were forming. And while admiring this favorite flower of mine, I noticed small round pods forming. I ran to the computer to find out these were indeed potato seeds. Did you know that if you plant them like any other seed you will get (surprise!) many different kinds and colors of potatoes. They do not breed true so no telling the size, shape or color you will get. I think that is one of the most fun facts I’ve gathered in my gardening life.

The final surprise seed in my garden is the seed of Hope. Every gardener has it. Even after the worst drought year or an especially pest challenged year, the gardener hopes that next year the garden will have less weeds; it will be more abundant and we will all be better gardeners.

Happy fall and get some rest. Spring will be here before we know it.