garden 2024: hands in the dirt
preparing soil in the permaculture gardening beds and cleaning all the things
Thank you as always for being here. It’s been an arduous week with another to follow: one of our large trees gets a serious haircut by a tree expert this week, I’ve committed to 15 hours in the pottery studio just to catch up, and I’m busy planning food menus for two events in our food and wine room in late March and early April. Several pieces of wall art are in progress and I’m wondering when I’m going to sneak our bedroom renovation in between all that… I do thrive on a full schedule though.
There are so many interesting writers on Substack that it’s mind-blowing. This platform continues to grow with creators of all genres, from food and wine to interiors and style and everything else in between. The quality of so much writing is excellent and is inspirational to me as I continue to to show up to the page here. Here are some of the writers and posts I’ve been paying attention to this week:
My friend Judy Witts Francini with a poetic post about spring arriving in Florence.
BBC presenter and Masterchef UK regular (and all around cool lady) Leyla Kazim is hosting a raffle to benefit Practical Action - each 3 Pound Sterling ticket will offer you the chance to win a paid Substack from one of 52 Substack bestsellers. An excellent raffle for a very, very good cause indeed.
And speaking of Leyla, Jo Thompson who writes an excellent publication called The Gardening Mind interviewed Leyla, who is an avid gardener, fermenter, food expert and this interview is gold if you’re a gardener or gardening wannabe. I agree with her on almost everything including that everyone should grow raspberries!
Jocelyn Lovelle wrote this absolutely gripping post about what we wear and so much more.
Jeannine Ouellette once again manages to move my literary heaven and earth by having us cradle the hearts and minds of our younger selves with things we want them to know.
The lovely and my fellow Italian part time resident Michele Becci works her cooking magic with this Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes, Swiss Chard and Pancetta. Oh dear. You know a pasta that’s just everything? This pasta is just everything.
And I’m sorry, but you and I both need Claire de Boer’s recipe for brothy spiced noodles and carrot slaw. You’re welcome.
Spring starts with a gush of warm air that simply propels me out the door. That’s what happened to me yesterday morning, and the Almighty Weekend Of Cleaning Up All The Crap began. How is it, that you can do such a thorough job of tidying up the garden in November, but by March, it all looks like something the cat dragged in? I calmed myself and did my 5 things ADHD exercise (look around and find just five things you can improve. After that find five more. Repeat until all the things are finished. It’s self imposed tough love, but it works like magic for anyone with a scattered, overwhelmed brain).
A few hours later, the front garden was finished and four huge bags are packed into my old beat up Golf (which runs like a champ after 17 years despite being totalled once on an Italian dirt road) to take to the garden recycle.
Today the focus was the back garden, and some soil regeneration tasks I perform this time of year. I have a long, narrow permaculture bed I started several years back, and with the exception of the first year when slugs ate every single thing, it’s performed and been a perfect little garden on the edge of a stone wall for everything from tomatoes to swiss chard to beets and cabbage.
Today I added wood ash from our pellet furnace (the pellets are pure compressed wood) which adds calcium, stone meal which contains minerals and also adds mineral sulphur, and horse hoof shavings which are a nitrogen enricher. After adding these things, I mixed them into the very top layer of soil, trying not to disturb the under layers. In the next couple of weeks I’ll add compost from my composter and then top soil. After I’ve planted it up, I’ll add the final layer, which is wood chip mulch that we make from trimming branches this time of year. Wood chip mulch doesn’t acidify the soil like pine bark mulch does, so it’s a great choice for vegetable gardens. It holds the water in and keeps weeds to an absolute minimum.
I took stock of what I learned in the 2023 gardening season:
I grew two plants of stevia last year. They grew to be monsters but I discovered that they are unfortunately annuals. I’m not put off, though, and will grow them again this year. I used it to make a sweet and tangy pesto by mixing them up with lemon and mint with a bit of olive oil for yogurt. Amazing. I’ll try more stevia recipes this season.
I have a late winter bumper crop of these very cool Brussels sprouts! They are actually an open flowering version and grow just like the familiar ones. I’ll make something with them starting this week. I’ll definitely grow more of these this year.
I am adding a big raised bed to the garden in the most sunny area we have. This is after I made the big mistake last year of planting a large grouping of heirloom tomatoes in an area where trees had grown too high and shaded the area. If I want tomatoes in Germany, I have to go for the brightest spots I have. I’ve been so confused as to what kind of raised beds to put in back there. I’ll make a decision this week though, move forward, and write about it here.
Here’s where it will go. Normally, we just let this part of our plot grow wild flowers - it is normally loaded with bees most of the spring and early summer. But this year I want to utilize it more for sure.
Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll focus on cleaning and cutting wood (we have a couple of dead fruit trees in the back that need to go), preparing the other three beds I have around the house for planting, deciding on plantings for the front of the house (we had major landscaping done fall last year and now there is some fine tuning).
I just found you and love reading about your gardening, pottery, etc. I never thought to grow stevia since I concentrate on growing dahlias, ranunculus, and anemones, as well as wild herbs to serve as filler in my bouquets. Looking forward to joining you on the forest floor (I just subscribed.)
Hi Diana, I weather has been good. We are doing good. My grandson, Zachary has is getting married in June, so we are getting ready! It will be in Pittsburgh. Love you and miss you dear cousin, ❤️😘❤️😘❤️😘