Not everyone is a gardener

by Jasmine

I am not a gardener. I have dabbled in gardening and failed miserably. The year that I rented a garden plot in Burlington, Vermont’s Intervale had to be one of the most humbling experiences in my brief gardening career. The garden plot comes marked out and with the soil freshly turned by the blades of a rototiller (or more likely a tractor). I bought seeds and seedlings. I marked out rows. I planned companion plantings. I tried to plan succession planting but a little math soon led me to see that 70 days from the end of the season was only three weeks after the beginning of the season. This is where the adventure began.

Every day after work, I would head down and scratch around in my little plot of soil. I had grand plans and planted 16 broccoli plants. I came back the next day; there was not a broccoli plant in sight. I went immediately to the co-op and bought ten more seedlings. I planted these the next day and the following day they were gone. I bought more seedlings and some remay crop cover. I planted these. I came back the next evening and there was a tear in the corner of the cover and one broccoli seedling remained. I wanted to cry. Another gardener walking through commented offhandedly, “Oh, I see you are having trouble with the wood chuck. That is always a problem with these plots on the edge of the woods.”

Woodchuck, so that was it and while I am usually an animal loving member of society, this was war.  I researched.  I traipsed around in the woods and found a hole. I did some more research.  I bought some liquid creosote.  I came back and the next day there was no broccoli and it had moved on to the cabbage and cauliflower.  Oh, I hate woodchucks.  I spent some more time in the woods and found seven holes up and down the edge where the community gardens.  I used liquid creosote.  I looked into what the hunting regs were for this land.  I pulled every trick I had.  After a couple of weeks more on the war path, I happened to look at my garden which was now an impenetrable plot of weeds.  I never went back.

The following summer I joined the Intervale Community Farm CSA and picked up vegetables that were grown 300 yards from my garden plot of the year before.  Even without gardening, I find that I can eat local by depending on local farms, CSA and the Farmer's markets.  And I still hate woodchucks.

Jasmine has moved to Virginia where they call them groundhogs.  She still hasn't made peace.  You can find her writing about knitting and eating and all things green at http://knitting40shadesofgreen.typepad.com

Comments

[Jamie]

Oh, man, is that frustrating. That's sort of like me with deer and okra! And last year I had some kind of burrowing creature that was taking my root vegetables from underground, like something out of a Warner Bros. cartoon.

CSAs rule!

[Birdsong]

I certainly sympathize; critters beat us to our cherries almost every year. Farming is hard work, and I have the utmost admiration for people who do it.

[Liz]

This is why we have our garden fenced... to keep out all our enemies: groundhogs, skunks, rabbits. It's amazing the damage they can do in a short period of time. And also amazing how much you can despise another creature.

I totally agree with Jamie: CSAs rule! If you can't have a garden (for whatever reason), it makes perfect sense to get a share.

[julie]

Fire up the hibachi! Let's have some roasted woodchuck! Anyone know if it's good? The Joy of Cooking has recipes for squirrel--I'm sure it could be adapted for woodchuck. *wink*

[Laurie O]

This year I devoted a large section in the center of my garden to beets, since they are my new favorite vegetable. Something selectively eats each leaf as they develop, and leaves everything else alone. Now I have a big bare patch in the middle of the garden (where something else will go this week). Next year, I'm putting chicken wire over the beets. Last year I gave up on okra for the same reason.