Invasion

Part of the difficulty I have run into with trying to create a more natural yard space is this invasion. I pulled out this latest explosion over the week.

Experienced gardeners would have taken steps to prep the garden space before planting. This is a key step in reclaiming. Any garden book or video you explore will show you key basics to preparing a garden bed.

This week's difficulty was self-induced. At no point when I created my small weed garden did prep happen. My Dear Husband had made a surprise purchase of native wildflower seeds. Boy was I excited I simply tossed those seeds in the side yard. 

Prep the garden bed...Not I said the cat. 

Now I have a mountain of Senecio Vulgaris and Lactuca Serriola (or something like that) and very few native seeds popped. While time-consuming the removal of these two plants pest plants is not difficult. A simple trowel up under the roots and the plants pop out. The front weed garden experiment will continue to get some work done, mostly weeding. 

Lactuca Serriola? @cassundry 2020 

Over the next week, I will be upgrading a section of the back garden. This time preparation will be made to ensure this bed will be more successful. On March 21st Hill Country Water Garden Nursery will have a plant sale (Gala). With luck, the back garden will be stocked with natives. 

Stop giving up - You do not have a black thumb

I had given up on planting a garden.


I didn't grow up with the knowledge of growing plants. "...the average American is now at least three generations removed from the farm." (FB,2020). My father told me stories about what he remembered of the family farm. My favorite story was when my father was about 5 years old and stole the tractor. He ran into a ditch which was the only reason he was caught. Another story my father remembered both him and his grandfather walking around the farm with shovels. "Come on boy time to dig, we need a new [Poop]er." 

At some point, my grandfather took his growing family from his parent's farm. Maybe it was my father's joy ride or perhaps it was the lack of indoor plumbing in the 1960s. Whatever the case my grandfather left for a big city job with Ford motor company. That was it no more farming. 

As I grew up my father was not a farmer nor a gardener. He wasn't interested in it. He wouldn't even water the yard. He'd say to me "Well skate if it was meant to live it would." My father was very opposed to fertilizing the yard also. He would also say "Kiddo that junk just ends up in the waterways." You could say he was a low key environmentalist. 

My mother, on the other hand, would joke about herself "I don't a black thumb. I don't kill everything, just most things. My thumb must be brown!" When I was really young she planted tomatoes. To this day I can't remember much about her set up. I just remember eating the whole tomatoes and watching lizards. Her working life kept her busy and she stopped planting tomatoes. My mother kept a few house plants at her office. Simple things like violets, aloe, and philodendrons grew in simple pots. 

This was it my planting knowledge as a whole. A few stories about a farm and a few potted plants. I always had a fascination with the natural world. I wanted to move out that barren waste of an American lawn and create a habitat highway. Reclaim the yard for the birds and bees. 

I gave up. Every step forward was a challenge. I just didn't have the knowledge to overcome the challenges. Here is the thing, "The truth is out there". In a world full of digital socializing the experiences and knowledge are available. 

It takes time. It takes energy. It takes grit. But it can happen.

Mystery Plant @cassundry 2020