The Barefoot Gardener

I'm a gardening nut. I excuse myself by adding that at least what I'm into is useful; I know people who will go on for hours about the intricacies of brugmansias or cannas, and I confess to a small bite from the rose bug myself. But overwhelmingly, what I'm interested in is growing edibles. Vegetable gardens and fruiting plants, particularly annuals, are what I spend my time on.

This is perhaps partly due to the state of neglect most of the property is in. When I have no idea how permanent any existing tree is, nor what we're going to want to do to the area once weeds are cleared out, suddenly annuals look very appealing. That's not to say I'm not working on the neglect, but the first part of that (beyond planning) is tearing out the unwanted things and preparing ground, and that's a chore. The only ornamental I don't begrudge spending time on is the roses, and I don't spend as much time as I ought with them.

For pleasure, I turn to the vegetable garden in back. I have an L-shaped area about 75 feet on a side and 40 feet wide, called the "back forty"; not all of that is available to garden in, due to shade and walnut trees, but I've got two plots of about 35 feet by 50 feet, which is just short of too much to work by myself. So I have two plots, one fallow and one in use, where I can use various methods to improve the soil; in that, I've still got a ways to go. It's not clay, but it's heavy, and the nitrogen levels are too low for anything but weeds.

I do, however, live in sunny Northern California, the place we can grow darn near anything, and there's no such thing as downtime. So take your socks off, grab a cool drink, and have a look around.