{"id":4010,"date":"2011-06-24T07:17:27","date_gmt":"2011-06-24T11:17:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/?p=4010"},"modified":"2011-06-24T07:19:49","modified_gmt":"2011-06-24T11:19:49","slug":"smith-jones-the-lorelei-a-midsummer-nights-status-report-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/?p=4010","title":{"rendered":"Smith, Jones, The Lorelei: A Midsummer Night’s Status Report – Part Final"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Midsummer Night’s Status Report – Part 2<\/a><\/p>\n

Here’s the last part of this Summer Solstice peek at the garden scene.\u00a0 I love all the life in a garden, yes, plus eating good, fresh food, sure, but I also like the complexity of the interactions or at least the absurdity of the gang gathered there.\u00a0 Corn and cucumbers and tomatoes and sunflowers and castor beans and garlic and more all bursting from the same plot of land, really thrills me.<\/p>\n

This blog isn’t about gardening.\u00a0 It’s about words.\u00a0 Sometimes those words are about gardens.\u00a0 There are times when a garden requires more attention at one moment, for example harvesting, initial bed preparation, or weeding after a week of neglect.\u00a0 Similarly, I need to be doing this mid-summer (actually, mid-season) report now, in the June 21-24 midsummer range, since it’s about half-way through the growing season (March-October).<\/p>\n

Butternut Squash<\/strong> – Planted four hills, enough to cover Smith and the surrounding walkways, and maybe some of my neighbor’s gardens with squash vines if they all do well.\u00a0 Last year I was not at all pleased with how the winter squash performed.\u00a0 This year, in reaction to that, I likely overdid it.\u00a0 I want to practice growing things that keep over winter.
\nJerusalem Artichokes<\/strong> – There’s nothing Jerusalem-ish or artichokey about these plants, some now towering above me 10-12 feet tall, ready to burst into a yellow, chocolatey-smelling flower.\u00a0 Their gift lies underground, tubers we dig in fall.\u00a0 Thought I dug most of last year’s but no, I left way too many, so this year, my J.A. patch is brimful of these giants.
\nSweet Potatoes<\/strong> – My wife wanted to try these.\u00a0 We started them from sprouts cut from a half potato she stuck in water.\u00a0 Like the squash, our 6 plants could cover all of Smith.\u00a0 We’ll see what happens.\u00a0 Though I don’t like sweet potatoes, I’d like to be able to harvest some.
\nKale<\/strong> – Started last fall, these blokes are still going strong.\u00a0 Still figuring out what to do with the stuff.\u00a0 Cooked or raw?
\nScarlet Runner Bean<\/strong> – Quasi decorative, I’m growing these vines, with bright orange flowers, on trellises in the Lorelei, for looks, but hopefully for beans too.\u00a0 So far, so pretty.\u00a0
\nGround Cherry<\/strong> – I received seeds for this plant, a cousin to a tomato, as a gift.\u00a0 I have a few plants going strong in Smith.
\nHerbs<\/strong><\/span>
\nRosemary<\/strong> – A perennial, tough bush, chugging away, world without end, amen.
\nParsley<\/strong> – I started some from seed, a tough venture, that I neglected at a key moment, so I bought a few plants.\u00a0 Several other volunteer plants from last year’s that went to seed grow nearby.\u00a0 Don’t have the amount I’d like, but give it time.
\nSage<\/strong> – I bought a cute little variegated leaf variety at the market.\u00a0 Yellow-green leaves provide a nice contrast.
\nChives<\/strong> – Another dependable perennial, the chives displayed pretty purple pom-poms about a month ago.
\nThyme<\/strong> – Another workhorse perennial.\u00a0 Going strong.
\nLemon Balm<\/strong> – I worry I’ll wake up one morning and find it’s taken over the whole Lorelei.\u00a0 Or the apartment.\u00a0 Possibly the south side of Alexandria.\u00a0 My herb-keeper is drying this and making tea.\u00a0 You’d like lemon balm tea for Christmas, wouldn’t you?
\nCilantro<\/strong> – I started so many of these seeds but with only a modest result.\u00a0 I have found this hard to grow, a shame for an herb I love so much.
\nDill<\/strong> – Ditto what I said about cilantro.\u00a0 I love fresh dill in salads, but what I’ve planted just hasn’t done well.
\nFrench Sorrel<\/strong> – Another green to use in salads, this has finally taken off.\u00a0 Adds a tart snappy flavor.
\nAngelica<\/strong> – Another gift.\u00a0 I’d like to figure out its medicinal uses.\u00a0 It’s going to seed now.\u00a0 Very pretty.\u00a0 Need to read up on this.
\nWater Leaf<\/strong> – Also a gift, also medicinal, also need to read up.
\nLavender<\/strong> – Dozens of lovely purple flowers sway in the breeze above this very healthy, vigorous small bushy herb.\u00a0 It’s a delight to see.\u00a0 O.K., so if you don’t want lemon balm tea for Christmas, how about a lavender sachet?
\nOregano<\/strong> – Surging back each year, this dependable plant produces more oregano than we can possibly use. We’re drying some now in the hallway.
\nMint<\/strong> – Mostly wild at Smith, I’ve transplanted some to the Lorelei for when we suddenly are hankering for that queen of summer drinks, a mint julep.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Midsummer Night’s Status Report – Part 2 Here’s the last part of this Summer Solstice peek at the garden scene.\u00a0 I love all the life in a garden, yes, plus eating good, fresh food, sure, but I also like … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[69],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4010"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4010"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4010\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4018,"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4010\/revisions\/4018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thelifeliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}