Green-up time
Spring is this fleeting season that passes all to quickly. We watch as, ever so gradually the fresh green veil begins to clothe both our forests and our gardens.
In the woods ephemeral wild flowers cover the forest floor and, in our gardens, the daffodils, primroses and bluebells are a sight to behold.
In Vermont the first Saturday in May is also the official state Green-up Day. This is when an estimated 15,000 people fan out along our roadsides to gather up a winter’s accumulation of trash, bottles and cans into special green bags.
And the trash we find sometimes takes on peculiar forms. Not long ago, when walking through the forest, I spied a mysterious crimson object off in the distance. It was resting on the ground among an expanse of yellow trout lilies. Upon closer inspection I discovered it was a Mylar balloon, presumably launched four months earlier as part somebody’s New Year’s celebrations. the balloon must have made a very long journey in both time and space before descending into our softly greening spring woods.
The Gardener’s New Year
Balloon in hand, I felt inspired to list of my gardening resolutions for the coming season. After all, up here in the north country, May is surely the gardener’s New Year, a time when when we anticipate the coming bounty of summer and also think about everything that needs to be done outdoors more immediately.
Here are my resolutions for this year in my garden:
This bed is not quite as pristine as it seems. Pesky grasses have crept in over the years and i need to get to work to remove them
- I will scour the flower beds for wayward grasses that are over-running my perennials. I know from past experience that merely pulling the grass will leave plenty of roots to re-sprout. So instead I resolve to carefully lift each perennial root mass and soak it in a bucket of water for a few hours, which will enable me to tease out those pesky grass roots. I will then take my trusty garden fork, loosen the soil in the bed and chase down any remaining white roots, after which I will divide and replant my perennials to better fill the flower beds.
- Using my soil knife (a very important tool in my tool bucket), I will dig out the dandelions that seem to have arrived in the flower beds from nowhere (I am sure they were not there last fall!!), all the way right down to the bottom of their incredibly long tap root. I know that if I just pull and break the root, three more will dandelions will soon return to haunt me.
- As soon as they have finished flowering, I will carefully dig the excess daffodils that have multiplied beyond all expectations in my flower beds. I will replant them, ‘in the green’— bulbs, leaves and all, in the bank along the edge of our road. Here they can multiply to their heart’s content and provide springtime pleasure for passers-by for decades to come.
Daffodils multiply over the years. But they are easy to relocate ‘in the green’ to the edge of the garden
- This year I will plant additional kale and chard, both excellent nutritional foods that also grow really well in our mountain summers. I will freeze the excess at easy intervals throughout the summer, rather than, like last year, waiting until winter is imminent when I was overwhelmed in the kitchen by mountains of green.
- I will grow more cherry tomato plants, since I know that, up here at our elevation, the larger varieties of tomato do not ripen until September—when summer’s salad season is almost past. Tossed in a little olive oil and garlic, I will roast up all the excess cherry tomatoes. I will then freeze them for winter treats—last January I discovered they were beyond delicious, thawed and served with pasta and little Parmesan cheese.
And my most important resolution of all…
- I will stop worrying about perfection in the garden, as I know there is no such thing. I will enjoy the pleasures of each and every season as it comes around, as if it were my last.
Flowering serviceberries, one of spring’s most treasured treats, welcome me into the garden
