The Vegetable Garden Under Attack
In days gone by our farmhouse vegetable patch was brimming with rows of veggies. It was my husband’s Grandad’s domain and he was very proud of it. Every year he would enter his veggies into the village show and if he didn’t have any fine specimens then it has been said that he would nip down to the local shop and buy a couple of onions to show, but this is only hearsay!
When I moved to the farm, my intention was to restore the vegetable garden to it’s former glory however the last few years have seen me fighting a losing battle against the long standing enemy of the gardener, the weed. The weeds grew rapidly in this part of the garden despite digging, digging and more digging!
So this year the boxing gloves (I mean gardening gloves) were well and truely on and I entered the garden or should that be boxing ring, with renewed vigour and the will to win over this area of land and reclaim the soil back from the champion weeds! I again attacked the garden with a stint of digging but after many hours of back breaking work with little results to show for it, I decided to bring in the big boys, ie the farm machinery.
My husband used the farm digger to dig over the veg plot and root up the offending weeds leaving the weed free soil underneath.
Once the soil was clear we then had to use the power harrow to level the soil. I don’t think my husband has ever had to power harrow such a small area of land before. The tractor and implement only just managed to manoeuvre into the space.
When the land had been cleared and levelled by the farming equipment, I was able to plant the many seedlings that had germinated in my greenhouse. I planted row upon row of vegetables and was very proud of the neat and well organised vegetable plot. Finally farmer’swife (with a little bit of help) had defeated the weeds. Courgettes, butternut squash, garlic, cauliflower, cabbage, sprouts, onions and broccolli were all happily growing in the weed free vegetable garden, that is until that fateful night in June when we received a phone call at 2am to say that flood water was heading our way. By daylight, my thriving vegetable patch was awash with flood water and the plants remained submerged in the water for nearly a week.
After the water subsided, most of the plants perished. The only success of the flooded vegetable garden was the two courgette plants that survived and have provided us with many tasty courgettes that have been turned into lemony courgette salad, mince stuffed courgettes, courgette soup and most unusually, courgette cake! A victory for the courgette. I think thats flood water 1, courgette plants 2!
Following the flood, I became a little despondent and couldn’t muster up much enthusiasm to regrow the veggies I had lost. So as the vegetable garden began to feel neglected, the weeds began to creep back. It’s amazing how quickly they can grow and the recently farmed vegetable garden once again became a jungle of weeds. This is the situation today but do not despair my next plan of attack is raised beds, so I’ll let you know who wins round 2!
You poor thing. You know what grandma used to say…”That that does not kill us, makes us stronger!”. You are already becoming stronger and coming up with a better game plan. A raised bed would be brilliant. Much easier to take care, less weeds, and it would take a much higher flood to wash it away. There, there! Put those tissues away and start planning. That’s the fun part, to me. Oh, by the way, what’s a courgette?
Have a great week! Chris
Comment by GardenMomma — November 12, 2007 @ 3:02 am
Hi GardenMomma,
Thanks for your kind words - the raised bed planning is going well. A courgette is a zucchini. Thanks for commenting and visiting.
Sara @ farmingfriends
Comment by Sara @ Farming Friends — November 12, 2007 @ 5:15 am
I’m so sorry, Sara. To be besieged by weeds is the gardener’s daily lot, but to be flooded out seems like Divine Cruelty. Thankfully my soil is so porous it could swallow the Atlantic Ocean without flooding, but the weeds are a nightmare. Truth is, you’d have to be a civil servant to have enough hours in the day to keep them truly at bay, so the key is not to be too hard on yourself. So there’s a bit of weed about. So what? Provided you grow some food to eat, doesn’t matter. We aim for progress, not perfection!
Comment by Soilman — November 12, 2007 @ 8:15 am
Hi Soilman,
Thanks for your support and words of encouragement. Even though I have had the flood I managed to grow some tomatoes, garlic, beetroot, leeks and courgettes this year so not too bad. Something to be proud of.
Thanks for visiting and commenting.
Sara @ farmingfriends
Comment by Sara @ Farming Friends — November 12, 2007 @ 10:16 am
Raised beds sound the way to go. Those weeds sneak in and proliferate if you turn your back for 5 minutes, and yours were encouraged by copious watering! Don’t despair, I’m sure you’ll get there.
I hope you don’t mind, I’ve tagged you with the ‘Eight Things About Me’ meme.
Comment by Dragonstar — November 12, 2007 @ 6:01 pm
Hi Dragonstar,
I am ordering some link-a-board raised beds as we think this will be easier to manage and put together. Yes the weeds were helped by all the flood water. Thanks for your kind words of encouragement. I don’t mind about the meme I think that I will link it to eight things about the farm.
Thanks for dropping by and commenting. Sara @ farmingfriends
Comment by Sara @ Farming Friends — November 12, 2007 @ 6:12 pm
This was such an intreguing and well written account of what happened, that you can’t stop reading until all the way to the end. I’m sure you will end up being the winner!!! My Mom has always said “I WILL be the winner”, when anything gave her a hard time! I learned it from her and I hope my daughter will learn it too, since we really always can be!!!
Julie
Comment by Julie — November 14, 2007 @ 12:47 am
Hi Juile, Thank you so much for your kind words. I would like to write a book of true farming stories at some point in my life. I am beginning to win over the weeds and I am getting the raised beds. i have decided to get plastic link a bord raised beds that just fit together easily. Thanks so much for the encouragement and positive comment - it is very much appreciated. Sara @ farmingfriends
Comment by Sara @ Farming Friends — November 14, 2007 @ 5:14 pm
I’m so sorry that your gardening dreams have been thwarted, but I hope your new raised beds do really well.
Comment by nikkipolani — November 15, 2007 @ 7:46 pm
Hi Nikkipolani,
This year in the veg garden has been alittle disappointing due to the flood but we have had some veggies and the kindness and support of friends, family and bloggers around the world has been amazing.
Thanks for your comment and visit. Sara @ farmingfriends
Comment by Sara @ Farming Friends — November 16, 2007 @ 2:45 pm
Hi Sara
Wanted to know if you got our present for yours and Steve’s hospitality back in August.
Glad to hear the boar came through, obviously the extra time spent was well worth while. Sounds like you’ve got your hands full.
Talked to Gran today, and she has told me you have taken on some extra work, I hope this isn’t stopping you from getting the vege patch up and running.
Hope all is well with Steve and you.
Charlotte is growing up fast, she can say dad and is starting to crawl. It amazes me everyday how much she explores everything around her, she won’t even sleep during the day because i think she might be missing out on life!!!!
Drop us a line when you can
Derek, Suzie and charlotte.
Comment by Derek — November 18, 2007 @ 9:05 am
Hi Derek, Suzie and Charlotte,
Just got your raspberry canes so I will be planting them tomorrow. We thoroughly enjoyed having you to stay and thank you so much for the raspberries.
The pigs are keeping me very busy but I am steadily getting the vegetable patch sorted.
Steve and I are fine.
I am so pleased to hear that Charlotte is doing well and can now crawl and talk.
Take care and thanks for visiting and leaving a comment.
Sara
Comment by Sara @ Farming Friends — November 22, 2007 @ 5:52 pm