Beauty and Abundance

Painted Lady butterfly on valerian flowers

Sometimes life takes over, and you just have to live it, attending to what must be attended to, and leaving the documentation of life for some other time. Such has been the case for the past several months. But the wonder of the world is that its wonders continue nonetheless. So even in difficult times (and perhaps even more so in difficult times), I'm taken by the beauty and abundance surrounding us.

Just last weekend, we saw half a dozen different butterflies and managed to photograph several. With the help of our small "Guide to New York State Butterflies," we were able to identify them.

White Admiral butterfly

Yellow Swallowtail butterfly on Dames Rocket (photo R. Lansdowne)

But for me, there's also wonder in abundance. Whether sitting on the porch or walking through the yard, one can't help but notice food everywhere. In the past month, the garden has produced more than we could eat, and already 5 pounds of chard and several pounds of spinach have been blanched and frozen, awaiting next winter's soups. 7 pounds of pac choi has been turned intokim chee (Korean pickled cabbage), with another several pounds to process next week. And we've eaten, and given away, uncounted pounds of salad.

Overwintered Tuscan ("dinosaur") kake

At this point, most of the overwintered greens, along with those planted in early March in the "warm frame" are done (or almost done) now, having bolted during the unusually warm temperatures we had in May. So stir-fried greens are on the menu every night that we're home for dinner.

Overwintered Siberian kale

The first of the earliest snow peas, sugar snap peas, turnips, and beets -- planted in mid-March -- are ready to eat, as are the carrot thinnings.

The first of the sugar snap peas, planted on March 17, the week the snow melted.

Harvest of mid-March-planted beets, peas, and carrot thinnings.

The potatoes, flanked by bush beans in front and garlic behind, have now been "hilled up" several times. There's some evidence that beans interplanted with potatoes inhibits damage to the potatoes. No one is certain why, but "companion" planting does seem to work. One of my favorite companions is mint, which I allow to freely grow throughout the garden, tearing it out only when it takes up too much space. I haven't seen it documented anywhere, but it does seem to offer protection from leaf-eating insects to other crops, perhaps because of its scented oils.

Hilled up potatoes, with just emerging bush beans in front and tall garlic greens in back.

The most well known companion planting is the Native American tradition of interplanting the Three Sisters: squash, beans and corn. In that combination, it appears that the beans, with their nitrogen-fixing rhizomes support the heavy feeding squash, while the sugars from the corn roots stimulate the nitrogen-fixing bacteria on the bean roots. The squash, with their large leaves, shade the ground, preserving moisture and inhibiting weeds.

Three Sisters (corn, bean & squash) bed, with a March planting of carrots in the middle. These will be harvested soon and another squash hill planted.

We planted those heat-loving crops last weekend, the traditional last frost date for this area, along with the tomato and basil seedings, and repeat plantings of beets, radishes, carrots, and turnips. They have germinated quickly with the much needed heavy rain several nights this week, interspersed with warm sunny days.

Pole beans a week after planting.

This year, we're also experimenting with straw-bale planting to increase the space available for winter squash and tomatoes without having to prepare new garden beds. We began lining our old driveway with the bales about 6 weeks ago, sprinkled them a bit of fertilizer, and watered them periodically to encourage the straw to begin to break down a little. Then we simply poked small holes for squash seeds and larger ones for the tomato seedlings, and added a bit of soil.

Our straw bale experiment

None of this speaks to the abundance of the perennial crops: fruit trees and shrubs, nuts, and perennial vegetables. But those will have to wait for another day, as its time to stop writing about life and get back to living it.