Sod Farming

Tonight I spent two hours out at Perkins Garden. Perkins is a community garden where Julie and I have rented a 25' x 40' plot this year. We've been wanting to grow more vegetables than we can fit in our yard, especially squash and pumpkins, so we paid the $40 rental fee and took the plung.

Much of the garden was planted Memorial Day weekend, after the home garden was in shape. Out there we've planted the following:
- 3 mounds of acorn squash
- 3 mounds of butternut squash
- 3 mounds of buttercup squash
- 3 mounds of Conneticut field pumpkins
- 3 weekly plantings of about four dozen corn plants (two 8' double rows each)
- 2 plantings of pole beans (6' each, double rows)
- 1 planting of bush beans (6', double rows)
- 9 leftover tomato plants
- 13 leftover pepper plants of various varieties (hot, chile, sweet)
- Cutting flowers (100' of various zinneas and 25' of short sunflowers)

The work of late has been hoeing. The garden had laid fallow for the past two years since Grand Rapids Public Schools abandoned the program. The West Michigan Environmental Action Council has picked up the project, and now many of us feel more like sod farmers than vegetable growers. In the past two weeks, the crabgrass has basically carpeted my well-tilled bed. Yet the plants are growing well and the pests seem to be minimal...but it is early.

Tonight when I came home and was sharpening my hoe (an important detail when you have 1,000 square feet of hoeing to do), I noticed these daisies floating like flying saucers in the dark along side the driveway.