Organic Gardening avoids the use of commercial products that often go too far in altering the natural course of growing things. One year, I was even more organic than usual.
*Three years ago, I spent less time working on the garden than I had in many years. A family member's catastrophic health concerns kept me almost completely occupied, so the garden more or less ran wild. Attention was given only sporadically. I planted peas and lettuce in April, and managed to clear the vegetable beds in early May. Some sweet peppers and tomatoes were planted in early June. Weeding was very occasional. I relied heavily on the perennials (that did not fail) and volunteers (always a delight to me, probably because I am a volunteer, too).
As always, this year yielded new gardening experiences. Instead of being knee high, sweet corn was planted on the 4th of July. It was quite tall by late August and yielded a tasty harvest before the frost. Also planted that Independence Day were carrots, over some forgotten chard, which went in about 2 weeks before. They grew up quite comfortably together. They were thinned some, but like other sections of the garden, terribly neglected. Sunflowers that sprung up everywhere from seeds out of the birdfeeder dominated the south and east sides of the house. The stone path along the west side had lots of asters and other robust native plants growing along with the thyme and other aromatic herbs put there on purpose.
It was an awful mess in some people's eyes, but not in mine. Bouquets were still picked, butterflies and birds still came to eat, drink and be merry. The tomatoes were late, but here, nonetheless. Life went on in spite of disaster. It was all very different; certainly not what I had hoped for, not the bounteous yields I'd had in the past, but I loved it all just as much as always. A garden says a lot about the gardener that conceived it. That garden endured in spite of severe setbacks. It grew and flourished, waiting patiently for better days.
