Plotting and Planning

Almost as fun as watching the garden turn into a lovely patch of flowers and vegetables, for me, is the planning of it.  And re-planning.  Not everything turns out the way I imagine it will.  This year, mainly because I bought more rose bushes than I should have, I decided to create a rose garden out of a space in the wildflower garden that had been overtaken by something that looks like oregano, but has very little aroma and no flavor that would enhance anything.  I don't think the rabbits dine on it, and not even any insects go after it.

In my last post, I talked about putting weed cloth over the whole thing and mulching on top of that.  Since then, I've thought again about all the reasons not to put down weed cloth: moisture gets trapped on the surface of the ground encouraging plants to put out fine, shallow roots that grow into the cloth over time;  oxygenation of the soil is retarded; water penetration into the ground is inhibited, to name three.  But  I'm concerned about being able to keep that oregano-like stuff from growing back up and choking the roses and herbs I plan to grow there.  I think I'll use the cloth to cover the plot over the winter and pull it off in parts as I plant an area.  I guess we'll see what actually happens when I actually do it.

Yesterday I finally got the last of the area dug and I'm waiting on an order of lawn edging to put around the perimeter to keep the oregano stuff and other grasses and wildflowers from growing into the plot.  The space I've created is kind of an arcing trapezoid about 15 feet long, 9 feet wide at the rear, and 16 feet wide at the front where it joins up with a patch on the south side of my vegetable garden.  The total effort to dig all that was around 14 hours, shovel by shovel, sweat and tears.  Luckily, no blood.

Last Thursday I went with my sister to nearby Vintage Hill Farm in Franklin, Missouri, to look at specimen evergreens for a landscaping project she has underway.  I couldn't resist this ornamental pepper - 'Black Pearl'.  I'm hoping that I'll be able to collect seed and grow some more next year.   If not, I will definitely have to purchase some.  Isn't it gorgeous?

I've got two red varieties of rhubarb started.  They're tiny seedlings at this point.  Well, I'm not sure if they qualify for seedling status since they're just emergent cotyledons, so maybe sprouts would be more accurate.  But a couple of them are starting to produce their first set of true leaves.  If the weather stays warm so that they grow to a big enough size to get them in the ground this year, I'll put them out.  Otherwise, I'm going to be sorry that I have to overwinter them in the cellar.

Although I won't be able to harvest anything from these plants until the second year, we're going to have rhubarb coming out our ears one day.  I have rhubarb in the freezer now from the two 'Victoria' (green-stemmed) plants I set out two years ago.  Can you get sick of rhubarb pie?

When I first decided to plant a garden, I knew I'd want some kind of system to draw plots and keep records.  I used a trial version of garden planning software from GroVeg, which is pretty darned comprehensive.  Much more so than I would make use of, so I decided not to invest any money in it.   (Side note:  GroVeg has some great videos on YouTube, and I get their newsletter via email.)

Since then, I found I could draw my plot and add pictures I found on the web using Open Office Impress presentation software, and could keep my records in Open Office Calc, a spreadsheet. (Screenshots of both below.)  I love (Apache) Open Office.  They have a full suite of software that rivals Microsoft Office Suite.  All their programs are compatible with Microsoft Office, and the big plus: Open Office is free.  They've been around for years and have excellent bug-free, malware- and virus-free software.  I've also used them for years, and they've never let me down.  Here's to open source software and all the brilliant and generous people who make it possible!

When I was ready to create my rose garden plot, however, I thought I'd take another look online to see what's being offered these days. I came across interactive software that you can use free without downloading and installing anything on your computer.  You can't save the file unless you purchase the program, but you can create to your heart's content and print it.  I used it to create my rose garden plan, and it was easy to use while being complex enough to do some serious designing.  If you've used anything similar in the past, this is a snap.  If you haven't, but you're familiar with computer jargon, it shouldn't take long to figure it out.  They have a similar program for architecture.  Get there by this address:  http://smallblueprinter.com/   (Disclaimer:  Use your own judgment as to whether you want to visit.  I have good antivirus software on my computer, though (Webroot - same program used by Best Buy Geek Squad), and I don't see any indication that the site is harmful in any way.)

Enjoy your last days of September, and don't forget to stop and smell the flowers.

Til next time.