It's An Outdoor Room Alright...

Created on 7/5/2009

I don’t usually watch the garden shows but as I was flipping through the channels I got sucked into one. I find it a little amusing the concept of the “outdoor room” as if it’s a modern design idea. It’s not that I don’t practice that design philosophy. I do. I embrace it whole heartedly, but it’s not new. The garden as outdoor room is as ancient as the very first gardens. The hortus conclusus or enclosed garden has been around for millennia.

I was chuckling to myself as I was weeding because the kitchen garden truly is an outdoor room- not just in the design sense. It’s an outdoor room because someone has to clean it. Like a room in the house there are little maintenance chores to be done. It takes some tidying up. So here is what’s happening this week in my sometimes manageable potager.

I am harvesting garlic. Glorious home grown garlic. If you aren’t growing it this year put it on your list to plant in the fall. I planted both soft neck and hard neck varieties last fall and it’s ready now. I dug it all up, dozens of plump garlic bulbs, brushed most of the dirt off and will hang them to dry for a few weeks. Then I’ll check to make sure there are no bad spots and I’ll store it for longer.

My basil is finally coming along and I thinned out the rows by transplanting some of the little plants to other spots in the garden.

I just removed the last of the garden peas. They probably could have come out earlier but I was still harvesting peas so I left them, but now they are brown and languishing in the heat.

The sweet peas needed a little help so I cut pieces of biodegradable twine and attached them to the willow tee pees they are climbing on- rather supposed to be climbing on. They seem to prefer clambering through the tomatoes.

I pruned the tomatoes a bit. Not too much, I just try to manage the sprawl and keep them in the willow cage. I do nip off the branch that grows at the elbows. I also cut off branches at the base of the plant that are resting on the soil. I try to keep the leaves from touching the soil.

I transplanted two of the tomatillo plants I had grown from seed. Probably not a good idea but they seemed a little crowded where they were. They now reside in the home left vacant from the harvested garlic.

The raised beds were thoroughly watered, fertilized and weeded. Now maybe I’ll vacuum the living room. No. I’ll find another outdoor room to clean.