A Crucible III

On pounding sand....

(Post too long for email.)

The landowner, L, of the farm where I am gardening walked by as I worked on the fence, stopped and said “you know, that is a smart way to garden, leaving the grass around the beds instead of plowing up the whole thing to black dirt.” I said thank you, and told her, “I’ve long thought a garden should be as much a sanctuary as a place to produce food.” I don’t know if L ever thought about it that way, but she smiled wide, and I hope she comes to feel that way about this garden. At 80 she deserves it.

The arborists opened up the southeast corner. They totally changed the garden in the process, very nearly doubling the size of the productive area, opening up the SE corner. They were a taciturn bunch, the youngest merely saying, “so you are making a garden here?” when I introduced myself. I told them about my fruit trees and 200 species of plants in the city; now returning to the place of my birth, what a great opportunity this is - but he just looked at me uncomprehending. They were respectful, but not interested.

As I work I have been thinking about the masculine archetypes I wrote about recently: King, Warrior, Magician, Lover. How do I think about that, in respect to this garden and orchard work? The King seeks to provide for my family, for L, to grow food to sustain us through fall and into winter, to protect us and the land we manage. The Warrior loves the challenge, the sheer effort in service, the hard work, getting it done whatever it takes and the sense of accomplishment. The Magician loves the planning, the strategizing, the organizing, the creative alchemy, the madness of it all, the fine line I am walking just now between sanity and madness. The Lover simply loves the beauty of the garden, the soil, the field and woods, the calling of the many species of birds in spring, the sheer joy of being alive and creative.

So I started building a fence around the orchard. The original intention was to merely enclose the fruit vines, canes and shrubs. This is only about a third of the ironwood I eventually used.

The first three feet of “soil” is really just sand. In the lower ground, two feet down there is some clay. Setting the posts is another definition for “go pound sand.”

But then the fruit trees arrived. They were not the sapling “whips” I had imagined, most instead many branched, 2-3 year old trees. In addition, they were no longer dormant, and the weather is such I couldn’t do any pruning to fit them into grow tubes, which pruning so many branches would not be healthy for them in any case. Speaking of pounding sand, I was then in a position to have to build a fence 435ft around the entire orchard in two days, when I had been anticipating putting all the trees in grow tubes and building the fence at my leisure. That nice straight line of posts I just highlighted had to be pulled out, to be used on the full exterior fence. That is my own fault, assuming I would get smaller trees, not confirming. This has been an exercise in maintaining equilibrium. There has been no time at all for self-pity or complaining.

The second batch of trees showed up the second day. About twenty percent of the trees did fit in grow tubes.

I worked well into the dark both nights, building the fence. I didn’t think I was going to be able to finish it. I used deer netting, which is polypropylene, so only temporary until I can build a more lasting, sturdy fence. Day three the final fruit trees from another vendor arrived, along with the raspberries, blueberries, grapes and serviceberries. It turns out planting 75 strawberries properly is not very easy, low to the ground and time consuming.

I dug through the layer of black dirt to the layer of clay, splaying out the roots of each like an octopus. I planted them twice as close as was recommended, but I didn’t have time to prepare the second bed, so next spring I will have to transfer half of the new strawberries they set.

I worked well after sunset again shoring up the fence. So now the orchard is 95% planted, just the grapes and regent serviceberries remaining. I will have more pictures and plant info as time goes on.

I planted an orchard!

Meanwhile, the garden needed fence work so I went there Saturday. It was rabbit proofed but not deer proofed. I planted seed - radishes, kale, kohl rabi, carrot, cabbage, beets - throughout the garden May 06 (most but the carrots have sprouted.) There are plants grown under the lights that need to get into the ground I don’t want to plant until the fence is done - I can’t let the deer get a taste.

I didn’t want to take the time to add another level of steel or plastic fence, so instead I tied some ironwood posts to every fourth steel post, ran some masons line between them and tied flagging material to it. It is taking a chance but I’m pretty sure it will look like an unnatural moving fence to a deer. The gate is a repurposed antique bed headboard I found in a pile in one of the outbuildings, attached with ratchet straps to an oak post I set - it works remarkably well. Curiously I notice mostly the “fence” when I am outside the garden but don’t notice it at all when I am working in the garden. L was not available to pass judgement.

I planted peas May 03. This picture was taken May 10.

After the fence work I planted the cabbages I grew under lights. I think they look as good as anything you can buy in a garden store.

Other than the garden and orchard there has been a lot I would have liked to post about, but I simply have not had the time. It has been nice, paying little attention to any news. I haven’t even had the bandwidth to read substack posts from my favorite writers, the few moments I have tried. When I am in the garden and orchard, all things seem in perfect order. Even the big box garden center is (most of the time) just taking care of plants and engaging people (trying to anyway.)

That said, for those of my readers who are missing my political rants, fiction or my more philosophical posts, I just wanted to say, and this is already old news, but Senator Amy Klobuchar from this State of Minnesota, former and probably future candidate for President, castigating a congressional witness for “dissing” the “hallowed” Dept of Agriculture, is a good reminder what sort of empty, vapid, utterly thoughtless people we are led by. The same USDA that has presided over the near extinction of many pollinator species, that dictated the destruction of farming communities and tens of millions of family farms, that facilitates in every way the abomination that is confined animal feed lots and mono-crop industrial food production, the destruction of 95% of the wetlands of the upper Midwest, the systemic toxicity of agricultural lands and waters, that has demanded consolidation and corporatization of food production unto monopoly, fundamental to obesity and chronic illness in America - that hallowed agency, that esteemed Senator; go pound sand.

In other fringe news: I asked an older woman in the garden center recently if she had any questions, like I ask a lot of people. She looked at me quizzically and said, “Who are you?” I said, smiling, “I am Hunter, the [plant distributor] representative, I take care of the plants here.” She looked at me even more quizzically, saying, “I see you all over this place, running around, I thought, who is he? Who are you?” She repeated. I repeated myself, smiling, cheerful. I was not about to tell her, in big box store, I am the new Chief Guardian of the Octagon Society, Order of Spiritual Alchemy, though I gathered the old crone saw something a bit more than just a big box associate.

That was surprising, unexpected, the new title. That puts me in a category with the truly esteemed Dr Juliet Ashley, John Gilbert and John Michael Greer, past Chief Guardians. Those names mean nothing to the mainstream, but they mean a lot in alternative spiritual circles. I am a very, very little fish compared, but that has given me a whole new perspective on responsibility, and I am deeply humbled and grateful for it. I will write a post about the Octagon Society sometime.

Thank you for your patience, dear readers. I hope you are enjoying spring.