Gardening Woes

Last year we planted a garden at our rental house in Utah. It was a 4'x10' space, half of which was devoted to wildflowers. The other half was packed with way too many green bean, cucumber, squash and gourd plants. For our efforts, we were rewarded with fresh green beans every third night or so and the joy of watching something grow. The other plants did bear fruit but we moved before enjoying them.

This year I was excited to get my hands dirty again. I ordered seeds and took to planting them the first weekend in May. Our fence had just been installed. For the first week after planting the seeds I diligently watered the garden for 20 to 30 minutes a day. Of course, I should also mention that our garden area grew significantly now that we're back on an acre. Our current garden is about 15'x60'. So, at the end of the first week with no sprouts to be seen, I felt discouraged, like I was watering dirt to no end. I finally did a little test and realized that my 20 to 30 minutes of watering was barely scratching the surface.

In the second week I installed 450 feet of soaker hoses throughout the garden. I fantasized about hooking up my hose to one end and letting the water fuse into the ground for about an hour every morning. That fantasy ended quickly when I discovered that water will not flow at an equal rate through 450 feet of soaker hose when in series. After several more failed attempts at making my watering more efficient I have ended up with six zones which require my attention daily. Any time you need a good laugh, drive by our house between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. and at half-hour intervals you can see me waddle out (most of the time in my pjs), turn off the water from the house, switch the hose position, turn the water back on, and repeat, and repeat, and repeat, and you get the picture.

My efforts have been rewarded... Unfortuntately, that's not the whole picture. This is a better one.We have two bald patches in our garden. There are supposed to be about four rows of green beans right up front there but they don't seem to want to sprout. I've tried seeding twice. Then there's another bald spot in the far back right corner. That's where the sunflowers are supposed to be. It seems the birds and bunnies find them irresistible. I've planted those seeds twice too. Both times a handful have come up only to be nibbled back down.

Our final gardening challenge has been the bunnies, those pesky weasly bunnies. We were so proud of our fence when it went in only to learn that 1" x 2" mesh provides ample space for hungry bunnies to come in uninvited. Every time I'd find a bunny in the yard, I'd escort him out only to be befuddled by his Houdini-like ability to get through the mesh at any given point. After another two weeks of giving Mark daily bunny count and damage reports, we decided that action was necessary. Mark wanted to get a gun and string the carcasses on the fence as a warning to other trespassers. I didn't think that was a good message for the kids...you don't like something, so you shoot it. I lobbied for chicken wire on the inside of the preexisting mesh. I won! Have I mentioned lately what a great husband Mark is! For the last two weeks he's been installing chicken wire to keep the bunnies at bay. Now that he's sewed up the bottom, we've been bunny free for two days.The learning curve is definitely steep with this first large gardening effort. I didn't chronicle the swift death of our berry patch and sweet potato plants as I'm still mourning their tasty loss. However, we do look forward to applying our new knowledge to our garden next year, and the year after that, and the year after that, and...