Between the poor soil conditions, needing to hand water everything (no hoses or sprinklers, only watering cans), and any visit taking at least 30 minutes to 1 hour between the commute and work, it just wasn't producing enough to justify the time or expense.
I also really struggled with figuring out the growing seasons here. They are so different than Seattle. If the garden was right outside my door, I might have fought to learn more and find my way. Laziness won in the battle against summer heat for the past two years. Each time, I couldn't recover in time to grow a fall crop of anything. Many people grow year round here, and I couldn't even get a good crop out of any season.
If I were to start again, I would start with a class or club, where everyone works together to learn and produce as a team. That would ensure that I walked away with a much better understanding of the local growing parameters.
As part of not renewing the lease, we needed to leave it weed free and remove all materials by the end of January. My husband kept reminding me that this needed to be done. Knowing that I was running out of time, I asked for his help today. My husband, son, and I headed over the to the garden for the last time today. We dug some holes to bury weeds that we chopped up before burring. The new person won't have access to it until March 1, so it has plenty of time to break down before they start planting. We also removed all the bamboo support poles we had sticking out of the ground.
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| We found a couple mole crickets while working today. |
I will miss having the garden and all of its possibilities. I typically find so much joy working in the garden, as it is a place to leave my worries and concentrate on the gifts that nature provides. But now it is time for me to find a different avenue to that joy. I'm sure it is out there. I just need to find it.
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