Friday, May 22, 2009

Planting time in Oregon's springtime

I love gardening.

Every spring, ever since I learned how to grow and care for a garden in Montana in the spring of 1991, I've loved to plant vegetables and grow them. I also have any number of forest-type plants, houseplants, herbs and flowers which I love to grow--- spoon jade, regular jade, trilliums, comfrey, lilacs, honeysuckle, roses, a ficus which I'm trying to train as a bonsai (well, the jades are both bonsai as well), lavender, pussywillow, mint, sweetgrass, Japanese maple... need I go on?? And I have several fruit plants as well--- a Concord grape, two raspberries, and a hill full of strawberries.

This year in my vegetable garden, I plan to grow corn, tomatoes, popcorn, multiple varieties of squash, leeks, and maybe even some potatoes. The corn I'm growing comes from my last year's harvest. The corn seed I got from the store didn't even sprout! I need to plant more popcorn, since only 6 seeds decided to sprout. I think I'll try my own seed from last year's harvest, as I did with the corn. Can't hurt!

Someday I dream of having my own property, and I'll be able to grow much more, including rhubarb, blueberries, blackberries, huckleberries (the red ones, like the ones which grow at Camp Kilowan), loganberries, peas, carrots, beans, pumpkins, various melons, garlic, onions, parsnips, eggplants, various bell peppers, hazelnuts, walnuts, etc. I also want to grow many herbs and medicinal plants, including nettles, ferns, prickly pear cacti, salmonberries, salal, thimbleberry, and others which I can't bring to mind right now, not to mention the more familiar herbs like basil, mint, marjoram, oregano, sage, rosemary, etc.

I love growing things. ^_^