Less the Greenhouse, More Wildflowers
· 3 min read
This began as a quick note and gradually turned into something longer. The best advice I got was just to slow down. If you only take one thing from this, make it the part about raised beds. This is less a primer and more a record of what worked for me.
First steps
Compost is slow magic, and it cannot be rushed. The soil is stronger every year, mostly because I stopped digging it. If something here is unclear, that is on me, not you. The small things matter less than the practice of paying attention. It took me four attempts to see the pattern.
The difference showed up gradually, then all at once. There is a version of this that is much more complicated. This is not that version. A cold frame extends the season by weeks at either end. Leave some corners messy; the insects will thank you.
Most problems with herbs turn out to be problems with time. None of this is new, and that is partly why it works. If you only take one thing from this, make it the part about tomatoes.
What did not work
Saving seed means next year’s garden starts this autumn. For a long time I treated wildflowers as an afterthought. I am still not sure I have it right, but it is closer. Below are a few jottings, roughly in the order I picked up them.
Closing thoughts
I tried the drought-tolerant version first. It did not last. Half of gardening is noticing what grows on its own. You can get unexpectedly far with a rain barrel and some time.
Somewhere between the greenhouse and home, the notion finally made sense. The wild part is rarely the hard part; consistency is. Half of the work is deciding what to leave out.
Odds and ends
Most problems with pruning turn out to be problems with time. I tried the wild version first. It did not last. It is not glamorous, but it holds up. Most of what I know about compost came from getting it wrong first. I tried the shady version first. It did not last.
Most problems with tomatoes turn out to be problems with time. I like wildflowers that shows the marks of how it was made. For a long time I treated mulch as an afterthought. Most problems with compost turn out to be problems with time.
You can get unexpectedly far with a secateurs and some time. Nothing here requires a cold frame, though it does make things easier. The overgrown part is rarely the hard part; consistency is.