Monday, July 20, 2009

Pretty picture: Petroselinum crispum (parsley) Coriandrum sativum (cilantro) flowers

[EDITED 8 June 2011: The plant I thought was parsley, Petroselinum crispum, turns out to be coriander/cilantro, Coriandrum sativum. Which doesn't make the flowers any less pretty, but it does kind of explain the lack of swallowtail caterpillars. It's still growing in the backyard, more than ever, as of 2011, because I like the look of it and it's not like we're doing anything else with that space. Plus it's self-maintaining.]

Okay. It's time to admit that the vegetable garden is not working. The peppers have flowers here and there, but are small and yellow and clearly unhappy; the whole garden is full of couchgrass and goosefoot, and it turns out, unsurprisingly, that I really don't like weeding. (I know: mulch. But do you know how much mulch costs? Actually, if you're reading this, odds are that you do, I guess. And that's bad logic on my part, because mulching in spring is cheaper than buying corn on the cob in the summer. And weeding is cheaper than both. So I'm just stupid.) I will be surprised if we get any corn out of this at all. Bad experience all around, don't intend to repeat.

However.


I'd planned, before we moved, to plant some parsley at the new place, because swallowtail butterflies like it, and I like swallowtail butterflies. When I actually got here and looked at the garden, there was already parsley planted here, but for some reason I forgot that I wanted it, so I pulled a bunch up, and then realized about 3/4 of the way through that, oh shit, I just pulled up stuff I was going to buy.

Fortunately, the survivors have thrived, and it appears that there were also a number of parsley seeds in there that had just not sprouted yet during the parsley holocaust, so I've gotten a healthy crop anyway. Which have all flowered. I suppose the flowering makes them inedible, or less edible, or something, but I don't like eating parsley anyway, and I'm guessing caterpillars don't care. And the flowers are pretty, and smell nice, which surprises me.


So fuck the corn and the peppers. Next year, I'll just grow parsley. And maybe milkweed. We'll have a parsley-milkweed garden. And I'll throw in some Asclepias tuberosa seeds, 'cause I like them. Just give the whole thing to the butterflies.


10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Haha! So cute! Made me smile this morning.

lynn'sgarden said...

ROFL!..Actually, I don't mulch well cuz I DO like to weed! The parsley blooms are so pretty! I grow dill for their flowers only too. Hey, hope you feel better :)

Claude said...

I hate weeding too...

I don't however mulch. I buy a bale of straw. Some people will use the crass clippings as mulch too. just thought I'd pass that on, in case you do decided to try again next year.

Parsley is a pretty flower. The leaves would still be fine to eat... just much stronger flavored.

Paul said...

i good layer of newspaper under your mulch in spring will keep the weeds at bay all year.

Anonymous said...

Parsley must be in its second year to flower since it is a biennial. Its flavor really drops after the first year. Now that they have flowered, they will die-- and unless they reseed themselves you will have to replant next year.

Kenneth Moore said...

Oh no... Don't give up on veggies! I don't know if it's because it's the middle of the city and the only "weeds" are elm or oak tree seedlings, but the Mr. Yogato garden rarely has anything growing in it that I didn't put there--but, then again, a lot of it is greatly shaded and has pretty vigorous growers in it.

Maybe if you choked out the area with baby spinach and cut-leaf lettuces, sprinkled all over the bed, and had viny large-leafed things (like melon, pumpkin, etc) to shade, it'd be like having living mulch. Too much competition for the weeds! And it's okay if the lettuces are small, they're baby lettuce and there are so many of them!

Shoot, I'll veggie garden for you. It's always more fun when it's not your own land. :-D

Anonymous said...

If you don't like weeding, check out square foot gardening; it's a very compact method that actually doesn't take as much maintenance as rows.

http://www.squarefootgardening.com/

Korina

Scott said...

Bag the lawn clippings when you mow and use as mulch...it's free and it works like a charm...

Paul (not the one who replied earlier) said...

Well if your summer weather ahs been a goofy as ours here in MI has been -- don't use this attempt as a good gauge of success or lack there of.

And why on earth are you doing extensive weeding or contemplating buying mulch for a veggie garden?!? NEWSPAPER man! Use newspaper -- or shredded paper, old paper bags, etc. A great way to recycle and be "thrifty" at the same time. It really makes life easier. If using newspaper, make sure the layer is 3 or 4 pages thick. Wet the paper down throughly and if necessary rocks. old 2x4's whatever can be used to help hold the paper down, though if wet it down and walk over it to 'mush' it down you should have very little if any trouble with it blowing away. Ad more layers as the paper breaks down. Do thie between plants and down rows where you will walk.

Something that might be of interest to you for your next gardening endeavor -- Lasagna gardening. A rather nice easy method of composting. A nice place to start some research, if you're indeed interested, would be the Organic Gardening forum at GW.

Anonymous said...

Mulch is FREE!
Make nice with the tree trimmers
in your area..buy 'em a six-pack of
their favorite beverage.