November 2020 - 37
GROWER'S POSTCARD
Garlic patch becomes a place of pride, fellowship
SAM OSCHWALD
TILTON
rcvcfarm@gmail.com
I planted those cloves, which turned into
two bulbs, that I will again plant this year.
I also ran into Hailee, the eight-year-old
Late fall greetings to you dear grower.
Hoping this postcard finds you well - likely
cold and wet - but at least going home to
a warm house filled with love, a change of
clothes and tasty food on the table.
In my last column I recounted the
record of the USDA, as reflected in that
organization's published statistics and as
lived by many Black farmers. I would have
liked to further investigate that matter, but
that is not in the spirit of this magazine. In
the present time our politics has become
volatile, so that when a slight glint of tension
reflects from a topic, people tend to rush
in to share their opinion like a hammer, or
retreat - seeking an escape from the sharp
arguments that permeate our politics and
national conversation. That's too bad.
I have focused my own growing skills this
season on my lakeside garlic patch. I must
say, a bit sheepishly, that there is much to
enjoy in producing food on a smaller scale. I
have been able to try techniques that I could
not were I using machinery. I have also been
able to observe much more keenly the results
of my actions. I learned that earthworms
love mulch: in the spring straw covered the
patch, and pulling back the mulch was like
opening a curtain on a bustling scene of
soil-life - earthworms would recoil from
the sunlight and pull deeper into their dark
tunnels, many-legged insects would scurry
away and bright white garlic roots wove their
way right along the surface of the soil in the
cool shade of the mulch.
But it turned out that my garlic patch,
in a neighbor's backyard, sits in the path of
a former wetlands that drained into Lake
Michigan. This means that the soil is sandy
yet rich, but also that in early May my patch
turned into a pond, despite my raised beds.
Those were desperate times. I mucked
about digging trenches around the patch
and making small berms to keep the surface
Two pumpkin carvers caught in the middle of the creative process. Photo: Sam
Oschwald Tilton.
water from pouring in from the street. My
amateur drainage was not enough and the
soil remained sodden. So I finally decided
that I would remove the mulch and loosen
the soil between plants with a fork to
encourage drying. I think it worked to dry
out the soil, but after removing the mulch
the rich soil life never returned the rest of the
season. After harvest I applied compost and
planted cowpeas, soybeans and buckwheat.
Even under the dense green sward still the
worms did not return. When the legumes
began to flower I cut them down and laid
clear plastic over the patch for a week in
early September. I was hoping that the warm
and moist environment would bring the
earthworms up from their depths to feed on
the cover crop residue, but nothing.
After a week, the residue had turned
brown, but I did not see much else. I
am hoping that my emergency May
earthworks worked, so that the rains of
next spring do not swamp my patch -
because one lesson I learned is that soil life
loves mulch over all else.
But I suppose much more important
connections were made out in the
garlic patch. I have noticed that people
appreciate hard work, and also that
serious gardening is now somewhat of a
novel concept. After recently moving into
this neighborhood I did not know any
neighbors - I was too busy teaching and
being a Corona shut-in. But as the weather
warmed and I was working out in the
SEE VIDEOS OF SPRAYERS IN ACTION ON UPDATED WEBSITE!
NEW HYDRAULIC FOLD SPRAYER FEATURES
AIRBAG BOOM SUSPENSION!
garlic patch I began to meet my neighbors.
Irina lives next to the garden patch, a
middle-aged woman alone in her home. She
has a small house and a tiny yard - but she
tends it as richly as any botanical garden.
After watching me work in the patch from
her kitchen window, she came out to say
hello, and soon invited me to see her garden,
from which I have learned much about
tending plants. Since that day we have
exchanged countless plants for each other's
yard, as well as my vegetables and her honey.
One special day last fall, she came out and
gave me two large purple cloves of garlic
from Lithuania that her mother had sent her.
neighbor girl. Her parents were often away
working, and with me teaching from home
for the spring she and I were fast garden
partners: planting sunflower seeds that soon
enough grew taller than her, then I. We
weeded in the garlic patch and tended plants
in my backyard, and she would tell me about
her goings-on and constantly ask about each
task we did: " Why, why, why? "
She loves our chickens, and came to
know them better than us - we call her the
Chicken Tender. My wife and I took Hailee
on several expeditions this summer. On a
trip to the local greenhouse, she picked out
her favorite flowers. We turned another
neighbor's neglected garden into our squash
patch by planting the perimeter with
pickling cucumbers and watermelons. In
the center we placed a giant pumpkin plant
that one of my students grew from seed. We
planted that sucker in a pit of horse manure
and it grew until its leaves were the size
of umbrellas. It was too bad when squash
vine borers and powdery mildew took it
down prematurely, but not before Hailee
and I picked one single respectably-sized
pumpkin. Hailee insisted on carving it into
a jack-o-lantern, even if it was a few months
before Halloween. VGN
The Best Berry Plants
Since
The Leading
Small Fruit Nursery Today!
* Excellent Customer Service
* Wide Variety Selection
* Technical Support
* Complete Lab Facility for
Tissue Culture & Virus Indexing
Strawberry
Raspberry
Blackberry
Blueberry
Currant
Gooseberry
Elderberry
Asparagus
Rhubarb
Sprayer
Models
* 200 Gallon Manual Fold
* 300 Gallon Manual Fold
* 400 Gallon Manual Fold
* 400 Gallon Hydraulic Fold
PENNS CREEK MFG.
1340 Broadway Rd., Winfield, PA 17889
570-837-1197 * www.pennscreekwelding.com
Builders of dependaBle ecnomical VegetaBle sprayers
Nourse Farms
41 River Road
South Deerfield MA 01373
413.665.2658
noursefarms.com
info@noursefarms.com
VGN | NOVEMBER 2020 | 37
1932
http://www.noursefarms.com
http://www.pennscreekwelding.com
November 2020
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November 2020
November 2020 - 1
November 2020 - 2
November 2020 - 3
November 2020 - 4
November 2020 - 5
November 2020 - 6
November 2020 - 7
November 2020 - 8
November 2020 - 9
November 2020 - 10
November 2020 - 11
November 2020 - 12
November 2020 - 13
November 2020 - 14
November 2020 - 15
November 2020 - 16
November 2020 - 17
November 2020 - 18
November 2020 - 19
November 2020 - 20
November 2020 - 21
November 2020 - 22
November 2020 - 23
November 2020 - 24
November 2020 - 25
November 2020 - 26
November 2020 - 27
November 2020 - 28
November 2020 - 29
November 2020 - 30
November 2020 - 31
November 2020 - 32
November 2020 - 33
November 2020 - 34
November 2020 - 35
November 2020 - 36
November 2020 - 37
November 2020 - 38
November 2020 - 39
November 2020 - 40
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/vgn-2025-digital-seed-guide
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/february-2025
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/january-2025
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/buyers-guide-2025
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/december-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/november-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/september-october-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/july-august-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/may-june-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/april-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/march-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/february-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/vgn-digital-seed-guide-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/january-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/buyers-guide-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/december-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/november-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/september-october-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/july-august
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/may-june-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/april-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/march-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/vgn-digital-seed-guide-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/february-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/january-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/december-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/buyers-guide-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/november-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/september-october-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/august-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/july-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/june-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/may-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/march-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/february-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/seedguide-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/buyersguide-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/january-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/december-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/november-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/october-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/september-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/august-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/july-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/june-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/may-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/april-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/march-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/february-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/seedguide-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/buyersguide-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/january-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/december-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/november-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/october-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/september-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/august-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/july-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/june-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/may-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/april-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/march-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/february-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/buyersguide-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/january-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/december-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/november-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/october-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/september-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/august-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/july-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/june-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/may-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/april-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/march-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/february-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/buyersguide-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/VGN/january-2019
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com