Bumblebee Blog

Bzzzz June 11th, 2008

We have a field behind our house that we call the Back Forty.

We call it that because my husband and I grew up back in the day when most of the shows on televisions were westerns rather than reality shows. It seems that someone was always referring to the Back Forty.

“Pa’s caught under a wagon on the Back Forty!”

“There’s been a lighnin’ strike and the Back Forty’s on fire!” (I’m sorry. I think that’s “far.”)

Well, I have my own problem with the Back Forty. It is most unlovely. And big. And I can see it from my carefully tended garden, which somewhat spoils the view.

A friend who works in the county’s planning and zoning office sent this shot to me today. You can probably find something similar for your house on Google Earth, but this is a more recent shot than Google Earth has of our house. Still, it’s probably about three or four years old. The photo shows the magnitude of the problem.

The red line indicates our property boundaries–about 21 acres. The cleared area is about five or six acres and our house/yard/garden is on about an acre of that. As you can see, the green patch is the yard. The line up the left hand side is our long driveway–the one we use as a running track. The rest is woods–tulip poplars, live oaks, gum trees, black locust and a bunch of others.

The problem is that the Back Forty is fairly significant. You can see it at the lower side of the photo, south of the house and green lawn. This photo must have been taken in the winter or fall, because you can see the brown areas where hay has been cut and the grass is green. Only, get this. Farmer Rudy, the fellow who tends the field for the benefit of his cows, informed me about three years ago that I should start cutting the Back Forty myself. It’s too difficult for him to get back there with the equipment.

I would estimate that the Back Forty is about an acre. Today it looks like this from the garden:

I am putting together a list of things I can do with the Back Forty. It’s not flat, but rather slopes down at the sides and has some roll to it, particularly at the back, which you cannot even see in this photo. When my Papillons chase the deer back there, they disappear without even going into the woods.

I have considered a meadow, but if you know anything about meadows, they are not easy to maintain. And I do not own farm equipment. Neither do I have the ambition to drive a tractor.

I have also considered investing in some short-term help to put in a real crop, such as herbs, which can be harvested and sold. But I really don’t have the time for another business right now. I have also considered just adding some trees here or there. But I think I really need a grand plan before hopping on that scheme.

What would you do? Any grand ideas?

(I managed to start four of the 13 paragraphs in this post with the word “I.” No, make that five out of 14 now. I don’t really think I’m that narcissistic. But let me think about myself for a while and get back to you on that.)

Posted In: Gardening

19 Comments

Bzzzz June 8th, 2008

My greatest pleasure on this unbelievably hot day was picking peas.

It’s my first year ever growing peas. I have never before managed to get myself outside and organized early enough to get them in the ground in time. Usually it’s about June before I do the Three Stooges head-slap and say, “I should have planted peas!”

Pea Wando, Growing in Pairs I planted the peas on March 6. I know this because I have actually started keeping a garden journal, of sorts. I’m not as faithful as I could be and it’s not all that scientific, but I can see that it will come in handy. For example, here it is some 90 plus days after I planted them and they are finally matured to the point where I can pick them. Now, I have four pea varieties, with maturity dates ranging from 60 to 68 days. By any calculation, these peas are LATE.

In the future, I’ll be keeping an eye on this whole maturity date thing so that I won’t make the same mistake I did this year–I used my Texas Tomato Cages as supports for the peas. I figured that they weren’t holding up any tomatoes and that the peas would be finished before the tomatoes needed them, so I pressed them into service.

In the interest of keepin’ it real, I will also show you my un-lovely pea patch:

The Un-Lovely Pea Patch

Yes, those are some Johnny-Jump-Ups nestled in with the peas.

I planted four varieties:

– Pea Burpeeana Early – These peas did not mature all that much earlier. They were also stingy with the actual peas, both on the plant and in the pod, with only about three or four peas per pod. I would not grow these again.

– Pea Sugar Sprint – These are supposed to have tender edible pods. Yes, indeed, the pods are edible, but I’m not so sure about tender. I would look for a different sugar snap next year.

– Pea Wando – This was the most prolofic pea, both in terms of the number of peas on the bush and the number of peas in the pod–at least six and most often eight peas per pod. They also have the habit of growing in pairs, as you can see in the photo. This seems to be what increases the number of peas on the bushes.

– Pea Thomas Laxton – This is an heirloom variety, so it has a place in my heart for that reason. I would say that it performs nearly as well as the Wando peas in terms of peas per pod, but perhaps not quite as abundant on the bush.

Now, here’s the beauty shot:

And guess what? I am the ONLY ONE in our house who likes peas! They are mine. ALL MINE!

And About Social Networking…

I have finally succumbed to the lure of social networking sites. I am currently test driving Twitter, where I am Bumblebee. I am also on Plurk, where I am BumblebeeGarden. I actually prefer Plurk, so far, because the threaded nature of the discussion makes it easier for me to follow. But there is no easy way to find friends there. And Twitter was up and running first, so there are lots of gardeners there who are easy to find. What do you think?

Posted In: Gardening

Tags: peas, Vegetables

17 Comments

What to Do With the Back Forty

We have a field behind our house that we call the Back Forty.

The Pleasures of Peas