Judith Reed, 43, of Chittenango, New York has been gardening for
25 years, and what started as an interest in a mulberry tree has blossomed
into three acres of vegetables, fruits, flowers, apple trees, roses, and
an herb garden.
Judith said gardening allows her an escape from the rushing
technological world, "I listen to the birds, and their songs amaze me. I
smell the hot musky scent of the wild dogwoods, the cold earth, the mints
and grasses, and I give myself over to these scents and sounds, shedding
my everyday cares...God is in the garden with me, too, and we talk, and sometimes
I sing."
In this interview, Judith talks about what gardening has taught
her and her future plans for creating an Oz garden (she lives in author's
L. Frank Baum's birthplace) and a secret garden with her eight year old
daughter.
How did you first begin gardening? How long
have you been gardening? What motivated you to begin
gardening?
I began gardening with my husband, in the back yard of our first
apartment, back in 1975. There was a wonderful mulberry tree in the yard
that we made pies from, and the landlord let us dig up part of the yard and
plant veggies!
My hubby grew up on a farm, and he loved to garden. I grew up on
the tail end of the "back to the earth" movement, and wanted to try this
self-sufficiency thing! I've gardened ever since, except for a few years
when we lived in apartments with no land.
What has gardening taught you about yourself?
Have you discovered parts of yourself through gardening?
I've learned to go slowly, to be patient. I've found out I needed
to slow down and enjoy the world. I've grown to know the me who wants to
know it all, experience it all. I love to know the names of everything, to
be able to identify everything I grow, preferably by its latin name, and
to learn about each plant's habits, and wants, and to look for its particular
beauty.
For some, gardening is therapy. Is it like
this for you? If so, how?
Absolutely! When I garden, I slow down and feel the earth, and escape
the rushing technological world that I work and live in most of the time.
I listen to the birds, and their songs amaze me. I smell the hot musky scent
of the wild dogwoods, the cold earth, the mints and grasses, and I give myself
over to these scents and sounds, shedding my everyday cares.
God is in the garden with me, too, and we talk, and sometimes I
sing.
What do you grow? Where do you garden? How
many acres do you plant?
My hubby does the veggies these days, and as we have nearly 3 acres
of land I happily let him, though sometimes I do say to myself "well, if
I were growing that, I'd do it this way, and it'd be much
better..."%;^)!!
The house is on a cleared acre, near the road, and the back two
acres slope down, and are covered with brush, trees, part of a seasonal pond,
and some meadow.
We have only had the land for a year so far, so everything is young.
We started the trees this year, so we can watch them grow - 2 apple trees,
2 pears, 1 mulberry, 2 elderberry, 2 paw-paws, a purple juneberry, and several
kinds of viburnum, for us and the birds.
We have also put in 12 white pines, an oak, a mountain ash, and
relocated a sugar maple and a spruce. Next, there are the shrubs.
I've put in 10 different roses, a hydrangea paniculata, a tamarix,
a clethra alnifolia "Rosea", the new "Sensation" lilac, a forsythia, several
spireas, a kerria japonica, a rhododendron (PJM - "Aglo"), 2 weigelias, a
calycanthus florida, a "Blue mist spirea", and doubtless a few I've forgotten!
There's the shade garden, aka the poison ivy garden %;^), with hostas, European
wild ginger, wintergreen, ferns, bleeding heart, euonymous, etc, and the
perennial garden with a huge variety of perennials, some from seed.
Next, the herb garden, with far too many mints, and other interesting
medicinals and cooking herbs, and my girls have strawberries along the side
of the house!
Out front there's a small annual garden, completely planted with
seedlings, and out back a shrub garden that's also getting hibiscus, hollyhocks,
ox-eye daisies, and lots of other goodies that don't fit elsewhere.
Last but not least, we've built several beds starting down into
the back acreage, and I've filled them with seedlings and tradescantias and
evening primrose from a friend.
What is your favorite thing to grow? Why is
this your favorite?
Not sure I can say - I love them all! I definitely prefer flowers
over veggies, although there's nothing like fresh warm tomatoes in the garden,
dripping their tangy juice down your chin, or corn with melted butter, only
20 minutes from the stalk to your plate, or fresh snow peas for stir fries,
or fresh mint, cukes, and tomatoes in tabouli......... mmmmmmmm!
But, I guess flowers are my favorites. They are like precious gems,
but fleeting, to be treasured while they last.
What steps do you take to get your garden
ready every year? How do you plan out the garden? Get your soil
ready?
We compost as much as we can, and work compost in in the spring.
This whole region has clay soil, so we amend with peat moss in the early
years of the garden. I prefer raised bed veggies, but my hubby likes to till
the garden and plant in rows, so since he does the work that's the current
procedure!
Planning starts as soon as the catalogs begin arriving at Christmas
time, and involves endless weeks of poring through them, and gardening books,
and trying to imagine what would look good where. I also use the "3-D Landscape
Designer" program to work out beds, and regions.
Then, as the weather warms, I sit on the porches and sketch ideas.
I keep a garden diary, and sketch ideas, and draw up endless list of possible
plants for the various areas on the property.
What advice do you have for those who want
to start gardening?
Read lots of gardening books during the winter, looking for pictures
of gardens that inspire you, on terrain that is similar to yours. Talk to
folks who love to garden, and let them show you their garden - gardeners
love to share ideas, info, and plants!
Try starting some seeds in the winter - they are cheap, and when
they succeed it is a real pleasure and inspiration!
Stop and smell the land, listen to the wind and trees and birds
and bugs, feel the dirt in its various incarnations, wet, dry, crumbly,
clumped.
Observe your yard, see what grows there, learn the names of what
you already have. Think about the mystery of growth, from seed to
fruit.
Take it slow -it's no fun if it hurts. Don't be afraid to sit, to
work however it feels most comfortable for you. Don't rush it - it'll be
there tomorrow! Enjoy...
Do you ever garden with others? If so, how
does it impact your relationships?
My 8-yr-old daughter sometimes helps, and my hubby prepares the land
for me. It's fun to have someone to talk to sometimes, but for me much of
it is a time for quiet solitary contemplation.
What are the joys of
gardening?
Well, let's see, how many senses are there?? Add to those communing
with nature, and with God, and having something to look forward to during
the long northern winters, and there you have it!
What mistakes have you made with your
garden?
I figure I'm making mistakes all the time, but I see the garden as
a fluid, changeable place, where things can be moved a few years down the
road, if they aren't working out. With the volume of gardening I'm doing
now, I'm sure lots of it will prove to be wrong, with incongruous placements,
short behind tall, colors that clash, etc, but it can all be fixed, and it'll
all improve as times go by.
Is gardening a spiritual endeavor for you?
If so, how?
I have learned that I don't own this land - I'm God's steward of
this land. It has been entrusted to me, to care for, to enrich, to appreciate,
to treasure. I will change things, but I have learned to respect and appreciate
what's here how the sumacs out back are food for noisy flocks of starling
who add life and energy to the arctic winter landscape, how the beneficial
insects need to be protected by not using poisons which kill the good as
well as the bad, and how the native plants have their own beauty.
I am grateful for the opportunity to make this land more beautiful,
to use it and enjoy it and share it.
What books, television programs, videos, magazines
have helped you learn about gardening?
Oh my! I have been collecting gardening books at an accelerated rate
over the last year, and am not sure where to begin! I love "The Collector's
Garden" by Ken Druse - I'm a collector at heart, and am inspired by the gardeners
who pursue their interests with passion!
I like "The Ultimate Garden Designer", "The Low-Maintenance Garden"
(hah!), "The New Perennial Garden", all the Rodale press books, "America's
Garden Book" from the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. I have several books on
shade gardening, and find them very useful in imagining how to deal with
the wooded hillsides out back. I like "Horticulture" and "Fine Gardening"
magazines, which both have readable, interesting, educational items in
them.
I like "The Victory Garden" on HGTV, particularly Roger Swain, and
enjoy the garden shows that show beautiful gardens around the world. I also
like "Gardening by the Yard" - the host is funny but also
knowledgeable.
I like anything hosted by Rosemary Verey - she's interesting, and
fun to watch - incredibly knowledgeable, and wonderfully eccentric! The only
videos I watch having to do with gardens are both recent versions of "The
Secret Garden"!
What challenges does your garden give
you?
The soil is clay, and tends to be crusty and dry. I'm incredibly
allergic to poison ivy, and must watch for it constantly. The brushy shrubs
continually threaten to overtake everything again the moment we turn our
backs! Rosa Multiflora grows in abundance, looking to rip your flesh at every
turning of the path. The land out back, as we clear it, is filled with roots,
and must be meticulously dug. The front acreage with the house is on the
top of a hill, and so we must water quite a bit.
There are lots of rocks - big ones, little ones, shale and round
ones, so I have little piles all over, plus lots of landscaping
resources!
How do you handle insects and other animals
that might interfere with your garden?
I try to deter them organically. We have wonderful fat earthworms,
and little toads all summer, and thousands of beautiful birds, and hummers,
and dragonflies, and frogs and snakes - I will not endanger them!
I spray the roses with the hose to wash off the aphids periodically,
and hand pick the japanese beetles and drown them. There's a rather odd looking
bar of Irish Spring soap hanging in the Mountain Ash to deter the deer (who
I used to love till I discovered they are beautiful huge rodents in my garden!!)
and we gently work around the toads and snakes, and there's a bird bath and
lots of places for the birds to make themselves at home as they attack the
insects. I'm prepared to make nasty blender brews of peppers, garlic, etc,
as needed - you have to love that "Deer Off" I got from Gardens Alive - the
first ingredient is "putrescent egg solids" - I'm afraid to open
it!!!!!!
If the deer become too difficult I'll try fencing around choice
subjects during the winter, and planting things they find
distasteful.
What have you discovered improves the quality
of your garden?
Lots of loving attention - strolling thru, deadheading, inspecting,
weeding a bit, adding some water here, getting rid of some bugs or dead leaves
there - the plants seem to respond to my attention positively. Compost, of
course, is a tremendous benefit, and mulch is a big help with the
roses.
QL Does your garden have a theme? A name? Is it symbolic of
something?
AL On my website I call it "Ridgetop" because we're on a hill. We're
still searching for a real "name" to put on a sign out front. The back shrub
garden may evolve into an "Oz" garden, because Chittenango is the birthplace
of L. Frank Baum, the author of the Wizard of Oz books, and we have a yearly
festival in honor of this. I'm picturing giant flowers, have put single
hollyhocks and hardy hibiscus out there, and am considering a yellow brick
path, and a small pool surrounded by huge, extravagant plants!
My 8-year-old and I want to do a secret garden, but we're still
trying to decide how and where, so that'll be another theme
There are the various kinds of gardens - the herb garden, the shade
garden, the blooming shrub border, the veggie garden, the rose garden, the
perennial garden, the roadside daylily and wildflower garden.
There are several sculptures, and I may try to incorporate more
art and sculpture into the landscape, and certainly I want to provide lots
of plants for the hummingbirds, who are amazing!
Mostly, though, it's just an evolving communion with nature, learning
to know and love all the beautiful things that can be grown in this climate.
Sometimes I think of it as a small piece of Eden...
How much time do you spend on your garden
each day, or week, or month?
In the spring, summer, and fall, at least 8 hours a week. During
the busiest times, that could get up to 12 hours a week. In the winter, I
spend about 6 hours a week reading or planning gardens.
What do you think about while you are
gardening?
Mostly I surrender myself to the experience, and try to be in the
present. As many do, I spend far too much of my life worrying about the past
or the future - the garden is a tremendous place to become connected to the
moment.
What current gardening projects are you now
working on?
New gardens down the hillside out back, and the shrub/Oz garden in
the back yard. |
