The Hebrew word for garden is gan. The root for this word is the letters “GNN.” The verb from this root is used in the description of the way the Lord will protect his city Jerusalem. “As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem, defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it” (Isaiah 31:5, King James Version). The two verbs “to defind” and “to deliver” have connections to garden and trees. The verb “to defend” comes from the same root as the word “garden” (GNN). The verb “to deliver” comes from the root “TZLL,” meaning to shade, as in the passage “in the shadow of the hand hath he hid me” (Isaiah 49:2). The Lord’s protection is analogous to the way a tree in the desert shelters people under its canopy and to the sense of security felt next to its trunk. The Hebrew origin of the word for garden therefore carries all those meanings and connotations to protect, to shelter, to save, or to be passed over and survive as one survives a storm in the desert. ~Achva Benzinberg Stein, “Thoughts Occasioned by the Old Testament”
1 January 2017. Sunday afternoon; temp in low 30's, just above freezing; sunny but some clouds. No breeze. Most of the snow is gone. Did not go outside today, except for church. I’ve been reading the Carl Klaus journal on his 1995 summer garden in Iowa City. He sings the praise for Enchantment tomatoes, large vines, 75 fruit/vine. An online search unearthed only one supplier, Reimers Seeds–which receives terrible reviews on Dave’s website. Enchantment tomatoes are not listed in Epic Tomatoes, which reviews over 250 tomato varieties.
2 January. Wrote up evaluations for all the vegetables planted at Wickiup Garden in 2016. Listed below are the varieties that did best, recipients of 4 stars; source of seeds is in parenthesis (all are mail order except for seeds and potatoes purchased at Frontier on Blairs Ferry); asterisks identify specific varieties I had not previously planted:
Amaranth
*Hopi Red Dye (J. Scheepers): beautiful, vigorous growth, and a prolific self-seeder. [I also discovered in the summer of 2017 that pigweed, a common weed the Wickiup deer love to eat, is in the amaranth family.]
Beans, Bush
• Cherokee Yellow Bush (Vermont Bean): heavy production, continued into October.
*French Filet (Vermont Bean): an outstanding purple bean, long production, delicious to eat--even older beans remained edible.
Beans, Pole
• Blue Lake (Vermont Bean): prolific, stringless, old standby, produced into October.
Cabbage
* Ruby Ball Hybrid (Territorial): six plants, all grew lovely heads (though several eaten by deer); made attractive, excellent-tasting coleslaw.
Cantaloupe
• Sarah’s Choice F1 (Johnny’s): did not do as well as in 2015, but still superb taste.
Carrots
* Hokum Hybrid (Territorial): decent germination rate; good quality carrots.
* Sugarsnax 54 F1 (Johnny’s): decent germination rate; excellent quality.
• Nelson’s Hybrid Early (Johnny’s): decent germination rate; good quality.
* Yaya (J. Scheeper’s): decent germination rate; good quality.
Cucumbers
* SV4719CS F1 Hybrid (Johnny’s): held up very well despite my failure to keep them weeded; good blight resistance; still producing into October.
Eggplant
* Galine Hybrid Italian (Johnny’s): vigorous production; excellent quality.
* Listada de Gandia (J. Scheepers): vigorous production; excellent quality.
* Millionaire Hybrid (Territorial): vigorous production, large fruit; excellent quality.
Kale
• Redbor (Territorial): big, handsome plants; tougher leaves than Italian but still good quality.
Lettuce
• Black-Seeded Simpson (Jung): planted in my first garden over 65 years ago; excellent germination rate; did very well this year.
• Red Fire (Vermont Bean): good germination rate; did well; excellent flavor; much slower to bolt than BS Simpson.
Peas
• Oregon Giant (Johnny’s): heavy yield.
Potatoes
* Fingerling (Territorial): wonderful potatoes for roasting, but they don’t store well.
• Yukon Gold (Frontier): did great, as usual.
Radish
• Cherry Belle (Frontier): remains my favorite radish; good germination rate, grows quickly, mild taste.
Tomatoes [Failed to record source for tomato seeds.]
*Cherokee Purple: many of the fruit did not develop properly but the ones that did were outstanding quality; marvelous slicing tomato.
• Lemon Boy: the stars of the summer; lost leaves to wilt but heavy producers, started in early July and produced until October.
*Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom: excellent yield; excellent slicing tomato
*Sungold: a small, yellow tomato; heavy production, divine taste; immediately became my favorite tomato for eating straight from the vine.
Zucchini
Dunja F1 OG (Johnny’s): heavy yields of straight green squash; good disease resistance.
Golden Glory F1 (Johnny’s): heavy yields; easier to see than green zucchini.
Veggies that did not do well:
–Amiga F1 Seedless Cucumbers (Johnny’s): most of the vines died in mid-summer.
–Blue Wind Broccoli (Territorial): left them under green netting too long; plants needed more sun.
–Burpee Mammoth Dill (Burpee): zero germination.
–Dixie Speckled Butter Pea (Vermont Bean): good looking plants but minimal production.
–Lancer Parsnips (Johnny’s): low rate of germination. [Lancer has been discontinued by Johnny’s, replaced with White Spear parsnips.]
–Numex Suave Orange and King Arthur Hybrid Sweet Peppers (Johnny’s): neither produced many fruit; overall pepper yield was very low.
–Paramount Parsley (J. Scheepers): zero germination.
–Solstice Hybrid Melons (Jung): no harvestable fruit.
–King of Garden Lima Beans (Vermont Bean): great looking plants, many flowers, but very few beans.
Click on this Garden Kalendar link for access to the remainder of this month's blog posting.
Below are four slideshows of photos taken during a three-week trip to London and the Isle of Guernsey in February and March, 2017. The photos are sorted into four groups: (1) 7-day hike on the Isle of Guernsey; (2) Gardens in London (Regent's Park and Canal, vertical garden at the Athenaeum Hotel, Hyde Park, Gedhow Park in Kensington, Dutch and Japanese Gardens in Holland Park); (3) Hampton Court Palace; (4) Kew Gardens.
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