It’s hard to describe what happens when you walk into Portland Japanese Garden on a gloomy October morning. The path bends before you can see its destination. Grass grows slowly into the hillside, covering stones that appear to have been in that exact arrangement for a century. The sound of water is audible somewhere, but it is subtle. Slowing down without really deciding to do so. The entire area seems unplanned, contrary to common sense. Of course, that’s the point. To accomplish this, it took a professor from Tokyo Agricultural University, six decades of Japanese curators, and a great deal…
Author: Hannah
The greenhouse appeared to be in good condition from the outside. In this neat lean-to building against a south-facing wall, seedlings are arranged in neat plastic trays on the shelves, and polycarbonate panels catch morning light. Everything seemed to be going smoothly by all reasonable standards. It made sense when someone opened the door one July afternoon and felt a wall of heat roll out, the kind that hits you before your brain can register it. Browning leaf edges made sense. For the entire month, the tomatoes refused to bear fruit.The idea of including a thermometer had never occurred to…
An almost unexpected thing happens when you open the lid of a well-kept compost bin on a chilly morning. It emits warmth. It takes billions of microorganisms to break down banana peels, coffee grounds, and autumn leaves into something that eventually resembles and smells like the richest, darkest soil you have ever worked with a trowel. There isn’t much to notice. Nonetheless, it provides all the information you need to determine whether the pile is alive or simply decaying.Many people don’t consider their compost bin to be a living system. They use it to store items they feel guilty about…
Each spring, it begins in the same way. While holding a seed packet and a phone, the weather outside is clearly saying one thing and the app is saying another. As per the packet, “sow March to May.” The temperature is just above freezing and the sky is gray. The app recommends next week after some thought. Those who have tried to assign the natural rhythms of gardening to software will recognize this minor annoyance. However, the apps continue to improve, and more people are using them. This field seems to be maturing quietly, category by category, right now, which…
Visit any garden center to see how people shop for greenhouses. The footprints are measured. They debate whether twelve feet is a better width or eight feet is sufficient. For their backyards, they use their phones to calculate sun angles and compass orientations. These are reasonable considerations. Although most purchasers do not spend much time considering the true materials of their greenhouse, some do. Most greenhouse disappointments begin with that omission.Size and location are given the most attention because they are easy to visualize. The capacity of larger structures seems to be greater. A south-facing location is logical from a…
There is one type of garden that stops you in your tracks. Unlike the show gardens with imported stone and expert planting crews, where beauty is literally the budget. The kind that stops you is more surprising: a tiny walled plot tucked away in a corner of an urban backyard or behind a farmhouse, with purple basil pressing up against frilly green lettuce, and climbing beans threading through a rusted iron arch. Almost. When you take a closer look, it’s obvious that someone knew what they were doing.Productivity and aesthetics are closely related in a kitchen garden. In comparison to…
A person who purchases a small greenhouse for their backyard is motivated by optimism. As the outside world scorches or shivers, you envision verdant tomatoes in October, herbs in February, and tiny seedlings emerging from the dark soil. You seem to have defeated nature for a moment. Summer arrives, and even though you watered your plants that morning, they look as if someone forgot to water them in a desert one afternoon when you open the greenhouse door.The packaging does not include this section.There is something genuinely appealing about a tiny backyard greenhouse. In addition to giving gardeners a sense…
The seedlings appear flawless on day four. Despite the compost’s surface, two tiny, upright, pale green leaves push through with the resolve that freshly sprouted seeds consistently demonstrate. Still attached to the propagator is the clear plastic lid, which produced the warm, misty atmosphere that initially encouraged the seeds to sprout. It feels wrong to take it off. The seedlings are very small. The air outside the dome is drier and colder. In the case of nearly every novice grower standing over that tray, it makes sense to leave the cover on a bit longer. In the interest of safety.Usually,…
Picking ripe lemons from your own tree has a certain quiet satisfaction, especially when six inches of snow accumulate outside the window. This seems unlikely. Most people assume lemons grow in hot climates, on the hillsides of Sicily or in backyards in California where they bake in the summer heat. A well-kept greenhouse in Rhode Island in January might have a seven-foot lemon tree that is so full of fruit the owner is begging neighbors to share it with him. There is a possibility. Knowing what the tree needs and being reliable enough to provide it is the challenge.Variety selection…
The smell of warm plastic and stressed foliage fills the air when you enter a sealed backyard greenhouse at eleven in the morning on a sunny July day. The paper is heavy, dense, and almost wet. On the staging bench, the temperature is 38 degrees Celsius. The temperature outside is twenty-three degrees. In perfect condition, the tomato plants along the back wall stand upright with uncurled leaves. They aren’t doing well. At 35 degrees, tomato pollen becomes unviable. The flowers will open, and if the door is cracked, the bees will come. A few weeks later, the grower will wonder…