The spring appears to be much kinder to us than the fall was. Being as this was only my second attempt at growing something outside of a pot in the window of my apartment in New York City things are going pretty well. I decided to stick with the leftover seeds I had from last time: kale, beets, and broccoli. I also decided to skip the sprouting process with those little dirt disk things. I took the advice of my friend Tracy and just stuck ’em in the ground. So far so good.
I learned not to skimp on the water this time, especially early on. My chicken wire fence was no match for a baby rabbit that has decided to make his home in the brush pile behind the shed. I woke up one morning to find him munching away at the kale and broccoli leaves. He slipped right through the holes in the chicken wire (So much for the cheap stuff). He didn’t seem to like the beet greens for some reason (Don’t know why? I love ’em.). I had to reinforce my rabbit fence with a layer of hardware cloth. This seems to have done the trick.
While purchasing a roll of it at the hardware store a man wearing sunglasses and a red baseball cap walked right up to me and said, “Looking for some fence to keep the rabbits out of your garden?”
“That’s exactly what I’m doing,” I said.
“It’s cheaper over at Lowe’s,” he said.
I smiled and nodded. “Oh, yeah?”
“Seems like by the time you get everything together you’ve spent more than you saved from the vegetables you get from it,” the man continued to pipe in.
He was totally right, of course. Between the dirt, seeds, insecticidal soap, and fence I was in this for well over fifty bucks. That’s a lot of beets. But I feel like this garden is as much a therapeutic venture as it is a money saving one. And as I notice all the senior citizens and weekend warriors fiddling around their yards along my block I start to realize the importance of these stupid little patches of manicured nature that I mocked so much as a punk kid growing up in the suburbs.
“The best way to get rid of rabbits is to sit out on your porch with a beer and a shot gun and wait for ’em to come by,” said the man with a grin from ear to ear. “You might as well make a game of it!”
I smiled and told him I didn’t think my neighbors would appreciate that very much. I thought to myself, “Welcome to Kansas…” .
Schwervon! 