Claremore is a weird and inconvenient place for a number of reasons, but the one that's irking the most right now its is geographical location. Not because it's 25 miles from Tulsa. Not because the weather is bizarre. Not because it's a 9 hour drive from Tennessee. It's because it's right on the line of USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 6b and 7a. Here's a map:
This type of map basically tells you when it's a good time to plant certain crops. Being right on the border of a zone is difficult. Plant my crops too early and a frost will come along and kill them. Plant them too late and they may not have enough time to germinate, or could be killed by being too hot. It's certainly not a life or death issue for me (it is for the plants), but it does make things trickier than I would prefer.
That being said, I think Johnny and I are going to get started on the vegetable garden this weekend. Our house came with a moderately sized plot complete with a cage, mini-trellis, and good beds, but by time we moved in last year it was all totally overgrown and weedy. I got to work on clearing out the beds yesterday.
As you can see, they were in pretty rough shape. I spent Wednesday morning pulling up rogue grass and weeds by hand and hoeing the beds, 17th-century style. (Buttons helped me by digging furiously.) Here's what the garden looked like after I was finished.
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| Buttons is helping! |
It's hardly the same place. The soil in the beds is excellent, and I'm excited to get planting. I'm thinking tomatoes, squash, zucchini, herbs, and peppers. Johnny and I are planning an outing to our local Ace Hardware store to pick up seeds and small garden tools. I also need a new pair of gloves.
If we can get plants in the ground soon, I think we're going to have a great bounty this summer!
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