My Garden

See that darker patch of earth on the left?  That is my new garden that I spent hours weeding. You can probably see the garden is on a slope down toward Lake Superior.  I learned a few things doing this chore. Duluth soil, unlike Ramsey soil, is black and rocky with grape like globs of clay. Digging in this soil is more difficult than digging in the  Anoka sand plain. Weeds in this soil hang on tighter than in the Anoka sand plain. Dandelions with their hairy carroty roots cling to grape like globs of clay and will not let go unless I physically lift a clump of soil in the air and break the black earth away from the roots. After all this work I hope this garden does well. I was speaking to another gardener at this community garden. I told her where I lived before I planted my tomatoes around May 15th. I asked when she planted her tomatoes. To my utter shock she said she waits until Father's Day to plant tomatoes. She said it can snow in June in Duluth. I rented a half plot. She rents a full plot which is twice the size of mine. She plans to plant cucumbers in one half and winter squash in the other. She rents other gardens around town for her other vegetables. She told me the rabbits ate her lettuce and the shoulders of her carrots at this spot last year. Gardening is always an experiment. I hope this garden is successful!