Is this week’s garden visitor malicious or just curious?<\/p>\n
The greensward<\/a> of our manse, Shady Hill, is pleased to house four, no, five beds this spring. The back yard has two for vegetables and one for herbs. The herb bed has one thriving, 6-foot tall asparagus, and we hope she’s pregnant. Next year I’ll move some herbs if the 8-year-old asparagus root finally spreads. While I never plant all that much, yes, all the gardening I’ve ever done\u00a0 has been organic<\/a>.<\/p>\n In front I have two raised beds that I hope will inspire some vegetables. We lost a tree close by in that ice storm<\/a> so there’ll be a lot more sun there. I’ve already set there a nonhardy herb, lemongrass, because it should be happy. We’ll again put elephant ears in the bordered 4-foot-square<\/a> plots, but also put some in the nearby hosta bed. Hostas are dandy, but for nonnative plants they are commonplace in Northwest Arkansas. It’s just like overwhelming azaleas<\/a>: Enough already.<\/p>\n On four of the beds — not the herb-asparagus perennial plot — I am protecting the seedlings of tomatoes and peppers and the seeds of beans and chard with floating row cover<\/a>, a thin, white nonwoven agricultural fabric. The stated use is to warm the soil in cool weather, but many like how it prevents many insects from invading while allowing rain and light to come through. I hope it slows down the rabbits that seem to be numerous this year. When the plants get sturdy and the season gets real hot, I’ll remove the fabric.<\/p>\n It might seem to certain neighbors that I’m evading the issue: What is growing in Ben’s house besides chemically enhanced, too-green lawn grass — like theirs — and Shady Hill’s vinca interspersed with native plants on Fayetteville clay (not to mention nothing much grows in the shade of 80-year-old oaks). Well, I set up wood frames for gardening in the front yard our first spring here, 1999’s, because of books like The Front Garden<\/a>: New Approaches to Landscape Design<\/em> by Mary Riley Smith. Every year I’ve plant something different, which the shade pretty much kills. Front gardening is a growing practice. Martha Stewart<\/a> endorses it.<\/p>\n This doesn’t quite explain yesterday’s afternoon visitor who pulled back the entire cover of one front bed and half of the other one. It wasn’t the wind; it wasn’t strong enough, compared to the rocks I use to anchor the material. Can’t blame the bunnies or other creatures because the fold-backs were rather even, and some of the rocks were moved yet still atop the cloth! My strong objection is that after the inspection the human did not move the material back. Why did the trespasser snoop? Best guess is they were suspecting or hoping I was hiding the growth of illegal substances.<\/p>\n The only dope in my garden would be this visitor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Is this week’s garden visitor malicious or just curious? The greensward of our manse, Shady Hill, is pleased to house four, no, five beds this spring. The back yard has two for vegetables and one for herbs. The herb bed has one thriving, 6-foot tall asparagus, and we hope she’s pregnant. Next year I’ll move […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-body-home-street"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4698,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2014\/02\/creamy-vegan-herb-dip\/","url_meta":{"origin":1211,"position":0},"title":"Creamy Vegan Herb Dip","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"February 2, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Nothing can truly replace the taste or mouth-feel of sour cream or cream cheese. We vegans should just honor our memories of dairy dip by improving on it. If you're too full after the game on TV for a real meal, at least you haven't messed up as badly, having\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Condiments"","block_context":{"text":"Condiments","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/kook-cooks\/condiments\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Vegan Herb Dip","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Vegan-Herb-Dip-cropped-300x300.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4091,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2013\/02\/skillet-squash\/","url_meta":{"origin":1211,"position":1},"title":"Skillet Squash","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"February 3, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I love roasted vegetables, but to me they're a nuisance. Fill two cookie sheets with chunks of veggies, after tossing with oil and herbs in a big bowl, bake nearly an hour, returning to toss a few times, and you get at most three servings. So finding comparable flavor in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Main Courses"","block_context":{"text":"Main Courses","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/kook-cooks\/entrees\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"At 10 inches long and 3 lb, 1 oz, this butternut squash is almost too big for the Skillet Squash recipe.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Skillet-Squash-300x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":837,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2009\/01\/brace-for-glace\/","url_meta":{"origin":1211,"position":2},"title":"Brace for Glace","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"January 21, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The news media were not allowed in to the Capitol's Statuary Hall for the inaugural luncheon, a traditional meal hosted by the members of Congress who organized the overall ceremonies. Bloggers didn't make it past Secret Service agents wearing toques. Fortunately, there were flies on the wall, despite the January\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News, Spin"","block_context":{"text":"News, Spin","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/news-spin\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4010,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2012\/12\/pizza-sans-sauce\/","url_meta":{"origin":1211,"position":3},"title":"Pizza Sans Sauce","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"December 11, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The problem with home baked pizzas is crispiness, because who has a oven that goes to 700 degrees? I've figured out a solution: Make the tomato sauce on the pizza while it's baking. (If you are fine with thick crusts or pan pizzas, best if you move along now, as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bake"","block_context":{"text":"Bake","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/kook-cooks\/bake\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4540,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2013\/10\/truly-five-minute-tomato-sauce\/","url_meta":{"origin":1211,"position":4},"title":"Truly Five-Minute Tomato Sauce*","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"October 18, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This sauce comes together so fast, and the starting with a cold pan so crucial, that it is vital all ingredients be ready. Even the can of tomatoes should be opened! While intended as a marinara for pasta, this makes a great sauce for one large or two smaller pizzas.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Condiments"","block_context":{"text":"Condiments","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/kook-cooks\/condiments\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ben Pollock explains nutritional yeast.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/2013-10-17-Ben-w-nooch-300x225.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4830,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2014\/06\/a-c-note\/","url_meta":{"origin":1211,"position":5},"title":"A C Note","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"June 14, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"We asked for it so I can't complain. We dined out to celebrate. It would so kill the mood to ask what's an add-on and what comes-with on each and every item, so we didn't. Boy, did I pay for it. 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