Will there be Amaranth this Year? (and other experiments…)

Last fall, I clipped a few stalks of Amaranth to tie together with fresh basil for pretty fall bouquets and left the rest to naturally dry out, scatter their seed – hoping they go forth and prosper –

This past week, I cut down the stalks, and finely raked the bed, wondering if the experiment of ‘self-seeding’ will, in fact, work….

Amaranth is a drought-hardy, sun and heat loving plant.  Absolutely tasty in pancakes, waffles and blintz recipes, it is fine textured and, to my taste buds, slightly sweet.

It does require moisture to begin with, but last year, I merely scattered the seed, watered in, and tried to water every 3rd day until the seedlings appeared – some weeding & thinning only – watered it twice all summer.  So little work for such a pretty landscape – 🙂

The Amaranth bed has been  one of many of my ‘let’s be lazy and see what happens’ experiments –

I also left all my Jerusalem Artichokes in the ground – just to see what will happen – there are some suspicious holes – Oakley, the wonder dog, looks somewhat abashed when my stern gaze moves from the holes to her  – maybe she hasn’t been eating as much of her food because she’s been living off artichokes this winter…

Since I still haven’t figured out what exactly to do to make the south perimeter rammed earth tire wall prettier, (since my initial idea of stuccoing it won’t allow for me to plant in the top), I’ve decided to plant my squash in the tires, so trailing vines cover them for the season, and maybe put some bamboo tripods in, so Scarlett runner beans can reach for the sky  –

I briefly considered doing 3 Sister plantings in each tire, but nixed that plan as even if it did work having the corn spaced so, I would have to get on a step ladder to harvest it, seeing as how the wall itself is already 4 foot above ground level.

So, 2 sisters it will be – or perhaps a few tires with sugar baby melons or sugar pumpkins with peas – I’ve dutifully kept and carried with me, every move since the divorce, the bag full of worn out pantyhose saved from the days when I labored in hell, aka, office attire –

I started saving them for ‘gentle cradles’ to support melons when I first learned of the vertical gardening method.  Whether they will be needed for trailing down instead of up, I know not, but  maybe this year, I’ll finally find out!

Ahh, Yes – Hope does Spring Eternal for the wanna-be-gardening soul – 🙂 –  Armed with a new list of dreams/hopes and plans – I shall march into the coming year with a light heart and smiling countenance – willing to do/dare/learn the hard way  – I love experimenting each season – especially with a nonchalant, hands-off approach –

I love to watch how well Mother Nature does with as little interference from me as possible –

Except for bindweed and pig weed – I interfere heavily and often for those two foes… 🙂