My Vegetable Love by Carl H. Klaus

Author:Carl H. Klaus
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

MONDAY July 24

Now, when conditions are just right for the big-time growth and fruition of high summer—ample moisture in the ground, ample heat in the air—I’m suddenly on edge again with signs of trouble. A cucumber vine in deep wilt from one end to the other—probably bacterial wilt spread by the cucumber beetle—so I pulled out the vine and redusted all the others with rotenone. A pattypan plant missing four of its elephant-ear leaves. Probably the work of deer, feeding on one of the most unlikely of greens, so I sprinkled Hinder on everything in both vegetable beds. The waterlily tub tipped over on its side in the lily pond. Another deer, or a possum, or a groundhog, or raccoon, or possibly Phoebe, who’s always lapped from it like a tigress at her private watering hole, though I doubt she has enough strength now to tip it over on her own.

Nothing to be done about the waterlily plant, except to set it right side up on the concrete block in the pond and hope that the nighttime visitor doesn’t start coming to eat as well as drink. In years past, I’ve found lily pads chewed around the edges or completely bitten off and floating on the surface of the pond. And I can also remember the waterlily getting enough sunlight each day—six hours at least—that it produced a continuous bloom of lilies during July and August, sometimes three or four at once. But now it’s so heavily shaded by the maple tree that it gets only a couple of hours of morning sun. Now I’m content just to behold the surface covered with lily pads and the two resident goldfish swimming in and out of their canopy.

Twenty-five years ago, I dreamed of having a place large enough for a pond of my own, where I could paddle around in a little rowboat or stand by the shore and fly-fish for bluegill or bass. And bring a few in for dinner along with the fresh vegetables. But the dream could never have come true except in the form envisioned by Kate, who gave it to me for my birthday some twenty years ago—a circular hog-watering tank, four feet in diameter, two feet deep, its galvanized surface glistening on the terrace when I came home that day from work. “There’s your fishing pond. Dig a hole between the porch and the outside cellarway large enough to contain it, paint the inside with black epoxy paint, fill it with water and fish, ring it with bricks, and you’ll be ready to go.” And I did. And gradually we created an ecologically balanced system with snails and clams to filter the water, oxygenating plants to aerate it for the fish, a waterlily to shade the fish, and sometimes other bog plants to please the eye. One year, a painted box turtle paid it a short visit on the way to the Iowa River two miles away. And another time, our nephew Peter, then just two or three, tried to walk on the lily pads, with splashy results.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.