A Coronavirus Garden in the Sun

Kristin Devine

Kristin has humbly retired as Ordinary Times' friendly neighborhood political whipping girl to focus on culture and gender issues. She lives in a wildlife refuge in rural Washington state with too many children and way too many animals. There's also a blog which most people would very much disapprove of https://atomicfeminist.com/

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8 Responses

  1. fillyjonk says:

    When I was a kid my parents had an enormous garden (we lived on over an acre of land, even if it was in an older subdivision in a small town). My mom grew everything – tomatoes and corn, but also Brussels sprouts and onions and strawberries and carrots.

    One year she even grew peanuts, even though Ohio is really not the right climate for them, because she wanted my brother and me to see how they do the thing where the peanuts (the fruit of the plant, really) winds up developing *underground* (My mom is a botanist)

    One year the chipmunks moved in. I remember my mom disgustedly talking about how they dug up and ate a half-pound of corn seed in a matter of a couple of days. She tried putting out mothballs, which seemed to discourage them a bit. (And led to the weird observation that grackles would pick up the mothballs and rub them on their feathers. I can only assume they somehow knew the mothballs repelled pests and it was like how they take dust baths to try to smother lice)Report

    • Carl Schwent in reply to fillyjonk says:

      It’s may be a form of Anting (see wikipedia). Many birds rub themselves with ants or other insects, probably to repel pests, and some have been known to use cigarette butts.Report

    • atomickristin in reply to fillyjonk says:

      Agh I got Brussel sprout seeds but then I realized when they arrived it was too late to start them this year. They need a massive growing season. I have always, always wanted to do peanuts for the kiddos to see, but just like you say, it’s too cold here at night. Wrong climate entirely.

      Yes we have chipmunks in addition to the mice, and pocket gophers, and these awful things called desert woodrats, which are basically rats with furry tails. The cats are making a dent in the population though so I’m hoping we’re going to have less of an issue with them than we did before we got them.

      That is fascinating about the grackles! How weird is that?? Nature is so cool.Report

  2. Doctor Jay says:

    Pictures of Washington state always make me feel homesick. Dad had a vegetable garden growing up. My favorites from it were the corn and peas, though he did have potatos, too. But we weren’t plagued with mice. Happy growing!Report

    • I am praying to the corn gods for some sweet corn this year. It’s been super expensive at the store lately so I haven’t gotten it much, but growing up we would practically live on it for a couple months (our neighbor grew it) Thanks!Report

  3. North says:

    Ahhh gardening. My mother loves gardening and maintains a vast expanse of both food and decorative gardens. My siblings and I were the non-voluntary labor source all through our growing years. I still like gardens but gardening is one of many reasons I ran, not walked, to the cities.
    But you haven’t eaten a potato until you’ve eaten a potato that was dug out of the ground ten minutes earlier and then immediately cooked.Report

    • Kristin Devine in reply to North says:

      That’s so funny, because I always harbored resentment against my parents growing up for not having a garden. I was always dying to have one and the first year I was married we scraped together our pennies so I could! It is a ton of work, though. Thanks for reading!Report