Seeds, Trees, and Poison

I remember my first gardening job (at age 7 or 8), courtesy of my father. Both he and Mom were firm believers in the adage that “an idle child will become an evil child” and although some of us probably turned out evil, it sure wasn’t due to being idle. Anyway, my job was picking potato bugs into a can with an inch or so of kerosene in the bottom. These bugs were the survivors of an application of Arsenic of Lead (if I recall right), a white powder which I now realize contained two of the most toxic chemicals known to man. Can you imagine what would happen if you gave a child a container of this stuff in this day and age and told him or her to sprinkle it on the potato plants? Your garden would be full of suits, health officials, and possibly the National Guard protecting your health and hoping to incarcerate whoever gave you the job. In any event, I haven’t died yet so I was either lucky or the wind was blowing the right way. I have solved the potato bug problem by simply not growing potatoes any more.

My seed order is about ready to go, and I have really got to get it sent out. What is slowing me down is my reluctance to pull out the old credit card and pay the bill. I know I can only resist for a short while longer, but will hold off as long as possible. Later on, I will have to buy some Gladiolas and Dahlias because I simply got sick of the ones I had and want to get some new colors. I will probably buy them locally (Agway or Wal-Mart). They are usually as cheap that way, and no shipping costs. I am also going to plant a couple of dwarf apple trees this spring as soon as the weather breaks and I will get them from a local nursery. I would never buy a fruit tree from some non-local grower simply because you cannot believe the hardiness rating listed on the big-box displays. They will say the tree is guaranteed for a year – but it takes a year for you to know the tree has died, so much for the guarantee.

In one of my moments of brilliance a few years ago, I bought two “Mongolian Apricot” trees which were guaranteed to survive in the North Pole and anywhere south of there. The trees flourished, and after a couple of years, produced blossoms – in April! Naturally I never got an apricot. Both trees are out on my wood pile drying out for firewood.