So Where has Basil Becky Been?

This has been a very different 6 months for me. So many life changing events have happened.. My gardens are my soul and to have let them go this season has been hard, But I will tell you so much good has come out of the last 6 months. The gardens have flourished, I was blessed with the opportunity to spend so much time with my daughter before she moved to India and all is ok. 

This is the article that was published in the September Kentucky Gardener 2018.  I finally put Kalee, Tallulah, and Huck( 8 weeks old) on a plane to India the end of August...a month after we thought. But they are happy and together, Lulah said it best when they were eating one of their first meals to together in India and Lulah took their hands and said: "it is so nice to be home". I think to a 3-year-old home where the heart is...where the family is together. Oh, the wisdom we can reap from the mouths of babes.....

Article Published in the Kentucky Gardener September 2018 

Rebecca Stoner Kirts 

“Let it Go”

Only in Kentucky

September 2018

    There are sometimes in one's life that you just have to let things go. Very few of life’s happenings slow me down in the garden. But this year has been different as a combination of events put limitations on my usual obsessive compulsion to play in my dirt. 

    It all started in March with the arrival in Kentucky of Tallulah, my 2-year-old grandbaby, and my daughter.  Kentucky was a waypoint in their move to India where my son-in-law had accepted a job and was already working there. Tallulah's adventure had become more joyfully compounded by the upcoming birth of a new baby brother in June. It was an exhilarating time for sure. 

   So the brakes were put on planned garden tours, talks, and other Basil Becky outings.  But somehow during this very unusual spring, a new appreciation for my garden emerged.  

    I began to look at my outdoor spaces through the eyes of a toddler. My soft garden soil became her digging areas, where she could aerate the earth with her tiny shovels and trucks. 

     My weeds became gems to pick and make fabulous dandelion necklaces.  Too many violets? No worries they made great floating beauties in pails of waters.  Scattering seeds was a joyful chore to her which soon resulted in a significant culinary adventure of tasting all of the emerging bits of lettuce.  Of course, this pushed me to research which of my many plants are edible. Some fun lessons were learned. 

    Who knew her young palette would enjoy fresh asparagus plucked straight from the bed as it poked its stalk up from the ground, or that she would take such pleasure in eating the rhubarb straight up just as I remembered my father doing many years ago. 

     I now realize I did not miss much by not planting my usual spring veggies; it was a cold, snowy time anyway. There was plenty of opportunities after Lulah left to pursue a prolific vegetable garden. 

     Because I did not have the time to mess with existing beds, it allowed many of my plants to reseed and spread naturally. The Cottage Garden greatly benefited from the neglect.

      Now with a trip to India, planned for late fall, I am taking this approach one step further. "Letting it Go" will be applied to the fall garden clean up as well. 

      This fits nicely with what I have been reading about how important it is to not pristinely clean the garden in fall. In other words, leaving vegetation is very beneficial to insects, bees, bugs, and butterflies by providing them with homes and food for the winter. Tallulah loved to chase the butterflies, search for little bugs and watch the robins pecking at the ground to find food for their newly hatched baby birds.  How sad for all of us if she returns next spring to a garden void of her favorite things just so my gardens look tidy. 

     There are other reasons for adopting this 'Let It Go' philosophy with regard to fall garden chores. I agree with a quote from a blog I recently read " It is time we make the environment more important than looks. It is time that we do things which are best for the other life forms around us" (Robert Palvis; Garden Fundamentals.)    

      I also have been profoundly influenced by the writings and lectures of Doug Tallamy. In his two Books "Bringing Nature Home" and the "Living Landscape." He makes so many positive arguments for us as home gardeners to put our weedwackers and pruners down for the fall and let our gardens be. 

       My beloved Firefly population is in decline, and they need leaf litter to spend their entire larval life safe and sound, according to Dr. Tallamy. Who among us has not set out on their porch swing and watched as a young person witnesses the miracle of the twinkling fireflies coming up out of the ground?

        Leaving flower seeds heads on my many coneflowers and black-eyed Susans allows me to watch as the finches, and other birds feast all winter long. 

        According to Dr. Tallamy, "Much of the insect community is spending winter, in the debris, we get rid of"  such as our Native Bees. Our butterflies, other than Monarchs, that hang in our garden for the winter also need a safe home for their cocoons. Stems cut down stuffed into black plastic bags or into piles that could be flattened by snows etc. are not conducive for survival.

        We also need to be mindful that toads, frogs, salamanders, lizards all need safe havens in which to hibernate as well. 

        Since I have honey bees, I am always looking for natural ways to control the pest in my gardens.  By providing resting places for the beneficial bugs, like ladybugs and praying mantis's perhaps these beneficial insects will return the favor and hang around all next summer and eat up some pesty whiteflies. 

      So my plan is set. I will get rid of any diseased leaves, clean up the vegetable garden a bit but very minimally when compared to my previous efforts. I will be very careful to not disturb or disrupt my other gardening spaces. In addition, I will shred my tons of leaves from all my trees and spread them around the gardens (Free mulch)

      As an added benefit, with the time I have freed up, I can tackle some of the chores that I sometimes do not seem to get completed; such as giving my tools a much-needed cleaning.  Here is another bonus, I will not feel stressed taking some time to fly to India and visit my grandbabies!! But by far the biggest benefit will be when I walk through my messy winter gardens and smile while dreaming about showing Lulah the fireflies next year...

So my plan is to start blogging more and please check out my Instagram and Facebook page.  Instagram Basilbecky and facebook rebeccakirts  and my articles and photos in Kentucky Gardener Magazine.

I hope to give you great info on gardening ..plus some humor and love of my passions..nature, garden, travel, and family ...The best is yet to come...