HC: How did your gardens come to be listed
with the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.?
LLR: The
listing was not something that Wilma and I pursued. In fact we didn’t even know
there was an Archives of American Gardens at the Smithsonian. It all started
with a phone call from a gardener who was a member of a garden club in the
nearby city of Cedar Rapids. The club wanted to know if they could get together
with us to talk about a request from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington,
D.C. Mystified, we agreed to a meeting. We learned that the Smithsonian had
contacted numerous garden clubs in larger midwestern cities, asking for
assistance in identifying gardens of note, particularly those with an
interesting history. As we continued our conversations, it became apparent that
our gardens fit well with the long list of criteria supplied by the
Smithsonian. Club members worked tirelessly to document and map our gardens as
required by the Smithsonian application. One of the items on it asked for the
gardens’ name. Because we have a cottage on our property and because we have
for many years jokingly referred to the open, grassy area to the east of it as
the meadow, I suggested Cottage-in-the-Meadow Gardens, and the name stuck.
HC: Do you follow a strict routine for
starting seeds? Tell us your secrets for successful germination and
transplanting.
LLR: A
lesson I learned soon after I began raising plants from seed: start with
sterile containers. I use mostly plastic ones and soak them in a mixture of soap
and Clorox for several hours. I rinse them well with clear water before using
them. Using unsterilized containers resulted in the dreaded damping off, where
seedlings suddenly collapse and die. I used to sterilize my homemade seed
medium as well. Now I simply buy a commercial seed-starting medium and have had
no disease problems with that either.
Another
lesson I learned early on was to check your planting medium often, so that it
doesn’t dry out between waterings, causing your seedlings to wilt. That’s
especially important if you use a heating mat as I do for those seedlings that
need a bit of warmth to germinate.
Always
follow packet instructions carefully. Some seeds need light to germinate,
others don’t. Some respond better to cooler temperatures, some, as I’ve already
mentioned, to warmer. Note the germination time—some seeds may take as long as
a month to germinate—and time your sowing accordingly.
I
start all my seeds under grow lights and on Sundays. I don’t have any
particular inclination toward that day of the week. I just picked it at random.
That way, I tend not to forget when seeds need to be started. I prepare
standard mailing envelopes with the date of each Sunday written on the outside,
starting with the earliest date that certain seeds need to be planted. I put
the appropriate seed packets in the appropriate envelopes. When Sundays roll
around, I simply grab the appropriately dated envelope and start planting.
Before
I transplant seedlings, I harden them off by setting the seedling containers
outdoors in light shade for several days. I try to transplant in the evening or
on a cloudy day, so that the plants have a bit of a chance to settle in before
being smacked with a full day’s sunshine. I water them well to make sure that
the soil has settled in around the roots and there are no air spaces.
Tomatoes
get a slightly different treatment. I try to grow the seedlings so that they’re
a bit leggy. Longer stems mean I can plant them deeper into the ground. The
more stem you plant underground, the more roots the plant will eventually have.
That makes for a stronger, hardier tomato plant and probably increases yield.
HC: What
vegetables give you and Wilma the most pleasure to grow and to consume? Which
ones are essential to any well-stocked garden?
LLR: For both of us it’s not a particular vegetable,
but the first harvest of any vegetable in the garden. Especially anticipated
are the first varieties to produce, like lettuce, radishes, and peas. Lettuce
by Easter was always a goal under the old communal system and held true for us
for many years as well.
Essential to any well-stocked garden are
tomatoes, potatoes, onions/garlic, and beans, simply because they’re staples
in the kitchen. There are so many ways to fix them or incorporate them into other
recipes. If there is room in the garden, sweet corn is an excellent choice. There
is nothing more delicious than an ear or two of corn that was growing in the
garden twenty minutes before you ate it. Purchased ears sometimes come close, but
fresh out of the garden can’t be beat.
HC: Do
you grow only heirloom seeds, or do you grow both heirloom and more
contemporary commercial seeds?
LLR: We have our favorite heirloom tomato varieties,
but we try a few new ones each year. Winsall is a large, late heirloom tomato
that remains our favorite after decades of growing and testing other varieties.
It’s meaty and juicy and has a flavor that’s unbeatable. Occasionally, we grow
other heirloom vegetables not in the seed bank, but mostly it’s the contemporary
varieties that over the years we’ve found to be especially tasty and
productive.
