Back to the Future: Gardening in the 21st Century

This past week I sent in an order for heirloom seeds to the Seed Savers Exchange. I have ordered some herb seeds that I have never tried before. Black Cumin (also known as Roman Coriander) is supposed to be a nice ornamental with bluish white flowers. The seeds are ground and used like pepper. Sweet Mage (also known as Spanish Tarragon) has anise scented orange flowers. I always enjoy trying new herbs I have never grown before.

I have also ordered pinto beans, Hidatsa red beans and some climbing french beans. I am trying a cucumber called Mexican sour gherkin. Seed Savers is where I got the White Beauty and Great White tomato seeds last year. Those tomatoes were extra sweet. I am hoping for good luck with these beans and cucumbers as well.




I think that by ordering some heirloom seeds I am connecting to my past. My grandfather, Peter Donnelly, was a farmer in a small town called Allen in the southern part of Michigan. Born in the late 1800s, Peter attended Hillsdale College before taking up the plow. And I mean two horses and a plow. In the early 20th century that is how a farm was managed. No expensive fertilizers, no pesticides. Just hard work and horses to feed and take care of. Not to mention the cows and chickens. There was once a cow who shall remain nameless, but said cow once chased my mother and some of her siblings up a tree. And the chickens used to peck at her something fierce when she had to get the eggs from them.




Such was life on the farm. My mother wasn't much for being a farmer's daughter. Her brother once told her she was the only person he knew who lived on a farm but didn't know she lived on one. Avoiding the outdoor chores was something my mother did if she could. Which is why she irons and cleans much better than I ever have.

Well, I do not have a farm and I garden on a small city plot. No room for horses and plows where I live. I wouldn't mind having a few chickens (although I suspect I wouldn't like getting pecked at any more than my mother did). I am lucky enough to have a coworker who raises them so I buy my eggs from her.

I do believe it is worth the effort to return to the soil what came from it to feed my plants. I don't use fertilizers or pesticides. I am simply a lazy gardener who prefers to add compost on top of my garden each spring and plant in it. I find that this old fashioned way of garden does a pretty good job of preventing weeds from germinating and is a lot easier on the back than digging is.

What I have found in the past 25 years of gardening is that we seem to be returning to the tried and true when it comes to growing our food. My grandfather created a pretty good life for his family using these old fashioned methods and I have come to realize that it isn't such a bad way to garden in the 21st century. Suffice it to say that everything old is new again.