When we moved to Ithaca from Brooklyn, I had grand visions of our family homestead.   There would be a big backyard for dog and kid.  We would have a pond for winter hockey and summer fishing.  There would be a bonfire for s’mores and a hill for sledding.  And most important, there would be a garden.  A garden filled with summer squash, sweet corn, green beans, sugar snap peas, potatoes, carrots, cucumbers for picking, and tomatoes for canning.  Rachel and I would be living off the land.  We would watch our seedlings grow into towering vegetables, harvesting to share with our friends and family.

Oh, did I have a lot to learn.  Thoughts and lessons from year one of gardening:

1. Gardening takes time.  You can’t just pop your seeds in the earth, hook up the sprinkler and expect mother nature to work her magic.  Nope, you need to be ready to commit to that garden day in and day out.
2. Taking on gardening with a full time job, work travel, a new house, and a new baby, was a little ambitious.
3. Don’t buy 30 packets of vegetable seeds in your first year.  Try five, see if you can get those right first.
4. A 12 ft. by 3 ft. space is not enough room for 30 packets of seeds.
5. Check for holes in your garden fence.  If you don’t look for them, the groundhogs and rabbits will.
6. Gardening is war.  A war against weeds, varments, pests, fungus and weather.
7. It’s hard to make weeding fun….although Rachel did spend 2 hours hacking and yanking at them one night.  So, maybe you can take some pent up aggression out on them.
8. The book “Second Nature” by Michael Pollan is a great essay on the challenges of  amateur gardening.
9. The most important crop I planted all year was the grape vines.  When they are ripe enough for producing wine in 3 years, I will really need the drink after a summer of battle against weeds.

And a few highlights:

• Seeing the first stem sprout up through dirt in our kitchen window in April.  This is especially welcome after a long Ithaca winter.
• Watching the different plants take shape.  It’s wild to see the range of plants take form from these little packets of seeds.
• Harvesting my first vegetable: A single green bean.  It was the only one the rabbit left me after shearing the rest of my plants in early June.  (see comment about war above).
• Sharing that single green bean with my family of four (dog included).
• Building a compost and dumping our first bin of waste outside instead of in our garbage can.
• The first pluck and taste of a sun gold tomato.  The most rewarding crop in our garden.
• I’m hooked.  It’s like golf.  You can spend a whole year sucking, but then you hit one great shot….or in gardening, you eat one sweet tomato, and you know you’ll be back next year.

Below are a few pictures from the first year of gardening.  (The massive harvest from August, the homemade compost, the young vineyard, and the skinny amateur garden plot.)

And just to please the Eli fans out there…here’s a picture with his Aunt Nutmeg:

Side by side comparisons:   OLD  —>  NEW

Thanks for everything, Bri.  This kid’s going to be lucky to have you as an uncle.

]]> http://ethanash.com/2009/10/12/thanks-uncle-brian/feed/ 4 ethanash REB http://ethanash.com/2009/09/21/exterior-of-the-new-house/ http://ethanash.com/2009/09/21/exterior-of-the-new-house/#comments Mon, 21 Sep 2009 01:44:59 +0000 ethanash http://ethanash.com/?p=874 ]]> A few people have been asking for pictures of the new house.  Well, we’re still piecing the inside together, but here’s a picture of the back of the house from the yard.

The view from Russert's backyard.

Congratulations Jesse & Becky!

The last 10 days have been a complete whirlwind.  Last weekend I was in Barre, Massachusets for my cousin’s wedding at Hartman’s Herb Farm.  Monday Rachel and I moved into our new house in Ithaca, NY and Thursday morning I left for Monhegan Island, Maine for the wedding of Fred & Susannah.  I’ll share a few pictures from both weekends once I edit down from 400, because both weddings & locations were incredible.

In the meantime, you can read about Fred & Susannah in the NY Times, and check out the listed photographer under their photo.

Monhegan Island, Congrats Fred & Susannah

For the second time in a year, we’re packing up.  This downtown apartment served us well for 11 months and we’ll miss the convenience & neighbors, but it’s on to the farmhouse.  Russert is really excited about the backyard and wild turkeys.

I’ve been quite behind on any blog updates, but this has been one busy stretch of life between weddings, work, baby coming and the new house.  I still haven’t uploaded any pictures of the new place, but below is a look at the entrance with new slate tile being installed & kilim beige paint (yes, I know many paint colors by name now).  Great choice cousin Mike. Thanks Matt & Dad for the painting help, and our families for all their ongoing support and advice.  I don’t think we’ll be moving again for a little while.