Joining Alice in the garden

Alice Rankin and I had so much fun with our question-and-answer interview for Huckleberries Gone Wireless last week that we’ve decided to team up weekly online, beginning this morning. Only the subject won’t be her life with Ron. Or politics. We’re going to talk about gardening. Well, Alice is. Many know that Alice is a gardener extraordinaire. Her huge garden at her Kidd Island Bay home testifies to that. I’m a gardener of sorts, too. I have a decent-sized garden in my backyard. I do some things right, by accident, and I do some things wrong, through ignorance. I, for example, couldn’t understand why my onion crop was nearly a complete failure last year. The answer to my problem was on Page 5 of Alice’s pamphlet: “Found! The Perfect Vegetable Garden – One Invented by God!” I’d planted sets that were too big or too small. And I’d planted them too deep. Also, I should have dumped ash from my wood stove into the box reserved for onions to improve the soil. On Page 2 of Alice’s pamphlet, I saw another error of my ways re: mulch. “The perfect garden is one that grows the very best vitamin-rich vegetables in the greatest volume in the smallest space for the least amount of time and effort,” writes Alice. “There is only one way I know to achieve this almost too-good-to-be-true result: Mulch your garden – learn from nature!” I’m looking forward to Alice’s lessons. In turn, I’ll teach her why it’s important to use exclamation points sparingly! (Insert smiley face.) Alice also will answer your questions throughout the day on the blog.