A Dedication to my Garden of 2008

It seems to be an incredible year for cherries in the Cleveland area. Our cherry trees, both sour and sweet, have never had so much fruit, the same appears to be true for the blueberries.

The winds seemed to have knocked down many of the small apricots and peaches on the trees but the smaller fruits do not seem to be bothered by the almost daily winds and rain showers.

The birds are eating the cherries on the trees as soon as a few of the cherries are ripe, therefore, I will place a net over my blueberries, tomorrow, assuming they have not yet been eaten by the birds. I love to share with our animals and did enjoy the cherry blossoms and seeing the cherry tree loaded with fruit to such a degree that branches clung and hugged each other.

The next day after viewing the cherry tree loaded with cherries, I brought my mother over to see my sweet cherry tree full of cherries. To my surprise, there was not a single cherry left on the tree. I quickly picked some of the cherries for my mother at my mother's house, before her cherries too would disappear. We plant trees in memory of family members and our collection of fruit trees has increased in the last ten years.

I finally finished planting the seeds and plants that I purchased at my local nursery for my 2008 garden. I also planted a small garden of tomato plants for my mother who loves to watch them grow and enjoys harvesting the tomatoes for her wonderful homemade tomato soup.

My mother planted her own arugula in her herb garden. Her arugula was ready to eat in early spring, long before I purchased my seeds. My mother used seeds she had from last year and all sprouted quickly. Within a few days after planting, my arugula seeds started sprouting. Over one week later, I began to see sprouts of parsley, cilantro and marigolds. I plant the marigolds around the garden and use them in baskets as they are known to repel unwanted pests.

In regard to tomato plants, I selected three heirloom varieties and one cherry tomato that is a hybrid. Whenever I find myself in a greenhouse with tomatoes or Easter Lilies, I think of my adviser at The Ohio State University in plant cell culture, Dr. William Rod Sharp.

The heirlooms that were available at the nurseries that I frequented very late in the season per the projects around our house include Mr. Stripey, Marglobe and Hillbilly. I wanted orange tomatoes and the striped types, including what I hope will be an orange stripe, were as close as I could get this year. I am noticing that the hybrid tomato seems to be growing faster than the heirlooms I selected.

I also planted bush cucumbers, summer squash, and one of my favorites to harvest in the late fall, butternut squash.

Incredibly, one of my white geranium plants survived the winter in my garage and was the first to bloom this spring. I hung baskets in the front of my home as we have much mulching and yard work to finish this year.

Luckily it has been raining almost every day and I don't have to do much watering of the hanging baskets of pink geraniums, light-yellow petunias, and marigolds. This is the first season that I have noticed light-yellow petunias and I had to purchase the basket that also included dark blue pansies that are continuing to bloom, to my surprise.

Much of the Spring has been above average in temperature and rainfall for our area, but the temperatures should be cooling down a bit this week. I need to trim overgrown bushes and mulch the flower beds and garden. I love the smell of pine bark mulch in the garage, the yard, or wherever it may be as it reminds me of getting out of the train in Freiburg, Germany, and smelling the heavenly pine smell of the Black Forest. It was another world when my family left the country of my birth and much family loss and suffering. Thus, smelling the wonderful aroma of pine brings back a mixture of memories to me both the most wonderful and the most horrible, unthinkable.

After 20 years, I finally updated the fence around my garden and it looks clean and fresh. I remember when I put tomato plants in the yard before our house was built to determine where they might grow. I was advised not to plant the garden near the deck or I would see the weeds whenever I want to use the deck. This was wonderful advice.

Each time I place a tomato plant in the soil or save seeds from one that I like that breeds true, I think of my father, how he taught me to plant a garden when I was in first grade and how the tomato played a role in his life and that of my relatives.

I am grateful to have a happy garden in a free country so unlike the camp I remember as a child.

I have the most beautiful peach roses, my mother's favorite color, that smell heavenly. The lilacs were also very abundant and beautiful this year.

I am blessed that my garden need not be a secret one. I dedicate my garden to all those in my family, and other families, that did not survive the horrors of war. My garden is also my legacy and a memory of a time when those who survived did not have the freedom to openly plant a garden as part of their daily life activities.

My company, Rosa S. Raskin & Associates, LLC, recently released a News Release on "Turning Your Green to Gold" in reference to new eco-friendly technology. In the case of my personal garden, "turning green to gold" refers to vegetables one looks forward to after raising green plants from seed or small plants to a healthy, golden, fall harvest.