May Garden
Michigan summer starts… now! But first, history.
Memorial Day weekend is the real beginning of summer throughout the U.S., with Labor Day its opposite bookend; so, the last weekend of May through the first weekend of September. Throughout my childhood, Michigan schools did not begin the new academic year until the Tuesday after Labor Day, to capitalize on tourism during the few warm months in our cold state. That’s no longer the case, and most of our local school districts have shifted the first day of school to mid-August. When the classrooms are scorching hot; with no A/C, but with narrow windows to conserve heat.
Memorial Day began as Decoration Day in 1868, set aside for tributes to fallen soldiers following the U.S. Civil War. It remained a static holiday for a century, always celebrated May 30, but was moved to a Monday (along with most federal holidays) in 1971. In its current form, it’s set aside for the remembrance of all who died in service to our country, throughout all the conflicts of the last century and a half.
In reality, many Americans conflate its meaning with that of Veterans’ Day, which honors those in the armed forces who are living. Veterans’ Day remains a static annual holiday (following a failed attempt at changing it to Mondays during the 1970’s), celebrated on November 11 in memory of the WWI Armistice of that day in 1918. November 11 is known as Remembrance Day in the U.K. and Commonwealth nations.
To digress on an interesting historical tangent, November 11 was a centuries-old date for signing treaties to end wars. The date was known since at least the Middle Ages as Martinmas, the feast day of a saint who quit the army and became a Christian bishop. St. Martin’s Day was celebrated with harvest festivals and was also known as Old Halloween. He was a favorite saint in Flanders and Ypres, sites later marked by notoriously gruesome battles in WWI. As relates to gardening, the day became associated with red poppies and, in France and Belgium, with blue cornflowers, which match the color of the French uniforms during that war. Both flowers carpeted the former battlefields of Europe, and were commemorated in popular poems of the time.
Weeds
Our May garden is here for business, you guys. Anyone else experiencing this? Having an earlier last frost date than usual was thrilling, but now I feel like I’m behind. Any other year, we’d be doing the bulk of the planting on Memorial Day weekend, so the timing should be fine, but the garden seems to think it’s late June. Forests of weeds grow overnight, the early crops go to seed just as I think to harvest them, and I seriously need to pick a few favorite seed types and get them in the ground ASAP. My new tool of choice for battling the jungle of weeds? A sickle.
I neglected to get a selfie, but this is pretty much how I imagine I looked:
The sickle is awesome for slicing through tall bunches of weeds, chopping thistle at its base with a single swipe, and trimming grass near the fruit trees that can’t safely be mown. It’s environmentally friendly (no gas or electricity), a welcome alternative to “arm day,” as I detest going to a gym, and may well strike fear in the hearts of my enemies nearby squirrels.
What you’re probably here for: garden photos
Meanwhile, in Japan
How has your garden fared this month? If in the U.S., do you have plans for the holiday weekend? Have you ever used a sickle or scythe? Tried natural plant dyes? Talked to a raven?
—Erin, in Michigan
I've had a pair of crows for about 3 years now. They're always around. They sometimes fly over and accompany me on my morning hikes. Occasionally the dogs kill a squirrel or a mouse and I throw it over the back of the fence for them, they are always ready for those treats. They also warn us when there's a hawk in the area and the rooster knows to get his flock to safety. I also suspect that sometimes when they're shrieking there may be other goings on with the wild animals outside our fence. I have grown quite fond of these 2 crows. I've heard some people find them to be an irritating nuisance but that hasn't been my experience at all.
I have a scythe for cutting grass and weeds in large patches, and a few niwashi knives (we call them flax cutters) for more close up work. They're fantastic for hacking back ivy!