Lucy’s Tom Sawyer Garden by John Brady

LUCY BURDETTE: Read on, you'll see that today's blog needs no introduction!

JOHN BRADY AKA MR. TOP RETIREMENTS: When Lucy and I moved into our first house together 30 some years ago, it didn’t take long before she announced that we were going to have to have a garden, just like she used to have in her natural woman days in Tennessee. The new back yard was sunny, so we dug up a spot and got busy. She was insistent that it was going to be organic - manure and compost, but no chemicals of any kind. She chose plants like chard, radishes and tomato plants. We had a pretty good garden in no time, and even started an asparagus patch. That was one of our biggest successes because it not only tasted unlike anything you can buy, but it comes back up year after year. The chard was a big hit with our two guinea pigs, Tommy Moe and Chubby Checkers. The zucchini was so prolific that the kids drew the limit: no more zucchini boats! No more zucchini anything!

Then twenty five years ago we moved down the street to our current home. By that time Lucy had me hooked like Tom Sawyer, so we went through the same garden process again, including a new asparagus patch. One development I started noticing was that the master organic gardener’s enthusiasm seemed to be flagging a bit. Yes, each spring she was the driving force behind selection of plants from the nursery and seeds in vast quantities. But Lucy‘s appearances in the garden, particularly for digging and weeding, grew more and more into cameos. 

If I couldn’t count on Lucy for weeding, I was enjoying what she did with what was coming out of our plot.  One of the best successes was our bountiful cucumbers. Using skills from her days in Tennessee, we turned countless cucumbers into delicious bread and butter pickles. Another skill from her old southern days was okra. She found a variety that could thrive in Connecticut,  and we enjoyed those rounds dipped in batter and fried. Tomatoes, green beans, and beets were mainstays as well. The butternut squash not only thrived, but it actually climbed over the fence into the driveway. For some reason having to do with our soil, eggplant and lettuce pretty much refused to grow.

All is Not Well - Huns and Pestilence

But all is not well in our little garden of Eden. You might have a vision of coastal Connecticut as a fairly benign place. In fact, it is a dangerous, hostile environment, one where vegetative predators roam like the desperadoes of the old west.  Anxious to protect our hard earned crops, even the calmest person could turn into an obsessive-compulsive mess.   

Rabbits were the first destructive force we found. To counteract them we paid for a beautiful fence around the entire plot. Unfortunately, the devastation to our plants continued. Finally, we noticed a series of holes in the fence - it was made out of plastic, and our little bunnies just just chewed through it to enjoy the all you can eat buffet. A new, more expensive, wire fence ensued, 

After a season of feeling safe behind our new fort walls, more devastation returned. When you go to the garden in the morning and see that the crop that you were so proud of the night before is now a row of of plants clear cut about 2 inches above the ground, you are hosting a new friend, the woodchuck.  Otherwise known as a groundhog, Phil might be popular in Punxsutawney, but his cousin Woody is certainly not welcome in our garden.

Then there is the problem of raccoons, At age 25, our wonderful asparagus plants are starting to peter out. So last spring I researched the perfect replacement variety for our Connecticut plot. I followed the instructions carefully, digging deep, preparing the soil with topsoil, compost, and of course, organic fertilizer. Over the summer I weeded and gradually covered the young asparagus shoots with soil to get them back to ground level. About that time I noticed the asparagus was getting nipped off, but some managed to survive. I had high hopes that what would emerge in the spring would justify my many hours of backtracking labor. 

Returning from Florida last month I saw asparagus spears emerging from the ground in a few spots - hurrah! That joy didn’t last long, however,  as each day another spear was gnawed off about an inch off the ground. Desolation and desperation followed.

Lucy has been following what ensued with wry amusement. Since she refuses to sit in the garden all night with a shotgun, all of my compulsive urges have kicked in. I constructed cages around all the remaining plants from stakes and netting. I sprinkled cayenne pepper and coffee grinds around the plants. 

Then I bought a battery operated video camera with motion detector, hoping to find the perpetrator. After about a week, I discovered via a grainy video who the culprit is - a young raccoon. Somehow Rocky has figured out how to climb over 4 foot tall fence (topped with additional bird netting) to enjoy the feast. 

Hope springs eternal.  I ordered 25 more asparagus roots and planted them this week, hoping that my latest protections can keep Rocky a bay. Along with them, I ordered wire panels that I intend to circle around each plant. 

At this point Lucy has confirmed that I fit at least one description in her old psychiatric reference tome. But she only draws the line at violence. Since trapping or shooting are out, this sheriff welcomes any suggestions on how we can maintain the peace in the wild West of this Connecticut garden.

John Brady is Lucy's adorable and funny husband and the creator of Top Retirements, his website crammed with advice for baby boomers thinking about the how and where of retirement. Here's an article about his retirement with a Q and A about yours.

A Special Place.

 RHYS BOWEN: Do you have a special place when you need to get away from the world, somewhere you can go to relax, regroup, think things through? During Covid, when we were stuck at home and couldn’t travel I started going to a small cove on San Francisco Bay. It’s only a twenty minute drive from my house but like stepping into another world, along a narrow winding road that hugs the edge of the Bay around a wild peninsula.

The place itself is called China Camp and it was once a settlement of Chinese fisherman. They were driven out of San Francisco because they were competing with the Italian fisherman many years ago. They set up shop here and caught shrimp which they dried and exported back to China. The fishermen and their community are long gone but the houses and pier remain. It’s like stepping back in time. I go and sit on the beach, listen to the lap of the waves, watch the pelicans drift past and feel tension slipping away.

                Because the road is narrow and winding I have to concentrate hard but it’s also good for taking me away from the book I’ve been plotting. I find I come back refreshed every time.  It’s a state park. I now donate to the Friends of China Camp and thus get a year’s parking permit. I also drag my family out there for picnics.

    When the weather is not too hot I also just go out and sit on my balcony where I could watch the view for hours!

                So do you have a place near you that is your go-to escape? Or one that you look forward to escaping to every summer? My summer escape is always to Cornwall and my SIL’s manor house. I wish I could go there more often!

HALLIE EPHRON: In a pinch, there’s a pond in the hills near me with a walking trail all the way around. It’s a gorgeous, mile-long walk, relatively flat, and utterly different depending on the season.  (Iced over in the winter it’s as beautiful in its way.)  It’s good for a quick mind cleanse and recharge.

My extended “escape” is to hang out with my daughters and grands on Peaks Island off the coast of Portland, Maine. Walks abound. There’s a lovely little beach. There’s one grocery store that miraculously sells everything you’d ever need. Sunsets and rock formations to die for.  And of course, family.

JENN McKINLAY: I have a park (Hallman Park) with a huge pond at the edge of my neighborhood about a mile away. It really is an oasis in the desert. The Hooligans rode bikes and fished there as kids and now I walk the dogs because they can run it out through several acres. That’s my day to day retreat.

On a larger scale, we have a summer cottage in Nova Scotia on the Bay of Fundy. A trout stream runs through the side yard, and it sits right on the water. Most beautiful place on earth and where our family has gathered most summers for almost 40 years. 

LUCY BURDETTE: There is a super-cute, but not at all fancy neighborhood up the street where I walk Lottie most days. It winds past a small beach on the Long Island sound. The water is different every day, and each house is different from the others–it’s a very peaceful break from being inside my head or stuck in the news cycle.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: As you might imagine, I am terrible at this. But sometimes, if I’m feeling overwhelmed, I just go outside and walk around our yard, seeing what plants are coming and going. And how they’re doing. In tomato season, like now, I go to the tomato patches and check on the babies. Even just the fragrance of the tomatoes is transporting.  Or I go into the back yard, and sit very still until the birds arrive. It’s so peaceful. And then I’m fine again.

Longer term, we go to Nevis, where the white sand beaches are deserted, for as far as you can see, and the brown pelicans skim across the water, suddenly dive for a fish, and them come up, gulping it down, and shake their little tailfeathers in triumph. I could watch that for hours.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I don't really have a local place except for my garden–and even if I did, it would be too hot to go there at the moment. But after last autumn's fish disaster, when we lost all but one of our huge koi, we have restocked our pond. Our remaining koi now has two much smaller koi buddies, and a half dozen goldfish. So whenever I reach the "it's all too much" point, I go outside and watch the fish for a little while. Especially in the mornings when the back yard is shady and (sort of) cool, it is so lovely. There is nothing more calming and mind-clearing than watching fish swim.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I feel fortunate to live in Maine, where so much of my surroundings are beautiful. Just driving into town I get to see the tidal river coming in from Casco Bay, and heading up the coast is a constant delight of inlets and sailboats this time of year. I also get a lot of respite from my own somewhat shaggy yard and garden, despite always noticing what I have to do when I'm outside!

Interestingly enough, for my clear-the-mind getaways, I like cities. I visit New York and D.C. several times each year. Maybe it's the contrast we crave - and since my town is less that 8,000, I love being surrounded by buildings and people!

RHYS: So how about you? Do you have that special place , even if it's part of your garden, that you go to to escape?