Victory garden

One unconfirmed symptom of the coronavirus appears to be a green thumb. Trapped at home, many of us have taken to our yards, balconies, and raised beds to plant victory gardens. While Kellie and I have no business becoming professional farmers, the lockdown provided an opportune time to test out a bit of island homesteading.

A few weeks back, I ordered some wood from Hillside Lumber – which conveniently drops off purchases at the Casco Bay Lines for ferry service over to Peaks. Building a raised bed – or frankly any structure – on an island requires more forethought than simply rolling up to Home Depot and loading up your rig. I’m neither a gardener nor a handyman, so I looked online for a simple, can’t-screw-this-up design. Somehow the woodwork came together. Step 1, complete.

After building the raised bed, we needed to fill it. For such a small island, Peaks actually has more than you might first imagine – including a garden store. Head on over to Lausier Family Gardens for expert advice from Jim about what to plant and how to plant it. Appropriately masked, Kellie, Q, and I picked up soil, seeds, and a few lettuce starters to get the victory garden going. Jim even dropped off the soil for us. Got to love that island camaraderie.

It’s been a few weeks since we sowed our seeds, and somehow – and I really don’t know how given our sincere lack of horticultural faculty – sprouts have appeared. Quinn is in awe. He’s be religiously reading Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert, so for him to see the book come alive is pretty epic.

I can’t wait for the first salad! Fresh veg here we come.