Tom Tenbrunsel - Casual Gardening

Dr. Tom has written a casual complete guide for the cas ual
gardener, wrapped in a personal colloquial taste of Appala chia.
I as much enjoyed the stories and the background history, as the
how-tos and whys to successful gardening. The book is fun!

Rinda Mue ller

This book is absolutely loaded with little t ips
on home gardening. So wort h it!

Read this book for its content or its stories, eit her
way youll master casual garde ning.

The authors style is his secret we apon.

Learning casual gardening casually is the way t o go.

The eBook version is interactive. I use this book as a delight ful
reference go-to book. Thanks for the stories that come wit h it.

Yuma, you have a knack to write. Youre a regu lar
Carl Sandburg. This ones off the wall!

Tom S mith

former Catcher for the Milwaukee Braves.

Tom, you have a sixth sense in the way you approach life.
Your styles a lot like the late James Wright, Appalachian P oet
Laureate. Please take me along that journey. W rite!

John Michael F lynn

Carl Sandburg Resident Writer, and author of How The Quiet Brea thes.

One of my best graduate students ever,

William Forst chen

author of New York Times Best Seller, One Second A fter

Other B ooks

Poetry on my Mind

The Fundraising Resource Ma nual

The Lansing Doctors Direc tory

CASUAL
GARDENING

TOM TENBRUNSEL

CASUAL GARDENING

Copyright 2020 Tom Tenbrunsel.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Cover Photo by Erin Secretarski

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ISBN: 978-1-6632-0516-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6632-0517-9 (e)

iUniverse rev. date: 07/17/2020

Dont Rush Mother Na ture

CONTENTS

Me and My D addy

I have jotted down my thoughts and ramblings from my gardening experience over my decades. Where did I learn it? My daddy was a gardener, a Victory Gardener. I have fond memories of that sweet old man, Dad: gardening, baseball (I write right and think right but bat lefty because he said, the walls closer in right field), mens group at Holy Name Church, Boy Scouts, Gillette Friday Night Fights on the old almond-shaped Philco radio, fishing with hos-weed worms, stalking brim, him giving me the freedom to be myself. The older I get, the more like Dad I get, and that aint half bad cause people loved my Dad. Mom was my confidant and therapist, which is why I suppose I became a psychologist. Mom played the piano by ear; so do I. So do my grandkids. Dad was common sense. Mom was the family glue.

If you plant them, they will grow. Gardening is a mere offshoot of nature, an afterthought if you will. Nature and plants and edibles have been around since the beginning. Man then came along and made a few modifications and started planting in rows and pots and plots and acres and hectors. It may seem near impossible to some, but if you plant it, it will grow. So go out and plant it. Which would you rather have a lawn and a grocery store or a garden. Grocery stores are set up to supply food for about two days. Yep, you guessed it. The grid goes down and you have two days. You got a garden, you live year round. And you know what youre eating.

Victory Gard ener

I love gardening and have a garden every year. There are endless techniques for home gardening. I have included a bunch of them, just enough to get you started or learn something you havent thought of yet. I kind of prefer casual gardening (Thats why I like my secret garden most). You know, if you plant it, it will grow. Ive tried a lot of different types and tips and tricks. It really boils down to what YOU want and thats been my approach in this book. If you have any doubt whether you can garden, grow your own vegetables, just do it. Just get some seeds and plant them. Mother Nature is on your side. Go out and plant it. It will grow.

Theres so much to gardening and yet so little. I prefer to garden leisurely, sitting in my garden chair with my sweet tea, watching it grow. The darn plants know exactly what to do. Just give them a happy home, my dad would say, And theyll do the rest.

Youll find I use natural means of feeding and caring for plants and protecting them from pests and animals. Dont need no fancy chemicals. My definition of organic is use Nature. Shes pretty savvy. Got thrip? You gotta get aphids. And you will need a good habitat for lady bugs to eat the aphids. Bees and butterflies to pollinate. You want birds to eat your tomato worms. Youll want your neighbors cat to hunt varmints. And of course a dog to keep the bears and deer shoed away from your garden.

Most of what Ive jotted down for you is lessons learned along the way. Its not complete by any means, but enough to get you started and add a trick or two you may not have heard of. Of course, Im happy to get advice from others too, so write to me about your experiences growing your own food. Id welcome hearing from you. Join my Facebook page.

Many blessings upon you for tending the soil. Enjoy!

Tom Tenbrunsel

Weaverville, aways out in the country, a might near off the grid, but still real close to those grand babies. We come here to these Appalachian mountains by way of eight states. We like it here and so do my plants.

Let me hear from you.

Follow me on Facebook: TOM TENBRUNSEL AUTHOR

If you plant it; it will grow.

Supplies You Will Need for the Casual Ga rden

It certainly depends on what kinda garden you want, but heres a good list:

Shovel with hand handle

Your grandfathers grub hoe

Rake (a small rake for small gardens)

Trowel and a Dibber

Foam knee pad and a bulb planter

A yard wagon or wheelbarrow

Nylon trellis netting with large 5 squares

Oak or 2x2x8 tomato stakes or baskets

2x12x8 lumber, screws, drill, galvanized corner brackets for raised garden and 1 yard of Amys Mix

OR cardboard and straw bales for a Ruth Stout no-dig, no-watering, instant garden

Worm buckets

Seeds and a garden store

Mulch, compose, grass clippings, straw to keep weeds out