Akwesasne Gardening

Veronica Cook’s garden is no ordinary garden. The garden is a circle inside a rectangle, and it is actually shaped like a turtle. Having the arced rows is more work, but the garden is bursting with produce, and Veronica is glad she has lots of helpers. Katenis, Kenneth-Adam, Karter Lyons, Simon Sinora; who is from Palestine and drew the sketch of the garden, and Karen McNaughton from Six Nations; who had the dream about the garden, all share a part in the round garden. Veronica said that kids love to garden, which was very apparent by watching Karter in the garden.

The round garden has more plants than even a good study of it would let on. Some of them are raspberries, strawberries, carrots, potatoes, collard greens, broccoli, celery, cilantro, beets, dill, cantaloupe, watermelon, brussel ssprouts, cranberries, spinach, peas, pumpkins, cucumber, and tobacco. There are also various types of beans, cabbage, tomatoes, squash, lettuce, and corn, including popcorn.

Companion gardening is a big part of the round garden. There are yellow wax beans throughout the garden because they emit a lot of nitrogen and feed the other plants. Also, for example, cucumbers and lettuce, and carrots and beets grow good together. There are also marigolds on the edges of the garden because their smell repels bugs.

They have third generation heirloom seeds for some of their plants, like tomatoes and beans. To get seeds, do not harvest a couple of plants, 3 plants will give you seeds for a lifetime.

The round gardeners have lots of tips that are useful in any kind of garden. Kenneth-Adam shared a great and easy way to grow potatoes. Poke holes in the bottom and sides, about six inches up, of a large plastic container (see picture). Put about six inches of dirt in the bottom and then place some potatoes in it; any potatoes that you buy from a store, make sure the eyes have started sprouting. You can use four or five potatoes or you can cut up two or three for the same effect. Layer an inch of dirt over the potatoes. As the plants grow, keep adding dirt to the barrel until the barrel is almost full. A 55 gallon bucket will give you about 100 pounds of potatoes.

To keep the birds out of your raspberries, buy a fake plastic snake, a rather large and colorful one. Kenneth-Adam said if you tie it up closer to the top of the plant, it will scare the birds better than just laying it on the ground.

A home remedy for weed control: 1 liter of vinegar + ¼ cup salt + 2 tablespoons of dish soap. Mix these together and pour into a spray bottle. It kills the weeds but not the flowers or mature plants.

One last tip from Veronica: if you have achy feet, you would not believe the relief gardening barefoot brings.