Woodchuck Acres - A Suburban Homestead

Self control

2012-01-14T08:28:00.003-05:00

When I was a kid, my younger brother and I would leaf through xmas catalogs, pointing and chanting "I want that and that and that and that..." Not much different than what I do now, but with seed catalogs. Since this is to be a rebuilding year, I had to put the brakes on. I want to grow something, but what?

Part of the plan for this year is to subscribe to a CSA, so I started by looking through the list of fruit and vegetables they supply. This helped me narrow my garden list to the following:

Peas - snow, snap, and English
Sweet potatoes (which I plan to start from my own slips)
White potatoes (for winter storage)
Paste tomatoes
Green beans (to freeze)
Onions (for winter storage)

I am also going to start beds of:

strawberries
raspberries
asparagus

For flowers, there will be marigolds, zinnias, sunflowers, and magic lilies, aka naked ladies. Since the winter rye I tested for viability FAILED, Canadian field peas was added to the list, for green manure. And, because I could not help myself, I also ordered a blueberry plant.

And that's all! Sometimes I start feeling overwhelmed by the garden before I have planted even one seed, but this feels manageable. The potatoes will grow in grow sacks, the veggies will go into 5 of the new raised beds, strawberries and asparagus in the raised beds by the patio, and the raspberries in the long raised bed. The magic lilies are for the south side of ths house, the other flowers to fill in the blanks. Not sure where I will put that blueberry plant.

I'm excited!

And now, for your amusement, some more squirrel pictures.

Me watching you watching me

Pole dancing

Viability

2012-01-06T14:08:00.001-05:00

I usually keep my leftover seeds from year to year, in the refrigerator. Although occasionally some seeds turn out to be useless, for the most part, most of them remain viable for years.

In 2010, I purchased some seed for green manure, but used very little. Not wishing to spend money for fresh seed if I did not have to, I decided to test the seed for viability. This is a very simple procedure: soak a paper towel in water, place 10 seeds on the paper towel, fold the towel several times, to trap the seeds in its moist environ, then wait.

The barley sprouted in about five days...

... with 90% viability. In other words, 9 out of 10 seeds sprouted.

So now I know I don't need to purchase more barley. I am also testing winter rye, which takes 10-14 days to germinate. Results shall be forthcoming.

It is sunny today, about 50 degrees, very springlike. Tomorrow is supposed to be similarly mild. Maybe it would be a good day to get some horse manure.

Winter critters

2012-01-04T16:20:00.001-05:00

There was a blue bird at the bird bath this morning, but I was not quick enough. Here are a few backyard denizens that deigned to let me snap a few.

Don't you wish you were this flexible?

So much for my diet!

Lord and master of all I see.

You lookin' at ME?!?

It may be heated, but I still think you should go first.

A rebuilding year

2012-01-01T10:45:00.001-05:00

Usually around this time of year, I reflect on the past gardening season and make plans for the new one. Instead, let's look at lessons learned and what I plan to do about them.

For one thing, the climate, it is a-changin'. Last summer's brutally hot and humid yet rainless weather repeatedly chased me into the air conditioned sanctuary of my house. Not that much was going on outside - it was too hot for seeds to germinate or plants to set fruit. Weeds grew, though - lots and lots of weeds. There was no way to keep up. It does not help that my garden helper and I are both aging.

So the emphasis for 2012 is to focus on gardening smarter instead of harder. Toward that end, the meadow is to be down-sized and planted in green manures, to smother weeds, provide mulch, and rebuild the soil, so that maybe next year I can plant dwarf fruit trees there. The plants are going to be moved to the patio beds, where not only will I be able to keep a closer eye on them, I will have a more up-close-and-personal view of the birds, bees, and butterflies who visit.

Also, the beds with shrubs where we throw truckloads of mulch are going to be populated with space-filling perennials, with the goal of needing less mulch in the future. Even though the tradition in these parts is to widely space trees, shrubs, and flowers and fill in the gaps with mounds of mulch, most gardening magazines and catalogs show densely planted beds with nary a spot of mulch or bare ground showing. My hosta bed looks like that; why can't the rest?

The vegetable garden is in the process of being transformed into more formal raised beds ala square foot gardening. Hopefully, this will result in less garden to weed and water without sacrificing productivity. Also, I am going to focus on more early and late gardening, since that middle part of the summer is so unproductive. While all this is going on, to make up for the possible dearth of fresh veggies this season, I plan to participate in a CSA (community supported agriculture).

There are a lot of smaller steps involved in all this, like move the rhubarb to the tractor tire, build a cold frame, etc. I expect this list will be fluid, depending on how things go. Hopefully, by next winter, some progress will have been made.

What are your gardening goals for 2012?

Calliope

2011-12-29T15:56:00.001-05:00

I'm not a geranium person, but I purchased one last spring because I loved the color of the flowers. As long as I remembered to water it, this Calliope hybrid continued to bloom all summer long. Once freezing weather threatened, I decided to bring it inside, to see if I could keep it alive until next year (not always a sure thing in my household).

Not only is it alive, it is blooming. Nice!

A new toy

2011-12-27T08:41:00.001-05:00

I always try to take vacation days between xmas and New Year's, not to fly off to exotic (or even warm) places, but to stay at home and hibernate a bit. I also get the chance to do some of the things I have trouble finding time for while working. Like playing with my new food dehydrator.

After reading The Feast Nearby, I was inspired to purchase a dehydrator, but between the disaster otherwise known as the garden and a pinch for time, I never had the chance to try it out. Yesterday I decided I was tired of tripping over the Ida Red apples in the garage and dragged them inside for a transformation.

My peeler-corer-slicer produced relatively uniform slices of apple, which took about 5 hours to dry. At least, I hope they are dry. I don't purchase dried apples ordinarily, so I'm not sure exactly how they should feel. I sampled some of the thicker slices, though, as I put them in jars, and they were delicious.

The peels, cores, and the apples that would not cooperate with the peeler-corer-slicer went into a pot, along with culls from the apple collection (Fuji and Cameo) that needed to be used, to become applesause (after a trip through the sauce maker). So besides two "quarts" of dried apple slices, I also have seven pints of applesauce.

Besides rethinking the garden, I am also being forced to rethink the freezer and just what I put in it. When I purchased it, my intention was to fill it with fruits and vegetables, so I would not have to water bath or pressure can anything; I'm lazy that way. But now that I am purchasing grass-fed meat from Honored Prairie, the freezer has proven to be too small for bulk purchases. I expect I will have to can some stuff, but the dehydrator now offers another option.

Rethinking the zone 5 garden

2011-12-26T10:29:00.001-05:00

Usually at this time of year, I review the past gardening season and make plans for the next. To that I say, Bah, humbug! Last summer's garden was a disaster. The whole backyard was a disaster. I was happy to let everything die, only to have this area experience an extended fall (the grass is still green!) that I failed to take advantage of.

There is a city park near my house that is, in part, a working 1930's farm. It also includes gardens and a small orchard, the picture of what I hope my backyard will be some day. My son and I visited the park on Thanksgiving and again on xmas, and saw that kale is still growing in the garden and greens in the cold frame.

So now I am getting serious about building my own cold frame. There is a good spot for it, on the south side of the West Wing, next to the porch. Cement blocks are cheap, so all I need are some old window frames.

There also will be three 4'x4' square foot garden beds near my patio. The plan is one will hold aspargus, another strawberries, but I think I will reserve the third for vegetables that can winter over.

What are your garden plans for 2012?

Adventures with raw milk

2011-12-16T19:52:00.002-05:00

When I decided to buy a herd share, I committed to getting two gallons of raw milk every two weeks. Quite frankly, this is a bit much for a household of one. I skim the cream off the top for my coffee, I drink some (usually as part of a fruit smoothy), I've made some cheese (not always successfully). Now I am making yogurt from an heirloom culture that is supposed to work at room temperature, so you don't need a yogurt maker.

At least, I hope I am making yogurt. It took me two tries to make the yogurt "mother". You see, making yogurt with raw milk is a little more complicated than using pasteurized milk, as the natural bacteria in the raw milk will slowly kill off the yogurt bacteria. So, instead of using some of the made yogurt for the next batch, one has to maintain a pure mother culture.

I don't know what went wrong with my first attempt at mothering. Maybe I did not get the milk warm enough to kill off the natural bacteria, maybe I added the culture before the heated milk had cooled enough, maybe my house is too cold. I had used a candy thermometer, a thermometer so old that the glass casing broke off when I washed it afterwards. Alarmed that there might be broken glass in my mother, I decided to throw it out, but let it sit anyway. It never really thickened up, so no loss there.

With the second batch, I used a dairy thermometer, then put the mother in the oven with the light turned on. I also put a remote thermometer in there, just to see how hot the oven would get with only the light burning. Turns out it gets to be 80F. No wonder bread rises so well in the oven.

So tonight I am making the yogurt itself, plus a new mother. I purchased the starter from Cultures for Health, a website that has all kinds of fermenty things. This particular yogurt culture, Viili, purportedly makes a mild, semi-thick yogurt. We shall see.

Then maybe I will try butter.

Purple fingers

2011-12-08T19:30:00.002-05:00

According to my not-necessarily-accurate memory, when I was a kid, one or more pomegranates would appear in our kitchen around xmas time. Not quite sure how to eat one, I would fill my mouth with the garnet-colored berries (or whatever they are called) and gently chew on them, releasing the juice and fruit from the seeds, which were then unceremoniously spit out. As an adult, that memory has kept me from purchasing pomegranates for my own kitchen. Until now.

After reading this, I decided I would try my hand at making grenadine. Too bad I did not read the comments as well, because my method of extracting the juice was a bloody mess (which is one reason there are no photos with this post [edited to add one photo]). I erroneously thought I could just put the berries through my Roma, with no preparation other than separating the berries from the rind and membranes. Don't try it - it doesn't work very well.

In the end, I did manage to get three cups of juice from seven (I think) pomegranates. The recipe calls for two cups of sugar to two cups juice, but I started with two cups sugar to three cups juice, and the result was delish. I poured the mixture into three pint jars, added a tablespoon of vodka to each, and now they are sitting in the freezer in all their slushy splendor.

So, was all that work worth the trouble? I held some back, to make a Tequila Sunrise. It was so good, I made another. So, yes, it was worth it, but don't expect me to do so more than once a year.

Slush from the sky

2011-11-29T15:57:00.003-05:00

(Edited to add photos.)

As I was standing by the diningroom window, watching the rain/snow/crap fall, I realized a small pond was forming where the storm drain is. The storm drain that was dug up and replaced. The area around the storm drain across the street looks even worse. Hopefully, the grates are just plugged up with loose straw. I called 311 ("one call to city hall") and hopefully someone will look into it. Someone who is paid to be out in this weather.

The other night I made some tomato potato soup (from Love Soup, of course). I used up the last of my Irish potatoes from this year, the last of the frozen paste tomatoes from last year, and 10(!) cloves of homegrown garlic. The soup also called for parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme, all of which I have growing indoors.

Re the Meyer lemon, I did a little research and they are fully ripe when orange-yellow, but once they are yellow, they may be used. Maybe tonight, after I shovel the slush off the driveway, I'll celebrate the season with a vodka tonic with a twist of Meyer lemon.

Note to self

2011-11-26T16:39:00.001-05:00

Today I planted some spring bulbs and I want to remember what and where.

Winter Aconite (Eranthis cilicica) - 12 bulbs (they look more like corms), nestled in the curve of the front walk, close to the concrete

Golden Bells Carpet Daffodil - 50 bulbs, most along the south side of the north shrub bed in the backyard, some in the middle of the bed by the front walk.

Sunny Twinkles Allium (Allium moly) - 35 bulbs, along the castle block in the bed by the front walk.

Every year, I try to resist buying spring bulbs that must be planted in the fall because I *know* I will not feel like planting them when the time arrives. And usually I am successful in resisting. But not this year. Fortunately, today was lovely and mild, perfect for putting up outdoor xmas decorations (which I don't do) and planting bulbs.

My only concern is, the winter aconite should have been planted in partial shade, and their location is more morning sun/afternoon shade. We'll see how they do.

(All bulbs were purchased from Brecks.)

A green Thanksgiving

2011-11-25T18:11:00.001-05:00

And by "green" I am not talking about ecology or recycling or any of that Earth Day stuff. I am talking about the green, green grass. Even the impatiens on the front porch hung on until a week or so ago. If I were more motivated, I would mow the lawn. But I'm not that motivated.

My SO was motivated to help me finish up the raised beds, thank goodness. I made one 2'x8' bed and two 4'x4' beds; he put together five more 4'x4' ones. I like the *idea* of woodworking, but in reality, find it very tedious. Knitting thousands of stitches to create a sweater or a pair of socks is not daunting to me at all, but drilling a few dozen holes and screwing together pieces of cedar did me in.

While contemplating experimenting with square foot gardening, I debated on what materials to use in building the raised beds. Cedar was one choice, obviously, but I also considered cement blocks, primarily because I pictured planting flowers in the holes. Cement blocks have their shortcomings, though, so I am going to give them a small chance to prove they are a good idea.

Meanwhile, in the garden proper (which is mostly weed patch and mint farm) today I positioned some of the beds according to a design I have worked over and over and over again. The ultimate plan calls for more beds, of course, but I did not want to go whole hog yet. (In the background is the 2'x8' bed, upside down, awaiting its final fate.)

The first vegetable to enter the square foot garden experiment is garlic, which I planted today in one of the patio beds - four varieties, 9 cloves of each, one square per variety. This is very different from how I planted it last year, in rows spaced 12" apart. We shall see how this works out.

The Meyer lemon retreated to the indoors quite a while ago, and finally, *finally* one of the fruits is ripe.

I think. It looks ripe, but I hate to pick it prematurely. Must do some research.

More recently, more outdoor plants moved back inside.

The parsley in the foreground is some that just sat there, sharing a pot with a tomato plant that also just sat there, all summer long. I think I created my own potting soil for this particular pot, and apparently did not do a very good job. Once the parsley was repotted with some commercial potting soil dumped out of the sweet potato bags, it began to perk up.

Speaking of sweet potatoes, I roasted some last week and they were delicious. And yesterday our Thanksgiving table was graced by the Irish potatoes. The green beans were *not* from the garden, but the onions were. The climate is changing, which means we need to adjust our gardening methods, so as to continue to grace our tables with backyard bounty.

Must be an election year

2011-11-18T14:23:00.000-05:00

The plan was to post this before election day, but per usual, plans are meant to be spoiled. Anyway, the missing storm sewers have been replaced. What other work occurred is a mystery, but I am hoping when the winter snows melt and the spring rains fall, my yard will not be under water.

More power!

2011-11-01T15:40:00.001-04:00

Even though I own a circular saw and electric drill, I'm not big on power tools. I usually leave them to my SO, who is very obliging in that area. However, I figured that even I could put together some raised beds for the garden. And I was right.

Here is a 2'x8' bed, fated to hold raspberry plants. My original plan to locate it near the garden proper has been put on hold, as while researching raspberries in raised beds, I learned that raspberries have a tendency to ramble. To prevent this, one needs a root barrier that goes at least 18" deep. I'm not sure how I am going to accomplish that, but I have all winter to think about it.

The other beds are 4'x4', the size recommended for square foot gardening. It is also a good size for someone with my (lack of) upper body strength. My personal design uses 1"x2" boards at the corners, with one inch protruding below the bed proper, to help anchor it, and about 7 or 8 inches above, in case I want to double the depth of the bed in the future.

These two are for asparagus and strawberries. I am hoping that, by placing them close to the house, I will pay more attention to them. We'll see how that works out.

Cache and carry

2011-10-28T15:16:00.000-04:00

In the spring, when the feeder population degenerates to starlings and grackles, I stop feeding the birds, usually until the snow flies in late fall or early winter. But this year in October I put out first some niger thistle seed, then some black oil sunflower seed, and was amazed at the ensuing activity. And now I know why: many birds cache food in the fall, to ensure a supply all winter long.

Chickadees, nuthatches, titmice, and other birds will store nuts, seeds, and insects in knothole and bark crevices, under shingles and in the ground. That certainly explains the comings and goings in my backyard these days.

My current quandry is fall clean up. There is a lot of dead stuff in my garden. The dead vegetable plants will go into the compost pile, but what about the weeds? I can see birds feeding on the seed heads as I type.

Last mow of the season?

2011-10-23T15:02:00.001-04:00

I've noticed that, while I think taking a walk around the neighborhood is boring, walking back and forth across the lawn behind the mower is totally acceptable.

The weather this weekend has been GORGEOUS. We had a frost Friday night, followed by sunshine and mild temps. Yesterday was already full (including a trip to Cook's Orchard for apples and cider), but today I made sure I spent some time outside. There was the above mentioned mowing, plus repotting of a house plant, emptying of garden containers, etc. Just enough activity to make my hips ache.

I purchased a copy of the All New Square Foot Gardening, by Mel Bartholomew, a while back. It is a lot different than the copy I checked out from the library. It is also giving me some food for thought re the garden. There were already some major changes percolating in the old gray matter. Now there is even more. My brain is getting full.

Update

2011-10-18T14:53:00.000-04:00

Today's rain looked as thought it was going to drift south of my location, but no, it is raining here, albeit not very enthusiastically. Our total rainfall for this year is above average; too bad it can't be spread out evenly throughout the growing season.

The wind has also been acting up here lately, gusting in the 40 mph range, which proved that weaving the patio canopy between the rafters is not a total solution. I took the canopy down for this year; some grommets and tie downs will have to be employed in the future.

My SO and I recently took the new trailer for a spin, to pick up (free!) horse manure. The bedding used with the manure is (weedfree!) wood shavings. We layered the manure with the existing dirt in the beds by the patio. (I was concerned the dog would consider the manure a new source of snacking, but she showed little interest in it. Guess horse shit is not hardwired as a food source in her brain like rabbit poop and litter boxes.) I will plant garlic in one of those beds. Although this year's garlic harvest was adequate, we shall see if nature's fertilizer makes a difference (assuming I do a better job of watering next summer).

I purchased some fresh niger seed and splurged on a new finch feeder, and now my yard is full of finches. Although I usually wait until the snow flies to put out the bird seed, I also hung a feeder full of sunflower seeds. The avian population is grateful. (The stale niger seed went on the ground in the meadow; while the finches won't touch it, some critter or another will.)

Still waiting on a hard frost, although I have basically abandoned the garden. The prediction is we are in for a doozy of a winter in these parts. Since I have a new driveway that is not part gravel, I am actually looking forward to shoveling some snow.

In situ

2011-10-13T19:14:00.002-04:00

The June 1978 issue of Organic Gardening (which I found in a box under the bed in the guest room - I was looking for an article on growing sweet potatoes) included plans for "easy compost bins". We started with the plans for the "Rodentproof Composter" and with a few modifications, created this:

The color turned out a bit more fuscia than I planned.

My SO deserves 95% of the credit for this baby. I purchased the parts and he did the cutting and assembling and painting while I "supervised". (He's good with tools; I'm not.) It is situated on the north side of the West Wing, where I can open a window and toss out the kitchen scraps without risk of stepping in doggie doo in the dark.

Feed me!

The sides are removable for easy access to the end result.

My SO makes my dreams come true!

Don't worry - the arborvitae shield it from the neighbor's view, and I plan to mix in plenty of compostable newspaper and yard trimmings, to keep it from becoming stinky. And if it does become stinky or buggy or whatever, we can always relocate it.

You know, if the city would let me keep a few chickens, I would not have to resort to crazy ideas like this one.

Bits and pieces

2011-10-06T14:19:00.000-04:00

Rodent-proof compost bin in the making

Weaving canopy cover among the rafters keeps it from blowing away

Pathetic if colorful pepper harvest

New patio bed, with coneflower (and weeds) already growing in it

Praying one's mantis on one's sleeve

Newcomers

2011-10-04T20:45:00.000-04:00

I belong to Arbor Farms Nursery's "club" and received a birthday coupon, good toward one perennial plant (priced $9.50 or less). Of course, the unspoken rule is one does not go to a nursery and pick up only one free plant. And the one I picked cost a bit more, so I paid the difference, plus picked out another plant from the bargain bin.

Maidenhair amongst the grasses

The bee balm and Shasta daisies growing in this general area have been losing the battle with their neighbors, so the bed is going to be all grasses, all the time. This maidenhair should fit right in.

That was the bargain. For my free plant, I looked and looked and looked some more. Slim pickings this time of year. I had almost settled on a sedum when I chatted up one of the employees re coreopsis and why they are not very hardy. She mentioned that she liked 'Route 66'. So guess what I ended up with.

'Route 66' coreopsis

The dark red and yellow blossoms will be perfect in the new sidewalk bed. If the 'Jethro Tull' live through the winter, I will move them into this bed as well. I do like coreopsis; maybe they will like this bed better.

My tax dollars at work

2011-10-02T09:14:00.000-04:00

Recent record rainfalls in other parts of the country got me worried about my own property. Each spring, when the ground is saturated, the storm sewers just can't keep up and my front yard floods. Were we to receive one of those deluges, I'm afraid my house would be underwater. So I sent the city an email, to see what could be done.

One thing that can be done is the storm sewer casings can be removed so the engineers can see what is what.

One surprise was, while the inputs were obvious, the output was not. My neighbor across the street had seen some storm sewer maps once upon a time and said those showed the storm sewer drained to the east. But actually, it drains to the west.

There is a utility easement on the north side of my property - and presumably on the south side of the property to my north. The sight line makes it look like, if any further digging must occur, it will occur on their lot, not mine. I have shrubs planted on the easement, not always a good idea since the utility people can rip up an easement at their discretion. Let's just home it doesn't come to that.

September vacation

2011-09-27T14:08:00.000-04:00

My SO and I recently spent a week on the road. I lugged both my little Canon and my new video camera around with me, but took very few pictures. My SO is interested in old cemetaries and architecture, so he finds things to shoot almost everywhere. I'm interested in gardening (OBVIOUSLY) but I didn't want to take pictures of the same stuff that grows in my backyard. Yard ornaments, on the other hand, are almost always unique.

All these were found in Concord, MA.

At least something liked that hot and humid weather

2011-09-23T14:18:00.000-04:00

This is my first year for sweet potatoes. I planted a dozen or so slips of a bush variety (Vardeman purchased from Pinetree) in containers. This represents about half the harvest:

I have no idea whether this is a lot or a little. Once they are done curing in the shed, I will weigh them. Regardless, I consider this crop a success, a sweet one in this summer of failures. Next spring, I hope to grow my own slips.

Peekaboo!

2011-09-08T07:33:00.001-04:00

I see you!

It's a sweet potato!

Labor Day labor

2011-09-06T10:54:00.000-04:00

Yesterday my SO and I decided to spend our Labor Day laboring on the patio canopy. I purchased this one from Lowes (which is a story in itself - the box weighed around 250 pounds; we let two employees wrestle it into a borrowed pickup truck, then at home unloaded the canopy piece by piece). Fortunately, others who had purchased this unit left not only online reviews but detailed instructions on how best to anchor and assemble the structure. (The instructions that came with were okay but not the best way to accomplish the job.) With their virtual help, we were able to finish in five hours, and that included a trip to Home Depot and two trips to procure lunch (a lot of places are closed on Labor Day - go figure).

Since removing the silver maples and the Florida room, my west-facing patio has proven to be brutal under the afternoon sun, rendering it unusable for a good part of the day. I dithered about what to do - pergola? awning? trees? - and finally settled on a canopy. One thing my yard demonstrates is, I change my mind. Frequently. Plants get moved, gardening methods evolve, new ideas come and go with regularity. So the canopy felt like the right way to go - quick but not prohibitively expensive, sturdy but movable.

We started around 11am with a quick trip to Home Depot, to purchase four 16"x16" cement pavers, concrete bits and anchors, 14" plastic ties, and in an semi-related purchase, 8 bags of pea gravel.

Getting started (ignore the mess)

Several reviewers recommended inserting 4"x4"x31" posts inside the vertical supports, so we did that. (I happened to have a 4"x4" laying around, left over from a never-even-started project from about 15 years ago.) This provided some ballast to the structure.

Maiden voyage for trailer and hitch, easier than carrying everything from garage to backyard

We followed more online advice and anchored the posts to pavers instead of directly to the patio. For one thing, this allowed us to adjust the final placement of the posts. For another, if I decide to relocate the structure in the future, it will be doable. (The instructions left the anchoring as the next-to-last step and assumed one would be putting it on lawn; 16 "stakes" that look like big Allen wrenches were provided for this. I'm not sure how well this would work.)

Measure twice, drill once

Initial placement: centered in front of the patio door.

So far, so good!

After this step, the instructions suggested assembling all four outside cross pieces and somehow getting them on top of the posts in one fell swoop. Without anchoring the posts first, I think this would be really awkward. Also, we were able to put the outside cross pieces on one at a time. Next came the rest of the cross pieces, which are not anchored, hence the need for the plastic ties, to keep them from rattling.

Coming together

Initially, I wondered about the stability of the structure, but the corner supports made a big difference.

Overcast skies helped keep us cool

The final step was the canopy itself. It was my decision to orient the structure so that the "rafters" ran north and south. After we put on the canopy, though, I began to have second thoughts. When the afternoon sun is low in the sky, a lot of light streams in through the patio door, so I thought this was the way to go.

Done!

But after ducking not once but twice in order to exit the house and cross the patio, I am having second thoughts. Also, the canopy really blocks the view. With a little help, we should be able to detach the top and rotate it. Then the long ends of the canopy will provide more privacy to the south while still blocking most of the sun. Theoretically.

4pm - time for a beer

One hope I expressed was that the dog would now consider the patio to be an extension of the house and not part of the outdoors, and stop peeing and pooping on it. No such luck.

And what about that pea gravel? That was for the area by the outdoor faucet, an area that is not very conducive to plants yet weed-prone, an area where I keep my bird seed bins. It is right next to the patio and an eyesore.

After weeding, before pea gravel

I think the area could use a few more bags, but it will do for now.

After

My SO did the heavy lifting, literally. I will say that, given enough time (weeks?) and some clever work-arounds to make up for my lack of upper body strength, I could have done it myself (if I did not hurt myself and/or get utterly discouraged). BUT! The man knows his way around tools, had some good ideas for how to get things done, and stuck with the task until finished. I'm very pleased, in more ways than one. And grateful! And lucky!

I lied

2011-09-04T15:11:00.000-04:00

My kvetching about the garden results this year was premature. For one thing, I did not get seven pounds of potatoes as previously reported, but more like twelve. (Someday I will learn how to read my kitchen scale.) While not a stellar crop, it's not as bad as I thought. Neither are the tomatoes: Friday 22 pounds became 14 pints of "juice" - instead of sorting out the salsa, paste, juice, and early tomatoes, I just threw them all into the sauce maker and stuck the jars in the freezer. And there is a gallon of green beans in the refrigerator which I will probably cook up and eat through the week. There are more tomatoes and green beans in the garden, too, so the harvest isn't as miserable as I thought.

I finished reading The Feast Nearby and decided to try some of the recipes Saturday: zucchini bread, Danish cucumbers, and seffa medfouna (saffron-braised chicken with steamed vermicelli). My initial conclusion is Robin Mather and I have different tastes in food. For one thing, the zucchini bread is more like zucchini cake - good, but way too sweet for me. Also, I favor whole wheat over white flour and honey over sugar. The cucumbers are okay - I wish I had had some burpless ones from my garden because I think they would have worked better than the store-bought-but-homegrown ones I used. Also, I think I would favor a milder marinade. I did not try steaming vermicelli - basmati rice seemed like a perfectly good alternative - but the chicken itself was very tasty. And yet, the amount of oil in the recipe is daunting, especially since I forgot to remove the skin on the chicken, which contributed more fat. And the flavors were rather intense. I had borrowed this book from the library, contemplated purchasing it, but now I'm not so sure.

The heat has abated some today as rain moves through the region, and tomorrow is supposed to be dry and cooler. I'm looking forward to laboring in the yard.

Why sunflowers droop

2011-09-02T13:47:00.000-04:00

I bet you thought sunflowers droop because the heads become so heavy with seed. That may be one reason, but here is another.

What is that? you ask. It's what's left after goldfinch dine on the seeds.

First, make your selection (and get some exercise with the effort):

Then dine al fresco:

leaving behind the shells. The cardinals apparently are not so athletic, so they claim the sunflowers that have fallen completely over. Isn't Mother Nature wonderful?

Goldfinch weren't the only diners in my yard today. I have not seen much of the robins since my neighbor removed the mulberry, but someone has been enjoying the berries on the pokeweed.

How many bluebirds can you count in the next photo?

Click to make big

They were practically swarming this morning. Now if they would only kick the sparrows out of the bluebird house and hang around all summer.

Peachy keen

2011-08-27T19:53:00.000-04:00

I can be quite the procrastinator, but some things won't wait. Like the half bushel of peaches I picked up last night at Huntertown Gardens. Red Havens from Michigan. The best. Today I froze 6 1.5-pint jars, using a light honey syrup. These will probably be used in smoothies. I also froze some on cookie sheets, after a bath in Fruit Fresh. There are still a few left, which I am going to put through my sauce maker, to make peach juice as I did last year. Looking forward to peach martinis!

My current read is a book called The Feast Nearyby, by Robin Mather (which I would link to but the stupid Amazon Associates widget is not cooperating). The book is part memoir, part how-to-put-food-by, and part recipe book. One of the philosophies the author arrived at is, local trumps organic, and I have to agree in part. As important as I think it is to eat organic, just because something is organic doesn't mean it will taste good or be as nutritious as locally grown produce, especially if it is shipped across the country. I find it difficult to find fruit (especially peaches) that is organically grown AND local AND of high quality regarding freshness and taste. And then there is the cost. I do expect to pay more for organic produce, but sometimes it feels like I'm being gouged. I counter those feelings by telling myself that buying organic is an investment in my health.

And I try to grow my own, although this year has not been stellar in that department. For example, I planted 5 pounds of seed potatoes and harvested 7 pounds, not a very good return on my investment, especially considering all the effort we went through to enclose the potato bed in hardware cloth, to protect the crop from voles. By the way, while the hardware cloth did keep the voles away, it was difficult to harvest the crop, especially because some of the potatoes grew beneath the hardware cloth.

Unlike Robin Mather, I am fortunate to have a local source of milk. Today I made mozzarella cheese, using Ricki Carroll's 30-minute mozzarella recipe. It really did take just 30 minutes and it really does taste like mozzarella. My experience was a little different than what was described, but that may have been because I was using fresh, raw milk instead of pasteurized. Now that I (kind of) know what I am doing, maybe next time I will take photos.

Not my fault

2011-08-23T16:10:00.000-04:00

The lousy results in the garden this year were weighing on my green thumb, so I was relieved to discover that other people experiencing the hot-and-dry this summer also have zucchini with only male blossoms, beanless bean plants, and few tomatoes. The plants are too stressed to set vegetables. I don't know how to combat this in the future, though, assuming hot-and-dry is here to stay. Shade cloth?

This past weekend, my SO and I left the garden to fend for itself and visited Milwaukee (details here). One home we visited merits mention here, because despite it's postage stamp size, the yard was not only full of plants but also boasted a koi pond and a patio canopy, the latter from Target. After the heart-stopping estimate for an aluminum pergola, I have been looking at alternatives, including Coolaroos (thanks, ErinFromIowa, for the idea!) and patio canopies at Lowes (which was my SO's original idea for shading the patio), so it was helpful to be able to quiz someone about their personal experience with one.

Today, while watering (no rain fell while we were gone) I spotted a few bag worms on the arborvitae. Not the infestation from several years ago, but I'm glad I noticed them before any damage was done. I also found a winter squash growing on the vine in the meadow, a nice surprise. And the sweet potatoes and Meyer lemon tree are still very happy with the weather so far this summer. Good for them.

Speaking of the meadow, I am rethinking it. In its current incarnation, it is just too much work to maintain, even with the help of my SO, so I am contemplating reducing it to two 4'x8' beds near the patio (the better to photograph butterflies, my dear). Then I will turn the space into an orchard. Maybe. It will be something to meditate upon this winter.

This year's BIG home improvement project

2011-08-18T13:51:00.000-04:00

One reason I was rather dejected over the estimate for a new pergola is because I already had a boatload of money earmarked for a new driveway. No before pictures, but some during and after.

The rusty basketball hoop by the driveway really bothered the concrete guy, so when he offered to haul it away, I said, Sure. The old sidewalk ran along the castleblock in front. This also bothered him.

So he suggested adding a swoosh - no extra charge. At the time, I thought, Whatever. But I really like the results.

Another bed to fill with plants! And to weed!

My old driveway was 50 feet of concrete plus an asphalt apron to the street.

Now it is 70+ feet of shiny new concrete.

One reason the old concrete driveway crumbled was water sat on it after spring/fall rains, freezing and thawing until the low areas looks more like gravel than concrete.

A little drain tile on either side of the driveway will help prevent that in the future.

What a wonderful (and wonderfully expensive) facelift to the property!

AND I had contacted the city about the lakefront view I have each spring. AND someone actually came to the house today to discuss it. Not that anything will happen in the near future, but this is more than I expected. You know what they say: If you keep your expectations low enough, you will never be disappointed.

Sad but glad

2011-08-14T12:54:00.000-04:00

In the corner of my neighbor's lot stood a clump of mulberry trees. On the one hand, the robins love mulberries and could be seen swooping into the berry buffet all day long. On the other hand, baby mulberry trees sprout like weeds on my property. And those robins? Dive bombing purple stain makers, that's what they are.

Before

Said neighbor decided to have the mulberries removed along with a dead apple tree. The elm gets to stay.

After

The removal of the mulberries opens up that corner of my yard to more light, which is a good thing for the garden. My compost pile is on the other side of my shed. I was planning to clear that area out and plant hostas, but now will need something more tolerant of sunshine.

Now if the neighbor would also take down the silver maple in the middle of his backyard that rains whirly birds onto my backyard, life would be, well, not perfect, but improved.

Speaking of sunshine, a pergola guy came by Friday to give me an estimate for an aluminum pergola over my patio. $$$$$ More than twice what I expected it to cost. I want something maintenance-free, but gah. I will definitely have to look into alternative (and hopefully cheaper) materials.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the house, I am having my driveway and front sidewalks replaced. It is funny how one day something that has been sitting there all along suddenly looks horrible. I think it is because the lawn looks horrible as well - the combination of crumbling driveway and weedy lawn with dead grass makes the house look abandoned.

Whew!

2011-08-04T14:54:00.000-04:00

FINALLY. A break from the heat. We had 22 days in July where the temperature reached 90 or above.

And FINALLY some tomatoes!

These are from the Early Girl, although the salsa tomatoes are catching up. And that is what I have been eating lately: salsa, made with garlic and onions from the garden. The Georgia Fire is supposed to be good for salsa, but I'm using up the damaged garlic bulbs first, and I did not keep track of which was which. In my book, all garlic is good.

Earlier this summer I contemplated purchasing a picnic table, primarily so I would have some place for tomatoes to sun themselves. I never got around to pulling the trigger on that purchase, but a neighbor left this table by the street, free for the taking.

The only problem is the patio gets so brutally hot in the afternoon that the tomatoes actually cooked. I really need a pergola.

This is the time of year I see the most goldfinch. They love the coneflowers and the sunflowers.

I have hung finch feeders outside in the winter, but rarely do any birds show interest. The other day, I found out why: niger thistle gets stale. I purchased mine from a pet food store several years ago, and since the birds would not eat it, it never ran out. (What is the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.) Now I will discard the old and get some fresh, but only a little bit at a time.

This is the first year I have planted sunflowers with abandon, as in previous years they would get nibbled on by rabbits. But now my yard is rabbit free. Or WAS. Last night my SO spotted a baby one near this sunflower. It looked almost too little to be out of the nest, which is probably why it was able to squeeze into my yard. Now what?!?

Almost everything in my yard is girded by poultry netting, even the tulip tree. I'm glad I take that extra precaution, because this tree is starting to look like a TREE, a giver of shade.

A nursery man once tole me NOT to plant a tulip tree because the bark is soft and it won't flower for years. But the tulip is not only our state tree (at least, for now - I think my son told me they are contemplating changing that), it also serves as a host plant for the tiger swallowtail butterfly and the promethea moth yet is ignored by other insects. And it is a fast grower. C'mon, shade tree!

It took a while, but now that the Brown Eyed Susans are established, they are popping up in areas beyond the meadow.

East side of the fence

The columbine is spreading, too. Both plants complement just about anything they are near.

West side of the fence

This one is hiding the 'Love Pat' hosta, a hosta I plan on moving, once I get a round tuit.

Discouraged gardener

2011-07-31T10:55:00.002-04:00

I'm currently reading The Bad Tempered Gardener. Anne Wareham, who readily admits she doesn't deadhead, sometimes hates gardening, and in other ways does not fit into the "normal" gardening world, is a woman after my own heart. While I am not inclined to create a garden such as hers - the amount of pruning required would do me in - it is refreshing to read a contrarian viewpoint.

Lately I have been the discouraged gardener, especially when measuring the produce the vegetable garden is producing this year. Three out of four garlic varieties did fine, but the onion harvest was disappointing, many of the bulbs barely bigger than the sets I planted. I thought the soil, a heavy clay, would be okay, but I did not count on the relentlessly hot, rainless weather, which has turned that clay to concrete. I needed a shovel to separate the onions from the soil, and even then, had to jump on the shovel with both feet to gain any purchase. Bah.

I tried succession planting the beans, and the first 10-foot row is fine, the second not-so-fine, the third barely germinated, and I didn't even bother with the fourth. Next year I will plant them all at once. It's not like there is nothing else to eat during that time.

I've already lamented about the tomatoes, although finally, FINALLY I have some red ones off the Early Girl. It's been too hot for the peppers to set fruit, the zucchini seems determined to produce only male blossoms, and the cucumber plants just sit there looking sad. Today I plan to dig up the potatoes. Please, PLEASE, let there be some!

On a bright note, the marigolds, zinnias, and sunflowers look great.

I was seriously contemplating abandoning vegetable gardening when I picked up a copy of Square Foot Gardening from the library. Not only did this book revive me, it made me want to start the garden all over from scratch. Friday evening I spent a fun hour or two, plotting out my garden in this square foot arrangement and discovered I could squeeze a lot more out of my 30x40 patch than I was, even sweet corn. Of course, the soil must be in better shape, which is where Lasagna Gardening fits in, and my new manure-hauling trailer. Toward that end, Saturday my SO and I purchased enough cedar boards from Menards (they were on sale, I had a gift card, AND they are offering an 11% rebate this week) for six 4x8 beds. I'm excited again.

Last week I decided to mow the yard. The grass is dormant, but the weeds needed topping. While I was trudging across the front lawn, my next door neighbor stopped by to joke with me that Neighborhood Code Enforcement had been by to look at my lawn, but the ground was too hard for him to post a warning sign, so he gave up. At least, I think my neighbor was joking, but it got me thinking about the meadow.

The backyard is mostly private, with privet along the west side and shrubs on the north and south, in part to spare my neighbors the sight of my backyard experiments. Technically, the city could tell me to mow the meadow because the "weeds" there are more than 9" tall. They allow scraggly rain gardens, though, so I probably could get a reprieve. But along with the vegetable garden, I was wondering whether the effort was worth it.

Another book I picked up at the library was Bringing Nature Home. If insect pictures make you squirmish, beware, but I found the photography to be absolutely gorgeous. Insects feed birds, so you want them in your yard. You also want to not only attract insects like butterflies with food sources, but also provide host plants so there will be more insects like butterflies. Many of the butterfly-attracting plants featured in garden catalogs do not provide habitat; an example is the butterfly bush. Better to plant milkweed, Joe Pye, and butterfly weed. I think one reason my vegetable garden does not have many pests is they prefer the meadow and the weeds. Without the meadow, I might be battling Mexican bean beetles, Japanese beetles, flea beetles, etc. to a greater degree than I do. So this book also revived my flagging garden enthusiasm.

Then there is the front lawn, which is an absolute mess from a suburban sward of grass perspective. On the one hand, I do like the look of a well-tended lawn. On the other, I lost my previous dog to cancer which I blame on the lawn products I was using at the time, plus every time I contemplate doing a weed 'n feed, I feel guilty about how detrimental lawncare products are to the environment. But quite frankly, the front yard is doing nothing for the curb appeal of my property. I plan to replace the driveway this summer, and I think after that I will do something about the lawn, like a fall feeding and a weed 'n feed next spring. But I will limit it to the front yard, where the dog doesn't go, and let the backyard be what it is, although at the rate I am going, there will be no grass in the backyard after a while. And that's okay.

It is going to be another hot one today, but I'm going to spend at least part of it out in the yard, hose and garden fork in hand. I let the weather forecasters scare me inside, which is one reason the weeds are so out of control. Don't worry, I'll take it easy, and come in during the worst of it. Thank god for AC!

I drive a hard bargain

2011-07-24T10:27:00.000-04:00

This cart showed up in a local front yard a few weeks ago. Isn't that cute? I thought to myself. I wonder if it is for sale? There was no sign on it, so I assumed not. A few days later, a "For Sale" sign did appear, with the price set at $150. I was tempted, but not enough to knock on their door. This past weekend, the household had a garage sale. Surely someone will buy that cart, I thought, but when I walked past yesterday morning, I saw the sign now said "$150 OBO" - or best offer. As I rounded the block on my final lap, I stopped to further inspect the cart, lingering long enough that the man of the house spotted me.

"I'll let you have that trailer for $125," said he. I was going to offer you $100, I countered. "It's yours!" Now all I have to do is install the brake lights, transfer the title, register and insure it, AND get a hitch for my CRV. THEN I can use it to haul manure. My neighbor said I could use his pickup truck for manure, but I was reluctant because 1) I would feel compelled to get a whole truckload at a time and that is a lot of shit to shovel, and 2) I would also feel compelled to not just wash the truck but try to remove every molecule of odor from it - I happen to like the smell of horse manure, but some people find it offensive, and it does tend to linger.

The need for manure for the garden has become paramount. After the soil tests I did this spring revealed my soil was low in nitrogen, I tried to amend that by adding blood meal and bone meal to some of the beds. The paste tomatoes now look leggy and seem less productive than last year. The Irish potatoes grew awfully tall as well. So I am returning to my root (heh) philosophy that one should feed the soil and then the soil will feed the plants. Hence, the manure. I found a free source of it, too. All I have to do is shovel it. Sounds like a good job for my SO to help with. I will turn that river rat into a farmer yet.

Speaking of tomatoes, the only ones ripening are the paste ones, and they are suffering from blossom end rot. As I recall, BER was a problem with this variety last year. I thought maybe I overwatered them, so this year I was trying to be more moderate with the hose. Apparently that is not the key to success. The tomato plants growing in sacks of MiracleGro look wonderful, are loaded with fruit, but the 'maters just won't ripen. Yesterday I did the unthinkable: I PURCHASED tomatoes, albeit home grown ones that were grown in someone else's garden. I did get a handful of green beans from my garden yesterday, though, and I am enjoying some garlic and peppers and overgrown scallions in my omelets these days.

Friday we received a blessed half-inch of rain, but it is still hot and humid. There is supposed to be a break tomorrow, though, and while the hot will return later in the week, it is supposed to be drier. I, for one, am tired of feeling trapped indoors.

No end in sight

2011-07-19T20:47:00.000-04:00

I cannot believe how hot it was, is, and will be for the foreseeable future. And the humidity! This morning I went out to check the plants on the patio while it was still cool enough to breathe out there, and even though I did not move around enough to break a sweat, my t-shirt was soaked from the moisture in the air. Very tropical.

I'm still tomato-less. There are tomatoes out there, lots of them, but none with even a hint of red. I don't understand what the problem is. I have enjoyed a Wenk's pepper from the plant I wintered over, plus I scrounged up a potato that was very tasty. I hope there are more spuds under all that straw. Maybe next week the zucchini will make an appearance.

Sometimes I wonder whether conventional gardening wisdom is based on scientific fact or old gardeners tales, and I contemplate running some experiments myself. I accidentally performed one such experiment with the garlic.

Can you tell which bulb did not have the scape removed? Onions are next, some of which have seed heads on them. We'll check them out, too.

This little fellow sitting in the cotoneaster came to visit Princess Fern, who loves to watch birds. The parents were less than happy, but the window pane held despite the cat's pawing at it.

I think this was the same baby that scared the bejesus out of me while I was watering the neighbor's porch plants later in the day.

The coneflower is a bit past its prime and starting to form seeds. These are in the meadow, and there is a patch by the patio as well, for up close and personal dining by goldfinch.

The Rose of Sharon is in full bloom now, and the hibiscus is just starting. The meadow is still a bit weedy despite my SO's attentions, but it is just too dang hot to do anything about it right now.

Ruint! and eggplant squee!

2011-07-16T15:31:00.000-04:00

I've been drinking raw milk for several weeks now. A very refreshing way to consume it is iced cafe au lait. The other day I went to make myself just such a drink, but because I wanted to skim the cream off my latest share of milk, I used some ultra pasturized milk instead. OMG, did that stuff taste HORRID! I'm also getting spoiled by grass fed beef and pastured pork and free range chickens. I can't help but wonder if part of this country's obesity problem isn't due to "real" food being so tasteless that it cannot compete with food-like products. What we are truly hungry for is nutrition and flavor, but we aren't getting it at the grocery store.

Second topic: Look what I found on the patio today:

Itsy bitsy teeny weeny eggplants!

I hope they grow faster than the Meyer lemons are projected to.

Gather ye hoses while ye may

2011-07-12T20:44:00.000-04:00

How many feet of garden hose is enough? This pile is just for the backyard. I bought a new hose for the front yard, one that can reach around both sides of the house. Buried in that pile above is a wand for sprinkling, also a new purchase this year. I liked it so much, I bought a second one for the front yard. Too lazy to make both sides of the house share one wand.

Ordinarily, I don't water the meadow, but there are pumpkins and squash planted there this year. I have been hand-delivering water to them, but with the bee balm and milkweed in bloom, venturing in there takes an intrepid soul.

"They" say that using sprinklers is the least efficient way to water, but my observation is that watering the soil at the base of the plant works but the plants really appreciate a good shower from above. It cleans off the dust and clears the pores. I know just how they feel.

Yesterday it finally rained, one-half inch. That is the first measurable rain my yard has received since June 20. Needless to say, no mowing has been going on. And it has been HOT. Saturday my SO and I spread two pickup truckloads of mulch around the shrubs. That just about KILLED us. The next two days are supposed to be reasonable - high 70's and low 80's - then it is back around 90-ish for the weekend. Ugh.

I don't know much about insects but I'll go out on a limb and say this is a small white butterfly. These are also known as cabbage butterflies, as their larvae are responsible for the ruination of many a cabbage patch.

The following two pics are of a hummingbird moth. At least, that is my story and I'm sticking to it. I did not expect the photos to turn out at all because this little bugger (ha) would not sit still. It flitted around each blossom, checking for nectar.

And if a blossom was particularly deficient in nectar, it flitted even faster. The page I linked to says it feeds on the foliage of the honeysuckle family, but it doesn't say if that is honeysuckle bush (a non-native invasive that I HATE) or the honeysuckle vine. I haven't noticed any damage on either in my yard.

When I wasn't chasing bugs with my camera today, I was digging holes. I purchased two more crocosmia because the one I have is not visible enough from the West Wing. I love the red blossoms, so much so I did not realize I planted one of them in front of the Rose of Sharon, which is just starting to put out its pink blossoms. I also decided to move the 'Blue' hosta across the yard, to a shadier spot. When I dug it up, it looked very divisible, so now their are FIVE hostas under the viburnums.

The Early Girl tomatoes STILL are not ripe, which is just about killing me. And I learned today that "everbearing" strawberries are not really EVER bearing; instead, they produce two bursts of fruit, one in the spring and one in the fall. I also learned today that those Meyer lemons will take 3-4 months to ripen. I think I will have to maul the potato plants soon, in search of new potatoes. So much garden and nothing edible right now. Besides scallions and ready-to-bolt lettuce. Which I better go water before I forget.

Wake up!

2011-07-08T21:01:00.001-04:00

I've been sleep walking lately. A Way to Garden woke me up the other day with the post about garlic. They say to harvest garlic when the bottom half is dry and the top half still green. I looked at my garlic and realized that the bottom half was still green but the tops were dry, a sure sign of not enough water. Not only that, but one variety, the Broadleaf Czech, was completely dry, at least the plants that were not missing entirely. I think only about half even came up, but since I was not paying close attention, I can't be sure.

Bad garlic gardener!

I harvested the seven bulbs that were discernible, and they are not the best examples I've seen, some small and misshapen and one separating, which I think means it was ready to grow into new plants. I just might plant the cloves from that one, and enjoy "green garlic" later this season.

Today I broke down and bought sprinklers. That is not my favorite way to water, but I just can't face another summer standing in the yard, hose in hand. Several years ago, I purchased some irrigation equipment which I never set up. While I'm figuring out that, the garden will get showered.

On a happier note, I took a closer look at the Meyer's lemon.

Look! See! TWO fruits and a new blossom!

A week or two ago, I stumbled upon a gardening show that had a short segment on a Meyer's lemon. The one in the show was 3-4 feet tall, and the host discussed removing suckers to maintain the single trunk. He also snipped each tip to encourage branching. I'll have to remember that when mine gets a little bigger.

I've been trying to photograph the meadow, to show you its splendor - yarrow, bee balm, milkweed, sunflowers, crocosmia, coneflower, daisies, etc. - but I'm not able to capture its essence. Here are a couple of up close and personal shots, though.

Volunteer from under the bird feeder

LOTS of bees in the meadow

Finny Knits recently provided a video tour of her garden. I may steal that idea in the future, but right now I would be too embarrassed to show you all the weeds. It looks quite wild out there.

Free mint water

2011-07-04T17:57:00.000-04:00

Do you pay upwards towards $1.69 for a bottle of mint water? If you have mint growing in your backyard, you can make it for free. I don't recall where I saw this recipe, but just pick 1-2 cups mint leaves (I use spearmint), bruise them a bit, then add them to a gallon of water. Store in the refrigerator and a couple of hours later, you have mint water. Very refreshing!

Say cheese!

2011-07-03T13:30:00.000-04:00

Against your better judgment, I decided to give the raw milk a try. I am now the owner of one herd share from Pasture's Delights. I'll write more about this topic at another time, as this move on my part has generated a lot of internal debate and philosophising, and I'm still hashing some of that out.
My one share entitles me to approximately a gallon of milk a week. I like milk, but living alone, I am finding that to be a lot of milk to deal with. So I decided to try making some cheese.

First up, because it was easiest, was mascarpone, made from the cream I skimmed off one of the gallons. I used this recipe and it turned out fine, at least as far as I know. I think the only mascarpone I have had has been in Italian desserts, and at that time I did not know what I was eating.

I think this is only the second time I have used this double boiler in 20 years.

Most of this was mixed with honey and eaten on rhubarb muffins. And it was good!

I don't know why this photo is so yellow - the cheese is actually white.

I also used some to make The Most Voluptuous Cauliflower, from New York Times Cookbook. (I tried adding the Amazon link to that book, but either Blogger or Amazon is not playing nicely today.) Also good.

Today I decided to try my hand at ricotta made from whole milk, using a recipe that came with Ricki's Cheesemaking Kit for Mozzarella and Ricotta (ordered from here).

Looks like cheese to me!

I did not get the yield I expected. And the curds are dry. There are a lot of things I have learned from books, but I'm thinking I could really benefit from attending a cheesemaking workshop. Also, there is a lot of leftover whey which, unless one is fattening a hog or has time to go on a baking binge, is kind of useless. I'm going to try watering my strawberries with it - since I used citric acid to make the cheese, they should love it.

Surprise!

2011-07-02T10:59:00.000-04:00

Those little lemon blossoms? One of them has turned into a baby Meyer's lemon!

The "tree" itself is only 12" tall, but is showing some new growth. Yippee!

Too bad my green thumb doesn't extend to the Patio Princess tomato. Don't know what's wrong with it, but it sure looks sickly. The pepper plants don't look real perky, either, so I dosed them with fish emulsion (and the dog chewed up the watering can afterwards). We need rain, real bad. I did some watering last night, but I hope this does not turn into another dry summer here.

Have a fun and safe Independence Day!

Soon

2011-06-27T21:06:00.000-04:00

Early Girl

The goal: no mulch here

2011-06-24T19:06:00.001-04:00

My SO brought over a copy of Envisioning the Garden. The gardens being envisioned in this book are quite large in scale, making my third of an acre feel like a postage stamp. One thing I noticed, and have noticed in other books on landscaping, is the beds are not mulched. Instead, they are brimming with plants.

Around these parts, mulch is a primary landscaping tool, the rule rather than the exception. Mulch is available in a variety of colors and textures. It can be bought by the bag at big box stores and filling stations, hauled from the county biosolids site for free or for a couple of hundred dollars a dump truckload can be delivered to one's doorstep.

In my poorer days, I mulched my flowers and shrubs with grass clippings. They served the purpose of discouraging weeds while retaining moisture. Then I graduated to bags of mulch, then an annual dump truckload, and now have backed off to a couple of pickup truckloads a year from the biosolids site. My goal is to be virtually mulch free, though, just like in those fancy landscaping books.

Some of my beds have achieved this state of grace, most famously the hosta bed on the north side of the garage.

Hostas as far as the eye can see.

This bed is FULL. So full that I have had to rescue a coral bells that was disappearing, and will soon relocate the 'Love Pat' hosta that is too young to compete.

Help! Save me! I'm drowning!

Where hostas have not been planted, volunteer columbine, coneflower, rudbekia, and violets have filled in the gaps.

The front of the house is also filling in nicely, mostly with a selection of tall and low growing sedums.

The other beds around the foundation of the house are similarly packed. I won't say these beds are weed free, but they are relatively easy to keep that way. My yard and its planting may not look "normal" but it suits me just fine.

(Deja vu! I feel like I have covered this topic before, but I can't find a similar posting. Oh, well!)

Doh! and No!

2011-06-23T11:45:00.000-04:00

The past couple of years I have grown Amish snap peas. While they have done okay, I did not think they were as prolific as the variety I grew many (20?!?) years ago. Then I recently read somewhere that peas are to be planted in bands, not rows. Doh! I KNEW that, but had forgotten it. No wonder the harvests seemed a bit sparse. Next time I will do bands. Assuming I remember.

Yesterday my SO came over to weed and found a dead rabbit outside the back fence. While examining it last night, I found a dead robin nearby as well. Remembering a CO2 cartridge I found in the garden a month or so ago, I put two and two together and came up with someone using my backyard habitat for target practice. Grrr! Of course, I have my suspicions but no proof, so I emailed all my adjacent neighbors, asking if they had noticed anyone in my yard. One responded that while she had not seen anyone in my yard, she had found a dead rabbit in their yard. The plot thickens.

Today the weather is not very summerlike - gray, breezy, cool - almost like fall. Hope my sweet potatoes don't get discouraged.

Not according to plan

2011-06-21T14:31:00.000-04:00

The goal was to create a spot in the meadow for the butterflies to "mud" - consume moisture and minerals without getting drowned.

The result was the robins taking a shine to said spot.

Maybe the robins need their own ground level spa.

Mamas don't let your babies grow up to plant spearmint

2011-06-19T16:48:00.000-04:00

There are a few things I will not plant in the garden proper ever again. Anything in the mint family is now forever banned. However, that does not mean I won't grow mint. I'll simply relegate it to a container. Spearmint and catnip are keeping company with oregano and lemon balm in the white recycled utility sink below.

Beside the sink is a "salad bowl". I got this idea from another blog (but of course now cannot figure out which one - here is a link to the video though). Simply put, you find yourself a container, fill it with potting soil, and populate it with leaf lettuce plants. You harvest the outer leaves of the lettuce while the lettuce continues to put out new leaves from the center of the plant. Voila! Salad!

Behind the sink is my garlic bed. Three out of the four varieties planted there are "hard neck" so they put out scapes.

The scapes, if left alone, turn into blossoms I think, but "everyone" says to snip them off and cook them. I tried that last week, sauteing some scapes with snap peas and chicken, but part of the scape is kind of tough for chewing. That won't stop me from trying again, though.

Not in the picture above is my patio eggplant. Last week it put out one lonely blossom. You can tell that it is related to potatoes.

Sadly, today I spotted a baby bunny in the backyard. I don't think he was the one I saw a while back - that one would be bigger by now - and I'm not sure how he got in. But when I was mowing last night, I noticed that the pavers by one gate were a bit askew. I straightened them out, but possibly not before he snuck in. No damage so far, so maybe he hasn't been here long.

More sadly, a young robin learned about picture windows the hard way. I was hoping he was only stunned, but he succumbed to his injuries quickly. There are other baby birds in the yard right now besides young robins: the wren babies send up a chirping chorus whenever a parent arrives with food, and below is a daddy cowbird with a youngster.

Mourning doves are another fixture at the bird bath. The colors of their plumage are so subtle and soft.

Besides bunnies and birds, other critters have been spotted (heh).

It has been ages since I have seen a real ladybug. Usually all I see are those Japanese ones which are more orange and bite. I'm taking this ladybug's appearance in the meadow as a sign that my backyard habitat is working.

Speaking of the meadow, it looks pretty much like a weed patch right now, but a few bloomers belie that rumor: yarrow, keys of heaven, daisy, catmint. The vegetable garden is all planted for now, and I have been harvesting snap peas. My SO and I continue to battle the weeds that are everywhere. A weed is any plant that is growing where you don't want it, so that includes the mint mentioned at the start of this post. I'm also edging the viburnum/arborvita beds, to reclaim them from the encroaching lawn.

Despite (or because of) the hard work, I enjoy the hours spent in the yard. Some of the time, I am thinking of new things to try, already planning what I want to do next year. Mostly I am just having a good time. My ancestors include farmers and nurserymen, so I guess I come by it naturally.

First hummingbird of the season

2011-06-11T12:35:00.000-04:00

Can you see the hummingbird? It's the blur near the center. Those things are fast.

Work (boo) and rain (yay) have interrupted the gardening, but tomorrow promises to be a delightful day. Meanwhile, here are some pics from around the yard.

The climbing roses are a bit past their prime, but still gorgeous.

I'm not a geranium person, but I do like red.

This is the best display of 'Betty Corning' I have ever had. It probably helps that I have not moved them recently.

The promise of potatoes. Hope it's not an empty promise.

'Early Girl' tomato is the first to bloom, which I why I planted one.

Scallions among the sweet potatoes.

Snap peas will be ready in a day or two.

This is the Wenk's that I overwintered inside, so naturally is is ahead of pepper schedule.

The purple-leafed growers in my front yard.

From the left: smoke bush at the corner of the house, Crimson King maple in front, Japanese maple in the back, sand cherry bush, and barberry on the right.

Bathing beauty

2011-06-07T13:25:00.000-04:00

I've been almost too busy to bother with the camera, but I did manage to catch a few of my backyard denizens doing their thing in my backyard.

Maybe once things calm down, I will be able to capture some better up-close-and-personal shots, but these will have to do for now.

This is the third year for my tulip tree, and it is looking better - leafier and maybe taller.

And it is a decent year for the climbing rose as well.

More bloomers coming on: Keys of Heaven, yarrow, viburnum, Jethro Tull.

I have started to enjoy the strawberries (Oh. My. God. Nothing beats a fresh strawberry still warm from the sun) and soon we will have snap peas. The first planting of green beans are up and the pototoes are starting to blossom.

Re the latter, a few days ago I mulched the potatoes with straw. The next day Betsy Beagle acted as though there were something in that there straw. I poked around but could not scare up anything. I hope-hope-hope it is not field mice, poised to ruin the crop.

All transplants are in the ground except for the calendula. The pumpkins and squash and cukes have been planted as well. For hills, I dug a hole for each, filled the holes with composted manure and blood meal, then covered with the dug up soil. I have not had very good results with cukes and zukes the past few years, so maybe this will help.

While I was at Lowe's buying composted manure and straw, it occurred to me that urban gardening is a lot more expensive than rural gardening. When I lived in the country, I kept chickens and we mowed a couple of acres around the house, so I never needed to buy fertilizer or mulch. I bought seeds at the local Ace Hardware, where they were available in bulk, which is an odd way of saying you could get a teeny tiny scoop of whatever instead of having to guess whether a packet was enough/too much. We had outdoor cats, so no need to protect the garden from rodents; the dog discouraged the deer. The chickens helped with insect pests, too. I miss that feeling of interdependence.

One more bird observation before I go: finches and/or sparrows have been dining on thyme seeds from the herb pot on the patio. I've never seen that before.

Progress

2011-05-31T13:53:00.000-04:00

I was out of town for most of the holiday weekend. Fortunately, it did not rain more, so when I returned, things were dry enough that I could actually accomplish something yesterday. The last two tomatoes are in their MiracleGro bags (I did that before I left), the peppers are in the ground along with some of the marigolds, and the first of the green beans are planted. There are still the herbs and flower plants I started indoors to get planted, plus some direct-seeded veggies and flowers, all of which I hope to do this week. Then it will be time to weed, weed, weed.

My SO came over yesterday and started weeding the meadow. He does not always know what's what plantwise, but he knows what Canada thistle, garlic mustard, and dandelions look like, so I figured if he targeted those three, the rest of the plants would be safe. It was his first foray into my yard this year, and he pooped out kind of quickly, but made a good start. This Fiskars weeder was great help with thistle embedded in clumps of yarrow and bee balm.

While we were taking a break, we witnessed a bluebird trying to check out the bluebird house. The resident sparrows were not willing to give it up, though. I have a second bluebird house, so will put that up in the front yard, where it is more open, which the bluebirds favor and hopefully the sparrows will not.

Currently blooming are the iris, peonies, spring phlox, columbine, clematis, and honeysuckle vine. The latter is not looking very healthy this year. I have never pruned it, so maybe that would help.

Current edibles from the garden are rhubarb, chives, scallions, greens, and radishes. Salad, anyone?

Lake front property

2011-05-25T19:50:00.000-04:00

According to my rain gauge, 2.25" fell this afternoon, too much for the storm sewer at the end of the driveway. The water came almost into the garage. Thank goodness it has stopped raining. For now.

Some gardening has occurred between rain showers. Most of the tomatoes are planted - 8 Amish Paste, 2 German Pinks, and 2 Hungarian Heart all fit into the 4'x20' bed in the garden, and a Patio Princess is in a pot. I am going to try something different with the two remaining - an Early Girl and a Fresh Salsa Hybrid - and plant them directly into bags of Miracle Grow potting soil. I've seen this somewhere and thought I would give it a try.

The onions are looking good:

The yellow flags mark where the natural gas line crosses my yard.

Another experiment is growing sweet potatoes - my first time - in containers: 6 grow bags, 4 plastic pots, and two recycling bins the city no longer uses (we have single bin recycling now).

The white pot is for the Patio Princess.

I tried mixing peat with my own compost, adding bone meal and blood meal, but ran out, so I hope to finish filling these with more Miracle Grow potting soil. For the record, I prefer growing my garden in the ground, but my soil is heavy clay and not very amenable to root crops. Until it shapes up, I will have to resort to some above ground solutions.

So far, the patio strawberry tower is looking good:

I expect the robins will be trying to steal berries off this.

And, inside, the Meyer lemon is not only thriving, but blooming.

The smell is so sweet!

I don't know if these will produce fruit without being outside where pollinators can get to them, but the plant looks too tiny to support lemons.

And that's all for now!

Raw deal

2011-05-19T11:36:00.000-04:00

When I was a kid, I was quite the milk drinker. I had milk at every meal, would even trade my lunch (except the cookies) for other kids' milk, and saw nothing wrong with washing down dill pickles with milk. I loved milk.

When we lived in Ohio, the milk was delivered to our door by the dairyman. When we moved to Illinois, we purchased our milk at the grocery store, but it still came from local dairies. Into adulthood, I continued my milk drinking habit, even when teased about picking milk as my beverage of choice with pizza.

Then milk, especially whole milk, began to get a bad rap. We switched to 2%, sometimes 1%, but rarely skim because it looked blue. The funny thing is, even though we are consuming less milk fat, we keep getting fatter.

And milk no longer tastes good. My theory is that, since milk is no longer produced just for local markets, the milk from multiple dairies is mixed together and trucked long distances to be processed, getting bruised along the way. Then, it is not only pasteurized but ultra-pasteurized. That sounds like a good thing until you consider the fact that ultra-pasteurized milk cannot be used to make cheese because the process alters the protein molecules. Is it even milk anymore?

Some people resolve this issue by trying to purchase raw milk from local sources. In many states - including mine - selling raw milk is illegal. One local dairy is attempting to circumnavigate the legalities by selling "herd shares" and accepting "boarding fees" in exchange for raw milk. It's an intriguing business model.

I don't know what to make of the health benefits touted by those who promote raw milk. I doubt any scientific studies have been done. I grow my own vegetables because I believe they are more nutritious than trucked-in-from-far-away, store-bought ones, and I KNOW they taste better. So I may try raw milk for the taste, and choose to believe that it is better for me.

Anyone out there have any experience with raw milk?

Water, water everywhere...

2011-05-15T07:19:00.000-04:00

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we really received that predefined one-inch-per-week of rain throughout the growing season instead of getting too much in May, not enough in August? Fortunately, the weather forecast changes daily, this time from day-after-day of predicted rain to a break in the clouds tomorrow. One problem with mowing high is the lawn looks long a couple of days after cutting, and the almost-constant showers are not helping any.

(Another problem with mowing high is finding dog poop - it is well hidden - so I patrol both before mowing and after, to find what I have missed.)

Yesterday, before the storms hit, I managed to stroll the nabe with Baby N, stopping to chat with one of the few neighbors who gardens. Their vegetable patch (and yard and house) always look perfect; I have to remind myself not to compare their property with mine because they are both retired. Anyway, the conversation naturally turned to rain and gardening. They practice what I think of as "traditional" gardening - rototill in the spring, plant in rows. Consequently, they have not been able to get the early veggies planted yet. My unmolested raised beds, on the other hand, have onions, potatoes, peas, and lettuces going strong. While my garden is not as pretty, it is productive.

The tomato plants I ordered from Seed Savers arrived last Wednesday, so Thursday I dug up the bed where I plan to plant the Amish Paste. However, this time I marked the bed with string before I dug. Since my raised beds are not planked in, they tend to bleed into the paths, making them appear smaller than they really are. So, not only is there room for the Amish Paste, but for the Hungarian Heart and German Pink as well. (My tomato patch sounds so international!)

I recently read in some gardening forum one man's solution to Canada thistle: smother crops. He plants buckwheat in the summer and winter rye in the fall, and their dense growth chokes out the thistle. Now that all the tomatoes will fit into one bed, I have a free bed to try this on. There is also an area I am prepping for raspberries, so I can do the same there. Each time I use RoundUP or WeedBGon, I suffer the guilts.

If it weren't so rainy out, I would provide you with a few pics of what is blooming right now. You will just have to take my word about the bleeding heart, columbine, creeping phlox, lily of the valley, lilac, and spring phlox. Or take a look at my May blog entries from years past.

That's too bad, but SCORE!

2011-05-10T12:52:00.000-04:00

Our local Borders is closing. Even though they fell out of favor with me a while ago, I am still sorry to see them go. BUT the remaining stock has been progressively on sale, and a couple of days ago I purchased three hardcover cookbooks for 50-60% off: The Complete Tassajara Cookbook by Edward Espe Brown, The Pleasures of Cooking for One by Judith Jones, and The Essential New York Times Cook Book by Amanda Hesser.

The latter has received most of my attention so far. I'm anxious to try these rhubarb recipes first: Rhubarb Bellini, Rhubarb-Strawberry Mousse, and Straight-Up Rhubarb Pie. Most recipes have some commentary, but what can one say about Swedish Ginger Cookies made with BACON FAT?!? And the Club Sandwich is as follows: "Go to the club. Drink six toasts. Eat a slice of meat. Drink six more toasts." All I need is a club.

After I purchased the above books, I was perusing my own shelf of cookbooks and was surprised at some of them, as I don't recall buying them or ever cooking from them. Must remedy that, but I am not sure how, without giving up my day job.

What's next?

2011-05-08T10:19:00.002-04:00

My business trip this past week was bracketed by mowing. Although I was gone only a few days, I expected things to look different upon my return. While the rhododendrun and the forsythia are fading and the redbud and flowering crab are coming on strong, not much else changed. Temps were cool, there wasn't much rain, so stasis prevailed.

The plants I started indoors are ready to be transplanted. I could have started them a week or two later than I did, and it is obvious that using old seed frequently results in poor germination, but in general, I am satisfied. I purchased some plants online and they have not arrived yet. Just as well, as the tomatoes and peppers don't do well when the temp dips below 50 at night. My transplants are being hardened off on the patio, where they were also watered thoroughly by yesterday's rain. Today should be drier, but I have grandma-duty, so won't get out into the yard until late in the day. Hopefully, it will be a good time to spray the thistle some more.

Besides attacking thistle with RoundUp, my one other non-organic weed control this year is using WeedBGon on the dandelions, which are running rampant. I am also mowing at the highest setting on my Toro, which is supposed to help discourage lawn weeds. I plan to test the soil in the front yard, to see if there are any amendments I could add that would also discourage weeds. And I am leaving the mulched clippings on the lawn this year, for added nutrients. I don't have much lawn left, but I would like it to look reasonably nice. I don't try to wipe out al the dandelions, as song birds like the White-Throated Sparrow eat the seeds. I saw some of these birds just yesterday. Too bad they don't eat all the dandelion seeds.

Rainy days and Mondays

2011-04-25T09:36:00.000-04:00

The rhododendron popped for easter, which was a lovely day, unlike today. My goal this week is to get the lawn mowed at some point, if it ever stops raining.

I have tried to capture the now-gold goldfinches but they don't stay in one place very long.

They look like daffodils in flight.

Hope your weekend was finer than frog hair!

More happy

2011-04-21T16:19:00.000-04:00

Finally, a break in the rain, so again I took the afternoon off to get a little gardening done. Both the strawberries and the onions are now planted. Yay! And three pounds of onion sets is about 1.5 pounds too many, so I plan to share the extra with my kids. Onions for all!

It was also a perfect day for spraying weeds - sunny but cool, with very little breeze. I try to garden as organically as I can manage, using mulch and hoe and my bare hands to keep the weeds under control, but the Canada thistle does me in. It is one weed that I consider RoundUp-worthy. My goal is to eliminate it from my yard.

The cool weather has preserved the daffodils and forsythia - they are still going strong - and delayed everything else. I was hoping the rhubarb would be ready for an Easter pie, but no such luck. The rhododendron is about to pop, though, and I will probably have to mow next week. Winter does give way to spring, eventually.

Me so happy

2011-04-15T07:41:00.000-04:00

Ordinarily, I try to cram all my fun activities into evenings and weekends, which can be frustrating when the weather doesn't cooperate. But this week I took advantage of the sunshine by taking a couple of afternoons off and spending them in my backyard. The result: I will not fret during the next rainy patchy, slated to start today and last for days. I did not accomplish everything there was to do, but enough that I feel like I got a jump start on the season.

Wednesday afternoon my SO came over and we wrestled some hardware cloth into what I hope will be a vole-proof potato cage. I did not come up with this idea myself, but saw it in a Growers Supply catalog, one of those I receive in the mail even though I have never ordered from them. Basically, we scraped all the dirt off one garden bed, laid down hardware cloth for the bottom, wrapped sides around the bed, overlapping everything, fastened where fastening seemed necessary, then threw in enough dirt to hold the thing in place.

Thursday I added seed potatoes and shoveled the rest of the dirt back in, worked in a little blood meal, then covered it all with a thin layer of straw. Grow, little taters, grow!

I worked up the pea bed on Wednesday and the onion bed on Thursday. It is gratifying to see that my hardpan clay is becoming more friable as the years pass.

While I turned the top six inches or so and broke up the clods with a hoe, I wondered what my neighbors think of all the manual labor I put into my garden. The thing is, I spend most of my days sitting in front of a computer. If I didn't garden manually, I would have to join a gym. And start seeing a shrink. Playing in the dirt goes a long way to maintaining my mental and physical well-being.

I marvel at the periwinkle raised beds and persimmon window boxes highlighted in gardening catalogs, and wish my garden looked prettier. But the prices are prohibitive. My solution is to at least try to make my beds straight-ish. Since I don't till, I also plan to relocate some lilies to the ends of each one. Let nature provide the beauty.

The pea fence has seen better days, but it still functions (with a little help). I actually planted the snow peas and lettuce yesterday, too.

I also dug up the strawberry bed yesterday, too, but no strawberries or onions were planted. That's okay - gotta save something for the next dry spell.

Inside, I noticed that the blossoms on my little pepper plants are starting to form fruit, without any pollination assistance on my part.

Fun!

The forsythia are blooming - now what?

2011-04-12T16:54:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I planted Eversweet everbearing strawberries into a coconut fiber tower. My vision is fresh berries on my ice cream all summer long, right from the patio.

Hopefully, I will get the Allstar June-bearing strawberries into the garden soon. And the potatoes and onions and peas. And brassicas, if any of the local nurseries start offering more than one variety of cabbage and broccoli. I did break down and buy some wave petunias and a spike for one of my planters, even though it is way too early to plant them. I just could not help myself!

That is not a very good photo, is it? That nice green leafy plant in front is the Meyer lemon from Stark Bros. In the pot left and back is the Wenks pepper I dug from the garden last fall. It has not been looking too perky lately, so today I repotted it.

As you can see in that photo, we are experiencing some sunshine, which is supposed to last through tomorrow. So I am taking tomorrow afternoon off, just to work in the yard before the next round of rain. Not that the ducks mind the rain.

When I walked the nabe a few days ago, it seemed like every place where there was a few inches of standing water, there was a pair of ducks.

I finally captured a halfway decent photo of a robin, even though they have been hanging around the yard for weeks.

I wonder if this is the same one who did this to my picture window:

He is still at it today. Maybe I should get one of those hawk decals to scare him away.

Since my forsythia bloom later than my neighbors', it looks a little anemic right now. But I can't complain about the daffs.

Squirrel feeders and a PHD

2011-04-08T13:56:00.001-04:00

These guys keep me amused while I work at home in the West Wing. Better than TV!

I've seen at least three different ones in the yard at the same time. Occasionally they dash away, in fear of a hawk or meter reader.

As for rabbits, the only ones I've spotted have been outside the fence looking in. The neighbor girl blames me for the dirth of rabbits this winter - she likes to watch them out their patio door - even though I never killed or relocated any. I just removed them from my backyard.

Last night my PHD (Personal Hole Digger) came by to help me plant three American redbud trees. I opted for inexpensive mail order ones, which look like four-foot sticks, but the root systems were very hearty. His reward was a bouquet of daffodils, to brighten the gray days we have been having lately.

Today it has been raining most of the day, so my gardening will probably be limited to filling a small strawberry patio tower with potting soil and plants, and repotting a Meyer lemon tree. I've tried growing trees in pots before, with ~~very little~~ no success. That does not stop me from trying again.

Oh, and the garlic is up. Yay!

He's ba-a-a-ack!

2011-04-07T14:28:00.000-04:00

This morning, while sitting in the West Wing, I kept hearing this noise. I thought it was birds in the guttering, but it went on and on. Finally, I went to investigate. The stupid robin was at it again, attacking his reflection in my picture window. I can't help but think it is the same one, but who knows?

Finny is a fanatic about (among many things) soil testing. I bought a soil test kit a while back, but had never used it. Since there is no time like the present, yesterday I tested my garden soil. I took eight samples, although I expected them to be rather uniform, and I was right - they were uniform: uniformly LOW in nitrogen. My soil test kit is not very fancy, but there was no mistaking the readings: good levels of P and K, bad levels of N. And the soil is more alkaline than it should be, something I attribute to the well water that supplies my outdoor faucets. But the nitrogen surprised me. I though my compost would provide that, but apparently I'm wrong. So I will be amending my garden soil, with manure and/or blood meal. And to lower the pH, coffee grounds, pine needles, and sphagnum peat. Finny, my zucchini thank you.

Margaret raised the subject of phenology recently. Basically, phenology is planting according to nature's calendar instead of the one on the wall. This can be tricky, depending on where you live and what varieties you grow. For example, if I plant potatoes when the forsythia bloom, does it matter that my forsythia blooms later than my neighbor's? Anyway, I decided to try to keep track of when flowers and shrubs bloom in my yard, to see if I can track them to when I plant vegetables in the garden. My only concern is a late frost, something even Mother Nature can't predict.

Speaking of potatoes, they, along with the onions, arrived the other day. And the underground utility guy came and marked my back yard yesterday. I chatted with him about just how deep the utilities are buried. He said the natural gas lines are three feet down, but the others - electricity, telephone, cable - are usually 6-9 inches down, maybe 12. That is good to know, as my SO is coming over tonight, to help me dig holes for three redbud trees.

And so it begins.

Unusual sightings, a soup-making orgy, and live plants!

2011-04-04T17:24:00.000-04:00

This morning I could see something odd reflected in my bathroom mirror. The sliver of outdoors I can see that way showed a blob on the street. I peeked out the window at said blob and decided it must be a black cat I saw down by the pond the other day. Then it moved, or rather, waddled across the way and disappeared behind my neighbor's pines. It was a raccoon. I've seen them in the nabe on occasion, but not in a long while, like years. I'm a little surprised they have not been spotted in my backyard, raiding the bird feeders.

A couple of squirrels are bird feeder regulars these days. Their winter stores must be exhausted, and/or they are gathering goodies to take back to the rest of the family. Around here, squirrels get "frisky" in February and the gestational period is around 44 days, so yes, the daddy squirrels are probably hunting and foraging for the mama squirrels and their broods.

But what I find odd is the squirrels have been drinking out of the bird bath. I have never witnessed that before. Unfortunately, no pics, so no evidence. You will have to trust me on this one.

We are getting April showers now, so I have been channeling my gardening frustrations into using up the last the the frozen veggies by making soup, which is then returned to the freezer for later consumption. I've lost track of which ones are which on some of these pics, but all recipes are from Love Soup.

Maybe White Bean and Garlic Soup with Greens? (I still have LOTS of garlic from last summer.)

I think this is Green Lentil with Cumin and Lemon.

Definitely Beet Soup with Ginger!

This is part of Cannellini and Golden Tomato soup, the golden tomato part, obviously. I used yellow cherry tomatoes I had frozen last summer. The peels come off easily, but dealing with over 2.5 pounds of them was still a chore.

I could not find dried cannellini beans at the Co-op, so I substituted navy beans, which did not work well. Too watery. Now I'm not sure what to do with the leftovers. Maybe if I cook rice in the broth?

And since this woman does not live by soup alone:

Now I must go tend to those live plants that just arrived via UPS from Stark Bros.

It won't be long now!

2011-04-01T19:59:00.000-04:00

Today I bought some hardware cloth at Menards. The 24" x 25' rolls were on sale, at about half price, but not the 36" or 48" rolls. So while I would have preferred to get the 48" roll, I bought several 24" ones, enough to vole-proof my potato bed.

It has been a while since I have seen a rabbit in my backyard, but I did find a big tuft of bunny fur. Maybe the hawk got him? I sealed off the one gate where bunny egress was still possible, and am now rethinking the need to enclose the veggie garden in rabbit fencing. Knock on wood!

My order from Lee Valley arrived already - an oriole feeder and a floating row cover for the brassicas. The latter has no supports. I think you just lay it over the plants and cover the edges with dirt. I will probably enclose the plants in hoops of chicken wire initially - just in case that rabbit is fooling me - so the plants should be okay with the row cover. I think. Gardening is always an experiment.

My orders from Stark Bros and Pinetree are also on their way. Already? I'm not prepared! And it's supposed to rain all weekend! Gardening is also a gamble.

Too pooped to pop

2011-03-28T19:47:00.000-04:00

I decided to take a vacation day today, making this a three-day weekend, and I had way too much fun. Well, my kind of fun, which involved a lot of soup making and bread baking. I took photos of the soups, but I'm too tired to download them. Take my word for it: they were beautiful (especially the beet ginger) and they were delicious.

The day was mostly sunny, but looks can be deceiving because it was cold outside. Not as windy, though, and still above freezing, so I spent some quality time with my compost pile. My composting method is known (at least, by me) as slow composting. I pile stuff into one side of the double compost bin while digging compost out of the other. When the compost is all dug, I shift what is in the first bin into the second. This happens about once or twice a year, so the piles don't reach optimal cooking temperature to kill weed seeds. Today I decided to experiment with another method of cooking compost, and I place the finished compost into plastic garbage bags and laid them in the sun. Theoretically, this should kill weed seeds. I will be combining this compost with peat to fill containers, so if it is still full of weed seeds, it should become apparent.

I filled four bags, but still had some compost left over, so I spread a little on the rhubarb patch, covering the barely emerged plants, then threw the rest on the garlic bed. Then I had a walkabout, checking the flowers, shrubs, and trees for signs of life. Buds are swelling, and in a few cases, leaves are starting to emerge. It won't be long now!

Still too cold to garden...

2011-03-27T10:22:00.000-04:00

... so I made a few more purchases online: a row cover for brassicas and an oriole feeder from Lee Valley (free shipping ends Mar. 28!), and from Stark Bros., three redbuds (on sale!), a Meyer lemon, some June-bearing strawberry plants, plus a strawberry planter kit that comes with some everbearing strawberry plants.

Last night I watched "Food Inc." Yikes! I avoid processed foods, so am not consuming corn this and corn that to a large degree, and I try to buy organic and/or local whenever I can. But most people believe the "food-like products" in the grocery store are at least safe and healthy enough, or they are constrained by circumstances to buying what is cheap and convenient, or they just don't think about it. I did not realize that corn subsidies (which keep our food cheap) put farmers in other countries out of business. So Mexican farmers cross the border illegally, looking for work, and third world nations can't feed themselves which results in food riots and starvation. Most of what we eat comes through the hands of a few mega-corporations, and they wield a lot of power in DC. But we the people can do something about it, as evidenced by WalMart promoting organics and Coke offering a version without HFCS - because that is what their customers want. Sometimes I get a little miffed about spending more for organic/local food, but now I see that cheap food is expensive in the long run. If nothing else, buying organic/local is an investment in my health. End of sermon.

Now I am going to go make some soup and watch my marigold sprouts grow.

The last and the first

2011-03-26T17:32:00.000-04:00

I was down to the last two onions from last years garden.

I harvested the first thing of 2011: mint.

Both went into a batch of light vegetable broth, recipe from Love Soup.

Mmmmmm!

It's raining, it's pouring - no, wait, it's hailing - no, wait

2011-03-23T15:12:00.000-04:00

Many places lay claim to the motto, "If you don't like the weather here, just wait a while." Today, it's here. The day started gray but dry, then sprinkles, then rain, then thunder and lightening (poor dog), then hail. The sun made a brief appearance, and now it is just gray again. This weekend, it may snow. Fun times.

Last night I needed to dig in some dirt, so I planted the marigold seeds inside. I originally started planting marigolds in the vegetable garden because they are reputed to repel pests of one sort or another. I don't know if that is true, but including them has become habit. The garden just would not look right without them.

The grass is just barely starting to turn green. I, for one, cannot wait for the other colors of spring.

The guilts

2011-03-20T17:14:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I was in the West Wing checking my email when I noticed a sparrow that was having difficulty drinking at the bird bath because the water was so low. Okay, okay, I'll get you some more water. Once outside, I discovered it was indeed a lovely day. Okay, okay, I'll spend some time outside in the yard. I was feeling lazy, though, so all I did was move the last of the woodpile closer to the house and cut down errant mulberries and other unwanteds.

Inside, when I tried to turn on the lights over the now-sprouted zinnias and calendulas, the GFC kept tripping. I am not electricity-savvy, so I have no idea why it the circuit worked fine for several days, but now would not. Originally, I had placed my freezer in this spot in the mudroom, but the recalcitrant GFC convinced me to move it elsewhere. Placing the wire shelving with the grow lights seemed like a good idea, but not if the lights won't stay lit. So that too was relocated. What I really want to put there is a cupboard for coats and cleaning stuff, but I haven't found one I like yet.

I am also contemplating how best to fence in the vegetable garden. Last year it looked like a graveyard for chicken wire, but said chicken wire did not keep the voles out of the potatoes. My SO and I cruised Home Depot and Lowes last night, looking for ideas. I also purchased some basil and marigold seeds, a new hose to replace one that has become brittle and leaky, a bale of peat so I can mix my own potting soil, some primer for painting my Adirondack chairs and new exterior doors, a downspout extender, etc. Somehow I managed to blow $80 without even trying. Still, gardening and yard work are cheaper than therapy!

FINALLY!

2011-03-17T09:08:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was one of the nicest days we have had in a long time. I spent an hour outside after work, mostly cutting down the ornamental grasses and picking up the last of the winter dog poop. Green things are popping up all over the place: daffodils, hyacinth, daylilies, iris. Today is supposed to be warmer but windier. Hopefully, more yard cleanup will ensue.

Last fall I dug up a pepper plant and brought it inside. The peppers that were still on it hung there all winter until I ate the last of them. Now the plant is blooming. Not sure if I need to hand pollinate it to get fruit. The rosemary is blooming as well.

Regarding ErinFromIowa's comments about calendula, judging from the number of cabbage butterflies I saw last summer in my yard, I must already be providing them a healthy breeding and feeding environment. My "meadow" is not that far from the vegetable garden, and the butterflies just float across. If I decide to grow any brassicas, I will have to enclose them somehow.

It just occurred to me that last year I did not see any tomato worms or hornworms, so maybe their parents prefer the meadow to my vegetable plants? Or the birds eat them? If I were retired, I would sit in the garden all day long and observe what goes on.

Robins!

2011-03-13T13:38:00.000-04:00

Even though I know that I can take a walk in the woods on a winter day and see robins, spotting them in my backyard is much more satisfying. They have not been amenable to being photographed, nor have the redwing blackbirds and blue jays. But the sparrows are.

Yesterday I started some seeds for cilantro, basil, parsley, zinnia, and calendula. The last in that list is defined as a "hardy seeding annual" which I assume means once it is planted, it will keep coming up year after year. Sounds like a good candidate for the meadow.

And that is as close to gardening as I have come so far in 2011.

They're BA-A-ACK!

2011-03-06T10:07:00.000-05:00

Starlings and grackles but no redwing blackbirds. Yet.

The snow is back as well.

A little freezing rain on the bird feeder poles allowed the squirrel to feast at the source instead of beneath.

Must be March

2011-03-01T12:43:00.000-05:00

If I were more diligent about posting in this blog, you would have seen this last week:

Today, most of the snow is gone, revealing this:

Daffs! Can spring be far behind?

The ugliest month of the year

2011-02-17T14:38:00.000-05:00

I work from home one or two days a week. Usually I sit in the West Wing and enjoy looking out on my backyard habitat. This winter the birds have been especially prevalent. Until now.

Where ARE those birds?

Now it is warming up, and the birds apparently can find food and water elsewhere. The snow is dirty and half melted and revealing not only the dull browns and grays underneath, but piles and piles of dog poop.

I'll just slither down the fence...

During the winter, I try to keep up with Betsy's leavings, but once it snows, all bets are off. With all the snow we received this winter, the leavings are worse than usual. Also, they ring the patio. Since Betsy does not like to walk where she has shat, this has produced a bit of a dilemma.

... and clean up under the feeders before that nasty dog sees me.

But not for long. The pooper scooper brigade has started spring clean up, even if it is not yet spring. Good thing she is cute. And asleep, or she would be telling this squirrel just where he can go.

A taste of summer in February

2011-02-11T16:03:00.000-05:00

Since I bought my freezer, I have been good at puuting things IN it, but not so good about taking stuff OUT. So the other day I made some vegetable soup, using frozen tomato juice as the base, then adding frozen green beans, just sprouting potatoes and onions, plus some store-bought corn, celery, and carrots. Needless to say, the tomato juice made the soup.

And now that the apples in the garage are gone, it's time to hit the frozen applesauce. I was going to "treat" myself by sweetening it a bit, but guess what? The combination of Fuji and IdaRed apples needs no sweetening at all. Delish!

Tonight, I'll be baking a French apple pie with the frozen apple slices. Tomorrow it's chuck roast, which should use up the last of the potatoes and a lot of the smallest onions.

The blueberries are gone, but there are still peaches. And tomatoes. Lots and lots of tomatoes. Must consume them before the first ones come out of the garden.

Can you tell I am tired of winter?

Not my camera

2011-01-30T09:05:00.000-05:00

My SO tired of hearing me complain about my camera, so he loaned me his Olympus SP-590UZ. I don't know what that designation means, but it does take better pictures than my little Sony. The zoom lens really zooms, which makes it difficult to hold the camera steady, plus these were taken through the (dirty) windows of the West Wing. And I don't have a fancy-shmancy photo editor. What do you think? Better? I think I reduced them too much.

Kale and stuff

2011-01-28T10:27:00.000-05:00

Tuscan Kale and White Bean Soup

I made some kale and white bean soup from a recipe in Yoga Journal. I am not an eater of kale on a regular basis, but this soup turned out great, perhaps due to the vegetable stock (from a recipe in Love Soup) or maybe it was the honkin' big clove of garlic I used. Anyway, it was perfect with some homemade bread on a snowy winter day.

Last week I placed my orders for seeds and plants. I probably still have too many tomatoes, but I did try to tone things down. Also, I considered just what I eat and what I want to eat.

Ordinarily, I don't grow pumpkins because in the past I have not eaten them much. That has been changing, but not to the point where I wanted to grow my own. Then came disappointment in the local sugar pumpkins from last summer - no flavor. So I am giving pumpkins a try this year.

Ditto sweet potatoes. Store-bought are good, but I'm betting home-grown are better. I picked a bush variety that should do fine in the grow sacks.

I like eggplant but one goes a long way in my kitchen. With Burpee's new mix 'n match, though, I can get one plant, a container variety that produces small fruit that look perfect for a one person household.

I mixed and matched my eggplant with a variety of peppers plus some container tomatoes; that's where I went astray with the "love apples". I want to see if salsa tomatoes were really better for salsa, plus I want an early tomato - I hate to wait.

There is no room for brassicas except maybe here and there, so I will look for locally grown plants if I think I can squeeze them in. But there will be root vegetables following the garlic, for fall harvesting. That is another food group I eat more of, now that I know to roast them in olive oil and sea salt.

Over the years, I have tried a variety of beans, green and wax, but this year I am reverting back to the tried and true Blue Lake Bush. And I am growing more onions so that I can thin them for scallions. And I must remember to plant the sunflowers this year. What is a backyard without sunflowers?

I'm a volunteer that the rabbits did not eat

Winter doldrums

2011-01-19T15:48:00.000-05:00

Unusually pretty sunset for these parts

Once the holidays are over, it is a long slumber until spring. Around here it does not snow much, so instead of a winter wonderland, we get dirty slush-covered browns and grays. Even the initial manic of seed catalogs has given way to the depressive blahs of mid-January. Bah.

When I purchased my ski equipment several years ago, I subconsciously made a pact with myself to ski whenever I could. This has amounted to once or twice a year (see above comment about snow). Last Saturday seemed like my only opportunity this year, so I drove to a nearby county park. The snow on the trails was old and used, so the skiing turned into a lot of work. And despite the signs stating the paths were closed to hikers, some bozos had tromped on the ski tracks, leaving bare ground showing where their heels struck. I could hear my skis scraping bottom. By the time I gave up, I had a big blister on the back of each heel and the realization that I see more wildlife in my own backyard. I filed the excursion under the "We're going to have fun whether you want to or not, dammit" category and went home.

At least my backyard wildlife keeps me amused. That rascally rabbit was out and about this morning. It kept running along the chain link fence, from one side of the yard to the other. Looking for a way out? I was in an online meeting (stupid job) and tethered to my computer, so I could not get up and see if it could get through the gap by the gate. Or maybe it is too dumb to remember the gap is there? Or too blind to find it? And what do rabbits eat in the winter, besides the bark off my shrubs (which are protected by chicken wire, thank you very much)? There is cracked corn and sunflower seeds under the bird feeders, but I have also been throwing apple cores under the steps, just in case the poor thing needs something extra. I know. I'm hopeless.

Almost ready

2011-01-11T18:53:00.000-05:00

A little over three inches

Technically, we need four inches of snow before breaking out the cross country skis. The white stuff is still coming down, albeit in a finer state, but I'm hoping there will be enough.

In case you are wondering, I took pity on the last captured rabbit and unblocked the gap at one gate. I just kept worrying there was a nest of babies somewhere in the backyard, starving to death in the bitter cold. Getting soft in my old age, I guess.

Betsy sniffing for bunnies in front of the house

My neighbor across the street wandered over with his snow blower this afternoon. The snow was light and fluffy, but I'm still glad I did not have to do the driveway by hand.

My driveway is 50' long

The snow brought in the birds. On the left is a blue bird, on the right a goldfinch, and I'm not sure about the rest.

One is coming in for a landing

After these departed, a hardy sparrow came to bathe. Brrr!

Despite the snow on the ground, the gardening catalogs keep piling up. Several years ago, I started receiving Growers Supply, which targets nurseries and market gardeners. Lots of greenhouses and greenhouse supplies. I have never ordered anything from them, but I like to scan its pages for ideas. Since the voles ruined my potato crop last year, I am looking for ways to foil them this year. Growers Supply suggests lining the bottom of raised beds with wire mesh. I was considering enclosing the bed in mesh, but if I do the bottom as well, that would keep the little boogers out. At least I don't have to contend with deer.

First day of the rest of the year

2011-01-01T14:38:00.000-05:00

Since the temps were in the 40's this morning and a cold front is on the way, I spent some time in the yard, cleaning up the flower bed on the south side of the house and the hosta bed on the north side, while Betsy sniffed out the rabbits in the front bushes.

Speaking of rabbits, I have been trying to clear my backyard of them for a while. They girdled my serviceberry so badly it has never recovered - while alive and presumably healthy, it just won't grow. Ditto the chokeberry. All the shrubs are now protected by circles of chicken wire, and the chain link is lined with chicken wire and I have been catching the rabbits in a Havahart trap borrowed from a neighbor. But somehow they keep sneaking back in. I even dream about rabbits, sometimes that there are baby ones frolicking on the lawn. The other night, I dreamed that there were several rabbits in the backyard and a hawk kept swooping down at them, but the hawk eventually caught a ground hog and flew away.

This morning there was a rabbit in the trap, so I freed it in the front yard, then patrolled the backyard fence. The gates are the weak points. At one, it looked like rabbits had dug under the chicken wire. At the other, I found small snarls of chicken wire - do rabbits chew metal? I reinforced the gaps under each gate with cement pavers and bricks. While I was cleaning out the hosta bed, a rabbit (the same rabbit I caught?) ran toward the gate but could not get through.

When checking the fence, I found places in the meadow where rabbits had bedded down (and evidence that they had mowed down the Russian sage), but no sign of baby bunny nests. That doesn't mean there isn't one under the porch steps or the shed, but I'm just going to try to harden my heart and pretend that is not possible. La-la-la-la-la.

Feels like bad karma.

Schizophrenic weather

2010-12-30T20:31:00.000-05:00

One day it is so cold the cat is sleeping on the register and the dog is hiding under the covers...

and the leaves of the rhododendron are rolled tighter than my yoga mat...

and then the weather switches to what could be considered a January thaw, if it were January.

The snow should be gone by the time we ring in the new year. That means no cross country skiing (yet) and no snow cover for the garden, not a good thing.

When it is warm, the birds abandon the feeders, but this chickadee was eating something on the cotoneasters.

It wasn't the berries. Lichen? Who knows.

And the Cooper's hawk came back for a visit:

The seed catalogs continue to pile up - such gorgeous photos! - but I am holding firm to purchasing only what I need-need, and from only two places. BUT I am using the catalogs to look into the future. Maybe a piece of prairie? Tree fruit? Berry hedges? A gardener can dream, can't she?

Meanwhile, have a Happy New Year!

Where we were and where we're going

2010-12-26T13:45:00.000-05:00

Okay, I didn't get everything done that I planned to do last summer. Gardening is for optimists, though, so below is a recap of last year and a to-do list for next year.

From 2010:

About that lawn:
1. Overseed bare spots in lawn with clover (in February/March) - forgot

And that unsightly tractor tire:
2. Move hosta from tractor tire to under the lilac - DONE
3. Get rid of tractor tire - did not get around to it
4. Use sand from tractor tire to create butterfly water site - ditto
5. Plant Prairie Fire crabapple where tractor tire is - tree not available locally

How about a little curb appeal:
6. Prune shrubs (boxwood, burning bush, etc.) - DONE (this should be a yearly thing)
7. Move some of the cotoneaster to the west side of the West Wing - reconsidered
8. Plant Big Blue Stem to fill in holes left by #7 - reconsidered
9. Move sedum from under asplenifolia to in front of Big Blue Stem - DONE mostly
10. Move 'Clara Curtis' from south side of house to 3B garden - reconsidered
11. Plant Magic Lilies, aka Naked Ladies, in holes left by #10 - reconsidered
12. Divide hostas and day lilies and give away extra - did not get around to it
13. Move/give away iris on north side of garage - did not get around to it

Birds, butterflies, and bees:
14. Plant morning glories on fence behind 3B garden - forgot
15. Install ceramic bird house - DONE but no birds
16. Install mason bee house - forgot
17. Plant winterberry under arborvitae - DONE but it was holly
18. Plant hummingbird sage in 3B garden - forgot

Weed control:
19. Experiment with injecting Roundup and/or vinegar into stems of Canada thistle - tried this, too time consuming, but we'll call it DONE

Protection from the elements:
20. Get estimates for a pergola for the patio - reconsidering
21. Plant arborvitae on west side of house - DONE but it was juniper

Landscaping:
22. The West Wing needs some - partially DONE (hydrangea and two hostas)
23. Ditto
24. Ditto

Long term food:
25. Plant raspberries - deferred
26. Prepare asparagus bed - planted asparagus instead (mistake)

Misc.
27. Use gladiolas as row markers - DONE
28. Keep better (any) records re vegetable garden production - DONE
29. Start dye garden - later, but harvested marigold blossoms for dye
30. Buy a freezer - DONE

For 2011:

About that lawn:
1. Overseed bare spots in lawn with clover (in February/March)
2. Mow at highest setting
3. Treat with Fire Belly

And that unsightly tractor tire:
4. Get rid of tractor tire. Really.
5. Use sand from tractor tire to create butterfly water site

How about a little curb appeal:
6. Move ornamental grass by porch, replace with ?
7. Move rest of sedum from under asplenifolia to in front of Japanese maple
8. Plant Magic Lilies, aka Naked Ladies, on south side for some August color
9. Divide hostas and day lilies and give away extra, if anyone wants them
10. Move iris on north side of garage, but to where?

Birds, butterflies, and bees:
11. Plant morning glories on fence behind 3B garden
12. Install ceramic bird house in new location
13. Install mason bee house
14. Plant hummingbird sage in 3B garden
15. Plant sunflowers and other flowers I have seed for
16. Contemplate reorganizing this area and adding a water feature

Weed control:
17. KILL THE CANADA THISTLE

Protection from the elements:
18. Get estimates for a pergola for the patio
19. Plant Prairie Fire crabapple by patio

Landscaping:
20. The West Wing needs more (like the ornamental grass by the front porch?)

Long term food:
21. Prepare raspberry bed
22. Work on asparagus bed
23. Strawberries?
24. Mini dwarf fruit orchard?
25. Meyer lemon?

Edible landscaping:
26. Contemplate blueberries on south side of house, huckleberry as a hedge in partial shade

Misc.
27. Set up irrigation
28. Improve record keeping
29. Harvest hibiscus blossoms (and any other plant that can be used) for dyeing
30. Eliminate trumpet vine - it is taking over

The bluebird of happiness

2010-12-22T10:33:00.000-05:00

Occasionally, I see a bluebird or two at the bird bath, early in the day. Here is evidence! Not too bad a pic, considering it was taken using the zoom, through a window, when it was still mostly dark out.

Today I also saw a LBB (Little Brown Bird - at a distance they all look alike) land on top of a foxtail, bending the seed head down to the ground, where presumably some seeds shook loose. The bird would then release the stalk, peck around in the snow a bit, and repeat the performance. Now I don't feel so bad about (some of) the weeds in my yard.

Some kind of crap (freezing rain? sleet? what is the difference?) was falling from the sky, but now it has turned to snow. A good reason to stay put today.

More memory loss

2010-12-19T11:32:00.000-05:00

This year, when I made my infamous cranberry bread (recipe from La Leche League's Whole Foods for the Whole Family - my copy is about 30 years old), I used a food processor to chop the cranberries. What I good idea! I said to myself. Later, while perusing some blog entries from a year ago, I discovered that I had discovered the food processor shortcut to chopping cranberries back then. One thing about aging is, everything seems new!

I think this is new:

I bought a rasp zester. Not only no more skinned knuckles, but the zest is captured in the holder AND it is easy to clean.

Another blog entry I ran across from a year ago was my plans for 2010. All I can say is, HA HA HA. I accomplished only about a third of the items listed, and some of those not completely. (For instance, I moved some of the sedum but not all of it, and instead of preparing an asparagus bed, I planted asparagus, which was a mistake.) The best part of gardening is the planning, though - time for a new list!

Is it cold in here?

2010-12-10T20:29:00.002-05:00

Or is it just the cat?

Bird watching

2010-12-05T20:43:00.000-05:00

Now that I have replaced the black oil sunflower seeds with a millet-based mix, all I get at the window feeder are sparrows. Fern does not care.

Come back, birdies!

Are cardinals redder in the winter? Or does the snow just make it seem so? This is what is known as "lake effect" snow, of which we received less than an inch. Not enough for skiing.

Safflower seed, because I'm worth it!

I am going to say that this is a Cooper's hawk. He sat there and sat there, and finally I crept off to find my camera. He was still there when I returned, but not for long.

Hey! Where did everybody go?

I was less lucky today when a ragged V of what I think were herons flew overhead. They did not honk or quack, but sang an unfamiliar song as they passed by. I have never witnessed such a thing before.

I also have never witnessed a dog eating a hot pepper right off the plant. (I brought this plant inside before a hard frost.)

But oddly enough, Betsy does not like raw turkey liver. Go figure.

Pumpernickel

2010-11-28T19:21:00.000-05:00

After three days of cooking and cleaning, friends and family, today was my "free" day, which means I was free to do laundry, pick up dog poop, and otherwise prepare for the coming work week. But I also made time for baking bread. Some people might not consider that a fun thing to do, but I find hand kneading yeasty dough to be very relaxing. And then there is the end result - a delicious accompaniment to the last of the Caramelized Cabbage soup.

I have had visitors to the window feeder, mostly chickadees (as below) but also nuthatches and sparrows. I may replace the oil seed with something like millet, because the larger seed doesn't fall into the feeding cups very well.

Now I am going to enjoy a blaze in the fireplace on this chilly night.

The memory goes first

2010-11-23T19:49:00.000-05:00

Tonight I decided to make Caramelized Cabbage Soup, from Love Soup. I pulled two pints of broth (recipe also in Love Soup) from the freezer, plus what I thought was a mixture of cooking water from potatoes and green beans that I had frozen. The jar was unlabeled, and, after it started to thaw, was unrecognizable by look or smell. I have no idea what it was, and decided not to use it in my soup (which turned out delish, BTW).

The reason I was making soup was, in part, to clean out the refrigerator in anticipation of T-day leftovers. In the back of said fridge, I found a few apples left over from last year. They were in a bag labeled "Cameo". Yes, the same variety that in another post I claimed to have never heard of before this fall.

I had a third example of my poor memory, but I forget what it was.

New topic:

Seed catalogs! In a way, it makes sense that these arrive in time for xmas shopping because gardeners need gifts, too. And as every year, I am overwhelmed with all the varieties available. They all sound good. In the past, I have bought "sampler" collections of tomatoes, peppers, and potatoes, and have found some new favorites that way, but I'm going to be more selective going forward. I plan to rely on some old standbys and maybe try one or two new things at a time. Or, as I am doing with garlic, select several varieties with different attributes, and use them accordingly.

Any recommendations?

Old news

2010-11-21T15:34:00.000-05:00

Do you reread your blog posts? Occasionally I take a peek at what I was doing a year (or two or three) ago. One thing I was doing about a year ago was perusing the Pinetree Garden Seeds catalog. Guess what? I'm doing the same this year. Once again, it was the first seed catalog to arrive. The garden is barely put to bed for the winter and I'm already dreaming of spring.

One of my dreams is to figure out a way to protect my potatoes from voles. I think they don't tunnel like moles or climb like mice, so all I need to do is block them at or near ground level. I'm contemplating wrapping the potato bed in hardware cloth, sinking it an inch or two below ground level. Unless you have a better idea?

Today I spent a little time in the yard, adding and filling bird feeders, cleaning out and organizing the garden shed and then packing it with all the crap that I'd left laying about the yard, retriggering the rabbit trap (I caught another opossum the other night), etc. Now I can gaze upon the backyard without feeling guilty.

Itsy bitsy spider, and apples

2010-11-16T12:55:00.000-05:00

While I was cleaning out gutters the other day, I came across this fellow:

Not anything like his cousin who snuck into the house in a ceramic birdhouse I planned on cleaning in the kitchen sink. He was HUGE with a high squish factor, so when he climbed out and perched on the edge of said birdhouse, he got a fast ride out the patio door. Spiders in the yard and garden are okay, but not in the house. (Which reminds me - a week or so ago, I saw another BIG one in the main bathroom; he scuttled under the baseboard behind the cat box when he saw me coming. As far as I know, he is still there. Ugh.)

* * * * *

I spent a good portion of last Sunday processing apples in one form or another. I started with some hard cider I "made" (no real effort involved, other than finding unadulterated fresh cider and then leaving it on the kitchen counter with the cap off the bottle). I bought the cider on Tuesday, tasted it on Saturday, and deemed it good. Unfortunately, I had some kind of allergic reaction to it - I assume from the yeasts. Undaunted, I used some in this recipe (figuring the cooking would kill off the yeasts). That was relatively successful, so I decided to freeze the rest of the cider for later use. I tried to filter it through a coffee filter, which was not successful, and managed to spill quite a bit on the floor.

My previous attempt to use my peeler-corer-slicer was not successful, primarily because the apples I used (IdaRed) were too soft. After some encouragement from Jessie, I decided to try again, this time with Fuji apples. Ah. Much better.

There is a bit of waste, but since I was planning on making sauce with the rest of the IdaReds, the cores, peels, and ends of the Fujis went into the pot as well.

The peeler-corer-slicer actually cuts the apple into a spiral...

which was kind of handy. The naked apples were kept pretty by a solution of Fruit Fresh, which I also managed to spill.

Anyway, after several hours of work, I wound up with five quarts of sliced apples, six pints of sauce, three pints of cider, and one sticky kitchen.

For fresh eating, I favor a crisp, tart apple. When Granny Smith first appeared on the scene (30+ years ago?), it was love at first bite. Last year I tried Gold Rush for apple sauce and as keepers, and they were so tart, they made my stomach hurt. They kept well in my unheated garage, and sweetened up a bit over the winter, but still very tart. My new favorite is Cameo, which I had never heard of before this year. They are just perfect. I'm not fickle, am I?

Tuesday must be bath day

2010-11-09T20:43:00.000-05:00

I have some video as well, but to upload it to blogger requires agreeing to something that is too long to read. But you can view it here.

Secrets revealed

2010-11-02T12:45:00.000-04:00

Once the leaves fall from the trees and shrubs, one can see where birds have built their nests. Some nests I know of, like the ones in the juniper and the clematis. This summer I noticed a pair of cardinals frequenting the honeysuckle vine - sure enough, a nest, complete with plastic lining.

The Black Haw viburnum dropped its leaves to reveal another nest.

Sunday I cleaned out bird houses, shaking the usual twigs and fluff from the wren houses, but I was surprised to find no nest in the bluebird box. Midsummer I had removed a sparrow nest because it looked like a wren wanted to use the box, but nothing more was built.
This spring I was puzzled by rabbit damage on the cotoneaster - highly unusual - until I realized a rabbit must have been trapped under the living room window overhang when it snowed. I didn't think anymore about it, until I found a little skull under there this summer.

This winter, if we get snow, I will try to remember to stomp an exit, to protect my bushes and prevent another bunny tragedy.

The weather was gorgeous on Sunday, and I spent about three hours in the yard, piddling around. I planted garlic in the raised bed by the patio. I suspect the voles have been tunneling under there and hope they don't like garlic. I also set up some of the bird feeders and plugged in the bird bath. From my perch on the love seat in the West Wing, I can see four feeders and the bird bath. Each feeder has a different kind of seed. I tried mixing seeds one time, but birds that are looking for one type will scatter the other on the ground. Enough of it falls there as it is.

I did not think too many birds favored safflower seed, but since I saw a cardinal eating it last year, I bought it again this year. Today I see the nuthatches and titmice also like it. The chickadees have been using the clematis trellis by the West Wing as a launching pad. I may stick a window feeder near there, to see who comes to call.

And Sunday I watered, watered, watered. We received about a quarter inch of rain last week, with none in the immediate forecast. I will continue to water until the ground freezes. If the weather continues to be as dry as it has been the past several years, I will have to set up an irrigation system for the vegetable garden. I'm glad I have not spent any money on rain barrels - without rain, they are rather useless.

This year's project

2010-10-31T08:58:00.000-04:00

After all the construction that has gone on around here the past couple of years, I decided to take a year off except for replacing two exterior doors. Can you say tax credit?

Before:

It's hard to see, but the faux panels on the outside of the old door had melted around the edges. Also, the storm door was one of those old flimsy aluminum things. I could never figure out how to replace the window with a screen, either. The inside of the door was flat, no panels.

After:

Six panels front and back, plus a substantial storm door. Both sides of the inside door are white but I plan to paint them when I get a round tuit. The storm door matches the siding on the house.

New sidelights, too, that are not all scratched and foggy.

I forgot to take before-and-after pics of the door on the side of the garage. The old one was hard to latch, would often blow open on windy days (my next door neighbor kept thinking someone was breaking into my garage), and unbeknownst to me, had a rotten sill. It too will be painted.

(Note the white impatiens in the photo above - still alive because we have not yet had frost hard enough to kill them.)

Jinx

2010-10-24T17:43:00.000-04:00

Last night while I was letting the dog out for the final time before bed, the light from a full moon revealed TWO rabbits in the backyard. This morning, one of them was in the trap. I may win an occasional battle, but so far I am losing the war.

Yesterday the skies spit on me a bit while I was watering, but no measurable rain fell. Not today either, despite the weather forecast. In fact, the sun is shining right now.

Yesterday I pulled out the flannel sheets, only to have a warm spell descend upon us. The furnace is off and the windows are open. I am so sick of this weather! I want to wear woolens and snuggle under afghans. Boo on global warming!

And since I moved the bird bath so that I can more easily see it from the West Wing, nary a bird has visited.

*sigh*

Ah HA!

2010-10-23T15:04:00.000-04:00

Today, in order to guarantee some rain in the near future, I was out watering my shrubs and perennials when, what before my wondering eyes should appear but that rascally rabbit. Suddenly, it was on the other side of the fence. HA! I snooped around and found its escape hatch, then immediately blocked it with a cement paver and brick (very classy). Theoretically, that is the last rabbit in the backyard. And the last breach in the perimeter.

And while we are on the topic of wildlife, my neighbor was chatting me up the other day and mentioned that he had seen a red fox between our houses, a beautiful creature that jumped the fence into my backyard. Wow. And that explains a few things, like the "dog" poop by the back fence (my dog's electronic collar won't let her back there) and the immaculate cleansing of a dish of bacon grease I had left out for the birds (my dog would have eaten the dish).

And this morning, while a visiting friend and I were enjoying the view from the West Wing, a hawk not only landed in a nearby tree, but flew across the yard right in front of the windows we were looking out. Bravo!

I'm waiting for the starlings to leave town before I start my winter feeding of the birds. In preparation, I have been relocating shepherds hooks and the bird bath and wondering what would be a better site for the suet feeders. Every morning the backyard is full of migratory birds catching a quick breakfast before heading out for the next leg of their journey. I don't see anything exotic, but the level of activity is amazing. Then suddenly, they are gone.

Can winter be far behind?

The garlic is coming

2010-10-20T12:01:00.001-04:00

Besides replanting the garlic varieties I grew this past summer, I ordered two new varieties this year. I'm guessing four varieties will be enough for me, but I might try a bunch before settling on a select few. It would be good to have one for "fresh" eating, one for roasting, one for storage, and one for… what? I'm not sure, but garlic is easy enough to grow that I feel free to experiment, as long as I have the room.

Last year's picks (primarily because I was late to order and there wasn't much to pick from):

Broadleaf Czech – raw is hot to very hot, cooked is mild and full flavored. Softneck
German Extra Hardy – strong raw flavor, high sugar content, one of the best for roasting. Hardneck

This year's picks:

Georgian Fire – raw is "white hot" – strong but not unpleasant. Great for salsas and salads. Hardneck
Bogatyr – good storage, most consistent. Hardneck

(Comments from descriptions at Seed Savers Exchange, my supplier.)

I have never roasted garlic before, but it is on the short list of things to do this fall, as I have a recipe for roasted garlic squash soup. Mmmm!

Nothing says autumn like roasted root vegetables, cider, and homemade bread

2010-10-18T18:56:00.001-04:00

Saturday I roasted root vegetables.

The night before I made soup stock.

I was a little leery about making my own stock - cooking the bejesus out of fresh vegetables, then throwing them out? - but some of what is cooked are the parts one doesn't always use, like leek tops and fennel fronds. And, OMG, the house smelled heavenly! Most of the stock went into the freezer, but Wednesday I will combine some of the stock and some of the roasted veggies with some other ingredients to make Roasted Root Vegetable Soup from Love Soup, which we will eat along with this.

That is bread, of course, but what is it in? Why, a hand-thrown bread bowl I purchased at the Johnny Appleseed Festival this year.

This one wasn't my favorite, but by the time I decided to buy one and circled back, my fave was gone.

These are meant for baking "frozen bread" - whatever the hell that is - something that is available at the grocery store? I used mine to bake homemade bread, but I put only half the dough in since the bowl looks a little small for a whole loaf. The rest of the dough? I froze it. Heh.

And the cider? Purchased at a local orchard along with some apples. The cider is unpasteurized but I didn't realize until I got home that it also has had some preservatives added; is it a law that unpasteurized cider has to have preservatives in it? My intent was to let it turn hard a la Wild Fermentation, but now I'm not sure that will work. Maybe I will test a small amount, to see if it will ferment.

NOW the laundry room is officially finished

2010-10-14T19:56:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, I had the kids over for dinner, and my son-in-law installed the clothes line that had been sitting in a box on top of the dryer for who-knows-how-long.

And that is all there is to do here, folks, although I am contemplating switching the cupboard in there with the shelving unit in the mud room. The laundry room is the coolest room in the house, so I think it will become the storage place for onions and such. Ordinarily, I would use the garage but the frickin' temperatures STILL won't give way to autumn.

The only other home improvement I have planned for this year are two new exterior doors, which should be here by the end of the month. But next year - look out!

Thanks, I needed that

2010-10-10T09:16:00.000-04:00

Last winter I enjoyed homemade bread and soups, but once the garden kicked in and the temperatures soared, baking and cooking fell by the wayside. Yesterday I dipped back in, though, with kabouchi squash and black bean soup from Love Soup and pioneer bread from The Bread Book.

(The soup looks kind of gross, so no pics.)

While I love the recipes in Love Soup, I have to admit that they are challenging to make. Yesterday I started the bread and soup making around 9am and did not finish until after 2pm. I even interleaved the two recipes, working on soup while bread was rising, etc. Very time intensive, but also worth the effort.

This week's bird sighting was a tufted titmouse. They look so perky with their tiny shoe button eyes! I think the hummingbirds have left, and the butterflies, even though it is supposed to be 86 today. Maybe this is Indian Summer?

Randomness

2010-10-04T12:22:00.000-04:00

For some reason, the sparrows keep trying to get into the wren house, to the point where they almost get stuck. I should take that thing down before someone gets hurt.
Next spring, I would like to aerate AND roll my yard. Which do I do first?
I want to roll the yard because it is so lumpy my ankles ache after mowing.
Won't feeding the lawn with grass clippings create thatch? And isn't thatch bad?
Since I belong to a local nursery's garden club, I received a free plant for my birthday. When I picked up the plant, I also bought three planters (on sale). I spent enough money to qualify for a free bag of compost. I'm sure they made money on that transaction, but I feel like I came out ahead, too.
Yes, my birthday is this month. Let's just say I don't qualify for Social Security. Yet.
I bought three planters because there were three of a kind but in two different sizes, and I did not want to take one from its sisters or leave one behind. Silly.
I love my new freezer. Latest thing to be frozen: basil in olive oil, following these instructions.
Yes, the rabbits ate my basil. Fortunately, my daughter has plenty.
If I get more basil from her, I could make frozen pesto.

Happy birthday to me!

The three sisters

Finally feels like fall

2010-10-02T11:06:00.000-04:00

Although many parts of the country are getting inundated with too much rain, we are still limping along here with a quarter-inch here and a quarter-inch there. At least the temperatures have dropped. In fact, there is a threat of frost tonight. I'm pretty much done with gardening for the year, although I will throw a sheet over the peppers and one tomato plant, to see if I can keep them going a bit longer. Oh, and I'll bring in my basil starts and the big herb pot.

For the past couple of years, I have been trying to lure bluebirds to my backyard habitat. They stop by for a visit, but do not stay, so others - sparrows, goldfinch - use the neglected bluebird house in their stead. Recently, the yard has been a flutter with all kinds of birds, especially young robins who flock to the pokeweed. And BLUEBIRDS. In fact, here is evidence that they are not totally repelled by the bluebird house.

Sorry for the crappy picture. I had to take it from inside, through glass, and this is the zoomiest I could get. Prior to this photo op, there were many, better ones, as the bluebirds were hanging around the shepherd's hook not ten feet from where I sat. But as soon as I fetched the Sony, they became camera shy. Maybe they will remember the house and return next spring.

Today is a chili and corn bread kind of day. The chili is on the stove; the corn bread is in the queue.

It was supposed to RAIN

2010-09-26T16:32:00.000-04:00

We have had some dry summers here the past few years, but I have never seen things this bad. This is my 20+ year old Crimson King maple, a tree I have never had to water before. The leaves were drying up and falling off before they started to turn. The viburnum has also suffered, from the newest (below) to the oldest, which is virtually naked. Sad.

Today was a beautiful FALL day, though, temperature wise, and I spent most of it outside, watering.

I have sporadically watered the south side of the house, which was good enough for the Clara Curtis painted daisies above. The hostas and coral bells on the north side of the house have not been watered until today, but they look none the worse for wear (if you ignore the slug holes).

I know there are asters in the meadow, because there is a plant marker for them, but in the spring I am never sure which plant they are. I guess I did not pull them up. Yet.

Otherwise, not much left for eye candy this year.

The birds, on the other hand, are plentiful. Today the robins were mobbing the poke weed, and when they left, some juvenile starlings took a turn. I have also seen nut hatches and black-capped chickadees, two species I associate with winter. So one can hope this endless summer will finally be over. Someday.