The Organic Gardeners

WEEKLY GARDEN UPDATES

2009-03-21T21:38:00.008-04:00

Click on this link to read my editor's blog at Hobby Farms magazine:
Jessica's Blog
It's replacing this blog and will be updated weekly so you'll have regular news from my garden.
Thanks!
Jessica

A picture is worth a thousand words...here's what's happening in my garden today

2008-07-10T14:47:00.009-04:00

summer sun brings garden fun...

2008-07-05T13:25:00.002-04:00

I've been picking some absolutely gorgeous broccoli these past few weeks. It's really delicious. I have always had such trouble with cabbage worms on them, but this year I haven't found a single one, despite seeing tons of the butterflies. Well, the other evening I found out why. I went out to harvest a head when I saw a large paper wasp sitting on top of it. I tried to shush him away but then I noticed that he was wrestling with a green cabbage worm! The wasp was eating the green worm and after a few minutes flew off with half of it. I saw it again yesterday....just amazing to watch.

The peas have been delicious, though none of them have made it indoors. I always seem to manage to polish them off right in the garden! Most of my lettuce has petered out, but the butterhead rocks on. I'm still harvesting it daily and there is not a single trace of bitterness in it. I bought a tomato at the farmer's market today and had a tomato/lettuce/cheese sandwich for lunch. Certainly not a homegrown tomato, but the next best thing. I think it will be another month until I can harvest tomatoes of my own.

My 'Cherry Bomb' peppers are loaded with green fruit. They were planted for my fire-eating husband and I think he's going to have his hands full this year. No fruits on the 'Thai Dragon' though. Hopefully they are to come.

The front perennial garden is really coming into it's season right now. I consider it an early spring and/or late summer garden since there isn't much exciting there in early to mid-summer. My 'Paprika' yarrow, monarda, gloriosa daisies, sunflowers, cosmos, alliums, gomphrena and coneflowers are just looking great this year. How nice that I haven't had to water the garden at all this season! If I had to pick a favorite part of my garden, the front beds would be it. I love the veggie garden, but there is something about pulling into your driveway and seeing your garden that just feels special.

Taters

2008-06-18T14:42:00.003-04:00

I'm hoping my experimental tater station works well this year. The home-made bins might look a bit odd, but I have a feeling that in a few months, when I open the boxwire, I'm going to have some tumbling spuds. The wire cylinders are lined with just a few sheets of newspaper to help hold everything in and then they were filled with alternating layers of very well-aged horse manure and last year's potting soil (when I empty my containers every fall, I put the used soil in garbage bags in the shed. I usually use it to pot up perennial divisions for friends, but here is another good use!). Each bin was filled 1/4 of the way, then 6-8 seed potatoes were spread on top and covered with a few more inches of old horse manure. When the taters were a few inches high, I added several more inches of manure or potting soil. I just kept adding layers as the plants grew. The 'soil' now reaches about 3/4 of the way to the top and that's as full as I'll make them. There are now potato plants sprouting out the sides too. I'm excited to see what happens as the season progresses.

Saw my first baby praying mantis of the season yesterday. Just a little guy, maybe only a quarter of an inch long. He was hanging out on the potato plants. I tried to get a picture, but my camera wasn't cooperating.

The strawberries are just about finished. With the heavy rains of the past week or so, some of the berries got moldy, but really, it was quite a good harvest. Made some delicious homemade strawberry ice cream over the weekend.

My broccoli will soon be ready to harvest as will the sugar snap peas and the snow peas. The lettuce continues to roll in and I've been tying the tomatoes to their hardwood stakes on almost a daily basis. They have begun to flower...it won't be long now!

yum yum!!

2008-06-06T14:16:00.005-04:00

These are the most beautiful strawberries I've ever grown! I have no idea what variety they are since they came from plants that were relocated from elsewhere on the property last spring. Not only are they lovely to look at, but they are truly delicious. Big, sweet, juicy berries! I think my son ate a good pound of them yesterday and we will soon be up to our elbows in them since they are ripening so quickly in this warm weather (90+ degrees today!). We plan on heading outside after dinner this evening to fill up on this wonderful seasonal dessert. There are few treats as divine as sun-warmed strawberries in June. I almost feel guilty for not sharing them with any friends....almost.

Here is the container I mentioned in an earlier post. It's filled with assorted succulents 'imported' from my trip to Missouri. The center plant is from the Phipp's booth at May Mart. The pot itself was purchased at IKEA a few weeks ago and it sits on top of an antique metal wash stand base that belonged to my Nana. I just love it and I can't wait for it to fill in over the course of the growing season.

The veggie garden is looking great. My beans, cukes, and zukes have all sprouted and seem to be growing quite well. The tomatoes are a foot high already, the sugar snap peas are just about 4 feet tall (yikes!), the lettuce and radish continue to be harvested nightly. My broccoli appears as if it's on steroids this year. Happy, happy, happy.

First harvest of the season!

2008-05-14T15:06:00.002-04:00

Well, I picked my first garden goodies last night! I made a salad of fresh, beautiful lettuce (including 'Lolla Rossa' and 'Merlot'), some very mild 'Easter Egg' radishes, and a small bit of chopped spring onions. Delicious! It never fails to amaze me how truly wonderful homegrown food is - especially the first bite of the season. I can't wait for my asparagus patch to mature enough to begin harvesting it. I'm hoping I'll get a few spears next spring.
I also made a rhubarb crisp that was really sweet with a crunchy, crisp top. Thanks to Jill Wolff for the fabulous recipe. This weekend I'm going to try another recipe for rhubarb muffins.
The strawberries are busy being pollinated and setting their little green fruits. Unless we get some severe weather, I think we are in for a treat by mid-June. There are literally thousands of little berries out there.
My pots are filled with a blend of compost and organic potting soil and are just waiting to be planted this weekend. I was in Missouri two weeks ago at Baker Creek Seeds for their spring planting festival, and there was a fellow there selling succulents. I came home with 12 little pots of them (the TSA officer 'reading' the xray got a kick out of the contents of my carry-on). I'm going to put them in a shallow terracotta pot that sits on top of an old iron wash basin stand on the back patio. I'll photograph it after it's planted and post the shot so you can have a look-see.
I'm planning on picking up all my heirloom tomato babies from Mindy Schwartz at My Garden Dreams Urban Farm and Nursery early next week. I purchased from her last year and had great success with the plants. Of course I can't remember what I ordered, so it will be a pleasant surprise. Thank goodness everything is always well labeled!
I'll be spending Saturday shopping at my favorite local nurseries for my annuals and some more seeds. With toddler in tow, it should be an interesting experience.
Lots in bloom right now in the perennial beds - and my special dandelion collection is particularly stunning these days.

Update...

2008-04-21T15:05:00.002-04:00

The garden seems to have 'popped' over the course of the past week. The daffodils are lovely, the tulips my dog dug up last fall are blooming their heads off (though some of them are not where they are supposed to be), the radish are already 1/2 inch high, the lettuce has germinated and the asparagus has finally arrived (though it's too young to pick). All 8 fruit trees have been planted, as have the 15 new raspberry canes. Yesterday I planted 8 cabbages, 8 leeks, 12 lettuce plants and 4 parsley starts. Today I planted 25 new strawberries (a day-neutral variety called Trident)and cleaned up the last of the perennial beds.

I was visiting my folks in Eastern PA last week and divided a bunch of ornamental grasses for my Mom - sounds like I did a good deed, but I did it so I could have the divisions! Now I've got 22 Maiden grasses to plant around the bottom of the tree fort to enclose the space beneath and make a nice little hiding place for my son. That's the next project. Then there are the 25 potted perennials sitting on the driveway....

Hearty cheers for today, and yesterday, and the day before that....

2008-04-06T13:59:00.005-04:00

Thou shalt not plant so much lettuce this year...

I returned late last night from a terrific visit to the Green Bay Botanic Garden. I was a guest lecturer for their Spring Thaw Symposium on Saturday and it was a very lovely event, full of passionate gardeners and plenty of folks chomping at the bit to get out and get dirty. It's always nice to meet people who are interested in learning more about organic practices and who know how to ask all the right questions!

I was also quite pleased to finally hear fellow lecturer and sustainable-living expert Lisa Kivirist. She and her husband, John Ivanko, own Inn Serendipity, an eco-friendly B&B an hour south of Madison, Wisconsin. She was an exceptional speaker with so much creative energy and so many positive vibes to share. If you want to learn more about them, check out their website: www.innserendipity.com. And if you need a good reason to vacation in Wisconsin, you just found it. (Not to mention the fact that the Green Bay Botanic Garden is beautiful, educational and only a short drive from the airport. Plus, there's the cheese...)

So, I too was inspired by the event, having heard lectures about heritage perennials and catching slides displaying new trends and products from a local Green Bay nursery called Mayflower. Which, of course, led me to the garden shortly after the radio show this morning. Thankfully, my son was more than happy to oblige, playing with his dinosaurs in the dirt for nearly two hours while I worked. I managed to clean out the strawberry bed, pulling out dead leaves and removing a bit of invading ground ivy. Then we went into the vegetable garden (which is his favorite place to be). I spread some small piles of mushroom soil that was dumped in the fall, then turned over the soil in one of the beds and raked it smooth. I was hearing Jeff Lowenfels in my head while I was digging (he's the author of the ground-breaking book Teaming With Microbes and an advocate of no-till gardening). He was saying something like, "Have you lost your mind? Did you gain nothing from my book? You are destroying earthworm burrows and wreaking havoc on that precious soil food web as I speak!". I felt guilty as I was digging; and that's a very new feeling for me. I intend to leave a few beds unturned this spring as I do believe the science is indeed telling us that no-till is best, but the winter rye cover crop was thick and I couldn't bring myself to sow tiny baby lettuce and radish seeds without creating a nice bed for them first. I'm taking it a step at a time until I can break myself of old habits and perfect my own personal no-till methods. The beds with tomatoes, cabbage, peppers, cukes and melons will definitely remain undisturbed and will be piled high with new compost from my bin; then, after planting, they will be mulched well. One step at a time, right? Forgive me Jeff!

Into that soft soil I planted 'French Breakfast' and 'Easter Egg' radishes, 'Merlot', 'Red Oaky Splash' and 'French Butterhead' lettuces, 'Chioggia' beets, and 'Osaka Purple' mustard greens. Then I sowed a few handfuls of sugar snap peas. Since I never managed to tie them to the fence last year and they flopped all over the place, I decided to plant the seeds around some old metal pepper cages for support. We'll see how that goes. It's likely that they will need further support, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it!

The daffodils are up, though none of the buds have opened yet. A few of the crocus I planted in my 'lawn meadow' are up and sunning themselves as we speak. In the front garden, I'm seeing a few hyacinth starting to peek out of the soil and I tucked in a few pink pansies late last week. Our three fish, Goldie, Genevieve and Bob, have survived the winter in our little pond and are happily swimming around between the water iris and algae (that's a project for another day). And, one last sure sign of spring, the grill was fired up the night before I departed for Green Bay. Free range chicken kabobs were on the menu. Isn't spring grand?

I'm ready...

2008-03-21T14:49:00.003-04:00

I don't think I've ever been as ready for spring as I am this year. What a crazy winter - between the weather and family illnesses, I can honestly say I can't remember needing spring as much as I do right now.
It must be coming, though, because the tulips are up about an inch or so. Surprisingly, there is no sign of all the crocus I planted nor of the daffodils, but I know they are to come.
We turned the waterfall back on last week. We haven't yet spotted our three goldfish (Goldie, Genevieve and Bob) and the leaf netting is still draped over the pond. As usual, there is much to be done as soon as the weather warms.
The ryegrass in the vegetable garden is only about an inch high but it will burst as soon as we get a few warm days. Once the soil dries out a bit, I'm going to begin planting spring lettuce, radish, some broccoli and onion sets. I overplanted my lettuce last year. I was taking bags of it to the neighbors. I mustn't go lettuce crazy this spring, lest they think I really am crazy.

Children in the garden

2008-02-15T15:26:00.002-05:00

After receiving a great new book called 'A Child's Garden' by Molly Dannenmaier my husband and I have now become obsessed with the idea of installing a few special kid-friendly features into the garden this year. We have had many discussions this winter about what we think our son will like and what, physically and financially, we'll be able to do.

Some of our ideas include the extension of one of the beds around the veggie garden fence to include a pole bean tee pee and/or a sand pit; a twig and grapevine tunnel that goes between the back of the waterfall and the stockade fence; a planting of tall ornamental grasses to enclose the area beneath the tree house (we'll then put a tree stump table and chairs under there); a tent of branches tucked into the corner of the fence to make a little 'nest' for him and a buddy; a fallen log to serve as a balance beam; and a sunflower circle (an idea provided by Nancy Gift of Chatham College - her wonderful blog is found at www.weedsandkids.blogspot.com). And we're planning on clearing a path through our woods to easily access the miles of horse trails back there for family hikes and tent camping.

Basically, I want to have the yard that all the kids want to play in. I want families that don't have a garden to bring their little ones to my place to explore and get in touch with nature. I want my son to have the opportunity to just be outside in a welcoming place and never get scolded for being dirty.

Fruity gardener

2008-02-09T13:44:00.000-05:00

I just ordered all the fruit trees we are going to plant in the yard this spring. I had so much fun looking through my favorite catalogs (Raintree Nursery and One Green World) to choose the varieties. At the farm, we did plant some new fruit trees, but most of the 30 odd trees in the orchard were planted many years ago by previous owners so I had no hand in choosing the varieties. My goal for the mini-orchard at our new place is to have something producing fruit for the entire growing season. The strawberries and blueberries and some black raspberries were put in last year, but this April will be filled with some heavy diggin' and lots and lots of promise for fruitful summers to come.

Being an organic gardener, disease resistance was a major draw, as was old-time flavor and decent production. I spent a lot of time making sure varieties were compatible for cross-pollination and that they would bear fruit at different times - I want apples in early August and early October! The 4-6 foot bareroot grafted semi-dwarf trees are due to arrive the first week in April from Raintree Nursery (I've been extremely pleased with them in the past). Here's what we're planting:

Apples - 'William's Pride' and 'Liberty'
Pears - -'Ubileen' and 'Conference'
Plums - 'Golden Transparent' and 'Early Laxton'
Cherry - 'Lapins'
Peach - 'Avalon Pride'

From One Green World Nursery we'll be planting:
Red Raspberries - 'Canby Thornless' and 'Heritage'
Honeyberries - 'Blue Bird' and 'Blue Lightning' - can't wait to try these!

Plans for future years include a persimmon tree and some Asian pears, as well as some Sea berries (I hear they are amazing) and maybe some gooseberries. I want my son to be able to climb fruit trees, pick raspberries, and help me make strawberry jam someday - I wish all kids could have those experiences!

I've no excuse....

2008-01-21T15:21:00.000-05:00

I know it's been quite some time since I last posted and I apologize. Frankly, there hasn't been much going on in the garden over the past month or so and I'm really just now getting over early January's post-holiday hump. It's been cold here the past few days - in the low teens during the early morning and not warming much past the mid-twenties by afternoon. Wisconsin-ites may scoff at such toasty winter temps, but here in Pennsylvania such cold days have been few and far between the past few years. Global warming strikes again.

As I sit at my computer and look out the window, I can see a nice little treasure that I discovered just a week or two ago. Clinging to the branch of one of the Lawson's cypress we planted this past spring is a praying mantis egg case. I was so pleased to find it since I did not see a single adult mantis in the garden the entire summer. I can't wait to see all the babies this spring. What amazing creatures they are. Here is some information about praying mantids from my forthcoming book. As I said in an earlier post, I learned a lot while researching the book and here are some interesting little tidbits:

- There are over 20 native species of mantids found throughout the U.S. with many others introduced.
- An adult praying mantis can grow to 5 inches in length and live an average of 10-12 months.
- Their egg cases appear as spongy brown masses clinging to branches and twigs.
- It's true. Sometimes the female does consume the male after copulation.
- Large mantids can eat small salamanders, frogs and birds, though their diet consists mainly of other insects.
- To encourage praying mantids to make a home in your garden, focus on planting specimens suitable for egg laying (since mantids do not consume pollen or nectar). Good choices include golden rod, iron weed, ornamental grasses, Joe Pye weed, raspberries and other brambles.
- If you choose to purchase mantids for your garden and you live in a northern zone, be aware that Chinese mantids are more voracious than our native varieties, but they aren't nearly as winter hardy.
- Praying mantids are not discriminating eaters. They will catch and consume beneficial insects as quickly as pest insects, but they can definitely be added to the list of critters having an overall positive impact on your garden.
- Their heads can swivel 180 degrees and their compound eyes are perfect for spotting passing prey as they lie-in-wait for the ambush!

Finally!

2007-12-16T20:49:00.001-05:00

At long last I have finished planting my bulbs. I spent an hour or so placing and planting the last 200 bulbs sitting in my garage. I did it really quickly because it was really cold and a nasty storm was on it's way. I had to crack through the mushroom compost mulch with a shovel to dig the holes. My biggest surprise was finding literally twenty or thirty active earthworms in each planting hole (I dig large holes and plant 5 or 6 bulbs in each one). I was really surprised to find the worms so close to the soil surface and still wriggling about. I guess I though it would be too cold for them. Maybe my late mulch application helped keep the soil warmer.

Anyway, here are some of the varieties I planted: 'Red Devon' daffs (white with bright orange cup); 'Snow Frills' Daffs (pale yellow with white cup); 'Double Smiles' Daffs (an unknown color since they were a gift!); 'Dreamlight' Daffs (a 1934 heirloom); 'Lady Derby' hyacinth (soft pink); 'Marie' hyacinth (rich, dark purple); and a few Allium caeruleum for good measure.

As if I needed another reason to look forward to the spring....

More Perennials

2007-12-10T20:26:00.000-05:00

My Bluestone Perennials catalog arrived in the mail today. A bit early for my taste, but I have a feeling that this isn't the only one I'm going to get from them this winter. Of course I couldn't help flipping through it once I saw what is on the front cover...one of my favorite plants in a variety I don't have! Phlox stolonifera 'Sherwood Purple' - If you don't grow woodland phlox, this is the year to plant it. Another favorite woodland variety is Phlox divaricata. They have 'London Grove' in the catalog, but I think the color is washed out and prefer the darker blue varieties.

Another 'must have' for me is Penstemon 'Electric Blue' (which I may have to mulch for the winter - it's zone 6-9 - and we are borderline 5-6). I'm also a sucker for Euphorbias. I may try a new one from them called 'First Blush' - it looks awfully interesting in the picture. So does 'Tasmanian Tiger' with beautiful white variegation. I grow the annual Euphorbia marginata (Snow on the Mountain) every year from seed that originally came from my great-great grandmother's garden and was given to me by my Nana a few years before she passed away. It is one of my favorite self sowing annuals for the garden.

Flower Bulbs and Light Bulbs

2007-12-02T14:07:00.001-05:00

Well, I was all set to plant the rest of my bulbs this afternoon, when Mother Nature threw a wrench in the works yet again! Rain - and freezing rain at that! Now they'll have to sit in the garage a few more days. I swear I'm going to do it before Christmas....

Speaking of Christmas, I was listening to the radio this morning and they were talking about stringing lights on your trees and shrubs and how different it is now compared to 30 years ago. My dad used to put those fat multi-colored bulbs around our front windows using little brass tea cup hooks. The lights would get so hot, you could feel it through the window on the inside. My sister and I would press our lips against the warm glass at night. Now there are net lights, icicle lights, fiber optic lights, animated lit-up reindeer, and those enormous (read: tacky) blow up, parachute fabric things. The whir of their motors would drive me crazy! What ever happened to sprigs of holly and boughs of evergreens tacked to the front door and a couple of yards of white pine garland wrapped around the porch railing? To me, using nature's bounty to decorate for the holidays is so much more beautiful than all those lights. I'll take pine cones over twinkle lights any day. The photo above was taken at the farm last year and everything but the magnolia came from our property or the neighbors.

Crazy

2007-11-17T22:21:00.000-05:00

Woke up to a bit of snow on Thursday morning. There was a heavy dusting on the lawn with only the tops of the grass protruding from the white. It was really beautiful, especially sitting on all the rust colored foliage still clinging to some of our trees. Since then, I think most of the foliage has dropped around here. I spent some time on Friday morning raking leaves and cleaning up my hand tools and trowels for the winter. I packed away the hoses too, though they were too frozen to put into the shed! So they are just sitting on the concrete pad outside the shed door.

I still have a bag of bulbs sitting in the garage to plant. There are some alliums, daffodils and a few smaller bulbs to tuck into the front beds. Plus, I've still got a bit of raking to do out front. The maple leaves are collecting on the front steps and making for hazardous conditions for the UPS man.

Some good news: I sent the final manuscript for the next book to the publisher in Friday morning's mail. Good Bug, Bad Bug: Who's Who, What the do, and How to Control them Organically is still on schedule for spring release. The pictures Doug took turned out great and the one's he wasn't able to shoot we were able to get from Mike Masiuk at Penn State and a few from a great website bugwood.org. This book involved much more research than the last two and I learned a lot along the way...now if I can just remember it all!

Fall has Fallen

2007-11-06T22:45:00.001-05:00

Just harvested the last of the peppers from my frost nipped plants. The only things left in the veggie garden are a few beets and carrots. I'm hoping they make it a few more weeks - it would be nice to enjoy them on Thanksgiving Day.

My husband and I spent part of the weekend hauling topsoil and organic matter by wheelbarrow up the front yard to create the new garden at the top of the stone retaining wall. I also got it planted and mulched too. I did a nice blend of heuchera, Japanese painted ferns, a few shrubs, leopard's bane, Baptisia, yellow foxgloves, and a creeping low honeysuckle that I'm really excited about. I think it will fill in nicely next year and will serve as a good compliment to the new shrub bed across the front of the house. I'm using the extra organic matter to mulch the front perennial bed along the driveway. Doesn't it seem that when the delivery truck drops off the pile it seems so small? Until, of course, you start to shovel it, then you realize how much is actually there!

The leaves are really falling now. We've got a few maples and tulip trees in the back that are dropping like mad. It's hard to keep up, but a few passes with the mulching mower seems to really chop them up nicely.

The next chore is to find homes for the few plants that are still sitting in pots on the patio. I know it's technically too late, but I'm going to give it a shot anyway. Plus, there is still a bag of bulbs sitting in the garage....

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-30T20:27:00.001-04:00

Hope everyone is enjoying the cooler weather the past few days. It finally feels like fall now that we've had our first frost. Yesterday I was out raking leaves with my toddler who spread them out as quickly as I could pile them up....we sure did have fun though!

I also cleaned up my front perennial bed, pulling out all the annuals and cutting back the frost nipped perennials. I debated pulling the sunflowers, but after noticing that all the seed heads were already empty, I yanked them. I still have lots of bulbs to plant along with some plants. Plus, there is topsoil and mulch to be put on the new bed above the new retaining wall. I'll call to order that tomorrow. I never got around to planting any dahlias this spring so the only tender bulb I'll need to dig and store is the enormous elephant ear in the back garden (photo above). I plan to do that over the weekend if time allows.

Have a wonderful Halloween!

New favorites

2007-10-25T21:13:00.001-04:00

This is a mockorange called 'White Sensation' and it's one great plant. I told you in an earlier post about how I planted three of them behind my little waterfall and about how special they are because they bloom twice per year. Well, they've got several flowers on them right now and they are so sweetly scented....it's heavenly! What a great plant. I can't wait to see them in the spring.

We finally got some rain here, though not enough. The pond has lost a lot of water and we've been refilling it gradually with tap water. I feel like it's such an odd time of year to see a parched garden.

I made a lovely little garden bouquet a few days ago for a dinner guest. It was made from bright pink zinnias, roses, salvia and a few pink cosmos in a clear square vase. What a simple and sweet centerpiece. I almost went with the ubiquitous clump of funny looking gourds to center the table, but the bouquet was so much more charming...if unseasonal!

Gone to the dogs

2007-10-18T21:21:00.000-04:00

My stinkin' lousy little dog dug up the tulips I planted! I could scream! I was walking around outside and found a bulb in the grass, then I noticed all the holes in the garden. Of course since I didn't catch her in the act, I couldn't do anything but silently fume at her. Plus what I wanted to say was not suitable for my two year old's ears. She's a great little dog, but boy, she really works us over. I managed to find most of the bulbs in the dirt piles she made and put them back into the holes. Gotta love doing the same job twice....

It continues

2007-10-14T13:20:00.000-04:00

I was out this morning after the show and did some more clean-up chores. I pulled out some annuals and yanked the tomatoes and peppers (I know, I know, they still might ripen on the windowsill, but truthfully, I'm tired of tomatoes....). I also planted some tulips and daffs around the veggie garden fence. I only plant Darwin hybrid tulips anymore because I know they will come back year after year. I put in a bunch of orange ones called 'Daydream' and pink ones called 'Pink Impression'. Doug gave me a bag of 'Sir Winston Churchill' daffs, his personal favorite, so I also planted those too.

I still have lots more to go, especially out front. But that's a chore for another day. I hope the weather stays nice for a few more weeks...though we could really use some rain right now.

I'm hoping to get on the ball here soon and start putting some pictures up on this blog. Several folks have asked me via email to include them so they can see what the heck I'm talking about. I'm not very tech savvy, but my husband just showed me how it works so I'll give it a try later this week, promise!

Fall clean up begins

2007-10-11T13:50:00.001-04:00

Since the amount of gardening chores still on my plate is incredibly overwhelming, I decided to get started on some of the clean-up related items. Yesterday I emptied all my pots and pitched the contents into the unofficial compost pile on the far side of the fence. It felt good to get the old wheelbarrow cranking again...it's been sitting in the shed idle since spring. I pulled out some spent cosmos and basil plants and thought about doing the same with more of the annuals that are planted where I want to nestle some bulbs. Notice I said I 'thought about it'....I didn't actually do it. I ran out of time.

I did, however, manage to get the pond and waterfall covered with that leaf netting. It was easier than I expected since I found all the cut-to-fit pieces from last winter. I think the fish don't know what hit them with this sudden cool weather. The dogs aren't complaining though, they are acting like a couple of puppies since the temps have dropped. Funny how they do that.

Autumn weather

2007-10-10T14:56:00.000-04:00

What a beautiful morning it was. The weather is finally cooling off. It hardly felt like early October these past few days, more like August around here.

The stone mason finished the new retaining wall yesterday after only 3 days of work. There were three men here from 8am until 5pm solid for three days, but they seemed to do a good job. I hope it lasts the 20 years they said it would! Now I'm trying to decide whether I should plant the new bed now or wait until the spring. The mason said the backfill will settle quite a bit, up to a full foot, so if I plant now, that may mean I'm digging up and replanting everything next spring. On the other hand, if I wait, I'll have to overwinter all of the plants I have sitting in pots waiting to find their home in the new bed. I'll decide by the weekend since that's when I was planning on doing the planting.

The veggie garden is still producing, though I'm sure with the cooler weather on the horizon, the end is near. I've already pulled out my mildewed zinnias and some heavily harvested basil along with my broccoli and the cracked cabbages. I picked a dozen 'Green Zebra' tomatoes yesterday along with some 'Cosmonaut Volkov's. There are still some ripe cherries on the vine that I plan on picking this afternoon.

Another project for the very near future is to get the netting over the pond and waterfall. The leaves from the tulip tree have already begun to drop and I need to keep them out of the water. I have a feeling when I head to the shed, I won't be able to find last year's netting and will have to head to the nursery to buy some more. I just use light weight bird netting weighed down with bricks. It doesn't look very good, but it's effective and that's what counts! I'll remove it before winter, though so it doesn't collect icicles.

Enjoy the foliage this fall and plant those bulbs!

Oklahoma...

2007-10-03T20:54:00.000-04:00

So much for me updating you from the conference! I am absolutely exhausted. What an intense experience that was. I learned so much and had a real blast getting to know everyone I met. There were just under 500 garden writers and product exhibitors there and I can't wait to start telling everyone about some of the unique people and products I found at the conference. Everything from new organic products to lessons in podcasting, writing for the web (how am I doing?), new plants on the market, and some really special blogs (www.coldclimategardening.com). Over the next few months, we'll be talking about them on the program, so stay tuned!

What surprised me the most, I think, was all the different aspects of garden communicating represented there. Writers, web designers, scientists, radio and TV folks, bloggers, plant 'discoverers', breeders, product designers, PR folks, book authors and gardening non-profits to name just a few. I collected well over 100 business cards and it will take me weeks to figure out who was who! My greatest goal at the conference (besides getting some new writing gigs!) was to find some folks who really epitomize passionate gardening from across the country and bring them to The Organic Gardeners programs. No problem there, the place was crawling with them! The 'Expert's Corner' segment will be booked for many, many months....

OKC and the garden

2007-09-25T14:56:00.000-04:00

I'm off to Oklahoma City on Thursday for the annual Garden Writers conference (I'll send updates from the event if I can). They've asked me to participate in a panel discussion on organics and the role that garden communicators play in promoting and educating consumers about organic choices. I'm looking forward to the event and to finally meeting some of the faces I've only known via email and telephone for all these years.

Since I'll be gone for nearly a week, I'm sure I'll fall even further behind in my own garden. I managed to give some of my remaining potted plants to my mother for her garden and the rest are waiting on the back patio for the completion of our new retaining wall out front. The stone mason will start shortly after I return and he'll be tearing out the old wall and building a new, higher version that wraps around the steps. He's going to re-use the existing field stone while adding some new ones to make up the difference. The current wall is literally about to collapse.

Of course, I'm excited because this means a whole new garden will be created between the top of the wall and the front walk. I'm going to fill it with some shade perennials like painted ferns, Doronicum, Digitalis lutea, heuchera and some lace cap and 'Lemon Daddy' hydrangeas. 'Lemon Daddy' has bright chartreuse/yellow foliage with pink flowers - it's a real show stopper and will look great with the new boxwood and yellow carex I planted in the new foundation bed across the walk from it. Obviously, I'm going with the chartreuse/yellow/dark green combination. The Heucheras I have are a mix of chartreuse, bronze, burgundy and green leaved varieties. My only fear is that I'll tire of the color combination in a few years and have to re-do the bed in entirety. I guess that's not really a bad thing....in a few years I'll be looking for some new projects...right??

Building a travel garden

2007-09-22T21:04:00.000-04:00

Every week during the program, we air a segment called Everybody Gardens. It's an interview with a regular gardener. It's funny because sometimes we show up at someones house to record an interview thinking the story will be one thing, and it turns out to be something else entirely. The difficult part for Doug and I is to find the gardener's story - sometimes it takes a while to discover their passion and find out what will click with the audience. The really great part is that often, we learn a few new things along the way.

I headed to two beautiful gardens on Thursday to record interviews with their owners and I was so pleased with the results of both. Nancy Heraud is an herbalist with literally hundreds of different herb varieties. She's very passionate about preserving the fruits and veggies and herbs that her garden produces. Nancy has some great recipes we'll share with listeners and I think it will be a really lovely piece. But, there was another story in her garden.

Her husband Jose moved to the States from Peru in the 1970's. He shared with me his memories of his parent's gardeners and how he watched them work, knowing that some day he'd like a garden of his own. Jose also shared some seeds with me of two of his favorite plants native from Peru. I'm looking forward to growing them in next years garden.

Jose's gift got me thinking. I'm going to build a travel garden. I'm going to fill it with varieties that I know are native to the countries I have visitied, or with plants I remember seeing during my travels around the world. Of course I'll be careful not to plant anything invasive, but I can't wait to do a little research and find out what is going to find a home in my new travel garden. I must plant Jose's plants, some bougainvillea (Spain), some mouse sh#t peppers (Thailand), some leeks (Italy), and some jasmine (India): these I know will be included. There will also be lots more plants and I can't wait to add to it over the years.

Think about starting a travel garden at your house. No doubt it will bring back great memories.

Of grubs and damsel bugs

2007-09-18T20:59:00.000-04:00

Today I was weeding some grass out of the edge of the front bed and there, clinging to the roots of a grass clump, was a big fat grub. I was surprised at how large it was at this point in the season. I guess they are fattening up for their long winter hibernation. Of course I need it's picture for the new book, so I scooped him up and put him in a tupperware for delivery to Doug...lucky guy! I was also excited because I came across what I though was a damsel bug (a terrifically beneficial little guy who is relatively hard to come by). But after close examination and comparison to photographs, it isn't a damsel bug, so I guess I'll have to keep looking.

I planted some new coreopsis today around the veggie garden as well as a few salvias to fill in the bare spots where I pulled out some spent annuals. I think next year that garden will really fill in nicely. I was looking forward to enjoying my Aster 'Purple Dome' this fall, but the darned dear nibbled it twice this summer and I'm not sure if it will bloom before freezing weather arrives. It's one of my favorite asters (I also really like Aster frikartii 'Monch') and I love it with short golden rods like 'Golden Fleece' - it's such a great color combination for late in the season. My Anemone 'September Charm' is budding and the Boltonia is blooming it's head off. Too bad my two year old enjoys pulling off the flowers and sprinkling them around the garden. He's also finding great pleasure in picking all the unripe cherry tomatoes off the vines and pretending to eat them (which scares me to death since they are prime size for choking!). Of course I can't get him to even taste a ripe tomato...

Mock Oranges

2007-09-13T22:15:00.000-04:00

I finally got around to planting the three mock orange ('White Sensation') behind my mini-waterfall today. They are too puny to be seen over the stack of rocks, but someday I know their arched branches, covered with lovely white blossoms, will ramble up and over the rocks. I'm looking forward to watching them grow. I know it's hard for many gardeners to overcome the desire for instant satisfaction. Heck, it's one of the hardest things about gardening properly....who wants to wait 3 years, right? I have found over all the years I have gardened both personally and professionally, that there is only temporary satisfaction in instant satisfaction, but there is a special pride and joy in watching something grow to it's full potential. I love the process of waiting and watching and admiring how the garden evolves into maturity. True gardeners appreciate the future of their garden as much as the present. We are willing to wait.

Chores

2007-09-11T14:22:00.000-04:00

I enjoyed the few hours of sunshine we had yesterday afternoon by going outside and cleaning up the garden. I hadn't done any weeding or deadheading in a very long time so I really focused my attention on those two tasks. I grow a lot of self sowing annuals so when I deadhead those, I always drop the seed heads back into the garden; but if I don't cut them off, then flower production stops - especially on my cosmos. I ended up pulling out a bunch of 'Thumbellina' zinnias due to the severe powdery mildew they developed. It's a shame because I usually have good luck with them, but I bought them as nursery plants this year instead of starting from seed as I usually do. I think they were really stressed out from spending too much time in those tiny six packs when I planted them. There's no doubt in my mind that that makes them more susceptible to disease. I always have better luck direct seeding them vs. buying started plants (the same goes for my nicotiana and my nasturtums).

The weeds have done a fine job invading my beds this year, but with the nice rain we had yesterday morning, they pulled out very easily - even the spotted spurge came out without a problem. It's always 'nicer' to weed after a good rain!

I debated whether or not to cut down my coneflowers and black eyed Susans. I know the birds are quite fond of the seeds, but if I don't do it, I often end up with a million of them. Plus, Doug will tell you, I really don't like seeing dead stems and flowerheads in the garden, so I'm pretty quick to deadhead and cut things back when they start to look ratty to me. I think it comes from 10 years of trying to please customers who wanted a totally clean and green garden.

I have yet to plant my mock orange behind the waterfall. They are doing quite nicely in their pots on the patio. I promised myself I would do it this weekend, but it just didn't happen. So maybe next weekend it will happen. I also have two roses to find homes for.

Glass and flowers

2007-09-09T22:44:00.001-04:00

Many thanks to all of our listeners who came to the tour of Phipps Conservatory today. We had nearly 85 folks show up for the event. Our thanks, as well, go to the exhibit designer, Michele Frey McCann for giving us such an informational and entertaining tour. What a great morning it was!

If you live in the Pittsburgh area (and even if you don't but need a few day's vacation) make sure you get to Phipps to see the Dale Chihuly exhibit. It's truly exceptional and there is no way you can appreciate it through pictures. You must see it in person and with a trained guide if possible. I've always been an enormous fan of his, since seeing a few of his pieces in Italy and in the Naples Museum of Art, but to see his work side by side with such amazing plant material, is a real, once-in-a-lifetime treat. Everyone was shocked at the intricacy of Chihuly's pieces and the time and effort on the part of the Phipp's staff to pull together such an exceptional exhibit. I think the most shocking fact I heard was that the pieces had a value of 12-15 million dollars - and worth every penny, trust me!

I think the room I enjoyed the most this time (I've seen the show twice already and plan to go again in a few weeks with an out of town guest)was the serpentine room, especially after learning how those spires were made. The grand court (where the rowboat filled with glass is) is my most favorite exhibit, but I also love what he did outdoors in the Japanese garden. When you go, plan on spending some serious time examining each piece and the way the light plays off it; and how beautifully it blends with all the plant material.

Bulbs

2007-09-08T21:23:00.001-04:00

Our guest on the Sirius program today was Brent Heath from Brent and Becky's Bulbs. Both Doug and I are so fond of him as a person and also as an expert bulb grower. The interview really made me start to think about what kinds of bulbs I'm going to be planting here. The only thing that's already in the shade garden are some daffodils. I'm going to have to contain myself and promise to only plant tulips in the fenced part of the back yard since the deer are so problematic out front. I'm surely going to do some daffs in the front garden including some miniatures and a few standard yellow ones. And then I'll toss in some varieties that are white with the bright orange cups, maybe a later blooming selection. I'm reluctant to try much else out there because of the deer and the chipmunks. Maybe I'll tuck in some Fritillaria persica by the front walk for the 'drive by' interest they'll create on the way to the front door.

My goal around the veggie garden is to do several clumps of Darwin hybrid tulips in bright pink and deep orange. I love the craziness of that combination in the spring... it really perks up the garden just when I need it to! Then in the shade garden, to add to those existing daffs, I'll use some wood hyacinth, some clumps of Fritillaria meleagaris (one of my absolute favorite plants - the checkered lily), and some snowdrops.

I'll need to check out Brent and Becky's catalog to see if there is a bulb that will attract early season hummingbird visitors for the butterfly/hummingbird garden on the side of the house. If not, I'll likely go with some species tulips there and let them ramble up to the edge of the patio. I have always wanted to do some bulbs in my lawn, but have never had the money or time to do it. Doug is always offering me his extra bulbs, so this year I'm going to take him up on it and plant them in the grass around the shed. I'd eventually like to see scilla, crocus, snowdrops and glory of the snow mixed throughout the area, but I know that's years away. A little at a time, I guess.

Also, for those of you who listen to the Sirius show, I'll give you the heads up that next week's guest is one not to miss. Stephanie Donaldson will join us. She has co-authored a book with Prince Charles called The Elements of Organic Gardening. It's a beautiful and useful book and we are very excited that Stephanie is able to join us from across the pond. The show is on Lime Radio (Sirius channel 114) on Saturday's from 12-2pm EST. Hope you can join us!

Homemade sauce and baby entertainment

2007-09-04T20:14:00.001-04:00

Made some more spaghetti sauce today. It's such a simple recipe and I always make several batches each summer then freeze it for the winter. Just cut up a large onion and a large pepper and saute them in olive oil. While they are cooking core your tomatoes (about 2 large colanders full) and dunk them in a pot of boiling water for one minute. Take them out of the water when their skin cracks and put them into a sink of ice water. Peel off the skins and squeeze out the seeds. Then chop them coarsely and add them to the pot of now wilted onions and peppers. Toss in some dried oregano and some fresh basil and one or two bay leaves. Sometimes I add some diced garlic too. Bring to a boil then turn down to simmer and let cook down for several hours (3 or so). At this point, I usually add some salt to taste. When it begins to get thick, add two or three tablespoons of cornstarch mixed with a small amount of water to the pot. This will thicken it quite well. Then I let it cool and pack it into freezer bags. You can experiment with the amounts of herbs, or add mushrooms, or browned meat, or crushed red pepper if you desire. It's an easy recipe to experiment with. It's one of our favorites.

My small butterfly/hummingbird garden on the side of the house is really beginning to come into it's own right now. The sunflowers are nearly 10 feet tall, with many blossoms per stem; the red salvia (Lady in Red) is driving the hummingbirds mad with desire; the nasturtums have taken over the world; the zinnias are going non-stop; and the New York asters have finally begun to pop open. It's a lovely sight out the dining room window during mealtimes. Our whole reason for putting it where we did was so our son can see it when he sits down to eat. He loves pointing out all the flowers and telling me what colors they are. The bees and butterflies and hummers seem to keep him interested and he thoroughly enjoys watching the goldfinches hanging from the sunflower blossoms and eating the seeds.

I'm also loving the current state of my strawberries. They were new this year and have spread so much over the past few months. They are really taking off. I expect a bumper crop next year. I experimented by planting them underneath the row of blueberries, so I'm not sure how they will do in the acidic environment I made for the blueberries by adding elemental sulfur. It will be interesting to see if it effects their production....so far it doesn't seem to be hurting their growth, that's for sure. I don't have much room here (compared to the farm) so I'm always looking for ways to create companion planting that's not only beautiful but productive as well. We'll see next year if it was a smart idea!

New Trees and Old Plants

2007-09-02T20:37:00.000-04:00

Our guests have departed and it's back to the garden... Today my husband and I and our little boy planted a lovely little cut leaf maple ('Shirazz')behind our mini-pond and waterfall. It is really going to look beautiful there once it takes hold. We dug out the existing sod and created a new bed in which I plan to also put some mock orange (a new variety from Novalis that blooms twice per year!) and a few other things. It's not that big of a bed, but my hope is that it will help blend the pond and waterfall into the rest of the landscape. The tree went in quite easily despite the tree roots we had to chop out and thankfully the soil was in decent shape.

On a side note, we went to a friend's birthday party today in our old neighborhood in Shaler - it was my first house and first garden. I couldn't wait to see what the new owners did to it. Now I'm upset that I even looked! They hacked out my garden to put up an 8 foot high retaining wall that is topped with lots of weedy sumac, ragweed, horseweed and other assorted junk. Not one of my lovely perennials or shrubs appeared to remain. The shade garden on the side of the house was incredibly over grown but much less weedy. Our friend said she keeps wanting to sneak over under the cover of darkness and 'rescue' the beautiful oakleaf hydrangea in the corner. I hope she does! The good news is that the house is for sale so perhaps the new owners will pay more attention to the garden. It's always a shame to see something you spent so much time and effort on go to the dogs...

tomayto tomahto

2007-08-29T13:42:00.000-04:00

Went out to pick some tomatoes this morning for yet another batch of sauce. The plants still look great...I'm not sure if my lack of blight has anything to do with the fact that it's a brand new garden or the fact that I mulched heavily with a mix of compost (from AgRecycle) and leaf mold. Whatever the reason, they are looking great.

I picked four enormous 'Pineapple' tomatoes. They are a beautiful yellowish color with pink stripes radiating out from the bottom. They look a lot like 'Striped German' but the taste is much sweeter. I also have quite a few 'Caramello' that I got from Garden Dreams Urban Farm in Wilkinsburg along with 'Snow White' cherries (yes, they are a soft white-yellow color and sweet as all get out), 'Golden Jubilee' and 'Green Zebra'. Doug gave me 'Cosmonaut Volokov' (always a favorite), 'Cherry Tallon' and 'Jeff's Mystery' along with some others. I have been so pleased with the varieties I've grown this season. They have been productive and beautiful and fungus free (so far).

The cukes have pretty much shut down for the year, which is fine by me. Only so many bread and butter pickles a girl can make before her hands turn yellow from all the turmeric. I have a great recipe that came from my Nana and I've already made 20 quart jars this year - I guess I know what everyone is getting for Christmas. The hot peppers are beginning to roll in and the beets and carrots are fabulous. I'm growing 'Purple Dragon' carrot for the first time. They are lovely to see in a salad and the taste is much better than I expected. of course my old standby 'Scarlet Nantes' is performing up to her usual perfection. Other than the occasional carrot maggot they've been great.

Had to water all the pots still sitting on the driveway this morning. I need to find homes for them soon - which means I need to create the new bed behind our mini-waterfall to make room for them. The waterfall and pond were sort of plunked by the former owners in an odd spot. It looks very, very contrived as it is now, but I think if I can soften the edges with a new bed, some small trees and flowering shrubs it will help tremendously. Maybe that's a project for this weekend....

I may not get to post over the next few days. My cousin and her two boys are going to be staying with us for three days and I don't know what kind of time I'll have. I don't think I'll be working in the garden while they are here, but it will be back to business once they depart. I'm looking forward to this visit, we always seem to have so much fun together. It's nice to be related to your best friend!

Today's bugs

2007-08-27T20:40:00.000-04:00

Found more bugs today for Doug to photograph. A big tomato hornworm - with no parasitic wasp eggs hanging off it's back, so I felt really, really good taking it off the plant and putting it in a plastic baggie for transport! I also found a lacebug on my neighbors Azalea (yes, I have resorted to visiting the homes of others in hopes of raiding their bug stash - funny, no one has refused...)and a grasshopper, a slug, a snail, and some terrific beneficial insects including a tachinid fly, a robber fly, and a big eyed bug. If you aren't familiar with these particular beneficial insects, Google their image and check them out. You have probably come across them in the garden, but just didn't know what they were. I also had a hover fly trapped (when I was a kid we used to call them sweat bees), but when I was trying to transfer it from trap to container, it flew away. It's the only one I've seen all season and I'm very bummed that I let it escape...at least it was a beneficial and not a bad guy! Now I just have to hope I find another in the next month or so...

On a side note, I made some broccoli from the garden with tonight's dinner. Not sure why, but it was a touch bitter...maybe the heat. Looking forward to roasting some 'Chioggia' beets as part of tomorrow night's dinner.

Bugs in bags

2007-08-26T13:07:00.000-04:00

My next book project with my radio partner Doug Oster is in the hands of the publisher at long last. A Gardener's Journal is set for national release by St. Lynn's Press (the same folks who published Grow Organic) in late autumn. I'm really looking forward to seeing it. Doug and I have been journaling about our gardens for years but neither one of us have ever found the perfect journal. They either don't have enough room to write, you have to use them in the year they are printed, or they offer you nothing in the way of new gardening information. So we created a journal that fills in all the gaps; one that you can use from year to year, you can write in it as much (or as little) as you like, and it offers new gardening tips and some interesting stories from our own gardening lives. We hope folks like it as much as they've liked Grow Organic!

So now (since I'm crazy) I've been busy collecting bugs in bags for yet another book project in the works. I need to gather live specimens of common garden pests as well as beneficial insects to be photographed (by Doug) for an organic pest guide that will hopefully come to fruition sometime in 2008. What this means is that I've actually been hoping to find pests in my garden (another clear indication of my craziness!); and, so far, it has not been a problem. Plenty of squash bugs, four lined plant bugs, Japanese beetles, slugs, aphids and the like have showed up and graciously allowed me to trap them and put them in sealed plastic baggies. Every week I show up to the radio studio with a shopping bag full of bugs to had off to Doug!

The good news: I somehow managed to capture a tiny little parasitic wasp yesterday morning hanging about on my aphid infested rose plant (probably an Aphidius wasp that lays it's eggs on aphids), and, even more exciting, is the fact that last night I was looking at all the bugs hanging out on the screen outside the kitchen window and there was a beautiful green lacewing! - one of the most voracious pest eaters out there. Of course I carefully captured it in a tupperware container and hauled it off to the studio this morning. Now I'd just like to find some of their eggs to photograph. They are usually laid along a blade of grass and they are tiny bitty things on the end of thin filaments - they look like little lollipops in a row.

Hiding the shed

2007-08-25T21:13:00.001-04:00

Today I constructed and planted the new bed that will disguise our ugly shed foundation. We've been meaning to do it for months now, but I never got to it this spring as I intended; so, although August isn't really a great time to plant new shrubs (ideally I should have waited another month or so), I knew it might be now or never. Make hay when the sun shines, right?

I made a trip to Trax Farms two weeks ago (what a great place!)to pick up some other plants and ended up buying some plain old yews to put in the shed bed. I've never been a fan of yews, especially when they are pruned into meatball shapes, but these were in their lovely natural habit....unpruned, with wispy evergreen, slightly arching branches. These two were balled and burlapped and about two and a half feet tall. I also got a few variegated ornamental grasses for the bed too. As far as the plants that came in last week's shipment, I chose a dark leaved Wiegelia and a mock orange to add to my Trax finds.

I started by 'grubbing' out the existing sod and weeds - and discovered lovely soil rich in earthworms and organic matter (phew!) - so I just planted the plants, watered them in then mulched with some shredded hardwood bark. It looks great and is already doing a fine job disguising the shed. Once the plants are a bit taller it will really do the trick quite nicely.

On another note, I made an official decision to rip out all the plants in the bed by my front walk (what AM I thinking?). The hostas were deer-eaten to the nub, the black-eyed-susan vine was taking over the world (and with only a few blooms, it was too reminiscent of field bindweed to me - though normally it's a plant I like a lot), and the German bearded iris were brown and floppy and in need of a good division. So I decided to dig out the whole lot of them and start over with plants that are a bit more deer resistant. So I gave most of the Hosta to my greatful neighbor and replanted a few of them in the back garden. Some of the iris also went to the neighbor, and the black-eyed-susan vine was sent to be reincarnated as compost. I haven't a clue what I'm going to plant there this fall, but I still have plenty of time. I'm sure it will include the painted ferns and coral bells that are sitting on my driveway in pots and I did leave a bit of pink lamium there too. For now, it's just a clean slate of dark earth - it looks quite pretty to me. I don't mind some emptiness in the garden now and then...it helps me envision all the potential in the dirt.

Not much today

2007-08-23T22:12:00.001-04:00

I didn't get to spend any time in the garden today, which was good since I'm so darned sore from planting yesterday. I can hardly lift my left arm. I can't believe I used to do this for 10 hours a day, six days a week, from March through November. Of course, I was younger and in way better shape then...funny how that works!

I should tell you, though, that I did spend some time watching the hummingbirds this afternoon. We have three of them 'fighting' over our feeder everyday. They are such amazing little birds and one will guard the feeder by perching on a sunflower leaf. She'll dive bomb anyone who comes even close to the feeder. I watched her sitting there through the storm the other day - she didn't even flinch. I guess I make exceptional hummingbird food! I take 1/2 cup of organic, unrefined cane sugar and 2 cups water, bring it to a boil for 2 min. Then I let it cool and fill up the feeder. I change the food and wash the feeder every few days to be sure it doesn't ferment and make them sick. Seems to work way better than the dyed red stuff you buy at the store.

Plant Crazy

2007-08-22T20:13:00.000-04:00

My nearly two year old son discovered earthworms today - actually I made the mistake of showing them to him as I was planting a bunch of new plants (more about those in a bit). He spent about a half hour digging through the piles of backfill and picking out all the worms. He'd then carry the squirming little critters over to the nearest plant and sprinkle them on it. I didn't have the heart to stop him because it was really cute, plus, he wasn't hurting the worms - just relocating them. I'm thrilled at how much he enjoys being outside with me and how much he likes 'helping' me in the garden by doing various things like pulling the petals off my zinnias, filling in recently dug planting holes, sprinkling mulch and playing with the hose and/or sprinkler. We were outside for about 4 hours today and he still cried when I made him come inside to get ready for dinner.

What, you may ask, were we doing outside for 4 hours? Planting about 35 new trial plants from Novalis. The 18 wheeler pulled up this morning and Doug and I unloaded the plants and set to work divvying them up. I wanted to get some of them planted before the weekend as we have visitors coming for a few days...so now my back is killing me and I'm pretty darned tired. I haven't worked that hard since spring (how sad is that?). I feel accomplished, though, so that's always a nice feeling.

The plants look great and I can't wait to report on their progress over the coming weeks. I was most excited to try a new Hydrangea called 'Lemon Daddy'. It's got chartreuse foliage and pink flowers. Another potential favorite is a really stunning cut leaf maple called 'Shirazz' - it's got pink and white leaf margins and supposedly has a really beautiful growth habit. I promise to be honest with everyone about what works in my garden and what doesn't - that goes for these new plants as well as any new technique or organic pest control I try. Let's hope all the results are positive!

Getting Started

2007-08-21T20:15:00.000-04:00

I never thought I would ever spend as much time on my computer as I do in the garden...but, I guess it's now official. At least I'm getting paid for most of the time I spend with my laptop...with the exception of this new blog, of course. Many of the radio show's listeners have asked to know what's going on in my garden, so I just thought it best to periodically fill everyone in. Maybe I can offer some advice along the way and let you know my successes and failures in the garden. I'm hoping to post something new every day or two so be sure to check back often.

To catch you up:
Most of you may already know that my current garden is only a few months old. We just sold our organic farm :( and moved here a few months ago (maybe I'll get into the reasons why in a later post). It's been nice to scale down - we went from 25 acres to 2 acres - but at the same time, it's been difficult to pick and choose the plants that are special enough to keep growing - not to mention being much closer to all our neighbors. I moved about 150 potted perennials with me that I divided from the farm's garden. Unfortunately, I didn't afford the pots enough winter protection, so many of them bit the dust before spring even arrived. That left me with very little to start my new garden. However, the great thing about this profession is that companies often send you new plants to trial, so I've been getting some new varieties and, of course, I've spent plenty of bucks at several local nurseries too. Doug (my radio partner) has also been quite generous in sharing many of the plants from his garden.

When we put in the two huge gardens at the farm, we had some tilling help, but stripped most of the sod ourselves - what a terrible, back-breaking job! So since we had already suffered through that, we decided to hire a landscaper to strip the sod at the new house to create my veggie garden. It's way smaller than at the farm (after all, I'm only growing for 3 people instead of 100's of customers!) but I'm still managing to harvest plenty of veggies to eat fresh, freeze, process and pickle. It's really done well this year and I'm still looking forward to some autumn lettuce and turnips.

The perennial beds aren't much to look at quite yet. You know, the plants start out so small, but in a few short years they'll be ready to be divided. I was sure to plant many of my favorite annuals (from seed and transplant) to fill in the many holes between the perennials. I'm very fond of cosmos, snow on the mountain, zinnias, gomphrena, sunflowers, old-fashioned tall ageratum and a few others - I NEED to have them in the garden every year. They remind me of my Nana...and they juice up the garden for the entire summer and well into the fall.

The future:
Those empty perennial beds are going to get a big boost tomorrow afternoon. I'm expecting a shipment of trial plants from a company called Novalis, many of which are perennials. I'm looking forward to finding homes for each and every one of them over the coming weeks. I'll let you know which ones are really stellar so you can find 'em for yourselves next year!

Other plans include a new shrub bed to help hide the ugly shed, a clean-up/perk-up of the small shade garden, and planting some fruit trees and raspberry plants. Plenty of work remains to be done this season....as is always the case in the garden.