Patty's Peweevian Acre

Happy Fall

2006-10-07T22:48:00.000-04:00

I can't believe the leaves are falling already. I raked a huge pile for Bailey to jump in after school yesterday -- leaf pile pictures are an annual tradition around here. Actually though I hate fallen leaves. We have 5 massive maples along the side of our property line and leaves are tracked in the house all winter. There are so many it is impossible to rake or mow them all -- and they've really only begun to fall the trees aren't even beginning to look bare. At least someone enjoys them.

Sweet stuff

2006-10-05T06:50:00.000-04:00

I haven't been doing much in the garden other than a bit of clean up -- though the weather this week has been sunny and in the 80s. I did dig some sweet potatoes though. Most were small to normal size, but one was huge and round -- It reminded me of the size of a baby's head for some bizarre reason. I've baked one and made a couple into fries. I may try my hand at sweet potato pie -- Bailey may eat it if she thinks it's pumpkin.

Other than the sweeties the garden is pretty much over. The new seeds I planted are coming along - except for the lettuce (I can't raise a second crop of lettuce apparently -- it's the second year in a row), I still need to put in the garlic. I bought a head, but can't remember where I put it. Hopefully the weather will hold until the weekend so I can do some major clean-up. I may put some solarizing covers on some beds to kill the weed seeds and soil bugaboos. I heard it can work if you leave them on all fall/winter/early spring. If I don't work this weekend, the next time I turn around it will be Thanksgiving!

High water

2006-09-24T12:46:00.000-04:00

We lucked out compared to others in Louisville metro -- just about an inch of water in part of our unfinished basement and some water leaking through the bathroom window because of loose flashing. The creek is just rushing -- the power of water is really amazing. A huge fallen log that had gone most of the way across the creek -- about 3 feet in diameter and about 10 feet long is totally gone I can't see it anywhere for the about 100 yards I can see downstream. There are giant rocks upended and moved from their usual spots as well. I took Bailey down for a little object lesson in why she should stay away from the creek after it rains.

The other side of this is that a heavy rain lets me do my little good deed for the day. I usually take the opportunity to pick up all the broken glass and trash that washes downstream. It is amazing the stuff people toss or that has turned up after years -- I swear I found a piece of an old cast-iron porcelain clad sink as well as a whole grocery bag of glass. When we first moved here I pulled about a pick-up load of scrap metal - bedsprings old fencing, a bicycle and tire rims from the creek. I'm always amazed there is still more. I figure every piece I remove is one less accident waiting to happen. One bonus is there is a mysterious supply of old bricks that keep washing downstream -- perfect for the path I am putting in between my blackberry rows. Oh, and yes, that is someone's patio cushion hanging in the tree.

Florida Weave

2006-09-19T08:07:00.000-04:00

Note to self -- next season try the Florida Weave trellising technique on my tomatoes. There are no tomato cages to deal with and prop up half-way through the season and the only cost is a few metal T-posts and twine. Of course, I have to grow decent tomatoes to make a good test of the method. If you want to see the method in action (and a truly awesome veggie harvest) check out the Dirt Sun Rain Blog.

The new blogger beta has turned into a bit of a pain. All of a sudden I can't comment on any other blogs. I'm not sure if it is that I just can't comment on non-beta blogs or what -- but how can you tell, and I write the comment and try to publish before it tells me I can't. Hopefully it won't continue too long -- since once you've gone beta you can't go back.

Feels like fall

2006-09-15T15:33:00.000-04:00

Check out this cool spider I found
in the front yard today -- luckily before I stuck my big fat hand in to
pull weeds. I've never seen one like it. It was quite large too.

We had a few days of heavy rain last week and on the other
side of it, the weather has begun to cool down a bit. I went out and
pulled weeds and cut off big hunks of creeping phlox that were creeping
down over the driveway and put some in the drainage ditch next to the
road and some other "problem areas. I love that stuff -- you don't even
have to dig, just toss some on a patch of dirt and water it in. I also
noticed that my winter garden seeds have sprouted -- and have done it
much more quickly with better germination rates that in the spring. It
remains to be seen whether anything will come of them.

Aside from cooling the temps, the rain did one other thing -- caused my goliath of a hyacinth bean vine to snap my stick tuteur.
It's all in a heap, though the vine itself still looks perfectly
healthy and is still reaching up. It reminds me of this book I just
finished -- The Ruins by Scott Smith -- about this creepy and sentient vine that takes over this Mexican mountain top and has developed a taste for tourists.

I also did what I thought was a good days work this past weekend and got my shed cleaned out. Organizing can be so satisfying -- unfortunately it all goes to hell again too quickly. Before and after pics.

Fall Garden

2006-09-05T08:00:00.000-04:00

The weather was perfect on Sunday so I spent the day in the garden -- I'm still feeling it in my arms. I got out the Mantis to till up a few beds for fall seeds, but the stupid thing was not cooperating. Steve got it to start long enough to till the large bed, from which I had just pulled a ton of potatoes. Then when I took my hand off the throttle to move it to the next bed it stopped and was just as hard to start. It stopped again and I couldn't get it going again. I'm not sure if it's the carburator, old gas or what. I'll have to drain it and put in fresh gas/oil mix and see. I hate picky maintenance stuff. I wish stuff would just work when you wanted it to.

At any rate, I got 4 beds done and seeded -- a few things I know probably won't work but hey - I had the seeds. I put in some Pinetree Gardens Winter blend lettuce, Meridia Overwintering carrots, Swiss Chard, Detroit Yellow Beets, Peas and I had a packet of 45 day Cool Breeze cucumbers, so I thought I'd give a few of those a shot -- you never know. I may set up a little coldframe for the lettuce. I had saved one of my shower doors when I took them off the tub for just this purpose. It has a nice handle and everything and is about the right size for the small bed I put the lettuce in. I still need to put in my garlic and put down some foxglove and forget-me-not seeds that you're supposed to start in the fall.

Another benefit of working in the garden was that it helped me figure out what to do with it next year. The perennial area is so blah -- I think it has too much shade. The butterfly bushes grow like crazy though, so I think I will just go with it and do another couple of those and make that entire area bb bushes with just a few daylilies in front and move the rest of the perennials to the front when I move out those sickly roses to the back where they will get more attention.

Oh - I also made my Jalopeno Relish -- I ate some with cream cheese and crackers and it was quite good -- kind of sweet and sour. I used about 30 green and 10 red jalopenos and 2 onions chopped (my hands still sting this morning) put them in a large pot cover with boiling water and let sit 5 minutes - drain and return to pot. Add 2 cups vinegar, 2 cups sugar and 3tbs salt, bring to a boil, boil 5 minutes. I then put all the peppers and most of the liquid into my food processor for a few pulses, because I wanted it a bit finer, then loaded it in a big jar. The sweet & sour effect was quite nice with a little bit of heat -- and it wasn't too fiery even with all the peppers. The original Ball 1922 recipe called for 12 green and 12 red bell peppers and 12 onions but was otherwise the same.

My favorite summer treats

2006-09-02T19:55:00.000-04:00

I just realized that summer was almost over and I hadn't made my favorite thing --- a Tomato and Cheese Galette from my Baking With Julia book. It has a crust with corn meal in it and almost a full stick of butter. The topping is monterey jack with slivered basil leaves topped with slices of plum tomato. So good. My tomato plants are so sad now though, I just hope I'll get enough to make another one. The Jolly Elves are the only ones producing.

I also made some more Jalopeno poppers. And I found a recipe for pepper relish in a 1922 Ball Blue Book that I'm going to adapt for hot peppers -- I have a full colander of peppers and I can't possibly eat that many poppers (well I could, but I'd regret it). Also in the book was an interesting recipe for pickled Nasturtiums -- the seed pods left after it flowers can be pickled and used as a substitute for capers.

Hot salsa

2006-08-24T07:39:00.000-04:00

My neighbor gave me a packet of this salsa mix for canning -- cheating I know, but my kids won't eat my fresh uncooked salsa and a little "fast food" processing (and packing it into old salsa jars might just trick them into thinking it's from the store. I didn't strain out the seeds though, so I don't know how tricky I'm actually being. It didn't yield enough to worry about hot water processing, so I just stuck it in the fridge.

The weather has been gorgeous - and not too humid - so I've spent no few hours in the garden over the past couple of days pulling wheelbarrow loads of weed out of beds and pathways. It looks almost passable now. I'm thinking about breaking out the Mantis and tilling some newly empty beds to replant for fall -- I still have enough good weather left and God knows I have enough seeds.
I've also been pouring over my stock of old garden magazines and books looking for ideas for next year. I'd like to make some major changes, but it seems like so much work -- and expense. I suppose I could launch a major nursery operation for the perennials I would need. and put down layers of newspaper and mulch to kill off the grass by spring. Patience is also my problem. It's hard to envision the end product while making due with tiny plants and piecemeal design. Well, I'm going to try to actually develop an overall plan before digging in. I spent a lot of time planning the layout of my herb/veg garden, but not so much its placement. I plopped it in the middle of the yard -- just extending the old veg patch the previous owners left. With the result being that it visually cuts off the yard, making it seem much smaller. I do want to break up the yard, but in a way that keeps pulling the eye back. Maybe I'll start with clearing out the brush growth along the creek -- I'd really love to be able to see the natural limestone/sandstone walls that edge the creek and that would do a lot to visually extend our space -- we do own the land to about 20 feet beyond the far bank of the creek. Here's a little slide show that walks your through the yard - from the view from the deck, back behind the garden, down to and in the creek and up toward the house from the far side of the garden. All my wasted spaces crying out for love (and cash and labor).

Crazy Hyacinth Bean Vine

2006-08-20T22:29:00.000-04:00

This vine is reaching out its tentacles with a view to world domination. If you check my archives you might see the bare, 10-12 foot tuteur teepee thingy I built a few months back. 2 Hyacinth bean plants have totally swamped it and are spreading toward the beans and the potatoes. So much for the "Death Square."

Speaking of potatoes I dug some today and found 11 from one plant! My usual yield from one plant is about 6. I wonder how long you can leave them in the ground once the vine withers? I'd hate to have to dig them all at once -- they'd go bad for sure.

Fruits of my labor

2006-08-18T22:26:00.000-04:00

I'm back. I've been ignoring this blog a bit in favor of the one I just launched about my eBay business. At any rate, I have been doing a bit a weeding, but mostly enjoying my harvest. Check out these gorgeous tomatoes. They were supposed to be Mr. Stripeys, but they didn't develop any stripes -- just the most lovely peachy-yellow color. They're delicious to boot -- I've been eating a lot of tomato sandwiches standing over the sink to catch the drips.

I also have to show off my dinner from the other evening -- my golden baby belles (some no bigger than a quarter) stuffed with herbed cream cheese and topped with black olive slices, my Jolly Elf tomatoes and some green beans vinagrette. Yum. Tonight I fried up a bunch of sweet red Italian peppers, onions and Italian sausage. I also tried slow roasting my romas -- so rich, like eating a spoonful of tomato paste. I think I'll roast some peppers to save tomorrow -- I have a giant bowl of jalopenos.

Finally moving again

2006-08-13T14:23:00.000-04:00

I have been too ashamed to post anything. I have been really neglecting things outside -- mostly heat and humidity related, partly because I've been obsessing about growing my ebay business with a few marketing ploys. I finally did get out there for a few hours and cleared about 7 wheelbarrow loads of weeds from the herb/flower garden. I also harvested a sack of tomatoes, peppers, beans and squash. I have been making plenty of my favorite salsa fresca but I have quite a few peppers and squash I haven't gotten to yet. I'm going to make a big tray of poppers this afternoon. I need to make some squash and oregano or freeze some squash soon too. I had some beautiful Italian red peppers that I fried up with Italian sausage the other day I need to pick up some more sausage for subs.

I've also been thinking of moving my garden around to better fit my yard. I'd keep the herb garden where it is, but turn it into an annual flower/butterfly garden, then move the fruit/veggies all along the right side of the yard. If I'm going to change things up, I need to do it before I'm too decrepit to wield a shovel.

Back from vacation -- Yikes

2006-08-04T21:21:00.000-04:00

We'll I returned from Michigan to find weeds had triumphed and my automatic sprinkler set up failed -- the water just squirted out from around the gasket. Per usual, I have found myself to be a fair (but not too fair) weather gardener. As the temps went into the 90s and held, I stayed inside. For a few days it wasn't much cooler inside - but that's another story. Weeds (and Hyacinth bean vine) must love the heat because they flourished while my cucumbers, squash, pumpkins and lettuce gave up the ghost.

I had to spend one day getting my front yard into shape -- the rose hedge looked awful and the shrubs were all overgrown and the hostas weed-ridden. Plus we're still technically on vacation so I used up valuable weeding time going with the fam to the Newport Aquarium (we got to pet sharks - very cool), to the Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom water park and to various movies. All good stall tactics in 98 degree weather.

I have harvested more green beans, peppers, potatoes and tomatoes -- though I am disappointed with the tomatoes -- small, not many and not too flavorful. I had such high hopes for this year and I feel like a flop. Maybe next year I'll give up and plant the whole thing with annual flowers! Well, I suppose not. I did go out and weed a bit tonight. I suppose I'll clear out the dead stuff, add a bit of compost and get it ready to plant for a fall garden. Usually things are going so well into September that I don't have the space for fall plantings. The power of positive thinking, right?

First Tomato

2006-07-21T19:49:00.000-04:00

I finally had my first ripe tomato today -- just cherry-sized, but it was good. We're going to Michigan for 5 days -- they'll all be sure to ripen when I'm gone. As well as these cute little peppers. They are the Golden Baby Belles that I started from seed -- so cute. I've been harvesting tons of giant jalapenos and have put them to good use making poppers. I found a recipe that bakes them instead of deep frying. I also made a nice yellow squash soup and a salad nicoise -- I have many green beans to use.
I have my automated sprinkler set up and need to move all my potted plants into the garden so they don't die. Of course it is coming down buckets right now. I'll probably come back to an overgrown weed patch full of club-like squash and tough beans, but what are you gonna do. Be back on Thursday!

Things that fly

2006-07-16T22:59:00.000-04:00

My butterfly bushes are finally in bloom and are attracting many butterflies and enormous bees. Until I saw the antennae I thought this one was a tiny hummingbird. I do wish I had one with more colorful flowers -- but they were here when I got here. It's 90 degrees and incredibly humid, so I didn't get into the garden today. I had pulled onions and picked some more peppers last night, so I made the green salsa today. It was quite good and extra spicy -- I used about a dozen jalapenos (or is it jalopenos) and a few green tomatos (or is it tomatoes?) an onion, 3 cloves of garlic and a (sadly) store-bought red pepper for color. You cook it all up with some cider vinegar and salt then hot water process the jars. I made 2 jars and actually ate one warm without the water processing. A bit of sour cream mixed in cut the heat. Might have been a little vinegar-y. The second jar might be a bit mellower if I can stand to wait and let the flavors set up. I am a fool for salsa so I don't know if I'll make it.

Veggie Overload

2006-07-15T22:09:00.000-04:00

Well I made it through a week as a Girl Scout day camp counselor relatively unscathed. Actually, I probably had more fun than Bailey did -- you're not allowed to have your own kid in your unit. Each unit leader was given pretty free reign outside of a few scheduled activities so we did a lot of hiking and creek walking. It was tiring though, I was also a bus monitor and had to be at the bus by 7:45 a.m. and couldn't leave until everyone was picked up in the afternoon. It was hectic, hot and humid. The camp, Camp Shanituck in Bullitt County, Ky, just south of Louisville was pretty and mostly shady. Anyway -- my garden didn't suffer too much from the neglect. I got a chance to pick beans and cucumbers in the evenings. I also made my yellow squash with the oregano and chicken broth for dinner one night -- this time I added some grape tomatos and tossed it with pasta.

I froze green beans and edamame today. I also made 2 little containers of pesto and froze one of those. I'm not sure that I like my basil. I have 3 sizes of basil in my basil patch -- normal large-leaf basil that volunteered from plants 2 years ago, small leaf Summerlong basil (I liked it better last year, it seems the leaves were slightly bigger) and some mutant basil with leaves that are so tiny it's ridiculous. The small leaves are very time consuming to strip -- my pesto had more than a few stms processed in. I've never dried basil before -- I may give that a try -- maybe with the oregano as well. I'm still steadily adding cucumbers to my refrigerator pickle crock. I was looking in a Mediterranean cookbook I have and may try some Tzitliki (?) Greek cucumbers in a yogurt and garlic sauce. It's hard to figure out what to do with all this bounty. I also found a couple of intriguing zucchini recipes - one for zucchini lasagna - using long strips of zucchini instead of noodles - and one for a zucchini and basil muffin.

My next challenge is to figure out what to do with all my jalapenos. I wound up with 4 jalapeno plants out of my 7 pepper plants because I couldn't remember which was which when 2 bit the dust and I wanted to make sure I had some for salsa. Unfortunately timing is not my friend this year since my tomatos are about 3 weeks behind I usually pick the first one by the second week in July. I looked up a recipe for green tomato and jalapeno salsa that I may try. I'm also dying to get some cream cheese and make some poppers. Now my question is -- will the tomatos ripen before the plants keel over entirely -- they look pretty sad.

I did get out there and weed some this evening. We had quite a storm last night so the ground was wet and it was pretty easy to pull the quickweed that had taken over. I have some Swiss Chard and Yellow Beet, as well as more carrot and Heatwave lettuce I'd like to put in, but I'm not sure if I should wait til it's a bit cooler.

So many Daylilies

2006-07-09T10:16:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure exactly what the deal is this year -- but I seem to have many more varieties of daylilies. I spread them around quite a bit this year -- it may just be that I just now able to see them. Previously I just had a few light pink, many bright yellow some with the rust and yellow and your standard orange. This year there are red, pale yellow, I saw one purple, and some new multicolor ones from 3 "bonus" plants I received with an order from Wayside Gardens a couple of years ago - blooming for the first time. There is a huge Daylilies-only nursery here in town -- I should check it out.

Edamame Yum!

2006-07-06T20:34:00.000-04:00

I just had my first batch of edamame beans from my garden -- actually from anywhere - I've never eaten, much less grown them. At any rate -- so good. The variety I planted is Beer Friend. They are so sweet and nutty. There's mo pic because I gobbled them all up. I boiled them in salted water for 5 mins then popped them out of the shells and salted them a bit more. Excellent.

happy fourth

2006-07-04T14:16:00.000-04:00

It's hot and humid with a thunderstorm on the horizon for the Fourth here. Luckily we did a few fireworks last night. Still getting ready for a party at the neighbor's today though it may be a wash out.
In the garden, my Kwintus Pole Beans are starting to come in -- they are actually Romano beans. I've never made them before but I found a nice recipe on an organic farm's websiteRomano bean ragout. I made it again today as a salad to take to the party.

This pic's for you Meredith. My dad and brother were visiting for the weekend so I could make some of the stuff I'd been making for myself for a more appreciative audience. Dad will eat anything. Aside from the beans I also made the golden beets and greens and some pickles. He also took home a big bag of herbs, beans, cucumbers and garlic.

Aside from the visit I've been distracted from gardening -- the kids found a "fishing hole" a spring-fed part of the creek full of little fish and have caught and released quite a few -- monitoring this has kept Nola and I busy - her son Anthony is the other fisherman involved. Maggie helps. Otherwise - the Japanese Beetles have started munching on the beans, I have a few yellow squash starting to set fruit, the green beans are producing steadily, we are picking a few blackberries and I've picked a few jalapenos -- though one of my plants fell over.

TO DO LIST:
1) Weed
2) Weed
3) Weed

I love refrigerator pickles

2006-06-25T23:19:00.000-04:00

I made my first batch of refrigerator pickles today. They are the reason I plant cucumbers at all. I used this cute little vintage crock that just wouldn't sell on eBay. I decided to keep it since it is so perfect for my pickles. This batch is made with a cup of apple cider vinegar, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 tsp pickling salt, 2 chopped cloves garlic and some celery seed. It seems I change recipes every year trying to reach pickle nirvana -- I like them a little sweet, a little garlicky and a little hot. I'll try adding red pepper flakes to the next batch.

Unfortunately the pickles aren't made with my cucumbers. I swapped some garlic and sugar snaps with my neighbor for 2 cucumbers, a yellow squash and a cabbage from her garden. It is nice to have a gardening neighbor to trade varieties with. I had to pull out half my cucumbers today -- they had been looking so good -- then boom wilted leaves. Cucumber blight. Apparently there is no way to save them, just pull out the plant and dispose of it, before all the plants are infected. It's carried by that little striped Cucumber beetle. Hopefully it won't get all my plants. It got them last year, but I did move them to the other side of the garden this year. Oh well. I'll just have to hope Nola has a banner crop.

How's it growin'

2006-06-22T00:39:00.000-04:00

Here's what it looked like today -- shot up quite a bit since the last photo. Today I did work a little fertilizer around the tomatoes and peppers -- we'll see if it makes any difference. I have been quite good about going out every morning and weeding one or two squares. The humidity has finally set in though, so we'll see if I can keep it up.

Love those root crops

2006-06-22T00:23:00.000-04:00

I seem to be having the best luck with my root crops this year -- though I did finally notice a few tomatoes actually starting on my sickly plants. Anyway -- I dug my first few garlic heads and have them hanging in the shed to cure. I couldn't resist cracking one open though and trying it -- sauteed 2 sliced cloves in olive oil and tossed with pasta and fresh basil -- so good. The heads came out very well -- nice and large considering I planted run-of-the-mill grocery store garlic last October. I still have about 6 more heads to pull -- what to do with all the garlic is now the question -- considering no one else in the house likes it (what a surprise).

They do, however, like carrots. I was thining my over-wintering Meridia carrots (supposed to take 150 days to mature) and pulled out these 6-inch long beauties. They have a great flavor too -- better than the Short and Sweet I also planted. I started a couple more rows of carrots - one in front of the tomatoes and another where I pulled some potatoes last week -- at least everyone will eat them. I have had a small success though. Emma actually eats the Bibb lettuce without complaint -- baby steps.

Golden beets

2006-06-16T21:10:00.000-04:00

I know I am over-blogging but I just had to post about these beets. I pulled three golden beets today -- I should have left them a bit longer they weren't very big, but I couldn't resist. The rosy-gold color of the peel is so pretty -- I should take one to the paint store to get the color mixed. Anyway -- I roasted the beets in foil (425 for about 35 mins) til they were soft and sauteed the chopped greens in olive oil with a clove of garlic. Added the sliced beets at the end and tossed it all with a bit of balsamic vinegar with a tsp of sugar mixed in. I am not a person who usually eats cooked greens, but this was one of the more delicious things I have ever eaten. Note to self -- plant many more golden beets.

Sensei RIP

2006-06-16T14:35:00.000-04:00

Poor Sensei. Maggie finally got ahold of the big koi. I found a shower of scales and a tail at the bottom of the pond this morning when I went to feed them. Maggie must have gotten her when she jumped in yesterday. I thought they were both goners, but Bailey went out and saw little Ninja II swimming around. I'm going to try to get Steve to retrieve the tail -- I don't think I can quite deal with that little chore. I'll spare you the pond photo.

Field Trip

2006-06-15T17:31:00.000-04:00

Bailey, Maggie and I took a drive today to Bernheim Forest & Arboreteum in Claremont, KY -- about 20 miles south of Louisville. It is a terrific place with kind of a split personality -- part manicured looking lakes, gardens and collections of hollies and other types of shrubs -- all neatly labeled -- and part wilderness with miles of trails for hiking. We took in a bit of both. Leashed dogs are allowed, so Maggie was able to come with us, though she pulled so hard I thought she was going to choke. We hiked a 1.3 mile trail - a loop so we couldn't get lost - though it seemed like more since it was virtually straight up then nearly straight down. It was nice since we didn't see a single soul until we got back to the trail head -- very serene, lots of green filtered light. Bailey didn't complain (which was surprising since she fell a few times when we were on the downhill side)and I didn't have a stroke on the way up (also surprising the way my heart was pounding). We then drove down for a walk around the garden and lake. There was a nice Garden Gazebo -- all enclosed -- that reminded me of a view at Mt. Vernon -- must be the cupola -- and about 100 geese at the lake.

Not too much was in bloom, though I did find a few interesting plants and combinations. The first pic is a dwarf sage - I have a little sage collection myself, but I haven't seen that variety. The second is Stokes Aster and the third (the darker feathery foliage on the left) is Arkansas Amsonia and the last is a tall bellflower. Bailey was particulary impressed by all the tall grass in the Quiet Garden.

They have a great little visitor's center with an ice cream shop and interactive teaching displays. The building itself is a teaching tool with information about building structures that are more in tune with the environment. It has a planted, living roof to decrease run-off and to off-set the green space lost when the building was constructed. It operates with available-daylight-only lighting and they were busy constructing holding tanks for run-off water to use to flush toilets and other gray-water chores. The parking lot was even constructed so run-off was channeled through an area planted with mushrooms that break down the oil and other petroleum in the water into carbon dioxide (I think that is what it was -- well something good anyway).

Perfect weather

2006-06-13T00:48:00.000-04:00

For some reason the humidity has stayed away and we had just a beautiful day after some thunderstorms this weekend. I took advantage of the damp ground to pull a ton of weeds -- I also went thru the strawberries and got out most of the rotten ones -- there are still some good ones coming on. Things seem to be growing a bit better -- the cucumbers are looking okay -- with a few flowers starting, the beans as well. I have a pepper plant with a good sized jalapeno on it (though the plant itself isn't more than 12 inches tall). My experimental artichoke has even started to take off. There were a few potato plants that had withered -- I pulled them up and got 3 cute little potatoes. I had them for lunch with some parsley, a bunch of blanched sugar snap peas and a salad of garden lettuce and radishes. I felt quite virtuous after such a healthy (and free) lunch -- but totally made up for it with a big plate of nachos for dinner.

My neighbor is on vacation and I've been looking after her garden -- I must say I totally have zucchini envy. Hers are gorgeous and huge -- mine are puny and washed-out looking. And these lush tomatoes -- for the record -- are my leftover Brandy Boy seedlings. None of mine survived. I will have to get a few of hers to see what they taste like.

Fisherdog

2006-06-10T22:52:00.000-04:00

What am I going to do with this dog! I blocked off the entrance to the pond garden, but she finds a way in. Everytime someone leaves a door open, I hear a splash and find her standing full in the pond bobbing for fish. I swatted her on the nose this time -- "bad dog"just isn't getting through. The fish have had it, I think. I reached in to move the flowerpots and the waterlily after one of Maggie's incursions and the big fish jumped right out of the water at me!

This second pic is only related to gardening in the most tenuous way. It is a bead and wirework peapod pendant I made last night. Beading is my other hobby. The instructions were in this month's Beadwork mag. It came out a little large -- 4 inches long. I may make it into a pin and make a couple smaller ones for a necklace.

Kitchen cupboard chemistry

2006-06-07T20:40:00.000-04:00

Well it may very well be operator error, but the home-made pest control potion I put on my plants to rid them of hopper and aphids and the like, kind of fried the leaves. It might make a good weed killer! It was a mixture of vinegar, tobasco sauce and liquid soap. The picture shows 2 leaves on one of my cucumber plants. I did apply it on a warm day in direct sun -- probably should have waited till there was a bit of shade or until evening. It may also me that my Lavendar-scented Anti-Stress Palmolive dish soap wasn't the best form of "liquid soap" to use. Oh well, it only killed a few leaves - live and learn.

However - I was also brewing up a batch of hot pepper tea -- water, hot pepper flakes and a few drops of soap -- that is supposed to work on aphids, cabbage loppers, etc., and now am not sure if I should try it.

Another rainy day today -- I didn't even set foot out back. Yesterday I did get Emma to help me clean out the front fish pond and set the waterfall up again after Hurricane Maggie knocked all the rocks in the pond and disconnected the pump. Poor fish -- they are real survivors -- opaque water and no food for months. Now we can see them -- Ninja II and Sensei (named by anime-loving Emma). One is a koi about 12 inches long, the other is a goldfish about 6 inches long -- both spotted. I sunk a couple of flower pots in the bottom of the pond so they would have something to hide in when Maggie jumps in. I just need to remember to clean the filter ever couple of weeks to keep it from getting so disgusting. Cleaning the whole thing is such a pain.

If the rain lets up tomorrow I will work on that whole pond garden -- it's a 5 by 15 foot nook between the house and the garage -- and has been neglected all spring (we've had it blocked off since Maggie's sudden discover of the fish - it only took her 2 years). It's such a warm little microclimate that the tall lilies are already almost done blooming and the hostas are throwing up their flower stalks already.

Roses

2006-06-03T23:12:00.000-04:00

My 16 Red Fairy roses along the front wall are starting to bloom and this year they are finally weeping over the wall the way I had hoped they would. Now I just have to keep them from losing all their leaves by the end of the month as they have the past 2 years -- the leaves at the centers of each plant were all yellow and dropped at the lightest touch and had little black spots -- so I guess that would be black spot. I was going to remove all the foliage as was recommended -- but the pounding rain yesterday knocked them all off. I guess I will get a little rake and remove them. There is also a recipe in the Trowel & Error book for roses with black spot that's worth a try -- 2 tsp baking soda, 2 qts water & 1/2 tsp of liquid soap or Murphy's Oil Soap. The book also says that dissolving uncoated asprin in water and using it as a foliar spray works on fungus infections like black spot and rust.

On a semi-related topic I have noticed that taking pictures for this blog has done wonders for my garden. I went out to take the pics of the veg garden yesterday -- looked around and spent 2 hours weeding. I took the picture of the front walk, looked at it and went out and pulled all (well nearly all) the weeds in the cracks in the front walk and steps and took the picture again!

June 1st

2006-06-03T22:20:00.000-04:00

I have high hopes for June. I think May weather held the garden back again -- or just me jumping the gun as usual -- some friends of mine are just now planting. The date of the Kentucky Derby is what most people go by around here -- the first Saturday in May. They say after Derby it's safe to plant. I was done way before then, of course -- likely why nothing has really taken off. After I took my June 1 progress photo we got just buckets of rain -- parts of the road flooded -- at least for a few hours. This morning it looks like things are starting to grow -- the tomatoes seem to have grown a few inches overnight and the peppers too. The Kwintus beans are also winding their way up their supports.

On the down side - all my hostas and black-eyed susans in the side garden are riddled with holes -- I'll have to figure out what's getting them. I checked this really interesting book out of the library the other day -- Trowel & Error: Over 700 Shortcuts, Tips & Remedies for the Gardener, by Sharon Lovejoy. It has a lot of interesting advice on everything from organizing your tools and handy ways to recycle items for use in the garden, to planting tips, to recipes for pest and disease control, etc. Most just use things you'd have in your cupboard -- I may try the Healthy HollyHock spray (mine always look awful) -- 1.5 tsp baking soda, 1 tbs canola oil, 1/2 tsp soap, 1/2 cup vinegar and 1 gallon of water. I have it all and it's worth a try. I may actually have to buy this book myself.

Perennial Report

2006-05-31T17:58:00.000-04:00

Since it's still all strawberries and lettuce in the vegetable garden, I thought I'd talk about perennials for a change. I have quite a few, though they are not exotic. I prefer those I think of as "American Cottage" -- black-eyed susans, daylilies, salvia, purple coneflowers, coreopsis, Russian sage, Autumn Joy sedum, butterfly bushes and monarda. Kind of a semi-wild tangle of plants that are not fussy and in general create many volunteers to share and colonize new area. This garden came furnished with the monarda, daylilies, a huge white butterfly bush, a clump of black-eyed susan, lirope, irises and many hostas tucked into the edges of the wooded area. Since many of those were already favorites from past gardening attempts (and I didn't have to buy them) I worked with what I had.

I added purple coneflowers, tall lilies, a clump of zebra grass and my favorite russian sage the first year and in the second was able to divide the lirope around the rest of the front walk, cover a small but steep slope with orange daylilies, spread the black-eyed susan to the other side of the front garden and bring some to the back. I also consolidated all the hostas to the shady side garden to make something nice to look at out the dining room's bay window -- the view before was the 8' by 15' cement slab top of an old cistern and dead grass under the big maples. I covered the slab with mulch, and added a circle of pebbles in the center topped by a big, footed urn that looks like stone but is lightweight foam stuff planted with begonias and fuschia. Then underplanted around the tree with the hostas brought in from around the yard and added some large stones from the creek as a focal point/path. This year I added a bunch more hostas as my neighbors on both sides wanted to get rid of theirs - can you imagine! I also added some big potted ferns - only $8 each at Lowes - and painted the shed. It is now so lush and green - just about my favorite spot.

Near there, in the front garden, I added a little rock garden filled with different types of low-growing sedum and some diantus -- dianthus is also a great plant for thrifty gardeners, since many of the big-box retailers sell it cheap as an early annual in the spring, but it is really perennial - mine is on year 3. This year I moved the Oakleaf hydrangeas right behind the rock garden from their shady home next to the shed and they are blooming for the first time. Two of the sedums were donations from my brother-in-law as were three cardinal flowers that are growing really well in the back. All the plants from my brother-in-law were brought back from Michigan, packed in a cardboard box.

There is a 14-foot long planter box by the driveway that was filled with irises. I pulled those out late last summer and distributed them around the yard (and the neighbors' yards - there were more than 100) and replanted with coreopsis, blue salvia, some chrysanthemum (from fall pots the previous year) Autumn Joy sedum (from my neighbor) and low-growing mat-forming phlox (from the same neighbor) and another sedum found for $1 each at a yard sale. The salvia and coreopsis have started blooming nicely. There are also 2 mature clematis vines on the light post at the end of the planter.

I also have some Shasta daisies - another favorite - that I started from seed 2 years ago. I was able to divide those this year. Last spring I took a volunteer shoot from the butterfly bush and established a nice one on the other side of the garden - it grew to 5 feet in its first year. Last year I also bought some heucherella - foam flower, I think - to plant behind the hostas in the shade garden one died and the other 2 did not bloom I moved them out back where they get more sun and they seem to be doing a bit better.

Strawberry Nirvana

2006-05-28T01:48:00.000-04:00

I picked so many strawberries today! I can't believe how many my small plot has yielded. I picked a brimming colander full today and made strawberry shortcake with pureed berries and cream biscuits -- topped with vanilla ice cream. Once again my insane offspring would not even try it -- this is why I now hate cooking. Well, more for us. Tomorrow I will make freezer jam -- that, at least, I know they'll eat.

I picked my first few sugar snap peas, then a storm on Thursday night knocked the tops of all the vines over the edge of the fence and practically snapped them off -- maybe they'll still get enough juice to produce a few more. Some of the potato plants also fell over -- those should be fine though.

The heat and humidity have set in -- now I'll have to force myself out first thing in the morning to keep the weeds down.

Easy as pie

2006-05-21T20:24:00.000-04:00

I am so proud. The strawberry-rhubarb pie came out way better than expected. I thought it might be soupy, but it actually worked -- I included 2 tbs of flour and 2 tbs of cornstarch as thickeners. And it tastes good too -- as a bonus. Of course the kids won't try it. More for us.

My own personal garden fairy!

2006-05-21T11:19:00.000-04:00

Nibble, nibble

2006-05-20T23:09:00.000-04:00

Okay -- something ate the tops off my sunflowers -- and these were the ones my Brownies planted. I need to get the Deer-Away or whatever it was I used on my beans the other year. The sun finally came out, so I was busy reseeding again. Calendula seeds to fill in around the dill, more Italian parsley, garlic cloves for spring garlic, red and golden beets, short & sweet carrots and Nantes carrots.

Here's what it looks like now -- I finally said "no" to tomato torture and moved them out of the Death Square and over to the sparse Spinach bed and a few other spots among the other veggies. Also planted some sweet potatos in the row where the regular oes didn't show up. In the Death Square I built another stick tuteur and planted hyacinth bean and morning glory vines a friend had given me. I under planted with radish, beet and carrot seeds -- since the lettuce came up, maybe things can survive if they start there. A few more bean seeds also went in.

This was delish -- my first meal from the garden this year. Tomorrow I may attempt a strawberry-rhubarb pie -- I've never eaten one much less baked one!

Yummy

2006-05-18T08:54:00.000-04:00

Kind of a boring week around here - cool temps, rain and gray skies have put the garden into a holding pattern. Nothing seems to be making progress except the strawberries. These are the first few -- though Bailey did snag a couple this weekend. I've also been harvesting a few of my red fire lettuce leaves. I think I'll slice these up with some lettuce, toasted almonds and poppyseed dressing for lunch.

I finished weeding out the dill bed - vast overstatement as only 5 seeds germinated in said "bed." I may just fill it in with calendula - how much dill do I really need. I bought some 5-for-a-dollar seed packets at the grocery store yesterday to fill in with. So far I'm quite disappointed with the performance of this garden this year - no spinach, stunted tomatoes, stunted peppers, no parsley, no dill, very few beets and problem green beans. I guess it's early days yet. Hopefully the warmer weather that is supposedly coming will perk things up. A Brownie mom gave me some large coriander, some Morning Glory vines and another vine I forgot - I'll have to get those in later today. My neighbor also gave me a few sweet potato plants and a couple varieties of tomatoes her dad grew - Red October and Black something or other - she said it's purple. If things don't improve I'm going to have to bust out the Miracle Grow.

Another rainy day

2006-05-12T16:43:00.000-04:00

Rainy and cool again today. But I had to pop out between showers and try out my new camera -- a Canon 530 PowerShot - 5/1 megapixels. I fear it may be too complex for me -- I have totally forgotten all my college photography classes. Luckily the auto mode works pretty well -- there are also settings for sunny and cloudy days, night time and different types of interior light -- also a foliage setting that really turns up the color. Here's a few shots -- the first peony and the strawberries.

The squash seeds are all popping up and the new sowing of lettuce is coming as well. One of the tomato plants has bit it. After I unscientifically and inaccurately added the aluminum sulfate one curled up its leaves, turned brown and croaked -- the others seem better though.

Aha!

2006-05-05T20:31:00.000-04:00

I tested the Ph of the soil in the Death Square today and it blew the top off the alkaline end of the scale. According to some info I found, adding Aluminum Sulfate should instantly bring down the alkaline numbers. I will try to find some.

My 16 red fairy rose bushes out along the front stone wall are lush and beautiful -- and at least one is totally infested with aphids! They must die! Usually it is Japanese Beetles that get them -- by the end of the summer. Insecticidal soap to the rescue.

I got the shed and the door by the patio painted today, so I'm slowly but surely working on my list. I spent a lot of time today thinking about all the things I needed to do but not actually doing them - It took me until 3 to really get started. Bailey came out and helped for a bit -- then turned on the hose and left it running on the patio while I was checking out the aphid situation -- big flood!

The bearded irises are blooming - I am so glad I divided them last fall. Also here is a pic of one of the healthy Joe Pye Weed plants I bought off of eBay last week -- all happy in its new home -- it came from Arkansas.

Is this not the cutest thing -- though I see his nose is hung crooked now that I see a pic. It is called a Forest Friend - he's looking at the swingset. Finally, this is the view from the hammock - down by the creek -- I actually laid in it for about 15 mins and watched the little squirrels run through the trees - very restful.

Weed & Reseed

2006-05-04T16:41:00.000-04:00

Today I finished up the stick tepee - or tuteur if we're going to be all fancy. I am too lazy to nail it, so I put my Girl Scout lashing skills to use -- though I just used twine, so it probably won't last too long. I planted my Kwintus Pole Beans around it -- we'll see how long it takes to topple over. I have 2 more shorter, wider ones to make for my mini pumpkins and gourds.

I also spent alot of time with my second favorite garden tool -- a mattuck with an adjustable handle -- I found it for less than $5 the year before last at a Big Lots store. It has a flat side like a hoe and a tined side -- great for weeding. I went over the plot where I have chamomile seedlings and marked each of the tiny feathery things with a stick so I could weed all the emerging quick weed and crab grass and pull out the violets without worries. The dill needs another week or so to see the seedlings - I could only find two so far - and no parsley -- I may buy at least one plant and reseed the rest.

I got the squash and pumpkin seeds planted -- too early, I know, but I can never wait. Something seems to be eating the green beans as soon as they stick their little heads through the soil -- I only have about 5 plants -- though the edamame are fine. I went back and reseeded those today. After looking at FarmGirls Kitchen Garden, I also went back an seeded between my lettuce and spinach rows. I also may do between the onion rows as well. There's some nice info about green spring garlic as well that I will put into use this fall -- it sounds so good.

My columbine are blooming and spreading. I brought the seeds these were grown from with me from Lansing -- still in the flower pods. I had tons of them there -- all blown over from the neighbor's yard -- at least chainlink fences are good for something! I now have 5 of these in the side yard across from the hostas. Here's another view of the hostas -- I have to do something with that fence -- it's the view out of the dining room.

May Day

2006-05-01T14:41:00.000-04:00

I finally got the pond finished to my satisfaction - so I can post a pic. The whole area turned out pretty well. Altogether I think it cost -- $10 for the weed barrier, $20 for all the hollies, $10 for the tree, and $20 for the mulch so - $60 is not too bad.

The sun is out between storms so I finished up with the transplanting. I read something on a Dave's Garden forum where someone had good luck growing purple coneflowers in full shade so I stuck 6 extra clumps of the stuff in the back of my hosta garden. I think those are like daylilies and hostas -- you can't kill them if you try. I put in some more extras into a new planting next to the steps from the patio to the yard - it's a slope - I put in hostas, coneflowers, daylilies, shasta daisies and russian sage -- no fussy flowers for me.

I'm already on deathwatch for the tomatoes -- the Brandy Boy looks pretty sickly, but the Borghese aren't too bad. Maybe they'll pull through. I still need to put in my pumpkin and zucchini seeds. I made this really good yellow summer squash this weekend, so I may have to plant some of that too. - peel and slice it - saute in olive oil with a clove of garlic, add 1/4 cup of chicken broth and fresh oregano - cook until soft, serve with freshly grated pecorino/romano or parmesan cheese. So good!

Planting frenzy

2006-04-30T00:46:00.000-04:00

Well I worked until it was too dark to see on Friday - the weather was so perfect. I started off with rebuilding the little pond yet again because of Maggie. I totally took it apart and put a piece of heavy wire grid fencing just at the surface of the water and put the rocks back to hold it down -- now she can't jump in, or will only try it once. It seems to have worked. It took way longer than expected because I couldn't remember how I had it -- I finally had to go print out a pic I had taken of it and try to figure it out from that. I also got a few more pots planted and some random veggies my neighbor brought me. At 5:30 I decided I was going to remove all the perennials in the back, till and put them back in - in a different design. I got most of it done - Bailey dragged me in at 9 p.m. I was back out at 8:30 Saturday morning to get the rest in since it is supposed to rain until Tuesday. The hollyhocks and Russian Sage weren't too happy with being moved and are a bit saggy -- the rain should help. I have a bunch of extra purple cone flowers and bee balm to put elsewhere still. I also won 3 plants of Joe-Pye Weed - that I've always wanted to grow -- (a really tall fuzzy purplish flower that blooms in Aug-Sept) on eBay, so we'll see how that goes.

I am really paying for all the labor today though - my hips are so stiff I can barely walk. I feel like such a granny. On the up side -- I've lost 10 pounds since Feb.

Help! too many projects!

2006-04-24T22:49:00.000-04:00

What ever happened to all the time I used to spend just sitting and reading a book. Now I listen to audiobooks and multi-task. There is hardly a time anymore where I just sit. I always have to do something else as well -- fold laundry, sew something, write listings. And none of it ever gets done -- I feel like Hercules in the stables (it was stables, right?) -- the shit just keeps piling up! Anyway - luckily the garden (though it never is "done" either) at least lets me focus on a single task and zone out.

Though it rained most of last week I did manage to get nearly finished with my pond/foundation project in the back. I'm waiting for the weedkiller to work along the inside of where I edged before I can fill it with mulch. A frog has already moved into my little pond - though Maggie is determined to get it. She stares for hours at the pond and leaps into it as soon as my back is turned. She comes into the house a complete mudball.

I got the Mantis out again and used the edger - a bit hard to control, but it works well. I spent Sunday afternoon working on that and gained a few square feet in front of the strawberries where I could see how out of square the front edge of the garden was. Totally satisfying my need for order and symmetry. I may use the space for an emergency tomato plant -- the ones in the Square of Doom aren't looking that hot. I got the marigolds in around the edges - I had a really tough time finding yellow ones. I also divided and planted many more hostas - this time from my neighbor on the other side -- I can't believe people actually want to get rid of them. My plan is to keep dividing and replanting until the whole side yard is nothing but hostas.

The potatoes are starting to emerge and I saw the first edamame bean starting to break the surface. I prepared the soil for the pumpkins and gourds and hope to get those in - as well as the cucumbers and squash - tomorrow if at all possible. I still need to dig up and till the perennial bed - but everything is growing too fast. Plus with all this outside work - the inside of the house is a pit - even though I spent most of Friday on it -- again Hercules syndrome.

Coming along

2006-04-16T08:24:00.000-04:00

It's been in the 70s and 80s all week so I've been out in the yard trying to finish the foundation project in the back. I've got the small pond dismantled and the rest of the planting done. I need to put up the last piece of lattice under the deck and use a leftover piece to make a screen for the air conditioner. I noticed my big clematis in the front has a new shoot coming up that I can steal to plant by the screen. Today I will haul rocks to make the rock ledge that will back my new little pond/stream. I will warm up by planting my bean seeds. It's been so warm that my peppers and tomatoes are already in - I hope I don't regret that. I've also got the rest of the herb seeds in and I made the mistake of going to Kitty's (an expensive nursery) yesterday and spent $59 on plants for containers geraniums, coleus, sweet potato vine, pineapple sage, a scented geranium and my favorite Algerian ivy. I bought Algerian ivy last year to put in hanging baskets on the porch - it looks like regular ivy with mondo-size leaves - and overwintered them in the garage. They made it pretty well, but I needed to pop in a couple of new plants to perk them up a bit. I also really need to do a ton of eBAy listings today - but what. I found quite a few vintage clothing items this week - but not too much to list now.

To do list

2006-04-12T00:08:00.000-04:00

Steve says my life is one big to-do list of my own creation -- he's partially right -- I come up with way too many projects for myself. My current outdoor list is as follows:

Finish dry creekbed project
Finish painting exterior doors
Paint shed and replace its door hinges
Take down exterior light fixtures and spray paint them black
Fix and clean fish pond (Maggie discovered it and knocked stones into it and disconnected the pump and filter)
Get Steve to help me move the arbor and tighten up all the bolts (it's falling over).
Put in rest of early spring seeds - parsley, cilantro, lavendar, foxglove.
Transplant oakleaf hydrangeas
Till and reorganize back perennial bed
Put down new mulch around playset
Turn compost piles (a job for the mantis?)
Till area along stone wall in front. Divide lirope along front walk and transplant to new area.
Get all fallen branches picked up. Look into renting a chipper.
Put compost onto garden beds.
Put in veggie seedlings and late-spring seeds - beans, squash, pumpkins etc.
Clean mold off siding and deck.
Get outdoor faucets repaired.
Plant slope next to stairs
dig new cutting garden bed

Okay -- enough I'm clearly dreaming if I think I'll have enough time or energy to do all this. Well - one thing at a time. And the next thing on my list - watch Conan, maybe sleep 6 whole hours.

Rock-n-Roll

2006-04-11T23:44:00.000-04:00

I hauled about 6 wheelbarrow loads of rocks gathered from the creek up to the house for my dry creekbed/pond project behind the deck. It seems to be coming together -- I'll need to gather about the same amount again to finish. Bailey helps when she gets home from school - she calls the creek Rocktopia and acts like a little tour guide pointing out the geological features - like Bailey Island - and making up a history. I think I'll do an Earth Day creek clean up -- I already picked up a bunch of glass - there's also plenty of rusty metal, bricks and other trash. I'd really like to do something with that whole area but don't know what I could or should do. What should you take away from or add to a natural area like that? The pic shows Bailey about 10 feet from our property line where the creek actually has water in it - even without rain. Our part only has water a few days after a rain -- which it is supposed to do tomorrow. Maybe I'll get a few inside chores and eBay listings done.

Worked like a dog

2006-04-10T06:58:00.000-04:00

I spent all day Sunday in the yard and it was quite a satisfying day -- it feels so good to actually accomplish something. It was so peaceful -- there was no noise except birdsong and a woodpecker all day. I did break the silence with the tiller for a while (that is one of the downsides - the noise). Anyway -- I planted the bibb and red fire lettuce, the Space spinach, short & sweet and Adelaide carrots and Bailey planted some d'Aignon radishes I had left from last year. I set my seedlings outside for the first time -- I watered them with some chamomile tea - which I hear is good for keeping them from damping off. The pic is some freaky looking seed stalks coming up from a rhubarb plant.

I also refurbished the herb garden. My chives didn't come up for some reason -- maybe choked out with wild violets and dandelions. So I removed the bricks and dug up the pink creeping thyme (only 4 of 12 survived) and tilled the whole thing. I also dug up all the sage plants, trimmed them up, tilled and replanted. I also raked the paths and put down a little bit of new mulch. Emma also emerged for about a half hour and we played a truly sad game of soccer. My arms were so weak from all the work by the end of the day I could barely get the hose connected. Then after we watered for some reason the water wouldn't shut off. Luckily I have a splitter with separate valve shut-offs. I guess I'll have to get someone out to fix it.

Yikes!

2006-04-07T23:02:00.000-04:00

Okay -- so I spent all morning out at estate sales and found a few good things. The afternoon was devoted to work on new plantings around the foundation in back of my house. I planted the little redbud tree and dug holes for and planted the 5 hollies. I also divided and planted a bunch of daylilies my neighbor gave me as well as put down 6 bags of mulch. So I get inside about 7 p.m. eat some pizza, do a few eBay listings then sit down with a glass of vino to watch this week's episode of House I'd recorded on the DVR. Finish watching - reach up and pull a tick out of my hair! Did I mention the episode of House I'd just finished watching was about a girl slowly being paralyzed by a tick they couldn't find -- you don't want to know where they finally found it. Yikes!

Rainy Day

2006-04-06T16:17:00.000-04:00

I'm so glad it's raining so I can get some things done inside -- actually got the kitchen clean, found a bunch of good eBay things and made some banana bread with Bailey. Bailey also helped me pot up some tomato seedlings -- Burpee Brandy Boys (which totally don't look like tomatoes - see pic) and Principe Borghese sauce/drying tomatoes -- I'm waiting for my Fresh Salsa tomatoes to get a bit bigger - Burpee only sent about 10 seeds in the $3.45 package so they better be good - they're supposed to be more meaty than standard. Also potted the one Imperial Star annual artichoke that made it.

As usual I bought way too many seed varieties for the size of my garden and our capacity to eat veggies. I always say that I'll just put in a couple of each thing - but can't stand letting healthy seedlings die out -- I do palm some off on the neighbors though.

Last year I ordered mostly from Territorial Seed Co in Oregon -- all were quite good, but they're a bit pricey. This year I went to the other coast and ordered from Pinetree Garden Seeds in Maine -- very reasonable but slow - they say shipping will take 2 weeks and they're not overestimating. New stuff I'm trying this year include artichoke, spagetti squash, edamame, golden baby belle peppers, cornichon cucumbers, ornamental gourds and Cinderella pumpkins.

I got the potatoes -- Kennebec and Yukon Gold -- red and white onion sets and Golden beets in yesterday - they are enjoying the rain as well.

My new favorite thing

2006-04-05T23:10:00.000-04:00

Okay -- this Mantis tiller is my new favorite thing. I used it today and tilled up 8 existing garden beds and made a new one from scratch all in about 3 hours -- and I can still move and function. It took me a while to get the hang of starting it -- I'm not used to starting gas engines -- and it was a bit hard to control its speed -- theres a pull trigger on the handle that you have to press to go - the harder you press the faster it goes -- and you have to pull the machine backward to till so you kind of have to go full tilt. It did pretty well on the new ground - I had partially killed off the weeds and long grass and raked up the dead stuff first. It did get bound up with weeds several times - but it was nothing to pop off the blades clean them out and start the thing up again. I'm now thinking that I will dig up all my established and weed choked perennials, till and replant. That's Maggie the mole hunter in the photo - hoping I'll turn one up. In the second photo - of course the one bed I didn't till (peas are already growing) is in the foreground.

I also tried to move a small dogwood tree from the front to the back yard - it wasn't going anywhere. Since I had already dug a huge hole in the back I went and got a $10 Eastern Redbud tree (twig might be the better descriptive) from Wal-mart to fill the hole. It joins some $3.99 hollies from Home Depot. Part of a landscaping plan for around the back of the house that will mostly consist of plants donated by neighbors getting rid of hostas and daylilies, excess irises I divided last fall and found in my compost pile going strong, stone from the creek bed and mucho mulch.

It feels good to do all this work and actually see results -- but I will be in the poor house for sure if I don't get back to my eBay work.

Ready for Spring -- April 5, 2006

2006-04-05T10:21:00.000-04:00

It's been a mild winter here in Pewee Valley, KY - a small suburb east of Louisville - but I'm so ready for spring. A big storm - I think 80 mph winds qualify - Sunday night will, I hope, usher in warmer weather. I've got big plans for my acre of prime Pewee Valley real estate this year and a new little Mantis tiller I'm dying to try. I usually do all my digging myself with my trusty Hechinger's shovel I got with our first house and garden in 1992 in Woodbridge, Va. It's dug through hard packed clay in that raw new subdivision, then through rich Michigan soil (hiding a layer of submerged cement and brick) in the postage-stamp yard of our 1917 house on an established city lot. Now that I've got a whole acre to play with (and I'm edging into my 40s - gulp) I need a little help. My family prefers the great indoors and are not big on manual labor -- but since I have control issues anyway where the garden (among other places) is concerned, it's just as well. Anyway I hope this miracle Mantis can provide the muscle I need to bring my plans to life.

A Bit About This Garden
We moved here from Lansing, Mich., in August 2003. There was a small vegetable garden that had a year's worth of grass and weeds over it that backed to a wild-looking perennial bed. There was also a small pear tree loaded with fruit and a rather decrepit apple tree loaded with scabarous-looking apples. In early April 2004 I paid a guy down the street with a tractor $40 to break up a 20 by 50 foot plot and got started.

Our house was built in the late 40s-early 50s. The original owner was a stone mason who dumped a lot of his excess materials at the back of the property and in the small creek that runs along the back. My first find was a terrific terracotta column - now a plant stand in the garden - then a huge cement drum now upturned at the center of my herb garden. Also piles of bricks -- all nicely aged and mossy that I used to outline beds. Some great mossy and slightly split railroad ties that I rolled and pushed end-over-end into place divide the herb garden from the veggie garden. I laid out a classic semi-formal herb garden with a $5 estate sale park bench at the back for seating. In the veggie garden there are very slightly raised beds with an open area on the end. I put down plastic on the paths and threw down many bags of hardwood mulch -- some of the plastic is just the mulch bags that I opened up with scissors along 3 edges. I also uncovered an old compost pile so had some free organic material to augment the stuff I had to buy. My family bought (and hauled ) 25 bags of compost for me for Mother's Day that year. I never thought I'd actually ask for dirt as a gift, but there you go.

It all looked great until the end of June when I ran out of steam -- or perhaps the life was just sucked out of me by mosquitos - no-see-ums - and the unrelenting humidity of the Ohio River Valley. Weeds took over though I did harvest tons of tomatoes, tomatillos, cucumbers, and green beans. A cutting bed for tall State Fair Zinnias also produced a riot of color. I didn't get a single pepper though -- everything that went in that particular bed was doomed and believe it or not no zucchini. I got one lowly butternut squash, a handful of snap peas about 3 carrots and 4 beets, and four smallish ears of corn.

I blanched and froze many baggies of Kentucky Blue Lake pole beans and made tons of fresh salsa, spagetti sauce and jars of refrigerator pickles. Of course my children - epicureans that they are - decided that only store bought produce would do and would only eat "real" - read frozen - green beans and store-bought salsa and pasta sauce. The husband is only marginally less picky. More for me.

Garden Year Two
In year two I moved some plots around -- beans to the front to discourage the deer buffet that was open the year before. Some French filet bush beans in addition to the pole beans -- my heavy yield the year before snapped many of my bamboo pole teepees. I doubled the poles I had left to make the new supports. Peppers in another area, strawberries and thornless blackberries instead of corn - as well as a couple of rhubarb plants -- Fruit is a bit more popular with the kids than veggies. I tried broccoli - not enough return for the small plot I had. And several types of potatoes. I also tried to rejuvenate the apple tree - a serious pruning, feeding and spraying. I couldn't stick to the schedule and felt like I was poisoning myself when ever I sprayed - so I quit part-way through and didn't do much good. There were plenty of apples though -- they weren't pretty but I discovered they did make nice pies.

The herb garden has a row of different varieties of sage down one side - common, pineapple and variegated. Oregano and French thyme in a small bed at the front - a few dill on the other side of the cheesy arbor I planted there after I took down the Chrismas lights (it has a trellis of white lights) and didn't have room in the garage. Lettuce and onion beds are overflow from the vegetable garden. The 4 center plots are chives - started from seed on site the previous year, basil -- the short summerlong variety. pink creeping thyme; and Italian parsley. The the thyme and parsley pretty much got taken over by wild violets. Moles got the dill. The basil was wonderful as were the chives. The garden was edged with French Vanilla Marigolds -- gorgeous pale yellow - raised from seed. These faltered half-way through the season - it may have been the moles -- they did so well the first year.

I tend to go for a slightly wild-looking cottage-y feel in the garden. My girls like running around the paths -- I have a Brownie troop with my youngest daughter and they run through it and pretend they're bunnies. Ideally I'd do drip hoses, but with so many beds I just go ahead and use the sprinkler. I got an automated timer last year - it's battery operated and programmable - hook it up to the spigot, hook the hose to it and it will water up to 5 times a day for whichever days you choose. I had it set up for 35 minutes in the morning and evening. Ah the sprinkler - it never loses its appeal.

Anyway - much like the first year - weeds, heat and rampant tomato growth got the best of me by mid August. I did clear a few beds and try for a second crop of spinach, golden beets and peas but by the time I got around to it -- end of September -- it was too late. I did have bumper crops of peppers -- especially jalopenos -- beautiful potatoes -- onions and shallots (started from sets), beans and spring lettuce and spinach. However a second crop of lettuce failed miserably, beets didn't do too well, neither did the broccoli. I got 2 eight ball zucchini before the plants gave up the ghost and no eggplants (these were in the same doomed plot as the peppers the year before). I didn't get many cucumbers - the vines turned yellow and died early. All my fruit plants were too new to produce -- any flowers were pinched to help store energy for their second year. This photo of the herb/perennial garden in August was carefully framed to edit out unpleasant weedy views and show off the vintage glider chair I found at Goodwill for $15 and rejuvenated with purple spray paint (I don't think anyone has ever sat in it but it's a great focal point).

Well that brings the garden saga up to date. Hope springs eternal for 2006.