In my Garden (country edition)

We're moving!

2012-01-24T16:42:00.000-05:00

Onwards and upwards... click below to be redirected

Happy (belated) New Year!

2012-01-21T13:50:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the long hiatus folks. There is no real reason except that December is December, there is a complete lack of interesting gardening things to write about, and I spent all my free time drooling over plant and seed catalogs. I also got a new guitar for my 40th birthday. Yes 40, and I was having a bit of a what am I doing with my life and where is it going moment. Crisis averted, and I'm now refocused on what needs to get done outside, like pruning. You didn't know you are supposed to prune in the winter? Oh my bloggy friends... still so much to learn...

Things you need to know about my life right now:
#1 - My vegetable seed order is already done (new personal record).
#2 - The lack of snow this winter (except for today) means an early spring garden, as early as mid-march is potentially possible.
#3 - The interest in starting home vegetable gardens has not fallen out of fashion this year thank goodness, and I've had an unprecedented number of phone calls, emails, etc. from people ready to take the plunge this year.
#4 I've started working on drawings for the redesign of my front beds. Started that is, and long from finished. I think I'm going to spend about a million dollars in new plants. Yes, I know I have a problem.

Reprinted from the most awesome garden blog in the entire universe A Way to Garden

now this is funny

2011-11-19T08:00:00.001-05:00

You may have heard in the news this week (or heard it on the Daily Show) that Congress has decided that pizza is a vegetable! I've been mulling this over all week, convinced I should be writing something about it - but really couldn't think of anything productive to say. Except that I'm disgusted.

Someone much funnier than me however has some very interesting ideas to share as he or she thumbs their nose at the frozen food lobby, big agribusiness, and Congress. @pizzalobby whoever you are, thank you for celebrating and recognizing pizza farmers everywhere!

UPDATE-

It just keeps getting better...

Thanks Bettina for sharing!

times flies when you're having fun...

2011-11-17T09:10:00.000-05:00

or when you're doing major damage control on all the ornamental trees in your yard before the real winter snow arrives.

I have to admit, I've spent too many hours wandering around my yard, trying to figure out what I can save (even though it may look terrible for the next few years until total recovery) and what has to be sacrificed.

This redbud (Cercis canandensis) is one of my favorite trees on our property, it's right next to the driveway. It blooms early in the season and is gorgeous (damn why didn't I take any pictures) and it's heart shaped leaves turn a beautiful rusty purple in the fall. It's got 3 major breaks, each on one of it's main limbs. There is no saving this tree. Even though I've already decided what to replace it with (Chionanthus virginicus for those who care) I'm not anxious for it to get cut down with a chain saw either. I've lightened it's load by removing some of the broken limbs - and so we could get into our garage, but I find the whole scene incredibly sad.

Both of my Metasequoias have lost their tops, and with trees like this with one central stem (think Christmas tree shape) it is uncertain what will happen. They received a stay of execution, as I'm hoping that one of the other higher branches will "take over" and start growing to try and replace the central stem. I know that might sound kind of crazy, but trees do this sort of thing all the time - somehow they just know. Mother Nature can be really remarkable sometimes.

There is more damage to my Viburnums, Ilexes and Hydrangeas that I can list - most will be getting a major haircut, even if that sacrifices there beauty and flowers for next season just to save them.

And then there is this....

I cried when I saw it (it didn't help that the power was out, and we were facing another multi-day outage).

I still can't open the door and get in, for fear that the whole thing will collapse since all the corners have been weakened. Within is still stuff waiting to be harvested, arugula, radishes, leaf lettuces and cilantro. Not to mention, I've got to get the garlic planted and prepare all the beds for winter/next growing season. I guess that one apple still hanging on will come in handy if I get hungry while working outside.

and we're back...

2011-11-02T12:28:00.000-04:00

Power is on, internet is up, many residents in our state are not as lucky as we are.

Lots of damage to assess, full report, and pictures to follow!

weather envy

2011-10-27T14:47:00.000-04:00

As I hinted the other day, I just got back from a little vacation in a place where they grow this....

this,

and this...

The upcoming weather forecast, chance of snow tonight and Saturday makes me seriously wonder why I came back.

NB-Want to see more of my photos? You can check them out on Flickr.

back from a little vacation

2011-10-25T10:33:00.000-04:00

I'm admittedly still a little jet lagged, but wanted to share this video with you straight away. Filmed at one of the recent TEDx conferences, featured is Roger Doiron of Kitchen Gardeners International. Think the White House vegetable garden was a good idea? This guy is pretty much the force behind it happening. I'm not just sharing this with you as an obvious play for an invite to the upcoming TEDx Manhattan (although every little bit helps, right?) but because I think Roger has a really important message to share. I'd love to know what you think - and when you'll be ready to start gardening!

ps - I think I kinda like feeling subversive...

to feed or not to feed, that is the question...

2011-10-06T16:45:00.000-04:00

I was having lunch today with a friend and colleague, and she recounted to me the story of a neighbor who was fertilizing her shrubs this week. Nothing earth shattering right? Except both of us learned in horticulture school that one should not fertilize a plant when it's about to go dormant. When she inquired as to why her neighbor was fertilizing now, she replied "because that's what it says on the bag."

We were both perplexed, especially because we are always advising friends, clients, etc to follow the instructions on the bag (since many people tend to think more is better - not often the case with fertilizer, organic or synthetic). I came home and did a little research on the product in question, you'll probably recognize it...

Well known, organic and widely available, Holly-tone made by the Espoma company is a great product. In reading the fact sheet for this product it does indeed recommend a late fall feeding. That might be great if you still have a long growing season to go, but here in the northeast (we had frost last night people) not so much. Do you really want to encourage more growth exactly when the plant is in shut down mode? So if you are in zone 7 or lower (don't know your zone, check here) you may as well hold off until the spring, because you will either do more harm than good, or just be wasting product.

wow....

2011-10-04T15:17:00.001-04:00

Well I was impressed with my 94 pounds of cucumbers this season, maybe I should've weighed and measured them individually though? All in good fun, these giant veggies usually don't taste great, but they sure are impressive.

photo credit The Guardian (US Edition)

Now The Guardian is well known for it's gardening coverage - much better than the top US newspapers. When I saw this on their front page I couldn't resist sharing.

Asking advice from a man who grew a 85 pound rutabaga - you can't make up stuff like this.

thoughts about the future...

2011-10-02T18:52:00.000-04:00

Apologies if posting has been rather light lately. I wish I could say it was because I'm spending so much time working out in the garden that I don't have the time to write. Unfortunately I've been nursing a nagging shoulder injury which leaves me unable to work in the garden at all (or one handed). I won't bother you with the details, but basically my left hand is barely working as a result of something with the nerves in my shoulder and my neck. It's getting frustrating to say the least, but I'm being very vigilant about the exercises prescribed by my physical therapist so I can get out there soon (hopefully)! I guess all those years of lifting shrubs, bags of compost and other things that are way too heavy may not have been the best idea to tackle all on my own. I'd love to say that I will learn from this mistake, but you and I both know that's not true - I'm way too stubborn.

The time off, so to speak, has given me a lot of time to think about whether or not to continue with this blog and if so where it's going. In the beginning, I had two goals in mind. One, to keep track of what was going on year to year in my garden - like a gardening journal, but virtual. Two, was to satisfy my own curiosity. Several people told me I should consider writing a book after having "coaching"sessions with me where I taught them how to take care of their gardens. I doubted that I had the skills to actually do that, plus with the home gardening movement on the verge of explosion, the rate of gardening books being published was unusually high. Did I actually have anything different to contribute to the conversation? I mean somebody already wrote Organic Gardening for Dummies, which is probably a very good book (don't know haven't read it). I'm still not convinced that I have what it takes to make this happen.

In return, I learned several very important lessons on the way to building a blog with a small but very steady readership. Most importantly, I realized that teaching people how to take care of their gardens still remains my favorite thing to do in the garden. I need to be more active in creating situations where that happens. In addition, it's great fodder for blog topics. The secondary benefit has been meeting all kinds of cool people - and there is nothing like the feeling of someone you don't know coming up to you and saying, "I love your blog, I read it all the time," it's ridiculously gratifying. I've also learned that I'm a terrible salesperson (okay this wasn't exactly a revelation) and don't do enough to spread the word around about my blog. While I have no shortage of things to say, as those who know me in person can attest, I'm really bad about sharing this experience with others. Hence the lack of a facebook page which every successful blogger has told me is a must. I just can't do it.

So the journey is continuing for the time being... we'll see where it takes me.

scenes from a late summer garden

2011-09-26T09:42:00.000-04:00

the plant(s) that just won't die

2011-09-16T16:13:00.000-04:00

Not something most people complain about, right? This season I've harvested 88 pounds of cucumbers from my garden, from about a dozen plants. It's ridiculous, but don't be jealous because my tomatoes did not fair nearly as well. I was talking with a neighbor the other day, and she was also having a bumper crop of cucumbers this year. It seems now matter how well we plan, fertilize, protect and water our plants what mother nature provides sets things on a very specific course. Cucumbers should have long been done by now, and tomatoes at full peak with a typical hot August, followed by a September indian summer. That just doesn't look like it's happening this year.

So what does one do with 88 pounds of cucumbers (oh, and there are still more on the vine)? I've made pickles so many times that we could survive on them for the whole winter. Beyond that though, the options for preservation are limited. There is no way to preserve them fresh for use later, and you can't cook with them either. In desperation to deal with so many cukes before they went soft I turned to my favorite canning book Put 'em up by Sherri Brooks Vinton. Within I found a recipe for Agua Fresca which uses lots of cukes, and then can be used to make cucumber martinis. Let's just say I didn't need a lot of convincing to give this a try!

Admittedly the color is little freaky - but throw some vodka in, and I don't think anyone will care. Full report on taste to follow after the weekend!

2011-09-05T07:19:00.001-04:00

I know it might seem a little bit late to be doing a hurricane wrap up post, and it wasn't my laziness that got in the way (this time). Six days of no power and no running water took it's toll. Don't get me wrong, we are better off than many people, as there was no substantial damage to our home or property. Using water from the pool to water my vegetable garden and manually flush toilets (who knew you could do such a thing) were not things I ever thought I'd do.

Once the power finally came back on I had the best shower of my life. The kids got completely engrossed with the television and I finally went outside to take stock of what was really going on in my gardens. In short, they're a mess. Not just from the hurricane, but from neglect of a really busy summer in which what little gardening time I had, was focused on the vegetable garden and not much else. I've got my work cut out for me. The kids go back to school tomorrow, and I get back to doing what I do best. Finally.

the calm before the storm

2011-08-27T09:19:00.000-04:00

Have you heard, we're having a hurricane here in the northeast. From all the weather forecasts it's starting to sound like the apocalypse is coming. Like everyone else, I'm worried about my house. This is the first year we've lived here, and even though we had extreme winter weather this year, we've never experienced anything any where near this. We are fortunate to have a generator (well water + no power = no drinking water OR flushing toilets) but it's never been tested, so I'm not even sure that it will work. I'm going to pick up some fruit from my local farmer, and probably bake some muffins and other stuff to get us through the next few days. Then we will just sit and wait.

This morning though, I headed out to my vegetable garden to pick anything that was at least a little bit ripe, hoping that it will finish up on my window on the sunny forecasted week post-hurricane. Looking around at all of the unripe tomatoes (probably close to about 40 pounds I'd guess) I'm thinking there's a good chance that they will be on the ground when I next see them. Plants are tough, yes there will be broken branches and dislodged fruit, but I'm hoping at least a little survives. My first fall sowings are already in the ground, so hopefully no matter what Irene does it won't wash those little seedlings away. If they don't make it, then I'll just start over. Hope springs eternal when you're a gardener - there is just no other way.

Guess we're having swiss chard for dinner, and pesto

Stay safe everyone. See you on the other side...

Organic or not? Which do you choose?

2011-08-21T15:45:00.000-04:00

Do you buy organic produce? If you don't because of the cost, do you worry about what the effects might be? What if organic produce isn't all it's cracked up to be? Would you still buy it? The question of what constitutes healthy, safe food is something I've been thinking about for over 20 years.

Back in 1989 I was a freshman in college. Young and impressionable, a new friend suggested I read "Diet for a New America" by John Robbins. Written in 1987, this expose into the business of factory farming and new environmentalism was written years before it's time. If you've seen the recent film, Food, Inc.. you get the general idea of what the book is about. After waffling back and forth for a few months on the issue much to the dismay of my family (my grandparents owned a deli for goodness sake), I decided to become a vegetarian. Tweny-two years on, I'm still sticking to it.

This decision to change my eating habits set me on a course for what I do in my life now. I grow a lot of the vegetables for my family. I shop organic. I feed my kids sustainably raised hormone free meat, dairy and eggs and when they were babies I made their baby food out of organic produce even when it wasn't that affordable. It's been a growing process, these things didn't happen overnight. I'm pretty happy where we are now, I'd be even happier if child #2 would eat more vegetables, but I digress.

Things have changed a lot since 1989. Organic produce, well it's everywhere. It's in our markets and in our news. Have you heard of the "dirty dozen" list? The list of fruits and vegetables that have the highest pesticide exposure. I even have an app for my iPhone which keeps the list handy for when I struggle with is "local and seasonal" better than "organic from who knows where".

Today, I was catching up with one of my favorite blogs called The Garden Professors (it's for plant geeks, and I know most of you are way too cool for that.) It's written by several college professors, all quite respected in the horticulture world, one of whom is particularly known for debunking gardening myths. Imagine my confusion when I read his summary of a fairly recent scholarly work regarding pesticide exposure (or lack thereof) on conventional produce. Is it possible that conventional produce is not quite as bad as we have been led to believe? The study seems to suggest that the pesticide levels on conventional produce are so negligible that it poses little or no risk to consumers. Have the marketing geniuses behind the list (Environmental Working Group) made us afraid of our own shadow? Or is this newer research flawed or sponsored by an organization that has something to gain? Lots of questions for the idea that "organic is better". Here's the referenced study from the Journal of Toxicology.

Lest you think that I'm advocating that you stop buying organic, I'm not. However, what you may or may not know about organic farming, is that organic farms spray pesticides too, they are just organic based. For example, copper is a highly potent fungicide, and depending on it's mixture and delivery method can be 100% organic. Copper in some forms can also be highly caustic. So in other words, just because it's organic doesn't mean it's "safe". I'll touch on this more in an upcoming post, as it's a topic that surprises many people.

My family and I are very fortunate where we live, that we have access to small family farms for about 7-8 months out of the year. Apple season has just begun here in the northeast, which means through November at least - all the apples I buy will be local (like 1 mile away for the most part), but not organic. While the local vs. organic debate is still on my mind, this study provokes even more questions for me than it provides answers. I'd love to know what you think.

one more time...

2011-08-19T14:55:00.000-04:00

So it seems that the whole male/female flower thing on squash plants continues to perplex people. I ran into a friend the other day, who happens to be a chef. He asked me how he could tell the male flowers from the female, to avoid picking the females (the ones that will turn into a squash). The male flowers only bloom for one day, in the morning. Once they start to fade they are perfect for picking and stuffing. So I'm going to make it easy, without a botany lesson...

Bloomed this morning

It's a boy!

Of course in the last few days there has not been a single female squash flower blooming in my garden. Most likely this is because I was complaining about this squash plant the other day and now Mother Nature is punishing me. This is a cucumber female flower, so you'll get the idea.

Speaking of the dreaded jumbo patty pan squash, I managed to turn it into this (sauteed with chick peas and onions) and now I'm not complaining so much anymore.

2011-08-18T05:13:00.004-04:00

Thanks to the ladies at Garden Rant for posting this yesterday.

I know most of you won't find it funny, but trust me it is...

just when I thought it was over, there are more cucumbers

2011-08-17T09:51:00.001-04:00

My how things can change in just a short amount of time, from this....

to this....

I think anyone who has a vegetable garden suffers from the same affliction. We all over plant "just in case". Even when you know what you are doing, there are so many variables that are just out of your control. Weather conditions, fungus, insects, pollination issues, sudden death for unknown reasons - you really have no choice but to over do it. A problem follows with all that over planting though - every season you will have at least one crop that does so well you will be begging others to take it off your hands. This year it's cucumbers here at the homestead. I'm not sure how my cucumber plants don't have powdery mildew, which slows them down, by mid-August. That's practically unheard of in the Northeast, but they don't. They are also still blooming and reproducing like crazy.

I've already harvested 18 pounds for consumption by my family and friends, plus I've made pickles twice. I was so relieved when a blog post from the Connecticut chapter of the Northeast Organic Farming Association arrived in my inbox yesterday about an organization I knew nothing about. AmpleHarvest.org seeks to connect backyard gardeners and small farmers with local food pantries, where you can drop off your excess veggies. Stuff that is still good enough for your family, but you just can't consume fast enough.

Today my daughter and I will be dropping off 32 pounds of cucumbers (a good lesson for the pre-teen as well) to Operation Hope in Fairfield, CT. Our organically grown cucumbers will be distributed to their clients through their food pantry.

I actually harvested 36 pounds this morning, 4 I'll keep to make one more batch of pickles. Brings our grand total on cucumbers so far this year to 54 pounds. Crazy!

mix up in the nursery?

2011-08-16T09:36:00.000-04:00

So back in the spring, I picked up a squash transplant at the local nursery to fill a hole I had in my vegetable garden. I thought I was planting mini patty pan squash. So small you can hold a couple in your hand, and so small that you only need to cut off the end and just saute. One of the easiest things to prepare in the squash family. I'd show you a picture if I had one, but I don't. That little plant tag that was in the pot was wrong. Instead I have these...

Big patty pan squash, anyone have any ideas what to do with them?

Mix ups (understandably) happen. The plants look identical, as do the tiny seeds - but I'm still annoyed.

all hell is breaking loose in my garden

2011-08-09T10:43:00.000-04:00

And I'm not really doing anything about it.

I've reached that August slump (happens every year) and the plants have taken over a la Little Shop of Horrors. Weeds, who cares about weeds? It's too hot to be on hands and knees for hours picking them all out. I'll recover sometime soon, clean up things a bit and get the fall sowings in, but for right now I'm surrendering.

My tallest tomato plant tops out at 7 feet 4 inches this morning, and yes there are flowers all the way at the top. And the race is on to see which will ripen first. Right now it's a dead heat between Green Zebras (one of my favorite heirlooms) and Sweet 100's (great cherry tomatoes).

I've got cucumbers coming out of my ears, and after 2 rounds of making and canning pickles I'm giving them away to anyone who will take them. The vines are on the loose, I've given up trying to tie them up. I'll be honest, it looks like a mess, but I love it anyway. There is something about when all those formal rows and neat little seedlings breaking free that really makes me happy.

next up, I guess I'll be making salsa

pickles!

2011-07-29T11:33:00.001-04:00

Apologies for the poor quality, I only had my phone handy, picture. This is what 9 pounds of cucumbers looks like. I guess I'll be spending the day making pickles (which I already did last week too). Note to self, plant fewer cukes next year. Off to Agway to buy more canning jars....

tomato crises on the rise?

2011-07-25T06:08:00.000-04:00

Seems that way for me at least... hardly a day goes by that I'm not getting an email, phone call, or facebook message about tomatoes. They're not ripening, the blooms are fading, my leaves have spots, etc.

So in an effort to address everyone's questions at once.. (not that I don't love hearing from you all)

No, I do not have any ripe tomatoes yet, but that's here in zone 6a Connecticut. On average here in the northeast things are running behind by a couple of weeks. So while I've got lots of green fruit, nothing is looking even close to ripe.

The flowers look like they're dying? Well, to some extent they are, the blooms need to fade in order to set fruit, but not every single bloom will actually form in to a tomato. The trifecta of good weather/timing, good pollinators, and available nutrients all need to be in place. There is a case to be made for removing some of the flowers, particularly ones that are close together to create a situation where there is stronger fruit set. I rarely do it, even though it makes good scientific sense. In the picture above, there is a faded blossom between the already too close fruits, could a third tomato survive here, probably not. I might get around to removing this blossom, but it's about #367 on the list of gardening chores I need to get done right now.

My leaves have spots do I have late blight? Is probably the most common question this year. Since the awful spread of Phytopthora infestans (more commonly known as late blight) two summers ago wiping out almost every tomato in sight, everyone is on high alert for this pathogen. Here's the good news, phytopthora cannot survive under extreme weather conditions. While it likes the cool rainy spring that we had, the 90+ degree days in early June probably knocked it down. And if for some reason it didn't the 102 degrees that we hit this past Friday definitely did.

Lucky for you, late blight is pretty easy to identify, and it does not look like most other fungal pathogens.

If you've got this,

or this

you've got verticillium, fusarium, septoria, anthracnose or ten other different things take your pick...

Here's the best way to prevent these problems; One - water in the morning, and water the ground around the plants, not the leaves. Soaker hoses are ideal for this. Two- don't plant too close together, air circulation is crucial (I'm not to embarrassed to admit I failed this year, I want lots of tomatoes!) Three - practice at least a 3 year crop rotation, even if you've got a small garden, this is a must. This is less necessary if you grow your tomato plants in pots.

The good news is even with one of these pathogens, there is a good chance it won't interrupt your fruit set. So don't go running to home depot to buy fungicides....you don't want to eat that crap! If the leaves really bother you, as then just pick them off and dispose of them in the garbage - not your compost bin.

well, this is not very exciting

2011-07-23T14:09:00.000-04:00

Back in the spring I was lamenting over my obsession with new cultivars of Echinacea purpurea, or coneflowers.

So I shelled out $22 bucks a piece for these 'Secret Desires'. I just had to have them.

photo credit Terra Nova nursery

They're flowering now, and I'm rather unimpressed. While I can appreciate their smallish appearance overall compared to other echinaceas (yay, no staking needed) the color is very blah. Even though they are in a bed with a lot of green, they don't really standout.

Maybe this will finally cure me of my obsession? Yeah, I doubt it too.

distractions

2011-07-18T18:43:00.000-04:00

I know, it's been quite a while between posts, which I really dislike and promised myself (ha) that I wouldn't do. I've had an awful distraction this week though. So awful, that it's even kept me out of the garden most of the week. It's this.

I'm pretty sure that it's evil, and has taken control of my brain as I've been able to focus on nothing else since I've downloaded it.

It makes this happen....

pretty, but a little too neon pink for my taste

vintage feel = much better

too sunny this day, the colors end up looking kind of blah

this helps

this one is my favorite I've worked on so far

This all, and I haven't even really learned how to use all the tools in the program. I pretty much want to re-edit every picture I have ever taken. Any Aperture experts out there want to share any secrets with me?

P.S. - The garlic has all cured, and I used the first head tonight. I'm pretty sure I can never go back to supermarket garlic ever again.

glamour shots

2011-07-08T19:18:00.000-04:00

I heading north tomorrow to take pictures at several gardens through the Garden Conservancy's Open Days program. In getting myself organized I found myself looking through a lot of old photos taken by me at scattered locations throughout the northeast. Just thought I'd share...

today's project

2011-07-08T06:12:00.001-04:00

Garlic harvest!

things are heating up in the garden

2011-07-07T11:25:00.000-04:00

I got an email from a friend the other day with questions about squash blossoms, is it okay to pick them off and eat them? How do I know if my plant only has "male" blossoms (a common problem)?

So here is the story with squashes, the plants have both male and female flowers. Both are needed to well - reproduce.

This is what the male flower looks like;

large and showing off (leave it to the males)

And this is what the female looks like

small and hiding out towards the base of the plant

These are patty pan squash, so the resulting fruit from the liaison between these two flowers will be relatively small. What's difficult to see is at the base of the female is a teeny tiny squash - just waiting to be fertilized. Both sets of flowers only open once, so as long as you've got pollinators, nature should well...take it's course. It often happens that the male flowers start blooming before the females, but with some patience, it generally works itself out. It is possible to hand pollinate with a Q tip, but that takes a ridiculous amount of patience, you think waiting for a pot of water to boil takes forever? You should see how long you will wait to see one of these flowers bloom.

In terms of picking the blossoms, it's smartest to wait until the day after they bloom, you'll be able to tell the difference I promise. If you pick them before they do their job, then you definitely will not get any fruit.

Cucumbers behave in the same way

male flowers, with pollinator (note pollinators are not just bees!)

Super magnified female flower, small cucumber already slightly visible

These cucumbers are destined to become pickles, one of my favorite things in life. Speaking of pickles (and completely off topic, but on my mind) have you ever tried these?

If you like pickles, do yourself a favor and don't buy them.

Hi there

2011-07-06T19:08:00.000-04:00

If you are new to my blog, than hi.

I'm notoriously bad at the whole "blogging" protocol thing (no, I don't have a facebook page for my blog, I have enough trouble keeping up with just this) but I'm trying.

So, thank you Jenna for organizing this. I've looked at so many beautiful blogs because of your list, and I'm feeling really inspired.

So welcome new friends, I hope you come back to visit often.

P.S. I have so much dirt under my fingernails that I've got no business being on the computer right now. Yikes!

thinning

2011-07-05T08:23:00.000-04:00

Never heard of it? One of the most overlooked, and to me most annoying second to weeding, garden tasks.

Vegetables all need room to grow, right? Certain vegetables, particularly beets and swiss chard (two of my favorites) often sprout more than one plant out of a seed. Even if you seed to the correct measurements on the pack, i.e. 4 inches apart, etc. you often have this situation.

Bull's blood beets - 5 seedlings within 3 inches = not going to work

Merlin F1 Hybrid Beets - the weaker/smaller one has to go

The beets then will grow their greens (also delicious) but will form a stunted skinny bulb because it doesn't have enough room under ground. Same problem with carrots. The trick with thinning though, is getting just the seedlings you want out. Sounds easy right? The problem is the seedlings are so close that it is very difficult to pull one, without dislodging or damaging the one next to it. Their are two options; 1, be very very careful, and pull slowly requiring a lot of patience 2, use manicure scissors to cut out the seedlings you don't want. Either way it's a ridiculously tedious job

Do as I say, not as I do...

2011-06-26T08:17:00.000-04:00

Have I ever told you about the importance of soil testing? I don't think I have. It's one of the first things I learned in Hort school - test your soil, it's a must. Ask any serious gardeners if they've ever done it, and most haven't.

When I put in my raised beds at our new house last fall, I got the soil mix from a really reliable source (and all around nice guy who was my soil science professor in hort school). He advised me that I should add nitrogen in the spring, as most of it would leach out over the winter. Easy enough right? I followed his directions and in the early spring I added nitrogen, and waited for the soil to warm up enough for planting. I did not once ever consider soil testing.

Fast forward over the next few weeks and an unusually wet and cold spring. My vegetables were kind of limping along. Peas, and lettuces were doing okay, but the other early crops were having problems. Carrots, swiss chard and beets were germinating, but not growing. They weren't growing, but they weren't dying either. It was my first year with this garden, so I was contemplating, are the drip lines providing enough water? Or too much?

Then it was time to put in the rest of my transplants, cucumbers, tomatoes, squash, and peppers. Except for a few very hot days, the weather was still very up and down, and wet. Stuff just wasn't growing. My tomato plants still looked perfect, but they were the exact same size that they were when I put them in the ground. Be patient I said to myself, tomatoes like really hot weather, and again I contemplated the drip lines. Then my 4 inch tall cucumber plants (whose vines can easily grow 4 feet) set flowers. This all of the sudden seemed to to look like a nutrient issue, right? But how could it be? I talked the problem through with a couple of friends, and we all had the same conclusion. I ran to Agway to get a soil testing kit. In general I think these "home testing" kits are wildly inaccurate, and like to send samples off to the lab at UCONN for testing, but time was of the essence. Completing the test would at least hopefully give me a general idea of what was going on.

And this is what I saw.....

pH is perfect

Phosphorus is a little low and Potassium is okay, but uh-oh.

No nitrogen at all!!!

Lessons learned; 1-Take your own advice and soil test, 2- trust your gut when it seems like something is going wrong, instead of blaming external forces, 3-I must have the most well drained soil on the planet to lose that much nitrogen. The fortunate thing in all this is that plants are pretty forgiving and after a heavy dose of blood meal (gross I know, but organic) things are starting to bounce back very nicely.

yikes, the corpse flower has bloomed

2011-06-18T07:50:00.000-04:00

Also missed by me this week, (sick kid, grrrr) was the blooming of the Titan Arum up at UCONN Storrs. Somewhat of an oddity in the plant world, this giant flower from Sumatra smells like rotting flesh to attract pollinators, hence it's nick name.

Despite it's putrid smell the Titan Arum (it's botanical name is Amorphophallus Titanum, I leave that one up to you Latin language lovers) draws huge crowds to whatever university or botanical garden has one when they bloom. I've been wanting to see one for years, looks like this one is due to bloom again in 2014. With the bloom only lasting a day or two, the greenhouse at UCONN extended it's hours to accommodate all of the visitors, who knew there were so many plant geeks in my home state!

another week passes without much done

2011-06-17T13:55:00.000-04:00

Nothing like having a kid at home with a fever all week to hamper your plans. And on the last full week of school no less!

Regardless, I'm finally coming to grips with the fact that some pest has totally decimated my swiss chard and beets. Completely.

Insect damage? possible...

This is looking more like bites than insects

this is looking like a lost cause

Going to try and sow new rows next week and see what happens. Row covers might be worth a shot, but the only problems is little rodents (if that's whats causing the damage) tend to hide under the row covers. If that happens, you will hear me screaming in the next county - no joke.

awesome!

2011-06-14T12:26:00.000-04:00

For those of you who don't know me well, I am a ridiculously early riser. Up with the roosters was a saying that was made for me. This doesn't mean however that I wake up super cheerful or anything. Most days it takes a full cup of coffee, and a few minutes of peace before the rest of my household descends to make my day get off to the right start.

This morning as I was making my coffee and looking out the window at the pouring rain, I was thinking that another day is going to go by in which I can't get done what is needed in my garden right now. Acquiescing to mother nature, I sat down at the computer to check my email, and read the news headlines. Following the ever depressing news headlines, I always check in on a blog called 1000 Awesome Things. It's a reminder to appreciate the absolute smallest, mundane things to be grateful for and that are simply put awesome. Today, #223 rocked my world. Our first spring in this house, and it's happening almost everyday!

My all time favorites remain #475, #587, #478 and best of all #538.

Tongue of Fire beans - coming along awesomely!

the season is upon us...

2011-06-10T17:40:00.002-04:00

Strawberry season, that is if you're here in the Northeast, or other areas of the country in USDA hardiness zone six. No more supermarket strawberries that taste like cardboard for the time being. Next week I'll be eating tons, making strawberry jam (more on that to follow next week) and strawberry shortcake with biscuits (the real way, not the sponge cake way).

I bought these just down the road from my house at a local orchard, where one of the employees grows these on their own time, pretty neat, huh? We're growing strawberries here too, but they are smaller and more sour, I think a different variety is in order for next year.

At the same time that the strawberries are ready, it's time to put in the tender bulbs. It's also time to change over the spring pots, put in all the annuals, do the second ridiculous round of overdue major weeding, next sowing of beets, chards, time to do major plantings in the borders, shear back the early bloomers so they'll rebloom etc. the list is endless right now. Everything needs to be done in a scramble of it's finally warm enough, yet its not too hot frenzy. I actually did a lot of those things today, during the six precious hours that my children were in school. Unfortunately, I don't have one picture to show for it. Today was a really sweaty, dirty work day and the thought of taking on and off my gloves constantly to take pictures just wasn't going to happen. My camera is way too precious to me to to put my mud caked hands and gloves on it. Maybe I should hire a photographer? One who will take payment in strawberry shortcake?

So, back to the tender bulbs (which actually aren't all bulbs, some are tubers and rhizomes, but why split hairs). It's time to put in cannas, dahlias, and other bulb like things that don't like the soil here when it's cold. I promise, I'll take pictures of them when they bloom. Truthfully, they aren't that exciting to look at right now anyway. Plant them the same way you would other bulbs, to the depth mentioned on the package. The difference with tender bulbs is they need to be dug up at the end of the season and stored in a very specific fashion, then they can be replanted next year. Unless your lazy like me, who has no strength left at the end of the gardening season to do this task (plus its an invitation for mice to find their way into your basement where you store them, yikes). I buy all my tender bulbs at the cheapest place possible, usually a hardware store or Agway and leave them in the ground.

On a completely unrelated note, I just ate a whiskey brined pickle from Whole Foods. It's probably one of the best things I've ever eaten. Just so you know...

Here's a question for you...

2011-06-08T10:08:00.000-04:00

What kind of gardener plans an extended weekend vacation in what is usually the best part of the growing season? One who forgets how fickle mother nature can be, and who assumed that everything would be planted, and well established enough that drip irrigation on a timer would be all the minding that the vegetable garden would need. Not too smart.

Things are really out of whack this year, cold, wet spring, followed by spurts of very hot weather. My plants are seriously confused. Nonetheless... things are finally starting to move along (If you are a farmer's market shopper or belong to a CSA please take pity on the farmers, everything is running very late).

This week I'll be harvesting (yes in 90+ degree weather);

Black seeded simpson lettuce, this was started inside, limped along, now is finally ready.

Snap peas and leaf lettuces

AND garlic scapes!!!!!

What's a garlic scape you ask? Here is a great explanation from Dorie Greenspan along with a fabulous recipe for garlic scape pesto, which is what I will be making with my scapes. Anyone want to come for dinner tonight?

When they start to curl they are ready to be harvested.

take me home country road....

2011-06-03T06:20:00.001-04:00

There are those that might argue that I don't actually live in the country. I've heard it said that if you live less than 15 minutes from a Starbucks (yes there is one close to here) you don't really live in the country. I have to disagree for the following reasons;

1. There is not one, but two feed stores about 5 minutes away (don't know what a feed store is, you definitely don't live in the country, but they are really awesome).

2. Within walking distance of our house there are the following varieties of livestock being raised; goats, sheep, and cows.

3. There are no traffic lights in our town. Just one yellow flashing light.

4. The one "store" we have in town lets you set up an account, just like the old days - wait until my kids figure that out.

5. There are 22 working farms in our town (aren't we lucky?!) And our Memorial Day Parade looks like this....

Photo credit, Samantha Henry, The Daily Easton

sorry...

2011-06-01T07:15:00.000-04:00

I know it's been a while, but kids, life, holiday weekend, good weather and massive planting, all got in the way of spending time in front of the computer. And now, I'm heading out of town.

So a quick round up of what's been going on here at the homestead...

We've started harvesting strawberries

Tomatoes were moved out of the basement and into the sunlight - pictured is 'black cherry'

So I had a little bit of an ethical dilemma this week (alright that sounds a little too dramatic). I was standing in line at Whole Foods, and the woman in front of me was buying tomato seeds. Here in the Northeast, our growing season is not long enough to grow tomatoes from seed outside. Seeds need to be started inside many weeks ahead of planting. I wondered to myself, should I say something to this stranger that is likely an inexperienced gardener, and save her from a summer of frustration of not being able to grow tomatoes? Or should I just keep my mouth shut? In the end I didn't say anything, and then felt guilty about it all day. The end message however, is that it's not too late to plant tomatoes, if you purchase transplants from a nursery (not from a big box store please, let's avoid the potential spreading of the tomato blight).

Don't forget to plant your tomatoes really deep, they like having their stems buried. Seriously (but don't ever do that with any other plant).

This happened this week too...

Three apple trees arrived, two Braeburns in espalier form (oh just wait for the pruning post on this in the winter) and one dwarf Red Delicious. The kids were jumping for joy when they got home from school, "you mean we can just go outside and pick an apple off the tree and eat it?" Well, I explained, not this year. The tree really shouldn't be allowed to have any fruit mature on it, that way all it's energy should go into rooting and getting established, for the longer and better health of the tree.

But really, am I actually going to have the strength to pull all of these off? I'm not so sure.

I can almost taste the pesto

2011-05-25T15:01:00.001-04:00

Ah..... the sunshine has returned. That means it was time to get out and get my herbs in the ground. Herbs are one of the easiest and most satisfying things to grow according to me (if you care).

For newer gardeners herbs are the perfect plant. They don't really care about soil quality, no amending or fertilizing necessary. They don't have a lot of disease and pest problems. They don't require frequent watering, in fact they rather prefer being somewhat neglected. The most fragrant herbs that you will ever find have been allowed to dry out to almost the point of wilting before they are watered. I'll skip the complicated botany lesson as to why this is, but basically, when the plant is denied water it gets totally stressed out because it thinks it's dying. Since a plants basic goal in life is to reproduce itself it goes into a "I'd better attract pollinators" mode, and puts it's best scent forward. Then when you water, the plant goes back to it's normal habit but the awesome scent/taste remains. Don't you like how I talk about plants like they are people? I know, it's a little weird.

I'm really fortunate that one of the largest herb growers in the country is pretty much right in my backyard. If you are living anywhere in the Northeast, you probably see Gilbertie's* herbs at your local nursery. I've bought my herbs from them for probably about 15 years. Sure I could start my own in the basement with the rest of my plants, but honestly they are the masters. I've never once had a problem with any herb I've purchased from them, so why mess with perfection? Herbs are also kind of fussy when started inside, not in a greenhouse. If you've been following along you know that I have no patience for plants that need babying. I have 2 human babies and 1 of the canine variety to take care of already, my plants need to be tough.

A couple of things about this new herb garden that I established today. It's kind of a weird shape, but I'm just working with what I have. This spot was formerly enclosed by lovely boxwoods (traditional for an herb garden) but the 9 foot snow drifts this past winter did most of them in. I'll probably replace them at some point, but I'll let you in on a little secret this bed will likely be expanded this summer and that low stone wall which seems to serve no purpose just might be going away. Yes, bring on the sledgehammers. In the meantime, this is what I've got, and the ugly green fencing is a cheap solution to keep fido from using this spot as his private bathroom, cause we're going to be eating this stuff! This garden is also in our pool area, and away from all of the other vegetables I grow, so I wanted it to look pretty too.

I always, always, lay out the plants first - not that I don't make changes, but it's the only way to get the spacing right.

Now comes the hardest part for both experienced and new gardeners. When it's all planted, watered, mulch you think to yourself, "there is too much empty space." I feel it too, trust me, I wanted to shove more plants in to make look prettier, more finished, etc. Here's the thing though, these babies are going to grow a lot over the next few months you've got to leave them room, not to mention that you need to leave stepping room so the herbs can be harvested.

In this small space there are 5 different types of basil, 2 kinds of sage, lemon balm, lemon verbena, cilantro, bronze leaf fennel, dill, parsley, borage and rosemary and scented geraniums. A prize goes to you if you know what borage is, and what you can use it for! I promise, I'll take some follow up photos in a few weeks, you will be surprised at how quickly things change. I have a knack for growing some really monster basil (details on how to do that in a future post).

Herbs also do fantastically in containers. It's that whole drying out thing again. It's really great if you only have a balcony or patio for growing space. In fact prior to this year, I grew the majority of my herbs in containers. I just wasn't smart enough to take any pictures

*This is not a paid advertisement for Gilbertie's I've got no connection to them at all, despite the fact that I've spent a ridiculous amount of money at their nursery over the years.

p.s. hope you like the site redesign. I kinda realized that I wasn't doing my photos any favors by having them on a white background. It's a work in progress, but I think this is looking quite a bit better!

thinking I should build an ark...

2011-05-23T17:48:00.000-04:00

I'm finding it hard to motivate to write anything with this ridiculously dreary weather we are having. There is nothing like planting most of your summer vegetables in the rain as I did on Sunday morning. Well, at least I don't have to water.

In one of the few moments that it hasn't been raining in what seems like weeks I managed to snap this picture of a rhododendron (PJM is the variety, one of the most common plants out there) that is ready to be pruned. Rhodies and Azaleas need to be pruned as soon as they are done flowering. Really, AS SOON... not a few weeks later, not at the end of the season. Prune at any other time and you will not have flowers the following season, and don't lie to me when you call me when there are issues, suggesting that maybe you need to fertilize (true story, withholding names to spare friends from humiliation).

Ugly rain destroyed flowers - time to prune.

Cheers!

2011-05-19T19:27:00.000-04:00

Lessons learned on the Roquette.

1. I may be a pretty decent cook, but I am a lousy bartender.
2. There is a fatal flaw in the recipe, and that is the absence of tonic or even regular water. I nearly choked on the first very small sip.
3. It looks cute, greenish tint, little green flecks of arugula. My husband thinks he can improve on the recipe. We'll see what he comes up with!

frogs are in the mood for love

2011-05-19T06:00:00.002-04:00

at least they are in my backyard....

Loud enough? Guess that means that this summer we will have more of this.

and this

My #1 frog and toad catcher is sure to be busy.

UPDATE 5/19- Apparently toads are what's mating in my yard, not frogs. And based on all the racket, it sounds like a toad orgy back in the woods - yikes!

on to the next fad

2011-05-17T20:40:00.000-04:00

So it's been raining... a lot. When the weather is this bad (like the endless snow this past winter) I do two things, I work on gardening related orders and writing, or bake. The latter pretty seriously affected my waistline this winter, which is part of the reason I'm anxious to get into the garden and get some excercise - it's almost bathing suit season, yikes!

So for the last few years, I've been making cake balls, cake pops, etc. I'm sure you've heard of them (if you haven't see here) as they seem to be all the rage lately.

I made them for Hanukkah.

I made them into pumpkins last fall.

Made them last week for a baby shower.

And then, at said baby shower, one of the invited guests asked if I had gotten the idea from Starbucks. I nearly fainted. Apparently cake balls have gotten so popular and so pedestrian that now they are available at Starbucks, which means for me, they are over. There is no way that theirs are as good as mine, but still, the widespread availability makes them not unique enough for me to put into the considerable effort involved with making them. According to Esquire Magazine they are the new cupcake. So, I'm done.

What will replace them though... it just might have to be this- I've been drooling over them at William Sonoma for the last few months. This could be just the excuse I need!

rainy days and mondays always get me down...

2011-05-15T19:28:00.000-04:00

Remember that old song by The Carpenters - I just googled they lyrics, boy whoever wrote that song must have been seriously depressed - but I digress.

The weather outlook for this week is not looking very positive. However it's hard to complain about the cool, wet spring we are having here in the Northeast, considering the weather catastrophes that have been occurring in the Southern part of the U.S.

This rainy weather is good for two things though; shopping and planting. Rainy days are my favorite days to go to the nursery. The days are so slow, that you usually have the chance to interact with whomever is in charge of sourcing the plants, and they are generally a great source of information. Ever been to a nursery on that first beautiful Saturday morning in June with every other person in town? Not that pleasant.

Once you're suited up, wellies, raincoats, etc. you may as well get out there and plant. The truth is a ridiculously rainy day is NOT a good time to plant, the soil is too saturated, you risk disturbing the nice soil structure, etc. But, if you've got a week coming up where it's going to be periodic off and on rain, and you get plants in the ground it makes life much easier. To be really successful with transplants, they need a lot of water to get established and recover from transplant shock. That means watering every or every other day. It's also why the spring is a much more optimal time for planting than the summer, there is less stress for everyone, including the plants. In general, once the plants get established I take a "tough love" approach, and only water when really necessary. I know you will be horrified, but sometimes it can be weeks between waterings for me - and my plants live. However right after transplanting they need babying, and that means lots of water.

This is my lovely little crabapple - before it started raining, now it looks like crap.

finally getting somewhere...

2011-05-11T16:50:00.000-04:00

To say we've had a slow start to the growing season in the northeast is an understatement. Finally, 3 days of sun in a row this week, and we are moving along. Arugula looks like it will be the first thing ready to be harvested, very soon. Probably one of the easiest things in the world to grow, in the ground, in a pot, whatever... it's not picky. I'm a bit obsessed with arugula, and have already run out of seeds I've sowed so much - oops, time to order more.

I'd like to say that I was going to make a delicious salad with it, but there isn't anything else ready in the garden to go along with it. I'm known for making some pretty good pesto out of arugula before the basil comes into season but that's not happening either. The truth is, I've been holding on to this recipe since last fall - and it's time has finally arrived.

The Roquette - reprinted from Bon Appetit - Sept. 2010
1 cup (loosely packed) baby arugula plus additional for garnish
4 1/2 tsp. dark agave nectar
4 1/2 tsp. fresh lime juice
1/2 cup Hendrick's Gin
Ice Cubes

Combine 1 cup arugula, agave nectar, and lime juice in a cocktail shaker. Using muddler or long-handled wooden spoon, mash until arugula is wilted, at least 1 minute. Add gin. Fill cocktail shaker with ice cubes. Cover and shake briefly to chill. Strain into 2 small rocks glasses filled with ice cubes. Garnish drinks with arugula leaves.

Will provide you with a full report following consumption (okay, maybe the next day!)

grow for me - please!!!

the elusive perfect tomato

2011-05-10T15:23:00.001-04:00

Ah, summer tomatoes - the prize for a long (and sometimes difficult) growing season. There is nothing like it. They don't come easily though. Although tomatoes are not particularly difficult to grow, there is something artistic involved in doing it "right" as far as I'm concerned. This isn't a discussion about hybrid vs. heirlooms as both have their merits in the home garden. It's all about the process, and what a process it is. Did you know that you are supposed to prune tomato plants? That's getting a bit ahead in the process though...

So back in early April, on a random nice day I started my tomato seeds. Here's the thing though, I started them differently than I have any other year, and am now reminded that anything that sounds too good to be true probably is. So Gardeners Supply, which is a super reputable company that I use all the time was offering a kit this year to make "seed starting even easier" and I bought it. Not that seed starting is hard, but anything that makes it easier is better right? So this system utilizes cow pots (yes made from composted cow manure, which are awesome, I've used them for miscellaneous projects before) that sit on a special mat which "wicks" moisture from a reservoir below. No need to repot, because the pots are big enough, no need to feed, because there are nutrients in the pots, awesome, right? So while plants do take in moisture from below (their roots) this system, similar to what I've used with peat pots in the past, just wasn't looking right. As a failsafe, I started another batch of seeds in jiffy pellets in those little plastic "greenhouses" that you can get everywhere, one week after I started the cowpot version.

After several weeks this was the result....

uneven germination, lanky plants, most haven't formed true leaves in the cow pots

and some funky orange mold or fungus growing on the sides of the pots, yuck!

Started one week later in jiffy pellets, looking exactly as they should.

So last week I repotted the plants that were looking fabulous, although outgrowing their space in the jiffy pellets, into peat pots, just like I've always done. There were a couple of plants that I repotted out of the cow pots, but I think that it was 3 out of 24, not good odds.

Happily repotted and back to the basement for a few more weeks under the lights.

So much for shortcuts, huh? Sorry Gardeners supply, on this product I'm really not happy. Oh, and when I went to leave a review on your website this product is surprisingly (or not) "no longer available". In about 2-3 weeks, depending on weather, these babies will get moved outside, and that's when the real fun begins!

On a completely separate note - if you are contemplating growing vegetables this summer it's not too late (especially with the cool spring we are having) if you are in the area and need help, I'll be teaching an Organic Gardening 101 class at Sport Hill Farm in Easton. I'd love to see you there, click here for more details.

the first step to beating an addiction

2011-05-03T15:24:00.000-04:00

is admitting you have a problem, right? Well I've got a serious problem, and it looks like this.

This is Echinacea purpurea 'Coconut Lime' introduced a couple years ago, it was one of a slew of new echinaceas to the marketplace, so different than the familiar pink/purple coneflowers. Oh but this was just the beginning, there were doubles, pinks, whites, reds, yellows, more than you can imagine. And then there are the Terra Nova varieties. If you aren't familiar Terra Nova, they are one of the most well known perennial breeders in the U.S. you can't buy plants directly from them, but chances are if you've bought an echinacea, or heuchera in the last few years they developed it.

Here's the problem, I'm obsessed. Even though some have come up marginally hardy, and not living up to their supposed potential, I can't stop buying them. Yesterday I bought 2 'Secret Desires' (who comes up with these names) at $22 bucks a pop in one gallon pots. That's insanity, yet I did it anyway. Like I said, I've got a problem. Somebody please knock some sense into me!

I mean really, can you blame me?

Photo credit, Terra Nova Nursery

More sensationalism? I think not...

2011-05-02T16:32:00.000-04:00

If you care at all about sustainability, where your food comes from, or the national health crisis known as obesity, I urge you to read Eric Schlosser's recent opinion piece in the Washington Post.

You may not agree with every point he makes, as some have criticized that it smacks of sensationalism a la Jamie Oliver and Food Revolution or that it oversimplifies the issues. However I hope it inspires you to support your local farmers, because they certainly are not getting rich under the current agricultural policies in this country. Plus, I promise, you will never get better tasting food than you do from a local supplier. There is no way, that tomatoes trucked in from Florida all the way to Connecticut, or wherever you are, will taste as fresh as those that are locally grown.

it's payback time...

2011-04-29T14:38:00.000-04:00

Remember this? That was back when I had paying clients, who wanted me to design their gardens, or wanted me to design their gardens so they could tell me I was doing it all wrong. The truth is, after 3 years of going to horticulture school to study design, I really didn't like it all that much. For me, it's all about the plants. Show me a new and exciting cultivar, and I'm in heaven. Propagation in my own garden, it's my nirvana (you can only guess the number of times I've told my husband I'm having a baby, and the sheer look of relief when he is realizes I'm talking about a plant baby).

Flash forward a few years, and I'm living on 3 acres and unable to care for all of it on my own (except for some of my precious perennials, no one is ever touching those, ditto for my veg garden) so I've had to hire a landscaping company to handle some projects for me. Now I'm someone's nightmare client - a lot of knowledge and not enough physical strength to make it all happen - oh, and I'm opinionated. They hate me already.

Happy Weekend!

procrastination central

2011-04-26T17:18:00.000-04:00

Not really, just on the blogging front. I've started about 6 different blog posts in the last week, and haven't finished a single one.

Last week the kids were on school vacation, (hello, no time for myself) and it was also the Passover holiday (lots of crumbs, trust me.) The aforementioned left very little time for blogging, much less time for a coherent sentence to formulate in my brain.

Then Sunday, the weather took a drastic turn, it's finally feeling a little bit like spring. With the long range forecast having night time temperatures no where near freezing (not that it couldn't still happen, fyi) it's time to start direct sowing a whole bunch of stuff that should have been in weeks ago, swiss chard, beets (two of my favorites) dill, head lettuces, carrots, cilantro etc. I'm also moving some of my transplants, from the basement into the light of day.

Oh and there was a little incident in my garden this past weekend that involved this guy.

spreading the love

2011-04-12T12:21:00.000-04:00

I'm not usually one to shill for other websites (particularly one with big corporate money behind it) but I've come across two relatively new websites this week that I think are pretty awesome.

Home Farming by Triscuit (which means Nabisco/Kraft) is a great, starter website for anyone who is venturing into the world of vegetable growing, whether you are trying tomatoes in pots for the first time, or ripping up your whole yard (not advised, for the newbie). They keep it simple, and are trying to build a community of "home farmers". I've never thought of myself as such, and I worry that this term, which is at the moment cool and trendy, might be overdoing it a bit. However, if it encourages people to grow their own, I'm all for it. I am also mindful though about what my friend and neighbor Sherri Vinton (author of Put 'Em Up) has to say about all this trendiness.

For the serious home growing, canning addict there is Homegrown. Put together by the folks at Farm Aid, this is a no messing around website for people that are urban homesteading, running community gardens, and making major life commitments to growing. It's not for everyone, but it's pretty cool to see real people, taking real risks to help better our planet.

All the cool kids are doing it... you know you want to!!

what's an organic mom to do?

2011-04-11T12:51:00.000-04:00

So we had 2 tick incidents this past week in our house. The first was last Monday, my son had a very engorged, and very stuck tick on the back of his neck, just under the hairline. I figured, it happens, pediatrician said watch for symptoms, but otherwise let's just do a blood test in 4 weeks to be sure no lyme, etc. Okay, no biggie. Then two days later, when I was standing in the driveway talking to my neighbor, I noticed a very small (and only noticeable because I was wearing khaki pants) tick climbing up my leg. I hadn't worked outside at all, had only come out of the house at all to walk down the driveway to the bus stop. All of about 10 paces were not on a paved surface, yet somehow the tick had found me. Two in one week, I (admittedly) started to panic a little bit. Two in one week felt like one too many to me, when we still have a very long season to go and my family spends almost every good weather moment outside.

After making a few phone calls it seemed like I had a few options. One, do nothing, be vigilant about checking and pray that no one get's Lyme disease. Two, spray an organic approved botanical pyrethroid which is an insecticide (it will be killing many bugs, not just ticks) or three, spray a synthetic pyrethroid with the same killing effects. Here is where the labeling and science get a little tricky and confusing, the two pyrethroids are essentially the same. One is made from an extract of chrysanthemums, so it's "natural" it's OMRI listed which means it can be used on certified organic farms. The other was created in a lab, but the way it behaves when applied is identical. For the sake of clarity, pyrethroids in general are known throughout the industry as the least "toxic" of insecticides and are not in the same class or type as much better known insecticides like DDT, Diazanon or Imidacloprid (which is one of the suspected factors in colony collapse disorder, but is still widely used by many tick spray companies). So would selecting the botanical pyrethroid be just a cop out to make myself or make others feel better? Does choosing to spray go against everything I believe in?

The jury's still out, I've not made a decision yet.

a little weekend food for thought...

2011-04-08T14:53:00.000-04:00

Thanks to my friends at Sport Hill Farm for sharing this video!

bambi?

2011-04-07T07:20:00.001-04:00

If you live in the Northeast or many other parts of the country, you may like me, be battling white tailed deer. Especially if you have a beautiful garden, they tend to like those best! They take one or two bites every day, with the potential to defoliate an entire shrub, perennial, etc. over the course of a few days to weeks. I've been battling the deer for years, and think I've gotten pretty good at it (see here).

So last summer we moved to a new house. We live in a semi-rural area, with woods on two sides of us. I know there are deer. I've seen them on the mornings when I'm awake at some ridiculously earlier hour. In the last few months or so I'm starting to find deer droppings in the back yard (which is completely fenced in to a height of 6 feet). Here is the thing that most perplexes me though - there is not one shred of evidence that the deer have eaten a single thing. Just to confirm, there are plenty of things they would like to eat in the backyard, rhododendrons, hydrangeas, etc. yet they haven't taken a single bite. I have not taken any of my normal precautions (repellants, underplanting) because I haven't seen any evidence of need. So why is it that they seem to just be "passing through" and not stopping to nibble - that is completely against their nature. Deer also tend to walk the same pattern every single day, but I'd bet they are only showing up here once in awhile, based on the infrequency of which I have to clean up after them. My husband suggested that they somehow "know" that a serious gardener lives here, and might be waiting outside with a shotgun (just kidding bambi, I've been a vegetarian for 22 years, I don't intentionally kill animals). I'm perplexed for the moment - although with all the edibles going in, I've already put in some calls to get some quotes to enhance our existing fence. Do I take the plunge on a higher fence, as a precaution or wait it out?

UPDATE - Picked up deer droppings every day for the last 5, guess it's fence time!

first in a very, very long list

2011-04-05T14:08:00.000-04:00

With the sudden (thank goodness) change in the weather, I've got a ridiculous list of weather-related damage issues to deal with. First on the list is attempting to save the dwarf Japanese Maple that is next to the pool. So many people have these tiny trees - and they could not handle the amount of snow we got this winter. The weight of 3-4 ft. of snow piled on them for months caused many to have breaks on major limbs. While they are common, and easy to replace, they are also very expensive. There are many plants that I can't save (remember this) but I think I might be able to work a little magic on this one.

All varieties of maple trees run sap in the spring, not just sugar maples. So I'm going to attempt to have this tree "glue" it's limb back on. Utilizing the sticky sap that the plant makes when it converts starches stored in it's limbs over the winter into sugar. It's going to need a little help though...

Using green nutscene twine I pulled the branch back into place. It's not pretty looking, but once the tree leafs out, you won't see it at all. Of course in the process of tying it up, I realized there was actually a second, smaller break on another limb, ugh. So keep your fingers crossed that my wacky plan works!!

break #2

pre-season round up

2011-04-03T07:49:00.000-04:00

It's funny, every year I get the same questions (very often from the same people!) Since there seems to be an upswing in my readership lately, thought I'd regroup on some much older posts.

Upside down tomato planters still seem to be all the rage - this is what I had to say about them in 2009.

Contemplating composting again this year? See here for any easy way to get started.

Dealing with deer? Me too. Here is what I do about it.

Heading out to plant some peas and leaf lettuces in a few minutes - yay!

finally!

2011-04-02T08:09:00.001-04:00

Excuse the list format - but I've spent the last hour trying to figure out to get a really cool looking graphic of the weather forecast into my post. My HTML challenged brain is just not having it. There is a reason I'm really happy this morning, and this is it...

10-Day Forecast:
Saturday
Mostly Sunny. 54 / 36F. Precip 20%%

Sunday
Sunny. 56 / 40F. Precip 0%%

Monday
Rain / Thunder. 51 / 48F. Precip 80%%

Tuesday
T-Showers. 51 / 40F. Precip 50%%

Wednesday
Partly Cloudy. 50 / 37F. Precip 20%%

Thursday
Partly Cloudy. 54 / 38F. Precip 20%%

Friday
Showers. 49 / 36F. Precip 40%%

Saturday
Sunny. 52 / 40F. Precip 10%%

Sunday
Mostly Cloudy. 54 / 42F. Precip 20%%

Monday
Mostly Cloudy. 57 / 40F. Precip 20%%

Updated: 4/2/11 6:09 AM EDT

Planting time (for cool weather crops) is finally here!!!! I should clarify, planting time is here if you live in zone 6 in the Northeast. If you don't know what zone you are in, check this out!

April Fool's Day

2011-04-01T14:28:00.002-04:00

We were spared the worst joke of all, and the predicted snow did not happen. Looking promising for some planting this weekend of peas, and salad greens. Keep your fingers crossed. In the meantime, transplants that were started last week are coming up nicely in the basement under the ugly florescent grow lights.

I hate having to do this part inside, but it's too cold even in the garage - my fingers were getting numb.

Who needs covers when you have saran wrap?

Lettuce in the rear, Romanesco in the middle and Swiss Chard in the foreground.

This is a horrible picture (damn that macro lens and florescent lights don't want to get along) but you can see on this heirloom swiss chard the beginnings of the different color stems and veins.

Tomato seedlings should be started next week, but I'm going to take a gamble and wait a little longer. The way this winter has been, I'm not convinced that we're done with the cold weather yet. Ugh!

P.S. Nobody tell my husband, but it was decided today (between me and a landscape architect friend) that we're going to add apple trees to our yard this year. Four trees to be exact, two espalier, and two dwarf trees. I'm practically giddy at the thought. Hurry up and warm things up mother nature!

heirlooms or hybrids, which is best?

2011-03-24T13:23:00.000-04:00

Kudos to the New York Times and yesterday's article on this topic - very informative and I think, fairly balanced. Okay Michael Tortorello you get back a little bit of my respect with your non-judgemental reporting on this topic. You know I have not been such a fan in the past. Maybe you and I will be turning over a new leaf this gardening season....

My favorite quote from the article is, "Heirlooms are not intrinsically more appetizing than modern hybrids. Heirlooms began as hybrids, after all — a fortuitous cross of two parents. Modern hybrids, or so-called “F-1s,” are usually proprietary to a seed company. But this is still the 19th-century genetics of Gregor Mendel, not genetic engineering." In fact, at many of these seed companies, even the big ones, they are cross pollinating varieties using real high tech gadgets, like Q-tips to mix up the pollen. Seriously. It's about as far from a GMO as you can get.

In case you care, about 20% of my seeds come from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (and their new branch, Comstock, Ferre here in Connecticut) and 80% come from Johnny's Selected Seeds, both highlighted in the article. And for the sake of clarity, Johnny's also carries heirlooms. The vegetables that I choose to grow as heirlooms for the most part are tomatoes, beets and swiss chard. The rest are hybrids.

Which are hybrids and which are heirlooms? Can you tell the difference?

the winter that just won't die

2011-03-23T08:00:00.001-04:00

Remember how I was bragging a few days ago about how spring was here, I'm working outside, etc? Zoom in on today's forecast, 5-8 inches of snow expected. Great. Two steps forward and one step back. I'm really glad I held off on sowing seeds outdoors, and it wasn't just my laziness this time, it was totally planned. The old farmer's tale here in zone 6ish is planting peas on St. Patricks Day. That's always seems kind of iffy for me. For anyone who did plant peas, they might be okay - I'd just expect way lower germination rates. Peas don't mind the cold, but cold and wet doesn't work quite as well. The good news about this snow delay - is it gives all you slackers who've told me over and over that you want to grow some of your own vegetables a little more time to get things organized. Peas are seriously the easiest thing to grow. Grab a pot, throw in some organic potting mix either put a stick from your yard, or a bamboo stake in it (these baby's like to climb) put it in a sunny location, and have your 4 year old plant the seeds. Done. Oh, and you don't even need to fertilize. Peas, like all legumes, are fix nitrogen in the soil, so they basically fertilize themselves. You'll be eating fresh sugar snap peas in a few weeks, and after that I'm pretty sure you'll be hooked. The peas will be done producing right around the time that tomatoes get planted (around here they say May 15th, but I stick with Memorial Day, same reason as mentioned above) so cut off the pea vines (leave the roots, the nitrogen thing again) and stick a tomato plant in there. It's not rocket science.

For today I'll have to console myself with indoor seed starting.

These were taken years ago, on an obviously much nicer day than today. It was probably one of those fluke nice days in early spring, and my then 3-year old and 6 year old were assisting with the pea planting.

flowers i've loved and lost

2011-03-19T09:27:00.000-04:00

Okay, a bit dramatic, some are just annuals, but some were left behind at our old house. I can't help wondering if they've survived the winter (and if their new owners are taking care of them.)

today is the day!

2011-03-18T09:29:00.000-04:00

The first "official" day of spring may still be a few days away, however for me it starts today. You see, today was the first day that I opened the door at 7:00 am to let the dog out and didn't get an arctic blast of cold in the face. Let me tell you, after this hellish winter we've had, it feels damn good. So the entire day today (predicted to be 70 degrees) will be spent outside getting everything (ha) done. Lots of pruning, perennials, ornamental grasses, shrubs, and some mourning for everything that didn't make it after being suffocated by 4 feet of snow pack.

Vegetable beds will be also be fertilized, as we are expecting a couple days of rain. Once all that nitrogen is good and soaked in, the planting will begin. Peas, arugula, beets, lettuce and calendula all getting started outdoors this week. Indoor seed starting for swiss chard, cauliflower and more lettuce. I'm counting the days until our produce does not need to come from Whole Foods. I've also got to get serious about figuring out what I'm planting where in my vegetable beds. I have a rough idea in my head, but areas need to get marked off, so no space is wasted.

Look what's popping up nicely....

Kids have already asked how long it will be until we have garlic bread.

beautiful!

2011-03-15T14:26:00.000-04:00

Trying to find time to write hasn't been easy lately - the gardens are calling me all the time, every spare moment in which I can tolerate the not as cold, yet still very gray weather are spent outside. I found this video beautiful, and will write more about the book when I finish it - but in the meantime, enjoy!

On Being a Gardener: From "And I Shall Have Some Peace There" from Margaret Roach on Vimeo.

this is a first

2011-03-09T13:40:00.000-05:00

So I was in a department store the other day - and in the shoe department they had a whole display of Hunter wellies in at least a dozen different colors. How did muck boots become the latest "in" thing?

I think this is probably the first and only time I will be ahead of a trend. Welcome to mud season!

I knew I was right!

2011-03-04T15:49:00.000-05:00

Back in the day, when I had paying clients (not you freeloaders - you know who you are) I had a design suggestion that was questioned by nearly every single one. When sketching out on paper, and then when actually installing the design I would, as I learned in school, leave 2 feet of clearance from the foundation. Yes, it can look a little awkward, but as the plant grows and fills the space, access is still needed for pruning, watering or in case you need to paint the house, fix a window, etc. This is also assuming that most people (with a few crazy exceptions) will not actually prune at all. There is also the problem of clogged gutters, and icicles which send a steady stream of water to the same spot over a long period of time. Most winters, may not be an issue, but behold some boxwood awesomeness...

Sunny today - ignore the shadow! Next up another boxwood - right next to the front door, how welcoming!

This holly used to stand about 5 1/2 feet, just a little bit taller than me. Now it's about knee height.

NB- Just in case you're wondering - these problems came with the house...

love it!

2011-03-03T14:11:00.000-05:00

From our friends at Kitchen Gardeners International (the people who made the dream of a White House vegetable garden a reality)

spring soon, please?

2011-02-28T11:30:00.000-05:00

I was hoping that when I returned from a week away from the east coast, that all the snow would be gone. No such luck, although we are getting there. I had grandiose visions of starting hearty greens and peas in the next few weeks, and that's looking pretty unlikely. Seed starting however is just a few short weeks away, and I've got to get seriously organized. Every year, I come up with a (let's call it a spreadsheet, even though it's really a hastily scribbled list) of all the seeds I need to start, and when they need to be started. With seed starting, as with many other things, timing is everything. In the past however, my vegetable garden was a fraction of the size it's going to be this year. I've been putting off the task of making this "spreadsheet" because I knew it would be time consuming. And then, thanks to a little googling, behold the tool that will make your life far more efficient if you are starting seeds.

Plug in your frost free date - and voila the work is done for you! Now if I can just get all my grow lights set up, and the snow will be melt I'll be all set.

Oh Martha!

2011-02-15T19:08:00.000-05:00

You've done it again... no matter how much I love to hate you - you've won me over with your spring gardening issue.

Experienced gardener, get it - you'll be inspired. Photos and reminders of how beautiful a vegetable garden can be abound. Brand new at trying to grow your own, get it, there is tons of information you need. What to start from seed, what to start from plants, when to plant etc. An all around good start, although if you are serious about growing a lot of vegetables for the first time you must have this book - Martha recommends it too!

know your farmer, know your food

2011-02-07T10:17:00.001-05:00

Happy monday - lots of melting going on the last two days, it's getting me excited for spring. Love this video, and thought I'd share. I feel so fortunate to live in a community where local, direct from the farm food is readily available!

Hug Your Farmer! from lovetomorrowtoday on Vimeo.

no shadow = early spring?

2011-02-03T13:08:00.000-05:00

We've had record snowfalls here in the northeast. It's awful. I keep trying to console myself with the fact that snow is a really good insulator for plants, better than any winter mulch.

Before - My "assistant" and I putting in the raspberry bushes in October

And after - nothing like 4 feet of "insulation" with an icy crust on top!

My plans for a very early sowing (using row covers) of cool weather plants is not looking too likely at this point.

isn't it ironic?

2011-01-21T12:58:00.000-05:00

I've been totally blowing off my blog, because more pressing matters have needed my attention. And now, my readership picks up, a crazy number of hits. So it seems maybe people like it when I'm not writing? hmmmmm?????

I've been writing a lot, just not here. I've been writing like mad to find my life long friend a bone marrow transplant donor. Writing to potential donors, writing blog posts, and writing thank yous to those who've already supported us. Garden concerns seem trivial to me right now. You can track our progress here or follow us on twitter @matchformaxine.

feels a little bit like summer

2011-01-12T14:35:00.001-05:00

Okay, maybe not.

A few months ago (was it really that long?) I decided on the spur of the moment to make some limoncello. I had never done it before, and was kind of winging it (a bad habit of mine) using a mash up of several different recipes. Frankly, I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out. The smell of the poor quality alcohol (as suggested by nearly every recipe) nearly knocked me off my feet. But I figured, why not try anyway. It's been sitting on my counter steeping and taunting me ever since.

Last night we had 23 inches of snow. No school today, and if I was a betting woman I'd say none tomorrow either. So I've been hiding in the kitchen trying to make myself busy so I don't have to play one more game of Harry Potter wizard chess. Today was D- day, either the 2nd step happened with the limoncello or I was going to pour it down the drain (or perhaps use as anti-freeze? snow-melt?) So I opened up the container, and it actually smelled pretty decent. I added 3 cups of simple syrup and the aroma it gave off was just like lemonade...

One more day in the pickle jar and then it will get divided up into these cute little stopper bottles. Then into the freezer for safe keeping until warmer weather prevails (maybe).

trying to find my inspiration

2011-01-03T11:53:00.000-05:00

I'm finding it completely overwhelming to redesign 3 acres of poorly created gardens. Where to start, what can I save and salvage, just how much money am I going to spend on new plants, and exactly how many seeds do I need to start in a few weeks. And mostly, how am I going to get all the work done by myself, and take care of my kids, work a little, blog, and maybe have a bit of fun.

Then, while I was digging through some old photos to find a picture for Saturday's post I found these.

Nice pavement, huh? and lingering snow, this was March

Excuse me, you want to put a garden where?

Transformed! Oh wait, I designed this space, and all the gardens. (please note I did not design adding an ugly plastic garbage can and metal picnic tables, the one's I selected were gorgeous, even the garbage can, but there was not enough money left!)

I guess I am up to the task of redesigning my space. I think I can... I think I can...

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

2011-01-01T12:57:00.000-05:00

And I'm not talking about Christmas, or September when the kids go back to school... it's seed/plant catalog time!!

As soon as the ridiculous number of catalogs from Pottery Barn, LL Bean and the like finally subside in the post holiday slump, the garden porn starts to roll in. And let me assure you there are some catalogs that are so beautiful they can convince you can grow anything. One in particular, which I won't call out by name, but happens to be in my home state of Connecticut is very good at it, my gardening friends will know who I mean.... but I digress.

For any serious gardener the planning begins now, in the dead of winter. Seeds need to be ordered if you want specific types for your vegetable or ornamental garden from a reputable company (see here for comprehensive reviews, I use this religiously). Order too little and you may be out of luck for your late summer/early fall sowing of cool weather crops. Order too much and you may waste a bunch of money (although if you've ordered from a reputable company the seeds should last til next season). My challenge this year is I've increased the size of my vegetable garden by about 300%. So I'm planning, drawing, counting, measuring, okay not totally true. I should be doing all those things, however as usual I'm going to just fly by the seat of my pants with a rudimentary, not to scale drawing plan, order, and keep my fingers crossed.

My favorite seed catalog of all time is Johnny's Selected Seeds of Maine. It's not that they have the most unusual varieties (I order those from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed, which now bought a CT Seed company and will available locally, woo hoo!) but they have a ridiculously high germination rate. In addition their catalog has the most comprehensive seed starting, transplanting and harvesting information for every single fruit, vegetable and flower that they sell. It's literally my bible for the whole growing season. In the last few years they've also upped their offerings in the organic seed department. So the next few days I'll be pouring over their catalog, along with a few others to try and decide which of the 500 varieties of tomatoes I want to try this year, and which of the 200 varieties of cucumbers will make the best pickles. And I'm hoping to find the magic unknown vegetable that must bet out there somewhere that my youngest child will actually like and eat without a bribe.

Ox-heart heirloom tomato - definitely making the cut again this year.

how green is your Christmas tree?

2010-12-22T10:07:00.001-05:00

I know, why is a nice Jewish girl like me blogging about Christmas trees? An interesting article in last week's New York Times caught my eye and investigates this question. Living in a small town, where agriculture and related business are pretty much the only game in town - I've been hearing lots about this lately. Our town might possibly have the highest number of Christmas tree farms per capita in the state. I don't know that for sure, I'm totally guessing but just drive down the one major state road here and you'll see signs up for at least a dozen. So I guess the answer is, if you live here (or near a Christmas tree farm) the answer is a real tree is more environmentally friendly. If you live in Hawaii the answer is a fake tree - and really if you live in Hawaii, I don't feel bad for you at all (it's been in the 20's here most of the week).

video via Kitchen Gardeners International

Just in case you felt like buying me a holiday gift....

2010-12-15T13:41:00.000-05:00

I'm totally kidding by the way.

It's called Botanicalls... and it will Tweet you when your plants need to be watered. On a side note, is "tweet you" correct? I can't seem to understand Twitter, even though my brother and others have explained it to me many times. Regardless - clearly we as a human race are not smart enough to stick our finger in the pot and see if the soil is moist or not. Okay, maybe I shouldn't make that assumption.

I'm a notorious hater of house plants*. This doesn't make sense to most people as I love plants, right? But I really, really detest them. You will not find a single one in my house. When someone brings me one, I end up killing them. I stick them in a corner in the living room, or some other room where it looks nice and promptly forget about it. Hey wait... maybe I do need this gadget?

*House plants does not include indoor forcing bulbs. Which I love, you can bring me some any time!

the future of farming?

2010-12-12T08:36:00.000-05:00

Meet George Jetson, Jane his wife... Remember that old cartoon? The early 60's vision of what life would be like in the future - including eating all meals that popped out in pill form from a contraption called the Food-A-Rac-A-Cycle. Feel like having turkey and mashed potatoes for dinner, just type it into the computer. Tofu with roasted vegetables, oh wait... that didn't exist it the Jetson's utopia.

Two articles caught my eye this week regarding the future of food production in our world with rising population rates. The first from The Economist, concerning growing plants hydroponically in a skyscraper like tower. Interesting, unlikely I think because of the sunlight issues mentioned within. However towards the end of the article, they suggest the more practical solution of using the flat roofs of large retail buildings as growing space. In the suburbs at least, imagine your average Whole Foods or regular supermarket for that matter growing food upstairs all year round. One stop shopping for those who want to buy local, but find the time constraints of having to shop at both farm or farmers market and a supermarket difficult. It's interesting to think about.

The second find regards the FoodTubes UK project. An idea that has underground tubes propelling food and other goods around the UK (and eventually the world) at a significant reduction in cost and carbon emissions. An idea that probably (at least it seems so to me) needs a lot more work, but at least someone is thinking. Thinking about solutions that will ease the burden we are putting on the planet with our global need for stuff. I have to say, this is an idea that really does sound like it came from Orbit City - maybe this was what Spacely's Space Sprockets were working on?

garden writers get a shout out in the gray lady

2010-12-05T10:53:00.001-05:00

From this Sunday's New York Times Book Review

"Anyone insane enough to dig holes, pour money into the ground, wait to see what happens and then sit down at a computer to tell us about it has earned the right to a little respect."

Hmmmm.... I'm going to ponder this for a while today.

Here's the full list.

I'm particularly excited that this was included as one of the best of 2010. I couldn't agree more.

Missing from the list - a beautiful book and full of gardening lessons handed down through generations of a family.

not really breaking news

2010-12-02T16:58:00.000-05:00

Earlier this week, the Senate somewhat surprisingly passed the Food Safety and Modernization Act (S510) with the so-called Tester Amendment to protect small farmers from FDA scrutiny for the most part. Those of us who've been following this bill on it's long journey rejoiced. Unfortunately there is still a long way to go in terms of funding and one Constitutional screw up that needs to be sorted out. This map shows the breakdown of how the votes went down. Frankly, I'm still in shock that it passed by such a large margin considering all the lobbying that was going on at the last minute funded by Big Ag.

I've been trying to write a concise and informative blog post on this for several days now, but this blog post from the Connecticut chapter of the Northeast Organic Farming Association does a much better job than I ever could.

Living in an agricultural community, it was really important to me that the small farmers (according to the new amendment any farm with revenues less than $500,000 and who delivers only within 250 miles of the farm) be protected so that I can continue to buy my eggs locally and have no worries eating raw cookie dough. I mean really people, priorities!

moving on...

2010-11-29T16:36:00.001-05:00

Holidays and other miscellaneous personal stuff have prevented me from having the time to write much lately. The details aren't important, but let's just say it's been a little crazy around here.

Somehow in my (clearly) weakened mental state I allowed this to happen.

Yes that is a satellite dish in the middle of the garden, in the front of my house. I say the garden, instead of my garden as it doesn't really feel like mine yet, especially this section which I haven't touched at all. Now why, you ask is the dish located on the ground, instead of on the roof? Well according to our neighborhood covenants that's not allowed (okay lawyer friends, I know, but it's really not worth the effort). We like our new neighborhood, so we'd rather not make a scene. So I guess the landscaping in this part of the yard is going to have to get real creative with the plant placement. At this point I'll have to console myself that having access to so much football makes my husband very, very happy. And I will be sure to remind him how happy it made him when I need to shlep 40 pound bags of compost around the property, rip out large deep rooted shrubs, etc.

In the meantime all of the leaves have finished falling too. I've been thanking my lucky stars that we have someone to pick up all those leaves, because if it were left up to me, it would never happen. Who cares about the lawn anyway? When we bought our house last winter, one of the things that appealed to us was the woods and rock face that would provide us with lots of privacy. In the summer, it was impossible to see with all the dense vegetation and was difficult to pass through. But now, everything is brown and dry, well except the Christmas Ferns (Polystichum acrostichoides), and it's beautiful to walk through.

I keep thinking we might see a mountain goat up here one day. Not such a stretch, as there are actually goats living on the other side.

uh-oh.

Now this is clearly on our property, so I'm not trespassing. However I sure am wondering why the prior owners put this up?

time for penance

2010-11-19T08:25:00.000-05:00

Following yesterday's all alcohol related post, I give you the following, via Bettina at The Lunch Tray

when life gives you lemons...

2010-11-18T14:57:00.000-05:00

The changing of the clocks is always difficult for me (not the extra hour of sleep part). When it gets dark at 4:30, I find it really depressing, and the days very long. One of my friends likes to say, "I'm solar powered and I only work when the sun is shining" and that seems about right to me. Oh, and I also hate the cold.

So for the last few weeks I've been plotting my plan for these long winter months. What will I do with those precious moments of sunlight of every day? Winter pruning, definitely, but not until February and March when the trees are dormant, but not that far from bud break. Writing, hopefully, but will I have enough ideas to keep going through the whole winter? Baking, probably, I could easily do that every day. But then I might not be able to move around the garden by the time spring comes along.

So I was in Whole Foods the other day, and organic lemons were on sale. I'd had the idea to make my own limoncello for at least a year now, and hadn't done it. So it seemed like karma, life gives you lemons, make limoncello...

It's feeling more summery in here already!

There's not much work required, lemons, alcohol a jar, and some simple syrup about a month from now, after all the flavor has been infused into the vodka. Oh, and when I say vodka, I don't mean Grey Goose or Absolut or whatever you have around the house. Every limoncello recipe I found calls for 100 proof vodka, which honestly I did not know existed.

Formerly one of my grandmother's pickling jars (you'll have to wait for next summer for a post on my family's famous pickles) it even has lemons imprinted in the glass, so maybe it was another sign that I was on the right path.

Wow, the smell of that vodka cleared my sinus for sure. Who actually drinks that stuff?

I'm now starting to 100 proof wonder if this was a good idea. I'm a notorious light weight when it comes to drinking, (2 glasses of wine and I'm toast) so I'm thinking that when this is done (about 30-45 days from now) it will need to be given away to others. Maybe I should've made lemon cake instead?

need some help in your yard?

2010-11-13T08:50:00.000-05:00

Maybe you could hire this group? If only, that were possible!

I was fortunate to attend Horticulture school at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. While it took all sorts of crazy gymnastics to get there a couple of times a week, and I was relieved when I was finished - now I miss being there a lot (uh-oh, more school in my future).

This weeping Katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) is just outside the academic building at the Garden's 250 acre campus in the Bronx. It's a beautiful tree all on it's own, but one of it's best attributes is it's smell. No, it doesn't have showy flowers with a beautiful fragrance in the spring or summer. In the fall it smells like cotton candy, seriously.

What's crazy, for all the work put in to moving it as shown in the video (a few familiar face there, hey guys!) they only moved it about 25 feet. There must have been a reason, I'd love to know what it was.

If you've never had the opportunity to visit the New York Botanical Garden, I can't recommend it highly enough. I'll even give you a tour, because lord knows I've criss-crossed those 250 acres on foot more times than I can count.

More hero vegetables

2010-11-08T19:32:00.000-05:00

First it was zucchini. Now butternut squash? Seriously?

Store Customer Uses Squash To Stop Robber - News Story - WMUR Manchester

let it snow?

2010-11-08T17:43:00.000-05:00

Nothing like a little white stuff on the ground to remind you how much still needs to be done in the garden. It's the first week of November, and it snowed this morning. Early and a bit of a fluke here in Connecticut, but pretty much the kick in the pants I need to get things done. Like plant bulbs. Definitely not too late (bulbs can be planted until the ground is frozen) but it would be good if I actually would place a bulb order, and get them here. Then they might have half a chance of getting in the ground. I've been stalling, because my bulb order is going to be so large this year. Bulbs are usually the gift that keeps giving - you plant them, and they keep coming back every year with very little effort. At our old house I would just add a handful of new ones each year, to replace the ones that had peetered out, or had been eaten by various animals. This year, I'm starting from scratch. There is not one bulb on our entire 3 acre property, not one daffodil, or crocus, really. So I'm thinking my bulb order bill might rival my mortgage payment this month. Little known fact about bulbs (and corms, rhizomes, tubers) is if they are planted the wrong way they will turn themselves as they are sensitive to gravity/sunlight. This seems like a silly piece of information - until you look at some and they seem to have roots growing out of both ends, like this...

Crocus sativus via SRGC Bulb log

The only bulbs I have managed to get in the ground is my garlic. When you look up garlic in catalogs, it always says, "garlic seed" but it's not tiny little seeds, just heads of garlic, looks like what you would buy in the supermarket. The heads get separated, and the largest and best looking get planted. I chose a hardneck variety as these are the only types that send up a "flower" known as a garlic scape. Prized find at farmers market each spring, they make an awesome pesto.

German Red Rocamble Garlic

These get rejected, since they have a little green growth already (probably from the random warm days we had this fall, when the bulbs were in the gararge.)

And in they go...

Could Mother Nature please knock it off?

2010-10-29T19:15:00.000-04:00

The sudden warm temperatures earlier this week have sort of put a damper on my planting plans. Or rather it just screwed me up entirely. The raspberry bushes are in and even pushing out a few last pieces of fruit. I decided not to plant any arugula and spinach, because I was feeling too lazy to have to go and cover them up every night when the temperatures were quite low in mid-October. Plus you know there would've been a night that I forgot and had to go outside in pajamas at midnight to cover them up (who am I kidding, I would've made my husband do it, he's from Wisconsin, he likes the cold). Then this week, we had crazy warm temperatures - if I had planted the darn leaf lettuces a few weeks ago we would've been halfway to harvest rarely ever having to cover them. ugh.

Then the garlic became an issue too. Garlic is planted in the Northeast in the fall, just like tulips, daffodils and other bulbs. The sudden warmth and warming of the soil this week is not good for planting garlic, because it starts putting out too much top/green growth. Normally the last week in October is the perfect time for planting garlic in Connecticut. This time my laziness paid off, as if I had put it in last weekend as I had intended, the garlic may have been shot. Next week the garlic has to go in for sure.

So the lesson learned here is? Um, I'm not really sure... laziness is good some of the time?

I know what you're thinking that raspberry bush is a little scraggly. Here is the cool thing about the newer varieties of raspberries, they get cut down every winter (more about winter pruning later, in the winter, when there is nothing else to write about) and put out fruit on all new growth in the summer, this way the plants don't get humungous and take over your whole garden. Anyone who has wild raspberries growing in their yards knows what I'm talking about.

It's 6 am on a Saturday...

2010-10-23T07:37:00.000-04:00

I'm outside with the dog when I hear rustling in the woods that is definitely made by footsteps of something large, not a squirrel or a woodchuck. It reminded me of this.

Anyone who has ever grown zucchini knows that they can get extremely large seemingly overnight. This is the "weapon" used in the bear attack mentioned in the article. Good thing the homeowner hadn't made zucchini bread yet!

what?!?!?!

2010-10-21T14:22:00.000-04:00

When I found this news article via The Lunch Tray - I was very upset. What is the point of having students involved with growing their own produce if they aren't actually going to be able to eat it? Something tells me that this is not something that is unique to Chicago.

Now if Chartwells, the food supplier, made the argument that the food coming in from school gardens was inconsistent, 10 pounds of tomatoes one day, then 2 pounds of peppers the next I could maybe see their point of not being able rely on veggies grown in the school garden. But to suggest that the school gardens are using conventional pesticides and fertilizers is insulting to every parent and teacher, many of whom do this on a voluntary basis, that help organize and run school garden programs. Does anyone know of a school garden that is using anything but compost to fertilize? What school garden even has the money to buy fertilizer? Most school gardens are funded by either grants or fundraisers. They are using the money to buy only the complete essentials. Pesticides are definitely not on that list.

What's worse is that Chartwells is purchasing conventionally grown produce as superior to the school grown. Conventional produce is obviously way more "sprayed" than anything the school could grow as farmers have access to pesticides and fertilizers that homeowners and schools do not. But somehow, that's better. Is it just me, or is this completely backwards?

done and done

2010-10-19T14:21:00.000-04:00

Structure is complete...

Drip lines have been run, and my last minute change of adding another spigot has been accommodated.

Raspberry bushes were purchased at the feed store (seriously) and will be planted tomorrow. Garlic is in my garage and goes in next week.

Oh, and I did this in between... behold my canning masterpiece!

Everything ready...

Spicy Apple Chutney in the works

and it's done!

I couldn't be more pleased with myself. Now who will be coming over for Thanksgiving leftovers with apple chutney? If you're interested in canning I'd suggest the book Put 'em up! by Sherri Brooks Vinton or just ask me, because now I'm an expert! (just kidding)

weekend madness

2010-10-18T13:36:00.001-04:00

I hate it when a whole weekend goes by without getting my hands dirty. Especially since now it's a bit of a sprint to the finish line to move perennials, plant bulbs and new shrubs before the weather gets too cold to bear. Plus, the whole foliage thing is starting to kick into high gear, and I find myself doing a lot of staring.

The craziest thing that happened this weekend amongst the soccer, horseback riding and birthday party craze was apple traffic. That's right, apple traffic. Our no traffic light town is inundated with apple pickers taking advantage of the end of the season. I've heard that Christmas tree season is worse, better remember to leave more time when trying to get to aforementioned activities.

I managed to squeeze in some time for a canning class at Sport Hill Farm with Sherri Vinton, local author and canning expert. I have to admit that her book has been sitting on my shelf for several months, with me, totally intimidated and afraid to give it a try. She made it look easy and (I think) later this week I'm going to give a shot. More to follow on this...

Oh. And this also happened this weekend. I would've posted pictures of the eating, but that just would have embarrassed everyone involved.

Once again, demonstrating that I do not have the proper lighting to take pictures in my kitchen. Must get on that pronto! Or after one of the eight million other things that needs to get done around here.

water

2010-10-15T05:42:00.005-04:00

It's like an addiction in this country, but not one that's bad for you. You can't go anywhere without seeing people carrying water bottles, can't go to any sort of store, event or gas station without being able to purchase it. And well, water is good for your right? It's good that people are drinking more water than ever. Isn't it? And if tap water is good, then bottled water is somehow even better, and more pure.

It's been years since it came to light that many of the most popular and available bottled waters are simply tap water. I actually thought this might cut down on our population's consumption, but it hasn't seemed to even make a dent. And while millions of people on our planet are denied access to safe and clean water, our thirst for a bottle with a snow capped mountain on the label has not been quenched.

I know what your first question is, because every time I get into a (let's call it) discussion with someone about bottled water they say, "and you've never bought a bottle of water, right?" And the answer is, of course I've bought a bottle of water before. Of course I've been caught someplace longer than expected with whiny hot kids that want a drink. That's it though, it's the exception not the rule. I don't buy cases of water at Costco for every day consumption. I don't put out bottles of water when we have a party. I do embarrass my kids and husband by making them take reusable bottles to school and work. Really, it's not that much of an effort to make that happen, and the kids haven't gotten beaten up yet.

The video The story of bottled water has been making it's way around the internet and Facebook for some time now. So chances are, you've probably seen it.

For Blog Action Day 2010 I thought I'd share with you this video. It's from a campaign early this year, but I think it does the perfect job of getting the point across!

lots of progress

2010-10-13T16:53:00.000-04:00

Question of the Day- Why is reclaimed wood so ridiculously expensive?

Now that it's starting to look like something, I'm getting really excited.

Chicken wire on the lower portion to keep the little critters out.

There was a lot of backlash last year about people spending a lot of money to set up gardens vs. what the actual yield from such gardens is worth. So let me clarify, it's not necessary to do things this way. This is just the way that I want it done, which will work into a larger design plan of the entire yard. If you think you don't have the space to have a productive veg garden, check this out.

"Easy Bloom" Update

2010-10-13T09:33:00.000-04:00

In case you are following along (or if not and you need to catch up) I wrote last week about the Black and Decker Easy Bloom now renamed Plant Smart Digital Plant Care Sensor (that's quite a mouthful). The sometimes irreverent and always entertaining ladies of Garden Rant have tested it out and posted their review. Guess what? It sucks. So just get your hands dirty and figure it out people. Especially you people in Sweden who are driving a ton of traffic to my blog everyday. Who are you?

This picture has nothing to do with this post at all. I took it, and I like it, so thought I'd share. It's a Japanese Painted Fern (Athyrium niponicum I don't remember which variety) if you care.

Mystery Solved!

2010-10-11T15:32:00.001-04:00

Colony collapse disorder mystery solved!

Um... just kidding. Is anyone surprised at all by this?

UPDATE - I (well not me personally, but bloggers in general) have been verbally spanked by Linda Chalker-Scott of the Washington State University Extension Garden Professors Blog. I admire the writing of this blog a lot, it's definitely for the plant nerds (myself included) who read my blog, and there are a few of you I know....

and we're off...

2010-10-11T12:25:00.001-04:00

Today is day one of my little building project. The beds have been laid out - and some really awesome and strong guys are doing the hard parts. I'm just supervising.

Ripping out the turf - my most hated gardening chore.

Three-foot beds around the perimeter - not too far to reach across, but wide up to have climbers growing up the fence and something else planted either in front or below.

One of the nice things about starting from scratch is being able to have things exactly how you want them (or how much your budget will allow). One of the great things about our new property is this mostly flat and out of the way spot which happens to get full sun all day. Okay, that's not a coincidence. During our house hunt I rejected at least 20 gorgeous houses because the property wasn't right, yes my husband is quite patient.

I was thinking this morning about how much my vegetable gardening has changed over the years. Back before we had this kind of land, and back before I was involved with a large community gardening project everything I grew was in pots, on the decks of various houses and condos we lived in. It's actually quite efficient. If you hate weeding, growing veggies in pots is the way to go. I wish I had pictures of them all, but this is one example of the production out of a 3x3 container (and this was back when my kids actually used to help).

A few weeks later, peas, cherry tomatoes, beets, carrots and spinach all sharing space

Now that vegetable gardening has become hip (the one and only time I have been ahead of a trend) there are so many fabulous and gorgeous new options - check this out, courtesy of Gardeners Supply

Swiss Chard, basil and nasturtiums (edible flowers) growing in a self-watering pot. And no, that doesn't mean they actually self water. These are so nice, I think I might have to order a few during the winter sale - just in case my new vegetable garden doesn't have enough space :)

Is it just me?

2010-10-07T11:05:00.000-04:00

Gardening to me, is about as low tech an activity as it gets. Most people enjoying gardening specifically because they can unplug from their everyday chaotic lives and just dig in the dirt and be creative right? Okay, even if your idea of gardening is just keeping the yard and lawn just neat enough for a neighborhood barbecue or touch football game are computers really necessary? Black and Decker seems to think so...

Behold the Plant Smart Digital Plant Care Sensor

This device will tell you if your yard is sunny (in case you can't figure that out yourself) and if you need to water (here's a hint, if it hasn't rained and you haven't watered then you need to). Their website also mentions measuring soil fertility, however does not explain how or what it measures. Knowing what I know about agronomy (excellent soil science professor to thank for that) I'm not really sure how it's possible for a sensor to measure soil fertility, it's just not how soil testing works.

When Black and Decker first released this product it was called the "EasyBloom" and has since been renamed and rebranded. Half of me wonders if there were some crazy lawsuits brought by people who's gardens didn't miraculously bloom easily with the use of this product. But what I love best about their website is the assertion that, "the EasyBloom Plant Sensor helps any ailing plant AND gets you the garden of your dreams." Wow, I guess I've been doing it wrong this whole time. And really, could it get less realistic looking, as if this thing is going to blend in against your plants. That is, unless you have fake plants (you are out there and I know who you are!).

Feeling so fortunate these days

2010-10-05T09:22:00.000-04:00

When we decided to move to our new town, we knew we had chosen a small town with a long and rich agricultural tradition. That made me happy. The house was found, the deal negotiated and plans were made in the late winter. We drove by what would be the kids new school to see it's location and were impressed. It was a new building, only a few years old, and constructed to look like an old barn to reflect the history of the town. Impressive, but not all that surprising. Spring turned to summer, we moved, and went to register the kids for school, and boy were we shocked. Across the entire front lawn of the school, was planted a large corn field. Several of the other green expanses of lawn had been tilled and planted with broccoli, cabbages and pumpkins.

An agreement had been struck between one of the local organic farms (Sport Hill Farm) and the town for a lease of what was basically unused land. The kids helped plant in the spring, and upon the harvest a percentage of the proceeds was donated back to the school for enrichment programs. Sounds kind of perfect, huh?

This past week my kids and I were fortunate to help out the folks from Sport Hill... and even my kids who generally do not like to help me do this kind of work (they're spoiled, they've never known any different, planting and harvesting is not a novelty to them as it is to most kids) had a lot of fun.

Broccoli growing, with the school in the distance.

Loads of pumpkins, that will be sold at Sport Hill Farm and decorate the school for fall.

Searching for corn

Time to make reservations!

2010-10-05T08:59:00.000-04:00

Just reconfirming what all of us already know... chefs are in agreement too!

It's Complicated

2010-10-03T08:34:00.000-04:00

Did you see last year's movie It's Complicated with Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin? In the film, Ms. Streep's character plays a pastry chef with issues in her love life - but on the side she has the most unbelievable potager kitchen garden. Boy, if I had a dollar for every time someone has said to me, "if I had a garden like that, I could..." or "if you lived with me and took care of it I could have a garden like that."

Well here's the thing, that garden wasn't real. You can only have a garden like that with a full time staff and a greenhouse full of extra plants on hand to swap out anything that doesn't look perfect. Sorry to burst your bubble. Also who gardens in clothes that need to be ironed? And who stays that clean when they are gardening, where is the mud?

However, what you can have is a dirty, authentic yet still beautiful and productive vegetable garden. Now is the perfect time to start planning a vegetable garden for next year. If you wait until spring, then it ends up being rushed and does not end up the way you want it to. Been there, trust me. The fall is the perfect time to build beds, put up fences, and most importantly prepare the soil. Starting this week the kitchen garden at my new house is going to be installed... pictures to follow.

The before shot... goodbye ugly grass.

completely mind blowing!

2010-09-28T11:52:00.000-04:00

I love when this 11 year old says, "don't even get me started on CAFOs". Really? You are 11, if you've got it figured out, how come so many adults can't?

oops!

2010-09-27T11:00:00.000-04:00

I'm coming clean and admitting that I made an absolutely ridiculous mistake in my garden this past week. No matter how much gardening experience (lots) and how much schooling (also lots) there is just so much room for error. I think I'm going to turn my complete sloppiness into a science experiment however, just so I can feel better about myself. Let me backtrack....

When we moved to the country this summer we left behind a great house in a much larger city, with fabulous gardens that I had spent countless hours creating and maintaining. Most unfortunately (stupid economy) that house is still for sale, so this past week I went to go steal some plants I wanted to keep with me (however, it's not really stealing, we own the property after all). I only had a couple of empty pots handy, so I figured I take the Hakonechloa macra (Japanese forest grass). It's a brilliant little grass, Perennial Plant of the year in 2009, super easy to care for, and tolerant of a variety of conditions. It's only downfall is that it can be a little slow to get going, and when you purchase them at a nursery they always seem to be tiny. The most amazing thing about this plant however, is that when it's planted in a bed, it always seems to grow (in a prostrate fashion) in the directions that it should in relation to the other plants, i.e. towards the front of the bed. How it does this I don't know, but if you think that plants don't talk to each other google plant communication some time. So here's a perfect example of what they do...

The grass with the yellowish leaf on the left center and upper center are very mature specimens. Gorgeous though, huh? And here are the little plants that I dug up last week.

They are all leaning one way, which was towards the front of the bed before I dug them out. The largest of them all barely fit in the pot that I brought, but I shoved in it anyway, knowing they wouldn't be in the pots too long. I ran home with them and quickly shoved them in the ground - hoping to minimize the transplant shock. So conventional wisdom would say that the plants should be planted in the same direction they were before, so that they "laid down" towards the front of the bed, right? Ummm, right, that's why I planted the largest one backwards. I could've just dug it up immediately and fixed it, but I feared causing more damage to the already fragile root system. So now they science experiment begins. This plant won't get cut back until late winter. When it emerges again in the spring, will the foliage be facing the right way or the wrong way, only time will tell....

Backwards, for now. Anyone else have any gardening mistakes they'll freely admit to?