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

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....

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...

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

the plant(s) that just won't die

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!

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

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...