Sow This!

Start of fall clean up

2011-09-16T13:54:00.000-07:00

Sunflowers at my mom's house

I'm really glad it's time to start cleaning up the garden: I'm so tired of gardening and canning and freezing and 'giving away'. I went down to my 3 plots at the community garden and spent a couple of hours pulling dead plants, raking off straw, pulling weeds, etc. I still have a very short row of edamame beans to pick, some hot peppers ripening, and some brussel sprouts growing, but everything else has been pulled and disposed of. I was going to leave the straw on the beds to break down, but it was so full of squash bugs I raked it off and disposed of that also. It was nice to have so much of it finished.
Next I can start on my SWC's and raised bed gardens here. I still have green pole beans, butternut squash, and some tomatoes ripening.
Most everything else is done.

Things to do:
Try again to get rid of the trumpet vined in my tripod garden.
Dump all the SWC's in the compost pile.
Clean off at least one raised bed and prepare for planting fall garlic.
Plant fall garlic.
Pull tomatoes and dispose of them in the trash. Much too diseased to compost.
Cut those darn mulberry trees that are now 5 feet tall on the edge of the driveway.
Weedwack the mint, grasses, weeds, and daylilies around the turn-around area.
Clean all the water hyacinth out of the ponds.
Put the water lilies into the back ponds.
Catch the fish in the front ponds and move them to the back.
Take down the heron/egret wire over the big pond for the winter.
Dump the flower pots and separate out the elephant ear corms to store. Ditto on dahlias.
Bring in the amaryllis plants.
Rake and chop leaves.
Sift compost and store for spring.

I suppose there are more tasks, but that's plenty to think about and start on. Sometimes I think fall cleanup is more work than spring planting.
Do I consume my garden, or does my garden consume me? This year it was definitely the second option winning out.

World's Ugliest Tomatoes?

2011-08-05T17:04:00.000-07:00

Seriously - I have some big tomato problems this year. The Cherokee Purple have the worst cases of catfacing I've ever had on them. We did have some pretty chilly weather when the plants were young. I read that it can cause this and Cherokee Purples seem to be quite susceptible to it. This might be my last year for this variety even though I love the flavor of them. They are also dying from some speckled disease. (see below)

Something is happening to the Silver Fir, Glacier, and Stupice tomatoes that looks like this. Insects? Disease? Any opinions welcome.

Then as the tomatoes ripen the flies and other bugs have too much access to them or the bottoms and insides are just gone - turned to mush.

Then there is the tomato disease that is ravaging the plants. Spots all over the leaves and stems (not the fruit). I wish I had got control of it when I first saw it but it's way to late for that now. Now I'm just hoping to harvest some of the tomatoes before the plants are totally shot. Some of the plants are losing the leaves at a rapid rate. I think it is either Early Blight or Septoria Blight. Not good news for the garden next year.

Here is a better photo of the leaves as the disease progresses. Again, any opinions welcome, including how to control it.

On a happier note - the butternut squash are finally starting to set fruit. This one is 4-5 inches long. Hope they get ripe before frost. They seem very late to me.

And while I was somewhat housebound and restless between eyes one and two of cataract surgeries I decided to do a bit of bread baking after years on not doing any yeast breads. These are hamburger buns. They tasted really good but were a bit flatter than they probably should have been. Definitely worth trying again though. I also was given some Amish Friendship bread sourdough starter. That also was very tasty. I hadn't done anything with sourdough for years either.

Identity Crisis

2011-08-04T17:45:00.000-07:00

I think I'm having one. I changed the name of my blog from Sow This, Sew That to C Three, then I changed it back to just Sow This. Now I have this urge to change it again. I also changed the design and header image but I'm content with those changes. Now if I can just settle on the name...again.Hope everyone visits anyways.

The change to C Three was with the intention of combining my 3 blogs into one. But personally I'm not fond of those kinds. If I want to read about quilting I go to blogs that are mostly about quilting, ditto on vegetables, inspirational stuff, cooking, etc. I don't much like to wade through a lot of unrelated posts to find what I'm interested in seeing. So I guess this one should stay Sow This and remain primarily a gardening blog. Too bad. I liked the C Three concept and name. Guess there could be a fourth blog. Or maybe not.
Just for fun - a kaleidoscopic image from one of my nature photos. It was just picture of a bunch of weeds recycled into this beautiful cross.
And I fixed my email notification on comments. I didn't think I was getting any comments, but I just noticed I had put the wrong email down in blogger. Oops.
Thank you to those who made comments. I appreciate every one.

Lemon Pickles and Onion Harvest

2011-07-29T04:09:00.000-07:00

Lemon Cucumber Pickles, canned last week. It's a new recipe and I haven't tasted them yet. The Boothby's Blonde cucumbers seemed to break down too much or I cut them too thin. I mixed about 3 varieties of cukes into the batch. But I've found I really like zucchini pickes and they are usually easier to grow. For my cukes I had lots of flowers and not so much fruit. Then the cucumber beetles came with the accompanying disease. But I also have an abundance of squash beetles this year which aren't doing the zucchini any favors.

Bob and I have become totally spoiled with the daily garden additions to our lunch salads. Usually it consists of kale, dill, lemon balm and basil. Yum. I wonder which of these I can keep going in the garage studio over the winter. Last winter I had Red Russian Kale and a freckled leaf lettuce, also some tah tsoi. They all did well under the daylight flourescent bulbs.

I planted a variety of 3 types of onions, Walla Walla, Red Zepplin, and Ringmaster (their Northern Collection), this year from Territorial seed. They grew quite well with no diseases of bug damage. Most were average size, but one bulb was a whopping 2 pounds. These were grown from onion sets, not seed.

The tomatoes are finally just starting to ripen. And now we're getting lots of rain. Hopefully it won't harm the tomatoes too much. Last year when that happened a lot of the tomatoes split from too much water too fast. But most are still green enough that maybe it won't matter.

All in all the gardens have been producing pretty well this year. The only exception being anything that has male/female flowers. I seem to be getting mostly male with little pollinated fruit. Even one variety of dry bean is having flowers but no beans. What's up with that?

Canning Mishaps, Harvests, and Pesto

2011-07-19T07:46:00.000-07:00

Today's harvest: Boothby's Blonde cucumbers, a variety of onions including a 2 pound purple one, the almost in flower Purple Peacock broccoli head, and my 6 heads of Caraflex cabbage which, I think, were about to bolt from the heat - so I harvested them. A few are pretty small. Notice, not a ripe tomato in the bunch yet.

So, my big canning tip for the summer is to put the clean jars in the water before it gets too hot, because even warmed from washing in hot water may not be enough

Proof of this. I heard a small pop when I put the jar in the almost boiling water and thought that was probably not a good sound. It wasn't. But at least it was a nice clean break...

My first batch of Avocado Basil pesto. It was good, but so rich. While I like pesto, it's not something I can eat a lot of. I didn't really use a recipe, but it contained a medium avocado, a bunch of basil, a bit of Lemon Balm, juice from 1/2 small lemon, some oil, and 2 garlic cloves. The lemon was good in it and probably helped the leftovers keep until the next day with just some browning on top.

I'm having mixed success on the computer and doing most everything else right now. I had my first cataract surgery yesterday ( only 8 hours with the patch). Now for the next 2 weeks (until I have the 2nd eye done) I'm glasses free, but nearsighted in one eye and farsighted in the other. Two week headache and limited time for reading, sewing, computers, etc. Also limited a bit on gardening because of limits on lifting, pulling, pushing. Is it 2 weeks from now yet?

Blogger comments and problems

2011-07-15T16:21:00.000-07:00

I have been having so much trouble signing in and making comments lately! Thomas kindly left a comment. I tried to respond and got caught in a continuous loop of signing in and getting kicked back to the comment then being told to sign in again. Frustrating not to be able to comment on my own darn blog. But thank you Thomas for the visit and comment.
Anybody know how to fix this or what could be causing it? Others can comment - I just don't seem to be able to respond the correct way. But I have been able to comment on other people's blogs.

Amber Garden and Raised Beds

2011-07-14T13:13:00.000-07:00

This year I'm also gardening at the Amber Garden managed by the Nazarene Church down the street. It's been very nice so far. The plots are about 4 x 24 feet, plowed in the spring, and somewhat irrigated with drip irrigation (but it isn't working as well in some places as it should). There are over 100 plots, most of them being used. It is surrounded on 2 sides by fields, and has the county fairgrounds parking lot on the third side. It is so very peaceful working out there!

My three plots are the straw covered ones at the front. Compost and aged manure piles were available for soil additions so that was good. Plus there were seedlings, seeds, tools, and wheelbarrows there for anyone to use.

The Bintje and Purple Viking potatoes are from my raised bed garden at home. This is the 1st harvest. I like the Bintje. I love the Purple Vikings, but they seem more susceptible to worms in the tubers.

Having read about replanting the potato plants after harvesting the bigger tubers, I tried this on any plants that still had tiny potatoes showing. So far (2 days) the plants look good. I watered them in well and cut about 1/3 of the tops off to help the roots set in again.

The raised beds are really lush this year. Maybe it was the 12 wheelbarrow loads of new compost - maybe the cool moist start we had to summer. I don't know, but I like it.

Pattypan squash doing well in the new SWC. But the squash bugs have arrived.

Mostly pepper plants in these Earth Boxes. Several varieties that I neglected to mark. We did a taste test yesterday with Bob testing for hot ones - but I got ahead of him. Found one! Ouch. I don't do hot.

The first batch of Zesty Zucchini Relish. I hope to do at least 2 more batches. I love a spoonful of this stuff on a salad with smoked deli turkey and some honey mustard dressing.

The Blondie Cucumbers are doing well this year. Last year I got one deformed one. Just enough to decide I liked it and should try it again this year. So far I've harvested about 8 of them.

The Polish Softneck garlic all harvested and drying. This year I hope to order a couple more varieties from wegrowgarlic.com. They have a very large variety to chose from but I'm still awaiting their 2011 online catalog. And this year I'll know better than to plant the tiny cloves. Last year I planted every scrap and most of them grew but they're very small like pearl onions.

My first year growing Japanese Black Triffle tomatoes from Totally Tomatoes. The shape is so cute. None ripe yet.

And the Japanese Black Triffle plants. Very large and prolific. Hope they taste good.

I also put in 3 Opalka paste tomato plants from Totally Tomatoes. There are about 3 tomatoes growing on one plant. Very disappointing!

That far bed has the 3 Opalka and one Belgian Giant. None of the plants are as green as my other ones and none are showing many tomatoes. A few flowers but mostly just big plants that are pretty bare. I've tried more tomato fertilizer and also a misting with Epsom salt water twice. Nothing.

So that's the mid-July garden.

Garlic and potatoes

2011-07-04T05:02:00.000-07:00

My test harvest of Polish Softneck garlic, Purple Viking and Bintje potatoes.

The bed containing both kinds of potatoes, 6 Caraflex cabbages, onions, and lots of dill volunteers just in front of the bed on the ground. Last fall I added lots of new compost to the beds and everything is growing great so far. Of course the abundance of rain this year helps too.

My first experiment with homemade SWCs. These have two 3 1/2 inch PVC pipes drilled with several 1/2" holes laid in the bottom to make space for the water, and a 1 1/2" pipe up the side to pour the water into. I laid a piecd of old towel over the pipes before adding a mix of miracle grow, vermiculite, and my own compost.

SWCs on a platform my husband made for me. Tomatoes, peppers, cukes, and flowers. The platform top is slatted so it should last for years. Our old one was pressed board and it rotted too fast. This one is great and it looks very nice.

Cherry pickin' the easy way

2011-07-01T17:36:00.000-07:00

After deciding the cherry tree was too tall, too hard to pick, and in desperate need of a trimming, Bob climbed up and cut a few large branches off. Suddenly a problem picking the top of the tree became very easy - no ladders needed. Eight hours of picking, pitting, and canning created 12 lovely quarts of tart cherries in light sugar ready for winter pies.

Not being found of ladders, most years I only get a small part of the harvest. This year was exceptional. But I don't know how many years the tree would stand for this style of harvesting...and there was that one little fall from the tree for Bob resulting in a swollen knee and cut hand.

I Grew Garlic!

2011-06-28T16:12:00.002-07:00

Last fall for the first time I ordered some garlic cloves to plant. Just one variety to see how it went. This is Polish Softneck - a very hot and winter hardy softneck garlic. Now it's late June, the plants look really good, and I'm trying to figure out the best time to harvest it, so I dug one up to see and taste.

It's hot! Bob loves it. I'll be ordering a milder one for this fall's planting for me to cook with.

I think I need to leave them in the ground a while longer though. Even though the cloves are nice and large, from the harvesting descriptions I've read online I don't think they're quite ready yet.

But I grew garlic. I'm happy. (and apparently, easy to please...)

The garden is looking very good so far. A bit of a slow start from the cooler weather, but everything is catching up now and the abundance of rain helped everything to get a good start.

In addition to my raised beds and SWC's, I also have a few plots at the community garden down the street that the Nazarene church hosts. It's a very nice area and very peaceful to work in - lots of fields around it with birds singing, usually breezy, and other friendly gardeners to talk to.

2011 Seed and Indoor Lettuce

2011-01-24T04:56:00.000-08:00

The indoor SWC with Red Leaf Lettuce. My seed was from a year or two ago and apparently is going bad. I only got these few plants out of my heavy seeding. I was going for baby greens. Guess I better let them get bigger. And this photo shows one of the problems of the indoor garden - it's developing some mold or mildew on the surface of the soil, maybe from being so cool in the studio.
But the mache has done well. I cut some and put it in our salad a few times now. I just cut the whole plant. It's fun and it tastes good. And I know it's as fresh as it can get.

Alfalfa seeds soaking for sprouts in the kitchen window where it's easy to remember to rinse them twice a day.

Eagerly awaiting a beautiful amaryllis flower from this one. It's starting off slow, but it is starting.

And finally, my 2011 seeds have arrived. New for this year: Savoy Deadon cabbage, El Jefe Jalapeno, Nero Di Toscana Kale, Red Kale, Sunset runner pole beans, Miner's Lettuce, Tah Tsai spinach mustard, Ancho Magnifico hot peppers, Bulgarian Carrot hot peppers, Giant Belgium tomato, Djena Lee Golden Girl tomato, Suncherry Extra Sweet tomato, Japanese Black Trifele tomato, Diva cucumber, Olpaka tomato, Tumbling Tom tomato, Tampiqueno Serrano hot pepper, Peregion dry beans, Brown Dutch dry bean, Adzuki dark red dry bean, Dragon Tongue bean, Viking red potato, Bintze potato, Multiplying onion.

That's it - that's enough. Especially with all my leftover seed from other years.

Ice Is Nice

2011-01-17T11:35:00.000-08:00

During a little warm snap last week some of the ice melted on the pond in the back yard. The sparrows couldn't resist a winter bath, even in ice water. I love the reflections of the grasses and the colors.

This little guy was in mid-motion so he looks a little distorted. I was trying for an action shot.

The dogs like the ice too. No water this day, but no snow either - just nice smooth ice for them to romp on. Lucy decided to be totally undignified and began rolling around on the ice.

I think she was either trying to bite the ice or wondering who was down there.

Images from the Studio Garden

2010-12-30T12:39:00.000-08:00

The birdhouse gourds have dried nicely. There are 8 all together. They are all almost ready to be sanded, cut, and decorated. I hope to try some woodburning on them for design. I haven't done any of these before so it will be trial and error. Hopefully a few homes for the birdies in the spring though.
One pot of amaryllis was sending up some side shoots so they are watered and in the window now to see if I get flowers from the main bulbs. It's time to start some of them for some winter beauty.

And one pot of amaryllis had 2 little jade plants start from 2 little leaves that fell into the soil. So now they are in pots of their own in the north window of my studio. The pots are some from my days as a potter some years back.

The lettuce plants after about 5 weeks of being planted - still only about an inch or so tall. I'm disappointed in the very slow progress. Maybe at 63 degrees it's too cold out there for more rapid growth. But I planted another section of the SWC yesterday with a leaf lettuce mix and a stir fry mix. I lost track of what these little plants were - just some kind of lettuce...

The seed catalogs are rolling in on every mail delivery. Now to decide what I need for spring. I want a better plan this year for successive and fall plantings. And NO volunteer tomatoes!

indoor gardening

2010-11-27T16:48:00.001-08:00

Strider still adjusting to hanging out in the new studio with me. This was a couple of days ago. He now lands ON the bed not beside it.
And the lettuce seedlings beginning to grow. So far they are doing well.

Sowing and Sewing in Winter

2010-11-16T17:46:00.000-08:00

The sewing room is done enough to work in. And it seems to be a sowing room, too. I finally get to take full advantage of my blog name. Note the gourds drying on the table and the amaryllis pots stored under the table. I have a jade plant ready to put into one of the vases on the window sill, too. The gourds need a little hole drilled in the stems then they can be hung on the one rafter in the ceiling for the winter - out of the way.
On the cutting table is a self-watering container one-third planted with lettuce seeds. Later I'll plant more of it so I can stagger the harvest a bit. Hope it works! It's heated out there and stays around 63 degrees. And they are under a plant light...it should work.
The colorful fabric on the little portable design wall is my first project in the new studio - a keyboard cover for my granddaughter.

A closer look at the lettuce. My own little indoor raised bed garden?

Since I didn't get around to making a hoop house or a cold frame yet, this is it for my winter gardening. Oh, and the sprouts for salads I grow in the kitchen.

Some Fall Photos

2010-11-14T13:39:00.000-08:00

Strider is such a goof. This was a rare time when I let him off the leash in the big field across the street. Usually I have Lucy with me and if Strider is off leash he's too rough trying to get her to play - then she won't walk through the area for a while without hugging my leg. But she had to have a minor surgery to remove sutures in her knee from the surgery early in the summer. The sutures had begun to break and irritate the knee and had to come out. She's walking much better again now. Yea!
He really enjoys being able to run unencumbered by the leash and takes full advantage with it's off. Fortunately he is really good about getting it back on when it's time to go home. He's a beast - but a loveable one.

Such a typical fall sight around the freshly harvested corn fields (at least until the farmers plow them under for the winter - sure wish they'd leave them unplowed until spring)

I was so surprised to find this egret still at the river last week. It's very late for them to still be here. It's cold today so hopefully it decided to go south like it's supposed to do.

End of Season and Finally Posting

2010-10-25T15:59:00.001-07:00

The best I can say for this year's gardening is that I'm glad it is finished. This is the last of very few dahlias and they are now dug up and stored for spring in the hope of a better season.
Ditto on the vegetable garden: Cleaned off and ready for spring, this is the best the beds have looked all year. It was a hot, dry summer in SE Michigan and my garden was not very productive. I got some tomatoes, but not a lot, some zucchini and a few green beans. That's about it. After a bumper crop of everything my first year, it was disappointing. Such is the life of a gardener. I forgot about that part.

This is my first year planting winter garlic. I bought Polish Softneck which is supposed to be able to withstand the cold even though it's a softneck. It was advertised as being hot. It is! My husband thinks it's wonderful. I think I planted it too early. It's up about 4 inches above the mulch already. Anybody think I need to add more mulch once it's colder to protect the shoots a bit? I'm new to this.

I guess my compost is ready to plant! Too bad it's so late in the year. These tomatoes have a good start. I'd just leave them there and add water.

From my big compost piles I sifted 12 wheelbarrow loads of nice dark compost and put it on the raised beds. They settled a lot in 2 seasons and were less than half full. I think I will cover them with black plastic for the winter and hope for a bit of solarization. There are a LOT of tomato seeds sprouting in the fresh compost already. The beds are all ready for spring planting now. It's a nice feeling.

This winter I'm going to spend some time making a garden plan for the year in the hopes of getting more out of the garden and planting to take better advantage of the seasons.

And NO volunteer plants allowed in the garden next year. I had a more than a few and it was a waste of space except for one nice red cherry tomato.

This one is a repeat, but for some reason I can't delete it so here it still is.

Sewing and the Winter Landscape

2009-12-27T15:50:00.001-08:00

It's winter. Lots more time indoors for sewing. I've been using some of my nature kaleidoscopes for small 4 inch sewing projects. These two will be matted and framed. The top one is from a coleus plant. Can you see it?

This one is from a winter snow scene. It looks cold and snowy. It also reminds me of an agate.

Cosmo just about lives on my neck. If I'm sitting, she is wanting to sit on me. She helps me sew, read, drink coffee, watch TV, and snooze. She purrs me to sleep sometimes.

She belongs to the Twisted Sisters. No, they aren't called that just because of how they sleep. It's really because of all the trouble they get into. They are the most destructive kittens we have ever had. So now, in addition to all the money spent on vet care getting they healthy, we get to spend more money replacing things they destroy. But we love them and will let them stay anyhow.

The pond in winter, just before a hard freeze. The bubbler keeps a bit of water open and the fish move around a bit when the water is not too cold.

Under the thin ice before the cold totally destroyed the lily pads. I love watching the fish under the ice. It intrigues me.

Lacy money plant seeds shining in the sunlight.

A still life design, again from the bubbler and the forming ice.

There is a spot between the shrubs and the bird feeder that gets a lot of activity from birds in flight. I have in mind an art project using these kinds of images so I've been shooting lots of photos trying to get some good photos of the birds in the morning light. Good thing I use digital not film! That delete button is a real blessing for things like this.

What kind of winter images bring you delight?

Zombies and Kittens

2009-11-24T06:48:00.000-08:00

First the Zombie...amaryllis, that is. I ordered this in the spring and finally got it this fall. It was already showing some growth so I planted it and this is the result. Eight beautiful double flowers. My only regret is that they are spent too fast. After only a bit more than a week the flowers are finished and a leaf is beginning to grow.

But it is definitely a keeper and I'll look forward to many more blooms in future years.

The rescued kittens are almost at the cat stage. They are almost 7 months and a real joy to have in the house. It's fun to see the group or mob mentality set in when they play and follow us around the house. Like a little troup of monkeys always in motion, always looking for something to get into. And they're finally healthy except for the watery eyes.

My last outdoor harvest for this first season was some onions and leeks that I overlooked among all those rambling tomatoes, squash, and pumpkin plants. They weren't very good but I'll use them in soup or something. The garden is put to bed for the winter and I have 5 garbage cans of new compost stored for spring.

Now the new seed catalogs are beginning to arrive and thought of lush, green gardens next summer are beginning to fill my head.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Fall Harvesting

2009-09-25T11:43:00.001-07:00

I've been working to get the raised beds put to bed for the winter and empty out the many self-watering containers around the yard. This beauty is from the Tarahumara sunflower. It is about 14 inches across and the seeds are very white. It towered on a 12 foot stalk that is like a tree trunk.

I hope this American Egret across the street wasn't sitting there digesting any of my pond fish. Every now and then we get egrets, herons, and kingfishers hanging around the pond. I don't mind giving a few fish to the kingfishers though because they are among my favorite birds.

The morning glory's are blooming beautifully on the teepee trellis in the back yard. I will definitely put them there again next year.

Cherokee Purple tomato has put out a heavy second crop that I'm hoping to harvest. The late blight that is ravaging the country is now in our county, too. One of my other plants by this one looks suspicious.

I planted 4 of these hot peppers from a grocery store pepper whose name is unknown to me. I call Aztec Hot just for fun and it was a very heavy producer. I grew them in an Earthbox and they did great. My husband love hot peppers and so we have 5 batches of fiery hot salsa canned for winter plus at least 4 bags of sliced in the freezer. I picked the last few today.

Okay now, I really thought I pulled the watermelon because the vines were so puny. But then when I was looking for pumpkins I found this little guy hidden under the leaves. I didn't even know what it was at first, then I remembered that the watermelon variety I chose was to be golden outside and red inside. So it's a tiny little watermelon. My only one. And they weren't supposed to be anywhere near this small!

I cut one small Kakai pumpkin today to check the seeds. It was loaded with ripe hull-less seeds that are ready to roast and eat. Can't wait to do the rest of them! They even tasted good raw. The pumpkin flesh is pale and not supposed to be very good eating so I'll just use the seeds. I have 9 pumpkins of assorted sizes, the largest being about 12 inches across, and the smallest about 6 inches.

These are kamo-kamo squash, a New Zealand variety. The fully ripe ones are just okay - very tough skin and kind of stringy with a mediocre flavor. Sound like I'll grow them again? Probably not. I have 9 of these. One is still underripe so I'm going to cook that one and see if it tastes better. The info on this one says they are good as summer or winter. I'm not impressed with the winter flavor. But they surely are pretty. I love the heavy orange ribs.
Aside from the gardening I'm still tending a sick kitten. Boo, Cosmo, and Cupcake all had their front claws removed and were spayed a few weeks ago. Boo had complications and developed a very bad abcess under the skin in her abdomen. So Monday she had surgery again to open that up and clean out all the infection. Now she has stitches again, many more than before because the vet had to make about a 2 and a half inch incision this time. It's tough on her because she has to be in a cage with the e-collar to keep her from licking or taking out stitches (but she got one anyhow...) isolated from her 2 sisters who would beat her up relentlessly and also kept from playing much...good luck on that one, too! She also has to have 2 different antibiotics twice a day and hot compresses on her incision 3 times a day.
So I take her out of the cage about 4 times a day for a while and the rest of the time she cries or sleeps. Another week and a half of this. But she is looking infection free so far.
And yes, it's been expensive - but the vet hasn't charged for the office calls and didn't charge for the follow-up surgery. Bless him!! I just have been paying for the medicines involved.

Composting question

2009-09-19T16:54:00.000-07:00

No pictures today, just a composting question that I sure would like answered. I have to clear a bin for fall leaves, garden refuse, etc., and the bin in question is ready to sift. So do I put the really nice new compost on the gardens now even though the growing season is finished or do I find a way to store it until spring and put in on fresh then?
So far I have filled 3 garbage cans with good new compost and I would have enough once sifted to fill 4 more but I don't have 4 more cans.
What do you think?

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day

2009-09-16T05:20:00.000-07:00

I think this is spelled wrong but don't know where the sheet is with the right spelling. Anyways, this is 'Procion' however it's spelled. A beautiful 4 inch fiery dahlia new to me this year.

Yellow dahlia bud complete with water droplet.

Sunflower

A red lily my mother gave me this month as a gift. Thanks, Mom!

Swallowtail on loosestrife. Somebody likes that extremely invasive plant!
(And it's not in my garden. It's in a local field.)

Monarchs on cosmos?

Purple coneflower composition.

A single blue morning glory against the cloudy sky. Now I have dozens on this plant every morning. Beautiful!
Happy Blogger's Bloom Day!

Veggies that aren't tomatoes

2009-09-10T07:14:00.000-07:00

Tigger is a small and very colorful white-fleshed melon. Too bad there is so little flesh inside and an almost cucumberish taste... It is officially on my 'won't grow this again' list.

Tarahumara sunflower, on the other hand, is wonderful. See it towering above the 8 foot trellis? That was easily 12 feet tall with a nice flower head, probably 10 inches wide. My neighbor has really been enjoying them outside her window.

The zucchini and kamo-kamo squash bed. The zucchini has produced fairly well and we have used them up in a variety of ways, from muffins, to stir-fry dinners, to a canned zucchini relish that my husband really likes. These photos are from a few weeks ago and unfortunately powdery mildew is rapidly overtaking the squash and pumpkin beds. Kamo-kamo has plenty of nice squash on it but, being a winter squash, I haven't tried any of them yet.

The pumpkin bed has done very well and has several very nice pumpkins beginning to turn orange. Can't wait to try the seeds - it is Kakai, a hull-less seeded variety grown especially for the seeds.

A small cantaloupe, Petit de gris, still not ready to harvest. Soon though. Hope it's better than Tigger!

And last, Lemon Cucumber and Mexican Sour Gherkin. I won't grow the Lemon one again, but maybe the Mexican Sour, mostly because it was just such a darn cute container plant and didn't get the disease that overcame the disease that ravaged cucumbers and melons in our area.

The pepper plants grew wonderfully well in the Earth box. A bumper crop of hot peppers for salsa and freezing.

So that's it for now. My radishes, carrots, and beets did terribly bad - very woody. Any tips?

Tomato Evaluation

2009-09-07T17:31:00.000-07:00

In getting caught up on the summer harvest I thought I'd do tomatoes first. The tomatoes are winding down quite a bit now, but a few weeks ago they reached their peak and I had a bit of canning and freezing to do. The center of this photo is my 3 foot aisle between the raised beds. I felt like I was playing the old game of Twister every time I went out to pick the tomatoes. Good thing I have a fenced yard. It surely wasn't a pretty sight...

On the best harvest day this is what I ended up with for my 21 plants of about 13 varieties.

Below, of the low acid varieties: White Beauty, a beefsteak heirloom, Italian Ice from Burpee, Isis Candy, and Amano Orange. Isis Candy was my favorite small tomato so I saved seeds for next year. Chocolate Cherry (not pictured and not low acid) was very tasty, too, and I'll probably grow one next year.

Sheyenne has been a good producer with a nice average tomato flavor and very juicy. I would consider growing it again.

The Striped Roman was an interesting curiosity, but I won't grow it again. The flavor isn't too bad, but it tends to have a mealy texture and too much core to cut out. However, the Cherokee Purple will definitely be in my garden next year. It has a wonderful flavor and texture and is a good slicer and canning tomato. Plus, I can buy plants at the local greenhouse and wouldn't have to start my own if I don't want to.

At first I didn't care much for Cabin, a rare heirloom from Wintersown, but after I used a few I decided to save seeds and will grow it again. It has a decent flavor, nice large size, and is very low on juice and seeds to it should be a good sauce tomato. Because it's not as juicy it's good for sandwiches. I also liked Silvery Fir Tree a lot and saved seeds to it. It was early and determinate and I don't have photos of it, but it had an excellent flavor, salad size. The down side was that it split easily when it rained, but the flavor was SO good. Next year I'll try to do a couple of succession plantings for this one. It was also a nice container plant, being a smaller plant than most of the ones I grew.

Tomatoes I won't be growing again: Italian Ice cherry tomato - a very poor flavor and texture; White Beauty - nice size and lots of tomatoes - fun to put in White Chili, but the flavor is just average and I guess I mostly like red tomatoes; Amano Orange - on the small side and not my favorite flavor; Goji Faranji, an Iranian beefsteak that is very soft and damages too easily for me; Bushy Charbarysky; a smallish velvety pink tomato. If I were a hybridizer I would love to experiment with the Bushy Charbarysky plant. It was very sturdy and small and put out nice clusters of tomatoes - a great plant, but mediocre flavor.

I found a recipe for a really tasty sauce using the small, sweet cherry tomatoes. It called for sungold - I used the Isis Candy. The sauce is used for a dip or a chicken glaze - maybe a soup base, or whatever. It's sweet and very rich.
My version: Golden Tomato Sauce
2 1/2 cups of skinned sweet tomatoes
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
1/4 cup celery, shredded or chopped
1/4 cup onion, shredded or chopped
1/2 cup carrots shredded
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
Mix all ingredients, simmer about 45 minutes, stirring often. Cool slightly and blend in a food processor to a creamy consistency.
Freezes well.

The original recipe says to just throw in the tomatoes, skins and all then blend them up. I did it once and hated it. The skins tasted like tiny wooden sticks mixed into the sauce. The next batch I dunked each tomato in boiling water and slipped of the skins first, but didn't worry about leaving the seeds in. They don't affect the flavor or texture as badly as the skins do. I also upped the amount of other veggies. The original called for 3 Tbsp of each - I probably went closer to 1/2 cup on each.
So, that's the great tomato round-up for 2009.
Next year I'm going to try pruning and staking at least some of the tomatoes so I don't have such a jungle and maybe bigger tomatoes.
Next blog: the other vegetables!

Little Kitties and the Big Dogs

2009-09-04T17:23:00.001-07:00

Doesn't it look like the kitties are growing and adjusting really well? Cupcake is so extremely cute!! Of course, this is before she chewed the belly button off her blue buddy. She is 'classic cat' and proud of it.

Cosmo actually is as sweet as she looks. She loves to cuddle with people. And her fur is as soft as velvet. She's just about a perfect kitten - rarely bites - plays well with others.

But mostly they spend their days getting in trouble. Eating the plants, going over the ledge on to the kitchen table, eating the dog food, biting fingers, toes, and paws, nosing into every nook and cranny of the house. I keep them on the porch at night so the rest of us can actually sleep safely!

Crowding the big dog off of his favorite pillow. Doesn't Boo look smug? These two kitties actually were sucking on the pillow and sucked a hole in it. Now it's theirs, in a different spot, and the big dog has another one that's not as appealing to the kittens, but that he likes just fine.

Boo wants to run with the 'big dogs'. She absolutely loves them and just won't leave them alone. She bugs Strider so much that I've had to let him growl and nip at her to chase her away when she bothers him too much. When he does that she will leave...for at least a minute...

She's also trying to make up to Lucy. She's the only one. The other two stay away from Lucy.
This is a rare, peaceful moment for Lucy and any kitten.

This is much more normal!
When Lucy is in the house I spend a lot of time scolding her and getting her to let go of kittens. She hasn't hurt them but the mouthing bothers me, especially when it's 2 big 70 lb. dogs to one 3 lb. kitten.
But all in all it's going well.
For the next two weeks the dogs and kittens have to stay separated. The kitties were neutered and had their front claws removed today and will need some safe time to heal up.
Next blog: veggies and flowers. I promise!

Veggies and Flowers

2009-08-01T19:32:00.000-07:00

My whole potato harvest plus a few green beans, tomatoes, mini bell peppers, and dahlias. The tomatoes are Silver Fir - a nice plant and tasty tomato, but smaller than I thought they would be at about salad tomato size. And also a few Chocolate Cherry tomatoes. I like them now that I know what they are supposed to look like when ripe...

Growing Kakai pumpkin and blossom. This one is grown for the seeds which are hull-less. Don't know how big the pumpkins get but the plants are very robust and big.

My best Caraflex cabbage ready to harvest. I really like the flavor of this. It is very mellow and makes great cole slaw. My earlier ones were small and buggy but this one was very nice.

I started gardening because I wanted to grow this romanesque cauliflower. Well, I grew it. Too bad I couldn't eat it. Here it is, ready for composting because it was so bitter. It looked sunburnt, hairy, and tasted terrible!

The purple onions were good. More caraflex cabbage ready for slaw. These were the littler ones.

I have developed a taste for swiss chard cooked with chicken and a few other veggies. And it's so pretty. This one is Rainbow Chard.

I thought my zucchini weren't gettin pollinated so I wasn't checking them often enough. Guess I was wrong! My granddaughters and I made some very good zucchini muffins with some of this. We threw in the container of peanut-raisin-m&m trail mix that wasn't very good. It tasted fine in the muffins.

Peaches-n-cream dahlia. A new one for this year. Pretty flower, but not dinnerplate size as advertised.

Sometimes when I go for a walk in the fields and the woods I feel like Little Red Riding Hood. Only I bring my own wolf!
Strider, what big ears - teeth - eyes you have!

Bloom Day - Dahlias

2009-07-15T06:00:00.001-07:00

Okay, not a dahlia - a daylily. Canadian Mounty, a favorite of mine. Many of my daylilies are finished already. My mom has about 300 varieties of daylilies and so, of course, a dozen or so have migrated over here. But her's grow better than mine.

Last year I discovered dahlias, and, in spite of doing everything 'wrong', they are still growing and blooming. It's sale time in the stores for left over tubers and plants. Maybe I need to go shopping for more! This deep red one is about a 3 inch blossom, beautifully rich, and a great bloomer. Last year I had one pot - this year I had enough tubers for 4 pots of them.

These dahlias are in a self-watering earthbox and are doing great even though dahlias aren't supposed to like 'wet feet'. I don't know the names of most of my dahlias. Some were gifts and some were unlabeled.

This is a large dinnerplate variety and a good bloomer. It, too, is in a self-watering container. So far I haven't grown dahlias in the ground - always containers. Last year I had a lot of trouble with them drying out too much on the hot days. Very large self-watering containers seems to be solving this problem. I still have to water almost every day, but the plants aren't wilting like they did last year.

A new variety for me this year, Peaches-N-Cream. It's pretty and a very tall plant. It's supposed to be a dinnerplate, but is only about 4 inches across.

This one has done wonderfully well this year. It is a beautiful cactus variety and has been blooming nonstop. But the Japanese Beetles like the dahlias so I've had to start checking the plants daily for bugs. The beetles like wild mullien better and I have several of those plants growing in the back yard as trap crops so hopefully that will help keep them away from the dahlias and water lilies.

My absolute favorite dahlia is Akita Dahlia. I got this last year and it has just started blooming for this year. This is the flower that caused me to fall in love with dahlias.

White Coneflower. I put this in last year and this year I have just this one blossom.

Purple coneflower just starting to stretch it's petals out.

And Crocosmia Lucifer, another favorite flower. These are hardy in Zone 5. Yeah! And yesterday I found a few pots of a rich yellow variety on sale. They are now mine and waiting to be planted near the red ones.
Happy Gardener's Bloom Day!

It's a Jungle Out There!

2009-07-13T18:31:00.000-07:00

I can hardly imagine what these raised beds and the aisles between them will look like by the end of the growing season. Already I can hardly walk down most of the aisles and a few are completely blocked by rampant tomato plants. Too much fertilizer? Radioactive compost that I bought from a city north of us? You'd never know by looking at my yard or house, but I actually like things neat and my gardens are definitely getting 'not neat'. And I didn't even plant as close as 'Mel' advises in the Square Foot Gardening book...
Oh well. I guess I'll keep on gardening anyways and just make a different plan for next year.

The back of the trellises are growing sunflowers, pumpkins, and melons. The pumpkins are growing the largest and the best. I'm glad to see the sunflowers topping the tomato plants finally.

The mystery plant that grew in the compost is a mystery no more.

It's an ornamental gourd plant, and doing quite well. I guess I'll keep it even though I was hoping for some kind of cantaloupe.

This one won't be a mystery. It is a small cantaloupe called 'Tigger'. The only mystery will be how it tastes since it's new to me.

The 'melon bed' with watermelons and pumpkins, also a few peppers and the Rat's Tail Radish that just continues to grow and produce flowers. Oh, also parsley, some marigolds, and onions.

The cabbage - broccoli bed. I harvested the broccoli and most of the cabbages. The caraflex cabbages made wonderful coleslaw - very creamy and mellow tasting. Growing here still are some purple cabbages, chard, onions, and 2 marigolds. And also one cauliflower, but it's a bit buggy. The cabbage worms are actively eating whatever they can get.

The squash bed has zucchini and KamoKamo, which was growing way out the sides - very viney - so we put up a trellis today, but no pictures yet. It will help keep the squash contained, I hope. The zucchini seems to be confused. The male and female flowers can't seem to bloom at the same times so my little zucchinis don't grow. They just die. I can't even pollinate them by hand since they aren't in bloom at the right times. I have been seeing more bees lately though.

The herb bed, which also has beets, chard, cabbage, yarrow, and cauliflower.

Dew drops every morning on the melon leaves.

Mini-bell peppers. Very cute, but I won't grow them again. They are very prolific, but just too small. What was I thinking?

Teaspoon is also very small- about the size of an average marble. My first ripe tomato for this season. Barely a taste but very cute and flavorful. You can use the viola (not pansy) for size comparison. These I would grow again just because they are interesting, and I am enjoying them as a hanging plant right by the front door.

This is Cabin - listed by Wintersown as rare. In the Earthbox and also in the raised bed, it is growing to about 4 feet tall. It has quite a few tomatoes but none are even near ripe yet. They are supposed to be medium sized and red, I think. I sure won't put them in a container again. Too big.

And last for today - a pepper I grew from grocery store seeds. I call it Aztec Hot. When ripe they are yellow and red and quite hot. My husband liked them so we decided to try them and they have been very successful. They make a great plant for the Earthbox and are loaded with peppers. I have 4 of these growing.
I'm at the point where I'm starting to look for things that worked and things that haven't worked and making notes for next year, especially for what will grow where and in what container or space.
Happy Gardening!

Feed Me! and garden updates

2009-07-06T06:34:00.001-07:00

A baby robin on the porch railing trying so hard to get the attention of mom or dad. He cheeped out there for a long time. He's hungry!!

The frogs are croaking most of the time in our ponds. They have contests, I think. But I love hearing them out there. We have 5 large ones in the big pond, 4 in the front ponds, and 3 or 4 in the small pond. Plus young ones and tadpoles.

My favorite tomato plant this year - Busharsky Pink from Wintersown. I don't know how I'll like the taste of the tomato; I don't normally like anything but red very well. But the plant is very robust, sturdy short vines, and loaded with young tomatoes. I wish they all grew like this. I wouldn't need a single stake or cage.

This picture shows my tomato jungle, and it is from a week or more ago. The jungle is even more overgrown now. I have vine plants - melons and pumpkins - planted on the trellises behind the tomatoes and I have to keep pruning the tomatoes away from them so they get a little light to grow. They are still much shorter than the tomatoes and on the north side. I think I'll have to rethink the garden plan next year.

My favorite wild plant is starting to bloom - teasel. It is interesting and so photogenic every season of the year. Maybe one day I'll put together and post a seasonal collage of some of my favorite teasel photos.

Another wild favorite - chicory. I love the color and the persistence of this plant. It's not much to look at as far as the plant, leaves, shape, etc. But what a beautiful blue. And it will grow in the absolute worst of places, especially the hard gravel sides of the roads.

The winter wheat crops are ready to harvest. Lots of wheat fields around us this year. I like the wheat or soy fields so much better than the tall corn. I get a bit claustrophobic walking on the paths by the corn fields and can't wait for harvest in the late fall. But the wheat fields are short and beautiful.

I had no idea what to expect with the edible chrysanthemum plant. I got very tall plants - some up to 3 feet, bushy with lots of very pretty flowers. I had to pull a few because I put them in bad places for the size. I don't like the taste of them, but they are nice to have in the garden for color and hopefully to draw bees. I have NEVER seen a year with so few bees around the yard. I wonder if my plants are getting pollinated enough?

A daisy at the local county extension building. They have been so helpful to me this year as a new gardener!

And bee balm, also at the county extension building. It is right down the road and I walk through there often with the dogs and take pictures.

The water lilies are in full bloom now, too. I enjoy them so much!
Happy Gardening, folks!

The Rescued Kittens

2009-07-02T11:56:00.000-07:00

I had a request from a fellow blogger to show the kitten photos so here they are.
These are the kittens I rescued from my mother's woods. There were 5 but one died after a couple of days. The rest are doing really well now. It's been about 2 weeks and they are eating on their own. When I got them they weren't even weaned and I had to bottle feed them. Their eyes were infected, and they had worms, ear mites, and upper respiratory infections. After vet care and lots of meds and TLC two are ready for new homes. The other two are still getting eye drops for bad eyes.

The little grey one had the worst eyes aside from the one that died. It is doing much better now and even the cloudiness is almost gone. But I can't stop the eye drops yet. When I tried the eyes started getting worse immediately. The vet said it can take up to a month of diligent care before they get better.

This is how they look today. Much better! My 2 granddaughters were finally able to come play with them. They all (kids and kittens) are loving it a lot. Of course the girls would like to take them home but they already have 2 cats and a bulldog. Not going to happen!
I'm glad I found the babies, but I'll be equally as happy to find homes for them. I live on a busy street and usually can just put out a free kitten sign and give them away. This is definitely not the first time I've found kittens and also puppies in mom's woods. Sure wish more people would be responsible with their pets!!!

Need Identification and Around the Yard

2009-06-21T15:49:00.000-07:00

Can anybody put a name to this? I bought it at a local greenhouse and it's hardy, but it didn't have a name tag. Sedum? What variety?

The potato bag got away from me. It's growing well, but I didn't get dirt added in soon enough and I had long stems so I stopped adding more soil. No flowers yet. I cut slits and put a few marigolds at the bottom. They also are doing well.

The dahlias are starting to bloom. This unnamed one was a Mother's Day gift from Chris and family

The Rat's Tail Radish is very large. This is actually a few plants. They are a great aphid attractor! I finally have little seed pods on them for eating. Boy, are they spicy! Bob likes them. I might, but with this cough spicy food is not an option right now.

Teaspoon Tomato in a coir basket. It is right by the front door and the pond which is good because it dries out really fast. I planted little pansies at the base on several of the tomato plants and really am enjoying them. And the tomato has set some tiny fruit. These tomatoes are only supposed to be about 1/2 inch in diameter. My first year with them - they were from the Wintersown package.

A red dahlia from last year
s tuber. I stored all of my dahlia tubers wrong - dug them, put them on an old cookie sheet to dry on the back porch (heated, but cool), ended up leaving them there all winter so they were all dry and wrinkly this spring - and yet they grew. Last year was my first year with dahlias. I guess they're not as fussy as the articles imply! Good to know.

And last, a little resident in one of our ponds. I sure love hearing them croak around the house at night.

On Posting New Stuff

2009-06-19T16:51:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted much lately for lots of reason. Mostly though, the mac is acting up with iphoto and printing and I really like photos with blog posts. Since I did the latest updates iphoto (which I need to get my photos off the camera) won't open. I guess I need to reinstall the original software but I haven't had ambition to do it. Also my printer won't receive messages from the computer. Again, I'll probably try reinstalling the software. My first try for anything troublesome. My best advice today on computers? If you are a longtime windows user, stay with it. I should have. If you are a new computer user you might really like a mac.
I also have whatever upper respiratory bug is going around and have been pretty miserable - laryngitis, cough, sinus trouble - the works. And we are having work done outside on the house and so we've had workmen around way too much lately - really disruptive, but necessary. And I found 5 'dumped' kittens along the road in my mom's woods. A regular pet dumping location, unfortunately. They were sick with eye infections, ear mites, worms, and sniffles - and they weren't weaned yet. Very skinny. So I brought them home and have been spending a lot of time and money :( tending to their needs. One died but I suspect it would have been blind if it had lived - it's eyes were the worst. One other one is separate from the rest still because it has a very stuffy nose, but the other three are doing much better - playing and eating well. Two of them have one cloudy eye each. Hopefully they can see out of them - I don't know yet. I put them in the big dog crate and one of them is lapping kitten formula from a bowl now. Yea! The dogs are fascinated by them but not allowed to touch or taste!
The garden is growing like crazy. I finally got to try the seed pods to the rattail radish today. Not bad! They are tiny but pack a whollop of strong radish flavor. Bob likes them and eats a lot of salads to that will be nice. Especially since my regular radishes have been such a failure. The rat's tail radish plant is also very large - if you plant them give them at least a foot or two of space. I also tried the flowers of the edible chrysanthemum. Then I pulled some of them out. They're pretty but way bigger and taller than I expected and were overgrowing other vegetables. The flavor of the flowers wasn't worth taking up the space. I just left a couple in out of the way places.
Pictures soon, I hope.

Sunday Silence 12

2009-06-07T05:55:00.000-07:00

Elk, Yellowstone Nat'l Park, Wyoming

Zydeco Irises

2009-06-02T07:00:00.000-07:00

Just for fun I want to mention a website for Irises. Patrick O'Connor wrote a nice comment on my last blog correcting the name of the yellow iris that I had posted. He should know! He has a business and a very nice website all on the Louisiana Iris. I tried to post a link in the comments and I tried to email him to thank him but couldn't because of the way my mac is set up for email. (His website only wants to bring up outlook on my computer and I can't get into that) so I thought I'd thank him this way.
Thank you, Patrick. I enjoyed looking through your site at the beautiful photos and great information on the Louisiana Iris. If I was in your area I would definitely stop in.
The site is Zydeco Irises and it's worth a look.

Rhubarb cake and county extension

2009-06-01T07:56:00.001-07:00

Purple clematis on the fence in the back yard. This year has a massive bunch of flowers in full bloom right now - the best yet. But last year I had 5 clematis and this year I only have 3. Winter was hard on them for some reason.

The yellow Louisiana Iris in bloom by the pond. The plants that are just growing loose in the water (no pots) are twice the size of the plants in the ground outside of the pond.

Somebody (Sorry! I forgot where I originally saw it to say thank you.) posted a link to a Rhubarb Upside-down Cake and I made it yesterday. It was excellent! So much better than I expected. We love pineapple Upside-down cake, but I think this was even better. The sourness of the rhubarb really added something extra. If I make it next year I'll add nuts of some kind to the rhubarb layer but aside from that I wouldn't change a thing. The cake layer was a bit more work than normal for that kind of cake - making a meringue and folding it in - but very worth the effort because it made the cake very light and tasty. I highly recommend this recipe! My husband doesn't usually eat rhubarb but he even liked it alot.

White iris at the county extension office.

Magenta iris behind the ISD building across the street. These grow at the edge of a hedgerow and are beautiful.
Iris in any color is definitely one of my favorite flowers and right now in Michigan is the prime time for them. I've seen some new batik ones in the catalogs and might have to get a few. In quilting my favorite fabrics are batiks so it just seems right.
Happy gardening!

Sunday Silence 11

2009-05-31T05:45:00.000-07:00

Old Man's Falls at Hocking Hills State Park, Ohio

Need Advice: Cabbage Maggots

2009-05-30T06:12:00.000-07:00

My cabbages have cabbage maggots in the roots. The book I have says 'too bad for you, you should have put row covers on' (my paraphrase) and gives no advice on getting rid of them short of destroying the plants. Anybody out there know any way to save the plants and destroy the maggots?

A yellow Louisiana Iris by the pond.

The little pond is bursting with water lilies this year, with Siberian Iris in bloom behind it.

Finally! Pea blossoms on the snap peas. I was beginning to think it wouldn't happen!

The peas are planted where I took out the trumpet vine this year. So far so trumpet vines coming back...but I bet they will. They can be awfully persistent. I took them out because they still weren't blooming after 5 years. When the peas are done I'll put in some flowers or something that will vine. Maybe even another melon plant.

I have the raised beds all planted now and they are doing pretty well, except for the cabbage. I ordered some floating row cover fabric but it's not here yet. I had a problem with maggots in my radishes too.

Bob put 4x6 ft. wood and wire trellises onto the 4x4 boxes a few days ago. Now they are planted with melons, small pumpkins, and a small watermelon. There are 4 of them and they are screwed to the sides of the raised beds. He's really been a blessing and a hard worker in building all this stuff for me. I think he's really glad that things are getting done in that area!!

An unusual 'volunteer' plant growing at the side of one of the raised beds. The whole area was filled with these large mushrooms. The ground was full of the fibrous plant underground so I hope it doesn't migrate into the boxes, but it might. Sometimes I wonder why I wanted to start gardening again. I told Bob before he began to build all this stuff that if I get frustrated with vegetable gardening it will all go to flower beds instead. He's okay with that - he just doesn't want it to be 'wasted' money and work and all to weeds.

Then there were the volunteer melon (I think...) seeds in the big compost pile. I didn't have the heart to ruin them and they were in total shade so I filled one of the composting trash cans (with holes drilled in the sides) with compost and moved a pitchfork full of the seedlings to the top and put it by the fence so it can vine all over. Then I just liked the idea so I did another one and planted some more melon seeds in that one. I may do one more. I have LOTS of fence I can use.

This mess is my job for today. This is all right at the front door - it looks terrible and has been that way for a few weeks now. I need to get all the pots filled and put in place and then clean and weed the whole area. This is way worse than usual for this time of year.

Off to work!

Sunday Silence 10

2009-05-25T07:15:00.000-07:00

Agate Beach, Oregon

A day late, but where I wish I was on this Memorial Day
Garden harvest today - 14 oz. of lettuce, 8 radishes complete with worms, 3 green onions.

Sunday Silence 9

2009-05-17T05:47:00.001-07:00

Downy Woodpecker

May Bloom Day, A Walk on the Wild Side

2009-05-15T09:05:00.001-07:00

Starting out with some more traditional garden blooms: Veronica, Royal Candles. This one is brand new for me. I just planted it this week. It is a beautiful flower and should be a crowd pleaser for the pollinators. This little garden has a bit of a purple theme with Russian Sage, Hyssop, Lavender, and some other purple flowers.

An orange marigold single peeking out from under a rattail radish that I wish would bolt so I can try the seed pods!

I've heard this flower called both Honesty and Money Plant. I don't know the botanical name and common names change from region to region. But it is a beautifully bright flower and makes a great seed pod (from which it gets the Money Plant name)

All right, I know these are leaves, but we do call them Flowering Kale (or Ornamental Kale). It's still small and I'm hoping we don't get hot weather until it gets to be a nice size. I enjoy having a few of these around. I have 3 this year.

A bit more on the wild side, this Autumn Olive is extremely invasive in our area. It has taken over the grasslands and meadows everywhere. But, again, pollinators love it and it sure has a sweet smell. I have one in my yard and sometimes I feel guilty - I try not to grow invasive plants - but getting rid of it would not benefit anything at this point. The battle is already lost.

Just for fun I took some 'out of the garden' flower shots: wild mustard, a pretty yellow. Nice in the fields, not so nice in the flower beds.

Who knew that the mighty oak actually flowers! I love the little leaves that are so pink when they first open. Wouldn't it be great if they stayed that color all year!

Some wild strawberry flowers.

And last but not least: wild grasses in bloom. I didn't take a close-up, but these are not seed heads yet. They are zillions of tiny flowers that bloom, have pollen, and then go to seed. Native grasses in all their grand variety are always favorite nature subjects for my camera every year.

SFG update and Euphorbia Bonfire

2009-05-14T06:13:00.000-07:00

Some garden pictures after the first outdoor plantings. This one is planted at the edges with onions, beans at the far end, and marigolds..

The potato bin showing it's first growth.

One bed all planted with cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower - also onions and a few marigolds around the edges.

Some herbs and flowers waiting in the wings.

Another bed, again with onions, garlic, rattail radish, and marigolds. Nothing in the center yet. It will probably be home to melons or pumpkins.

Self-watering containers with lettuce mixes, stirfry mix, beets, and supposedly spinach - but I think I have a bad batch of spinach seed since it germinated very poorly.

Two kinds of peas where the trumpet vine that wouldn't bloom used to be.

Mini Bell Peppers in a SWC. When the weather is more stable I'll move it out away from the house.

Some volunteer seedlings in the compost pile. Melons, maybe?

I didn't know that some kinds of pussy willows went to fuzz. It was all over everything where I walked this week.

And last - a beautiful spring surprise - Euphorbia 'bonfire'. I bought it last year, apparently after it bloomed and didn't know it had such a gorgeous flower. I like it so much I may buy one or two more. But I saw a gardening show that claimed it was only hardy to Zone 7. Well, it wintered over last year here in Zone 5 and we had a very cold winter...

Happy Gardening!

Baby Killdeer: All Knees and Elbows

2009-05-13T08:34:00.000-07:00

As I walked the dogs we came on a spot in the field that was barren and flooded. Two killdeer were flying around and doing what killdeer do when there are babies or a nest nearby, so I stopped to watch and photograph (after getting the dogs to behave, meaning sit and stay by me). I saw these cute little guys running around trying to get into the wheat to hide and was lucky enough to get a few photos. They're a bit blurred, but the best I could get. You shoot quick with these little guys or miss your chance.

They remind me of the saying about gangly pre-teens - all knees and elbows - but they sure are quick little runners, and very quiet. If you see mom and dad and want to see the babies, don't look at the parents. Their goal is to lure you away from the babies.

Here is mom or dad (they look alike to me) watching and going away from the babies.

They will fly off aways and do a broken wing act - it must work on predators - it sure convinces my dogs! I used to have a lot of trouble keeping them under control near the killdeer, and we have a lot of them around our area. We always see them, early spring through late fall.

Even though I've been trying for several years to get photos of the broken wing behavior, these are my first decent photos. They usually get just a bit too far away and just a bit too deep into the grass to look good on camera.

They are also excellent at camoflage in their most comfortable habitat - barren ground with some pebbles and dry grasses. They just blend right in.

They have a bright red eye and when they are head-on the black and white bands stand out more. They have 2 chest bands. Another similar shorebird has one band - plover, maybe?

They do love water and are often found near streams and ponds, but they use large open fields to nest.

All in all, a beautiful and interesting bird. One of my local favorites.
I was going to do a gardening update, but nature called! Ah, maybe tomorrow...

Sunday Silence 8

2009-05-10T08:02:00.001-07:00

Happy Mother's Day!

Hardy Orchids and Water Lilies

2009-05-07T13:58:00.000-07:00

It was a nice surprise to see some very healthy flower buds on this water lily. We were moving it to it's summer pond and now know that there will be some flowers fairly soon. I think my photo is sideways - Sorry!

The fabric birdhouse in place in the cherry tree. No inhabitants yet, but it sure looks bright and cheery out there. I ended up using velcro tabs and a few safety stitches to secure the top in a way that it could be cleaned out if the birds use it. I decided not to put the other one out because the hole is so close to the bottom I'm afraid the babies or eggs would fall out in a stiff wind.

I did not know there were hardy orchids available but a local greenhouse had a bunch of these for sale at normal perennial prices. Maybe I just don't get out enough. This is Bletilla Striata, a hardy woodland orchid from China. It needs moist conditions, partial sun, and a little mulch protection so that it doesn't come up too early in the spring. It grows 12-18 inches tall. And it is a lovely little flower. It also comes in white or yellow, but I only saw purple where I bought this one.

The center ruffles and ridges were especially interesting to me.

Inspired by the flower and people like Val Littlewood over at Pencil and Leaf, and Val Webb at The Illustrated Garden, I decided to try a black and white drawing of the orchid before I plant it. I used to do a lot of drawing and painting, but I haven't done much of anything for a couple of years. It turned out okay, but I tell you - it is NOT fun trying to do detail work from life with bifocals. I'm wondering if that is part of the reason I haven't done much drawing for a while.

My father-in-law used to say as he got older: Golden years, my @#$@!

And on that cheery note, good-bye for today.

Isn't It Pretty?

2009-05-05T19:16:00.000-07:00

This is the day I've dreamed of for weeks! The beds are full enough to plant - not right to the top of their 12 inch height, but a very generous 8 to 10 inches. Good enough!!

We had been buying bag after bag of humus, manure, peat moss, and vermiculite and finally got tired of it. So we drove the 45 minutes to Ann Arbor and got 1 cubic yard of their certified weed-free and tested compost. Very nice stuff. The truck made it but it was sure riding low. And Bob really was wonderful about shoveling all of that out and dumping it into the beds. Then I used a hoe to mix it in really well with the stuff that was already there. It worked quite well.

Tomorrow I can finally let my 9 year old granddaughter plant her cabbage which was given to her as just a little sprout several weeks ago by her science teacher. We've had it under lights and in a self-watering container since she got it. And it's been potted up bigger and bigger. She's quite excited about it.

My homemade potato bin on an old fireplace grate. The bin is made of landscaping fabric sewn with polyester thread (because cotton would probably rot too soon in the sun and the water) and the sides are rolled down until the potatoes get taller. It will go up to about 36 inches if needed. I'll move the whole thing out of that row before long. Like everything else this is an experiment, new to me this year. I might still adapt this into a self-watering bin. I think I could by moving the potatoes, putting some cotton wicking fabric into the bottom and out a slit in the side to a jug of water. Just a thought.

Have plants will travel. And these are just the some of the tomatoes, not the rest or the peppers, cabbages, cauliflowers, edible chrysanthemums, dahlias, yarrow... Those are here and there, in and out. Waiting for the weather to be safer. The wagon, in spite of puzzling the dogs, has been a great blessing for moving them. The rest of them have to be hand carried every day. Twice a day.

Sunday Silence 7

2009-05-03T11:39:00.001-07:00

Sunflowers from my mother's garden last fall.

Water Gardening: Pond Inhabitants

2009-05-02T17:34:00.001-07:00

Every spring I look forward to my little green friends starting to sun themselves. One warm day three of them were hanging out around the edge of the little pond. We used to have a lot of trouble keeping these Green Frogs around. I decided that I had 2 main problems: I kept the pond bottom too clean and I had too many big koi in the pond.

The frogs need muck to overwinter and if the pond bottom is thoroughly cleaned every year maybe the frogs don't have as natural a habitat as they need. I left our larger pond uncleaned for about 4 or 5 years and that is when our frog population grew. Now I clean it every couple of years early in the summer so the muck can build up again. It needs it this year.

(I think this guy thought he was hiding...not his best side!)

Around that same time I had a massive spring die-off of our koi. We had 12-15 very large koi in our larger pond and if any died it was always in the spring as the temps warmed and the koi had to adjust to the rapid changes. Every spring we might lose one or two but one year we lost them all. After that we switched to goldfish and the frogs multiplied. The koi were eating the eggs, tadpoles, the smaller frogs and also most baby fish. Watching the frogs that did visit we could see that they didn't even like to go into the water with the big fish. Now, several years after losing the koi, one day last summer I stood by the two ponds and counted 23 young frogs on the lily pads and around the edges. A bumper crop!
So those are my theories based on my observations around our ponds.

However, coming into this year we have way too many goldfish in the ponds. You can see some of them here. Goldfish breed like crazy! They seriously pollute the water if they get out of balance. They are also very hard to net without pumping out most of the water...expensive.
And so now I have one koi in the pond to help keep the goldfish under control - they will eat the eggs and babies. Sorry! Just part of natural selection! I actually put 2 koi in there last year but in our big flood this spring when I really hoped the goldfish would swim away, one of the koi left for parts unknown instead. Oh well...I might get one more this year. I really like the koi but they are also death on water lilies and other plants. When I clean the pond I'll get most of the goldfish out, too, and take them to a local pond nursery.

I'm hoping with just one or two koi the frogs will still be able to stay and multiply. One of the biggest challenges in keeping a water garden healthy is achieving a good balance in lots of different areas, including the critters. (My granddaughter who loves the frogs wasn't too happy to see a snake around the pond last year as it helped keep the frog population under control. We've also had egrets and kingfishers visit our outdoor diner.)
Pond tip of the day: when you get into the water to clean the pond don't forget to pull the plug on the pump!

Nature Walk with Dogs

2009-04-29T16:54:00.001-07:00

When I take the dogs out for their (almost) daily walk I usually find a few things that interest me enough to photograph.

Spring calligraphy in nature...

Trillium flowers in a woods normally almost barren of flowers.

But the dogs...that's something different. They always find something of interest. Only they don't get the concept of hunting with a camera. They just understand 'HUNT'. So first they found a nice woodchuck hole that must have been recently used because Lucy (the one with her whole head in the hole) didn't want to leave. She wanted to dig it out. I had to drag her away kicking and screaming.

Then in a different area they found this thing they had NEVER seen before and were totally fascinated with...a painted turtle. Lucy actually lost interest in it pretty quickly because she's a herder. Her prey is supposed to want to be chased. Strider on the other hand was determined to make it move. I tried to use it as a training opportunity with him, telling him to sit and stay. But every time the little turtle moved a bit and showed a leg or a bit of his head Strider would lunge at it and try to get it. Training was only moderately successful! ...as usual with him....

But when he did stay still I got a couple of photos. Here is just a hint of his head, watching but very cautious, and rightly so.

When I backed Strider up a foot or so to just watch the turtle decided it was safe enough to try to just hide in the mud. Then we left and I'm sure it was much happier. This is the first time I've ever seen a turtle out along these paths. The path is very wet right now, but there are no ponds nearby.
As for the dogs, because of their hunting instincts and the only fair training skills of their owner (oh, that would be me!) I always walk them on leash. I do use the long 25 ft retractable leash which gives them lots of room to explore when it's safe, but I don't let them off leash for lots of reasons. The local wildlife thanks me!

Crazy Birds for Crazy Birdhouses

2009-04-28T16:05:00.000-07:00

For anyone who liked my crazy birdhouse and would also like to make their own matching inhabitant, check out Nellie Durand's crazy birds. She also does other beautiful fabric art, including landscapes. This link goes to the birds. Nellie has free directions and with a pattern on her site.
Debra Spincic over at Debra's Design Studio sent me the link thinking I would enjoy them. I do - and so much that I thought I'd share them.

Sunday Silence 5 and 6

2009-04-26T10:50:00.000-07:00

Koi at a local nursery.
And a bonus since I missed last Sunday.

Swallowtail on teasel last fall.

Fun with Flowers

2009-04-24T05:54:00.001-07:00

It's flower season in all of it's glory again. I thought it would be fun to show you how I spent most of last summer. I happened onto a downloadable software program for creating kaleidoscopes (Kaleider) from my own photos and got instantly and totally addicted to it.

These striped tulips growing outside the doors of our local county extension building were crying out to become kaleidoscopes.

One that showcases the mottled leaves, showing none of the red and white.

And two that focus on the petals and stamens in different arrangements. I took some of the best of the kaleidoscopes from last summer and printed small note cards with them. It was fun and a creative use for my extreme amount of flower photos (because I'm also addicted to taking pictures!) What do you do with your beautiful garden photos?

The possibilities with Kaleider are endless. It's actually meant to be for creating moving screensavers but has the option to save a single static image as a .tif or .jpg, which is how I use the software. Pictures also can be created with a variety of other effects and saved as squares or rectangles. The site has a free trial download. Check it out!

Like a Kid in a Candy Store

2009-04-23T04:32:00.000-07:00

This is my first year putting in a vegetable garden for probably 25 years. We have heavy clay where I used to garden and I gave up after several years of fighting it. For some odd reason I decided to start in again this year with raised beds, Square Foot Gardening style. Oh my, the seed catalogs are SO much fun to look at. And apparently I don't know how to restrain myself. I think I'm going to have a lot of trouble finding enough room to plant all of this stuff but here is what I bought for this year (and probably the next 3 years since I'll only be able to plant a couple of each!) I'll be planting in every pot, nook and cranny of the yard.
2009 Seed List
Carrot: Little Finger, Baker
Carrot: Merida, Territorial
Carrot: Mokum, Territorial
Cabbage: Caraflex, Johnny’s
Cauliflower: Veronica, Johnny’s
Cucumber: Mexican Sour Gherkin, Baker
Cucumber: Lemon, Baker
Cucumber: Long traditional, purchased plant
Beet: Crapaudine (for fall), Baker
Beet: Chioggia, Baker
Sunflower: Snacking Mix, Territorial
Sunflower: Tarahumara, Baker
Radish: Earth Gems, Ferry Morse
Radish: Chinese Red, Baker
Radish: White Hailstone, Baker
Radish: Rat’s Tail, Baker
Radish: Round Black Spanish (for fall), Baker
Lettuce: Pac Choi, Johnny’s
Lettuce: Encore, Johnny’s
Lettuce: Corn Salad Mix, Baker
Lettuce: Red Wing, Baker
Lettuce: Siamese Dragon Stir Fry Mix, Baker
Lettuce: Tin Tin Romaine, Thompson and Morgan
Lettuce: Mesclun, Burpee
Lettuce: Devil’s Tongue Romaine, Territorial
Spinach: Thompson and Morgan
Swiss Chard: Rainbow, Baker
Potato: Red Skin, purchased seed potatoes
Onions: Red Onion Sets
Garlic: purchased sets
Pumpkin: Kakai, Johnny’s
Gourd: Assorted Ornamentals
Melon: Petit Gris, Baker
Melon: Tigger, Baker
Watermelon: Golden, Baker
Squash: Kamokamo, Baker
Peas: Sugar Ann, Baker
Peas: from Sprouting Peas, Territorial
Tomato: Italian Ice, Burpee
Tomato: Striped Roman, Baker
Tomato: Cherokee Purple, Baker
Tomato: George Curtiss Spoon, Pea-sized, IND, 65 DTM, Wintersown
Tomato: Chocolate Cherry, 1 in., IND, 70 DTM, Wintersown
Tomato: Bushy Charbarysky, Pink, DET, 70 DTM, Wintersown
Tomato: White Beauty, Beefsteak, IND, 85 DTM,Wintersown
Tomato: Goji Faranji, Red Beefsteak, Ind, 85 DTM Wintersown
Tomato: Cabin, 2 in. red, Ind, 70-80 DTM, rare, Wintersown
Tomato: Campari, for my mother, IND, 80 DTM, Wintersown
Tomato: Silvery Fir, 2 inch red, DET, 65 DTM, Wintersown
Tomato: Sheyenne, DET, 70 DTM, Wintersown
Tomato: Huang Se Chieh ‘Gold’, 2-3 in., IND, 80 DTM, Wintersown
Tomato: Amano Orange, IND, 90 DTM, Wintersown
Tomato: Isis Candy Variant, 1.5 in., IND, 70 DTM, Wintersown
Parsley: Giant Parsley of Italy, Wintersown
Pepper: Sweet Banana, Wintersown
Pepper: Yellow Star Hot Pepper, Baker
Pepper: Aztec Hot, from saved seeds, Meijer store
Pepper: Ma Bell, from saved seeds, Meijer store
Pepper: Mini Belle Assorted, Thompson and Morgan
Edible Chrysanthemum, Baker
Nasturtium, Baker
Zinnia, Thompson and Morgan
Marigolds, Burpee
Cosmos, National Home Gardening Club
Candy Phlox, Burpee

Seedling starts and Vermiculite

2009-04-21T09:55:00.000-07:00

We went on a 4 day trip to Tennessee and I prepared my plants as well as possible for their neglect. They actually did quite well without me. They all looked good, except for a bit of mold on a few pots in the covered trays. I left a corner up but I guess that wasn't enough. Mostly I have tomatoes and peppers started, along with a few cabbages and cauliflowers and some edible chrysanthemum plants. I'm new to those so I don't know if I'll like them - but fun to try! Also a couple of yarrow seedlings. I bought a pack of pastel yarrows in an off-brand and, let that be a lesson - out of 18 seeds only about 4 sprouted. Hmmm.

My granddaughter brought over a cabbage seedling that the science teacher at her school gave her to grow. They don't garden and don't have any lights so I have it. It is doing excellently! The biggest vegetable plant on the porch. We have repotted it 3 times already and it is now in a self-watering container and still growing.

So far the biggest mistake I've made was putting little toothpicks with paper labels in the little peat pots. Some of them have molded and have a mildew on them. So far it hasn't affected the seedlings, but I'm watching them. That shouldn't be a good thing to have on them. How do you label little things like that? When I put them into 3 inch peat pots I used a permanent heavy marker right on the pots, but those little fabric ones are a problem.

A flowering kalanchoe house plant that my husband bought for me. It's still sending out new buds. Yay! The lighting on it was beautiful one afternoon.

And...anyone know the name of this? It was along a trail in Tennessee on a walk we took. I have seen it before, but it doesn't grow near my home in Michigan. I just can't think of the name and it's bugging me.
Finally, on Square Foot Gardens...in the SFG book by Mel Bartholomew the planting mix is 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 compost, 1/3 peat moss. I have had a very hard time locating the larger 4 cu ft bags of vermiculite but finally found some. For anyone else having difficulty, try a local farming co-op. The one near us can order bags of it for $16 per bag as opposed to $23 per bag through Lowe's (if they even had it in stock - they didn't). A great price! And I had a choice of medium, coarse, or extra coarse. Once they get it in I will finally be able to get the soil mix into my raised bed gardens! It's time.

April Bloom Day

2009-04-15T16:25:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm new to this Garden Blogger's Bloom Day thing and there's not much blooming in or around my house right now, but here's a little pussy willow blossom from a nature walk a few days ago. They are so delicate and pretty. I always enjoy seeing them.

A Fond Farewell to Brown

2009-04-14T07:19:00.000-07:00

As I walked the fields and paths across the street I was thinking of the things I enjoy photographing through the 'brown seasons'. Here is a last lingering farewell as spring comes closer.
Teasel plants from last year - okay, I know they are weeds and very invasive, but they are also great for butterflies, bees, etc., they also endlessly give me something interesting to photograph in every season. I really enjoy them...

The leaves of the teasel curl around reminding me of fern fiddleheads, or some kind of medieval art form.

Queen Anne's Lace like stars in the sky or pale fireworks.

A lonely abandoned bird's nest. I used this with Kaleider software to make some wonderful kaleidoscope images. (Kaleider is a reasonably priced downloadable kaleidoscope program for Windows. Tons of fun and very addictive. It's how I spent my summer last year. I'll post a few kaleidoscope images soon....)

And beech tree leaves still hanging on from last fall. They stay the winter and then, I guess, get pushed off by the new green leaves? But they're always pretty glowing in the sunshine.
Goodbye brown...hello color!

Sunday Silence 4

2009-04-12T07:58:00.001-07:00

Happy Easter
Bloodroot Flower

Square Foot Gardens and Spring Flowers

2009-04-08T06:30:00.001-07:00

(As you read this post be sure to read the one preceding it too. I'm posting both today but because the topics are so different I didn't want to put them together.)
My husband got the 8 new raised beds finished just in time for snow. Guess I don't need to worry yet about getting the soil into them! (Actually today it is 50 degrees and sunny...) Four are 4x4x12 and four are 4x6x12. They will be for veggies.
There are thing to enjoy even on the cold days. The fields were filled with icy patterns in the shallow areas of green grass. Beautiful! (Until the dogs tromped through them.)
The daffodils bloomed just in time to be bowed over by the snow. But there are lots more to come along the edge of the woods.
Just a 1/4 mile down the street at the Monroe Co. Extension Garden I got a real surprise - forsythia and violets. It seems a few weeks early for either of these flowers for our area and I haven't seen any in bloom anywhere else.
The violets were really a big surprise because I wouldn't expect to see them in bloom before May. Everything must grow better for those master gardeners! I also raided a small branch of red twig dogwood from their compost pile because it looked like they had just pruned it and brought it home in the hope of getting a start from it. I put some root stimulator on a few short pieces, put them in some potting mix under a lid and...they're actually sprouting tiny leaves! What fun! I don't think they would mind. I think they'd get a kick out of it.
Hope you'll check out the preceding post on fabric birdhouse and leave comments!

SewThis Birdhouses

2009-04-08T06:11:00.000-07:00

Just for fun and to live up to the 'Sew This' part of my name, here are some experimental fabric birdhouses I've been working on this spring. I've been trying to make them strong and water repellant enough to last at least one season outside with the hope that wrens will move in. The colorful fabric is zigzagged crazy quilt style onto very heavy pellon interfacing then coated with clear acrylic matte finish paint inside and out. The bottom has 1/4 inch square dowel rod glued on to stabilize the bottom better. I think the top will be glued on but with a few stitches at the corners to make it more secure in case the glue fails in the weather. Don't want the babies to take a tumble!

My problem right now is that I wanted to use buttons and elastic cord to fasten the bottom so I could clean it out after one season, but that idea isn't working very well so far. Any suggestions? If I glue it or sew it I'll have to try to clean it out through the entry hole (which is about 1 1/4 inch). Probably not a good idea. And I still have to decide what to use for a hanger.
This is the square one. On this one I sewed clear tablecloth plastic on the roof to waterproof it and put the clear acrylic on the rest of it. This one is a little bigger because of it's square design, but still only about a 5 inch square. Nice and cozy - hope some little birdy likes it. I hope to put these near my new garden to encourage bug killing birdies to hang out.

What do you think?

Spring Cleanup for the Pond

2009-04-07T09:22:00.000-07:00

Last week - before the snow! - I started a bit of pond clean-up. It was time! The fish were all huddled around the bubbler gasping for air. Usually by this time of year I have lowered the water level down by 10 - 12 inches and replaced it with fresh water. It helps them makes the transition from winter to spring much better. One year I lost all of our large koi from spring shock. Now I have mostly goldfish and only 2 small koi. They are very hard on plants anyways so I don't want too many of them.My helper, Strider, loves it when I work in the backyard so he can stick his nose into everything.

I have a beautiful yellow Louisiana Iris which I first planted in a buried plastic garbage can so I could keep it very wet. But it quickly overgrew the boundaries, got into the pond next to it on the 4 inch shelf and went nuts. No pot - just lots of tall healthy plant and flower. So I still grow it there with no pot. I just put a couple of pots of water grasses on top of the roots to hold it down.
By the way - all that pond sludge from the filter goes into my compost pile, as do all the water hyacyinths in late fall. They don't overwinter here anyways and they really overgrow the pond by fall. I think the air filled bladders ought to help aerate the compost pile too. Ponds and compost piles complement each other!
Our pond needs a major overhaul this year. The rubber covered far edge was so unstable last year that I had to forbid it to my granddaughters. The worst of it was that last year I was kneeling on that tilted edge overreaching to get a water lily pot out of the water and passed out, flipped over and fell into the water on my back. I came to when my head started to go under the water, grabbed the electical cord for the pump (which was running...with me in the water...) to stabilize myself until I could turn over and haul myself out. The dogs were interested, but not much help. Didn't drown, didn't get electocuted - did have a painful arm for several months from hitting a rock right on a nerve - don't do much around the pond now unless my husband is in the back yard with me! One of the bigger hazards in water gardening.

Sunday Silence 3

2009-04-05T13:28:00.000-07:00

A collarete dahlia

Sunday Silence 2

2009-03-29T07:55:00.000-07:00

Green Frog

Gardening Lessons, Nature Walk

2009-03-23T05:25:00.001-07:00

Okay, here is my first crop for the 2009 season. I planted some radishes indoors and after 4 weeks had lots of nice tops, but no bottoms. Hmph!
So I pulled them and they're going in the compost. I might have planted them too shallow. I put them at about 1/8th inch when they should have been at 1/2 inch. Would that cause the bottoms to fail to grow? Comments welcome!
So I started a new batch at the 1/2 level. We'll see what happens next.
Then I started seeds Saturday in jiffy pot pellets. Seventy-two seeds on a warming pad for seeds. It had a LOT of condensation in the plastic lid so I checked it's temp last night. It had a fever - 102 degrees. Oops! Now I have it down to about 80 but I sure hope I didn't cook all those seeds! The worst part is that I won't know for a while.
Gardener, my eye!
On the brighter side, here are a few photos from a walk out across the street. Signs of spring everywhere: killdeer, bits of green if you look close (teasel), lots of mud, geese in the old corn fields. I love this time of year when things are beginning to come to life again.

Sunday Silence 1

2009-03-22T12:51:00.000-07:00

Sunday Silence - Photos without explanation other than a very short caption. Kind of like 'Wordless Wednesday', but my own version. The explanation (today only - then silence!) If you think this is fun and want to join in on your own site, you are most welcome. Even if you don't agree with my theology you might enjoy sharing beauty.

Day 1: God said, Let There Be Light!
Day 2: God said, Separate Sky and Earth!
Day 3: God said, Land and Seas Take Your Places! Vegetation Come Forth!
Day 4: God said, Sun and Moon Fill the Sky!
Day 5: God said, Every Sea Creature Be Created! Birds Be Here Now!
Day 6: Animals Come Forth! Man and Woman, Be Created in My Image!
And He saw it all and said, It is good.
Day 7 (Sunday?): He didn't say anything. He rested and enjoyed His creation.

Enjoy!Akita Dahlia

Helper Dogs and Indoor Gardens

2009-03-19T14:11:00.000-07:00

Strider, a German Shepherd mix, is my number one helper. Wherever I am, he is also. He doesn't really do much. He's just there, sticking his long nose into everything I do. He's actually a people 'wannabe'. My other dog, Lucy, knows she's a dog and is very content to continue to be one, but this guy...no. He would rather be 'people'.
All the seed packets for this year are on the table, along with 3 seed catalogs. The peas are planted. That's all so far.
A windowsill garden. Some bonsai plants, a lucky bamboo, and 2 jars of spouting seeds for eating later.
And another indoor garden area, the ledge between kitchen and living room. The pink amaryllis was the tallest one yet, a real beauty this year. I grow them every year, saving the bulbs and tending them through the summer. In late winter they are a great reminder that spring is soon to come.

Peas, Sprouts, and Chippers

2009-03-19T06:00:00.000-07:00

Got my peas planted yesterday morning. One pack of 100 plus another 100 or so from a pack of peas sprout seeds. I've been sprouting a variety of seeds but found out I really don't like pea sprouts. But I bought a 1 lb. bag. Oops!
I do, however, really like broccoli and radish sprouts. And they're so easy to do. I just put a tablespoon or so in a pint canning jar with a piece of cheesecloth and a canning ring, soak the seeds for 8 hours, rinse, then rinse again every morning and evening. I keep them right on the windowsill over the kitchen sink. And in 5 days or so they are ready to eat. Then I rinse them again and put them in the refrigerator. They keep for about 4 days. Very tasty! I buy sprouting seeds (cleaned specifically for sprouting - no e coli...) from Territorial Seeds - good prices, a variety of seeds, and several different sizes to choose from.
Then I started using the new Patriot chipper/shredder. I got a rude awakening. Somehow I thought it was all going to be so easy. Well, it sort of is, but it's also very time consuming! It handles branches up to 2 1/2 inches, which is good for a home chipper, but...they have to be straight, they should be green, not dead, they can't have anything sticking off the sides...
So that means a lot of prep work before they can go into the chipper. But when I can feed the stuff in it does work well and is fun to use. I had hoped to stop burning, but I can see that I will still have wood waste to dispose of, just not quite as much.
Then the thunderstorms came and I was done for the day.
As a side note, I have found the catalog from Johnny's seeds to be a great reference for planting. Every group of vegetables has a detailed sidebar full of planting guidelines. Check it out!

Out with the old, In with the new

2009-03-17T17:25:00.000-07:00

The before and after pictures from the last few weeks. We had a huge flood - The worst in our 30 years here - and our entire back and side yards flooded. We had a crawlspace full of water, even sloshing in our ductwork as the furnace ran. The whole area where I plan to put my new vegetable garden was under 5 inches of water. Now it's dried out and the tarps are down to hopefully kill the grass. I'll still plant there with raised beds because it rarely floods and then usually only in the very early spring.

After trying for several years to get a trumpet vine blooming, I gave up and decided to make that area a mini veggie garden. It has a short fence around the edges and round fencing up the center of a tripod of poles so it should be good for peas and a nice small melon that I have seed for. It's called Tigger and it's from Baker Creek Heirloom seeds.
My husband got out the chain saw and did some really radical trimming on the lilacs, snowball bush, and Autumn Olive. The old wood is gone. The shrubs are much shorter and thinner - but I've no doubt that they'll be all bushed out again in a year or two.
The peas go in the ground tomorrow unless we get the forecasted thunderstorm.

A New Start

2009-03-15T17:31:00.000-07:00

I love water gardening and flower beds. I like shrubs and trees. But this year I'm starting back into vegetable gardening again after about a 25 year break. The reason? I've been watching 'Gardening by the Yard' on TV and saw a really interesting cauliflower variety (Romanesco, Veronica with all of it's lovely spires) and it appealed to the artist and photographer in me. I hope that's a good enough reason! And, after all, what would be the point of growing just one vegetable?
I never get started in a small way. I've bought several books - see the side bar for what I bought and am reading. I also bought 3 different kinds of self-watering containers, including 3 Earthboxes, to try on my ledges by the front pond. They'll get plenty of sun and have a nice water source with lots of nutrients! And even frogs to help with any bug problems.
I found several interesting seed companies (Johnny's, Territorial Seeds, and Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds) and after greatly enjoying their catalogs, ordered too many seeds. Especially since I don't even have any areas prepared for planting yet!! I have a heating mat, a plant light, a little tiny self-watering pot of radishes growing on the porch, and am ready to start seedlings. Well, as soon as I get the starting trays and pots...
Last summer I started a few compost piles and they are working away. I saved a garbage can full of kitchen waste through the winter and added that into one pile as soon as it thawed enough (and began to stink!) I also just got a brand new toy, a Patriot electric chipper/shredder. It is very nice. I tried it out by putting some semi-wet fall leaves through it and it performed very well as long as I fed the leaves in slowly. I ordered mine off Amazon and it came within a week. It was in 2 boxes - heavy but easy to assemble. (My husband did it, not me.) It also wheels easily around the yard.
Then we got a BIG flood and the brand new chipper that I put in the shed was standing in about 4 inches of water and just about 1/4 inch under the motor...Whew! That was stressful!
The area I plan to use for my main garden was also under about 4 inches of water, but since that's only the second time in our 30 years here that it's been like that I won't change the spot. The back yard is mostly out of the question for planting because of our 2 dogs who like to rampage through anything out there. And dig...
So I'm beginning to ramble. I guess it's time to quit!