We're sitting here at -11 F, with a windchill of -30 F, and almost 2 feet of snow cover. It's safe to say winter has reached Wisconsin.
The garden is, of course, buried.
So, what did I accomplish this past season? Just about nothing. I did harvest almost a peck of carrots, some of them wormy, most not too bad. (Not sure if this is recommended, but I found that soaking in water encouraged the worms to come out). Two of the apple trees did well, the third was not so great. I only sprayed the organic pest deterrent once, so maybe next year I'll hit them more frequently. Between the two, almost 10 gallons of good (not pest-ridden) apples were picked, and the third had about a gallon or so of smaller, but still good apples. I've lost the slip of paper describing which tree is which, so I need to do some investigation.
The apples were made into homemade, unsweetened apple sauce - quartered, dumped in a stock pot with a quart of water, and boiled/steamed until soft. Then sent through a food mill to remove the seeds and peels. What was left was a beautiful rose-colored sauce (for the yellow color you get in stores, peel the apples before cooking). It froze well, and some was used for Christmas cookies this year that didn't survive until Christmas. For the cookies, take some commercial puff pastry dough, thaw it out, coat one side with cinnamon & sugar, spread applesauce on the other side, and roll it up like a jelly roll. Freeze it to give it some shape, and cut thin slices with a sharp knife. Bake according to package directions. You end up with cute little spirals that are so good I only got 2 myself.
Next year....
I should plan better. And not drown the melons.
If I can revive my other computer, there is data on it for creating custom 'day-planner' style calendar pages that remind me weekly which tasks need to be accomplished in the garden - for example in mid-February, it has a note to start pansies indoors, mid-March to start herbs, and mid-April to start tomatoes, with the corresponding dates to plant them outdoors. I find it much easier to follow a calendar with all the dates listed rather than try to remember each individual plant. Again, I need to revive a computer to get the data. ugh.
I'm going to kill off some of the strawberries this year. The lipstick hybrid has outgrown it's usefulness - beginning to spread too much, and not providing enough fruits. So I hit them with roundup once this fall and didn't mulch them in. Next spring I'll hit any stragglers with more roundup, and plant some of my seed-started non-spreading strawberries in their place.
I also hope to tackle the area outside the office next year - know anyone who can teach me to build a stone wall with my huge supply of round stone?
--Mickey
Sunday, December 21
Saturday, July 12
The weeds rule my garden
I've been neglecting my garden. I have all my pepper plants in trays in my basement under lights (um, still). Most of the vegetable garden is weed-ridden right now, but I'm slowly making progress.
Carrots and lettuce are doing well, peas were planted way too late & have yet to produce. Beans are showing strong, however.
The recent flooding and rains left the garden under 4" of standing water for more than a week - that killed off all the melons - I never knew they were susceptible to drowning.
Perennials are doing well, I'll try to post some photos this week, but the front bed of black-eyed-susans and Maltese cross is amazing. The day lilies are filling in nicely, but I'm still fighting the thistle problem by the electrical box.
--Mickey
Carrots and lettuce are doing well, peas were planted way too late & have yet to produce. Beans are showing strong, however.
The recent flooding and rains left the garden under 4" of standing water for more than a week - that killed off all the melons - I never knew they were susceptible to drowning.
Perennials are doing well, I'll try to post some photos this week, but the front bed of black-eyed-susans and Maltese cross is amazing. The day lilies are filling in nicely, but I'm still fighting the thistle problem by the electrical box.
--Mickey
Tuesday, March 4
March 2008 - Seed Ball Project
Easter comes early this year, and I thought a nice gift to my gardener friends would be some wildflower seed balls. These little balls of clay, compost, and seed can be placed on the soil surface to germinate, not requiring planting into the ground. The clay helps deter pests from stealing the seed and retains moisture.
Commercial sources of these include "Seedballz" which sell for about $6 for a package of 8 at Amazon. These commercial varieties are a bit larger than what I'm about to show, but I found the smaller version is easier to make by hand.
My original plans came from Path To Freedom. I've modified their recipe slightly.
You'll need:
- dry terracotta clay powder or moist clay
- dry composted manure or compost
- seeds
6 parts clay
4 parts compost
1 part seed
If you cannot find terracotta clay powder, you can use moist clay that has been air dried (not kiln fired!) and crushed. I found a cheese grater and mortar/pestle the best tools to dry and pulverize the clay in an efficient manner. Strain out any large chunks and crush again (a kitchen sieve works fine).
Using the directions from Path To Freedom: mix the seed and compost together, add the clay, mist water with a spray bottle while stirring to get it to clump together. Do not add too much water, it will be difficult to form balls with too much moisture in the mix. Pinch off a small portion of the mixture and roll into a ball. I find it easiest (and cleanest) to use plasticized gardening gloves for this step, keeping most of the clay off my hands. Let the seed balls dry for a couple days, protecting them from curious children and pets.
Plant about 1 seed ball per square foot.
For a spring garden gift, consider packaging a handful of seed balls in a small flowerpot, perhaps with a plant marker and twine bow. Include a card with instructions and descriptions of the seed varieties. I've chosen to make a shady blend and a sunny blend.
Be sure to check with your local university extension office for native plant species to use in your seed balls.
How much did it cost me?
compost: free
clay: $1 from potter friend (can purchase 50 lbs for about $23)
seed: 1/2 cup wildflower seed mix (no filler) $13 from local garden center. (makes 250 or 300 balls)
pots: $0.50 each
twine: $0.05 (on hand)
seed markers: $0.50 each at local garden center
instruction card: $0.05 (printed on index cards)
So each gift will cost about $3 total, plus my time. The seed balls alone will cost about $14 total (clay and seed), or about $0.05 each.
Saturday, August 18
8-18-2007 Sunflowers
The sunflowers have begun to bloom. As you can see, they've grown into quite the forest. I think in the future I'll plant a "sunflower fort" instead, leaving a doorway and open space in the middle. The dog should enjoy lying in the shade of sunflowers while keeping an eye on the garden.
--Mickey
Saturday, June 30
30 June - too hot for outside work
It's about 80°F outside, at 10am today, with nearly no wind. I gave up weeding around then, and turned on the sprinkler again to soften the ground for this afternoon's weeding session. A swarm of bees flew by shortly before I gave up, giving me extra incentive to seek shelter.
The sunflowers - doing very well despite the lack of any attention whatsoever. I'll probably skip weeding this bed entirely, since they seem to be holding their own against the weeds.
Perennials
A pretty surprise this year: the Maltese Cross came back beautifully, with striking red-orange blooms you can see from the road. Neighbors have asked what they were, noting how nice they look against the stone of the house. I'll have to start more this summer and expand them along the back of this planting bed.
Filberts
One of the first plantings we did when we moved in years ago was planting three filbert bushes. Each year they've gotten marginally bigger from the stick-like original plants, and now they're several feet tall with clusters of nuts. Perhaps the nuts will be enough for both the critters and the humans this year (since the critters always win the battle of first to pick). Filberts (or hazelnuts, if you prefer) are excellent for baking, adding to Thanksgiving stuffings, and eating raw.
Can you tell where I stopped weeding last night to take the photo?
So what will happen to the weed debris? Thankfully, a large area of brush not too far from the garden readily accepts a weed-compost heap. It's at the edge of the elderberries, giving the bushes plenty of good soil over the years, but keeping the weed seeds out of the garden proper. I move the weed pile over a few feet every year, since I never turn these piles and they take longer than normal to compost.
Here's the info on the sprinkler:
The base telescopes to about 3 feet, providing some loft for the water drops over tall plants. Especially good when I haven't cut the grass in a while and the access path of the garden is about 6" deep, and covers the impact sprinkler almost entirely. Additionally, this is plenty tall enough that the dog (or me) doesn't trip over it & cut a paw. It's made by a company called Melnor.
The sunflowers - doing very well despite the lack of any attention whatsoever. I'll probably skip weeding this bed entirely, since they seem to be holding their own against the weeds.
Perennials
A pretty surprise this year: the Maltese Cross came back beautifully, with striking red-orange blooms you can see from the road. Neighbors have asked what they were, noting how nice they look against the stone of the house. I'll have to start more this summer and expand them along the back of this planting bed.
Filberts
One of the first plantings we did when we moved in years ago was planting three filbert bushes. Each year they've gotten marginally bigger from the stick-like original plants, and now they're several feet tall with clusters of nuts. Perhaps the nuts will be enough for both the critters and the humans this year (since the critters always win the battle of first to pick). Filberts (or hazelnuts, if you prefer) are excellent for baking, adding to Thanksgiving stuffings, and eating raw.
Can you tell where I stopped weeding last night to take the photo?
So what will happen to the weed debris? Thankfully, a large area of brush not too far from the garden readily accepts a weed-compost heap. It's at the edge of the elderberries, giving the bushes plenty of good soil over the years, but keeping the weed seeds out of the garden proper. I move the weed pile over a few feet every year, since I never turn these piles and they take longer than normal to compost.
Here's the info on the sprinkler:
The base telescopes to about 3 feet, providing some loft for the water drops over tall plants. Especially good when I haven't cut the grass in a while and the access path of the garden is about 6" deep, and covers the impact sprinkler almost entirely. Additionally, this is plenty tall enough that the dog (or me) doesn't trip over it & cut a paw. It's made by a company called Melnor.
Thursday, June 28
June 28 - what happens when you don't weed for 3 months?
As the name implies...I haven't weeded my garden yet this year. This feels like some twelve step program "Hi, my name is Mickey, and I'm a lazy gardener".
Since I have a guests scheduled for next week, I suppose it would be a good time to start weeding (Before/after photos to come in a future post). What does the lazy gardener do to weed? Well, I let a sprinkler run for about 4 hours last night, getting the ground good and drenched. It had all day today for draining, and by tonight was pleasantly damp - good weed-pulling dirt. An hour's worth of work netted me 1/8th of the garden weed free, including pulling up all those nasty thistles and dragging a hoe across the surface to tear up sprouts that didn't belong there. I also took the opportunity to trim off the lowest tomato branches on that row; A feat I swear to do every year to keep the dampness off the base of the tomatoes, but never seem to accomplish.
The lettuce and spinach bed is partially cleared as well, although the spinach didn't grow as well as previous years - there are a lot of gaps in the row. (Perhaps I should let people think I've eaten lots of spinach this month?) I suspect the weeds overtook some of the baby spinach - lesson learned.
My late planted peas are finally blooming, I may or may not get any decent quantity - the hot weather seems to disagree with the peas. Radishes are finally ready to pick (just in time for said party).
I planted two entire beds, nearly 1/5 of the garden, in sunflowers, which have sprouted magnificently. The plants are nearly 3 feet tall already, so I declare this year a victory over the critters and birds stealing my sunflower seed. I've planted the seeds much deeper, almost 2 inches below the soil level, as a deterrent.
On a side note, we have acquired a new sprinkler for the garden. If I can find the brand, I'll post it, but it's one of those that sits up about 3 feet off the ground. It seems to be much more gentle of a rain pattern than my tried-and-trusty impact sprinkler, but falls about 4 feet shorter in spray diameter. Perhaps this is due to water pressure (another hose was running while I compared the spray pattern). In all, it covers nearly the entire garden, and does less 'damage' from the water jet. I think I'll stick with it for a while and see what the verdict is at the end of summer.
--Mickey
Since I have a guests scheduled for next week, I suppose it would be a good time to start weeding (Before/after photos to come in a future post). What does the lazy gardener do to weed? Well, I let a sprinkler run for about 4 hours last night, getting the ground good and drenched. It had all day today for draining, and by tonight was pleasantly damp - good weed-pulling dirt. An hour's worth of work netted me 1/8th of the garden weed free, including pulling up all those nasty thistles and dragging a hoe across the surface to tear up sprouts that didn't belong there. I also took the opportunity to trim off the lowest tomato branches on that row; A feat I swear to do every year to keep the dampness off the base of the tomatoes, but never seem to accomplish.
The lettuce and spinach bed is partially cleared as well, although the spinach didn't grow as well as previous years - there are a lot of gaps in the row. (Perhaps I should let people think I've eaten lots of spinach this month?) I suspect the weeds overtook some of the baby spinach - lesson learned.
My late planted peas are finally blooming, I may or may not get any decent quantity - the hot weather seems to disagree with the peas. Radishes are finally ready to pick (just in time for said party).
I planted two entire beds, nearly 1/5 of the garden, in sunflowers, which have sprouted magnificently. The plants are nearly 3 feet tall already, so I declare this year a victory over the critters and birds stealing my sunflower seed. I've planted the seeds much deeper, almost 2 inches below the soil level, as a deterrent.
On a side note, we have acquired a new sprinkler for the garden. If I can find the brand, I'll post it, but it's one of those that sits up about 3 feet off the ground. It seems to be much more gentle of a rain pattern than my tried-and-trusty impact sprinkler, but falls about 4 feet shorter in spray diameter. Perhaps this is due to water pressure (another hose was running while I compared the spray pattern). In all, it covers nearly the entire garden, and does less 'damage' from the water jet. I think I'll stick with it for a while and see what the verdict is at the end of summer.
--Mickey
Monday, June 11
10 June - Fruit
Strawberries!
These are a variety of 'wild' strawberry, those little tiny berries that have more taste than a quart bought in the store. The 'lipstick' strawberries also have a couple fruits, though that's pretty uncommon. I've only gotten to eat a couple, as the birds and chipmunks have beat me to most of them. I have another sunny slope that I'll be planting more berries on, an area that is somewhat difficult to mow right now.
After last year's single peach, we have about 30 this year. Unfortunately, we also have bugs. I'm going to have to look this pest up, but it appears I may need to spray something on the tree. Since I'd rather not eat insecticide, I may try some waxed-paper bags to wrap the fruit in -- I've heard rumors these work well, but have never tried it myself.
The area around the electrical box has come back somewhat this year. The Carnations are not perennial (wrong label - oops!), so they did not come back at all. I tore up the soapwort, as it was taking over the bed (a single plant had spread to a 5' circle). The Columbine are coming along nicely, however. Seven more plants have been started for filling in the gaps where it didn't take, or I planted too far apart. The delicate flowers really are turning out quite nice.
The front bed is starting to fill in. You can see some of the grasses and flowers growing already. The hydrangea is about a foot tall. As I feared, the Pampas grass is very dead. I'll replace it with some other ornamental grass, perhaps Millet.
These are a variety of 'wild' strawberry, those little tiny berries that have more taste than a quart bought in the store. The 'lipstick' strawberries also have a couple fruits, though that's pretty uncommon. I've only gotten to eat a couple, as the birds and chipmunks have beat me to most of them. I have another sunny slope that I'll be planting more berries on, an area that is somewhat difficult to mow right now.
After last year's single peach, we have about 30 this year. Unfortunately, we also have bugs. I'm going to have to look this pest up, but it appears I may need to spray something on the tree. Since I'd rather not eat insecticide, I may try some waxed-paper bags to wrap the fruit in -- I've heard rumors these work well, but have never tried it myself.
The area around the electrical box has come back somewhat this year. The Carnations are not perennial (wrong label - oops!), so they did not come back at all. I tore up the soapwort, as it was taking over the bed (a single plant had spread to a 5' circle). The Columbine are coming along nicely, however. Seven more plants have been started for filling in the gaps where it didn't take, or I planted too far apart. The delicate flowers really are turning out quite nice.
The front bed is starting to fill in. You can see some of the grasses and flowers growing already. The hydrangea is about a foot tall. As I feared, the Pampas grass is very dead. I'll replace it with some other ornamental grass, perhaps Millet.
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