Garden News

70 this morning and sunny. Expected to be near 90 today.

Still Covid positive, daggone it. 

But other than that, life goes on. I canned salsa,but and dill pickles...again. I swear, everyone will be getting 12 jars of pickles this Christmas! The cucumbers have loved all the rain.

But sad news about the tomatoes. Despite everything we have tried, the deer are still getting in. So Larry picked every tomato in that garden, green or not. He also picked all the butternut squash as the deer got to them too. They were nowhere near ready but oh well. So tomorrow I will be making green tomato mincemeat, and those squash I hope will ripen and just be small. 

Gardening is tough these days, with the deer population expanding by leaps and bounds. It doesn't help that many neighbors feed the deer. They don't grow gardens, you see, and think the deer are pretty. Which they are, but there are far too many of them. West Virginia has the nation's highest rate of vehicle-deer collisions, and this in a state with one of the least populated states! You would think our Department of Natural Resources would see that there is a problem, given the amount of crop damage and accidents involve deer, but they take no action except for incremental increases in the amount allowed during hunting season. 

It's not just deer, either. As the corn approaches picking stage we are watching out for other marauders. Larry has trapped 6 raccoons and 2 possums so far this summer. Sometimes it feels like a battle between us, the wildlife, and the weather.

Still, we certainly won't go hungry. The cellar and the freezers are exploding with good food. But it is disappointing to work so hard on growing a good garden and then see it damaged and not be able to prevent it.

Enough ranting! I know I am blessed with a good life, and surrounded by beauty. I went out in the smaller garden--the one we call "my" garden because I have more to do with this one than with the bigger garden-- for the first time in 2 weeks this morning, and while it was disheartening to see how the weeds have grown, it was also nice to see how many things are thriving. We do have a few tomato plants in this garden so will at least continue to have eating tomatoes.

We came back to the house with cabbage, dill, a few tomatoes cucumbers, squash, and potatoes he missed the other day. He tilled that ground for fall planting and found these taters with the tiller, so they are a bit damaged. I will use them to make potato salad today.

Onward we go. I hope to finally kick this virus soon so I can get back to the gardens, but meanwhile I have at least been able to keep up with canning and freezing. Another blessing.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Gardens on My Mind

 It was quite a strange winter, wasn’t it? Now our thoughts have turned to spring and planting, to green and flowering things. We hesitantly put away our snow shovels, but not too far back into the shed. We check our woodsheds and assess the damage and try to figure if there’s enough wood to get us through until the weather is reliably warm. We check our cellars to see what the damage is there too, and what we will need to focus on in the coming canning season.  We write up and draw out garden diagrams, and enthusiastically make plans for all sorts of projects that may or may not get done. It’s the season of rising hope, limitless possibilities and that certain smell in the air that can only mean spring.

But March can be a freakish month.  As Nathaniel Hawthorne once wrote, “It is sad that nature will play such tricks on us poor mortals, inviting us with sunny smiles to confide in her, and then, when we are entirely within her power, striking us to the very heart.” How many times have I seen the apple and peach trees burst into bloom, and then see the withered blossoms after a night’s hard frost? Gardening is not for those who give up easily; each year we stride out with fresh hopes, the garden a blank sheet of paper waiting for our hoes and shovels to turn it into this year’s story. I have to admit, each year I begin my garden sure that the ending will be of the happily-ever-after variety, but the fact is that most years the result is a mishmash of successes and failures.

For centuries writers have shared their love of gardening in words.  As early as 410 AD, Chinese writer Hsieh Ling-Yin wrote, “I have banished all worldly care from my garden; it is a clean and open spot.” There is something about gardening and writing that go together. Perhaps it is the quiet nature of both occupations; both require a certain comfortable silence, an aloneness in an otherwise busy world. Gardening is contemplative; as we work we think about what we’re doing but also about what we did in this garden in other years and what successes/failures we’ve had. We think about those who once worked alongside us, children who have grown and gone, parents who taught us what they knew. We examine plants, see tiny veins in leaves, thin tendrils of reaching roots, the tidiness or unruliness of exuberant plants. We search for bugs and pests and weakened plants. We sit back on our haunches and breathe deep the odor of soil, of green, of flowers and sweat. 

Writing requires that same depth of quietude: we write the words as they come into our minds, watch them take form and meaning on the page. We remember other things we’ve written, characters we’ve created, people with whom we shared our work; we prune and trim, cultivating images and scenes. And when our minds are tired of word-wrestling, we can go out in our gardens and lose ourselves in the simplicity of garden work.

An old Hebrew proverb says, “As is the garden, such is the gardener.” My gardens, then, certainly reflect eclectic tendencies: herbs jostle with roses, flowers with lettuce, a wild elderberry grows at the foot of a maple and asparagus seedlings come up and grow where they will. I can’t say there’s much order in the way the gardens are arranged as they seem to do it themselves.  I love the wild abandon of it, the surprise of finding currants hiding under overhanging daylilies and garlic bulbs under the oregano.

I leave you with this thought from Francis Bacon: “God Almighty first planted a Garden. And indeed, it is the purest of human pleasure. It is the greatest refreshment to the spirits of Man.”

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

A Walk in the Rain

I took my camera for a walk around the gardens this morning--not in the vegetable gardens because I was wearing my slippers and it was still raining. I don't think there's anything prettier than gardens in the rain. Here's what going on in my little part of the world:

I've seen these old bikes chalk-painted white and they look pretty nice, but I'm happy with this one in its rusty glory.

Old chairs, rusty wheels and flowers just go together. The planter is full of swiss chard, a gift from a friend.

The knockout roses suffered again this past winter but they're staging a comeback. The irises are done; I need to cut back the stems. Add it to the to-do list.

 I've been lucky finding concrete planters this spring for excellent prices. I really like the way they hold moisture, and the dogs can't knock them over.

 The lilies are just beginning to bloom. I should plant more of them as they seem to like the environment here. The pink spirea is just opening too.

 

 This was my Monday project: reclaiming this herb garden. It was overtaken by lemon balm and bergamot. Both are fine herbs in their own right but they left no room for anything else.

Another reclamation project: Larry is turning the old strawberry bed into a permaculture garden. The asparagus has seeded itself all over this space and we're good with that. We planted blueberries and more rhubarb here last week. There's also a currant bush here, and our early lettuce and onions.

My sister Liz made me this glass totem and I thought it was a perfect addition to our birdbath. I added the clear glass globe for fun.

The wheelbarrow shows how much I pulled out of the herb garden. To the left of the wheelbarrow is the old herb garden. It was taken over by that yellow-green sedum and other weeds so I am letting it go for this year, just keeping it mowed, except for the patch of chives in the center, and the old-fashioned rose bush. Maybe next year I'll plant something there again.

A peek at the early veggies. This garden is doing pretty well so far, and today's rain will certainly help. 

That's the tour! I'll try to post more photos of the vegetable gardens and also of the grapevines and other things growing around here. It's the prettiest time of year, I think.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

A Fruitful Year?

More pics from this year's garden. I think this might be a fine year for fruit, if the weather cooperates.

What's under here? Cherries! I am hoping to keep the birds out and the cherries on.

 So far, so good:

 Peach trees are all loaded with fruit:

and the little plum tree, in its third year, has a few plums on it:

The grapes are so prolific I can see we'll be selling or giving away quite a few, if they continue to thrive:

The apple trees are full of young fruit too:

Not a fruit, but I think this cardinal posed for me:

We've picked basket after basket of strawberries; now the raspberries are ripening and the volunteer elderberry in my flowerbed is in bloom. Last year the derecho storm stripped and broke the elderberry and left it looking so forlorn, but it has recovered and may have some berries this year:

There are still so many things that could go wrong: blight, bugs, mold, windstorms, drought...but maybe this will be the year that fills the cellar and freezer with fruit? I can dream, anyway.

Copyright 2012 Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Work Week News

I know I've been AWOL, but with good reason--make that reasons. Here's a few:

1. The Truck Hunt. That took almost two full days and still isn't really completed since we still have to pick up the truck and then get it licensed, registered, etc.

2. The Athens Antique Mall booth.

We spent another afternoon adding new items--and that means prep time at home as well, getting things ready to display. I think we still need to spend another afternoon getting it really stocked, and then it should be good for a while. The good news is we're sellin
g a lot of stuff there! I've priced things a little low for these opening days, to encourage buying and to get some good word-of-mouth, which is the best advertising of all.

3. Summer Reading:

I've been hard at work on it! Working on stories, planning my display and finalizing the actual program itself for this summer library programs.

This is going to be so much fun--lots of tales of lost treasures, stolen treasure, famous jewels, even a pirate and a Jack tale. The first presentation is Monday; then it will be home to review how it went and consider any changes I might want to make. As usual, I have about three hours of possible stories to tell for a 45-minute program. Ah me--so many stories, just begging to be told!

4. Gardens:

This is one started project--rebuilding a rock wall around the small garden. It's been on hold for a week or so but I hope we can get back to it this week.

We've been picking and picking strawberries. The cedar waxwings came again and obligingly ate almost all the mulberries, but did leave enough for us to pick and freeze for jam-making later on. Larry has been tilling and weedeating and mowing every spare moment, and when he's not doing that he's working on the log room or hauling stuff for me.

5. All the usual bits and pieces that make up life--our son invited us over for barbecued chicken and no one should ever, ever turn down his chicken. He's a total master at the grill. Then there's housework, mail, laundry, and of course a little junking mixed in on the side as time allows. We got really lucky and scored an old Radio Flyer stake-side wagon this week, along with an excellent horse-drawn plow, two nice little tables, about 30 old (1933-up) West Virginia license plates, a Jadeite mug and a child's Cupid and Venus mug made in the 1890's (that old pattern glass that I love), and lots of other things. My car got loaded and unloaded again over and over all week long.

6. Writing: I actually wrote three new poems this week; that makes me happy! And I okayed my advertisement for the National Storytelling Network Conference handbook and paid for my first ad in Two Lane Livin', along with concentrating on learning to use Twitter to increase my potential audience for storytelling. I also began experimenting with using my webcam, something I've meant to do since buying this computer three years ago.

7. The new phone:

learning curve! But I. Love. This. Phone. So easy to use, big screen, fast, fast, fast. I asked the sales girl what she carried and how she liked it--she loves her phone and I got one just like it. It's an LG Optimus G Pro. The photos are just amazing, and tonight I made my first video with it. Check it out:



That's been my week. I hope yours has been a good one too.

Copyright 2012 Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Time to Think Garden

Spring is taking its time arriving this year, and that's all right with me. Even the coltsfoot has yet to bloom. This early arriver is usually showing yellow blossoms in mid to late February but I haven't spotted it yet. The silver maples in the yard are trying to bud and so is the bridal wreath spirea, but so far no flowers, no daffodils and no crocus. This weekend is forecast to be warmer and sunny however, so I am expecting a burst of early Spring in the next few days, including the song of the little frogs we call peepers. (For Spring things to look for, check out this earlier post I wrote on the topic.)

I am finally thinking garden thoughts. I'm late on that too, perhaps because the weather has been fittin', as my older friends might say. It's hard to think about planting when the ground is so soggy you can lose a shoe in it, or when it's covered by snow and the wind is howling. Usually by this time I have lettuce, onions, peas, radishes and beets in the ground. This year, the garden is still as wet as can be. Larry has pruned the grapes and some other fruits so that job at least is out of the way.

(The photo below is from early May last year with the spring garden in full tilt. Ah me, wasn't it lovely?)

But this weekend, it looks like we'll get some drying out time, and I think the lettuce bed might be possible, along with a few radish seeds and onion sets.Once again we are looking to plant what we will eat and eat in season as much as possible. Potatoes are, sadly, on the do-not-plant list--or if we do, it will be a short row for new potatoes only. The Colorado Potato Beetle is so bad now that the bugs are literally waiting for the plants to come up. The only remedy for the terrible infestation of them is to use very heavy, expensive pesticides--and if I'm going to do that, I might as well buy my potatoes. We're considering planting late to see if we can perhaps avoid the beetles that way. But the last two years have been such a battle that I think we need to just leave potatoes alone for a while. We don't eat many anyway--50 pounds would last us a year because with a diabetic in the house, potatoes are on the special treat menu. Which is okay with me, since I don't need those carb calories either.

Are you planning any gardening this weekend? Or are you still covered up in snow and winter?


Copyright 2012 Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Storing Geraniums

Tressa asked on my post about our weekend's work if she had read correctly: can you really pull up and store geraniums?
The answer is yes. I learned this little trick some years ago on another blog (I wish I could remember where it was). In the fall, pull or dig, if the ground is too hard, your geranium plants. Hang them in a cool, dry, dark place over the winter. A basement or root cellar works well, or a crawl space that stays above freezing.

In early spring, replant the geraniums in potting soil, water, and wait. I've had about 50-50 success; about half of my plants survive the winter and return to life. I think my results would be better if I replanted sooner, perhaps in late February.

I heard from a friend recently who said that she simply moves the whole pot into her cellar and pulls it out again in spring and the geraniums come right back. I am going to try half of mine with her method this year and see how they do.

For years I bought new plants every spring, but now I save some of that money by storing my plants.

For more information on how to do this, check out this post on Dave's Garden. He offers several storage methods, and even suggests cutting them back before storing and offers a tip for reviving them if the stems seem to be drying out too much.

(The illustration is a copy of the painting "Rubens Peale with Geranium." It is a painting by Rembrandt Peale of his younger brother and is housed at the National Gallery. Rembrandt Peale painted many famous portraits including Washington and Jefferson, portraits that are often considered the standards for likenesses of these former presidents.)

Copyright 2012 Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Drudge Work and Gardens

Today was drudge work: cleaning out flower beds, weeding, cutting back, deadheading, etc. My hands are a total mess but the gardens are beginning to look better. Another day or two should finish the job.

The vegetable gardens, however, are at that worn out, beat down, and weeded up stage. Does your garden look like this? Kind of embarrassing to show it, but we don't want to till it under yet because we're still getting a lot of food from it: cucumbers, tomatoes, broccoli, corn, cabbage, beets and peppers.

 The little yellow pear tomatoes are volunteers and producing like crazy. 

The small, new upper garden has the late planting of squash, onions, green beans, radishes and lettuce. All are doing well but the lettuce. I think Larry must plant the seeds too deep because whenever he plants lettuce it seldom germinates properly. But everything else is thriving, and the broccoli planted this spring is still producing.

 The knockout roses continue to do just that--they've been stunning all summer, even with the heat and dry weather.

 The red grapes are almost ready. They seem to be more susceptible to black rot than the other  varieties we have. I can't remember what variety these were...I planted them over 30 years ago.

 I do remember that the white grapes were Niagaras. They do fairly well, especially if they are pruned. I will probably use these to make more juice, or perhaps some jelly--if I can find enough jars. I am almost completely out of canning jars. We made apple butter yesterday and I had to BUY jars. And I bought jars last year too. I think they dissolve in the dark in the cellar. Right now I have about a dozen empty pints and a bunch of half-gallon size left, and lots more canning still to do.

We harvested most of the Concords already--they're the ones we made into juice. There are still some on the vines below the deck, however. I grazed my way around the yard while I took these photos, eating tomatoes, broccoli and a few of each kind of grape :)

The yellow apple, a volunteer tree that is about 33 years old, is loaded once again this year. When we made the apple butter yesterday, we made too much sauce for the kettle to hold so I canned 14 quarts. (We make applesauce first, then put it into the copper kettle and boil it down. Takes less time and works just as well as cutting up apples and cooking them down.) I'm happy to have applesauce again as we did not get any apples last year on our trees.And the apple butter! My goodness, did it come out well. We got 34 quarts, which we split with our son Derek who always helps with this big project. We have tons of apples left, on this tree and two others. We'll make cider, more applesauce--and maybe I'll freeze some pie filling, if I have time.

The pear tree is full this year too. Last year we made pear cider because we had no apples and I love it. I want to make more of it, too, and I will can some pears and make spiced pears and maybe some pear conserve. Even with all of that, there will be pears--and apples that may go to waste because we just have more than we can use. Oh, to have had this bounty when my sons were young! Nothing would have gone to waste then.

In between garden work and this evening's ramble through the gardens, I caught up on mail and paperwork. My, what a pile! In summer I have a hard time keeping up with all of it, with my busy storytelling schedule and the gardens. Now the fall schedule is beginning to look pretty healthy so I need to take advantage of these few quiet weeks and get everything in as good an order as I can. 

What's going on in your gardens? I bet some of you have veggie gardens that still look beautiful!

Copyright 2012 Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Grapes, Grapes, and Grapes

The one thing about growing your own food that never changes is the unpredictability of each growing season. This year we had excellent early spring gardens--lots of peas, carrots, onions, lettuce, spinach, beets, etc. Then summer arrived, the rain left and the heat settled in for the last half of June and the entire month of July. Summer gardens suffered: a few cucumbers (when last year I was over-run with them), a few squash (ditto), no green beans (bushels of them last year) and struggling tomatoes and peppers. Now summer is weakening; the tomatoes are recovering and beginning to put out some good results and the late-planted beans and squash look promising.

And the grapes: last year we had a plentitude of them and this year? Repeat of last year. I canned juice and made lots of jelly last year. This year I still have a lot of jelly left (grape just isn't a favorite here) and I don't like wine made from Concord grapes, our most prolific variety, so I made juice. Four and a half gallons of concentrate, to be exact. It. is. amazing.

Making grape juice is a simple process, but takes time.

Step one: pick the grapes. Larry took care of this step. The rest was up to me.

So, step two: strip the grapes from the stems and wash them.

Step three: barely cover them with water and bring to a boil; boil for 30 minutes.

Step four: strain through a fine cloth (I have an old curtain that is perfect for the job).

This is where I usually don't do it right, step 5: refrigerate overnight. I usually just plow ahead and can the juice or make the jelly. This time I decided to follow instructions (novel idea, right?). We put two big canners of juice in the freezer overnight because there was no room in the fridge. We had some running to do this morning, so when we took the big pots from the freezer, the juice was just beginning to freeze.

Step 6: strain the juice again. Something happens when it is refrigerated; I'm not sure what, but more sediment strained from the juice, leaving it nice and clear.

Step 7: add sugar and heat to boiling. For my 5 gallons of juice, I added 4 pounds of sugar.

Step 8: ladle into jars, put the lids on and tighten.

Step 9: put in the boiling water bath canner for 15-20 minutes.

Step 10: Done!

Not complicated, but time-consuming and there will be purple juice everywhere. I was zealous about cleaning up quickly as I worked to discourage the fruit flies. It seemed to work. At the end, I had 18 quarts of concentrate from my bushel of grapes. Enough to last us quite well this winter.

 There are more grapes to be harvested. We gave a half bushel to Warren, but there are still plenty for eating and we didn't touch the white grapes yet.

I wonder what next year's garden winners and losers will be. Whatever the weather and seasons bring, the cellar has a head start with at least a one year, and in most cases, two-year supply of the foods we use most. That's a good feeling.


Copyright 2012 Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Canning Time and a Review of What's In and What's Not

 The big pots are invading my kitchen once again but this year their onslaught is both late and limited. The green beans never sprouted (last time I buy seed from that place) so there were no beans to can. The peaches have only a few scattered fruits on them, enough to eat fresh but nothing to can. The tomatoes are coming on so slowly that we went across the river to the Ohio truck farms last weekend and bought a few bushels to put up. If mine come later, I'll have more to can and that's fine, but I was getting nervous about the few remaining jars of tomatoes in the cellar so this eased my mind.

The cucumbers came on, unfortunately, at the height of the drought and heat. What they produced was warped and mostly bitter. We had enough to eat fresh, but none for pickle making. The second planting doesn't look much better. I made quarts and quarts of them last year, but they were so popular with my family that I now have only 6 jars left out of about 75-100 that I made. I try to keep a two-year supply of everything in the cellar, but the pickles were just too well-liked.

I have made some jam--blackberry, cherry, strawberry and raspberry--and we have plenty left from last year. We also have lots of pears and peaches still in the cellar, but I am waiting anxiously for the apples because the apple butter is almost gone; we didn't make it last year because there were no apples due to frost. I need applesauce too, and cider.

The grapes are hanging heavy and ripening. I am hoping they can hold for another week or more because I will be away at Augusta Heritage teaching storytelling all next week. Being a storyteller is good and bad in the summer. Lots of work, but right in the peak of canning season!

A biggie on my canning list is vegetable soup and beef stew. Those will be on the to-do list when I return from Augusta. We have pulled the onions and they are drying in the shed; I'll cut them up and freeze them when I get home, and I may do some in the dehydrator. My sister Maggie gave me some dried onions a few years ago and I loved them for adding to sauces and soups. The basil will be ready to dry when I get home too; the oregano and peppermint were victims of that bad storm and then the drought finished them off. No peppermint tea this winter <sigh>. The oregano might recover enough to be picked and I still have a good bit from last year.

We are slowly rebuilding our stock in the freezer. I have lots of broccoli, peas and carrots put up this year and have been buying some meats each week to replace what we lost during the power outage.

It's been strange to not be buried in produce this summer but I have to admit it's been a nice break. My cellar is still pretty full even if I don't can another thing, but like most other canners I like to fill every jar by the end of the summer. This might not be the year for that, but we will certainly will not starve. Even in a bad year, there is still plenty and I am grateful for what we have.

Copyright 2012 Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Cleaning Up and Cleaning Out

Yesterday and today have been cleaning days. I sorted totes and totes of resale items, pricing, deciding which booth they will go in (I am still working on plans to open a second booth) and then cajoling Larry into carrying all the sorted totes to the garage. I don't like my set-up for this business at all. I don't have space in the house to work on it and the garage is a good step away and not enclosed enough. But I'm doing the best I can with what I have to work with, and hopefully soon I'll develop a better system. Step one in that plan is to sort, clean, price, list and pack immediately after I buy. The backlog of items to be processed is huge and I am seeing the error of my ways! Live and learn.

Today I tackled the linen closet, which was threatening to explode, and the scary under-the-sink region. I have way too many table linens and find it hard to part with any of them. I did sort out a few, along with some curtains, sheets, and other things I am sure I will never use again. The closet looks better--and while I was at it I got another couple of cupboards in the bathroom re-organized.

Under the sink--whew. How does that area get so messy? I'm trying something new. I moved the trash cans under there, and that meant a lot of stuff had to go. I mean, do we really need 6 stainless travel mugs? I don't think so. I kept 3, still more than we probably need. I ended up with some items that will need to go someplace else, and that means I have to sort another cabinet to make room for them. Ah, me. I remember simpler days when we owned so little we only needed two closets. Sometimes I wish I could go back to those times, but then I remember how it was to not have what I needed to cook and do other things, and I don't want to be back in that situation either.

So cleaning continues. It does feel good to reclaim the space and reorganize so that I can actually find things. I even found the broken piece of wing that goes to one of my yard angels, so now she can be repaired.

We've been working outside too. We put manure along each row of my early garden and already I can see a difference in the plants. We cleaned up the raspberries and blackberries and transplanted a row of small raspberry plants to double the size of that patch. Larry extended the electric fence so that the new garden, made where the old equipment shed was, is now also enclosed. Removing the building probably removed our resident wild rabbits who were a headache in the early garden because they could hide under the stuff stored in there, and they could also get under the big evergreens to safety. Now the area is exposed and not nearly as handy for them.

It has been cold all day today, and there were even a few flurries flying around earlier. I am worried about tonight; if it doesn't stay cloudy, or if the wind is still, we could be in for a freeze or at least a frost. With everything so leafed out, it will be devastating if that happens. We covered the strawberries, the small mulberry and my hydrangea the other night but there was no danger then; tonight, we might be in for it.

We'll be back outside this afternoon, transplanting blackberry plants--those thornless plants can get huge!--and planting some tiny trees from the Arbor Day people. I might get the rest of the broccoli planted too. This year's garden goal is to grow more of the things we eat most: carrots, broccoli, onions, celery, and lettuce. I think I can put up less if we grow a smarter garden, one that we can from fresh for more of the year. We'll see how that plan goes.

Back to work. I hope your day is a good one, and warmer where you are than it is here.

That Time of Year

Yes, it's garden planting time! Larry and I put in peas, lettuce, radishes, carrots, onions and spinach yesterday, with help from Clyde who loves to get in the way and see what we're doing. Thanks to my sister Theresa, we had plenty of lettuce seed--after I complained in a post about the local seed stores not having any seeds available yet, she mailed me some. What a sweet sister. (Behind Larry are the remains of the old shed that was about to fall over. He's salvaging the wood for re-use on his little cabin project.

All of the things we planted are early-season crops so cold weather won't bother then. Cold, drenching rain isn't helpful though, which is what happened last year. I am hoping that this year the spring weather will be more cooperative.

Gardening is all about hope and optimism, isn't it? Each year we start with high expectations that this year everything will be right--the sun, rain and temperatures will be favorable and all crops will grow like the pictures in the seed catalogs. How often is that really the case? Rarely, at least in my gardens. But the well of optimism is deep indeed, and each year we and hundreds of other gardeners start all over again. Each year brings some disappointment, but there are always those faithful plants that surprise us with bounty and keep us returning to the garden every spring.

Have you been out to plant yet? Or is the season still too early in your area? We're early birds here, always wanting to get those spring vegetables in the ground, but in some places it's probably still too cold to consider even planting lettuce.

Here's to a glorious year for all our gardens!

Garden Update

Finally, I can show you a few garden updates. Above is the newest flowerbed, and this year it seems to be coming into its own. It's a mix of perennials and annuals, and a lot of the flowers here came from my sisters' gardens. Ignore that pigweed in front of it! I'm letting that grow until tomorrow, when I'll harvest it for greens. I know it's a weed but my goodness it's delicious. I don't mind it being in the gardens for a bit in the spring.

The garden I think of as the Spring garden is doing better since Larry dug a drainage ditch. I loosened the soil along each row of plants with a shovel because the heavy rains in May had packed the earth. It's thriving now, even the forlorn onions in the very back. A little TLC brought them along. The tiny plants in the center row are celery; behind them is peppers and snow peas, and to the right is regular peas and carrots. We've had peas for dinner twice--they are so good. We've had a few carrots too, as I tried to weed out my enthusiastic planting.

The mulberry tree continues to produce even after the heavy feeding by the Cedar Waxwings two weeks ago. I think even the birds are tired of them! It's nice, though, to stop and pick a handful as we pass by.

I caught this bumblebee in mid-flight as I was preparing to photograph this lemon lily.

The walk up from where Larry parks his truck. This garden at its lower end is infested with bindweed, making it a real struggle to maintain. The shade of the maple at the top is another challenge, but wormwood and coneflower don't seem to mind.

The cardinal in this shot was a surprise--I wanted to capture the sunlight through the trees. This long flowerbed used to be really poor but years of mulch have improved the soil so much that it's a rich garden now. I think my camera was a little on a slant for this one!

This one is still in progress. I realized that I should have pruned the lavender after it was too late so it will have to wait a bit, after the blooms are finished. I have baby lavenders I'm nursing along and hope to plant here. The planter is a combination of the base of a bird bath and a pot I got at the Rockport auction. I almost gave the flowerpot to my sister Julie, but couldn't quite part with it! I think it will be lovely when the Wave petunias in it really get going. The rose is a floribunda and blooms all summer. I love that I can look out my kitchen window and see it.

Volunteer daylilies and annual hollyhocks rub shoulders along the wall by the root cellar. This is a catchall garden--I fling weeded stuff up there, and dump dirt, etc when I'm cleaning out the gardens so it's always interesting to see what survives. There is a peony in there, and I think some iris and once a chrysanthemum surprised me.

This little garden, along the other side of the walk up from Larry's parking place, was almost destroyed by bindweed. I had given up on it, but decided to make one more try this year. It was a tussle, believe me, but it is mostly cleaned up. The bindweed is still there, however, and I doubt I will ever eradicate it---see it coming up in the Southernwood? I stuck a few petunias and coneflowers in there, along with a few yellow pear tomato plants and I know I will be working all summer to keep that aggravating weed at bay.


No more vegetable garden pics this time around--I'll try to take some soon. The tomatoes are all staked now thanks to Larry's hard work, and even the late garden--the one we wait until June to plow because of its heavy clay soil--is planted. Everything is finally caught up. It's been a difficult year for planting, but now we can slow down a bit and hopefully start harvesting a little more of our work.