Tag Archives: garden

The Garden Grows

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I put in the plants, and I pulled off the masking tape grid. But wait – it’ll be much easier to imagine if I just give you a picture or two.

Beans!

Beans! Beans on the right, tomatoes on the left. 

A thin layer of grass clippings functions as mulch for now. Meanwhile, behind the garage, the pile is shrinking.

Good intentions -

Good intentions – the pile was mostly topsoil, so Chuck made a new outline from repurposed boards and started spreading the soil.

The reverse angle image –

raspberry canes!

raspberry canes!

A few raspberry canes survived the garage construction. I have a few more in buckets; I hope to transplant them to this area to restart the raspberry patch. In a year, or maybe two, we’ll have raspberries again.

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Summertime!

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I can tell it’s summer because…

I am working the phone, setting up appointments so I don’t have to miss school in the fall.

I am cleaning up messes outside. I’ve planned and planted, but I haven’t had the time to make the yard look neat. Now I do.

I’m enrolling in two graduate classes with which to renew my Wisconsin teaching license. It’s what we do: go to school during June, July, and August in order to renew the license that…you know what, readers? You’ll hear my take on licensing changes, and you’ll hear it soon.

I can tell it’s summer because I’m storing my schoolbooks in a closet along with my fingerless gloves. I’ll bring them back to my desk in the fall.

I can tell it’s summer because I’m making salads for lunch and adding fresh ingredients whenever I can (including radishes, dandelion greens, and whatever edibles are ripe for picking).

I’m also reading gardening blogs and getting a little envious of those who are already harvesting. Daphne’s Dandelions hosts a Harvest Monday group with glorious pictures.

I can tell it’s summer because everywhere I go, I see others enjoying the outdoors. I saw two college-age kids wearing galoshes and stomping in mud on their lunch break from working on a grounds crew.

Meanwhile, I’m catching up on household chores, too. That’s not fun to talk about, though. I’d rather be outside!

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Rock Garden Art

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The Stork

The Stork

This bird was under the Christmas tree in December, a gift from Chuck. He’d bought it at Art in the Park – a fabulous and fun art festival that takes place in a downtown park only about half a mile from our home. Can you imagine Chuck walking home from the park carrying this creature over one shoulder? Yes, indeed. He actually made a sneak trip back to the park while I was working in the garden and then hid the bird with his other sneaky purchases.

Here’s a top view. The stork shares space with a cell-playing frog and a few containers repurposed for growing good food.

Still Life - Stork with oregano

Still Life – Stork with oregano

Fun, isn’t it? I mix art with worn out wicker and other textures to create a rock garden. This area used to grow mint. Shh; I want it to stay rocky for a few more years.

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On grid – the garden grid

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It’s a variation on Square Foot Gardening techniques. I say variation because I follow the philosophy of planting in squares instead of rows, but I don’t use a permanent grid. I make my grid with masking tape.

The Grid in living color

The Grid in living color

The grid is more colorful than usual because I ran out of regular masking tape and had to use painter’s tape instead. It doesn’t matter; I picked up the grid as soon as I was done planting.

It may not look like much now, but this part of the grid will fill up with many shades of green. I planted beans and two kinds of lettuce. The outer border might be marigolds. I say “might” because I salvaged the seeds from dried marigolds on La Petite’s apartment porch. If they come up, I’ll have marigolds to attract pollinators and repel pests like wild rabbits.

Jalapeno peppers

Jalapeno peppers to be

Here’s a close-up of one row (column?) in the grid: pepper plants. These are jalapeno peppers. I have a batch of yellow banana pepper plants started, too. I just need to figure out where they’ll go.

So, readers, do you use square foot gardening or traditional rows? Or do you use something entirely different?

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A Rainy Day

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It was a rainy day; the kind of rain that made environmentalists smile, knowing that their rain barrels were more than half full.

It was the kind of rain that was steady; it replenished the groundwater and soaked the lawn and garden without destroying newly planted seedlings.

It was the kind of rainy day that meant open windows because in the absence of wind, the rain came straight down and didn’t invade the screens.

It was a nice rainy day, the kind that Californians crave and Texans might prefer because they could have a little moisture without getting out the rescue boats.

I was a little disappointed to wake up and see this steady precipitation and realize it was going to last all day. I wanted to be outside shoveling topsoil from the Big Pile to the raised bed garden, but shoveling heavy mud mixed with soaked sod is not a good plan. Instead, I’m taking care of indoor chores. Blogging about the rain helps me remember that life is precious and rain is good.

And when I think of all the seeds I put in yesterday, I can smile and remember that a good, steady, soaking rain is exactly when we need to get my garden off to a good start.

 

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Dandelions? Just a flower out of place.

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This encore comes from a pre-rock garden era. The rock garden took the place of the mint pictured here. If I ever plant mint, I’ll do it in a container so it doesn’t take over the world, er, yard. Here you go, folks, an encore presentation: Dandelions.

Have you seen the commercials? The ones that imply that dandelions are evil, nasty, even toxic creatures that intentionally invade your (gulp) Lovely Lawn. The commercials want you to buy their product, of course: the Chemical Killer of Evil Dandelions. Here’s one fighting for its life in the middle of the mint. I predict the mint will win. Mint is a very aggressive plant that doesn’t give up easily.

But chemicals? Expense aside, I don’t need them. I don’t want them on the mint; I might use it in cooking or to mix a mojito. I don’t sweat the dandelions; I use them to offset the high cost of lettuce.

Buttercup loves them.

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Ah, rain.

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The rain barrels are not set up yet, and I’m not stressing about it. This steady, ongoing rain is absolutely the right thing for my garden plot right now. It’ll soak the ground and soak it some more so that the soil will be moist and ready when I go to plant.

My seedlings are more than ready to make the move. They’re falling all over each other on the shelves outside the door. Tonight is only the second night I haven’t covered them with plastic; temperatures are finally warming up.

Chuck made a suggestion today that I might take seriously. I’ve been shoveling and carting soil left over from the garage project, aiming to fill the raised beds and then plant. He suggested I fill one or two sections and then plant those areas before I continue shoveling and carting. That has potential. I have two sections that are nearly ready if I follow his rationale. I need to work through a few possible objections first.

What if I misjudge the wheelbarrow and end up running over a precious tomato seedling or burying it? What if…oh, well, what if I somehow screw it up?

I’ll think about this approach. It just might work.

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Gardening Tips I Found Elsewhere

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subtitle: And my reaction.

Tip: The next time you boil or steam vegetables, don’t pour the water down the drain, use it to water potted patio plants, and you’ll be amazed at how the plants respond to the “vegetable soup.”

Daisy says: Down the drain? No way. The water left after steaming vegetables becomes part of a soup broth. The water leftover after washing dishes in the sink – now that can water the plants.

Tip: Water in the morning. This will give plants a chance to drink their fill before the sun and warm winds evaporate the moisture. With a morning watering, plant leaves will dry easily with no risk of getting mildewed overnight.

Daisy says: Well, maybe. I prefer watering in the evening. I put on mosquito repellent, hook my watering can under the spigot on a rain barrel, and water section by section at the root of the plants. Only the smallest of plants will get their leaves wet; that’s only a danger when using a sprinkler. With a sprinkler, a large portion of water will evaporate. What a waste!

Tip: “Farm to Table” is a trend that’s past its prime.

Daisy says: What?! Garden to table and farm to table and farm market to freezer are still popular. If the trend isn’t making headlines any more, maybe it’s no longer a trend. Maybe, just maybe, eating fresh and local foods is becoming a habit, not a fad.

Readers, expect more posts like these as I skim the newspaper and the interwebs for gardening ideas. If I find good advice, I’ll pass that on, too. 

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Attack of the Rhubarb

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Or – the rhubarb that took over my kitchen

Or – the day the rhubarb swallowed the world

Or – oh, okay, you get the idea.

I brought up my big strainers with the idea that I’d fill one or both with rhubarb. Hahaha. What was I thinking?

Where's my big white strainer?

Where’s my big white strainer?

I brought the crop inside, and I had to move things off the counter to make room for the huge quantity of the red fruity stalks. This was scary. The rhubarb monster almost covered the coffee pot!

Where's the bread machine?

Where’s the bread machine?

About 40 minutes and two trips to the compost bin later, I had won. I earned this!

I tamed the red menace.

Bwahahahahaha!

Bwahahahahaha!

For my next task: cook it!

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Could be worse.

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  • I’m in a nasty standoff with a manipulative, um, client at work.
  • It’s windy enough and cold enough that my plants could die overnight.
  • I didn’t turn the bread machine on before we left to run errands, so I now have to stay up later than usual to get the pizza crust made for tomorrow night’s supper.

Ugh. Let’s see if I can turn this around.

  • The, ahem, client has just been forced to face reality. I’m just the unfortunate target.
  • We covered the seedlings with a clear plastic bag big enough to cover the shelves. I’m pretty sure it was the bag from the mattress we bought for the trundle bed. Why did we keep it? No matter, I’m glad we did.
  • We’re having homemade pizza tomorrow night!

How did that sound? Better? I thought so. Now I’ll grab a refreshing beverage and sit down with my laptop and read blogs until the bread machine beeps.

Could be worse. Could be raining!

 

 

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