Garden Report: April's End

So much happened in April. The cold kept spring bloom at bay until it could be held no more, and the burst of unseasonal warmth had the unusual effect of almost everything blooming at once. Then it heated up and caused some of the daffodils and hyacinths to go by more quickly than usual. Now it has moderated a bit.

I went ahead and planted both broccoli, a bit late, and tomatoes a bit early. Yesterday I saw the farmers planting the corn, and sure enough, noticed the oak leaves. When they are the size of a mouse ear you are ready to plant corn (that is, if the ground allows for it). Dandelions sprouted everywhere the past two weeks. They close up on darker stormy days and the grass takes on an emerald demeanor, but betrays the golden presence as soon as the sun peeks out.

My vegetable gardens were tilled up, but I should have put in more seed than I did - got sidetracked with the weeding. The more of the weeds taken out in the spring, the less inundation of the overwhelming surge of summer weeds. And it is a surge.

I put in some perennials, replanting the variegated hosta undulata under the lilac bush accompanied by some hardy geraniums. I think they will make a pretty summer pair. I noticed I lost the miniature thyme I planted between the pavers. Yet, the variegated sage and some thyme made it through in the planters that I had stored in the garage, even without watering. Some unexpected loss countered by some unexpected gain. The planters went outside in their places at the end of this month. A few houseplants are allowed out, but we still can get some cold in May.

Alliums are growing strong, tulips still blooming and late daffodils holding their own. The fruit trees have bloomed well, with bees but not so many as early in the season.

All the plant places I visited have drastically reduced their inventory.

Today, the last day of April it is windy, cool, and rainy. Bringing May flowers I presume :)

* Research indicates that Vitamin D is very important for fighting off flu. Go garden, get some rays, and invigorate your immune system. Gardening is good for you Yes, you can sunbathe, but where is the fun (or exercise) in that?

Technorati Tags: late spring

Daffodils

Modern Miss Jekyll

Gertrude Jekyll and Margery Fish were known to surreptitiously drop their fav seeds in garden that "needed" them. This is the hyper version of that!

clipped from gardenposse.blogspot.com We made two batches of seed bombs. Eventually people started getting fancy and trying out different shapes. Someone suggested heart-shaped seed balls would make a great Valentine's gift. Seriously, they would. It made all the girls go "awww." We plan to throw them into overgrown lots, and tuck them into the margins of curbs and grass. They'd also be great to throw into your own lawn or garden. The possibilities are endless.

April Color

Flowering plants in the second composite are 'Cameo' chaenomeles speciosa, 'Basket of Gold' alyssum saxatile, common violets, Euphorbia 'Bonfire', single form of Kerria japonica in the upper right.

In the first photo the tulip is an old fashioned one my grandmother grew:'Queen of Bartigons'. It returns year after year, with the most delicate coloring possible. I would call this a perfect pink. It is of medium size, a single late division tulip. I don't know why, but my tulips are often a paler version of what the catalogs show. This is exactly the way it looks in my photo, not the more salmon pink of the description. I highly recommend this tulip for its long lasting perennial qualities and pleasing color and shape.

Eye on the Future: growing our food

Article on what you might expect from planning a small market garden offers up this advice:

II. Creating Your Own Successful Market Garden
How do you prepare?
1. START SMALL! Don't plant more than you can care for properly, and sell or use.
2. Determine the market or markets you will sell to: a) Wholesalers, b) small grocery stores, c) restaurants, d) farmers' markets, e) roadside stand, or f) home delivery.
3. Learn what vegetables you should grow by determining those that: a) sell well, b) at a good price, c) that you can grow readily.
4. Build proper facilities including a) a seedling greenhouse with tables, b) T-Frames and c) a good watering system. These are essential for success at this level.
5. Set up a formal accounting system, including account names and numbers for every category of asset, liability, equity, income, and expense. Get help from your CPA.
6. Stock up on tools, seeds, and fertilizers, and be sure to include all those costs, as well as your labor, in figuring your market prices.

You'll have to meet or beat your competition's prices to sell your produce at
the beginning. However, by growing more, bigger, fresher, tastier, and healthier produce than others, you will develop a loyal customer base, and then you can adjust your prices as needed.

People around here often have little road side stands with assorted veggies, and sometimes honey. They sometimes man the stand but usually you find a "self serve, self checkout" with a little jar for the money. I'm a city girl and just don't have that kind of trust in people.... but it seems to work fine so far- the region is changing though. I'm thinking that developing the loyal customer base is the key of success in building your own business of this type. Joanne may be able to write some advice as her own market garden has been in the works.

Having been down South on visits, I'd observe that it is tougher to grow things down there is some ways- Ohio has much more fertile soils and more dependable rainfall. But every place benefits from the ingenious human husbandry: "where there is a will there is a way" as the saying goes.

Wendell Berry said once in an interview: "Farming is a hard life. It's a hard life, therefore nobody ought to live it. What a remarkable conclusion! There are several steps that are left out. What causes the difficulty? Does freedom come out of it? Does family pride come with it, family coherence? Does some kind of idea of community come with it? Some kind of idea of stewardship, does that come with it? Do ideas of affection or love or loyalty or fidelity come with it?"

Beauty, respect, freedom, stewardship, fidelity, family, community, all are casualties of a mechanism that selects only for cheapness and a narrowly measured efficiency. Not for a melting bond with the land. Or farmers who farm because they love it. Or farms that have not been reduced to the mechanized, chemicalized production of a single crop as if they were widget factories.

Here's the good news. A whole new food system, one that uses dollars but is not ruled by them, is growing so fast that no one can keep track of it. You won't find its produce at your big-chain supermarket. You'll find it at your local farmers market, consumer coop, or CSA farm. Here a new economics is being practiced, economics, as if, as E.F. Schumacher once said, people mattered. As if the land mattered. As if food were more than a commodity. -Sustainability Institute

Well, I do have the green house, now, but need to recap my early vegetable garden success in production. Beginners Luck :) Now I need Oldtimer's Knowhow to kick in.
Here's a pic of the new greenhouse:

Bad Bugs Bagged

Made the rounds and found many bagworms on the red pines in the back yard. These are insect pests that you pick off by hand.

In years past I have found them on the sweet gum trees, but this year they have favored the spruce and pines. Most seem within arm's reach and they tend to be on the leeward side of the trees on my windy plat. Check your plants to see if you have any. I remove them and burn them.

The first photo is a normal pine shoot and budding cones. The second picture shows the bagworm and their nefarious natural disguise.






Advice from experts?

pick them off and that will actually help reduce the population," Smith said. "The insect is protected by that bag so there's no point in spraying."

Roberts recommends putting the bagworms in kerosene or diesel fuel. She cited an instance in which a woman picked the bags and then put them in a garbage can in her garage. The next morning, all of the worms had escaped and taken over the garage ceiling. Boyd suggests simply putting the insects in a tightly sealed bag before disposing of it.

Other ways to rid them from your plants?

Now there is hope of deterring the bagworm pest altogether. New studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign show promise that planting members of the Aster family near and/or around the susceptible tree will attract a natural predator of bagworm, ichneumonid wasps.

Their life cycle is described by KSU.edu (pdf file):

Bagworms overwinter as eggs deposited in female pupal
cases, which are individually housed within spindle-shaped
female bags. Generally, from about mid-May through the end of
June, larvae hatch from eggs and exit from the posterior opening
of old bags. Individual larvae often drop down from the bag on
a fine silk. Swinging in the breeze, they come into contact with
limbs or foliage and immediately construct miniature silk-lined
bags. Only after the bags have been completed do the larvae
begin feeding. They decorate their bags with bits and pieces
of whatever foliage they are consuming. As larvae grow, bags
increase in size to accommodate them. (Figure 2)
Larvae remain in their bags as they feed and move about.
Only their heads and thoracic (legged) segments protrude from
the bag’s anterior opening when they molt. At this time larvae
temporarily close off the anterior opening. After molting, lar-
vae reopen their bags and continue to forage. The posterior of
the bags is always open, providing an exit through which fecal
materials and shed skins can be eliminated.
By mid- to late-August feeding is complete. Larvae firmly
anchor their bags to the twigs and branches on which they were
feeding, sealing the anterior ends of their bags. Within the bags,
the larvae turn with heads facing downwards near the posterior
opening of their bags and enter the pupal stage.
Pupation is completed in
two to three weeks.

Penn State Factsheet
Technorati Tags: bagworms, pests

Viburnum Through The Seasons

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Technorati Tags: viburnums,

Easy Botanical Project

This would be fun for kids to make, for cards, or as a base to a collage project. See the original article for the entire "how-to".

clipped from buildmakecraftbake.com How-to: Hammered flower and leaf prints I learned this technique, which makes an image using the natural dyes in plants, from my college roommate Sarah. It's great for making cards or simple botanical prints.  flowers or leaves to print watercolor or other rough, acid-free paper selection of hammers (including ball-peen or cross-peen, if possible) hard work surface (cutting board, slab of wood, etc.) paper towels scissors pen tweezers or toothpicks acrylic finishing spray (optional)

super organic bugspray ( weedkiller ~ i hope~)

my new bundles of asparagus roots have arrived...gave them good sprinkle with
seaweed tea and heeled into shade of compost pile. my visit to their new bed
alongside the 20 just planted was daunting. although i had devoted several
different days to alleviate ( you'll notice not "eliminate") the bermudagrass
problem. hand weeding and pulling does the trick for a week, then every missed
bit of broken rhizome raises its little green head...spitefully letting me know
its true inevitability!
i must plant the new roots quickly; weather has jumped to early summertime
overnight, which means mid-80's here in the mid-south @ edge of zone 7 ...
i'm committed to organic to the point of plowing down (neglected) green beans
infested with bean beetle larvae, and weak in summer sun. better as dirt.
nothing kills bermuda, so they all say ...
you just must spray noxious things on your land.

and so i am trying a non-noxious thing that i was using- spraying my horses for fly/mosquito
repellent- it is a combination of essential oils in a soap-sticker base of dr. bronner's
peppermint soap. i made it last year after deciding that spraying loved ones with chemicals
was not nice. it has worked for me well enough. another true southern problem, besides
2 more generations of garden pests, is same problem with flies, ticks, fleas and mosquitoes.

i hand sprayed and soaked every bit of bermuda tops in the asparagus bed...carefully avoiding the new little ferns(also on a calm day) here's hoping it will knock it back, even knock it out.
that may be too much to hope for, i know. we will see. i plan to re-apply after a couple hot
sunny days. will let you know how my super organic bug-spray works as a weedkiller.

as a bug repellent:
for those of you with animals- i have used on myself, livestock, and the dogs, but never a cat
( self-grooming licking). it keeps pesky mosquitoes away...little biting flies too!
here is the basic recipie: just add a bit more soap(maybe 2 Tbsp.) for coating/killing weeds.

in one quart clean spray container, put half bottle of witch hazel- tea tree or lavender if poss.)
add 2 tsp./quart dr bronner peppermint soap, and fill almost up with water. add drops
of pure essential oils ( not just scented, the real thing) you'll thank me- some can also be
used in your medicine cabinet- will add ** to those. Add to quart mix;

25drops citronella oil
20 drops thyme oil
20 drops tea tree oil** ( for wounds, infections, antifungal too-toenails %\ )
15 drops lavendar oil**( skin problems, zits, great for healing burns with little scarring)
10 drops peppermint or clove oil
( you dont need peppermint if you have the peppermint soap)

SHAKE WELL before using,every time. it mixes in the oils. spray as needed...
this will NOT hurt bare skin, although if sensitive, you might want to do test spot for allergies.
(if it bothers you, add only half the citronella, thyme, and clove) apply lightly- heavier
on furry friends. it repels bugs, not kills 'em.

For Weedkiller, i added in about a Tbsp. or so extra of dr. bronner's -it might need a little more-the soap causes the spray to"stick"to leaves and cover their pores. like a herbicide,
keep it from wind-drifting onto other plants. AVOID EYES, both uses!!

So, i will report my weed-killing results, if i have any. it is a most useful bugspray, at any rate.
Give them a try.....beats Off and Round-up any day! good luck j-lea

Super Weeds

clipped from www.france24.com

In late 2004, “superweeds” that resisted Monsanto’s iconic “Roundup” herbicide, popped up in GM crops in the county of Macon, Georgia. Monsanto, the US multinational biotech corporation, is the world’s leading producer of Roundup, as well as genetically engineered seeds. Company figures show that nine out of 10 US farmers produce Roundup Ready seeds for their soybean crops.

Superweeds have since alarmingly appeared in other parts of Georgia, as well as South Carolina, North Carolina, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri, according to media reports. Roundup contains the active ingredient glyphosate, which is the most used herbicide in the USA.

How has this happened? Farmers over-relied on Monsanto’s revolutionary and controversial combination of a single “round up” herbicide and a high-tech seed with a built-in resistance to glyphosate, scientists say.

emerald green

ilona's pictures of her spring garden have been an inspiration
for me to put color film in the old warhorse minolta, and take
some garden pics around the farm...must still develop film and put onto
a disc. some folks just stuck on the hard, outdated way %\
perhaps i can get a few on here so that youall can see what
"fusion-and unruly beauty in chaos" really looks like.

of course there are some lovely colors; ga. shrubs are in their full glory
in springtime....but actually right now, it all looks like ireland.
my grass is in mostly sun, and greens up early. all the rains have made it even better.
also there are numerous kinds of clovers, some in beautiful bloom already
(the red or crimson, yellow lawn, and the reliable little 4" white dutch perennial)
the pasture or hay-type yucchi variety grows to more than 3' high, blooming later
in summer. i didnt realize it would be so tall in the yard, it's lush right now over by the
long-abandoned playhouse. the kids would always hunker down and hide out and
make truck tunnels through the swath, always kept unmowed just for that purpose.
i cut the mature plants after seeding and compost them. they add lots and
lots of juicy green material and nitrogen to heat the pile.

most were intentionally scattered as well as some deep-rooted pasture-improvement
"weeds" that bring minerals to the surface: sour sheep-sorrell, shepherd's purse,
and bigleaf plantain. a varied lawn is a green lawn here in the summer heat.
mowed weeds and crabgrass and clover look just as good a lawn
as a grass monoculture. no watering , no worries!!
i am off to clip and handpull huge roots of bermuda grass from my next asparagus bed.
20 more roots due anyday. need to get busy!
here is a quote from the NY world's fair that paints such a pretty flower display:

"walls of daffodil yellow are broken by vermilion pylons, purple buttresses
appear against the rose domes and beauteous vistas of turquoise blue terminate
in great ship's bows of ultramarine" (from the guidebook of NY World's Fair 1939-40

one of those color-drenched sights i'd love to see before my eyes. vty, j-lea

April Poetry

Azure and Gold
by Amy Lowell(1874-1925)

April had covered the hills
With flickering yellows and reds,
The sparkle and coolness of snow
Was blown from the mountain beds.

Across a deep-sunken stream
The pink of blossoming trees,
And from windless appleblooms
The humming of many bees.

The air was of rose and gold
Arabesqued with the song of birds
Who, swinging unseen under leaves,
Made music more eager than words.

Of a sudden, aslant the road,
A brightness to dazzle and stun,
A glint of the bluest blue,
A flash from a sapphire sun.

Blue-birds so blue, 't was a dream,
An impossible, unconceived hue,
The high sky of summer dropped down
Some rapturous ocean to woo.

Such a colour, such infinite light!
The heart of a fabulous gem,
Many-faceted, brilliant and rare.
Centre Stone of the earth's diadem!

Centre Stone of the Crown of the World,
"Sincerity" graved on your youth!
And your eyes hold the blue-bird flash,
The sapphire shaft, which is truth.

from A Dome of Many-Coloured Glass

Technorati Tags: Amy Lowell, Vincent Van Gogh

Check this out

You are going to want to check into Joanne's new personal blog:
Switchbacks. It will be linked from her profile and from the personal info here. You are going to want to know this woman better, I do believe, so follow or bookmark for future postings.

Fickle Weather

Today couldn't make up it's mind whether it wanted to be a sunny day or a stormy one. I got ready to go out and garden, after getting home from an appointment, took time to talk over somethings with one of my kids... and boom! cold wind and rain moved in.

It has been hail and sunshine intermittently with some rain showers thrown in the past few days. A bit cold, too. Well, there ought to be a window here for outdoor work one of these days.

Here is another set of pictures from the yard this past week. Moving from the top clockwise: 'Jane' magnolia with blue-pink bloom; Mertensia (Virginia bluebells) just opening its buds; daffodils with Phlox subulata, moss phlox in the blue color; some pink and blue hyacinths with greeny-gold foliage of 'Cameo' quince in the background; ending with the blue variety of Anemone blanda... and a few that moved on into the grass.

Technorati Tags: color harmony, blue and pink

Apricots in April

Here are a few of the photos I took this past week of what is blooming in my yard. I chose those with apricot and orange to orange red colorations to show you how pretty some things could be together. One thing blooming which is not included, but could be, is the Hyacinth "Gypsy Queen". It has to be recued from the overwhelming shadow and stems of the 'Therese Bugnet' rose. I think I will move those remaining over by the Caramel Heuchera since they would look so pretty together.

The large photo at the bottom is Texas Scarlet quince (chaenomeles) and the creamy apricot quince in the upper right is 'Cameo'. the upper left photo is of the Burkwoodii Viburnum in bud. Because this bush is so large and holds its blooms up in the air, it probably would not pick up the harmony of the Heuchera leaves as well in the garden as it does in a photo collage. I don't really like the opaque white of the candytuft paired with the 'Cameo' blooms in the middle picture. that is a tough white to pair up with soft colors- it creates an arresting picture with the most saturated reds or yellows. Lady's Mantle would look much prettier there... I think I will transfer the Iberis out and the Alchemilla in. Fairly easy to do this time of year.

Technorati Tags: color harmony, apricot and orange

Helping Your Honeybees

Scientific American had an article on "Solving the Mystery of the Vanishing Bees" which follows the pathways of bee demise and the various theories surrounding why the bees and their colonies collapse wholesale.

At the end is this statement:

simple changes in agricultural practices such as breaking up monocultures with hedgerows could help restore balance in honeybees' diets, while providing nourishment to wild pollinators as well.

As part of the theory based upon a nutritional disruption:

We and other experts also suspected that the bees' natural defenses might be undermined by poor nutrition. Honeybees and wild pollinators, too no longer have the same number or variety of flowers available to them because we humans have tried to "neaten" our environments. We have, for example, planted huge expanses of crops without weedy, flower-filled borders or fence rows. We maintain large green lawns free of any "weeds" such as clover or dandelions. Even our roadsides and parks reflect our desire to keep things neat and weed-free. But to bees and other pollinators, green lawns look like deserts. The diets of honeybees that pollinate large acreages of one crop may lack important nutrients, compared with those of pollinators that feed from multiple sources, as would be typical of the natural environment.

When reading this I realized I had moved my property into a more bee-healthy environment, without knowing it. Frustrated with the former farmer neighbor making inroads of deep plowing along my border which made mowing impossible (yeah, you try to maneuver a Woods mowing deck with one tire deep in a rut!) I simply let a hedgerow grow. It is probably a consternation to the tidy Amish and Mennonite farmers around here- it is a bit weedy looking. My "lawn" is replete with clovers (and unfortunately dandelion), the benefit for me being a green looking sward when the late summer heat and drought turns real lawns into greige. The bees give me affirmation that my lazy and mussy ways might be an environmental asset.

Bird, butterfly, and bee friendly gardening eschews pesticides and encourages myriad plantings of herbs, bright flowers, and fruiting plants. My yard is by no means balanced and I have had nasty infestation of insects at times (read all about the Japanese Beetle invasions), but am affirmed in my mix it up style and laissez faire gardening. Now I will never have a manicured estate garden. I am almost laughing out loud at the very idea that anyone would think me capable of such a fine manicure in my gardens, tolerant of mess and disarray as I am. But the world was made to be a verdant and diverse place at its best, I do believe. Our big ideas have more of a tendency to mess things up, not because of human error and incompetence so much as for lack of concern and carefulness. We can do better. Our machines gave us power to transform our landscapes on a mass scale... we tripped up by informing ourselves badly and accepting broadscale prejudices in how that should look: bland monoculture and mass production.

Sounds rather like our social engineering, as well. Garden or social commentary? You pick, either are right (how new millennium of me ;)

Technorati Tags: ,

creative inspiration

"But we must try to find our True Conscience, our True Self,

the very Center, for this is the only first-rate, choice-making

center. Here lies all the originality, talent, honor,

truthfulness, courage and cheerfulness.

Here only lies the ability to choose the good and grand,

the true and the beautiful"

-brenda ueland -( from 'If You Want to Write', graywolf press)

GGW Blog Photo Contest

Picture This: A Photo Contest
looks like it will produce a feast of pictures for those who enjoy native and wild plants, especially.

We’re trying something new here at Gardening Gone Wild - a photo contest that will be a bit of a collective group visualization.

For this contest, I will pick a subject and ask you, our fellow bloggers, to picture your own interpretation of the subject...

Revised contest parameters which include posting to your own blog, link to GGW and then post your link in the comments.


Technorati Tags: photo contest, meme

Spring is Springing Here

“Every clod feels a stir of might,
An instinct within it which reaches and towers.”
-James Russell Lowell

Out and about in the garden, and things, though late, and a little worse for wear with the late frosty weather, are popping. The winter honeysuckle finally put out some bloom, and the quince is flowering now, though deep in the bush or on low lying branches -which is usual after the kind of cold snaps we have had this winter.

It was quite warm today, and I put in a little weeding time. Took the camera around while inspecting what is up with the garden. the red bud trees have the tiniest little pink slippers of bud, and the lilacs held compact pyramids of greenish bud... the Virginia bluebells have their lush green leaves and just opening to their watercolor tints of blue, purple, and mauve.

Handyman worked on the tractor, but they gave him the wrong part, so we have to wait for Monday to get it going. It's time for the first mowing- things look pretty ragged around here ( but there were so many pretty anemones in the grass out front that I am not going to mow there for awhile.) The magnolia stellata did not have the flurry of white that it did last year, this years more usual late frosts finished off much of the bloom, but the 'Jane' magnolia looks good. It is just now blooming... although I hear we are in for a big temperature drop.

I noticed that in the village the Magnolia Soulangea is still blooming, and the Bradford pears are in full bloom, some of the crabapples were,too, although mine are still tight buds, keeping close from the many bees that are visiting the garden this year. My daughter got her first bee sting of the year. We used to have that all the time, but the bee population has been down and that had become a rarity. I was sad for her, but glad that we have more bees! The first thing she said is: "Are the honey bees still in danger?" I said yes, why? and she looked so sad when she said " I stepped on one and killed it." Didn't know whether the sadness was environmental awareness, the pain of the sting, or both! I got out the baking soda, although she said she didn't need it, but she applied some. Still, the foot is swollen and itches now. It seemed I always got stung a number of times in a summer...used to make me so careful when walking through the yard.

The farmer next door (a new one who farms differently) has put the field to alfalfa this year. I haven't seen very many wheat fields in the vicinity this time around. Noticed two Holstein calves down the road. The biggest crop is the housing developments (isn't there a housing bubble, still? Shouldn't that have put the damper on the proliferation of all these houses?) and I wish they'd slow that down. It is a crying shame to see what is arguably the best farmland in the US put out of commission under all this building.



OK, enough grousing... I should have told you about all the birdlife I've noticed here. The robins and mourning doves have been here awhile. The mockingbird showed up: late but raucous as ever. The blue jays seem to have moved on... and the grackles are here in full force. The warblers have moved on north I think- I don't hear their songs anymore.


Technorati Tags: Northern magnolias, birds

Artisan asparagus

Early in my "guest" period on this blog, i wrote about my back-killing efforts to plant more asparagus, and the perils of the monsoon rains and mud for weeks, thereafter. some tiny
plants made it, but i must re-plant over half the bed. it is getting a bit hotter here, and will
be in mid-80's in may. VERY grateful it is already dug out, well prepared. i burn easy.

my "old" bed (planted 22 yrs ago- they can produce for many, many years) is 3 weeks
or so into its peak production, and will continue to bear for another few weeks, before the
emerging spears reduce to pencil size. at that point, the roots are exhausted, and they
must be lightly fed and cut no more. use any gentle organic fertilizer, higher in
phosphorus and potash. better yet, compost- and then allow the actual plants to
grow out, undisturbed.
their tall stalks stay beautiful all through the summer; the airy light-green ferns
feed the roots for the rest of the season. asparagus is actually an ideal garden crop.
it has a clear season and cycles, and once well-planted, requires minimum maintenance.
as a market crop, i think "artisan" asparagus (organic, lovingly hand-tended, raised
on well-built soils with fine mineral content, and with greatest flavor) are green Gold!

Some points and tips for asparagus culture: SO Sorry!! read parts#1-5-4-3-2 for continuity.
writing straight out of my head can often be disorderly, and changing large chunks of text is beyond my feeble e-skills. perhaps friend ilona can fix/edit it...hint hint.


1- preparation of the bed is 3/4 of the work. plant in double-dug ditch about 2'deep
with plenty of compost and or other amendments worked well into the bottom section.
keep a lower nitrogen/higher phosphorus/potash ratio. kelp meal works well or bone meal,
as does aged manure or alfalfa pellets.
plus hardwoodwood ashes, LOTS!!!
it is the main"secret ingredient" for a prime crop of strong spears.
asparagus roots respond very well to yearly ash applications, up to several inches deep.
the first one goes on very early--here in middle ga in late january-- in still-winter cold.
this must be done at least a month before the earth warms up-whatever your garden zone-
in the midwest or northeast it can be scattered
directly on the snow and thawing weather will slowly wash it in.
the other ashing is best done in late fall, after crunching down the dead stalks.
Never cut these! (like daffodils and other bulbs) they continue feeding the roots
all winter, even as strawlike and bone-dry dead as they appear.

2- mulching asparagus keeps weed competition down; the surface protection keeps soil
moist and easy for the fragile tips to penetrate. apply a good mulch after the fall ashing.
light texture mulch is better than heavy rotted, even fall leaves mat too heavily, but work
ok if mowed or chopped in a shredder. asparagus roots are deeply planted and survive
well-protected during even the coldest winters.
there are two methods for timing your spring harvest.... for earliest production,
rake mulch off the bed in very early spring; the sun-warmed earth brings up
an earlier crop. enjoy! beware of a late-frosty night, though.
their tips can get nipped and the new spears shrivel.

leaving the bed mulched, as usual, delays and extends the harvest another couple weeks.
it depends on what you want to do with your crop, sell it in bulk bunches all at once, or
enjoy it at your leisure. a gourmet delight in abundance. it is easily put up and pickled.
spicy dilled asparagus pickles are so good they will make you "slap yore grandma".....
a southernism which conveys the meaning very well, if granny was truly a
consummate country cook.
another plus, the cut spears are long-lived and hardy; they keep in excellent condition-
with no real flavor loss, in ziploc bags for a week or more, if you need to save them.
although so very delicious, i dont necessarily want to eat it daily-all day, for breakfast
( eggs benedict) lunch (cream soup) and dinner( with lemon butter and roast chicken)
actually, it has been my good fortune to have had all of these over the last week =D

3- care and cultivation: in spite of being very deep rooted, asparagus requires adequate
water supply throughout the entire growing season, especially with our ongoing
drought conditions here in the south. i water infrequently, a good long slow soak.
if you have chosen to rake off the spring mulch, it can be re-applied or added around the small spears growing up, post harvest, but must be very carefully tucked in.
do not wait too long to do this. if they have grown up too far into the very-tender
new ferns, don't disturb them with mulching at that time.
just keep an eye on the amount of timely rains over the season ( it rarely needs an
extra soaking) and add back a mulch cover after the ashing in fall. it will bear
a reduced crop in times of extreme hot dry weather, and should not be cut at all
during those( infrequent) high-stress conditions.

4- some words about planting technique: after working their nourishments into
the bottom of ditch, build a 6"mound of soil for each root, approx 2.5 to 3' apart
(crowns spread in size as they mature over the years). arrange roots carefully around
the crown sitting on top of the mound, they should never lie above crown level, arched
slightly below is best. carefully place soil around the spidery thick roots, tucking
and lightly firming with your fingers so they are well set with no air pockets.
keeping a good eye on the actual crown level, and partially fill in the ditch with the
prepared dirt. the ditch row should be about half full, with crowns just at or below the
surface. let the next good rain wash them in. if needed, add a bit more soil to keep
the crowns barely covered and the warming sun will soon cause tiny sprouts to show
you that their roots are well established and active. over the next week, gradually add
layers of soil as they grow, until ditch is filled or slightly mounded. mulch well, using
lighter materials , like old hay or wheatstraw, so as not to break their tender necks.

5- plants: the newer all-male hybrids are far superior in their bounteous harvestof spears.
they expend no energy on the seed/fruit process thus giving better crops.
purchase the oldest roots you can afford. 2yr. are most common, and give a very
small harvest the next season(which ought to be left alone to better nourish the
growing roots.) full production of larger stalks comes in 3d planting season, and spears
increase in size with age of your bed.
the giant grade or 3 yr. roots are pricey.... they're for for the immediate-gratification types.
one-year roots are cheapest, you can buy lots more but you must wait 3-4 years.
it is up to you and your garden budget. just remember this is an extremely longterm
investment! it is more like planting fruit trees. 20 plants provide enough for a family
for the spring season, but you and your friends will soon be hooked. more will be
put in the ground, i promise... if you can get some digging help with bribes of bunches of the
new crop, so much the better.

my french grandmother had a 50' bed of blanched white asparagus. a bunch of
Mrs. Witman's white asparagus was always an extremely welcomed and prized gift!
that bed was producing before i was born, and we greedily ate them every spring
whenever we visited the farm; i am certain its delicate sweet flavor, eagerly
awaited each childhood spring, created my lifelong asparagus passion!

Home Made Garden Ornament

I had a post, awhile back, that described making your own willow arbor. When I planted my sweet peas seeds I needed something for them to clamber on, and it was the perfect opportunity to use some hazelnut watersprouts that I had trimmed out the year before (I save those kinds of things).

It is a very temporary structure (if you even want to call it that), but enough for the delicate pea tendrils and light weight of their stems. Ok, I know it looks flimsy, and it probably won't withstand much time and weather, even though those are sharpened ends pushed several inches into the soft ground... but I sort of like its simple thrown together look. And covered in sweet peas, all it has to do is support that main act :) this from a girl who used twine for morning glory supports for years (I now have fine and fancy LATTICE). You have to start somewhere!

I came across a video from fine gardening on making your own tuteur from more sturdy materials and I think I would like to put one or two of those together for later in the season. Maybe you would like to try your hand at some of these little projects, as well.

Technorati Tags: garden trellis,

Five Steps to Dazzling Daffodils

Daffodils,Narcissus species, are quite easy to grow, but there are a few things you can do to insure that the bulbs you plant produce a dazzling display of spring bloom year after year.

1. Be sure you plant your bulbs in a place that gets enough sunshine. Daffodils like at least part sun to bloom well. If they have orange or pink colorations they prefer part day sunshine to full sun, but they will not bloom if they are planted in too much shade. If your daffodil bulbs aren't blooming this is the first factor to check.
2. Daffodils are wonderful multipliers under normal circumstances, which means you easily will have plenty of flowers, but it can also mean they get crowded and need division. If you have a plethora of leaves and few flowers, it is time to dig up your stand of bulbs to divide and replant. You can replant right away or dry the bulbs and store them over summer (my mom used those mesh bags they sell apples or oranges in) and plant in the fall.
3. Being long lived plants, they can use some feeding. I like to plant the bulbs initially with some handfuls of bone meal dug into the bottom of the planting hole or trench. Every so often it is a good idea to give them a 5-10-10 formulation of fertilizer. The initial number is small because you don't want large amounts of nitrogen- that would produce more leaves; typically bone meal has a high middle number (phosphorus) which promotes rooting and setting flower buds.
4. Leave the leaves! This is one of the most important things to remember with plants that grow from bulbs. The bulbs are food storage units, but the way they get fat and sassy is through the photosynthesis action of the leaves. If you cut those off prematurely that limits the amount of nutrients available for the flowering for the next year. Allow the leaves to yellow and wither before removing them. This also means that bulbs growing in a naturalized manner in the lawn should be allowed to grow until well into June. A little mussiness is the price we pay for beautiful spring pictures.
5. Like most bulbs, daffodils like moisture but good drainage: don't let them sit in water to rot. If you have heavy clay soil, some recommend sand or Perlite spaded into the bed, but I have grown them in clay soils with no diminishment of their health or blooming (attributing it to that handful or so of bone meal). Just make sure they aren't planted in wet spots.

Follow these five steps and I'm sure you will have a brilliant show of daffodils each year. It is fun to grow the different types with their varied forms and close harmonies of color -daffodils don't clash! And another thing going for them is that they are poisonous, a real plus when you want something to deter rodents, which are bulb eating machines. Try interplanting daffodils with crocus, with daffodils 6-8 inches deep and a layer of crocus overplanted about 3-4 inches deep. The scent of the daffodils discourages pests from eating the crocus.

For more on Daffodils and other spring blooming bulbs: Tulips and Daffodils

Technorati Tags: 31DBBB, daffodils

poem for a friend

a very dear friend's birthday was yesterday. he sent me this achingly beautiful poem
many years ago. now illness is gradually taking him away from us, and i felt a strong
need to find it and send it back to him now. for me, it creates the same overwhelming
sadness and sense of grieving now, as it did so long ago....

-In Blackwater Woods-

Look, the trees
are turning
their own bodies
into pillars

of light,
are giving off the rich
fragrance of cinnamon
and fulfillment,

the long tapers
of cattails
are bursting and floating away over
the blue shoulders

of the ponds,
and every pond,
no matter what its
name, is

nameless now.
Every year
everything
I have ever learned

in my lifetime
leads back to this: the fires
and the black rivers of loss
whose other side

is salvation,
whose meaning
none of us will ever know.
To live in this world

you must be able
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it

against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.

i am sorry i dont know author's name, but this is attributed to him or her... with deep gratitude.

God Bless, Ray...

vty, Joanne

one FINE day

my latest few posts here have clarified for me this one true thing: All is Interconnected/
We are All One...on the "Web" or engaged in the web of life, the many different means of communication all work to serve the same human needs.
my wrestling with these new ways of communication is part of what history would say
defines 'my generation' ( the Who song- did you think of it right off? )
we were mostly hippies, sometimes back-to-the-landers, and luddites many years ago.
some of us just stayed there...
we are the lucky ones, in these tough times IMHO. woo-hoo i have just txtspoken.

my main point here is that be it birdsong or twitter, we have a need for communication and connection to all living things. we are human, and must be interconnected in our interactions;
we are simply made so! to sit and ponder a nonexistent difference is precious time
better spent out in the yard.

Easter morning here on the Ga. piedmont fall line is cool and sunny. i was up and outside in the
early morning air. our springtime air is almost palpable against your face; it is moist and
so soft, like the finest touch against your skin. my 25' old-timey cultivar-1823-banksia rose
began its impressive cascade of small palest yellow flowers almost overnight. it is truly quite
a vast arbor (an old martin pole and smaller trash trees its trellis) that mere photos can
never quite encompass. it's my bad luck to be a sneezing fool around it, but one must
make small sacrifices to nature's beauty....wish youall could see it!

once more, i will end with haiku for this breathtaking morning.
Blessed be to the Earth and all its people. vty, J-lea

- easter morning -

moon moving slow
mirrors brilliant sunrise skies,
All is risen today...

another small consideration

I have been writing here of my perception of the whole cyber-world, its networking,
communities, and "friend-making " procedures.
as well as the sometimes unreality of it all...
(PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN, DOROTHY!)

admittedly, this tirade does seem a bit out-of-place on a garden blog, but it grew
out of the last several longish comment exchanges, between ilona and yours truly
re: the actual garden journal posts.
although lively discussion is always good energy, my curmudgeonly self
belongs on my personal blog. i will try and maintain that distance a bit better,
or we might get bogged down between osmanthus and obama, weigelia and world peace, echinacea and economy, bushes and bush (not an issue anymore-heaven forbid!-)

Having stated my noble intent, i leave the garden journal this morning in peace,
and will rant away my@ live/journal blog as i feel the need.
we shall still remain interconnected (linked??) however, i really must depart
leaving this important point for every one of us to parse:

'"Give a person a fish, and you feed him for a day: teach them to use the internet,
and they won't bother you for weeks." -unknown source-

vty, -J-

another comment that grew

a brief dialog like this one between ilona and me on the blog comment page
is bigger than a txt or twitter, and smaller than an email, a letter
or-gasp-a phonecall.
really it has already been happening, right before our "screen-tired" eyes.
it's the end of the world of communication as we knew it.

we have really lost our way, i think.
if we must speak of hoping for "meaningful social interaction",
as if that innate human connection is somehow something rare as the
holy grail, then there is something missing in our busy lives online!
there are emphatically meaningful social interactions all around us, all the time!
we are hidden behind our filters and our screens, and our avatars, yet we long for
that heartfelt, honest, in-person conversation with the people in our world.
just get out and look somebody in the eye, say good morning!

i cant really say:"sorry for the rant". i am slow to get used to this new world, it's a
place where a new "friend" is an electric person you may never lay eyes on.
on the other hand, both the new horizons and lines of communication and
information offered on the internet can be incredibly useful...
i' m a kid in a candy store, the more i learn to use the tools.
your potential range of information becomes as big as the world.
its a matter of proportion and our live's priorities
that should be our directive here.
the real world is just as immanent as the cyberworld.

we must stay aware of the ever-shrinking forms of communication
online... now, email is so 'old' and takes too much time, and our
twitter is the tiny bit of time we allow for interacting
with others every day.
i will simply say that staying connected with the earth might mean
pulling the plug for awhile. and plugging back into our true source.
perhaps make it a daily practice to take a walk... spend some time
outside taking nature's beauty in.... just sit in the sunlight.
i see this e-habit beginning to take hold in me...the time i have spent
on the computer has tripled in the past several months. lately, it has been quite
the task; it's necessary to set up much-needed connections for my writing
and my artwork...as well as my garden guest status ;>
still, i often think the time i'm using to get used to this e-world might
be better spent digging in real dirt.

i have willingly entered this world of e- communication. i decided i wanted to have
new discussions with like-minded (and different-thinking) folks about things
that i am interested in, as well as speak about things that i value in my life.
this cyberworld is a much bigger ocean to fish in...and to find these people.
ilona is my e-mentor, and our blogging dialogs and conversations
still remind me of our serious discussions walking
home from school in the olden days...%D

April Composite Photo

the comment that grew....

my dear friend,

so far i have found that the "reality"of someone's world always shows
up in the "better" garden blogs; the ones that will surely go on and
enjoy a long and fertile life.
they are full of information, interesting stories,
shared successes and failures, and those over-the-fence relationships
that are so valuable, and often missing in this move-around world.
i dont want didactic instructions on the proper orderly way to
do things in the garden( am still a sloven %} i want dialog and fresh
talk with a community of fellow diggers that i can really communicate with,
if only in this E-world. your blog contains all the ingredients for xtreme longevity!!
although with cyber-communication disintegrating into
smaller and smaller byts-like twitter- we may evolve into a
world of textspeak that cannot be imagined.
YPSSG, LUMI, LOL, - joanne-
(yourpalsincesixthgrade,loveyoumeanit,laughingoutloud)

Will This Blog Make It To The Next Millenium?

That is a pretty silly question, don't you think? Kind of sounds delusional on this side of the new millienium, but in the quest to make this blog a better value for a readers time spent.... I was thinking about the "mission" and the "elevator pitch" statements that might describe the efforts here and came up with a few thoughts ( and one crazy title question!)

To define those non-garden terms you have to look at Probloggers task #1 for the "31 days to a better blog" exercise. We wrote our garden mission statements awhile back, and now I am thinking of this garden blog's mission statement.

One line that sums up my online garden writing is this:

Friendly neighborhood advice on how to grow a great garden.

My view is that gardening is both easy enough and challenging enough to provide a lifetime of interest. To elaborate on that in 100-150 words:

---

There are plenty of times we wish we had an experienced neighborhood gardener who we could lean over the fence and chat with, getting tips on how to grow things better or inspiration in creating our garden sanctuary. Something along the line of Home Improvement's Wilson. A little wisdom, a little history, a little practicality, a little levity... and a lot of friendship, like so many garden companion plants in a little vegetable plot. That is what this blog aspires to be. It is also the story of my own love of growing things, and now my friend Joanne's, documented in small excerpts of our lives and interests.

---

Now, on to that question. Will this blog last the age... ?

Like all of our daily lives in the continuum, the influence that we pass to others in handing down skills or ideas moves quietly through time taking on each person's, and generation's, expression of it. Interwoven into the lives of those around and beyond us, yes, even this humble blogging effort may make it to the next millennium, although probably not in recognizable form!

For something of more immediate benefit you might join in Darren's 31 days to a better blog. any thoughts or comments?



Technorati Tags: Problogger 31 days, elevator pitch

Garden Pictures of Spring

I had a few pictures from late March I wanted to post - I'm experimenting with making composite pictures. The Dawn viburnum buds, purple crocus, glory of the snow,grape hyacinth, and a miniature daffodil (February Gold, I believe)

Old Time Advice

I came across an online source of old time advice , and here are some tips from the past:
Flower Gardening.

Autumn is the best time to manure a flower garden. It should be done once a year, and better in spring (April) than not at all. Lay on four inches deep of well-rotted manure, and dig it in at once. During the summer the earth will need now and then to be stirred with a hoe or rake; but in May it should always be thoroughly dug over with a spade, avoiding of course the plants in the bed. In May transplanting, setting of bulbs, or bedding plants and sowing seeds may be done.

Weeding can be best done by hand, early in the morning; letting the sun kill the weeds that are pulled up.

Never water unless the soil evidently requires it. Clayey soils seldom need it, loose and sandy more often. Use always a watering-pot, with a rose, to sprinkle gently, without pouring or dashing. Rain-water is the best; it may be collected in a hogshead from a roof-spout. Very cold water should never be used for flowers, better too warm than too cold.

Shade-trees spoil a garden, but it should be protected from a strong wind.

PRACTICAL DIRECTIONS FOR GARDENERS.
1. Perform every operation in the proper season.

2. Perform every operation in the proper manner.

This is to be acquired in part by practice, and partly also by reflection. For example, in digging over a piece of ground, it is a common practice with slovens to throw the weeds and stones on the dug ground, or on the adjoining alley or walk, with the intention of gathering them off afterwards. A better way is to have a wheel-barrow or a large basket, in which to put the weeds and extraneous matters, as they are picked out of the ground. Some persons, in planting or weeding, whether in the open air, or in hot-houses, throw down all seeds, stones, and extraneous matters on the paths or alleys, with a view to pick them up, or sweep or rake them together afterwards, it is better to carry a basket or other utensil, either common or subdivided, in which to hold in one part the plants to be planted, in another the extraneous matters, etc.

3. Complete every part of an operation as you proceed.

4. Finish one job before beginning another.

5. In leaving off working at any job, leave the work and tools in an orderly manner.

6. In leaving off work for the day, make a temporary finish, and carry the tools to the tool house.

7. In passing to and from the work, or on any occasion, through any part of what is considered under the charge of the gardener, keep a vigilant look out for weeds, decayed leaves, or any other deformity, and remove them.

8. In gathering a crop, remove at the same time the roots, leaves, stems, or whatever else is of no farther use, or may appear slovenly, decaying, or offensive.

9. Let no crop of fruit or herbaceous vegetables go to waste on the spot.

10. Cut down the flower-stalks on all plants.

11. Keep every part of what is under your care perfect in its kind.

Attend in spring and autumn to walls and buildings, and get them repaired, jointed, glazed, and painted where wanted. Attend at all times to machines, implements, and tools, keeping them clean, sharp, and in perfect repair. See particularly that they are placed in their proper situations in the tool-house. House every implement, utensil, or machine not in use, both in winter and summer. Allow no blanks in edgings, rows, single specimens, drills, beds, and even, where practicable, in broadcast sown pieces. Keep edgings and edges cut to the utmost nicety. Keep the shapes of the wall trees filled with wood according to their kind, and let their training be in the first style of perfection. Keep all walks in perfect form, whether raised or flat, free from weeds, dry, and well rolled. Keep all the lawns, by every means in your power, of a close texture, and dark green velvet appearance. Keep water clear and free from weeds, and let not ponds, lakes, or artificial rivers, rise to the brim in winter, nor sink very far under it in summer.

For lots more, see the HORTICULTURE area of the Household Cyclopedia.

rain, rain and more rain

i suppose these endless showers, heavy rains and thunderstorms would be manna from heaven down here in the southern summertime. in spring's beginning work ,these continual downpours bring garden work to a screaming halt. i paddle out in my boots
to feed the horses and check for any growth in the new asparagus bed. there is water
standing in the pastures and a long pondlike ditch where i carefully set out the new roots into to a very enriched bed. my fear is that they have rotted or drowned.

i have mentioned that we have sandy somewhat cohesive rusty subsoil with
pure dense red clay underneath. one year( '94) after a stalled hurricane system rained out over us for days, we had a terrible (100-year) flood, bridges and some houses lost down-river.... my flourishing full summer garden just drowned. i console myself by thinking back...grateful that not much is out there planted yet.
as well as doing necessary greenhouse cleanup, bonsai pinching and pruning,
general repotting and( sigh) housework.

even my just-sprouted seedlings are weakly reaching for light, and have that
frail spindly look. i was encouraged by the more typical springish warmup. now its
rather late to plant potatoes, if i were even willing to go press them into the quicksand that is my half-tilled garden plot (rot is assured). my heirloom seedling project is at a standstill....if the sun doesn't come back soon, i must start over..... however if i am to have them ready to sell, it may already kind of past the time.you cannot ask very much for a smallish 3" plant, even of some specialty variety.
i foresee a new road taken. we will have primarily an organic veggie booth at the open market...
i realize that i have much space out there, more than i generally use...and i can always plant
them out instead for sizeable crops of heirloom tomatoes, peppers and eggplant
to take to market.

this is one time that i can say "the sky's the limit" and it is literally a negative truth.
this summer i will be praying for rain like everybody else, but at this xtreme
water-soaked point , i wish our limit has been reached, for awhile anyway!

waiting for the sun.... vty, J_lea

Just A Note

Just want to remind those who read here that I have a garden website, and have been working on writing some new articles, mostly plant profiles right now.

The newest ones are the herbs, Marjoram and Thyme, and the landscape tree, Magnolia Stellata. Last year Ohio had spectacular bloom due to the lack of late frosts, and we were able to see what this type of tree is really capable of: a snowfall of pure white flowers. The kind of spring snowfall I like best! ;)

Not so new, but this is the season for a beautiful spring wildflower I really have grown to love, Mertensia, Virginia bluebells; which is lovely tucked among the later showing hostas in a shady place.

I've taken some photos this past week- so if any of them are worthwhile they'll appear in the next post or so.