Moving The Garden Indoors

"Dull November brings the blast,
Then the leaves are whirling fast."
- Sara Coleridge

Garden chores for November:

Turn the cold frame to face the front yard and fix the holes... check
Fill the cold frame with the finished compost and turn remaining compost ... check
Change Billy Goat oil and pile up leaves, leaves leaves ... check
Mulch the freshly sprouted Garlic and the Strawberries ... check
Bring the banana, rosemary, oregano, sage and Hibiscus indoors .. check

I need a new camera, the one I have take pictures that look like there from the 1970's

My wife is a wonderful person for letting me play garden in the house:

All Summer in a Day

"The sweet calm sunshine of October, now
Warms the low spot; upon its grassy mold
The purple oak-leaf falls; the birchen bough
drops its bright spoil like arrow-heads of gold."
- William Cullen Bryant

I like that quote and I think this weekend will bring weather that will make the above seem so right on. Well summer came and went without one post from me and as noone reads it I really wont waste time apologizing. I wanted to make this site as interesting as possible and chasing a 1yr old around this summer along with everything else didn;t give me much time to write.

Here is all Summer in a Day, this should make up for summers neglect.

Corns and beans flopped in my shady garden. We grew tomatoes on the patios and in the raised beds. The peppers I wintered in the basement are hot as hell!
The raspberries are finally showing up , they are a sweet treat but im fighting with the squirrels for the limited crop.Squash and Zuccini had massives leaves and flowers but despite my hand pollination efforts the pickens were small.




the banana went in a pot this year, shot up some voulenteers and survived a hail storm but no fruit or flowers.
Hibiscus, Asters, Massive Marigolds and Blueberry were the patio mainstays this summer and. Flowers on the Hibiscus next year I hope.




If it stays warm ill be eating frexh letuce and radishes on Halloween from the late summer planting.

May Day

The worlds favorite season is the spring
All things seem possible in May
--Edwin Way Teale

Alot got done in the Garden this month. I prepared my three raised beds. Soil Free Mix, homemade compost and as much worm dirt mulch I could carry away from the Township mulch pile near my work. These beds became the home to radishes, lettuce and the basement hot peppers from previous posts. I also mulched the strawberry patch and its single strawberry flower. I put in two rows of bush beans and picked a nice size bag of spinach to keep it producing.

Then I got busy on the patio. I put together a window box of herbs for nancy.
All the herbs that didn't fit went on the back steps.
Took a minute to praise the blooms on the azaleas in the background and curse at the primrose and the lack there of in the foreground.
Cleaned and cut three old refuse bins for my patio Tomatoes, more soil free mix and compost.
Paused again to admire my lonely, containered blueberry. I have been mulching with pine needles to raised the acidity. Man I really hope we have some good fruits this summer.

Finally I went out front and took a picture of the birdnest being built on my patio and the awful lawn I grow every year. I imagine most people would have a problem with that nest and the dandelions. However, I contribute every pansy bloom in my front yard to guano that falls around the nest and gets swept into the garden bed out front. Also, Every person that doesn't have a single dandelion on my block uses chemicals. My shabby dandelion yard (grass always cut two inches longer that everyone elses) is my protest against putting things on your yard that need a warning.

Bloomin

Gardening is civil and social, but it wants the vigor and freedom of the forest and the outlaw
-Henry David Thoreau

A mild first week in April has kicked the garden into gear. I have gotten outside early a couple mornings and did some garden chores. I put the hibiscus plants that lived through a winter in the basement in fresh pots and put them outside in the sunroom. I also put my wintered hot peppers in the cold frame to harden off. My plum tree is blossoming and really brings colour to a backyard that the dogs have decimated over winter. Thanks to the band HorseFeathers for the background music on this short clip.



My peas have sprouted and my radishes are just coming out of the ground. The squirrels are messing with the lettuce I've direct sowed so I covered the lettuce and radish beds with 4mL plastic. Below is a blurry picture of the little blueberry bush that could, and a shot of some lillies that are up early and collecting the energy they need to hopefully pull off some rocking blooms this year.

Easter Weekend

It was a very busy Easter weekend. Major home renovations in the kitchen and a 15 seat Easter Dinner kept us moving the whole time. Every one had a great Easter. After things settled I was able to sneak outside and put some spinach and broccoli I bought Saturday out in the cold Frame I built this winter.
I also bought some Perlite and Vermiculite

I am going to add this to my peat moss. My lettuce looks really scrawny and I want to see if aerating the soil will help the rooting.The chives we planted last year made it and they look really happy after a week in the frame.

Finally, I planted the onion transplants that I planted too deep last year and didn't come up till late summer. I don't hold out hope that they will produce but companion wisdom has said onions and strawberries get along. Hopefully we'll have some tasty strawberries this here. Here is a fuzzy picture of my sleeping strawberry patch.

Spring Is Not Yet In The Air

We need spring. We need it desperately and, usually, we need it before God is willing to give it to us.
- Peter Gzowski, Spring Tonic

Despite our best efforts Spring has not yet sprung. Which is clear from the fact that the freezing +40MPH winds took the power out around here Saturday night. Not to mention is was 30 degrees and very windy sunday.My beautiful daughter Annie and I had time earlier in the Day to check on the worms and start the first of the spring flats. Annie Planted beefsteak tomatoes and spinach. I planted all the lettuce, green peppers, red peppers and eggplant.

Next Monday is St. Patty's Day which is the day to plant peas. More on that here http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/16/garden/16natu.html

We are putting in some sugar snaps. I am going to try (weather and time permitting) to finish my cold frame construction and get the soil loosened around the pea trellis I made last year.

Hanging on in February

"Keep your faith in beautiful things;
in the sun when it is hidden,
in the Spring when it is gone."
- Roy R. Gibson

February is coming to a close. This weekend im starting my spring seeds. I still have more than two weeks until I plant the St. Patty's day peas. I have not blogged in a long time and I will try and do better. below are two fuzzy pictures of hibiscus and peppers that I haven not killed yet.

Winter has Arrived

January is here, with eyes that keenly glow,
A frost-mailed warrior
striding a shadowy steed of snow.
- Edgar Fawcett

Christmas has come and gone. We had a week of very mild temperatures. I was able to take advantage and get my daughters Arbor Day tree in the ground in the front yard. I was also able to put the mini Christmas tree's we bought in the back yard. I don't think all of them will make it. Unfortunately, some of the trees we bought are not suited for our zone. I think we might be able to save two of the five. I will try and have pictures soon.

I lost one of the hibiscus transplants over the winter break. I am trying to put more care into the two remaining pots. I would love to have a flowering hibiscus shrub this year.

I think I was able to save my worms. Im going to check them this week but it looks like they were able to move from one bin to another.

Also I got my first two installments of Organic Gardening Magazine, What a great publication. Full of great information.

More pictures soon.

Mike