Notes from a Cottage Garden

Heirloom Squash Update

2009-11-25T13:35:00.000-08:00

In my previous post, Squash Roundup I shared about growing two new heirloom squashes this year. At the time I made the post, we had yet to taste test these two varieties, and I promised to update you after we did.....so here goes!

The two varieties are Marina di Chioggia (green, on the left) and Australian Butter Squash. ( pale orange, on the right) I like how they looked here....displayed in the natural light near a window.

Marina di Chioggia, up close and personal. This is a good sized squash, and nice looking too, with it's dark green warty surface, along with a turban shaped bottom. Taste? In a word, disappointing. Lacked the sweetness we like and the texture was moist and fibrous.

Australian Butter Squash. The description of this squash in the seed catalog had my mouth watering! "Sweet, dense, deep orange flesh that is dry with a very small seed cavity. When roasted, it's custardy, silky-smooth texture is scrumptious instead of or alongside potatoes with roasted meat and fowl or in a melange of roasted root vegetables sparked with herbed olive oil, balsamic vinegar and citrus zest." Whew! It is a beauty with it's lovely pale buff-orange color and pumpkin shape. This was my largest...11 inches in diameter, and weighing in at almost 10 lbs! But in spite of it's physical virtues, the real test comes down to TASTE. Again.... a disappointment. :-( We like our squash sweet with smooth, dry flesh (which the catalog claimed) but found it not sweet enough, too moist, and not at all smooth textured.

Perhaps these two varieties will develop more flavor and dryness in storage. (one can hope?) But the bottom line is that they will not be making a repeat appearance in our garden next year. We will stick with our all time favorites: Sunshine, Butternut, Buttercup, and Sweet Meat. These have never disappointed, and are always a delicious treat!

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'Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure."

George E. Woodberry

Farewell, Favorite Garden Shoes

2009-11-01T18:34:00.000-08:00

It was a sad day in September when my favorite garden shoes came to the end of their long and useful life. I've owned these flip flops (we used to call them thongs back then) since the seventies! They came along with me when I packed up and moved to Idaho in 1978.

They sat in my closet for many years, and I started seriously wearing them around 1990. If you do the math.....that is nearly 20 years of use!! They were the cheap old firm rubber kind, having nylon straps with a piece of leather sewed unto it. I probably paid a dollar or two for them. I had worn them so long, they had actually formed to my feet....similar to a pair of expensive Birkenstocks. (Which, BTW, I also wear, and have been through several pairs while still wearing these flip flops!) These were soooo comfy to slip on, as I headed out to work in the garden on a summer day. As you can see in the above photo, the toe strap of the left shoe finally gave out, and just below it is the fatal wound that finally brought them to their end.

Look at the bottom of these shoes!! They are worn down to the third stripe of color, the light blue.... completely worn through the black and the medium blue color layers. Here you can see, from the bottom, the fatal wound.... caused by using the shovel while wearing said shoes, a move I now regret, as it shortened their lifespan by who knows how long?

A side view shows just how worn these babies were.... the layers were dinged up, separated and worn down. Not pretty, but as comfortable as an old friend. Farewell, favorite garden shoes....you will be missed!

Shown above are the 'new kids on the block'....a pair of Tevas I forked over 20 bucks for, to replace my old favorites. I chose the ones with a small blue stripe on the side, in memory of the the old pair. I could tell right away that these are not going to last long! They feel soft and mushy on the feet, and just make me miss my old ones all the more. Guess I'll head on over to Ebay where...maybe, just maybe...someone might be selling a pair of sweet vintage seventies flip flops, in black with blue stripes!

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Old friends are best. King James used to call for his old shoes; they were the easiest for his feet.

~John Seldon

Squash Round Up

2009-10-23T20:00:00.000-07:00

I was pleased with the squash harvest this year! Anyone who has grown squash knows what a space hog it can be, and this has presented a problem in our moderately sized kitchen garden. So 2 years ago we added three squash rings at the edge of the raised bed garden where the vines can roam, and this spring we added a 15 x 30 foot square garden, dedicated mostly to winter and summer squash, with one row of tomatoes and a row of sunflowers along the back edge. (This has been dubbed 'Steve's Garden', since dear husband did most of the work in it, while I was laid up during the better part of the spring and summer with a frozen shoulder.)

Above photo showcasing this year's harvest. From the top: Dark green Marina de Chioggia (heirloom), Butternut (the largest one near bottom was 12 inches long!), Blue-green Sweetmeat, Orange Sunshine (hybrid), 2 Green Buttercup (only one vine of these came up), Pale orange Australian Butter Squash (heirloom - the largest of these was 10 inches in diameter.)

Buttercup, Butternut, Sweet Meat, and Sunshine varieties are favorites from years past. All have delicious sweet, dry flesh. It was our first year to grow the two heirloom varieties, and we have yet to cook one of them for a taste test.

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[This quote dedicated to my Dad, a North Dakota farmer.
Thank you, Dad.... for your example!]

"Our deep respect for the land and its harvest is the legacy of generations of farmers who put food on our tables, preserved our landscape, and inspired us with a powerful work ethic."

James H. Douglas

Frosted Flowers

2009-10-09T17:53:00.000-07:00

Another gardening year is drawing to a close, with the arrival of a very early frost on September 30th. I ventured out into the frosty morn to grab a few photos of the icy beauty displayed on some of the flowers.

A pair of chilly yellow Cosmos.

A pot of Cherry & Ivory Swizzle Zinnias, started from seed. These were new for me this year, and I so enjoyed them! The frost just added another dimension to the happy red and white flowers.

Black-eyed Susan, with icy center cone.

Laura Bush Petunia, edged in frosty white. These have become a favorite of mine the past few years. They are prolific and hardy, a non-hybrid type with smaller flowers and a nice fragrance. I save the seeds each year.

Pink Cactus flowered Zinnia.

A yellow Calendula...hanging it's head in the cold.

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"By the breath of God, frost is given...."

Job 37:10

Beautiful Bells

2009-09-30T15:01:00.001-07:00

It has been a good year for peppers in my kitchen garden. Today I harvested these bell peppers....in a rainbow assortment of colors. They are not only sweet and tasty, but pretty as well!

I grow several varieties each year, including Big Bertha, Peto Wonder, Super Heavyweight, Orange California Wonder, and Golden California Wonder.

They are in various stages of ripeness....some still green or with green streaks.

A portion of my pepper harvest is sliced and frozen, to be used in one of our favorite dishes....Fajitas! These will not only taste great in the winter, but their cheerful colors will be a sweet reminder of the summer garden.

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Gardening gives me fun and health and knowledge.
It gives me laughter and colour. It gives me pictures
of almost incredible beauty.

- John F. Kenyon

Summer Memories

2009-09-17T14:56:00.000-07:00

We were blessed last week with a visit from dear daughter and our two grandchildren. I just have to share this photo that my daughter took of three year old Annabelle, standing in the doorway of our house. In the foreground is a pot of Salmon-colored Alaska Nasturtiums, tucked under the porch to escape the summer heat and blooming anew...now that the nights are cooler.

Something about this picture just tugs at my heart. Maybe it's the lingering sweetness of an entire day Annabelle was able to spend with Nana. Or those bare feet...and the memory of her contagious laughter as she ran away when sprayed with the hose, as I was watering the flower garden. Or when we removed her wet dress, and she quietly sneaked herself into the five gallon bucket of water without me seeing, and my surprise at looking over and seeing only her head peeking out! Or her delight in eating one after another of my Super Sweet cherry tomatoes and mini bell peppers, fresh from the garden. Or maybe it's that bittersweet feeling one gets when summer is waning and you know these warm sweet summer days will soon be drawing to an end. I guess maybe it is all those feelings, and so many more that this photo evokes in me, and why it so squeezes this Grandma heart of mine.

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"Those gasps of astonishment, those shrieks of pleasure, those sighs of delight, lost long ago when your children grew wise and wordly ~ are suddenly given back to you by your grandchildren. What seems to be the same small hands clutch yours, dragging you from one excitement to another."

Author unknown

Roasted Tomatoes

2009-09-02T19:46:00.000-07:00

This year I'm using a new method to preserve those extra tomatoes from the garden, which are plentiful this time of year. Since I no longer do canning, I had been just cutting up the tomatoes and freezing them in quart size bags. But since trying my first batch of roasted tomatoes, I am hooked on the intense flavors and the compact size of the finished product!

Here are the simple instructions.....

Put some Extra Virgin olive oil on the bottom of the pan, add sliced tomatoes in a single layer. Sprinkle with seasonings of your choice and more olive oil. I use oregano, basil, minced garlic and a little salt. (Dried herbs work well here, because they help absorb the juice from the tomatoes.) The recipe said to cook at 400 degrees, but since I used a glass pan I did them at 375 degrees. Cook for somewhere between 1 hr to 1 1/2 hrs. You will have to watch them towards the end, because when the juice cooks off they can burn easily, but you want them to caramelize and brown a bit.

This is one of my favorite black heirloom tomato, Nyagous, ready for roasting. They have a darkish red color with green shoulders....and the colors inside the tomato are even prettier! Since these are a fairly small tomato, I just quartered them. With larger tomatoes, I cut in chunks, and cherry tomatoes get halved. I'm always trying new tomato varieties, so this is a good way to use up those that don't quite live up to my taste standards, because even a mediocre tomato tastes great after it's been roasted.

Same tomatoes as above, after roasting. Can't you just smell that wonderful aroma? I did plenty of sampling as they came out of the oven. The intense, concentrated tomato flavor is comparable to those expensive sun dried tomatoes you can buy.

Two 11 x 16 pyrex pans yielded one quart of tasty product for the freezer. The roasted tomatoes can be used on pasta or meat, as a bread spread, salad dressing ingredient... or simply as a spoonful of fresh garden tomato taste in the dead of winter.

bon appétit!

Wildflower Bouquet

2009-08-24T19:24:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we pulled our camper up to our favorite camping spot, about 20 minutes upriver from our house. I am recovering from a frozen shoulder, so I spent the afternoons and evenings at camp, and then cheated by driving home to sleep in my own bed, which is far more comfortable, at this stage, than the camper. It felt so good to get out and enjoy a little bit of Summer, as Fall will shortly be nipping at our heels. When I arrived at camp, these flowers from Dear Husband were there to greet me. Hey, so who needs a dozen roses and FTD?

These are a special gift from my man....and they are beautiful to me.

(Shown here in front of a huge mossy rock at our campsite, which actually had ferns and a tiny fir tree growing out of it!)

Included in the bouquet: Indian Paintbrush, Bluebells, Wild Aster, Queen Anne's Lace, Verbascum, Goldenrod, and one Cat-tail......all in a lovely plastic water bottle vase. :-)

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"Every gift which is given, even though it be small, is in reality great,
if it is given with affection.”

Pindar ~ Greek Lyric Poet

Green Grasshopper

2009-08-11T09:25:00.000-07:00

This lovely green grasshopper caught my eye in the garden this week, as it poised on a pink Hollyhock.

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The Grasshopper

by Conrad Aiken

Grasshopper

grasshopper

all day long

we hear your scraping

summer song

rusty

fiddles

the

grass

as through

the meadow

path

we pass

such funny legs

such funny feet

and how we wonder

what you eat

maybe a single blink of dew

sipped from a clover leaf would do

then high in air

once more you spring

to fall in grass again

and sing.

Hollyhocks in the Cottage Garden

2009-08-07T14:38:00.000-07:00

There's not many flowers that represent the Cottage garden look to me more than Hollyhocks. They are a personal favorite of mine, because my Mother and Grandmother both grew them.

I love the color on this one....the closest to red I've seen on a Hollyhock.

I don't remember planting it in this spot, so it must be a volunteer. Volunteers are always welcomed in my garden. :-)

Echinacea 'Magnus' (which I did plant) is in the foreground of the Hollyhock, and makes for a pleasing combination, with it's reddish central cones echoing the red tones of the Hollyhock.

A wider view of this particular grouping of flowers includes pink Mallow, a white Hollyhock, and some volunteer Black Eyed Susans. Don't you just love how unplanned combinations can sometimes turn out to be the prettiest?

First Tomato of the Season

2009-07-22T18:12:00.000-07:00

Last week brought our first ripe tomato in the garden. I am so behind on this blog, it is already old news, since I have picked several more since then!

The first ripe tomato this year was the heirloom Nyagous. It is in the 'Black' tomato category, as you can see by the darker shoulders, which have a greenish tint to them. It really is a beautiful tomato, hails from Russia, and the taste is wonderful! It must be picked while the shoulders are still green for proper firmness.

Here it is on a salad plate. You can better see the richness of the colors in this photo. It is a perfect salad size tomato and grows in clusters on the plant. Since picking this, I have also picked several full sized ripe Goliaths.

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In an earlier post entitled Tomato Trials I stated that I was sticking with the 'tried and true' this year. Well, that was my true intention....until I checked out a book from my local library called The Heirloom Tomato by Amy Goldman. If you haven't seen this book, it is a great read! Even if you only gaze at the beautiful photos of all sorts of heirloom tomatoes, it is well worth your time. After reading Amy's description of each tomato included in the book, I ended up adding several new heirloom varieties to my tomato line up again this year. Hey, a girl can change her mind... right? :-)

Currently growing in my garden are: Paul Robison, Juane Flamme, Green Zebra, Aunt Ruby's German Green, Purple Russian, Speckled Roman and Black Brandywine. (I only chose ones rated as having excellent flavor). I'm also trying a few heirloom cherry tomatoes......Black Cherry, Aunt Ruby's German Green Cherry, and Matt's Wild Cherry. So, stay tuned for a report later on in the year!

Poppy - 'Falling in Love'

2009-07-04T18:09:00.000-07:00

The last 2 years I have been trialing a new Poppy (Papaver rhoeas) from seed called Falling in Love from Park Seed Co. The description is as follows.... "a bright large-flowered mixture of semi- and fully doubles in shades of red, carmine, crimson, scarlet, and rose.....plus coral, pink, and white in solid and bi-colored forms. This Dutch introduction offers rich, watercolor shades hard to find elsewhere in the garden. Cupped and rounded, the 3 inch blooms look like silk, and arise very heavily on plants 9 to 18 inches tall and 12 inches wide."

Here is a nice group of fully double coral colored ones.

This bicolor pink semi-double is pretty and refreshing.

A close up of a rose colored double form.

A single stem of a red and white bicolor, blooming amidst the other flowers.

Same flower as above, photographed from below with the summer sky as a backdrop.
(This is my Red, White and Blue photo for this year. Happy Fourth of July to everyone!)

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My conclusion about Falling in Love poppies? For me, they didn't really live up to their lofty description. Although I find them pretty, I prefer the old fashioned single Shirley Poppies I have grown for many years, for several reasons. They are taller, bear more and larger blooms, which hold on the plant longer and bloom over a longer period. I love their translucent , delicate, papery petals that just have more of a cottage look to me.... and, as whole, make a greater impact in the flower garden. And the best thing about Shirley poppies? They self sow so freely, a trait that I am fond of... which these didn't seem to do.

Sounds like I will need to do a post dedicated to the Shirley Poppy someday. :-)

Our Resident Toad

2009-06-20T18:50:00.000-07:00

There's been a big toad around our house for several years now. We only see him in the warmer months. The rest of the year I guess he hibernates somewhere below the frost line. I usually see him in the flower bed on the north side of the house, where it gets morning sun and afternoon shade. But after a rain, we have spotted him in various other places in the garden. On a cool, rainy day this week I spotted him in an unusual place that startled me a little.

As I passed by a flat of Cosmos seedlings on my porch, to enter the house, I noticed that one plant was dug up and lying with it's roots exposed. Upon closer inspection I was surprised to see Mr. Toad settled down into the nice cool potting soil. I think he was feeling invisible. He is camouflaged quite well, isn't he? As soon as the sun came out again, he was gone. I only wished I could have shown him to my 3 year old Granddaughter, who likes to read Frog and Toad stories.

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This post is for Annabelle.... with love from Nana. :-)

Spring in Bloom

2009-05-29T18:09:00.000-07:00

Here it is almost the end of May, and my poor blog has been quite neglected! So to remedy that, here are some photos of a few of the blooms currently gracing my gardens....

This Columbine is a favorite of mine. I don't remember the name, but it is one of the McKana types. I like the two toned pink color, and the yellow stamens. It blooms longer and stays a nice compact size, in contrast to the bonnet types....which I often end up pulling out because they outgrow their space.

I am fond of these 'Cutie Pie' Violas, and as you can see.... the bees like them, too!

My daughter gave me this lovely Spanish Lavender plant for my birthday. It is a new variety called Lavandula stoechas 'Anouk'. After the first flowers have faded, the stems can be cut back for a second bloom time. And the best thing about it? It is a zone 5 plant, so I can overwinter it here... instead of having to replace each Spring.

A close-up of the wonderfully scented 'winged' Lavender blooms.

This week brought the first blooms of Periwinkle, Vinca Major 'Variegata'. I love the soft creamy color on the edges of the leaves, which really brightens up the rock gardens.

The first bloom of Clematis 'Niobe' opens it's dark red flower on the porch post.

There is a pleasing contrast of the white anthers against the dark blooms.

Also making an appearance now are the Lupines. The blue ones are a wild form, which I think have a nice Cottage look. If you click on the photo to enlarge, you can see a bed of Iris in bloom, behind the birdhouse.

And lastly.... a favorite vintage, weathered wood planter filled with Impatiens and hung from the light under the front porch, where it gets a little morning sun, and then shade for the remainder of the day. This was a great yard sale find, along with 2 others of similar style.

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Thank you to so many of you, for your get well wishes, as I have been down with a bout of Pleurisy. Recovery has been slow and is still not complete, but I have been able to do a few small tasks in the garden each day, which helps my spirits! And I have a wonderfully helpful husband, who has been called upon to do many of the tasks I don't yet have strength for.

Notes Celebrates Two Years

2009-05-02T22:59:00.000-07:00

It has been two years this week, since my first post on Notes from a Cottage Garden. My, how time does fly! In honor of the occasion, I thought I would post some photos of my Spring garden, currently in it's prime. I have so enjoyed the tulips this year, especially since I have been mostly house-bound for 3 weeks with a case of Pleurisy, an inflammation of the tissue surrounding the lung. It is very painful and can take from weeks to months for recovery, with rest being the only effective treatment. It is difficult to rest when I want so badly to be working in the garden, but low energy levels have kept me from doing much. The colors in the garden have given me cheer while I recover, and I hope to be gardening again soon!

I planted these tulips in the front bed of my kitchen garden last fall. They go by the name 'Daydream', and the color is just amazing! This is a completely unretouched photo, taken on a sunny day. The tulips look like they are ablaze with fire! They started out mostly yellow with a few orange streaks, but now they are mostly orange. The foliage is sort of wimpy, but I can put up with it... in exchange for the beautiful blooms. :-)

This photo shows the front portion of the garden, off the patio.... with the rock gardens in the background. I added a new tulip bed last fall, just behind the smaller, rustic looking birdhouse. (I left this photo a larger size, so you can click on it to see things up close.) If you look carefully, you can see a sign in the front garden bed which reads "Mom's Garden". It was given to me by my children for Mother's Day many years ago, so is very special to me. In the very back of the photo, nearly covered by trees, is our very rustic chicken coop. One of my favorite beds is behind the birdbath, shown in the next photo.

This bed is home to grape hyacinths along the front, with mini daffodils in the middle. (I have forgotten their name, but they are so cute!) In the back of the bed are Tulips called
'Pretty in Pink'.

And look who came back this evening for a visit, to the same place where he made a mess a few weeks ago? None other than
Mr. Pheasant!

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Origin & History of the Tulip

The tulip is a wildflower said to originate from Persia. In the 1500s, tulips were extensively cultivated in Turkey, and because of their resemblance to the "tulbend" — a turban worn by Turkish men — were called tulipan.

In 1562, tulip bulbs from Constantinople reached Antwerp by ship. Before the turn of the century, tulips had been such a rarity that only the wealthy in Holland could afford them; consequently, tulips became a status symbol for the rich. However, by the 1620s, buying and selling tulips became an activity for merchants, and "tulip madness" ensued. Tulip trading crashed in 1637, throwing Holland into financial ruin. After the Dutch government enforced strict laws for cultivating and selling bulbs, the tulip became the national emblem of Holland.

First Poppy of the Season

2009-04-24T19:57:00.000-07:00

I am always happy to see the return of one of my favorite flowers in the whole world....the humble Poppy.

This beautiful Salmon colored Iceland poppy is the first to bloom. The fun thing is that it was also the last poppy of the season in my garden last fall. You can see how it looked back then in the post Icey Iceland Poppy. There is also information there about the variety and seed source.

A close-up of the intricate center. I love all Poppies, but this one is a favorite for it's delicate look and lovely pastel color.

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"As for marigolds, poppies, hollyhocks, and valorous sunflowers, we shall never have a garden without them, both for their own sake, and for the sake of old-fashioned folks, who used to love them. "

Henry Ward Beecher

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T10:13:00.000-07:00

....Alleluia!

A Not-So-Pleasant Pheasant Sighting

2009-04-04T10:57:00.000-07:00

The male pheasant is a beautiful and colorful bird, and we often enjoy watching them on the hillside near our house. I've tried without success to get a photo of them, because they are so cautious and scare very easily. So I was quite surprised to look out the window a couple mornings ago and see one in my flower bed!

I have a a bird feeder hanging on a tree branch above this bed and apparently some seed had fallen unto the ground. This rooster and two hens were just a-scratching away there! They did damage to some newly emerging tulip bulbs I planted there last fall. You can see some of the broken foliage in this zoomed shot, just to the right of Mr. Pheasant. (A side note: These particular flower beds are formed with natural basalt rock we have here in GREAT abundance. I guess you could say we are taking advantage of our natural resources.)

Here, Mr. Pheasant has sensed my presence in the window, and is standing at attention, ready to take flight. The females had wisely disappeared by now. I'm glad to have at least gotten a photo of this elusive creature, and I don't think the tulips are so badly damaged as to not bloom, though they may be a little raggedy. In the mean time, I will be moving the bird feeder, to hopefully avoid this happening again. The Ringneck Pheasant is named for the white ring around it's neck, but I confess I may have had some other impulses regarding the term ring neck. (Ha) On a happier note....if you click to enlarge the photo, you can see some soon-to-bloom daffodils, to the left of the fencepost.

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A few Pheasant Facts :

* Roosters will range in weight from 3.5 to 4 lbs

* Hens will range in weight from 2 to 2.5 lbs

* A typical rooster accumulates a harem of three to seven hens

* After hatching, pheasant chicks immediately begin growing flight feathers, and are capable of short flights at 2 weeks

* Pheasants do not migrate, they stay relatively local all year long

* On flat ground, a ringneck pheasant can run at speeds of 8-10mph

* Pheasants can fly up to 48mph

* Pheasants main predators include: Fox, Raccoon and Skunk (as chicks) and Man, Fox, Hawks and Owls

* Pheasants eat berries, seeds, young shoots and insects and prefer open country with
brushy cover

* Through most of the growing season, pheasants can survive on the moisture they
consume in insects and the morning dew on vegetation

* During the summer, insects comprise considerably more of the chick's diet and weed seeds
more of the adult's diet

* Pheasants are in the Phasianidae family and are cousins of Quail and Partridge

* The spring ratio of hens to roosters is usually about 3:1

* 30% annual survival rate and only 2-3% of population lives to age 3, whether they're hunted or not

* Pheasants, a native to China, were brought across the Pacific in 1881 by Judge Owen Nickerson Denny in an initial batch of 30 (with 26 surviving the journey)

Cheerful Gloves....Dreary Weather

2009-03-25T19:21:00.000-07:00

We made a trip to our nearest shopping city last Saturday and when we were at Costco, I spotted these garden gloves....which immediately jumped into our cart. :-)

Aren't they beautiful? Such bright and cheerful colors and designs, in an attractive package ....and five pairs for only $16.99!

I photographed the back of the package, for you lady gardeners, so you can read the details about each pair. (Click on the photo to enlarge) There are gloves here for every need! From left to right: Goatskin Leather/Spandex, Leather Palm, Nitrile Coated Knit, Latex Coated Knit, and Dotted Jersey. Yes, these were a good value, and cheerful indeed.

The weather, on the other hand, has been wet and dreary.....looks like I will need to be using those waterproof latex coated gloves above. Here you can see the low hanging clouds, and to the left of the greenhouse, my winter sown containers, of which about 2/3 are up and growing. I am just beginning to use the greenhouse for seed starting and growing on. I checked the ten day forecast yesterday and this is what it said:

1. Cloudy
2. Rain/Snow
3. Cloudy
4. Mostly Cloudy
5. Mostly Cloudy
6. Cloudy
7. Rain
8. Dreary - (sigh)
9. Rain,
10. Cloudy

So....I will be hoping those mostly cloudy days will be partly sunny. And that it will dry out enough to plant out my new flowers. I decided I didn't have enough early flowers for my color starved eyes, so I bought crocuses, primulas, and pansies. These should brighten things up until the sun decides to shine again. :-)

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Your garden gloves take a beating when you're working in the yard. Sticky mud, grass stains, tree sap and other messy job residue cling to gloves, shortening their working lives and ruining their appearance. Here's an easy way to clean them: (except for leather gloves, of course)

Step 1

Leave the gloves on your hands after you finish working in the yard.

Step 2

Wash your gloved hands with soap and water.

Step 3

Rinse well with fresh water

Step 4

Remove the gloves from your hands.

Step 5

Lay them out flat on top of a water heater or other heat-producing appliance to dry.

Tomato Trials 2008

2009-03-17T10:02:00.000-07:00

I'm always game for trying new vegetable varieties, especially when it comes to our garden favorite, the Tomato. In 2008 I trialed several heirlooms varieties. The real test, for me, is the comparison to Brandywine, which I have grown for many years. So far, nothing has come close to Brandywine's great taste!

This is Cherokee Purple in the not-quite-ripe-yet stage. You can see the darker shoulders, which have yet to turn color. I also grew Cherokee Chocolate and Black Krim, but found all of these varieties to be rather bland tasting, and also pretty soft texture wise. I prefer a firmer tomato. In years past, I have also tried Pruden's Purple, which didn't pass the test either.

*** Update: 3-24-09 ***I just read that Black Krim should be harvested before fully ripe, with shoulders still green and before it gets soft, for the best flavor..... so I might have to give it another chance. :-)

Another heirloom variety I tried was Arkansas Traveler, shown here with tiny yellow Signet marigolds. It would probably be in the pink category, as it doesn't get to be a true red. Nothing to get excited over here, taste-wise. One pink variety that I grew for several years that I did like is Caspian Pink, which has a very good taste, but doesn't produce many tomatoes.

Zapotec Pleated looks cool, but when you slice it open there are lots of empty spaces inside the folds, and I'm sorry to report....the taste leaves you pretty empty, too. I had tons of green ones left after frost, which ended up in the compost pile.

I received seed for this heirloom, Nyagous, as an extra in a seed trade. The tomatoes are a smaller size, firm, with black shoulders, and grow in clusters. And the taste is......wonderful! It is both sweet and tangy, with lots of rich flavor. It hails from Russia. I grew it in a 3 gallon container, because I ran out of space. I can't wait to see how it produces with a spot of honor in the garden this year.

I also grew an heirloom Cherry tomato called Ana Asa, looking for something to possibly replace my old standby, hybrid Super Sweet 100 Cherry , but there was no comparison, taste-wise. I seriously don't think there is a sweeter or better tasting cherry than Super Sweet 100, but I am open for suggestions. :-)

Brandy Boy is a new hybrid I tried for the first time last year. It is a cross between Better Boy and Brandywine and is supposed to produce more tomatoes on the plant, but still have that great Brandywine taste. I found it lived up to both of these criteria.

So...what are my Tomato selections for 2009?
Maybe next year I will do more trials, but this summer I intend to keep it simple and grow only the tried and true:

1. Hybrid Goliath, as my main crop tomato. I love everything about this tomato! The taste, the large number of tomatoes it produces and the firm, perfect, blemish free fruit. I have been growing this one for nearly 20 years now. I am not a purist when it comes to Hybrids vs. Heirlooms....nothing can beat some of the Hybrids for production and reliability. As long as the seeds are available, I will grow them. (I am still using seeds from a packet I bought in 1999!)

2. Brandywine - several plants, for the unbeatable taste!

3. Brandy Boy Hybrid - this time side by side with Brandywine to really compare fruit production.

3. Heirloom Pineapple - one plant, for dear husband who really likes this one. The tomatoes grow HUGE, the color a mottled red and yellow combination.

4. Super Sweet 100 Cherry - We eat these like candy....usually standing right there in the garden. These are a big hit with my now 3 year old granddaughter!

5. Nyagous - for the taste and nice salad size.

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“Home grown tomatoes, home grown tomatoes
What would life be like without homegrown tomatoes?
Only two things that money can't buy
That's true love and home grown tomatoes.”

John Denver, 'Home Grown Tomatoes'
(from a song written by Guy Clark)

Signs of Spring

2009-03-07T20:22:00.000-08:00

With March well under way, there are changes going on the garden. Slowly, but surely.... signs of life are re-appearing.

Daffodils emerging, with their flower buds already intact.

Same daffodils, a week later under an inch of snow! Yup... it's March, and anything can happen. Fortunately, the snow melted very quickly, in this case.

Forsythia branches, being forced on the windowsill.....

.....it's first yellow blossoms opening in the sun.

Garden clean-up begins in earnest, with the first ritual of Spring.... the pruning of my Simplicity rose hedge. This was a stealth shot by my dear husband. :-)

And lastly, a robin... looking for worms.

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"Spring shows what God can do with a drab and dirty world."

Virgil A. Kraft

Compost Central

2009-02-28T21:52:00.000-08:00

Though flowers and vegetables often get the limelight, the real heart of the organic garden is the place where compost is created. Our composting site is somewhat hidden, and certainly doesn't get much glory....but it plays a very important role in the overall health of the garden.

Our compost spot is about 50 yards from our front door...far enough away for its sights and smells not to be distracting, but near enough for frequent trips to deposit vegetable scraps and garden waste. It is located behind our chicken coop, which we aren't using currently except for storage. (That could change this year, as we are considering having laying hens again.)

A close up of the two Earth Machine composters. These were in my daughter and son-in-law's back yard, and since they weren't being used, I volunteered to use them. :-) This is where kitchen scraps go..... layered with shredded leaves, which are stored in the covered garbage can on the left. I rarely turn the material in these, maybe once in the Spring. I can pick them up, move them and fork the contents back in. It takes a year or more for finished compost in these, but it is very rich from all the vegetable matter.

I bought a recycled plastic compost ring at a yard sale a few years ago and liked it so well, I added these two updated GeoBins last year. The first one is still in the chicken yard, but will be set up next to these two after I harvest the finished compost this Spring. They are lightweight, but sturdy enough to hold lots of material, and though they are perforated for air flow, they still maintain good moisture content. You simply lift and set up in a new location, and turn your material back into the bin. I try to do this a few times a year, in order to help aerate the compost for faster decomposing. My plan for the three bins is to put the rough material in bin one, then transfer to bin two as it breaks down some, with the third bin used to finish the compost.

In spring and summer I use mostly straw or saved leaves for carbon material and grass for nitrogen, but in the fall when there is no longer grass available to heat up the piles, I use these Alfalfa pellets for their nitrogen content. They are cheap, and available at most Feed stores. Another good addition, that helps get things cooking is coffee grounds, saved in a 5 gallon bucket for us by our local Espresso shop....they call us when the bucket is full and we pick it up and bring them a new bucket. Worms love coffee grounds! It attracts them to the pile, where they help aerate and add their rich castings to the mix, and when I put the compost on my garden beds, the worms go, too. I alternate layers of dry garden waste or leaves, alfalfa pellets, more garden waste, then coffee grounds, and so on...repeating the layers. When I turn a partially broken down pile I add pellets and coffee grounds to help get it working again, and then leave it to sit over the winter.

This post wouldn't be complete without featuring my new favorite garden tool, the Flowtron Leaf Eater/Ultimate Mulcher which I got last Fall. It does a great job of shredding leaves, as long as you change the strings when they wear down. (And, I might add....it is ever so much more convenient than having to shred leaves by running them over with the lawn mower, as I did previously.) I save some of the shredded leaves in large lawn bags, stored in a dry place, to use for compost. The rest go onto my garden beds to cover them for the winter. I push the leaves aside when I'm ready to plant in the spring, in order to let the soil warm up, but use the shredded leaves again as mulch around plants in summer when the weather gets hot. This really helps keep moisture in the soil, and cuts down on watering chores.

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That about sums up the outdoor composting set up here. I also compost indoors with redworms and have done so for many years. Nothing beats pure worm castings as a fertilizer and soil conditioner for the garden. BUT... that is another post! :-)

My Mother's Garden

2009-02-20T09:02:00.000-08:00

Today is the 2 year anniversary of my Mother's passing, so I thought it would be a fitting tribute to her memory to post some photos I was pleased to come across recently in one of my albums. I took these pictures with our first decent (for those days) 35 mm camera, in 1977. They show my Mom's abundant garden on our farm, located on the North Dakota prairie.

Mom, in her garden with Benji, the dog. Since it is a cool, northern zone 3 there, nothing can be planted until after Memorial Day....so this is probably around late June or early July. The Corn is up and growing , with Peas in the foreground. (Click on photo to enlarge)

The next three photos were taken in the fall of the same year. Here you can see the Corn...tall and tasseled out, with Squash plants on the right and Cabbages in the left foreground, along with the yellow flowers of Dill in the center. Her garden was not weedless, but it was very productive! I remember Mom enticing us kids with spending money for the County Fair, in exchange for weeding 'X' number of rows in the garden. :-) Some days, supper hour would come and go....the kitchen was silent, and Mom was no where to be found, until we realized she was lost in the garden. I now find myself doing this....there is much to do and time passes so quickly when you're working in the garden!

A huge Cabbage, with two of my (then) little sisters flanking either side. I was the big sister.....the oldest of 6 girls. I have both an older and a younger brother, too, bringing the total to 8 children in our family. These photos were taken on a visit home to the farm, when I was 22.

The flowers at the edge of Mom's garden were beautiful! This old scanned photo simply doesn't do them justice. ( Please click on photo to enlarge and see detail ) Many returned as volunteers from the previous years self-sown seed. There were Bachelor buttons, California Poppies, Marigolds and Zinnias. Behind the flowers is what looks to be Potatoes and a Cucumber patch. We always had dozens of jars of dill pickles on our pantry shelves!

So....there you have it. Proof that I come by my love of growing things quite naturally. Is there such a thing as a gardening gene? :-)

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Mom, your memory is blessed. You were a wonderful example to me in all things, not the least of which was the love and labor you put into your garden and the countless hours spent preserving its bounty to feed and nourish your family. You are dearly missed!

Nature Valentine

2009-02-13T18:45:00.000-08:00

I was so excited to share a photo of a heart shaped Sunflower on my Valentine's Day blog post last year. As I was contemplating what I should post this year, I was pretty sure I couldn't top that. But as I searched through my photo folders, I came across one from Fall of 2007, that seems fitting for this special day.

The tiny red heart-shaped leaf was one of the last clinging to a branch of this shrub, so I turned it upside down and held it up against a larger, yellowing leaf to show off it's color. It was just something that caught my eye at the time. I guess it has just been waiting there in my folder, for such a time as this. :-)

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Happy Valentine's Day!

Form vs. Color

2009-02-08T19:39:00.000-08:00

I recently gave myself an assignment. It was to take some outdoor photos in black and white only. It was a good lesson, because it forced me to view things differently. Color is usually the first thing to grab the attention, so its absence causes one to look more deeply at scenes and objects....to see and realize the beauty of form, in the absence of color. Below are some images from my self challenge....

A Locust tree in our neighborhood.

The swollen buds of Forsythia.

The skeletal remains of Queen Anne's Lace.

Sun setting behind the mountain.

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"There's something strange and powerful about black-and-white imagery."

Stefan Kanfer