In This Issue:

My Mother’s Garden

A Brilliant Orchid Show in NY

Grow Stockier, Bushier Tomato Plants This Year

My Mother’s Garden – My mother always seems to have a lot more things blooming in her garden at any given moment than I do.  Recently I spent an afternoon gardening with her in northwestern Connecticut, just about 30 miles north of where I live, so that I could observe first hand what her secret is.

When I got there she had her shovel deep in her compost bin.  Then she dropped the compost on a screen positioned over her wheelbarrow and began rubbing it through the screen.  The result was the most perfect soil I have ever seen.

When I got home I immediately built my own screen (not as well engineered as the one my father built for my mother, but serviceable anyway). It’s a laborious process sifting soil through the screen, but is well worth it for the fine texture it provides to young plants and seeds.

My mother is a vigorous lifelong gardener with many varied and naturalistic gardens on her property, and a small pond which provides a focal point behind the house. She also has a vegetable patch which produces broccoli, brussel sprouts,  lettuce, tomatoes and beans.  She finds that the rule in her garden is ‘one for me and one for the rabbits.’  Sometimes it’s two for the rabbits to her one.

When ambling with her through her gardens she points out the lavender that came from a friend, or the Iris she transplanted from their former home in Weston, CT.  There’s one small plant I divided last season and gave to her, a chocolate-y heuchera caramel. In my garden half of the plants are from my mother’s garden, divided over the years and dropped in a pot or wrapped in wet newspaper for transporting to my garden.

 It’s part of the fun and the ritual of gardening, the sharing and recalling where our plants came from.  My mother’s sister in Minnesota has poppies that came from my great uncle’s garden in Emmetsburg, Iowa.  He died at the age of 97, over 30 years ago, but his poppies still live.  When we look at the poppies we think of Uncle Harold.  I have asked her to collect seeds for me so I can try propagating them in my greenhouse next Spring. 

I remember many years ago my grandmother showed me a somewhat tattered photo she had of her perennial garden, established along a high riverbank back in Iowa where my mother and her sister and brother grew up. Although the picture was in black and white I could tell my grandmother saw all the colors in her garden when she looked at it.  She loved looking at that picture.

Gardening is about the past, the present and the future—and the connections we make between them.  A love of gardening is a wonderful gift to pass on to others.  Thank you Mom, and Happy Mother’s Day!

Below are pictures I took last summer of my mother’s garden in northwestern Connecticut. Click on the images to see them larger (and then click the back button to return to the newsletter. If you ‘X’ out of the photo you will lose your connection to the website and newsletter).

A Brilliant Orchid Show in NY– Patrick Blanc, the French botanist and artist who is known for creating what is called vertical gardens, was invited by the New York Botanical Garden to design their annual orchid show this Spring.  The idea of presenting orchids artistically arranged on vertical walls is brilliant. It made the orchids seem more interesting to me, and it also created a sense of order that I appreciated.  With hundreds of orchid species on display, it could have felt chaotic but it didn’t.  According to Patrick Blanc, it was a new experience for him to work with so much color, since most of his vertical plant walls use non flowering, but highly textured plants. In fact, he brought in many of his favorite plants to complement the orchids.

There was so much picture taking at the show that that was a spectacle itself.  People were going in for the close up shots and people were getting pictures taken of themselves with the orchids and so on. Here are some of the pictures I took at the show. I have entered two of them in a photo contest. If you have a favorite please let me know!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Grow Stocker, Bushier Tomato Plants This Year– My instructor at The New York Botanical Garden gave us a tip on growing the sturdiest tomato plants indoors, before transplanting outdoors.  This gives plants a head start on the growing season, and gives them a much better chance of surviving the transition from indoors to outdoors.

Tomatoes, unlike many plants, will grow roots right along their stems once the stem is buried. So, when transplanting to a larger pot indoors, you can practice what is called ‘trenching’.  It means turning the root ball of the plant on its side in the new pot, then gently forcing the stem upwards, and staking it if necessary. With each successive planting in a larger pot the soil comes right up to the bottom branches, resulting in a stockier, bushier plant when it comes time to plant outdoors.  If you practice this your tomato plants will have a thick stem by the time it’s warm enough to plant out.

Follow these instructions to learn how to trench your tomato plants.

Step One: Start with a tomato plant that needs a larger container

Step Two: Tap the bottom corner of the pot on a hard surface to loosen the plant. If you need to pull the plant out of the container, pull gently by the lower leaves, not by the stem. (Leaves are more dispensable than the stem, if you happen to damage one).

Step Three: Lay the plant in the larger pot sideways.

Step Four: Bend the stem up gently.

Step Five: Fill in soil around the root ball and the stem. You can stake the stem if necessary, but I didn’t need to.

Step Six: Water with a weak solution of fertilizer

Step Seven: Newly potted tomato plant will grow bushier and stockier than if you had not trenched it.

Note: The apron I am wearing was designed by Felicity Miller for Womanswork. Sold at HomeGoods this Spring, along with matching gloves and hats (sold at TJMaxx and Marshalls).  Gloves shown are Womanswork Nitrile Weeding Gloves.

In This Issue:

The Hunger Moon and Other Moons

New Study Pinpoints Lyme Disease Risk Areas

The Hunger Moon and Other Moons– In The Old Farmers Almanac there is a name given to each full moon of the year. These are mostly adapted from early Native Americans who kept track of the passing seasons and tied their calendar to the full moons.   I was reminded of this last week by a friend who told me we were in “The Hunger Moon”.  He was helping me understand why one of our hens had been taken earlier in the week by a wild animal in broad daylight.  The Hunger Moon falls at the end of winter when game is scarce and predators are particularly hungry.  Names for the moons varied between different indigenous peoples, but they carried similar meanings.  The Hunger Moon was also known as ‘Little Famine Moon’ and ‘Bony Moon’, and in those days the threat of famine after a long winter was real, for people as well as for animals.

I spoke on the phone today with Jessica Prentice, one of the founders of the locavore (local foods)movement in the San Francisco Bay area.  She’s also author of Full Moon Feast, Food and the Hunger for Connection, in which she uses the lunar calendar as an organizing principle to talk about food.  Explaining her fascination with moon names she said, “As I started to read about the moon names of different cultures I was struck by how the names reflected something profound about their culture and their food system”.  She added, “abundance of food and scarcity of food are both cyclical.”  People in pre-industrial times were acutely aware of this and their moon names reveal this.  Most of us, on the other hand, have lost our connection to those cycles. 

Jessica has also published a series of food wheels that illustrate the fresh foods available throughout the year in different parts of the country. I own “The Local Foods Wheel” for the NY Metro region and I noticed that she lists the moons associated with each month on her foods wheel. 

Here are the 12 moons listed on Jessica’s foods wheel.  The definitions are reprinted directly from her website. For longer descriptions you can visit her website or purchase her book Full Moon Feast. Her book is available pretty widely, but if you order directly through Jessica you can get a signed copy.

Sap Moon (March)— The first drops of sweet nectar from tree taps was living proof that nature is in a constant state of change and flux, and that there is a lot going on underneath the surface. There are forces moving that we cannot even begin to perceive.

Egg Moon (April)— On old-fashioned family farms, hens lay fewer eggs during the winter when nights are long and days are short, and more eggs when there is more daylight. The Egg Moon means that spring is here, the days are longer, and the hens are laying more and more eggs.

Milk Moon (May)— The cows have had their calves and are feeding on the rapidly growing spring grasses in the fields.

Mead Moon (June)– Mead was the Norse and Old English version of a drink fermented from honey, and though many modern Americans have heard of it, few have tasted it.

Wort Moon (July)— Wort is the old fashioned, Old English word for herb. Late summer was the time of year when medicinal and culinary herbs would be harvested, dried, and stored for the winter. Tinctures would be made, herbal ales would be brewed, and medicinal lozenges, jellies, candies and spirits would be processed. It was a time to refill the medicine chest for the year.

Corn Moon (August)— It is the time of year when grain is ripening in the fields, readying for harvest. Throughout much of the United States the plant zea mays is being harvested and Americans are enjoying plenty of their beloved sweet corn.

Harvest Moon (September)–  The moon appears particularly bright and it rises early in the evening. This allowed farmers to keep working at their harvest into the night. (Source: The National Geographic Society)

Blood Moon (October)— The name comes from the fact that small farmsteads would slaughter meat for winter in the fall. It was the time of year when hogs would be fat , having benefited from harvest season and all the other richness of the farm’s agricultural year.

Snow Moon (November)— In 16th century England it was the time of year when villagers of the British Isles would expect to see their first snowfall of the winter.

Moon of Long Nights (December)— In this moon we will move through the winter solstice, the longest night of the year.

Wolf Moon (January)– This was a time of year when country folk and farmers could hear the hungry winter howls of wolves in the distance, and begin to feel the metaphorical wolf at the door of their farmhouses. Either the stores of food were still well-provisioned from the harvest, or they were beginning to run low.

Hunger Moon (February)– The late winter lunar cycle was called The Hunger Moon by many different peoples in many different languages, but always for the same reason. When you depend on the land where you live for food, and the land has been frozen for months, you are likely to be hungry.

Last fall I took a moonlit walk at Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, NY.  The night was chosen because it was the Harvest Moon. A group of us walked on the grounds of the Institute for a couple of hours without flashlights, learning owl calls and viewing the heavens through a small telescope. Thank you Cary Institute for organizing the Harvest Moon event, helping us make that connection to the cycle of the seasons that most of us have all but lost.

New Study Pinpoints Lyme Disease Risk Areas–

If you live in a light green area of this map, you probably don’t need to read further. However, if you live in (or visit) the yellow or red areas, read on.

The map came out of a study published in the February issue of the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Highlights of the study are as follows:

-High risk areas are across much of the Northeast, from Maine to northern Virginia, as well as most of Wisconsin, northern Minnesota and a sliver of northern Illinois.

-Emerging risk areas are the Illinois-Indiana border, the New York-Vermont border, southwestern Michigan and eastern North Dakota. 

-About 1 in 5 ticks collected were infected, which was higher than expected and also did not vary much across geographic areas.

-In 2010 there were more than 30,000 confirmed or probable cases of Lyme Disease. More than 90% were in the states mentioned above.

As it turns out, where I live in the Hudson Valley region, they have issued a Lyme disease warning for this year. They are predicting it will be the worst year ever for the threat of Lyme Disease. Due to a bumper crop of acorns in 2010, which led to a larger population of mice, who are excellent hosts for the bacteria that spawns Lyme, there was a larger population of infected ticks lying dormant this past winter.  Fewer mice in 2012, due to a small crop of acorns last fall, will mean the infected ticks are looking for something to bite!

Richard Ostfield, a scientist at Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies who has been helping to spread the word in our region, advises residents to roll up socks over pant legs, and spray pants, shoes and socks. It’s not enough to spray your pants and not your shoes and socks.

I would add, wear gloves when you garden.  Our new garden gloves with arm saver have elbow length cuffs with a stretch cord to tighten the top of the cuff.  It’s lightweight cotton, so it will keep ticks from crawling up your hand to your arm, and it protects against light scratches and sun—without being hot to wear.  In 2010 I was diagnosed with  Lyme disease and was treated with a course of antibiotics, but never had any symptoms.

In this issue

Learning Seed Propagation at NY Botanical Garden

Make Your own Maple Syrup

Welcome Spring with a Farm-To-Table Brunch

Learning Seed Propagation at NY Botanical Garden–

I am taking a plant propagation class at The New York Botanical Garden with one of their best instructors and a lifelong plantsman, Michael Ruggiero.  It’s a treat to learn from him.

Last month in “The Curious Gardener” I talked about selecting seeds from mail order seed catalogs. In this article I will take you through the process of sowing those seeds indoors, following some of the lessons Mike Ruggiero teaches in his class at NYBG.

Step One:  Use a growing medium that is sterile and fine textured.

What does this mean?  Seed starting mixes available in stores are usually a mix of sphagnum peat moss and other sterile ingredients such as perlite or vermiculite. Sterile mix helps prevent a fungal disease that can kill off seedlings, and it reduces weed development because it contains no foreign seeds. The term “soiless” applies to this mixture because neither peat moss , perlite nor vermiculite are soil. Peat moss comes from sphagnum moss, perlite is a volcanic mineral and vermiculite comes from mica. Mike recommends a mix that doesn’t have fertilizers in it, because fertilizer is not needed until after germination, and it runs the risk of burning the seed.

Step Two: Select a Container  –Any container that is 2” deep with drainage holes will do. Be sure to wash it thoroughly before using. Be aware that peat pots tend to dry more quickly than plastic containers and moisture may wick off into the air.

Step Three: Put Growing Medium into Container –First, put your soiless mix in a trough and add hot water.  Work it with your hands (wearing lightweight garden gloves) until your mix is uniformly moist but not soaking wet. Fill your container to the top with the mix. Tamp it down lightly and uniformly, using something flat such as the bottom of another container. Peat moss retains moisture for a long time, which makes it a good medium for plant germination. Mike recommends moistening your mix before sowing seeds so you don’t have to water them afterwards and risk disturbing them.

Step Four: Sow your Seeds –Use a pen to create shallow rows in your container.  Gently drop seeds along the row from the seed packet rather than from your hand. If too many seeds drop in one spot gently nudge them apart with your pen tip. After seeds are sown, cover them with some of your soiless mix that has not been moistened.  Mike showed us how to gently sift the mix through a screen , just covering the seeds and preventing any larger particles from obstructing the seed. Read the seed packet to determine how much to cover the seed. Some seeds need full light to germinate and shouldn’t be covered at all.

Step Five: Germination –The two things seeds need for germination are moisture and warmth.  Cover your container with plastic to simulate a warm, moist greenhouse environment. In this way the moisture in the growing medium will probably stay moist under germination without further watering. Put your container somewhere warm-ish, but not in direct sun. The top of a refrigerator is the right temperature, but a radiator is too warm.  Check your seeds often so you know when they germinate. Once they do, they need to move to the next stage right away.

Step Six:  After Germination Occurs –As soon as your seeds germinate the most important thing they need is light. Remove the plastic top off the container and put them in the light. They no longer need a cozy warm environment and in fact will become stronger plants if they are in a cooler place at this stage (check individual seed requirements, but daytime temps of 65 to 70° and nighttime temps of 55 to 60° are adequate, on average). However, if their roots dry out they will die immediately, so be sure to water them, but not too much! Watering from the bottom is a gentler way of watering your seedlings, but do not let your container continue to sit in water once the soil is moist.

At this stage, it is important to fertilize your seedlings because your growing medium is not providing any nutrients.  Water weekly with a light solution of liquid plant fertilizer (Mike suggests a solution that is 1/2 as weak as what the label recommends).

Seedlings ideally want 16 to 18 hours of light a day. I bought a grow light on a stand from Hydrofarm. It was pretty easy to set up and I placed it on a table in my new greenhouse. I plan to start seeds in a few weeks. After they germinate I will move them to the grow light station so they get 16 hours of light a day. This yields bushier, healthier plants. The first sign that seedlings are short of light is when they become too spindly or ‘leggy’. They are just reaching for the light.

If you don’t have grow lights then your seedlings will have to make do with less light. But grow lights are not expensive and can be purchased as a single bulb on a stand with a bendable arm that you can position just above (about 6” above) your seedlings.  A fluorescent bulb will work also. Grow lights provide light without heat.

Step Seven: Write it Down –One of the first lessons Mike teaches is the importance of keeping records of what we do so we learn what works in our growing environment, which differs from everyone else’s growing environment. Make a chart that has key dates on it, such as sowing, germination, pricking out (putting in individual containers), potting (transplanting to 4” pots) and fertilizing. For each seed you plant, fill in the chart as you go. Be sure to include the name of the plant, the seed company and date on the seed packet.  It’s ok to use seeds from previous years, but expect the rate of germination to diminish from year to year, even if you store the seeds properly. Proper storage means putting the seed pack in a sealed plastic bag in the produce drawer of your refrigerator, which should be about 40°.

Visit your Botanical Gardens. I’m so grateful to have a resource like The New York Botanical Garden (and Mike Ruggiero) not too far from where I live. Every visit, whether I am taking a class or not, is an educational experience. Many towns have their own botanical gardens. You can learn a lot and get ideas for your own gardens there.

Make Your own Maple Syrup

Like many things that are worth having, homemade maple syrup rewards planning and some trial and error.  I spoke with neighbor Mark Chipkin about his maple syrup operation and was surprised on one hand that you can tap a tree in the morning and have maple syrup later that same day. On the other hand, I was surprised how much sap it takes to make a little bit of syrup.

Mark is a retired science teacher and Chairman of the 1,000 acre Pawling Nature Reserve, owned by The Nature Conservancy. He approaches syrup-making like a science experiment, tinkering with the variables  and recording the results of each batch he makes.  He and his wife Brenda make about 3 gallons of maple syrup a year, and they use it as an all purpose sweetener for pancakes and french toast as well as yogurt, winter squash, coffee and tea.  They also give away some of their harvest to friends and neighbors. 

Last year they got their best results around the first week of March, tapping their 4 largest and oldest maples, each with a 4-5’ diameter.  This year they decided to tap some of the younger maples on their property, each with a 10-12” caliper. The mapling season ends around the end of March in our area. Some say when the trees start to bud it’s time to stop. If you tap too late the sap starts to turn a little bitter.

Interestingly, maple syrup has also become a local industry. Crown Maple is a young company on an 800-acre tract of farm land in the town just north of where I live in Pawling, NY. With 30,000 taps and 14,000 gallons of USDA Organic syrup scheduled for the 2012 season, the company already has the distinction of being the largest producer of maple syrup in New York State. The owners got into the business as a way to preserve the majestic maple groves on the farm for future generations, and they do everything in a sustainable way, including the building and operating of their plant facility. I had a tour of Crown Maple in the fall and met their Chief Syrupmaker, who they liken to the Chief Winemaker at a vineyard.

To make your own maple syrup at home, follow Mark Chipkin’s step-by-step instructions below:

Step 1: Drill a hole in your sugar maple tree (Acer sacharrum) about 1-1/2” deep using a 5/16” bit.  (If you are worried about your tree, remember the hole closes up and heals quickly at the end of the season after you pull out the tube). If you’re not sure whether your maple is a sugar maple, you can tell by the fall foliage. It turns bright orange.

Step 2:  Place a spile, or tubing spout, into the hole about 5/8” in. There are several different kinds of metal and plastic spiles available inexpensively on line. The end of the tube will go into a bucket or plastic jug which can hang on the spile. The sap will flow out of the tree, through the tube and into your jug on a warm day after a cold night. The sap flows best after a night with below freezing temperatures, followed by a sunny warm day.  One tap can produce a gallon or more of sap on a warm day.

Step 3: Pour sap into a big pot and boil it.  Mark puts his pot on top of the wood burning stove he uses to heat his house. It’s a slow boil that can take a full day to boil down 3 or 4 gallons to the right consistency. You can also boil outdoors on a grill or over a fire pit, or boil indoors on your kitchen stovetop. He experiments with finishing off the syrup at different temperatures.  If the final temperature at which you remove the syrup is too low (212°) the yield of syrup will be too runny and may be more susceptible to mold formation.  Too high a temperature or forgetting to watch the pot and you may end up with solid crystal maple candy.  At 217° the syrup goes into a furious, frothy boil, and that’s what he looks for.

Step 4:  After the sap is boiled down to a consistency he likes he pours it through cheesecloth (to filter out ‘maple sand’), directly into a canning jar.  When he puts the lid on the canning jar it seals the contents inside, helping it stay fresh longer, up to perhaps 6 months or more in the fridge.  If you properly can the syrup it will last for years without refrigeration.

All in all, Mark and Brenda collect about 100 gallons of sap to yield 3 gallons of syrup. It’s hard work carrying the gallon jugs back and forth between the trees and the house and monitoring the consistency of the sap as it boils, but it’s also a fun, satisfying and tasty winter hobby.

Photos for this story were provided by Mark Chipkin and his syrup making ‘mentor’ Jeremy Wolff.

Welcome Spring with a Farm-To-Table Brunch

We have decided to celebrate a new holiday in our family. It is the first day of Daylight Savings. It’s not quite Spring, but it’s close enough.  Last year we had a “Spring Ahead” brunch and found that brunch is a great time to serve local foods such as farm fresh eggs and apple cider donuts.

This year we “Spring Ahead” on Sunday March 11^th. Here are some ideas for a Sunday brunch to welcome spring where you live.

Flowers—What says spring better than tulips and daffodils?  Call your local florist ahead of time so you are sure to get your first choice of tulip colors. If you plan ahead you can also force some spring bulbs in a pot or grow an amaryllis for the occasion as I have done.

Menu—We have egg-producing chickens so their eggs go into a large platter of scrambled eggs with asparagus.  We serve thick bacon from a local farm. The Hudson Valley is a farm rich region, and there is no shortage of meats, produce, fresh water seafood and locally produced wine available within 60 miles of where we live.  Some items, such as apples and blueberries, are stored during the winter by farmers so they are available year round. Here is our menu:

• Roasted Asparagus with Scrambled Eggs (made with our own eggs)
• Ham Biscuits with local ham
• Fresh baked Blueberry Muffins (with our own eggs and local blueberries)
• French Toast Casserole (with local maple syrup)
• Apple Cider donuts from Salinger’s Farm (in the next town over)
• Cut up fresh fruit

I like to let people know what they are eating so I made little cards to put with each item.

By April, I’m already out in the garden and it would be hard to coax me inside for a daytime party, but in March we’re still indoors enjoying the warmth of a burning fire and thinking of Spring ahead.

In this issue:

Tips on Navigating Mail Order Seed Catalogs

Feeding the Hungry: Just Do It!

Gardeners Make Their Resolutions for 2011: The Winners Are…

Navigating Mail Order Seed Catalogs–

A seasoned mail order gardener will tell you that the gardening year begins in the dead of winter when seed catalogs start arriving, long before local garden centers open their doors for spring.   

I have finally joined the ranks of those who will be growing from seed this year – in the new greenhouse we built off the back of our house.  And I’m discovering just how companionable a good seed catalog can be on a cold day curled up in a comfortable chair by the fire.

After reading through my stack of catalogs and talking with a few seed companies, here are some tips for navigating the world of mail order seeds.  I plan to order seed packets from each of the companies mentioned.

• If you are wondering about the differences between traditional, hybrid, heirloom, open-pollinated and organic plant breeding and seeds, the catalog produced by Bountiful Gardens in Willits, CA, provides the clearest explanation I found. (Some of these methods are not mutually exclusive.) Bountiful Gardens is a project of Ecology Action, which promotes the biointensive method of growing. Like most seed companies, Bountiful Gardens sells seeds purchased from seed suppliers all over the world, and some that are developed at their own organic research farm on a “steep, southwest-facing hillside at about 2400-feet elevation.” Of note, they also sell mushroom growing kits. This catalog is interesting to read, is full of educational information and it tells you which seeds were produced without chemicals, fertilizers and pesticides. www.bountifulgardens.org

• If you have an iPad you can curl up with the catalog produced by Renee’s Garden, because it’s digital-only. I have always admired Renee for building a successful business from scratch that has earned such a reputation for quality. She chooses varieties that grow well in different climates, and then tests them in 3 disparate regions of the country. She takes advantage of what the internet offers by letting you drill down to detailed growing and planting instructions, as well as photographs, for each plant.  Lovely hand watercolor illustrations and crisp copy that bespeaks a lifetime of gardening knowledge, accompanies each seed packet, also shown online.  When I spoke with Renee she was excited about the full time horticultural advisor they have on staff. “When considering what seed companies to buy from, be sure you can get someone on the phone if you need help,” says Renee.  She describes her mission as “to sell seeds that grow”.  I am going to try Wasabi Arugula and Edible Landscape Lettuce, two new seeds she is offering for 2012. www.reneesgarden.com
• Seed Savers Exchange is a non-profit, member supported network of plant collectors whose mission is to save and share heirloom seeds.  Many of their seeds are certified organic.  I think I am going to try their Parisian Pickling Cucumbers because I love cornichons. The Parisian Pickling Cucumbers are a French heirloom from the late 1800’s.  They also sell heirloom flower seeds.  www.seedsavers.org

• The D. Landreth Seed Company of Philadelphia is the oldest seed ‘house’ in the country. It’s exhilarating to read the poster reproduced in their catalog from 1899, commemorating 115 years in business.  Yes, they were founded in 1784!  I ordered the catalog when I read on Facebook that they were facing extinction and needed to raise funds to produce a catalog this year.  I sent in my $5.  The catalog is beautiful, with lots of graphics reproduced from old seed packets and posters. My only complaint is that the type is so small I cannot read a lot of it.  Of note, they have an African American Heritage Collection. www.landrethseeds.com

• I found a local seed company online, the Turtle Tree Seed Company in Copake, NY, about 40 miles north of where I live.  They practice organic, biodynamic gardening, which is a very particular system of growing (and not the same as biointensive, mentioned above). Their seeds are grown at their farm and other farms around the country that practice biodynamic gardening. They employ people with developmental disabilities to help grow, clean and pack the seeds. I like supporting local, but I was curious about whether it makes a difference where the seed comes from geographically.  Most seed companies, even small, local farms like Turtle Tree, don’t really say what breeders they get their seeds from, so it’s a moot point.  The important thing is that the seed companies have tested them in a climate similar to yours, to be sure they will grow where you live.  Look for this information in the catalog or website of any seed company you are considering. www.turtletreeseed.org
• Genetically Modified Seed (GMO’s)— I’m told that GMO’s, made by giants like Monsanto for crops such as corn, soy and cotton, are developed exclusively for the commercial market. No GMO’s have been developed for the home gardening market because it’s simply too small a market with no demand for it.  Nevertheless, to ward off confusion among consumers, many seed companies have signed the “Safe Seed Pledge” which promises they don’t buy or sell genetically modified seed.  All the seed companies mentioned in this article and the list below have signed The Pledge. One company noticeably absent from the “Safe Seed Pledge” list is Burpee. Like the other companies, Burpee promises they do not buy or sell GMO’s, but perhaps because they are the industry leader they feel their customers will take them at their word (you can read the Burpee president’s views on GMO’s if you click here).  Burpee does buy some (non-GMO) gardening seed from Seminis, a subsidiary of Monsanto.
• Womanswork carries some supplies, such as plant labels for seedlings, in our online catalog. For help with planning your garden, see our flower Garden Wheels on the Gardeners Hub website, or our Vegetable Garden Wheel. 

Feeding the Hungry: Just Do It! 

If you want to help the hungry there are many ways to do it. I Googled ‘soup kitchens Dutchess County’ and found a program called The Lunch Box in Poughkeepsie that offers a free hot lunch everyday and dinner when they can find volunteers to host it. I made an appointment with Carol Beck, their coordinator of volunteers, and scheduled a time to meet with her and observe the program in action.  This program has grown in popularity to the point where they are able to serve dinner most weeknights. For many of their guests, this is their only hot meal of the day.

I have a loyal group of friends who rise to the occasion whenever I put out the call to do a Womanswork evening at “The Lunch Box.”  We split up the cooking and show up at the location (about 30 minutes from home) at 4:30 in the afternoon. We’re done by 7 pm. 

A couple of weeks ago we served about 125 people baked ziti, tossed salad, bread and homemade chocolate chip cookies.  “The Lunch Box” provides coffee and other beverages. Last summer our friends Bart Louwagie and Linda Puiatti, who are very good at making crepes, joined us for a dinner and brought crepes, fresh fruit and Nutella chocolate spread, so that’s what we offered for dessert.  That was special.

There is a strong connection between gardening and food, and Womanswork has made a commitment as a company to help fight hunger, starting locally. Our contribution is small but if everyone (including small businesses) were to find some way to help the hungry it would make a big difference. Plenty of people are doing things. We would love to hear from our readers about what they are doing, and how they got started. Please let us know.

Gardeners Make Their Resolutions for 2012: And the Winner Is…

In last month’s “The Curious Gardener” eNewsletter I challenged my readers to come up with New Year’s Resolutions for gardening in 2012.  I started things off with 5 of my own and offered to give away Womanswork Rose Gauntlet Gloves for my favorites.

I was amazed as the comments poured in throughout the month of January (Jan. 31^st was the deadline).  And because I listed 5 resolutions of my own, almost everyone who commented listed 5 of their own. That’s a lot of resolutions! It gave me a real feeling for who these women are,  and they all feel like kindred spirits.

The themes that run through a lot of the comments were things like resolving to take better care of tools, start a garden journal, plant plants in the ground instead of letting them languish in their pots, get control of the weeds earlier in the season, sit and enjoy the garden more often.  There were also some truly ambitious goals such as installing a stone walkway, finishing a Master Gardener program, digging a pond, practicing saying the Latin plant names aloud.  

My very favorite is from Myrene. This is what Myrene wrote.

For several years I have made 1 garden resolution – to spend 15 minutes per day gardening. I live in Indiana where we have winter weather. It is surprising what can be accomplished in the winter months. Spring is so much fun when a lot of the work preparing for the next season has been slowly finished over the winter months. Last week I was able to prune shrubs and edge garden beds. Many invasive plants are easier to remove during cold weather. Give 15 minutes of gardening per day, 365 days a year, a try. I think you will be pleased with the results.

Myrene’s resolution is inspirational and makes me want to go outside right now for my 15 minutes of gardening! Thank you Myrene.

The two runners up are Dianna K (”make some new gardening friends!” ) and Helene (Teach the deer to read the “deer resistant plant” list, and Train the squirrels to think my blueberries are inedible).

Dianna K, Helene and Myrene will each receive a pair of Womanswork Leather Rose Gauntlet Gloves.  Thank you to everyone who sent a comment. They were all inspirational!

Mulch Your Garden Beds After the Ground Freezes

What to Know About Houseplants and Your Cat

Gardeners Make Their New Year’s Resolutions

Mulch Your Garden Beds After the Ground Freezes

 Where I live in the northeast the ground is just about frozen. This is my cue to protect the plants in my garden that have shallow roots.  This includes any new plants that have not had a full season to get established.

Why now?  The purpose of winter mulching is to keep the ground around these plants consistently frozen. Without protection the cycle of freezing and thawing which occurs throughout the season in my Zone 5 garden can cause plants to heave out of the ground and expose their roots to the biting cold and wind.

In addition to newly planted plants, some shallow rooted plants are particularly prone to heaving, according to my friend the horticulturist Ruth Clausen.  Included in this group are members of the coral bell clan—heucheras, heucherellas and tiarellas.  Heucheras have become so popular in recent years, and indeed I have lost several to heaving.  I am determined not to let that happen this winter.

What Qualifies as Winter Mulch?   The best ‘mulch’ for your plants is snow, because it keeps the ground consistently frozen and it disappears in the spring, allowing plants to gradually come out of dormancy as temperatures begin to rise. In most parts of the country, however, there is no guarantee the ground will be covered in snow all winter.

Evergreen Boughs.  I use evergreen boughs to protect my garden beds.  We always gather greens from the farm where we get our Christmas tree.  We’ve noticed that people cut down their tree and leave behind  lower branches and other greens, so we sweep them up and bring them home (no charge).  Now that the holidays are over, we can cut the branches off our own tree and use those too.  I’ve also noticed greens along the side of roads (mostly white pine) that dropped during the infamous Halloween snowstorm in the northeast. Most of those are good for the taking too.

The advantage of evergreen boughs layered on your garden bed is that they are easy to gather up in the spring when temperatures begin to rise.  Also, they do not provide a haven for burrowing voles and mice the way leaves or shredded bark can. And they really do shield your plants from the sun, which is what causes thawing.  Evergreen boughs can be prickly to handle, so be sure to wear gloves.

What To Know About Houseplants and Your Cat

Last summer we took in a stray kitten who showed up at our back door. Neither my husband nor I had owned a cat since childhood so we were wading into new territory here. Coincident with this we completed our long planned greenhouse off the back of the house and stationed Scout’s litter box in there.  As the weather turned colder we brought many of our outdoor plants into the greenhouse to overwinter and Scout was suddenly, and happily, surrounded by plants. 

I noticed two types of behavior I didn’t like, and I decided I’d better seek advice. One, she was scratching and digging in the soil of several plants, and kicking the soil onto the floor. Second, she was chewing on some of the plants, and I wondered if this might be unhealthy.

I friend of mine suggested I get in touch with Dr. Lucy Dayton, a retired veterinarian in Helena, Montana, who is also an avid gardener and plantswoman. She immediately appreciated the dilemma I face and she pointed me to a small group of credible websites, steering me clear of the many ‘dubious’ ones on the internet.  Here’s what I learned. (the reputable websites are listed at the end of this article).

Poisonous Houseplants   Lilies top every list of plants that are poisonous to cats. Even a small amount ingested can cause life threatening kidney failure.  If you like Easter lilies keep them away from your cat. While most plants are harmless, there are many plants that are toxic to cats, in varying degrees, and some of them, I learned, are plants that I have in my greenhouse (!), including Amaryllis, Lantana and Begonia.  While Scout has exhibited no signs of illness (typically it includes vomiting or diarrhea) I will make sure to keep them out of her reach, and in fact we have moved Scout’s litter box out of the greenhouse. 

For a list of plants that are poisonous to cats, click here, or consult your veterinarian. There is also a 24-hour hotline for use in an emergency.  The ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control Center is at 888-426-4435. (Have your credit card handy as there may be a charge for this call).

Making Your Plants Less Attractive to Cats   According to the Cornell U. College of Veterinary Medicine website, you can try spraying the leaves with water, then sprinkling them with cayenne pepper.  Commercial pet repellents serve the same purpose. Try laying mothballs on the soil to see if the smell repels your cat.

Cornell U. recommends laying a little aluminum foil over the soil to prevent scratching in the dirt, decreasing the odds your cat will turn to the plant as a treat.  I tried putting down a piece of screen door screening over the soil and that seems to work. It keeps Scout out and lets the sun in. Small stones would also protect the top surface of soil from her scratching.

Cats Crave Vegetable Matter.  The experts say that it is usually indoor cats who eat houseplants because they crave vegetable matter. Our Scout does go outside, but in the winter there isn’t much vegetable matter for her to chew on. You can get around this by adding lettuce or parsley to her food bowl or switching to a food with higher fiber content. You can also plant oat grass, catnip and catmint in a pot for your cat to enjoy. These are safe for cats.

Recommended website for Information on Cats and Poisonous Plants–

http://www.aspca.org/Pet-care/poison-control/Plants.aspx?plant_toxicity=toxic-to-cats

http://www.healthypet.com/PetCare/PetCareArticle.aspx?art_key=655a2b98-fe3f-4162-b9e4-af262ec76c7c

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/brochures/DestructiveBehavior.html

Gardeners Make Their New Year’s Resolutions

On New Year’s Eve I committed to be a better person in 2012, but now it’s time to make my Gardening New Year’s Resolutions. That’s much more fun! 

Please send us your New Year’s Resolutions in the comments section below and we will reward our favorites with Womanswork Rose Leather Gauntlet gloves.  All comments must be received by Jan. 31^st.

Here are my 5 Gardening New Year’s Resolutions—

1. Harvest at least one lemon from the lemon tree growing in my greenhouse
2. Grow all of my container annuals for next summer from seed, including Black Eyed Susan vine
3. Memorize the major tree species in our region.(Check back with me in a year on this one)
4. Begin replacing the Pachysandra in our front yard with liriope, one of my favorite evergreen groundcovers.

1. Propagate lots of streptocarpella saxorum plants in  my greenhouse to give as gifts (the parent came from Ruth Clausen and it made a lovely gift!)

• Turn a tuna can into a holiday tray decoration
• What to do with your fall leaves?  The jury is in
• My top holiday gift recommendations for the gardener

A Tuna Can Becomes A Tray Decoration

If you know someone who is homebound over the holidays, this is an idea that will bring a smile to their face. I belong to a garden club and each year at our December meeting we put together little tray ornaments and deliver them to groups such as Meals on Wheels and local hospitals. We make over 300 of these tray ornaments. Here are the supplies you will need:

-1 block of Oasis® floral foam (can be purchased at a florist or garden center)

-1 empty tuna or cat food can

-8” square piece of foil (preferably floral foil that is colored on one side, but regular aluminum foil is acceptable)

-a handful of evergreens cut 4-6” long (from your own yard or purchased at a florist or garden center)

-assorted small decorations like ribbons, bows or mini-Christmas balls (optional)

-a pair of garden gloves if the greens are prickly to handle

And here’s how you make one:

Step 1. Cut the piece of Oasis® floral foam lengthwise so it is just half as thick. After cutting it, it will be exactly as deep as a tuna can.

Step 2. Push your tuna can down into the half-thick Oasis®.  Turn the can over and you have your base for the arrangement.  Each block can turn out 6 tray ornaments.

Step 3. Soak the can with Oasis® in water to keep your greens moist. (Oasis® will stay wet for a week or more)

Step 4. Push sprigs of greens into the Oasis® and make an arrangement. Add ribbons and other ornaments as desired.

Step 5. Set the can in a square of florist foil and crimp the sides. You are ready to deliver your fragrant tray ornament to someone who will really appreciate it!

What to do with your Leaves? The Jury is in

I have always heard that leaving a few leaves on the lawn is a good thing. But when I visited the New York Botanical Garden recently I saw pristine lawns with no leaves in sight. So which is it? Here is the answer.

I asked Kurt Morrell, who is the NY Botanical Garden’s head of landscape operations.  It turns out he is passionate on the topic of leaves because it has become a hot button issue for municipalities around the country.  Recent university studies have looked at the issue of ‘yard waste management’ because of the negative impact on the environment of large piles of leaves and grass clippings in municipal landfills. 

At the NY Botanical Garden Kurt uses a mulching mower for his lawns early in the fall, so that the leaves get chopped up finely and left right on the grass. They are invisible to the eye, especially from a distance.  Later in the fall when the leaf drop is heavier, instead of mulching them he picks them up and transports them to the compost heap.  NYBG produces 1500 yards of compost a year and leaves are an important component of the mix. The following spring that compost is used in a variety of ways in garden beds and tree wells.

Are chopped up leaves bad for your lawn? Many home owners (including myself) wonder whether there are long term negative effects of leaving leaf mulch on the lawn.  The recent university studies, conducted over several years, have enough data to show that there are no negatives, and in fact there are some positives. What they found is that overall soil quality improves, with no substantial buildup of leaf mat, regardless of what types of trees you have (pine needles excepted).  The increase in microbial activity breaks down the chopped up leaves and improves aeration, water infiltration and even weed management. The key is to chop up the leaves finely with a mulching mower.

Is Doing Nothing an Option? — I like the look of a clean lawn, so it wouldn’t occur to me to leave my lawn full of leaves. That’s a good thing, because turf grass specialists told me unshredded tree leaves can smother the grass and kill a lawn. Even a thin layer can rob your lawn of access to the sun and increase the chances of snow mold in the winter.

Leaf Shredder –  One of my horticulturist friends, Ruth Rogers Clausen, loves her leaf shredder.  She throws armfuls of leaves down the shoot and into a kangaroo bag, then layers them on her garden beds for the winter.  In the spring she takes a pitchfork and pokes it into the top 2-3 inches of her garden beds, gives it a twist, and fluffs up her soil.

Leaves for Compost  — Pound-for-pound, leaves have twice as many minerals as manure, according to the plant specialist at the New York Botanical Garden who answers a consumer call in line. Leaves provide much needed carbon, which complements the nitrogen found in grass clippings and other compost greens.  If you can shred the leaves first

My Top Holiday Gift Recommendations for the Gardener

1) Membership to a botanical garden—There are hundreds of botanical gardens and arboreta around the country and they need the public’s support. The benefits of membership usually include free admission for 2, discounts at the shop and free parking—for a whole year.  A membership makes a nice gift.

2) Gardening books—I have 4 book recommendations for gardeners, all very different from each other:

-“Food Rules” by Michael Pollan has just been re-released with illustrations by Maira Kalman, who is one of my favorite illustrators/artists/commentators on life.

- “Founding Gardeners” by Andrea Wulf is a great read for someone on your list who likes history and botany. It tells the story of the first four presidents (Washington, Adams, Jefferson and Madison) and their passion for plants.

-“Embroidered Ground: Revisiting the Garden  by Page Dickey, one of my favorite garden writers. I have every book she has published.

-“Pushing Up Daisies” is a novel by Rosemary Harris, a master gardener and mystery writer. It’s a fun read for mystery lovers who are gardeners. Available in paperback for $7.

3) Handmade Gift—My daughter Eve discovered a designer on Etsy.com who makes plantable seed paper with garden markers. Check out Alison Cecil’s “Seed Paper Herb Kits” for Basil and Dill. (Also available on the Anthropologie website.)  They’re handmade in the USA and start at $12.

4) Eco Watering Spouts—Transform your empty plastic bottles into watering cans with these patented twist on bottle adaptors in three designer colors. Priced at $5 each or 3/$15.

5) Dramm Water Wand—Not all gifts for the gardener have to be gift-y, so to speak. As an avid gardener I would like nothing more than to receive a fan nozzle spray gun or rain wand from Dramm under the Christmas tree. Dramm products are available at most garden centers.  I won’t use my watering wand until spring, but boy will I use it then!

6) Garden gloves—We humbly submit that we think Womanswork garden gloves make great gifts. Visit the Womanswork website to see all of the choices we offer for the female gardener in your life, along with gift boxes and gift cards. Prices for our gloves range from $8.50 to $38.

7)  Fabrics by Felicity Miller— I discovered Felicity Miller’s colorful fabrics this year and fell in love with her designs. If you like to sew, or the gardener in your life likes to sew, you can view this up-and-coming designer’s collection online at http://www.felicitymiller.com/. To order yardage of her fabric send Felicity an email at felicitykatemiller@gmail.com.  Her designs would be great for a gardener’s apron, a quilt or garden bag.

Subscription to a gardening magazine—My favorite garden magazine is Horticulture and I will be giving subscriptions to some of my gardening friends this year.

In this issue:

• Love your holiday paperwhites even more
• Host A Farm-To-Table Thanksgiving
• Discover the Legacy of the first World Trade Center

Love your holiday paperwhites even more–I love growing pure white narcissus paperwhite bulbs for holiday decorations and gifts, but I wish they wouldn’t get so leggy that they flop over as soon as they start blooming. I talked to Fred Van Bourgondien, 7^th generation member of the K Van Bourgondien & Sons family, and he said that I am not the only one with this issue. He told me the bulb industry, with Cornell University, has a solution for people like me.

Give them a nip of alcohol.  It turns out that alcohol, diluted with water, is what shortens the narcissus stems. If you follow our instructions below, the stems will be 1/3 to 1/2 shorter with the same-sized flowers.  Caution: if you give them too much alcohol it could be toxic to the plant.

Be sure to allow 4 weeks between the time you pot up your bulbs and the time you want them to bloom. Then, follow these instructions for shorter, sturdier paperwhite stems that won’t flop over.  Note: If you want the longer, leggier paperwhites, just leave out the alcohol.

Step 1. Select a container for growing your paperwhite bulbs.  If the container does not have drainage holes in the bottom, then use stones as your planting medium instead of potting soil, or the bulbs may rot before they have a chance to bloom. If your container has drainage holes then fill it with potting soil. For a bulb and container source, check the Womanswork website. We buy our bulbs from Fred Van Bourgondien.

Step 2. Press bulbs nose up into the soil or stones, with the tops sticking out (I usually leave at least ½ the top of the bulb sticking out).

Step 3. Water well.  If using stones, fill container so that the bulbs are just touching the water. If using soil, keep soil damp but not soaking wet.

Step 4. Keep at room temperature in a well-lighted area (after shoots emerge, keep out of the direct sun or the foliage will ‘stretch’ towards the sun)

Step 5. Begin watering with a dilute solution of 4-6% alcohol when shoots are about 1 -2” above the top of the bulbs (solution should not exceed 10%!) Rubbing alcohol as well as distilled spirits such as gin, vodka, whiskey, rum and tequila, are all fine. Beer and wine are not fine because of the sugar. To determine the correct dilute solution, take the % of alcohol on the label and divide by 5. (Example 1: a bottle of gin says 40% alcohol.  40 divided by 5 = 8.  I need an 8-fold dilution to yield 5% alcohol, so I will mix my solution 7 parts water to 1 part gin.) (Example 2: rubbing alcohol is 70% alcohol. 70 divided by 5 = 14.  I need a 14-fold dilution to yield 5% alcohol, so I will mix 13 parts water to 1 part rubbing alcohol.)

Extending Bloom Time of your paperwhites

As with most flowers, a warm environment can cause paperwhite blossoms to fade faster.  Move them to a cooler room at night if you want them to keep their blooms longer.

Start soon if you want to force indoor bulbs for next Spring

Fred Van Bourgendien reminded me that if I want to force indoor bulbs in the early spring, I need to put the bulbs in the refrigerator for 6-8 weeks first. So, soon I will be purchasing some of the following: crocus, muscari, hyacinth, daffodil and tulips (‘Single Early’ and ‘Triumph’), which are all bulbs that are good for forcing indoors.

Host A Farm-To-Table Thanksgiving– We’ve all witnessed the growth in farmers markets, but the latest trend is indoor, year round farmers markets. When I heard this I decided to host my first farm-to-table Thanksgiving.  I located a website that tells me where the closest market is to me at this time of year.  Our Pawling Farmers Market is a summer-only open air market , but there is one two towns away that stays open through Thanksgiving.  Click here to go to the website I visited.

Blue Hill at Stone Barns, NY

Keep It Simple: Start A Tradition– If you’re buying your sweet potatoes, parsnip and orchard fruits at a farmers market, or harvesting them from your own garden, you don’t need fancy recipes to bring out their flavor. One chef I talked to said that Thanksgiving is not the time to go crazy with new recipes.  Just roast all your vegetables together in a little olive oil and sea salt and you have a very tasty seasonal dish.  I like the idea of creating one special dish using fresh ingredients that could become part of our Thanksgiving tradition for years to come. 

Procuring the Turkey– Find a source for locally raised turkey through word of mouth or by researching on the internet. Then, the key is to find out how that turkey was raised. Here are the questions you want to ask: were the turkeys raised in confinement or outdoors in a pasture?  How much time do they spend outdoors? (some are let outside 10 minutes a day. That’s not enough). What do they eat and are they given antibiotics? Growth enhancers?  If necessary, speak with the farmer directly.

Leftovers– Blue Hill’s chef de cuisine, Trevor Kunk (shown right), makes tasty leftovers at home: “Turkey sandwiches with pickled red onions, roasted broccoli rabe, goat cheese, chopped capers, cornichons, herbs, lemon, poached breast and roasted thigh on focaccia”, he told an interviewer from Williams Sonoma last month.  Reading this, I almost want to skip the main meal and go right to the leftovers (To learn how to pickle, stay tuned to “The Curious Gardener”)

• Be Safe—The Society of American Hand Therapists recently announced that wearing gardening gloves was at the top of their list for preventing gardening injuries. Womanswork has a pair to suit every hand, task and season. In this month’s Martha Stewart Living, she features the Womanswork Goatskin Glove as one of her “Finds” for fall cleanup in the garden.
  

  Martha Stewart Living October Issue with Womanswork Gloves

• Don’t let Jack Frost catch you off guard—I bookmark a handy website that tells me when I can expect my first and last frost date, based on my zip code. Usually it happens sometime around late Sept. to early October in my Hudson Valley, NY garden. Once I hear the first frost is on its way I harvest the tender annuals and perennials that will go into shock or place them safely indoors. The Womanswork Herb and Vegetable Garden Wheels, priced at $8 each, tell you which plants are least or most tolerant of the cold.
•  Recycle your leaves – Fall leaves are plentiful in my yard. My friend the famous horticulturist, Ruth Rogers Clausen, recommends a leaf shredder for harnessing this source of rich nutrients to add to your compost heap or place right on top of your garden beds in the Fall. Womanswork “Digger” Gardening gloves that feature a longer cuff with Velcro closure that keep soil and debris out of gloves are ideal for this chore. “Digger Gloves” sell for $19.
• Preserve your crops – Preserving fruits and vegetables for winter has been a valued homemaking skill for centuries and now with the renewed interest in edible gardening this skill is having a renaissance. Many cookbooks and Web sites offer detailed instructions on how to make sure your preserved foods are safe and delicious. Whip up some pesto from your basil crop or consider alternative pestos using arugula or other herbs. Check out this link for a recipe for arugula pesto: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/michael-chiarello/arugula-pesto-recipe/index.html.   Mmmmmmm….. 

Recipe for Arugula Pesto

• 

  Womanswork Team after making dinner at The Lunch Box

  Remember the hungry– September is the month when our nationwide network of food banks asks Americans to support ending hunger in our country. Womanswork supports our local ‘soup kitchen’ by making dinner for those in need of a hot meal. You can also help by donating a portion of your harvest to your local food pantry. For a list of food pantries near you, click here: http://www.ampleharvest.org/find-pantry.php  (Food banks are regional and they supply local food pantries). 

• Plant Your Garlic– Garlic is one of the most used herbs in our kitchen.  We planted our first crop last fall and then harvested them in the late summer.  When you plant your garlic be sure to mark where you planted it because the  garlic won’t show any signs of growth in early spring. Womanswork has plant labels for just this purpose.  Priced at just $5 and $8, depending on the size, they are an essential and inexpensive gardening aid and make a thoughtful gift for your gardener friends. For more details on growing and harvesting garlic, consult “The Vegetable Garden Wheel”.
  

  Garlic in my Garden with Plant Labels

  

  Vegetable Garden Wheel

The cottage by the sea

One of the things we love about our little island in Maine is that seemingly nothing ever changes. And yet things do change– in subtle, positive ways. For instance it was always difficult to purchase good produce on the island because there is only one market and they tend to bring in produce that travels well, such as iceburg lettuce.   This summer we enjoyed a floating farmers market, which motored into the boatyard every Saturday morning carrying fresh vegetables and berries, as well as seafood, meat and baked goods. It was heavenly.

Floating Farmers Market

Flowers picked at Second Wind Farm

Collecting Lupine seeds

Now that we have a greenhouse at home I am interested in seeds and seed collecting. The timing was right for plucking the seedheads of the lupine plants in the cottage garden in front of the house. I saved the seeds and will try propagating them this winter for planting out next spring. Here’s a link with more information about collecting lupine seeds: http://www.ehow.com/how_453678?5_save-lupine-seeds.html

Fresh seaweed in the garden

Seaweed in the garden– Every time we walked up from the beach we carried a few handfuls of seaweed for the garden beds. Seaweed grows so fast, and is considered a nuisance to people who like white sandy beaches (those people usually do not go to Maine for vacation), so nobody minds when you remove some seaweed from the beach. Seaweed can act like a mulch in that it helps the soil retain moisture and suppresses weed growth. But it also has nutrients and hormones which are very good for plants. Here is a link with more information on the subject: http://ventnorpermaculture?.wordpress.com/2008/07/16/?using-seaweed-in-the-garde?n/

 

My sister-in-law Monica is a gardener and wears Womanswork garden gloves and sun protection hats so well, so we organized a shoot in her front yard for the holiday catalog. She is wearing our raffia hat with brim down, and also a pair of our High Performance gloves in red  (a new color available this holiday season).                                                                    

Pruning cottage roses

For pruning the thorny cottage roses growing up the side of the house and trellises my mother put on a pair of Womanswork leather rose gauntlet gloves. They protected her hands well and they’re breathable so are not hot.

On the last day of our vacation we picked wild raspberries from bushes growing along the side of the road, and added other fruit from the fridge, such as peaches, pears and apples, and I made a fruit tart. The tart pan was purchased for $2 just days earlier at the island’s weekly flea market at the Island Grange. The tart was a delicious addition to our lobster dinner, and was a high note to leave the island on the next day.

High Performance gloves in red (a new color)

Wild Raspberries fresh picked

Here’s the recipe for my fruit tart. For the crust I found an old edition of the Fannie Farmer Cookbook and followed this recipe. Crust: 1 cup flour, 1/4 tspn salt, 6 tblsp cold butter cut into small pieces, 1 egg yolk, 1-1/2 tblsp sugar (optional).Mix flour, salt and sugar in bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender. Whisk egg yolk and 2 tblsp water together in another bowl. Add to flour mixture, blend until smooth. Form into ball. Wrap in foil or plastic and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes. Roll it out or press by hand into tart pan. Prick bottom and bake for 12 minutes at 425 degrees. After baking the crust I put it in the freezer for 20 minutes at my daughter Eve’s suggestion. (She is a talented baker).

For a 10-1/2" tart pan like this, I made the crust recipe twice and combined the two balls.

Filling: I put the fresh-picked raspberries in a bowl and added slices of other fruits from our fridge, including apples (thinly sliced), pears and a couple of peaches. I gently mixed in about 1/4 cup of sugar, a little salt and a tblsp of flour. I filled the prebaked tart with the fruit mixture and baked for about 35 minutes at 375 degrees (individual ovens may vary). It was delicious!

White Flower Farm, Litchfield County, CT

Earlier this week Ruth Rogers Clausen met my mother and me at White Flower Farm in Litchfield County, CT. I wanted to catch up with Ruth on the topic of her new book, coming out in June (Timber Press). The title is 50 Beautiful Deer Resistant Plants, and I thought our visit to White Flower Farm provided a good opportunity to ask her what some of her favorite deer resistant plants are.  Ruth and I both live in areas with lots of deer.  Click here to hear Ruth talk about some of her favorite deer resistant plants in a video we made that day.

Dorian "interviews" Ruth in the video about her favorite plants

Ruth checking out Hakonechloa, a plant that deer don’t like

One way to keep deer away from a plant that they do like is to protect the plant by planting the things they don’t like all around it.  In her book Ruth talks about combinations of plants that are culturally similar and can work as a tag team in that way. She also touches on design elements that can discourage deer from entering your garden. They will never jump into a small space where they will feel cornered, such as a small fenced in area. 

After our lovely and educational tour of  White Flower Farm the three of us went into town for a glass of wine and a nice lunch.  It’s always a treat for my mother and me to spend an afternoon with Ruth.