motivation, and a pinch

of creativity.

~Bo Bennett

The gardens of Buffa10 were more than lovely, they were inspiring. Narrow alleys are transformed into garden pathways, blighted views into beautiful garden vistas. Buffalo is blooming and it was exciting to experience! Each garden we toured spoke [...]]]>

Enthusiasm is excitement with inspiration,

motivation, and a pinch

of creativity.

~Bo Bennett

The gardens of Buffa10 were more than lovely, they were inspiring. Narrow alleys are transformed into garden pathways, blighted views into beautiful garden vistas. Buffalo is blooming and it was exciting to experience! Each garden we toured spoke a message of its own, these are a few of my favorites:

Growing space is everywhere, including narrow corridors, basement window ledges and telephone poles.

Simple is beautiful whether the plant, the container or both.

You never know. Plants with different needs sometimes turn out to be quite compatible…and beautiful.

One gardener’s eyesore is another’s garden vista.

Abundance is good, in the front yard it’s grand.

If you have it, grow something on it.

There’s much more to this city than I knew. More on that tomorrow…

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~ Leroy Brownlow

~William Shakespeare

This is a gardening season has a rallying cry “Rise to the challenge!” The weather has been changeable, unpredictable and just plain odd. The critters are working in tandem a they tour the garden at will and [...]]]>

Things won are done, joy’s soul lies in the doing.

~William Shakespeare

This is a gardening season has a rallying cry “Rise to the challenge!” The weather has been changeable, unpredictable and just plain odd. The critters are working in tandem a they tour the garden at will and the weeds…well, we all know about weeds. This season is a battle of wits and wills against the one I try hardest to cooperate with… nature.

Incredibly, the Dragon Tongue beans have produced and are ready to pick. An heirloom variety well known for its flavor and beautiful, colorful pods I’ve looked forward to growing them and eating them since late last winter. An early spring planting yielded healthy seedlings in about a week’s time that, like the rest of the garden, have suffered repeated attacks since. Frost, snow, driving rain and wind. They boldly pressed onward and upward… and blossoms eventually appeared. So did the bunnies and beetles. Nibbled halfway to the ground they sulked and sagged, yet after a brief delay they recovered and new leaves eventually appeared like a green robe to cover the naked stems. Beetles began to nibble, but the daily rain kept me from picking them off, weeds grew around the plants but it was too wet to cultivate. They battle belonged to the bean plants and I’ve learned just how resilient they are.

The warm breeze of the last few days was enough to dry the garden out and hubby and I were able to tour the garden for the first time in over a week. Just inside the gate, like stalwart soldiers bruised from battle were these:

Withered tops of nibbled stems peeking out, beetle holes in the leaves apparent and wet weather taking its toll aside… these beans are gorgeous! Not only beautiful but abundant, the plants are loaded and the beans are tender and delicious. No,the plants aren’t pretty to look at as they have been in years past, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder… behold my victorious heirloom beans! Happy gardening!

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while you’re busy making other plans.

~John Lennon

A garden is a wonderful teacher, especially when it comes to lessons in predictability and planning. Rarely is anything predictable in my garden… one of the things I love most about tending it. There’s the sweet [...]]]>

Life is what happens to you

while you’re busy making other plans.

~John Lennon

A garden is a wonderful teacher, especially when it comes to lessons in predictability and planning. Rarely is anything predictable in my garden… one of the things I love most about tending it. There’s the sweet surprise of unexpected blossoms and the shock of plants nibbled to the quick by a hungry doe, plant growth stalled due to a rain delay and tiny first fruit I overlooked on a previous visit. The garden marches to a beat all its own and never has that been more evident than this season.

Life has been hectic this past week or so. Our teens are facing final exams, and the nerves that come with them. It’s been a challenge to keep our son (diagnosed with ADHD) organized  and calm in the end-of-the-school-year rush.  The weather, rainy and cool, has been lovely for finishing our landscaping project out front; but not even in the few spare minutes I find each day can I potter around in the garden. It’s been far too wet to do much more than duck inside the gate to pick fattened peas. Thankfully, the garden needs me far less than I need it and has continued on in my absence.

Today I spent a few minutes looking over the garden beds, my how things have changed! Tomatoes are bushy and blossoming, the favas about ready to harvest, a few first broccoli plants have bolted, but many others have yet to produce heads. The soggy lettuce needs composting, something is nibbling my heirloom cranberry bean tops and the vine tangled in the blackberries? Nightshade! Now where did that come from?! The roses have never been happier, the summer squash plants are stunning; the cucumbers are already climbing but the sullen melon vines are staying put. The potatoes at least have the decency to be punctual! Yes, things are off and growing this season. I suppose you could say “My garden is what happened while I was busy with other plans.” I’m so thankful it did!

Happy gardening!

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A weed is but an unloved flower.

~Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Comfrey: invasive perennial or super-garden plant? Maybe a bit of both… though I definitely lean towards the latter. Comfrey is a perennial herb (or to some a “useful weed”) and a member of [...]]]>

A weed is but an unloved flower.

~Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Comfrey: invasive perennial or super-garden plant? Maybe a bit of both… though I definitely lean towards the latter. Comfrey is a perennial herb (or to some a “useful weed”) and a member of the borage family. The thick roots tap deeply into the layers of soil mining the nutrients and storing them in the green tongue-shaped leaves. Comfrey leaves contain more nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium (N-P-K) than farm animal manures and more nitrogen and potassium than garden compost. Comfrey leaves also contain calcium and iron. The leaves are excellent for composting and when used as a mulch, break down readily without robbing the soil of precious nitrogen. Pretty super, right?!

Comfrey is quick-growing and forms a spreading clump in sun or shade. Depending on the variety, it can range from ten inches to three feet tall. All varieties die back to the ground in winter. The whisker-leaved plants produce nodding bell-shaped flowers that are a magnet for bees and other pollinators. Once established it takes a lot of digging to remove comfrey roots from the soil (trust me, leave even a tiny piece and the plant will return) so take care in selecting a spot for it to thrive. That said, I simply pull up clumps of the plant and toss them into the compost pile as the season goes on. Common comfrey (Symphytum officinale) also reseeds heavily, hence the “invasive” and “weedy” labels. If you don’t want a yard full of comfrey (or you aren’t a fan of dead-heading) Russian comfrey (Symphytum x uplandicum) produces very little viable seed and will remain for years where you plant it. Russian comfrey is also said to yield the greatest benefits in the garden as a fertilizer. (Check back Monday for more on comfrey’s uses in the garden.)

The easiest way to grow any comfrey is from root cuttings. Lift a clump and cut the black rootstock into two-inch pieces. Plant the cuttings just under the soil’s surface, water well and in about a week new plants will emerge. (Young foliage is susceptible to attack from hungry slugs so take precautions!) Once growing, a monthly feeding of liquid kelp is plenty to satisfy comfrey’s green need for nitrogen, though I confess I’ve never fertilized my comfrey and it still grows like crazy!  New comfrey plantings should be allowed to become established for one year before harvesting the leaves for use.Once well-established, the plant can be cut back to 2″ above the soil throughout the season and the leaves used in compost or to make comfrey garden tea.

Near the end of the season, around the middle of August, leave the plants to grow and flower without further cutting so they’ll remain vigorous and healthy the following year. After three years the plants can be dug up and divided regularly. To divide ours, I simply plunge the spade into the plant in early spring when the leaves emerge and lift a chunk to move. The divisions die back when planted, give them a week and they’ll recover and start growing all over again.

I’m experimenting with several different methods for using comfrey in the garden this year. If you’d like to know more about what I’m trying please check back for my next post on Monday. Happy gardening!

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All that an obstacle does with brave men is,

not to frighten them,but to challenge them.

~Woodrow Wilson

Every gardener has a plant (or two or three) that pose a challenge to his/her growing skills. [...]]]>

The only use of an obstacle is to be overcome.

All that an obstacle does with brave men is,

not to frighten them,but to challenge them.

~Woodrow Wilson

Every gardener has a plant (or two or three) that pose a challenge to his/her growing skills. Sometimes it’s the very nature of the plant to be *finicky*, other times it’s the denial of the climate and soil and other growing conditions where we garden that lead us down the path of frustration. It may be a bit of both when it comes to growing melons in my garden… oh how they vex me!

I must confess I have been attempting to grow a prime crop of melons for more than a few years. I have taken every care to wait until the soil is warm enough and I’ve warmed the soil artificially with black plastic and/or a hot box. I’ve started the seeds in compostable cups indoors and I’ve direct -sown them. I’ve mulched to conserve water, I’ve left off the mulch to keep the soil warm in the sun. You name it, I’ve tried it…and in the end I harvest several smallish melons that never live up to my hopes. It’s aggravating and yet, oddly, I enjoy it. Not the sort that enjoys unnecessary hardship, I do appreciate the learning curve of failure. Not that my puny crop of melons is failure, mind you!

Failure comes from not learning throughout the process of making mistakes. I’ve learned a lot. I’ve learned that there’s no reason melons shouldn’t grow in our garden. The soil, location and growing season are all fine for growing melons. A walk through the farmer’s market reveals crates full of locally-grown, ripe, sweet melons in mid-to-late summer. I’ve seen them growing happy-as-you-please in other gardens. We grew beautiful watermelons at our old house. So what’s the problem?

Answer: who knows? It’s the simple fact of growing that no matter if we do everything “right” sometimes the results just “wrong.” The real answer lies in what we do with that fact. I could easily plant something else…something that always grows and produces well, but there’s no challenge in that and no fun either! I’m preparing to sow melon seeds indoors this week, in compostable pots. I’m going to move the hot box over the prepared bed and keep the soil warm for transplanting time. Who knows? This might just be my year. If not there’s always next time… wish me luck!

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My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams.

The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers and the dreams are as beautiful.

-Abram L. Urban

Alison Kerr at Loving Nature’s Garden asked in a recent [...]]]>

In my garden there is a large place for sentiment.

My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams.

The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers and the dreams are as beautiful.

-Abram L. Urban

Alison Kerr at Loving Nature’s Garden asked in a recent post “Why do you garden?” The question is simple enough… and so is my reply:

I garden to feed myself.

I feed our family organic heirloom vegetables and fruits plucked fresh from the garden and teach them the joy of growing.

I feed on sunshine warmed  soil and  fresh air breezes as I work.

I feed my artistic side, creating and combining and uniting colors and textures and elements.

I feed my senses with  scents of lavender, sage and rose. I feel the damp soil between my fingers and listen to the happy buzz of bees and singing birds.

I feed my soul as I connect with creation, witnessing the miracle of ripe fruits brought forth from impossibly tiny seeds.

Simply stated…that is why I garden.

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The stevia cuttings have small roots now.

The radicchio has red-tinged leaves.

The onion seedlings are ready to transplant.

The okra is developing a second set of leaves, the peppers their first.

Sage seedlings show their characteristic [...]]]>

A lot has changed in the indoor garden this past week. I see something new everyday.

The stevia cuttings have small roots now.

The radicchio has red-tinged leaves.

The onion seedlings are ready to transplant.

The okra is developing a second set of leaves, the peppers their first.

Sage seedlings show their characteristic crinkled leaves.

The "Silver Fir Tree" tomato looks yellow, it isn't, it's the lights.

The basil will be potted into a larger container soon.

The shelves are filling in quickly!

There are three out of six shelves in use right now. Two have two double-bulb fixtures over them. The lower shelf is home to the stevia cuttings and plants as well as the lettuces and mesclun. (They require less intense light so a fixture isn’t needed.) As the plants quickly grow I’ll be busy with daily watering, rotating and pinching back herbs. A few things I miss… the birds gleaning and keeping me company, the bees humming in nearby blossoms, the cool breeze that blows across my neck on a hot day. I’m enjoying this indoor growing, but it will never replace the real thing!

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