Archive for ‘Organic Gardening’

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October 3, 2011

Volunteers – Take ’em or Leave ’em?

Walnuts and Pears… In my yard you will find two pear trees and three walnut trees growing.  I have to be honest though, I can’t take credit for planting the walnut trees, the squirrels did it.  Well, actually they buried the walnuts, saving them for a rainy day, but instead they apparently forgot about them, it rained and walnut trees were born.   Therefore, the walnut trees  are technically volunteers, but since we thought the squirrels did a nice job of placing them we let them be.

I’m kind of a sucker for growing things that way.  I LOVE volunteer plants.  As much as I love growing plants from seed propagating, grafting and the like, there’s nothing quite as cool as nature placing something for you.  As humans, we often times try to design things in an effort to make the setting look “natural”.  What better way to do that than to just leave it?  If it grew there on its own, there’s no guessing as to whether the growing conditions are right in that location.  If they weren’t, it wouldn’t have started growing to begin with.

I understand that not all volunteers come up in the best spot and if that’s the case I’d say remove it.  If it’s in a bad spot chances are it won’t make it in the long run anyway. I had a volunteer trumpet vine growing in my yard that I left for a while.  I was going to train it into a standard so I would look like a dwarf tree. I had also started to braid the trunk thinking it would be really cool down the road.  The problem is, the trumpet vine was growing right in the middle of a natural pathway through the back yard.  At first I tried to shift the path around the plant, then after watching others awkwardly duck around it and try not to poke an eye out on the thing I decided it was time to get rid of it. Which, if you’ve ever tried to get rid of a trumpet vine, you know that’s no small feat!  So I know, not all volunteers make sense to keep.

I have a number of other volunteer plants growing in my yard right now too.  In addition to the walnut trees, there is a volunteer oak tree in the front garden.  It’s all of maybe 10 inches high after two years, but it’s doing well and I intend to leave it there.  Long term it will overshadow the plants currently in that location, but that won’t be for many, many years, so I’ll worry about that when the time comes.

Then there’s the volunteer elm tree.  I struggle with that one.  I discovered it during the timeframe that I wasn’t feeling well and I really didn’t want to keep it, but I literally didn’t have the energy to dig it out at the time.  I think it knew that.  It completely took advantage of the situation and made itself right at home in the middle of one of my perennial beds in the back.  It’s now close to twice my height so I’m pretty sure it thinks it’s staying for good but little does it know its days are numbered.

I can pretty much count on having volunteer tomatoes come up in my veggie garden or some other random place in my yard every year too.  Most of the time I’ll pull them (especially to try to keep a good crop rotation in the garden) but occasionally if I’m feeling nice (or like I just want more tomato plants) I’ll leave them be.

This year, I had the most odd volunteer ever.  I have a plant growing out of the side of my compost bin. (I obviously didn’t do a thorough job of turning my compost last year!)  At first I was excited, I thought it was one of the cool pumpkins I bought last year.  No such luck.  When the fruit began to form it didn’t look like a pumpkin at all: it was too oblong and had very shallow grooves.  Then I thought maybe it was one of those tasty cantaloupe from last year.  Again… no luck.  Turns out it’s just squash.  I wish I could say I’m a huge squash fan, but I’m not.  I like it, but don’t LOVE it.  I’ve even found recipes in the past that I really enjoy, but it’s still squash.  The problem is, I honestly don’t have a clue what kind of squash is growing out there, which means I also don’t know what to do with it and I have a lot of it!



My guess is, whatever it was last year, the seed germinated and reverted back to the genes from its parents… OR it’s an entirely new variety, in which case I’d better get this puppy to the market and make millions!

There have to be squash lovers out there somewhere, right?

Squash anyone?

Kate

Posted in Composting, Organic Gardening, Veggie Garden, Volunteers | Leave a Comment »

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September 28, 2011

Take note! (And plan for spring!)

Autumn is here.  It’s the time of year that I begin to reflect upon the past growing season for my entire yard including my veggie garden, fruit trees, vines, perennial beds, containers, lawn, etc.

This is the time to bust out that Garden Journal (or start one if you haven’t already) and jot a few things down.

What was the weather like? If you didn’t make note of it throughout the season, try to recall as best you can and jot it down.  Late spring, lots of rain early, intense heat in the middle of the summer (many 90+ degree days), followed by the first hard frost on Sept. 14th, with a dry, dry fall.  The weather impacts a lot of things in your yard and garden and it’s good to have an idea as to what took place in order to reflect on what plants liked and didn’t like.

What went well? Tomatoes?  It seems to be a toss-up depending on who you talk to.  Yesterday I took a visit to Egg|Plant Urban Farm Supply in St Paul.  What a fun store!  (It is definitely getting added to my list of favorites!)  It’s a small store with pretty much everything you need for an Urban Garden including chickens and chicken supplies.  There weren’t any chickens there yesterday, but we were told that the baby chicks will be in around February or March.  In any case, we were discussing weather and tomatoes (as many gardeners do) and I found out that part of the issue with tomatoes this year was the heat.  However, it wasn’t what I was expecting to hear.  Apparently a lot of heirloom tomatoes don’t care for the intense heat while in bud stage, so many people growing heirlooms experienced bud drop this year, but those growing hybrids did not.  (A reason to grow a little of each.)  I grew both and I’ll be honest, I didn’t pay that close of attention to my tomatoes to take notice if or where buds dropped, but it does make sense because I did get far fewer tomatoes on my heirlooms than I did on my hybrids.

Another thing that did well were my containers on my front steps filled with all things edible – mostly herbs, but also strawberries and Nasturtiums.  All of them went gangbusters.  The key?  Go large – really large on containers.  You will be able to put a lot of plants in without stressing them because there will be enough soil and the container will maintain the moisture much longer than smaller pots do.

What didn’t go so well?  See tomatoes, above.  See also Cabbage, Broccoli, Peas… (see weather, above).

Who’s gotten too big for their britches?  Well, let’s see… for me it would be a mix… raspberries, Monarda and asparagus are quite obvious contenders in this category as, quite honestly, are all of my perennial beds.  I didn’t get out in them enough this year and they definitely need some love.

Who didn’t make it?  Where are the holes that need filling? Which combinations didn’t work together? Who didn’t play well together? Who overstayed their welcome? Who simply needs a new home? You get the idea…

If I take a look at all of my notes while everything is fresh in my mind, I can start a game plan for next year.  I know it sounds insane to be thinking about spring when autumn just started last week, but it really is much easier to plan for next year while you still remember what happened this year!

Kate

Posted in Container Gardening, Favorites, Flower Gardening, Organic Gardening, Perennials, Urban Garden | 1 Comment »

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August 12, 2011

Mother of a Butterfly

For the past few weeks we’ve been caring for another life our house.

It all started on Monday a few weeks ago.  My son brought home his harvest from his children’s garden at the Arboretum.  As he was showing me all the vegetables and flowers he’d harvested, he spotted a caterpillar.  It was crawling on one piece of the vast amounts of dill he’d brought home.  How he spotted it, I’ll never know.

We decided to keep it.  We transferred the caterpillar, along with a few pieces of dill, into a little cup.  He covered the cup with plastic and poked a few air holes in it.

Caterpillar in a cup - for perspective

We continued feeding it fresh dill and cleaning its home daily (we learned caterpillars poop a lot) and literally watched it grow before our eyes.

Caterpillar, dill (and poop)

Having never kept a caterpillar for more than a couple of days, we found the entire transformation absolutely fascinating.  At first it was pretty small and didn’t have a lot of color, but after shedding a couple of layers of skin its color became more and more vivid.  It’s black body had cream-colored spots and bright green stripes.

After less than a week the caterpillar outgrew its little cup so we transferred it to a butterfly/bug box my son had gotten when he was younger.  In its new home the caterpillar continued to dine on its daily buffet of fresh dill until one day, about a week ago, it just stopped.  It stopped eating, it stopped moving.  It scrunched itself up and only moved if we (unintentionally) startled it and at that, it would only flinch.

Preparing to cocoon

After a day or so, it formed its cocoon/chrysalis and there it stayed, attached to the upper part of the butterfly box, for at least another week.

Cocoon/chrysalis

This morning, as I was reaching for a cup of coffee, my son screamed. I jumped, my coffee starting doing acrobatics in the air and amazingly enough, every drop landed back in my cup.  When I turned to see what he was screaming about, he was pointing to the butterfly box, shouting “Mom, look!  Look!  I knew it!  I knew it would be a butterfly!”  And so it was.  Black, light spots, trademark tail.  We’d guessed right.  Our caterpillar was a swallowtail.  At first he was disappointed. “Mom, it doesn’t have the blue like we thought it would.”  We’d spent a little time, looking at pictures of swallowtail caterpillars and butterflies on the web, so he had in his mind what it would look like.  It wasn’t there, yet.  I reminded him that it takes a little while for the color to fully develop on their wings.

Newly emerged Black Swallowtail butterfly

After admiring our butterfly in the kitchen for a little bit, we decided it was time to release “him” (we found out later “he” was actually a “she).  So, outside we went, searching for a good spot.  We tried a little zinnia my son had grown from seed but it seemed a little too small.  We then contemplated between milkweed and a few other flowers.  At last my son decided on the phlox.  We gently transferred him, then headed inside to finish “getting ready”.

Black Swallowtail on phlox

About an hour later I thought I’d check up on our butterfly and see if he’d flown away yet.  I peeked out the window but couldn’t see him.  I decided to go out and look. I found him, not on the phlox, but on the ground fluttering around.  My heart sunk.  Oh, no!  I’d seen the neighbors cat in our yard earlier, I was fearing our butterfly had been used as a kitty toy.  I gently eased him onto my finger. He appeared to be untouched.  I tried to transfer him onto some plants but he didn’t want to go. He kept turning around and walking up my finger and onto my hand.  Finally, I transferred him.  This time to one of the milkweed leaves.  Periodically I would look out the window and see him, still clinging to the milkweed.

Black Swallowtail on milkweed

Later, I peeked out again and didn’t see him.  Again, I went out to find him on the ground. Crap! Did we do something wrong?  Did his wings not grow properly?  What happened?  I eased him onto my finger again, checking him over.  Everything looked okay.  The body of the butterfly was shaking, it had been all morning. My son had noticed the shaking early in the morning and asked me why it was doing that.  I had no idea, I’d assumed it was like a colt standing on shaky legs for the first time.  Maybe he needed nectar? A little sugar to give him the energy to fly.  I set him on the phlox again where his tongue could easily reach for food.  He didn’t eat.

Black Swallowtail on phlox... again

I got distracted (as I often do).  I saw a bee in another phlox and since I just happened to have my camera on me, I started taking pictures.  When I turned back, the butterfly was gone.  I searched the ground fearing I’d bumped him and knocked him off the flower inadvertently.  He was nowhere to be found.  That’s good, right? He was gone. He must have flown away.  Good for him.  Sort of.  I have to admit, as silly as it sounds, I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get to see him take off.  It felt kind of like your child leaving without saying goodbye. I know, I know… It’s just a butterfly.  But still.

Since the weather is so beautiful this week, I’ve been trying to take advantage of it and get outside as much as possible.  I decided to have my lunch outside today (in hopes I might see our butterfly again).  It just so happened that as I was just about to sit down, out of the corner of my eye, I saw fluttering!  I glanced up to see our butterfly – black with beautiful blue and splashes of orange. He fluttered by, sat on my son’s zinnia just for a minute, flapped his wings, then was gone.

That’s what I needed.  I just wanted to know that he was okay.  I smiled.  A proud mom… of a butterfly.

Kate

Posted in Butterfly Garden, Flower Gardening, Mindful Living, Organic Gardening, Uncategorized, Veggie Garden | 5 Comments »

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July 22, 2011

It’s been a while…

It’s been a while since I’ve posted.  Weeks, I think.

Life has taken me for a bit of a ride lately which I won’t go into detail about, but I hung on, kept my arms inside the car at all times and managed to make it through.  There’s a break in the action, so I figured it was a perfect opportunity to post.

We’ve had the absolute craziest weather in Minnesota the past couple of weeks.  We’ve had hot, we’ve had torrential downpours, we’ve had tropical rainforest humidity. Hopefully everyone’s garden is flourishing.  My garden is great!  And no so great…

Where to start?  The kale has been beautiful. It’s loved the weather and I’ve loved it back by eating everything that’s grown thus far.  The cabbage is starting to form heads.  I only planted red cabbage this year (my favorite) and aside from a couple of bugs doing a tiny bit of dining they are coming along nicely, as are the tomatoes and peppers. The asparagus is outgrowing its space, but is absolutely beautiful, its soft feathery stalks add grace to the garden. Cucumbers, squash and melons haven’t produced much fruit yet, but I planted them late, so their blossoms should drop and fruit should form any day now.  What else?  broccoli.  Ahhh broccoli. Big, tall, handsome broccoli has, well, nothing… yet.  It might be another year of “not so much” in that category.  The raspberries, on the other hand, were loaded.  They loved all the early rain, plumped up well, then we got more rain and intense heat and many turned to mush right on the canes.  Bummer, HUGE bummer!  The fruit that originally formed on the kiwi is gone.  Not sure if conditions were wrong and they dropped off or if critters just stole them.   Pear trees bloomed beautifully, but only produced about 20 pears (compared to over 100 that the squirrels dined on last year).  They’re still growing so I’m hopeful, but not confident, that we’ll get one of them this year.  Apples… nothing.  My neighbors have had great success with theirs this year, ours have had great success with bugs.  Not sure what yet, because I haven’t really had the time to investigate, but something got to them before they could even produce fruit.  Onto the grapes.  The grapes are flourishing.  They’ve grown at least 15 – 20 feet long this year and are loaded with fruit.  Until a week or so ago they were lush and beautiful.  That was until the onslaught of Japanese Beetles arrived and turned most of the leaves into lace.  I have many names for the Japanese Beetles, but I won’t write them here.  Thankfully they like the foliage more than the fruit, so other than pooping on my grapes (and raspberries), they didn’t harm them.  And nasty as that is… it washes off.

So what did I do about the beetles besides swear at them?  I blasted them with the hose.  Unfortunately that only got them excited, made them flurry around even more and land right back on the leaves.  Prior to this year I’ve never really had much of a problem with Japanese Beetles.  I interplanted curly parsley with my roses, which did a pretty good job of keeping them away.  I could also pick them off the other plants they were bothering.  Until now, I haven’t even felt the need to make insecticidal soap (a nice little concoction of soap, water, garlic, cayenne pepper, etc.).  Although I thought about it, I didn’t spray them, mostly because the plants they were attacking have fruit so it would make picking stuff right off the vine soapy, spicy and well, garlicy.  Yes, it would wash off, but there’s something about picking fruits and veggies right off the vine and eating them immediately that I just love.  Besides, there were so many beetles I would have needed to call in the armed forces to come in and blast them away, so I left them.  I left the nasty, metallic backed, over sexed little beetles to eat my leaves.  And now…. they’re gone.  The plants look awful, but are all recovering. The scary part is, they are now laying eggs in the soil, breeding the next batch of beetles, which will eat the roots and shoots of grass, the garden and anything else that appeals to them.

Basil!  I got so distracted by the beetles I almost forgot to mention the basil!  It’s gorgeous and full and needing pinching practically every day to keep it from going to seed.  I love basil!  And tonight, on my break in the action night, I’m going to make bruschetta.  I have a couple of tomatoes from the farm stand (because other than cherry tomatoes, mine aren’t quite ready) I have basil and need to run and get some garlic.  Friday Farmer’s Market is open for a couple more hours so I’m going to swing by and see if they have garlic (because I didn’t plant any of my own) and grab a baguette.  Then I’ll come home, whip up a little bruschetta, kick back with a book and a glass of wine and enjoy.  I can taste it now.

Ahhhh…. summer, it doesn’t get any better than this.

Kate

p.s. – Did I mention I have bunnies?  Uh, huh.  Two for sure… INSIDE the fence around my garden.  I know I’ve talked about living in harmony with nature, but by harmony, I wasn’t thinking I would give them a home inside the garden.  While enjoying my bruschetta and wine tonight I’ll also be trying to figure out a way to encourage them to leave my garden.

Posted in Critter Problems, Mindful Living, Organic Gardening, Veggie Garden | 2 Comments »

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