Garden History Chapter Twelve

UPDATE:
Only a month later, these snaps were taken on Feb.12,08.
The jonquils are getting ready to open. These border the entire fence, hope I didn’t repeat myself! Narcissus are already open, too.

Must be their location!I can’t believe they are open before the snowbells. Must be their location!
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This is the updated picture of the Mahonia (Oregon Grape) which is in full bloom.

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And the Winter Daphin (just know I have been spelling this name wrong). Wow, those tiny blossoms have such a beautiful fragrance, shame I can’t share it with you. If it weren’t so cold I could sit on the patio and enjoy the smell just a little longer.

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Now, Here is a picture of the crazy cold frame that my hubby puts together every year. It is made of cut plexiglas that he gets from work. They are old golf cart windshields. But they really work well as a cold frame too! I did have to put a couple of bricks on the top because it got so windy the other day.
Just goes to show ya, you can use a lot of recycled stuff to accomplish what you would like to do.

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Of course I had to get a close up of the lettuce radishes and kohlrabies. Not too sure about the state of the broccoli. The seeds might have been too old. I think I see only about 5 broccoli plants.

That’s it for the latest part of the saga.

Garden History - Chapter One

Welcome to My Garden History and Journal - Chapter One

Let me begin by saying that I have been an amateur gardener since Moby Dick was a minnow! My mother gave me green bean and radish seeds when I was 7 or 8 years old and she let me plant them on the side of the house. I guess she figured that those would germinate quickly because a small kid would want to see things grow fast Pretty, smart on her part! As I grew older she would let me help her in the little plot garden she had created, every spring. It was always so much fun when the first radishes came to harvest and we could have, open face, radish and butter sandwiches for breakfast! What an excellent treat. I look forward to those radishes every year.

Then the "teen years" and gardening went a little by the wayside because I was just too busy. But there were summers with my Grand Mother, who had a 50 acre farm, and we had to harvest the hay for the livestock, corn for the chickens and horses. Plus, there always seemed to be house plants to water. Plants and animals were always in my life but animals will have to take second place to this Garden room, :).

Got married... had apartment and asked landlord if I could plant flowers outside of my apartment window...they said yes... Okay... I did!
Baby to come... no room... First house ensued... Big yard... Stay at home Mom...
What to do... plant a garden. Boy, was it fun to watch newly weds dig a garden!!

This was the garden where I learned that no matter what the package of seed said go with the flow of the current weather in your area. I wanted to grow Iceberg lettuce, everyone around me said it was just too hot in our area to grow because the summers were too hot. So, I planted the seed in the late fall. I saw the small seed pop up and then forgot about the garden because all the leaves fell and just figured everything had died (we were too lazy to rake leaves!) Well, at the end of February, when it was a little warmer, I was strolling around and kicking some of the leaves aside (the leaves became an insulator) and WOWWIEE.... I found heads of Iceberg lettuce!!! What a surprise. You don't get a tomato with your lettuce salad at that time of year but the lettuce is still great.

This installment One....... This will be a continuing saga........ More to come!

May Garden Update

May Garden Update

Watching your veggies growing every year is so much fun! I guess because it is such hard labor when turning your ground over, your muscles are sore and you ache so bad after you've finished planting your seed. But then the good part is when you can sit back and enjoy the growth. When you see the progress of things growing, knowing that you will be able to freeze much of it (that's what I do) then eat it during the winter months. Of course sharing with friends is rewarding as well.

I didn't want to consume to much space on this front page but I do have many more photos here http://grouchow.wordpress.com/

Spring 09 City Gardening

March, 2009, Spring is just around the corner.
Thank goodness the weather was in the 70’s today. What a glorious day, around here you just never know what you are going to get from one minute to the other! Just 6 days ago we had snow on the ground.

The birds have been chirping all morning and I got up early, opened all the windows in the house to air it out, put on my duds and headed outside to dig around in the yard. I might be a little stiff tomorrow because the Hubs and I have been hibernating all winter. *giggles*

I pulled weeds in one of my azalea beds and turned over the pine straw before I did anything else. I took a lot of breaks in between because I was sweating so much. It is always better to take things a little slower when you have sat idle all winter. Then I started to think about where to put some seeds and just what seed I had that could be planted this early in the season.

I told you in the previous post that I had to remove some bushes, so I decided to plant some lettuce, parsley and radishes in this location until I figure out what type of long term plant I want to place there. Why waste good space? Seeds are in the ground and I covered them with some leaves. We still might have some cold nights.

The Hubs put the makeshift cold frame up (recycled golf cart windshields) and made it a little larger this year. I put the Kohlrabi in there. If we have another cold snap we will be able to protect them after they have germinated.

I promised a friend that I would post a picture of the leaf lettuce that I planted last November. I covered them with leaves in the late fall and now they are doing beautifully. They survived our cold winter months! I can’t wait till I get to pick some. Next to that row of lettuce I just planted three rows of radishes. I have to be very careful of where to plant things this time of year because certain spots in the garden don’t get full sun enough hours in the day.

The plum tree, as much as I have worried about her over the years, still stands and is getting ready to open in full bloom any day now.

Last, but not least, are the empty pots at the base of the lattice. I plopped some pretty Morning Glory seeds in those and when the weather warms up they will climb up and over the lattice and bloom every morning.

If you would like to view some pictures that I took today you can CLICK HERE and look for Chapter 18 in my garden journal.

Gardening Journal One

Spring 2009

Well, Spring is just around the corner, at least for us in the southeast. Not to much to report on during the fall and winter months. But now the narcissus, jonquils, camellias have started blooming once again.
Just a couple of things to report on though. We, my Hubby and I, did do our winter spray to protect the fruit trees and, then, a few weeks ago we sprayed again. I am glad we did because just this week we are seeing the buds popping out on the plum tree. Hopefully they won't open till this last threat of snow is over. Sadly, last fall the Winter Daphne bushes died. I had to dig them up and dispose of them. Some blight or decease, I can't identify, killed them. I will miss their great smell in the late winter/early spring. They were really pretty and I am thinking of replacing them but I think I might have the soil tested first because I wouldn't want new plants to come down with the same unknown problem. These bushes are pictured in the Garden Journal post number 11. http://grouchow.wordpress.com/2008/08/30/garden-journal-chapter-11/
In the very late fall I got an idea and planted some lettuce. It is a leaf variety. And guess what? They survived. I wasn't too sure about them but I covered them with some leaves and the couple of rows I planted have survived the winter. I can't wait till I get to have a fresh salad.
Oh, I almost forgot, I have cut back the Liriope and as things start to happen I will post again.