A New Year

My first blog of January 2012 had me gardening in a tank top. In retrospect it was a sign of what was to come. 2012 was officially the warmest year in U.S. recorded history with the average annual temperature being 55.3 F, an entire degree warmer than the previous record set in 1998. It also had the 2nd highest number (to 1998) of disasters (11) including storms, wildfires and drought. I'm hoping, after seeing a 2 inch snowfall stick around for an entire week, albeit it's raining and 55 F today, that we are in for cooler and wetter season this year. If not, we will have to adapt. Gardeners always do.

Gardening officially began yesterday with the testing of my new loppers and cleaning up the Wild Plums and other brush along the bed near the driveway. They are fabulous. I don't know what took me so long to get a pair! Today gardening began with seed propagation and receiving my first seed order of the year.

First Seed Order of the Year: Baker's Creek

Summer items: Old Timer Speckled Cowpeas, Mexican Sour Gherkin, Luffa Gourd, peppers: Corbaci, Criolla De Cocina & Friariello Di Napoli, Lemon Squash, Upper Ground Sweet Potato (winter squash), Tomatoes: Dr Wyche's, Bali, Black Plum, Japanese Black Trifele, Purple Russian, Bonny Best & Ivory Egg,

Spring seeds: Red Wonder & White Soul Alpine Strawberries, Chinese Kale (green leaf gailan), Wild Rocket, Forage Kale Proteor (for the chickens), Russian Red Kale, Tronchuda Cabbage, lettuces: bronze beauty, cimmaron, lolla rossa, outredgeous & rouge genobloise, Boule D-or Yellow Turnip,

Flowers & herbs: Genovese basil, Lemon Bee Balm, Elephant Dill, Florence Fennel, Blackberry Trifle Balsam, Browalia Blue Lady, Gibsonii Castor Bean, Flying Saucers Morning Glory, Old Homestead Petunia, Lemon Queen Sunflower, Bright Jewels Zinnia

FIRST PLANTINGS (today):
OUTSIDE:
Mixed Columbine collected from last year- sprinkled in bed at driveway
Alpine Strawberries- planted in 4in pots, placed in tray and covered with a rubbermaid lid for stratification
INSIDE:
Peppers: Fish Chili, Red Marconi, Serrano, Carbachi, Arbol (seed from Holly), Criolla de Cocina, Friariello di Napoli, Wild Hydrangea (seed from 2011), Pandora Striped Rose Eggplant

IN BLOOM:
Witch Hazel- and it smells terrific

CITIZEN SCIENCE PROJECTS:
Kiddo and I started Project Feederwatch, a citizen science project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, about 6 weeks ago. We count the number of each species of bird that comes to our feeders and document weather data to go with it. I've learned that it is likely the same individuals of most species always returning on a daily basis to the feeders. I consistently have the same number of birds, such as chickadees, downies, titmice, brown creeper, goldfinches and nuthatches so chances are they are the same individuals. What I already knew from previous observations was that when there is snow cover I have a lot more birds and a greater diversity. We will continue the project until it ends in April. I've very much enjoyed watching them and contributing to science on a nationwide scale.

This project has motivated me to look into others at different times of the year. I tried to get into the Frog Watch program once. I may have to look into that one again (not sure it still exists). Others I would like to do this year include: The Great Sunflower Project http://www.greatsunflower.org/ where you plant Lemon Queen Sunflowers and document the bees and other pollinators that they attract and Yard Map http://content.yardmap.org/, another Cornell project, where you map out your yard and relate it to what wildlife it attracts.

WHAT'S GROWING ON:
The various daffodils are in stages of arrival. Thin-leaved ones seem to appear earlier. Some of the thicker leaved ones are starting to pop up. I see leaves of the first white hyacinth along the south side of the house and the Hellebore has a second set of leaves arising. Only 1 of the 3 hellebores made it through the drought last year. I would like to plant a few more of these as they are one of the few winter bloomers. The chard is still producing. It was frozen for a week. Even the frosted bits are edible. We had a yummy meal of caramelized onions over greens on a cheesy grits bed last night. Very satisfying.

New leaf on Hellebore

First White Hyacinths pushing up, Heuchera

Garden in disarray 

Thin leaved Daffs up

Peppers & Eggplant- on heating pad, trays, semi-lidded

Wild Hydrangea- 2011 seed. Will it germinate?

OVERWINTERINGS:

I show these sad photos only as examples of how pathetic overwintered plants can become, yet still turn into healthy and robust summer plants.

Cuttings still hanging on

Looking sad- cannas, mandevilla vine

Begonia, coleus, elephant ears- midwinter blahs

Here's to hoping 2013 doesn't break any records. Just wishing for boring and average normalcy.

The End?

The last 3 days were in the 60's & 70's. A front moved in bringing rain as I type. Temps are suppose to drop 25 degrees and tomorrow is predicted to be in the 40's with the possibility of a killing frost Monday night. The tomatoes were done. I picked the few large green ones I had missed, tore down the tomato frames and canvassed the garden for last harvests. Looks like the last Maple leaves are coming down with the pelting rain.

I prepped the last Mustard Habanero for winter culture. I postponed it a week as a Garden Spider, which we rarely have, had taken up residence in it.

Step 1: Pull up the plant. Have a suitable pot and compost handy.

Step 2: Trim the plant WAY back. 

Step 3: Label and water. I use paint stirrers for labels.

Step 4: Harvest any fruit from the cut stems and place the pot in the basement under shop lights for the winter.

beautiful, albeit unripe, Mustard Habs

I bought 3 Peruvian Daffodil bulbs this spring. I hadn't grown them before. They made a nice, white, aromatic flower. The foliage didn't do much but sag the rest of the summer, but it was incredibly tolerant of my lack of attention to it whilst making it through the miserable summer of heat and drought. I'm bringing it in. The plan is to treat it much like an Amaryllis and ignore it for the winter. 

Peruvian Daffodil

I found that my sedum had produced clones at the nodes of the stem. I snipped the stems off and cut it in segments, separating 2 or 3 nodes. I placed each segment on top of soil and sprinkled some sand around it. Most of them had small roots already emerging. I'm hoping to have a lot more sedum from this technique next year. I placed them in the cold frame on the back porch.

New sedum propagation method

Who knows how this winter will go, but if it is anything like last year the cannas should make it. I'm taking a risk by protecting them in pots outdoors this year. Experimentation. The chickens promptly found my little tent of plants alluring and Rosa laid an egg in one of the pots.

Overwintering Cannas in pots under plastic outdoors. 

Experiment.

Last of the scallop squash.

Casserole fixings from the garden: chard, dill, onions, peach habaneros, scallop squash

Protecting tender Black & Blue Salvia

Protecting Salvia leucantha- Mexican Bush Sage. 

Not sure if this is going to work

Last of the Eggplant

Last of the maters

about 12lbs

Pickled 6 1/2 Quarts of Peach Habaneros

from my brother's garden

The chard is doing very well.

le jardin in November

Pears, hazelnuts & lettuce from the garden

Rest well Garden 2012.

Fall Bulb Planting

The bulbs were tucked in a couple of weeks ago, but I'm just now getting to documenting. This year's order was motivated by the intent to raise the driveway/parking area bed another tier. The landscaping blocks are around 4 inches high, which meant I wouldn't have to "plant" the bulbs, but rather lay them on top of the previous soil and just dump soil on top of them to raise the soil level to the needed 4 plus inches of the new height.

This is my bulb order from Van Engelen Inc:
100 Chionodoxa gigantea (about 1/2 were planted in the driveway bed)
250 Crocus- Grand Collection
10 Muscari Ambrosiacum
10 Muscari macrocarpum Golden Fragrance
100 Muscari Magical Mix (whites & blues)
50 Hyacinthoides non-scripta (English Bluebells- planted in the Woodland Garden)

First thing I did was rest the Muscari (grape hyacinth) in an undulating pattern on top of the pre-existing soil. Previously I had covered the old bed with bone meal. Next I sprinkled a layer of compost over these bulbs so I could see where my pattern was in order to lay the next bulbs (crocus & chionodoxa) around this pattern. 

The compost was pretty hot. I hope it didn't harm the bulbs.

Compost from St Louis Composting.

Here you can see the crocus bulbs planted right on top of last year's mulch. I planted everything pretty thick. I'm hoping for a nice spring display.

Topped with compost. 

This was by far the easiest bulb "planting" I have ever done. Now this just needs a topping of mulch and the final layer of landscaping blocks. 

Looking forward to the results in Spring 2013!

Patchy Frost

We saw our first patchy frost this weekend on Saturday and Sunday mornings, although my thermometer near the house read around 38 when I got up. We are definitely in Fall.

Tithonia at their peak

The Tithonia, Bright Lights Cosmos, Red Salvia and Black & Blue Salvia are in their glory. It is sad to know their brilliant colors could end in one night. I have at least 2 female Ruby-throated Hummingbirds still feeding at them and the feeder. 

Still Producing: Tomatoes (although slower now), Thai, Holy, Hairy Lemon and Italian Basils, Mexican Sour Gherkins, Onions, Peppers, Winter Squash, Pumpkin, Eggplant (slowly now).

Unknown Winter Squash variety

Frost-nipped Basil meant pesto for dinner last night

My only remaining pumpkin. The chickens discovered the other one in reach. Not sure if this one will be ripe by Halloween or before a killing frost.

My favorite tomato. White Currant. 

Mixed peppers- 2.25lbs here

This just in: Lettuces. I think we will have our first salad tonight. Hazelnuts and Grapes.

I had the most grapes produced this year than ever- harvested September 30th.

Mixed lettuces almost ready for harvest.

Stagger planting lettuces. Planted some today. Some ready for harvest and more to be planted.

About 7lbs of grapes. 

Became: 6 jars of no-added sugar jelly. 

I added a little grape juice where it called for water. 

Hazelnuts! 

Bowl of Hazelnuts ready for shelling. 

Things to come:

Pak Choi, Tatsoi, Arugula, Kale, onions- green & white, shallots, lettuces, spinach, parsnips, carrots, Jen Mei Fun, Collards, Corn Salad, Chard, Tronchuda cabbage

Evidence of Autumn:

Prairie Dock

Rose Hips

Red Salvia & Peppers

Tithonia, Cosmos, Milkweed, Red Salvia

Devil's Walking Stick (Bald Cypress- background)

Aronia fruit (chokeberry)

The orchard/chicken yard and future mini-high tunnel in the back.

Again, because I want to enjoy them while they last.

I'm determined to be a 4-season gardener. I planted another bed of greens today where the unproductive squashes were in the orchard. It was hard to pull out those gorgeous and succulent plants, but there were no blooms on them. Had to make room for winter crops. I also started more pac choi and bought some collard seeds from Dintelmann's this weekend. 

Happy Autumn.