Happiness is....

Happiness is free wood chips and a husband who replenishes the garden path with free labor. Now my paths should be weed free for the season. Most tree services are happy to dump wood chips in your driveway for free. It saves them the cost of having to pay to bring them to a landfill and you can feel good about "recycling" them into your paths.

Gardening is in my genes.

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First Salad of the Season

Here's the first salad of the season. Admittedly I had a head start as some of my lettuce seeds that I planted last fall overwintered and with a warm March really took off. Otherwise I foraged around the garden and found a bit of mint,lemon thyme,chives,pea shoots, parsley(also overwintered for the first time) and spring garlic. Delicious!

Purple Reign

Garden Tips

I have some great garden tips courtesy of Bill Scheffler of Pure Prairie Farm.

For good fruiting and flowering of plants they require a high calcium and high phosphorous soil. You can add brown leaves that have been chopped up with a mower and bone meal to the soil to increase phosphorous. For high calcium you can add 1 ounce powdered milk to a gallon of water and spray this mixture on the tip of branches to increase fruiting.

Each month for added phosphorous you need to add a 50/50 mix of lime and gypsum to the soil. This is because the lime and gypsum goes through the soil at a rate of one inch per month.

A ph of 6.4 is a healthy number for soil. If the ph is above that you get bugs and if it's below that you get diseases.

If you have problems with Japanese beetles it is a problem with a phosphorus deficiency. A quick cure is to mix 8 oz of cheap lemon lime soda that has phosphoric acid with a gallon of water and spray this on the plants that are being attacked by the beetles. This will change the ph of the plants and make them less appetizing to the beetles.

A great fertilizer to really get plants blooming is one ounce each of molasses, apple cider vinegar and non sudsing ammonia to a gallon of water. Spray this on the plant leaves and watch it take off.

If roots can breathe magic happens. Bill plants his perennials in a berm of wood chips and brown leaves. This is so the fungi in the soil can breathe and he has had great success with this method.

Buy a $5 Landreth Seed Catalog and save the oldest business in the USA.

Please Help Save a National Treasure

Landreth Seed is America's oldest seed company, and they could really use your help. They need to raise some money, and quickly, if they are to stay in business.

Here's what Barbara Melera says about their situation on the company's facebook page:
To All of Our Customers & Friends

All of you know the story of Landreth and most of you know me, Barb Melera. My husband, Peter, and I have been working to restore this historic American company for the past 8 years.

We set about to restore this Company because it is the most historically important American small business in existence. It is the only American company, still operating daily, that existed when this country became a nation. Its founders were honorable men who helped establish and guide the agricultural and horticultural industries of this country in the 1700s, the 1800s and the 1900s. Landreth exemplifies American business and the ethics and integrity that built this nation.

On Wednesday, August 31, 2011, the Company’s accounts were frozen by a garnishment order initiated by a Baltimore law firm. If this garnishment order is not satisfied within the next 30 days, Landreth will cease to exist and a part of America’s history will be lost forever. I need to sell 1 million 2012 catalogs to satisfy this garnishment and the cascade of other indebtedness which this order has now initiated.

If you want to help save this piece of America, if you love gardening and heirloom seeds, if you care about righting the injustices of a legal system badly in need of repair, then please help Landreth. Please purchase a Landreth catalog, and if you can afford it, purchase several for your friends. Please send this link to everyone you know, www.landrethseeds.com. One million catalogs is a big number, but with the internet it is achievable. Please help us to save Landreth.

Although Landreth seeds are not certified organic, they use organic practices and have never sold GMO seeds.

From the guarantee page on the Landreth website: LANDRETH DOES NOT SELL AND, IN 225 YEARS OF BUSINESS, HAS NOT EVER SOLD GMO SEEDS OR PLANT MATERIAL. NONE OF OUR SEEDS ARE CHEMICALLY OR BIOLOGICALLY COATED OR TREATED, IN ANY WAY. WE DO NOT USE CHEMICALS OR PESTICIDES IN OUR WAREHOUSE. CAREFUL WAREHOUSE CONTAINERIZATION AND TWO HARD WORKING CATS KEEP MOST OF THE CRITTERS UNDER CONTROL.

I've ordered a catalog and some seeds. At this time in history when the existence of independent seed companies is at risk as more and more are being bought out by the gigantic biotech industry, it's important for gardeners everywhere to support the diversity of choices available to us for our gardens from independent seed suppliers. Please help Landreth achieve their goal of one million catalogs sold this month. And while you're at their website, consider ordering some seeds. You might also like to peruse their other offerings. The holidays will be here before we know it, and Landreth has a number of beautiful offerings that would make thoughtful gifts for the gardeners on your shopping list. Together, we can help save this national treasure.

 Taken from Garden Girl Blog
http://gardengirl-lintys.blogspot.com/2011/09/please-help-save-national-treasure.html

London's Gardens-Regent's Park and Hyde Park Flowers

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Batavia Plain Dirt Gardeners Garden Walk 2011

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Mission Failure

For the first time in 14 years of growing my own tomatoes from seed I have failed. At first, I just thought that the tomatoes were chilly in the basement under the lights so I moved them out to the greenhouse. When that didn't help I thought maybe they had a phosphorous deficiency and sprayed them with kelp spray. They haven't grown at all in a month and I knew I had to concede defeat. In the end, I think my beloved APS units were the cause of failure. I usually transplant the tomatoes from the smaller APS units to regular plastic pots but this year since I was going on vacation for 2 weeks in May I decided to transplant them into the larger APS units. I think that the tomatoes were too wet. Luckily, I have a wonderful local garden source, The Pure Gardener. They have a great selection of heirloom tomatoes. Some of them were the same variety that I had planted.  My tomato season has been saved and I'll probably have tomatoes even earlier than if I had succeeded with my own. I don't have the heart to throw away my tomatoes just yet. The two Coustralle are actually looking like they are turning the corner so I may just plant them out and see what happens.

A Walk in an Oregon Garden

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First Garden Harvest

The first harvest from the garden this year is a bounty of rhubarb that I made into Rhubarb Jam with lime and ginger. This was my first attempt at canning jam and not just making freezer jam. I can hardly wait for some on toast in the morning! Lettuce should be coming soon as it's about thumb size right now. Hopefully this week I'll start planting out the broccoli,cauliflower and cabbage. It was too hot to plant out earlier last week as Chicago set a new record of 90 degrees on May 10th. I have to admit I wasn't ready for an instant summer but cooling down to a high of 47 degrees today was a bit silly.

Spring is Downloading, Please Wait....

I think this sign should be put in my garden as a reminder that spring really hasn't sprung in Chicagoland. After an 82 degree day and basically a couple of weeks in the high 50's and low 60's I wrongly believed that spring was here. I had finished all the garden cleanup and was excited to get planting. I planted spinach,mache and lettuce by the small bed close to the house. I transplanted strawberries and some garlic. I was smart enough to cover them with garden fleece so they are doing fine. Where I think I may have gone wrong was to plant dahlias and cannas in pots outside. I did think of putting them in the greenhouse but last time I did that I had a major ant infestation. I figured we were well into the 60's so they would be fine. Then came the last blast of winter to remind us we are zone 5 not 8. Temperatures were in the 30's for a high this week and we even had hail, thunderstorms and torrential rain. Oh, I almost forgot we had a bit of snow too. It will be a miracle if the dahlias and cannas don't rot or die from hypothermia. Then again I could get lucky and have the earliest blossoms around. Time will tell but I'm hoping that spring will quit downloading and just upload immediately.

Early April Flowers

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A Plant That Really Lives Up To It's Name

I thought it would be interesting to plant some seeds of this Cat Grass(Avena Sativa) and see if the neighbor cat, Stripey, who hangs out on our deck would like it.

I guess that would be a big YES!

                  You could even say it was lip smacking good.

         Looks like Stripey will be hanging out on the deck for the rest of the Cat Grass Season.

First Plantings

I planted peas,spinach and arugula on April 2nd. The soil in the raised beds is well drained and early to warm up with the little bit of spring sunshine that we have had. I added some compost from the compost bin and noticed lots of worms in the raised beds as I turned the soil.

First Flowers

The first flowers to bloom in the garden are the crocus and scilla. April 5th seems a little late but it's been a cool early spring with temps in the 30's and 40's.

So Many Seeds, So Little Time

I was procrastinating a bit on seed starting but now I have shifted myself into gear. Here's a list of the seeds I have started so far and when they have sprouted.

FLOWERS(All started on 3/20/11)
Impatiens Flavor Mix-sprouted 3/29
Gaultheria
Coleus-sprouted 4/3
Verbena Bonariensis
Celosia-sprouted 3/23
White Foxglove-sprouted 3/24
Lemon Drop Marigold
White Chrysanthemum-sprouted 4/2
Angelica
Giant Hyssop
Black Hollyhock-sprouted 3/23, transplanted inside 4/17
Cardoon-sprouted 3/29, transplanted inside 4/17
Black Snapdragon- sprouted 3/26
Flowering Cabbages-Fringed,Sunset,Peacock,Osaka-sprouted 3/23

FLOWERS started 4/13
Morning Glory Mix-sprouted 4/20
Cobaea
Moonflower-sprouted 4/17
Jack in the pulpit
Datura
Castor Bean

VEGETABLES:
BROCCOLI-Gypsy, Early Dividend-started 3/20 sprouted 3/23,transplanted inside 4/17
CAULIFLOWER-Graffiti,Violetta-started 3/20 sprouted 3/23,transplanted inside 4/17
RED CABBAGE-started 3/20, transplanted inside 4/17
PAK CHOI-started 3/20,transplanted inside 4/17

TOMATOES(started 3/27)
Mortgage Lifter-sprouted 4/2, transplanted inside 4/17
Coustralee-sprouted 4/2, transplanted inside 4/17
Pineapple-sprouted 4/2, transplanted inside 4/17
Yellow Currant-sprouted 4/2, transplanted inside 4/17
Manyel-sprouted 4/3, transplanted inside 4/17
Tigerella-sprouted 4/3, transplanted inside 4/17

EGGPLANT(started 3/27)
Pingtung Long(sprouted 4/12)
Dusky (sprouted 4/14)
Lavender Touch(sprouted 4/8)

PEPPERS(started 3/27)
Ancho-sprouted 4/17
Piemento

GLOBE ARTICHOKE(sprouted 4/16)

LETTUCE- started indoors 4/13
Tom Thumb
Rosalito Romaine-sprouted 4/16
May Queen Butterhead
Radicchio-sprouted 4/18
Microgreens-sprouted 4/16

BASIL-started 4/13 sprouted 4/17
CUMIN

I'm going to try and update the sprouting dates as that happens. I didn't buy any new seed this year so I'll see if I have delayed germination.

In Need of Inspiration

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Summertime Treats

I love this tomato! It is a heirloom tomato called Pineapple. I was starting to wonder if I was ever going to get any ripe tomatoes from this plant but in the last 10 days it has really started to put out a bunch of gorgeous ripe tomatoes. The inside is also gold and red which makes it a real beauty in a salad. I confess that I didn't make this salad but my husband did one night for dinner. I think I've ate at least a pound of tomatoes in one form or another every day. One of my quickest dishes is to toast sourdough bread, drizzle with a bit of olive oil, add a thick slice of tomato that's lightly salted and then top with a perfectly poached egg. It's a great breakfast and very filling.

I also dug of part of my potato crop and since most of the potatoes were small I made a new twist on potato salad. I used just a few spices and mayonnaise and adapted a recipe from a cookbook. Here are the few spices that I used. I think the Adobo was the  key and gave a great flavor to the salad.

I was pretty disappointed in the flowering potatoes that I planted. I only got a few small potatoes from them and they never did flower. I may have to take part of the blame because I think I may have watered them too much. I had them in a raised bed that had the water timer set to daily watering and I think that it was just too wet for them. Also I planted them with beans and I don't think that worked very well. The potatoes fell over the beans and I kind of forgot about them until the bean pod was too big. The idea of companion planting probably works great in a normal garden in the ground but in a 4X8 bed there is just too much competition for space and neither one of them came out a winner.

Harvest Cat

My neighbor cat Stripey seems to like the veggies as much as I do! The eggplants have really started to come on with all the heat we've had this summer. It's been the best eggplant harvest I've had. The Lavender Touch eggplants are doing the best but Dusky is catching up. I've had about a dozen Tigerella tomatoes so far. There are lots of big green ones still waiting to ripen. Even though my Lemon cucumbers are a tiny plant they have knocked out 3 cucumbers so far. Stripey is laying on my one Diva green cucumber. The beans have done ok but I won't plant them with potatoes again. The potatoes have just taken over too much of the bed. I may get motivated to put in a few more bean seeds to get a late harvest. Last week I planted a few lettuce,carrot and beet seeds. It's hard to know with all the heat if they'll even sprout but I'll give them a few weeks before I seed some more.