Neighbours talking over the garden gate has long been a tradition. They share gardening tips, complain about the weather and pests yet are ever eager to discuss their gardens. That is what I had in mind when creating this blog. So stop by my garden gate to find out the latest happenings in my garden.
Happy Gardening!
Garden Gnome
"All my life through, the new sights of Nature made me rejoice like a child." ~ Madame Marie Curie"
Spring activities in the garden this year have been rather slow mainly because it is still early weatherwise for us but also because we have our house on the market. We had hoped to be moving in time to establish a garden at the new house but that doesn't look like it will be happening. I am plugging ahead working on the area we started last fall so there has been minor improvements there. This came about because we are now considering removing our house from the market. In the meantime I'm enjoying how the spring bulbs are naturalizing surprising me daily with a bloom here or there.
Composting is the ultimate in recycling. Food scraps and vegetation are easily turned into the highly desirable soil amendment known simply as compost. Compost can be used as a natural fertilizer for all garden beds, as a potting medium for most container plants including houseplants and even scattered through out the yard to act as a fertilizer for grass and other ground cover. There simply is not such thing as too much compost! As wonderful as compost is there are some items that should not go into your compost bin:
meats, bones, fat - Meats and fats will not only attract scavenger animals but they quickly go rancid causing your compost to smell. Most bones will not compost so to be on the safe side don't put any bones in your compost.
paper towels, kleenex, coffee filters, tea bags - Unless you use eco-friendly, non-bleached paper towels or kleenex do not put them into your compost. This is especially important if you are gardening organically. Things like bleached paper products contain chlorine residues and other bleaching agents that will contaminate your organic garden.
dryer sheets, easy wipes, baby wipes - Chemically treated anything does not belong in your compost bin.
cat litter, cat/dog/human feces - Cat litter and pet/human feces should not be added to the compost bin. This will contaminate your compost as well as possibly introduce disease or parasites that could pass to humans.
corn cobs - In general corn cobs do not break down well. In fact when dried they are great for the wood stove or camp fires but not for the compost bin.
plastic, styrofoam, wax coated paper - These will not break down anytime soon but as they do these materials release toxic chemicals into the compost.
Once the potato foliage begins to die back the potatoes are ready for harvesting. They can be harvested earlier as we do if you want the new, small potatoes. Don't expect a huge yield of potatoes. We grow mainly for the new potatoes and a bit of fresh eating, not for storage. Potatoes routinely are on sale $7.99 for a 50 lb bag. I can't grow enough for what we would need to store through the winter to warrant taking up that much garden space in a smaller garden meaning the garden space I have is better used for produce I cannot buy inexpensively. By far the easiest way to harvest potatoes grown in containers is to simple tip the container over and pick out the potatoes. Here is the final video in the series showing the potato harvest.
I wanted to show you the entire method of growing potatoes in planter bags now so you have a chance to try it in your garden this year. Yesterday's post showed the basic method of how to plant potatoes in bags. This is quite a useful no dig method for growing potatoes perfect for patio or small space gardening. Here is the second video that shows what your potato planter bag should look like throughout the growing season.
Growing potatoes is quite easy if you use a no dig method aka containers. Most store bought potatoes are treated to prevent sprouting. If you have some that were not treated and have sprouted you can use those or you can buy seed potatoes to plant. You can use a plastic garbage pail with drainage holes or a potato planter bag. These bags are meant for landscaping projects and some companies sell top soil or compost in them so this is a great way to recycle the bags. The potatoes are planted in about 4 - inches of compost then covered with 2 to 6 inches of compost. As with all container planting be sure to use an organic fertilizer. As the potatoes grow the bag is unrolled a little then more compost is added to keep the green shoots covered until the bag is almost completely filled then allow the shoots to grow. This will maximize the potato yield. To harvest simply put the plant from the bag. Be sure to check though the compost for any potatoes that might have fallen off. Save the compost for replanting. Here is a video showing the technique. Tomorrow's post will show how your potato bags should look and the following post will show the harvest. Note his recommendation to keep the compost moist but not wet so water often but not a lot at a time.
Rosalind Creasy of Mother Earth News has proposed a 100 Square Foot Garden Challenge. The challenge is produce as much edible food from a garden space of 100 square feet. Ideally according to Creasy the bed should be a 4' x 25' Jeavons style garden bed with the long end facing north to make crop rotation easier and eliminate shading problems. Basically a Jeavons garden bed is raised and no till very much like the currently popular square foot gardening method. Let the challenge begin but first a couple of comments.
You will need 100 square feet of growing space. It does not have to be in one large bed and can even be in containers as long as you end up with the total amount of growing space for the challenge. Please report back on how well your garden did for this challenge. Good luck!
Over the past couple of weeks while discussing various spring bulbs in my gardens I've used the term naturalize or a variation of the word in several of the posts. In terms of gardening naturalization mean something you planted thrives and spreads with minimal effort on your part aside of the initial planting. In addition to this, naturalized plants are usually problem, maintenance free and they don't create problems such as providing a rodent habitat. Plants suitable for naturalization include: some ground covers (eg. snow-in-summer, wild woodruff, Irish moss), spring bulb (eg. narcissus, crocus, tulips), ferns, lily of the valley, many herbs, strawberries, flowering plants (eg. coreopsis, black eyed susans, daisys, coneflower). Other plants such as English Ivy technically naturalize in that they spread and are maintenance free however these plants are more on the invasive side creating many more problems than they solve.
An easy way to get spring bulbs to naturalize is to toss a handfull of bulbs into the lawn when you are ready to plant in the fall. Wherever a bulb lands, plant it. The following year after the bulb has bloomed allow the foliage to completely die down. This feeds the bulb allowing it to create small bulb offsets as well as produce more blooms the following spring. The foliage should be dry and a light tan colour that will easily come off with a gentle pull. After the dead foliage has be removed there is nothing further to do until after the plant blooms the following spring where you repeat the process. You will be rewarded with large patches of Siberian squill, crocuses, tulips and narcissus from early to late spring before your thoughts turn to looking after your lawn.
I was quite pleased to see the first of the tulips in bloom. Last year it took a bit of effort to identify Tulipa tarda pictured. The Tulipa tarda are thriving and spreading (naturalizing). These pretty little tulips were hiding in with the lilies so at first appeared to be a lily. What I did find out is the former owner planted these tulips amongst the lilies to protect them from the rabbits. From experience wild rabbits like snacking on tulips but they don't like lilies so will leave anything planted along with the lilies alone. So lilies are good companion plants to spring bulbs.
Today is Earth Day 2010 in celebration of Mother Earth. The day is meant to bring environmental awareness that we need to practice an eco-friendly lifestyle. It is a celebration of hope and sharing our knowledge with others. It's a way of teaching our young ones that we have to look after the earth if we want to survive. Many communities hold special events in celebration of Earth Day. Many families take this day to re-connect with the environment by engaging in eco-friendly outdoor activities and some will even plant a few trees. What are you doing for Earth Day 2010?
We have a pair of resident bluejays that frequently visit a couple of times a day. Their antics can be quite amusing! I toss out unshelled peanuts for them to enjoy so if I haven't put the peanuts out by the time they arrive they will come close to the house and call to get my attention. Once in awhile a squirrel tries to sneak a peanut but the bluejays are onto him. They chase him away every time, poor guy.
There is one large clump of double trumpet narcissus in the gardens. It has spread from last year which is something I've been encouraging. The foliage of all spring bulbs should be left alone until it completely turns brown and can gently be pulled away. Protect the foliage from lawn mower damage if necessary to allow it to die back. This can easily be achieved using a tomato cage. Leaving the foliage feeds the bulbs aiding in the naturalization of the clumps. The folowing year the clumps will be bigger and showier. You will be glad you did this extra step!
Just when I think I've discovered all the spring bulbs in bloom I came across this beautiful patch of narcissus. They have a gorgeous, deep orange trimmed trumpet. The patch is about 2 square feet so a nice size, possibly large enough to divide. It is such a treat to discover a patch of spring bulbs waving their cheery heads in the gentle wind!
Hens and Chicks are a dense mat forming succulent that is suitable for dry locations and rock gardens. They are rather low maintenance and problem free garden plants. Hens and Chicks will grow nicely in pots and can be grown year round indoors. There is a very small patch of hens and chicks in what I think the previous owner was trying to establish as a bit of a rock garden. Unfortunately they are right next to the bottom of the stairs leading to the upper sunporch. The past couple of years a few have been accidently stepped on so I'm planning on moving them to a safer location.
There really is very little to do in my gardens right now other than a bit of spring clean-up on the nicer days. I arranged to have several stumps and a couple of old beds completely ripped out yesterday morning. This is being hired out so will be ready for top soil is less than half a day! I may be able to do a bit of grass seeding but really it is too early yet. At any rate I'm doing a few behind the scenes garden prep like getting containers ready.
When it comes to container garden especially edible container gardening many home gardeners are a bit skeptical as to whether it will be productive. After all, why do all the work to end up with nothing? By default container gardening eliminates some problems seen in other gardening methods but there are other problems associated with container gardening that need to be addressed. Once any of the unique problems of container gardening are dealt with then a container can be just as productive as any other gardening method. Here's a good video showing how one home gardener solved a problem by growing in 5 gallon buckets. At the end of the video I will tell you where to find these buckets.
I prefer using food grade 5 gallon buckets for growing any edible plants in. That way I am ensured harmful chemicals are not going to leach into the soil getting into the fruits and vegetables. Food grade 5 gallon pails are available by ordering online, wine brewing/supplies facilities and some restaurant supply stores sell them. However, I prefer recycling 5 gallon pails by getting mine through a couple of local donut shops and restaurants. These pails with lids cost me as much as $1 each to cover the charge of cleaning them while others just give them to me free of charge. I have found it is as simple as asking. I can also get 1 gallon glass pickle jars for dry food storage and making terrariums for new charge. Both these items are things the restaurants were going to put into the recycle bin anyway so I just save them the effort by picking them up. A 5 gallon pail will last several years if looked after so unless I'm expanding the container garden portion of my gardens there's no need to pick-up a lot of the pails every year. A couple here and there is enough to keep me in a steady supply.
Every gardener regardless of garden location experiences some type of loss due to pilfering. In most cases the culprits are of the four legged or winged variety. In some locations more so urban than rural the home gardener may also encounter pilfering by the two legged thief. Yesterday's post discussed turning the front yard of a residential home in an urban setting into a edible garden. The problem with pilfering from the two legged thief becomes more of an issue in this particular location. Greater exposure through proximity to the street and foot traffic increase the chance of pilfering. Security night lighting and street light also draws attention to the front yard garden.
The first thing as a gardener that you have to accept that there is always going to be some loss due to pilfering. You can take the necessary steps to minimize loss but you can't protect your garden twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Front yard gardens grown in raised beds over 2 feet high will curb any problems from rabbits, possibly slugs and snails but not squirrels, raccoons and starlings. Front yard gardens present a bit more of a challenge in that some of the methods you could use as control in backyard or rural settings such as a motion activated water repellent or low level electrical fencing. A dog may not be a feasible choice as well. Bird netting can still be an effective pest barrier as can a large plastic owl. The owl is effective against some birds and small rodents but may also scare off beneficial birds and song birds.
A short little aside: I have 2 motion activated sprayers that have proven somewhat effective but not always as in the case of the bunnies frequenting my last garden. The garden before that was right in a subdivision. I had an outdoor camera to watch the garden and ponds indoors to get pictures of the wildlife that visited the ponds. A neighbourhood cat decided the ponds was it's own personal sushi bar so I bought my first motion activated sprayer (Scarecrow). This device gives a quick, noisy spray of about a cup of water when it detects motion effectively scaring away the intruder. One day I switch the camera on just in time to see the hydro meter reader head back towards my tomatoes but not in time for me to get outside to warn him of the spray. Oh my now his reaction was priceless! I love to hear his explanation for being wet and tomatoless.
Fencing with a lockable gate is one solution to prevent pilfering in front yard edible gardens. If the gate is kept locked when you aren't in the front yard then you will have to make alternative arrangements for mail delivery which can be as simple as a locking mailbox on the inside of the fence with mail slot on the outside. Many of the homes in the down town Key West area use this method and even design the fence and gate to blend in with their garden design. They add to the overall characteristic of the house. Front yard fencing is common in many municipalities whether it is for edible gardening or just a regular grass patch. It is usually in the form of low picket fencing (3 feet tall), wroth iron (4 - 5 feet tall) or chain link (4 feet tall) often softened by flowering vines or climbing roses. Climbing roses on fences are particularly effective at discouraging anyone from climbing over the fence. Before installing any fence be sure you know where the property lines are and your municipal bylaws as to what you can install.
All of my gardens have been in urban settings with the exception of this garden which technically is rural but more like a small urban dead end road setting. I have made a few posts on the growing trend of urban gardening. Those living in urban areas are growing in traditional row gardens, on balconies, containers and on their windowsills. If you look around most urban properties there are expanses of grass that usually is chemical dependent. In Ontario we have a lawn pesticide ban but in many ways the ban does not go far enough. Some enterprising residences have realized simply eliminating or greatly reducing grass in their yards is the eco-friendly approach to urban living. Low growing, maintenance free ground cover such as Irish moss or Snow-in-Summer are one alternative to grass. Another alternative is removing grass in favour of wild flowers. However one of the best alternatives is removing grass in favour of edible plants. Here is an excellent video showing how one urban front yard was converted into an edible garden using raised beds:
There are a few considerations before you convert your front yard to an edible garden especially if you are using raised beds. There may be municipal bylaws in place that restrict the use of your front yard. There may also be bylaws in place that prevent you from installing anything over a certain height within a certain distanced of a street that could restrict the visibility of your neighbours' access to the street. If this is the case then use shorter raised beds nearest the road and plant those plants not needed trellises or supports.
In some cases pilfering from your garden can be more of a problem when it is located close to a street as it would be when located in your front yard. There are ways to deal with this issue. I will discuss those methods in tomorrow's post.
We have two areas in the gardens that have Peonies. The problem with both of these locations is they are in areas that will be ripped out. So I'm letting them come up this year and will transplant after they are finished blooming. In the meantime I'm looking forward to seeing their showy blooms.
Spring is just such a pretty time of the year. I love watching the gardens come to life and it is surprising how fast the gardens change once spring arrives. The daffodils and narcissus are in full bloom now giving a cheery display that brings a smile every time I see them. Aren't they gorgeous?
I've been watching our neighbour who is having quite the time with birds wanting to nest over his awnings that were installed last year. Now nesting birds can be a problem anywhere but when you live near the water's edge it can be even more problematic. We have a pair of nesting Mallards each year that always make their nest under our hedges so we know that area is off limits until the ducklings old enough to leave the nest. Last year we had a nesting morning dove right over our main entrance that apparently liked my husband and I but no one else. We have sat on the dock several times to have the swallow on attack because they were nesting. So being neighbourly I asked my neighbour what birds were causing the problem. He didn't know. Yet he had hung red streamers followed by crinkly paper and he still didn't know what birds were causing the problem? The first rule to battling any enemy inside or outside of the house is to know your enemy!
I was sure it wasn't swallows as they won't come that close to the house. I doubt it would be robins so suspected the culprits to be morning doves or sparrows. I suggested a trick the marinas use and that is fishing line. At the marinas they string the line from tall pole to pole. What I don't like about this method is without any background the line blends into the sky causing some birds to get entangled. On the small scale, household use stringing fishing line about 1 - inch above where you don't want the birds to nest is quite effective. They are going very slow trying to get into a nesting site so recognize the barrier the fishing line presents and will move elsewhere. This is an inexpensive, almost unnoticeable way to solve a problem without causing a problem. And that is rule number to for battling any enemy inside or outside, do no cause a greater problem!
Before I get busy in this year's garden I thought I should update you on the cactus seeds I planted in February of 2007 so they are now a little over 3 years old. We brought the seeds back from Las Vegas, Nevada in a cactus growing kit. I doubt we would have been able to get cacti plants on the plane and then there could have been problems getting them across the border so seeds seemed like a viable option. Cacti are very, very slow growers but they are also low demand and low maintenance plants. The largest is now about a half inch tall. It might be getting time to replant them.
We did a lot of ripping out when we moved here in 2007. To our surprise where some of the over grown brush and garden beds had been that we sodded over spring bulbs pushed through the following year. It was rather odd seeing a clump of tulips, narcisses or crocuses just out in the open on their own. That spring after they bloomed I protected them with tomato cages to prevent being run over with the lawn mower. Allowing the leaves to die back before removing them is allowing these bulbs to naturalize throughout the yards.
Pictured are the white crocuses. I was very lucky to get pictures of them this year as we had a couple of thunderstorms go through that plummeted them. By now all the crocuses have lost their bloom. I never did see any of the yellow crocuses come up this year either so was a bit disappointed. If we don't move I will be planting more crocuses as they are just such a pretty sight in the spring!
Two small clumps of periwinkleunknown continue to thrive despite the ripouts and disruptions. I know I identified this plant a couple of years ago so am going back through my plant files and will post the name as soon as I find it. They are poking up through the ground looking rather cheery. Soon they will be in bloom!
The daffodils and narcissus are up and just ready to break out in bloom. This is our third spring here. The careful culling and ripping out we have done to this point has paid off. Several of the spring bulbs including the daffodils have started naturalizing so we have clumps both spreading and popping up where there were none. If we stay here which right now is up in the air [we do have our house up for sale but have had second thoughts] I will be encouraging the naturalization process using a scattered bulb planting method in the fall. This is a rather interesting method of planting. What you do is grab a handful of bulbs then toss lightly in the air over the lawn. When they land is where you plant them. One of the best examples of this method is Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario. It is a gorgeous display in spring!
I love taking a lot of pictures of my gardens and any other gardens I may happen upon. A great way to display some of my favourite pictures aside of online through my blogs is in scrapbooks. Yesterday morning I sat down to make a tutorial on making a simple mosaic for one of my blogs. I thought I would share the resulting mosaic with you as well. It was a fun way to use a few images of flowers I took in 2009.
I love Siberian Squill! They a so pretty and delicate looking. I do wish we had more of them but we only have this one small clump of them. I've been hoping they would naturalize but after 3 years no such luck. At any rate they come up each spring just to make me smile.
An extended walk around the gardens in the warm of the sun a couple of days ago was a gorgeous way to spend a bit of free time. The tulips were just starting to bud so I'm getting excited. I love seeing tulips in bloom so the anticipation is building.
As I was walking through the garden a couple of days ago looking for signs of new life I noticed several small clumps of strawberry plants. This has been quite common since the previous owner had a small strawberry patch that we ripped out. It was not producing and we have never seen any fruit on the small rogue plants that pop up from time to time. I spotted a strawberry plant tucked in very close to the first raised bed just under where the hanging basket of everbearing strawberries were last year. This plant looks a bit different from the other rogue plants in that it is larger and showing vigorous growth. I will definitely be transplanting this volunteer strawberry plant either to our new gardens if all goes according to plan or here in a new strawberry bed.
There are many visitors to my gardens but sometimes I only see the tell tale signs they were there not the animal or bird itself. We have a fair number of hawks as well as a couple of neighbourhood cats that are of course predators. Every once in awhile we find the carcass of a small animal or bird. This morning when I was out checking the garden I spotted the remains of a jack rabbit. We have a lot of them in the area so it is common to see several in any given day. This one did not make it through the winter.
I am certainly going to miss the visiting wildlife here when we move. Oh sure we will still have visiting jackrabbits, skunks, raccoons, the occasional opossum and many song birds, we won't have the visiting waterfowl. Over the past several years while living on the water we have come to think of the visiting waterfowl almost as pets. We ensure their habitats are kept to their liking to encourage their return and just like song birds we feed them. The swans and mallards bring their babies back to visit us pretty much daily so they really do consider our home their home.
The Mallards started visiting us shortly after we moved here in 2007. They were very timid as if trying to figure out whether we were friend or foe. They must have like us because the same pair have been visiting us ever since. In spring of 2008 they nested under our evergreens. No one was allowed near the nesting site so that meant the dock was off limits. Papa Mallard has beautiful feather colours with a gorgeous deep shiny emerald green head. He is usually around when Mommy Mallard is nearby.
He has become quite friendly even following me around when I'm near the water. He loves sitting on the dock railing just watching over his domain. This year the mallards are getting even more comfortable. Here they are playing in a low puddle in our backyard only about 10' from our house.
The Mallard hen is ever so friendly except when on the nest. Well even then she is friendly because she knows we won't disturb it. Female mallards like most birds are drabber in colour likely an evolutional adaptation to prevent predation while nesting. Still I think she is quite pretty.
The couple enjoyed playing in puddle created by a low level in the yard that was caused by a former paved formal garden. During heavier periods of rain this low area fills ups forming a bit of a small pond. The mallards were enjoying the warmth of the sunshine while collecting a few earthworms. It really looked like they were enjoying themselves as much as I did taking pictures of them.
I am a wife, mother and grandma who enjoys the many aspects of homemaking. A variety of interests and hobbies combined with travel keep me active. They reflect the importance of family, friends, home and good food.
or low level electrical fencing. A dog may not be a feasible choice as well. Bird netting can still be an effective pest barrier as can a large plastic owl. The owl is effective against some birds and small rodents but may also scare off beneficial birds and song birds.
Mallard Drake
Mallard Hen
