You know you're a desperate gardner when...

... it's 7:30 am, you're squatted under an umbrella wearing office clothes and duck boots, in a torrential downpour, attempting to hand pollinate the single (tattered) female zucchini flower. Then you briefly consider leaving the umbrella there for the squash. I'm skeptical that it will work because that poor flower was torn to shreds, and it was still pouring. Really, what possessed her to open up today of all days?

Which brings me to my point. Eating locally and growing your own food can put you in a very precarious position. What if the weather doesn't cooperate? First we had a major killing frost on May 18th. This didn't affect my gardening, but it sure affected our local fruit crops, the vineyards in particular. Then, we had the second wettest June on record, and are nearing the end of the coolest July on record.

A recent study showed that eating locally will have little affect on global warming. But, I can guarantee that global warming will have a big effect on eating locally. That study actually suggests we should eat less beef, because cow manure releases too much methane. Heck, apparently even a cow burp is a methane risk. The Argentinians actually strapped gas bags on the backs of cows to measure how much methane a cow releases before the manure starts to compost. Anyone else afraid this poor cow is going to float away?!?

Many gardeners are losing their gardens to too much rain, too cool temps, hail storms and the like. And if it isn't the weather, then it's the darn bugs. It makes you wonder how our ancestors managed to survive at all doesn't it?

Planning the Raised Bed Garden

A couple of years ago it became clear to me that there had to be a raised bed garden in my future. For one thing, I hate weeding between the rows. Secondly, I have been using the intensive planting/square foot method anyway. It really doesn't make much sense to spend all the time to rototill a huge area (have to take the fence down to do this because we use the tractor), then locate the planting squares in the middle of the wide open area, put the fence back, then spend the entire summer weeding wide open walkways. Weeding around the plants takes very little time at all.

And the final compelling argument is that it will be so much easier to warm and prepare the soil early in the spring. I will no longer have to wait for the garden to dry out. The raised beds will drain so much quicker.

So, I have casually mentioned all these reasons to my husband over the past couple of years. The other day, he asked what I planned to do with huge pile of composted horse manure he has been mowing around. He decided it is done cooking, and ought to be spread. Of course, this year the big garden has gone back to lawn. So, I told him I was saving it for my raised beds. With an exasperated sigh he told me to count how many Rail Road ties and 4x4s I would need to edge and fence the permanent garden and promised to work it into our summer plans. Jackpot!

So, the plan is to edge a 24x32 area with RR ties, permanently fence it with the woven "no climb" fence, build a decent gate and install raised beds with gravel or cedar mulch walkways. With good stabalization mat under that, there will be very very little path weeding. Hooray! Mission accomplished.

So, on this cool rainy day, I have been paging through scads of internet pictures. This is my model garden.

I really plan on a very basic layout with just 6 4x12 beds. But, I can't help checking out some of the fancier options I've seen. I think the idea of a rim you can sit on is brilliant, but these finials are pretty facy.

The ever popular pergola

Of course, I have every intention of incorporating the area immediately outside the fence in my purposes. The chicken coop will be nearby, as well as my garden shed. It will be a great location for a compost bin so I can throw trimmings right over the fence. I've never seen one with a lid...

Leah has built a stylish litle raised bed garden...

http://minnesotagrown.blogspot.com/2009/05/may-day.html

Here are a couple of other neat sites I found in my wanderings...

http://diy-nation.blogspot.com/2007/07/building-cedar-raised-bed-garden.html

http://www.veggiebeds.com/


And Mom (I know you're reading this) check out this guy.... That's our idea!!! Great example to follow.
http://www.thewovengarden.com/index.html

Spring Progress

My perennial edibles bed is doing well, and the strawberries are ripening. They are pictured below on the left under the wire cage which keeps out both the rabbits and the deer.
Horseradish down the middle, and asparagus and rhubarb down the right side.

I even put some onions in window boxes, and the back left corner has a hill of summer squash.

All my tomatoes, eggplants and peppers are doing well, and have been moved to the south side of the chicken coop where they get 12 hours a day of sun.

We have had a couple of days of hot and humid with occasional showers, and each day I can see growth and improvement.

And here is my perennial nursery. The plants in the back are Windflower and Black Eyed Susan that were 'weeded" out of the perennial bed. The 6 pots in the front contain seeds for biannual artichokes for next year. And the two flats underneath are reserved for the Siberian Irises I ordered with no plan in mind.

My bearded irises continue to impress me. I have a couple of new colors blooming this week, but these two toned blues are still my favorite.

Without a Plan in Mind...

I know you've done it too, bought a plant with NO idea whatsoever WHERE you are going to put it. I just ordered some Siberian Irises. All my Irises are the big Bearded Irises. At my husband's last house I had planted some blue Caesar's Brother Siberian Irises and he loved them.

He happened to casually mention them again.... and since I can't find them at any of the local greenhouses, I ordered some bare root bulbs. Then, I ordered a batch of mixed Siberian Irises for myself. And I have NO idea where I'm going to put them. But that's OK, they can live in pots along with the Windflower and Black Eyed Susan volunteers that I dug up and couldn't kill. Really it's not a bad plan. I've saved a couple of flats of the big one gallon pots my local greenhouse uses, so now I have a nice tidy collection of the next generation of perennials potted up and ready for our future flower beds.

Siberian Irises are beautiful, and while they don't have the huge impressive blooms of the Bearded Iris, they also don't droop all over the place and require supports. Since I had such a profusion of iris blooms this spring, I quickly ran out of stem supports. The Siberian Irises have longer narrower leaves, and look grassy or rush-like. They love damp soil (which I don't have) but are so determined they will thrive just about anywhere and require frequent dividing if you expect them to stay in their designated place. The best situation for them is their own bed on the edge of the lawn where they can provide a natural looking background. With that in mind.... I still have NO idea where I'm going to put them.

Irises

When I moved to this house, there was a clump of irises to one side of the steps. On the other side was a clump of Hosta. The Irises didn't do anything the first year, so I deemed them too plain and boring, dug them up, threw them in an 8 qt basket in the garage, and divided the hosta so each side of the steps were the same. About a year and a half later, my husband asked my if I was going to do anything with those irises. So, I planted them along the west side of the house. One flower bloomed, and I found them to be quite unappealing lavender with yellow throats. So, I ordered a collection of 12 different colored irises. During the impending remodeling, those irises have been moved at least once. Now, five years later, they have gotten very thick and last year they finally put out some sporadic blooms. This year, however, is the year of the irises. I have literally dozens and dozens of blooms. Even the original lavender and yellow that are now thriving both along the house and in the perennial bed are quite impressive in large groups.

My favorite is a two tone blue that has five or six stalks blooming. There are also peach, a lovely cornflower blue, peach, yellow, white, white throated purple, white edged with lavender. I've run all over taking pictures in all sorts of light. My amateur photography simply doesn't do them justice.

And finally, my most impressive Bachelor's Buttons. It's amazing how well perennials do when you don't dig them up and move them every year!

The Busy Season

I am SOOO glad I did not put my big vegetable garden in this year. Thankfully, my "pot garden" is done and thriving. The new landscape and trees takes almost an hour to water each evening and will continue to do so for another week until the roots are well established. Yesterday we got a good soaking rain emancipating me from my watering duties, and freeing me up for a photo scanning project I am working on for Father's Day. Here is the earliest know photo of me in a vegetable garden, August 1973 Age 2.

I have just made my worklist for this weekend, and even without the soil preparation and planting I would usually be doing, there is a ton to do... transplant myrtle behind new garage, weedwhack around the wild strawberries, turn the compost pile, mulch the rhubarb, label existing "pot garden" so I don't forget which is which.... I always think I will remember, and I never do. When growing many colors of heirloom tomatoes, it is important to identify which variety you are looking at. Otherwise, as I learned last year with my Cherokee Purples, you will not know what color you are waiting for the fruit to turn.

This week has been the week of the Iris at my house. I have been taking pictures of each of the different colors, and if my busy weekend schedule allows, I will get the whole collection posted over the next few days.

Happy Gardening!

Landscaping, Chipmunks and Bloody Marys

This weekend we got a lot done. Friday the front of the house was landscaped. Saturday I got all my tomatoes, egg plants and peppers in their big pots. Sunday, we planted 5 trees.

Also, the chicken coop got off the trailer, and up on blocks, and is presently hovering over it's foundation.

Now, about those chipmunks...

On Saturday morning, I headed out for my horse back ride, and to deliver tomatoes to both my Mom and Dad. I returned a little after noon to find my husband, the neighbor, and my sister sitting on the front porch drinking Bloody Marys' and enjoying the new landscape.

I asked what was going on, and my husband pointed proudly to a bag on the porch and said "your sister is here to pick up her fresh meat." Now, the thing about my sister is that she works for a vet hospital that rehabs wild game. The presently have both a wing shot Bald Eagle (who would DO that?) and a Great Horned Owl. She told us that if we have any "dead things" that we should call her.

Naturally, I thought my husband had shot a rabbit, or the neighbor had trapped one of the chipmunks that were undermining his Japanese Maple. Well, I was partly right. The neighbor had trapped a chipmunk. He had come over to tell Tim, and to enjoy a drink on the porch. That's when the great chipmunk invasion began. The chipmunks had the cheek to venture into the brand new, very expensive, newly mulched landscaping! Chipmunks are the most destructive critters to a landscape. Deer might trim everything off, or accidentally pull something up while trying to trim it, but a chipmunk must look under everything you plant to see if you have buried some treasure there. They throw top dirt all over the mulch, ruin the roots, and plan acorns where you don't want them.

My husband is an excellent shot, but probably not good enough to hit a flitting chipmunk. So, how did they get the chipmunks? They ran them down and caught them with their bare hands. I kid you not. There is no man more motivated than he who has just spent nearly a month's salary on new landscaping. Add a Bloody Mary and a neighbor, and you have yourself a chipmunk catching machine! They got two this way before my husband remembered we had a net for catching unruly chickens. After that, it was easy. The eagle and the owl will eat well this week. And we are presently down to one chipmunk. The cat is working on that one.