Seed Catalogs Botanical Interests

 

 

A terrific little seed catalog came in the mail this week that contains only illustrations, no photos.  The artist is Marjorie Leggit and I just LOVE her work.  Recently I showed the picture below of the purple beans and stated that I did not remember which seed catalog it was from.  Well, I found it.

 

The purple beans are from the Vermont Bean Seed Catalog.  I have not been able to confirm who this artist is though. 

The Botanical Interests catalog is very through.  I will likely order at least a little something from them, and since the seed packets are also illustrated, I'll be putting them into my seed pack collection!

 

The Mulch Bunker

Once upon a time there was a county bridge.  It was on a back road and little used, so it was built out of wood.  The deck was made from 20 foot long 2"x6" treated lumber nailed with their sides against each other forming a 6" thick deck.  The top of this was tarred and a layer of asphalt was laid on top.  It was a serviceable bridge, but there came a time for it to be replaced.  A thrifty Town highway worker asked Tim if he had any use for the material.  Tim's motto is Repurpose, Reuse, Redistribute, so he went and broke down that deck nail by twisted nail and hauled it home.  Now this took many hours and cost more than one splinter but when all was said and done there was about $1600 of useful lumber there.  These boards lived tucked away in the woods for several years until just the right purpose could be decided on.

In the mean time.  Around here, there are always piles of material.  With all our projects there is usually at least one pile of mulch, one of crushed bank run gravel, and a couple of piles of top dirt either freshly sifted or reclaimed from one of our changes in the landscaping plan.  Each time we have to figure out a place to put the pile and then give directions to our trusty excavator friend which usually go something like: "go down Mike's driveway and cut across to where you dumped the last load of _____ and try to get it there off the drive."  These spots have to be accessible to a very large truck, and quite frankly, we're running out of them.  So for a few years Tim has intended to build a series of bins or bunkers so all he will have to do is say "put it in #3" and he won't have to worry about the truck getting stuck or dumping in the wrong place or damaging some trees/road/lawn in the process.

The past few years we have been losing our ash trees.  Some of this, probably, can be attributed to the Emerald Ash Borer, but we haven't actually seen any tell tale signs of that insect.  But something is killing a lot of Ash in our area, and ours have not been immune to the die off.  So we are gaining a little extra space.  We needed an area for staging material, and a dozen dying trees that needed to go.  The process began early in July... these things take a lot of time.

The Ash Trees are Dying

Large Trees Removed

Pulling Stumps

Each Stump Leaves Quite a Hole

Driveway Outlines and Base Gravel Added

The Base Must be Compacted and Allowed to Settle

The First Posts Go In

The Dividing Wall Posts Go In

The Perimeter Walls Go Up

This is a three bay bunker.  Each area is 12'x12'.  Any horse people out there beginning to think that this guy would be really good at building a run-in shed?

The Dividing Walls Go Up

The Posts are Cut to Size and Finished

As you can see the 2x6s still have a lot of tar on them.  This has actually helped to preserve them.  And hey, its not that often you get a pile of fortysome twenty foot 2x6s for free!

A Load of Bank Run That Was in the Way Takes Up Residence

The Finished Product

There is still some finish work to be done.  There will be a threshold added along the front and the pea gravel for the drive will be added.  Then we have reclaimed concrete pavers to put down the center of each bay.  But first the snow load over the winter will help to settle and compact everything so Tim will finish that in the spring.  Then we will have a load of mulch delivered, and we will be all set to go cleaning up the landscape for another season.

Beans: It's What's for Dinner

This was the cover of a seed catalog last year.
I don't recall which one, but the art is amazing.

 

Despite the fact that the garden has been cleared and put to bed for the winter, it is still possible to have too much of something.  I love beans.  I could eat them for every meal.  I have enough producing right now to do that.  By the time frost comes, Tim will be sick to death of them.  Truth be told, I think he already is....

 

 

And there are plenty more where that came from.

Putting the Beds to Bed

 It is October first, and the garden has been put to bed.  This is something that could be, and has been, done all in one day, but I prefer to spread it out over about two weeks.  There is a degree of mourning, a time for reflection and reminiscence, a tidying of affairs.  During this wind down I keep an eye on the weather and pick the last of crops as the temperatures and rain fall dictate.  I pull spent flowers instead of trimming them, and dump pots.  Most of the containers I used for potatoes and such are emptied into the beds to amend them with the peat moss and other additives that are leftover.  Pots, poles and tags are washed and stowed away.  Tim disappears into one shed or another and begins banging and thumping and complaining about how I have no concept of spatial relations. 



Toad Two of Three

 The toads, earthworms and bees don't see this time as a tidying of affairs.  From their viewpoint I am laying waste to their habitat and I go slowly so I don't accidentally injure anyone and to give them a head start towards relocating to higher ground.

There is always a little island leftover.  In the potato patch I have a Butterstick zucchini plant and two rows of beans still growing and producing.

It seems that the later I plant bush beans, the healthier the plants and the better the crop.  These were planted around the last week of July.  They will keep us (and probably a few other people) eating fresh garden produce until the first hard frost.  I already froze three gallons of beans so all of these can be eaten fresh or given away.

September is high season for zinnias and nasturtiums.  I regretfully pulled all the others but left this little cluster of sunshine near the gate to be enjoyed for a few more weeks.

The autumn colors are brilliant and early this year.  The meteorologists warned that the trees may drop their leaves early before they turn to full color because they have been stressed by the drought.  So far, the effect has been for early and stunning color.  The ash have mostly turned, and about half the maples are reaching peak color.  I would say we are two weeks ahead on color.

 

We are enjoying lush green grass, moderate temperatures, and autumn skies and views.  I have already had to clip my horse's coat to keep him cool on rides.  Any blog followers who would like to read a horse blog instead, can follow my horse's blog at The Grey Horse.

Just an update on the Poop Deck.  Instead of trying to manage the incorporation of new material into the pile on a daily basis, Tim came up with a solution for household and garden scraps.  He had this scrap of drainpipe leftover from a ditching project.  The inner walls are smooth, not corrugated like the outer wall.  He drilled air holes between each ridge at four points to provide airflow.  Let me tell you, this is a composting machine. 

We filled it nearly to the top every couple of days during the summer, and within a week, the level would have reduced by a couple of feet.  Periodically, we would throw a thin layer of material from the compost pile itself, and during dry periods we would use the hose to add water.  A few weeks ago we emptied it for the first time.   Tim used the tractor loader to dig a valley into the pile and we pulled the lightweight drainpipe up and off leaving the column of compost standing.  The compost at the bottom was completely broken down and ready to use.  We pushed the half cooked material over into the pile and covered it so it can continue cooking.  This drainpipe is perfect for the lazy composter! 

We used about half of this pile to amend the beds, potato patch and areas around the landscaping.  We are now off to the farm for another load that can compost through the winter.

Are we there yet?: Side Yard

Did you ever have one of those projects that seemed to never end?  Our furthest side yard has been a never ending project.  I remember, 12 years ago when I first met Tim, it was a combination of scrubby woods and lawn carved in between trees.  There have been at least four stages of tree cutting that I have been around for.  I remember one day, way before these photos begin, when I was picking up sticks in the spring, and I had ventured into this brushy, wet, rough, hilly, crappy piece of land and was rounding up the larger limbs and such, one of the neighbors slowed down and called out the window "are you going to keep going until you can mow it?"... the answer was ...

Yes.

From the road in the Beginning seven years ago

From the lawn in the beginning

The biggest change came when Tim cut over 120 trees out to clear an acre of land for his big three bay garage.  Stumps were pulled, gravel was brought in, and half of the area became a driveway.  There was a strip of lawn, and he added a split rail fence along the property line which we landscaped in with neighbors Mike and Shelly. 

 

 

From the garden two years ago

 There were a dozen or so scrubby, top heavy ash and poplar which we landscaped around but slowly, one by one, removed completely.

From the garden two years ago

 What had been a wet and uneven strip became lush green lawn.  Near the road, there was still an area of large oak trees on Mike and Shelly's side of the line.  The changes in use and grade of the surrounding land was causing water to pool, and the oaks were slowly dying.

 

This past January we had a tree service come in and remove them.  This gigantic mess was worked on for months.

Logs were hauled to the mill to be salvaged as lumber.  Stumps were ground.  Loads of gravel and top dirt were brought in as well as new trees, a second section of fencing and grass seed.




The Finished Product from the Lawn

Towards the end of summer, Mike's new lawn near the road had thickened up, and it was time for the final addition, two large Crimson King Maples which he and Tim planted this past Saturday.



The Finished Product from the Road

The final transformation, which began the end of January is now complete.  The final count is 9 Blue Spruce, 4 London Plain Sycamores and 2 Crimson King Maples.

 

We are done picking up sticks, and now that it is mowable, we can quit.

Spillin' the Beans

 

The harvest is on.  Overall it's been a good year, and the storage crops are beginning to come in.  This is my first year for Black Beans.  One of my "signature" dishes that I bring to gatherings is a fresh salsa and one of the ingredients is black beans.  Up until now, I have been able to make the entire thing from my garden with the exception of this crop.  I also enjoy making black beans and rice as a side dish.  My first year with this crop was a success.  I planted one bed (save the space for two pole bean tee pees) and the yield was good.

Now that the pods have dried on the vine, I've spent several evenings shelling them. This is easy as the dried husks are splitting open on their own.  Now and then a bean gets a little wild and sails off into the yard.  I retrieve as many as I can sorting through the grass on my hands and knees. About half way through the second bowl, sitting under the shade tree drinking wine, I thought "it would be really unfortunate right now to spill the beans". 

 

 

 

I leave them in the bowl and set them in the sun for a few more hours before putting them in jars.  It's very satisfying to see the volume grow... and none of that pesky canning or even blanching.  I have a cup of them soaking tonight and I'm going to cook them tomorrow and see how it turns out.  Tim is perplexed over the fact that the dried beans are being soaked.  Often the "logic" of gardening fails to impress him.

 

I also made out pretty well with the potatoes and onions.  I ended up with two of these half bushel baskets full of taters in the basement, as well as what we've been eating and the baby potatoes I have at ready reach in the kitchen.  Baby potatoes do not store well so must be used first.  My total crop was 50.5 pounds which is 9 pounds more than last year.  And that even with one row of Kennebecs failing miserably.  I still have one pot growing. 

 

The potato plants had died back on their own and I left the spuds in the ground for several weeks since it has been nice and dry here.  I dug them last weekend.  Tim set up a lawn chair on the side walk and sat with a drink watching me crawl on my hands and knees along the potato hills digging by hand so I wouldn't damage any with a tool.  Every 5 or 10 minutes he would ask me if I was having fun yet, which I was because I love digging potatoes.  He then announced that he could drive down to Troyer Farms and buy a 50 pound bag for $10 and he didn't think my system was all that efficient for producing the same amount.  I'll have to admit he's right but at least I know these potatoes haven't been absorbing pesticides and weird chemical fertilizers all season and won't be treated to prevent them sprouting in the store.

 

The onions are much larger this year.  I don't keep track of the poundage since it isn't a crop we really depend on, but this year the basket is full, and last year it was not.

 

My Dr. Wyche's Yellow tomato plant is beginning to produce.  It is generally late for me, and this year I planted the seeds the first weekend of May so it's still playing catch up.  The plant is very impressive and appears intent on giving the Paul Robeson a run for his money for the "Most Productive" prize.  This variety has been a bit sluggish for me in years past, so this time I put it on the South end of the row where it would get the most sun and it sure seems to appreciate it.  There are loads of large, perfectly shaped slicers and I think no catfacing (knarly deformity and overall ugliness on the blossom end).  The plant is very healthy and has lost the fewest number of lower leaves of all the varieties I have this year.  It's still a beautiful plant.  

 

Eight big "two fisted" tomatoes on the vine, and time to add a few more ladder supports!

 

 

Above is the first one picked, and it's gone way past "yellow" to a deep orange reminiscent of the Kellogg's Breakfast variety.  I stopped growing those because they were a bit too sweet for me and were he-Uge beefsteak size (I even won third place in the 2008 IDigmygarden forum online Biggest Tomato Contest with a KB).  Dr. Wyche is a really nice, thrifty, yellow/orange slicer and I'm very pleased with them.

So that's what's going on in the garden.  There is more to tell, but I won't blow it all on one long entry.  Tim has been working on a building project, and I have composting system reports (oh the anticipation LOL!)

Too Many: Paul Robeson

I've often thought that if I could only plant one tomato plant, and I wanted that plant to keep me in slicing tomatoes for the whole season, the variety I would choose was Celebrity.  Now I know, if I could only plant one tomato plant, and I wanted that plant to keep me in slicing tomatoes for the whole season, but I wanted that plant to be an heirloom, and not a hybrid, the variety I would choose would be Paul Robeson.

I purchased this plant from my friend Mickey because I've been looking for a "black" variety that would do well in my garden.  I enjoyed the Black Krims.  The Black Cherry left me disappointed.  The Cherokee Purple was a disaster.  Black from Tula was on my list to try, but Paul Robeson came along before I got there.

Like most "black" tomatoes, Paul Robeson isn't truly black, but a very very deep dark red with a good deal of green shading.  In real life, the color can best be described as glazed terracotta, deep and earthy and well oiled like old leather.

The fruit are shapely, compact, sandwich sized, and... well... there are a lot of them.  This one plant has kept me in slicing tomatoes, BLTs and fried green tomatoes since it began producing.  I seriously do not need any other plants this year.  I'm giving away the Brandywines!

 Similar to the Krims, they have a complex, almost smokey taste which is a natural pairing for bacon in a BLT.  The skin is resilient.  You aren't getting through this tomato with an unserrated knife, it will, honestly, deflect it.  The upside to this is that while there can be a considerable amount of shoulder cracking, this variety has not split in the rain as many more delicate, thin skinned varieties do.

The interior structure is similar to a Brandywine but it does have a core.  Not a coarse woody core like a "Pineapple" but a deep, crimson core which is unlike any I've ever seen.  So, who was it's namesake?

Like many heirloom varieties, the story is part of the intrigue.  Paul Robeson was a renaissance man.  Athlete, singer, political activist.  He was the first black All-American (1917-1918).  He graduated from Columbia Law School while playing in the NFL.  A celebrated actor in both America and England, he became a political activist and traveled the world acting and speaking.  He spent a great deal of time in the Soviet Union and was so beloved there that the tomato was named for him there before it was imported to, and gained popularity here in the states.