The Rabbit

We managed to keep deer, the groundhog, and the raccoon out of the garden, but the other day, when I went for the daily check, and to gather goodies for the dinner salad, I saw this cute little baby rabbit. I tried to corner it with absolutely no hint of success. He could squeeze between plants, through raised beds, and into narrow spaces faster than I could blink. I was wondering how it got in, since the last perimeter survey revealed no gaps. Maybe the kids left the gate open and it got in? But as I chased it towards the closed gate, I saw it jump right though the fence! It was so tiny, that it fit through the standard chain link fence. 2 inches wide?!

Trying to estimate the damage, I noticed that the pumpkin flowers were gone. Which I didn't mind so much, since I transplanted those out of guilt instead of throwing them in the compost bin.  The day after, I went to the garden center to try to buy what I thought was great idea to keep the rabbit out of the garden. I was going to put a net like the one I used to protect the strawberries from the birds, all over the fence up to 3 feet high or so. The guy at the garden center looked at me with pitiful eyes and told me, that's not going to work, they'll chew right through it. You need to use a critter repellent. OK, I
said. Here, this one you can use. Is that toxic? I asked. We eat what we grow there (except for the weeds, of course). You need to stop spraying two weeks before you plan to eat anything, he said, and you'll be fine. Ah, that's a nice solution, right?, I thought. We eat lettuce from the garden every day; I think it's not going to work, I said politely. Then he found a different one that you can sprinkle around the garden perimeter instead, and wasn't toxic. So I bought that.

I had to wait till the next day to apply it, and I noticed that the green-beans that I transplanted when thinning (yes, more guilt...) were chewed up, with only some green sticks left. But there was one plant
still standing with leaves and flowers. Now, to pepper the repellent around the perimeter, I had to "create" a perimeter removing the weeds that grew on the other side of the fence. Took a while, but I did it.

The morning after, it seemed that the repellent was working, but that evening... remember the green-beans plant that still had leaves and flowers? It was only sticks. Sigh. $10 later, the rabbit is still
having dinner on us.

We needed a different solution. We decided to buy some form of metal netting, like chicken wire, thick enough that they wouldn't be able to chew it, and small enough for the tiny guest to stay out the garden. After an expedition to Home Depot, and more $$, we have all we need. We now have to install it all around the fence.

Hopefully, this will keep it out for a while. At least until it starts digging. Now I wish I'd put chicken wire as garden floor! But I guess that rusts and decays too.

Thinning

Why can't plants figure it out by themselves... why do I have to decide who stays and who goes... I never liked this part, and that's probably why my carrots tend to be small  and crooked.  I don't mind thinning lettuce, because we eat them in salads, but the ones that we don't eat are the challenge. I spent two hours doing what an seasoned gardener would have done in 15 minutes... I don't know why, but every single string bean sprouted, which should make me feel proud of my green thumb, however, ... I decided to transplant all those crowded green, red, yellow, and Roma beans all around the perimeter of the fence... You'd think that would teach me to put them in the compost bin instead. But, two days later, the transplants are doing great, and the ones in the original beds are happy to have more space to thrive. It seems like we'll have string beans to feed the whole neighborhood! Maybe I'll open a farm stand...

Done with Seeds

I finished sowing, at least for the Spring. I sowed cucumbers,  and summer squash of different shapes. I had no way to distinguish the seeds, except that some were smaller than others, so hopefully we'll get a few different ones. I also sowed romaine lettuce, and transplanted the onion seedlings and the eggplants. The eggplants looked worse than a week ago. Something (or somebody) is eating the leaves.  I need to check how they do in the next few days now that they are in their final home. Speaking of being eaten, something else is eating the leaves of the Roma beans and the string beans, not all of them, so I'm happy to pay garden tax, but I don't want it to get out of hand.

The annuals I bought at the Maplewood Garden Club plant sale are adding a wonderful splash of color to the garden. The petunias are happy in the hanging baskets, and the geraniums have such a velvety red, that it looks like the color bleeds out of the flowers.

The irises are at peak. It's a treat! And they are so fragrant... It is definitely purple week, between the clematis, the irises, some left over phlox, and the sage in bloom, it's a full display. See the pictures.

We've been enjoying salads with home grown lettuce. We have arugula, romaine, and a few more, but I forgot the names; well, one is called "small head",  which doesn't describe much, but the flavor is mild and sweet, and it is definitely my favorite. Can't wait for the tomatoes to be ready... they are only 3 inches high now, though...

Protecting the new transplants

Last weekend I transplanted the tomato plants and two days later they announced a thunderstorm, and after the storm the Roma beans that I had seeded were all exposed and sprouting. So I covered them all back with soggy soil.  Since I remember my experience from last year when most of the plants died water-logged before having a chance to get established, I decided to cover them with a large plastic sheet that I had bought for the poly-tunnel. So that worked out well, a bit messy with the water on the plastic, and the invariable spill into my shoes.  It was nice and toasty under the plastic... and everybody seemed happy.

Just when I was thinking, it is almost mother's day and the good weather is supposed to be on our side, they announced another storm ... again I covered the tomato plants, and also the Roma beans, and the green beans too. The storm wasn't so bad, but there was plenty of water to process, when I came back of a special function for prospective students at work (yes, on a Saturday... my gardening day). Since the temperature is supposed to go down to 43F overnight, I drained the water, and I decided to leave the plastic cover on... did I mention wet toes? I should have changed my shoes before...  I know.

The Maplewood Garden Club had its annual plant sale this week, and I went yesterday to get a few annuals for a couple hanging baskets, and I couldn't resist another trip today for a self-mother's day gift.
I got a beautiful gorse bush, that reminds me of our days in Edinburgh, and the walks on Blackford Hill.
I also bought a Crape Myrtle, hopefully this one is hardy in our zone, and it won't die like the ones we got from the Arbor Day Foundation.

Potatoes, tomatoes, ...

I had a 10:30 AM appointment for a 30-45 minutes visit and I left
after 3:30 PM... I'm too far from home to dash to the garden to brush
away my frustration, so I'll catch up with the blog.

A lot is happening. In early April the potatoes arrived, and a week or
so later since they already came with chubby tubers, I cut them in
pieces and put them in the ground hoping they wouldn't rot. It's
interesting how every seed potato seller tells you a different story
on how to deal with them. The one I used last year said cut them in
pieces, cover the cut surfaces with anti-fungal, let them dry for a
couple of days and then plant. The one from this year suggested to 
cut them and plant them right away. I guess there is more than one way to
do this right...


Obediently, I put them 2 inches under ground in 6 inch high furrows,
at however many inches apart. My dad would have brought the ruler, I
just did it translating from inches to centimeters and then convincing
myself that this high was about right.


I am experimenting with mustard meal. They look like cork worms. The
bag said how much you need per area, but it didn't say what to do with
them. So I just mixed them with soil before seeding the potatoes.  I
used two areas for potatoes, one in a raised bed and the other at
ground level. I used mustard meal in the raised bed only. Don't ask me why.

I didn't remember how long the potatoes were supposed to take to
sprout, and I waited, and waited looking a the lonely furrows
wondering if they were all rotten, or if I killed them with too much
fertilizer... but from one day to the next last week sure enough in
the raised bed there were green leaves coming through the soil (not
dirt, remember). My son and I were together when we saw them coming
up, and we started cheering and jumping. We had a good silly potato
time together, and then we watered the baby plants.

The ones on the ground level furrows hadn't come up yet, and I started
thinking: maybe it is too wet for them here and they are all rotten by
now... But yesterday, I saw the first plant breaking through the
ground, and then I remembered that I didn't put any mustard meal
there... Hey, fertilizers work!

All the leafy greens are sprouting, and with the heat this weekend,
they went from shy shoots to little plants in two days. The fairy
meadow is also coming up nicely, and in the flower garden the irises
and the lavender clematis are beautiful.

On Saturday I transplanted the tomato plants and leeks that I started
from seed.  I hope they didn't drown in last night's storm... I should
have saved some for later... Now I know from next year,  never put all
your tomato plants in the same basket.

Fertilizing and more

I've been think about how to prepare the soil this time.  I need
to pay more attention to fertilizing.  In the past I used compost,  garden
manure and epson salts.

I've always had a green thumb, even my cooking experiments as a
toddler would end up germinating, my Mom says. But although I've been
successful with tomatoes and  green-beans, I don't get the best yield
especially in the leafy green department.

Looking at the past two seasons, these are the areas that need
improvement.

- Leafy greens like lettuce, spinach, and chard. Granted, they are
  flavorfull, but I get small plants that go to seed quickly, or maybe
  I wait too long to harvest hoping the plant will get bigger and then
  they go to seed.

- Red beets too small. I won't compare with the store bought ones, but
 compared to the farmer's market, mine are pretty small.

- Zucchini and pumpkin: lots of flowers, but hardly any fruit. At the
  farmers market last year, they suggested it may be a pollination
  problem. So I'm going to plant some flowers that should attract more
  bees. Maybe some lavender plants and gaillardias. Those are always full of bees and
  butterflies in the flower garden. Hopefully the Fairy Meadow mix will bring lots of friendly bugs too.

Here is one of my all-times favorite pictures... Lunch time...

From Gaillardia

- Carrots: delicious but really small. The kids love to dig them out though.

- Corn: I'm not going to do corn this year, although I love the leaves waving in the wind, the ears are small, and it is a gamble against the squirrels that know better than I do when they are ready to harvest!

A couple of pictures today

Time for Pictures

I had fun with the macro lens yesterday. There is a lot going on!

It's been so busy

I've hardly had time for a new post. So this one will be short. I hope.

We started new seeds indoors: tomatoes, onions, and leeks. Saturday was a gorgeous day, and I also sowed some onion seeds outdoors. I had a peek at the fava beans, and they are sprouting already. I tested some old seeds on a wet paper towel for a week or so, and they all sprouted! Now I need more land for my crop. Ha Ha.

We went to home depot to buy materials for a polytunnel, and I found assorted eggplant seeds; something new to try. Those had to be started indoors early, but I guess I'm going to be late. I also got tarragon and Genovese basil seeds.

I cleaned up the flower beds, although not too much, because the arbor specialist from SavATree said to wait a week or two to avoid exposing the tender growth to the cold weather. So I did the irises and the tulips to let them grow nice and straight. Fewer tulips this year, though. Should plant more in the fall. The irises, on the other hand, multiply like rabbits!

I'm officially behind schedule

While I was writing the last post, I opened the packet of fava beans and put five seeds to soak overnight, as the instructions recommended. I did saved some in case I was over enthusiastic about planting outdoors early. The seeds looked like very old fava beans, because that's what they were. Nothing that would look inviting. Other seeds are so small that they don't even need much of a description: tiny black, small brown, ...

The next day, while we were making dinner I said, "I'd like to go out to the garden", and off I went. First to the garage to get the hand shovel and the gloves... I wish I'd remembered to wash those at the end of the season...

Opening the gate with it's welcoming chime already made me happy. The red onions had their green shoots already, and the parsley wasn't thriving after being covered by snow, but it was definitely alive. One of the beds still had some snow on it, but the one I was working on was fine. I had forgotten that I had left the trellis up from last season, so all I had to do was to get rid of the oak leaves that were covering the soil (soil, not dirt), remove old vines from last year's peas, level the soil, dig 5 small holes to put the seeds in, and cover them with loose soil. Pat, pat, pat, and I ran back to the house pleased to have started.

The same night I was supposed to start onions and leeks indoors, I had even remembered to buy nice organic potting soil, but life happened, and couldn't do it. On sunday, I was supposed to start tomatoes indoors, and I missed that too. I guess having two birthday party celebrations for the same child at an amusement center and at home didn't let me much time for it. Anyhow, I'm sure I'll catch up during the weekend, when my temporary single mother state comes to an end.

This morning, when I came back from swimming, I went to see if the fava beans had seedlings, but I didn't see anything, a bit early I guess, or maybe I planted them too deep... I always have that doubt. Sigh. My father would have dug enough to see if the had sprouted, but I didn't want to disturb them, and I didn't have my gloves, and I had to catch a train to go to work! Hurry, hurry.

While I was looking for the keys to get in the house, I saw that the hostas are coming up, I better spray those purple cones before the deer snack on them.

Seeds, Seeds, Seeds

I finally made it to the garden center. What a treat! Hundreds of small packets with colorful and flavorful promises! Some of them have beautiful illustrations. While I was home adding tasks to the garden calendar I noticed a sign in one of the packets saying Artist: Marjorie Leggitt. My friend Silvana introduced me to her drawings a few years ago, and that's why the pictures looked so familiar! I wish she lived closer to be able to take a class with her.

The first packet I picked up was a selection of wild flower seeds called "Fairy Meadow", and with a fan of Tinkerbell at home, I could not resist! The picture even has three fairies. Then I moved on to the vegetable seeds, that after all, that was the reason to go to the garden center.

While browsing through the seeds, I noticed a different brand, with much larger glossy packets, and in the back they had a sticker with a sell by date of 2010, but through the sticker I could see another date underneath of sell by 2009. Maybe they just recycled the wrapper... just in case, I didn't buy those.

I bought Romaine and Mesclun lettuce, two kind of heirloom carrots some finger size and some regular ones. A blend of red, orange and pink beets, cucumbers, summer squash mix with 7 different kids: round oblong, yellow, striped... a trio of string beans (although they don't have strings any longer...) green, yellow and purple, heirloom tomatoes, of course, 2 kinds. I also got spinach, onions, peas, flat beans, leeks and fava beans. Ah, I also wanted to grow something I never ate before: kohlrabi. I sound like the elephant in Puff, Puff, Chugga, Chugga. Except that I only bought the seeds, and I didn't sneeze!

On my way to the checkout, I saw some tempting orchids at reasonable prices, and it was a warm day, so they wouldn't suffer on the way home... but I just bought 18 packets of seeds, and maybe I'll leave the orchids for when there isn't much to do outdoors!

Once the kids went to bed, I sat at the computer and wrote in the garden calendar the to-do list. There is sowing indoors and outdoors, and repeat after 3 weeks, and sow again in late summer for fall crop, soak before planting... I think I got them all.
Here is where my inexperience leaves me wondering what some phrases mean. Some packets said plant in early Spring 3-4 weeks before last frost, while others said 4-5 weeks before last frost. That wasn't a problem, since the last frost here is around Mother's day. The problem was when it only said "early Spring" or even better, "very early Spring". Other variations included late Summer, that for me means the semester is about to start, and what about all I was supposed to do during the Summer... but I have no clue what it means in the garden calendar. I'll have to ask some of my old friends from the garden club.

This one is in Spanish

Siempre quise tener una quinta, pero no podía porque en nuestra zona hay muchos venados, que si bien son hermosos, se comen todo! Por unos años me conformé con plantar flores y hierbas aromáticas, que por suerte no les gustan.

En el 2008 decidimos cercar un área del jardín y hacerlo quinta. ¡Qué placer! Desde entonces el jardín es un refugio donde el tiempo tiene otro significado y no se mide en minutos sino en novedades. Qué hay de nuevo hoy? Hay días en que sólo tengo un ratito libre cuando vuelvo del trabajo, pero abrir la puerta y dar la recorrida, sacar algún yuyito, y juntar lechuga, tomates, y albahaca fresca para la ensalada se llevan el cansancio y las frustraciones del día.

Spring is close by...

The snow that was carpeting our back yard has been shrinking for the past few days, and this morning, on my way to work, I saw the first sign of Spring. I was so excited to see the the first daffodil shoots right outside the kitchen door! That reminded me that I need to spray the crocuses with deer repellent before the deer get to have them for breakfast.

The flower beds are still covered with snow. I can't wait to see what might be sprouting underneath.

The Orchid Show was beautiful. Walking into the exhibit was like walking through the looking glass; from black and white snow carpeted grounds to a rainbow of beautiful miniatures. Hard to capture in a snapshot the sense of peace that I felt being in the conservatory, moist air, lush green ferns, and thousands of breathtaking orchids.

My camera started to misbehave, so I couldn't take as many pictures as I wanted. A good excuse to go back!

It's hard to imagine sweating under the sun playing gardening when we just had a 6 inch snow fall yesterday and the dusting on the trees makes our backyard look like an enchanted garden. Nevertheless, I just order 3 kinds of potato seeds and organic fertilizer. This year I remembered to order early, at least, I think it's early enough. I'm sure experienced gardeners did it months ago, but this is what I could manage, and I'm glad it's going to be early enough to have a good season. Last year I had to buy whatever I found at a local gardening center, and I ended up with Yukon Gold, that although they tasted wonderful, I could have found them at the local supermarket. So this time we are experimenting with two kinds of fingerling potatoes: French Fingerling and Rose Finn Apple, and the popular European Yellow Finn.

Tomorrow we are going to see the orchid show at the NYBG, and I'll try to buy some vegetable seeds to start the indoor adventure. The kids love to see the seeds sprouting, and hopefully this year it won't be as wet as last year when 85% of our indoor started seedlings died waterlogged, and we had to start all over again. Humbling experience, I guess.