Why Every Gardener Needs a Mystery Garden

Every gardener needs a place to plunk miscellaneous plants, plants they procure without knowing much about how they look or behave, plants that may not have a clear home.  Three years ago my in-laws helped us remove several overgrown junipers from alongside our house.  We put in a curved bed in the exact footprint of the former shrub.  During the first year of the bed it was my cut flower bed, full of zinnias and cosmos.  Now it is my mystery bed.  

The Thrill of Summer

The day is hyper clear, the sky is deep blue.  The sun is warm, the breeze soothing, the air ripe with possibility.  It is the beginning of summer.  What is it about warm weather that makes us feel younger, lighter, optimistic?  The plants are exploding with growth (especially the grass!  yey mowing!)  and everything is so green.  Its mind boggling, especially after such a long winter.  K. built a trellis out of cedar and today I will anchor the trellis and plant the same purple beans my grandmother grew each summer along her arbor.  

Planting a fence of onions

Have you ever nurtured seedlings for several months, then gone out the garden with a basket just before dinner to pick said vegetable, only to find their stumpy remains?

If you’ve read my blog before, you’ve likely come across a post about groundhogs.  This infamous garden pest is a continual source of frustration.  I try to recognize that he or she is a creature just trying to eat, but it doesn’t soothe me when tender beans or baby lettuces just at their peak are mowed down to bitten-off stumps.   We live in a small town loaded with home gardens and few natural groundhog predators. Kurt dislikes relocating groundhogs with the Havahart (which I understand, as I have yet to even attempt it), so I’m always trying something new to discourage the rodents. 

Generations of lablab

I had given up on starting my own seedlings.  Despite a grow light and a cozy spot over the radiator, my seedlings were always spindly, leggy, wan specimens.  Last spring I purchased a dozen varieties of tomato seedlings from our farmers market, as well as lunchbox peppers and various herbs.  Eggplant, zinnia and cosmos starts from our garden supply store rounded out my seedling needs, I seeded the rest directly in the beds.  

On Organization

I took 6 weeks off of blogging.  I’ll blame it mostly on winter, though one can still plan and contemplate gardening and certainly cook in the cold.  I’ve felt a definite slowing down as the temperatures drop.  When it’s dark by 4pm I find it difficult to do much in the evenings.  Perhaps it is the primal aspect of our evolution?  Did any of our predecessors hibernate?  Because I feel a pull towards my couch and blanket.  I make several cups of tea and read or watch movies.  My energy is tied to the light.  (I suppose these evenings would be good times to write as well.)

            I’ve been meaning for a several weeks to write about a winter gardening topic: organization.  K, myself and a dear friend were framing a deck in our backyard.  Our vision is to enhance our kitchen’s connection to the garden, and give ourselves a perch to enjoy our southwest exposure.  I was the helper, the errand runner, the lunch maker in this operation.  I busied myself organizing our potting area in the basement to stay available for when tasks arose.  This provided a welcome excuse to do something I ought to do every year.  I recycled ripped and torn pots and neatly stacked usable 6 packs and seedling trays.  It felt good to organize this disorganized corner that called to me each time I went to the basement.

Maximizing the End of the Season

The time has come to pick the rest of the basil and every tomato with color.  Our temperatures have been dipping dangerously low, which some vegetables don’t appreciate.  Generally speaking, the more heat a vegetable needs to grow, the more sensitive it is at the end of the season to frost.  With this in mind, I just picked lots of tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and basil.

On Mulching and Micromovements

Well, my ambitious to-do list backfired.  Generally I feel peaceful while gardening.  I am connected to the system of life, part of something bigger.  Things don’t work out, it’s a learning experience.  Not today.  I was mad at the cabbage worms, mad at the irregular fall crop germination (due to cats and groundhogs), and overwhelmed by how to deal with my compost system.  

    So, I did what a good friend and mentor calls, “take micromovements.”

Garden To-Do’s

A dear friend (and inspiration for starting this blog) occasionally asks me what she should be doing in her garden.  Here’s what’s on my garden to-do list this September Saturday:

1. Take pictures of my garden beds for reference during winter planning.  Every year I mean to do this.  Every year I don’t and regret it in the middle of winter or early spring, when I’m trying to figure out what was there, and if that green growth is a beloved bulb, sprouts from a perennial root ball, or weeds.  

2. Research cabbage worms.  These pests are decimating my kale, (my blood boils just to write this) and are beginning to take bites out of turnip leaves.  (See evidence below)  After some preliminary research, it seems I must remove and destroy all plant matter as these troublesome caterpillars overwinter.  More coming on this matter.  If you have any suggestions, please share.

3. Weed and mulch fall vegetable beds.  A month ago I planted beets, spinach, chard, radishes, kale and mustard.  This bed desperately needs weeding and mulching.

Beneficial Parasite

What is that foul picture you say?  It’s a tomato hornworm’s death by parasite.  Yes, that’s right, gardeners.  Let out a cheer because you have a natural ally in the war on tomato hornworms: the Braconid Wasp.  These beneficials are parasitoids, a type of parasite which generally kills their host.

Cat Baffle

Neighborhood cats.  Need I say more, town gardeners?  To be clear, I love cats.  I am guilty of treating my cat like a beloved family member, feeding him treats, cooing him, letting him sleep on my bed.  I do not love when he makes my garden bed one of his beds.  He has a sixth sense for knowing when I planted a new seed bed, which in turn becomes his prefered location for an afternoon nap and nest, sending my germination rates plummeting.  For years I have experimented with different techniques.  For a long time mulching well with straw seemed to do the trick.  Apparently, his tastes (and the taste of our neighbors’ cats) have changed.  The straw is no longer a deterrent.  

My new favorite trick is this simple fence.

Flower Cutting Tips

A few simple tips for extending the life of your garden's cut flowers

The sun is setting early, the morning is coming later.  The garlic is dried and trimmed, waiting for planting.  Apples have arrived in the market.  The air is still thick with summer, humid; the sky is dark.  My stand of zinnias is at it’s peak of fullness and color, and I’m picking the blossoms before the thunderstorms.  A good friend and colleague admired my zinnias the other day, lamenting the fact her garden didn’t get enough sun for such flowers.  I’m arranging this bouquet for her.