A Winter Ritual

February marks the time of year when, under the constant barrage of cold, sunless days and endless snow, winter's newness and beauty begins to fade.

Now that the last of the blizzard's snow has been shoveled and the icicles have been knocked down from the gutter and down spouts, and there's nothing to be done about the ice dam that has formed over the front porch overhang, it's time to indulge.

The Gurney's and Dutch Garden colored catalogs need attention.  My gardening journal beckons to be opened.  It is a good ritual, this perusing and dreaming, of planning the yearly gardens. 

Prompted by news of a possible seed shortage - I had earlier dashed to get the Burpee order form in the mail, then hedged my bets and bought Picklebush Cucumber, Early Sweet Sugar Pie Pumpkin, Vegetable Spaghetti Squash, and Fordhook Zucchini seeds on Saturday from a local big box store.  Call it mild panic and overreaction, but I cannot imagine a garden without these vegetables nor would I take even the slightest risk of not having these seeds to plant. 

I can't however, breathe a sigh of relief until I score red, white and yellow onion sets.  These too are rumored to be in short supply this year.

In the meantime, I compiled my Gurney's order (a dwarf grapefruit tree, asparagus food, garden soil inoculant for peas and beans, two more square tomato cages); then, I visited with my journal reviewing the garden layouts from year's past, the yields, the purchases and some short journal entries:

There seems to be a common theme in my journal entries

- one of birds as harbingers -

and of evidence that, even in the dead of winter,

the rythmn of nature carries us forward into spring. 

January 9, 1999
 Birds sighted: 

 a flock of larks, cardinals, a red-bellied woodpecker,
bluejays, grackles, sparrows, titmouse, juncos,
 a red tail hawk and Canada geese.

-----

March 19, 2005: 

First red-winged blackbird of the season feeding

alongside some grackles outside the kitchen window. 

Started my yellow and green peppers, cabbage

and 3 kinds of tomatoes (yellow pear, sweet cherry and Big Boy).

-----

May 2, 2004

Barn swallows are back!

My Photo Entry

My sister told me about this great site, http://www.gardeninggonewild.com/, which combines photography and gardening.  Two of my passions.  I have entered the old apple tree in this month's winter photo contest.

It's a Winter Wonderland Out There!

Zone 5 gets its share of cold and snow.  Soon, Zone 5 should have its January thaw.  This is when the weather warms up enough to melt the snow.  Almost everyone gets excited to see the snow retreat by this time of winter....if only for a few days.  In the meantime, I was up early on Sunday and was rewarded with a spectacular sunrise and a landscape completely frosted over.  Winter does have its pluses.  Enjoy.

The old apple tree silhouette against the rising sun.

Sunrise casts long shadows across the untrodden landscape.

Spent Coneflowers stand firm against the frosty onslaught.

The sun rises over the distant Mugo Pines.

The frosty canopies of the Maple Trees

glow pink in the early morning sun.

Frost and a dollop of snow lend a sense of whimsy to this Maple.

The sun beams raise upward in a joyous Hallelujah.

The weak sunlight casts a white and yellow glow

across the neighbor's backyard.

Frost covers every needle on this White Pine.

These Coneflowes have a toppings of snow

making them resemble cotton ripening in a field.

The volunteer Oak sapling's frosty leaves still cling

tightly to its little branches.

The morning sun lights up the recent snowfall

reflecting back like a million tiny mirrors.

Knock Out Roses with Black-eyed Susans

While driving to and from the grocery store on Saturdays, I listen to 610's weekend call-in gardening program.  A couple years ago, I liked what I heard about Knock Out Roses.  They came so highly recommended.  I couldn't resist!  They were also reasonably priced.  I bought mine from Wal-Mart.

For me, hybrid roses have always been a challenge.  Although there is nothing quite like the grace, fragrance and beauty of a cultivated rose, I have had limited success with this flower.

In recent years, if the leaf spot didn't make make them unsightly, then the Japanese beetles did.

Sometimes, both disease and insect rendered my two hybrid rose bushes looking like something that had survived a war zone.

The Knock Out roses have had no leaf spot and the beetles don't go after them the way they do the hybrids.

Virtually carefree, this variety is compact, blooms continuously well into Fall and is fragrant. A perfect plant to grow around a deck.

Fall Has Come

I wish the maples would always be this color - a rich yellow

with twinges of orange.

The green berries of the bittersweet

have turned yellow with cherry-red centers

The sweetgum with its star shaped leaves

glows in shades of yellow, red and orange.

 

The pink "Knock-Out" roses continue to bloom

despite a hard frost.

I like to stand beneath the towering maples

and look up into their golden expanse.

As a child,

I used to collect and press the colorful fall leaves

in the leaves of heavy books; to visit them

in the winter or whenever my heart

wished to return to that moment in time.

On Bringing in the Seeds

Frugality. It is the buzzword of the day.

 It seems everyone has embraced this lifestyle.

I learned frugality from our parents. World War II as imputes: frugality in all things, even gardening.

My father collected seeds. He showed us how. Father also wintered geraniums and other plants. One of his prize geraniums, of Hungarian origin, was almost three feet tall. We referred to it as the “geranium tree:” deep red, a prolific bloomer even in winter.

A few years ago, seeing that my sister was doing what our father had done, I too started wintering geraniums. This year, some bright pinks will be added to the salmon and magentas. One day, maybe, just maybe, one or both of us will have a “geranium tree” to rival that of our father.

As for seeds, dill, forget-me-nots, yellow & orange marigolds, sugar pie pumpkin, purple phlox, orange cosmos, columbine and portulaca have been, once again, collected, dried, sealed and placed in a cool, dry place.

I, the frugal gardener. Like father, like daughters.

Or, perhaps it is habit. Tradition. An unwavering rite of summer's passage. Perhaps it is simply a pleasing thing to do this wintering and ‘bringing in the seed.’

Or maybe, it is an act of preserving something more: not just seeds or a favorite flower, but of preserving that invisible connection to our father, from whom we gleaned the knowledge and joy of gardening.

Time to Reflect on 2009

Sedum colors the late summer perennial bed

------

Another growing season is almost at an end.  2009 will go down as one of those weird years: Too cold, too wet and sometimes, too dry. 

I heard from several gardeners in Ohio and Pennsylvania that it was a challenging year.  So, when I hear some people didn't even get one ear of corn or someone else says their tomatoes rotted, I remind myself not to be a perfectionist.  My garden was good.  I was hoping for "over abundance," but "good" is good ;)

Cabbage, peppers, eggplant, beans are still producing.  A few tomato plants by the patio deck are rippening.  I started four tomato plants for indoors for the winter.  One already has blossoms.

The apple tree took a holiday this year and didn't produce much fruit.  The two pear trees, on the other hand, took up the slack.  Mom & I have been peeling, coring and freezing pint after pint of pears to use in making pear butter and bread over the winter.

I cleaned up the potting shed garden and hauled the corn stalks to the back compost pile.  There were 14 pie pumpkins in this garden.  In the next few days, they will be cooked down and made into pumpkin pie filling.

Lots to do as gardening in Zone 5 wraps up.

Zucchini the Prolific!

In historical Ohio, corn, beans and squash were called the “three sisters” because they were staple crops that were planted together. The Indians and later, settlers, planted them this way so the beans had a strong support to climb and the squash could grow in the shade of the corn.

Today, all three vegetables thrive in Zone 5; although they are most often planted separately.

Zucchini is one of those prolific, easy-to-grow vegetables. Even in growing seasons that are not favorable, zucchini manages to be a top producer. What we can't eat fresh, we freeze or make into bread.

Here is one of my family’s favorite ways to enjoy zucchini. This recipe is from my sister Dar. She is an excellent cook. She also has a sweet little blog - RusticRanch.blogspot.com.

Zucchini Bread
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 tsp salt
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
½ cup chopped walnuts
½ cup raisins
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups grated zucchini with skin (if using large zucchini, cut in half and scoop out the seeds before grating).

In large bowl, beat eggs well. Blend in sugar. Mix together baking soda, powder, salt cinnamon and flour. Add oil and mixed dry ingredients into egg/sugar mixture. Blend well but do not over beat. Add zucchini, nuts, raisins. Divide mixture into 2 greased and floured loaf pans. Bake 1 hour at 350. Let cool 10 minutes on rack before removing bread from pan.

For a bread that is more moist, increase zucchini by another 1/2 cup.

This bread freezers well.

some of.....The Fruits of my Labor

"Sweet banana peppers,"

long and tapered, await picking....

Should picking be delayed,

their yellow flesh will turn from yellow to orange to red.

"Great Stuff Hybrid" peppers are big and flavorful -

perfect for making stuffed peppers with rice,

tomato juice and ground beef.

This Burpee variety is also resistant to mosaic virus,

a virus which can be a problem in Ohio.

Pick a peck of PICKLES :)

"Little Dillicious" medium green cukes, 3 1/2" to 5"

long with blunt tips.

Great for pickling. These beauties are soaking.

Tomorrow, they will begin their pickle transformation.

"Fast Ball" cabbage has smaller, softball-sized heads.

The nibble holes are from the cabbage web worm.

I try not to spray, so if the pest is faster than me,

they get a meal before I get to them.

Eggplants - I love the color of this vegetable:

they shimmer like deep opals.

This is an unknown variety I bought from a local greenhouse.

One of the few starts I purchased this year.

The pears are starting to fall from the trees.

A little early, but no matter.

They were gathered and will ripen in the cool basement.

These make for a wonderful pear bread.

"Small Sugar" pumpkins grow to 5-8 lb.
They are a perfect pie pumpkin: fine grain, stringless and sweet.
One pumpkin has already started to ripen.
"Silver Queen" sweet corn.
We've been waiting and waiting on you my lovely!
This variety is very sweet & white. Ears grow to 8-9".
Variety freezes well too.

Tomatoes!
We had our first tomatoes yesterday - a lovely onion/tomato/parsley salad.
This is the "Super Beefsteak."
Fruit is smooth, meaty and averages 1 lb. each.
Tomatoes were started from seeds, indoors in late March.

In the Middle of Summer

A mid-summer, volunteer sunflower is poised to bloom.

It has been an odd summer. I have heard some people describe what we, in zone 5, are going through as the "year of no summer."

While we have had a few days in the high 80's. We haven't had our typical hot, soupy Ohio weather. The tomatoes for one are lagging behind because the days have been mild and the evenings cool. I have over 30 plants filled with small, green tomatoes.

On the other hand, the zucchini and yellow squash are producing. We're making/freezing zucchini bread as fast as we can for the long winter ahead. For now, we're enjoying fresh, sauteed zucchini with frozen tomatoes (from last year's garden), onion and yellow squash.

The green beans are finally picking size. The yellow are almost ready.

We've had several yummy meals of stuffed green peppers too. The leaf lettuce is still growing nicely as are the green onions.

We're just really, really anxious for some sweet, juicy, vine-ripened tomatoes. Ditto for the sweet corn!

Orange Cone Flowers Begin to Thrive

Last summer, I moved my orange cone flowers from the small deck garden to the perennial bed.

It appears to have been a good move.

The orange variety is beginning to do better after a couple of years struggling.

I also like that there are purple cone flowers on the other side of the fence. The purple accentuates the orange very nicely.

Portulaca - Moss Rose

One of my dad's favorite flowers was the portulaca. He grew it in rock gardens and planter beds. Until this past spring, I had forgotten how beautiful this flower is.

After I had dug out a large, winter-damaged barberry bush from my full sun rock garden, I went to my favorite local greenhouse. And, there they were...flats of portulaca, the Sundial Mix. I knew I had found my rock garden replacement.

The only amending I did to the relatively good soil was peat moss.

The drought-tolerant portulaca took off, creating a blanket of low growing, succulent green leaves and bright, almost translucent, cup-shaped flowers.

When I was a child, my dad showed me how to collect the seeds by breaking open the dried seed heads. Since it is an annual, I'll be collecting seeds for next year, to grow my own starts to increase the amount of moss rose in the rock garden...YES, it IS that pretty!

Asiatic & Day Lilies on Parade

It's blooming time for the lilies.

And, they are as pretty as floats in a parade.....

Rubdeckia Marks the End of June

It's the end of June. The vegetable garden is growing well. A few weeks ago, a friend told me about epsom salt. It must be one of those old time gardening tricks. She heard about it from a co-worker and it worked for her so she was happy to share the secret.

Always one to try a garden trick at least once, I sprinkled epsom salt around the watermelon, beans, peppers, cucumbers and a couple of potted cherry tomatoes a day before it rained. Seriously, it made the plants double in size overnight. It's the magnesium sulfate.

So, my secret out, nothing else is new except a few cabbage worms; some of the corn was knocked over by a recent thunderstorm, and weeds. The usual things to contend with in Zone 5.

The cabbage worms were removed by hand. The corn should right itself. As for the weeds, I will be pulling them out as soon as I finish this post. Because of that soaking rain, the ground is soft. I like to pull weeds a day or so after a good rain because they come out easily, root and all.

The daylilies, tiger lilies, shasta daisies, rubdeckia, bee balm, yarrow and cone flowers, are dominating the perennial beds right now.

Hot days ahead now that the rubdeckia is blooming. Good swimming weather. Which is where I will be when the weeding gets to me!

They Follow the Sun

I love sunflowers simply because I love flowers and the color yellow.
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When I was a child, the yellow crayon in my box of Crayolas was always a nub. I used to trade my blue or red for yellow. My suns were always big and the crayon on the paper was heavy to the point of being tacky. I just couldn't get enough of the color.
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So of course, big, yellow sunflowers are planted in my garden. Some flowers, like the one pictured above, are volunteers from the bird feeders.
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Sunflowers come in an assortment of colors and sizes. They are easy to grow and require no care. When the flower is spent, I dry out the seed heads, trim them down and hang them off the fence for the birds to peck at. Finches especially love the seed heads.
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That their cheery yellow faces

follow the yellow sun as it travels

through the sky is, for me,

double the magic.