2015 Gardens

BenchCo Spydermade said:
Hey all, thanks for making this a great garden thread this year! I went MIA because my landlord made me take down my garden and I was kinda not happy about it. Actually he came one day and it was mostly gone.[emoji35] I was pretty furious and didnt wanna be a wet blanket. I do have 2 refugee pepper plants that I took to my dad's apartment and he's taken care of them like his grandpeppers!

Anyways, I hope the season stretches for us. It's like it was just yesterday we were caring for seedlings and planning stuff out[emoji25] . But my favorite part of this particular hobby is a fresh start every year.[emoji2]
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Grandpeppers! Funny ... :)

The pansies and snapdragons are perfectly willing to go on here ... the old favourites hardly slowed by killing frost. Sad to see a few little yellow faces on the compost pile ... but to live another day in a different way I suppose.

The loss of your garden is a tough one. Sorry to hear that. You had mentioned you were having an issue. But, you and your dad have saved the crops!
 
My pansies which I have in planters are looking pretty good. Gave them a dose of fertilizer today. I still have lettuce and broccoli in the garden. The broccoli should be ready to harvest in a couple weeks if it doesn't get too cold. Been covering the garden with a tarp if the morning temps get down to freezing. So far, it has protected things. I think the lowest morning temp this winter has been 26 degrees F. It will get colder.
 
Well, I'm impressed. Almost mid December and still a harvest in the works. :thumbup:

Since the killing frost here in October, there have been some survivors hanging in. The little violas we call johnny jump up or wild pansy (heart's ease and many more names) is still blooming and thriving in niche areas. The lilac is in bud like it thinks there will be no winter. The snapdragons have hearty foliage but need more heat to bloom - that's not going to happen


The milkweed tufts actually bloomed everywhere, all at once it seemed. One of the monarch habitats near the house ...






There has been snow on and off, but the ground is bare and the woods are grey right now. The original outhouse here, now a tool shed, was looking a little more dressed for winter a couple of weeks ago.




The pups miss their birdbath/dog waterers ... and improvise when ice melts in the covered planters.




Even in between seasons, things can sparkle




Happy harvest!
 
All of my normal flowers in beds around the house have froze. I still have some flowers (Geraniums and obviously pansies) on the front porch in planters. The pansies will last all winter although when it gets cold or snows, they pretty much go into a dormant stage but still alive. The heat in the summer is what dooms them for the most part. All the more fragile stuff has died from a hard freeze on Nov. 14th. From previous years, it has to get down to around 20-22 degrees F for the geraniums to freeze on the front porch. Apparently the porch roof protects as well as heat radiating from the house itself somewhat. But like all winters, they are doomed and I am not going to try to save them. Most of the pansies are just "outside" on my deck. Some in planters around my vegie garden.

Planting Amaryllis bulbs now indoors (five so far). I grow them year around and always add more between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Then I may pick up some on sale after Christmas if I see them. Looks like a frigging greenhouse on my dining room table at the moment. I keep them outdoors during the warm months.

My Christmas cactus are all in bloom now (indoors). I really like them and sort of old timey. I am always on the lookout for ones on sale or in a color that is uncommon. But I pretty much have all the colors now (red, white, pink, tangerine, yellow).

Love seeing your pictures.
 
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Been picking leaf lettuce to add to sandwiches. I eat a lot of sandwiches around lunch time as it is easy. The broccoli heads are just about ready to harvest. Last two nights had frost/freeze with temps from 26 and 29 degrees. Rain predicted for much of the week coming up and warmer temps. I covered the lettuce and broccoli and they survived again. The heads are fist sized now. Might just have to add garden grown broccoli to the Christmas feast. I notice they run about $1.50 a head in the store here now. Not a huge deal cost wise, but I prefer growing and picking my own. When I buy lettuce in the store, most of it just goes to waste. Yes, I like to stretch out the growing season as much as possible short of growing in hot beds or a green house.

Planted three more Amaryllis bulbs a couple days ago. Got shipped the same order twice.... I even told them I had already received them via email as their email said they were late shipping my order. This was before they shipped the second batch of three. Oh well.... I tried to be honest. I am not sending these bulbs back.

Things in my area tend to warm up enough in mid to late February with the tulips, daffodils, quince, and forsythia starting to bloom unless the winter drags on. The early wild flowers start appearing in the woods in mid March. Dogwoods and Red Bud hit in early April. That is a very busy time for me. (This past year, I was very busy work wise and pretty much missed all of the early stuff.) By mid-may, things have moved into summer type wild flowers. I am planning a trip or two specifically to photograph the Lady Slippers in a couple locations this spring and the trillium and blood root. I love those things.
 
Lettuce always surprises me when it withstands the onslaught of cold weather when heartier plants wither. Broccoli in December must be a gift there ... and yes, the price here goes way too high in winter as well. Nice to have on the Christmas dinner menu!

February is our dead of winter, cabin fever, teeth chattering 'will the cold never end' 'will the car ever start' ... time of the year. The absolute depths. The hope of spring blossoms is a couple of months away in Feb. Considered safe to plant outdoors here, but not always a guarantee, only after the 24th of May.

We just got a great blast of snow. Since it is supposed to warm and rain, I didn't fire up the snowblower, just ploughed through it today in the van to get to town. This may mean rough snowblowing on the lane later unless it all melts. It's a gamble.

I have started about 10 geraniums from last year already. I want them blooming early this spring. I will get them under the grow light later this week.




Then there is the winter blooming bouquet of collected fireweed, milkweed and bee balm that opens and changes in pleasing ways over time. This will last a long time if no one turns on the ceiling fan :eek:




And the darndest thing! There is a tree in the living room, with a 72 year old angel on top. Even Daisy can't explain this ... and we all know she knows her crops ...




Joy of this wonderful season to all :)
 
At the outset, may I express my sorrow over the human tragedy and destruction caused by extreme weather conditions striking such a wide swath in the US. At any time bringing deep sadness ... but especially at Christmas time.

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My sense is that most gardeners carry a sharp tool, most a versatile knife or multitool as I do ... and a lot of other specialty tools as well. Perhaps that is why a gardening thread is viewed here on a knife forum.


Winter sky, freezing rain coated forest on the other side of the Black River, across the valley. No snow cover that stays yet. Very unusual.




Garden has survived in defiant pockets even until this day, the 28th December. Unbelievable!




Survival roots like the perennial it is. But also in winter bloom! Surprise. The ever persistent violet, johnny-jump-up, heart's ease ... many named little beauty. Today's pic.




The ice makes the evergreens hunker down. I love to wander with my camera in the low morning or afternoon light following an ice storm. Bend in the river.




I do consider all my property to be my garden of sorts. Here, some unauthorized pruning of poplar saplings by beaver. They have been running amok this fall. I had noticed a lot of slides on the river in October while working on the fallen maple on the river.




Beaver slide the saplings down this path to the river. Around 8 trees dropped and gone. Poplars ... so no loss to me. They don't take my evergreens.




The joke is on me. One day I will find a felled sapling and set it aside for my winter campfire. The next day it is gone! I picture a couple of beaver riding it downhill to the final splash. EeeeeeeHaaaaaa! :eek:


I am setting a live trap for whatever is snacking on the budding geranium leaves in the basement grow area. It is not Daisy ;)
 
Great pictures Taldesta! The warm spell seems to be over now and things are generally typical for December-January here. My Quince bush started to bloom in the warm spell and I have Daffadils popping up (not blooming of course). My Geraniums are still surviving on my front porch without any protection. The lettuce is still alive but past its prime and we have had a few broccoli sides for dinner from our garden. Don't know if the little secondary heads will develop at this point. I am not covering the plants any more if it freezes. Welcome to 2016!
 
22-rimfire said:
My Quince bush started to bloom in the warm spell and I have Daffadils popping up (not blooming of course). My Geraniums are still surviving on my front porch without any protection. The lettuce is still alive but past its prime and we have had a few broccoli sides for dinner from our garden. Don't know if the little secondary heads will develop at this point. I am not covering the plants any more if it freezes. Welcome to 2016!
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Can't say I am familiar with quince. Will add it to my list to google. You still have geraniums! I lost a pile of mine to the killing frost last October but some are reviving.

Hey ... you've extended the 2015 growing season ... at least here in this thread! So ... B I N G O the mouse is not my last post here for the year ...?

That's cool because I just cooked up some leather breeches that I had dried over the fall since the pole beans were producing last summer. Must say the idea came from the Preserving Vegetables chapter in my old The Foxfire Book. I wanted to try something that didn't need modern day canning or preserving equipment. It was simple and it worked. Needle and thread, strung together, hung to dry. Simmer to reconstitute and tenderize and there you have it. The beans do not taste like beans though. I found them much like spinach but with more body. Served With butter, salt, pepper and vinegar ... a very nice dish.


Dried




Ready to eat - pretty tasty too!




From The Foxfire Book ... a fascinating read, always.




While I am at it, here are the geraniums under the grow light ... around 16 starts. I am trimming them back to ensure lots of foliage and am trying to start new plants from these cuttings.




Today the mailman brought a little something ... just to keep me out of trouble over winter. As if! :eek: My annual seeds ordered from Prince Edward Island have arrived.



2016 indeed. You will be posting pics of trilliums and lady slippers before the snow goes here. Trilliums are Ontario's provincial flower. These hills are alive with them, right around blackfly season ;)
 
The beans are very cool and they still retained their color after drying. Interesting. I have never purchased any of the foxfire books. They are right up my alley, but just never have.

Quince is an old timey bush that flowers early in the spring like Forsythia. No big thing. They really are poor shrubs overall and best as a backdrop with more interesting stuff up front. Basically dealing with climate zones and what is suited here and relative to where you are. I believe its a more southern bush and hardy to zone 5. Gets fruit on it, but I have never eaten one. I believe you can make quince jelly with them.

Like the traditional knife. I misplaced (or lost?) my regular old sak and have been using a AG Russell two-blade Sowbelly Trapper for the last couple of days. Dang is the factory edge sharp on that thing. It is a beastly folder. If necessary I will dig out a spare sak in a couple days. I have a couple spares of that model. Want to dig around a bit for it and it may have just fallen out of my pants pocket in the bedroom changing clothes and so forth.

Been adding to my Christmas Cactus collection and adding colors. They bloomed and I noticed I had no pink; always thought pink were common and reds were hard to find. Well, I got a couple light pink ones and will see how they do. Have way too many of the things. I think I am going to build a "christmas cactus cage" (Genus > Schlumbergera) to keep them in outside this summer as the squirrels are big trouble for them and can eliminate years of growth in a minute, maybe seconds. Got too many to keep indoors year around.

I could bring my Geraniums indoors but they are in big pots/planters outside. I did one year and the next growing season had that plant grew to almost bushel basket size. Remember bushel baskets? Bet there are a lot of folks here that have never seen one.

As always, I am looking forward to the garden prep an so forth. This year I have to add mushroom compost (because I can buy it in bulk vs bags) to my flower beds.... scrap all the bark chips back, till, spread compost, till compost in. Will do the same for my little garden. Your garden is too big for such things I would think (cost wise). I can get a pickup load for about $30 which is about all I need. Going to buy a couple big tomato plants first (in pots) and then follow up with regular sized ones to spread out the ripening season.

I think you have hit on something with your UV comment on tomatoes a while back in the thread.
 
22-rimfire said:
Like the traditional knife. I misplaced (or lost?) my regular old sak and have been using a AG Russell two-blade Sowbelly Trapper for the last couple of days. Dang is the factory edge sharp on that thing. It is a beastly folder. If necessary I will dig out a spare sak in a couple days.
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The traditional is marked Inox Solingen Germany. I must say that, thanks to BF, my sense of appreciation is growing for what at first I thought to be just a plain old pocket knife. I know :o

I still have a lot to learn about patterns and shapes and history ... among the endless parade of beauties all over the traditional forum.

Good luck in recovering your regular edc ... and hope you don't get bitten in the meantime ...

Don't let the white stuff fool you, there's a lot growing on here at Spaniel Crossing.

I've only just now had to order my second tank of fuel oil for the winter - probably three weeks later than it normally would last. The driver needs the laneway ploughed wide as he backs in. The snowblower wasn't budging this morning at -19C (-1F or so I think) so I set an electric heater under its tarp for 20 minutes and bingo! I don't know what perennials will suffer with the frost penetrating deeper because of the lack of insulating snowfall.


Outside at Spaniel Crossing this morning ...




Inside (I know, I swore I would not give over my living room to seedlings ever again. I lied :o ) Geranium seedlings in tubs yesterday - these seeds arrived in my last post. 100% germinated. One more mature plant pulled last fall and re-started - rest of them are under the grow light in the basement. Yes, there is always coffee on at my camp.



Note - all these plants are not for me. I am holding them for a friend.


Re: Christmas cactus ... like knives, when your collection needs a cage, you are in deep! I picked up a couple (cactus) because they needed a good home and now they have lots of little geranium friends.

Yup, bushel baskets, very handy. To overwinter the geraniums I cut the foliage back to 1/3 and take a lot of dirt off the root so not a big space problem until time to re-pot them in Jan / Feb. I am starting them early this year for a friend who is very ill.

This past fall, a pile of old woodworking and gardening magazines were left on my porch by a friend. In one, there was a picture of a geranium that reached to the living room ceiling and took up as much space as a Christmas tree. It had been taken in as you describe to overwinter inside. In Tennessee!

Yes, the strength of the uv makes a huge difference - perhaps the winter/summer difference is more exaggerated here because of the distance from the equator.

I keep a couple of compost containers going here and one cold compost for the gardens but I still always do what my mum did - add some sheep manure in spring, stand back and watch bean stocks grow.
 
You have a garden inside your house! You have a good start on 2016.

The christmas cactus cage idea is to allow me to get them out of the house in the warm months and protect them from the squirrels that my wife won't let me shoot. :rolleyes: I o have a few if you know what I mean and I keep propagating more. There were 6 grey squirrels climbing around my one bird feeder this morning. They do like sunflower seeds and so does just about everything else that might hit my feeders. Glad there aren't any bears around here close.

This last cold spell has resulted in my geraniums freezing, the garden is gone. Have to be thinking about 2016. The lowest here so far was about 15 degrees. Porch won't protect from those kinds of temps.

My amaryllis are really blooming nicely right now. Yeah. I have quite a few of those indoors and they get placed outdoors once things warm up.
 
22-rimfire said:
The christmas cactus cage idea is to allow me to get them out of the house in the warm months and protect them from the squirrels that my wife won't let me shoot. :rolleyes:

My amaryllis are really blooming nicely right now. Yeah. I have quite a few of those indoors and they get placed outdoors once things warm up.
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Lucky squirrels with your wife as a friend! Anything blooming would be a treat here, now in February ...


It's a nippy -40c with windchill this morning and the crops are happy to be taking in the rising sunshine through the south facing window overlooking the river valley. The only problem is that I opened the window to take three quick snapshots and, in those few seconds, I lost 2 tender seedlings and at least 8 leaves from the nearest potted plant. :eek:




Otherwise, the crops are strong and upright. I've transplanted 35 of the seedling geraniums into the larger containers with the older, overwintered plants. These little guys will make up for those I lost to killing frost due to laziness last fall.




You may be able to see the little seedlings growth spurt.




Oops ... two pots of lettuce snuck in there, given the store price and perishability - not a mistake. But, airborne seeds from the fireweed in the tabletop bouquet in the corner are also making inroads so I try to stay on top of the 'weeding'. I know, February - hahaha. :rolleyes: The dried bouquet of milkweed, fireweed and bee balm is huge now ... and volatile in the slightest breeze. No running in the livingroom. No sudden moves. Defininely no ceiling fan! I simply cannot enforce ... no tail wagging. :D




One huge surprise is the emergence of this begonia from last year, overwintered. I have neglected it completely in a container in the basement. But this little guy just appeared, perhaps encouraged by the angle of the sun these days ... or its warmth. Here, it is transplanted and getting the royal treatment upstairs - water, sunshine, conversation ...




Propagation. While I have the plants that need cutting back to encourage volume at the base (and discourage legginess), I am playing with stem and leaf cuttings in vermiculite. I am unsure if the 'collars' will succeed or rot, but I have some hope for the stems.




Yikes, "PLANT FEB 15" is marked in bold on the envelope containing 4 seed packets. I think I will just tuck that one away in a drawer for a while! Whew ...
 
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