Can you Teach an OLD Gardener some New Tricks??

Winter. .

Spring. .

Winter. .

Spring. .

We're calling spring around here. .

Finally!!

We were still getting freezing nights nearly a week after our average frost free date. .

Guess that's why they call it an average??

But. .

We've had moisture. .

So things are green and flowers are in bloom!!

Hooray!!

Here's a great photo of the Blue Flax. .

All you hot southern Kansas garden mamas. .

You NEED this plant. .

It has been phenomenal. .

AND you can probably sneak into my garden when I am not looking. .

Steal some for yourself. .

Steal some for your neighbors and friends. .

And I still wouldn't notice the gap!

You can see how the 4 original 2 inch potted plants 3 years ago have spread. .

I love it!

But don't look for it in the afternoon. .

Or even the evening. .

For the only way you will know which plant is IT. .

Is if you sneak in during the morning!

You've all heard my woes about the drought and the hideous garden plot full of Johnson grass. .

a NOXIOUS WEED!

So, while sitting in the waiting room New Year's Eve during Grant's surgical procedure. .

as I browsed one of my endless supply of gardening magazines. .

I found THESE. .

Gardening boxes. .

Grow the perfect tomatoes. .

along with other miraculous, intriguing claims were made. .

So, I researched and ordered. .

Six of them!!

These will be our 'garden' this summer!!

I had to be a little choosy about what to plant. .

And Grant helped me set them up and plant them. .

We have 2 Beef Steak tomatoes (red slicers), 2 Kellogg's breakfast tomatoes (yellow slicers), 2 Tomatoberry tomatoes (grape tomatoes that are shaped like a strawberry and super sweet), 1 Mater Sandwich (leftover seed from last year, a red slicer), and 1 Brandywine (leftover seed as well, an heirloom that supposedly has fantastic flavor). Each box was good for 2 tomato plants. .so that took 4 boxes. One box contains 5 pepper plants (1 jalapeno, and 4 colored sweet) and 3 basil plants (1 green sweet and 2 purple). The final box contains 6 holes that will consist of cucumber plants, 3 holes with pickling and 3 holes with slicing seeds. .I noticed today that there are sprouts in both sides (we planted on Saturday) These containers are self watering. .and they have GINORMOUS water reservoirs in the bottom!! I think they will work great!

We also planted some round self watering planters I found at walmart. .

2 pots have carrot varieties (cosmic purple, which we love. .and tendersweet, an orange variety) The other one has watermelon seeds. .I also intend to get one more pot and plant cantaloupe in it. You can see them perched around the memory garden. .

they will not stay on the sidewalk. .

you notice the small sliver of dirt you can see at the left edge of the photo. .

that is now a small piece of yard that is surrounded by sidewalk on the east and south and new patio on the west. .

It will be the perfect location for these pots, once we put down a thick layer of newspaper and straw.

If you want to read about these little grow boxes. .

you can find them here. .

http://www.agardenpatch.com/

I have also been pretty nervous about our little potato tower experiment!!

Over 3 weeks now with no potato vines in sight!

I stuck my hand into the tower last week to see if I could fish out a spud to see whether they were rotting or what. .

Dumb!!

I took a stinger to my middle finger that I'm sure went straight into my BONE. .

And the next day I got my long hand trowel and started again.

I found a few of them sprouted reaching for the sky. .

I was concerned that they may never reach the top. .

And lo and behold. .

2 little potato sprouts peeking out of the bottom of the tower. .

Just like the Internet said they would!

And finally in veggie news. .

We (mostly I) put in 10 asparagus crowns. .

I used the cedar fence along the back edge of the memory garden as the guide for their spots. . 

And planted some on the east side and some on the west side (if you scroll back up to my zoomed out photo. .they would be right about the location of my Yukon sitting in the driveway). .

4 of the 10 plants have emerged as of the last few days!!

I think this will be a better spot for them then the area in the garden that I tried a few years ago. .

And it will definitely be a better "permanent" spot for them!

Our favorite "special" way to eat asparagus is grilled with a little olive oil. .

or better yet, shoved in a slice of prosciutto stuck together with a little goat cheese. .

and THEN grilled!

YUM!!

In other gardening news. .

The lilacs were sparse. .

but fragrant. .

and pretty!! Hopefully next year will see more blooms. .

I enjoyed these from afar, but never took a bouquet to the house.

My aunt Jane shared some yellow water iris with me before she moved last year. .

It was loaded with blooms this week!

The regular iris are starting their show too. .

Yellow has been open for a couple days. .

The peach one is also about ready to go. .

There are several other colors that are starting too.

Last year I barely had a single iris bloom. .

and I was a little nervous about why they didn't bloom!!

So I was really thrilled to see them all performing like "business as usual."

Wondering if anyone else had that experience too?

I love columbine. .

but they haven't loved me much yet. .

I couldn't resist this purple one. .

And planted it near the pond, where I have tried to recreate a moister soil by leaving some of the pond liner under the soil with just a few holes poked in. .

So far it has worked for the hostas. .

And I am hoping the columbine will take to it too!

The Cardonna Salvia and Walker's Low Nepeta (catnip) from High Country gardens are expanding and looking radiant!

The pink penstemon in the same area and the Jupiter's beard will also join the color parade soon.

I tried another new trick I read about. .

 for a little Japanese painted fern that I wanted to add around my pitcher pump water feature when I get it put back together. .

I used an old hanging basket with the fibrous coco liner in it. .

I dug a hole out of the soil that was in the pot. .

Used an old pull up diaper from the stash of about 10 leftovers I found when we tore apart Cami's room. .

Opened it up and laid it in the bottom. .

Piled some more dirt on top of the diaper. .

and planted the fern in it. .

The diaper will hold the extra water and release it slowly to the root of the fern. .

Which I could NEVER hope to keep in total shade and get watered enough on my own. .

With this method, I think I can manage both. .

I'll keep ya posted!!

I dug this old bucket out from under my honeysuckle vine over the weekend too. .

And used it for a creeping jenny. .

which I also hope to add in a pocket when I put the pump feature back in on the new patio edge!

A few containers got some attention. .

like this old wire basket that got two pots of spicy fragranced petunias. .

Purple and yellow (or orange) is one of my favorite color combos of summer!

And we sat on the new patio this weekend and enjoyed the scent of them as it drifted by!

Another "out on a limb" purchase for me was this fuchsia.

I tried one last year. .

And the cats laid on it. .

Not to mention it dried up QUICKLY!!

And lasted like. .

A week!!

I found this little self watering hanging basket at Walmart for around $7. .

That fuchsia has sucked it dry twice a day since I got it. .

No wonder I killed it last year. .

But so far, nearly 2 weeks in. .

It is looking really nice!

And finally. .

I was TOTALLY surprised to find this little clump of Star of Bethlehem blooming right behind my little stone cross. I have transplanted these several times and never had them bloom. .
I don't EVEN remember transplanting this clump. .

But I love 'em. .

My daycare provider has a yard full. .

but me. .

always just a clump of stems!!

They are so sweet!!

So. .

despite my total lack of interest in gardening after 2 years of drought and incredible heat. .

I find myself adapting. .

learning new tricks to improve my success!

I am hopeful that the tricks will be successful come September. .

Guess you CAN teach an old dog new tricks!!

STOP. .

And smell a flower. .

on the side of this super busy highway we call. .

LIFE!!

Glad you stopped by today!

Potato plants

You may recall that after Grant's birthday party a few weeks ago. .we cut up our seed potatos so they could rest a bit before we put them in the ground. Jeremy's grandma said she let hers sit at least a week before planting them in the ground. I have since read that even letting them sit overnight is adequate. The reason for doing so is to allow the cut flesh to dry slightly which helps prevent the potato from molding in the ground.

We sliced regular looking potatos into pieces that contained 2 eyes. .or the divet that starts to grow horns if you let the potatoes sit too long before you eat them (please tell me that I am not the only whose potatoes grow horns!).  We left them open in containers and put them in the basement storage room to rest. 

I wanted to plant them around St Patricks day. .as my grandma always did. .but the 17th was a barren planting time according to the Farmer's almanac (I'm a believer in that!). So Sunday the 20th was the first good planting day. .and the only one that I had available to get into the garden.  The above photo shows the crusty potatoes and their little eyes starting to sprout.

This year we are trying a no-till gardening method. I have seen a number of articles over the last year that stresses the importance of the underground microbes, bacteria, and other life forms (earthworms, etc) that are exposed to sunlight, heat, and air every time you till.  Seems that this underground structure has to start over each time you disturb it.  I decided to see how it works.  The other plus is that, since much of my newspaper/straw mulching will continue to supress weeds. .much of our work is already done. .with the exception of throwing some new straw on top to reinforce. Hee Haw!!

So, after church and lunch. .with Camille resting peacefully in bed. .we trucked out to the garden. The big boys hoed some rows through the mulch where the onion rows of last season had been. .D confiscated my camera and took pictures. .LOTS of pictures. .and several of himself as he made shadows on the ground. .8 year olds!!

We planted 3 15-20 foot rows of the variety Red Pontiac. .

3 15-20 foot rows of the variety Red Norland. .

and a couple rows of Yukon Gold. .

in that order from north to south (for my own memory. .since I don't use row markers. .found out a long time ago that they just get pulled up and used as weapons)

We spaced them in the row about 1 1/2-2 feet apart in rows 2 feet apart with their little eyes pointing skyward. Covered them up with dirt and straw (I also learned in my research that they will grow well just using straw and no soil). Now we wait for them to grow plants within the next 2-3 weeks.  After the plants get about 6 inches tall, we will mound more dirt around the base of the plant. .creating more space for the potatoes to form.  This is our first try with potatoes. .so we are excited about growing something new!! Grant and I also enjoyed trying to map out our other summer crops in our garden space.  Grant seems to be a child of my own heart. .he kept saying that the spot just needed to be a little bigger so we could grow more. .if any of you have seen my veggie garden space. .it is HUGE!! The first thing that boy will learn is space management!! It will be fun to have a gardening partner this year!!

While he cleaned up old tomato and pepper plants, I planted some grasses around the new sidewalk, as well as some cannas and gladiola bulbs. .also both new specimen around these gardens!! And my gardening highlight of the day??? I found my RHUBARB plants!! A gentleman in town had bought 3 rhubarb plants for me last year. It's a bit of a joke. .as many years ago at our church soup supper I fixed a rhubarb pie with some rhubarb that I had in my freezer from Grandma Pat.  Everyone raved over it, since very few people make rhubarb pie. .and many people grew up eating it!! The next year I didn't fix that type of pie and he was SORELY disappointed.  Since I am a first born pleaser-personalitied person. .I have been fixing rhubarb pie every year since then!! I was so tickled that he bought me some plants to make sure that I always had a supply!! It appeared to be dead by August. .and I wasn't sure why.  But as I was checking my Virginia creeper vine that I stuck near one of the rhubarb holes last fall. .I was SUPER EXCITED to find rhubarb leaves next to the creeper. .and lo and behold. .rhubarb leaves coming from the other two "dead" plants!! What a great surprise!!  Welcome spring!! Have a great week!

Fall Plantin'

Since the rain and cooler temperatures have hit, my gardening humor has improved tremendously.  A couple weeks ago I sowed seeds for my greenhouse.  I used several varieties of cool season determinate tomatos I bought last year from Tomato Fest. I have stored them in the freezer and they have germinated fine, but I planted extra seeds just to be sure.  Our favorite variety was the Black Seaman ( a black tomato).  The flavor and texture just seemed better than the others, which were a tad mealy, but still tastier than store bought. The sunshine seemed to be more sporadic last winter than usual, so I am interested to see how things compare this winter.  I plan to do 10-12 tomato plants in the greenhouse--last year I did 6.  I will also keep 3-4 of the Sprite grape tomato plants--the kids have loved the small tomatoes this summer, and the ones from the greenhouse last winter were good, but few in number.  The tomatoes have germinated well, and have just developed their second set of leaves so now I can transplant them into a cell of their own.

Some of the peppers have germinated--they can take up to 3 weeks.  I planted both red and yellow bell peppers, and a few of both varieties are up.  Green peppers are still reasonably priced, even during the winter, but the sweet colored ones are crazy expensive. It looks like I will be able to house at least 6 plants and up to 10 if some more seeds germinate. 

While looking through my leftover seeds, I found some bush baby watermelon that I tried in the garden last year.  They only get about 3 feet around in a "bush" formation.  I threw those all in the flat too, thinking it they sprouted, it would be fun to stick it in their too.  3 little sprouts came up, so I will find a place to put'em.

I bought several different lettuce mixtures last spring--enough to last us through the winter.  So I will soon sow long planters of that so we can harvest them this fall.  I plan to sow some every couple of weeks to keep it in different stages. 

I took Cami out with me last Monday before the wonderful 3 1/2 inch rainfall came and planted beets.  I had around 12 plants germinate last spring, many less than I sowed!! But enough that I was able to make some pickled beets and excite myself in the possibility of doing it again.  I have never tried to plant anything for a fall garden, so this is new terrain for me.  It seems that the beets have sprouted much quicker and consistently than they did in the spring--maybe I planted too early then?  While hoeing the rows, I found a number of onions hanging out in the soil.  The last 2 years I have noted that the tops of my onions were rotting off at the junction to the onion, thus causing me to have to pick them earlier than I thought I should.  But this year I decided our mulch is too close and keeping the moisture on them long enough to do damage.  Will try a different method next year.  Anyway, the onions I found were still small, but edible--and Jeremy used them in the pico de gallo the other day, delish. He is now the pico de gallo king and is fixing it regularly.  I am eating a huge amount of salsa on a chip, hoping to consume more salsa than chips, praying that my jeans will still fit in a couple of months!

But, I'm not just veggie gardening.  The other night we went to a friend's to collect some kittens. She has a FANTASTIC garden and pond.  I was admiring her passion vine (which I have never seen in person before).  It has a fabulous subtle scent.  She talked about planning on trying to root some next spring to make more plants. My inner light bulb went on.  She grabbed a pair of scissors and I went home with a clipping.  I stuck the end in rooting powder and into some tall plastic pots saved from high country garden plants.  The small leaves that were on there haven't wilted yet, so I am hopeful that I will have 2 passion flower vines overwintering in my greenhouse.  I told J that he would have to build me a different arbor, and then I would have to decide where to put the new arbor to show off the vines. . and he just ROLLED his eyes!! Can you believe it? It's a good thing he loves me!!

The cooler temperatures have refreshed  my desire to be out in the gardens! Some weeding is now getting done--it seems that they don't mind the hot temperatures as much as my plants do!  We have decided to rebuild the waterfall this fall or next spring to include a real pond, instead of the pondless resevoir.  We (um, that is--the kids and I) are just dying to have some fish to watch-and I am really excited about trying to do some water plants, and am considering a place to try some bog plants!  Jeremy has Ok'd the project--not that I have to have him "OK" my projects, but if he does, I also know that he will more willling to not complain when I whine about needing some muscle power from him!  I have also decided on the location and am getting a more definite vision in my head--which has got to happen first!  I have located a couple of spots to incorporate a couple of different variety of blue spruce, and a smallish growing white pine tree that I saw at the garden show last spring.  I am finding that these shrubs and hardscaping components are what makes my garden exciting, even in the winter--and is a super addition to keep the birds close enough to my windows that I don't have to look hard to spot them! 

It never hurts to dream!!  This weekend will find my guys at the race track, and I am planning on a day trip to Wichita with a girlfriend and fellow gardening buddy to "dream a little dream" at the cool garden centers that they have in the city!! The coolest part of the trip is that I have been to most of the centers, but she hasn't. And I can HARDLY wait to show her what she has missed out on--I feel like a kid at Christmas!!  Hope everyone is enjoying the promise of fall in the air!  I can assure you that THIS family is!!