Grafedie in the Library

August is the gardeners doldrum month. Not only do the vegetables ripen and thrive, the weeds and landscape have their heyday as well. This morning I had the pleasure of dealing with two Nursery “darlings” that are, in my opinion the stuff that fairy tales are derived…and not the happily ever after type.

I have learned a really helpful strategy from #awaytogarden a few years ago, and it has helped me get through seasons of fairy-tale weeds. Margaret Roach suggests that rather than looking at ALL your thriving weeds, focus on pulling one species and only that. It does help minimizing feeling overwhelmed, and it makes the task manageable, one focal point at a time.

The Two nightmares I dealt with this morning each have their own battle plan to take over the gardens scape once left alone. First there is the deceiving Multiflora Rose. Sold in every nursery as the hardy flowering shrub that blooms all through the summer..It becomes the wicked clothing grabbing, skin snagging, thorny armed creature that surrounded Sleeping Beauty’s castle and entangled Snow White’s aprons as she ran spooked into the dark forest chased by the wicked Queens’ axeman!

Next was the ground cover favorite-pachysandra. You can toss it into the woods, and in a season you will have a lush, green ground cover …well this may be a bit of an exaggeration, but this plant has running roots that pop up yards away from where planted. Not even a barrier will hold it off for long. I must admit that the advantages of having this ground cover win out over having crabgrass, poison ivy or stilt grass! This plant silently huddles in between shrubs, and chokes out anything else that may want to see the light of day, it works slowly, and takes over one foot at a time, lurking beneath the surface like Flotsam and Jetsam. The one advantage this plant gives is that it keeps the soil friable, so in combination with mulch, you have a healthy soil as opposed to hard-packed dry and lifeless.

What I have been battling with ALL season is the infamous/ famous Mugwort. Yes, I am aware that there is a medicinal quality…however, I am not growing that kind of crop, I leave the herbalist to do that because they know what they are doing. It grows via tap root and travel throughout the garden as efficiently as pachysandra. The issue I have with some native wildflowers and shrubs is that they may be great for soil and pollinators, but honestly, I don’t want my garden looking like the side of an interstate road filled with vines that blanket across every living shrub and tree standing. The wood asters, goldenrods and mugworts do just that, they quickly turn a garden to a wilderness woodland scene, but in my opinion in a negative way.

My answer to this issue is to cultivate a few of the views that are important to me, making it look like a Piet Oudolf (..in my dreams lol) landscape, but cut the undesired plants down, scratch desired seeds into the surface and let nature take its coarse. The native plants take care of the soil, the surface gets a chance to germinate seeds, and let the whole process march at its own pace. And we all live happily ever after.

It has been a few weeks since my last post, typical of a busy summer schedule when gardening! We have arrived at the summer doldrum stage: totally too hot to put in more that 2 hours of work (even before the sun is over the trees!) Mugworts, Plantains, Fleabane…totally out of control as Margaret Roach says it is enough to “throw in the trowel” However, we have used this time to do a bit of science and discover the fungi, insect pests and diseases lurking in the undersides of leaves and rocks, and to practice some techniques that were not so successful last year.

We have always stood by a rule when on a hiking vacation: Do something easy, do something challenging, and learn something new. This has served us well over the past 10 years, and so applying the same concept to each year’s garden has been my plan. The difference however is that the results are not instant, they take a season of growing to rate the success, or failure of the attempt.

#1 Companion planting: This is familiar to me, I have done it in the past and it has always been…just OK. I had done the “three sisters” in 2018 Corn, beans and Squash and if I remember correctly the squash was a bust, the beans were great and the corn was OK, not sure that we have long and hot days to support the corns cycle…but it worked. This year I attempted companion planting in a couple of locations with tomatoes, squash, onions in one bed, carrots, basil, parsley, spinach in the elevated kitchen garden beds, and finally in some grow bags that were filled with peppers and onions (that one seems like a natural ! lol) This year’s attempt…meh. Yellow spaghetti squash that ran on the ground fell victim to the squash borer. I think I only have one that may have escaped, but the season is half over, we shall see how that plays out. The green acorn squash in my huglekultur is doing fantastic! as always it never disappoints,

#2 Autopot Self Watering system: This system is something new to us, but was a precursor to setting up our new Palram 6′ x 8′ polycarbonate greenhouse kit. I set up the system in the middle of the field so it has a full day of sun. The self-watering system was filled with water from my rain barrel and the entire system was covered with one of the garden tents that cover my raised beds. I planted Eggplant and Broccoli Rabe in the pots, and the system worked really well! I am awaiting my greenhouse to be built in that location by the end of August…so exciting!

#3 Learning something new: Science! reading the leaves of plants and following up on the clues was my assignment to myself. I was always against the idea of “fertilizer” as I grew up with chemical enhancers in the garden, but I have come to accept the fact, that once a plant is in a pot…its as if you adopted a pet, or took on a sourdough starter. Yellow leaves, red leaves, brownish spots, mold, fungus among us… everyday is another sign that the plants need something. Organic fertilizer is a happy option, that takes care of the NPK issues, and researching images and extension websites has been an adventure in learning! Fruit trees and shrubs like our orchard and grape vine have benefited from this research. Maintaining a schedule of spraying very specific, very targeted areas have helped the plants. I was always against sprays in general, but there are so many organic options, as well as natural solutions that can be used that I don’t feel so torn. I have seen ladybugs, bees, asassin bugs, beetles, weevils, snakes, frogs and wasps in the garden so this year there is a nice balance of nature. One thing I saw less of (thankfully) are the preying mantis’s. Last year, there were so many in my garden, there was hardly anything else! Introducing Preying Mantis into a garden is like using a nuclear weapon! they do NOT care what they eat, if it moves they will eat it. I was terrified to go onto my garden paths I knew they were watching and waiting to pounce.

So we have August and September ahead. I have been planting new seeds for next round of fall plantings, and we are looking forward to new adventures in the Greenhouse.

Welcome Spring!

After 3 years of letting our property rejuvenate with three wildflower meadows it’s time to start rebuilding. Perennial gardens must be reworked every few years in order to cutback old woody growth and allow new understory shrubs and ground cover to grow.

Our fruit trees had a rough summer last year. With the temperature at 110 degrees all set fruit had aborted. We also did a major pruning on our peach tree to keep it from getting too tall. All three trees are dwarf stock so we intend to keep them dwarfed! Hopefully this year we can see some fruit.

During the past season we also added Heritage Raspberries and Blackberries. The Raspberries were very productive for having it be their first year in the ground, I am assuming the canes were already two ~ three years old.

Cooking up some Tomatoes, potatoes and herbs (still on the heat mats) in the indoor grow room, I already have Green Acorn Squash, Spaghetti squash, and many peppers of various levels of Scoville heat are already outside under hoops. Rhubarb was planted yesterday and it has been raining ever since! The garden plan is a pretty enthusiastic, but being retired now I should have more time to “tweak and putter”

February 20, 2022: With the cornflower blue cloudless sky and light dusting from yesterday evenings snow squall we couldn’t resist the temptation of a short local hike. All Trails app is amazing in that it can list all trails in your zip code. We never knew this place existed and we live here 30 years!

We put Toulouse’s coat on and he stood by the door with anticipation… we wanted him to go into the back garden, but he waited by the garage door waiting to go into the car, he was up for a walk, which was surprising, but he was really into it..happily

February 19, 2022: It has been so long since I have posted, I have been very active on my Weedie in the Garden instagram site. The 2021 garden was very successful with over 50 lbs of peaches, Tomatoes, Tobasco peppers and assorted other very HOT peppers.

Presently, I have been experimenting with stronger lights in my greenhouse. AeroLight has a small unit that works really well! I have started using grow bags with Amaranth, spinach and broccoli. Potatoes will be put in by the end of the weekend. I am curious to see how those work, It’s nice to be able to move them around, and as the weather heats up, they can go outside.

Pictured above are the raised beds late in the season. Partially covered to protect the peppers from killing frost. Also this past season we added another apple tree, two more blueberry bushes and grapes. It is growing into a real homestead!

October 22, 2020: A season of Covid, a season of learning

It has been quite a while since I have posted to the blog, My Instagram Weedie in the Garden has been updated almost daily with the garden and greenhouse progress through the season. Like most, I have turned my interests inward during this time specifically to the garden. Techniques and processes have been honed. Here are a few things this summer has taught:

Succession planting: Not only was it successful outside in the raised beds but in the indoor greenhouse as well. We had different varieties of tomatoes, all ripening at different times. Jet, Beefsteak, Big Boy, Acer, Roma. To date, we harvested 62 lbs. of tomatoes, canned 10 quarts, and they’re still a substantial number green on the vine. Garlic planted last fall was harvested in July, and then I planted Dragon Beard Beans (VERY prolific) 7.5 lbs harvested to date, I just pulled out the bushes this past weekend to make room for a winter crop. I raked leaves, mulched them up, and spread a thick layer on top until I decide how to proceed. Meanwhile inside, I have another batch of Basil started from seed and just transplanted into the raised bed.

Stratification: My Paw Paw seeds had been in the fridge since November 2019. I planted them in March. From 10 seeds only 3 germinated, and so far those three have been growing outside. I brought them in 2 weeks ago and the bottom leaves seem to be yellowing. I gave them some seaweed fertilizer, and repotted, thinking that perhaps they were root bound, they weren’t, so now i’m not sure why the leaves are yellowing :(

Seeds on heat/ when germinated to the lights!: Prevention of scrawny, lanky seedlings is a quick transfer to grow lights. The germination rate varies, but so far I have radishes, mustard greens, basil, beets, and carrots.

December 29th, 2019: Westmoreland Sanctuary

Well, it’s about time we get out! We have been so busy with the Holiday this year that Hiking has taken second place. We have Rosa the grand-dog staying with us this weekend, a perfect opportunity to take both dogs out for a quick hike at our local Nature Preserve! A quick hour and 1/2 walk before the rain set in…just enough to tucker out the poochies!

Perfect breaking-in walk for Toulouse as well…he will be coming with us on our next adventure in the Adirondacks. We will make him a hiker yet!