Tag Archives: gardening

Unexpected Gifts

Posted on by
2

I got a call the other day from my friend Victoria asking me if I would like a kumquat tree. I love calls like this! Among many other things, Victoria is an amazing food stylist. She has been working with a photographer who shoots out of his home in nearby Brooklyn. After their shoots they often have props that they can’t use or return. What is so great, is that Victoria thinks of me and asks me if I need…whatever it is. I’m so greedy, that I never say no.

Hopefully my little kumquat tree will survive the chilly ride in the messenger van! I also have 2 huge blueberry bushes in my backyard courtesy of Victoria. I know she’s happy that this stuff goes to good use, and of course I’m happy because I get to play with fun new things.

Last year Victoria’s son came over to pick blueberries with my daughter in our yard. It’s a funny urban/farming experience we bring to our children.

Update: I think that this little tree isn’t in fact a kumquat. I think it’s a calamondin based on looking through a gardening catalog. Their description is apt: It produces an abundance of round bright orange 1-1/2″ fruit. The fruit is easy to peel and has few seeds. The orange colored pulp is juicy and sour (this is an understatement!). It can be used as a flavoring or as a juice like a lemon or a lime. When sweetened with sugar it makes a delicious marmalade.

Growing Fruit

Posted on by
4

One area of gardening that still intimidates me is pruning. Especially when it comes to fruit trees. Two years ago I bought a dwarf apple tree and have been afraid to touch it. So far it hasn’t matured enough to produce fruit. Last year I saw one blossom, but that didn’t stick around long enough to make an apple. We had a weird, dry summer, so that wasn’t a surprise. This coming summer, I really want to see some action with this little tree. I think some judicious pruning, might help it along. That is why I got this book yesterday.

I had some fantasies about training the tree into a fancy, espaliered form, but I think I will just stick with a basic tree. Besides, a fancy, formal tree wouldn’t really fit in with my shabby, chic Brooklyn backyard. I say that mostly because I’m intimidated. One day you will see a post from me where I am attempting one.

So, hopefully this book will help me not only with my apple tree, but also with my berry bushes as well. I hope to see some currants and gooseberries this year!

Plano man converts yard to wild prairie of native plants | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Home and Gardening | Dallas Morning News

Posted on by
2

Plano man converts yard to wild prairie of native plants | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Home and Gardening | Dallas Morning News.

This article is about a Texas man who, over two years, turns his yard from the typical St. Augustine grass lawn, to a wildlife oasis using native plants. He chronicles the transformation on his blog, which you can read here. One thing I like about the article is how the neighbors came to appreciate his work, even though initially they worried it “didn’t fit with the neighborhood.”

I can’t stress enough how important it is to plant species native to your area. They are particularly adapted to your climate, which means they don’t need supplemental watering or fertilizing. But even more importantly is how crucial they are to the survival of wildlife. Whenever we build new buildings, we lose more native plants. In their place, we usually plant non-native plants and grassy lawns. The wildlife that used to live there now has nothing to eat, because insects and other critters are often only able to eat one type of plant. Who cares about a bunch of bugs you say? Well the birds do. If the creepy crawlies die out, the birds don’t have anything to eat and they move on. Or they die out too.

People like Michael McDowell in the article above and many others are realizing this and planting native species, which builds islands of native habitats, and can have a great impact on helping wildlife.

Clematis

Posted on by
4

As someone who rents my apartment, I always balked at planting something that would take several years to become established and bloom. I always avoided planting a clematis for this very reason. After living in this same apartment for 15 years, I decided I needed to get over this mindset! About 3-4 years ago I planted this clematis. And sure enough, the first year it only had a couple of blooms. They are lovely, so this wasn’t too bad. This year the vine is absolutely spectacular. I have the vine growing on the railing that leads down from my garden into my apartment.

Last year I planted an apple tree, elderberry bushes, asparagus, which all take some time to get established. This year we ate 4 asparagus fresh out of the garden that were delicious, if meager. I’m glad I changed my mind about planting these “long-term” plants, because when I look at this clematis I realize that it was absolutely worth the wait.

Happy Mother’s Day by the way!

Blueberry Bushes

Posted on by
1

The other day I got an email from my friend Victoria. She’s a food stylist (she styled the cover of Omnivore’s Dilemma), cookbook author and generally interesting and curious person. She started a blog, which maybe she’ll continue if enough of us convince her to.

Anyhow, in her email she was desperately trying to find a highbush blueberry that had fruit on it. At the time mine only had flowers on it. I couldn’t imagine any plant in this hemisphere having berries and kind of chuckled about clients being so far disconnected from nature as to think they could get blueberries in early spring. Well, it is New York and if you can’t find it here, you usually know someone who has it. Sure enough, the photo assistant’s family has a blueberry farm in the Berkshires. A call was made and two bushes with berries arrived in time for Victoria’s shoot. Don’t ask me how they found a bush up north that had full-sized berries on it, but they did.

After the shoot, Victoria offered me the bushes. And being the scrappy (greedy?) gardener that I am, I walked to her house to pick them up. They were enormous and heavy, but I managed to walk home with one slung over each hip. I am thrilled to have these massive bushes because I have one with blooms and another very immature one that wasn’t able to help with cross-pollination. You can see the difference between the new bush with it’s huge berries and mine, which I don’t think will develop into berries.

Wintergreen

Posted on by
Reply

I just recently planted this little creeping wintergreen plant in a shady spot in my garden. This plant first came to my attention while I was reading Farmer Boy to Lindsay. The character Almonzo and his siblings would dig in the snow for the red, mint-flavored berries. I was reading the book during the period I was getting more and more interested in foraging, native plants and edible plants in particular. Seemed like the perfect plant for me. Plus it is meant to grow in the shade. My tiny, Brookyn garden has several different zones. One of them is pretty deep shade once the neighbor’s mulberry tree fills in with leaves. I had been considering growing mushrooms, but somehow forgot about that endeavor.

In case you aren’t familiar with this beautiful, native plant, it bears bright read, slightly mealy berries in the winter. The foliage turns a lovely red also. What makes it so interesting is that it is the source of oil of wintergreen. All the flavoring for toothpaste, gum, candies, etc. came from this plant before an artificial wintergreen flavor was developed. I squished one of the berries and sure enough it had a very strong wintergreen scent. You can use the leaves to make a tea. The plants grow in the woods and have pretty bell-shaped flowers. Take a look around when you go hiking to see if you find the plant. Here’s a link that gives some more information on growing it and has a photo with the berries.

The plant likes well-drained, acidic soil. Hopefully it will like its spot in my garden and spread all over the place. In the meantime, I’m going to do some research to figure out what I can make with the natural wintergreen flavor.

Making Seedling Pots

Posted on by
Reply

Last night I pulled out my x-acto knife, cutting board and old newspaper to make pots for my seedlings. Neil and Lindsay gave me this nifty little tool called the PotMaker last year. You wrap 3 1/2″ wide (longer than 9″) around the base of the cylinder. Then you fold the ends under and press down on the small disc-shaped base. I had a lot of fun making them and got a kick out of the pictures that appeared on the outside of the pots. And, yes, I’m a little insane/ocd because I planned some of how the photos would fall on the pots.

Planning the garden

Posted on by
Reply

One of the bright spots of winter for me is when the seed catalogs start to come in. I can snuggle under a blanket and dream about the warm weather to come. I ordered 2 currant bushes and 2 gooseberry bushes to go along with the 2 elderberry bushes I already have.

Here are the seeds I just got. Who could resist the name Sugar Daddy peas? A friend is giving me some tomato and zucchini seedlings. I’ve never grown zucchini in my tiny yard and might regret the amount of space they take up. I am going to try and train them over my railing instead of the ground. The tomato seeds that I bought are Black Krim. I grew them last year and really enjoyed the taste.

What’s growing in your garden?

First and last harvest

Posted on by
1

One of the signs that summer is ending and fall has taken over, is when we have to cut down our basil. Neil always makes a huge batch of pesto that we freeze and enjoy all winter. On Sunday, we had friends over and made a batch of pesto pasta, from some of the last of the pesto. I also harvested the first greens in my garden for a salad. I planted the mache lettuce in the fall and covered the planters with a plastic tarp. There they sat all winter under snow and in the cold. It is amazing to me that anything could grow at all. But grow they did and the salad was delicious. I adore mache greens and have taken to growing them because they are so difficult to find in the store. I have found them at Trader Joes in my neighborhood.

Mache salad with pear and walnuts

Toast about 1/3 c. walnuts. Peel and thinly slice a bosc pear. Thinly slice a shallot. Use a vegetable peeler and shave about 1/3c. parmesan cheese. Add everything to the salad.

Dressing: Mix 1T dijon mustard with 2T sherry vinegar and 1/4c. olive oil. I put them into an empty jam jar and shake it until it emulsifies.

Saratoga Tree Nursery – School Seedling Program

Posted on by
Reply

white pine

If you live in New York State, you might be interested in the School Seedling Program offered by the Department of Environmental Conservation. All schools and school-sponsored organizations are eligible to receive 50 tree seedlings (for which you will need 1,800 square feet of space). If you have less space, you can get their Urban Wildlife Packet, which contains 30 seedlings for shrubs that are favorites of songbirds. You only need 900 square feet of space for the shrubs.

The seedlings must be used as part of an educational program and not just landscaping for the school. The deadline is March 31st. You can get the application and more information here.

Helping the environment for free? How could this get better?