Preparing the Planting Bed

I never seem to get a Before picture. I don’t avoid it on purpose, but I am usually so embarrassed at the state of my garden that I subconsiously don’t think of getting the camera until I am a little way into the job.  Just picture this as a weedy area after the spent broccoli has been pulled out. It is about 6 feet long and no more than 2 feet deep.

Almost finished compost

After pulling out all the weeds and roots I got a wheelbarrow full of almost finished compost from our compost bin. I usually start that bin with a big bag of fall leaves, then add some chicken manure of which we have a good amount, and then put kitchen refuse in it during the winter. I also added more leaves and more manure so this is pretty good stuff. I could see that some of the matted leaves hadn’t quite broken down.

There was enough compost to spread it on this bed about 2 inches deep.  I broke up any matted leaves into leaf dust.

Before digging in the compost I sprinkled on a cup each of greensand and limestone, which I do on general principles. My soil is acid of course, hence the lime. The greensand is an organic source of potassium (K) and I count on the compost to provide the nitrogen and everything else the soil needs.  Now the bed is all ready for planting.

Though this bed is in the vegetable garden I think I will divide a couple of perennials and put the divisions here for winter nursery where they will be easy to dig up and pot up in the spring for the Bridge of Flowers Plant Sale in May.

I was happy to get all this done before 10:30 yesterday morning. This part of the garden is shaded by the roadside trees until about 11 so it was comfortable to work. In the afternoon the temperature got up to 90 degrees. Nothing to do but go inside and blog.

Weeding, Mowing – and a Surprise

Stanley Plum

Mostly I just weeded, and weeded all weekend, while Henry mowed and mowed.  The big job we did, almost, was to take down this Stanley plum tree in our little ‘orchard’ next to the vegetable garden and rasberry patch. This tree has suffered over the years, most notably during the year we lived in Beijing and had renters;  their horses had a fondness for fruit tree bark.  The chain saw gave out before we got down the main trunks. We will enjoy the ‘sculpture’ until we get a new bar for the saw.

Plum black knot

The plum tree we took down was suffering from a severe case of black knot fungus.  There was no way to remove a few branches to clean up the tree and making it bear once more. Black knot is unmistakable and very ugly.  The knots will get bigger and bigger every year, and spread through out the tree, sapping its vitality until the tree is no longer productive. All I can do is keep a close eye on the remaining tree and cut out and burn any further knots.

Stanley plums

Fortunately we will be able to continue enjoying  self pollinating Stanley plums because our other tree is bearing. There is a bit of black knot on this tree, but I will  prune out the few affected branches.  Stanley plums are suseptible to black knot.  I don’t know where the original spores come from, possibly from wild cherry trees in  the area.

My compost pile

I had just gathered up and dumped the spent broccoli plants and last weeds for the day on our unlovely compost pile; Henry had put away the lawn mower and we were preparing to call it a day, when a little red Zipcar pulled up.  Usually when an unfamiliar car arrives at the End of the Road it is because the driver has made a wrong turn, but not this time.

Nick and Emily

The End of the Road was very familiar to Nick Griffin whose stepfather sold us the house in 1979.  He and his fiance Emily had been at a big wedding in Vermont and were so close to the vacation home of his youth that he could not resist trying to find it and see if he would remember any of the house or town after 30 years.  We gave him the tour, beginning with his old treehouse, which did have some renovations some number of years ago – and in need of more. It was fun to look at the changes in the house with them, describe the Fourth of July barn fire, talk about our first neighbor, Mabel Vreeland,  and reminisce about summer vacations and ski weekends with only a fireplace for heat. Brrrrr!  I like knowing about how previous owners enjoyed the house, and hearing about their fond memories.

Hops

Hops

I have a friend who once built himself a ‘lethe house.’  It wasn’t really a house, and it wasn’t really about forgetting, the way the mythical Lethe River in Hades was supposed to bring total forgetfulness to those who drank the waters.  My friend planted a circular garden filled with soporific plants like valerian, poppies, chamomile and lavender that would send one into the mythical arms of Morpheus, the god of dreams.

The garden was rimmed with large poles linked with ropes to provide supports for hop (Humulus lupulus) vines.  As I remember it, the garden was just big enough so that two of the poles could also support a hammock. This lethe house was about napping, not forgetting, except in the sense that all chores and to-do lists would be forgotten.  I don’t know that he actually got to spend too much time in his lethe house, but it is a charming conceit for a garden.

Hops are known for their soporific qualities. To this day people can buy pretty little hop pillows to lure a reluctant sandman. I have hops growing, not in my garden, but at the edges of the garden. At first I was delighted to find that a hop plant had hopped up from my neighbor’s yard, where it was growing up into a tree. It is an itchy and hairy vine which is more properly called a bine.  Vines have tendrils and suckers to help them climb, but bines just have strong  twining stems that enable them to climb. Hop bines can grow as high as a graceful 30 feet or more.

This past weekend my husband and I went out to clear a major part of a viburnam that had been bent and crushed during the historic December 2008 ice storm. The damage was not easily seen because the affected limbs were hidden by rampant grape and hop vines.  Every year we pull out and cut down these vines, but every spring they come back because we cannot find their beginnings.

Many gardeners are familiar with how persistent grape vines can be, but I think my hop vines are even more indestructible. As it happened we hit upon the perfect time to harvest the beautiful hop flowers that look like fancy little bright green lanterns. In the old days hops were not only used  for their sedative properties, but to increase breast milk, as a general tonic, and as a cure for diarrehea. Hops are not native to North America, but by the early 1600s some Native Americans had added hop tea to their healing cures. Young hop shoots can also be eaten in spring as a vegetable like asparagus.

I first learned about hop farming and harvesting in English novels and movies that described poor Londoners of the 19^th and early 20^th centuries taking off for the countryside when the hop vines were ripe, to camp out and do the harvest. I gathered it was as close as many of those people got to a country vacation where they enjoy the fresh air, green countryside and something of a social holiday with other hop pickers.

The hop bine/vine is vigorous and can grow as much as a foot a day. Hop farmers put up tall hop poles. Each pole had a hoop at the top and bottom connected by ropes. Hops were planted around the bottom hoop so they could twine around the ropes to the top hoop which was arranged so that at harvest the top hoop could be lowered for picking.  Hop pickers did not need to climb high into the air to do their job. They did notice that they got sleepy just picking the vines all day. Between the hop picking and the country air, I guess they slept well every night. Unless they developed dermatitis, which was an occupational hazard.

Since we have a micro-brewery, Berkshire Brewery,  right in our own South Deerfield backyard, I thought I could get some hop and beer information. Gary Bogoff and Chris Lalli now produce nearly 18,000 gallons of beer a week!

I spoke to Jason Hunter, the Assistant Director of Sales who was the brewery’s very first employee.  Hunter explained that there are more than 40 varieties of hops providing different characteristics to make distinctly different beers.  “Each variety has specific flavor and aromatic properties, as well as bittering. The bittering helps to balance the sweetness of the malt,” he said.

Hunter went on to explain that most hop farms are in the Pacific Northwest and that Berkshire Brewery uses tons of several types of hops to make their different beers.  “All our beers except one, use more than one variety, and some use four or five.”

I don’t know whether beer is soporific or not, or just something that will cure what ails you on a hot summer afternoon or evening.

While hops will make you drowsy, a sunflower contest is sure to keep awake with anticipation. Will your sunflower win? Bring your sunflowers, or come and admire the sunflowers, at the Energy Park this afternoon, August 21. Entries are being accepted in a variety of classes between noon and 2 p.m. Then the judging will begin. Clarkdale and Pine Hill Orchards are providing apples for the winners.

You could continue the celebration, whether a prize was won or not by attending the Free Harvest Supper on the Greenfield Common  tomorrow, August 22.. Fabulous local food prepared by our fabulous local chefs. Lively music by fabulous local musicians. Fabulous conversations and a Really, Really Free Market.  For a still more trash-free meal, bring your own eating utensils.

To make a tax-deductible donation to the Free Harvest Supper:
Send checks made out to FREE HARVEST SUPPER 2010 to Dino Schnelle, C/O Center for Self-Reliance Food Pantry, 393 Main Street, Greenfield, MA 01301. For more information about the Center for Self Reliance and the Greenfield Farmers’ Market Coupon project, please call (413) 773-5029. ###

Between the Rows   August 21, 2010

Massachusetts Farmers Market Week

Greenfield Farmers Market

I’m so happy to participate in the Loving Local Farmers Market Blogathon hosted by In Our Grandmother’s Kitchens for several reasons. First, Farmers Markets are beautiful and celebratory places to be. Everywhere are gorgous healthy fruits and vegetables, fragrant herbs and brilliant flowers. Everyone is cheerful when they are surrounded by this beautiful bounty. Who wouldn’t like to spend an hour at the Farmers Market?

Second, is the energy savings of locally grown produce. I know all about the current re-calculating of energy costs of California produce versus more local produce that required heated greenhouses but the farmers I know are using solar greenhouses and limited or no other energy for heating.

Tom Clark of Clarkdale Fruit Farm

Third, is the crisp freshness of the produce. It has been picked  ripe and at its peak. That’s for me! And the nutritional value hasn’t had time to evaporate away.

Fourth, is the variety of veggies, fruits, herbs and unique varieties that promise great flavor and texture. I am a gardener and I grow a lot of my own veggies and herbs, but for a family of two I can’t grow all the variety that I hunger for.

Fifth is my concern for my own food supply. I firmly believe that less centralized, more diversified food sources are safer from violent weather and insect damage or blights and disease. This means the food system for the whole nation is more secure.

Sixth, I think smaller food producers are less likely to spread diseases like salmonella.  It seems that all the  outbreaks of infected foods that have necessitated recalls are from large farms, feedlots and processing plants.

Seventh is my desire to support the farmers who will grow this safe, healthy and delicious food. I love farmers! Some of them are cute and are willing to flirt at the farmers market. I wonder if I can count flirting as another reason for supporting farmers and farmers markets.  What do you think?

Eighth is my concern for the local economy. Buying food, or anything locally, will keep my dollars circulating in my community, so shopping at the farmers market is supporting the whole local economy.

Nine. I can meet various friends and acquaintances at the Farmers Market. I always allow time to stop and gossip.  Here I am blogging and Facebooking, but really, there is  nothing like a face to face confab with people you enjoy, maybe while eating a juicy peach or apple, or a fruit turnover. Have you noticed how many farmers are good cooks?

Ten. Even if you are not a passionate cook farmers markets are a good place to shop because you don’t really need to do anything to make fresh veggies taste wonderful. The flavor is already there. Who needs to do anything fancy to corn on the cob? Or a passel of peas? Or beets?  Steaming, roasting – or just plain raw.

I just came up with a new slogan – Eat Local – Eat Well.   It works for me.

January Winterfare in Northampton

Check out the Mass Farmers Market Association, a non-profit organization and donate to help support farmers markets throughout the Commonwealth.

Three for Thursday

Hawkeye Belle

August is not rose season for me, but since it is Three for Thursday I thought I would report progress on The Rose Bank.  When we had work done on our house foundation that end of the house had to be regraded, and my thought was to eliminate lawn mowing on that slope I could cover it with roses.  The blackberry thicket that had been growing there has been more persistent than I expected, but I have been fairly successful in keeping them cut back as I encouraged the roses.

I planted Hawkeye Belle this spring and she is doing beautifully.  She was very happy for all the rain we have had for the past few days. This rose is one of the hardy, disease resistant roses hybridized by Griffith Buck of the State University of Iowa. A good repeat bloomer which is rare among my roses.

Pink Grootendorst rugosa

Pink Grootendorst went in last spring. I thought rugosas would be a good bet for helping to cover this slope. This rugosa has wonderful little dianthus-like blossoms with pinked edges.  The rain has beaten down the roses – but after more than three days of rain everything in the garden is beaten down.  Even the weedy asters have been happy for a drink.

Double Red Knockout rose

For some reason my camera doesn’t like red roses very much, but I am among those who applaud the Knockouts. This rose is a lush red. I first saw it down in Houston when we visited daughter Kate and her family a couple of years ago. While I loved the idea of an everblooming red rose I feared it would not be hardy here. On the bank this rose is somewhat sheltered from the worst of the winter winds and it is doing better than the red Knockout on the Rose Walk which is more exposed. Perhaps that is one reason it is thriving.

To see what other trios are thriving this August Thursday visit Cindy at My Corner of Katy. Thank you Cindy!

Another Dandelion?

Fall Dandelion - Leontodon autumnalis

This blog is named for the common weed, dandelion or Taraxacum officinale. In the spring my lawn is covered with dandelions. I have learned not to use the lawn clippings from that season  as mulch because I put dandelions in my perennial beds.  Sometimes I don’t even put those clippings with lots of dandelions gone to see in the compost. I am not sure my compost pile gets hot enough to kill those seeds.

Now my lawn is dotted with a smaller yellow flower.  I had been thinking this was hawkweed, but when I actually checked with my Peterson’s Guide to Wildflowers, I realized that this yellow flower is another dandelion, the fall dandelion, sometimes called false dandelion, but it is in another family. Its proper name is Leontodon autumnalis.

Like the familiar spring dandelion, the fall dandelion has a rosette of toothed leaves, but they are very narrow. The name Leontodon refer to the toothed leaves, as dent de lion (teeth of the lion) refer to the dandelion’s leaves. The rosette appears in the spring; in the fall a wiry stem appears very quickly. It will grow between 5 to 15 inches, but it does not have the milky sap of the dandelion.

The shaggy flower looks like a miniature dandelion blossom, but the underside of the petals are a rusty red.  I was happy to learn that I am not the only person who has ever mistaken the fall dandelion for hawkweed.  I used to have the orange hawkweed (Hieracium aurentiacum, yet another family) in my lawn, but it has disappeared.

From the photograph with this post you can see my lawn is not fine turf.  Some might call it a typical weedy patch. I prefer to think of it as a flowery mead, with a whole series of flowers appearing in their season, violets, ground ivy, and lots of clover.

If it weren’t for Gail over at Clay and Limestone and Wildflower Wednesday I would probably not have done this bit of research to identify the wildflowers all over my lawn. Thanks, Gail.

Heath Fair Report

The Heath Fair begins for me on Thursday when a loyal crew sets up the Friends of  the  Heath Library tent, after which we bring in our exhibits. This year I was in charge of bringing in exhibits for Anthony and Drew, and Tynan, as well as my own. Talk about hectic.

When we arrived at the Fair on a sunny Saturday morning we found we had lots of winners. All the boys had won ribbons and Rory’s prizes totalled $10!  My herbs got a first and Carol Lively’s only got a second. We stood there and examined our entries together and laughed. Who could tell the difference?  Oh well, friendly competition.  I did take a second prize for my original Maple Walnut Wafers – a $15 prize.  Janis Steele-McCutchen took the first for her Maple Baklava! Competition was stiff in the Maple Confection class.

Carol Lively's First Prize Garden Basket

The Exhibit Hall was full of the Produce of the  area, not just Heath. There were vegetables, fruits, cheeses, maple syrup, flowers and flower arrangements, quilts, knitting, photographs, paintings, lego constructions, bread, cookies, pies, and a sense of humor.

This whale of a zucchini won a prize in the Vegetable Sculpture class. Well done!

Saturday was a perfect Fair Day, but the weather changed during the night. The rain was light in the morning, but got progressively harder as the day wore on. Did the vendors care? Did we care?  No!

Even the youngest riders in the gymkhana paid little attention to the rain.

The oxen waiting their turn at the ox draw certainly didn’t mind. There was a good crowd of oxen at the Fair this year, and a good audience. There were other ‘pulls’, the Horse Draw, the Tractor Pull and the Garden Tractor Pull.

The music tent was one of the places to sit and keep dry.  The music was great. Our New York City friend Helen got into the Fair spirit hula hooping to the music of the Sweetback Sisters from Brooklyn!

The kids had no interest in hooping under the tent when they could gyrate in the rain and get drenched. Much more fun.

The Heath Fair celebrates the agriculture present, and future of the area, but with a nod back to history and the old tasks that had to be done. This young person is learning how to make rope. You always needed a good stout piece of rope on a farm.

Very modern Kara made and wore this authentic outfit as a nod to Heath’s history – even though there was no Fair back in  the 19th century.  But we hope the  Fair will continue until our jeans and T-shirts look as quaint to Fairgoers as this beautiful dress.

Berkshire Botanical Garden – Jewel of the Berkshires



Berkshire Botanical Garden

The Berkshire Botanical Garden is one of the jewels of the Berkshires. This summer it is sparkling more than ever. In addition to the regular plantings of trees, shrubs, perennials and vegetables, the Garden is hosting several special exhibits this year.

I was particularly taken with the display of garden sheds. Five fantasies consisting of standard pre-fab garden sheds are arranged around the Garden grounds. Naturally I was delighted with the Garden Blogger’s Retreat designed by Michael Devine even though it looked like a better place for napping, or at least dreaming and reading. Why, it didn’t even have a laptop or point and shoot camera, basic tools for all bloggers.

Swedish Shed at the BBG

Having attended the Larson Family Reunion last month it is no surprise that I also loved the delightful Swedish Reading Retreat designed by Annie Selke of Pine Cone Hill.  The most elegant shed, all black and white geometry was also the most humorous. This shed was turned into an 18^th century privy (by Bories/Shearron) that might have been at home at Monticello.

18th Century Privy at the BBG

There was a Tolkein-esqe shed, and a Berkshire Cottage shed (by Sarah and Peter Thorne) with cozy seating and a table for playing well-used board games. This shed had additional artistic and whimsical seating outside created by Peter Thorne.

All the garden sheds were donated by Barn Raiser of Saugerties as were the designers’ labors, and some of the furnishings to raise money for the Botanical Garden.

Another exhibit was titled Sitting Pretty: Artists Reveal the Garden Bench as Sculpture.  Most of us have at least an Adirondack or resin chair or two in our gardens, although I am fully aware that gardeners themselves rarely take the time to sit and admire, but the Berkshire Botanical Garden has invited six avant-garde artists to create benches that not only provide seating, but exciting sculptural accents to the garden.

Chair by Jack Larrimore at the BBG

Nico Yektai, Jack Larimore, Douglas Thayer used a variety of woods from ipe, paulownia, Atlantic white cedar, and sapele with steel and concrete, and hypertufa.to create their benches. Terence Debreuil works in concrete and glass mosaics while Vivian Beer and Lisa Fedon work in metal. The twenty benches are arranged throughout the various gardens.

More and more people are planting containers, everything from vegetables to exotic flowers. I’m quite happy with pots of geraniums myself, but I am trying to be more creative when planting my pots.  Recognizing the increasing interest in imaginative container plantings the Berkshire Botanical Garden invited nine of their favorite local plant professionals to create container plantings that have been placed throughout the Garden.

Some put their plantings in fancy pots, but I was entranced by the dramatic planting that included a wire vine, staghorn fern, a voodoo lily and a ‘Big Red Judy’ coleas in a large windowbox  on a weathered tool shed.  Jenna O’Brien of Viridissima Horticulture and Design in Becket was the designer. O’Brien spends her days working in large conservatories and estate gardens, as well as putting together beautiful container plantings.

Viridissima windowbox at the BBG

With a business name like the sophisticated Viridissima, I was surprised that O’Brien did not choose an antique urn to plant, but she said, “I chose the tool shed as my venue because, as a horticulturist who spends the majority of her life in the garden or greenhouse (physically and in thought)… well, where else?  That is my element.

I chose the plant material because I love begonias and foliage plants.  Our poor flowers are under such pressure to perform while foliage is just so consistent, reliable and interesting all on its own.  Flowers are the “icing.”

Making a greater and better use of foliage plants is a lesson that was brought home to me during my tour of Buffalo’s gardens earlier this summer, and here was a local person making the same point in the most delightful way.

The Berkshire Botanical Garden teaches through its plantings, but it provides more direct instruction through its lectures, workshops and classes.  One of those programs will precede the Pond Dedication on October 16 at 4 pm  Anthony Archer-Willis, water gardening expert, will lecture about water gardens and bring participants to the newly planted Pond Garden. This program is a seminar format in which gardeners at all levels can participate.

Other programs through the fall include Invasive Plant Control for Homeowners (September 4), All About Apples lecture (September 19) and a Traveling Landscape Design Clinic with Walter Cudnohufsky (September 25).  I have traveled through gardens with Cudnohufsky myself and tours like this were not only instructive, opening my mind to new perspectives, but also a delight.

Sue Reed, author of Energy-Wise Landscape Design and Shelburne resident, will give a talk and sign her book on November 13. For full information about programs from mushroom hunting to ikebana,  fees and registration logon to www.berkshirebotanical.org.

Only one more week until August 21 at 2 pm in the Energy Park  when the sunflower judging begins.  Bring your sunflowers to the Energy Park on Miles Street in Greenfield between noon and 2 pm.  There are five prize categories for both Youth, under 16, and Adult, 16 and over. They are: the tallest, the most flowers on one stem, the heaviest flower, the largest flower and the best arrangement of sunflowers. There may also be a Judges’ Choice. Ribbons and bags of apples will be awarded.  While waiting for the judging you can enjoy the music of the Fiddler’s Reunion.

Between the Rows  August 14, 2010

The Thrill of the Pop!

The making of bread and butter pickles

My 14 year old grandson Rory has been visiting this week and we are busy, especially now getting exhibits ready for the Heath Fair. The other day we made bread and butter pickles, but the jar seals didn’t take. You can only imagine our anticipation when we took today’s batch out of the hot water bath. Even as I lifted one jar we heard that POP!  Then we waited, and didn’t touch the jars. But soon, Pop, Pop, Pop, Pop. Rory will have pickles to exhibit!

And cookies.  Three of the other grandsons left their exhibits in my care. Now I have to concentrate on my own exhibits.  I think I have invented a maple confection to enter. Wish me luck.

With final Heath Fair preparations here at home, setting up the Heath Friends of  the Library Book Sale and the arrival of family, I cannot promise that I will be blogging until the Fair is done.  I wonder how many ribbons I’ll be able to brag about?

A Bow to Queen Anne’s Lace

Queen Anne's Lace

Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus carota) appears on our roadsides and in the fields beginning in mid-July. I always think of it as a high summer plant. I never liked it much as a child, probably because I often saw it, or noticed it, when it was going by and curling into a cup-like shape that has given rise to another  of its names, bird’s nest flower.

Like many flowers it does have several names. Others are bishop’s lace and wild carrot. It is easy to understand the name wild carrot because the root has a carrot-y smell, and it is edible although the roots quickly become woody and not very appealing.

At first glance Queen Anne’s lace appears to be a white flower, but upon closer inspection, there is a flower in the center that can be red or purple in some varieties. The Queen Anne’s Lace in my neighborhood is pure white.  One legend has it that this colored flower is a drop of  Queen Anne’s blood from when she pricked her finger with an embroidery needle. This colored flowers attracts pollinators.

Queen Anne’s Lace is not a native or rare wildflower, but I have chosen it for Wildflower Wednesday, because, in my maturity, I find it a beautiful flower which I admire on the roadsides, and bring into the house for a bouquet.

On another note entirely, don’t forget about the Free Community Harvest Supper on Sunday, August 22 from 4:30-6:30 pm.  Good eats. Good music. And a good deed. Donations made at the Supper will go to fund Greenfield Farmers Market Vouchers for those in need.  If you cannot attend, consider making a donation to Center for Self Reliance Food Pantry, 23 Osgood Street, Greenfield, MA 01301.