Succulent Container Gardens by Debra Lee Baldwin

On December 6, the Feast of St. Nicholas, I will celebrate my Fourth Blogaverary! It wasn’t an ideal time to start a garden blog, but I had just learned about blogs and ‘met’ Kathy at Cold Climate Gardening, Carol at May Dreams Gardens and all the Ranters at Garden Rant. I was lucky to meet such stars early on because they have taught me so much and continue to inspiremme.  I even got to meet them all at at the last two Garden Blogger Flings.

And of course the greatest gift I gave to myself that December 6th, was the opportunity to meet so many knowledgeable gardeners from all over the country. They all have something to teach me, new ideas, new perspectives and new resources. I thank the entire community of garden bloggers for their generosity in sharing with me – and with all their readers.

This year Timber Press and I are celebrating by offering a Giveaway – Debra Lee Baldwin’s new and fabulous book, Succulent Container Gardens: Design Eye Catching Displays with 350 Easy Care Plants. Debra opened up a whole new world of succulents to me – which is wonderful because these easy care plants may be the only houseplants I can keep going for more than a year or two. While I have a large jade tree, orchid cactus and Christmas cactus, I am now ready to create what people in my area call a ‘dish garden’, a container planted with a variety of succulents. I never knew there were so many, and that you could fit so many into a beautifully photographed book. Plant porn!

Besides design ideas, and ways of thinking about design, Debra gives information about some of the most interesting and unusual succulents, and basic care information. This informative and inspiring book could be yours. Just leave a comment on this post by December 6 at midnight.  On December 7 I will draw a name at random and will announce the winner. If you wanted to leave a sentence or two about your experience with a succulent that would be wonderful, but all you have to do is leave a comment saying you want this book.

The Roses at the End of the Road

IN ADDITION I will include a copy of my own book, The Roses at the End of the Road which was only the barest seed of an idea when I began my blog. These essays are not about How To grow roses, but how I live among the roses in my rural community. My husband provided the charming illustrations.

I have been having a wonderful time signing my book at local events, and will be reading and  signing at Boswell’s Books in Shelburne Falls on December 4 at 2 pm, and signing at Tower Square in Springfield right next to the festival of Trees on December 6 – my blogoversary!  I even got to show off many of my roses when I gave a talk at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, focusing on disease resistant roses.

Leave a comment and enter the Giveaway!

Ellen will be celebrating the publication of her own book, The New England Habitat Natural Garden, this spring. Two hoorays and congratulations to Ellen.

Don’t forget, tomorrow there will be my third Giveaway – of particular interest to those who have, or want to have, a beautiful perennial garden.

Thank you Storey Publishing for being so generous and helping me celebrate my third blogoversary.

Our henhouse 12-2

When we moved into our house I was thrilled that there was also a hen house in the back yard.  The building is about 30 feet long, divided into three sections. We store the feed, kept in metal garbage cans, as well as bales of shavings, in the first section. We also brood our chicks in that section when they arrive around the first of June. There is a chicken door that allows the chicks to go outdoors into a separate fenced yard when they get old enough.

Our henhouse, second section

The second section has egg boxes, waterers and feeders for the chickens. During the winter when the waterers freeze I rotate them through our house where they can thaw.

You can see that neither the exterior, nor the interior are objects of beauty.  However, the building is functional. We have used it ever since our first spring here in 1980.  You cannot really tell, but I do use the ‘deep litter’ technique.  I only clean the henhouse out once a year, in the spring. Over the summer and fall the bedding and the chicken manure build up and begin to compost. The manure and the composting  create some heat which helps keep the chickens warm in the winter. The manue and bedding also encourage the growth of beneficial bacteria that helps keep the chickens healthy, although their access to fresh air and sun are also important to their health. Everyone always comments on the rich yellow color of our eggs.

Our chickens in their yard

I throw cracked corn to the chickens outdoors every day. You can see we have a mixed flock. I have several Araucanas; they are not especially pretty, but they are great egg layers. Blue eggs!  They lay longer for us, into their second and third year.  I also have barred rocks, and New Hampshire Reds. I love having chickens because of the eggs, and because of knowing that our eggs come from happy and healthy chickens.

In case you were wondering about the third and longest section – that is not used. It is missing the end wall which was OK when we had pigs out there. Pigs only need housing for four or five months, but the space is not suitable for our hens.

I’ll be showing more hen houses built by some thoughtful people.  Don’t forget to leave comments on yesterday’s post to have a  chance at winning a copy of Recipes from the Root Cellar by Andrea Chesman. today is my exact third blogoversary and I am celebrating the commenters who visit, and the other bloggers I have met over these past years. Please celebrate with me. This Giveaway ends Saturday at midnight, but two more books are coming through the generosity of Storey Publishing.

On the next three Mondays, December 6 (which is the actual anniversary of my first post, the 13th and 20th, I’ll have a new Giveaway.  Plenty of time to win a present for yourself, or for a gardening friend.

In December of 2007 (!) I began my career as a garden blogger.  I hardly knew what a blog was in those days. I had just discovered Garden Rant, and my friend BJ Roche at Fiftyshift said that as a writer I had to have  a blog. And so commonweeder was born.

What I knew about garden blogs – a blog was a place to share information and experiences and opinions through the Internet.

I did not imagine that a blog would make me think more about my garden, and the place of gardens in the world. I did not think it would bring me to a different understanding about food production, environmental dangers, or the rewards of travel. I did not think a blog would bring me wise and funny friends who loved being in the garden as much as I did. I leapt into the blogosphere and all this was unexpectedly mine.

With the help of Fiskars and Storey Publishing I am celebrating my Third Blogoversary with four Giveaways! If you leave a comment on this posting, possibly telling me about a favorite tool that you might put in this wonderful Fiskars tool tote that fits in a bucket you will have a chance to win this sturdy tool organizer.  Fiskars was founded in 1649 in Finland so they have had a lot of practice at making sturdy and efficient tools that will meet every need of the gardener. Including the need to give a useful gift at this season. If you already have a Fiskars organizer, you might know someone who would appreciate this organizer. It fits a 5 gallon bucket with straps that wrap snugly around the outside of your bucket which can either hold further supplies, or weeds as you work your way through the garden.

Leave a comment on this post, even as the week progresses. The Giveaway ends on Saturday night at midnight. A winner will be chosen at random on Sunday and I’ll ask for the winner’s mailing address. Next week I’ll start Giving Away three books from Storey Publishing.

It’s not yet 9 am and the temperature is slowly climbing. It was 10 degrees when we got up, but now it is almost 15 degrees with still gusting winds. Still it is beautiful outside.

The sun is shining and I love admiring the beauty of the landscape. From inside. Close to the fire.

You don’t need to go outside to take this last chance to enter my drawing for Right Rose Right Place by Peter Schneider and 2 dozen CowPots for spring seed starting.  Leave a comment by midnight tonight and I’ll have my drawing tomorrow morning. I want to thank Storey Publishing and Liquid Fence for making this celebratory Giveaway possible.  Many thanks to both of them.

And the wind is blowing. I barely made it out to the hen house and back.

This is a day for staying home, browsing through Right Rose Right Place by Peter Schneider and considering what roses I want to add to The Rose Walk in the spring.  My daughter Kate in Texas suggested I build a wish list on the Antique Rose Emporium website. So I did. I hope someone looks.

You all have a chance to win that excellent book, Right Rose Right Place if you leave a comment before midnight December 11. On December 12 I’ll have a drawing and the winner will get the book and 2 dozen CowPots for their spring seed starting. Storey Publishing and Liquid Fence have made this celebration of my second blogoversary possible. Thank you both.

Right Rose Right Place

Because it is my second Blogoversary, both Storey Publishing and CowPots are making it possible to have two Give Aways.  Right Rose, Right Place: 359 Perfect Choices by rose lover and expert Peter Schneider will be a lovely and useful holiday treat for any rose gardener, or would-be rose gardener. There is advice here for the experienced gardener as well as for the novice.  I have already added a number of roses I never knew about to my must-have list. They are all marked reliable because I still don’t trust my warming climate. Schneider talks about every kind of rose, old roses, modern roses, climbing roses, tree roses, and roses for containers.  Just leave a comment and I’ll enter your name in a drawing that will be held in the morning on Saturday, December 12.

CowPots

But the CowPots people also wanted to help me celebrate twice. I have another two dozen Cowpots to send along with Right Rose Right Place.  Peat pots for seed starting help to deplete peat bogs, but cow manure is definitley a renewable resources.  CowPots are made of composted manure that will add fertilizer to your garden when they are planted, and will get your seeds off to a really good start. They are made by the Liquid Fence people who also make a line of products like Deer and Rabbit Repellent. I’ll be using this as the winter progresses to keep hungry deer away from my rhododendrons.

For those of you who have begun your holiday shopping, I have a local resource – Artspace on Mill Street is holding its annual Holiday Shop with gifts made by local artists and artisans. You will not be surpised to know that I could not resist notecards featuring a porcupine.

I’d rather have porcupines on cardstock rather than in my compost bin and keep them as a lovely country memory.  There are lots of other beautiful cards for sale, as well as art prints, blown glass ornaments, beautiful candles, jewelry, honey, CDs by local musicians and much much more. Gifts are priced under $50 with many under $25.  Shopping at Artspace supports arts education and artists – and the local economy. The Holiday Shop will continue through December 13, every day, 10 am to 6 pm except Sunday 1-6 pm.