November 19, 2010

tree trimming

Last week we hired a tree climber remove a small branch that was banging into our roof. Since he was up there, I had him also cut down a big branch that was blocking lots of sun from the back year. As he said, this extra branch was the size of a large tree. It is great how he was able to rope the massive branch and drop it perfectly into our postage-stamp-size backyard. We now have a big pile of wood ready for fireplace the winter. But best is…

November 17, 2010

November garden plots

Today Skippy and I walked through the Belmont Community Gardens. There are many that look great with lots of things still growing. The mild fall weather has been good for gardens. These are a few photos I took:

November 16, 2010

raking leaves – the importance of leaf letter and hand rakes

My giant maple tree is rapidly dropping its leaves this week – as are all of the other trees in my neighborhood. I am very pleased this year because I think I have been hearing fewer leaf blower and more (swwooch swhoosh) hand rakes. Yeah!!! Raking is such a great way to get exercise, enjoy the fall, check out the yard, relax, hang out with the birds, get some sunlight, etc etc. My son is doing a lot of our raking this year, because he seems to need lots of…

November 16, 2010

planting fall bulbs

I finally got time to plant my fall bulbs. About 50 white daffodils (Mount Tacoma, Thalia, Professor Einstein and Sweet Love) for the back yard and 50 very early tulips for the front. Also some muscari and snow drops. To plant them, I first lay out piles of what I want to plant in the grass along the garden. The big ole squirrel followed me around and I caught him stealing and eating a couple bulbs. I think he enjoys posing for my photos now. Squirrels don’t usually eat these…

November 14, 2010

cold frame greens

I have lots of greens in my cold frame, but the questions: are they growing? I think they are, but slowly. I’m trying to compare this photo with the one I took 10 days ago (click the label “cold frame” below). I’m wondering if things will grow enough in the next 10 days to get a big salad bowl full of greens for Thanksgiving.

November 4, 2010

remote thermometer in my cold frame

I have a new remote thermometer in my cold frame. Nothing special, but I like to be able to see the temperature during the day without going out and lifting the cover. When there is no sun on the frame, the temperature is similar to the outdoor temperature. But it doesn’t fall to the lowest temperatures at night. When there is sun on the frame, it gets 10 or more degrees warmer than outside. Only problem now is that the sun has sunk so low that it is mostly lower…

November 2, 2010

long shadows in my plot

Winter is approaching. The shadows are very long. My photos end up with areas of too dark shadows and areas of too bright light. I’ve covered much of my garden with salt hay by now. There’s a bit of lettuce, spinach and other greens hidden under the hay. Also some perennial flowers and my newly planted garlic crop. In the bare areas, small shoots of cover crops are starting to sprout. Winter rye and clover. These will grow during any warm spells we get or may just hang out and…

October 26, 2010

my larder

(I’m taking some pictures now….) Finally – the photos…. My larder this fall includes: Winter squashes: Butternut, Long Island cheese, Acorn and Delicata. A couple small orange pumpkins. Potatoes, and lots of sweet potatoes. Onions, garlic. My chile ristra has grown and is drying well. My root cellar (a small basement refrigerator has about 5 lbs of carrots, 10 lbs of beets, some celery, and a head of purple cabbage. In past years, I kept my potatoes and squashes in baskets in the basement. This year I was disappointed I…

October 25, 2010

purple power

The monthly photo contest theme at RAW for October is Purple Power Royalty, passion, rage, sophistication … purple is a vivid and versatile color. Let’s see how creative you can get with it in this month’s color challenge. My purple photos are mostly shiny eggplants, beautiful cabbages, freshly picked purple calabash or Cherokee purple tomatoes, summer asters with honeybees and a few deep purple sunsets. Oh, and nice purple broccoli and purple potaotes. I assembled a bunch of my purple photos. Maybe I’ll submit one, but how creative is a…

October 25, 2010

new gardener survey

I got an email from Pennsylvania garden writer George Weigel and Penn State Extension Horticulture Educator Steve Bogash asking me to post about their survey of new gardeners. It seems they are afraid that “newbie vegetable gardeners are ready to pack it in already after the punishing growing season we just had”. I have to admit I was surprised. Its been a great season! Hey, compare it to last year’s tomato blight disaster. It rained almost all summer last year! OK, this year was dry, and the bean beetles were…

weeks and counting until my last spring frost

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