Gardening Catalogs

January 9, 2009

g_caillebotte_-_les_jardiniers

I’ve been looking through garden catalogs again- and dreaming about my garden.

It’s amazing how beautiful my gardens are this time of year- but of course, they are all in my imagination. :)

I love leafing through the garden catalogs as they arrive. My eyes are drawn to the bright colored flowers, perfect vegetables, and beautiful green plants.

Of course my imagined garden looks as clean and bright and beautiful right now as the ones in the catalog. As I sit in my warm house with the snow blowing outside I can easily forgot about the pesky weeds, insects, and diseases that become reality as I attempt to put those seeds in the ground.

For awhile I can forgot about the heat, the droughts, the floods, the hail storms and the marauding raccoons.

Right now I can close my eyes and imagine perfect weed free rows full of beautiful produce and flowers.

Winter is definitely the best time to garden!

By Country Gal | Posted in Gardening | Tagged , , | Comments (2)

Cock’s Comb

October 7, 2008

Cock's Comb

Living among the Amish does have it’s benefits.

The teenagers who like to drag race down the gravel road are in horse and buggies and they don’t have loud rock music blaring out of the open windows.

They’re quick to lend a helping hand and don’t mind my laundry flapping in the breeze as some of my city neighbors did.

And they grow amazing gardens!

Even this year when most of their “English” neighbors (including myself) had sorry-looking excuses for a vegetable patch, they harvested beautiful vegetables.

Even when a vegetable is done producing, they don’t leave the garden idle. They go in and plant annual flowers so that in the late season, right up until the first frost, their gardens are beautiful.

One of my favorite Amish flowers is the Cocks Comb. It’s deep vibrant colors create an eye-catching display that flaunts itself in front of the browning countryside.

It’s so perfectly and tightly formed that as a cut flower people are amazed that it is real.

The seeds of the cockscomb are formed under the brilliant flower in little seed pockets. As the flower dries, the seeds will fall. The Amish will dry the flowers upside down and harvest those seeds to plant again the next year.

I have tried for several years to grow cocks comb but have so far produced only anemic looking specimens that pale in comparison to their Amish cousins.

So, for now, I enjoy the beauty of their gardens.

Every year I get one or two cut flowers from the neighbors and enjoy them fresh before drying them and saving the seeds.

Then next year, I’ll plant those seeds again because hope springs eternal in the heart of a gardener!

By Country Gal | Posted in Autumn, Gardening, Harvesting | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Back in the Garden Again…

June 21, 2008

compost for gardenWe were finally back in the garden again this week. The higher portions were dry enough to work but the lower third was still mud.

I had to go through and pull out all the grass that was growing in the rows where the plants should be. Which meant that there wasn’t much for plants there.

I discovered the germination wasn’t good. There are just a few small corn plants in each row and a handful of green beans. I didn’t see any watermelon or cantaloupe, but several squash and pumpkin plants came.

I’m not sure at this point what, if anything, I should replant. I did get some more corn planted and filled in the green bean rows. It seems a little late for the melons, however.

As for the other plants, the peas look okay, just a little brown from too much water but they are putting on blossoms and peas. The tomatoes in the higher parts of the garden look great and even have little tomatoes on them, The ones in the wetter section are slowing drowning. Same thing for the peppers, both sweet and hot.

The cabbages are looking great, but the broccoli and cauliflower (planted a little lower) look brown and water logged.

Sounds like a mixed bag of results for the garden this year. But I have nothing to complain about! I’m just thankful I’m not a farmer! We’ll enjoy whatever we can of the fruits of our labor and rejoice that we don’t depend on it for survival.

But I may still mourn, just a little bit, about my melons…

By Country Gal | Posted in Gardening | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Amish Heirloom Tomatoes

June 14, 2008

Home grown tomatoes I’ll admit that I’ve got a soft spot for anything that says “heirloom”. I’ve always loved history and historic things. I thought that included tomatoes.

I learned last summer that it did not. We purchased several Amish heirloom tomato plants called Brandywine. (Just the name sounds old and unique doesn’t it?!)

They grew fast and well, producing very large, pinkish weird shaped tomatoes. Actually, they looked to me like bulbous noses.

But like my mom used to say, “It’s not what’s on the outside the matters, it’s what’s on the inside that counts.” So we ate one, or two. Hmmm.

Then I tried to figure out what to do with 6 plants full of weird looking and weird tasting tomatoes with a very unique texture.

I soon noticed that the tomatoes on the vine were actually starting to rot before they even finished ripening. The smell in that part of the garden was nauseating. We choose to ignore them as if they weren’t even there, until finally accepted defeat and just pulled them up!

We chalked that experience up as education and will never again attempt Brandywine tomatoes.

It did not, however, cure me from trying other heirloom varieties. As l walked through my local Amish nursery this spring I spotted some Hillbilly plants. (Just the name sounds old and unique doesn’t it!)

This time I only purchased one. It’s planted and looking good right now. Stay tuned!

By Country Gal | Posted in Gardening | Tagged , , , | Comment (1)

Plant a Salad Garden

June 11, 2008

Salad With the price of food so frightfully high, and the danger of salmonella in fresh tomatoes, it may be time to consider planting a salad garden. All you need is a planter, potting soil, and some seeds. I would recommend leaf lettuce and spinach to begin with.

Plant the seeds according to the directions on the back of the seed packet. Then keep it in a sunny location, such as a deck or patio and keep it well watered. In a few weeks you should be able to start eating the baby greens.

If you plant a new garden every 3 weeks or so, you will have fresh greens all summer. Enjoy the greens until they start to go to seed, then just pull them out and replant.

Why not try a cherry or grape tomato plant in another pot? Or a sweet pepper plant? Or even jalapeños! Try different kinds of lettuce for a unique salad combination.

You don’t need a huge country garden like mine to save money on fresh salad all summer long. Being creative with the space you have is a great Thrifty Thought!

By Country Gal | Posted in Gardening, Thrifty Ideas | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)