It really has been a brutal winter this year!

We gardeners are obsessed with the weather and its trends. We love to talk about how our current weather deviates from the norm and what that means for our gardens.

I came upon this quote this morning from Kathleen Norris, an American poet -

"There seems to be so much more winter than we need this year."

I don't know what year she was talking about but I think the quote can be applied to this winter as well. At least here in Minnesota.

We had no January thaw this year. A January thaw is defined as having two consecutive days above 32 degrees. We did not reach above 32 degrees F until January 31 - and it was so welcome. Even if the temps did plummet back down until yesterday. I *think* and *hope* the bitter cold days are finally behind us. The last time we did not have a January thaw was 1982.

We had 33 consecutive days when the temperature did not rise about 32 degree F. That is the 11th longest stretch of below freezing weather since they have been keeping track. It was cold this year. Monthly mean temperatures for January were 4 to 8 degrees below normal - which doesn't seem like that much - until you get your heating bill............

I lost a good and faithful companion in all of this cold. When she no longer wanted to walk to the bus stop in the mornings I just chalked it up to being really cold - the same when she stopped wanting to go outside to go potty - and maybe the cold wasn't so pleasant on old bones - but in the end it was old age that took my beloved Cocker Spaniel Molly from me. She was 15 years old, totally deaf and had growths all over her and I hated to part with her. She was with me when I was single in AZ and she moved with me to MN. She accepted Dan when we married and loved Andy when he was born and became his playmate as he grew older. I will miss Molly laying behind the currant bushes in the summer heat. I like to think that she is lying behind some currant bushes somewhere else right now.

And now it is February with the promise of spring to look forward to. It is time to get your seed orders placed if you haven't already (or aren't saving seeds) and plan that garden. It is a time to look forward not back. For the first time in many years I have to worry about puppy proofing my garden. My raised bed has a fence around it to keep the rabbits out but I have many other areas that I have a feeling will be trampled by puppy feet. Yes, we have already replaced Molly. Actually we got Daisy in October so we had some overlap. She is a Bichon/Shitzu mix. She is full of energy and loves to play with Andy and yet also a great lap dog. Having her has eased the pain of missing Molly.

So, here's to February and looking forward. January's cold has lifted. Spring will be here soon.

It's looking like it may be a good gardening year after all!

We had a late start and now it is just hot but the garden seems to be weathering it all. And after all, isn't there always something about the weather to complain about? Every year it is too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry or too something.

Mostly my garden is doing great. I had spotty germination on the parsnips and some of my carrots and Andy's sunflower fort has seen better years - but overall it is doing well. We have been eating lettuce and radishes from the garden for some time.

The strawberries were great this year. The currants and raspberries are loaded. The apple tree doesn't have any fruit this year and it looks like I have lost the peach tree - the green that was there has shriveled up and died. But I keep watering the tree hoping beyond hope that there is some life left in there somewhere! LOL! My plum tree has plums for the first time - I can only find 3 - so not a huge harvest but I'll take what I can get and it is still a very young tree.

I snapped a few pics of the garden this morning -



2 views of my raised bed from opposite angles.


Wayahead Tomato


The dead peach tree.

Reluctant Gardening continues.....

This is just so unnatural for me - to have to push myself to garden. But keep pushing myself I do hoping I will start enjoying it and because it has to get done.

I have never understood people who don't like to garden - but if it feels like this to them, I do get why they don't do it.

Gardening should be enjoyable. Something you can't wait to do and love to lose yourself in.

I just haven't been myself lately. I blame it all on menopause and hope that I get through it quickly.

But I did have a productive morning regardless.


I staked up my tomatoes that are waiting to be transplanted. I have never had to stake them before transplanting them before - but they were such a tangled mess I was afraid they would all die and I would be left with nothing.


I put up my bean towers - I haven't planted the beans yet - but at least the space is reserved for them now and the string is all strung.


I dug up the raspberries that were trying to invade the tomato area, put down black paper and put up 11 tomato cages and 3 tomato towers. So that area is all ready now for the tomatoes. They still need to be hardened off for a couple more days before transplanting - but at least the area is ready.


Here is a picture of the tomato tower. I have always used cages in the past, but by fall they all end up together as a tangled mess as they grow out of the top of the cages. I thought I would try the tower and pruning method - for three of my plants any way. If I like the way they turn out maybe I will buy more towers next year. If I had somewhere to hang them from I would try the growing them upside down.....

That's my kid! An Earth Day Story.

If there is one thing my kid is good at it is listening to every little thing even when you think he's not. I can't tell you how many times something that I have said to someone else has come out of his little mouth - and I might add, that is not always a good thing! I like to think that I am always aware of tiny ears listening and watch what I say but I don't know if that is always the case. But I digress - this time he has been listening to good things.

He was playing in his room on Sunday with his cousin Michael and Vinny from next door. The boys, ages 7, 8 and 9 were discussing Earth Day. I'm sure it is something that all three of them have been talking about in school. Here is where the repeating stuff from my mouth comes in - I heard Andy say "This is what I don't get about Earth Day - shouldn't every day be Earth Day? It is cool that there is one day dedicated to taking care of the earth, but don't we live on this earth every day - shouldn't every day be Earth Day?" Even though I know my kid does this, it still takes me back to hear by words tumble out of his mouth almost word for word as I've said them to someone else. I don't think I have even discussed Earth Day with Andy since taking care of the Earth is something we do every day.

He got those boys thinking. They talked about Earth Day for a long time and Andy even walked them out back to where I had just planted the potatoes and onions and told them that HIS MOM practices Earth Day every day. He wanted to give each of the boys a plant from the basement but I told him they could come and visit them once they are in the garden and help take care of them. I was just afraid if they took a tomato plant home it would not get planted at the proper time and end up dying. They can eat from my garden any time.

Happy Earth Day to my fellow gardeners. May every day be Earth Day!

It is almost spring in Minnesota!

It has been a very long and much colder winter than we have had for many years and I am excited for spring to be near. After all next week is March and the last few days have actually had highs above freezing - you can just feel that spring is close.

I've had a very busy winter. I started a new job. One with tons of flexibility so I can be home with my garden (I mean my son) this summer and work around Dan's work schedule. I'm continuing to go to school online for my Master's and getting good grades (2 A's and 1 B so far). I did do some pruing this winter but probably not as much as I should have - the snow was either too deep or it was too cold or I had something else to do (in other words I placed other things above pruning in my priority list).

Soon it will be time to plant the seedlings in the basement and watch them grow and before you know it the whole garden will be awake and growing. I think I am more ready for spring this year than I have been in some time - but that doesn't mean I'm prepared. I'm probably the least prepared. But I still have time.

I need to take the time this week to plan this year's garden (can you believe I haven't done that yet?). Now, I don't sit down and draw out what I will plant where - I used to do that and well, I found I just didn't follow the darn drawing anyway. But I've been gardening long enough to know about how many plants I can fit in my garden spaces so I just start the plants and worry about where they will go later. I just try and move them from where they were the year before - more important with some plants than with others.

Planning for me also involves deciding how much to plant of something and if I want to try something new. Since I garden primarily to feed my family year round I plant a lot more than someone who just wants to pick something occasionally fresh to eat. I also plant a lot more veggies than flowers - flowers have always been more of an after thought to me - pretty to look at and great to draw the pollinating bugs, butterflies and such in - but Andy really likes flowers so as he has grown older we have added more and more flowers every year and now I can't imagine why I never appreciated them more before.

One thing I look at when deciding how much to plant vs. last year is if my canned supply looks like it will last until fresh start coming - if not - I may need to plant more - but there can be other reasons it didn't last. Take tomatoes, for example - in spite of the tons of them I canned - they are mostly gone. I only have 1 jar of tomato sauce and 2 jars of salsa left and all of the rest of the tomatoes were eaten this year already. But do I really need to plant more? Probably not. A hail storm in late May last year took out half of my tomato plants - I decided to try and replace them with ones from the nursery (which was weird for me since I never buy tomato plants) and all the nursery had left was grape tomatoes - which are quite a bit smaller fruit than what I had been replacing. So you have to factor Mother Nature in there.

I also take into consideration how things performed. If it is a new plant I might give it a second year to see if it was just the weather conditions, but sometimes one year is all I need to know that I didn't like that variety. Take Brussels Sprouts, for example - last year I tried a new variety and they grew wonderfully and looked great but the sprouts never formed into tight balls - they were just a few leaves. My family likes Brussells Sprouts too much to take that chance again. We are going back to what we grew the year before.

Part of the gardening planning for me also is to decide what to plant where (not by drawing maps like I stated earlier). I only have limited space in my raised bed so it is reserved for the thing that need to go there - either because the rabbits will eat them if they are out in the other planting areas - or things like carrots that need the loose soil to put down wonderful eatable roots. And since I write very little of this down and most of this planning goes on in my head - sometimes I make last minute changes and things end up somewhere else - ah - it happens.

To me, gardening is just about growing and enjoying it - and doing some trial and error. I am such an anal person strictly following rules in other parts of my life - my garden is where I'm a little looser and sometimes it is just fun to see what comes up!

In other news, Andy's science fair is soon (March 6) and he will be doing a report on his garlic that he planted last fall - I am so proud of him for wanting to do a gardening project. He started a garlic bulb in a pot a couple of weeks ago so he would have something to take besides pictures on a board. He is also going to take a complete garlic bulb and some loose cloves - I think the kid is a genius - borderline MR - yeah right!

My Garden will continue to sustain me throughout the winter

I belong to a bargain hunting board on the internet and the ladies love to post pictures of their stashes that they got for next to nothing. Well, this is along the same lines - but this is my gardening stash. But it wasn't free - it cost me a lot of labor and love - but I know that every bite of it is 100% pure and natural and exactly where it came from. Is it enough to keep me from having to buy fruits and veggies all winter long? No - but it all helps.


Here are 11 dozen jars of jelly and jam. They are not full dozens as we have taken some out to enjoy and share with friends - but they were all full. And we won't eat all of this - much of this will make it's way into gift baskets this holiday season.


This section contains stewed tomatoes, salsa, green chilis, applesauce and catsup.


Here are dried apples, more applesauce, tomato sauce and apple pie filling.


A look inside my freezer.


A glance into the bottom of my freezer.


And my dried herbs.

Grapes, grapes, where are the grapes?

My family likes all fruit and we eat a lot of jelly, but Andy's all time favorite jelly is grape. I haven't really had a good crop of grapes in several years. I live in the suburbs and the grapes were planted before I lived here. Two different grapes grow (concord and red swanson) and both are on fences shared with neighbors.

On the side with the concord grapes, the neighbors put in a retaining wall a few years ago - they only had rocks on it and didn't care if the grapes grew down because they provided a great privacy screen - they only complained if they grew too long and went all the way down into their yard. Then 3 years ago they started planting veggies there and I had to trim the grapes way back several times a year to keep them out of their veggies. The pruning during the growing season pretty much destroyed any chance of getting any grapes on them. Then another neighbor told me that I wasn't pruning them back far enough in the winter and if I prune them back much much further then they won't grow down in the neighbor's yard and I would get some grapes. So I did that this year - didn't work - grapes got off to a late start, but I was still pruing them away from the neighbor's tomatoes. And while it did set a few grapes, they were set so late they are still green now while they should be purple. There will be no concord grapes this year. And I think it might be time to cut the grapes down totally. They are more maintenance than they are worth if I'm not going to get any grapes from them.

On the other fence shared with different neighbors are the Red Swanson - a sweeter eating grape (but it still has seeds, I don't know of a seedless variety that grows this far north). The first couple of years that I lived here the vines were still too young to produce much. Once they started producing, Andy and the little boy that lived in that house were big enough to discover them. The boys ate them as they ripened and I have rarely been able to get enough for a batch of grape jelly. I finally got Andy trained to leave them alone so we could make jelly, but the neighbor boy kept picking them green and using them as weapons. For that reason and countless others, I was not all that sad when they put their house up for sale. Andy was very sad to lose a friend so close in age, but I was secretly very glad to see them go. So this year we have new neighbors. Neighbors without any children. And the grapes were looking beautiful. They started ripening and I was watching them thinking about grape jelly. Then one day - I noticed that about half of the grapes were missing. They were missing from both sides of the fence - if they just disappeared from the one side I would think the neighbors picked the ones that fell on their side of the fence (which would be fair), but they were gone from both sides. I questioned Andy - he had not picked any. Perplexed, I started checking the grapes daily - planning to harvest them all the minute they were ripe. One day about two weeks ago I told Dan, I'm picking grapes tomorrow - I'm going to make some grape jelly. The next day when I went to pick grapes they were all gone! Where did they go? Dan thinks I should ask the neighbors, but I don't know them at all and I think that would be a weird way to open a conversation. They don't appear to be the gardening types at all - don't have anything planted - flowers or veggies - and these are seeded grapes - I just can't see someone taking them all unless they are going to cook with them. So, I'm wondering if squirrels eat grapes. That some sort of animal got them makes more sense. I have also seen raccoons in the yard from time to time (we are not very far from the Mississippi River and they come up from the river) - perhaps they took them. So, another grapeless year.

But this tale does have a happy ending. I went to my brother's house in Wisconsin this past weekend and his grapes (which my father planted years and years ago) were loaded. He is too busy with his new restuarant to do much canning this year. So I picked enough to make two batches of jelly and still left plenty for him or for any other siblings who might be wanting some grapes (I know at least two of my other brothers also raid his grapes). And I made my grape jelly.

Now, I just have to decide if I want to move the grapes and try and grow them on an arbor totally within my yard (where would I have room) or just dig them up and cut them down. Grapes don't really make for good neighbors when they are on shared fences (the fence is ours - neither of the neighbors have a fenced yard, but the grapes still grow over into their yards) - maybe grapes aren't meant to be grown in the suburbs. I don't really have a long enough section of fence on the two sides that I don't share with neighbors to move the grapes to.

Decisions to ponder over the winter......

Today's harvest Wednesday 9/19/07

Things might be slowing down now that it is mid September - but the garden is still producing a little every day. I know I should probably pull up the cucumbers, tomatoes and green beans, but I hate to do that when they are still producing. Winter will catch me with things not taken care of - but I will continue to enjoy garden goodness until the last minute. Actually we have had some frost warnings already this year - but my plants survived just fine - and I did not cover them. The CSA I get veggies from did lose most of their warm weather crops to frost last week.

Hard mornings work in the garden....

but it still beats a good day at work - wait a minute, I'm unemployed - oops, guess it beats job hunting!!!!

I just don't know how to grow brussels sprouts in a small garden. They always grow so tall and lean over on top of other things that are still maturing. I have tried tomato cages and staking them in the past and all that happened was that they pulled the cage or stake over with them! This year I planted a variety that was supposed to not grow as tall - NOT! They were all over the cabbage and starting to lean into the bell peppers. So I took some old square tomato cages and opened them up and put them around them and kind of hooked them to the rabbit fence and then to each other. They seem study - we'll see. I also took the lower leaves off so I could work with them better. Hopefully they will be happier and I'll get some sprouts soon. A couple of the plants have some large enough to eat at the bottom, but most are just little bumps.

Here are 4 pics of the garden from different angles after I was done cleaning it up today -





It looks so much better now - and I'll have room to plant the fall garlic. I think I am also going to plant some radishes and some late season lettuce - but I'm too tired right now. We'll see if I get back to it....


And while I was out there, I cut some herbs - got a huge bowl of parsley, basil, oregano and dill. It is mostly parsley.


And I dug up a few rogue potatoes and onions (thought I had them all) and picked 5 bell peppers and 1 small head of red cabbage.

And what was Andy doing during all of this? At first he was digging in the area of the garden where there wasn't anything currently growing, but after awhile he got tired of that, so he went and grabbed his rope. Long time readers and friends will know that Andy has autism and his thing is strings, ropes, hoses, tape - anything long and slender - other kids on the spectrum spin wheels - Andy plays with strings - it's not as noticable as when he was younger - but it still takes up a lot of his time. Here is a pic of him with his rope creation this morning - he was so proud of himself and wanted me to take a picture of him.


So, that's life in my garden today. I hope everyone is enjoying a good gardening day.

Looking for Dinosaur Bones

My garden is the place that I reflect and get insight into things that may be bothering me. I find solutions seem to come more freely when my mind and body are engaged in gardening. But sometimes wisdom in the garden comes via my child.

Tonight I was thinning the green apples off the apple tree (I know that should have been done awhile ago, but better late than not at all) while Andy was happily digging near by. I asked him what he was digging for expecting to hear worms (his favorite digging activity) or to China (his second) and instead he told me he was digging for dinosaur bones. Now, normally I indulge his fantasies so I don't know what came over me when I said to him "well, good luck with that". He comes over to me and looks me right in the face like he does when he wants to make sure he has my attention and tells me "Mom, you just never know - I might find one. You know you won't find any dinosaur bones if you don't go looking for them".

How did this 7 year old get so wise? He is absolutely correct. So make sure you look for your dinosaur bones today and every day - and you just might find one!

A new addition to my yard

This is the Raid disposable Yellow Jacket Trap. I hate bees, but I especially hate yellow jackets. They can sting more than once - all bees should have to die like wasps and hornets do after they sink their stinger in you. Three years ago on vacation I got stung multiple times by a yellow jacket - it was in my sheets in my bed - I woke up the entire resort. It was NOT FUN! So when Bzz Agent invited me to take part in this campaign and test the product for free I got very excited.

Every year the apple tree attacts tons of them as they eat on the rotting apples. With the addition of a small pool in the backyard for Andy this year I am afraid the population of yellow jackets may interfer with my enjoyment of my own yard. I will not let the insects win.

This product is perfect for me. It hangs innocently in the apple tree and doesn't look like the killer that it is. It attracts them with an odor that they find irrestiable and then it traps them and drowns them. When it is full, you just throw it away. And for those of you who know how green and crunchy I am - it is not full of chemicals - it is a non-toxic plant based attractant.

This year it is going to be Kathi 1, Yellow Jackets 0. I may have to even keep a tally of how many I trap and how many traps I go through.

You can buy this product at most home improvement, food, drug or discount stores. It costs $6.99 per trap and it attracts yellow jackets over a 20 ft by 2o ft (400 square feet) area. If you have a big yard, you might want to buy more than one.

Oh - and it attracts the queens so it will kill a whole colony. I'm all for eliminating whole colonies of yellow jackets. I'm sure yellow jackets fill some role in this world - just let them fill their role somewhere other than my back yard.

For more information, go to killsbugsdead.com

Lawn Tips that are better for our enviroment

This is from Earth Share a wonderful organization (or should I say group of organizations) that are all about protecting our enviroment for future generations. I saw this on their website and thought it was very appropriate for this time of year. I shudder when I see my neighbors spraying toxins on their lawn - the lawn that their children (along with mine) play on!

Making the Grass Greener
Now that Spring is here, it’s time to begin dreaming about the grass growing beneath your feet. But a lot of lawns aren’t very “green” — at least, not for the environment. Residential lawns can use a lot of toxic chemicals — up to 10 pounds of pesticides per acre. The poisons don’t end at your front door. When it rains, pesticides may be flushed into local streams, rivers, and lakes, harming fish and plants along the way. Here are some tips to make sure your grass looks great — and is safe for pets, children, and other living things.

Use natural fertilizers, which release nutrients slowly throughout the year, won’t leach away, and support the variety of soil organisms that improve fertility and combat diseases.

Water deeply but infrequently. Grasses do best when the whole root zone is wetted, and then dries out between waterings. Avoid frequent shallow watering that causes poor root development. Overwatering also promotes lawn disease.

Aerate in the spring and fall. Use a rented power-aerator, or insert a garden fork six inches deep every four inches and lever back and forth to loosen the soil.

Remove weeds using pincer-type weed pullers, which work great in moist soil and can be used standing up. Or, if you must, spot-spray problem weeds.

Crowd out weeds by growing a dense lawn. Mow higher, leave the clippings, fertilize properly, and improve thin areas with aeration, overseeding, and top dressing.

Create healthy soil. Earthworms and other soil organisms keep the soil healthy. By moving through the soil, they allow water and air to penetrate, and they recycle thatch back into nutrients that the grass can use.

Visit Earth Share for more ideas - and to contribute to organizations that are dedicated to protecting our enviroment: http://www.earthshare.org/

Me? A Barometer?

I guess I need to get over my insecurities as a gardener. I always think that everyone else has a nicer looking garden and knows more about it than I do. I don't read a ton of books on gardening, I just follow my soul and do what feels right - and a lot of times my plants don't grow or thrive as much as they could. But most of my plants do just fine.

So, yesterday evening I'm out in the garden planting (I planted Beets and 3 varieties of carrots - Nelson Hybrid, Yellowstone and Red Atomic) and the neighbor across the alley yells over - "Are you planting tonight Kathi?" This neighbor has a beautiful garden and yard with beautiful pathways and stepping stones and metal arches - I think they have the most perfect garden so I was taken a little aback and thought maybe he was criticizing me for planting so early. So I responded, "just a few things that like the cold".

He walks over and seems genuinely interested in what I'm doing and comes over to see what I have already planted. I ask him what he has planted so far and he tells me, "nothing - we always wait until you plant and follow your lead - you are the barometer for the whole neighborhood you know. When Kathi plants, we all follow suit." I was speechless - "really, me? a barometer? You've got to me kidding?" But he was dead serious. It seems that while he has this perfect looking garden, he is just as insecure as I am - and he admires that I don't follow a lot of rules and plant my stuff too close together and in odd places - not many people can plop a few veggies in a bed of flowers and get away with it. Well, I didn't know I was getting away with things - just put things where they fit.

Me, a barometer - who knew? I hope I can carry my swelled head around all day!

Time to use up last year's canned/frozen goods

While we are waiting for this year's garden to start producing it is a good time to clean out the pantry and freezer. I did that some this weekend by making some tomato soup from tomatoes canned from last years garden.

I heated a little bit of olive oil in a sauce pan and added one large onion and 4 cloves of garlic and cooked until soft. I added 3 pint jars of tomato sauce and 1 pint of frozen veggie stock (could use water or chicken broth) and just a little pepper (I didn't add any salt since I add salt when canning). It tasted just a little bitter to me so I squeezed in a little honey. I used my hand blender to blend it all up and lunch was ready! It was so yummy!

Dreaming of Spring

Winter is taking it's time coming to Minnesota this year. It continues to be warm - above freezing most of the time. We had Andy's birthday party at the local nature center 2 weeks ago today and we did not have to worry about kids freezing! The local paper says that 2006 will go down as the third warmest year since 1891. I believe it.

But I am still looking through the seed catalogs and dreaming of spring and what I will plant. After all, March will be here before we know it. I do a lot of planning in my head - and don't really write it down.

I have decided to move the black raspberries in the spring. They are summer berries and the yellows and reds are fall berries and they really need different care - and the new long shoots from the blacks get all tangled up in the yellows and reds. I should never have planted them together.

But I cannot decide where I want to transplant them to. Maybe behind the fence where the sunflowers were this year - but I think Andy will want to do a sunflower fort again - so maybe not. Maybe along the same side of the house where they currently are - just move them down where I always put the tomatoes - that is what I will probably do - but then, where do I put the tomatoes? I wish I had more garden space - but I do squeeze a lot in on my small suburban lot.

I don't have to come up with any answers right now - it is just fun to dream and plan for next year. Soon I will need to start making a list of what seeds to order and get the grow lights out - but for now I will just idly page through the seed catalouges.

Procrastination in the Garden

I never get the garden completely put to bed before winter comes and I don't think this year will be any exception. I have pulled up most of my plants and I cut the canes off on the fall raspberries and I dug up the potato patch again to search for missed potatoes (and found some), but not all is put to sleep yet.

I still have Brussells Sprouts and a lone lettuce plant growing in the garden. The frost hasn't killed them yet so I let them be - it would be nice to be able to harvest another meal from each. Realistically based on the past, I know that isn't probably going to happen - but I really hate to see the growing season totally end, so each year I procranstinate and end up with something left in the ground under the snow.

I could blame my procrastination on the fact that it isn't as much fun getting out in the fall as it is in the spring - the weather is getting colder instead of warmer and the days are shorter - but I enjoy the fall weather and love watching my child jump in the leaves that we piled at the end of his fort.
I could blame my procrastination on the fact that I am too busy preserving the bounty of my harvest, making jams and jellies and processing pumpkins and tomatoes - but I do that pretty much all season long - not really an excuse.
I could blame my procrastination on the fact that I am just too damn busy. With working full-time and now that school is started, there is homework to supervise every night and two months out I have already started planning Andy's birthday party - but the fact is I make time for the garden when I want to.
I suppose I could even blame my procrastination on the fact that the season was long and I am just tired of gardening - or don't like that part of gardening.

But none of that is true - it is just that part of me hopes that the weather will stay nice a little longer and I can garden a little longer. I think part of me hopes that by not fully putting the garden to sleep for the winter I can stall winter's coming - maybe even delay it indefintely.

Part of me is still a child that believes in magic - after all I experience it every spring when the world comes back to life.

What a crazy year for gardening!

This certainly has been a strange year for gardening. I do think that every year is strange in some way - but this one seems especially weird.

We had 4th of July weather for Memorial Day weekend and it was too hot way too soon.

Then it cooled way down with below average temps and everything got off to a slow start.

The garden finally started growing after having to replant several things many times and then it got hot again and we suffered a drought.

Once it cooled down, plants that I had given up for dead started producing again - and I picked pole beans yesterday - in October! I am reluctant to tear the bean plants down while they are still producing.

And the fall weather has been all over the board. It got cold so quick that I actually sent my son to school in a winter coat a few days - and then it got hot again - last weekend in the 80s and yesterday I didn't check the temp, but I think it must have been close to 80 as well.

My bell pepper plants are covered with new flowers and small peppers - when did this revival happen? I thought I was going to pull the plants up yesterday but just couldn't bring myself to do it.

I picked a zuchinni yesterday as well - but I think I will still pull up the zuchinni plants today.

And the pansies that I thought were way long dead are blooming!

Every day I seem to walk out in my garden and find something incredible. Winter is going to catch my garden with plants still growing and I will have more spring clean up - but I just hate to pull up a producing plant.

What a weird and wonderful year!

Miscellaneous Garden Thoughts

This has been a good gardening year - and it isn't over yet. I love the crisp fall days - and Football (well the Green Bay Packers).

I dug the last of the potatoes out of the garden this weekend as well as the parsnips. I boiled them up with some carrots, onions and garlic and then I mashed them with margarine and fake sour cream (we don't eat dairy in our household - my child is on a restricted diet) and my were they yummy!

The raspberries are doing well - especially the yellows. I just throw them all in the freezer for now and then when I have time I will pull them out and make jam. I opened the last jar of yellow from last year a couple of days ago and I think I know why you don't see yellow raspberry jam sold commercially. No matter how wonderful it looks when it is fresh, within a couple of months it starts to discolor on the top - the jam still tastes wonderful, but it doesn't look so hot. I don't know how to prevent that. If it were up to me I would just make jam with all of the colors of raspberries mixed together but Dan really likes the yellow so I separate out the different colors and make black, yellow and red raspberry jam.

The tomatoes are also doing well. I made tomato soup yesterday and I canned 5 pints of tomato sauce today. I might make some fresh salsa tonight - we'll see if I feel like it. I should can some more tomatoes but I don't know when I will have time.

Next weekend is the Cranberry Festival in my hometown of Warrens, Wisconsin. It is the only time any more that I see my brothers and sister. It is always a good time. For more information: http://www.cranfest.com/ If you live in the area, you really should check it out.

Then I have to go to Atlanta for a conference for work on Tuesday the 26th and I won't be back until Saturday. Not much time for gardening - good thing the garden can pretty much take care of itself this time of the year - heaven knows Dan wouldn't know how to take care of it.

I hope everyone else out there is having a great fall as well.

Meditation

I often wonder how people who do not have gardens are able to meditate and work things out when life confuses them. During the periods in my life when I didn't have a garden, I found I had to find a nature retreat to walk in when things bothered me - but there is nothing like getting your hands dirty and getting involved in a garden to really be able to get a handle on life.

I had an employee quit yesterday - no big - happens all the time. But, what was confusing about this is that this gal had such great potential and had she stayed awhile longer, this job would have looked great on her resume. Another employee gave his notice last week and she became concerned when she learned we would all have to take turns covering his evening shift until the position was filled. She is young and this was her first salaried position - but that is why you are put on salary and not hourly - it means you will be expected to work more than 40 hours a week on at least a semi-regular basis.

And it isn't just that I couldn't make her understand that - it was the way in which she quit. She couldn't come in and face us - she had to sneak in during the middle of the night - clean out her stuff, leave her keys and a letter. And in her letter - no thanks for getting her out of the phone room and involved in project management which is what she wanted to do - nothing positive at all - just blaming everyone else and the company. I really like this gal. I feel used.

So last night when I came home, I headed straight for the garden. Dan and Andy gave me space - they know I just need time alone in the garden and then I will be fine.

So we are down two people. Life goes on. She wouldn't have stayed long term anyway. So I will have to cover more evening shifts than normal and I will be in the garden less - the positions will get filled and I will appreciate the garden all the more when I do have time for it.

How would I have come to this peace without my garden?

So how is everything growing?

Mid-August Garden Rating:

Cauliflower - Snow Crown Hybrid: Thumbs Down. I have grown these very successfully the past several years - not sure if it was the heat or the earthboxes they were planted in - they started out great and looked wonderful and then they all stopped growing and rotted - almost overnight.

Brussels Sprouts - Bubbles: Thumbs Down. I had to replant these three times before any sprouted. I transplanted 5 plants to the garden and now only have two growing to maturity. We love Brussels Sprouts - I will plant them again next year.

HybridTomato - Celebrity Hybrid & Wisconsin 55: Jury is still out on these - so far so good. We have been eating some wonderful salsa - just not sure yet if I will have enough to can and I should - I have 10 plants!

Zucchini - Spineless Beauty Hybrd: Just so-so. Luckily I'm not a big Zucchini fan so I don't care that much - but I have a great sweet pickle recipe that uses Zuchinni that I was hoping to get enough to make - may still be able to do that - just not sure. Insects have attacked them.

Pumpkin - Spirit Hybrid: Jury is still out on these. The ones I transplanted didn't make it - it got hot too fast. I replanted twice before they came up. I have some nice ones coming now, but I'm just not sure if there is enough time for them to ripen.

Hot Peppers - Garden Salsa Hybrid: Thumbs Up. The plants are loaded and they are healthy. just the right amount of heat.

Bell Peppers - Rainbow Bell Hybrid Mix which includes Bianca, Hershey, Inia, Queen & Tequila: Thumbs Down. I planted six in an earth box and 5 in the garden. The ones in the earth boxes initially looked much better than the others, but now I only have 6 peppers on the plants and I have not picked any. The ones in the garden didn't grow as tall to start with and now have been attacked by insects. I have one pepper on them - I'm not holding out too much hope for them.

Sweet Basil - Italian Large Leaf: Thumbs Up. I have several large bushy plants that just keep springing back after I harvest some.

Lettuce - Spring Crop: Thumbs Up - I had so much lettuce I was begging people to take it.

Lettuce - Summer Crop: Thumbs Up - really just so-so, but lettuce is not a summer crop and it was incredibly hot this year. That I got any lettuce was good.

Lettuce - Fall Crop: Too soon to tell

Pole Beans - both green and yellow wax: Jury is still out on both of these. The wax came early and produced pretty good, but then abruptly stopped when it got so hot. The green ones started coming a little later, but stopped before they really got started. Now the wax ones have started producing again. The green have started flowering again - but so far no beans.

Parsnips: So-so. This was the first year I tried growing them. They don't seem to be as big as the ones in the store - maybe I'm just impatient and want them to grow faster before their time.

Carrots: Thumbs Up. Having a great year for carrots.

Garlic: Thumbs Up. Considering the garlic was spring planted instead of fall planted, it did great.

Onions (Alisa Craig): Thumbs Up.

Potatoes: Red Norland and Kennebec: Thumbs up on both

Rhubarb: Thumbs Up

Currants: Thumbs Up

Sunflowers: Jury is still out - I planted them a little late, but they are getting ready to flower - I think they will turn out great, but it really is too early to tell.

Peaches: Thumbs Up - first year the tree produced any fruit - it is still a young tree. I am happy with my 3 peaches.

Apples: Thumbs Down - There aren't more than a dozen apples on the whole tree.

Grapes: Thumbs Down for both kinds. The concord haven't stood a chance since the neighbor landscaped their side of the fence. I have to keep cutting them back to keep them out of their landscaping, they are fruiting. I am thinking about just taking them out. The Red Swanson produced some, but the little boy that lives on that side of the fence kept picking the green ones and using them as ammo at birds and other small animals. Luckily that child is moving next week so next year those grapes have a chance.

Radishes: Thumbs Up

Cucumbers: Jury is still out. They were producing nicely, but all of a sudden they look like they are dying - they are very near the insect riddled bell peppers and zuchinni - maybe they are getting damaged as well.

Strawberries: Thumbs Up

Raspberries (all 3 colors, black, red and yellow): Thumbs Up

Coneflowers: Thumbs Up

Black Eyed Susan: Thumbs Up

Day Lillies: Thumbs Up

It certainly hasn't been the best gardening year I have ever had, but it also hasn't been the worst either. Considering the drought and the heat, I would say the garden is a success so far.