One Local Summer 2008

Thanks to Nicole at from Farm to Philly ... the One Local Summer 2008 will be hosted there this year. Check it out now ... sign up deadline is this Sunday, May 25.

I found that the challenge really helped to keep me in the game last year. And I learned so much about other people's ideas for how to get a good local meal on the table without a big fuss.

Getting grounded

Yesterday was all about putting things in the ground that SHOULD have gone in in mid- April.

First it was the potatoes

then the shallots

being sure to point the root end down in the hole

and then the onions

Next I checked on my green beans that have been in ground for over two weeks now.

Is that a crack in the soil? Halleluia !!

"Sometines I wish that I could be the rain"

I am sure that if you garden you have had this feeling I am having at this moment. I worked hard yesterday and today feeding roses and apple trees. And I have planted shallots, onions, potatoes and kale. All of this was done in anticipation of the rain that is now falling.

So I am sitting here with a sense of oneness with the rain.

This tile is archetypal for me. It is about the oneness I feel with the earth when I engage it for sustenance. The human is grounded with his feet below ground. His mind ( the orange hat ) is the same color as the carrot below ground. Connecting to the earth grounds him in the truest sense.

When I bought this tile from Andrew Van Asche at his booth in the ACC Crafts Fair in Baltimore I asked him what it meant. Good artist that he was, he asked me what it meant to me. I said something not so coherent and ended by asking him, "But why the Number 1 in the upper left corner?" And he said, "Because I am a gardener, when it rains I feel at one with the rain."

So at this moment, I am at one with the rain. And I am humming that simple old Utah Phillips song that Rosalie Sorrels used to perform, "If I Could Be the Rain"

From the back deck

~ many thanks to my Autostich and Photoshop tutor. Click to enlarge.

some forgotten dance

Can you see it there? Peeking over the edge of my outdoor shower? The phantom moon. I'll be in the garden in the late afternoon sometimes, and look over my shoulder to the east, and there it will be ... the faded, leaning towards full, almost jolly phantom moon. I find that in these summer months the moon is a welcome companion in the afternoon garden.

The old almanacs are rich in advice about how to use the moon to plant. The first quarter welcomes the planting of cukes, corn and cress to name a few. The second quarter peas, peppers and pumpkins. The third quarter parsnips, potatoes and rutabaga. Here in the fourth quarter I should be turning sod, pulling weeds and destroying noxious growth.

Back in my other life, when I taught high school history, I liked to use a little extra time we had at the end of class for a "pop quiz." "OK we have 2 minutes before the bell, take out a piece of scrap paper and answer this question. You have 45 seconds. If you went outside tonight at 10 pm and looked for the moon, what direction would you look ... east, west or overhead ... AND what shape would it be?" "Fold them up and hand them to me as you leave the room." I was always disappointed at how totally unaware they were about the moon and its phases. Truth is I would have gotten the same results in the faculty lounge.

Being close to the earth in some strange way brings us close to the heavens as well. The detached suburban lives most of us lead, leave us not only ungrounded but also dis - astered ... detached from stars.

In the sky the phantom moon appears at midday
To join the sun in some forgotten dance
In their light our voices tremble with reflections
Of what we know and what we leave to chance

We have dreams we hold them to the light like diamonds
Stones of the moon and splinters of the sun
Some we keep to light the dark nights on our journey
And shine beyond the days that we have won

~Judy Collins

Some Signs of Late Spring

Asparagus

Using the outdoor shower for the first time

The trumpet vine gets a haircut

Tackling the trumpet vine that graces our front door was a little less daunting this year. It started out looking like thisAnd ended up looking like thisIt was a good spring haircut

From the Garden Gate, May 14, 2008

Mother's Day Memories in the blogosphere

I found myself thinking yesterday (Mother's Day) about a post I read two year's ago by Farmgirl that brought me to tears. If you don't know Cary's story, it is worth a read.

Starting the season

As I rumbled onto the ferry boat Friday evening under gray skies and a northeast wind I wondered why ANYONE would leave behind the 80 degree weather of the Mid-Atlantic for THIS ! But one quiet moment at the edge of the garden and I knew why.

My seedlings are safely under lights in the basement and I have busied myself with cleanup chores left undone last fall. I have been collecting pine needles from the edge of the property and after carefully removing the early weeds, have put a thick layer of pine needles on all the pathways. I am almost done. I have planted two rows of snap peas and three rows of green beans.

Sadly the experiment in overwintering artichokes has failed once again. Also there is the menacing mint that has started to invade the northwest corner of the garden.

menacing mint

BUT ... the garlic looks strong and healthy and the asparagus will be ready to pick by the weekend.

Young garlic ... young love

garlic girl

meets garlic boy

true love

From the Garden Gate, May 7, 2008

"with a little help from my friends"

I must confess to a late start this spring on the preparations for the garden. I have been too much on the move. But Tuesday I made my annual spring pilgrimage to Bath County, VA to gather some tomato plants.
At Longdale Nursery on Route 42 I found Italian Sweets, Better Boys and Belgian Giants. Then my friends at Walatoola were kind to share some of THEIR starter tomatoes with me. I added some Boxcar Willies, Little Momas, Principe Borgheses, and some of their green peppers suited for northern climate. They also gave me a gift of a lovely lemon verbena not to mention a healthy bundle of their first asparagus harvest and fresh arugula.

The meal on Tuesday night was local and tasty. The rack of lamb from Highland County was brimming with the flavor of the Bluegrass Valley and the asparagus was as fresh as could be. Here at home, I have some Big Zacs started and the artichokes while a little leggy, I think are off to a good start.

Tomorrow the operation moves north and the prep and planting begin in earnest.

Scenes from the flower fields of South Holland

Spargle !!!

White Asparagus Stand near Staufen, Germany

We have arrived in Southern Germany just in tome for asparagus season. Putting white asparagus on the table is not an easy task. The stalks must be mounded up and then removed at just the right time.

mounded beds

Tulips, Cherry Blossoms and Artichokes

I am headed to Europe for some travel. Some of it will be in the tulip fields of Holland. I must say the Dutch do not make it easy to find out when these tulips are scheduled to be at peak bloom. (though thanks very much to this one informative blog) Here in DC where the Cherry Blossoms are a key part of OUR tourist industry, the National Park Service has it down to a science. I made my annual pilgrimage last Monday and despite the foggy weather, the delicate beauty of shone through the dismal weather.

I will be gone for three weeks and I have devised a way to manage my emerging artichokes. I filled an APS tray with water and placed the peat pots on the mat. I then covered the exposed section of mat with plastic wrap to keep the moisture form evaporating. I hope it works.

Earth Hour is Tonight !!!

If you have not heard by now, tonight is the night to turn out your lights between 8:00 and 9:00 pm as part of Earth Hour. I guess that means the grow lights too.

It's a small thing for each individual, but done collectively, it can speak volumes.

Let the Games Begin

Well the season has begun. These balmy Washington temperatures had me out of doors today at the potting bench setting up a tray to start artichokes in. Artichokes are finicky as seedlings ... prone to damping off. So after years of trial and error here is my solution. I score each seed need the tip with a nail file. Then I set out 12 seeds on wet paper (6 Northern Star and 6 Emerald) over night. Meanwhile I prepare the trays with a germinating mix and place the tray on a seed heating mat to warm up the soil.
Once planted, I monitor the moisture carefully erring on the side of dry rather than wet. If I have to be away from home for a time, I will remove from the heat and just let them sit in the open air.

In honor of the day, I bought two luscious California artichokes to have for dinner. Yum

opening up the seed boxes

Dormant

This is my longest blogging hiatus. The truth is the garden and the gardener are dormant right now. Sort of like these amaryllis bulbs before I potted them up three weeks ago. Dormancy can be good. The seasons encourage it. Why fight it?

I AM engaged in compost work despite freezing cold temperatures. And I have been happily eating from my larder of garlic, shallots and sweet potatoes and my freezer full of tomato sauce.

I am headed out West to ski next week. But when I return, I will begin anew the fantasy I have nurtured for many years, i.e. that I CAN grow artichokes. They will be my first seeds of the season.

So soon the grow lights will be on, and the games will begin anew. Stay tuned.

Home Again, Home Again Riggity Jig

I think I knew that I had turned a corner on this 6 week journey away from home, when I started to think about potting my amaryllis. I know, I know it's WAY past time to pot amaryllis, but it is what the schedule allows this year.

I did NOT have anyone come in and water my houseplants while I was gone, and I am pleased to report that the cool house temperatures put them in suspended animation and they are surviving nicely.

I have an unsolved mystery from this trip, and I welcome any ideas you might have. While in Laos we passed an outdoor stand that was making little yellow tortilla like patties and drying them on screens. When I tasted a dried one, it tasted like banana and had a little seed in it. It MIGHT have been the seed from a dragon fruit .. it was about the size of a poppy seed. Women were kneading a yellow dough, and then placing balls of the dough on a press, and then placing the pressed patties on screens to dry. Anyone have any idea what this Southeast Asian sweet is called?

Gardening on the Mekong River in Laos

The Mekong River leaves rich silt in its wake after each rainy season and the farmers here take advantage of that rich soil to grow their crops. So in a climate where things COULD grow year round, a farmer waits to plant until after the river has receded and plans to harvest before the river rises again.

Finally some vegetables

While in the Botanic Gardens in Christchurch, NZ, I stumbled onto this vegetable garden. Enjoy the view.