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.

Taking a Break from the Gardening Blog

I am headed to the Southern Hemisphere for six weeks. I will return in early February to a mailbox filled with garden catalogues and hopes for spring. No doubt I will dream garden dreams as I return to high summer.

When I can, I will be recording my adventures down under in my travel blog. Please feel free to visit there.

Reflections Away From Home

Until then, rejoice in the season and in the promise that comes at solstice as the earth faithfully begins her journey back to springtime.

Oh Woe is Me!!

How long does it take to make a recipe that you find interesting? Try : a year and counting? Last year I ran into this sweet recipe at La Tartine Gourmande. It is a luscious looking concoction of crab and kiwi and pomegranate. I set out to make it last fall and then realized I did not have any Piment d'Espelette ... nor could I find any. So one of my missions while I was in Paris last spring was to find some ... which I did. But alas, by then pomegranates were out of season.

So yesterday I roamed around Whole Foods gathering the ingredients in my basket. Then this morning as I looked at the recipe once again I sadly realized that the Piment d'Espelette is living on the spice rack back in New England. Grrrrrrrr.

I'm going to do it anyway, but I swear ... what an ordeal!! Anyway, go take a look around Bea's blog. It is pretty spectacular.

Saying Farewell to the Garden

The sunlight is penetrating deep into the far reaches of my living room these days, yet it is gone over the hills before 4:00 sending me into an early and almost endless night far earlier than I am ready for. I don't usually experience December light here in my "summer home" and so I feel lucky to be present for the contrast of BRIGHTNESS and early retreat that is New England in December.

I retrieved my last two rutabagas and the last of my tiny, tiny Brussels sprouts this morning. The winter squashes are packed as is the bushel basket of sweet potatoes and and shallots and more garlic than I will ever consume. And there is lots of frozen tomato sauce to bring the reminder of August back on a cold winter evening. It is all a blessing.

In a strange turnabout this year I am headed to the Southern Hemisphere to experience the solstice in its fullness not its darkness. I am reluctant to switch out so close to completing the seasonal cycle ... there is something about being witness to that shortest day that earns you the right to start the cycle yet again.

And so I head the car down the snow dusted driveway and say thank you, garden, for another year of bliss and blisters.