HAD THE RADISH

falling in the fall

2011-11-10T18:20:00.004-05:00

Sometimes you just fly off a ladder when you're stapling plastic over the new windows on the chicken coop and you land face down in that special mud goo so particular to a chicken yard. And then several minutes tick by until you dare test your bones to see if they still work. I can only guess that my ample padding saved much of me but my poor old knee got wrecked enough so that I've spent the last month dragging my left leg behind me. It'd be hilarious if it wasn't me. But healing has happened and progress is made and the swing is heading up. I can now even flex my hitherto jammed-solid thumb again so I expect soon to be ambulating in the 'up to snuff'
category...well..sometime after the new year. (I'll milk this convalescence for a bit).
I've not been thinking much about this blog and noticed it's been quite a while since I poked my snout in for a yik-yak. When I do think of it though it's never with a despairing feeling but more like, "Hey, jump in, take a swing." To be honest I've been distracted. Not necessarily in a bad way but not strictly in a garden-y way. Not that there are any rules about the content in this journal but I rather respect the fact that the majority of the food growing related blogs I do read tend to stay on topic and not stray into the volatile waters of politics and proselytizing. But to be wholly honest those I admire the most and most look forward to reading leave a pretty distinct bread crumb trail as to their feelings about things that are going on.
But autumn is a time to think, is it not? And so I thought today as I sowed spinach in the mini-hoophouse. I thought and I thought and I thought.

making right

2011-08-31T05:38:00.003-05:00

Whether or not this apple tree will grab ahold again is yet to be seen but I thought I'd give it a shot. A few others were leaning rather precariously as well but considering the overall devastation hereabouts we were essentially unscathed so no griping from me. Well, at least for a day or two..

gratitude, tough Vermonters or....

2011-08-30T05:42:00.003-05:00

what did they do in the olden days? Things are a bit of a mess in my state at the moment with lots of work and frustration ahead for sure. Since I am writing this it's obvious we were among the lucky ones with power restored. Sheesh, "My name is Randi and I'm an electricity-aholic. Hi Randi." This awareness is acute when one is deprived of one's (almost) favorite addiction for a couple days. The focus is sharp and the woodstove gets fired up to start heating water. Outside the chainsaw symphonies begin. Around here many of us can't actually see our neighbors but we can hear them. Some have generators and that's an annoying or reassuring sound dependent upon your point of view. I spent my first decades reading nothing but fiction, (and am not sorry for it in the least), but over the last many years have devoted myself almost entirely to non fiction. However I allow myself a bit of indulgence in August and so this morning I read from one the used paperbacks grabbed from the 25cent shelf...."You can heave your spirit into a mountain and the mountain will keep it, folded, and not throw it back as some creeks will. The creeks are the world with all it's stimulus and beauty; I live there. But the mountains are home." Annie Dillard

Enough, enough..back to work.

Applesauce & Rain

2011-08-15T08:58:00.010-05:00

We seem to apply the old lemons/lemonade adage when it comes to these soft apples that fall early and often. I have no idea what variety they are but they've been found useful for a pretty decent applesauce. I rake them up and look for the least bashed up among them. I've discovered they bruise if you even look at them. They are not huge so it's a bit of fussy work and I must admit that the cinnamon and nutmeg do alot of the heavy lifting in the flavor department but hey, yum, especially around January. (Er, is that a giant pile of wood to stack in the background?..oh Hell.)

Blueberries still to pick.

Amaranth points accusing finger.

Cute little Sekel pear. Tiny and generally neglected but tasty when or if the time comes.

Ha, growing grapes in Vermont, don't get me started. But these announce 'maybe, if there is no hard frost in September'. We'll see.

Growing in amongst the micro squashes. Again, squash and cukes..not so great this year.

Freeze flat on cookie sheet. Defrost. Eat.

I know folks jar applesauce but I'm reserving my canning strength for the mythic tomatoes that threaten to ripen.

weeder women

2011-08-04T14:37:00.004-05:00

Jeez, I don't know, maybe fifteen years ago I went to a lecture to hear Christopher Lloyd speak on garden design. He's an English garden writer/designer/overall witty guy. Or was anyway, I think he took his leave of this earth-y paradise a few years back. Now imagine, if you will, that the very lovely marbled art museum where he gave his chat was filled with, well, people who liked to look at and discuss gardening but actually did very little of it. I think I was one of the few slobs there who actually laboured in the fields so to speak. So when Mr. Lloyd made reference to his 'weeder women', (those who did the actual grubbing about on his gardens/estate/whatever), there arose quite the amused titter from the audience. I've never forgotten that and I often remember the gut check I gave myself that night. Because I was/am a weeder woman. And here's the kicker: I LIKE WEEDING. Let me tell you why. I'm kind of, in real life, well not exactly hyper but easily roused and always jazzed up about the endless and growing mountains of depressing shit that take place on this planet daily. Unchecked I would rant myself and any innocent bystander to death. Anyhoo I discovered many moons ago that weeding is my meditation. It calms me/changes my brainwaves/mellows me out and,( icing on the cake and unlike endless 'OM-ing'), accomplished something at the same time. That bit appeals to my Yankee utilitarianism. I guess the only time I get cheesed off about weeding is when all that other stuff interferes and I fall terribly behind. Maybe I ought to get a bumper sticker that says 'I'd rather be weeding'. In a nutshell I've designated August to be weeding month. Couple the weeding with what I cut back and the piles get respectable. Oh yeah.

Bee Stings & Sun Screens

2011-07-31T12:31:00.003-05:00

I'm guessing after decades of landscaping and gardening I've built up something of an immunity to bug bites and an overall nonchalance regarding scratches, scrapes and bruises. I admit with shame, (as someone who has been working outside since dinosaurs roamed), to labouring hatless and largely sunscreenless for many a moon.

I was thinking of Mike's post,(Subsistence Pattern), about sunscreen this morning so I actually sauntered into the shack where I keep my crap, grabbed the BurtsBee sunscreen someone gave me, (I'm too cheap to buy that particular name brand myself and I can only wonder at the expiration date but I digress..), and slathered it on.

Now allegedly it was not to be as humid today and I got off to a roaring start, ripping and snorting, digging and weeding, and before long sweat began to trickle down my face and into my eyes stinging as it carried the melting sunscreen along with it. Oh, did I mention I also rarely use a headband which of course would mitigate the sweat in the eyes routine? Even my grandpa always carried around an old handkerchief to wipe his face but I seem to make do with the bottom of my tee shirt.

But I pressed on. Undaunted. And then the bee that got caught in my hair and subsequently gelled into the sunscreen on the back of my neck chomped. OK, ouch.

But wait. Yesterday a honeybee got me on the arm. It's still a hair swollen but now I've begun conducting my arthritis experiments and last night tried to figure out whether or not there's anything to this apitherapy thingee. I read a bunch of articles and figured what doesn't kill me etc etc and if there is any benefit I'm covered. But I'd like to limit it to just one sting a day thank you very much.

miss copperhead shuffles off this mortal coil...

2011-07-15T05:07:00.003-05:00

Actually there was no shuffling involved. She was unceremoniously taken out by a small dog visiting our road for only the day, owned by a workman a couple houses down who allowed it to roam free and had no idea what a little killer was his. Randi saw red and tromped up for a 'meaningful discussion' with who turned out to be about 280 lbs. of tattooed muscle, and, if truth be told, a very apologetic, calm human. Money was exchanged. My thinking being if he had to shell out for the dog's transgressions it might help him in future potential hoop-de-doodles, planting the seed of a sort of consciousness if you will. (I SO get those old movies with the farmer bursting out the door armed with a shotgun to chase off any number of predators).

Long story short, be careful what clever names you give your little chickens. And yes, of course, as far as looks go, she was my favorite. Sheesh! Enough with the chickens already!

Apres moi, le deluge...

2011-07-14T07:01:00.012-05:00

Gooseberries..taste test this morning: perfect. Every year I add a plant or two.

Yesterday as I was mowing I was surprised to see these doing the ripening thing. Blueberries are always plentiful and carefree here. Should I have actually said that out loud?

Today will probably be the final pea pick. Cannot grow enough to satisfy but will continue to expand.

Hybrid or not and I can't remember but these Sun Sugar cherry tomatoes are so damned delicious. Glad to see them making an appearance.

Update: The aforementioned Red of post past seems to have reintergrated with the collective. I breath a sigh of relief and worry now about what'll happen when the new kids arrive.

Grow a bit of wheat and oats. Again, would love to increase all the grains. Working on it.

This, the first honeybee hive year, finds me following them around with some anxiety as to their adjustment to their new digs. It also catches me noticing all the other 'joe blow' pollinators that have been faithful all these years.

Actually, the name of this post should be 'Before me, the deluge'. It's no secret why professional photographers mist their subjects before shooting. The downside of a heavy downfall: floppy plants. The upside: No watering today. Hay, wasn't I just beefing about the endless rain two minutes ago?

Come here Red...

2011-07-07T13:28:00.002-05:00

Life before chickens. A hawk or an eagle flies over and you think, "How majestic". Today a bird of prey does a fly by and you become uber vigilant. The last few days have found me thinking how neat it would be to have just a couple of chickens. You know, I could keep an eye on them as we weed together.

Well, Red has been keeping me company because she has become the object of some pretty mean treatment from the pack. They won't let her into the yard leaving her to hang in the coop. When she does venture out she puffs up as big as she can and she still gets a sustained 'peck' (read bite) from the little martinette that seems to be running the show these days.

So I take her out with me where she gluts on worms, (where the others can see), raspberries, currants, strawberries, seeds, whatever.

Now I've read that the way to deal is to remove the agressor for a couple days and then duly knocked down a peg or three it will behave. However in this case the top hen has her nasty gang of thuggy underlings that also do her bidding when I have removed the instigator. And, of course, it goes without saying that Red is my favorite and if a chicken can be sweet Red qualifies.

Anyway, maybe they're all cranky because they can no longer free range. Once the veg gardens are done I'll let them in there but free ranging here is a gamble one is bound to lose to foxes so confined they must be for the majority of their days.

So yeah, one or two novelty chickens would be smashing except I keep thinking about that line at the end of, I think, Annie Hall..."I need the eggs".

a ray of sunshine today...hip, hip.....sheesh

2011-06-25T16:15:00.006-05:00

These fools run around clumsily and I fear the eventual order of their pecking will be on the low side but they are cute, fluffy, blue and comical. We'll see.

These things have a very bird-of-prey look to them..lovely colors with their light green legs.
How on earth any pollination took place this Spring is beyond me, (several of the apple trees missed the boat), but here hang some peaches. I've already applied one dose of Surround which was something of a fool's errand considering it's been raining just about non-stop for 2 months. The ground is completely saturated and it squishes when you walk. Deep standing water in the depressions around the raised beds. Waterlogged takes on whole new context. However, given my druthers, I'll take this over Arizona wildfires or drought stricken Texas or truly flooded or tornado ravaged places to the south and west of me.
I've added a second hive hopefully in the nick of time. My bee man sadly lives far from me so this latest acquisition was a hand-off en route but it seems I may be having problems with hive 1. The bitch is that it's been raining so much and it's been so, well, cold that I haven't had the optimal time to open the hive, photograph it and send it on to my pro but an actual hour of sun happened today inducing me to take these snaps and next week the temps promise to get up into the 80's,(it's been in 50's alot lately), so maybe my vegetable plants that have stalled completely might just do that crazy thing we call 'grow' before the first frost kills them off. I know, I know..kvetch..complain but I defy anyone to tell me weather patterns aren't changing. I've been tromping around here for 50 odd years and I see change. One can imagine an atmosphere full of particles having a tougher time moving along as freely as it once did. Sigh.

A Fowl Trade..Let it Bee

2011-06-10T11:01:00.007-05:00

Long time no bloggy. As with everyone this is a particularly busy time of year and in my case made even more so by taking on new projects proving yet again my high standing in the kingdom of Flibbertijibberty..

Anyhoo..the ducks, my beloved ducks, have a new home on a 3 acre pond. It wasn't just that the kiddie pool wasn't cutting it but also that the boys were having their way with the chickens, denuding them of neck feathers and a sort of general humiliation that come to find out could kill a little hen. So off they went. I visit them when I can and note that the female is actually broody on her homemade woodland nest and maybe they won't get picked off like 3 of my hens have this Spring by maurauding foxes.

So, in exchange, the pond owner has gifted me with the green egg layers Arconas (sp?) and the silkies. The black chicks came from the grain store where, I think, I was told they were barred rocks but I kinda don't think so. Do you know?

In other news I think the honey bees are doing their thing but more on that later when I have time to investigate properly.

what I watched from my office window all winter

2011-05-01T12:41:00.002-05:00

hanging on for dear life in the old apple tree...

wind, snow..amazing. still there.

loss

2011-04-29T10:50:00.002-05:00

Whenever I read a blog about the death of a beloved pet I feel deeply. Often feeling more deeply than I do when watching the perpetual horror stories in news cycles of tragedies too huge to comprehend. It is a matter of being able to, for the lack of a better word, relate.
But there is another part of me that feels it's just too personal sometimes, too raw.

So for Url the cat who I raised from the tender age of 2 days to 8 short years who died unexpectedly
yesterday and is now buried beneath one of the new apple trees I can only blink back my seemingly endless tears. No kidding, this cat was not a cat but a neurotic clown who gave me more smiles than I can calculate. I held him and made myself watch him as life left his eyes. I admit, without embarrassment, I am bereft.

cart before horse

2011-04-28T06:58:00.004-05:00

Interesting title since the one thing I have vowed never to have here is any critter with hooves so no, this is not about a horse. It's about jumping into things before you have all the info, before all the research is done and hoping, with childlike idiocy, that everthing will work out in the end. (I majored in magical thinking..)

So since today is promising more thunder showers I'll try to prime this new enterprise and dream of applied countrified design to adorn..

BEES, honeybees, all ordered and half paid for, to be inserted into new home very soon by something worse than a novice: me.

I will attend a class and will join VT. BeeKeepers but, end of the day it'll be me and the bees. Of course AFTER I decided to bee up I read lots of blogs and watched lots of vids and heard all sorts of sad stories of dead queens, unsucessful mite smiting, mysterious die offs, and racoons and bears and jeez you name it. But I'll soldier forward and keep my 'it's just an experiment' hat on. Maybe a mentor will fall in my lap..then too maybe I'll be invited to the royal nups. HA!

my 'glaring' valentines

2011-02-14T08:55:00.004-05:00

consequences of neglect

2010-09-21T11:14:00.003-05:00

There are always a couple of perennial beds around here that get 'forgotten' every couple years....I try to do a kick ass job on each bed every couple years but it doesn't always work out.
Witness the attack of Bidens frondosa or more colloquially named hereabouts as Devil's Pitchfork.
As someone who's done her share of weeding I know things are bad when I am forced to retreat and find a fresh shirt.
But as I was en route I must admit to a moment of grudging admiration for the opportunistic little beggar. We critters do all the work dragging it's sorry seed from pillar to post, pulling, or trying to pull, them off as we advance. hmmmmmm....

maybe a frost tonight

2010-09-17T08:40:00.009-05:00

castor beans for those stews (just kidding)
peas will appreciate the frost
kangaroo apples will never ripen to orange by the looks of things
how much damage will the girls do to the little pink magnolia with their roosting ways?
ornamental kales also give thumbs up to some serious chilling

no, really I was just kidding about the castor beans

an 'almost' RIP

2010-09-16T15:15:00.003-05:00

today's lesson:
you CAN scream loudly enough to make a coy dog drop his brunch
and hit the underbrush!

the highly low, lowly high sunflower

2010-09-08T13:29:00.010-05:00

They chatter.

And lend themselves to the whims of all ilk of artist.

After the smiley face they are the most overused icon for cheerfulness the world has ever seen. And when they evidence any hint of imperfection or decay they play magnificently to the poignancy card Joe SixPack holds near to his heart. They've nodded their way in and have no intentions of leaving our Hallmark Card dramas.
As you can imagine, I would not be without them.

how I spent my summer vacation or there is life without a computer

2010-08-30T09:31:00.005-05:00

Well, so much for my note-to-self regarding discipline when it comes to blog posts BUT it ain't easy to do minus an actual computer so I'm letting myself off the hook.
At first it was a nightmarish withdrawal but very quickly the pain subsided and was forgotten and my ruminations over this dry summer were just mine own bouncing around and echoing in my head. Though, to disclose fully, it has been a gluttonous affair catching up on my favorite blogs.

It's been a bizarrely dry summer in Vermont this year and truly for the first time did I actually begin to think about some sort of practical irrigation ideas. (Add that to the list)..The upshot, of course, is that everything that's been struggling along is small, small, small having been deprived of the quantity of water for optimal growth. But, on the flip side, wow, I have enjoyed the sunshine and lack of rain more than I can say so I just sort of shrugged my shoulders and hoped that the imminent collapse of 'everything' doesn't happen this particular winter as the goods put away thus far are minimal, (except for pesto..basil galore!)
So what I decided was to just look around, move alot of perennials, amend the soil, spend endless hours watching the ducks and chicks grow and to feed them whatever their caviar lovin' palates desired. (OK, let's be honest, I am their slave).
So truly I'm just trying to prep for that mythical ideal represented in the words 'next year'..that attitude has really lessened the burden and I've found myself enjoying my humble labors.
As to my connection to the interwebs? I'm still on shaky ground but I'm taking it in stride!

alright already with the ducks!

2010-06-21T08:13:00.008-05:00

a backward glance
grooming poolside
yes, I put rubber duckies in there...
what can I say, I get a kick out of them.
a photo while the water is remotely clean...duck befoul with astonishing rapidity.
duck known as 'lame-y' wears a buff orp chapeau

the chicks love them, they love the chicks!

going to seed and other stuff

2010-06-08T12:52:00.006-05:00

As is often noted time is a precious commodity this time of year, at least it is for me. And though I've a bit more time for my own garden projects the 'to do' list has expanded exponentially it sometimes seems. In any event I'm already at the 'let's try setting one's head straight' portion of the season and am opting to work hard and enjoy even more. That's the goal anyway. Remaining conscious and actually looking around is my major ambition.
That said much of what is happening here this season will be allowing stuff to go to seed for seed. The charge of seeing a biennial do it's thing is worth the wait. I'm following Mike's,(Subsistence Pattern), general idea of trying to stay a couple of years ahead seed-wise, (and wood-wise as well)..I'll be at it a couple more years but hey, baby steps.
Meanwhile, back in reality, there is a heap o' weedin' to do!

adventures outside

2010-05-26T16:26:00.004-05:00

Since it was about 90 today we decided to take a little sojourn to the great out of doors and it seems to have been met with great interest and enthusiasm, must say i'm looking forward to it being a permanent situation despite how high the cute-0-meter is registering.

in my mind's eye

2010-05-24T05:40:00.004-05:00

in my mind's eye these waddlers will be assisting in future pest control but for the moment they are just cute splashing in their Ce-ramic pond! (However, the endless clean-up at this stage leaves something to be desired but eventually they'll move to their own digs and balance will be restored).

up for air

2010-05-21T06:38:00.003-05:00

the irony is that it's a time of year with so many gardening related interests a' happenin' the menu of choice topics goes on forever....the problem is there is NO time to wander with camera in hand or compose those pithy mental notes. My hope, (since there is such an overload of projects happening simultaneously), is to get on some sort of track in the next few weeks and re-establish some semblance of routine. Meanwhile it's hard labor and baby chicks!

it's a sog-i-fi-ca-tion situation!

2010-03-23T08:29:00.007-05:00

Unlike most I am only now seeing some of the mushy truth revealed...oh boy.

crazyass winter shenanigans with bobcat

2010-02-27T13:51:00.004-05:00

This post has nothing to do with gardening. About a hundred years ago some family member ended the life of this poor ol' bobcat and then had him stuffed. Since I've known him he's existed largely in the darkness of attics so today we thought he needed a walk in the snow and a little time in the fresh air. I left him guarding the seedlings out in the shed that desperately want some sunshine.

Serious Snow, Finally

2010-02-24T13:11:00.007-05:00

It's unusual for us to have such an open winter as we've had so far this season and to be frank, I'm relieved and grateful for this snow cover. For the first time in a while I've had plants exposed where the thus far relatively minimal snow accumulation had receded a bit and that made me concerned for dessication,burn, windchill, what-have-you..
And look, here's the deal, please don't live here if you don't think it's about the most beautiful sight imaginable. Err, or, if you are ill prepared for the realities of what I think is about to happen any minute, power failure.
The snow wade I just took blew my mind, and quiet, oh my. (Pausing to collect myself)
So, what's there to say except "WOW!"

Open the windows every once in a while,

2010-01-15T09:00:00.006-05:00

why don't ya?
'airing out' was the term employed as I was growing up..
Yeah, got to thinking about this while doing woodstove chores and it's been an ongoing internal dialogue for a couple of weeks now.

There are many official places to read about firewood, fireplace and woodstove safety..All I might add is to follow the rules and use your common sense and, most importantly, pay attention. Paying attention, for me, is the sign of a truly evolved human. Sadly, I come up short too frequently in that category...Nevertheless: ONE MUST TRY!
Besides the obvious necessary cleanings of chimneys and hardware and such I feel of additional importance is the cleaning of the air your lungs require.

Now most people hereabout are concerned, rightly so, about the heat escaping as many of us live in houses aged enough to have a gap or two. (And don't even go near the conversation of HOW people in the not too distant future will stay warm..I shudder metaphorically and will perhaps literally someday).
But a bit of escaping heat is not all bad. To live hermetically sealed in with mega-insulation can create some hairy built up gases and such. Stale, unclean air. So open a damned window every once in a while!
Full Disclosure: This was typed while the temp was actually a hair above freezing for the first time in ages and the air completely still. However, the more arctic the windy blast through the house, the sooner you shut the window! Simple.

re-Purposing

2010-01-13T14:16:00.007-05:00

Re-purposing..
Some grow up in households that thump bibles or drink to distraction and those 'traumas' indeed imprint on mushy kid brains coloring them ever afterward. In my case the imprint branded in this old gal's child mind was one of Yankee frugality, waste not want not, be prepared, respect living things and to cultivate a healthy dose of skepticism will rarely fail one.

So with varying degrees of success I've been doing that since dinosaurs roamed. Hence whenever I hear the term I gotta snort a bit and shake my head at a culture-at-large, (that I happen to share this ever shrinking planet with), seemingly to have been brought up to do just the opposite.

Placed in my 'When I Rule The World' folder yesterday was a note, "Every child should be encouraged to explore a hobby that requires neither electricity or ammunition to enjoy"....I can only wonder at the level of creativity that might engender..ah well.

ON TO REALITY: Since my future dreams include never having to buy salad greens again I lessen the pain of currently doing so by knowing that the clear plastic shells it comes in can make the dandiest little mini greenhouses. I poke little holes in the top and bottom for transpiration and in these I start alot of my seeds. The especially good part is that the lid snaps shut and it's rodent proof. Nothing irks more than to discover the destruction of just one nocturnal visit from the citizens of Rodentia after babying a bunch of seedlings for a couple weeks.
Additionally I like those boxes clementines come in as a good container for seedlings bumped up and they're deep enough not to dry out in two seconds. And finally, I'm a sucker for any kind of tin. They're great for storing seed or well, anything.

before enlightenment: shovel snow, make paths

2010-01-04T10:43:00.006-05:00

after enlightenment:
shovel snow
make paths

anyhoo, I think I like the workout from clearing a pathway...go for a few minutes, take deep breaths, keep going. We,(meaning the collective, the 'culture' out there), grew up thinking it was such a terrible chore. Guys my age routinely keeling over from heart attacks due to the stress of snow shoveling .
So I asked myself this morning, "Do I like doing this?"
Answer: Not too complicated, not too nuanced..."Well, I really don't mind it all that much..hey wait a minute, I'm sort of digging this...literally and otherwise."
Let's not go overboard and call it fun but I feel good, my lungs feel good. We've no critters in outbuildings, (yet), so I guess I don't NEED to shovel...no lives depend on these paths as they do for so many others. Maybe, at the end of it, I just like the 'notion' of paths. hmmmmm.

oh dear, seed catalogues

2010-01-03T11:48:00.004-05:00

just a few of what's come of late...and it's tough for me being both frugal as well as a junkie.

Trying to sift through them, checking last year's notes, trying to remember who seems to deal in the freshest seed, open pollinated, heirloom, F1 hybrids, timely delivery, actually getting what you've ordered and that stuff I'll just get from work...and oh yes, factor in the leaping growth of home gardening, (yes, a good thing but a thing too that seemed to catch the companies unaware).

Oh, and the lure of the actual seed racks and oh, there are such places not far from here that stock the seed of 20+ companies right before my greedy eyes.

And then the new little companies, just starting up, online mostly...want to encourage them, throw them some biz.

And then those that disappointed and/or continued to disappoint.
So you sniff around, look and listen hoping to pick up good tips or to be pointed in the right direction at least.

And then there are those seeds you yourself have collected..You know they are unadulterated and fresh. But so limited and you want to try new things even if it might seem 'contra indicated' in your particular zone.

And finally, most importantly, you give yourself 'the talking to'. What do you REALLY want/need? What are you willing to store/process? And yes, you may like EVERYTHING but what will the folks you break bread with actually eat?

Ok, I'm just typing out loud here. I am still deciding what 2010's gardens will be. I know I took losing 80+ tomato plants and a couple of rows of potatoes to blight last year pretty hard, especially seeing as those are things people like to eat. Additionally I had alot more predation on my nearly non existent winter squash crop. Oh, that one stung. Indeed it did. I put alot of hope in that squash basket. But I'm not whining, just commenting.

So, so far I've decided on more root crops and a helluva lot more greens. And, to broaden my palate, my prepping, my experimentation. It really is all good.

bitter cold, grab the camera

2009-12-17T15:19:00.008-05:00

a quick wreath from homegrown bay laurel
is this what they call 'winter interest'?
once a year to prove to myself i can do it..clean off bench in shed and give it some oil..
brussel sprouts with mountain view
YES, something is growing in the hoop house!!

Everyone scurries at their own pace but this time of year finds even the most lackadaisical among us doing more than usual. Lots of prepping, list making, decorating and, now that the bitter temps have reached us, doing all those things we do to stay warm. I send up some gratitude for the woodstove and wish I had two or three more!
We've guests coming up for the holidays so it'll be a full house and I look forward to it. Great meals are planned accompanied, I hope, with some fun outdoor stuff.

And again, snow is not for everyone, (blessedly, or they'd all live here), but only the most jaded among us can't see the beauty of it. It keeps blowing my mind year after year!
Ours is a secular household so I send my 'holiday' best out into the ether of the interwebs.....

it begins

2009-12-06T09:41:00.003-05:00

This is the time of year I seem to turn my attention from growing things to making things, holiday gifts, modest and homemade. But the arrival of seed catalogues keeps my attention and has me highlighting and list making and spinning thoughts of a MUCH better gardening year in 2010. 2010, yikes!
Before this, our first real snow, I puttered about and launched a few outdoor experiments...if anything comes to pass I'll let you know. But for me this begins a quiet time. Snow does that to me. I love it, though not to the extent it prevents me from bitching about it ad infinitum when it interferes with simple daily chores.

Again, I've neglected this blog, a month slipping by in the blink of an eye. Trying to get comfy with a balance of healthy discipline and actually having something relevant to say. Ack!

my premier crop and seed storage method

2009-11-04T10:14:00.005-05:00

the best method I've found...just store the seeds, the seeds you've successfully dried that is, in a container that rodents cannot breach and keep the whole mess out in the shed..none of this seed in the fridge business for me. Of course the great outdoors is pretty much a freezer so it's all good. If you live in Florida pay no attention.

I challenge anyone to show me a better rock crop..this is the second bunch of stones pulled out in attempts to prep these little raised beds. The rocks get dumped/heaved more or less on the stone walls or in my mini quarry where the little tiny chain gang of my mind is busting them up!

transition time

2009-11-03T07:38:00.005-05:00

It's official; time had fallen backwards.
Gathering up enthusiasm for the final push of chores before the ground is covered with snow. The problem is that everything seems to conspire to distract me this time of year. But what an exquisite distraction. I could spend a spare lifetime just looking at frosty milkweed.

If I have learned anything about gardening, at least in northern New England, it is that anything one can do in the autumn to lessen the work required in the spring is a very good thing indeed. Needless to say I don't believe it can be done completely but theoretically one must at least take a stab at it. And, as the old adage goes every little bit helps. Here, where most of the winter we have about 3' of snow, even how I leave things in the out buildings have to have a sort of order of what I'll need first in the spring when things get cracking again. I'll experiment trying some four season stuff this year but for all intents and purposes I garden, if lucky, only two and a halfish seasons. I've yet to estasblish a satisfactory cold frame/poly tunnel set up that truly fits the bill but I live in hope, (at least as it concerns improving my gardening knowledge and practical skills).
If I can claim any success this year it is in the area of gathering data and gettin' ideas. The future: bigger, better, lusher...lusher? is that a word?

what, a nor'easter you say?

2009-10-20T16:16:00.007-05:00

Well, we dodged a weather bullet here in northern New England the last few days..so what better time to zip up to Maine to check out the surf? It's always great when the beaches are all yours.

But now it's home again, home again jiggity jig. Normally taking a few days away this time of year might be problematic but one thing about having a lousy harvest is there's less to do at this normally labor intensive time of year. But heaven know there's still a ton to do. Time to hop to it.

last minute mowing and the once & future vegetable garden

2009-10-15T12:48:00.005-05:00

We've got some weather coming our way and today, I must admit, was the first time I really felt the cold.
I have alot of lawn to look at...well, alot of grass mixed with other stuff that passes for 'lawn' and that's fine with me except I'm no fan of mowing. I've hayed fields and mown more than my share of landscape and it's not just the noise and using fossil fuels that bugs me. I don't get into the 'meditation' of it. I don't hate it, I'd just rather allocate the time for other gardening matters. Luckily it only falls to me about half the time.
But today I felt an urgency as we are expecting some white stuff and even if it doesn't stick it's psychological impact is strong. Anyhoo, I keep raking to a minimum so the leaves get mulched into the lawn, that's it for my fertilizing. Seems to work. So a final buzz cut. Hope is that much of this area will have vegetables growing on it in the not too distant future. The good news is that it was a veg garden in the past so it'll be relatively rock free. The bad news is it's a very wet area so some serious raised beds would be needed. But whatever is decided my mantra is to not bite off more than I can chew. (Good luck with that one, Randi)
So, the woodstove is pretty much on full time duty now and I find myself hunting down hearty recipes. I've got a fava bean chili going at the moment. Could be interesting.

another day in Vermont

2009-10-11T18:13:00.011-05:00

Well, El put a bee in my bonnet the other day when I read her post on legitimately, (that is: knowing what she's doing), foraging for wild mushrooms. I, on the other hand, know nothing about fungi. BUT! I've had a ball looking around the last few days on my walks and have begun at least to read a bit on the topic. Tried to find the variety of that bright orange monster but am still looking. If you know fill me in please. So today, Sunday, a day in nature worthy of worship... here it is.

quintessential aromatherapy

2009-10-09T11:52:00.010-05:00

Walking in October with Effie, Egil and Cabot is a treat.
Walking is a treat and breathing in and out is exquisite when the air is so clean and it's about to rain and the earth is fecund and so spicily perfumed that it is not to be described but to be inhaled.

I should not consider it, (daily long tramps), an indulgence. I should and do consider it my health care insurance. We did our 4 mile loop along the river and I dillydallyed today, taking time to stare at the shrooms, lichen, leaves, fungi and on. But deep breathing was at the root of it. I noted that were I able to bottle and sell said aroma I would be wealthy. So, another day, more gratitude, woodstove going, baked squash and apple pie from the fallen apples. Not for a second today will I not be conscious that Life is indeed good.

end of's and were they thinking what I've been thinking

2009-10-07T12:30:00.008-05:00

At the end of some things now. Basil has it's finale. Still smells great..the last hurrah to fresh pesto for the season. Hurrah!
And putting seed away...which means drying and separating seed from chaff..here's where I got to wondering if 'they', (by they I mean the thousands of generations before me of mostly women performing some version of the same task), thought as I did while seed cleaning. My crude, no machines except me, method requires alot of shaking and blowing with assistance from the prevailing winds. It's sorta fun, sometimes meditative and occasionally induces one to involuntarily inhale clouds of stuff should you get distracted or the wind gets the rascal in her.
My seed harvest is pretty measly this year, not much atall in the way of veggies but I've managed a few odds and ends and already am mentally cheerleading my way into next year with some 'the odds must be with me' calculations. Calculations means hope. Ha!
But hey, autumn provides the most scenic backdrop for deep thinking. Double HA!

day tripping

2009-10-05T12:46:00.002-05:00

some days in the autumn are just for roving about...

light frosts, reflections, gettin' ready

2009-09-24T06:08:00.004-05:00

I've not posted anything for a bit because, like everyone else, I've been busy. Unlike the many I admire here I've found nothing terribly instructive or amusing to yak about. I am still very much a student and glean what I can from those who've been immersed in the 'gardening/farming sustainability game' longer than I have.

We've had a few light frosts that've killed off the leaves on things like the squash plants but have left other things still struggling on. I check them out and work around them. I gather seed and from all the wonderful blogs I read I also gather priceless info. If for no other reason I will be forever grateful to the interwebs for such a cornucopia of knowledge.

Additionally, it's also the time of year to do alot of other chores, i.e., painting/staining things that the literally endless rains of summer prevented me from tackling earlier. So it's hurry up time now.
Anyone who lives in the country, or even quasi-countryish living, especially this far North, knows how much lugging, lifting, storing and preparing for the weather to come entails, even for me who is still lightyears from true sustainability. One is forced to think ahead...maybe that's the crux of the whole philosophy of sustainability, thinking ahead, what a novel notion! Wouldn't it be a kick if our politicians did such a radical thing?!

After this rather unsuccessful season growing my own has taken on a tremendous significance. I suspect that for many of us it's a stab at counterbalancing that utter feeling of powerlessness one has with every glance at the headlines. There is an undeniable political aspect to this notion of self reliance and in my daydream world I fantasize all those wasted suburban lawns and vacant city lots turned to healthful production. Where kids actually got the connection about where their food actually comes from..ah me. Unlike many I read who are naturally more optimistic than I, I don't envision such a thing happening until the trucks that roll no longer do so, and the shelves where the twinkies calcify are empty and the fryers of MacDonalds are cold will we see true change. And though I'm a world weary cynical old crone in my more even moments even I dare to hope a little.
Imagine this country not chronically ill from eating garbage and sitting sedentary all day. Can you? If so please let me know, I need a lift.

Euchaetes egle, I presume

2009-09-13T06:13:00.002-05:00

aka milkweed tussock caterpiller or milkweed tiger moth...........in any event some serious munchitation is taking place....no frost yet but there's a nip in the air, leaves begin to turn and chore lists shift to autumn mode.

One of the good things about

2009-09-02T14:28:00.005-05:00

sweet annie, love lies bleeding, edamame
pole beans
an only slightly disorganized tableau

from an only slightly disorganized gal

One of the good things about getting old, (I'm 57 to put it in context), is that you care less and less any rodents ass what others think of you. Truly it's one of the few blessings of waddling toward decrepitude. So while taking these snaps I felt none of the 'if only my projects weren't such a mess' feelings. I'm gathering seed, drying stuff and potting tenders up. It's messy.
So I got to thinking about housekeeping and design and that led me to thinking about the sort of aesthetic I've always admired. I love spare, uncluttered, simple motifs in most things. I have always pretty much held this sort of appreciation and YET I live as most others do who find themselves in what passes for the country these days; overflowing with interesting doodads, aka cluttered. Stuff accumulates. Some of it is useful or might be useful down the pike. Or there might be an object that is aged and deserves respect simply for making it this far despite the dings, nicks or long faded patina. Am I talking about an old metal rake or am I talking about me?

since it's raining anyway

2009-08-29T06:21:00.005-05:00

Unsettled weather. Moist. Again. What else is new?

It went into the high 30's here the other night so I'm already holding my breath to see how long we can last before first frost. We certainly deserve an Indian Summer but who knows? I've managed to do some freezing, canning, seed collecting, blight bagging as well as some dreaming and scheming for next years foray. I've made a tomato curry chutney inspired by Grow The Change, Calendula Lip Balm inspired by Fast Grow The Weeds, jalepeno blueberry jelly inspired by 'What to do with all these berries?'.

Truly that's the beauty of growing one's own. It's so dashedly hopefilled. Dashedly? (I also use an over-the-top fakey Cockney accent when addressing one of my neighbors who I affectionately call 'Guvna'. I think it's hilarious EVERY time. He is of old Yankee stock and remains, I believe, nonplussed.)

But back to the gardens. So much beauty, so many small dramas. The blue jays begin their annual Bacchanalia on the blueberries. They wait all year for this chance to get even louder as they tie one on. Apples on the old trees fall for the deer. And everything scrambles to go to seed. Who can not be moved?

the everlivin' gall

2009-08-26T14:26:00.002-05:00

Several goldenrod plants were so blemished I noted on my walk today. Seems there are parasitic critters who enjoy a bit of boring and breeding, I'm thinking Gnoremoschema gallaesolidagnis. I'll inspect further tomorrow.
But hey! Good news citizens! There are some days that are so deliciously exquisite in their simple beauty. Today was such a day for me. Quiet, lovely, relatively productive but with a large helping of free time to wander and ponder and sing Lou Reed's 'Perfect Day'.
What a great day!

blueberries and blight

2009-08-18T10:22:00.009-05:00

I have yet to resort to making a castor bean stew to end all my travails!
this 'thing' is a melon, that, if it reaches maturity before first frost, will stun me!
antique blueberry/cranberry rake...don't use it on my bushes but am sometimes tempted to speed up the process.
one day picking
blighty refuse to be bagged

Yes, we've been hit with the plague and it's not pretty. I hold at least some scant hope of a bit of a harvest but the longer I wait to pull entire plants and bag them the more the spores spread, especially with the humidity we are experiencing. The tomatoes themselves are secondary to my fears of what may lurk in my soil for ever after so I research and hope the cold of winter and a less seasonally insane summer next year will take care of the problem.
How did the funk get here? Clearly my bad. I grew 90+% of my tomatoes from seed here but did buy a few heirloom varieties from small, local nurseries where I was assured the plants were grown on site. But I work in a nursery and we, along with all the others buy in ornamental plants from other states and I know that some of trucks that delivered to us also delivered to box stores so the epidemic spread like wildfire. Of course I, along with all other growers, would have loved to have known earlier but Pandora's box cannot now be closed. Argggggghhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!
I do have some tomato plants that haven't been hit because they are some distance from the main growing area. My left overs, default plants...Snort!
(Randi takes a cleansing breath).

However crappily most of my efforts have been this year there is one thing that remains carefree and abundant. The highbush blueberries here are over 30 years old and produce happily for us as well as the birds! I've been living on them for a couple weeks now and I begin to take on a slightly bluish tinge. I'll be freezing most and making some sort of jammy jelly stuff as well.

homegrown anguish

2009-08-05T13:11:00.000-05:00

Edvard Munch eat you heart out ~ just makes you want to scream!

It's August Already!

2009-08-02T19:08:00.007-05:00

Digitalis ferruginea has become a favorite of mine, begun a few years ago from seed. Once established they make a terrific upright stand. Group 10 or 15 plants together for impact.
Finally harvested some of the default cucumbers, actually it's been a fun experiment growing these other than reminding myself to water and fert regularly.

There are sloping perennial islands here created in areas where ledge had nudged it's nose above ground making mowing around them impossible. Planting perennials around the stone has been a great solution. The beds have grown through the years without much thought to design. Over the last couple of years I've had a bit more time to move things about and shovel prune to my hearts content. That being said my perennial beds are still packed. I have always planted tightly so I begin to seriously cut back/deadhead this time of year. If I waited any longer I'd have to be doing it into January. A few things are allowed to go to seed, some are left for the much ballyhooed 'winter interest, (which is pretty meaningless here as we have 3 ft of snow through most of the six months of winter),' and some years I am neglectful and wait until Spring. But I've learned the hard way it's best to begin clean up in a timely fashion.
Add to that a year where the plants have stretched for non existent sunshine and been beaten down daily by rainfall and the flopping has reached record proportions.
So I'm weeding/cutting back yesterday and suddenly it felt as if someone dropped something on my back. Not painful, just distinct. I keep snipping away at the daisies until I discover a nest with three eggs. I put it together and felt terrible for exposing a gaping hole in what used to be a pretty well disguised jungle. In all my years landscaping I'd never come across a nest like this. Later I come back and discover mom on her nest. I give her props for divebombing me, what instinct! I don't even want to think of the odds for survival especially with the feline population hereabouts.

When Will I learn?

2009-07-31T08:15:00.002-05:00

Flash Flood Watch in effect....apparently even mentioning a few hours of sun or heat tempts fate. I waddle over another philosophical gardening hurdle. I settle in. Let's not call it resignation let's call it achieving a sort of zen. Yeah, that sounds good. Zen.

Apres Moi, Le Deluge

2009-07-29T13:08:00.009-05:00

16 year old Shamus getting stoned in what's left of the catnip patch
wood finds it's place
daylilies finally have a bit of sun

Ceci n'est pas une pipe - it's my homemade cuke holder upper, don't think I'll be marketing this design right away
And hall of loojaws, those are my peaches! Now mind you two Reliance were put in this Spring and only this one has fruit, and no, these peaches will never be as sweet, large and juicy and those south of here but I am tickled just to have any. Coincidentally I visited a long established orchard a couple days ago not too far from me and they were selling these very same peaches and I checked out their mature trees. Seeing is believing.

The good news is that though we have our daily rains we finally have some heat to go with it AND there seem to be longer stretches between each downpour.

So here I sit, chased in by freshening winds turning the leaves inside out and the increasingly greying skies BUT at least it's not cold! I hear rumbling too, just a matter of time so blog quickly before the power goes out.

"Ain't No Sunshine When...."

2009-07-24T08:29:00.013-05:00

this sums it up
blueberries looking great but require sunshine for true sweetness
do I have to say anything?
black pearl peppers from seed I saved last year
a soggy view

I suppose a good portion of blogging might be about kvetching and bemoaning one's situation because, after all, it is essentially keeping a journal. The difference of course is that it's 'out there' in the ether. Those blogs I most enjoy reading are, not surprisingly, those that impart some info. The well written and witty part is just about as important.
It's been about a week since I tried to jot something down but I have indeed been thinking about what to say without whining and have come up with squat. This is the longest stretch, in my recollection, that such a weather pattern has stalled above me and it has taken it's toll. Mom told us that if we have nothing nice to say then say nothing at all, and yeah, I get that.....but.......
So we play games with ourselves, in many ways my head is already jumping forward to tasks non gardening, even wintery. And I cannot describe this season as a total bust as it is not yet over. So, I'll hold my breath, keep my pinkies crossed and stack wood.

Default Cukes and Fresh Seeds!

2009-07-17T14:30:00.005-05:00

I once talked to a guy from a big seed company who divulged their less than stellar practice of mixing old seed with new to stretch seed and achieve an 'acceptable' germination percentage. I've often noted and actually come to expect shoddy germination rates from many seed companies but that certainly cannot be said of the lovely seed I received from Mike. This is day 3ish above ground for these guys. I started them inside mostly because the torrential, constant downpours we've been having would wash out any outside sown seed. At least this way they have a fighting chance and judging by their vigor it's looking good.

Okay, this is my default cucumber. I have 2 hanging cuke containers and 3 hanging tomato containers in the shack as my back up and considering what's been going on I'm glad I did. The outside cuke disaster is killing me especially as I made two trellises out of old metal bed frames with wild expectations of bumper crops. Harump!
A love-in-a-puffy-mistball nigella

Today, like yesterday, threatened repeatedly to crack open and pour but I chose to ignore and forge ahead with much needed weeding and cutting back and prepping ground for my my next round of seedlings. I'm glancing at the sky right now and ominous does not begin to describe so I'm glad I got 'er done.
Feelin' good now old girl? Check.

afternoon wander

2009-07-15T16:42:00.015-05:00

these are the magnificent leeks I thought were goners a few months ago
single 'black' somnifera poppy
Mom tells me the name of this rose is Dorothy Perkins, it's a reliable old climber
Macy's Pride, I sniffed this at New England Grows a few years ago and was sold. Not only terrific fragrance but seems to withstand the cold as well as my negligence.

a surprisingly pristine daisy
oh man, these tomatoes WILL ripen!
another poppy
oh yes my friends, that is actually a green bean!
can't resist showing the sky...I check it a million times a day to reassure myself there is actually some blue going on up there. The sweetpeas have loved every moment of our unseasonable season.
hyacinth beans
cheerful, undemanding daylilies.

Today I did no work in the gardens but did manage a little walkabout to graze on gooseberries and even some ripening raspberries. Tomorrow I'll carve out some time for garden chores but that's tomorrow.

Kangaroo Apple

2009-07-13T16:55:00.006-05:00

Happily I can report somehow managing to rid myself of several vices over the decades but one addiction remains strong and growing; trying new plants. I seek them out. I even work seasonally where I do the lions share of plant ordering and have great range to try new stuff in the form of seed,plug,bareroot, what have you. That being said I can't get everything so when I do get time to hit a few of my favorite nurseries I scan continually for, well, something NEW!
This Solanum laciniatum is from New Zealand, gets about 5' tall and the fruits promise to turn orange. It says it then can be processed and made into jam. Ha! I planted this guy a couple months ago, when it was much smaller, in a pot, thinking ahead to when I might have to drag it back into the shack to escape frost. I may sink the pot in the ground in full sun now that it's showing some production. In any event I'll definitely be saving the seeds of this monster so if any of my 3 readers have any interest let me know.

Did you notice I mentioned the sun? It's been a very tentative week...cool, some sun, plenty of clouds and still lots of rain. The bugs still feast on with great drama and no signs of stopping. Sheesh.

I also managed to sow in some very special seeds from the West. I am so excited to extend my season especially from seeds grown for we who are zonally challenged in cold mountains. Many, many thanks to my pal Mike from Subsistence Pattern.

This coming week I'll be turning my attention to beans and tomatoes, perhaps i can coax them on a bit. Hmmmmmm.

a patch of blue

2009-07-06T15:12:00.008-05:00

Something new. The first day in a long time without rain. Of course the day is not over yet but the blue up there keeps trying to share the sky with the seemingly permanent residents known as clouds-that-threaten. But hey, we'll take what we can get. And what we are getting here is an unwinable scenario. They'll be no 'catching up' this year. Our best hope is to just hold ground.
Anyway, the rain and the rot and the slugs and the cold and the vigorous weed growth keep me humble. These past few weeks have found me 'thinking'...rut ro that's trouble! I've made the not so momentous decision to work on those gardening things I can and limit the energy spent bemoaning that which I have zippo control over..For that matter, what do we have any control over? Another post.
I've sprayed the fruits with kaolin finally as today was the first that could be described as dry enough to apply anything..and just in time as I squished my first four mature JBs. I was reading a post somewhere where someone was saying that the whole Japanese beetle season for them was 2 weeks from beginning to end..hmmm..not the case here.
I believe, since I'm still digging them up daily at every possible size, that they like it here, enjoy it so much they stick around the better part of two months. They are not fly by night residents, their attendance can be relied upon.

Otherwise, still plugging along: weeding, staking, propping, cutting, spitting, muttering, apologizing, smirking and wondering.

Adzukis and me

2009-06-30T14:03:00.003-05:00

Ok, let's get this right out in the open.

Unlike most of you, I am not much of a cook. My excuse is that for much of my life meals have been left to those in the household who have some passion for the process, that special quality reserved for those I called 'intuitive' cooks/chefs. I've been a lusty appreciator all my life, been exposed to many wonderful cuisines, but have seldom been the one who actually does the work.

I guess you could classify my ability level as a capable maker of pesto, hummus, salads, spaghetti sauce, omelets and your basic chicken dinner.
However, I could not bake my way out of a paper bag.
But I find myself doing alot more experimenting these days as both my diet and my interest in vegetable growing has shifted.

Yet I have been making my own sprouts for nearly 30 years, admittedly the bulk of which have been alfalfa...what can I say I love alfalfa sprouts. I'm growing alfalfa just for the seed.

So where do the adzuki beans fit into this story? About a month ago I found myself at a high end nursery/garden center many kliks from home and caught myself staring at packs of sprouting seeds from Thomson&Morgan. Adzuki? What is this? I'd come around recently to mung beans and love them so hey, here's something new to you Randi.
Fast forward: Back home..hey, why not put some of these tiny beans in the ground? OK, let's.
A few weeks pass: I'm strolling along and notice these things..oh yeah..I should find out something about them. I do. They take about 120 days! haha! I'll have to build a plastic hoop over them in early September as I understand they don't take kindly to frost.

I'll keep you posted.

Old Bag Gets ProActive!

2009-06-29T15:09:00.005-05:00

Considering the measure of moisture out there describing today's activities as 'dusting myself off' is sort of, well, laughable. However I have completed the metaphorical dust off and have set my stubborn little noggin in an onward and upward direction. Good grief, what a sentence.

In any event today involved purchase of Surround, the kaolin clay spray, as suggested by her Wonderfulness, El. That got me started off properly with a game plan of attack for the despised Japanese beetles. I am excited to try it.

Add to that donation of about 30 lbs of frozen blueberries to food bank, (not so much true altruism as I need freezer space for the one thing that have never disappointed here, blueberries. Lots of them/Always). This years crop looks to be magnificent and right on schedule.

Add to that a new grape vine,
Catabwa ,tiny grapes included. Please don't ask where I eventually planted it as the future pergola that will support it is as yet only a figment of my imagination. But it's in the ground and I heard it go 'Ahhhh' as it shed it's plastic pot.

Add a bit of re-stocking of some pumpkin and squash from 'work' where they've been growing on unmolested in big greenhouse and I righted a bit of my cockeyed Vermont veggie world.

So, today's lesson...Never Give Up.

oh, oh I also wanted to add that I'll be making a list of seeds I'm happy to share with anyone interested, mostly flowers but we'll see what happens with the plants as the season progresses. Pinkies crossed.

entering week 3 of daily moisture

2009-06-28T12:15:00.006-05:00

And it's not so funny anymore. The vegetables, without sunshine, seem unable to mount a decent defense against the onslaught of insect predation. The usual suspects are having a field day on the potatoes and what laughingly are referred to as 'squash seedlings'. The squash business really steams me as it was the ONE thing I wanted most to harvest in abundance. Now I'll feel happy to get a handful of butternut. I know there's always next year but I constantly think of those who lived long ago who did not have the convenience of grocery stores and a failed crop was serious business indeed.

So, speaking of predation, mine has just begun...just came in from a 'they'll be emerging any minute now' photo shoot. As if things weren't grim enough the Japanese beetles are about to make the scene and unless the weather changes and my vigilance isn't in the category of super power I'm pucked for sure.

Oh, and my momentary reference to heat the other day was just that, momentary. We continue to have below average temps, which wouldn't be bad for somewhere that has the luxury of a couple extra months on their growing season but our window of opportunity is so short lived under the best of circumstances..(Gee, even I am beginning to feel sorry for me now!) Sniff, sniff..

Optimistic is not a label I can say has been used frequently as a way of describing me but I have made a conscious effort to keep the beat at least nominally up...however Three Weeks of this has finally taken it's toll. The solitary plus has been the spectacular perennial flowers this season, of course they'll be chewed to smithereenies by the JBs. And yes, I've tried milky spore but I have yet to find a definitive article touting it's true reliability in this zone and I've yet to see any diminution of their numbers. ack!

Url is in the driver's seat!

2009-06-25T16:41:00.000-05:00

OK,ok...I get it. It's been insanely hot and humid everywhere but here until today.
So today I got to reclaim those fond memories of sweat running down into my eyes, (note to self: wear sweat band of some sort). And yes, somewhere I find a sleeveless t-shirt and shriek when I 'see' the farmer's tan I've been working on the last couple months. Don't worry, my cruelty does not extend to you Dear Reader, I'll spare you a pic.

So we are pushing up against July already and I make mental calculations as to the likelihood of my miserably stalled seedlings making it to the 'bigs'. We'll see. A couple of 'perfect' months would be OK with this old gal. I try not to go to that dark place where I am overtaken with envy upon hearing of my comrades having already put up half a years larder.

On the plus side I grazed on fresh peas for lunch..on the minus side I planted very few this year. Strange considering it's my second fave veg. My first favorite you wonder? Spinach. But my lack of success for the second year in a row gets me fired up for 'trying' to grow it when it's much colder, under hoops or in cold frames. I am determined.

Yep, I've done some succession seeding, certainly with the lettuces, asian greens and chards and have harvested great salads thus far. This year I planted alot of the greens and brassicas kind of off-to-the-side and, knock wood, they seem to be thriving. Not having any fences makes me a tad skiddish this time of year but with the dogs and other applied stenches I hope to keep the deer at bay. Again, we shall see.

Here's hoping for a couple of dry days!

ouch, that big yellow thing hurts my eyes

2009-06-23T17:52:00.003-05:00

strawberries, finally

first time trying to grow tomatillas

the currant situation, this is a black currant...now, how do I make juice when the time comes?

and a fancy ant on a fancy peony

driving home from work

2009-06-20T18:29:00.006-05:00

My eyes have lovely scenery to behold the whole of my work commute. Those whose gardens I can see will catch me rubbernecking, making benign little judgements, a throwback to my landscaping days I'm sure. I'm heartened to see an upswing in veggie gardens even in a 'greenie' state such as this.
So today I spy a guy weeding a newly installed veg patch, on his knees, smoking a cigarette. I don't know, it just made me snort-laugh out loud. You know what I mean?

In any event I check the weather and discover we've potentially six or seven days of moisture and below average temps making us all jittery about our crops rotting or just becoming so stunted they lose the will to carry on.
I'll think positively and hope the temps climb enough to prod things along and maybe a few rays might penetrate the gloom.
And if I had any doubts about the exquisite balance of 'things' I learn today that my best friend's daughter delivered a beautiful, healthy baby while at essentially the same time my 98 year old great aunt shuffled off this mortal coil. Life/Death.

it's that time of year

2009-06-19T17:15:00.018-05:00

jack in the pulpit
iris in the japanese maple
rubber duckies in shed window
a pear appears
physocarpus diabalo
leeks host web
my handmade teepee for beans..behind is is one huge honkin' angelica
water in the rows
first sighting
oriental poppy
may this peach make it to adulthood in Vermont!
gotta admit everything covered in raindrops makes for photo drama

The blogs are all ablurr with beautiful photos of, well, everything growing.
So not to feel left out I took a few minutes between rainfalls and horsed around with the new camera...(here's when Randi inserts self deprecating remark about her techno-cretinry).......................Cretinry? Did I just make that up? Checking Oxford Dictionary, yep, looks to be totally made up, opportunity wide open here for clever snap.

Anyhoo, no actual outside labors today and a good thing too when each step is a squish and I again thank myself for making my rag tag raised beds,(reminiscent of a Boot Hill graveyard), since there is standing water in the rows. So a few more days of grey and cool and moist and then maybe we'll get some sunshine and the cucumbers might decide to get crackin'.

and some days are just rainy

2009-06-18T13:12:00.004-05:00

We all make these associations in our lives. My gooseberry association is a direct line back to my very GREAT grandfather. I spent my time on his farm following him around like an imprinted duckling, so now, as my own teeth get long, every smell and sight jogs me back to what I now know to have been a magical childhood.

Maybe that is why gardening is so essential to me other than the 'important' reasons for doing so like diverse, organic food, permaculture practices and such. It connects me in a truly profound way to the very person who most influenced me simply by the way he moved in nature. Everyone should be so lucky to have a Grampa Marvin.

some days are just flowery

2009-06-17T17:47:00.011-05:00

old croc boots, indespensible
chinonanthus getting bigger every year
bringing outside in
lupine reddish

putterin' and scratchin'

2009-06-16T18:58:00.005-05:00

OK, the truth is I do talk about 'the weather' to the exclusion of most everything else. I long for Camelot; gentle, soaking rains at night and days sunny and DRY! Dream on, Chump!

Despite the world not bending to my specific atmospheric requirements I press on... weeding, staking, finding aphids on the favas, lily beetles on lilies, slugs on the everything and well, again, rather cool temps keeping the lettuce from bolting. I'm allowing lots of stuff to go to seed on purpose, all part of my seed saving scheme.

Today I harvested first batch of cilantro prompted by Mike's (Subsistence Pattern) cue. Since my 'gardens' are in no way traditional, mixing flowers and veggies and herbs, tightly packed, chaotic and all on hillsides I find myself circling like a shark on the lookout for 'what's happening', often missing vital changes as lots seems to be hidden in plain sight.

The grandest goals are permaculture and beefing up the soil fertility. It's getting better all the time!

new this new that

2009-06-14T17:24:00.004-05:00

driven from the gardens by the buggy hordes who love these rain forest days...remember the good old days when weather patterns didn't seem to stall interminably? They'd do their thing and then blow off. Too many days of hanging moisture make for happy slugs.

So I retreat to try to 'figure out' the new SLR, (already I learn I need an additional lens), and decry my overall techno-imbecility when it comes to all things computer-y. I need a nerd on standby.

But, oh yeah, the gardens, the woodpiles, the brush clearing, the garage cleaning,and, the 'oh shut up already and be thankful you live where you do'.

It's great to once again have fresh food, honkin' salads with promise of more to come though I am already mentally counting the days til first predicted frost and wondering if this year, just maybe, one of my melons might make it to softball size. What people who do not live in the mountains or perhaps have lovely high tunnels take for granted with their high falutin' eggplant and melon production. Yeah, I'm envious, I admit it!

spitting in the garden and other unladylike pursuits

2009-06-12T16:28:00.006-05:00

As fearfully expressed earlier the season has had it's way with me leaving a limp blob where optimistic energy once lived and a blog long neglected. We're finally winding down our selling season so my time, once again, will be mine own and, despite the questionable fertility of yon soil, I plan to press on regardless.

But the spitting thing..it's relatively new to this old gal having been raised even to contemplate such a gesture unthinkable. Yet time and tide does it's thing and the privacy of my gardens so indulgently permissive of all vulgarities, including the occasional 'snot rocket', all the rage in other corners of the world, allows me to blow and snort with gay abandon.

It's been a rough couple of weeks. A terrible time for a funeral when all else is so blastingly alive. I've lost someone and my small world had shifted but this little blue dot seems intent on spinning without a care. Who in their right mind could not be madly in love with this earth, so maddeningly indifferent? We always fall for those who ignore us, ha!

So again a stab at 'taking note'. Wish me luck.

How can I rest in the days of my slowness?
I've become a strange piece of flesh,
Nervous and cold, bird-furtive, whiskery,
With a cheek soft as a hound's ear.
What's left is light as a seed;
I need an old crone's knowing.
- "Meditations of an Old Woman: First Meditation," ll. 15-21

favas and frosts

2009-05-20T18:58:00.003-05:00

time for a cleansing breath..potatoes nipped but not down for the count. Just had to take a second to note my crimson flowering favas along with all the Springing that's going on around here. The list is endless and time is so limited but the energy level is blessedly up and there's plenty of planting to be done!

time springs

2009-04-28T05:19:00.003-05:00

Lots and lots of thoughts about bloggishness but not enough oommphh to jot down a couple sentences.
My time's been spent divided between the world of commercial greenhouses and my little permaculture experiment here at home. It's been an exhaustingly wonderful couple weeks watching life do it's thing in hyperdrive.
When I've thought of this neglected blog I veered from putting it in the category of necessary guilt inducing chore, that's not why it came into being. Had the Radish has simply come to be something of an aide, a helper, a reminder, a chronicle. However I discover it will never be an official 'how-to', I haven't the expertise and gardening is so often peculiar to one's geographic little niche and each property has it's own microclimates.

BUT I do find myself thinking pretty deeply about things like zealotry, patience, you know, big picture stuff...I need to learn the 'how to's' and thankfully my cup runneth over with access to so many great blogs and gardening sites but I find myself most touched when my favorite writers cannot help but pull their clearly defined philosophies into their words. It heartens me to know there are so many others living what I would consider an authentic life. I would not describe myself as hopeful insomuch as my worldview is little other than grim but personally, quietly I find a bit of optimism in my gardens.

Reliance Peach

2009-04-18T06:06:00.004-05:00

I was afeared this might happen. Not only not enough time to blog but even to read other blogs I've become so addicted to reading. Phew! Crazy busy time, even forgetting to grab camera to document what is going on if for no other reason than to use for future reference.

BUT....things are happening, all signs of snow are pretty much gone. Crocuses have appeared. And we've had a dry sunny spell the last few days which promises to be broken today by rain, much needed I might add.

My home time has been spent in the lowest of labors, turning sod, prepping beds, making a new lasagna bed over an area of recent construction, (10' of gravel so I build UP), shuffling seedling trays from pillar to post, lugging all sort of stuff and in general feeling a sort of exhaustion that would be fully satisfying if it didn't make me ache so damned much!

Anyhoo, I picked up this zone 4 hardy peach from work the other day and have to drag it into the shed at night as it came from downcountry and it's blossoming way too early for Vermont so I'll baby it until the nights are more or less above freezing. I'm slapping together something of a mini orchard and have been gathering up what I can over the last few years in the way of fruit trees/bushes.

Meanwhile it's back to the trenches for another go 'round and despite my grumbling to the contrary I love this time of year!

work

2009-04-06T17:33:00.002-05:00

back to work work..

'too wet to plow, can't dance'

2009-03-31T17:32:00.007-05:00

Another old New England expression about gardening vagaries in this neck of the woods, not necessarily exclusive to Springtime but most apt I suspect. If I have to explain the wryness of this saying, well, forget it..

So I thought of it today as I turned sodden sod, (yes, there's still snow lurking around), trying to get a jump on my schedule. I'm extending, enlarging some beds in hopes of having a running start by May. An ambitious plan for this old gal but what the heck? I added some potash to my future parsnip area cause boy am I in love with those babies. Following that I made a few jury rigged wire portable 'garden weeds holders' aka compost makers. After those high points an experience of great pride was felt knowing what a super rock crop I grew over the Winter.

On my list also is to hobble together some trellises for the climbers, (and there will be alot of climbing this summer), and also to save space. I kept eyeballing all sorts of junk to use for this purpose but my imagination often far exceeds my actual skill level.

Since virtually all my gardening is done on slopes I have to get creative about using space. I often feel envious of flat gardens but there is an upside to having everything on slopes and in raised beds and that is that the melting snow waters and rains drain downhill. I am continually amazed at what survives the flooding by providing a bit of drainage.

I plant very tightly so this is also a time of year my over anxiousness needs to be kept in check for fear of scraping, poking, ripping out or otherwise torturing those plants and self-sowers just below the surface. I constantly remind myself I would not have left an empty space anywhere...except, didn't I move a bunch of stuff around last Fall? Sheesh.

So, it promises to rain for a few days. Yippee.

soggy leeks

2009-03-29T09:48:00.004-05:00

Forgotten beneath the snow, what will become of them?

Last year was a departure for me as my gardening gaze shifted, complete with limited experience, to vegetables.
Everything was done pretty much on the fly with limited time and not nearly enough prepared space but, surprise of surprises, I became hooked. And even though I have a feeling my slap dash theme will continue through this season I realize I have not been truly this excited about gardening in 30 odd years. I came quickly to understand the difference between deer nibbling down a few hosta and any critters deigning to tromp through the veggie gardens, whole different ball of wax.
I had some dumb luck last season and some failures but even the least productive of my 'failures' was a success. Now I begin what I consider to be the fun stuff, deciding which varieties make the cut, what is best for storage/freezing/canning/trading. What folks will actually eat and what will be relegated to the compost pile.

I've loads to plant this year, way more than I have prepped beds but I'll squeeze in everything I can AND I am going to make a stab at some sort of labeling, something I've neglected in the past.
The 'to do' list is long, really long...but that's ok.

patience

2009-03-26T13:58:00.001-05:00

a tad cool

2009-03-23T14:54:00.007-05:00

Endlessly discussing the weather is part and parcel of the gardening game. Whining about the weather is genetically encoded into the DNA of New Englanders. For each of us what's happening on our little patch is of paramount importance and it can be hard to wrap my head around others not giving in to that nearly obsessive past time.

That being said I kept wondering if there were a way to talk about what's happening today, horticulturally speaking, without acknowledging that it all spins of the weather.
Answer: NO.
And then unbidden comes that saying about never discussing politics or religion unless you want trouble and I wondered how I might bundle weather in there too. But isn't the climate/weather/atmospheric doins' my religion and my politics? hmmmm.

Today was wind chilly frigid, barely out of the 20's. It made me pay attention and give up a grudging respect. It also made me sort of glad the snow is still pretty much intact to continue it's insulating job at least until we have temps that are in the ballpark of normal for this time of year. It's all so tricky. Maybe that's why people really fall in love with gardening. The predictably boring, as often happens in relationships, rarely occurs, even though we may find ourselves longing for it.

But when does the good part start? The pics of cornucopia, the healthy farmers tan, the blissful minutes just staring at a bee and all that whadedoodah!? Answer: The good part already started...eyes wide open.

How Do I Really Feel About Zone Envy?

2009-03-21T16:14:00.007-05:00

Reading the blogs of others, maybe just a state away or a thousand feet lower has caused me to consider this expression, zone envy.
So I needed to take a moment, after a day of hacking at won't-go-away snow, to be honest with myself and my frustration and this is what I've come up with: No, I don't have zone envy because I get to live in my zone months other than March.
It's easy to slip into the moan and groan especially as gardening/growing/selling is as much my thing as impatience can often be but I try to tap myself on the shoulder and remind me that I get to live in Vermont. Not bad. Matter of fact, pretty good.
Time to employ more tricks of season extension and take a cleansing breath.

straining toward sustaining

2009-03-20T15:31:00.004-05:00

barely maintaining,
often draining,
and
occasionally maiming.

Great day and though just creeping into the 30's I stressed not. Just moved where I needed to, happily welcomed the sun, and noted the mud beneath the very, very slowly vanishing snow. Things proceed apace and I managed a mindfulness seldom visited upon me.

slowly I turned, step by step

2009-03-18T12:42:00.004-05:00

Fog rolls in to eat the snow.

Slow is the word of the day. I experience excruciating zone envy reading blogs where, though they live in the north, their snow has receded allowing them to access the damage, begin the clean up, in other words, DO SOMETHING. Time is a big issue as soon I'll have very little of it so a week of bare ground would mean alot to me. Ah well, maybe this promised rain will actually BE rain and not snow tonight and I'll wake up to the glorious mess that is true Vermin-ont Mud Season.

Otherwise I prick out seedlings, bump them and whistle a happy tune!

remains of the day

2009-03-16T18:46:00.007-05:00

To get four or five sunny days in row in this neck of the woods is, well, unusual.

Today I did what many do this time of year in the north when one is limited by the still very present snow: lots of parts of bits of items on THE LIST. This activity is also known as 'puttering'. Foremost among the putterations was prepping a little raised bed in the baby hoophouse for occupancy, one hopes, next week. The seedlings are doing wonderfully thus far, knocking wood and hoping the mice don't discover the seed shack too early this year. It's funny what they choose to graze on so we'll keep an eye out.

seed saving/seed buying

2009-03-15T16:01:00.008-05:00

If frugality is becoming hip I'm in like flint, or is that flynn? I could never figure that one out.

I read alot about saving open pollinated seeds and heave a sigh of relief each time I discover a new saver, happy diversity. For me it began with the easy annuals I use for cutting and moved on to collecting anything 'just to try it' and over the years, with some patience when it comes to perennials, I've saved a heap of $...

Now, newly interested in vegetables, I am determined to sock away as much seed as possible. Of course the first couple years will require buying the seed to begin with and too there will probably always be things I'll have to resupply but I plan ultimately to reduce my seed orders.

Which brings me to my latest obsession: winter squash. Having had great success with the basics: buttternut, buttercup, hubbard and acorn I've determined the time is ripe to go whole hog. These are not all the varieties I'll be attempting this year, I think there are three varieties still AWOL, but frankly if all my gardens were just squash and pumpkins this year I don't think I'd jump off a bridge. And yes, my favorites are also always being described as 'promiscuous', (wouldn't you know?), and I'm not sure I can manage the time for hand pollinating just yet so right now it's trial time, find my winners and then worry about getting MORE seed..

I CAN'T TAKE ALL THIS SUN!!!!!

2009-03-14T15:09:00.005-05:00

Just kidding - Bring it on. Managed to have a pretty productive day despite or because of the two feet of snow that has so compacted enabling me to amble right over it..technically I walked on water.

Little microclimates around the buildings are finally seeing the snow recede, lo & behold there are actually plants down there. Now, I'm not such an idiot to believe we've seen the last of snow falling but I'll go out on a limb and say Winter's back is officially broken, at least from my perspective.

Of course as I wandered about I've already begun thinking of next years wood supply. It never ends until you do. Though I did think of a cheering line from Bon Iver's song 'Stacks', "everything that happens is from now on". Yeah.

Doing the 'Heavy Looking On'

2009-03-13T11:15:00.006-05:00

This stone wall panther has perfected the art of 'heavy looking on', adorably evil, ain't he?

Once upon a time I worked on an estate. I ran around and gardened, farmed and got into all sorts of trouble. Invariably whenever something was broken or a new strategy was required the hands would gather round in the barn and discuss what ought to be done. My first year there pretty much ended up being the last year for Old Harold, who'd spent the bulk of his life living on the estate and working for the Big House. He was sweet, funny and had the sort of dry humor I adored that seems pretty much to have vanished... Anyway, he used an expression I find myself using more and more as the years trip by and that is by giving minimal opinion and offering no physical labor Harold would choose to do the 'heavy looking on'. I loved that. So for me these last few cold, frozen, snow covered days find me frequently and choicelessly doing the 'heavy looking on' as well.

dirt vrs soil

2009-03-12T16:17:00.007-05:00

earth

Along time ago, back in Jurassic Period when I first began landscaping, a very wise man corrected me when I referred to soil as 'dirt'. His argument was that since soil, in his opinion, was a thing of such reverence and importance to mislabel it as dirt was, well, an insult. Not to mention that dirt is not soil and soil is not dirt.

So, if I find myself listening to someone on a gardening video puffing along hurling instructions and telling folks to cover with dirt I just cringe.
OK, you could argue, "Randi, you're a nitpicking old bag", and you'd be correct but I still will never call it dirt.

I guess this thought came to me today as I was calculating how many days before I'll be back at 'work' in the 'real greenhouses'...soon. And I suppose my biggest customer pet peeve is the LAZINESS of the public to even try to understand that the common name their granny called a dianthus in Oklahoma isn't necessarily the same employed by their other granny in Arkansas. So yeah, botanical names ARE important, especially to me, the slob trying to find the plant you're gassing on about. And boy, I wish you could see my expression when they ask me for a bag of dirt!

When a friend sends seeds but the seed company doesn't

2009-03-11T17:19:00.007-05:00

Another crazyass day meteorologically speaking, four different days of weather packed into one, what fun!

The bright spots were two: receiving seeds from an old friend and discovering, yet again, how surprised I feel every time I notice new seedlings emerge. You'd think I'd be used to it.

The low point was a solitary one: no sign of ordered seeds from one of my fave little seed companies who in the past have always been super-prompt. Compound this with a constant busy signal. I get a queasy feeling. All my other seeds have arrived from all the other companies. It's not the end of the world but it's important to me trying hard to truly diversify my varieties this year, having spent alot of time scouring through all the offerings and trying to time my seed starting. Ah well.

My 'black' poppy seedling emerged today. They were collected from these plants. I know many folks just hand sow poppies in the Fall or early Spring and of course many self sow and I have read endless warnings about how they hate to be transplanted but true to fashion I tend to ignore advice and in this case, for me in Vermont, my transplants work out nicely. It might have alot to do with the fact that I grow nothing on flat ground because there IS no flat ground here so everything is sort of terraced/raised in a laid back, I was about to say 'slobby', way. Direct sown seeds frequently have a habit of getting caught up in a flash flood and pooling in the pathways or just vanishing. I do however broadcast pink poppies over the septic mound and they do swimmingly!

goji berries

2009-03-10T13:36:00.005-05:00

Lots of things beginning to green up in the shack despite the cold, grim days. Kohlrabi, Kale, Lettuce, Pak Choi, SweetPeas, Spinach, Beets and then out of the corner of my eye I spy a sign of green in the goji berries flat, signs of life indeed. What a kick. I bought a pack of dried goji berries last June for about $10, which I thought even if they tasted like fill-in-the-blank could not merit the price. Of course I'd been reading and listening to the hype about them so my curiosity was piqued. Had to try them. They're ok. Just. Something I would not mind having a few handfuls around but only if I could harvest them myself. So I gave it a whirl. It's early days yet but what the heck? Need to do more reading and find a little corner for them somewhere and we shall see what we shall see.

what does 'had the radish' mean?

2009-03-09T09:19:00.004-05:00

Well, what little info there was online confirmed what I already knew. It just means tired, pooped, used up. My great grandfather, the best gardener/farmer that ever lived in Vermont, used the expression and many more like it. What's become of such descriptive language? Sort of like food, seeds, buildings, music and everything else in this consumer culture - it's watered down, lacking diversity, homogenized and downright unimaginative.
I guess one might hear it's usage in pockets of rural New England. So I'll do my bit and keep it alive.

In other news we've had about 5" of heavy snow thus far with a forecast I should be used to by now: wild, unpredictable, wet, and cold over the next few days - sheesh!

more victorious gardening!

2009-03-08T18:28:00.002-05:00

Gotta laugh, still a couple of feet of snow but the sun was shining, the radio was VPR'ing and I'm already beginning to do a bit of bumping up in the seedling department. If the seed shack's a rockin'..wait a minute, that doesn't work. Unfortunately the next several days look pretty sketchy. Cold, mixed moistures including several more inches of snow, a total gloomfest. Yet even this knowledge could not knock out my Springish high today.

Why does every blogger 'randomly' muse?

2009-03-06T11:28:00.006-05:00

Isn't musing by its nature somewhat random? Really I'm just spewing my own fears of employing the endlessly cliche expressions found in the writings/babbling of the great unwashed. I am drugged and bound and something of a willing hostage it seems to common parlance.

Every year I go through the same dance. I want, somehow magically, my efforts in the gardens to be catalogued under, not exactly fun, but free from stress, contemplative, smooth. To NOT feel put upon. I desire the impossible of the 'nearly' well tended, (maybe that comes from all those years landscaping for the wealthy who could afford garden armies for a 'look'). But even that desire leads me to conclude a sort of stunted mindset exists within me. I should be beyond that.

In any event this is that dangerous time of year when I begin to feebly negotiate and weave plans for a better me. We'll see.

On the green front, a slight rise in temp only to be flattened by gloomy skies. Started more seeds with good wishes and optimism and made some dahlia cuttings. Which brings me to the issue of room for all the new vegetables as well as all the cutting flowers. If the ground were bare I'd be prepping new beds!

Winter Sown Croc Crop

2009-03-05T09:49:00.004-05:00

The sun seems to be playing along during these critical seedling days. Heartwarming to see the greening up inside the shack. The light alone gives a major lift and once the temps rise to where I can pry some frozen objects out of the snowbanks Ill be cooking with gas. Lots to do, critical, time sucking, stuff to do over the next couple weeks and a little cooperation weatherwise will go a long way before I start 'real' work at the end of the month.
Anyhoo, onward & upward!

snow harvest

2009-03-04T08:23:00.001-05:00

it's been very successful this year if I do say so myself.

Greenage

2009-03-03T13:08:00.004-05:00

Ok, it's frigid today, town meeting day in Vermont, but I'm not complaining because I'll take what I can get and today that means a screechingly blue sky providing light to yonder seed hut and it's struggling occupants. So I've made a deal with northern New England weather and that is if it's grey and gloomy it's at least got to be above freezing but if it's frigid as all get out the sun has to be shining. dem's da roolz in randiville, let's see how it works out.

HAY!!

2009-03-01T17:32:00.004-05:00

Yeah, I know the pic has nothing to do with hay but hay was the focus of today's trip to a nearby 200 yr old farm. Two trips for mulch hay and some small talk..going to do both permanent and temporary cold frames. Still gathering gear, imagining the ground minus 3' of snow. This is the time of year where the weather in all it's New England shiftiness makes me, well, giddy. There's no other word for it.
The pic is of a beautiful beach in Maine snapped on an earlier trip in January. I just love the ripples.

Victory!

2009-02-28T05:36:00.002-05:00

Vermiculite & Fish Emulsion, Oh My!

2009-02-27T15:41:00.003-05:00

Today, decidedly gloomy and raw, was a good day to run around and collect 'stuff' I'll be needing to expand my Edenification Project. Found a few bargains but was generally appalled at the cost of everything. Again, not a unique sensation for this impoverished old Yankee. But it's good to gather now so that I'll be poised to jump in headfirst at the first sign of bare ground (and, even though it's actually raining here at the moment I have my severe doubts it'll do much damage to the 3' of snow surrounding me, so, calmez-vous it'll be a while yet).
Tomorrow I go to a farm for mulch hay..that ought to be interesting and I'm still actively dreaming of a chicken condo..no progress on that front yet because I cannot bring myself to turn the tool shed that-used-to-be-a-chickencoop back into one.
This is always a tricky time of year in Vermont. What am I saying? It's tricky til June..late June.
Url the cat doesn't care, the nonchalant sprawling on his rug is inspirational.

sad little hoophouse

2009-02-26T09:05:00.003-05:00

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in, forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day, you shall begin it well and serenely..." Ralph Waldo Emerson

"another day, another blue-green electric dollar"

2009-02-25T09:00:00.004-05:00

you have to be really old to get that reference..
My attempts at keeping the seed shack from freezing solid seems to be working..actually tiny lettuce sprouts doing their thing. It is encouraging especially as the sun struggles to shine and the woodpile is akin to a cement block where the water trickled down and glued it together. Keeping the cats out of the indoor seed trays has been fun too..Clever cats, evil cats, fluffy cats.
Anyhoo, I find myself with an extra couple of bucks to spend on 'garden' stuff but instead of fun things I've already figured it'll all go to Agway on decidedly unfun but necessary stuff. However my eyes keep drifting to the catalogues. Another day, same addiction. Oh, hey, here comes the sun. Maybe it'll stay a few minutes.

The Seedy Shack

2009-02-24T10:23:00.004-05:00

The tradition with gardeners it seems,(and rightly so), is to photograph seedling only when they actually appear so no photos yet. I can announce that inside I've begun in the most ramshackle-y manner my eggplant variety pack, the ornamental peppers, and some greens..Out in the unheated seed shack are about 30 cold weather items, winter sown, covered at night and yet to show signs of life which is ok as it's promising to be a brisk 5 degrees tonight. Wicked cold this February. BUT, the sun is shining aiding tremendously in my overall mental health. I have high hopes for March and I'll always take the sun under any circumstances, it's a precious commodity here for sure.
Meanwhile I slog away trying to 'plan' places for the 80 bazillion plants I'll have this year. Lots of new varieties, emphasis on the veggies. Lots of ordered seeds yet to arrive, lots of collected seed to be started. Yikes! Dare I say it, I'm excited!

get yourself up, dust yourself off..

2009-02-23T13:50:00.006-05:00

and well, you know the rest old gal.
I've no idea if I'll actually keep at this bloggishness but it did occur that it'd be a terrific place to gather up some of my gardening blogs that're so randomly scattered throughout my bookmarks. Talk about weeding time. I've spent the better part of the last two weeks online, reading, ordering seeds,a quince tree, a new grape vine and on and on.
I've also been trying to find new garden blogs that I'd actually read and enjoy and have at least something in common with trying to grow here in Vermont. Happy to say I've found a few.
Ok, time to document, take notes and be pithy. Above all else, old sock, be pithy.