indoor flowers

Let's see, I have a big white paph blooming, and "Trick or Treat", a fluorescent orange Lc. And Ise x Sachi, a delicate white dendrobium. These three orchids have bloomed for me every year for more years than I can count.

I love the way they catch the winter sunlight.

i am a salmon??

Jeepers, of all the animals one could be.... Although I do love salmon (its our dinner tonight!)

Who does these silly tests anyway - and what does Betty get out of it?

My mom sent me this link, but she didn't tell me what her inner animal is. I will have to ask. (Maybe she will leave a comment???)

I think this link gets you to the quiz.

my planting zone has changed!

My sister pointed out to me that the USDA has updated the plant zone hardiness map. In many areas, zones have changed reflecting warmer climates. I am just north west of Boston and was in zone 6a. Now I am squarely in zone 6b. This means there has been a 5*F change in minimum average extreme winter temperature. Up from -10* (in the last USDA version released in 1990) to -5* (the average from 1976 to 2005) in the map released a couple days ago.

A couple of links are here:
Plant zone maps at the USDA Agricultural Research Service and
An article at The Salt, NPR

January snow drops

I was surprised to look down in my front yard and see flowers about to bloom. ITS STILL JANUARY!! OK, only a few hours left to the month, but still, I don't remember a winter like this. I'm certainly not complaining. Tomorrow is supposed to be particularly balmy (50's) and Skippy and I are planning a nice lunchtime walk. I have not had to shovel any snow this year. (Yippee) Its tempting to think, what's happening to the climate - but then, the average of this year and last year would be a normal winter. So who knows.

first snow of the year

Finally. We got a couple inches of snow last night. Looks like it will melt in the next few days.

Nearly 100 reasons to grow a vegetable garden

I was listening to an NPR radio show this afternoon and heard vegetable gardens mentioned. It was a show about Sugar. Author Robbie McCauley talked about how everyone used to have access to home grown food. She said its a crime that we don't anymore. Here here!

And then Molly commented on an old post of mine that listed reasons to grow your own vegetables. Molly said "..for FUN!"

So I am posting my list again. I've added lots of reasons sent in by other gardeners. The list is almost up to 100 reasons now. I counted about 60.


Nearly 100 reasons to grow a vegetable garden:

For fun! (Molly)

To find the shortest, simplest way between the earth, the hands, and the mouth(Lanza Del Vasto)

To participate in one of the basic parts of living - producing your own food

Free food!

Reduce trips to the grocery store

To reduce pesticides and chemicals in your food

To experience the seasons

To increase vitamin D levels by regular sunlight exposure

To breath fresh air

For physical exercise that produces something tangible

To hear the birds singing

For the beauty of the plants

For the scents, colors and sounds of the garden

To create a work of art

To express yourself with straight even rows or wild tangled patches

A weight bearing activity that can increase bone density

Produce better quality food

To grow rare and heirloom varieties not available commercially

For a quiet break from high stress and electronic activities

For access to super local food

To put your yard into productive use

To beautify your yard

To help support honey bee and butterfly populations

So you can blog about it during data downloads

To produce food you can share

To lower your food costs

So you can meet other gardeners

To know exactly where your food comes from

For a hobby your whole family can participate in

For real food

To support the green movement and reduce your global footprint

To eat more vegetables and less junk food

To play in the dirt

For geosmin, the musky smell of freshly turned soil

For sustainability as an ethical and practical way to live

To support biodiversity

For access to seasonal food

For minimally processed food

For the freshest and sweetest tomatoes

For giant dark red beets

Because enjoyment of the fruit is complete when one is "inextricably entwined with the memory of the plant in its various stages of development" (Kitchen Gardeners International)

For more sunlight

For lots of new crops to celebrate with a martini

For happiness

To remember my grandparents' and my parents' gardens and to grow and enjoy the plants they grew

To care for the earth, ourselves and others

To learn about nature

To experience the interconnectedness of our environment

To educate my children on where their food comes from

To teach my sons to be proud of something they helped cultivate

To protect the land from development (Cazaux)

To get your hands dirty

To appreciate the careful progression of time and the effects of sun and rain

To remain in awe about the miracle of nature - how a tiny seed can grow a tomato plant with multiple fruits some of which were 6 inches across! (Mary)

...the food tast a hole lot better (anonymous)

To revive almost forgotten memories and favorites from childhood that are no longer available unless you grow them. Like a Charlston Grey watermelon! Huge, tasty, full of seeds and so unlike those wimpy, seedless little watermelons we see today. (Phyllis)

For the sense of accomplishment (Barb)

To make your gardens look nicer (Susy)

To have something green and fresh to dream about in cold and dreary January! To be stunned to discover the bean you dropped in the ground grew pods and that those pods are filled with six or eight more beans -- and to be stunned to discover this every time you open another pod. To learn that companion planting works, and in the process, feel like you've been given a gift of the knowledge of all the generations of gardeners that came before.(Pookie)

To sweat, to feel the earth, to be in touch spiritually. Also I honor my Grandfather and other family members. I am growing garlic, parsley and basil from seeds, & seed garlic that goes back up to 90 years old from Italy. (Nick)

winter sunset on the big pond

Another very chilly day. The day was ~10-25*F. Fortunately less wind than yesterday. Lots of birds were on the big pond (Fresh Pond in Cambridge). The ones I saw:
20 Canvas back ducks
20 Ring necked ducks
50 Canada geese
a pair of bufflehead ducks
maybe a male wood duck?
lots of sea gulls
a few robins
and a Coopers hawk eating his dinner

winter flora

When I walked Skippy yesterday I brought my camera and macro lens. I looked for dried things to photograph while Skippy sniffed and played. Usually I wait for him. This time, he waited for me. It doesn't compare with other seasons, but I found a few interesting things. Still no snow here to cover the plants.

my community garden plot

Pretty quiet at my garden plot now. The parsnips I planted too late are still in the ground and still too small. The only action is the garlic. I planted this very late too. Tiny sprouts are just poking up in the cracking soil.

Its another winter like 2007 with no snow and mild weather (my favorite type of winter!!!). I was looking back at my records from previous gardens. We were knee-deep last year, but 5 years ago was very much like this year.



I like this quote that I came across recently

"January is the quietest month in the garden. ... But just because it looks quiet doesn't mean that nothing is happening. The soil, open to the sky, absorbs the pure rainfall while microorganisms convert tilled-under fodder into usable nutrients for the next crop of plants. The feasting earthworms tunnel along, aerating the soil and preparing it to welcome the seeds and bare roots to come."
- Rosalie Muller Wright, Editor of Sunset Magazine, 1/99

first seed order of 2012 season

I was quick to inventory my seeds this year. Unlike previous years, they stayed pretty orderly this year in their rubber-banded groups. A group of cucumbers, a group of tomatoes, etc.... I have a box of about 200 seed packs, 1-5 years old. I placed an order at Johnny's this evening. I wanted to get it in before they run out of any of these varieties.

Basil, Nufar (OG)-Packet
Beets, Chioggia Guardsmark (OG)-Packet
Beets, Blankoma-Packet
Beets, Merlin (F1) (OG)-Packet
Cilantro, Calypso-Packet
Cucumber, Diva (Treated)-Packet
Edamame, Butterbeans (OG)-1/2 Pound
Edamame, Envy (OG)-Packet
Onions, Pontiac (F1)-Packet
Parsley, Giant of Italy (OG)-Packet
Peas, Maxigolt-Packet
Peas, Strike (Treated)-Packet
Scallions, Guardsman-Packet
Sunflowers, Maximilian-Packet
Sunflowers, Teddy Bear-Packet
Tomatoes, Cherry, Sun Gold (F1)-Packet
Winter squash, Waltham Butternut (OG)-Packet
Winter squash, Buttercup (Burgess Strain) (OG)-Packet

Pea, Lentil, and Vetch Inoculant (OG)-1 Unit
Soybean Inoculant-1 Unit

merry christmas

Skippy started Christmas morning calm and good. Posed for a few photos. Then he found a small package that smelled like lamb bones and one that squeaked. :-))) He tore them open. Then he helped everyone else open their packages. But the most fun was next - he put his new squeaky toy inside the bag of torn wrapping paper that we had picked up and he "dug" down strewing paper all around the room until he found his toy at the bottom. This was fun about 10 times. Then the kids took him out to run. Now he's tired and will nap the rest of the day, or at least until the grill get fired up.

winter reading

The Edible Garden Magazine

I came across a fantastic gardening magazine yesterday in Barnes and Noble. Published in the UK. I am leafing through it - sipping a pear martini with Christmas music playing.....

I'm getting so many new ideas for next year that I need to jot down a list. The cold frame structures are wonderful - at least 6 or 8 are photographed. I will have to think about possibly bricking the edges of mine. And I am considering a bit of a boxwood edge along my stone path. I bet this would look nice all year round.

The magazine has lots of photos of small espaliered fruit trees, terracotta forcers that look beautiful in the garden, creative paths and garden layouts, chickens and bees, polytunnels, ads for beautiful British garden tools, ahhh......

Their month-by-month of garden chores says December is time to lift celeriac, leeks, sunchokes, and the Christmas lunch potatoes. Next month we should clean the pots and garden tools (I always skip this...). In a cold greenhouse, sow leeks, broad beans, peas, lettuce. Under fleece, sow carrots and spinach. I think the British climate is milder than New England, but I always like to give new things a try. Soon the sun will be hitting my cold frame again and I bet early peas and broad beans would do well.

Midwinter is the perfect time for garden magazines.

winter solstice

Its all uphill from here on in!!! A little more light everyday - a little closer to spring planting season.

The winter solstice occurs Thursday at 12:30 a.m. EST (0530 GMT), which corresponds to 9:30 p.m. PST on Wednesday for observers further west. At the time, the sun will be passing over the over the Tropic of Capricorn.

from Space on MSNBC.com

catalogs!!!

I can tell its holiday time - the garden catalogs are here!

skippy

...looking good in his winter coat....

rosemary blossom

I brought a potted rosemary in from the yard this weekend and just noticed it has a couple little blossoms. They smell as pretty as they look....

the juncoes are here

I always watch for the first junco in my back yard. A sign of winter.... I had a cute first pair at my little pond today. They usually stay til the weather warms (maybe April?).

My first junco two years ago: Dec 5, 2009.

inside my coldframe

My cold frame has a patch of greens, some herbs and a few cayenne pepper plants that are still growing from the summer. Lots of open space that I can fill in early spring/late winter. In late February, the sun will hit the frame nicely again. (Now its mostly below the neighboring house.)

This will be the second winter for my cold frame. My husband made it in March 2010. This fall, I mail ordered some green house plastic and we replaced the top panels, which had grown brittle and had several tears. The sides are all purpose plastic from the local Home Depot. In the spring we replaced the two large sides. I'm planning to replace the small front piece this weekend. This week, we duct tapped several tears in this section, but more come quickly. I am wondering if I should use a large piece of the green house plastic and drape it over the frame with sand bags to give it more coverage for the winter. I've also been thinking about a soil warmer cable, but am afraid this will cost too much (in energy costs) to be worth it. I suppose if I had planted it as well as last winter, I would do this. But this year, I didn't get many fall seedlings planted.

sweet potato sprouts on the window sill

My sweet potatoes I dug last fall finally sprouted this fall. As Donald recommended, I potted them up. They are on my kitchen window sill with cacti and a poinsettia.