Tulips and Pansies

Tulips and Pansies

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Wildflower Seeds

By Sandy Swegel

Bulbs are a favorite of mine because their beauty is so intense in the garden.  But bulbs can be made even more striking by planting them with beautiful pansies or violas.  Tulips and Pansies, I think of them as beauty now and later… with little pansy plants bringing color all Fall amid fallen leaves, beauty all winter as at least a few pansies will continue to stick their heads through the snow to shine in the winter sun.  And then there is the spectacular beauty of the Spring display as bulbs bloom over a Spring carpet of pansies.

The simple way to plant this orchestra of tulips and pansies or bulbs and pansies is to pick a single color of tulip bulb and a single color of matching pansy or viola.  My favorite is yellow tulips (or daffodils) over a sea of azure blue violas.  White tulips over deep red pansies invoke a small gasp in passersby.  Lavender tulips over white pansies create an elegance reminiscent of old Europe.

It’s very easy to make these little vignettes, even if you only have a tiny corner of your garden available.  At it’s tiniest, you can take a two-foot square area of your garden and dig a hole in the center and plant seven tall tulips in a circle. Fill the soil in and plant 12 or so pansies in a grid above and about a foot beyond the centered tulips.  For less than $15 you will have a tiny explosion of beauty in your little area.  Or both tulips and pansies can be planted together in a container that is overwintered in a protected (but still cold) spot.

If you have a bigger garden and a bigger budget, planting equidistant (spread the tulips out about evenly) over a larger area and plant the violas or pansies in an even grid over the same area so that they grow into a mat by Spring.   Then let some of the Fall leaves lay over the pansies creating little warm moist micro-climates that will bloom well into late Fall and even sporadically if there’s snow in the winter.

Enjoy!  And take pictures. And back them up twice. I recently lost thousands of pictures including the tulips and pansies I loved because the backup hard drive failed…and I didn’t have hard copies. Alas, the digital world is as ephemeral as tulips under a hot sun.

Tulips and Pansies

Photo Credits:
http://definingyourhome.blogspot.com/2010/02/pastel-palette-of-monets-garden.html

Today is the Day we Worked all Year for…

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Garden is at it’s Peak

by Sandy Swegel

Most of the time in the garden I’m analyzing and thinking about what to do. What has to be done before it’s too late (weed thistles before seed heads mature), What should be done today (harvest zucchini before it’s a full-sized bat), What to do this evening (do some small batch preserving or dehydrating),

What to do before tonight (have row cover ready for tomatoes if there’s a danger of frost), What to do before the end of the season (cover crops in), etc. etc.

But today here in zone 5 Boulder Colorado, everything in the garden is at its peak.  The nights are getting cooler so frost will kill things soon.  Leaves are just starting to turn and pumpkin stands are popping up on rural roads.  I realize how many great things are ripe in the garden.  This is the time when everything tastes best. Wow. Then I realized. This is it. This is the day I worked in the garden all year for. So I decided that just for today, I’m just going to appreciate the perfect bounty nature has given me and not try to improve it, process it, or save it for the future.

Just for today

I’m not going to do anything useful in the garden. Today is more a day for celebration. Like when you watch your kids graduate from school or get married,  today’s the day to feel proud and look at the accomplishment and bask in the success. Turmoil and trials, tears and laughter. In the end, it’s all worked out.

So here’s the plan just for today. (Or maybe just for all weekend.)

– Get the camera out and take some snapshots of the garden.  Get somebody else to take a picture of the gardener holding a basket of harvest.

– Pick some grapes one by one and just suck on them and spit the seeds out.  The flavor is perfect sweetness and tartness.

– Eat the most perfect tomato while it’s hot from the afternoon sun.

– Nibble on flowers of broccoli and arugula going to seed.

-Fix dinner by doing as little as possible to the food.  Heat up the grill to roast some vegetables:  small zucchini and patty pan squash, cloves of garlic, small red onions, tomatoes, a late-maturing ear of corn, an apple or pear. All on the grill with just some olive oil and salt.

– Chill the cucumbers and radish so they will be the perfect palate cleanser for the roasted vegetables.

– Spend the late afternoon looking at the garden as a work of art.  Just for today, golden leaves and even browning foliage are just color and texture. Not something to be cleaned up or composted.

Just for today, it’s all perfect.

The food is all good. The air is fresh. The sun is still warm. Wild asters are in full bloom. The sky is really really blue.  Today is the day we worked all year for. Today is the day the garden is just perfect. Nothing to add. Nothing to change. Nothing to do except enjoy and appreciate. And the gardener? Just for today, she’s perfect too.  She and Nature have had a great year spending time together.

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De-weeding the Compost Pile

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by Sandy Swegel

Playing in the dirt is, of course, the most fun reason to garden. This week I’ve been playing in the compost which is doubly fun because I get to play with the earthworms too.

What to do with Compost Weeds

My compost style is very passive. I keep three big bins going. Starting the bin is easy. I make sure there’s a couple of inches of finished compost at the bottom to inoculate the pile. Every week I clean up something in the garden and throw it on top of the compost. I generally don’t put in sticks unless I feel like cutting them up into smaller pieces. The most important addition to the pile is vegetable scraps and greens like grass clippings. I put those in the middle and tuck them down under the dried up spent foliage. The vegetable and green scraps invite earthworms in so my pile is breaking down in the traditional way that browns and greens break down and earthworms are doing their thing at the same time. Sometimes if there’s too much organic matter, I throw in a shovel or two of soil. I water the pile if we haven’t had rain. In Fall I throw some leaves on but also have separate bins for straight leaf mulch.

 

This is Cold (or Warm) Composting. This is not the fancy layering and turning that extension services advise composters do to kill all the seeds and disease. The pile gets hot in the middle, but without the regular turning and fine-tuning of ratios of browns and greens, my weed seeds don’t all get killed. I don’t put diseased foliage into the pile. But with a minimum of work, I get a lot of compost.

So what do I do about the weed seeds?
Basically, I get them to germinate then cut their heads off. De-weeding the compost pile.

Sometime in August or September, I scrape off the completely uncomposted material and put them into another bin. Then I vigorously turn my pile and mix it together. It’s about 80% finished. I leave it alone except to water it if needed. Each week all the weed seeds germinate into little green plants and I shovel up that top two inches of little weeds, breaking their necks and put them back into the compost pile. The next week, more seeds have germinated and I break them up too. Usually, after about three weeks, the weed seeds have mostly all grown out and the compost is ready to get spread on the garden after the soil freezes.

Easy and not much work.

 

 

http://sarasota.ifas.ufl.edu/compost-info/tutorial/methods.shtml
http://tncns.com/winter-time-composting

Plant Some Mustards

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Certified Organic Seeds

by Sandy Swegel

Did you have fungus problems in your garden this year? Maybe powdery mildew on the squash? Or fungal blight on the tomatoes? One very natural way to treat your soil (rather than try to kill the fungus once it’s on next years’ leaves) is to plant some mustards. Mustard planted now or in early spring, and then cut up and turned into the soil, acts as a “biofumigant” that can kill the unhealthy fungus that has made a home in your soil.

A big plus of planting it now is that you might get cute little plants now that will be a lush cover crop for winter. Some mustards turn a pretty purple once it gets cold. Some plants will die if you are in a very cold or dry area, but often mustards manage to survive and put out yellow flowers in Spring that are excellent first foods for bees.

Another excellent reason to plant mustards now is that just a few spicy leaves go a long way to making a salad interesting. I especially like the curls of the Japanese mustard mizuna. Mizuna pairs beautifully with the richness of feta cheese, some red onions, and a sweeter vegetable like cucumber. Yesterday a friend served a wonderful mustard salad with the last red raspberries of the year.

 

 

Photo credit: foodandstyle.com/mizuna-and-cucumber-salad-with-red-onions-feta-tarragon-and-champagne-vinaigrette/
http://www.megaminifarm.com/gardening/growing-mustard-greens/

Fall Pruning: Don’t Do It

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Why Not to Fall Prune

by Sandy Swegel

September is the time of year I like to tell you to quit working. I want you to leave some leaves and debris on the beds to give ladybugs and lacewings a place to overwinter. I want you to have seed heads for birds to eat. And I want you to enjoy the “winter interest” of an abundant garden of grasses and flowers frozen in place.

Another big don’t do it is Fall Pruning, especially for those of us in colder climates. It is so tempting to tidy up the garden by doing the pruning you didn’t get around to in the Spring, but for most plants, it’s better to wait until they are dormant or just emerging next Spring. Studies have shown than Fall Pruning can reduce winter hardiness in plants. If you cut the plants now, they are going to put their energy into vigorously regrowing instead of just settling into dormancy.

What Not to Prune Now
Spring Bloomers. If you prune lilacs or azaleas or forsythia now, you’ll be cutting off flowers buds that have already set for next year.

Rose Canes. I know the rose garden can look unruly and untidy in winter. But winter always kills back the canes at least a little. Better to have the canes die back from five feet high than from one foot high.

Trees. The National Arbor Day Foundation advises specifically against fall pruning: “Because decay fungi spread their spores profusely in the fall and healing of wounds seems to be slower in fall on cuts, this is a good time to leave your pruning tools in storage.”

Winter will be here soon enough. Some nice warmish winter day once the trees are dormant, you can get out and prune.

Sure, if a limb is dead or broken you can cut it . . . but only into the dead wood for now.

 

Photocredits
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/254594185160021955/
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_23047059/tight-spaces-or-dry-places-shrubs-become-garden

Fall Equinox

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What Fall Equinox Means for your Garden

by Sandy Swegel

Fall Equinox is upon us which suddenly spurs me to lament all the gardening I didn’t get done this year. In particular, I don’t have much of a winter garden growing. Am I going to have to start buying store-bought greens? I thought maybe I could outsmart Mother Nature by using row cover and soil heating cables to get some lettuces and kales going, but a farmer friend broke the bad news to me. Can’t be done. Sure I can get some growth. But lettuce and other greens are affected more by photoperiodism, than heat. Huh? I asked. She said Farmers know to get all their Fall and Winter plants going well before Fall Equinox because once the days start getting shorter, plants don’t grow as vigorously. (This, of course, doesn’t apply if you are further South where your days stay longer.) The farmer said I can get the lettuce to grow, but I won’t have the vigor and growth I need to provide myself with enough food for Fall into Winter. Lettuce is what they call a “long-day” plant. This is also the reason, more so than heat, that lettuce goes to seed in the middle of summer….because the days are long.

Who knew? Well, farmers and people who live off the land know. They start their winter lettuce in late summer.

Besides me, there’s another group of people who want to outsmart Mother Nature. Astronauts. One of the obstacles to living in space and inhabiting other planets is food. NASA has run food experiments on the Space Station for years, but now for the first time, astronauts are growing their own lettuces to eat instead of just to experiment on. What a treat for them instead of all those dried space foods.

Photo credit
http://collectspace.com/
http://gardenofeaden.blogspot.co.uk/2009/09/how-to-grow-winter-lettuce-from-seed.html

 

 

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Leafcutter Bees

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Excellent Pollinators

by Sandy Swegel

There’s a native bee (especially in the Western US) that you’ll rarely recognize flying around, but almost everyone can tell when the bee has been in their garden. Leaves, especially of roses, have perfect little half-moons cut on the edges. The cuts are better circles than most of us can draw. In most years there aren’t overwhelming numbers of cutter bees so they don’t really threaten the plants.

 

Leafcutter bees don’t eat the leaves. They take them to make nests for their babies. Unlike honey bees which live in hives, leaf cutters are solitary bees, and the leaves are used to make long tubular cigar-looking nests. Each bee egg gets its own little room, complete with a gob of saliva, some pollen and some nectar for when the larvae grow in the Spring.

Some people think leafcutter bees are pests and want to exterminate them. Others want to attract them to their gardens because they are excellent pollinators. I’m on the side of letting them happily live in my rose garden and cut their perfect little half moons. They are gentle bees and rarely sting. Cute and good for pollination.

 

Photo Credit and Info:
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05576.html
http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/gardens-gardening/your-garden/help-for-the-home-gardener/advice-tips-resources/pests-and-problems/insects/bees/leaf-cutter-bees.aspx
http://swampthings.blogspot.com/2012/05/leaf-cutter-bee-nest.html
http://rachel-the-gardener.blogspot.com/2011/08/leaf-cutter-bees.html

Feed the Tomatoes and Veggies

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Heirloom Vegetable Seeds

By Sandy Swegel

So more of them will feed you.  Last week we talked about being on the home stretch for the vegetable garden (at least here in Zone 5.)  Lots of plants are super stressed this year by early rains and now intense heat.  In Colorado, some farmers are only now getting their first tomatoes.  But unless your tomato plants already have too many tomatoes on them, this is a great time to feed the tomatoes and veggies by boosting their final production with a good liquid organic fertilizer…either a balanced nitrogen-phosphorus mix, a bloom, or kelp.  There’s still time to get more tomatoes and bigger tomatoes, so give the plants a reward for making it so far. I even fertilized the zucchini…our delayed season means even the zucchini are slow.

We’ve had blistering heat that has sun-scalded our basil and some greens.  I’m doing a light feed to these plants too as compensation for all the suffering they’ve had to go through this year.  Some people throw some row cover over greens when the sun is intense to give a little protection.

But tomatoes don’t need any protection from the sun as long as they have consistent water.

 

One other tomato season task:  Do a taste test while the tomatoes are at their peak.  It’s amazing how differently the same variety will taste from year to year….and sometimes you’re the one who has changed and you find you like some flavors more than others.  Organize a testing with friends who bring their varieties, and you’ll have a fine summer party.  So far Black Krim is still my favorite (in big tomatoes; Red Cherries are still my favorite eat off the vine taste.

 

Photo credit

https://goingtoseed.files.wordpress.com/

http://centerofthewebb.ecrater.com/

Stay the Course: End of Season Gardening Tips.

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Gardening Tips

by Sandy Swegel

It may still be blistering hot, but gardeners, especially in Zone 5, are on the home stretch. Days are getting noticeably shorter. Much of the work of the year culminates in the next month as it’s time to bring the harvest home so here are some end of season gardening tips. You have to pay extra attention in the next few weeks so you get the best harvest possible.

Keep the water steady.
This is not the time to skip watering for several days. Here’s the bad cycle. You forget to water for a day or two. Then you go out and put the water on for hours to compensate. This is a sure recipe for split fruit, especially tomatoes, and reduced fruit production.

 

Stay after the powdery mildew.
The mildew can be crazy on the squash and melons this time of year. Don’t let the whole vine turn to mildew. At the least, pull off the badly diseased leaves to keep the disease from spreading to the whole plant. Those squash, pumpkins and melons can still put out a lot of good fruit if they have some healthy leaves to photosynthesize.

Keep harvesting.
The more you harvest, the more your plants keep putting out new fruit. Don’t lose courage now just because your kitchen is overflowing with food to be processed or given away. Keep things in a cool area if needed till you get to it.

Consider a light fertilizing.
Some plants have really been putting out and spending themselves for you. I sometimes do a light foliar feed of kelp or other liquid organic fertilizers to keep the plants’ spirits up on these stressful long work days. I think the kelp helps with resisting disease too.

The season may have a long way to go…don’t get distracted by school startups and thoughts of Fall. Your garden’s glory days are here.

 

 

Photo credit:
www.rosalindcreasy.com/edible-garden-how-to/
smallimperfectgarden.wordpress.com/2014/09/15/picking-tomatoes-shouldnt-be-this-challenging/

 

When are your tomatoes ready to pick?

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Tips for Picking Tomatoes

by Sandy Swegel

You might think this is a completely obvious question. You pick tomatoes when they are red and falling off the vine ready to eat. But I asked a few gardening friends how they decided when to harvest tomatoes and as always, with gardeners, there are more opinions than people.

The basics:
Tomatoes ripen from the inside out, so if they look ripe they are. General characteristics of a ripe tomato are good bright even color, firm with a little give (not too hard and not soft and mushy.) Several people claim the tomato pulls easily off the vine when it’s ready and doesn’t need to be cut.

If you’re going to make a mistake in picking, pick when the tomatoes are slightly under-ripe They do not have to be on the vine to finish ripening. You might pick early because you won’t have time to harvest tomorrow, or because it’s about to rain and excess moisture often makes tomatoes split open. Hot temperatures in the 90s are a good reason to pick a little early…the tomato will ripen more evenly on your counter than in the blistering sun.

 

To finish ripening tomatoes inside, you know the rule. Never put tomatoes in the refrigerator. Makes them mushy. They also don’t need light as much as they need warmth. So skip the hot sunny window sill and put them on a kitchen counter.

Heirlooms. Tomatoes used to be red and it was kinda easy to tell when the red was the right color. But now tomatoes are pink and green and yellow, or green on the neck or mostly black. The “firm but not squishy rule works”. Also, there’s an esoteric description of the color: the color just “brightens up” and you can tell it’s ready.

I recommend lots of sampling and fine-tuning your picking strategy.

I also recommend eating at least one tomato completely ripe in the hot afternoon sun. Take a big mouthful and let all the juices and seeds run down your face and shirt as you savor the awesome tomatoey flavor of summer. My neighbor used to take a salt shaker with him out to the garden and salt each bite!

 

 

Photocredit:
http://www.heirloomtomatoplants.com

there’s more than one way to ripen a tomato

 

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