Oh, Snow!

March in Atlanta is unpredictable. There may be summer temps today and snow tomorrow. I recall snow as late as April one year and seeing all the spring flowers pressed down under the weight. I have a few pictures somewhere of tulips in the snow that spring of 1983.

For the past week or so I have been busy with interior home projects such as hanging crown molding, painting and other tasks requiring a hammer and saw.

I am letting Mama Nature do what she will outdoors. It is supposed to be 75 degrees on Saturday and I think I will be tilling compost into the new garden. By the way, I bought a reconditioned cultivator from CPO Ryobi for 80.00 less than The Home Depot and Lowes! Free shipping and it was here in two days!! I will have pics and updates soon.

I will not plant Marigold seeds in February

This time of year is the time my patience is tried.

Every year I tell myself to slow down and enjoy the process.

Right.

As a matter of fact, one of my blog entries was about some of the early arrivals to the garden, I was trying to be patient with the process, but I want spring!

waaaah

I feel better now.

A little.

Down here in good ol' Dixie, this time of year can play with a gardener's mind. It can be 75 degrees one week and the next the high is 44. On those warm days I am out there in the garden...raking back the leaves...pruning out the dead wood...basking in the sounds, the sights, the smells...ahhhh...spring, I tell myself...has sprung. Fast forward a few days and the wool coat is on my back, gloves and I am looking out the window at the garden like a kid waiting for a summer shower to pass so I can get back to play.

There are daffies (daffodils) in bloom and the neighbor's old quince is a nice reddish pink, a few forsythia bushes are pressing their luck, and crocus dot the lawn...so it is rather nice. So I am going to go out there, with my coat on, and take a look around. I promise not to wish for more...I will not plant marigold seeds in February...I will not dig down in the soil to see the little green tops of the tuplips...I will not dig around the daylillies....

Breakin' It Down

It seems there are many, many different approaches and/or methods to composting kitchen waste and with this in mind I present MY method to recycling the organic matter that usually goes into the sink disposal or the landfill. In the photo above I have collected a couple of days worth of our kitchen waste. I love this photo because I see every item here for its latent potenial to break down and provide nutrients to my vegetables! Now I know there are those that say citrus should not be included, but I do. You can see here there are apples, banana peels, orange peels, egg shells, and the morning's coffee grounds. Yummy for the compost heap. We collect it in plastic bowls and one of us takes it outside to the mound in the backyard.

For the sake of showing how I do it "from the ground up" I chose to start a new heap. This is STEP 1. I clear the ground to expose the soil and break it up with a shovel. I may even turn the soil a bit, just so it is loose.

Step 2 is the addition of the kitchen scraps. All I did here was pour them on top of the broken soil.

In STEP 3 I take the shovel and chop up the material. I like it to be smaller and the cuts allow for more water and bacteria to get into the act and speed up decomposition. This is kind of fun to do...chopping it into the soil.

This is STEP 4, the final step in the addition process. I simply take a couple of scoops of loose soil and place over the top of the scraps so they are completely covered. What is not shown here, and the way I typically do it, is a bag of inexpensive GARDEN SOIL that can purchased at any garden center such as Lowe's or The Home Depot. I keep a couple of bags nearby and just pour enough on top to cover the scraps. It's a lot like building a lasagne and just as fun!! Once the heap is about 18" high I will start another. I let the completed heap sit for a few weeks then turn it. If all the scraps are rotted, I add to the garden and till into the soil.

Easy stuff!

The Little Ghost

This poem, written by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950) so reminds me of my mother who passed away in 2001. I had found this poem not long after buying a home with an old garden which I lovingly restored. My mother continues to be a part of my life through gardening.


I knew her for a little ghost
That in my garden walked;
The wall is high—higher than most—
And the green gate was locked.

And yet I did not think of that
Till after she was gone—

I knew her by the broad white hat,
All ruffled, she had on.

By the dear ruffles round her feet,
By her small hands that hung
In their lace mitts, austere and sweet,
Her gown’s white folds among.

I watched to see if she would stay,
What she would do—and oh!

She looked as if she liked the way
I let my garden grow!

She bent above my favourite mint
With conscious garden grace,

She smiled and smiled—there was no hint
Of sadness in her face.

She held her gown on either side
To let her slippers show,

And up the walk she went with pride,
The way great ladies go.

And where the wall is built in new
And is of ivy bare
She paused—then opened and passed through
A gate that once was there.

From a Tiny Seed

I took a trip to The Home Depot over the weekend to shop for the seeds I'll be using for this summer's garden. It was nice to see so many people around the display, pondering the selection. I wonder if these folks have always purchased seed or if it's a result of the current economic and environmental "situation" we are in.... Such was my pondering in addition to pondering the seed selection.

I want to keep this garden as simple as possible, showing that just about anyone can achieve results with a little planning and work. My selection includes a few easy flowers and basic, easy to grow vegetables. Summer squash, green beans and cucumbers. I will be planting tomatoes, but I buy plants instead of seeds...just a bit easier and I get a jump on the growing season without having to set up my own seedling bed indoors.

The green beans are a bush type which will save on space. Others are vines and would take up entirely too much space in the small plot that I have prepared. The cucumbers are vines, and will need a vertical space on which to grow, for they will spread across the ground and end up covering walkways, driveways and lawn. This is could pose a challenge for many reasons, but weeding (the most important) would be hampered and later in the year you'll be glad the vines are up and not out!

Also, when you are shopping for your seeds, pay close attention to the growth habits of the plants, days to maturity and lighting requirements. For those veggies that have a short period to maturity, you may be able to plant a second crop later in the season and get twice the yield! Other varieties may take most of the growing season to mature, while others MUST be started indoors before the season. You may opt to purchase these in plant form for your garden....bell peppers (one of my faves) comes to mind.

Also, other plants require cool weather in order to thrive: lettuce, carrots, beets, broccoli, etc. In my USDA zone, these can be planted in late winter to be harvested in early spring. Your zone may be snow covered...again, check the seed packet for details about your zone and when to plant.

It still have not made up my mind about the cultivator. I think I want an electric model because it is cleaner and quieter. Once I have the cultivator and dry soil, I will be back outside breaking up and amending the soil with compost. More to come!

Busting it up

Okay, so today's dilemma is how to break up the soil for the garden. In the past, my gardens were much larger and I had a tiller to do the work. It did such a great job breaking the clay up into something workable. This garden is small and I cannot justify not only spending the money for a new tiller, but having something so large for such a small space. What I am considering is a cultivator. But...

My mother owned a Mantis http://www.mantis.com/ and I never liked it because it was so loud! I also recall that it bounced around a lot unless I had already done the shovel work before began using it. At The Home Depot this week I found another unit by Ryobi and I am considering it since it has a sand reservoir that adds weight and may minimize the bouncing.... But I will still be dealing with that 2-cycle engine noise.

What to do?

I am seriously considering doing this the old fashioned way and using my shovel and hoe. Hey, that's how my grandparents did it and they grew some great vegetables and flowers.

Edging and Sod Removal

After I installed the pea gravel the other day I started thinking about how I was going to keep the gravel separate from the soil in the garden. After some "pillow thinking" just before sleep, I remembered seeing this metal edging on one of those HGTV shows. I recalled the landscape designer announcing his disdain for it as he removed it from a yard and threw it in a dumpster. Even though I understood his disdain, for this application at least, metal edging was my only clean choice. For about 10.00 per 8 feet, this stuff just hammers in, cutting through the soil like a knife. It's flexible, too, which allowed me to keep my curve in the patway (I love, love, love curves in the garden.) I used the 2 x 4 scrap in the photo to protect the metal edge when I pounded it into place. It worked quite well.

Here's a closer view of the edging. You can see how well it will keep the gravel out of the soil. This shot is before I pushed the gravel back in place. You can see way too much of the edging. I don't like seeing this much of it. Just a bit cheesy.

I threw this is because I opted to finish the top of the edging with this vinyl cap. It made for a nice clean line, covering the seems and providing a little cushion if someone happens to fall on it.

The shot below is of the completed edging installation. I love the clean line it provides!

Here I am beginning the laborious process of removing the sod. Since the "grass" in this part of the yard is mostly invasive bermuda, I have opted to scrape it away. I collect it, shake off the loose soil and place the tops in the wheel barrow. I am composting it separately in the back yard.

I started with the hoe, and later moved to my shovel. I had to shake it up a bit since it is so laborious and boring. Note that if you have a non invasive grass, you can just till it under and let it compost. That is how I have handled fescue in the past. It is much, much easier.

This last shot is how I ended the day. I have removed more sod since this shot, but I am taking it slowly. It's not something I love to do, but it has to be completed before I can move to the tilling and addition of compost. I will blog a bit about our composting in the next entry.

We are getting closer to planting time!

Rain Collection

We've been experiencing a drought here in Georgia for the last couple of years. It has been frustrating and disappointing to see cherished plants die or struggle to survive. Last summer we decided to take advantage of the occasional thunderstorm and collect rain water. I looked at a number of ready-to-install systems, many of which were hundreds of dollars and held less than 100 gallons. After much consideration, I opted for these two rolling trash cans, each of which holds over 95 gallons.

I decided on this location because it is in the back yard, the downspout is very productive, and there is a concrete foundation on which the heavy (about 1000 pounds each when full) cans could rest.

I then cut the downspout as shown, cut a hole in the lid of one can and stuck the flexible tube into the slot. This tube is available at your local home store.

I wanted both cans to fill when a storm blows in, so I have plumbed the first to the second by using a plastic drain pipe. It's the white circle you can see above. It is placed lower than the black pipe you see in the lower shot. This is the overflow tube. When both cans are full, the water simply runs out and onto the ground...safely piped AWAY from the foundation of the house.

We found this water to be great for the plants. We pumped it out with an electric pump or scooped it out with water cans. You can see one of the green cans in the lower shot. The biggest issue in mid-summer were the mosquitos. They used the water to breed like mad! We simply used the water as quickly as possible so as to reduce the breeding time.

If anyone has another suggestion, please share! The mosquitos were the biggest challenge.

Take a Walk

So this is how things started today.... I have the slate placed on top of the existing sod so I could see how much I needed and how far what I had would go. Being a believer in "everything is in perfect order at all times" I happily found that what my friend had given me was just enough to get this pathway connector in place! Also, note in the above shot that I have marked my pathway line with spray paint so I can keep things straight.

Next I removed all the slate, carefully placing it to the side in as close a pattern as possible so I could put the pieces back in nearly the same place.

I took this shot for two reasons, one was to give you the idea of how I removed the sod and second is to show you my BEST garden friend, this pointed shovel. I have owned several over the years and I recommend you buy one if you are a gardener. This little guy can transplant, remove roots, sod, etc. It is the best tool you can have. Okay, enough about that....

Note the wheel barrow in the background. Since this sod is bermuda grass (invasive, spreading) I am collecting it and moving it to composting area in my garden. I want to get as much of this out of this area as possible. To get the sod out, I cut along the painted line with the shovel and then use the same shovel to scrape up the sod from underneath. I am careful not to take out too much sod, since I only want the path to be as deep as the slate is high.

At this point I have removed all the sod and leveled the bed. Note that I have some loose soil, free of grass, waiting the the wheel barrow. I will be using this in the next step.

Now I have replaced all the slate pieces in the location they fit best. I walked the path a couple of times to be sure the pieces were walkable and not awkward to navigate. Once I was satisfied with the placement, I sprinkled the loose soil from the wheel barrow over it to "seal" around the edges. Since I am dealing with Georgia clay, once this is wet and later dries, it will form a sort of mortar that will hold the slate in place.This is the step I like best! It's the finishing touch that allows me to see just how nice that slate looks. It's the filler, pea gravel. I have photographed the load from The Home Depot so you can see what it looks like. It's just pea gravel that costs about 3.00 per bag. Not a huge monetary investment, but it does provide a huge decorative enhancement to the project. It is also a great medium for controlling weeds that will find their way in. I can spray with a herbicide (Roundup) or just pull them out. I do expect, however, some Bermuda grass to pop up, so I WILL be using a little herbicide later in the season.

Once the pea gravel is in place, the garden hose is used to spray it all down. This rinses off the film on the gravel so the color shows and it settles the soil under the slate and help them set into place. This step also rinses off the surface of the slate and really makes it shine. Isn't this a great shot? By the way, the berm covered in straw and the area above the rock wall is home to 300 or so red tulips. I can't wait to see them explode into spring!

Well, here it is completed and realy to walk on! You can hardly see it here, but I have added a couple of pathway lights to brighten it at night and invite visitor to stroll to the backyard garden.

The area to the left of the path is where the vegetable garden will be. The brown grass is the bermuda, a sun lover, so you can see just how much sun this gets in the summer. My next step here to the remove the sod and work the soil.

More about that in later posts.

Stony Path

A good gardening friend of mine gave me this beautiful slate in trade for a load of holiday lights I had. I think it was a great trade! It's been stacked in my front yard for about a month while I've waited for a warm day to perform the installation. The month also provided time for me to decide how I was going to use it. A fountain was tempting, but I have too many of those already.

This area is just to the right of our broken driveway. It is one of the few places that has both full sun and a lack of tree roots...a great place to grow some veggies. This location, however, is breaking one of my asthetic rules: Never plant a vegetable garden in the front yard. Tacky in my book, but the book is no longer serving me, so I am not looking in it.

I spent the afternoon moving liriope into this trench I dug along the lot line with our neighbor's house. I used rope to be certain my line was straight and then cut and placed the liriope in the trench. It went in quickly, but it was laborious to say the least. You can also see in this shot where I have placed the slate in what will be the pathway.

This final shot is how it looked today when I finished. Tomorrow I will set the slate in a bed and pour pea gravel around it. The open area between the driveway and the liriope line is where the veggies and other flowers will reside. More to come on this. Stay tuned.

Perhaps a water feature in the middle with veggies decoratively placed to enhance?? My mind is going nuts with ideas.

Sneak Peek

One of the first to enter the stage...helleborus or Lenten Rose.
When I was younger, my mother had a row of these planted in her garden and each year she would excitedly speak of their color in the garden. I, more impressed with the colors of summer annuals, found these to be rather dull. These days, having quickly reached the age at which my mother was some twenty years ago, find this harbinger of spring to be both beautiful and exciting. This flower requires one to slow down and inspect the detail...the bright green new growth pushed up from the dried leaves...the subtle purples, whites and greens proudly displayed in the winter chill.
I guess I'm getting old.

Ice, Ice, Baby!

Brrrrr! It's 16 degrees with a zero wind chill! This is all part of the gardening cycle and on these cold days I think of all that potential out there in the ground just waiting for the warmer days. My perennials are tucked under their mulched beds, their little green heads just below the surface. My 600 red tulips are all still alive in the front yard and they too are hiding all that potential.
In my early years, I was impatient with winter. I had not yet learned to see the beauty in sleep...the beauty of dried stalks and old flower heads, but I have learned to enjoy this period. However, I still imagine the flowers of spring and summer!

Mr. Frog is looking chilly by the pond this morning. I was thinking of throwing a shawl over his shoulders. Hang in there. Spring is coming soon.

A pic is worth a thousand words.

So this is the chosen spot. You can't really see the roots, but the tree is to the right and there are roots all on the surface. The plan is for raised beds with a picket fence. It will be a rectangle with one of the corners at the corner of the house. Stay tuned for more details.
It will be interesting to see how well I can document each of the steps from what you see here to cooking something delicious in the kitchen!

It begins

I've been thinking about starting a backyard garden, having done it before with great success. I thought I would chronicle the entire process in a blog, in case there are others out there that may want to try their hand at this rewarding hobby.
This will be challenge for me, as I will be dealing with a silver maple tree and it's network of water hungry roots. In the interest of all things green, I am leaving the tree and attempting to outwit the tree and it's needs. My success will recorded here...whethe negative or positive.