winter gardening

winter gardening is not for everyone.  it is cold and damp and the soil is often too hard to work

with.  that gives living in nashville a definite advantage.  we very rarely have long stretches of cold weather that allow the soil to freeze solid. never the less, we do experience enough cold weather hours to produce some fruits like cherries and apples and to promote the germination wild flower seeds outdoors.  this fall, i selected a number of wildflower seeds from a website and added those to seeds we collected and we began to plant a wildflower garden.  The main purpose of this garden is to attract butterflies, bees and birds to our yard but the best part, the plants will be tall and will hide the unruly yard next door (for more on this, read the previous entry on privet).  we also planted a california wild flower garden in the front yard in our little lasagna bed.  linda sent us a bag of seeds that were simply labeled, california wild flowers and we added new layers to the bed as well as some of the seeds.  everybody keep their fingers crossed and let's see if we get some pretty flowers to show off out front.

here is the first new layer going on, leaves.  we always collect the leaves in the yard and place them in a large pen out back.  during the year, darry uses them as the brown component in our compost.  as the year progresses, they begin to break down and form leaf mold.  

the next layer was finished compost from the pile out back.  we always have at least 3 piles. one that is complete, one that is aging and one that is in the beginning stages with new products being added to it regularly.  we do not have a lot of sunshine out on our piles so they take longer and aren't quite as hot as some but they are still good for the garden.

we sprinkled the seeds generously over the compost and finished it off with a layer of grass clippings.  in the bed is our cardoon plant.  we decided to move it from the side of the house to the front where it will be a centerpiece in the bed.  only time will tell if this was a good idea.

here we are in the back yard where we have begun to build the wild flower bed.

we began by staking out two large rectangular areas.  darry dug random holes through out the areas.

i followed behind him placing random selections of seeds that i mixed.  some we bought and some we collected.

we then covered the seeds lightly and added some compost.  now we wait for spring.

the string should help us keep track of the area and ensure that it doesn't get mowed until we can identify the plants.  if we are lucky, we will have big tall flowers that hide the mess next door and attracts many butterflies and bees.

killer view

we have a large yard-2/3 of an acre that is mostly sloped and has a nice population of old trees.  we also have three neighbors bordering our corner lot.  our neighbors uphill keep their yard closely clipped and neat.  our neighbor behind us likes to garden and has a nice deck and landscaping.  unfortunately, our neighbor downhill does not have any interest in aesthetics-he won't even mow his yard.  at this point, only a bush hog would cut through the shrubs that have taken over the yard. 

when we stand in our back yard, this is the view we have of our neighbors yard.

the property line between the yards is obvious; we mow regularly, he does not.

the entire yard looks like this, front and back.  this is the view down the line to the street.

in one section of the yard, there are hundreds if not thousands of chinese privet plants growing.

it might not be so bad if they weren't such an invasive non-native plant.  they quickly spread and can easily choke out the native plants.  we have them coming up in our lawn as well as in a flower bed in front of the house-all unwelcome volunteers!

a view of the privet forest.  behind the tree is the ever expanding bamboo/river cane forest, another unwelcome and invasive  species that will eventually work it's way into our yard. 

chinese privet usually have an abundant crop of small black berries.  these berries sprout easily and new plants come up everywhere.  unfortunately, birds love to eat them and they tend to spread the seeds in their droppings.  this allows the plants to spread even more.  we will never be able to get rid of the shrubs but we hope to at least control it's invasion.

persimmons in the yard

when we bought our home, we had no idea what was growing in the yard.  there was so much overgrowth and neglect that it was a bit overwhelming.  slowly but surely over the 5 years we have been here, we have removed, relocated and replaced many things and trimmed back others as well.  gone are the monstrous forsythia and all of the nandina as well as the lovely plastic pointsettias that were placed in various beds in the yard.  missing is most of the pea gravel that served as mulch in some of the beds.  one of the surprises in the yard besides the little grape hyacinths that popped up in the lawn is a pair of persimmon trees.  we are both fans of the familiar japanese fuyu persimmons that you find in produce and grocery stores and we were excited.  that is until we had the opportunity to taste one.  we have american persimmon trees and the fruit must be eaten when it is soft and mushy, unlike the firm ones we sometimes purchase.  if you do not know the meaning of astringent, try eating one of those fruits before it has been hit with frost and is still firm.  you will be lucky to peel the insides of your cheeks off of your teeth since they are the most astringent thing you can imagine.

lately, i have been doing a little research and a little reading on  native foods of the south and i read an article by a local food writer.  this got me to thinking about our little trees out back.  it was a warm sunny day and i headed out into the back yard with a bucket to try and gather some to see if they were worth the effort.  

as you can see, this little

tree has quite a few

still on the branches.

as they ripen and soften,

they fall to the ground

where they can be

gathered.

if you walk through the neighborhood,

you will find persimmon trees growing

wild.  they have most likely sprouted from

seeds dropped by the various animals

eating the fruits.

one of the ripe fruits on the ground just

waiting to be picked up.  darry likes to 

eat them and he is not much help if i am

trying to gather a bunch.  the fruits can be

put into a food mill where it is a little work to 

press them through, separating the pulp from

the skins and seeds.

another tree in the neighborhood

where i can easily gather the ripe

fruit.  ours are so high up that we 

have to wait for them to fall or tap

the trunk with a mallet to make 

them fall and then gather them.

crazy cactus

over the years, i have been given several "christmas" cactus plants.  you've seen them in the stores covered in their colorful blooms.  the blooms last for a few weeks and then all you have is a funky looking plant.  for the truly ambitious house plant gardener, you can attempt forcing the blooms every holiday season or you can do what i did.  put the plant outside in a sunny location for the summer and just let it grow.  then wait for the days to shorten and the night time temperatures hit about 50.  when the forecasts start calling for these cool nights and the overnight temps are dropping in to the 40's, you should see the plant start to set flower buds.

once the plant has developed buds, move it inside to a bright location, no direct sunlight, where the temperature is a constant of about 70 and wait for the show to begin.

when i moved my plant inside in mid-october, it had many more blooms than last year.  

it had so many blooms that were growing rapidly that we thought it would be

in full flower for halloween.  

this is a closeup of some of the blooms.  this is actually the second time this year

that the plant has flowered.  when we first put it outside in the spring, we had

a cold snap that forced me to bring it back inside.  this was around easter and the 

warm weather outside followed by sudden cold weather with shorter days forced a few

blooms, but nothing like the number you see in this photo.

the plant is now in full bloom as you can see.  (thanks for the photo tanner!)

even though the plant had a rough summer, it lost a large section to some sort

of ailment, the number of blooms is impressive.  some of these plants bloom at 

christmas and others bloom for thanksgiving, like this one.  hopefully, it

will still have some blooms for the holiday.

lubie and patches

it's hard not to like these two, it's also obvious how much they

like each other.  i can't believe that someone would just 

move away and not find a way to take them!

varmints in the garden!!!

along the side of our carport is a small bed of perennials.  last year darry added a few cannas to the bed and they did very well here, too well in fact.  they multiplied enormously and took over the bed crowding and shading many other plants this summer.  they weren't affected much by the drought either.  when we had our first frost this week, they were damaged and it signaled the time to cut them back for the winter.  many times over the summer, i mentioned to darry that they needed to be relocated since they were too aggressive for this bed and he decided to do it when he cut them back.  sugar bear beat him to the punch.  we were unaware of the invasion of moles in the bed until i found her in the bed digging.  boy did she dig, grape hyacinths bulbs, dahlias tubers and other plants lay on top of the soil baking in the sun.  i had visions of her hanging from the tree by her tail i was so mad!  that was when darry made the discovery. he gathered up all of the bulbs, tubers and plants and then he dug up all of the cannas making sure that he pulled up every single tuber.  in reality, it wasn't moles it was voles.  they are vegetarians and bulbs and tubers are their favorite meal which makes them the enemy of many gardeners!!!

what my poor little bed looks like now.

the frost also killed of many of the plants out in the front lasagna bed.

we plan to fill it with perennials next spring

more damage in the yard by either moles or voles

they seem to like this area by the north side of the house

some of the damage by the perennial bed

freeze warning

it looks as if the wonderful warm weather is coming to an end.  we have our first freeze warning of the season tonight.  darry and i had to bring in the plants that have been outside for the season.  now the cats will have something to do-shred my plants.  lucy is quite fond of lemon grass and the plant was looking beautiful and full if you recall earlier posts, she will have plenty of it to chew on.  

we harvested some of the pak choi and asparagus.  last winter the pak choi did fine in the garden during the cold months and we are hoping it survives the frost.

knowing that the old tomato vines wouldn't make it through the freeze, darry took them out and he picked all of the tomatoes on them.  we now have a large basket of tomatoes wrapped in paper in the basement.  we are hoping that they will ripen slowly and not all at once so that we can enjoy them. 

we also had to pull some of the pepper plants.  they were loaded with fruit.  as you can see here, we have some produce to eat.  

over in the lettuce patch we have a nice variety of greens to pick from.  here in the sink is a mix of mizuna, lolla rosa, garden cress, oaky red splash, italienischer and lau's pointed leaf.

weathering the change

since fall has finally arrived, things are looking a little different in the garden.  seeds are ready for harvest and plants are shutting down for the coming of winter.  the mums are in full bloom and the trees are shedding their leaves.  soon, it will be time to rake them all up and place them in the bin for next years compost piles.  even so, there is still plenty of things to look at and enjoy.

in the herb garden, the salvia is still blooming, not bad for a cheap 6pack of annuals!

the thai basil and thyme are still going strong as well

when the girls went to italy with linda last year, they brought back tomato seeds.

we were late in planting them and they did not do well in a bucket.  planting them in the garden among the other plants has given them the chance to take off.  we hope to keep them going long enough to try the tomatoes that the plant has set.

this has been a good year for our little miniature roses

when the cardoon was done blooming, i cut it back to the ground.  it is coming back nicely along with the catnip that we thought was long dead.  the two plants look nice with the grosso lavender.

the pineapple sage and the nasturtiums are doing a wonderful job of covering up the 

air conditioner.  next year i will plant more nasturtiums to do it again.

the asparagus plants had been allowed to grow up into large ferns and when they began to

yellow, we cut them back.  much to our surprise, they immediately began to send up shoots.

for the first time in 4 years, we will actually be able to harvest them and cook them for dinner!

up until this week, we have had such warm days and nights that i never thought to bring in

my christmas cactus.  it wasn't doing well, it lost several large branches and others look awful.

but the lousy condition of some of the plant has not stopped it from setting flower buds.

looks like i will have a halloween cactus this year!

oktoberfest

according to the calendar, it is officially fall. but out in the garden, it is still late summer.  the ground is still warm enough that it is making it difficult to get lettuce and greens to germinate.

we are also still picking plenty of peppers.  these are bells that if left long enough, they will be yellow.

our little artichoke did absolutely nothing all summer and is finally growing.

the only thing that is flourishing right now are the cooking greens. from the left, turnips, two types of pak choi and red mustard.

the year's herb garden was huge, despite the drought.  we had so many plants get too large and next year we will have to plant them in different areas.  the flamingoes have been residing in the herb garden this fall.

hard to believe but today i was out picking tomatoes, these are big beef

the chocolate cherry is still in production

this weeks pick

it is october and the heat is finally subsiding although you wouldn't know it this week.  we had temps up in the mid-high 80's.  we also got some rain today, we have gone about 4 weeks without a drop so this is a much needed change.  despite the fact that it is october, our garden is still producing, small amounts, but we are still picking peppers and tomatoes.

if you leave banana peppers on the bush long enough, they get a nice red color

mizuna on top, italienischer in the middle and garden cress on the bottom

we are once again attempting to over winter greens

this will probably be the end of the tomatoes, even so, the big beef is hanging on

not bad for october

the tomatoes are cherokee purple, ananas noire, mortgage lifter and big beef

red banana peppers and yellow ones too

pak choi and assorted greens