Holiday Greetings

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to my gardening friends and family!!!

Another Frugal Idea For Composting

 

Photo by: travelerguidance.blogspot.com

Sea or lake vegetation is free and very easy to obtain if you live near a large body of water.

Mirrors In The Garden?

 

Photo provided by: blue-dreams-revisited.tumblr.com

Photo provided by: houzz.com



Old mirrors can be used as focal points of interest or to provide reflective light for sun-starved plants in shady areas of your garden.

Recycling Mismatched Cups and Saucers In The Garden

http://lesserevil.com/blog/


Old china (cups and saucers) can be used for a myriad of things such as bird feeder, bird bath, and butterfly watering containers. Thrift shops are my favorite way of obtaining these gems cheaply.

Saturday Frugal Gardening tip: Reusing Window Screens In The Garden

Window screens can be used to help shade plants from harsh sun in the summer. They can also be used as a compost sifter or food dehydrator.

Unique idea for reusing tin can lids

Photo: In My Own Style blog.

Check out this creative project by In My Own Style.

LOVE IT!!!!!!

Turning Cinder Blocks into Outdoor Bench

 I think this is an excellent way to re use cinder blocks.  Can you say "FREE BENCH"?

 
http://indulgy.com/post/3oA2XX6KE1/outdoor-bench-made-from-cinder-blocks#/do/page/1

Turning Pallets into Gardening Furniture and More

 



 Another D.I.Y. project to add to my ever growing "Things To Do" list. The hubby will be pleased!

 Please view link:


http://www.homedit.com/another-diy-pallet-transformation-into-table/

Frugal Gardening Tip Tuesday

Your kitchen is a great source for garden tools would be your kitchen.
Come on, we all have utensils in our drawers we never use. Think of the
new life they knives, forks and spoons can have as garden tools or markers.
Those wooden spoons, potato mashers, serving spoon and that old blender
can really make gardening easier and guess what? They are free.

A Few Pictures From the Garden

 

"On every stem, on every leaf,... and at the root of everything that grew, was a professional specialist in the shape of grub, caterpillar, aphis, or other expert, whose business it was to devour that particular part."  ~Oliver Wendell Holmes


Hello my gardening friends. I trust you are all well, staying cool and hydrated due to the high temperatures. I have excellent news. I finally have enough pictures to show you what is growing in my garden this year. Please keep in mind that I was in a rush so I used my cell phone camera so the images are bad (should have used the digital camera).

Shasta Daisy – Roots divisions were given to me by a co worker last spring. The roots grow rapidly so I was able to transplant them in several beds and gave some to friends. I have collected healthy seeds from the plants.

Sweet William – I received a sample package of seeds for $.25 two years ago. I sowed them last year and have collected seeds from the plants.

Lance leaf Coreopsis – This is the volunteer plant I wrote about in an earlier post.  Although, it was only one plant, it produced a large number of seeds.

Ox Eye Daisy – I purchased seeds locally for about 50 cents.  Great seed production. Very weedy though and extremely invasive.

Day Lilly – Came with the house purchase!  We divide them every year and spread them around our yard. One of the hubby’s favorite.

Gloriosa Daisy – The plants were grown from seed, given to me by a friend.  The plants produced a huge amount of seeds and the flowers are multi colored (red, yellow, magenta, orange and gold.  I have to stake them because the stalks are thick and heavy.

Blanket Flower– Grown from seeds given to me by a friend.  Modest seed production and the stalks are very weedy.  However the flowers are gorgeous.

Peppers, Tomatoes, Squash, Lemon Balm and Okra, Thyme and Cayenne Pepper plants are in pots soaking up sun.

Mini Bell pepper plant grown from seed.

Well, I have to run.  Until next time, happy gardening!

Angela
 

A Gardening First for My Hubby

"Last night, there came a frost, which has done great damage to my garden.... It is sad that Nature will play such tricks on us poor mortals, inviting us with sunny smiles to confide in her, and then, when we are entirely within her power, striking us to the heart."  ~Nathaniel Hawthorne, The American Notebooks


Hello Everyone,

This has been an unusual week. There is so much going on but I am having loads of fun in the garden!  I have to share a garden success scenario regarding the hubby (honey, if you are reading this, I just had to tell…sorry).  My husband has successfully grown vegetable transplants (peppers, tomatoes, corn, cowpeas and beans).  I am so proud of him because he has never grown anything…ever! He did this on his own, I did not advise him of the dos and don'ts for sowing seeds so I am very impressed. Not bad for a born and bred big city boy.

We placed shade protectors over his newbies today due to the thunderstorms we have been receiving lately. Basically we reused the chicken wire cages I mentioned in an earlier post.  I had a bunch of muslin I purchased several years ago for peanuts (for a quilting project) and anchored pieces over the cages. Very inexpensive, but effective. I have also used light colored tarps, cheesecloth, tall plants (sunflowers) and row covers in the past, but I am partial to the newest method.

I hope things are going well in your gardens!!!

Take care,

Angela

Happy Father's Day Fellow Gardeners!

The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses.  ~Hanna Rion

Hello My Friends,

Happy Father’s Day for any Dads who are reading this post…

I hope all is well with you. I was watching our local news station a moment ago and was thrilled to learn we are going to have a few days of beautiful weather. Truly excellent for my plants and for my sanity I think.  Also perfect for alfresco dining, so I am going to surprise the hubby with a special dinner cooked by yours truly.  I will make sure I have a bottle of Pepto Bismol on stand by Mom, I promise. LOL. The menu will be as follows:

Grilled Sirloin with Chimichurri Sauce

Sautéed Green Beans

Herbed Roasted Potatoes

Strawberry Shortcake

Iced Lemonade with Sprigs of Mint

It will be simple but I will be giving him what most men want, MEAT & POTATOES!!!  The best part is a majority of the ingredients are just outside my kitchen door grown from seeds and transplants I purchased last year (at an end of season sales, I might add). For example: Garlic, Oregano Parsley, Rosemary, Thyme and Basil. I am going to place his favorite flowers (Shasta Daisy) on the table. I hope it turns out well.

Until next time, happy gardening everyone.

Angela

A Less Than Miraculous Bag of Potting Mix

Earth is here so kind, that just tickle her with a hoe and she laughs with a harvest.  ~Douglas William Jerrold, about Australia, A Land of Plenty

Good afternoon everyone,

I trust you are all well and gardening happily. I’d like to thank everyone who expressed get well wishes during my brief convalescence. I am fairing much better and have joyfully resumed my activities in the garden.  I am more cautious but not overly so. The hubby insists I wear more protective clothing because I am a “bug/arachnid magnet” but I think he is being a bit overprotective. LOL

I wanted to share a few incidents that occurred lately in my world.  I picked up a few bags of potting mix from a home improvement store (I know it sounds like I am cheating but it was purchased with a gift card because I have been pressed for time lately-typically I make my own medium). The soil is manufactured by one of the largest garden supply companies in the country. The bags basically contained large wood pieces, weed seeds, fungus spores, gnats waiting to hatch and a minute amount of soil.  I was livid and of course, I had to throw it away.  I did a bit of research and found out many people are having problems like mine or worse.  Not good. I won’t make that mistake again.

I mentioned in a previous post about the benefits of utilizing your town’s compost resources.  I have used several sites here to obtain free compost for my garden but a friend of mine found broken glass in her piling as she was transferring it to a container. It was disturbing because she rarely uses gardening gloves and she could have been seriously injured. I am not sure if the leaf donation bags were not checked properly last fall or if someone carelessly threw the shards in the pile but I will be using a homemade sifter I made from an old window screen from now on. 

Well, I have to run.  Enjoy yours gardens!

Angela

Spring Gardening and Another Spider Encounter

"I know that if odour were visible, as colour is, I'd see the summer garden in rainbow clouds."
~Robert Bridges, "Testament of Beauty"


Good morning gardening friends,

My garden is coming along slowly, but I am pleased with the transformation occurring as the season progresses.  The temps here last week were pretty high for this area (at one time reaching 93 degrees).  However, the high yesterday was only 65 degrees and I must admit a wonderful respite from the heat.

You know I love sharing my gardening experiences, both good and bad.  Last week I had an unpleasant experience with a spider (a gardener’s best friend).  I was kneeling on the ground trying to tidy up a small unused part of my garden (I am trying to create a shady garden corner) and experienced a sharp pain on my right calf.

As I looked down, I noticed a brown spider trying to retreat from the leg of my pants.  I used a trowel to fend it off and noticed it looked familiar.  I went inside to clean the bite and show my husband because I was bitten by a venomous spider a few years back and had a really bad reaction that required medical attention.

After that experience, he insisted on becoming an “arachnid expert” by researching venomous spiders for this area.  Guess what, it was a yellow sac spider. Not as bad as the brown recluse spider, but still not good. They hide in dry, woody areas and this is where I encounter my spider.

I am receiving excellent care, trust me. I feel loads better and I am looking forward to returning to my garden today. Although I admit to having a fear of the little crawlies, spiders beware; you can’t keep this gardener down!!!

Until next time, take care of yourselves, my friends,

Angela

P.S. For anyone interested, here’s a link with information about the spider:  http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2060A.html

Seed Harvesting and Pollinator Gardening

"I used to visit and revisit it a dozen times a day, and stand in deep contemplation over my vegetable progeny with a love that nobody could share or conceive of who had never taken part in the process of creation.  It was one of the most bewitching sights in the world to observe a hill of beans thrusting aside the soil, or a rose of early peas just peeping forth sufficiently to trace a line of delicate green."  ~Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mosses from and Old Manse 

Hello Gardening Friends,

I hope everything is going well with your gardens and that you all are enjoying their beauty and bounty.  We have finally got warm weather in or region and I am enjoying it immensely.

I had a chance to go through my garden journals for past seasons and reminisced about hand-pollinating squash blossoms one year because I didn’t plant enough flowers and herbs to entice pollinators to my garden. It was a very time consuming experience. I know, silly me.  So of course, the next year I planted flowers like cosmos, sunflowers, daisies, yarrow, asters, alyssum, lupine, phlox, zinnias, Sweet William and Black-eyed Susans to attract bees.  I also planted several types of milkweed, ironweed, dill, oregano, parsley, fennel and lemon mint to draw in butterflies and wasps.  I purchased all the seeds at end of season sales from two seed companies for only $8.60.  It was a great deal for me because I harvest the seeds from those plants every year and take advantage of the added benefit of having a beautiful, heavily-pollinated garden.

Well, I have to close for now.  Thanks for dropping by and happy gardening!

Angela

A Mother's Day Tribute to My Two Favorite Gardeners

Greetings my fellow gardeners.  I typically don’t share much about my family but in honor of Mother’s Day I’d like to mention two extraordinary women: my grandmother Anna and mother Cynthia.

My grandmother Anna was a generous, thoughtful and caring woman.  She was also my greatest teacher about both life and nature.  She loved spending hours upon hours outdoors faithfully caring for her plants and teaching her grandchildren to respect and love all things.  I can still hear her talking and quietly humming to ailing plants under her care.  I would describe her as a plant healer.

My mother Cynthia is a vibrant, vivacious and big-hearted lady who enjoys life and loves her family fiercely.  She has sacrificed so much to keep her family happy and together.  She is also the best indoor gardener (houseplants)!  Her specialty is African violets but like my grandmother she is also excellent at plant propagation.  My mother is also a great poet and I have listed one of her poems below (dedicated to my grandmother), which was published in a book of poetry. I love you both!

Happy Mother's Day to you all out there in the blogsphere and enjoy your special day!

Angela

Mom's poem:


THE GIFT FROM MY GRANDMOTHER

Another year is beginning
In my Grandmother's life for me to see
That God has given her more time on this Earth
To teach me to be:
The Giver of Love
The Passer of knowledge and wisdom
The Teacher of morals and values
The Believer of faith; and to have
The Strength of face my fears
The Ability to give and to show love
The Courage to fight my pain;
And to know that life does not
Go on forever
When I can put all these things
Into play
And know that when it comes time for my
Life to end
I will know that death will
Be nothing
But another adventure into Peace
 

A Great Birthday Week and a Gardening Pest Tip

 "Science, or para-science, tells us that geraniums bloom better if they are spoken to.  But a kind word every now and then is really quite enough.  Too much attention, like too much feeding, and weeding and hoeing, inhibits and embarrasses them."  ~Victoria Glendinning

Greetings everyone,

I hope things are going well and you are enjoying the beautiful weather and your gardens.  I had an excellent week and wanted to share my activities.  My birthday was earlier this week and I received an arrangement from my mother/family and an azalea shrub from a co-worker (both pictured above).  They were a very pleasant surprise considering the first thing to greet me at my desk in the morning is typically a mound of paperwork and notes from my colleagues!  It was an amazing day.

I finally got a chance to go outside for a couple of hours today to observe things and so far, we do not have any dandelions growing in the lawn and no squirrel damage to my potted plants.  YES!!! I know, I will knock on wood for now.

I also observed the antics of a robin red breast and a cardinal sitting on the passenger side mirror of our car looking at their reflections and I realized I don’t have a special spot in my garden for birds.  So, I found a shady spot and I am working on hanging a small mirror with a wooden piece attached for perching.  This spot receives no sunlight, so I am not worried about harsh reflective light which may cause the birds to crash into the mirror and injure themselves.  Does anyone have any advice to share?

Just in case anyone is having problems with soft-bodied insects (like aphids) that are using your plants as a nursery, a great natural insecticidal soap can be made by adding a tablespoon of Murphy's Oil Soap to about a quart of water. Just pour into a spray bottle, shake well and spritz your plant's leaves, being sure to pay special attention to the underside, where the little crawlies tend to lay eggs.

Well, it’s time to return to the safe haven of my garden.  Thank you for stopping by, take care of yourselves and until next time…happy gardening!

Angela

Winter Weather in the Spring and Flea Market Garden Finds

"The kiss of the sun for pardon, The song of the birds for mirth, One is nearer God's heart in a garden, Than anywhere else on earth".   ~Dorothy Frances Gurney, "Garden Thoughts"


Greeting Fellow Gardening Friends,

I hope your gardening endeavors are going well for you.  As you probably know, the Northeast saw a late season Nor-Easter, and for the past week our area has experienced freezing temperatures, snow, rain and high winds.  Definitely not the norm but not unexpected either for this area.  I have received calls from several acquaintances asking for advice on how to save plants from the ravages ofthe storm and how to heal damaged plants.  It has been a strange week.

To brighten up things a bit, I decided to share a favorite recipe that I found a while back (it is really good and simple) and to show you pictures of a few finds from our treasure hunting excursions for the garden.  The recipe is at the end of this post.




This large, beautiful glass vase (18" high x 14" wide) was found in a thrift store and I only paid $5.99 for it. I plan to put sunflowers or gladiolus in it later in the season.

My husband found this terra cotta Saint Francis (the Catholic patron saint of nature) statue at a resale shop.  It is almost 3-feet tall (35”) and we paid $40 for it.

We also got a 150-foot long roll of weed barrier at a thrift store for only $3.00.

Anyway...that's all for now. Happy gardening!

Angela

P.S. Farfalle with Spinach and Peas (by Kay Chun, Real Simple, MAY 2003)

 











•    12 ounces (4 cups) farfalle
•    1 tablespoon olive oil
•    2 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, torn into 1-inch pieces
•    1 shallot, thinly sliced
•    2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
•    1/3 cup frozen peas
•    1 5-ounce package fresh baby spinach
•    Black pepper
•    4 ounces Feta, crumbled
•    1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, torn

Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat while the pasta cooks. Add the prosciutto and cook until crisp, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.

Return the skillet to medium heat. Add the shallot and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook 1 minute. Stir in the peas, spinach, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add the cooked pasta, Feta, and reserved pasta water. Cook, stirring, until the spinach wilts. Remove from heat and fold in the cooked prosciutto.

Divide among individual bowls and top with the basil.

Amount per serving
•    Calories: 455      Calories from fat: 22%    Fat: 11g   Saturated fat: 5g    Cholesterol: 33mg
•    Sodium: 755mg    Carbohydrate: 68g  Fiber: 4g   Sugars: 3g   Protein: 19g


Enjoy!

Squirrels in the Garden and Ways to Deter Them

There can be no other occupation like gardening in which, if you were to creep up behind someone at their work, you would find them smiling.  ~Mirabel Osler

Greetings Everyone,

I trust your weekend went well. I placed more of my transplants outside yesterday because the conditions were quite lovely (68 degrees and partly sunny).  They are happily adjusting to their new surroundings but I was reminded about a major problem I experienced last year (grey squirrels) and pondered about humane measures I should take this year to deter them.

Like most gardeners, I have to deal with a major problem in my garden (stray cats, moths and squirrels are the leading three for me).  This is the year of the squirrel…again.  They are nesting in nearby trees have numerous food sources (an abundance of walnut trees) and are getting a little too comfortable.  The problem: hoarding nuts in my potted plants by digging up my babies.

Watching one squirrel try to shove a huge nut underneath our back storm door for safe storage was funny and my husband finding another nut tucked behind the bend in a gutter downspout left us both scratching our heads and laughing about the things these little guys will do to hide their stash.

Yes, they are cute and their antics can be entertaining, but they can also be destructive. And although I love wildlife and will occasionally sacrifice plants to help supplement any animal’s diets or self preservation, NOT THIS YEAR.  There is so much space in the back of our property not being utilized because of the squirrels and I think it is high time to call in some reinforcements, including:

-  Heavily mulching the pots with screened straw

-  Planting natural deterrents such as nasturtiums, marigold and alliums as borders

-  Placing pieces of wire mesh or window screening around the base of the plants

-  Using some type of thorny plant material around the base of the plants

-  Creating small cages out of recycled wood and chicken wire fencing we have on hand

I think I may have some success with these methods, but only time will tell.  Until next time, happy gardening!

Angela

P.S.  The corn gluten meal is really working so far.  The grass is healthy and we only had three dandelions pop up.

An Enjoyable Weekend in the Garden

Half the interest of a garden is the constant exercise of the imagination.  ~Mrs. C.W. Earle, Pot-Pourri from a Surrey Garden, 1897

I am so content right now because of the beautiful weather and positive experiences I had this past weekend.  After searching for an active community garden for years, I found one a block away from my home.  It is relatively small and is tended by a lovely couple who have generously donated a small plot of their yard for the garden.  Naturally, I offered to donate a few hours a week, some supplies and of course seeds for their garden.

I had a chance to work in the garden today with my husband (a miracle, I know).  We sawed up the tree I mentioned in a previous post and cut back our invasive 8-feet-tall Japanese knotweed (often mistaken for bamboo) that the previous owner of our house generously introduced to the backyard.

We also noticed several of our neighbors yards have dandelions showing up.  Not good. We applied corn gluten meal to our lawn a few weeks ago and hopefully our grass will be healthy enough to deter them.  We divided Shasta daisy plants and day lilies to give to my BFF Randy for his family’s new garden.  Busy day, but it was wonderful!

The hubby and I found some great items in a newly opened thrift store yesterday for our garden and he suggested I start including pictures and ideas in my future posts. As you know, I love a bargain and like introducing new ornaments to my garden. A great idea I think and because I have the hankering to cook lately (hubby is the active cook in our home), I am going to include pictures of my experiments and recipes. But please don't be too criticalgo easy on me, since I'm not much of a cook (remember, I was outside playing in the dirt and climbing trees while my mom and grandmother were in the kitchen). LOL. :-)

Well, I hope you have a great week and thank you for reading.

Angela

P.S. I have included a link for more information about knotweed here:

http://www.sleloinvasives.org/about-invasives/target-species/japanese-knotweed/