A walk around the yard

Starting with the Stanley prune plum.  I'm really hoping it blooms this year.  I think there might be a chance,  but i don't see any signs yet. Not too sure what to look for,  i think they bloom later than apples and may not show buds until a while later.


Autumn olive.  I grew it from seed about 3 years ago now.  Its supposed to be self-fertile and is a lot like Goumi.


Carmine Jewel cherry.  Year 2.  After paying so much for these tiny plants last year,  i am so happy to see this one doing so well.



Goldbeere elderberry.  This one has golden yellow berries.  It tried to bloom last year,  but it was too soon after planting.


Nova elderberry...  lots of berries last year,  i didn't get to pick them all.  It needs some pruning.


York elderberry.  Smaller berries than Nova,  but just as prolific.


One of the grapes waking up. Not sure which because the vines are all mixed up.


Apple tree greening up nicely.  I'll need to spray it again this weekend.


Strawberry pot. I'm unsure if i'll get strawberries this year or if it takes a full year,  this is my first serious try.


Blueberry and lingonberry bed


The other Carmine Jewel cherry, looking good.


Beach plum,  the smaller of the two last year, but growing.


The beach plum that got broken from the snow.  It should recover i hope.


Female "Titan" sea buckthorn.


The male without a special name...  i was a little annoyed when i got this one.  The company went out of stock so he came about a month late last year. I had paid for a gallon pot and the female was definitely a full gallon plant.  When the male arrived,  i suspected it was a 6" potted plant put into a one gallon pot, then shipped. I don't expect them to bloom for the first time in the same year.


Phoenix Tears gojiberry:


The other Goji.  They both have flower buds but they start out tiny.


This is the blueberry that had a rough winter:


This is the one that looks the best:

What a bizarre winter- weather, marine tank, and orders for Spring.

Here it is January 1, 2012 and its 42 degrees out at noon.   We got a little snow for Christmas and snow showers all day, so it was pretty.  A few days later we got a lot of rain which washed the snow away.  Friday night into Saturday brought us some freezing rain and sleet making the roads a bit slippery.

One of my hubby's fraternity brothers was planning on coming over to pick up the salt water aquarium stuff i'm giving him.  After my heater malfunctioned last fall and i had to evacuate the tank i just haven't had the desire to rebuild.  So, i'm giving it all away. Tanks, stands, overflow box, return pump, refractometor, skimmers, metal halide light, about 50# of base rock....  Anyway, it will likely be next week before he can pick it up.  Maybe i'll get back into it some day,  but i sort of doubt it.   Though i loved having one, it takes a lot of time and commitment, and unless you are lucky enough to be given lots of good equipment, it can be a real money pit.
I just want to complete this chapter of my hobby life and move on.

Zoanthids, my favorite variety of coral

I don't remember if i recorded it yet,  but late summer i made an order with Raintree Nursery. My order consisted of :

Phoenix Tears Goji berry- 2
Male Seabucktthorn- 1
Female Titan Seabuckthorn- 1
Goldbeere Elderberry- 1
Caerulea Blue Elderberry- 1
Native Beach Plum- 4

My order is slated to be shipped the week of 4-29-2012

I have seeds for most of these plants, but the majority of them need to be stratified for as much as 6 months.  I have tried some of them without success and really kind of wasted those 6 months  of time.  Then it would be as long as 3 years before harvest begins.  Also, most of these seeds don't come with a cultivar name- likely are the wild sort with unpredictable production and quality.  So i decided to bite the bullet and order these named  plants from a seller with a decent reputation.
Not sure what i will do with my seeds... maybe trade them or just give them away.

 I'm building up quite an elderberry collection.  When my order arrives i will have 5 types. Elderberries can be used to make Elderberry Syrup, which is a well loved cold remedy known for a very long time in Europe.
I could also make jelly and wine if the harvests begin to get large.

Gojiberry (also called Wolfberry) As well as being darn tasty, this is another fruit with health benefits. It has quite a history in Chinese medicine.

Seabuckthorn has a long list of beneficial properties.  From immune system support, anti-inflammitory effects to anti cancer possibilities.  There are a lot of sites out there that will proclaim this superberry as a cure-all. Using multi colored 10 point font all caps and will charge you indecent sums for their product...  while not exactly a magic bullet, it does have valuable benefits.
They are said to be a bit of a challenge to harvest since they have large thorns.  Commercially, whole branches are removed to be stripped by machine.  According to what i have read, the berries will hold well on the plant so picking a modest amount at a time over days will be possible.  The berries can be frozen to hold until enough are gathered.  The juice is a vibrant orange and separates into three layers, cream, oil and juice.  The leaves also make a nice tea.  Apparently Junebugs like them so i'll have to be vigilant.

The native beach plums were purchased to replace the ones i got from Oikos.  Those plants did well in pots for almost 3 years, but got dried out late last summer and didn't make it through the winter.   As i am planning to plant these in the side of the front yard box, i need a fruiting plant that can handle road salt. Hopefully they will be a good size when they arrive and put on some good growth before next winter so they can withstand piled snow from the plow.  This winter would have been perfect because there is no snow and no snowbanks to worry about.  The price was decent so i bought 4 in case i have winter casualties due to snowbanks.  The  2 spares will be planted out back for safekeeping.  The native beach plum has no touted health benefits, but has a reputation for making a fine jelly and should be edible right off the tree.

If i have success with these plants, i plan to share cuttings with anyone who asks- as long as i have enough to work with.  Assuming anyone is interested, lol



So, basically i've been spending some time perusing my newly arrived seed catalogs.  I don't plan to do much experimenting this summer.  I'm sticking to the standard veggies.  Tomatoes, beans, squashes etc.  I did get some seeds from Sheryl at Providence Acres.  I bought:
Aunt Molly's Ground Cherries
San Marzano Paste Tomatoes  - i do already have seeds for some from Pinetree, but i thought i'd like to try and compare two varieties and, of course the photos of her tomatoes make them look absolutely delicious.
I also got a bonus packet of Morning Glory seeds,  thanks Cheryl!

I doubt i'll bother starting peppers from seed this year. I have yet to get a usable fruit.  They simply don't seem to have enough time to grow.  I think i will buy seedlings from Garden Spot this year.  If it does not work this year, i'll give up on it.  Peppers are not very cheap around here, so it is worth another shot.


Well, that's all for now.  My toddler is having a tantrum. :)


Happy New Year all!

Woodchuck #2 has been apprehended....

My sources say that a 10 mile ride is about right for relocation. We know of a few places where a woodchuck won't become someone else's problem, will be able to quickly make itself at home and have plenty of forage.

I used the Mantis as a weed-eater in the walking rows of the garden.  Well, most of them anyway... the vining plants are taking over too widely and were in the way too much. I got what i could.  It clogged up  the tines quite a bit!  I also snapped my wrist good and sharp with the handle of the starter cord. Right where i got a cortizone shot for tendinitis around this time last year. I really hope it won't inflame again!

I also carved out the rest of the area that needs weed fabric and will become home to the Beach Plums and whatever else i come up with.

We got about an inch of rain last night, we are now right about where we should be for average rainfall this year. I treated the tomatoes for blights since its a preventative thing. The alternative is for them to contract it themselves and be part of the spreading of it. I'd rather that not happen.
Almost all of the plants have a green fruit on them by now.

I just got back from the dentist, needed my one filling replaced,  it was loose.  They had to numb me to the eyebrow cause i kept feeling it. So i'm not feeling all that well.  Anxiety attacks are awful.

Seeds, again!

Yes, i bought more seeds.
But i had to!
Because they were there and my plants are not.

I bought some Calabrese green sprouting broccoli.  I got some Broccoli Raab, some Arugula and i got a bush bean with purple pods.
I have grown purple-podded bush beans before and i liked how much easier it was to find and harvest the beans.   Depending on the variety, if the bean pods are missed and mature too far the plant will stop producing, so purple pods that make more thorough harvesting easier help to prevent that from happening.  That, and i like the change of color. As much as i like green foods, sometimes one gets tired of eating that color.
I got the broccoli raab because it is more bitter than classic calabrese. I noticed the kale was not being raided, maybe the flavor wasn't as mild as the cabbage and gypsy broccoli.  I don't generally mind bitterness within reason so i figure its worth a shot. If its less appealing to the evil, oversized squirrels  i may have a shot at harvesting some for myself.
I grabbed the arugula just for the heck of it.  I might just scatter the seed in the lackluster carrot beds. 

I have a very large, plastic, terracotta colored window box style pot that i was considering growing some broccoli in, i remembered that the soil in it right now is mostly old peat moss.  I had put it in there, having no other place to put it, the bag was shredded, it was about 1/4  of one of those huge bales i got at Home Depot...  i think that will be perfect to add to the soil where the blueberries are going to go. Its been in there for about as long as we have had the house....  7 years or so...?   I can trade the peat moss for potting soil, compost and yard dirt.  Hopefully the plastic is sturdy enough to not break.


My other alternative is to use my 30 gallon rubber tub. It was once 30 gallon patio pond that was made to look somewhat like an oval cedar trough.  The liner is a thick, slightly flexible rubber. I think its the same material horse watering buckets are made out of.  If i get the guts to cut a drain hole in it, i could use that as a planter too.



I went out and retrieved the big plastic pot. It looks like its still strong enough to plant in. It barely looks its age actually. 

Just a little weedy and dirty

My little blueberry plants need to be planted soon, the Patriot type are flowering. I need to remove them too.

Also, this might be good news!  While i was out (in the oppressive humidity) i checked on the grapes, the Edelweiss grapes don't look like much still, but i did notice the weedblock was lifting a bit next to the really dead looking Edelweiss twig. I pulled the fabric back a bit and out sprang a green vine tip with a couple crumpled leaves.  I do believe that the Edelweiss may be regrowing from its roots!  I'm pretty sure its a grape shoot, the leaves are more rounded than the others, but i looked for some leaf pictures and that type of grape has rounder leaves.  I won't know for sure until the leaves unfurl completely, but it should happen in a day or so.  As far as i know, Burpee does not graft these grapes, if it is on its own rootstock, i will at least have a chance at ending up with one Edelweiss after all!

This is a big relief, because this year it seems that the things i was most excited about are the ones that weren't panning out too well  so far.

 Oh... one bad thing... the Japanese Beetles are out.  It seems early this year and that is not a good thing!

Havahart trap is still empty. Nothing more eaten in the garden, but the horseradish leaves have been munched on again.

Oh, my beach plum saplings are looking good. They had leafed out nicely late this Spring and have grown quite a bit.  They need planting out too, but with the fencing and the yard not quite done i don't know where.

Topsy Turvey looking pretty good, has a lot of catching up to do.

I applied roundup to the far edge of the garden where the Jerusalem Artichokes, Asparagus and Horseradish plants are. I think i'm going to restring the electric fence and enclose those parts too. The ground is more level there and i think i will have fewer gaps to deal with.

I applied the roundup maybe 20 minutes ago, when the weather radar map showed no storms in sight, and all of a sudden we are now under a severe thunderstorm watch. 
If i want rain all i have to do is apply Roundup to the weeds.  But it did this to me last time and though i had my doubts it did end up working, it just took longer to see the results.

Well i think that is it for now.
It's almost 1pm.