Return of the Skeeters

Unfortunately, the mosquitoes have returned with a vengeance.

My daughter swats at her arms and legs as she waits for the school bus to pick her up. It doesn't help that it is gray and damp without a breeze.

Needless to say, this severely curtails my garden time, which may be a good thing since I have multiple sore muscles as I have tried to get as much time working before these critters start biting. I have installed my new moss garden (an experiment that I can report on later) and planted most of my vegetable garden and fixed up my flower gardens. I still have more work to do, but I think it looks pretty good right now. Once the hot weather hits, I'll have more weeding, but if it's windy or sunny the mosquitoes should leave me alone.

Today I will water the seeds and seedling, but I will be covered up from head to toe. The mosquitoes are flesh magnets and will find the tiniest exposed spot. I feel like an explorer adventuring into dangerous territory unsure if I should ever return.

My Garden

What's my garden like? Since I am a garden writer, I should have fabulous gardens, right?

Well, the fact is that the highlight of our property is the woods. We have many oak trees along with ironwoods, elms, ash, and basswood, which attracts many different woodpeckers. The wild fruit trees (hawthorn, juneberry, chokecherry) attract song birds, such as cardinals, indigo buntings, and scarlet tanagers. Our hummingbord feeder gets lots of business over the summer. The spring ephemerals include violets, anemones, jack-in-the-pulpits and columbines. The pond (um...swamp) is home to wood ducks and lots and lots of mosquitoes.

We have a lot of shade, so veggies grow in the only sunny spot. I don't have enough sunny space for corn, but I grow lots of tomatoes and peppers. Raised beds hold everything together, needed especially because of the clay soil we have. My fruit garden is a raised bed with blueberries and strawberries. What I grow, I eat. And I try to freeze lots for the winter.

My flower gardens emphasize part shade and full shade plants, and since we are rich in many ways but not particularly in cash, I have varieties that are sturdy and traditional, not cutting edge. I save money and the garden still looks fabulous. And I have lots of experiments going on. So one part of the garden may not look so good as I wait for the results, but then other parts of the garden make up for it.

After seeing a photo of Martha Stewart's perfect (and I mean perfect) gardens, I felt discouraged because I knew I didn't have enough time in a day to make my yard look like that. So I would prefer to offer encouragement to whoever reads this. Gardens do not need to be perfect. Gardens are meant to be enjoyed. I love playing in the dirt. I love picking fresh veggies. I love a sweet whiff of fragrance from my flowers on a hot summer day. So what if I don't have designer flowers or a weed-free lawn? I just love what I do.

Smelly Compost

She plugged her nose and said, "It stinks."

I recently read an article about schoolchildren who were putting their lunch scraps in compost. Bravo! However, the reporter seemed to think emphasizing the smell added a light hearted touch to the article, so lots of kids talked about how the compost pile smelled.

Compost does not smell when done correctly.

Perhaps the compost has too much wet material, so stirring in some dry material (such as leaves or straw) may help. Perhaps the children are adding more than just the fruit and veggies scraps. Perhaps the pile isn't "piled," meaning that a compost heap needs to get tall and wide before it really heats up.

On a cold afternoon, I stepped outside and added some scraps to my compost pile. It radiated warmth, warmer than the air temperature, so I knew that it was working. For the best compost, alternate brown and green materials, pile it high, and stir it once in a while. Sometimes adding a handful of dirt can help the process get started. If the compost doesn't break down at all and seems especially dry, watering can help.

Compost holds living organisms, so I try to make things comfortable for them--not too wet or too dry, plenty of food choices, and some air for breathing. And then I get some black gold.

Recommendations

People will often ask me for sources of good garden materials. I have no problem buying supplies on the cheap and reusing them year after year. I have bought plants from garden clubs and I welcome plants from my neighbors’ garden. However, when I first moved into my house I received some daisies from an old neighbor. The daisies didn’t last, but the Creeping Charlie that snuck inside the plants has to this day. So my advice is to be careful of free items.

I have had excellent luck with Pinetree Garden Seeds. Their prices and shipping fees are reasonable. They have had the best customer service of any seed company with which I’ve had contact. Other good choices are Territorial Seed company and Johnny’s Selected Seeds.

For organic products, I’ve had good luck with Gardens Alive! They have a solution for just about every garden problem.

I have better luck at the nursery/garden center that only sells plants. The employees are knowledgeable and sometimes a horticulturalist is on staff. It’s worth the extra money. The seasonal stand at the corner of busy intersections often neglects the plants or sells substandard materials.

Also I have not received any money for these endorsements…let me know what places you recommend.

First Post and Hopes

My hope for this blog is to get people excited about gardening. Hopefully we can discuss some good organic methods for growing and production of all those fresh fruits and veggies. I'll keep you posted on what's going on in my garden and I hope you'll share what's going on in yours. I'll also try to mention my appearances so that you can ask your questions in person.

Here is my list of chores completed tonight: watered grass seed and lettuce seedlings, planted peas, transplanted broccoli into the garden, and watered all the small seedlings I have started indoors.

As I write this I realize that I should have started this blog earlier in the season, when I could have described my ennui with the winter, my delight in the warmer temps and longer days, and the first glimmers of spring in the woods. Maybe next year.

Thanks for reading.