Winter has arrived

Here's the view from my front porch last weekend in the middle of a snowstorm.  I am learning my new camera, which is refurbished but fabulous (and was an amazing deal).  This is a good time to learn a new camera, because I will not be working in my garden until the spring.  Happy holidays to all my readers!

Action! with Pumpkin Puree

This is about as close to an action shot that I'm going to get.  (I suppose I could hire an assistant or bribe a family member to take pictures for me.) After roasting my pumpkins, I puree them in my mini food processor for recipes.  The pumpkin chunks are on the left, my handy-dandy tongs are center, and that beautiful golden substance in the measuring cup is puree. I'll use it for pumpkin pie, muffins, or soup, or whatever recipe calls for canned pumpkin.  This year I'll be baking pumpkin bars for Thanksgiving.

Roasted Rainbow Carrots

With the holidays coming up, I thought I'd offer an idea for a delicious and simple vegetable dish:  roasted carrots.  Roasting vegetables brings out a delicious sweetness.  My daughter was stealing vegetables from our plates.  Chop the vegetables into bite-sized pieces, toss with a little olive oil, spread in a single layer, and roast until tender and caramelized.  The carrots in this photo are the variety "Rainbow," which is a mix of white, coral, orange, and yellow.  They glow on the plate. Beautiful and tasty!

First Snow October 25

Children delight in the first snow.  Adults wonder if the roads are slippery.  In any case, this batch won't stay long, as the ground is warm and the temps will rise above freezing soon.  My Bright Lights Swiss chard will survive this snow, though the upcoming cold overnight lows could cause damage. I'll cover the plants and hope that I can extend my growing season a little longer.

Leaves: A Comparative Study

This photo shows the average lawn  covered with the average number of leaves from the average number of trees.  Time to rake!

Now this photo shows the number of leaves that cover my lawn, which is surrounded by woods.  Time to weep!

 

I will happily accept any home-tested advice or remedies for sore muscles.

End of Season Evaluation

Because I watered consistently, this was a great year for my garden. ("Was" except my lettuce is still growing.) I loved the Slenderette green beans and will grow them again.  Yesterday we roasted Rainbow carrots, and they glowed on the plate and tasted sweet as candy.  I really did have too much zucchini, but everyone loves zucchini bread, so it's okay.  My tomatoes were in too shady of a spot and didn't do as well as usual, but the peppers did very well. The weather was too warm for my broccoli, which seemed to flower as soon as I turned my back.  And I will remember to bag up my grapes next year.  (Game on, raccoons!) This photo is Orange Smoothie pumpkins, which I grew in my compost pile because I ran out of garden space. 

Water, water everywhere

Water, water everywhere, and not a drop from the sky. This fall your most important tool is your hose.  1.  Water anything that you want to keep.  I will be watering my apple trees, my cherry tree, my grapevine, and my perennials.  I am also watering sections of the lawn.  Trees need to be watered slowly and deeply, meaning set the hose so the water drips out and let it sit there for an hour.  2.  Water multiple times.  And keep watering until the ground freezes.  This is especially true for new trees.  Let's hope we get a wet spell before we get snow!

Apples: Before and After

My three apple trees are looking healthy, but two of the three did not produce much this year.  That's okay, because my Haralson tree made up for it.  My daughter and I peeled and sliced most of the apples and made cinnamon applesauce.  Delicious! We used the old-fashioned, sit-on-the-counter apple peeler, and I cooked the apples over low heat with a dash of water, lots of cinnamon, and some sugar to take away the tart edge.  I have visions of the many containers of sauce lasting for months (insert laugh here).  We call our sauce "apple pie without the crust."

Gone, Baby, Gone

These lovely Earthwalker sunflowers are gone.  Yes , gone.  Some creature(s) pushed them over and ate them, the flowers, the seeds, everything except the very sturdy stalk.  I do believe that raccoons have struck again.  I have taken drastic measures (caging peapods, human hair among the peppers, cayenne pepper powder sprinkled everywhere) to protect the rest of my garden, but they have eaten the kinds of things they like--the pastries of the garden, so to speak--so I hope they will leave the rest. The flowers were looking fabulous with their warm colors and branching habit with multiple flowers per branch.  I guess they were tasty, too. 

Don't count your chickens...er...grapes

Patiently, I waited for my beautiful grapes to ripen.  I didn't dare count the lovely bunches weighing down the vines until just a bit before they were ripe, not wanting to tempt a hail storm.  I gently covered a few bunches to protect them, just in case.  I had a plan, lots and lots of lovely grape juice. Alas, this is all I got.  The bowl measures about 4 1/2 inches across.  I waited one day too long.  At least I can say that the raccoons in my woods have good taste.

Edamame

My daughter and I worked on this together.  We planted the edamame at the same time we planted green beans.  A couple of days ago, we harvested the pods.  We plunged the pods into boiling water, removed them, plunged them into cold water, and drained them.  Removing the beans from the pods is messy work, but we got a big bowl of deliciousness.  We ate some right away, of course, and we stored some in the refrigerator.  I also froze a bag for future use.  Fresh edamame are really good, nutty and sweet. 

Here's what's for dinner...

We've been eating a lot of fresh produce, which is delicious.  Usually I just wash beans and microwave them for a minute or so.  Sometimes I add a teaspoon of butter.  But we've been having that a lot, so now it's vegetable soup with meatballs. Delicious!

Zinnias!

Love 'em!

Joe-Pye Weed

A few years ago I planted Joe-Pye Weed from seed, thinking that it wouldn't work.  Growing perennials from seed is a two year business in this short growing season.  I thought it was worth a try because it grows wild in a swampy area nearby.  Each year this plant spreads just a little, and it's one of the few perennials blooming now.  The tall plants are a striking addition to my yard.  This is the only plant that I don't cut back, keeping the tall stalks during the winter because birds eat the seeds.

Books and Gardening

I don't have many decorations in my garden, but this one spoke to me.  Umm, not literally.

Garden Beds in Use

As an advocate for raised garden beds, I should really have an action shot on my blog.  Here it is.  Please ignore the weeds. The garden loves this hot and humid weather, but I wither like a pea vine in the mid-summer sun. 

Color Scheming

This year I chose my impatiens inspired by the garden center.  The way they were laid out looked like Impressionist watercolors.  As a base I chose Super Elfin Lilac impatiens.  One of each plant goes into each pot.  Next I chose Super Elfin Starburst Mix.  One lilac Starburst goes into each pot.  The remainder (pink, coral) are mixed around in the pots.  I think the effect is good, though difficult to photograph.   I have many pots in the front of the house, creating a wash of color.  Imagine this one container in the photo multiplied.

End of the Heat Wave

Here in Minnesota we have survived some unusual heat.  We are unused to high temps and humidity, but everything in the garden seems to have survived.  I am hoping that the grass is dormant instead of dead, but the tomatoes and peppers and beans are thriving. Here's a photo of a lovely wild tiger lily.

Peonies

I love these peonies.  These are finished blooming now, but we recently visited north central North Dakota and they are blooming there now.  This plant actually belongs to my daughter, which means this is surviving through four generations. 

The Septic System

The Septic System.Can't live without it!  So when it needs repairing, we do it. How can such a big truck avoid all my interspersed plantings?  The grape vine.  The lilac.  The cherry tree.  The garden beds.  I am happy to say that the workers are careful.  My heart may have pounded rapidly a few times when they got close, but the worst thing is we'll have to re-plant some grass.  And we'll have an improved septic system! 

Loving Those Lilacs

It's going to sound like I'm complaining, but I'm not. Between work, family, and the garden I have not have any time to post what's been happening in my garden. So here I go...The photo of the lilacs (below) capures the delight and even joy I feel.  The color is lovely, and the smell intoxicating.  Yesterday they were covered in butterflies, so I dragged the family outside to see the butterflies and smell the lilacs.  This beauty is fleeting and soul-nourishing. In the middle photo, I find that Pasque flower is almost more interesting after it blooms.  And the irises (top) are blooming, too.  I love those as well.  As I am re-doing my garden, I am trying to simplify, keeping only my favorites.  Yet when they are blooming, they are all my favorites.  

Snowflakes and a Tiller

Yes, snowflakes! Here we only had a few flying through the air, though to the north of us "no travel" is advised due to heavy snow and strong winds. Just this weekend, however, the temperatures were warm enough for me to play with my new tiller, pictured here. I thought that I would never need a tiller. And I suppose that's true. I don't "need" one. But is it fun! I got so much more work done than if I had shoveled by hand (and foot and back). The size is perfect for me since I can lift it, and, since it is electric, I do not have to learn to mix or change the oil. I might have disparaged "boys and their toys," but now I am hoping the weather will cooperate so I can play with my toy again soon.

Pasque Flower on Easter

This may be the only year where my pasque flower blooms on Easter here in Minnesota. Here's the photographic proof. The blossom is just opening. The first photo is a better picture of the squill from the previous post.

First of the Blooms

Here's Siberian Squill, the first of the bulbs to bloom at my place.

Is this highly unusual? Yes.

As a Minnesotan, this early spring makes me nervous because I feel like we will pay for this early spring with something awful later...a blizzard? a drought? freezes in May? People have talked about how this could a sign of global warming. Perhaps it is, but we'll only know it after we've experienced it. We can forecast all we want, but it is only after the trends are collected and analyzed can we draw conclusions. To borrow a cliche, hindsight is 20/20.

Since I can't worry about these dire predictions yet, I will get outside and enjoy the good weather.

First Seeds Planted

Even before the first day of spring (today!), I have planted some seeds. With our unseasonably warm winter and above average temps currently, the garden bed I prepared in the fall seems ready. Will the temperatures stay warm? Will the seeds rot? Stay tuned...