Longest Night of the Year

Happy Winter Solstice, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Festive Festivus, Good Yule, and whatever winter celebrations you celebrate! It's tough garden in the snow, but my intention is to embrace winter and all its beauty. 

Cold Frame

I took these photos on November 24, and the plants are stable. One kohlrabi plant survived the slugs but has stopped growing.  The base of the plant is not growing big enough to harvest , but I could eat the leaves. I picked some lettuce ahead of the cold snap. 

I've had to weigh down this frame with some heavy rocks due to our hefty winds. I'll keep checking on the plants inside, even as I fear their days are numbered with an especially cold snap (single digit lows!) beginning Thursday/Thanksgiving night.  

First Snow and Season Wrap Up

Yesterday was our first snow of the season, mostly rain but enough to cover the ground. I felt bad for the chilly trick-or-treaters because we've had warm weather up to this point. The above photo shows strawberry leaves, and below is the fabulous fall color on the honeysuckle bush. The bees love it in summer, and I love it in fall. For this season's wrap up, here's what I've learned. I'll pay careful attention to the rabbits, which are voracious year round. I'll start most of my seeds in a tray on the deck or otherwise protect them. I suspect feasting slugs, but anything that likes tender young seedlings (rabbits, chipmunks, squirrels, birds) may be eating them before they really get going. And I'll try to order early again so I can get the plants and seeds I want. When I browsed for a second order, I found my choices had already sold out. 

I'm hoping the lettuce (below) survives because it's tucked inside the cold frame. The rocks weigh down the frame, which had flipped over in earlier winds. This snow officially concludes the season. I'm going to put more mulch down and wrap the base of our new tree. I feel a little lost because I always seem to find something to do in the garden. 

First Freeze

The temperature was 22F on my outdoor thermometer, which may be a degree or two low, and the bird bath (shallow platter with water) was frozen solid. Yep, it was our first freeze. 

The frostiness is lovely. Earlier I harvested the remaining carrots, which are perfectly imperfect, 

and taste so crunchy and sweet. Delicious!

A final frosty photo

A Minnesota Desert?

A beautiful morning! I'm not sure what to do...Keep covering everything? Clean it all up? We're living in a desert-like environment with no rain (note the brown lawn). The days get warm, the nights get cool, and we'll have some nights of frost with no freeze in the forecast. We've had one frost, but a lot has survived. My two rain barrels are drying up. I'm going to focus on keeping my perennials, shrubs, and new tree hydrated to survive winter. I enjoy this weather, because it cools off so nicely at night for good sleeping and it doesn't get so hot so I can work longer outside in the garden longer. Climate change is bad, of course, but it's keeping Minnesota temperatures a little more moderate. The lack of precipitation is a problem, though, and I'm wishing I had yet another rain barrel. 

First Day of Fall

I re-planted beans, and some survived the bunnies. The marigolds are looking good. They do NOT keep bunnies away, but they don't get eaten. That's amaranth, ready to go to seed.

Warm weather means more peppers. Below is lettuce and greens. Anything cabbage related has been hit hard by caterpillars and slugs. I found two huge slugs hiding in the lettuce when I picked some. Very unappetizing. I really cleaned it well. 

The strawberries I replanted dies completely back, but I kept them water, and they've got some new leaves sprouting, storing energy for the winter, along with many other plants, shrubs, and trees. Let's hope we get some rain to help. 

Seed saving, revisited

Last year I grew zinnias from saved seeds, and the plants succumbed to powdery mildew. I didn't save seeds from those diseased plants. I was feeling pretty sad about my failed experiment.  But I found some old seeds and gave them a try. They're thriving! Below are seeds I'm saving, and below that is another photo of a flower on the same plant of the saved seeds. I'm excited to try again next spring to see if they grow true or if they cross-pollinated with the many zinnias I planted. A warmer climate (or a  greenhouse) would make this happen faster than waiting until next year. Can't you hear the mom voice saying, "Don't wish your life away"?

The view from my kitchen window

First of all, I have the privilege of having a kitchen, especially one with a window. On top of that, I have the privilege of a yard and garden. I have the physical strength and energy to dig and plant and the financial resources to buy seeds and plants. I know not everyone has that. I so appreciate this view in the morning. The white flowers on the far left are cosmos in the new wild flower garden. (I know, cosmos aren't wildflowers.) In the middle left are the limelight hydrangea. The deck railing is center with cosmos and painted lady runner beans just outside the window. The vegetable garden is on the right. There are many holes in the fence, but that's a story for another day (bunnies). In the foreground are my houseplants. The pink one is a wax begonia from a four pack I bought in the spring. Then there are three succulents, including one baby on the left. I'm delighted with how the work and planning have paid off after five years. And I'm feeling blessed every morning when I see this view.

Watermelon Success

With the possibility of large hail soon, I tested one of the watermelons today, and it is perfectly ripe, sweet, and juicy....delicious! I've harvested the rest of them.

The variety is Blacktail Mountain.

Growing in the potato bag worked, using fresh potting soil and fertilizing once after the seedlings had true leaves.  I watered once a day, sometimes twice when it was hot and dry. I got one fruit per vine, partly due to losing a few tiny fruits during a cold spell, but the vines are smaller, so that's better for the plant anyway. One vine climbed the fence. Now it's time for dinner!

A prettier post

That last post had tiny seedlings, so I thought I'd show you some flowers. This is Queeny Lime Red Zinnias with dill as filler.

Dill is very versatile...good for cooking, good for flower arrangements, and good for Swallowtail butterfly caterpillars. Above it goes well with Purity Cosmos, which I had to trim because a whole stem fell over and was touching the ground. It became an interesting arrangement with  those curved stems. Below is Black-eyed Susan, which survived last year's drought!

"Fall" Planting of Greens

This bed is looking sad after I harvested the garlic and most of the lettuce. I dumped some finished compost in the middle of it to prepare for my favorite cooler season vegetables--kohlrabi, kale, bok choy, and lettuce. 

Because I've had a problem with seeds getting eaten before or during germination, I started the seeds and kept them on the back deck. Then I transplanted them into the bed. I measured so that they will fit under my cold frame. We will get cold weather, so I want to be prepared. Below you'll see the bed is mulched with dried grass clippings, sprinkled with cayenne pepper, and surrounded by netting. What you can't see is that I put some slug granules outside the garden bed. If we have a dry spell, the slugs are attracted to wherever I water. I'll update this blog on my success (or failure) later.

Renewing the Strawberry Patch

The strawberry plants are doing well...too well. They have overtaken their space, and, while they look healthy and lush, the plants in back weren't producing many strawberries this year (or maybe the bunnies got them first). Can you see the four stepping stones? Nope. I'm doing this now because we have a few cool mornings, and I read that strawberries prepare for spring fruit in September. I don't know if it's true or not, but this gives them enough time to put down some roots.

I carefully removed plants from the edge, which are newer, setting them in the shade in some water. Then I hacked away at the rest, removing many runners, too. They made quite the pile (above). I added compost to the old plants and the cleared portion (on the right in the photo below). I re-planted the saved plants, laid some paper down for a path, topped the paper with stepping stones, and mulched with some fresh grass clippings. If the transplants make it, I'll be happy. If they don't, I can order some new bareroot plants in spring.  

August Update

Cut flowers! I enjoy bringing the outdoors inside. These are limelight hydrangea. 

They look so good outside that I'm hesitant to cut them. 

The begonia (above) loves its spot on the deck, as does the coleus (below). These are cuttings...I cut the tops off so all the plants would be even in the containers. 

My husband said the viburnum berries below look fake. They are brightly colored, uniformly sized, and abundant, almost too perfect.

The sweet Joe Pye weed (below) is getting ready to bloom in its first year in my new native plant garden.

The Purity cosmos (below) were supposed to be a little filler  until the native perennials adjusted. Instead, they are the stars, loved by both bees and humans.

Picotee cosmos may be a new favorite. 

Tomatoes are doing well. 

I'm going to try to save the seed of this beautiful zinnia. 

The watermelons are getting big. I hope we get at least one to eat. I never know what will happen because of weather and critters. 

Purple Coneflower

Purple coneflower is a staple in my garden because it does so well and it's great for pollinators. Above is the native flower bed. Below is another front garden bed.

And here are a couple of volunteers on the side of the driveway. I didn't have the heart to mow over them. 

Below is an example of asters disease on a coneflower. I pulled that plant up. I wasn't sure it would make it because the bunnies nibbled new growth day after day, so I think it got too stressed. 

The last photos all have some kind of bee on them. Bees like these plants like humans like potato chips...you can't have just one.