The Garden in October

There is a hush going over the yard and garden.  Plant and insect life are quieting down while the animal life is scurrying about like the white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland.  I got one, rare day in the garden undisturbed today.  I began at 6:30 a.m., as soon as it was light enough to see outdoors.  It was 38 degrees and it couldn't have felt any better, to be out in the smell and feel of wet, cold, earthy nature, without thought or sound, and only with what was in front of me.  The sun had yet to rise enough to lighten the backyard.  It was bliss.  With full-time classes, home schooling and a home and family, these hours are the golden hours that I cherish. 

I'm very much in love with the unique toad lily

and her orchid like appearance, without the orchid like temperament. 

Sunny Calendula

A blue beauty whose name I've lost

And another flower whose name is buried in past records but whose fiery orange fall show is much appreciated.

Never one to disappoint, the foxgloves have reseeded astoundingly well this year.  Because it is a bi-annual, letting it seed is absolutely necessary to seeing it again.

And my favorite, alien looking flower, Monkshood.  This is pre-flowering.  Soon there will be an impressive purple show. 

Lastly, rosa rugosa rose hips.  They were on the list to dry but went rather quickly before I could get to the them.  I did manage to get some horehound in for cough syrup however. 

The Illusion of the Simple Life

Although not truly 'vintage,' (although some might disagree, 1978 was awhile ago,) this is one of my all time favorite articles from Family Life Magazine, an Amish and Mennonite publication by Pathway Publishers that I used to subscribe to.  This was reprinted in the January of 2013 issue. 

While living on and working a small family farm with an Amish made wood stove, a fireplace insert, more than a dozen sheep, half a dozen goats, geese, ducks and chickens, home schooling, gardening, knitting, sewing and gluten free baking, I could relate. 

I still think of this article with every, single change of season and it always warms my heart. 

Always especially timely about now as Summer begins, because things are just growing enough to become over bearing, and time consuming, and there are moments when I wonder why I didn't just settle for astro turf throughout the yard instead of an endless array of plants, herbs, fruit trees, nut and berry plants, rose bushes, clematis, and a host of other growing things.

How to Do it All and Not Lose Your Sanity

Step number one:  Realize you cannot possibly do it all. 

The lack of a post since January can give you an idea of the grueling semester I underwent this past Spring, and just finished yesterday.  Despite some classes being on-line, I have news for those who think on-line classes are easier.  They are not.  At least not if you're doing the work.  They usually have far more reading and writing requirements, discussion posts in which you must be active and papers to write.  I also had my last in-person class for the next three semesters and it was my second semester of my four credit Anatomy and Physiology class that met every Saturday.  Every Saturday since last September, bright and early at 8 a.m. I've been in class.  It was unusually challenging for me as I had no Biology or Chemistry background.  But I passed the final semester with an 86.  Lest you think me an outlier, out of 16 original students in September, only two of us finished the class this spring.  Out of about 8 students starting this Spring, only one finished, and he was taking it a second time, so there you go.

I also had an introductory statistics class that was rather challenging, and a psychology class.  I have a brief, ecstatic two weeks off before my summer classes begin and then only three remaining semesters until completing my Bachelor's. 

In the meantime, I have been itching like crazy to get out in the garden, to do a monumental spring cleaning (which is normally done in March), and settle into a somewhat normal routine.  At least for a little while.  In the next two weeks I should have some garden pictures to share and some more appropriately themed posts related to the original intent of this blog. 

However, here is a little cross-over post I shared on my Facebook page, that pretty sums up my concerns for the upcoming summer:

"So, I once read somewhere on the Interweb that in order to make dry and unexciting reading material more interesting, simply add 'Harry Potter and ...' at the beginning of your texts. So, for your enjoyment, my summer reading list:

Harry Potter and the Principles of Sociological Inquiry, Harry Potter and Research Methods in Psychology and last but not least, the cliff-hanger ending of the trilogy: Harry Potter and Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research and Everyday Experience.

I will then continue the series with my own ad hoc novels: Harry Potter and My Overgrown Garden, Harry Potter and The Sentient Dust Bunnies, and last but not least Harry Potter and Dumbledore Tackle the Filing Pile Cyclops. Gonna be a great summer, jam packed with unexpected thrills and excitement. "

The Late Summer Garden and the First of the Harvest

I did not keep a big vegetable garden this year.  Mostly greens, nasturtiums and some baby pumpkins for my son.  Two tomato plants in pots that have already given what they produced.  But the flowers and herbs were exceptional this year. 

I planted a number of new herbs and I have some sassafras trees coming in the fall, which I'm told are persnickety.  I may try to over winter one or two indoors in case the fall transplants don't make it. I have a black walnut tree a squirrel planted for me which I saved in a pot, he will attempt to over winter as well.  I also have a witch hazel bush that will spend the winter indoors because we missed the transplant deadline.  I've never had much luck with things keeping well inside over the winter, but I'm going to give it a go.  

My Chicago hardy figs I planted last year were not hardy and didn't make it.  Oh well.  A chipmunk got the two figs they produced.  

We managed to keep one sunflower from the chipmunks and rabbits.  They either dig up the seeds or eat the tender shoots.  It never works well for my son and I. 

It's hard to believe but summer is already coming to a close.  

The ever cheerful sunflower.

Skullcap

 Some decorative flowers for pollinators.  A purple salvia and orange daisy.

Hops which will be gathered and dried for tea.

Rosa Rugosa ~ Rose Hips which will be harvested for tea

These have already sat for six weeks and been strained, Elder Flower brandy and Lavender Flower in Vodka.  

Good winter medicine.

Changes in the Garden ~ The First Rose of Summer

Finally, after a very long, drawn out winter, spring has truly arrived beyond sprouts and buds.  This is one of three heirloom roses I planted last year, Rosa Rugosa Alba, and the first to bloom.  I also planted Rosa Rugosa and Apothecary Rose.  All three are thriving.

It's amazing how much joy the little things give me.  Seeing these roses alive with Lady Bugs makes me so, so very happy.  I do not use any chemical pesticides in my garden and only natural one's where needed.  Neem oil dilutions in the Spring on the fruit trees, organic fertilizers and compost, etc. Making my yard more and more alive and fertile each year is my goal.  I try to let nature do as much as she wants or needs to do on her own, with as little interference as possible.  To me there are no weeds, just recalcitrant herbs.

And lastly, I've cleared a space in the garden for some specialty plants.  Not to worry however, as most of our favorite garden residents are poisonous if ingested, fox glove, lily of the valley, the holly in the picture and rue will all make you very ill if ingested (so please don't eat anything!).  But these are a little more sensitive and are for historical purposes only.  Henbane, Wolfsbane and Belladonna (a wild version of which (woody nightshade) grows rampant around my garage and property).  So although it's really not all that novel to have poisonous plants (yes a green potato can also make you very, very sick) and we know that we shouldn't eat the flowers unless we know what they are, it is rather whimsical and will make for interesting plant study.  I don't have small children (or small children visitors) and it is fenced off from my pets.

Milk Glass and Hydrangeas

How can it be July already?

Scenes From the Garden ~ Updates

I have been busy lately with a number of indoor house projects as well as running out to do garden work whenever it stops raining which isn't very often.  So when it does, it is literally a mad dash outdoors to finish up what I can when the sun shines.

I've put in new flooring in my upstairs hallway, and will be celebrating the fourth of July weekend painting my kitchen and our office.

Soon I will be back to posting things other than beautiful snap shots of flowers.  In the meantime, 

Wood Betony in flower

 I'm so excited, first year baby figs!

 Elderflowers

The Salvias

Hollyhocks.  Wish me luck as I battle the Hollyhock weevil this year.  It has so far, been pointless to spray Neem oil or soapy water on these as the rain is nearly daily.  It's my first line of business when the rain lets up.

The vegetables.  All doing quite well.

An Ode to Sweet Cicely

Myrrhis Odorata along the western side of my home thrives in this rocky soil next to the foundation.

I first became fascinated with it when I read about it Sylvia Jorrin's book 'Sylvia's Farm.'

Her book came into my life at a time when I needed it most.  It inspired me to take my own farm journey, one which gave me some of the happiest moments of my life before I had to leave it.

  I have since planted this lovely plant in three different homes.  I heard the new owner of one of those homes ripped it all out because she hated the smell.  It has a scent that smells to me like Anise, although Mrs. Grieve's Modern Herbal describes it as a smell similar to Lovage, I think Lovage smells like Curry, so I disagree.

There is also an American version which I found to my surprise already growing here, quite prolifically from under my porch.  

As with all plants of similar flower and design, be careful in your identification.  I can see where the novice might confuse it with Hemlock which is poisonous.  

The black clusters which were difficult to clearly photograph as it was windy are ants busily farming aphids.  

Scenes From The Garden ~ More Plants You Ought to Know

Common Sage in flower (Salvia Officinalis)

Winter Savory (Satureja Montana) 

Catmint (Napeta x Faassenni

Bayberry (Myrica)

Fox Glove (Digitalis Purpurea)

False Indigo (Baptisia Australis)

Scenes From the Garden ~ Planting Ahead

Scenes From The Garden

This unassuming rather sad looking stick is one of four apple trees I've planted this year.  Two Northern Spy (circa early 1800s), a Westfield Seek-No-Further (circa 1700s) and a Ginger Gold (although it originates from the 1960s -- a bit later than I would prefer, it was a suitable partner for pollination).  I have babied these transplants as though they were my own children, fussed over them, nursed them, watered them and in general experienced what could be described as mild gardeners anxiety over them.  They are finally starting to bud.  I have blueberry bushes, hazelnuts and hardy fig trees arriving later this week.

It's easy to feel discouraged in the early years, when the idea that no fruit will appear for 2-3 years.  However, I keep picturing the future in my mind--a vision of someday walking out into my own little orchard and plucking heirloom apples from branches in my own backyard.  I try hard to plant heirloom and old varieties wherever I can.  If not solely for my love of old things and desire to preserve them, then solely for the variety and health offered to the bees, hummingbirds and wildlife.

This is one of two flowering quince (Chaenomeles x superba Cameo or Japanese Quince) that I hope will someday bear fruit.  They are ancient in Asia and came to Europe around the 1800s and when it came to America, I do not know.  This is a gorgeous colored one and the earliest to flower in spring.  Click on my Instagram to see a photo in bloom.  It is a stunning showstopper that I saw in my neighbor's hedge and coveted with an envy so strong it was nearly illegal.  So I found out what it was, and ordered two for myself.  So there.

These two interesting fungi are growing on a tree stump I refused to remove from the yard.  Aside from making a lovely table for bird feeders, it is slowly going back into the earth as intended, providing a home and food for many inhabitants.

Attempting a few different flowers from seed.

This was the first year I've ever intentionally released Ladybugs.  Aside from being highly beneficial to the environment, it was an excellent home school exercise for my son.

Scenes From the Garden - Upcycled Garden Architecture

Scenes From The Garden

All of these striking elements of garden architecture are inexpensive ($3 or less) thrift store finds that were eh hem....less than attractive (ok, some were downright ugly). 

 I used Krylon silver, mirror, stone and copper finish spray paints along with clear enamel where needed.  The mirror finish is not outdoor safe on its own.  The silver spheres I had purchased last year at Lakeside Catalog and the little ceramic birds were at Michael's last year.   The paint was the most expensive purchase and I waited until I had coupons to use to buy them.

In one afternoon the garden was transformed.

Under the elderberry

 Next to Solomon's Seal

Tucked in next to a second elderberry with some sage

Behind the lilies

 In front of the Lemon Balm

In the mint bed (various mints will have likely nearly covered it by late summer)

A candle sconce serves as a buffet bird feeder, the ragged bird houses were already here when I moved in.  The Love sign got a quick coat of copper spray paint and graces the Holly.  The ceramic on the faux stones had faded so they got a coat of paint.

Scenes From the Garden ~ Late Spring Blooms

Much is blooming.  I can almost tell the timing of the seasons by what is in bloom.  

Right now daffodils and tulips are long past, and the late blooming lilacs just finishing up.  

Lily-of-the-valley

The last of the lilacs

A gorgeous flower I planted and have lost the name for!  I am still digging through to find my plant notes from last year.

Two different Columbines

 A Day Lily