Harvest Festival

I went out to our gardens this week to see if there might be anything left, just in case. To my surprise I found over 65 items (Gus counted!) that were ready to be picked and brought in. Some were things we planted this summer like carrots and tomatoes, but there were plenty of self seeders and mystery plants that appeared out of no where.

The harvest? 3 cantaloupes, a squash, yellow pear tomatoes, roma and heirloom tomatoes, 5 potatoes, onions I planted last year, 3 green peppers and 8 beets. There is still a lot of parsley left too, but I left it out there for the bunnies.

Bringing in the Crop

We have had a lovely fall in Minnesota this year. Usually by now all of the tender plants have long since wilted or been zapped by bitter overnight frosts. This year our tomato plants and impatiens are still blooming-- or at least for those people who have continued to water them. Mine grow in spite of a lack of regular watering, weeding or much tending. We've been busy watching the turkeys run around the neighborhood, right?
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Last week we began to bring in the carrots that the kids planted in June. Though we religiously plant them each year, ours have never had much success beyond being finger-sized orbs of orange goodness. Perhaps a child's pinky would be a more appropriate size guage for what we've grown up until now. This week we've been hauling in some downright chunky, albeit short and squat beauties. Our vegetable garden area has dappled sun and prevents us from having a truly marvelous garden, but we have fun with the mixed results. Pea sized brussel sprouts? Bring it on!

Still Blooming

I planted a bunch of seeds in my cedar planters that my Dad made last year. The planters are lovely... long and custom designed for our patio. The idea was to plant enough tall beauties to slightly disguise the fact that we have a chain link fence in our back yard.

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The flowers are doing well despite me. The soil is crumbly and dry, the leaves are getting wilty and cringe when they see me. I've been a terrible flower mom this summer. I'm too lazy to pull the hose all the way around the house. Isn't that awful? (In my defense.... one of our spigots is broken and awaiting repair, the one that is closer and more convenient to the patio... but still, flowers NEED water!) Every year I make mental notes as the summer progresses.... plan more nasturtiums, fertilize, remember to water. Maybe this year is the year that I actually transcribe the reams of mental notes onto paper.

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Does anyone else out there keep a garden journal? What are your hopes for next year?

Someone loves tomatoes

Our tomatoes are starting to yield a little bit of fruit around here. We planted three different varieties: cherry tomato, yellow pear tomato and an Early Girl, I think.

Gus called me over to the tomato plants the other day and said, "Mom, there's something that looks like a yellow egg plant growing!" Sure enough, our first yellow pear tomato was ready and Miss Louise was more than happy to be the recipient of our first yellow beauty.

I think that is chocolate ice cream on her face, by the way, her other favorite summer treat.

And you? What kind of tomatoes do you have planted chez toi this summer?

An Iowa Adventure: Seed Savers

A few weeks ago, Saturday morning came very early. My alarm went off at 5:15 in preparation for my day trip to Seed Savers, near Decorah, Iowa. My friend Janet had been wanting to visit for at least ten years and asked me a few months ago if I might have any interest in going. Need she even ask? I, too, had been wanting to visit for years. She found a tour of Seed Savers with an early morning bird watching and wild flower viewing focus and thought that we would enjoy it along with a pancake breakfast served on the sprawling lawn outside their new visitor's center. We left Minneapolis at 6 a.m. and arrived in good time, ready for hot pancakes served with compostable plates, forks and coffee cups.

Our tour guide Larry was the most knowledgeable outdoorsman I had ever met. He had stories about plants and their scientific names as well as their primary and secondary common names. He told tales of wild outings where he and friends had foraged for entire meals. His recall of bird sounds was outstanding. And his excitement when he saw a bird he had been hoping for? I thought he might break into song.

Such beauty, such amazing preservation of seeds and so close to home. We also enjoyed a little tour of the old barn and former visitor's center. The highlight for me (having just gotten through our own recent infestation) was seeing the mouseproof room where seeds were stored... covered from floor to ceiling with mesh. A mouse-proof fortress.

Next time we'll bring our kids and maybe our husbands. The chickens, ducks, and geese were just too much fun to keep them to ourselves. But just for that day... we loved every little moment of quiet...and a greasy hamburger and beer on the way home.

And here's a little background on Seed Savers, straight from their "About Us" page on their site.

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"Seed Savers Exchange is a non-profit, member supported organization that saves and shares the heirloom seeds of our garden heritage, forming a living legacy that can be passed down through generations. Our loyal SSE members have distributed an estimated 1 million samples of rare garden seeds since our founding nearly 35 years ago. Those seeds now are widely used by seed companies, small farmers supplying local and regional markets, chefs and home gardeners and cooks, alike.

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Seed Savers Exchange was founded in 1975 by Diane Ott Whealy and Kent Whealy to honor this tradition of preserving and sharing. Their collection started when Diane's terminally-ill grandfather gave them the seeds of two garden plants, Grandpa Ott's Morning Glory and German Pink Tomato, that his parents brought from Bavaria when they immigrated to St. Lucas, Iowa in the 1870s.

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Today, the 890-acre Heritage Farm, Decorah, Iowa, is our home -- and Seed Savers Exchange is the largest non-governmental seed bank in the United States. We permanently maintain more than 25,000 endangered vegetable varieties, most having been brought to North America by members' ancestors who immigrated from Europe, the Middle East, Asia and other parts of the world. Unlike Fort Knox, Heritage Farm is not surrounded by security fences and guards. Our perimeter is patrolled by Bald Eagles, red-tailed hawks, deer, raccoons and other wildlife. The farm is ringed by 8.5 miles of hiking trails that take visitors through majestic scenery, past some of our 23 acres of certified organic preservation gardens, historic orchard and ancient White Park Cattle."

Jack Frost

In October when it snowed here, I complained. The frost killed my tomato plants, roughed up my impatiens and forced the end of my growing season.
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This morning when I peered out my window and noticed that Jack Frost had visited, I couldn't have been happier. It is November. It is supposed to be crisp and cold and sometimes even snowy. I dropped to my knees with my camera this morning to inspect every tiny crystalline fleck I could see, creeping around in the garden shooting pictures while the curious folks driving by must have wondered what exactly I was doing at 7:30 in my garden when the temperature read 35 degrees.

Welcome Fall, I'm glad you're here. Winter, could you please wait until after Thanksgiving to really arrive?

A Neighborly Project:: part two

The fence is super snazzy... plastic in all its glory! But actually, since the color doesn't fade and the paint doesn't chip (like our, ahem, garages....), it works well. We decided that it would be much more fun to take out a section of the fence for easier passage and to complete the "sneaky way" around our yards. The kids like to run around the back of both garages, then in between the two, or to sneak out in front of our garage. We've since cleared out most of the burrs and low-hanging branches and the kid fun factor is quite high.

Troy and Megan bought and installed a beautiful arbor/arch in the opening between the fence and garage. She planted a trumpet vine to crawl up one side and we're training the wild blackberries you see in the above photo to climb up the other side. Potentially dangerous with the thorns, but a taste treat for passers-through.

This week we're getting woodchips from the city of Minneapolis' free wood chip distribution program (the city grinds up the trees they trim, and drop off sites for people to pick up, free disposal for the city, free chips for us!). We're going to lay them thick in between the garages for a soft sneaking surface for the kids as well as a way to keep the nasty burrs from returning. We're relocating most of the plants that were in the area from previous landscape projects, and adding new ones.

In addition to the convenience of the open fence, the other reason why I'm enamored with this project is that it reminds me of my childhood. Our neighbors over the chain link fence have two daughters. Laura and Elly were our best friends growing up (Laura and I are six months apart) and we played together every day. At some point our parents were tiring of all the running around the houses to get to each others' yards to play, so they also cut a hole in the fence. They installed a simple metal gate and brick paths that lead to the fence, different bricks on either side. Throughout the years our families have remained friends... through shared elementary schools, different high schools, overseas trips, varied colleges, weddings, and now grandchildren. When Louise was born five months after Laura's daughter Luciana, we knew that they were destined to become close friends, just as their mothers are.

Do you have a story of an over-the-fence friend or shared gardening project? Please share with us.

A Neighborly Project:: part one

We have great neighbors on both sides of us. Luckily for our kids, one set of neighbors has kids about the same age as ours. A few weeks ago they removed one section of the fence separating our yards so the kids would have an easier way to get back and forth. They installed a white wooden arbor in the open space where the fence once stood. We're both changing our landscaping in the area to accomodate kids in the garden and different plants. I don't know who is having more fun with the project... our combined six kids? Or us?

Getting the Seeds Planted

I finally got my seeds planted yesterday. It took my older brother's deadline of his flight today to France to get our fingers moving in the dirt. He got the room insulated, a table of old boards and saw horses set up and we hooked up the lights. A little rugged, but perfect. Absolutely perfect.

I brought broccoli, canteloupe, basil, zinnias and cosmos. He had flowering thyme, rosemary, basil, lavender and a few others. We planted two flats and prepared them to be taken care of by his wife while he's in France with his band. With a heater and a timer, plus Tonya the waterer, we're set.

Our set up.

Love this table.

Thinking about a garden

My seed packets are sitting next to my coffee filters and coffee in the kitchen and I stare longingly at them every morning. How much longer? Who knows in Minnesota, really. My brother has a plan to make a room in his basement for us to set up grow lights. I bought a shop light a few years ago thinking that I would have time to start before the weather was nice. Little did I realize, with three kids some days I barely have time to brush my teeth. His idea of having it at his house made me very happy... he could do the daily maintenance and I could just visit.

If you need a primer on starting seeds, here's what Martha has to say.

So... I have carrots, broccoli, cosmos, two different Martha Stewart zinnia packs, pole runner beans, sugar snap peas and beans so far. We're joining a CSA this summer, so I'm trying to control myself. More on the CSA later.

Michelle and her girls are going to grow a lot of yummy things in that big lawn of theirs. What are you going to grow in your patch of green?

The Arb

This chartreuse color is truly one of my favorites these days. And orange. Not probably the most flattering color on a blonde, but sometimes you just gotta do what feels right. Not necessarily what the rules say are right.

My brother, sister and I took our Mom on a birthday outing a few weeks ago, to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. Just us, no kids, not even our Dad. We did the same for his birthday in July, just Dad and the three of us to a baseball game. With so many little ones around at our family gatherings, it is often difficult to really talk. I mean, really talk. No interruptions.

The Arboretum was a perfect location for our birthday gathering, as all four of us could talk shop about plants for days. We're all garden lovers and interested in picking up tips on new plants and cool color combinations. Although it was rainy and cool, we enjoyed our selves immensely, taking the trolley tour of the grounds, noshing on a light soup and sandwich lunch in their enviromentally friendly cafeteria (they compost/recycle almost everything!), and lingering among the hosta glades.

Love this combination. The gomphrena reminds me of the summer

I spent in China. These hot pink beauties grew there like dandilions here.

Everywhere and beautiful!

Ideas for the future... wouldn't this look great at our farm someday?
This French-style kitchen garden caught my eye.
Tomatillos, growing THIS big in Minnesota? Mine never even dreamed of these heights!
Krista in the rain... admiring the waterfall that actually

crossed through the rocks on the path. How do they do that?

Not taken over by weeds, exactly...

Yes, there are some weeds there, but mostly it is the pumpkin plants that were mysteriously planted by the compost harvested from our compost pile at the beginning of the summer. I still love the pumpkin plants, especially as they've started to produce pumpkins, but my oh my. They are overtaking everything! My poor onions were looking great, but now have no sunlight. I had to dig them up early last week as I was worried they would rot in the ground. For next year, they can go in a different area and let this front-and-center real estate go to more useful veggies.

The little red onions... only slightly larger than they were when I planted them as sets.
Peek-a-pumpkins!

One of four brussel sprout plants that are happy to produce leaves, but no apparent brussel sprouts. Any suggestions?
All in a day's harvest. The lettuce and basil have been the favorites around here this summer. These were our first two carrots, but they didn't last long when the boys spied them.