good morning.

Good morning! This winter I put in my third 4×4 raised bed and added about 6×6 feet to the asparagus patch I started last year. I’m hoping the tomatoes do better for me this year. Last year they struggled and finally died. Maybe the drought? The herbs, on the other hand, almost took over the world. What are you planning on planting this year?

Flowers! Good Morning Christy!

conjuring up the fragrances now
… starting with roses and jasmine

Good morning. I was watching a gardening show at 4:30 AM .This year I am going to start a Victory Garden in honor of the recession(depression) and to celebrate the progressive victories this coming fall.

hmmm, I seem to have the place to myself.

This could very easily turn out badly.

Nothing brightens up a dark winter day than thinking of the flowers to come.

Elliot, you would love Savannah in the spring when the jasmine blooms. It’s heavenly! I planted some along the back fence, and it spreads a bit every year. I’m hoping that this year it really takes off. What they say about it down here is the first year it sleeps, the second year it creeps and the third year it leaps. I’m hoping for some leaping this year!

Good morning, Christy. Lovely post idea, particularly @ the end of a tough wk.

Here’s a really nice veggie stew recipe. I never exactly follow this recipe- just throw whatever I have the most of in it. Roasting the vegs. 1st give the stew a unique flavor:

Roasted Veggie Stew

It’s funny, I’m the opposite. When I am strapped for cash I downscale my gardening b/c it seems frivolous to spend money at the garden center (where for me, everyday is Christmas)

In some ways those are the building years b/c I focus on dividing my perennials and rooting cuttings from shrubs I like. I have successfully multiplies a gorgeous variegated hydrangea sitting in my front yard and now have colonies of it all over the property. Just from air layering lower branches. The leaves are more spectacular than the flowers, so it gives me color spring till frost.

That sounds absolutely delicious. I’m going to have to try that soon.

To New Englanders, we’re still lookin’ at snow and usin’ the wood pile to supplement oil heat and visions of gardens are merely dreams to be put off till March( to even begin starter plants inside).

I envy you.

Great for using all the extra veggies once the neighbors are saturated w/the overload ;-)

Good morning.

I did some canning & preserving last September. I found Preserving the Harvest has much better recipes than Ball’s book. Made pear butter, celery soup, pumpkin soup (key ingredient is parmesan cheese which cuts the sweetness of the pumpkin), chicken a la king, frozen & canned tomatoes, basil-shallot mustard.
http://www.amazon.com/Big-Book.....038;sr=1-1

Elliot, you would love Savannah in the spring when the jasmine blooms. It’s heavenly! I planted some along the back fence, and it spreads a bit every year. I’m hoping that this year it really takes off. What they say about it down here is the first year it sleeps, the second year it creeps and the third year it leaps. I’m hoping for some leaping this year!

It does sound Heavenly! I like that: first it sleeps, then it creeps, then it leaps

have driven past the Savannah exits on I-95 ninety-five times, always wanted to stop by. Now I won’t be able to pass it up, I’ll be lured in by the scent of jasmine - if it’s in bloom - otherwise, the smell of biscuits :)

Same here. Snow and cold for another two months at least in Quebec. I love our garden, but am a terrible gardener. We have one come in to do the dirty work for us. Someday I’ll learn how not to kill plants.

Good Morning, well I still have parsley and rosemary alive. Never thought I’d have fresh picked herbs in January.

I don’t make much effort to grow vegetables. Peas are easy to find at the market and Sweet Peas smell prettier.

Good morning, Christy, hope you’re enjoying your seed porn catalogs :)

Oh, goody! A growing thread….

Planning to try my hand at something called straw bale gardening this spring. Bought maybe a half-dozen bales of wheat straw back in the fall so they would have time to start deteriorating a bit; instructions indicate you have to give them a ten-day treatment with some kind of chemicals if you start out with fresh straw. Supposedly you can grow most anything in them other than root crops. Google and you’ll find quite a lot of info including what’s needed if starting with new bales. Seems like a wonderful way to avoid trying to augment beach sand tho’ use life is projected two years at most.

New seeds from Thompson & Morgan arrived several weeks ago: mini iceberg lettuce (supposed to have tennis ball sized heads - perfect for one serving), a reduced spines zucchini, spinach medania, sweet cherry tomato variety for basket/container, AND alyssum. Last year was the first time for alyssum and I’m madly in love with it. Expected it to bloom and be gone but it lasted well into the fall (and that’s in a hot, humid climate). Worked beautifully in containers and, if it hadn’t gone a bit too dry several times, it should have been even nicer.

Marion -

Is that Carolina jasmine or Confederate jasmine? Havn’t had much luck with the Carolina at the beach but the Confederate has definitely started leaping. Am gonna have to cut it back to a nub because it’s planted against some decking/railing that has to be replaced so will miss at least one bloom season. When all the deck is completed am gonna plant LOTS more; the fragrance (especially in the evening) is to die for.

I have never been able to grow anything with any success. Animals i can do, as in pets to adore and love and they tell me when they need something. *grin* Plants? Never have stayed around long. *sighs*

I’m feeling the need for some sunshine.

Sun = Sanity here. Some years I slip away for a couple of weeks in Sarasota for some serious beach time. This year, however… the Magic Eight Ball says - “You’re joking, right?” I try again - it says “Finances say No” Need a new Magic Eight Ball - or something.

Summer in a downtown apartment - lots of bicycling, watching other people mow lawns, attending the different cultural fairs in the park across the street, gettin’ back in shape, sitting on the imaginary porch that I’ve told the front office I built outside my window, and most certainly not subjecting anything green to the deadly touch of my black thumb.

I do know a place out in the country though, about an hour from here, with the world’s best sweet corn - amazing how long I can live on a corn-on-the-cob diet.

I was listening to a gardening show on the radio and they were saying that storebought ginger can be planted when it gets roots. I think its too cold here for it to overwinter but they were talking about the wonderful smell the blossoms have.

plein air ala prima landscape painting in the warm and cool hues of the summer :D

Waccamaw, I’ve got Confederate jasmine, hoping for leaping this year.

Ugh. Gardening talk when it’s below zero and snowing here!

Heirloom tomatoes will be my newest experiment this year. I am tired of the varieties from the local nursery. Last year I cultivated in pots two chilepin plants that I dug up from a ditch in south Texas. We dry the tiny peppers and put them in a pepper mill and they are killer hot.

I tried that last year and it started to come up, but I planted it too early and a late cold snap killed the shoots and the rhizome didn’t produce any more. I’m trying again this year, waiting until it’s warmer. My guess is that it should overwinter here, like canna lilies.

Cherokee Purples are a great heirloom, they are a beef stake variety and one of the more prolific producers.

I was listening to a gardening show on the radio and they were saying that storebought ginger can be planted when it gets roots. I think its too cold here for it to overwinter but they were talking about the wonderful smell the blossoms have.

American Ginger is a great addition to a natural garden beings that it’s the native version of ginger here.

Beautiful and clean deep green leaves for the shadier side of the garden. The flower isn’t anything special and if you don’t look for it you won’t find it. But plant it in the right place and it’s a carefree ground cover.
here’s a picture and description from a nursery that’s out of stock (*g*), don’t know where the best place to get it is, I got mine at a local nursery.

Thanks and I will add that one to my list. I am tired of tomatoes without any taste. I remember when tomatoes actually had taste and were more acidic. Or maybe I am imagining it. And I misspelled chiltepins.

You’re not imagining it. And Cheorkee Purples do taste good! One thing you’ll notice right away about heirlooms is how thin the skin is on them. You can peel them very easily.

Modern tomatoes have been breed to have a thicker skin for shipping and storage purposes.

Have patience though, heirlooms can be finicky. They are well worth it.

Tomatoes are the only thing I grow. There’s no garden, per se, I just put a few plants in the landscaping against the house. Well, hubby complains a bit so last year I grew them in pots. Didn’t work out too well. This year (if I do it at all), I’m going to have to disturb the landscaping again. One year, I accidentally grew cherry tomatoes. They weren’t big enough for the tomato salads we love but I did have enough to add to green salads for the entire summer. And enough to share. I may go back to that.

All right. That settles it for me. A tomato with a skin you don’t need a hacksaw to get through? That’s for me. Um, how finicky is finicky?

I used to go to Savannah every year for a big St. Patrick’s Day rugby tournament. What a beautiful city.

Not a gardener, for complicated reasons about the soil at our place. My flowers come through wild flower identification walks in the NE high places (ok relatively high) and when I am lucky , boggy ones. So I can’t add much, but can always ask:

What are your favorite Heirlooms. Our farmers markets in the BlueBay now offer seemingly endless varieties way into September.

Got a busy morning, so no more ‘talking’ but I’ll be lurking from time to time.

I wish I was good @ growing Heirlooms- cherry, plum, beefsteak tomatoes are the ones I always have the most success with. A husband/wife team of local growers keep me supplied w/Heirlooms @ the farmers’ market. Their Cherokees are smallish but really tasty & their green Zebras are wonderful for salads.

All the posts on flowers have me longing to visit my favorite parks & gardens in L.A. when I get home. Folks who think the City of Lost Angels is bereft of great floral displays & greenery should visit these places when they go there; even in the winter & very early spring a lot is blooming. Seeds available yr. round from their shops:

Huntington Library & Botanical Gardens
Descanso Gardens
L.A. Arboretum

Ill look for the ginger.

It is snowing a bit here in East Tn and i have been getting my seed order together. Did you know that Fedco Seeds doesnt use Monsanto or any off shoot of Monsanto.

Sounds like we’re sharing the same imagination…I long for childhood tomatoes that actually had some *bite* to them. Breeding out all the acid has resulted in red blobs = a product that won’t put up a good fight against a heavy slatter of mayo in sandwiches.

What I really want to grow is watermelon. They’re mucho expensive and we reallly like them, but I don’t know if you can grow them in central NY. How long do they take to mature?

Ruth Stout wrote the original No-Work Garden Book.

I just checked Amazon and it’s apparently out-of-print, but available used; pricey there, but cheaper on http://www.abebooks.com/ - search “No-Work Garden Book”.

OMG seed porn. That’s what we call around the office!

My law partner already has his desk piled high with catalogs and the further we get into Spring the more goofing off he will do just sitting there making lists and emailing his orders. He usually has his bulbs and summer bulbs delivered to the office and the boxes he gets are so huge he has to take the contents home in batches.

Consequently visitors to my law firm get treated to a very unprofessional looking giant box of bulbs sitting in our reception area every Spring and Fall.

Yes, thin skinned like some names who come to mind :)

Finicky in that they are uneven in production oftomatoes, some plant produce, some don’t. Some grow very well, some don’t. They are very uneven. The thing to keep in mind though is the less tomatoes a plant produces the more tasty it is.

Please ALL FDL’S watch this and tell me what you think?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKQEQ7qHvgM

Thank-you for your time

I’m no gardener, but I am looking forward to watching other people’s azaleas explode into color. I’m also looking forward to some outdoor painting as per tw3k @ 23.

Lasagna Gardening was written by the woman who runs the gift shop in my mother’s town in upstate New York. Especially for an urban gardener, it’s a terrific idea.

I’m in love with Seeds of Change, which has heirloom and untreated organic bulk seeds and plant sets. We bought our irrigation system from them. Also my Rubbermaid compost bin.

Don’t forget two major resources, one for preserving, the other for growing. The first, ‘The Joy of Pickling’ has everything necessary and most things desirable about pickles and all that entails. The second is www.davesgarden.com - absolutely vital for the beginning gardener because information targetted to the grower’s location is available almost instantly.

And as well, the Master Gardeners Program, sponsored by state extension services nationwide, is something that everyone should be aware of, support and use.

Solai? You might be able to grow watermelons in NY if you had a greenhouse. But in order for them to ripen - for all melons to ripen - they need a prolonged period of heat and sun - some varieties as much as 80 or more days. Instead, you might want to try some of the Armenian-variety cucumbers (which are actually melons).

Five-gallon plastic buckets apparently make good pots for tomato plants; I used to have a friend in Manhattan who grew them on the roof of her apartment building.
Someone’s probably written a book called “Mud-bucket Gardening” (as in sheet-rock mud’).

Now I will not be able to get acidic tomatoes out of my head. My grandmother and I would eat simply sliced tomatoes with salt and pepper for lunch. I remember them still being warm from the sun. I need a tomato garden this year.

Oh. Dear. I can’t say that I’m in the least surprised, though. I’m off to adjust my tinfoil hat again…

Let me know if you find a variety that meets our standards. *g*

GWPDA, thanks for the info. That’s what I thought.

Have also heard about people cutting an opening in a bag of potting soil and planting one tomato/bag. Seems like it also involved punching a few holes in the bag for drainage.

It is a deal. The hunt is on.

solai, I planted an heirloom rutger tomato plant last year and had over 100 tomatoes on it. Got it at Meijer Thrifty Acres (their union workers). It was my pride and joy.

Morning all — Mr. ReddHedd got up with The Peanut, so I got a sleep in this morning. Ahhhh…warm comforter ona cold morning, and now a fresh cuppa coffee. Now, if it weren’t so freezing ass cold outside…

Christy asks for sunshine…here I be *g*. I’ve a hybrid book to recommend, combines two of my favorite “vices” aka necessities of living a good life:

Songbirds in your Garden [mods, I pulled this off amazon, you may need to tweak it so it links via FDL. Thanks!]

Gardens feed our bodies, yes, but they also nurture our spirits. And are best enjoyed when shared with all God’s children…the feathered and the rest of us….

Now back to read thru what the rest of you are thinkin’ about today.

~ Prairie
Don’t Blink

I remember my father complaining about the “hot house” tomatoes in the grocery stores 40 plus years ago. The folks very rarely purchased tomatoes in the winter but loved raw or broiled beef steak tomatoes.

Note: I cook with tomatoes and tomato sauce but do not care fro them as a stand-alone item.

Real estate brokers in Paris put out brochures showing the latest offerings. I like to bring one or two back, I call them my Paris Porn.

Have also heard about people cutting an opening in a bag of potting soil and planting one tomato/bag. Seems like it also involved punching a few holes in the bag for drainage.

Don’t see why that wouldn’t work.

For success in containers, you really do have to use a prepared potting mix, garden soil won’t do. You won’t have the right drainage or the right aeration. And like I said the other day, containers need more water than garden beds, and hanging plants need even more, they should be checked frequently.

CHS sleeping in? Why the hell not. So much is going on later, & you’ll be right on top of it, as per always :)

Have to go catch a flight. Read you all later, & thanx to FDL for the Sat. morning pick-me-up off the dusty floor.

Hi Christy!
it’s freezing ass cold here too, almost chipped the tip of my nose off after my walk this morning. Thanks for the wonderful thread of dreams to warm the day.

Do you have a special planting combination for window boxes?

I would just like to tell everybody that my tomato and bell pepper plants are doing wonderful. Its so nice to have a good homegrown tomato when they are 2.99/lb at the grocery for a tasteless, green thing. BTW, i’m in South Florida.

Christy asks for sunshine…here I be *g*

707!

The master gardening program is fantastic. We have friends who have done it, and learned so much. And our county extension agent is a great resource — most places have one, and advice and information is geared toward your particular locale and planting zone, not just generic, so it’s incredibly helpful.

My brother-in-law has a commercial strawberry business, and he uses that technique. He puts the bags in hanging racks, so his employees don’t have to squat to work on them, and when the growing season is over, he puts the plants into the bag, for additional compost. I think he uses each bag twice, then he empties them into his fields. He says after several years he will be able to grow organic crops in those fields.

neat!
making the most of it.

Turning to perennials, my very favorite is the forget-me-not. I just love the wispiness of them. They’re the first flower to pop up in the spring and I take walks around my house just to enjoy looking at them. They’re also my greatest success. I barely know what I’m doing but those babies just took off. Last year we dug some up for friends and family who also love them. They think I’m a proficient gardner. Hah.

Last year, my plants were really pitiful. I had a lupus flare just at planting time and couldn’t get even my usual pots on the porches planted in…and then, we had a summer-long heat wave and nothing would root in well with the drought and the heat. (Our poor grass scorched entirely. Was awful.) This year, though, I’m going to repeat what i did a few years ago if everything is working: lots of butterfly and hummingbird plants — salvia, lantana, alyssum, geraniums, flowering tobacco (nicotiana), petunias, and a canna or two in the larger pots. Add in a few herbs sprinkled in for greenery (and cooking!), and maybe a sweet potato vine or two for color…and, voila! Instant entertainment for The Peanut and I.

Ooooh, I could get into some Paris real estate porn myself. *g* One of these days, I’ll get to visit Paris. It’s on my list of places that I must see.

I am so jealous, Glen — I was craving a fresh, sun-warmed beefsteak tomato with fresh basil and mozzarella, and that yummy drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Ahhhhh…summer.

they were my first success too! an enterprising neighbor kid came by selling seeds and when I planted them they actually grew! I was just a little kid then. I’ll love them always!

I love forget-me-nots. I’ve been trying to locate some balsam — it’s a sort of impatient, but a perennial sort that is a little more hardy. My granny used to grow it every year when she was alive, and I’ve been missing her a lot this year — so I’d like to plant some around our front porch in remembrance, or maybe out back where The Peanut and I play on the back patio near her playhouse.

I’ve never been fantastic at starting anything from seed, but it would be worth it to try for some balsam. (Oh, look! An excuse to look back through my seed porn catalogs today…hehehe)

Hothouse tomatoes were pinkish and tasteless and would not ripen after they were picked. We used canned tomatoes when I was young (you mean right after the French and Indian war as my children say) both home canned and store purchased. We are going to have to go back to seasonal and regional food consumption with rising energy prices.

Veggie-wise, as we were talking about in the economy thread the other day, I sort of intersperse my veggies in and around my perennials and annuals. This year, I’m going to definitely plant some tomatoes and peppers, but also cucumbers, a zucchini mound, fresh herbs, some swiss chard (this “Bright Lights” variety is lovely in and among flowers, actually.) And who knows what else, but having fresh produce just outside my door is wonderful — I missed it last year so much, that I don’t care how hard it is for me to plant, they are going in this year.

perfect! the chartreuse of the sweet potato vine is special imo

I think Dad used Hothouse as a generic term for any tomatoes grown in greenhouses out of season.

Was just mucking around in teh Google and found this guy:

http://nctomatoman.topcities.com/

He’s into heirloom seeds plus in my state. Will contact him shortly to see if he has an idea of what variety(ies) my father might have bought as seedlings back in the 1950’s…that’s the tomato that’s stuck in my taste memory. Unfortunately, doesn’t mean whatever Poppa grew hasn’t had the acid taken out since then, tho’; he should certainly have some recommendations for high acid content.

We are so lucky the past couple of years — a local farm has started a produce stand and there are a couple more that also sell local produce as well. We used to have none, and now we have several. The problem is that in the winter everything gets trucked in for them, except for the few things that can be greenhouse grown. But by next spring, we’ll be back in tasty business.

I tried to buy into a share of an organic farm co-op, but the only ones near here are several towns away (as in an hour and a half drive away), and that seemed silly to do for a box of veggies (plus they sold out of shares, so the decision was made for me in the end).

If you are looking for heirlooms, I love Seeds of Change. They have some amazing varieties. Seed Savers Exchange is great as well (talk about your seed porn!), but it’s a bit above my gardening level at this point to save seeds carefully — will get there one of these days. (Used to help my granny do that every year with her tomatoes and pole beans, but I have to relearn it, it has been so long…)

Marie’s roasted veggie stew sounds perfect for this nippy North Country weekend. Shhhh, don’t tell her, I’m going to slip in a bit of leftover braised chicken from last night’s dinner.

This time of year I really miss my Gurney’s seed catalog…they were swallowed up, by Burpee I think, and then spit out into the dustbin of never to be seen again.

Interspersing veggies with the flowerbeds is the only way to do things, I’ve decided. We have a little lamppost garden anchored by an oregano plant that’s been coming back for years now. Outlasted even the prairie perennials like coneflowers that should survive these winters easily. Add in some tender basil and it’s instant Italy memories in one deep inhale.

I live in-town in mid-coast Maine and have been thinking about putting a hoop-greenhouse in my back yard to extend the growing season; I need to get to know more of my neighbors to share the work and the bounty.

Helen and Scott Nearing were able to grow hardy greens like chard and kale right through the winter in this climate, in fact when winters used to be much colder here.

More Seed Porn

Supporting the Ethical Development & Stewardship of Seed
Organic Seed Alliance

This a wonderful organization dedicated to seeds.

This Gurney’s? Or a different one?

Am fortunate to have a produce farm only about half an hour away; nothing organic but at least local. In the spring they open the field so you can pick strawberries at half the regular price and in the fall when frost threatens, you can do the same for tomatoes. They had the most beautiful spinach last fall and in the summer, a triple sweet corn that is to die for. I just opened a frozen pack of the corn last week and ate the whole thing in one sitting… triple drool. It’s so wonderful knowing there’s none of the unpronounceable synthetics found in the store-bought stuff.

Seeds for Peace

Meant to also share a couple of my fave veggie-based cookbooks. The Vegetarian Times one is great — the veggie potstickers in the appetizer section are fantastic and very easy with wonton wrappers. If you haven’t seen this one, it’s a great whole foods primer: The New Laurel’s Kitchen. It’s been around a while, but I reach for certain recipes in it all the time.

This time of year, 12 Months of Monestary Soups gets a lot of use from me as well. And here’s one we got as a wedding present from a great aunt that has some yummy recipes — and some great philosophy on being conscious of how much you are using — The More With Less cookbook.

The original Gurney’s was a company in South Dakota.

I think these guys got the name, alas…. I don’t think they’re the real deal. May be a great company, but not the original.

This in the fine print at the site:
“Copyright ©; 2008 Scarlet Tanager LLC, d/b/a Gurney Seed and Nursery Co. All Rights Reserved
Gurney’s trademarks are registered trademarks of Scarlet Tanager LLC”

Helen and Scott Nearing inspired many a fresh-cheeked gardener back in the day. Thanks for triggering a great memory!

Chrsity

Balsam Seeds Here

Banjo Boy whining about how divisive Bill Clinton is because he’s talking about all the shit the Republicans have done since the 80s, and how we should all be talking about unifying America.

I guess he missed the FISA debate this week.

you evil tempter!

Sigh. Sorry…

Kinda like the evil version of Johnny Appleseed I suppose.

Oh lordy. When, oh when, will one of these idiots be called out for the hypocrisy at the time it is being uttered — right there on camera? SIGH

Thanks for reminding me to start drooling for fresh homegrown tomatoes. I grew a number of heirloom tomatoes last year in a raised bed and had good results with Rutgers and Granny Cantrell. The Rutgers aren’t big but are tasty and dependable. The Granny Cantrell are a beefsteak type and I got a couple over a pound each.
Just about time to get the seeds started down here in Atlanta. There is also a variety bred in West Virgina for you Christy and I think they are Aker’s West Virgina you should at least put in one or two.

I spent a fortune on peat pellets last year. This year I’m making newspaper pots. At step 2, rip the paper in half again so you have a 1/4 sheet and they’ll end up being the perfect size. Tip: tear them against a sharp table or workbench edge.

I have a seed catalog from Michigan Bulb. Has anyone had experience with them?
There’s a great looking “Topsy-Turvy(TM) Upside Down Planter”
that looks wonderful for growing tomatoes, flowers, peppers, etc.

This year I want to find some lemon balm. What a wonderful scent! Good for putting in tea, too.

What happened in NH may very well happen in SC. Indeed Zogby has a huge (false?) lead out there for Obama, making many to want to give their vote for Edwards in the hope he can edge out Clinton. (Just like those who left Obama for McCain in NH). Also Boston Globe notes the Clintons never stopped campaigning there - their advertisng budget stayed high, and Hillary has been on the ground.

What a cool idea! Thanks for sharing it.

My pleasure! It do