Spring 2014

Peas, lettuce, radishes, beets, and broccoli rabe seeds are in the ground. I got the last two giant bags of garden soil at my local Lowe's. Just the right amount, fortunately. (They have lots more coming in next week.) It's okay, they are cool-weather crops. I have high hopes for the broccoli rabe--last year I planted it with the summer stuff and it bolted and was no good. I split the pea varieties up this year. Last year I interspersed them and I wasn't sure which were edible pods. Oops.

Meanwhile, flowers of spring are on the way. Crocus in bloom, columbine leaves greening up:

Crocuses with daffodils on the way:

Weeping pussy willow:

Snow drops peeking through the dead oak leaves with daffodils on the way:

Signs of Spring

After an unusually long, long, long winter (for Cincinnati, anyway), we are finally turning the corner to spring. And not a moment too soon, snow days are spent and patience is thin. Not too far behind last year, even so. Meanwhile, time to plant peas, lettuce, and radishes in the next few days!

But for now, the bulbs are popping...

The daffodils are just leaves so far, but soon will bloom all around the rock. (For some reason, one rock is a common theme in the neighborhood yards. It came with the house.) It is hard to see, but it looks like the crocuses are spreading. Once they start blooming, it will be more clear. 

Winter

Not much happening in the garden since the fall began. And I have been remiss in blogging here. But, others have started their 2014 garden plan postings, and we are in the midst of a winter storm here, so what better time to get back to the blog and dream of this year's garden! I have received a dozen seed, bulb, and garden product catalogs over the last 5 days. Time to review the successes and failures of the 2013 garden and lay out a plan for 2014. With a cup of cocoa.

Meanwhile, the year-end-year-beginning weather has been a bit crazy. Last week I planted bulbs and yanked out a dead shrub in 50+ warmth; today everything is covered with a thick blanket of snow and the promise of single digits overnight. It sure is pretty. Especially from inside ;)

I am glad I got out to take these pictures in the morning, though, while the snow was still perched on every branch. Later, the winds came and knocked most of it down to the ground.

Hungry birds...

 

Return of the Alien Puff Balls

Giant mushrooms are back. Same area as last year, but I think there are more of them. They'll probably get mowed over and splattered tomorrow.

And one regular old toadstool!

I am a bit leery of eating them, but they're supposed to be good...

• See Wild About Mushrooms
• I mean, they're on the Cornell Mushroom Blog--what could go wrong?
• And Wildman Steve!

I'll have to collect them before the mowers show up if I want to try them...

Basil Jelly

Why basil jelly? There is only so much pesto one can make. Besides, it sounded interesting and tasty.

There was a LOT of basil, so I made some pesto, too. (Note that 2 cups of basil went into each recipe - yielding a little over 3 pints of jelly but just about 1 cup of pesto.)

Anyway, basil jelly. Here's the recipe I used: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/73253931412369989/

I had seen some other recipes using less basil, but including some lemon. I think the lemon would make the jelly even better, so I think I will include some next time. I skipped the food coloring, so the color is much less green. I think I'm okay with that--might look too much like mint jelly otherwise. I also did not go crazy straining out the chopped basil leaves. 

I have tried it as the recipe suggests, with cream cheese on crackers. It is pretty mild, but nice. I do think the lemon would perk it up and complement the basil nicely. 

Is it Spring or is it Fall?

It's Cincinnati!

Weather and nature are always somewhat unpredictable. Last winter was warmer than normal, summer was cooler. A stretch of cool and rainy early in the growing season threw off half the veggies in my garden. (Again, glad I don't have to depend on the produce from my garden to survive.)

So, I'm walking through the front yard and see something on my little flowering almond which I suspect is litter (an all-too-common sight in my yard). But no, upon closer inspection, the plant is flowering again! This is a spring-flowering shrub. Most of the leaves are gone for the year, thanks to a late drought period and the approach of fall, but there they are, several flowers. A much more pleasant surprise than another piece of fast food napkin (or worse, much worse).

Summer into Fall

As summer blends into fall, nights get cooler (sometimes), daylight hours fewer, and the garden takes a last blast to ensure its survival through the winter. That is, everything goes to seed, even as a few late bloomers brighten up the fall color. Here are a few bits of late summer color, seed, and bugs from my yard and gardens.

The asters are starting to pop. I prefer asters to garden mums because they actually do come back every year. In spring and summer they have nice foliage, then, in fall, these bloom purple.

These cleomes were "volunteers," thanks to windblown seed, I suppose, in the middle of the veggie garden. They are one of my favorite flowers, so I left them to coexist. They are now taller than me! Have to collect some of the seeds for planting elsewhere next spring...

Cotoneaster has pretty little flowers in the spring and early summer, then these bright red berries through the fall and winter. A very hardy plant in the poor, poor soil between the house and driveway.

cotoneaster berries

Asters, cotoneaster, euonymus, heather, and angelina sedum, filling in nicely in the same poor soil.

I love fountain grass. I think something climbed into it to make it hang over...

I have a few different fountain grass varieties planted in a swale.

I don't remember planting the black-eyed susans there, but that is not too surprising, windblown and critter-carried seed get wild flowers into the oddest places.

Check out these cool fountain grass tops. What's not to love?

The knock out roses just keep flowering. They'll go into December here in Zone 6. Not much scent, but they look pretty and grow fast and strong. Because they have no scent, the deer don't eat them. All the more reason to choose them for the garden in the Certified Backyard Habitat.

Autumn Joy sedum. This is their time, hence the name. I am not a big fan of sedum, but they came with the yard and they are hardy and extremely drought-tolerant. I do like their rich pink color this time of year. And the bees LOVE them. I want to support the bees, so that's one more excuse to leave these all over the yard. In the spring, the dried flower stalks rake out pretty easily as the leaves start to pop out.

See, how pretty is that color? If you were a bee, you'd want to visit it, too. I took these pictures at dusk, after the bees had gone for the day, but really, they cover these flowers in the sun.

Thyme grows most anywhere and makes great, fragrant ground cover. This one is in a little piece of old pipe, so it got tall and bushy. It comes back every year, too. And yes, you can cook with it. Win, win, win. (Yes, those are mums in the back. I had bought them for a table decoration. Maybe they'll come back next year, maybe not.)

A few zinnias and cosmos still full of color.

Speaking of going to seed, check out the cow peas! They can be eaten fresh or dried (just ask the deer who ate the first fruits this summer). I like to let them dry on the vine.

Note the additional fencing added to discourage further deer browsing on the second round of cow pea pods. It is a low fence, but deer don't like to get between two fences, so it is enough. I sprinkled some deer scram around the area for added protection. So far, so good.

Happened upon this guy checking out the ferns. I think it is a Virginian Tiger Moth caterpillar. How about that fur coat?

The patty pan squash just keep coming. Way more productive than the zucchini this year. And there were NO yellow squash at all. The odd cool rainy period early in the summer disrupted pollination, but this plant must have flowered at the right time. And continues to flower and fruit. Several more little squashes forming... I am going to try it in my chocolate zucchini cake recipe. There is only so much steamed and sauteed patty pan a girl can eat.

I had some old, dried ornamental peppers in the shed, so I thought I'd see if they'd sprout. They did! Planted along with some curly and flat leaf parsley. I think it will make a great fall display!

ornamental pepper flowering

ornamental pepper

I read somewhere that sage doesn't grow well from seed. I already had the seeds. I'm glad. Worked just fine for me.

sage