More rain, still gardening

PVC hoop house on raised bed

There is a definite advantage to raised beds when you are get a lot of rain.  My 4' by 8' beds are just the right width so that I can weed and plant from the edge without getting in to soil with my feet.  When soil is wet, compaction is a very real possibility.  Compacted soils are bad for the plants, and muddy shoes are no fun.  The other advantage to the raised beds is quicker draining of the excess water from the plant roots.  Both compaction and too much water keep sufficient air from getting to the roots which can lead to plant death.  I love being able to get out and weed the garden when it is wetter as the weeds pop right out making the job so much faster.

I did a quick hoop house over one of my garden beds this year.  I used 3/4 inch conduit clamps with short deck screws to hold them on.  I put in 1/2" by 10' long PVC conduit which bends easily over the bed and slides into the clamps on the side.  10 foot wide grow cloth is the perfect width and a few clamps hold it all in place.  I hope to keep the cabbage moths at bay by keeping them out.  Just one more benefit of the raised beds.  It took me longer to buy the materials than it did to install them.

My flower beds are all less than 3 feet wide so I can reach without stepping in.  The rain garden (which just loves this weather) is the exception and that has stone walls and stepping blocks to provide the same access.  Besides, isn't it fun to tip-toe through the garden?

I tucked in one more crop of radishes in hopes that they will not bolt before growing large enough.  The watermelon radishes don't look promising as they are not performing like they should.   They may be pulled soon to make room for a better crop of any thing.  One more row of beans went in.  I have been putting in 3 foot rows of bush beans every couple weeks in hopes of staggering out the harvest better this year.  I started more lettuce indoors as well as some kohlrabi to transplant out under the shade cloth.  I have several squares in my square foot open just for this purpose.  Now that I have researched radicchio a little better, I have put that under cover to keep it protected for a fall harvest.  

Work has been demanding some overtime of me, so I am glad to have the garden mostly under control with weeding.  Just a few more things to tuck in and I think we will be ready for the first camping trip.  It can't come too soon.

Summer is really here when you do a walking tour

I had some fun bring in summer by doing a walking tour of Historical Walker's Point last night.  It wasn't officially summer until after midnight, but it was a beautiful night for a walk and a bite to eat with friends in this charming little neighborhood.

Walkers Point is one of the original three neighborhoods that made Milwaukee what it is today. In the area south of the main rivers and near the lake, it was home to plenty of industry and immigration.  There are many homes from the original neighborhood still in place and many have been restored.  It is interesting to note that the largely Hispanic population in the neighborhood is not as recent as one might think.  Our tour guide told of the history of the tanneries in the neighborhood recruiting labor from the South in Texas in the early part of the 19th century which brought the first Spanish speaking families to this neighborhood.

The Polish Moon of the Allen-Bradley four-faced clock is probably the most recognizable landmark from the freeway that cuts the neighborhood in two.  Several steeples also poke up through the roof tops of the neighborhood still closely linked to these spiritual centers.  The ethnic population has evolved over time, but it hasn't changed the look of Walker's Point residential areas.  I enjoyed the gardens that were established and well cared for by the faithful residents.  The food is pretty good, too.

Keep an eye on Historic Milwaukee's summer schedule for walking tours and the Doors Open for 2013.  Historic Milwaukee has lots of upcoming events.

Flowers in just before the rain...and other things

My husband finished the flower planter which extends my growing another 24 feet.  Good thing as there is NO way I would have fit every annual flower in the existing beds that I have.  I also tucked them in tighter than I have ever planted by using minimum spacing requirements.  This bed is going to be filled by the Fourth of July.  There is a long list of things that I put in here for cut flowers which I have published here before.  Most everything was prime for transplanting with my later start date on most of them.  I worked continually to finish before my 5 o'clock deadline last night and did it.  There were a few packs left over which are going to be tucked into the other bed of reseeded annuals.  I watered everything in to settle the soil with the hose from my rain barrel nearly emptying both with watering.

It rained last night.  I wasn't expecting it as I hadn't followed the weather.  Most of the night storms rolled in and poured out.  Several times I was aware of a new round coming through.  I awoke at 4 am and decided to get dressed and watch the sun come up.  The rain drops on everything was just beautiful!  I walked through the yard with a cup of hot coffee and was pleased to see that everything was standing up and well settled with all the rain that fell around the new plantings.  The rain gauge red 2.1 inches.  The rain barrels are both full again.

A good drenching means something else to me.  Weeding.  With the ground so moist they pull right out.  I went through the oldest beds and pulled weeds for half an hour.  It is a meditative activity for me.  Most jobs need to be re-framed to remove the unpleasant aspect that makes me want to just scream.  For instance, I really do not enjoy driving around for my job.  This is a big part of my job, going from address to address rechecking violations and work.  I had to re-frame that activity in my mind.  Now I enjoy seeing changes in the neighborhoods, new businesses opening, kids playing in the park, parents walking their babies.  I don't think about the driving, if I do, I fall into the old habit of exhaustion.  I digress.

So much soaking rain also meant that I could break out the Weed Dragon and zap the dandelions and other weeds coming up in the wood mulch.  When it is dry, you start the mulch on fire.  When the mulch is this wet, only the weeds wilt at the hand of the propane flame.

It was also time to bring the dehydrator upstairs for frequent use.  I have found that drying herbs in spring is the best time.  They are fresh and perfect, not beaten or chewed up by the summer elements and bugs.  A quick cleaning and a spin in the salad spinner makes them ready for drying.  It may also be time to salvage the last of the chopped peppers and such that slowly have fallen to the bottom of the freezer.  Time to use them or dry them if there is too much left.  I also found a couple of sad looking jars of apple pie slices (canning is not kind to them but I ran out of freezer space).  I put those in the trays and came up with some delicious apple candy instead.  Bananas are turning fast and I can't use them up in smoothies fast enough.  I dried the last batch and took them to work.  They did not make it through the day. 

I picked up a book at the library on dehydrating that has some different ideas in it.  See if you can get your hands on a copy of Food Drying With an Attitude by Mary T Bell.  It has been good reading so far.  I also picked up Mel Bartholomew's New Square Foot Gardening.  I would highly recommend this book also, especially for beginners.  He has revamped his way of square foot gardening to make it easy and appealing to more people. 

It is time to take a cold beer out to the back yard and read a little bit, nap a little bit.  I am going to use up this Sunday as much as I possibly can.

Bad weather coming, get the garden ready

I'm sitting here waiting for the storm to hit.  They have severe weather predicted for our area with high winds.  When you work with trees, that can mean lots of damage and work to follow.  I am on call so I am doing my best to just be ready to go in case I get the call.

I got busy with my garden getting it ready as well.  I had put some extra clamps on my row covers this morning, and set all my un-planted flats of flowers under my benches to protect them from wind and hail.  The storm didn't get here earlier as predicted, so tonight I did some more preparations.  All the hanging baskets and pots are in the garage.  Lawn chair are stowed away to avoid blowing around the yard.  I picked the lettuce exposed to the elements and some rhubarb to bake for my co-workers who had to stay over-time immediately after work in preparation for calls.

I hear the thunder now so maybe we will get the bad weather after all.  Time to shut down the computer and wait it out.

Crazy busy but happy!

front to back: woodland phlox, blue flag, yellow flag iris

The garden has been coming along in leaps and bounds.  Everything takes me longer than it used to, but I enjoy each step as I go.  Now that I don't spend my days watering greenhouses in endless rows of benches and doing factory-like production, I enjoy the time I spend with my own plants.  I take the time to wander around and see what is blooming, what needs weeding, where my plants are dry, whatever!
I spent the very cool and cloudy Sunday on my knees picking through beds of weeds and plants.  I found that the reseeding annuals had reseeded in bigger clumps than previously thought.  I took advantage of the weather and pulled up and transplanted asters, Prairie Sun cone flowers, and Calendula into a better spacing.  I popped the black-eyed Susan vines in the back by the fence with the lattice (many were from seed collected last fall).  I added some zinnias, flowering kale, and Diamond Frost Euphorbia to fill in the rest.  I did not take my chances and shaded them all with row cover to keep them from wilting with the sunny days on Monday and Tuesday.  As soon as the evening scented stock is fully rooted, I will tuck some of this in for fragrance.

The vegetable garden is producing some of the best lettuce I have ever grown.  Winter Density romaine has proven to be a wonderful early lettuce.  With the grow cloth, it is pretty and perfect. I pulled the last of first crop radishes, second crop is less than a week from picking.  Radicchio is as beautiful as the lettuce.  I grew garden cress for the first time and it was tasty.  It is very similar to nasturtium flowers with a peppery bite.  My daughter's friend found it too peppery alone, but I broke it up fine in a salad.  The three greens made a great salad for supper last night.   We enjoyed the first pesto from pinching back basil.  I put in a few more seeds of cilantro, parsnips, and chard.  Rotating out one foot square areas means having enough to eat fresh with little excess.

Pole beans and first crop of bush beans are up as well as the soy beans.  As soon as I put in the peppers, I will also line out a couple more types of bush beans.  Peas are slow this year and are just starting to bloom.  Spinach was starting to bolt, so I pulled it all to keep it from getting bitter.  I weighed out my dozen plants at half a pound.  I will try to time a fall crop this year.  Same with radishes.  I always get both in too late and never enjoy the fall season crops.

Tonight I worked on the front garden, tucking in some annuals around my rain garden.  It was cool and light, occasional rain, but another great time for transplanting flowers.  I left a little sunny patch to fill in with some of the leftovers when I finish in the backyard.  I just have the tomatoes and cucumbers for the side to line out and get down the soaker hoses for the summer.  I might use stakes and twine for all the plants this year.  Doing the weave on the Roma tomatoes really worked out great.  I would have to go buy stakes first, so that plan may change.

My neighbor has three very large clumps of rhubarb.  I exchanged some greens for rhubarb.  Last night I cleaned, cut up, and froze five bags each with five cups of fruit.  I have another five in the frig to make jam with.  I want to try a very different recipe that my friend, Judy swears by.
I also made an old-fashioned rhubarb custard dessert with a press in pan crust.  

Very Berry Rhubarb Jam (Midwest Living)

5 cups rhubarb, cut into 1 “ pieces     

21 ounce can blueberry pie filling
4 cups sugar               

6 ounce package raspberry jello
½-¾ cup water

In large kettle, combine rhubarb, sugar, and water.  Bring to boiling.  Boil rhubarb, uncovered for 3 minutes stirring constantly.  Stir in blueberry pie filling.  Return mixture to boiling: boil for 6 minutes, stirring constantly.  Stir in gelatin.  Return to boiling.  Boil for 3 minutes stirring constantly.  Ladle into half pint jars or freezer containers leaving ½ inch head space.  Seal and label.  Let stand at room temperature for several hours or until jam is set.  Store 3 weeks in refrigerator or 1 year in freezer.   (8 half pints)

Aunt Bernice Riendl's Rhubarb Dream Dessert

Ingredients:
Topping - 2 eggs, 1 1/2 c. sugar, 1/4 c. flour, 3/4 t. salt, 2 c. finely chopped rhubarb

Crust - 1 c. flour, 1/3 c. pwd sugar., 1/2 c. butter


Directions:
Press crust in ungreased 8/8 pan. Bake 350' for 15 min.
Mix dry ingredients of topping, add beaten eggs, add rhubarb. Spoon over. Bake 350' 35- or until set in middle.   Can be double for 9x13 and bake about 10 min. more.

Make sure to freeze rhubarb while it is in season as this is the only time you can afford to get it.  It is very expensive in the chain stores, so make sure to get to the early farm markets for it.

Planting Trees and other stuff

Kiwi and Honeygold apple supports almost finished.

The plantings are coming along.  My husband has constructed the supports for the kiwi and espalier apple tree, we just have to add the cable supports.  He is very good with wood and produces a fine product whenever I ask.  I got busy and sifted some compost so I could mix in some "good stuff" with the old shrub bed soil.  After getting these fruiting plants in the ground, we sighted the area for the peach tree and put that in as well.  It was a bit breezy this morning and the trees were not anchoring in the soil as well as I would have liked.  The are lightly staked to keep them from tipping their root balls out while they are settling in.

I have also been taking stock of what has reseeded that is worth keeping.  There is quite a bit of good stuff in the garden beds that I will have to weed around and tuck in additional plants from my garden stock.  Everything is on the small side from starting it later, so the plants will grow up side by side just fine.  Often the new additions are larger and over-power the reseeding annuals.  We have the materials for a new garden planter (raised) to go along the fence.  This will be the area for most of the bedding plants to go in.  We are still going to work on growing some flowers for the wedding.

I have taken stock of what I have inventory this morning.  I may have more than I need.  I really should get the flower pots done which would use up all the odd stuff I bought.  I would also know how much additional plants I have to share as far as all the cutting plants go.  I am just a bit tired from this morning, so sitting at the computer is much more appealing than crawling around on my hands and knees.  Time to motivate and get back out there.