Christmas Decorating with Natural Materials

I really like a real Christmas tree.  My uncle grew them so they came from there for many years.  I have also cut them from the yard when they were in the way.  This was the case the first year we lived in our house.  The balsam fir was smack dab in the middle of the access point to the back yard.  We knew walking around the tree was not something either of us was going to do, so we made it into our first Christmas tree at the new house.  It was so fresh that it even started to bud out on the window side of the tree.

Such was the case with the exterior tree I have decorated outside the house.  The spruce was growing too close to a planting area and the upper two-thirds of the tree was in great shape.  Being a spruce, it would not make a good interior tree (too much needle loss for as long as we keep ours up).  I had planned ahead on this job and put a t-post into the ground before it froze.  The tree was cut and wired to the post for stability.  I used the lower branches not cut as part of the "tree" and placed them around the base as a ground skirt.  Six string of LED lights and we're in business.
My husband prefers colored lights, I prefer white.  I made a gathering of curly willow, alder branches with "cones" still attached, red-twig dogwood and cedar trimmings.  I even had a white birch log in the yard so that became part of it all.  The upright branches got white lights and the evergreen ground cover is graced with multi-colored sets.  It also gave us a little bit of Christmas in the back of the house.

day time view of garden assembly left to right: alder, red-twig dogwood,
birch log, arborvitae, curly willow

Night lights together

Up close view of alder

Get real, buy real

Cutting the tree is women's work in this family!

I miss my Uncle Bob as he was one of the best uncles around.  He never had kids of his own (biologically) but had his step kids and every one of his nieces and nephews that he treated well.  His wife, Marvel, also opened the door with a smile and treated us to her homemade chocolate chip cookies every "Green Friday" (hey, we didn't go shopping, we got our Christmas tree!).
I paid tribute to my Uncle Bob and every year I think of him and how I miss his tree farm visits.  It was more than just the tree I miss, it is the tradition of getting it.  I have gone with my oldest daughter and her husband to cut a new tree twice now.  I went to a lot sponsored by the Boy Scouts last year and had to go back to the cut your own again this year.  The lot just is not my style...yet.  So here's to all the Wisconsin Christmas Tree Growers out there...thank you for staying in business and keeping my holiday REAL green!

Frasier Fir from Evergreen Acres Christmas Tree Farm in East Troy, WI

Autumn life at the Nursery

A few of the moments that have made autumn a good time at my new "old" job

Trees on the move

Loading in the yard

Breaking new ground

Digging yourself a hole and climbing in

Deer in the oaks

Full moon in autumn

Storing up for winter

Just hanging out

Mud removal with a buddy

Two crew operation to get the job done

Wrapping things up for the trip

A frosty morning with a few of our friends

Sauerkraut season in new digs: a new generation

I have come through another sauerkraut making session in our new home.  I enjoy the presence of the restored kraut cutter in the off-season as I keep it on display in a prominent spot where I see it often.  It reminds me so much of my parents and the times we would make sauerkraut as a family.  I talked more extensively about how to make sauerkraut in a prior blog and encourage you to refer there for that experience.  
I applaud all the younger generation who are coming up and embracing the new-found old methods of food preservation.  I encourage all of you to continue on the quest to find better food sources and providing for yourself in the off season.  You are the next generation to bring food back to the home where it belongs.

Making cuttings...a new stage

As I promised months ago, I said I would post some pictures of my new work environment back at the nursery and greenhouse that made me the heavy duty gardener that I am today.  Remember last year's gearing up in the basement greenhouse?  Well, I will not be making my cuttings like I usually do since my living space is not the same and I have greenhouses to watch instead (and not enough energy to do both).

We had to start over with the propagation bench that we had used years ago and had been abandoned for a new, but not necessarily economical or successful method.  We have incorporated the extensive misting system into the method, but we are using the heavier sprinkler head option.  Short soaking bursts less frequently to keep the cuttings moist down where the roots will be growing.  We are also incorporating direct bottom heat with heating cables in the perlite filled bench.  There is heavy screening material to provide very adequate drainage so we have very even moisture and heat.  We expanded to a second bench with heat mats and a second thermostat.  Electricians hooked us up with an outlet in reach of both areas so we don't have to stretch the cords or use extensions which are not great ideas when water is involved.  The heat mats (similar but much longer than my home model) are regulated digitally with the thermostat which will accommodate all three mats.  We can put up to 30 flats of cuttings in this area to add to the 15' bench adjacent to it.  We had some downy mildew problems with some but the rooting is coming along nicely so we can start to get them into flats of soiless mix soon.  

We also finished off the fall mum season this week.  I regret that I did not get a better picture on my own phone of the growing area before we shipped.  This was just before shipping on a particularly peaceful morning before work.  The coleus bed is in front with the mums the rows of colors in the back of the frame.  If I download a better one from the work files, I will add it here.

Enjoy these glorious days of autumn.  It is my favorite season.  It is time for a get away to take in the colors of northern Wisconsin.

                            

Roof top gardens

Clock Shadow Creamery building-green building with a green roof
Enjoying their goat cheese curds with the view.

 We just finished a wonderful weekend of exploring our city with the fourth year of Doors Open Milwaukee.  It wasn't until I was reflecting on the buildings that we saw (not to mention several that I didn't get to) how many opportunities there were to see rooftop gardens in Milwaukee during this event alone.  We toured the three buildings which I have photos from.  Clock Shadow Creamery is the only urban cheesefactory in the state.  They have a beehive on their rooftop with vegetable beds as well as a rain water collection system for flushing the building's toilets.  Even the elevator makes its own energy during its down cycle.

88.9 Radio Milwaukee promotes many community events

MSOE Grohman Museum,
gardens and sculpture garden

The radio station formally housed in the basement of the public school administrative building is now in a neighborhood once known more for tanneries than environmentally friendly industry.  Radio Milwaukee promotes local musicians as well as promoting and hosting community events.  They are just blocks from the new Global Water Institute which is internationally known for making waves in freshwater sciences.  Milwaukee is the leader in this essential area of development in our ever shrinking globe.  The Hanging Gardens shares space in this new business and research center.
A fun and fascinating stop at the Grohman Art Museum is a treasure worth seeing.  During rooftop events the sculptures lining the roof edges are turned in.  The rest of the time these statues look out over State and Broadway as a tribute to the working people that have built our world through hard work and innovation.  There are also gardens within a few blocks of here on the Municipal Building, the Downtown Library, as well as several residential apartments. There is even a soccer field being built on top of a parking structure on the MSOE campus.  
There are hospitals in the area with healing gardens built on rooftops.  The Urban Ecology Center also includes roof top gardens in their development.   There are people who have even invested in rooftop gardens for their house or garage to help reduce the runoff into storm sewers while gaining garden space in a small space.
My favorite roof top garden ever has to be Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant with the goats feeding up in Door Co.  Not really a garden but fun never-the-less. 

Al Johnson's goats

A long hiatus from writing

Seed Savers Exchange near Decorah, Iowa

International Society of Arboriculture Annual Conference in Milwaukee, WI Tour de Trees finish line.

New plants in new places.  Jade Princess penisetum with Prairie Sun Rudebeckia

Just a couple of girls out for an afternoon walk.

A beautiful sunset dotted by chimney swifts in flight.

Morning coffee with some old friends in a new place.

I love to write about gardening almost as much as gardening itself.  This past growing season has been a whirlwind of changes.  My job took me into a new position at my former greenhouse experience.  Taking on the job as manager at the end of April is challenging enough in a greenhouse operation.  Add in a full-scale tree nursery and you have one big task to tackle.  I am thankful for the capable people who worked very hard to get the work done as quickly as they could.  Add in a very wet spring followed by a very wet June into July and not much can be done on time.  We have persevered.

There are new digs which come with the job.  I am enjoying the quiet and the neighbors are mostly wildlife.  My husband and I are still trying to settle into a normal routine.  I miss my gardens and the familiarity of the plants I have placed there, moved around and brought into a mature garden.  I leave them in the care of my daughter and her husband to continue on.  I hope to make some divisions and bring a few old friends to our new home.  There are lots of gardens here, but they are mostly for stock plants and they aren't really mine.  I enjoy looking at them but I have no ownership of them.  My pots that made the trip with me hold the key to my heart more than any of the other plants around me.

The summer also had some wonderful highlights.  The International Society of Arboriculture held its annual conference in Milwaukee.  I attended everyday and took in as many lectures and sessions as possible.  I came away with new things to take by to my job.  Connecting with so many other professionals is always great.  Meeting up with old friends is the highlight of these events.

I also took a camping vacation with my husband.  We love to drive the back roads.  We drove through the driftless area of southwest Wisconsin and northeast Iowa.  Seed Savers Exchange was in the area and I was able to stop in to see the gardens and purchase some heirloom seeds.  We found cheese factories, quilt shops, and miles of Mississippi River roads to travel.  I recommend the area very much for those who enjoy beautiful scenery.

Fall is just around the corner.  I do not have mountains of tomatoes to can (most of the plants died from wilt that I did not have time to diagnose).  I have enjoyed the pole beans and froze about eight pints for winter use.  The lettuce and spinach were wonderful with the cool moist weather.  I did not get in the succession crops so my soil is empty where onions, radishes and other vegetables have been harvested.  I miss the bush beans and the soy beans never left the package.  No flowering kale will grace may gardens this year as they are also still in their packages.  I hope I find them all for next year after moving them all.  I still haven't found the power cord for the massage chair.

I need to find that delicate balance between work and home gardens.  So much of what I do centers around plants.  Leaving the work mentality behind so I can savor those private moments in my patch will be my new goal.  I have a winter to set a plan to do that.