2008: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

I'm sitting here in shock that 2008 is nearly over. It never fails that I get to the end of the year and feel disappointed by my inability to keep whatever stupid resolution I've made and my lack of progress on whatever project I planned, but didn't finish.

But I realized today that I've actually accomplished quite a bit this year.

Here's the 2008 low-down:

The Good

1. We built a new pergola and got a new patio
2. I grew stuff from seed, indoors and outdoors
3. I had the poodles removed and expanded the front yard garden
4. I composted!
5. We got approval for a new community garden
6. Got a new bike and still knew how to ride it
7. I grew Heirloom Tomatoes for the first time
8. Got two paying writing gigs

The Bad

1. I still have crap sitting on my patio that has frozen and thawed a dozen times by now, including my precious big ass purple flower pot
2. I didn't plant a single bulb
3. Never got the bathroom remodeled (seriously, the floor is gonna fall in eventually)
4. Didn't get that Hybrid car
5. The humongous Romanesco Broccoli never bore a single fruit
6. The cherry tree died in the patio pot
7. GB and Pie Guy left me
8. I did not attend the first ever Garden Blogger's Spring Fling and am living to regret it
9. Submitted a piece of writing to a magazine and got rejected
10. The expletive landscaper ripped out my 2nd year strawberries, and a few other valuable plants, was not remorseful, and was subsequently fired

The Ugly

1. Squash Vine Borers, the bastards!
2. Mice in the garage from the Corn Gluten fertilizer
3. A tree fell on the house (but now my front yard is full sun instead of mostly shade, so technically, this one could be on the good list, too)

How was your 2008?

edited to include links that I meant to include in the first place but accidently hit "publish post" instead of "save as draft". Sorry, folks!

Gardening Magazines, Still Fashionable

Even though I spend a huge amount of time (seriously, like enough to earn a degree, grow a child, cure world hunger...) on the Internet reading gardening blogs and even though most great gardening magazines now have great gardening magazine websites (like this one, and this one), I just can't give up actual magazines. There is something about those glossy garden pictures. No matter where I go, I can stuff a magazine in my bag, and I don't have to wait till we're at 10,000 feet to read it.

This Christmas, two of my favorite gifts were Mother Earth News (MEN ha ha) and Fine Gardening. I love Mother Earth for the great information and its low-fluff, and Fine Gardening, well, I'm just a sucker for those does-anybodies-garden-really-look-like-this garden pictures.

The worst thing about me and gardening magazines is separation anxiety. I can't make myself throw them away! I blame my grandmother! But, this fall when my magazines got really out of control, I made myself create a few file folders to keep individual articles and toss, give away, or recycle the rest of the magazine. Most of my keeper articles so far fit into three categories, DESIGN, HOW-TO and ORGANIC PEST CONTROL.

If you have a gardener in your circle, consider giving a magazine subscription the next time you're trying to think of a great gift. Even in 2009, we still love them. And, as corny as it sounds, it really is the gift that keeps on giving.

Thanks, Santa. I love you!

Technorati Tags: gifts for gardeners,gardening magazines,mother earth news,fine gardening,organic gardening,horticulture

Temporary Housing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry about the bad quality of these pictures. 

Above on the left is the little Tamarisk that I ordered from EBay and received back in March.  On the left is the Purple Smoke Bush, also ordered from EBay.

These little twigs sat in pots on my patio all summer long because I never decided where they should be planted.  The twin to this Purple Smoke Bush died on that patio.  (RIP, Smoke Bush!)

My indecisiveness gets on my nerves!

Since I had an opening in the rose garden because of the 4 Pink Simplicity Rose bushes that didn't make it through last winter, I decided to plant them there, just until next year when I really must decide where they should go.  Otherwise, can you picture what a big Tamarisk and a big Smoke Bush would look like there in that narrow 2 foot bed?  YIKES!

Technorati Tags: Tamarisk,Smoke Bush,organic gardening,shrubs,trees

Fuschia Still Blooming Its Head Off

More Wordless Wednesday

Technorati Tags: Wordless Wednesday,Fuschia

Why I'm Thinking Of Giving Fried Green Tomatoes Another Chance

More Wordless Wednesday

Technorati Tags: tomatoes,wordless wednesday,organic vegetable gardening

Kitchen Garden Expansion, Take Two

OK, so no, I've not been kidnapped by aliens and yes I'm over my pouting spell about my miserable failure to expand my kitchen garden before the first frost.  Seriously, that's pretty much what I've been doing.  Sitting around pouting about it and refusing to blog on the count of I can't get passed the pouting long enough to write about gardening, or to do any actual gardening.

I've called for help.  At 7:00 am tomorrow morning the dude who mows my yard will be here to take a look at all the plants I want moved from the fence line to make room for the kitchen garden.  Since I really don't feel strongly about where stuff ought to go, I'm in danger of ending up with some real freaky plant positioning.  I love this guy but he's the one who poodle'd every last shrub I own last year.  He needs strict supervision! 

The garlic sets that I ordered from Seeds of Change are still sitting on my kitchen table in the box they arrived in.  I have no idea if this means they're no good or what but I'm sure hoping they'll be OK since who can afford 30 bucks down the drain in this economy. 

By the way, I decided to go with option #2, if you are keeping up.

Technorati Tags: landscaping,garden expansion,kitchen garden,organic vegetable gardening

Blog Action Day: Poverty

By now you've had a full day of reading great blogs about Poverty, the topic for this year's Blog Action Day. I'm late, as usual, but I made it, finally!

I don't really have a big long post where I'll try to solve the poverty problem through growing magic food in my magic garden, I just want to tell you a quick story.

Since Spring 2008 I've been working with my garden blogging buddy, J Snappy on developing a community garden for our small village outside the city of Chicago. Our preferred location for the garden is situated in a heavily trafficked area, near the highway, and a gas station where drug dealing goes on a lot more than we'd like. At our first volunteer recruiting event, one of the hottest topics was the homeless guy who lives under the bridge at the perimeter of the potential garden property and how he'd probably bother us too much and steal all our food we'd grown.

"What about the vandalism"

"What about the homeless people stealing our veggies?"

In response to the hyper-concern about the homeless dude stealing our food, J proudly suggested that we offer a small free plot to the homeless dude and give him a few plants to grow himself. That way he could become involved and invested in our garden, not steal and grow some food to feed himself.

I thought J's idea was great and such an awesome illustration of how many people view poverty-stricken individuals and how changing the way we think of poverty could be so powerful. Rather than sitting around being so afraid that the people who have nothing will rob us blind, we should be thinking of ways to "give them their own plot", like J said. It all starts with how we view poverty, right?

Technorati Tags: blog action day,poverty,community gardens

The Work Of Garden Fairies

The other day I came home to find a rain barrel, mature Milk Weed plants and more Mountain Bluet. 

I'm really excited about the rain barrel because now I'll be able to place one in the front gardens were I have no access to water. 

Thanks, GB! You're the best!

Technorati Tags: rain barrel,gifts

Wordless Wednesday: The Lone Luffa Gourd

More Wordless Wednesday

Technorati Tags: wordless wednesday,luffa gourd

Mystery Solved: Milkweed Edition

You were right - it's Milkweed. 

I'm guessing this is more likely memory lapse than serendipity.  I did start some of these from seed that GB gave me but I have no recollection of planting this in the front garden.  But, since it's the identical one that I was oohing and ahhing over at her house last year, I'm assuming that's exactly what it is. 

Either way, I love it and I'm planting way more of it next year if I can remember to grab the seeds.  Since this one is located in my front garden and I rarely go out to the front garden, I've yet to see any actual butterflies.  Next year I'll plant them in the back so that I can see them from my kitchen window and I'll be ready when the butterflies show up!

Technorati Tags: milkweed,butterfly weed,organic flower gardening,flowers from seed

Kitchen Gardening Expansion: Day One A Virtual Bust

But let me explain...

I'm the type of person who needs a lot of planning time.  By "planning time" I mean I need to see things drawn out on paper.  I need months to agonize over it.  I need people to tell me how I should design stuff so that I can disagree with them and haggle back and forth with them over trivial details until I finally achieve clarity or give up from  mental exhausted.  The reason I'm such a freakazoid over this stuff  is because I simply cannot stand the feeling of regret.  It's too uncomfortable for me - it makes me feel bad about myself and who needs that? 

I blame Pie Guy and GB for this unproductive gardening day.  You see, they've abandoned me.  We used to be able to spend a few minutes per day planning (arguing over) my next garden move but now GB has a new job and Pie Guy has gone off to medical school so I'm all along (cue the violin!)  Yes I know that we can still discuss by phone and email and it's not as though GB has moved to a whole different state preventing us from ever getting together (cough cough Pie Guy) but it's just not the same. 

So yesterday I had my  what-if-my-design-sucks freak out, during the planned work session eliminating any chance at productivity.  Not a single plant was dug up, not a single blade of grass removed.  I mostly just sat on the patio staring at the area we'd marked off, hating the entire plan. 

I. My original plan

1. Small enclosed kitchen garden area.
2. Two 3x3 foot compost bins at the back by the privacy fence
3. Four 4x4 raised beds.
4. 3 foot path down the center of the two beds and 2 foot path around the rest.
5. 1 foot raised beds on the left and right sides for strawberries.

II. Problems with original plan

1. Small ended up being way bigger than I'd expected and I still have this ridiculous paranoia about grass removal.  Even though we've decided we're never moving, I can't stop thinking about resale.
2. The space is entirely too big to only hold four 4x4 beds. 
3. The paths, though very necessary, take up too much garden real estate.
4. It makes my yard seem freakishly boxy, square, harsh.  The house is square, the patio is square, the garage is square, the basketball court is square and here I am inserting another square. 
5. Surrounding the new garden with a fence seems like it would ruin the scale of the garden compared to the rest of the yard.
6. I didn't want to move that many plants.  I thought I'd just need to move things from the Spirea to the Weigela but as it turns out I'd need to remove the Iris, Sweet Autumn Clematis and a bunch of other stuff.  I have not had any time at all to agonize over where that stuff should be relocated to.

III. Possible new plans (what's your favorite?)

1. Scratch the fence all together and keep existing plan. see section I.
2. Scratch fence and extend the garden further toward the house making it less square and giving me more raised beds.  Still move all the plants along the fence so that the compost area and raised beds are butted right up against the privacy fence. 
3. Keep existing plants where the are (all along the fence) and place two 4x4 raised beds side by side along from the edge of the garage flower beds to the edge of the house foundation flower beds.  Make all paths 3 feet to accommodate little red wagon or make 3 foot path before each next set of 4x4 beds to accommodate little red wagon and 2 foot path up the center for walking.  Place narrow strawberry beds on each end in the front.  No fence.

Here's the problem.  I just ordered garlic and was really hoping to have a place to plant it but come to find out, it seems I'm so early in the decision making process that I can't imagine have a bed ready to go by the time it arrives. 

HELP! 

More posts about Kitchen Garden Expansion 2008

Prelude To A Kitchen Garden Expansion

Kitchen Garden Expansion: Before Picture

Technorati Tags: kitchen garden,organic vegetable gardening,landscaping,garden planning

Kitchen Garden Expansion: Before Picture

Yesterday when I posted my tentative kitchen garden expansion plan many of you asked for a before picture.  Ask and ye shall receive! 

Here's the general area where the new garden will be installed.  

You can see one of the existing 4x4 raised beds in this frame.  That'll be removed.  I'm not sure of the dimensions of the new garden yet but it will not take up this entire space.  I'm simply trying to give you a wide view of the general area. 

Check back later today for Day 1 wrap-up.  I've got work to do!

Technorati Tags: DIY,garden planning,kitchen garden,organic vegetable gardening,urban homesteading

Prelude To A Kitchen Garden Expansion

I'm expanding my kitchen garden and tomorrow is the big day! Garden Buddy is coming over first thing in the morning and we'll get to work.

So that you can keep up with our progress, here's some important information.

Goals
Remove big hunk of backyard to reduce grass mowing.
Increase the growing space for fruits and veggies.

Plan

1. Mark off area using strings and stakes.
2. Move established plants.
3. Dig up Spirea Vanhoutte (I'll miss you!).
4. Remove grass in the new garden area.
5. Cultivate entire area.
6. Build raised beds from wood that will last more than a couple of years (bad gardener!).
7. Place weed barrier on paths.
8. Cover paths with pea gravel.
9. Fill beds with garden soil/compost mix.
10. Move rain barrel to new garden.
11. Build 2-3 bin compost system for back of new garden area.
12. Build short fence around new garden area.
13. Build Arbor at entrance of new garden area.
14. Create path from patio to new garden. Material undecided.
15. Wait for Spring!

I do not have a timeline established for this project yet on the count of my real job is sucking the life outta me. But, it's on the way! Stay tuned!

And The Chocolate Goes To...

Thank you all who participated in the Dagoba Organic Chocolate contest. 

To enter, I asked that you leave a comment to tell me your favorite My Skinny Garden post.  This was so much fun for me!  In addition to giving away chocolate courtesy of the folks over at Dagoba, it was sort of like the People's Choice awards.  It was fun to see what posts people like the most and also gave me some ideas about the kinds of topics I should focus on in the future. 

Winners along with their favorite MSG post

Carol - Still Afraid To Dig

Mr. McGregor's Daughter - Garden Blogger's Geography Project: Forest Park, IL.

Camille Platt- Homemade Composter

Thanks to the rest of you for participating, too!  I wish I had chocolate for everybody!

Elizabeth Licata - The Garden: Earwig Defender Extraordinaire

Katie - No TGIF For Rabbit

Cindy, MYOK - Flawless Brandywine Takes Bronze In Garden Olympics

MA and Buddhist in the West- Chocolates and Gardening and Contests, Oh My!

Blackswamp Girl (Kim) and Tory - When A Tree Falls On A House

Heather - Bastard Garden Flower Arrangement

Debra C. - Watermelon and Worms (not sure if this is the one you are referring to, Debra)

GB - Weekend Warriors: Making Planter Boxes With Garden Buddy

Agnes (the sister of the Garden Buddy) - Pergola Part 3

Carol, MMD, Camille - please email me your home address and I'll get your chocolate in the mail to you right away.

Technorati Tags: dagoba chocolate,contests,gardening

Wordless Wednesday: Me And Mrs. Beasley

More Wordless Wednesday

Don't forget to check out the posts this week for tell us about your blog and enter the chocolate give-away

Technorati Tags: Wordless wednesday,photos

It's Brag About Your Blog Day At MSG!

One of my favorite blogs to read is Pro Blogger. Last month Darren wrote a post that I really loved where he encouraged everybody to write a comment to brag about your blog. There are so many great blogs out there but sometimes they are hard to find.

So, today I'm asking you to use my blog to brag about your blog! Leave a comment with the link to your blog(s) and tell us what your blog is about. You can even leave your Twitter and/or Plurk name if you would like some new friends on those applications. This is not limited to gardening blogs!

Also, please take the time to go over and visit some of the blogs listed in the comment section. You may find a new one that you love to read.

Technorati Tags: blogs

Chocolate And Gardening And Contests - Oh My!

If I had to name a food that I love as much as I do gardening, it'd be chocolate, hands down. Spaghetti is a close second  So imagine the delight when I discovered Dagoba Organic Chocolate,  an organic chocolate company who has aligned themselves with gardening. 

Check out their great Seed The Day website complete with free seeds and a place to tell them what flavor of chocolate bar they ought to make next.  There's also a spot to submit your garden photo (look for my giant Romanesco Broccoli). 

Dagoba Organic Chocolate is a company who is "committed to creating a deeply satisfying chocolate in a socially responsible way."  Doesn't this sound too good to be true?  They do it through their Full Circle Sustainability initiative which you can read about here. 

Here's what Dagoba's Brand Ambassador, an avid gardener, wrote when I asked her to contribute a few words for my blog.

"Dagoba Organic Chocolate was founded with a passion for exceptional cacao and respect for the land and people that nurtured it. Today, that passion still drives our company and inspired us to plant 60,000 cacao trees in Costa Rica to improve economic opportunity for small farmers, restore native biodiversity and provide habitat for wildlife. The urban gardening movement has similar aspects - culinary adventure, beautifying our surroundings and contributing to the sustainability of our communities - all things we are passionate about.  So it made perfect sense for us to create "Seed the Day" as a way to link our efforts in Costa Rica with the lives of chocolate lovers back in the U.S.    It's also connected directly to our chocolate.  Dagoba has always infused our chocolate with herbs and botanicals such as lavender, mint, rosemary, and more recently seeds and other delicious natural flavors such as lemon and ginger.  These are all things people can grow and explore in their home gardens.  We're happy to give away free chocolate and seeds. We hope they inspire people to go on their own culinary adventures, exploring exotic pairings and combinations with what they grow."

- Liz Kaplan, brand ambassador for Dagoba Organic Chocolate

Speaking of "giving away chocolate" - I'm giving away some chocolate!  Thank you Dagoba for sending these awesome Organic Chocolate Bars for me to share with my readers.  But, I gotta tell you, when I opened that box and that mind-blowing chocolate smell reached my nose, I seriously considered eating it all myself.  

Here's a list of what I've got to give away, thank you Kim V! 

Mint 59% - The refreshment of mint, with a hint of rosemary for relaxation. Perfect for after dinner.

Seeds 68% - Rich dark chocolate is studded with healthy, flavorful hemp, pumpkin and sunflower seeds and finished with a sprinkling of Balinese Sea Salt.

Lemon-Ginger 68% - Crystallized ginger and lemon is refreshing and rejuvenating.

Super Fruit 74% - Acai, goji berries, and currants offer natural antioxidants and delicious flavor.

Lavender Blueberry 59% - Lavender instills calm, blueberries offer antioxidants. A subtle floral experience.

New Moon 74% - Pure bittersweet perfection. One of Dagoba’s best seller.

Xocolatl 74% - Chilies, nibs, spices, vanilla. The Aztec’s enchanting cacao elixir.

The contest is simple.  Just leave a comment to tell me what your favorite post on My Skinny Garden was.  I'll pick 3 winners from a random drawing of the entries and each winner will receive 2 Dagoba Organic Chocolate bars. (I pick the flavors but I will check with the winners to make sure they're not allergic to any of the ingredients - there will be no death-by-chocolate on my watch.  All bars are Kosher) I'll draw the winners next Friday September 12th.  Don't wanna bother with the contest?  You can order these online or pick them up at your local Whole Foods Market.

PS I've decided my new dream job is "Chocolate Ambassador".  Dagoba, call me!

Technorati Tags: dagoba chocolate,contests,gardening,full circle sustainability,organic chocolate

Plotting My Next Big Garden Move: Kitchen Garden Expansion

Now that  few months have passed since finishing all my outdoor projects (pergola, patio), I'm really itching to do something amazing in my garden, again. 

In my effort to be more like the Dervaes or at least get a little closer to Urban Homesteading, I've decided to significantly expand my kitchen gardens.  Here's my kitchen garden history

• 2007 chose a big awkward spot just beyond the patio (AKA big pile of rubble) and threw down weed cloth over the area (around 8 x 10).  Things grew great, the weed control was awesome and despite the ugly factor, the location was prime for sunlight and maintenance.
• 2008 built 2 4 x 4 raised beds which I used as temporary leaf compost holders over the winter.  I like that they are contained and raised but the weed control was non-existent and plants are not thriving like they should due to the over-crowding.

For 2009 I'd like to build more raised beds using cedar this time (GB, you were right!) and a more of them!  I'd also like to be able to place a short cute fence around the kitchen garden area to keep the bastard rabbits out. 

I'll be removing a big section of my backyard for this expansion.  I'm not exactly sure of the dimensions yet but I'd like it to accommodate a minimum of (4) 4 x 4 raised beds a maximum of (6) 4 x 8 beds.  I'd also like to have narrow raised beds around the interior perimeter that I could fill with strawberries and a place in the back for my rain barrel and a 2-3 bin compost system.

I have an official plan drawn by Pie Guy (remember he did the official pergola plan, too) which I'd love to share with you but my stupid scanner is broken. 

I'd love to get this done in time to plant garlic.  Anybody know when's the latest I can plant garlic in zone 5?

More to come on the urban homestead project.  GB, call me! 

Technorati Tags: urban homesteading,garden planning,vegetable gardening,little homestead in the city,DIY,weekend warriors

Wordless Wednesday: Cardinal Vine Flower

 

More

Wordless Wednesday

 

Technorati Tags: wordless wednesday,cardinal vine

Garden Of The Magnificent Mile: Chicks 4-6

Here are the last of the chick pics I have from the display gardens of the Magnificent Mile, "where style blooms" this summer.  This time you get 3 for the price of one.  

I found that these chicks being fully clothed made them quite boring.  Does that make me a freak?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Social Butterfly" top right, "Erica's Island top left"

"Table Stories"

I do not get this name at all.  Somebody help me out.

See more chicks from the Gardens of the Magnificent Mile here.

Technorati Tags: gardens of the magnificant mile,display gardens,chicago gardens,michigan avenue

Squash Vine Borer: That's A Wrap

The 4 squash plants started from seed that I direct sowed are so through!  They produced a mere two edible squash.  The worst part about it is that I cooked the two Golden Zucchini in a casserole from a recipe I found at Skippy's Vegetable Garden and although the casserole looked yummy, we decided we hate zucchini.  If I'd known that, I could have let the evil squash vine borer win a long time ago. 

What I noticed was that, even though I'd made many attempts to control the squash vine borer, they attacked the plants from ground-level up.  The stems became really rotten looking but still kept flowering and the ends looked pretty darn healthy.  But, because the stems were so infected, they were not able to efficiently send water to the flowers so I had to water constantly!  In fact, I wondered if I had watered them several times per day if they would have kept growing and producing.  But, at some point along the way I started not caring that much about the stupid gold zucchini. 

I will not be growing this again next year, not because of the squash vine borrer invasion (I would totally win the battle next year.  KNOW THAT!) but because we don't like to eat them.  But, if I were growing them again, here's what I'd do to prevent the invasion.

Start treating the plants with Sharp Shooter on a weekly basis as soon as they are a few inches tall.  I think I discovered these evil bugs way too late but I do believe the sharp shooter works because the actual bugs definitely did not like it.  It's a great organic pest control.

As much as I hate to do it, I'll be writing this crop down in the failure column.  Good luck zucchini growers! May the force be with you.

see more squash vine borer posts here

see more growing challenge posts here

Technorati Tags: squash vine borer,organic pest control,golden zucchini,organic vegetable gardening,growing challenge

Gardens of the Magnificent Mile: Chick #3

 

This is another one of the cool chicks being displayed in the Gardens of the Magnificent  Mile this summer.  Her dress (can you really call this a dress?) is made mostly from bottle caps.  OUCH! 

It's called "Recap".

See more chicks here. 

Technorati Tags: chicago gardens,michigan avenue

Insert Catchy Gourd Title Here

It's Friday and I'm doing the happy dance because my Luffa Gourd vine finally flowered!

I planted this vine from seed (botanical interests) way back on March 1st 2008.

When I read about the real long growing season that Luffa Gourds need I was left feeling pretty hopeless that I'd ever be bathing using a home grown Luffa. But, now that I have an actual flower, I'm more hopeful. Still, it's already almost September, so I need this bad boy to move it along, STAT!

If you've grown Luffa Gourd before, I'd love to hear your story.

Technorati Tags: gourd,luffa,loofa,vine

What The Heck Is This: Weed Edition

I have a couple of these, dare I say flowers, growing in my front yard garden.  I'd assumed it was some kind of weed except the rock star landscaper guy keeps leaving them. 

This morning I noticed one of them has these little red things. I can't really tell if they are berries or flowers about to open.

Can somebody help me ID this thing?

Technorati Tags: plant identification

Wordless Wednesday: Chick #2

See other chicks from the Gardens of the Magnificent Mile

More Wordless Wednesday

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: wordless wednesday,gardens of the magnificant mile,chicago gardens,michigan avenue

The History Of A House

A couple of weeks ago I participated in my first ever "block party".  Our street was blocked off from 10:00 am until midnight and the fire department stopped by for the kids to play on their truck.  No, I did not climb on the fire truck.

Besides quadrupling the number of people I know in our community, the best thing about the block party was hearing the history of our house.

It turns out that our house was the first one built on our side of the street in 1954.  Prior to that, a railroad ran right down where our alley is now.  That explains why I always hit rocks when digging towards the back of our property. 

The people who live two doors down from me have lived here since their house was first built and they told us that the houses sold for 30,000 - 35,000 back in the day, which really pisses me off. 

Remember last year when I posted about the big random concrete slab in my backyard (the torture deck) wondering what it was?  Well, I found out that the owners who lived here the longest were Ham radio operators and the dude actually had a big tower mounted on that slab. 

When I researched it on the Internet I found tons of pictures of the foundation that is built for these radios and they all looked just like ours with the 3 steel posts sticking up in a triangle shape.

Now I'm dying to find some pictures of our block when it was all railroad an no house, and I'd love to see our backyard with a big radio tower back there in the middle of my now garage garden.

image from k9ape.com

Technorati Tags: house,history,ham radio,block party,railroad

Cardinal Vine Goes Bananas

This is the Red Cardinal Vine that I planted from seed.  I placed it here beneath the very ugly railing that is mounted on either side of my front porch. 

When I planted it, I envisioned it trailing gracefully around the vertical bars of the railing and showing off it's super red flowers.  But, as you can see, it has gone crazy and now when I look at it, it reminds me of a horror movie where some plant (or spider web) takes over the house, killing all the occupants. 

I planted a couple other seedlings in containers, but they did not do well at all.  Instead of "trailing", they are just sticking straight up out of the container, only a couple of inches tall, wondering where the hell they are. 

Have you had success with Cardinal Vine in containers?  What's your secret?

Technorati Tags: cardinal vine,red flowering vines,organic gardening,flower gardening

The Gardens Of The Magnificent Mile: Chick #1

If you've ever been to Chicago you know that Michigan Avenue, specifically The Magnificent Mile, has beautiful gardens just about all the time.  And if you are lucky to be shopping when they are changing gardens at the end of the tulip season, they'll even give away the tulips as they rip them out. 

Yesterday while walking to an appointment on Michigan Ave. I noticed the current garden displays featured in The Gardens of Magnificent Mile.  It's chicks dressed in funny/interesting/weird stuff sitting right in the middle of the gardens!  It's funky and I love funky.

They are sponsored by businesses and I think you can even bid on them if you like.  I wonder what it would cost me to have one of these chicks sitting in the middle of my garden.  I also wondered what it would cost me to set one of these up with a card sponsored by My Skinny Garden.  Now that's my kind of blog advertising!

Here's the first one I ran across, which also turned out to be my favorite.  Can you guess why?  It's called God's Creation and it's from Moore Landscapes.

The theme is "Where Fashion Blooms".  Catchy, or Corny?

Technorati Tags: gardens of the magnificant mile,michigan avenue,chicago gardens,garden

It's Official - I love Aster's!

Here's what's blooming in my front yard garden this morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I grew all these from seed, thank you very much!

What do you say?  Show us your Asters!

Technorati Tags: Aster,flower gardening,August blooming flowers

Happy Friday!

I'm cooking up a contest that will start next week. There will be prizes, very delicious prizes!

Check back next week for details (and possible clues if I get creative) and have yourself a fabulous weekend.

By the way, what's your favorite day of the week, and why? Mine is Friday. Friday evening, specifically. I love that it's the end of the work week and I know that for 2 straight mornings I don't need to be anywhere on time. Our new Friday night tradition is homemade pizza and fruit smoothies.

Reminiscing About Southern Fried Corn

Today, the folks over at Dinner Tonight and A Way To Garden are hosting the next installment of the cross-blog food fest staring Corn.

I don't really eat corn all that much and I've never grown it in my garden because (a.) I don't think I have enough space and (b.) it has always seemed like one of those veggies that only very experienced gardeners grow and something I'm just not ready for yet.

When I think of corn I am always reminded of my great grandmother who lived in Clarksville, Tennessee. She made the best fried corn in the world. It had a wonderful sweet and sour flavor and somehow she cooked it exactly long enough to be tender, yet perfectly crunchy. Unfortunately I never got the recipe from her before she died and I've tried, unsuccessfully, several times to make it. I can see her now, standing in her rather dinky old kitchen slicing the homegrown corn right off the cob into a big old cast iron skillet before she added her secret ingredients. I have no idea what she used to make that fried corn but I do remember that my great grandmother dipped snuff and kept a metal container embossed with the word "grease" on the stove at all times so I'm pretty sure she used things like lard, lots of salt and sugar. Nowadays that stuff is banned from most houses (including mine) because they are not particularly healthy, but my great grandmother lived to 94 eating this stuff, so you be the judge.

Side Note: We called my great-grandparents "Other Momma and Other Daddy" all our lives and I had no clue that it was odd until one of my friends looked at me like I had 3 heads when I said "my other momma blah blah blah..." I'm sure "other momma" must have been the way they explained the grandparent relationship to my mother who spent a lot of time with them when she was young.

My great grandmother made all kinds of delicious southern dishes that I never really appreciated because I was at that picky eating age where I thought just about everything was gross. Now that I'm "more mature" and even trying my hand at gardening I'm really regretting not taking the time to get gardening lessons from Other Daddy and cooking lessons from Other Momma.

Anybody have a healthier recipe for fried corn?

Be sure to visit Dinner Tonight and A Way To Garden for more cornsational blog posts.

image from delishfood.wordpress.com

Technorati Tags: fried corn,country cooking,southern living,great grandparents,food fest,corn

Wordless Wednesday: The Asters Are Coming! The Asters Are Coming!

More Wordless Wednesday

Flawless Brandywine Takes The Bronze At Garden Olympics

Until the Garden Olympics, I thought I was just biased in my adoration for this beautiful tomato.  Well now it's an award winner!  Mary Ann over at Idaho Garden hosted the first ever Garden Olympics and my tomato was one of the bronze medallists!  Thanks again, IG!

Here are some FAQ's about my bronze medallist:

1. How do we know you didn't pick the tomato and allow it to ripen in the window, reducing the chance of cracking and other badness?  You don't!  But, hey, I'm an honorable woman so you should just take my word for it.  As soon as I picked this tomato I ran in the house to show it to my boyfriend who was unimpressed, as usual.  
2. What's so special about a flawless tomato?  I buy them all the time at the grocery. Umm have you ever tried to grow tomatoes?  They taste way better than grocery store ones but they tend to be kinda ugly (cracks, holes, animal bites) and it is especially hard to grow pretty heirloom ones because they have not been genetically engineered to resist diseases like the hybrids have. 
3. How did the tomato taste?  No clue.  It's sitting in my kitchen window on display, still.  In fact I may have waited too late to even eat it.  Sad, I know. 
4. How can I grow flawless rock star tomatoes like this?  Get yourself an heirloom Brandywine tomato plant or buy some seeds (next year, it's too late in the season now), plant it, stake it, water it, ignore it, pray.
5. How many tomatoes were in the competition that this tomato won? Just mine, I think.  Hey, don't judge me!  It's still a bronze medallist!  Show some respect!
6. Where'd you get the plant that this tomato came from?  From our local chain grocery Jewel.  They had a few heirloom varieties this year and I bought 3.  The other two were Sausage Tomato and Black Krim.  Neither as pretty as the Brandywine.

I know, I've really exploited this poor tomato and I'm vowing here before you and the e-Gods not to write any more posts about it.   Sorry, I don't have kids so I brag on my tomatoes, instead. 

Technorati Tags: garden olympics,heirloom brandywine tomato,organic vegetable gardening,prizes

Garden Blogger's Design Workshop: Trellises and Screens

Garden Blogger's Design Workshop is a monthly event hosted by the cool kids over at Gardening Gone Wild.  They pick the design topic and we show our stuff.

August is all about Trellises and Screens and even though I don't have a bunch of them, I do have a couple to show off. 

 

 

When I started gardening last year, I was amazed at the high price of basic (some very ugly) trellises.  I paid about $13 dollars each for these cheapy ones that I hung on the back of my garage.  This is the view I see from my kitchen window and since it's such an important part of my garden, I knew I wanted something to support vines growing up my garage. 

After paying what I considered too much for those proper trellises, I decided to start looking for materials to make my own trellis.  That's when I found this old window that had been thrown in the alley for the trash man to pick up.  I removed all the glass and now it's the backdrop for my not-yet-blooming Sweet Autumn Clematis. 

 

I've learned that you can use just about anything as a trellis, like the rail to the porch which I covered with Cardinal Vine.  I planted this from seed and it has gone bananas! 

I don't own any screens yet but I have a feeling after I catch up on all the awesome design entries I'll be looking for one of those next. 

Be sure to stop over at Gardening Gone Wild to check out all the other great entries for this month's Garden Blogger's Design Workshop.  It's a free easy way to get garden design ideas!

Technorati Tags: garden blogger's design workshop,trellis,window trellis,cardinal vine

Garden Olympics

Idaho Gardener has come up with a fantastic way for us garden blogger's to get in on the Olympic festivities.  Our very own Garden Olympics.  The best thing is that I can pick my own categories! 

This is the best idea I've heard in a long time.  Thank you Idaho Gardener for finally coming up with a way to get me interested in the Summer Olympics! 

 

Biggest, Most Beautiful Broccoli To Never Bear Fruit: Romanesco

Most Flawless Organic Heirloom Tomato: Brandywine

Most Petals On A Single Zinnia: Green Envy

Be sure to stop over at Idaho Gardener to see all the other entries for the first (annual? I hope) ever Garden Olympics. 

Technorati Tags: garden olympics,romanesco broccoli,brandywine tomato,green envy zinnia,organic gardening