Must be March

If I were more diligent about posting in this blog, you would have seen this last week:

Today, most of the snow is gone, revealing this:

Daffs!  Can spring be far behind?

The ugliest month of the year

I work from home one or two days a week.  Usually I sit in the West Wing and enjoy looking out on my backyard habitat.  This winter the birds have been especially prevalent.  Until now.


Where ARE those birds?

Now it is warming up, and the birds apparently can find food and water elsewhere.  The snow is dirty and half melted and revealing not only the dull browns and grays underneath, but piles and piles of dog poop. 

I'll just slither down the fence...

During the winter, I try to keep up with Betsy's leavings, but once it snows, all bets are off.  With all the snow we received this winter, the leavings are worse than usual.  Also, they ring the patio.  Since Betsy does not like to walk where she has shat, this has produced a bit of a dilemma.


... and clean up under the feeders before that nasty dog sees me.

But not for long.  The pooper scooper brigade has started spring clean up, even if it is not yet spring.  Good thing she is cute.  And asleep, or she would be telling this squirrel just where he can go.

A taste of summer in February

Since I bought my freezer, I have been good at puuting things IN it, but not so good about taking stuff OUT.  So the other day I made some vegetable soup, using frozen tomato juice as the base, then adding frozen green beans, just sprouting potatoes and onions, plus some store-bought corn, celery, and carrots.  Needless to say, the tomato juice made the soup.

And now that the apples in the garage are gone, it's time to hit the frozen applesauce.  I was going to "treat" myself by sweetening it a bit, but guess what?  The combination of Fuji and IdaRed apples needs no sweetening at all.  Delish!

Tonight, I'll be baking a French apple pie with the frozen apple slices.  Tomorrow it's chuck roast, which should use up the last of the potatoes and a lot of the smallest onions.

The blueberries are gone, but there are still peaches.  And tomatoes.  Lots and lots of tomatoes.  Must consume them before the first ones come out of the garden.

Can you tell I am tired of winter?

Not my camera

My SO tired of hearing me complain about my camera, so he loaned me his Olympus SP-590UZ.  I don't know what that designation means, but it does take better pictures than my little Sony.  The zoom lens really zooms, which makes it difficult to hold the camera steady, plus these were taken through the (dirty) windows of the West Wing.  And I don't have a fancy-shmancy photo editor.  What do you think?  Better?  I think I reduced them too much.

Kale and stuff

Tuscan Kale and White Bean Soup

I made some kale and white bean soup from a recipe in Yoga Journal.  I am not an eater of kale on a regular basis, but this soup turned out great, perhaps due to the vegetable stock (from a recipe in Love Soup) or maybe it was the honkin' big clove of garlic I used.  Anyway, it was perfect with some homemade bread on a snowy winter day.

Last week I placed my orders for seeds and plants.  I probably still have too many tomatoes, but I did try to tone things down.  Also, I considered just what I eat and what I want to eat. 

Ordinarily, I don't grow pumpkins because in the past I have not eaten them much.  That has been changing, but not to the point where I wanted to grow my own.  Then came disappointment in the local sugar pumpkins from last summer - no flavor.  So I am giving pumpkins a try this year.

Ditto sweet potatoes.  Store-bought are good, but I'm betting home-grown are better.  I picked a bush variety that should do fine in the grow sacks.

I like eggplant but one goes a long way in my kitchen.  With Burpee's new mix 'n match, though, I can get one plant, a container variety that produces small fruit that look perfect for a one person household.

I mixed and matched my eggplant with a variety of peppers plus some container tomatoes; that's where I went astray with the "love apples".  I want to see if salsa tomatoes were really better for salsa, plus I want an early tomato - I hate to wait.

There is no room for brassicas except maybe here and there, so I will look for locally grown plants if I think I can squeeze them in.  But there will be root vegetables following the garlic, for fall harvesting.  That is another food group I eat more of, now that I know to roast them in olive oil and sea salt.

Over the years, I have tried a variety of beans, green and wax, but this year I am reverting back to the tried and true Blue Lake Bush.  And I am growing more onions so that I can thin them for scallions.  And I must remember to plant the sunflowers this year.  What is a backyard without sunflowers?

I'm a volunteer that the rabbits did not eat

Winter doldrums

Unusually pretty sunset for these parts

Once the holidays are over, it is a long slumber until spring.  Around here it does not snow much, so instead of a winter wonderland, we get dirty slush-covered browns and grays.  Even the initial manic of seed catalogs has given way to the depressive blahs of mid-January.  Bah.

When I purchased my ski equipment several years ago, I subconsciously made a pact with myself to ski whenever I could.  This has amounted to once or twice a year (see above comment about snow).  Last Saturday seemed like my only opportunity this year, so I drove to a nearby county park.  The snow on the trails was old and used, so the skiing turned into a lot of work.  And despite the signs stating the paths were closed to hikers, some bozos had tromped on the ski tracks, leaving bare ground showing where their heels struck.  I could hear my skis scraping bottom.  By the time I gave up, I had a big blister on the back of each heel and the realization that I see more wildlife in my own backyard.  I filed the excursion under the "We're going to have fun whether you want to or not, dammit" category and went home.

At least my backyard wildlife keeps me amused.  That rascally rabbit was out and about this morning.  It kept running along the chain link fence, from one side of the yard to the other.  Looking for a way out?  I was in an online meeting (stupid job) and tethered to my computer, so I could not get up and see if it could get through the gap by the gate.  Or maybe it is too dumb to remember the gap is there?  Or too blind to find it?  And what do rabbits eat in the winter, besides the bark off my shrubs (which are protected by chicken wire, thank you very much)?  There is cracked corn and sunflower seeds under the bird feeders, but I have also been throwing apple cores under the steps, just in case the poor thing needs something extra.  I know.  I'm hopeless.

Almost ready

A little over three inches

Technically, we need four inches of snow before breaking out the cross country skis.  The white stuff is still coming down, albeit in a finer state, but I'm hoping there will be enough.

In case you are wondering, I took pity on the last captured rabbit and unblocked the gap at one gate.  I just kept worrying there was a nest of babies somewhere in the backyard, starving to death in the bitter cold.  Getting soft in my old age, I guess.

Betsy sniffing for bunnies in front of the house

My neighbor across the street wandered over with his snow blower this afternoon.  The snow was light and fluffy, but I'm still glad I did not have to do the driveway by hand.

My driveway is 50' long

The snow brought in the birds.  On the left is a blue bird, on the right a goldfinch, and I'm not sure about the rest.  

One is coming in for a landing

After these departed, a hardy sparrow came to bathe.  Brrr!

Despite the snow on the ground, the gardening catalogs keep piling up.  Several years ago, I started receiving Growers Supply, which targets nurseries and market gardeners.  Lots of greenhouses and greenhouse supplies.  I have never ordered anything from them, but I like to scan its pages for ideas.  Since the voles ruined my potato crop last year, I am looking for ways to foil them this year.  Growers Supply suggests lining the bottom of raised beds with wire mesh.  I was considering enclosing the bed in mesh, but if I do the bottom as well, that would keep the little boogers out.  At least I don't have to contend with deer.

First day of the rest of the year

Since the temps were in the 40's this morning and a cold front is on the way, I spent some time in the yard, cleaning up the flower bed on the south side of the house and the hosta bed on the north side, while Betsy sniffed out the rabbits in the front bushes.

Speaking of rabbits, I have been trying to clear my backyard of them for a while.  They girdled my serviceberry so badly it has never recovered - while alive and presumably healthy, it just won't grow.  Ditto the chokeberry.  All the shrubs are now protected by circles of chicken wire, and the chain link is lined with chicken wire and I have been catching the rabbits in a Havahart trap borrowed from a neighbor.  But somehow they keep sneaking back in.  I even dream about rabbits, sometimes that there are baby ones frolicking on the lawn.  The other night, I dreamed that there were several rabbits in the backyard and a hawk kept swooping down at them, but the hawk eventually caught a ground hog and flew away.

This morning there was a rabbit in the trap, so I freed it in the front yard, then patrolled the backyard fence.  The gates are the weak points.  At one, it looked like rabbits had dug under the chicken wire.  At the other, I found small snarls of chicken wire - do rabbits chew metal?  I reinforced the gaps under each gate with cement pavers and bricks.  While I was cleaning out the hosta bed, a rabbit (the same rabbit I caught?) ran toward the gate but could not get through.

When checking the fence, I found places in the meadow where rabbits had bedded down (and evidence that they had mowed down the Russian sage), but no sign of baby bunny nests.  That doesn't mean there isn't one under the porch steps or the shed, but I'm just going to try to harden my heart and pretend that is not possible.  La-la-la-la-la.

Feels like bad karma.

Schizophrenic weather

One day it is so cold the cat is sleeping on the register and the dog is hiding under the covers...

and the leaves of the rhododendron are rolled tighter than my yoga mat...

and then the weather switches to what could be considered a January thaw, if it were January.

The snow should be gone by the time we ring in the new year.  That means no cross country skiing (yet) and no snow cover for the garden, not a good thing.

When it is warm, the birds abandon the feeders, but this chickadee was eating something on the cotoneasters.

It wasn't the berries.  Lichen?  Who knows.

And the Cooper's hawk came back for a visit:

The seed catalogs continue to pile up - such gorgeous photos! - but I am holding firm to purchasing only what I need-need, and from only two places.  BUT I am using the catalogs to look into the future.  Maybe a piece of prairie?  Tree fruit?  Berry hedges?  A gardener can dream, can't she?

Meanwhile, have a Happy New Year!

Where we were and where we're going

Okay, I didn't get everything done that I planned to do last summer.  Gardening is for optimists, though, so below is a recap of last year and a to-do list for next year.


From 2010:

About that lawn:
1. Overseed bare spots in lawn with clover (in February/March) - forgot

And that unsightly tractor tire:
2. Move hosta from tractor tire to under the lilac - DONE
3. Get rid of tractor tire - did not get around to it
4. Use sand from tractor tire to create butterfly water site - ditto
5. Plant Prairie Fire crabapple where tractor tire is - tree not available locally

How about a little curb appeal:
6. Prune shrubs (boxwood, burning bush, etc.) - DONE (this should be a yearly thing)
7. Move some of the cotoneaster to the west side of the West Wing - reconsidered
8. Plant Big Blue Stem to fill in holes left by #7 - reconsidered
9. Move sedum from under asplenifolia to in front of Big Blue Stem - DONE mostly
10. Move 'Clara Curtis' from south side of house to 3B garden - reconsidered
11. Plant Magic Lilies, aka Naked Ladies, in holes left by #10 - reconsidered
12. Divide hostas and day lilies and give away extra - did not get around to it
13. Move/give away iris on north side of garage - did not get around to it

Birds, butterflies, and bees:
14. Plant morning glories on fence behind 3B garden - forgot
15. Install ceramic bird house - DONE but no birds
16. Install mason bee house - forgot
17. Plant winterberry under arborvitae - DONE but it was holly
18. Plant hummingbird sage in 3B garden - forgot

Weed control:
19. Experiment with injecting Roundup and/or vinegar into stems of Canada thistle - tried this, too time consuming, but we'll call it DONE

Protection from the elements:
20. Get estimates for a pergola for the patio - reconsidering
21. Plant arborvitae on west side of house - DONE but it was juniper

Landscaping:
22. The West Wing needs some - partially DONE (hydrangea and two hostas)
23. Ditto
24. Ditto

Long term food:
25. Plant raspberries - deferred
26. Prepare asparagus bed - planted asparagus instead (mistake)

Misc.
27. Use gladiolas as row markers - DONE
28. Keep better (any) records re vegetable garden production - DONE
29. Start dye garden - later, but harvested marigold blossoms for dye
30. Buy a freezer - DONE

For 2011:

About that lawn:
1. Overseed bare spots in lawn with clover (in February/March)
2. Mow at highest setting
3. Treat with Fire Belly

And that unsightly tractor tire:
4. Get rid of tractor tire. Really.
5. Use sand from tractor tire to create butterfly water site

How about a little curb appeal:
6. Move ornamental grass by porch, replace with ?
7. Move rest of sedum from under asplenifolia to in front of Japanese maple
8. Plant Magic Lilies, aka Naked Ladies, on south side for some August color
9. Divide hostas and day lilies and give away extra, if anyone wants them
10. Move iris on north side of garage, but to where?

Birds, butterflies, and bees:
11. Plant morning glories on fence behind 3B garden
12. Install ceramic bird house in new location
13. Install mason bee house
14. Plant hummingbird sage in 3B garden
15. Plant sunflowers and other flowers I have seed for
16. Contemplate reorganizing this area and adding a water feature

Weed control:
17. KILL THE CANADA THISTLE

Protection from the elements:
18. Get estimates for a pergola for the patio
19. Plant Prairie Fire crabapple by patio

Landscaping:
20. The West Wing needs more (like the ornamental grass by the front porch?)

Long term food:
21. Prepare raspberry bed
22. Work on asparagus bed
23. Strawberries?
24. Mini dwarf fruit orchard?
25. Meyer lemon?

Edible landscaping:
26. Contemplate blueberries on south side of house, huckleberry as a hedge in partial shade

Misc.
27. Set up irrigation
28. Improve record keeping
29. Harvest hibiscus blossoms (and any other plant that can be used) for dyeing
30. Eliminate trumpet vine - it is taking over

The bluebird of happiness

Occasionally, I see a bluebird or two at the bird bath, early in the day.  Here is evidence!  Not too bad a pic, considering it was taken using the zoom, through a window, when it was still mostly dark out.

Today I also saw a LBB (Little Brown Bird - at a distance they all look alike) land on top of a foxtail, bending the seed head down to the ground, where presumably some seeds shook loose.  The bird would then release the stalk, peck around in the snow a bit, and repeat the performance.  Now I don't feel so bad about (some of) the weeds in my yard.

Some kind of crap (freezing rain?  sleet?  what is the difference?) was falling from the sky, but now it has turned to snow.  A good reason to stay put today.

More memory loss

This year, when I made my infamous cranberry bread (recipe from La Leche League's Whole Foods for the Whole Family - my copy is about 30 years old), I used a food processor to chop the cranberries.  What I good idea! I said to myself.  Later, while perusing some blog entries from a year ago, I discovered that I had discovered the food processor shortcut to chopping cranberries back then.  One thing about aging is, everything seems new!

I think this is new:

I bought a rasp zester.  Not only no more skinned knuckles, but the zest is captured in the holder AND it is easy to clean.

Another blog entry I ran across from a year ago was my plans for 2010.  All I can say is, HA HA HA.  I accomplished only about a third of the items listed, and some of those not completely.  (For instance, I moved some of the sedum but not all of it, and instead of preparing an asparagus bed, I planted asparagus, which was a mistake.)  The best part of gardening is the planning, though - time for a new list!

Is it cold in here?

Or is it just the cat?

Bird watching

Now that I have replaced the black oil sunflower seeds with a millet-based mix, all I get at the window feeder are sparrows.  Fern does not care.

Come back, birdies!

 Are cardinals redder in the winter?  Or does the snow just make it seem so?  This is what is known as "lake effect" snow, of which we received less than an inch.  Not enough for skiing.

Safflower seed, because I'm worth it!

I am going to say that this is a Cooper's hawk.  He sat there and sat there, and finally I crept off to find my camera.  He was still there when I returned, but not for long.

Hey!  Where did everybody go?

I was less lucky today when a ragged V of what I think were herons flew overhead.  They did not honk or quack, but sang an unfamiliar song as they passed by.  I have never witnessed such a thing before.

I also have never witnessed a dog eating a hot pepper right off the plant.  (I brought this plant inside before a hard frost.)

But oddly enough, Betsy does not like raw turkey liver.  Go figure.

Pumpernickel

After three days of cooking and cleaning, friends and family, today was my "free" day, which means I was free to do laundry, pick up dog poop, and otherwise prepare for the coming work week.  But I also made time for baking bread.  Some people might not consider that a fun thing to do, but I find hand kneading yeasty dough to be very relaxing.  And then there is the end result - a delicious accompaniment to the last of the Caramelized Cabbage soup.

I have had visitors to the window feeder, mostly chickadees (as below) but also nuthatches and sparrows.  I may replace the oil seed with something like millet, because the larger seed doesn't fall into the feeding cups very well.

Now I am going to enjoy a blaze in the fireplace on this chilly night.

The memory goes first

Tonight I decided to make Caramelized Cabbage Soup, from Love Soup. I pulled two pints of broth (recipe also in Love Soup) from the freezer, plus what I thought was a mixture of cooking water from potatoes and green beans that I had frozen. The jar was unlabeled, and, after it started to thaw, was unrecognizable by look or smell. I have no idea what it was, and decided not to use it in my soup (which turned out delish, BTW).

The reason I was making soup was, in part, to clean out the refrigerator in anticipation of T-day leftovers. In the back of said fridge, I found a few apples left over from last year. They were in a bag labeled "Cameo". Yes, the same variety that in another post I claimed to have never heard of before this fall.

I had a third example of my poor memory, but I forget what it was.

New topic:

Seed catalogs! In a way, it makes sense that these arrive in time for xmas shopping because gardeners need gifts, too. And as every year, I am overwhelmed with all the varieties available. They all sound good. In the past, I have bought "sampler" collections of tomatoes, peppers, and potatoes, and have found some new favorites that way, but I'm going to be more selective going forward. I plan to rely on some old standbys and maybe try one or two new things at a time. Or, as I am doing with garlic, select several varieties with different attributes, and use them accordingly.

Any recommendations?

Old news

Do you reread your blog posts?  Occasionally I take a peek at what I was doing a year (or two or three) ago. One thing I was doing about a year ago was perusing the Pinetree Garden Seeds catalog.  Guess what?  I'm doing the same this year.  Once again, it was the first seed catalog to arrive.  The garden is barely put to bed for the winter and I'm already dreaming of spring.

One of my dreams is to figure out a way to protect my potatoes from voles.  I think they don't tunnel like moles or climb like mice, so all I need to do is block them at or near ground level.  I'm contemplating wrapping the potato bed in hardware cloth, sinking it an inch or two below ground level.  Unless you have a better idea?

Today I spent a little time in the yard, adding and filling bird feeders, cleaning out and organizing the garden shed and then packing it with all the crap that I'd left laying about the yard, retriggering the rabbit trap (I caught another opossum the other night), etc.  Now I can gaze upon the backyard without feeling guilty.

Itsy bitsy spider, and apples

While I was cleaning out gutters the other day, I came across this fellow:

Not anything like his cousin who snuck into the house in a ceramic birdhouse I planned on cleaning in the kitchen sink.  He was HUGE with a high squish factor, so when he climbed out and perched on the edge of said birdhouse, he got a fast ride out the patio door.  Spiders in the yard and garden are okay, but not in the house.  (Which reminds me - a week or so ago, I saw another BIG one in the main bathroom; he scuttled under the baseboard behind the cat box when he saw me coming.  As far as I know, he is still there.  Ugh.)

* * * * *

I spent a good portion of last Sunday processing apples in one form or another.  I started with some hard cider I "made" (no real effort involved, other than finding unadulterated fresh cider and then leaving it on the kitchen counter with the cap off the bottle).  I bought the cider on Tuesday, tasted it on Saturday, and deemed it good.  Unfortunately, I had some kind of allergic reaction to it - I assume from the yeasts.  Undaunted, I used some in this recipe (figuring the cooking would kill off the yeasts).  That was relatively successful, so I decided to freeze the rest of the cider for later use.  I tried to filter it through a coffee filter, which was not successful, and managed to spill quite a bit on the floor.

My previous attempt to use my peeler-corer-slicer was not successful, primarily because the apples I used (IdaRed) were too soft.  After some encouragement from Jessie, I decided to try again, this time with Fuji apples.  Ah.  Much better.

There is a bit of waste, but since I was planning on making sauce with the rest of the IdaReds, the cores, peels, and ends of the Fujis went into the pot as well.

The peeler-corer-slicer actually cuts the apple into a spiral...

which was kind of handy.  The naked apples were kept pretty by a solution of Fruit Fresh, which I also managed to spill.

Anyway, after several hours of work, I wound up with five quarts of sliced apples, six pints of sauce, three pints of cider, and one sticky kitchen.

For fresh eating, I favor a crisp, tart apple.  When Granny Smith first appeared on the scene (30+ years ago?), it was love at first bite.  Last year I tried Gold Rush for apple sauce and as keepers, and they were so tart, they made my stomach hurt.  They kept well in my unheated garage, and sweetened up a bit over the winter, but still very tart.  My new favorite is Cameo, which I had never heard of before this year.  They are just perfect.  I'm not fickle, am I?

Tuesday must be bath day

I have some video as well, but to upload it to blogger requires agreeing to something that is too long to read.  But you can view it here.

Secrets revealed

Once the leaves fall from the trees and shrubs, one can see where birds have built their nests. Some nests I know of, like the ones in the juniper and the clematis. This summer I noticed a pair of cardinals frequenting the honeysuckle vine - sure enough, a nest, complete with plastic lining.

The Black Haw viburnum dropped its leaves to reveal another nest.

Sunday I cleaned out bird houses, shaking the usual twigs and fluff from the wren houses, but I was surprised to find no nest in the bluebird box. Midsummer I had removed a sparrow nest because it looked like a wren wanted to use the box, but nothing more was built.
This spring I was puzzled by rabbit damage on the cotoneaster - highly unusual - until I realized a rabbit must have been trapped under the living room  window overhang when it snowed. I didn't think anymore about it, until I found a little skull under there this summer.

This winter, if we get snow, I will try to remember to stomp an exit, to protect my bushes and prevent another bunny tragedy.

The weather was gorgeous on Sunday, and I spent about three hours in the yard, piddling around. I planted garlic in the raised bed by the patio. I suspect the voles have been tunneling under there and hope they don't like garlic. I also set up some of the bird feeders and plugged in the bird bath.  From my perch on the love seat in the West Wing, I can see four feeders and the bird bath.  Each feeder has a different kind of seed.  I tried mixing seeds one time, but birds that are looking for one type will scatter the other on the ground.  Enough of it falls there as it is. 

I did not think too many birds favored safflower seed, but since I saw a cardinal eating it last year, I bought it again this year.  Today I see the nuthatches and titmice also like it.  The chickadees have been using the clematis trellis by the West Wing as a launching pad.  I may stick a window feeder near there, to see who comes to call.

And Sunday I watered, watered, watered. We received about a quarter inch of rain last week, with none in the immediate forecast. I will continue to water until the ground freezes. If the weather continues to be as dry as it has been the past several years, I will have to set up an irrigation system for the vegetable garden. I'm glad I have not spent any money on rain barrels - without rain, they are rather useless.