Seed Catalogs Have Arrived!!!

Spring must be just around the corner, right?  Seed catalogs are coming in the mail!  I am making my list and checking it twice.

This year I want to be more intentional.  My goal is to learn more about each plant and begin with the new perennials such as Jerusalem artichoke and Horseradish.

My plan is to have a journal committed to my garden.  As I create a seed list, I will add the information I learn about the specific plant.

This will take some time!

Did you know Jerusalem artichoke is a member of the sunflower family?

Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus)

It is a perennial.

Grows 4-9 feet tall and produces yellow flowers and tubers.

The tubers contain "10% protein, no oil, and a surprising lack of starch" according to Wikipedia.

I have much to learn!!!

I would love to know if you have a systematic method to your madness?  To planting and learning more about your plants?

 

Fall Versus Spring Pruning-Perennials & Winter

The leaves are dying on my perennials.    Maximilian Sunflowers, butterfly bushes, wild flowers and grasses are beginning to go to sleep for the winter in my Zone 5 area.   We have not had a killing freeze yet, but it is coming.

It gets pretty ugly in my back yard after the freeze.  Gangly brown stalks.  

So here is what I do:

I trim down the sunflowers to about 4 feet and tuck leaves, grass clippings and other organic type mulch around the roots this fall.  In the spring before growth, I will cut it down to about a foot.

The butterfly bushes and Russian Sages are left alone.  I do trim back any branches that are drooping down to the ground.  I've noticed these plants gathering their own bedding each fall as blowing leaves are caught within their stems.  Some manure and/or compost are sprinkled on.  I do tuck grass clippings, and straw if I can find it, around their bases to decompose over the winter.

Karl Forester, pampas, big blue stem and little blue stem grasses are left alone.  I am taking a few seed heads to save for next year.  The grasses provide great shelter and some food for the tiny birds that overwinter here.  Tucking extra organic material around the grasses makes me feel like I'm being a little attentive! 

The hastas seem to gather their own bed of mulch as their leaves die down and leaves gather in their beds.  I have lost two big trees this year though and need to gather some to help insulate them.

The other beds and berms are covered with as much organic material as I can find.  I try to find mulch at our local tree dump to add to the berms I am building.

Basically, plants provide their own self-care in the fall to ready themselves for winter.  It is up to us to stay out of the way as much as possible! :)

It is About That Time

Sadly, I'm realizing it is about that time.  

Time to put my garden to bed.  Time to write down what worked and what didn't.  Time to clean pots and bird baths and tools.  Time to spray paint the tattered pots or chipped baths and place in the shed for bed.

I have enjoyed this year's additions:

Egg Plant

Celery

Okra

Sweet Potato

I planted the egg plant on a new berm.  It was tucked on top next to a pumpkin and some squash.  The one plant was extremely prolific!  The leaves decompose quickly and will add to the soil structure of the new berm.

The celery surprised me.  In fact, after it took off, I was not sure what to do with all of it.  Some freezing but mostly I've cooked with it.  Next year, I will be more prepared with ideas.

Okra, I planted from seeds along the edges of my big bed and they were voracious.  Not at all sure how to cook okra, but have a bucket in the fridge of them ready to cook.

My sweet potato loves where it is.  I planted it late along the edge of a berm.  The vines have mixed with other annual plants and it is a beautiful combination.

I left the big raised bed piled high and utilized a layered approach.  Cucumbers and zucchini on top; tomatoes and peppers in the middle ring and carrots, okra, celery and even peas on the bottom layer.

This year, I blended most of the produce to freeze and use.  Tomatoes and peppers are blended together to make chili and soups this winter.  Zucchini.  Peppers. Celery and pepper mash frozen in ice cube trays and stored in baggies.

My big blue stem seeded and is growing strong creating a beautiful hide-a-way for summer retreats!

Putting beds to sleep.  

My large bed is pulled, piled and covered with grass clippings, straw and leaves.  I've been watering generously, to encourage decomposing before the winter freeze. 

  

I dig a hole in the middle, and add scraps from the kitchen, cover with soil and water for a composting soup!

Having the soil settled in for the worms, bugs and organisms to create their amazing webs over the winter, is my main objective.  

As fall continues, I gather organic material,  leaves, straw and clippings-adding layers as I go.

I don't want to not disturb or disrupt the soil, until I transplant babies into the soil in the spring.

 

Catching Water Runoff

In the past, the extra water would run off and then evaporate.  This meant more watering and fixing the mulch after it ran with it. 

I added pea gravel the length of the run off area, covered it all with heavy mulch and I water half as much!

Creating Swales

Saturday found us melting in 101 degree heat in my neck of the woods.  However, my "stacked function" beds were holding their own and keeping the plants alive and well.

Two of my young men sons were home Saturday, so I took the opportunity to...bribe them.  Chicken Fried Steak breakfast at the local truck stop for unloading a pick up load of pea gravel and hauling it to my trenches.  In an unbelievably short amount of time, pea gravel was in its rightful place!

Next, I added some straw, saw dust and bark to the trenches.  Finally, some topsoil and mulch that they also helped me haul in.

Ironically, we had a rare downpour that night.  In the wee morning hours, I am staring out the windows and doors trying to catch a glimpse of the water pattern in the lightening bursts.  Thankful for the precious water and the extra motivation to create new swales from the down spouts.

Some fun resources for Building Swales:

University of Nebraska Extension

http://ianrpubs.unl.edu/pages/publicationD.jsp?publicationId=1547

Sharing Gardening with Kids

Our youth committee hosted a gardening activity for the kids today.  Younger kids came to engage in activities around gardening while the Moms and Dads learned just as much I think!

My activities was on compost, vermicompost and starting a seed in a necklace greenhouse.  

When kids came to my table, I showed them baggies filled with different compost types.  I had a printed out process of decomposition and the layers in a compost bin laying around for their information.

One bag of browns with pine-cones, leaves, bark and even a few small sticks.  A bag of greens that contained cabbage, celery and cucumbers nicely beginning the fermentation process!  What is compost without manure and horse apples were in a baggie for inspection.  Crushed eggs, water beads and nicely composted soil were the final bags. 

The baggies offered a great way to show the layering of compost-and I didn't even mean to!

 I had some worms in an aquarium for them to see.  Some of the last kids through made their own compost bin out of a brown bag, worms and all of the layers.  Many little ones had never really watched a worm move and wonder about their make up.  They touched, played with and even ticked the worms! 

Whoever we are and whatever we do, I see it as all of our responsibility to pass on a passion for all things living.  To teach old skills to young minds and to stir up a curiosity within everyone!

Pruning Grasses

Spring might be here to stay.  One never knows in Nebraska!  However, baby Kale plants are growing in beds.

Karl forester grass got its spring hair cut this morning!!!  This grass needs to be left alone through the fall and winter to protect the roots from the winter and provide housing for bugs, birds and critters.  I added some decomposed leaves and will add some manure and watch this beautiful grass grow!




My favorite grass is little and big bluestem that used to fill the plains!  Spring, when new growth is beginning to show is the time to prune and transplant.

Schizachyrium scoparium (Michx.) Nash

Little bluestem

Poaceae (Grass Family)

Synonyms: Schizachyrium scoparium var. scoparium, Andropogon scoparius

 Native to U.S. 

 http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=SCSC