Happy First Day of Spring

March 20, 2013 / handmadebyjo / 3 Comments

I photographed this as I went out the door to work this morning. It’s a little deceptive because these bulbs are under a cedar tree so the snow didn’t really accumulate there. It’s nice to see they don’t care.

I could do without the snow now. I’m over it. I know there won’t be another snowshoeing day until next year. We will just have to contend with cold, slush and ice until it finally warms enough for it all to go. I love spring, the warming of the earth, going through the perennial beds to see what coming up and where. The spring bulbs are the first to poke their heads up.

These daffodils are everywhere. The photograph was taken in Enfield but there are hundreds in Rowe. They started out as a pot of 12 bulbs that Mabel gave my sister when she was in the hospital for surgery during the blizzard of ’78. Sue planted them in a flower bed around the patio in Rowe. Over the years they’ve been dug up, divided and moved everywhere. There are hundreds that bloom around the patio and now in other gardens. They are over the bank going to the back forty because that was my mother’s mulch pile years ago. I’ve given the bulbs to people all over New England and moved some to Enfield.

I think that’s my favorite part about perennial gardening – giving plants away and getting plants from other gardeners. We have peonies that came from my third grade teacher’s garden, irises from my mother’s best friend. I have a gas plant that came from an abandoned garden center in Enfield that has moved with me three times. They are all beautiful in bloom but for me the true beauty is the reminder of gardeners that I loved that are no longer here.

Seeds Ordered

March 1, 2013 / handmadebyjo / Leave a comment

I did it. I ordered my seeds yesterday. A commitment has been made. Now all that’s left is the layout.

My favorite gardens have been potagers. They are functional and beautiful. They are interesting enough so I want to weed them and keep them clean (alright, sorta weeded and clean). One of the real reasons I love potagers so much is the look on Russell’s face when he sees it. He’s a straight row kind of guy and he always looks at my garden with scepticism. It makes me laugh. My garden has rows, just not all rows. I like things to have a certain whimsy about them yet be functional at the same time. I always plant things for the birds, bees and butterflies. I like color. Consequently I plant things that other people don’t. I love Scarlet Runner Beans. They are beautiful to grow. Hummingbirds and butterflies love them. I love picking the beans at the end of the season and marveling at their bright purple and pink spots. I can’t say that I like eating them so I plant them with another pole bean that I will eat and put up.

Each year I look through my past garden plans to see where the potatoes or tomatoes were planted in the past few years so I can rotate them around. The potatoes are always planted in rows because of the ease in hilling but I plant the tomatoes in all different configurations. This year I may plant blocks or circles of separate varieties instead of in rows. I also will be planting fewer varieties, but maybe more yellows. My new seed for the year will be Tom Thumb popcorn. I always try something totally different. Corn isn’t a do or die for me so when I plant it I do it totally out of curiosity. I figure it’ll probably turn into fodder for raccoons but you don’t know until you try.

Things to remember this year is to add a lot of compost before I till. Stake the tomatoes early (so they don’t get away from me). Get more caution tape for fencing – yes, works better than anything I’ve found although it isn’t all that pretty. Sharpen the weeding tools.

Best of all I will be cleaning off the Adirondack chairs in preparation for relaxing and enjoying the view.

Sunshine in Winter

February 1, 2013February 1, 2013 / handmadebyjo / Leave a comment

Today I will give you a little sunshine in winter, yes it’s still cold and windy. I woke up to it snowing and drove on some deceptively slippery roads to get to work. The sun is now shining but I’m longing for a hot, humid day with the goldfinches perched on my sunflowers. Soon enough.

Dreaming

January 25, 2013January 25, 2013 / handmadebyjo / Leave a comment

I’m dreaming of warm weather. Of tilling the earth, the smell of it. Of a vegetable gardens surrounded by caution tape. The smell of fresh mowed grass. Fresh lettuce. Radishes. Chard. Beans. Longer days. It’s coming. A few short months away.

It’s That Time of the Year

January 17, 2013January 17, 2013 / handmadebyjo / Leave a comment

Many people are getting their seed catalogs out and pouring through them this time of year. It’s good to do a little planning and have your seeds ready to go whether you need to start your tomatoes in the house, are sowing some seed in your hot or cold frame or are just thinking about what will go where in the garden this year.

I’m a planner, it’s one of my favorite parts. I plan what I’m going to plant and where it’s going to go in the garden this year. I plan what plants will be next to the others keeping companion planting in mind. I plan different designs because I hate how boring it is to look at a garden with plants in rows. I pour over the charts I’ve kept in past years to make sure I don’t plant the tomatoes and potatoes in the same place year after year.

I work on an order with High Mowing Organic Seeds that I continue to change week after week from October on, waiting until the last minute to place it. I read their website for all the info I can gather about the new seeds I want to try growing. There are always the tried and true to grow like last year’s Gold Rush yellow snap bean. I cannot say enough about this bean, it was prolific. I started picking beans in July and picked them until frost. They weren’t those tough, tasteless beans either. They were tender and tasty until the very end. I lost count of how many pints I canned but I know Sue and I complained towards the end of the season every time we picked enough beans to can once more. Of course now I’m glad I did.

The other plant I grew this year and introduced to everyone I knew was Joan Rutabagas. I grow them every year and was a little in awe at how few people had never tried rutabagas (probably because they are my favorite vegetable). They require a fairly long growing season but are very cold hardy so they weren’t dug until well into October. I fed them to everyone.

Every year I pick one or two new plants to try. Some work out very well like the Gold Rush beans. Some don’t
but I feel like I haven’t given it a real chance unless I plant it a couple of years in a row. Each growing season is so different. Here’s the problem, every year there are more and more things I want to plant but I don’t have the space to plant them all. I have to cut down my list of seeds.

Sad, sad.

There are currently 27 items in my cart. I probably should get rid of half.

What it really makes me do is plan a new garden in another spot on the property. It’s always some nice piece of lawn that Bill has worked on for years. He’s not going to like this.

Reflections on 2012

December 21, 2012December 21, 2012 / handmadebyjo / Leave a comment

With the last day of days upon us and the end of the calendar year here as well I thought I would make a list of things that were important to me this year. Then I thought I would post them with photos.

1. Daughter Caitlyn graduated from Springfield College with her Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.

2. Helped my father transition into assisted living.

3. Took over the care and feeding of Fort Pelham Farm.

4. Learned to hook rugs.

5. Learned to weave.

6. Gardened and canned in competition with sister Sue.

7. Loved my dogs.

8. Watched loons in a sunset on Lake Winnipesaukee.

9. Began blogging more about the past and present.

10. Got a little more serious about eating local food. If I didn’t grow it much of it came from local farms.

The year has been a stressful one but out of that stress good things have come. I have learned a lot of things this year.

I’ve made an effort to learn new crafts and along the way I have met some truly amazing people. Pottery was not mentioned in the list but I have to say that class taught me one thing I really needed to know. I am not a potter, I will never be a potter, move on. I spent great time with my sister this year including the aforementioned pottery class. I laughed a lot. I found out that there are a lot of crafts I know how to do but there are many things that I should stay away from. Textiles are good for me, so is woodworking (your very basic kind). Anything that you can measure and keep square works. Pottery is so . . . uncontrolled.

I have learned that life is too short to have the past get in the way of renewing old friendships. I have been reminded about this over and over and over again. What’s done is done, move on.

I’ve learned that digging in the dirt will clear your head faster than anything else I can think of, plus you end up with something good to eat.

Sometimes you just have to ignore all of the noise. Rowe is the best place in the world for that. No cell service. We do have wifi and currently tv but I think after the first of the year the tv will go. There are always the DVDs.

The next 11 days will be spent disconnected from work, internet, the outside world. What I’m really afraid of is not wanting to come back.