How's Things With YOU? ~ Midsummer Status Update 2011

The last 2-3 years, my beloved vegetable garden has really not produced anything. Why? Well, i have a large perennial garden, i have my Creative Castings nature art business that i can only work on in the warm season and have to keep up inventory for the summer art/craft shows, plus i worked full time with only 2 weeks of vacation. It was fine without the art stuff, but that takes up a lot of hours, about as much as a part time job! Yes, i do love it, it just takes up time, time that i could be using to plant, weed, and water. 

This year is a little different; i decided to cut the art shows to one per month, plus i have one more week of vacation. So the garden looks a LITTLE better.



Cherokee Purple Tomato Plant

Things ARE behind, such as the tomato plants that are just starting to look like anything, plus a couple of things didn't germinate, my cucumbers and zucchini were planted late and were slow to come up, so they're both about 6 in. tall



Squash on the left; cukes on the right



 (i have faith in them, though, especially the zucchini - i expect to have many to give away, if it goes as zucchini usually goes!). Just planted bush beans VERY late (where the other seeds did not come up), but there should be plenty of time for them to mature. PLUS, after a horribly wet May, downpours every day or two.....My spousal unit and i agreed back then that we would probably in a drought situation come August. Well, by June it stopped raining, and as of this writing we have been completely without rain for 3 weeks, and the few showers before that did not amount to more that a tenth of an inch - so we're DRY! It's a pain to have to water daily, but i try to look at the bright side - few weeds and few mosquitoes! If you garden or farm, one thing is certain - you can water constantly, but it never has the same effect as one good rain! Plants will look 3 times larger the day after a rain, but so will the weeds! After a couple of good mid summer rains is usually when the weeds overtake the garden so much that i can't keep up, and if i DO have time to weed in the evenings, the 'skeeters won't allow me to! So, yes, i have to water, but i control it, so it's not all bad!

i have also rediscovered old fashioned gardening ~ that is, I have a tiller, and sprinklers to hook up to the garden hose, and all kinds of garden gadgets (remember THIS thing?)

but this season i've just been tending the garden quietly, watering with a watering can, hand picking the weeds or hoeing them, and mulching, reconnecting intimately with the garden soil. So, a slightly more relaxed season so far...

*****Late news flash ~ we DID just manage to get about an inch of rain two days ago, so that helped a bit!******

My Garden Interview - Part 4

***i'm currently reading an older garden book titled, "Gardening From The Heart - Why Gardeners Garden" by Carol Olwell. The reason for this book is interesting, because, as she points out, gardening is hard work,

considered pretty much low grade manual labor, and is rarely lucrative -

so why do we do it? She compiles the story of many gardeners who were interviewed for this book. i am barely past the introduction, but i feel compelled to put into words how i myself came to be a gardener, and why....***
continued....

Q: Do you have anything you want others to know about you?

i'm amazed at all the yards in our suburban neighborhoods that have nothing but grass and a couple trees growing in them. My God, at least stick one tomato plant somewhere! Many people i know never go outdoors,

are scared silly of bugs, and we have actually met some who don't know where eggs come from! If they ever had to live off the land to survive, they'd be dead in a hurry! I'm sure even i would have trouble doing that, having been a "city girl" all my life, but i think i'd manage better than they would..

i make it a point to live as simply as i can in our normal American Midwestern life. i have a lot of things to do, but always try to just sit in the garden a few minutes, or walk to the park. If i see a hummingbird and want to stop and watch it, i do. It takes me about 45 minutes for a decent walk in the park, and if i can't find 45 minutes for myself, then i feel something's wrong with my life! i take all the

breaks and lunch hours and vacations i'm entitled to at my job. i feel that all of that is vital to my well-being. All the workaholics i know either have heart disease, or cancer, or diabetes - or have already died!

i try to be as environmentally "careful" as i can, too. i don't know why - i don't have children, so it's not because of my concern for my descendants having clean air to breathe! No, it's just something i feel i have to do for my OWN peace of mind. Don't get me wrong, i have a car, and gas heat, and central air conditioning, and a microwave and a computer - all the luxuries of modern life, but i don't abuse them. We use our central air maybe as

much as two weeks most years, when it's really necessary for sleeping. A lot of acquaintances put their air on the first 80 degree (F) day, and don't turn it off until Autumn! I walk if possible - i don't start the car to drive across the street! If i find a tiny spider in the house, do i call the exterminator? No. Either i gently take it outside, or the cats get it (!), or i leave it - especially in mosquito or gnat season, a couple of spiders in the house is a natural, self sustaining extermination system!

All anyone has to do is THINK a little to improve their lives and the planet.

 

Our current home has about a third of an acre, relatively large for a city lot, but it's conversely not enough and too much for me! One side of me would love several acres of a large, maybe partly wooded lot, but on the other hand, when i get home from an 8 hr workday, a huge area would be daunting! i already have areas that "get away " from me in the summer, mostly because i have my leaf castings to work on now, so even though i work outside, i still can't work ON the outside! My husband does the mowing and weeding (but only the recognizable weeds!), and enjoys the yard when it looks nice, but the work is not out of love, as it is with me. One time i complained to a friend of mine (who is a non

gardener married to a "plant nut" like me) that it would be nice if DH was as passionate about the plants as i was, but she said, "Yes, but then you would always be arguing about what plants to buy, and what location to plant them in, and in what configuration, etc. This way, you can do what you want without another person with different ideas getting

in your way." Well, i thought that was quite the wise thing to say, and ever since then, i don't really wish as much that i had married a horticulturalist !

Happy Fall ! (NOT)

Only a few more hours of Summer - it's the time of year i dread! Yes, the days are cooler (except that the whole summer was cool this year), a lot of the days are very pretty (except that i'm at work 5 days a week and can't enjoy them), the leaves turn beautiful colors (except that it means the leaves are DYING)...See where i'm coming from? Don't think i CAN be satisfied in the Autumn! It would be my favorite time of year IF the next season was Spring - but since we have cold weather- meaning weather plants will not grow in- from October through April (at least), to ME it's sad.

This is also the time of year i start grasping at straws- "Well, at least the trees haven't started changing colors yet." "Well, at least it's still warm." "Well, at least i can still feed the fish in the pond." "Well, the trees are changing, but they still have their leaves." "Well, at least it hasn't snowed yet." "Well, at least the ground is still soft enough to plant bulbs." "Well, at least there's a few more weeks of Daylight Savings time, and i can still have some time outside before dark." "Well, at least it's not REAL cold yet.".... You get the idea.

i have always said that i cry 2 times a year (barring the occasional wedding or funeral). First, on the first beautiful warm Spring day that I can move my houseplants outside - those are tears of happiness! And the other is the day the first frost is supposed to hit, and i have to bring them all back inside, because that day is when i realize that Winter is truly here....After that, i do finally reach the point where i resign myself to the fact that Summer is NOT coming back, and i begin to enjoy the season somewhat. But i'm not very happy about it! ):o/

BLACK SWAMP ARTS FESTIVAL NEARLY HERE

The countdown has started - all i want now is good weather (usually hard to come by in this area). Although we HAVE been having beautiful weather, seems like every time we plan a show the weather guys always forecast rain, even though it may not be correct!

Anyway, here is the press release for my next event....

Planning is Complete…Donʼt Miss this HUGE Regional Event
Bowling Green, OH--Wood County - The 17th annual Black Swamp Arts Festival will feature a variety
of visual artists from across the country, local and national musical acts, and an interactive youth art area
– all free of charge.
The Festival running from Friday, Sept. 11 at 5 p.m. thru Sunday, Sept. 13 5 p.m. Juried and Wood County Invitational Art shows will
be open Saturday and Sunday. Festival guests will be entertained with live music and art throughout the weekend.
As music rings through the Downtown on Saturday and Sunday, patrons can enjoy the two fine art and fine craft shows
featuring artists from across the nation as well as from the Wood County community.
The Juried Art Show features more than 100 artists in varied mediums ranging from watercolor, jewelry, sculpture,
photography, multimedia and glass. Along with past festival winners and familiar favorites, many new and exciting artists will
display and sell their work.
Additionally, more than 40 local artists display work in the Wood County Invitational Art Show. All art shows
are open Saturday, 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. and Sunday, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.
For more information visit www.blackswamparts.org

Mardi Gras

The beads sparkling in the August sunshine, presented in one of my birdbaths, one i personally have in my yard

i'm a bead maniac, too! Word gets around, and anyone with spare beads sends them my way. These are from one of my co workers, she's got family in New Orleans who sends her the Mardi Gras beads, and she was nice enough to think of me when she had extras! Nice to know that the celebration is continuing and growing stronger again! i showed the beads to my husband, who immediately asked me, "What'd you have to do to get THOSE?" LOL! He knows me too well!

No, sweetie, they were gifts- honest! (Thanks, Sheri!)

At least i'll be prepared for this coming carnival season down in Louisiana....

What The Heck IS It? (part 2)

This plant came up by the watergarden last year and is back - looks like a tree, but i have NEVER seen leaves shaped like that! i will probably not use these leaves for sandcasting-no one will believe that i did not "trim" the leaves myself!

Anyone know what this is? Since this pic was taken, it has probably grown another foot, i'll have to move it soon if it IS a tree...

What The Heck IS It?

i have quite a few plants that i never planted - through the magic of Nature, they just appear, and of course, i, being a "plant maniac", would never think to pull it out until i find out A) what it is or B) if i like it. Some i end up liking, but still have no idea what i have. Some i believe i may have planted or grown from a seed, and in the ensuing years forgot i had it (yes, i have THAT many plants!). Here is one that just popped up behind my variegated horseradish, it has pretty red stems and nice textured leaves, and since i am a nature artist and constantly look for new leaves to cast in cement, i certainly will keep it for now. But...what the heck IS it?

***plAnt dAy!***(a running commentary on the most interesting collector's plants I own) *GUNNERA*

GIANT GUNNERA (gunnera manicata)
This one isn't mine!

i first discovered Gunnera ( AKA Giant Rhubarb and "Dinosaur Food"! ) when i began leaf casting. i was browsing the Web for articles on the subject, and i could see it was a fave with leaf casters in the Pacific Northwest (far from me), so i decided i HAD to have one, too! It is not hardy in my region, (that rarely stops me from trying things, though), and i knew the leaves wouldn't get anywhere near the 5-6 feet across that they would if the plant was happy, but, really, did i WANT to try to cast a SIX FOOT leaf in cement anyway? So i sent for one last Spring, potted it in an old washtub with a spigot in the bottom, thinking i could hopefully control the water saturation for the soil it was planted in, and set it on the patio. Did very well, i ended up with several nice sized 8 - 10 in (20 - 25 cm) leaves to cast, definitely not huge, but very nice. She lived in my unheated sunroom all winter, except for that VERY cold spell, when I moved her into the house for 3 weeks. Just relocated her outside in a protected spot near the house till the weather really warms up.

...Not bad for zone 5b in April!