Everything's In!

Wow, I planted my heart out yesterday. I was planting from 10AM until 7PM. But finally, everything I have is in the ground. Yep, the whole big list!

I am soooo excited for it all to grow. I planted something in every possible inch of the backyard. If everything grows, I'm going to have veggies and flowers out my ears!

Yesterday I also noticed the snap peas finally grew the first pod. Then this morning I looked again, and now there are 7 or 8! One is even a couple inches long, looks like it will be ready to eat in a few days. I swear that wasn't there yesterday. It was like they grew the pea pods overnight!

More great news: I found the camera battery and took lots of pictures. In fact, I took so many I don't even know where to begin posting! Of course, it doesn't look like much yet either, since lots still has to grow. But I'll try anyway. Here's a couple long shots of each side of the yard.

Above, you see the left side. There are 5 beds: along the big fence on the left, in the front is the peas & salad, in the back is peppers and the future home of climbing zuchinni that hasn't sprouted yet. Behind that is the herb garden. Then, on the right near the white picket fence, in the front is the large bed with basil, peppers, tomatoes, and some of the remaining radishes & arugula.

Then below you see two shots of the two new beds on the other side of the backyard. On the left, mustard greens, more peppers & squash, plus emerite pole beans that haven't sprouted yet. On the right, carrots, beets & turnips. Of course, more close up shots will follow soon enough. (you may also want to scroll back a bit through the last couple posts, as I updated them with cute pictures of lambs and chickens!)

































I also have a decent picture of another new, somewhat strangely placed bed. Like I said, I planted every possible inch of the backyard! haha

Below you can see the fern & mint garden in a little corner between the house and the fence. I think this may end up being my favorite. I don't know why, I just love ferns so much. I wasn't sure if I should buy the white yarrow (that's the plant in the front on the left) but I'm so glad I did - I think it is going to look awesome next to the Ostrich Fern in the back left corner. I can't wait to eat the fiddleheads next spring!! In the middle of the yarrow and the fern you can only barely see the purple perilla (shiso, Japanese mint) in the shade. On the right, in the back is white peppermint, and the front is pineapple mint.

I am also putting a couple paths in there with stepping stones, just haven't gotten to that point yet in this picture. I already dubbed the concrete block in front of the yarrow my "contemplation seat". Makeshift for sure, but still, so peaceful. I sat and contemplated the ancient, even prehistoric nature of this garden for a good long time when I was done. Eventually, I plan to get a real stool in there for this purpose. Maybe I'll even dry the yarrow stalks to read the symbolism of random events using the I-Ching . Now that would be cool. haha

Well Sweep Swept Me Away

Even though a Well Sweep is an old-time farming implement that made getting buckets of water out of a well easier, and has nothing to do with a broom, I can definitely still say this herb farm swept me off my feet! They had so many plants, it was completely overwhelming, in a good way of course.

As you can see from the picture, it was herbs as far as the eye could see. They had literally every single kind of herb I had ever heard of, plus many, many more that were completely new to me. I also saw a whole flock of the most adorable lambs, adults and babies - plus lots of pretty chickens in really nice coops. For a New Jersey farm, I have to say they really put the garden in the Garden State!













I spent about 3 hours just looking at all of the plants for sale, but could have easily spent twice that much time, or more. There was so much to learn, especially since their catalog was very well labeled and told a lot about each plant, such as whether or not it was winter hardy in our area, drought tolerant, edible, fragrant, sun needs, etc. It was helpful just to see what plants are supposed to look like too. Now for the seeds I am trying to grow at home, I know what they should look like when they grow. Unfortunately I had to get back home, so I didn't even get to go in their greenhouse with topiaries and rare species, or walk around the formal herb gardens. Guess this means I'll just have to go back soon! It was definitely worth the 1.5 hour drive.

I ended up wanting to buy everything of course, but managed to resist pretty well and only ended up spending a little over budget. I didn't really get anything that exotic, since I'm still new to this and trying to stick with things that are easy to grow. This is what I got, with a * next to the ones I planted last night:
LIST TO BE UPDATED TONIGHT

• *Logee Blue Rosemary
• *D- Rosemary
• *-Lavender
• *Flat leaf Parsely
• *White Borage
• *2 Red Gem Marigold
• *2 Tangerine Gem Marigold
• *- Giant Dill
• *Pink Chives (They had white too! They were a bit expensive since they are so rare, so I didn't buy one. Boy I'm kinda sorry now.)
• 2 Black Hollyhock (since only 6 out of the 15 seeds I planted germinated)
• Jacob Cline Red Bee Balm (since my seeds didn't germinate)
• White Yarrow (since I lost the seeds I ordered somehow!)
• - Shasta Daisy
• Anise Hyssop (since my winter sowing experiment failed miserably)
• Shiso (Perilla) Japanese Mint
• Ostrich Fern
• 2 Astilbe

Unfortunately Well Sweep did not have any compost for sale. We also stopped at a couple places on the way home, but none had anything suitable. I spoke with a knowledgable worker taking care of the plants at a decent nursery - and while they did have bagged organic compost made out of manure and humus, she said it has a tendency to burn plants so she didn't recommend that type. She also said my peppers are probably turning green because we have had so much rain lately. So it may just be too much water. I'm hoping that's it, and they'll recover soon as the weather gets warmer. I also bought some yellow squash from this nursery since I forgot to get them at Brock's when I bought the rest of the summer plants.

Uh oh! Newly Transplanted Pepper Leaves Turning Yellow

Oh no! I noticed last night, the peppers I planted from Brock's last sunday are turning yellowish, definitely not the deep bright green they were when I brought them home. More like light greenish yellow, as you can see from the habanero picture on the right. The soil around them in one bed was looking pretty hard and cracked, too.

I had some problems with peppers last year, so I'm not that surprised. I think it may be nitrogen deficiency in the soil. Although, the one bed I planted the scarlet runner beans in last summer, so it should have nitrogen? I also read it could be from too much chlorine in the water, which I'd say is definitely a possibility around here.

I wish my compost pile had worked out better. That's totally what these peppers need.

Unfortunately I haven't been able to find any vegan compost around here. I was thinking I might have to settle for something non-vegan but as harmless as possible. maybe vericomposted tea, even if the worms were fed non-vegan ingredients.

But they didn't have any compost tea at brock farms. I even asked the staff and they were like "nope, never heard of it - but it sounds cool". If it gets more desperate I might settle for animal poop, like bat guano or chicken manure? I mean, poop happens, and I don't think it would be un-vegan to use it, as long as the animals were not harmed in the process.

I have resisted buying it though, because i assume the stuff they sell at home depot probably is collected from harmed animals, since it most likely comes from factory farms.

Maybe I will find something tomorrow. I'm going to Well Sweep. I've never been there before but, according to the 80+ page catalog they have over 50 kinds of lavender and rosemary, and like every other herb known to humankind!! It looks awesome, and you can walk around their gardens, so we are making a day trip of it. I'm so excited!

I'm sure we'll pass many farm markets and gardening centers on the way too, since it is in west-central jersey. So there is hope we could find a good farm with compost.

Here's the main pepper bed. Three habaneros in the front, and three jalapenos in the back. Behind it on the trellis I planted zuchinni rampinato, or climbing squash. The four plants in the front are 2 red and 2 tangerine gem edible marigolds.

Actually, all this just made me remember I bought kelp at the end of last fall from a place on the west coast over the internet! But I just went and looked for it, and can't find it! Darn. Well, I better get off this computer. I gotta go look for it and put on the epsom salts.

edit: I just found this post about how to grow great peppers: http://theherbgardener.blogspot.com/2009/06/pepper-tips-and-tricks.html
It says
Pepper Growing Tips

Give peppers at least eight hours of light a day.

Peppers like rich soil that is high in phosphorous.

Make sure your peppers have good drainage.

Provide them with a soil pH between 6 and 8.
I need to follow up and make sure my peppers have enough phosphorous and a good pH.

Hudson River Pageant Pics

Wow, the pageant this year was just absolutely amazing. It was sooo much fun walking along the Hudson! The performances, particularly the river grass dance, boat dance, and harmonic convergence singers were incredible.

You can see us in the back left corner of the above picture. Our costumes - Solar Energy and Tidal Energy, were new this year, so we actually were right at the front of the parade the whole time along with two other energy spirits - Geothermal and Wind. We even had CFL lightbulbs on our heads, that were literally plugged in to my solar panel and bill's propeller!! haha

Here we are leading the parade behind two other new costumes (both brown) - Native Species Spirits, Oyster and Terrapin Turtle.

And here's the river grass dancers:
The picture of the front of the parade with the Native Species is from here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9339981@N08/sets/72157617905267473/

The others are from here: http://theholyflame.com/hudsonriverpageant2009/

Both of these links have a lot more pics of the whole parade. I don't see any of the boat dance, which is too bad. It was soo cool - there were two big long row boats, and 4 kayakers. All of the boats were decorated and the rowers wearing costumes - they looked like something out of cirque du soleil. They paddled up and down the Hudson for about an hour, and even from far away you could see the silouette of the costume hats. Then, at the end for the performance they paddled in and did an intricate dance with their boats. One kayaker even did a full eskimo roll, in costume! I can hardly wait for next year already. :-)

Gardening is Hardcore

Only for the headstrong. That's what one of my favorite musicians, dj Frankie Bones, used to say back in 1992 (except he was talking about hardcore techno, not gardening haha). I think he still does actually. In any case, it is probably one of the reasons I always liked him - I think I am a pretty hardcore person. What I mean by that is when I do something, I like to do it BIG. I don't like to do things half-way, if I like something enough to do it, I like to do it right and put my whole self into it. I realized recently, while gardening, that this was something still true about me. In just one year look at how much I've done - oh no, not just a couple tomato plants for me. I've got to do it UP! haha

Little did I know how much work it could be, which got me thinking again on Sunday, man, this is hardcore! I had gone to Brock Farms nursery on Thursday and bought all of my summer heat loving plants, but knew I couldn't get to planting them until Sunday. Since I didn't want them staying in the pots for too long (plus they brought tiny black ants into my kitchen, yuck. Anyone know how to get rid of them?) I knew I had to plant them all on Sunday.

I got out there about noon, and realized, wow, I have a lot to do and better get going! So I worked as fast and furiously as I could, and would you believe, still only got about 1/3 of what I needed to do, done by darkness. The good news is I got all the veggies and herb plants in, including transplanting some chard, chives and parsley still alive from last year in my 1st raised bed into the herb garden & digging out all of that chamomile! But, I did not have a chance to sow any seeds, put the trellises together, or make the wire hoop houses. I worked so hard, bending and digging for at least 7 hours straight (with only occasional dancing breaks hee hee. Hubby put new outdoor speakers in the garden, which rock). I'm still so sore today, two days later!

That said, it was fun! I really enjoyed getting outside all day, and was almost happy to be back sitting in my desk on Monday to get a rest.

As for how the spring veggies are growing, well, I already mentioned that I harvested the radishes, which grew quite well. I was also able to harvest some baby arugula. The first ones I planted are already starting to bolt though, a bit dissapointing but not really surprising. No blooms on the peas yet, although at least now they're getting to be a couple feet tall. The lettuce seedlings are getting nice and big in their new outdoor home, and will probably be ready to harvest in a week or two.

Here's my old list of plants to be grown this year, with a star* next to the ones that have already been planted. I can't wait until everything grows in. Unfortunately, I can't update the blog with pics just yet - we can't find the camera battery. It is bound to show up sooner or later though.

From seed:
*Buttercrunch Lettuce
*Merveille De Quatre Saisons Butterhead Lettuce
*Vivian Romaine Lettuce
*Mesclun Salad Mix
*Spicy mesclun mix
*Red Leaf Romaine Lettuce- Silvia
*"Astro" Arugula
*Tendergreen Mustard Mache Gala (a.k.a. lamb's lettuce or corn salad)
*Red Ace Beet
*Detroit Dark Red, Medium Top Beet
*Beet Lutz Green Leaf
*Fordhook Giant Swiss Chard
*White Icicle Radish
*Easter Egg II Radish
*Early Scarlet Globe Radish
*Purple Top White Globe Turnip
*Pea Sugar Snap
*Dark Seeded Early Perfection Pea
*Carrot Napoli Hybrid
*garlic chives (still inside in seedling tray, but growing!)
*pansies
*violets
*Malva sylrestris (hollyhock mallow, mystic merlin ) (still inside in seedling tray, but growing!)*Alcea rosea (Hollyhock Creme de Cassis) (still inside in seedling tray, but growing!)
*Bellis perennis (English Daisy Tasso Strawberries and Cream) (not germinating, these might not make it)
*Platycodon grandiflorum (Balloon Flower Astra White) (still inside in seedling tray, but growing!)
*Bergamot Lavender
*Monarda fistulosa (still inside in seedling tray, but growing!)
*Bergamot Panorama Red Shared (Monarda didyma) (not germinating, these might not make it)*Calendula Flashback Calendula officinalis
*Velvet Queen Sunflower
Calendula Oktoberfest
Nasturtium Rainbow Whirlybird Mix Tropaeoleum majus
Nasturtium Climbing Amazon Mix Tropaeolum majus
nasturtium Empress of India
Anise Hyssop (Mint Licorice)
Agastache foeniculum
White Yarrow Achillea millefolium
Jolly Jester Marigold
Cilantro
Dill
Summer Squash Tromboncino

Marketmore Cucumber

Cucumber Pearl Hybrid

Spinach Malabar Red Stem

Emerité Pole Bean

Purchased Nursery Plants:
*Raspberries
*Strawberries
*Pickling cucumbers
*Red Grape Tomatoes
*Yellow Grape Tomatoes
*Roma Plum Tomatoes
*Rutgers Tomatoes
*Italian peppers
*Jalapeno
*Habanero
*Kung Pao peppers
*Red Bell Peppers
*Yellow Bell peppers
*White Mint
*Basil
*Marjoram
*Eucalyptus
*Tagetes tenuifolia (lemon, red & tangerine gem signet marigold)
Yellow Squash
Dianthus Firewitch
Red Dianthus

Already growing back from last year:
thyme
chives
oregano
spicy oregano
sage
curly parsley
lavender
Red Trumpet Honeysuckle
chamomile

Tons of FREE Chamomile plants! Come and Get Em

Remember these chamomiles gone wild? http://grow-peace.blogspot.com/2009/04/herbs-gone-wild.html

Well, that was NOTHING! haha

They got so huge. It was like a city of chamomile back here until just now, I had to dig them out because they were taking up too much space and crowding out the other herbs. It was a job, let me tell you!!

But, now I have tons of perfectly awesome chamomile plants!! I would love to give them away to anyone. FREE!

I don't have enough soil or pots to put them all in though, unfortunately. So people need to come and get them now! Post a comment to get more info.

I hardly have enough time to plant all of the plants I bought at the nursery on Thurs, never mind replant all of these chamomiles. But I hate to waste them, They are so cute!

I'm gonna put it on Craig's list of Freecycle, but here my blog is first to know. Feel free to repost to anyone you know in the area who might want them!

Hudson Pageant Today!!

I'm so excited! Our costumes were changed last minute - I'm now Solar Power and my partner is Tidal Energy! It is so appropriate too, b/c my real name is Dawn, (and that's what aubade means too, a poem, song or dance - the last as I like to think of it - performed at or about daybreak). Also my husband surfs, and that is what originally brought us together - our mutual love of the ocean and techno music. :-)

I harvested around 40 adorable radishes this morning and am bringing them to share in a my 3 green moms reuseable baggie. They were purple, magenta, hot pink, maroon and red - so those were the Easter Egg & red globes. (The french white radishes weren't quite ready to harvest yet, they take a little longer)

I also picked a huge vase of chamomile flowers and made that into tea along with some dried lavender. Bringing that in our kleen kanteens. This was the first time I've ever made chamomile tea with fresh flowers, and wow did it come out delicious! I was surprised at just how chamomil-y it was. The tea turns the most beautiful shade of bright spring green!

Well, I better get going - the parade starts at 1pm! Volunteers have to show up by noon (and they still need some if you happen to read this and want to join!) The schedule of events is posted here: www.earthcelebrations.com