Can you say Asteraceae?

This was my third of five weekend classes in Mountain City, GE learning about wild plant medicine making. The weather was near perfect, no rain which in a rain forest is unusual. We trekked over trails and at Patricia's whim we would stop, drop and key out plants.
She and Lorna are trying to get it through our heads to think in families when we look at plants. By recognizing plant families we will have a basic familiarity right from the git-go and no matter where in the world we are we will at least know a little something to point us in the right direction.

It's like going to the pool at the YMCA in the summertime and observing the families who come to swim...the kids all have similar characteristic traits special to their family which makes it easy to identify which family they belong to. Does that make sense or is it just me? Many of the plants we keyed out this weekend were in the Aster family....hence Asteraceae, the proper family name. I had no idea how many plants are in this family and how difficult they are to identify down to precise variety.

Difficult or not, persistence, a good magnifier with guidance from our fearless leaders and our trusty 'Newcomb's Wildflower' and 'Vascular Plants of the Blue Ridge' books in hand (or backpack or apron) usually resulted in the correct identification of certain Asters, Goldenrods and Boneset varieties which were blooming happily in fields, on the roadsides and along the trails.

It took this long for things (anything) to start clicking in my brain but I'm actually starting to put it all together and think in plant families. Patricia and Lorna will be so proud.

Last class which I didn't make time to post was great fun because we actually experienced harvesting. We dug pleurisy root and cut the soft areal parts of Passion flower, from a field covered in blooms of orange, white and purple. We also gathered Skullcap and horsemint along a trail. All this harvesting was of course done with permission and permits properly obtained. I learned many things but one thing is for sure, a small shovel is a wonderful tool and won't wear a hole in your palm like a trowel will.

Back at Foxfire, we quickly went to work to make medicine from the freshly harvested herbs. We first scrubbed the roots and cut them up in small pieces for a tincture process. We discussed menstruum - the fluid that is poured over the herb parts and the ratios of alcohol and water, how to dilute and how to figure out weight to volume for each plant that we were to tincture.

Once the roots pieces were submerged properly in the correct menstruum I then snipped passion flower and skullcap into separate bowls to be weighed. Once the correct ratio was figured out I put the areal parts into a jar and measured the menstruum and poured it in the jar and put a tight lid on them.

The tincture sits for two weeks (shake daily) before I strain it and put it in it's final resting place (jar), labeled of course. This process was finished at home. It is important to keep good records of all medicine making so I've started a notebook dedicated to just that.

A Bounty of Tomatoes

What’s a girl to do with a never ending supply of tomatoes from the kitchen garden? Put them up for winter of course. This was supposed to be a bad year for tomatoes here in Middle Tennessee but I gotta tell ya, my garden didn’t get the memo because they just keep coming and coming. I even dreamed about maters the other night. Every batch I finish I put all the equipment away for the year only to pull it out in a week and cook up a few more jars.

But, I promised myself this was it. There are only two of us, as my husband reminds me on a regular basis and Annie the dog doesn’t really like tomatoes. My crazy hens Cilantro and Coriander clean up the leftover ends and skins off the compost pile but that doesn’t help me with the front end production.

I have given loads away, I think my neighbors see me coming and hide…although they seem to like maters better than zucchini and really appreciate it if I turn those tomatoes into fresh salsa before I deliver to their doors. I call friends and invite them to come and harvest anytime but people are busy these days and they like them much better already in a basket left in a convenient place on their front porch. I call it my veggie ministry. I keep recycled plastic bags close at hand when I'm working in the kitchen garden, since it is in our front yard, one never knows when a passerby will stop to chat and I can bless them with a sackful of tomatoes.

We had a baby shower the other day and I was so happy to contribute bruchetta by the gallon. A fabulous way to use up lots of maters and it was delicious to boot (if I do say so myself)…of course what’s not to like about chopped tomatoes, garlic, sweet onion, sweet basil, a couple of shakes of sea salt and fresh ground pepper all mixed and drizzled with olive oil served up on toasted bagels with a little shaved parmesan cheese?

This year I canned just tomatoes, spicy tomatoes, Italian style tomatoes, tomato juice and salsa. Altogether I jarred (as they say here in the south) 30 quarts and 15 pints total.

It doesn’t end there, oh no…I couldn’t stand for tomatoes to go to waste so I froze 20 pints, pureed and quartered; great for soup, chili and stewed okra this winter.

Some summers are so crazy I just quickly wash tomatoes and freeze them whole in large plastic bags. Sounds like glass balls clinking every time I move them around while rooting in the freezer on routine archaeological digs (to make sure everything that went into the freezer is being used in a timely fashion). Later when I have time I will break out the frozen red balls, run some hot water over them which causes the skin to crack and peel easily then cook them down for canning.

If freezing and canning isn’t enough I also dehydrated 6 quarts of Roma and heirloom plum tomatoes; something wonderful to soak in olive oil and slather on salads and mix with pesto for pasta. Dried tomatoes are so tasty we eat them as a snack right out of the jar.

It seems like a lot of work but I know I will enjoy the ‘fruits of my labor’ this winter when home grown tomatoes from the kitchen garden are just a memory.

Here is a quick and easy recipe that I used to make an Italian blend all chopped in the food processor

20 cups of tomatoes – washed with any bad spots cut out then chopped in the food processor. My gardening neighbor pals, Jack and Al chop (with skins on) in a food processor the tomatoes they use for their summer production of salsa and they make 100s of jars to sell and no one is the wiser.
Peppers – seeded and chopped (food processor) use whatever sweet peppers you have to equal about 4 cups - I used 2 Italian fryers, 3 sweet bell, 2 pimento and 3 sweet banana

2-3 large sweet onions – chopped in the food processor.

6-8 cloves of garlic – pressed

½ cup chopped basil leaves

¼ cup chopped oregano leaves

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

1 Tablespoon sea salt

Mix all together and simmer for 2-3 hours.

Ladle into hot and sanitized quart jars, seal. Can be water bathed for 20 minutes to ensure a safe and sealed product. Makes about 6 quarts.

It’s a Bird, a Plane…It’s a Hummingbird Clearwing Moth!

While taking pictures this week of my kitchen garden critters I spotted this feller (or maybe gal) on the ‘Blue Chip’ buddleia (dwarf butterfly bush). I snapped a couple of pictures so I could get a better look later and to help with the identification.

At first I thought perhaps it was a cicada killer which is exciting in its own right but it acted more like a mini hummingbird as it flitted from bloom to bloom and it had a fuzzy body. When I looked at the pictures on the computer screen I realized it was indeed something else. I did some ‘thumbing through’ the internet and found out it is a hummingbird clearwing moth.
The hummingbird clearwing moth or Hemaris thysbe, if you will are unusual in the fact that most of their cousins in the sphinx moth family are nocturnal whereas this little gem likes to be seen in the day and flies about meadows, forest edges and flower gardens. With a wingspan of about 1 ½ to 2 inches they dart from bloom to bloom in a hurried feeding frenzy that tends to blur their distinctive clear wings.

Many people mistake this moth for baby hummingbirds which now explains all the stories I have heard from excited gardeners about teeny tiny hummingbirds visiting their flowers. If in doubt look for antennae and a spindle-shaped body…you may have to look fast or try my trick and take a picture so you can slow them down and get a close up look on the computer screen.

In early spring, females lay eggs on the undersides of leaves. The larvae that hatch have an obvious horn on the rear end and they’re especially partial to cherry, hawthorn and plum trees…good to know there is another use for the wild pit cherry trees besides propagating more cherry trees in all the wrong places in my yard. Here in the south there is often a second brood to hatch in late summer or fall.

Blackberries and Purslane - Breakfast of Champions

Annie, the garden dog and I like to head out early to beat the heat and enjoy the quiet of the morning in the garden. No time to fix a proper breakfast, we girls usually just forage. This morning Annie and I enjoyed ripe blackberries still covered in dew as we watered and pulled weeds. Annie likes to pick the low ones.

We or I should say (Annie won’t eat greens) I followed that up with purslane, a green that is often confused with a weed. Well, okay it is considered a weed in the real world but here at “The Wheel is Off the Bus” Garden (my pet name for my gardens for 2010), purslane is growing happily in the herb garden and even in pots handy to the kitchen so I don’t have to travel far to harvest some.
Purslane, Portulaca oleracea, an earth hugging succulent that has reddish thick, water filled stems and fat paddle shaped ½-2” leaves. According to “Wildman Steve Brill” Purslane was once a food crop in India. I have no idea how it got here but it grows freely in meadows, lawns and gardens. It loves hot dry weather and doesn’t skip a beat in our southern growing conditions.

You can find purslane growing from spring through fall. It blooms a yellow flower with 5 petals and one plant can have 50 thousand teeny, tiny seeds which are edible and viable for up to 30 years if undisturbed.

If identification is unclear, break open a stem, if it exudes a white milky sap it could be a poisonous spurge plant warns Brill which sometimes grows nearby. Purslane stems are filled with water. In fact, if you are weeding purslane, remove the plant from the garden as the water in the stems keeps the plant alive so it can quickly form seeds to disperse in an effort to pro-create. How cool is that?

The stems and leaves can be steamed, sautéed like spinach, eaten raw in salads, rolled in tortillas or chopped and added to soups for a thickening agent much like okra. In Russia folks dry and can this green.

Filled with Omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin C, beta-carotene, calcium, magnesium, potassium and iron, purslane is a healthy foodstuff that may lower cholesterol and blood pressure and help with joint inflamation. The best news is it grows wild. Good to know if you are out early and need something good to eat for breakfast!

Tomato Woes

It seems that many tomatoes have been splitting this summer according to gardeners everywhere or at least those here in Middle TN. With the weather inconsistencies this year the norm has been stretched and vegetables are apparently confused. I feel like splitting myself some days to somewhere cooler, oh wait that happens every summer in the south.

Okay so why all the cracking and splitting? Really, consistent water is an issue for the vegetable garden. This gardening season has been dry periods followed by heavy rains. This is tough on tomatoes especially during the early stages. Rapid grow occurs which can cause splits. It usually doesn’t happen to the whole crop and some varieties tend to crack-up more than others.
The Vegetable garden in general needs about an inch per week to maximize production and prevent problems like splitting tomatoes. Soaker hoses or drip irrigation are better than overhead methods. However if you have only sprinklers to work with water in the mornings so the leaves have plenty of time to dry out and water for a longer period of time every 4-7 days (depending on temperatures and drying winds) rather than a little every day. The plants will appreciate the longer less frequent drinks and their roots will grow deeper into the earth making them more sustainable and stronger when the heat gets turned up or winds knock them about.

Mulch helps to keep weeds out and moisture in. Straw, hay, newspapers or leaves make great mulch for the kitchen garden.

Blossom End Rot is another common issue with tomatoes. The bottom of the fruit is brown to black with a moldy and gross look. A lack of calcium seems to be the reason and there are many thoughts as to why this happens. In my kitchen garden I usually have a few (BERs) in the beginning of the season and I think it is because I use rich compost from horse poop which causes quick acceleration in growth. Because of the high level of nitrogen the calcium needed isn’t available until more of the nitrogen breaks down. (Like I mentioned, my theory)

Another reason can be heavy rains which dilutes the calcium and other minerals available in the soil. I have read that plants exposed to extreme conditions in the greenhouse or at the nursery can add to this problem of Blossom End Rot.

To help prevent BER it is always a good idea to buy good plants or start your own. Do everything possible to have good garden soil with lots of organic matter and the proper pH. Water consistently and rotate crops every couple of years.

I have heard it helps to add egg shells to the soil at planting time to give a bit of a calcium boost or spray young plants with a calcium solution.

Blossom End Rot is not partial to tomatoes and many other veggies can have this problem. This year I had a couple of peppers, squash and even some okra with BER symptoms. For me in my garden it all disappears quickly before I have time to think or do anything about it giving me more time to focus on how in the world we are going to eat all these tomatoes!

The Evil Twins

Meet the latest addition to the coop, Cilantro and Coriander. It took these chicks a while before I named them or even decided if they could stay. A couple of times I’ve threatened to let them fly back home to Louisiana where my son got them. For a while now I’ve simply referred to these girls as the evil twins. A name they earned shortly after moving in with Cornbread and Taco.

Taco had been sitting on 7 or so eggs and I was looking forward to hatching some chicks and we (well actually Taco) was getting close to the 28 day gestation or birthday. Along came the twins and to my horror they broke and ate the eggs.

I didn’t know the latest addition were carnivores…if I had known I would have waited to introduce them into the coop (or in my case tractor); but too late for all of that.

Since that time the twin bantams (can’t remember what kind they are, if you know please tell), have settled down and stopped their egg eating escapades. They have actually become productive chicizens so I guess they can stay. I did separate them into their own living space which may have helped them shape up too.

Last week I started leaving the door open on the tractor (cage) and let Cilantro and Coriander free range if they so desired…since they are my least favorite I wouldn’t be so upset if Annie the garden dog ate one accidentally (I know forgiveness is a freeing thing and I’m really over the dirty tactics these little devils first employed). Each night I find them perching back in their coop.

I left the other pair of bantams (Cornbread and Taco) in their house as a beacon or homing device for the twins in case they got too far away and forgot where they lived.
Yesterday I left Cornbread and Taco’s door open so they could join the twins out on the range if they felt so inclined. After a couple hours of debate they decided to throw caution to the wind and start exploring the new found freedom.

Thankfully last night just past dark with help from my I-phone light I found them all high, dry and safely perched. Cornbread and Taco happily bunked in for the night with the twins in their house. That rascally rooster! I battened down the hatches and said good night…another day another chicken adventure.

Dig This, Potatoes!

Digging potatoes from the garden is fun and rewarding. My children use to be amazed at all the spuds beneath the garden soil. It’s like Christmas in the summer time they used to say with excitement as they dug and made piles of taters.

This year I planted 4 – 4’x4’ raised beds (about 10” deep) in March with four different varieties of potatoes; Kennebec, Yukon Gold, Red Pontiacs and Irish.

When the plant blooms you can rob them for a few new potatoes by carefully digging beside a plant and pulling out a few little guys or just thin out the crop by removing a whole plant here and there. As the vines turn brown and start laying down it is time to harvest.

Potatoes should be harvested on a sunny day (I prefer morning) when the soil is dry. I use a large garden fork with wide spaced tines so as not damage any spuds. Never wash potatoes until you are ready to cook them, simply brush off excess soil with your hands.

Leave the dug spuds in the garden for a couple of hours to start the curing process.

To ensure longer storage for your crop of taters, lay them out on newspapers or a plastic table cloth in a single layer where they can dry out and continue the curing process for two weeks. Here in TN, I bring the summer crop inside where it is cool and lay them out on a table out of direct sunlight in the family room and leave the ceiling fans on to circulate the air.

The fall crop I lay out on newspapers in the garage where it is cool but doesn’t freeze. Later I store them in milk crates in a cool dark pantry. Potatoes exposed to sun, either in the garden or later and turn green should not be eaten. Check the spuds regularly and remove any soft or spoiling spuds.

I weighed each variety of potatoes to calculate the pound per square foot. I was pleased with the results. Total weight was 56.9 lbs which equates to .89 lb per square foot. Not bad considering that the average potato farmer usually gets about ½ lb per square foot. The Red Pontiacs were the biggest producer at 1.44 lbs per sq. foot of garden space. That means 23 lbs. of red potatoes in a 4’x4’ raised bed (spaced 8”-10”). That was about twice the production of the other taters in the same about of space. You can bet I’ll plant those again!


If you don’t have the space in your kitchen garden to dedicate to potato growing, there are other methods that may peak your interest. ‘Towers of Taters’ (as I call them) are a space-saver using materials already on hand or re-cycled. Stacks of tires, large round tomato cages, and bottomless containers (let your imagination run wild) work well. Place potato seed (whole or pieces of sprouted or soon to sprout potatoes with at least two eyes) in layers of straw or mulch, water well in full sun and watch beautiful, clean potatoes emerge. Fellow gardener Tom Moucka shows off his 'Tater Tower' – nice job Tom!

You can also plant tater seed in bales of straw or just lay them on the ground and cover with a thick layer of mulch. My great grandmother use to plant her peels. It was during the depression and food growing was a necessity not a luxury like today. As she prepared potatoes for supper she would peel them just a little thicker and lay those peels on the ground with the eyes up and cover with soil. My father remembers her continuous crops of potatoes when he was a child.

With a little extra effort and forethought you can have home grown spuds in your garden, yard or on your patio. Potatoes are a relatively inexpensive vegetable that you can readily buy at the store for about 2 bucks per pound (for organic) but when you taste fresh potatoes that you have grown yourself – priceless!

BotanoLogos Appalachian Herbs Program

I had my first herb class with Patricia Kyritsi Howell and Lorna (sorry Lorna I can't remember your hyphenated last name) at the Foxfire Center in Mountain City, Georgia last weekend. We meet for 5 weekends from Now until October. I thought I was going there to learn about herbs and I did but I learned a couple of other things while I was at it. First of all did you know there is a rain forest in Mountain City, Georgia? Well I know Patricia said to bring rain gear for hiking but I thought because of an occasional rain shower…ah, no. It rains all the time, hence rain forest. Where have I been, under a rock? I swear no one mentioned that in my studies at Charlevoix public schools, in Michigan.

I was worried about getting chewed up with chiggers (my favorite pest of the south), but alas no chigger bites thanks to Patricia sharing what she had learned from an old-timer who told her to put a pinch of sulphur powder (get it at the drug store) in the bottom of her shoes and a little smeared around the end of the pant legs. I did what the doctor said and viola, no chiggers.
The goal of this class is to learn how to identify plants in the wild and learn their medicinal properties then harvest and make into medicine. Each weekend consists of two long days of hiking, classroom instruction and medicine making.

The first class was great – not only did I meet my classmates who are interesting folks from different backgrounds but we hiked and keyed-out various plants on the mountain trails. I learned black flex garbage bags are indispensable in a rain forest to sit on, protect back-pack and books and to wear. What a great invention.

I have home-work, go out in the field and practice identifying plants and learning (re-learning) botanical terms…lots of them. I look forward to the next class and I’m hoping to use this learning experience to teach others how to forage for food and medicine.

Caging the Raging Tomato Plant

Growing tomatoes in a small space or raised beds takes some creative thought. To tame tomato plants and make them behave in an orderly fashion is not an easy job but this year I’m determined to be the boss and not let these killer plants run all over me or the garden. First, let me introduce you to my tomato sandwich. This caging system uses two 4’ x 5’ sections of heavy duty hog panel from Tractor Supply Company. I’ve staked them with metal fence posts on each end to hold them in place two feet apart. On the ends I’ve zigzagged garden string and/or wire to form extra support, close up the ends and keep the raging tomato plants trapped inside. Five tomato plants were planted in the 2’ x 4’ space. As they grow I will just train them up and tie them to the hog panel if needed. The large squares make it easy to harvest tomatoes from either side and later for easy storage in the garden shed. Next I decided to reuse some of the TSC products from the winter garden. The same plastic sun fence stakes I used for a mini greenhouse is now transformed into a tomato cage to hold 3 tomato plants. Notice one end is still supporting sugar snap peas which were planted on the trellis made from these same fence products in March. The peas will soon be gone but the pea trellis turns into the end of the tomato cage. I love it when you can use one product for several functions. I recently purchased these square cages from my local Tractor Supply Company. They are a bit flimsy but no more or less then the round cages everyone has for sale. I like the square shape. It fits better in rectangle raised bed boxes. I don’t think it is tall enough and it would be nice if they had another square cage to attach to the top of these to extend their height for the big raging tomato plants. I am interested in seeing how all of these cages work…I’ll keep you posted.
Lastly I have leftover re-bar stakes (from TSC) that I am tying tomatoes to. I placed empty recycled wine bottles to keep birds away and cover the blunt end of the stake. I doubt that these stakes are tall enough but they are much stronger than the wooden stakes I used last year and it is nice to add a little blue color to the garden.

Herbal Solutions to De-bug your Home and Garden

People often ask me what they can do with all the herbs they are growing; when I tell them to use them as a way to control insects they usually admit that wasn’t the answer they expected! Herbs have properties that make them a joy to cook with, heal various maladies, tickle our senses, make a fine ‘cupa’ tea and yes an organic means to combat pesky pests in the garden and around the home. Read more in May State-by-State Garden Magazine. (TN Gardener)

Basil – Keeps flies away. Grow pots of plants around the patio, dry and powder leaves to use as a dust to discourage flies and try it on tomato plants to discourage horn worms. Make a strong tea and spray plants in kitchen garden to help keep Colorado bean beetles away. Bay – Drop a leaf in containers before storing dried veggies and fruit or flour, cornmeal to keep bugs out. Scatter bay leaves on cupboard and pantry shelves.
Dry and powder leaves to use like an insecticide in the kitchen garden. Chases ladybugs away when leaves are placed at their point of entry into the house.

Borage – Brew a strong tea with the leaves, strain and spray leaf eating bugs.

Catnip – Grow near entryways to discourage ants. Dry and powder catnip leaves then dust around door frames and windows for ants and sprinkle on veggies for flea beetles. Brew catnip leaves into a strong mosquito-cide, strain (unbleached coffee filters work great) and spray the tea on the yard and garden.

Cayenne peppers – Carefully grind peppers to a fine powder and sprinkle around windows and doors where you see ant trails and on garden plants early in the morning to keep rabbits away. Drop whole dried pepper in containers of beans and grains to keep weevils and other bugs out.

Garlic – Discourage deer from eating your garden for dinner; sprinkle dried, powdered garlic on plants and around perimeter of garden. Soak cloves in water overnight to make a tea to spray plants and garden to help with deer control and add other herbs to make home-made mixtures to stop bugs in their tracks.

Lemon balm – Rub a handful of lemon balm on your picnic table (and you) to send biting bugs packing. Dry and powder leaves to dust veggie plants to confuse would be pests.

Lavender – Moths, ticks and flies don’t like this herb. A spring in the bird bath may keep mosquito larvae out. Dried flowers in the closet or drawers keeps chases bugs away.

Lemon grass – Contains citronella…crush the corms (bulb like base of plant) and rub on skin or make a tea from the stems to spray mosquitoes.

Mint – Scatter dried peppermint leaves in kitchen cupboards to make mice run back outside. Use the dried powdered leaves to dust veggies for flea beetles.

Pennyroyal - Make a strong tea to spray on yourself and your pets to keep fleas, ticks and other biting critters away. Roll leaves in a bandana and tie around your pet for a chemical free flea and tick collar.

Rosemary – A strong tea spritzed on your pets between bathes will help control fleas. Throw some spring on the grill to flavor food and smoke out mosquitoes.

Wormwood – Spray a strong tea from the leaves to kill cabbage worms and flea beetles (top and bottom of plant leaves). Pour 2 cups boiling water over 2 cups leaves. Cover and let steep for an hour or two, strain and add 4-8 cups of tap water before spraying plants.

Next time some pest is ‘bugging’ you try herbs from the garden for a natural solution.

Here is a simple recipe for herbal concoctions to kill, stunt and discourage leaf sucking, chewing, egg laying, no-good pests!

Herb infusions for pest control:

This is basically a strong tea…pour 2 cups boiling water over ½ cup of minced (garlic or hot peppers) or herb leaves; i.e. basil, chives, wormwood, etc. Let stand overnight, strain through cheesecloth or an unbleached paper coffee filter before transferring to sprayer.

Use gloves and caution when working with hot peppers. I use a food processor to grind up hot peppers to keep from getting any on my hands. Dried peppers and herbs can be ground for use (1/3 less if dried) and a good idea to have on hand when needed early in the season.

A tablespoon or two of Tobasco sauce can be added to water as a spray or in combination with herbs if mincing your own hot peppers makes you cringe or you are in a hurry.

Add a teaspoon of dish-soap (Ivory liquid works well) and/or olive oil to homemade bug control mixes for an added kick and to help it stick to leaves.

Lettuce Eat Greens on a Hot Summer Day

I managed to grow greens all winter with the use of cold frames and mini greenhouses...it was wonderful to have fresh salads and sauteed kale and chard all fall, winter and spring. But the thought of not being able to raise these veggies in the summer seemed unreasonable to me and extremely unfair. So, I got to thinking of ways to get shade in the full sun of the kitchen garden during the hot, humid summer days of Middle Tennessee...hoping I can indeed grow some green leaves to mix with the fresh tomatoes and peppers that I will begin harvesting soon.

Looking around for something to recycle, I came across an old screen door from the back porch that had seen better days and was in the pile of "I know I can do something cool with that so don't throw it out just yet". I hauled it out to the kitchen garden, held it over on of the 4' x 8' beds. Perfect size to provide shade and now all I needed was some way of elevating it over the bed.

I remembered a PVC pipe frame we made last fall for a mini greenhouse. Pushed it into the soil; one on each end of the bed and one in the middle...perfect support for the screen door to lay upon. Threaded some wire through the screen door to attach it firmly to the framework.

Viola, a double decker raised bed. Yeah, it's a little redneck but what's that matter to a Cracked Pot Gardener? It's functional and it just might work. My plan is to have cucumbers grow over the top, adding a little extra shade to the heat sensitive greens below.

In just a short time arugula, spicy greens, cut and come again lettuce from Renee's seeds www.reneesgarden.com and some type of wonderful Swiss lettuce (Thanks Heintz) that I can't pronounce are ready to eat. The carrots are coming a bit slower but who cares? they are growing. the cucumbers are starting to climb the PVC pipe frame and will start their trek across the top.

In a week I will sow more seed int he redneck screen house and see what happens. I'll keep you posted.

Just Us Chickens!

Meet the latest addition to the garden, Cornbread (on the left), Taco on the right... a fine pair of BB Red Old English Batams (as near as I can tell). I know, I know I should have named them Charles and Diana but somehow Cornbread and Taco was all that came to mind when I saw them...besides the grandkids think I did a fine job. At 2 and 3 1/2 they know good names when they hear them!

Cornbread is a late riser so he doesn't crow until about 7am. I should say he starts crowing late morning then periodically throughout the day whenever he gets his feathers ruffled and starts feeling large and in charge.

Taco has a timid personality; clucks sweetly and produces eggs half her size every other day. I don't know how she does that but I salute her each time I gather her eggs...wow is all I can say.
This pair came in a chicken tractor so I move it and them around the yard.

A chicken tractor you say? Yes. A simple lightweight house or cage that I can lift a tad and push to a new location whenever the chickens have "scratched" or eaten their fill of weeds, grass and bugs. This chicken tractor business is great for establishing a new garden site or cleaning up the garden at the end of the growing season where the chickens do all the work of clearing out the weeds, work up the top layer of soil plus fertilize all in one step.

While we were in England three years ago we met the resident gardener, Henryk, where we stayed. He and his wife, Krystyna were from Poland. I found myself explaining all about chicken tractors. Mind you in my explanation there was a lot of hand motion and broken English and I was quite sure the young man thought I was just another crazy American gardener.

We stayed in touch with Henryk and and his wife Krystyna, even after they moved back to Poland and bought their own place. Last summer we had the opportunity to travel to Poland to visit them.

After we settled in, Henryk took me outside to explain (with a lot of hand motion and broken English) how he built a chicken tractor to clean up his back yard where the previous owners had thrown trash. After he removed the bulk of the rubbish, the chickens scratched out the weeds, small pieces of debris and broken glass in the back yard making the total clean-up complete. Plus they had fresh eggs to eat. Needless to say he was happy with the results and couldn't wait to tell me...I guess my charade type 'garden speak' is better than I thought!

Reasons to go to the Bloom n' Garden Show 2010 - Herbs in the Kitchen Garden

First good reason to go to the Bloom n' Garden Show at the Ag Expo just off I-65 this weekend, April 10 and 11th is to hear me speak...'Herbs in the Kitchen Garden' - 11:30 on Sunday

What can you expect to find at the 2010 Bloom n' Garden? Plants of course and many different types. Sedums already planted in these Hypertufa lightweight pots by Bobby Stacy at Stone Gardens. How cute would be one or three sitting on your porch? Full sun, low water and ready to go, doesn't get much easier than that!

Herbs and lots of them this year...folks are always asking where they can find these - well, here you go two days of herbal shopping bliss. Rustic Greenhouse has a plenty of herbs and other perennials. D and H Interiors as well a several other vendors have herbs including lemon verbena, Bay trees, lemon grass, various sages and other harder to find herbs...check it out.

Kris from Bagbey House of Franklin, TN has garden decor for house and porch, I can see why he is smiling...a mix of new and old to delight any gardener.

WCMGA President Anne Knauff and Jackie Wiggishaw (sorry if I misspelled your name Jackie) are ready to assist anyone who has any questions about the silent auction. So many wonderful items and plants to bid on this year. This money goes to help with local nonprofit projects of the Williamson County Master Gardeners like scholarships and grants.

More herbs for the discerning gardener at D and H Interiors. They also have antiques and new pots that look old. These sisters search high and low for old gardening stuff for people like you and me who like to mix it up in our home and garden spaces.

Who wouldn't love to entertain with a living centerpiece in their dining table? There are so many great gardening ideas this year...bring your camera and take pictures...I did :)

The Bloom n' Garden show would happen without Norm and Betty Bright, this year's volunteer event chairs. Say hello to Mike Smith who is the Master Gardener Advisor and the person who helps to keep Betty and Norm sane! Not in the picture but definitely a BIG part of the show component is Susan Bryd. Susan coordinates all the volunteers each year for the show and what a job that is. It takes lots of willing Master Gardener Volunteers to run this show and Susan knows them all and keep everyone on track. Thanks ya'll for all you do so gardeners like me can come and learn, get ideas and shop for plants and gardening products....you are the best!

Here is an 'Amazing Plant Stand' that will make a tiered planter out of most anything you have in the garden shed, garage or attic...if you can put a hole in it, it can become a unique and attractive planter. Old buckets, watering cans, tins, pots of all sizes....check it out for yourself.

Who would suspect this colorful bird (the one on the left) to be a Master Gardener? Come and meet Scarlet, the 2010 mascot. Watch as she plays peek-a-boo with you and I think she even talks. Terry Ely is the owner/trainer and has lots of tricks up her sleeve.

Gotta love a girl who has a dream and acts upon it. Meet Lauren Graves who designed a perpetual garden record book. Such a great idea to keep you and your garden organized. If that is not enough, Lauren uses her gardening grandmother's quotes throughout her Planner and on note cards that are sweet, endearing and inspirational. Did I mention this is good for years? Such a deal...come buy one for you and some extras for your garden nut friends! In case you miss the show - you can always some on her website http://www.cabintiger.com/

Of course no self-respecting garden show would be without gardens! Mike Hayes has put together an awesome garden that makes me want to grab my banjo and a rocker on the front porch and pick a while...maybe I should call and see what my banjo gals "The Belles" are up to....or not. No matter, come and check it out for yourself. Shop plants to your heart's content and go home and get them in the ground or pots. I love spring - see ya'll there!

Got Moles?

Moles are at the top of the list when it comes to “what critters bug gardeners most”. These homely little guys with very bad eyesight (they can distinguish night from day) create cities of tunnels under the yard.

These little “dirt tossers” or as I like to call them, underground aerators (gives them a more positive spin, don’t you think?) are actually after the earthworms, grubs and other insects under your yard - not plant roots as many folks think.

According to Wikipedia, which we all know is never wrong, moles paralyze their prey and store them in underground larders to be eaten in the form of live worm and grub sushi later…interesting, right?

Moles are insectivores not rodents. The boys are called boars and the girls sows (that would have never occurred to me either) and you will be happy to know they only produce 3 to 6 pups per year and may only have a 50% chance of survival. But no one really cares about proper names all gardeners want to know is how to get rid of the pesky varmints.

Interesting Mole Facts according to Ohio State Extension:
- Moles can dig surface tunnels at approximately 18 feet/hour.
- Moles travel through existing tunnels at about 80 feet/minute.
- Moles contain twice as much blood and twice as much hemoglobin as other mammals of similar size. This allows moles to breathe more easily in underground environments with low oxygen.
- A 5 ounce mole will consume 45-50 lbs of worms and insects each year.

Natural Measures of Control which probably never really get rid of moles but might discourage them or aggravate them for a short time. In fact sometimes moles may only stay for a short period of time and move on to better hunting grounds lulling you into a sense of a short lived victory (they usually return) but, these are just a few suggestions which might be worth a try.
1. Don’t over-irrigate the lawn as this may cause moles to tunnel closer to the surface.
Plant barriers such as daffodils, marigolds, alliums, garlic, mole plant and Castor beans. Castor beans are poisonous if ingested by people.

2. Mix up a batch of Castor Oil concentrate of 6 oz Castor Oil and 2 oz T Murphy’s Oil Soap or dish soap to 1 gallon of water. Add 1 T per gallon of water and spray on the lawn. Reapply after rain.

3. Find a comfortable chair and a garden fork and position yourself next to a new tunnel and wait for movement then jab or stab unsuspecting mole. My neighbor does this…who has this kind of time or patience????

Sure-Fire Methods of Control are usually worth the effort and aftermath if you really want to rid your yard and garden of these pesky pests. Remember prime hunting season for moles is early spring and fall.
1. Traps, not for the squeamish gardener but they definitely work. Instructions are included on the box when you buy them.

2. Cats. I know this because my neighbor’s cats leave dead moles on my doorstep. I’m thinking they do this as penitence for the fish they devour from my pond…I can only hope they catch the moles in my yard!

3. A Jack Rustle Terrier. Annie, our resident JR digs moles on a regular basis…sometimes I have to re-plant what she digs up with the mole but a small sacrifice. I have had offers to rent this mole killing machine but I don’t want the moles to get wind of it. Annie went on vacation once for 3 weeks while we were out of the country and the moles had quite a party. I came home to new tunnels and three drowned moles in the pool. Poor eyesight and short limbs (even if they look like paddles) are not a good combination for water hazards. I snapped this picture of Annie yesterday with my IPhone just before she ran under the porch to bury her newly dug treasure.

4. Liquid Fence Mole Repellent Worms seem to really work. Plus they are economical. Cut the rubber-like worms in half before inserting them in fresh tunnels (sorta like fishing without the bobber). The complete instructions are on the package.

5. Dynamite – oh wait, that’s illegal and oh yeah dangerous and messy. No need to get desperate, you can always call a mole catcher (yellow pages) to get rid of your mole population for you.

Moles obviously taste terrible because the cats give them away and Annie does a victory run around the yard then buries the critters only to dig them up later and roll in them (lovely scent).

However, moles were once trapped, skinned and sold to be used as powder puffs (according to my friend Diane and she knows a lot about pioneer living). Nice to know those rascally moles are good for something!

Garden Gnomes Sited in Europe

With all the news lately on Garden Gnomes popping up all over this country, it got me thinking so I took a look at some of my pictures I took last August and sure enough there they were…gnomes.

I wasn’t surprised to find garden gnomes in Germany because my grandmother was German and she had them at her house when I was growing up. That was probably my first experience with these funny looking creatures with the beards and pointy hats. They use to lie around in the garden with big smiles on their faces. Looking back I realize I should have suspected something was amiss, those smirky grins were similar to the ones I remember on my younger brother whenever he was up to no good.
Some of these gnomes in Rothenburg ob der tauber, Germany were a little shy at first. I spotted them hiding behind some plants so I waited around the corner and snuck up on them to snap this photo. They weren’t crazy about posing but when they realized I had bested them they obliged me with a couple of smiles. Later on an adjacent alley I found some little gnomes on this mailbox, I’m not sure what they were up to but they were a tiny variety that I hadn’t seen before. I suspect there were others but the butterflies were hiding them.
It’s so cold in Werfenwng Austria the gnomes hide out inside old Mountain Chalets. Obviously this old gnome descended from a Pine Forest Clan. He wasn’t real excited about getting his picture taken. In fact he was a bit of a curmudgeon but hey wouldn’t you be if someone made you pose on a doily? No self respecting gnome would appreciate that I’m sure.
Now the Swiss Gnomes were having a convention in Appenzell. They had come from near and far and spoke Swiss German, Italian, French and Romansh. What a commotion they were making! They for the most part were pretty happy even though I couldn’t make out a word they were saying but I suspect it was something about beer and cheese…two good reasons to hang out in Appenzell.
Another group of these Swiss Gnomes were jamming – a combination of classical, marching band, jazz and Alpen horn. They were all groovin and movin and didn’t even notice me taking a picture. Although one smart gnome was holdin out his hat… even Swiss Gnomes need beer money I guess.
While in Switzerland we stayed at my Cousin Heinz’s home in Küsnacht. One evening he and Heidi cooked us a lovely dinner which we enjoyed on the patio in the clean mountain air. Imagine my surprise when I caught these two clay gnomes sleeping out in the open beside the garden. Heinz had spotted them earlier while planting some seeds. Clearly use to people because they just laid there and snored all through dinner.

These are just a few of the garden gnomes that we saw on our trip, I haven't even looked at the pictures I took in Poland, who gnomes what might be lurking in them?