thesalemgarden

Keene Pumpkin Festival 2013

Gosh this looks fun! Great pumpkin carving ideas for the talented and patient carvers out there too! Great post New Hampshire Garden Solutions! Michele

New Hampshire Garden Solutions

In 1991 Keene, New Hampshire had a harvest festival that attracted a few local people who brought about 600 jack o lanterns. By 2003 the harvest festival had become a pumpkin festival and the number of lit jack o lanterns had risen to 28,952. The Guinness World Record people became interested that year and gave Keene the record for the most lit jack o lanterns assembled in one place. Boston took the record from Keene in 2006 with 30,128 jack o lanterns. This year on October 19th Keene took back the world record with 30,581 lit jack o lanterns and I was there taking photos. I thought I’d show you a few of the better ones. These were all taken in the dark without a tripod, so I’ll warn you that they aren’t the sharpest photos you’ve seen. Even so, I’d guess that most of you have never seen anything…

View original post 464 more words

A Little Bit of Haunted Happenings

We’re right in the middle of our wonderful, amazing, scary, fun, not so scary Halloween celebration here in Salem, Massachusetts. Yesterday Michael and I left the garden (yes we do that sometimes) and ventured downtown with our youngest daughter and one of her besties to take it all in. Haunted Happenings just gets better and better every year! Here’s a few photos from our visit. Be sure to check out the photography here on the Social Palates facebook page as well. I absolutely love John Andrew’s work. He captures Salem in a way that no one else can!

Happy Halloween from the Salem Garden!

Click on any image to enlarge and view as a slideshow

Look familiar? This was the high school in Hocus Pocus… Michael and I watched them film the scene in the movie where the witches run away from the fence just a few steps to the left of here. No kidding!

the crowd on Essex Street on Sunday afternoon

A fairy playing on the Common playground

Crow Haven Corner was originally owned by Laurie Cabot, the Official Witch of Salem. I believe it’s run by her daughter now. The Wicca presence is strong here!

Crow Haven Corner has the ingredients you need for potions and spells can be found in Crow Haven Corner

You can also find these beautiful crystal balls and goblets if you need one.

Still blooming, I wonder what the pepper like plant is?

The police and fire departments sell t-shirts and memorabilia. I believe it’s used for kid’s programs.

a not as friendly witch

Frankenstein with the girls… they loved this!

The girls flying on the “roller coaster” at the common

Portable plantaardige kunst.

Botanic Art from Florafocus.eu
Check out this great post by the Dutch blog FLORAFOCUS.EU I love, love, love, love, love it!! Michele

Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day-October 2013

Here’s my very late in the day, just under the wire Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day post! I started it at 6:30 this morning (when it was technically too dark to take photos) and I was so close to finishing tonight that I just had to do it. I love reading all of the other posts, and while I don’t generally use the latin names, and some of my blooms may have been posted in months past, I find great satisfaction in participating. So… here we go!

Our zinnias are still unfolding. I couldn’t live without zinnias.

The volunteer snapdragon carries on.

The cosmos continue, and so do the canoes.

A simple white chrysanthemum.

A pretty pink and white, very hardy chrysanthemum.

Classic yellow mums

And one of the last roses of summer. I dug this rose bush out of the Harrington estate on Essex Street in Salem right before a bulldozer scraped the top ten inches of soil out of that yard about thirteen years ago. It blooms in June then comes back a bit in the fall. I moved part of it here from my garden on Forrester Street when we bought this house in 2002. I believe that the other half is still living down on Forrester St.

Of course there are chrysanthemums in a shade of rust. See what happens when you plant the hardy varieties rather than toss them?

The knockout roses forge on as well. You have to love them!

Zebra grass

Sedum

And while not “blooming”, our woods just below the garden are full of fall color!

Be sure to visit the other garden blogs at May Dreams Gardens!

Goodnight!

Michele

Motorcycle Parades, Herb Freezing Time and Spiders

Life here in Salem, Massachusetts is so much fun and so crazy right now.

Yesterday we enjoyed one of my favorite Halloween activities, the annual Motorcycle Ride for Muscular Dystrophy.

Really, where else can you see this? I read a conversation on Facebook last night about moving the event to a different month because it disrupts traffic and creates confusion for other visitors. I guess it would be successful at any time of the year but I think that it adds a lot of fun to our Halloween season.

These are nice people dressed as superheroes

and pumpkins.

Hundreds of them ride into the downtown together, then they enjoy the city and give the economy a little extra lift, all for a great cause!

Before we left for the bike parade I chopped back some parsley yesterday.

I left some to keep it growing as long as I can.

Truly fresh parsley is the best!

I separated the chicken food from the good green stuff…

washed it off well..
chopped off the leaves…
and then chopped them finely.

I put it into an ice cube tray..then I added some water and froze it until today.

Now I have parsley ice cubes, all ready for winter cooking!
I stuck them in a freezer bag and stored them away.Another easy way to freeze parsley is to just pop it into a bag like Michael’s mom does. I was feeling pretty ambitious yesterday when I made the ice cubes. I enjoy that moment in January when I come home from a busy day and just pop the little cube into the dish I’m making. It’s really your preference.

And lastly, I’ll leave you with this photo that I took downtown yesterday:

How great are these guys?

We love our Halloween here in Salem!

Enjoy Everything!

Michele

Before We Know It…

This…

will become this.

And this…

will become this.

It will only take seven months and one day to happen.

But who’s counting?

Enjoy Everything!

Michele

What’s Happening In the Garden– September 30

Hey everyone! It looks like I’m a one post a week blogger at the moment. It’s fall and I’m all over the place…I know I keep saying that life is busy, but, really, it is. To add to it Halloween in Salem starts on Thursday night with our Halloween parade. I love the localness of that event. It’s really “our” Halloween as a city. From that point on we give the rest of the celebration over to the visitors. That’s fine with me, it makes money and people have a blast! Let me know if your going to be in town in October, I’d love to meet you!

Okay, so, here’s the Salem Garden this morning.

It’s beautiful out there today. The summer garden is winding down but the fall garden has it’s own special character and charm.

I think I said this a few weeks ago— I love these Romano beans.

The swiss chard is doing okay. I should spend some time weeding and trimming so the center leaves can produce. See my little asian cucumber hiding in the back?

Here it is up close, we’ve eaten some and there are several growing. Not bad for an early August afterthought. I think there will be more of these next year.

Broccoli and lettuce are perking along too. I really believe that the broccoli is all about the chicken manure… that’s it. If you don’t have some available it’s very easy to purchase. Just read the labels at your favorite garden supply store and you’ll find it easily.

A broccoli flower that actually looks like broccoli! Will there be more? Time will tell…

These need to be picked and cooked or frozen today. I wish I was a canner…

We have five or six happy Brussel sprout plants. My Uncle Ossie says that they sweeten up when the frost hits them.
What do you think about this bit of browning on the bottom of the stalk? Anyone? Miss Betsey, you may have a thought here. I’m hoping it’s okay.

Tomatillos… hundreds of them… salsa verde here we come!

And the leaves on the trees are just starting to turn. It’s going to be a pretty few weeks here in Salem. I hope I can share some of that with you.

So there we are. Thanks for hanging in with me and for stopping by. Let me know how your garden is growing, I love, love, love your comments!

Enjoy everything!

Michele

Process or Product?— I’m a Process Gardener

I’m sorry, I’ve been away, lost in the realm of back to school routines and commitments that make me run (sometimes literally) from 6 am to 9pm most days. I need to get back to my blog so I’m going to jump right in and just talk about what I’m thinking about today. I’ve been tossing around the idea that I am a “process” gardener. In other words I love the process of planning the garden, planting and growing things. The end product is not that important to me. I enjoy the fruit of my labor but producing a zillion tomatoes is not my goal. The enjoyment for me comes from the act of gardening. I think that this is very different from gardeners who have their eye on the prize at the end and consider the work it takes to get there to be hard labor. It isn’t ever hard for me. I can weed, water and prune all day and love every second of it. If I loose to the conditions, so be it, I’m okay with that. I have to stock my freezer with dinners in the spring because I know I won’t want to come inside and cook. I just love being out there.

What I’m not too okay with is the idea that it’s almost over. Fall in New England is really beautiful but I get hit with a little case of the blues at this time of the year. I just can’t believe that summer is ending. Where did it go? Do I really have to wait through three long seasons for it to return? That seems like forever right now.

Okay, enough wining… there’s still a ton of work to do. We have broccoli, lettuce, Brussel sprouts and herbs growing . I’m planning some winter gardening activities to keep things busy. I have lots of window space here in my new office that my rosemary plant, geraniums and other herbs will love. Maybe I’ll finally get a cold frame going and stay in the game for a longer season. At the very least I could add some new houseplants and spend some more time reading garden blogs from the southern hemisphere.

It may be fall but spring will be here before we know it, right?

What kind of gardener are you?

Be well and enjoy everything.

Michele

Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day- September 2013

It’s Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day! I was away in August so I missed it and it feels great to be getting back on track. As I wandered through the garden this morning I was struck by how much work I could do to introduce late summer plants. I think that I need to spend a good amount of time today reading the other Bloom Day posts for ideas! Here’s what I found today:

The lavender is making a small comeback.

The mint is blooming…

as are volunteer morning glories and dill.
Of course I have a few zinnias..

I always stick a weed in here somewhere. Some of them are just so pretty that I can’t help it.

Yarrow

Dianthus

Black-eyed susan hanging in there. They have suffered in the drought.

Juniper… does this count? It’s so pretty, I can’t help but include it.

Knock-out roses that we added recently. Everyone talks about how easy these are to grow and I absolutely agree. If your a timid rose grower this is a nice way to get started.
And of course chrysanthemum.

It wouldn’t be September without chrysanthemum.

Can’t wait to read the other garden blogs! Be sure to check them out at May Dreams Gardens.

Enjoy Everything!

Michele

What’s Happening In the Garden– September 10

I am hanging on to summer, that’s what’s happening here. With fall on our doorstep people keep saying that fall is their favorite season. I’m sorry, I just can’t join them, I’m a summer girl, that’s all there is to it. That said, the mums are getting ready to pop, which does help a little with the transition.
The oregano is still beautiful. I gave this a good cut back a couple of weeks ago. I’d like to dry some to enjoy this winter.
We still have plenty of green tomatoes. I’m hoping that the sun that’s forecast for today and the heat of tomorrow will help these along.
The romano beans took off and are climbing. Next year I think I may start some of these earlier in the season. This cute little gourd just peeked out and surprised me. I need to scrounge around and see if there are more hiding along the fences. We still have zinnias! And here’s the asian cucumber that I planted from seed in late July. It kind of took off. I don’t see much fruit but there were several bees flying around it pollinating the other day. It may still happen. The morning glories reseeded from last year and are happy in the herb garden. We have several banana peppers to enjoy. I may try drying a few of them. Broom corn, so pretty! Next year we’ll plant a nice strong row of it and make some serious brooms. Lettuce, with broccoli next to it. I’m kind of surprised by this broccoli. I wonder if it’s one of the few plants that likes being close to the chicken coop. I’ve been reading about broccoli and learning that it responds well to the high nitrogen content of chicken compost. The trick seems to be growing nice leafy plants before the flowers form. I think we may be on our way here. I’m growing these at work too but I believe that the heat on the rooftop caused flowers to form before the plants really matured. We deadheaded those, then composted and fertilized them heavily with poultry manure a week or so ago, so I’m watching and hoping that they’ll take off.We have lots of tomatillos, another nice surprise. I froze several over the weekend. It’s as easy as taking off the outer skin and putting them into a freezer bag. This week I’m planning to make some salsa verde, and I’ll likely freeze a nice gallon bag or two of them for the winter.
The foxglove is back in all it’s glory! I love this plant. It will probably reseed all over the place!
This is tucked into the front border on the outside of garden… is it ragweed or goldenrod? Pat at Commonweeder (one of my favorite garden blogs), just talked about this yesterday. I’m not sure, but I think it’s goldenrod.
And I’m already missing the black eyed-susan. It’s hard to see them go.