garden – Page 8 – The Salem Garden

Now THIS is Horseradish….

It started out like this. I remember saying something like “there’s the horseradish” and going on to my next thought.

Yesterday I was cutting back and cleaning up the garden and realized that the horseradish had died back from the frost and was ready for harvest. I thought I’d pull some out for Michael to enjoy. I didn’t get the horseradish gene but he and my mom eat it like it’s candy. So I started digging, for at least an hour. Long story short, we have a lot of horseradish root out there and it’s buried very deeply. There will be horseradish on our property for many years to come.

Here’s what I was able to dig out. It was getting dark and I was tired. We had pizza for dinner.

… a view with my hand to give you a better sense of the size of this root.

I soaked it a little and washed the dirt off. My middle daughter, the Harry Potter fan, saw this and immediately went downstairs and put in the Harry Potter movie with Professor Sprout and the mandrakes and watched the whole thing, lol.

It looks like the large one is actually six roots that fused together. I might of missed it last year.

The smaller, normal size root was easily peeled and chopped.

Then I processed it with some water and red wine vinegar.

And my Michael was happy.

He doesn’t smile like this for just anything.

The larger root is still sitting on my counter. I think that I’m going to try to cut it into smaller pieces and freeze it to grate later since the refrigerated version only lasts for up to six weeks.

Looking forward to a nice horseradish cream sauce with the roast beef on Christmas Day 🙂

Enjoy everything!

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

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

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.

How’s your late summer garden doing? What were your biggest surprises this year?

Tell me about your garden, I love to hear from you!

Happy still summer! Enjoy Everything!

Michele

Sunday Morning In Cape May

Here’s old Cape May on a beautiful Sunday Morning. At this time two weeks ago, after a very decadent breakfast that included things like Red Velvet Pancakes with Cream Cheese topping, I wandered in the streets with my dear friends, taking pictures and enjoying beautiful views everywhere. I thought about dividing the photos and sharing by categories but there were so many crossovers that I decided to just put them into a quick and easy slideshow for you to enjoy with your coffee or tea. Cape May is always one of my favorite places to visit. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did! Happy Sunday! xoxo Michele

ps/ as always, click on any image to view them as a slideshow (my favorite way of looking at photos).

What’s Happening in the Garden-August 18

Well, what’s happening is that there are highs and lows out there. I love coming home from vacation at this point in the season because I never know what I’ll find. That first or second look around the garden is really fun and interesting, and sometimes a little bit upsetting, but thats okay.

The echinacea and rudbeckia are at their height. I really need to thin them out this fall to make room for other plants. I’m pretty sure that if you look back a year you heard me saying this. Local friends, please comment if you want some!

We have a nice little harvest of shallots to enjoy considering that I planted just two tiny rows of bulbs.
I love the purple coneflower…

and the rudbeckia/black-eyed susan.

Michael spent some time clearing out the butterfly garden weeds yesterday and discovered this clump of foxglove trying to bloom.

Swiss chard isn’t looking so good. Could be bunnies or deer?

My daughter took this photo last week on her phone. It’s right at the bottom of the hill. He’s a beautiful guy but I’m living in the the “deer are eating the swiss chard” camp at the moment.
The volunteer tomato plants in the asparagus bed are in better shape than the planned plants… sigh.

My camera strap and I are waiting for the broccoli to form florets.
The brussel sprouts are sprouting.

The asian cucumber plants look happy.

I think it’s beautiful.
Here’s what remains of my poor little zucchini plant. I really need to give up my dream and let this go.

Lettuce is coming along again, ready for the cool days.

This is broom corn. The seeds were sent by my blogging friend Brenda, The Blonde Gardener when she gave some away to readers in the spring.

It’s what brooms are made from. I think it’s really cool!

We may have a few beets coming along. They are hanging in there!

The romano beans are taking off but something is eating those leaves. What do you all think? Help me figure this out garden bloggers!
Cosmos

Cosmos

and more cosmos. I’ve enjoyed these this year. Every year I’m surprised by something that I didn’t really plan. I love that part of the garden!

Tomatoes and blight, and blight and tomatoes. Come on and turn red guys!

Notice the cucumber beetles? They always love this plant. I’m considering this to be organic pest control at it’s best. The asian cucs are already resistant to the beetles but I haven’t seen a single one over there.
This guy hangs on the fence and keeps and eye on everything. I should put the lights on for him.

How’s your garden growing?

Enjoy everything!

Michele

In Praise of Swiss Chard (jklauck.org)

My Beach, Gingerbread, Philly, Bear, Pretzels, Chicks and CIA Vacation

Okay, so here’s the thing; I have a really hard time blogging about gardening when I have other things on my mind, things like my vacation. So I have to write this post and fill you in so I can move on with my life sometime tomorrow, maybe after the ten loads of laundry are folded and this post is published. If your bored please feel free to stop now, click off, come back next week, whatever works for you. I completely understand. If you can just bear with me we’ll be all set and back to the tomatoes before you know it.

It started with a quick plane ride (all by myself), then real Philly cheesesteaks with some of my bffs and my college roomies’ beautiful new yard..This is peace and tranquility. There are no children living in this house or in this yard. They are all grown up and it was very, very quiet here. I took a nice walk in the garden, out past the Willow tree. A little while later Room’s (do you call your college roommate Room? Room and I do) husband showed us a photo of a five foot long black snake that he had removed from their deck a few minutes earlier. I took a few photos from the deck. Mr Snake was probably watching me do that. You know how I love snakes. I was watching for them too. Sorry, I can’t help it, moving back to the vacation…

We completely surprised another roommate for her birthday (a gift from her amazing husband) and enjoyed a Cape May weekend full of relaxing beach time and the kind of conversation that you only have with your college roommates who have known you forever and beyond. It was a really, really, really (really) … fun weekend. I love those ladies, there’s no one else like them!
Cape May is known worldwide for it’s awesome gingerbread trim. I absolutely love awesome gingerbread trim.
Then I went back to Philadelphia where I had even more fun, this time with my wonderful sister and my niece.
She very kindly took me all the way up to the Pocono Mountains to meet up with my family and this big bear that traipsed through my mom’s yard. I looked out the kitchen window and he looked back at me. The photo credit goes to my quick thinking littlest girl who grabbed her Dad’s phone and took this picture.

This one was taken by my little guy with his ipod.
He hopped up on the big rock to the left then walked through the spot where I grew my very first garden, right where that white grass grows now. This happened on my little guy’s eleventh birthday. Needless to say it made his day!
We all enjoyed a visit with the Callie’s Pretzel Factory guy…
and a mother hen and her chicks, and some school shopping. No photo needed for that, you all know what school shopping looks like.
We made a quick stop at the the Culinary Institute on our way home to Salem. This just might be my oldest daughter’s next educational environment.
The view from this school is spectacular and the gardens are beautiful too. Stay tuned for more about that next week.

We came home last night to lots of tomatoes (I told you we’d get back to the tomatoes)

and a very happy Winnie!

More Cape May and CIA coming soon! Gardens, more gardens, porches and gingerbread!

Whew, I think I’m back! Can’t wait to read my favorite blogs and catch up!

Thank you all! Enjoy Everything!

Michele

What’s Happening In the Garden- August 7

Let’s see, where to start…After lots of rain early on the weather has been beautiful for the past couple of days. We’ve had a few perfect garden days. I love, love, love those days!

Here’s one of our very recent freecycle finds! I’m pretty excited about this. We’re hoping to collect rain from the roof of the chicken coop to water with. That should save some time and money!

The tomatoes are coming along slowly. I’m hearing a lot about “lots of foliage but no tomatoes” from friends and family. I think the heavy rain we had early in the summer is to blame. In spite of my efforts I have a good amount of blight out there and I think it’s largely caused by the rain bouncing the fungus right up on to the plants from the ground. Does that make sense?

Tomatillos… they are just so darned cute! Now I have figure out how to eat them.

Cosmos above the Brussel sprouts…a nice pop of color but their out of control!

A few peppers… we’ll see. Their kind of a late August crop.

The cabbage is coming along too. It’s slightly shaded by the cosmos so I keep moving them (the cosmos) to other areas. This cabbage has been munched on a little bit. I probably need to put some slug traps out there.

I planted a little bit of swiss chard over the weekend. It’s so pretty! I hope it settles in and takes off.

Here we have asian cucumber, with chard to the right, a sad little zucchini plant tucked in and cauliflower right behind it.I haven’t had luck with zucchini here or at work this year. The squash borers were hard at work everywhere.

Dill in the foreground (the dill volunteers all over the yard) with relocated cosmos and some romano beans coming up in front of the fence. The beets in the bacdground may become beets after all. I wasn’t sure a few weeks ago but their looking okay.

Shallots are curing… I need to store them in a cool dry place. Their a bit smaller than I expected but after researching it I think that may just be the variety.

Eggplant… well… I don’t know… I think it needed more sun. To be honest we don’t really like it so it’s not a huge loss. I think the garden knoll is enjoying it though.

I’ve been pretty distracted this summer so I feel some loss about the garden. Part of the problem is my tendency to sit on this deck and enjoy the view 😉

I’m okay with that.

Enjoy everything!

Michele

This Week In My Garden : : August 1 (beautythatmoves.typepad.com)
swiss Chard benefits – 6 healthy benefits (amiretkhadra.wordpress.com)

My Favorite Gardening Books, and Yours?

Yesterday one of my co-workers asked me what gardening book I would recommend for beginners and I had to stop and really think about it. I love so many gardening books that it’s hard to choose, and I tend to rely on the internet these days as my first go to when I have a question. I started looking through my books today and thinking about all of the joy that they’ve given me as I’ve studied and learned. There’s nothing as wonderful as a good book!

I can quickly identify my favorite gardening book as ” The Moosewood Kitchen Garden Book” by David Hirsch. Mine is a first edition and as I think back I’m sure that I purchased it in 1992, before I had children. It includes all of the basics for anyone who wants to grow edible flowers, herbs, veggies and fruit and it’s readily available on Amazon in original and revised formats. I have happy memories of rocking my babies and planning gardens with this book in hand.

Another of my favorites is the classic herb guide, “Herb Gardening in Five Seasons” by Adelma Simmons. Adelma’s unique and wonderful take on herbs and herb gardening throughout the year comes to life in this book. I tend to pull it out at the beginning of each season to help me think about what’s coming next.

I have certainly enjoyed all garden joys and herbal magic in the years since 1994!

When I was talking with Andrew yesterday the first resource that came to mind was Rodale. Anything published by the Rodale Press seems to work for me and the guide just above is perfect for answering basic gardening questions. I also use their website, organicgardening.com on a daily basis.

While looking around for one of my current favorites, “The Garden Primer” by Barbara Damrosch, I realized that my nightstand is full of gardening books too. As you can see I love to read about adaptive gardening and container gardening and I always have a few Organic Gardening magazines in the queue and free books on my kindle.

Here’s my current favorite “The Garden Primer” by Barbara Damrosch. This is an original edition that I found at the used book store recently. It’s a great resource for the more experienced gardener who’s looking for details, but it’s also simple enough to work for someone who needs a basic understanding. Like the Moosewood book, it’s easy to read and digest and has beautiful hand drawn illustrations. When I googled Barbara Damrosch I learned that she’s published several books, speaks extensively, writes for the Washington Post and owns an experimental farm in Maine.

So, there you go Andrew… my favorite garden books! Let’s put this out to the blogosphere: What book would you gardeners recommend for a new gardener?

Let us know in the comments section… just a quick note for my facebook friends, comment here rather than on facebook so everyone can see what you have to share!

Michele

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