August 6, 2013
Today, February 6, 2014
That’s all I have to say.
Michele
Tag Archives: Salem Massachusetts
Pinterest Gardening
In the middle of winter when it’s snowy and cold and spring seems a very long time away… I Pinterest garden.
I love Pinterest but not in a “check out what other people pin and re-pin it” way. Not that I never do that, but my time is limited and once I start I really can’t stop. I try to use it simply as a place to keep photos and articles that inspire or inform me. When I see something that I like or can use I pin the image to a board so I can get back to it.
I’ve been organizing my gardening boards into separate, more focused categories. It’s nice to have an idea on my mind and know just where to look to find that photo that I loved or the article that I remember reading. I start to see the garden coming to life again.
Recently I created a board about garden markers.
I know, that may seem a bit crazy, but I spend a good amount of time thinking about garden markers and creative ways to identify plants.
And then there’s the succulents board…
I really feel like I’m in the garden, surrounded by beautiful colors and interesting textures for a few minutes, even on the coldest winter day.
I also have a board dedicated to shade gardens. I don’t even have a shade garden right now but lots of people ask me about them so I’m hoping to fill this board with good references. It will be nice to say “If you look at my Shade Gardens board on Pinterest, you’ll get lots of ideas and information.”
And of course there’s the Front Yards board. Front yards are changing, aren’t they? I’m inspired every time I take a look at these photos to dig up my whole front yard. I’m pretty sure it’s actually happening one square foot at a time, but don’t tell anyone!
I’ve also been collecting ideas for my new herb garden…
I have new space that we opened up in the fall when we cut down a few juniper shrubs. A new herb garden will be planted there soon and this board makes it easier than ever to keep my ideas organized and ready for that day when I sit down with my afternoon coffee to sketch out the plan.
I can’t wait to start digging!
I have other gardening boards too, along with home ideas, recipes, chickens and grilled cheese. I kind of love grilled cheese and chickens.
Pinterest is a perfect way to get out to the garden in the winter. A little Pinterest gardening will help you feel the energy of this year’s garden to be!
Check out my Pinterest boards here on Pinterest and be sure to follow me! I add things all the time and I promise to follow you back.
Stay warm and enjoy everything,
Michele
Winter Garden Coop Jam
It’s winter, that’s it…
There’s a rosemary plant hiding under the barrel, rock and large clump of dirt, lol. It will be a miracle if this plant makes it through this extremely unbelievably cold, long winter. That sprig of thyme will though…
A single egg
but fear not! There’s a traffic jam at the nesting box. More are on the way!
I turned around and here she was, patiently waiting her turn. This chicken reminds me of my oldest daughter, she’d be doing the same thing.
It does my heart good to see them waiting at the door again.
See you later sweetie pie.
Enjoy everything!
Michele
The Littlest Winter Herb Garden
I’m amazed by how happy this little collection of herbs makes me. Remind me to bring them in (or have a friend deliver a pretty metal bucket at Christmas Time) next year. xoxo Michele
Free At Last!
After spending the last couple of weeks inside their coop our girls have finally decided to venture out to see what’s going on in the world.
It helps that after enduring snow, ice, wind, rain and extreme cold it’s 55 degrees today.
In all our winters of chicken keeping I’ve never seen them just refuse to come out like this. They sat inside for weeks. Here we are watching the skaters last weekend.
Of course things like that nice heater and fresh peppers to eat may play a part in their decision.
Sheba looks like she’s trying to remember what it was like to be outside.
Our little white hen and one of our pretty cochin look a bit shocked too.
Ever the lady, the little red hen stays out of the mud and just goes with the flow.
I think she knows something that I don’t.
I love her eyes. Wish that beak had focused a little bit better, but we’re a work in progress here.
I still think she’s the one who’s in charge (not everyone agrees). If she is, she just made her nine sisters spend three weeks in the house watching the wind blow.
Free at last!
Here’s the reason for the sudden venture outdoors… everything is melting including the pond. Hopefully the warm weather will last just long enough to smooth out the ice so it can re-freeze and put the skaters back in business.
How are your chickens doing this winter? Are they laying any eggs? I’ve been BUYING free range eggs.
I think we need to do some daylight therapy or something.
Enjoy everything!
Michele
“The Ice Skating Pond Is Like a Garden”…
said my brother-in-law on the phone the other day… “think about it Michele, it’s all dependent on the weather, it all depends on if it rains or snows and if it’s warm or cold, it’s just like gardening, your always waiting to see how it’s going to go.”
He’s right, it is just like that. Michael and the kids worked hard to cut back the vegetation on the pond this fall.
It looked like this when they started. They cut and sawed and dug and moved everything out to create a nice big space for the rain to fill with water. Then we prayed for rain. It took awhile but now…
we have a skating pond. They’re spending hours out there having a ball!
Hockey is a very big focus…
This guy lives for the sport.
My little girl is more of a figure skater but she was keeping up with the stick pretty well today.
It does my heart good to look down and see this.
I took pictures and cheered them on. The afternoon sun warmed me up and gave me energy…
so I could climb back up this hill…
and head inside to look over seed catalogs and think abut the gardens ahead. While I’m doing that I’ll keep hoping and praying for ice friendly weather.
Life is so, so good here in our winter garden.
Enjoy everything!
Michele
The Salem Garden— 2013 in Review
I was thinking about writing my own review for the year but WordPress composes and sends me this one and quite honestly, I like it. It’s fun to read about my top posts and how much traffic I’ve had and where my views come from with these nice graphics and photos. 2013 was quite a year. There was lots and lots of change and adjustment and re-grouping and figuring things out around here. Sending first children off to college isn’t easy, nor is returning to the workforce after seventeen years, or experiencing a terrorist attack, but I did all of that. I’m hoping that 2014 will be full of amazing gardening times and fun family experiences, and maybe some really good posts here at The Salem Garden. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for reading and for all of your love and support. Your all wonderful! xoxo Michele
Here’s an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 18,000 times in 2013. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 7 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day- December 2013
It’s Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day, December 2013!
Ten days until Christmas!
I wish I could say that I have more, but this poinsettia is my only bloom.
It’s a beautiful color. I love a pink poinsettia.
It lives on the tippy top of our big organizing cabinet in the foyer, far from our cats’ reach.
Here’s the garden this morning. We had about five inches of snow overnight, which turned to rain and slush and is now in the process of re-freezing. Yay! Not really.
If only ice could be considered a bloom.
Click here to read all of the warmer climate posts on May Dreams Gardens and some creative northern climate posts as well. It’s amazing what a difference a few degrees if warmth makes, along with a positive outlook.
Enjoying everything (even the ice)…
Michele
Winter Lettuce and Spinach On the Rooftop!
I’d like to introduce the “other blog” in my life! Bass River Gardens is the blog that I’ve created with the individuals who I work with in my position as an adaptive gardening specialist. Last week we planted an experiment in our new “cold frame” and I thought it might be a good time to share Bass River here on The Salem Garden. This is a really cool project and so easy to do! Check it out, and while your there please look at some of the other posts that we’ve created and follow us! We’re having a good time in the Bass River Gardens, even in the cold weather! Michele
We made a cold frame for our rooftop garden a few weeks ago. A cold frame is like a little greenhouse and it’s used to extend the growing season by keeping in the heat and keeping out the cold, snow and wind. We made ours very inexpensively using window well covers, metal clips and bungie cords. You can watch the video that showed us how to do it here.
We decided to try to grow different kinds of lettuce and spinach to see what varieties would grow best in the cold frame.
We made labels for each packet of seeds,
Then we went up to the roof, lifted the cover off and got ready to plant.
Each set of seeds was gently planted.
And carefully marked with a white label.
When we were done planting we had five varieties of lettuce and three types of spinach ready to grow!
We…
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A Simple Thanksgiving Table
After all of my planning and good intention about decorations, and centerpieces, and name tags, it came down to four simple candles arranged by my little guy, great food and my wonderful family. That’s all that really matters, isn’t it?
Happy Thanksgiving! I hope your day was as blessed as mine was!
Love, Michele
The Salem Garden 