Law of the Land

Closing down shop...

2011-06-02T19:23:00.000-07:00

Hey all,
I've been trying to hold on to this blog while also working, being a mom, keeping up Clara's own blog, etc... but it's more than I can commit to for the foreseeable future. Therefore, I'm closing down shop, and will only be posting at our family blog now - Tales from the Zoo (http://gibsonswafford.blogspot.com/). I will be posting gardening stuff on there sometimes, and would be delighted if any of you wanted to stop by and say hello. I'll definitely still be visiting your blogs. Thank you so much for your readership of Law of the Land these last few years! I never imagined anyone outside my family would read it, and I've come to know so many wonderful people in the garden blog-o-sphere.
Take care and happy gardening!
Ginger

The veggie garden is all green in May

2011-05-30T20:52:00.000-07:00

I'll have tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, purple hull peas and more soon... but for now, everything I'm cutting from the garden is green.

Basil, green beans and parsley, all cut for meals on Sunday.
It was so nice to have an extra day to spend with Clara this weekend! Hope you all had a great weekend and remembered our soldiers.

REUSE - making baby toys

2011-05-25T19:13:00.001-07:00

I'm planning to make all of Clara's solid foods, sew some of her clothes, and make her some toys. My in-laws gave me a sewing machine for Mother's Day (awesome), and this baby block project was the first thing I did with it.

Only I had a twist! Making it an eco-friendly project by reusing discarded/unused things around the house. The fabric is from cloth napkins my mom had in the 70's and hadn't used in decades. Sewn inside the soft blocks are old cat toys (my cats never liked these bell-in-ball toys, but somehow we ended up with a bunch of them) or nicely crinkly packaging (from a wipes package and something of unknown origin I picked out of the trash - ha) - I was especially pleased to be able to use these things because they couldn't be recycled, so they would otherwise just be tossed.
Clara likes them!

What have you reused lately?

The Second R, and a daylily question

2011-05-18T18:15:00.000-07:00

As stated in my Earth Day post, I've got recycling down, but need to work on the first two R's. This quick redo of some nasty old plastic yard chairs is an example of reusing. I was seriously tempted to chunk them after scrubbing them and realized they weren't just dirty, but stained.

supplies: stuff to clean the chair as best I could, Valspar plastic spray paint, baby monitor

I decided I'd try some of the new plastic spray paint instead. Spray paint certainly isn't eco-friendly, but I reasoned it was better than (a) chunking these chairs into the landfill and (b) buying new plastic yard chairs when I already had two perfectly functional ones.

I'm pleased with how they turned out. It took 2 full cans of spray paint and the coverage isn't absolutely perfect since there was so much dark staining... but the spray paint worked fine (just like any other) and numerous people actually stopped at the side of the road and told me how good they look!

(bowl of just-harvested sugar snap peas on the table. yum!)

On an unrelated note, I transplanted a bunch of daylilies last week. I know you aren't supposed to transplant perennials that are about to bloom, but I had no choice. Now they are all yellowed and look terrible. Will they put out more growth this year after that dies back? Is there anything I can do to help them look better and get reestablished quickly?

Hope everyone's having a great week! 2 more days until the weekend - WOO HOO!

Expanded bed progress and a BIG thank you!

2011-05-14T18:20:00.000-07:00

Scott spent all afternoon removing sod and monkey grass for the expanded bed. Both are being replanted in the desolate backyard (where if the monkey grass takes over, more power to it!).

We'll be roughing up the dirt with a pickaxe and adding in a little Miracle Grow Garden Soil I already had laying around, then will cover it all up with a layer of pine straw (we can't use hardwood mulch because of termites).

There were some daylilies entrenched in the old monkey grass, and I pried most of them out to be replanted. I will wait to transplant many of the perennials from the back of the bed to the front until they have bloomed. I wasn't going to do much else with this bed in the immediate future since it's not a great time of year to establish perennials, and of course we just became a one-income family....but then I just won Dave @ The Home Garden's awesome contest --- a $100 Lowe's giftcard and biodegradable weed-block fabric!!! I am ridiculously excited about both of these things and will let y'all know how the weed-block does. I will probably use the Lowe's card to buy a bunch of annuals to spruce up this bed until I can plant perennials in the fall. THANKS, Dave!
Clara supervised us working in the yard today.

The bluebirds who have a nest nearby were NOT happy with our lengthy presence. We felt bad, but what can you do? At least they found some delicious bugs to swoop down and eat in the newly exposed dirt.
Gratuitous Clara close-up... (for some reason, these Clara pics are fuzzy scaled-down, but you can click them for a clearer pic if you want)

Hope you're all having a GREAT weekend! Thanks for your suggestions and advice for this bed on my last post.

Bed advice, please - and a slight change of focus

2011-05-09T19:27:00.001-07:00

I don't have any photos, but when I moved into my house, the below bed (a) did not have that monkey grass border, or any border at all between that bed and the ever-encroaching grass, (b) was home to only a few very sickly and sunscalded azaleas and a crippled boxwood that was beyond repair. We moved the azaleas to the backyard and cut the boxwood remnant to the ground. Someone then suggested I plant lorapetalums because they were pretty cheap and could take the heat and drought. This same someone gave me a TON of monkey grass to use for a border...

I planted perennials in between and around the shrubs, and it worked ok for a few years, but now the monkey grass and the shrubs are totally crowding out the perennials and it looks like a mess. So, we're expanding the bed out to the sidewalk. Then I can have the evergreen (or ever-purple) shrubs for interest in the winter, and perennials in front of them in the summer. Here's my dilemma: we're obviously going to dig up the monkey grass, but I don't really want to reuse it at the new front of the bed. It's just too tall and too thick and vigorous. I'd like something shorter and gentler, something like catmint but evergreen, or creeping thyme but bigger. Any ideas?? The new border plant will need to be able to handle extreme heat and drought.

On an unrelated note... I'm going to be expanding the focus of the blog just a bit to include some craft/diy posts. I probably won't rename it but may change the subtitle...
Here is my childhood desk that I recently refinished for Clara. It was even featured on a modern children's design blog!

Hope you all have a great week! -Ginger

Annual Easter Egg Decorating Contest

2011-04-26T20:18:00.001-07:00

First for a gratuitous harvest photo...

and a disturbing find at our feeder (cowbird)...
Our family has had an annual Easter Egg Decorating Contest since I was a little girl. You can see past eggs here and here. Here are the 2011 entries:
My little cousin Cammy's Nemo:

My favorite by far -- Scott's Frankenstein w/operating table.

Clara's first ever egg (with a little assistance from mommy):

Aunt Penny's scuba divers

My mummy:

My father-in-law's "little girl":

My cousin Caleb's chicken and worm:

My mother-in-law's "Clara the Fashionista" - best in show!

My cousin Erin Raye's sheep and shepherd:

Which is your favorite?

The 3 R's

2011-04-15T22:17:00.000-07:00

Happy (late) Earth Day! My big green goal for this year is to work on the first two R's - reducing and reusing. As you can see from this shot of a fairly typical trash day, I have the third R (recycling) down pat!

We have very little trash. It's mostly pet and baby poop. Food and garden scraps go in the two compost piles. But the bulk of what we use that others might just throw away goes into recycling. For example, aside from the OJ jug and corrugated cardboard in our bins, I also have some (non-metallic) used wrapping paper and various packaging materials (box from Clara's bottles, pasta box, paper insert from air filter, etc).
One negative implication of the large amount of recycling we put out is that we consume way too much. It takes energy to recycle (and manufacture) these things, and it'd be better to find a way to consume less or reuse something that would otherwise be recycled

Potatoes grow in one of the compost bins... no need to buy a special "grow bag." (REDUCE)

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I'm going to start my REDUCE plan with something simple: paper towels. I am going to keep one of those journals of how many paper towels I use and what for. The truth is, while some messes (like poop) I'm just not willing to clean with a cloth, most things I use paper towels for aren't such dirty jobs. Sometimes I'm too lazy to go get a clean kitchen towel from the laundry room and just use paper towels to dry the dishes, for example. I'm going to stop doing that right now. Hopefully the journal will guilt me into kicking the habit in other areas as well.

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As far as REUSING, there are a lot of things that can be either reused or recycled, and I'm going to make a concerted effort to do the prior. For example, our local animal shelter (MARL) lines cages with newspaper, so I'm going to start (tonight!) saving our newspaper separately from the recycling to take over there.

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I hope you all had a wonderful Earth Day! It's an amazing Mother we have...let's take care of her like she deserves this year.

p.s. if you're looking for a cute song to get kids into recycling, etc., check out "The 3 R's" on Jack Johnson's Curious George soundtrack. It's awesome :-)

a tiny bit of news

2011-04-15T22:06:00.000-07:00

We had Clara's trial run with daycare this week, and I just couldn't handle it. So Scott is going to quit his job and stay home with her for a year, while also working on a master's degree at night. I'm a little jealous that I can't stay home with her (Scott says that's the price I pay for being "so successful" - ha ha), but absolutely thrilled she'll be home with her daddy.

In other news, the irises are blooming! This one is shimmery and fragrant. Love it.

Have a great weekend! -Ginger

April flowers, more wasp drama, and a mystery bird

2011-04-11T20:27:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Hope y'all had a great weekend and for those of you who work, your Monday wasn't too bad. This bird is in the top corner of our carport every night now. What is it? And why is it there?

Spiderwort... I cannot believe they sell this. It is SUCH a weed here!

See? It takes over the lawn, and when you mow it down, comes back bigger than ever! Did I mention that sometimes the roots connecting the plants are 5+ feet long? Nightmare to dig up, which is why my side yard looks like a spiderwort farm. Sigh. In more pleasant flower news, fragrant, old roses are blooming: And irises in the little fish pond that I dug up from my mom's real pond:

Clara starts daycare this week (to get us both used to it) and I start back at work next week. I am in major denial mode, so I spent today playing "domestic goddess." Like my slab of warm focaccia?

I'm telling y'all this because I may be MIA for awhile after going back to work. I'm going to be busy and probably pretty sad. But I'll check in with your blogs when I get a chance, and greatly appreciate your patience as I adjust to a "new normal."

One more thing before I let you go. I tried the inverted coke bottle traps for the wasp problem, to no avail. I only tried using juice as bait. I couldn't bring myself to use meat, for various reasons, but mostly because that's a disgusting thing to leave outside in a coke bottle in 80+ heat! I also tried these fake wasp nests from gardeners supply - and they were an utter failure for me, though they have good reviews so they must work for some people. (If anyone wants the extra package (of 2) I have, let me know and I'll mail it to you.) So, we're back to square one, and big red wasps are still terrorizing me every time I step in the veggie garden. Not sure what to do now!?

Have a good week! -Ginger

New blooms, veggie garden progress, and mailorder source reviews

2011-04-02T17:35:00.000-07:00

Bear with me... this three-section post may be a bit long, but hopefully it won't be boring!

I. Here are some new blooms for the season, in order of appearance: rose, sage, phlox, iris:

II. With only two weeks left at home with Clara, I'm getting a little frantic. I am going to miss her SO MUCH when I go back to work. With that in mind, I'm trying to get the garden in pretty good shape so that all I have to do is water and pick veggies most of the late spring/early summer - and I can spend most of my free time at home with the girl.

Because of my pregnancy and her birth, I didn't do much from seed this year - just lettuce, carrots, a few tomato plants, basil, squash (sort of...see below), and of course peas, beans and cucumbers (the easy stuff).

Growing in the garden now:

Lettuce, which has been producing for a month or so but will start to get bitter from the heat soon.

Carrots.....which are this big now.... they will also suffer from the heat soon, so we may just have lots of finger-sized carrots. Still, it's the most success I've ever had with carrots, so I'm not complaining.

Shallots....leftover from last year. They did so poorly and I thought I dug them all up, but apparently not. Will be interesting to see what's underground.

Sugar snap peas are about 6 inches tall. I may have planted them too late. We'll see.

Herbs - basil from seed, perennial oregano, new thyme and rosemary plants to replace dead ones.

Cucumber, green bean, and purple hull pea seeds have been planted but aren't up yet.

A variety of bell peppers and eggplants (all bought at lowe's) are in the ground.

Tomatoes - I have about 15 plants, a mix of heirlooms from the Tasteful Garden (see review below), a recent garden show, and volunteers. Some big and some little, some purple and some yellow/orange --- but no "red slicers" in sight!

Squash... y'all know my awful problems with borers made me swear off squash. Well, I'm trying one last time - growing these expensive zucchini seeds from Kitchen Garden Seeds that don't need a pollinator, under row covers. Is that a lot of trouble for such a humble veggie or what?! We'll see if it works. The variety is "Cavili" and I read about it in Organic Gardening magazine while in labor at the hospital! Slightly disturbingly, only one of the eight I planted has germinated yet...

III. I recently ordered plants from Tasteful Garden, High Country Gardens, and Bluestone Perennials. I wouldn't even want to judge them on how they turn out, because if it's bad, it's probably MY fault. So here's a summary of my experience ordering and receiving the plants:

Tasteful Garden - Lisa from Shower Fresh Garden turned me on to this place in Alabama. I like buying plants that weren't grown 1000 miles away. Pro's: huge selection of tomato (and other) plants; great, recyclable shipping materials; all plants were large and healthy. Con: expensive for tomato plants...but certainly worth it if I can keep from buying pounds of heirloom tomatoes every week at the farmer's market!

High Country Gardens - the ONLY source I could find for clematis scottii, which I needed for the family garden. Pro's: amazing catalog with some unusual plants, and a focus on plants that can handle heat and drought; plants arrived in great shape - moist and not smooshed. No con's!

Bluestone Perennials - one of very few sources I could find for clara curtis mums, another plant needed for the family garden. Pro's: they carry a huge variety of mostly perennials. Con's: this was the least impressive packaging job I've ever seen, and they use styrofoam peanuts. Come on now, if you think peanuts are necessary, use the compostable cornstarch peanuts! Also, these plants were smaller than I expected. I paid $12.95 (plus s/h) for 3 plants, knowing they would be in small containers. But the plants themselves were just tiny sprigs stuck in the tiny pots. Not impressive, though they did appear healthy.

[FYI - for anyone who is wondering, the third plant in the family garden is Hidden Ginger - but sweet Darla of More Family and Flowers gave me that!]

Hope y'all are all enjoying some warm weather and gardening this weekend! - Ginger

p.s. thank y'all for your advice on the wasp problem! I am going to make some of those coke bottle traps and will let you know if it helps.

march wrap-up and a wasp question (help!)

2011-03-26T18:28:00.000-07:00

March has mostly been a month of beautiful weather here. I'm still enjoying being home with Clara, and terribly sad I have to go back to work in 3 weeks. I've gotten to spend just a bit of time outside (and contracted my first case of poison ivy of the year - yuck!).

This was taken a week or so ago. I love the hot pink lorapetalum with the bright yellow daffs!

I also love wild violets and let them grow wherever they want in our yard.
It's always exciting to see the first fern frond unfurl.
First harvest of 2011!
...turned into a delicious pecan-encrusted mozzarella salad. mmm... if anyone wants the recipe, let me know and I'll email it to you.
All three of the original fish we got in 2009 are still kickin'.

And now for some much less likable wildlife.... we have a lot of red wasps in Mississippi. At my house, they all gravitate to this one structure. They have since Scott built it a couple of years ago. Can you help me figure out WHY, and more importantly, how I can get them away from there? It's in the middle of the veggie garden, so it's quite a nuisance to me. They don't seem to have a nest there. It's like they are scavenging/mining for something.

Thanks in advance for your advice! And now for the obligatory/shameless Clara pic.....

Have a great weekend!

-Ginger

p.s. I still have two extra packets of lima bean seeds if anyone wants them

Early spring blooms

2011-03-02T17:06:00.000-08:00

Of the two apple trees we planted last year, one is blooming these precious pale pink blooms (tons of them). The other looks weeks away from blooming, which may be a bit of a problem since they were supposed to be cross-pollinators! Hmm.... we'll see!
Pansies and violas are planted in late fall here and will live until late spring with zero care if planted where they can just collect rainwater and some sun.

I have two varieties of lorapetalum blooming, but only caught a photo of this one. They are so FUNKY! I love it. The other's blooms are a pale pink.

This has been a bad year for camellias here... poor blooms, late blooms. This 50-year-old 10+ foot tall shrub usually blooms from November through the end of January, but is just getting started this year. No idea why, though I'm quite relieved it's going to bloom now rather than never.

Daffodils, muscari, hyacinths and crocuses are popping up, and more daffs will bloom over the next couple of weeks.

There are white crocuses in bloom, too. Haven't seen any of the purple ones this year.

I write about them every year, and every year people say what awful trees they are.... Our house came with 3 HUGE bradford pears that are DECADES past their anticipated life span. Two of the three had already split, and one of those was taken down last year. This is the biggest of the remaining trees - isn't it ridiculous?? But it's beautiful in bloom, provides tons of shade and interest, and isn't in danger of falling on a house.... so I'm not taking it down anytime soon.

It even looks cool at night. The blooms are like big snowflakes.

I haven't done much gardening, but have lettuce ready to harvest and carrots still cookin' in the raised beds. Basil, a few tomato plants, zinnias and one eggplant started from seed have been moved to transitional pots. Planting sugar snap peas tomorrow.

Here's my excuse for being a worthless gardener - and the light of my life:

Clara will be 5 weeks old tomorrow!

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On a totally unrelated note, I have two seed packets for lima beans bought last fall that I'm not going to use. If anyone wants them, let me know and I'll mail them to you (first to stake a claim will receive both packets).

Hope y'all are having a great gardening week :-)

-Ginger

Can't be crocus time already?!

2011-02-12T21:42:00.000-08:00

I just love the demure burst of color crocuses add to the drab winter landscape. Still, this year they caught me by surprise. Can it really be crocus time already?

Last year we were in New Orleans around Mardi Gras and caught a few strands of beads. I saved them all this time intending to make a "Mardi Gras Tree" at our house. Here is our little pink dogwood adorned for the season.

Last but not least... Thank you all so much for your congrats on the arrival of our sweet Clara! Here is a picture of her from today, with a precious outfit given to her by Lisa of A Shower Fresh Garden!

I have no idea how I'm going to have time to garden with a baby, a demanding job, and a husband who works nights out of town and is in school.... but I'm going to try!

Have a great weekend! GG

Clara is Here!

2011-01-28T21:42:00.001-08:00

Born January 27, 2011 at 6:35 PM

6 pounds
21 inches

No baby yet.... Will you help me with my new garden plans?

2011-01-25T21:09:00.000-08:00

No baby yet…. She was due last Friday, and we’ll go in tomorrow evening for them to induce. I worked through 4 pm today then we went out for a nice dinner. I still need to finish packing our bag, but don’t have much else to do to distract me from the nerves tonight….

In response to my last post, Janet @ The Queen of Seaford suggested I start a “family garden.” Such a great idea! However, I need some help! We can either go with full sun or partial shade. There is nowhere in my yard that isn’t hot, dry and with clay soil (though it’s been well-amended in certain parts). Here are some of the plants I’m considering:

For baby Clara: Leading the pack is Clara Curtis Mums. These types of mums grow so well here with no care. I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen this particular variety or not. In some photos they look salmon pink while in others they look pale lavender. Another plus for this plant is that I can definitely find some to order.

Other options include white Clara Goula Louisiana Iris (probably needs more moisture than I’m willing/able to provide), or maybe a shrub (Clara Indian Hawthorne with white flowers, or Clara Brooks Camellia – which is mentioned on mygardenguide.com but I can’t seem to find a picture of, much less a seller for).

For Scott: Definitely the most challenging of the family…. There are a couple of azaleas with “Scott” in the name (“Eliza Scott,” “Scott Gartrell”), but none I can find for sale… I thought about Scottish Thistle, but I’m not sure if it’s the kind of thistle that grows around here, and frankly I’ve always considered thistle a weed! Then there’s Scott’s Clematis – a weird hairy bell-shaped clematis that grows more like a shrubby perennial than a “normal” clematis….

Any other ideas?

For me: I’m thinking “Butterfly Ginger,” even though I killed some I bought last year at a plant sale. What is the trick with this plant? Watering to get it established then neglect? I’m open to other kinds of gingers that will grow as perennials here. I’m also open to other plants altogether with “ginger” in the name…. perhaps the orange “Ginger Bread Man Daylily” (though, I already have a ton of orange daylilies)? Frustratingly, lots of plants that I find on the web don’t appear to be available in the US or I can’t find a seller for, like Iced Ginger Rose (grown only in Australia or New Zealand??) or the gorgeous orangey-pink Ginger Rogers Rose…

Scott suggested we add the pets to the family garden, but that’s a bit ambitious at this point I think! Anyway, I’d greatly appreciate your input and ideas. And thanks much to Janet for the concept!

January Update and Last Pre-Baby Post!

2011-01-17T17:32:00.001-08:00

Happy 2011, y'all! I hope everyone is well and warm, and I apologize for slacking both in reading your blogs and updating mine. Clara is due on Friday, so I've been pretty busy with baby stuff and trying to tie up a lot of loose ends at work before I take some time off.

It was fairly warm today, so I spent about an hour in the garden cutting down old perennials and such. Not much is going on. In the edibles category, lettuce and carrots are growing with pretty much zero care:

Not sure if it was the hot summer or what, but our camellias have been off this year. The pale pink fall-bloomers only had a couple of blooms. The hot pink camellias that usually bloom for months are just now starting their show, as evidenced by the only bloom I could find for a blog pic, hiding under a leaf.

Many of our perennials are showcasing healthy new growth, including this patch of shasta daisies:

Asters:

Coneflowers:

I'm anxious to see if many of the perennials I planted last year that seemed to wither to death in the extreme heat will be back.

My seed-starting operation this year has been relegated to one tray of tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and basil under a single incandescent lightbulb. I almost skipped it entirely, but if there's ever a time to be thrifty, it's when you are trying to take a long (unpaid) vacation from work!

Take care and check back soon for baby news! -Ginger

Natural Science Museum Photo Contest 2011

2010-12-12T08:06:00.000-08:00

Happy December, y'all! It finally got cold here and killed the remainder of the summer veggie garden. There isn't much gardening to do this time of year, other than raking some leaves into the beds and piling some in the compost bins. I have lettuce and carrots going, but it usually rains enough that I just leave them alone until harvest time.

You may remember that last winter I entered the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science's photo contest, which takes photos in several categories taken on the museum grounds. Here is my post from last year. I ended up entering 2-3 photos based on your recommendations, and won 1st prize in the landscape division for the b&w photo of the cypress swamp.

Here are some photos I took at the museum back in late June that I am considering sending in this year. Please let me know your candid thoughts!

This is a photo of the skeleton of some leaves after bag worms (I don't know the scientific name) stripped the branch of everything green. I had it printed on glossy paper and it's not as crisp as it needs to be to win, but still kind of a cool concept. It was just too hard to focus with my non-DSLR, I think.

Above and below are two b&w photos of the creepy bag worms at work! I love how you can see the spines of the worms on the outside of the "bags." I had these printed on matte paper and they printed pretty true to what you see here. Do you like either, and if so, which one more?

Thanks for your input. Have a great rest of the weekend!

Late November Updates

2010-11-28T14:03:00.000-08:00

Happy late Thanksgiving, everyone! Apparently my new MO is to post once a month... so here's the end-of-November update.

The yard looks pretty drab, but there are touches of fall/winter color, such as hollies, camellias, and pineapple sage (the latter will go dormant after our first bad frost):

The vegetable garden is a mix of old and new. Lettuce and carrots, recently planted from seed, will grow all winter here:

Remnants of the summer garden are still hanging on. All of the eggplant and hot pepper plants have TONS of blooms right now. I don't know if anything will make it to fruition this late, though.

I'm still getting a few bell peppers and sungold tomatoes - just enough for a couple of omelets a week.

Our first hard freeze last year was right around December 1. The weather here has been crazy lately. It was 70+ on Thanksgiving day and about 45 on the next!

54 more days until the baby gets here (if she comes on her due date!), so I probably won't be getting much more gardening done in the next few months. I planted some pansies and I'm going to keep sowing lettuce seeds every few weeks. There may not be much to show (or see), but I'll check in again soon. Have a great week!

Fall flowers and pumpkin carving 2010

2010-10-30T08:21:00.000-07:00

Butterfly weed is one of the few plants that bloomed straight through the summer heat (with occasional wilting) and is still going. Gotta love that! I've read that monarchs will chew this plant to the ground, but it hasn't been an issue for me. We don't see too many monarchs here.

Every summer, I wonder why I put up with this gigantic, floppy, green aster.... then it blooms! I remember when I started this from a 3" pot three years ago (and the mexican bush sage behind it and the purple coneflower to the right at the same time) - I sure wish everything I planted would flourish like this! Not sure if it's the plant, the proximity to a downspout, or just luck.
You may remember this post from last year about me and Scott's yearly pumpkin-carving festivities (usually involving my brother and/or my friend Katherine). Katherine is still in Iraq, but we got together with my brother a couple of days ago for the 2010 carving fest.

Here is my happy little monster, and Jeremy's creepy skull.

As usual/always, Scott's pumpkin is the most impressive!

I read that you could brush petroleum jelly or vegetable oil on the cut parts to make it last longer. Not wanting for petroleum products to end up in the compost pile, we used the oil. It appears to have worked pretty well to prevent the cut parts from drying out.

Happy Halloween!

Summer vegetable garden winding down

2010-10-03T18:46:00.000-07:00

Happy fall, y'all! It's finally cool here (70s), but it still hasn't really rained in about two months. Everything - even established trees - looks awful. I ripped up the brown tomato and cucumber vines today, plus woody bean remnants. Sad day for me, but happy day for the compost pile.

Last year it was almost two months from this time when the garden looked this empty. Most of the veggies just couldn't hang on with the extreme drought and the neglect they experienced this year.
I did manage to recover some (dried) pinkeye purple hull peas for planting next year...
These were so good fresh this summer and withstood the weather for a long time.

This ginger is from a grocery store knob that we accidentally left on top of the refrigerator in a plastic bag. It sprouted and I planted it in the raised bed a few months ago. Not sure what to do with it this winter (?).

Eggplants and bell peppers are still hanging on:

Omelet peppers. Mmmmm.

Did you know the inside of purple bell peppers is green?

Neglected serranos (from seed) turning rainbow colors:

A couple of sungold are the only tomato plants (of about 12) hanging on. These have been so easy and prolific. Definitely a keeper.

Thank you to all of you who've made comments or asked about the pregnancy. Everything is still going great, and little Clara is due in January! Her room is a very garden-fresh shade of green!

Have a great week :)

September Survivors

2010-09-06T15:52:00.000-07:00

It's been a month since I posted.... not sure if I should blame that on the extreme heat of August, the pregnancy, or just being lazy. Anyway... my garden has been neglected just as much as the blog, so what you see here are plants that can truly grow in the deep south, and clay soil, with zero care.
First up, turks cap hibiscus:

I got this at a plant sale in March, and it was just a few inches tall. Plopped it in the ground with a little compost, watered it maybe twice - and now it's 2 feet tall, bushy and thriving.

I planted two beautyberries last fall and have never watered either of them. This one is in the partial shade of the backyard, and is absolutely huge. The other one is in the front sun and is smaller, with smaller leaves and smaller berries (it's alive, though!).

The only things still producing from the spring veggie garden are eggplants and peppers. Both take a long time to get moving (especially started from seed!), but will produce deep into the fall. I have a couple of varieties of eggplant growing:

They have not been watered since the day they were planted.

A good use for summer veggies like tomatoes and banana peppers is nachos! This is one of my favorite recipes and a recent dinner:

I accidentally let some banana peppers turn red on the plant, and Scott has been using those in omelets. They taste surprisingly like bell peppers at that stage.

Hope you all had a great holiday weekend!

End of July Garden Updates

2010-07-31T09:56:00.000-07:00

The forecast calls for it to be in the 100's here the next three days - just in time for the weekend, my only free time to work in the garden (very funny, Mother Nature). My garden has been suffering this year. I'm not sure if it's from the heat or what. Things that always bloom haven't (bearded iris, tiger lily), and my veggie garden has been ridiculously hit or miss (lots of green beans early, lots of cherry tomatoes and cowpeas later, a very few eggplant and larger tomatoes now, bell peppers just getting started, no cucumbers in sight, and some utter failures: corn, pole beans, butter beans, winter squash).

One weird thing about pregnancy is that your tastes change, so some things I planted in the garden the spring don't appeal to me now, namely eggplant.

This is the second year I've grown these asian eggplants from seed. The basil and black krim tomatoes were grown from seed, too (the red tomatoes are from a friend). Trying to figure out what to do with these eggplants that sounded remotely appetizing right now was a challenge, but then I found this recipe. I basically followed it except that before frying the eggplant pieces, I breaded them in flour with salt and pepper mixed in (and skipped the step about drying the eggplant pieces after rinsing them). It was so good!

The tiny fish pond is the only area of the yard that looks lush. I was thrilled to find this helvola dwarf water lily blooming! Word to the wise, even a dwarf lily will send out an incredible number of lily pads. I'm glad I didn't just get a small lily, because this is all our ~100 gallon pond can handle.

These naked ladies took a couple of years to bloom, but they were worth the wait. They are a shimmery pale pink and so pretty.

I love how they come up literally overnight on these long stems.

The heat has not put a damper on the critters. Check out this neat/creepy sphinx moth that was hanging out in our carport last weekend. It was huge! It reminded me of the stealth bomber.

Have a great weekend and stay cool!

Canoeing the Okatoma

2010-07-17T05:43:00.000-07:00

I had July 5th off from work (thanks boss), so Scott and I drove about an hour south to canoe the Okatoma Creek, home of Mississippi's only "whitewater" (level 1) rapids (you'll see why whitewater is in quotes below). The Okatoma is so serene. Most of what you see is this:

Ignore my big mug and check out the "rapids" in the background. There are a few of these along the 8-mile trip, and they really are fun - just not in the North Carolina rapids kind-of-way (though, I don't know if people canoe those rapids)! You will notice that our boat is backwards in this picture - the swirl at the base of the rapids turned us around.

Another general scenery shot:

Scott, providing most of the effort required to move the canoe forward :)

Scott spotted this great blue heron in the woods. It was the biggest bird I have ever seen. We parked the canoe and I got as close as I could to get a shot. A long kelly green snake and I scared each other when I almost stepped on it (haven't been able to ID it) - but my muffled scream didn't scare off this bird. It was busy hunting and not at all worried about me.

We brought sandwiches and stopped on one of many sandbars for lunch.

The river was low, and in this picture you can easily see the rocky bottom. We had to get out and carry/push the canoe a couple of times.

It ended up raining torrentially (seriously) most of the second half of the trip. Here is the water in our boat between bouts of rain:

Needless to say, our towels were soaked! Next time we'll know to bring extras and leave them in the car.

---

I have one final bit of news before I let you go enjoy your weekend. We are expecting a baby in January! That is the reason for my neglect of the blogging world recently. I'm going to try to get back to posting once a week now. Thanks for sticking with me!

Back to the garden!

2010-07-04T19:41:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy summer (more on that soon), but I didn't realize it had been nearly a month since my last post - yikes! If anyone is still reading, here is a snapshot of what's happening in our garden in hot, hot July:

Above: I bought this veronica last year because it was covered with bees at the nursery. Looks like that wasn't a fluke.
Below: orange "roadside" daylilies, pink double delight coneflowers, and shasta daisies brighten up the front yard.

The vegetable garden is mostly thriving, with the exception of the epic failure of corn. These sungold cherry tomatoes are delicious and prolific. A keeper for sure.

Dinner tonight included three crops from our garden: snap beans, potatoes and pinkeye purple hull peas. I cooked the beans and potatoes in homemade vegetable stock for 30 minutes (with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper). For the peas, I sauteed yellow onion and jalapeno in butter, then added hot water, shelled peas, and s&p. Cooked for about 30 minutes, then stirred in chopped tomato just before serving.

Our pond is doing surprisingly well in the midst of its first hot summer. We haven't had an algae problem yet, and the three original fish are still kicking. Here is the pond last August, right after we finished installing it:

And here it is now! A beautyberry, a turks cap hibiscus, and a confederate rose hibiscus frame the pond and help hide the fence. In the pond are a mini water lily (helvola), Louisiana irises dug out of my mom's lake, pickerel rush, and a variety of annual floating plants.

Thanks for sticking with me though my inadvertently long break! Happy 4th!

Critters

2010-06-12T16:55:00.000-07:00

It's nearly 100 degrees this weekend, and dry as a bone, so not much gardening is taking place. I did get to spend a few minutes watering and breathing in the fresh air this evening. Watering one of the apple trees we planted for Earth Day, I found this incredibly creepy bug. Ew! Please don't tell me I should kill it because I really don't want to touch it!

I also spotted this robin hunting for worms. Where was it headed?

Cuuuute! Sleepy baby robins!

A little more awake now:

Isn't the sticks, straw and mud nest impressive?

And finally, the butterfly bush just started blooming, so I'm on the lookout for butterflies!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-06-08T18:21:00.000-07:00

Early Summer Updates and a Woodpecker Query

2010-05-31T17:18:00.000-07:00

It's nearing the prettiest time of year here, before the flowers are ragged from extreme summer heat. Two types of Endless Summer Hydrangea are blooming profusely (Original and Blushing Bride):

Scarlet runner bean vines are covering a bunch of spare tomato cages.

Red hot poker plant:

Two (unknown) daylilies, clearance purchases last fall, are blooming:

Black-eyed susans are starting their multi-month flowering period. This is rudbeckia hirta, which grows as a biennial here (though it's advertised as perennial).

Mums from our wedding brunch three years ago:

A pair of brown thrashers have a nest in some dense shrubbery next to our carport. We can't see or hear the babies, but the thrashers are constantly bringing them huge numbers of bugs and worms - even in the rain. Devoted parents! (This one has a worm.)

The little backyard vegetable garden is coming into its own. We're just harvesting tons of green beans these days, but tomatoes aren't far behind. We also have corn, winter squash (which I'm hoping is not as susceptible to borers), butterbeans, purple hull peas, shallots, corn, peppers (hot and sweet), cucumbers and eggplant planted. Herbs and fruit are elsewhere in the yard.

My mom asked me to post about a strange problem she's having - a woodpecker pecking on her (asphalt shingle) roof! She went outside to check and it's definitely pecking on the roof and not exposed wood. And she lives on 13 wooded acres! Does anyone have any idea why it would do this and how to get it to stop? It's driving her crazy and she's afraid it will cause a leak. Thanks!

May Flowers, Finches, Fruits and Veggies

2010-05-16T14:26:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone had a good weekend! I've been slacking a bit on the blog, partly because I took up running. I have still been reading your blogs and will get back to more regularly commenting soon - promise!

Here are some snapshots of what's happening in our yard/garden in mid-May.

We've had a sudden influx of house finches:

Hydrangeas are starting to bloom:

My lone (but reliable) amaryllis:

Blueberries are plumping up:

Lamb's Ears are blooming:

Today's harvest: a handful of sugar snap peas (probably the next to last harvest), a few strawberries, and the first harvest of green beans:

Have a great week!

Of apples and bats

2010-05-03T21:06:00.000-07:00

The three trees we planted for Earth Day (and to replace the downed Bradford Pear) are all surviving nicely. We planted an Autumn Blaze Maple, and two apple trees - Anna and Golden Dorsett. Until very recently, I thought you could only grow "cooking apples" in the deep south. I was pleasantly surprised to find that there are actually many varieties of "eating apples" that will grow here.

The Golden Dorsett came with a ton of baby apples. Some have self-thinned, and I will be thinning a few more out to help the tree get established. This month's Organic Gardening magazine recommends thinning out all but the largest and shapeliest of each cluster. Here's the best-looking apple we have so far:

On a totally unrelated note, my friend is serving in the US military in Iraq and sent me this picture. This is supposedly a BAT HOUSE that Saddam Hussein had built. The rumor is that there was a terrible bug problem, so Saddam had a bunch of bats flown in and had this house made for them. Isn't it the craziest thing you've ever seen?!

urban wildlife

2010-04-29T20:43:00.000-07:00

This beautiful barred owl was hanging out in a tree in our front yard last Sunday afternoon - in broad daylight! It was really stressing out a mockingbird that apparently has a nest in that tree. It was there for hours, and Scott eventually got the great idea to get on the roof of the house to get a better picture.

This huge frog has taken up residence in our pond. It sleeps/hangs out in the biggest potted plant in the pond. Seems to freak out the fish a bit - hopefully they'll get used to it (because it doesn't appear to be going anywhere).

We had our first pond emergency (since installing the pond last summer/fall) last weekend. The fish started gasping at the surface. My research indicated that this was likely either the result of ammonia build-up or a pH problem. I didn't think it was ammonia since our pond is definitely not overstocked, and an ammonia test proved me right. It turns out that it was a pH problem, thanks to a heavy rain the day before. Rain here, for whatever reason, is very acidic. Thankfully we were able to solve this problem by adding baking soda to the pond in small doses over the course of a few days. Crisis averted!

Happy Earth Day!

2010-04-22T20:38:00.000-07:00

I hope you all had a nice Earth Day and got to celebrate and enjoy nature!

I did a bit of bird-watching (female Eastern Towhee):

And we enjoyed a candlelit dinner with no tv in the background:

We bought two apple trees to plant, but realized while trying to place them that a huge tree in the front yard needs to come down - a very sad realization for Earth Day! It's one of our three FIFTY YEAR OLD Bradford Pears, and it's split twice. When it had just split once, I said I had a two-split rule, but when it split again last October, I couldn't bear to do anything about it. I love the flowers in the spring, the tremendous shade it provides in summer, the leaves in fall, and the bird habitat. This tree is directly in front of the house. It looks pretty rough, but removing it will leave a real void. I know that sounds overdramatic, and no one likes Bradford Pears, but I swear I'm grieving this tree! They are taking it down tomorrow. We will plant two 4-5' apple trees and one 8-10' Autumn Blaze Maple. It won't make up for the shade or the environmental benefits of the big tree - at least for a long time - but the house will be out of danger, and hopefully my guilt about cutting down a living tree will be assuaged a bit.

Have a good night and a good weekend, and remember that EVERY DAY IS EARTH DAY!

-Ginger

Just Rosy

2010-04-20T19:34:00.000-07:00

This rose bush is probably my favorite thing about our house. It's old, reliable, smells UNBELIEVABLY good, blooms on and off from April to September...and on and on.

This hot pink rose isn't quite as showy in shape, but it smells equally divine.

I will have some mini roses blooming in a few days. Most of my plants are all green right now (well, the ones that are alive), so the sight and smell of the roses is a treat every day.

Since many of you commented about me somehow managing to kill black-eyed susans, I thought a little follow-up was in order. I found the seed packet from 2008 - Ferry Morse Rudbeckia Hirta. The packet says clear as day "Perennial," but my favorite southern gardening tome categorizes this species as an annual. Confusingly, some websites refer to it as a binennial.

Well, at least I know I didn't kill one of the hardy varieties! Now I just have to find some replacements!

On another totally unrelated note, I just love these unfurling Christmas ferns. I'm going to enter this in the April Gardening Gone Wild contest just for kicks.

Spring Smorgasbord

2010-04-13T17:54:00.000-07:00

It's late enough now to tell what didn't survive the winter, and I'm quite surprised both at all of the plants that did survive, and the few that didn't. Muhly grass and elephant ears didn't make it. I'm super bummed out that my black-eyed susans, started from seed 3 or 4 years ago, didn't either. The huge sprays of golden yellow were hands down my favorite flowers in the garden last year.

Just in time to lift my spirits, yesterday my first ever clematis bloom opened. I got this clematis at a plant sale last spring for $1.

Would anyone like to guess what this is? Hint: the seeds of this plant are always sold as an annual, but it's a perennial plant here in the deep south.

It's a four-o-clock tuber!

Below are some lettuce (little gem romaine) and sugar snap peas harvested this weekend. We've really enjoyed our fresh salads. I'm trying to prolong the remaining lettuces by covering them with a sheet during the day (since it's already in the 80s here).

Christmas ferns unfurling:

Azaleas are still blooming:

Siberian irises are blooming:

Hope you're all enjoying a warm and sunny spring!

Spring Scenes

2010-04-05T20:18:00.000-07:00

The long-suffering azaleas are blooming like crazy now. I'm having a hard time capturing the color, but if you're a wine drinker, it's similar to the color of beaujolais. I haven't seen this color much, so it's a nice surprise (after FOUR YEARS of waiting to see the bloom color!).

Looks like we'll have a bumper crop of strawberries this year, if I can keep the slugs away. I need to put out beer traps stat!

This naked lady (belladonna lily) foliage is crazy huge! I planted the bulbs last year and got nothing - no foliage, no blooms. I was sure the squirrels got them. 1 for me!

These asters probably need to be divided about now.

Black and blue sage has come back with an almost disturbing vigor, all over the place! Oh well, there are worse things to spread.

There are still a few new daffodils opening.

Hostas bought last spring at the annual master gardener's sale appeared to die from the heat last year, but have really healthy new growth now.

New fatsia foliage. I love this plant - it's so weird.

I've mentioned the "two story camellia" before, and here it is in bloom:

99% of the blooms are pink, but there's always one or two white ones. For perspective on the size of this thing, Scott is 6'4":

For those of you who have been eagerly waiting (ha ha) for our entries into my family's annual Easter Egg Contest, here you go....

Scott's Harry Potter, and my Hedwig (Harry's owl).

Blooming Tuesday

2010-03-30T21:02:00.000-07:00

Happy Blooming Tuesday! Here is a snapshot of what's blooming in my yard in late March. These blooms are all about a month late due to our unusually cold winter.

An assortment of daffodils:

Sugar snap peas, coming up! Yum!

Wild violas - so delicate and precious.

Phlox:

More assorted daffodils:

I can't quite capture the brilliance of this lorapetalum from afar. It's really a vibrant hot pink (while in bloom). These shrubs blend well in a perennial border with their informal, almost sprawling habitat. Just beware they can get huge, so plant them 5 feet apart even if it seems like a big gap.

Long-time readers will remember my laments about the azaleas the previous homeowners stuck in clay holes in full sun. We moved them to the shadier backyard, and three years later, they are finally blooming! I'm thrilled we were able to rehabilitate them, though it sure took some patience.

For more Blooming Tuesday, visit Ms. Green Thumb Jean.

Back to NOLA (yes, already)

2010-03-22T20:24:00.000-07:00

OK, maybe I have a problem... Just a few days after our recent one-night trip to New Orleans, I found a reason to go back - a conference for work! So, we went back last Wed.-Sat. Unfortunately, I was in the seminar from 8:00 to 12:00 and 1:15 to 5:05 each day, but I still got plenty of good eats in (highest recommendation for this trip would be a small eclectic restaurant in East Carrollton called Boucherie).

Before we left Saturday, we took a nice long stroll in Audubon Park. This is a park with a huge jogging and biking track, a golf course in the middle, and the most amazing live oaks you've ever seen:

A few are swathed in Spanish moss.

There is also a large, long lake, with lots of birds, ducks and turtles.

Great Egrets nest here en masse, and it is a sight to behold. Last year when we went down for Jazz Fest in late April, the babies had hatched and were learning to fly. This time, mating and nest-making was in full swing. Notice the plume-y feathers and green area around the eyes - these features appear in mating season.

Watching these birds (like the one below) fly with branches in their beaks for their nests was awesome.

This one is also carrying a stick.

Only a few were already actively nesting.

There were hundreds of these birds. It was mesmerizing. If you're looking for a trip to take in late April or early May, go to New Orleans and check out the babies (and take pictures)! Unfortunately, I'm probably not going to make it back down there until the Louisiana Bar Exam (UGH) in late July.

Have a great week!

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - March 2010

2010-03-15T20:20:00.000-07:00

Happy Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, March 2010! My yard still looks pretty dead from the street, but a closer look reveals many harbingers of spring.

Above: an unknown daffodil. Below: precious white flowers that crop up in the grass before mowing time.

Above: a lorapetalum bloom. Below: one of three HUGE bradford pears we have. Every year I just know they're going to fall, but I can't cut them down when they are this beautiful.

Above: pansies thriving in an old compost pail. Below: a hyacinth forced a few years ago and then planted in the garden.

Above: This came with the house - bridal wreath spirea, I believe. Below: more unknown daffodils.

Above: grape hyacinth (muscari). Below: a different lorapetalum.

Above: pansies. Below: blueberry bush.

Above: the camellia that's been blooming since late October. Below: the azalea that is preparing to bloom for the first time ever (prior homeowners planted it in full sun in a hole of pure clay - we transplanted it three years ago).

Above: violets popping up in the yard. Below: a two-story camellia beginning to bloom.

Above: tiny and precious new daffodils! Below: a bradford pear branch forced inside.

For more March blooms, visit Carol at May Dreams Garden.

At last, spring!

2010-03-11T20:21:00.000-08:00

It's finally warming up and greening up. Better late than never! And just in time for the time change this weekend.

Fuzzy baby lambs ears are proliferating:

Crocosmia and daylilies are racing for the sky:

I was delighted to find, under the deceased foliage of last year's sedum, a healthy lil' one!
(Thanks again to KMG of Garden Tips for the sedum, a family heirloom.)

I'm pleased to report butterfly ginger survived the cold winter:

Our wedding mums are coming up between the pansies:

This was a real shock: pineapple sage, which is only marginally hardy here, survived the cold winter! I had to rub these tiny leaves and take a whiff of the tropical scent to believe it.

Black-eyed susans started in the fall from seed are looking good, though none of my established black-eyed susans are showing signs of life yet.

Veronica bought last fall on sale is back. We bought this because bees were swarming it at the nursery!

Butterfly bush, cut to the ground this winter, is rebounding with gusto:

My unknown clematis bought at a plant sale for $1 last year - can't wait to see this bloom!

Oregano has always been evergreen for me, so I was sure my mass of it was dead, and started oh, about 50 new plants! Anyone around here need any?!

Daylily foliage is significantly lusher and fuller than in the past. Maybe it's just age, or maybe they enjoyed the cold?

And finally, asters are popping up everywhere. In the early fall, these will be three feet tall and covered with lavender flowers.

TGIF! Have a great weekend!

A quick trip to NOLA

2010-03-02T19:46:00.001-08:00

We took a super quick (one night) trip to New Orleans on Sunday. Y'all know I love New Orleans, and I was in such a hurry to get there I got a speeding ticket - oops!

We stayed at the Royal Sonesta on Bourbon Street. With an interior/courtyard-facing room, we didn't hear any noise, which is pretty amazing! It was a lovely and very clean hotel. Small rooms, but plenty of room for us. You can't beat the location.

We spent a few hours walking around the French Quarter, observing the balcony gardens, drinking daiquiris, and buying weird art at the Great Artists Collective. The balcony gardens aren't in full swing, but were pretty nonetheless:

We had a delicious Jazz Brunch at Muriel's on Sunday, then went for a "swamp tour." Unfortunately, this was a bad time of year to go on a swamp tour. The alligators are apparently hibernating! So we mostly saw floating fishing shacks (which are admittedly interesting in their own right).

We didn't see much wildlife at all - a snake, some birds of prey flying high up in the sky, a cardinal and a junco. I'd definitely recommend if you go, you go in the late spring or early fall.

We had an amazing dinner Sunday night at Green Goddess. It is a TINY restaurant with a few tables crammed in the same room as the kitchen. The chef is there hanging out with you the whole time, and making recommendations. I wanted to eat there because when I read the menu online, I couldn't imagine how the dishes would taste - how intriguing! We had: roasted yellow tomato bloody mary with moonshine, a couple of Canadian high-alcohol beers, a cheese tray selected by the chef and including a sweet flat bread, honey almonds, quince jelly, and lavender-infused honey, a crawfish papusa (basically a biscuit with a crawfish mix inside), golden beet ravioli with truffled chevre, avocado oil and pomegranate molasses, and an Indian-inspired lentil pancake with peas and tamarind. IT WAS AWESOME!

After dinner, we saw an equally awesome jazz/funk band, Pat Casey and the New Sound, play at the Spotted Cat on Frenchmans Street.

Monday we ate breakfast at the Trolley Stop, a diner where lots of locals and law enforcement officers hang out. We always eat there - it's cheap and good! We both had spanish-style omelets (and lots of delicious Community Coffee).

It was a very fun, albeit very short trip. Somehow the city just makes us both happy. I'm ready to go back!

Fertilizer Friday and a Mystery Friend

2010-02-26T18:17:00.001-08:00

It's Fertilizer Friday and I finally have a few spring blooms to share! Join in the Fertilizer Friday fun at Tootsie Time.

Crocuses must be the most reliable bulbs I have. They bloom every year with no care, and the squirrels don't bother them. I have terrible luck with daffodils, which should be the easiest thing on earth to grow here. Thank goodness for crocuses or I'd probably have given up on bulbs.

Grape hyacinths are pretty reliable as well. I love their scent! I don't mind the foliage either. It drives my mom crazy to get so much foliage for such small blooms. Ha.

A new daffodil. None of my old ones came up. Last year they were just foliage, and this year they are gone!

Another cheery crocus glowing in the sun.

This camellia has been blooming since OCTOBER. Seriously. People keep asking me what kind it is and I have no idea. It's obviously very old and predates my home ownership! (Stay tuned for the spring-blooming camellia - it is literally twice the size of this one - and I know that's hard to believe!)

That's all for blooms, but check this out. Last weekend I was bird-watching out the window and a huge HAWK flew through the yard! Keep in mind I live in a very suburban area. We don't see birds of prey in our neighborhood often! I ran outside with my camera (in my Snoopy PJs) and chased it down the block. I know my neighbors thought I was nuts standing in the street in front of their houses pointing my camera at the sky!

This photo was taken from crazy far away, and I was so shocked and pleased it turned out this well. We can't tell from the photo if it is a broadwing hawk or a red-shouldered hawk. I just know it was massive and looked like something out of Jurassic Park flying through my yard!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-02-24T05:59:00.000-08:00

Garden Bloggers Sustainable Living Project

2010-02-21T12:01:00.000-08:00

Jan at Thanks for Today has started a Garden Bloggers Sustainable Living Project and Contest. Click below for more details and to join in:
Y'all know I am an unabashed treehugger, so this is right up my alley! Jan is challenging us both to celebrate Earth Day (4/22/10) and to live a greener lifestyle (in and out of the garden) year-round.

I have a series of posts on my blog called "It's Easy Being Green" (click here to read them all). Readers have made great suggestions/comments on these posts, so make sure to read those as well. (And thanks to everyone who made the suggestions/comments!)

Last year, I waited until Earth Day itself to post about Earth Day. Jan's idea of spreading the word earlier makes much more sense! Here is my post from last year, which included: what we did to celebrate Earth Day, what we do to live a greener lifestyle year-round, and what we needed to improve on.

Here is a slightly embarrassing report on the latter:

Goal 1: Buy more local produce/support local farmers.
Result: Um. I give myself a big FAIL. I think I only went to the Farmer's Market one time last year.

Goal 2: Easy Energy Conservation.
Result: Fair-Good. I have gotten much better about turning off lights and not leaving devices not in use plugged-in. We have added a bit of weather-stripping but need to do much more.

Goal 3: Being responsible with my plant choices.
Result: Good. I have bought/grown more perennials that can take our extreme heat and full sun with little to no care.

Goal 4: Conserving Water.
Result: Good. I got a rain barrel, and have not used a hose since! I will during the summer, of course, but less than usual for sure. I'd love to have a rain barrel under every downspout! I really love that I can use the water from the rain barrel to top off the little fish pond, without having to worry about all the nasty stuff in tap water (and wasting resources).

Goal 5: Tend the compost piles better to increase yield.
Result: Excellent. Just watching the brown/green ratio and turning them about once a month gave us wheelbarrows of awesome compost. I was so proud!

Goal 6: Generally Consuming Less.
Result: Fair-Good. We have cut down on the amount of paper towels we use. I'm trying to take better care of our nice things to make them last longer (rinsing dirt off garden tools, oiling our expensive cutting board, etc.). And I've started carrying reusable bamboo utensils to avoid having to use disposable plastic ones.

As you can see, I still have lots of work to do on last year's greener living goals. I do believe that every little bit helps, though, so I try not to get discouraged by the enormity of a total transition to green living.

What are your greener living goals for 2010? What will you do to celebrate Earth Day?

GBBC and Valentine's Day

2010-02-17T16:19:00.000-08:00

We participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count last weekend, and it was a very cool experience. We only spent 15-30 minutes observing each day. Here is what we saw:

SATURDAY:

2 Northern Cardinals
1 American Goldfinch
1 Carolina Wren
1 White Throated Sparrow
1 House Finch
2 Mockingbirds

This mockingbird (I think) perched in the bottle tree like a real tree cracked me up.

SUNDAY:
2 Mourning Doves
1 White Throated Sparrow
2 Tufted Titmice
1 Carolina Chickadee
8 American Robins
2 Northern Cardinals
2 House Finches
+/-25 American Crows (creepy!)
1 MockingbirdHow cute is this goldfinch?!

Moving on...

Scott and I are very low-key about holidays, and generally don't buy each other gifts. Since he works nights, we hardly ever see each other - so a Valentine's Day spent at home together was a treat! We just cooked and lounged around. I made these blueberry scones with lemon glaze for breakfast:

Here is Tyler Florence's recipe for the scones. He says not to use frozen blueberries but I often do, and they work out fine. I half the amount of lemon juice and butter in the glaze recipe, otherwise it is too thin.

Scott made my favorite, eggplant parmesan, for dinner. It was delicious (tough to photograph, though, and I didn't feel like spending much time on it and letting my meal get cold).

Here is the basic recipe. This is from Bobby Flay's Throwdown. We use regular old shredded mozzarella, parmesano reggiano instead of the romano, and a mixture of lowfat milk and one egg rather than the four eggs. We use this sauce recipe, which is from my favorite vegetarian chef, Heidi Swanson (her cookbook Cook 1.0 is awesome).

White Trash Toffee was our dessert:

This stuff is addictive, and so easy! Get the recipe here. I sub pecans.

Snow Way!

2010-02-12T19:30:00.000-08:00

It is unusual for us to get even one "sticking snow" a year. You will recall we already got one back in December (the one that killed my vegetable garden in one fell swoop!). We got another, much bigger one today! It is the biggest February snowfall in 50 years, and the biggest Central Mississippi snowfall period for 13 years! Here is what we woke up to:

Otis enjoyed tromping around in the snow and eating it!

The bradford pears defied their reputation and held quite a bit of weight in snow without breaking a single branch. I wonder if this snow will hurt the flower buds that were already forming?

We had some sizable pine limbs down, but luckily none on the house:

Having grown up north of here (in Chattanooga), Scott is a PRO at making snowmen. I never knew about this rolling technique!

Our rotund 'man boasts coal eyes, a Vols hat, and zombie arms:

Scott's rolling revealed the depth of the snow - 4+ inches!

The snowman's pet snow-kitty:

The bird-feeder looked more like a Smurf house today:

Happy Winter!

Freezing and Fatigued in February

2010-02-07T15:35:00.000-08:00

I'm getting tired of this long, unusually frigid winter! Most of our plants are dormant (or dead, thanks to the recent "arctic blast"), and it's too cold to spend much time outside. In the summer I might spend 10-15 hours per week in the garden, now it's more like 1. This isn't very conducive to garden blogging!
I take a lot of bird photos from inside. The ability to do this must be the one upside to having old, single-paned windows!

A lot of the reason I wanted a fish pond was to attract birds. However, we discovered the rock edging is thick enough to cause them a hard time when they try to take a drink. Scott suggested building them an island, and to my delight, they use it! This little bird hopped on the island for a drink right after I took this photo. The island is just a thick rock set atop bricks.

A few of my seeds are up 5 days after planting. If I only I could remember what they are!
Crocosmia (above) and mums (below) are enthusiastically coming back.
Despite the fact that they tear up my plants and eat my bulbs, I can't help but think squirrels are kind of cute! I thought this was an odd place to stop and enjoy a snack, but c'est la vie!

Have a great week!

UPDATE 8:45 PM: OMG AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH SAINTS JUST WON THE SUPERBOWL!!!!!!! WHO DAT?!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GEAUX SAINTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Winter Color

2010-01-30T22:31:00.000-08:00

January has been a bleak month, and I can't say I'm sorry to see it come to a close. Thankfully there are a few (seriously, few) spots of color and life in the yard to help assuage the seasonal doldrums.

The first crocuses are blooming. I planted these two years ago:

Pansies do well for us in the winter. In fact, pansies and ornamental cabbages are about all you can find at garden centers now.

Holly berries are starting to fade:

This camellia, while admittedly on its last leg, has been quite impressive, blooming since October!

I enjoy watching birds through the window on quiet weekend mornings, in PJs still with a warm cup of coffee. This cardinal in a ginkgo was taken through the window at full zoom.

Her mate is always hogging the feeder. Can't you tell by his heft?

Daffodils are continuing to rise and I noticed the tiniest buds on the pink dogwood. It's hard to remember the warmth of spring during this cold winter, but it's coming soon. Thankfully!

Mississippi Museum of Natural Science

2010-01-23T17:25:00.000-08:00

We visited the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science today, which is only a couple of miles from our house. It's a nice museum inside a park, and includes a large aquarium exhibit and nature trails. They have a contest ending 2/1 for photos taken at the Museum. Here are some of the pictures I'm considering entering (amateur division, obviously!). I appreciate your input:

"Say cheese" - wildlife division (taken inside)

Cypress swamp (landscape division) - this was taken in color but we thought it was more striking in "filtered b&w" (via Picasa).

"Nature's pancakes" (plant division)

"Woodpecker home improvement" (landscape division I guess - doesn't really fit in any other category) - Does anyone else find this picture as funny/neat as I do?

No name for this one yet, but it's Scott's favorite so we'll definitely be entering it (taken inside).

Hope you're all having a great weekend!

Survivors of the Arctic Blast

2010-01-21T18:58:00.000-08:00

A few of my veggies survived, including these shallots:

Interestingly, the taller sugar snap pea vines (right) died, but the babies are fine:

A few (pitiful looking) romaine lettuce starts remain:

Daffodils, of course, weren't fazed at all:

Crocosmia imitated the peas - older foliage died (see bottom right), but the little ones stalwartly carried on:

I was thrilled to find these tiny signs of life on a clematis planted last year:

While cataloguing the survivors, I also did a little cleanup of the not-so-lucky. I cut down the black-eyed susans and harvested some seeds:

When I uploaded this picture, I was surprised to see a couple of white cat hairs in with the seeds. I guess a good camera reveals more than the naked eye!

TGIF!

Winter Birds & Contest Winners

2010-01-15T19:17:00.000-08:00

Thank you all very much for entering the blogaversary giveaway! The winners are:
Grand Prize (Gloves and Garden Knife) - Randy
Runners-Up (Gloves) - Meredith and Becca
I'll be in touch with y'all very soon for mailing information.

I still haven't had much time to play around with the new camera, but I got these shots of birds (through the dirty window) earlier this week. This is an awful picture with that bubbly interference, but I love how you can see the Tufted Titmouse's fuzzy underside!

An action shot of another Tufted Titmouse cracking open a seed:

We have lots of Mourning Doves. (On a side note, it's hard to believe that grass is coming back!)

This is the first year I've seen House Finches here. They are much more social than most of the birds that

visit our feeder.

One last thing: Thanks to Catherine @ A Gardener in Progress for assistance with and inspiration for

changing up my blog layout!

Have a great weekend!

One more day to enter the Gloves/Knife Giveaway

2010-01-14T21:41:00.001-08:00

Enter here: http://lawofthelandblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/gloves-and-garden-knife-giveaway.html

Happy Friday!

Gloves and Garden Knife Giveaway!

2010-01-10T16:38:00.000-08:00

It's my 1st Blogoversary and 100th Post (or close enough)! Thank you all VERY MUCH for reading, following, and commenting on the blog this past year! To thank you, I am holding a giveaway for a pair of Atlas gloves (your choice of size) and a multi-purpose garden knife (I got this one for Christmas and love it). Two "runners-up" will each receive a pair of Atlas gloves. Please leave a comment (with your glove size, XS-XL) by Friday, the 15th, if you would like a chance to win. International readers are welcome to enter. I'll draw names on Saturday and update this post to let you all know the winners.
It's been a fun (and dirty) year! Thanks again for reading!

BRRR!!! And, goodbye, old camera.

2010-01-10T14:45:00.000-08:00

It has been so cold here. The most conservative estimate I've heard is that it hasn't been this cold in 15 years. Others say since 1989. Many things that never have a problem surviving winter here, such as pansies, lettuce, and parsley, are on the brink of death. Many marginally hardy perennials appear to be gone for good. Everything in the garden looks so sad and pitiful that I haven't wanted to take any photos. Turns out I couldn't have anyway, because we dropped and broke our camera! Thankfully it was a fairly inexpensive, simple point-and-shoot digital, and we got three good years of use from it. But of course, it wouldn't be replaced with the same! I don't know enough about cameras to buy a DSLR, so I bought a "bridge" camera today - a Canon Powershot SX20 IS. Here are some of my favorite pictures taken with the old camera. R.I.P., Casio Exilim! Above: This Kwanso daylily got lots of comments on the blog, even though these grow wild on the roadside in Mississippi.

Below: I love this photo of a black-eyed susan (grown from seed) preparing to open up. It looks almost alien or something!

I also love this photo of the same flower in bloom. The thing about the Exilim was that sometimes I would get amazing pictures, but it was almost impossible to do so on purpose, or to replicate them.
Is it hard for anyone else to photograph tomato plants with an auto-focus? I must've taken 15 shots to get this picture of a sucker for a post on the blog!

My mom gave us the old camera for a (awesome) wedding present, and we took this picture on our honeymoon in the Virgin Islands. I love the colors, and how the creepy iguana blends in with the foliage!

It was way too cold to play around much with the new camera this afternoon, but I got three quick shots. Keep in mind I haven't read the manual yet!

Above: black-eyed susan seedhead. Below: holly berries (looks better blown up, so click on it!).

Gingko tree taken through the window at full zoom:

It has potential, I think, if the operator reads the instructions!

Stay warm, and stay tuned for a giveaway later this week!

It's Easy Being Green: What to do with my old compost pail?

2010-01-02T17:07:00.000-08:00

I got a new compost pail for Christmas, which was great because the old one's finish was wearing off and it was just generally nasty. I keep the pail on the kitchen counter, so I like for it to look nice. Anyway, I wasn't going to just throw the old one away, so I decided to turn it into a hanging planter.

First, Scott poked holes in the bottom for drainage:

Then, I filled it about 1/4 - 1/3 of the way with wine corks to fill up space (without a lot of weight) and help with drainage:

Last, I filled it with dirt and flowers. What do you think?

For another (not gardening-related) way to reuse wine corks, see this old Easy Being Green post.

Happy New Year!!!

A Thanksgiving Cactus and a Christmas Tree

2009-12-23T21:52:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays! A lot of bloggers have been sharing their Christmas decorations, and I'll join in the fun momentarily. First, I thought you might find these Thanksgiving Cactus photos interesting. I don't have a fancy camera - I have a three-year old Casio Exilim - and while sometimes I get great photos, I have a terrible time replicating them. I never use a flash outside; photographing indoor plants is not so simple...
Here is the cactus bloom indoors without and with (soft) flash:

I wasn't real crazy about either of those shots, so I took the plant outside and got this:

This one is definitely my favorite.

Changing gears, here is our Christmas tree, a Frasier fir:

I love this zany topper. We're not matchy type people, and our tree is quite eclectic. You can also see one of my favorite ornaments here - the dog (which looks just like Otis in the photo above) in a golf cart!

We have many ornaments made by friends and family. My Aunt Janet made this penguin years ago:

We also have many ornaments from our travels. Here is a hat we brought back from Mexico this summer:

Another handmade ornament, by my cousin Julie. This one has always cracked me up - why is this lamb on a skateboard?! Ha.

As you may be able to guess from my name, I have A LOT of gingerbread man stuff! A whole set of dishes, tons of ornaments... Here's one of my favorites that my mom gave me:

One of our two "Our First Married Christmas" ornaments. My mother-in-law gave us this one and I love it!

Homage to Scott's alma mater (and his love of dogs!):

I have just as many kitty ornaments as gingerbread ornaments. Only one of our pets has their name on an ornament, though!

Our other kitty, Gracie, sleeps/hides under the Christmas tree every year. It is so cute!

Anyway, I hope you're all having a great week, and Happy Holidays/Merry Christmas! (Remember to recycle your real trees!)

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - December 2009

2009-12-14T19:18:00.000-08:00

When I told my husband I was going to do my Bloom Day post, he responded "we have stuff blooming?!" Well, it's certainly not a record number of blooms, but our warm climate allows us these beauties in December:
Here is one of the three Camellias that is blooming:

The Mexican Bush Sage was mostly killed by the recent snow, but a few bloom stalks were shielded by the eaves of the house and remain:

The second of the three Camellias, with a very slow-moving bee (?):

I have these pansies in a brick planter that is built onto the front of the house:

A sole black eyed susan is holding on:

I couldn't believe the snow didn't destroy the iris bud that became this flower... It's a tough iris! Blooming for the third time this year!

Last of today's Camellias:

Here are two miniature roses I grow in a pot together:

Last but not least, inside there is a Thanksgiving Cactus beginning to bloom (Thanks to Randy for the ID. I thought it was a Christmas Cactus!):

Visit Carol at May Dreams Garden for more December blooms from around the world.

The difference a day makes

2009-12-06T15:32:00.000-08:00

The vegetable garden on Friday:

The vegetable garden Saturday morning:
The vegetable garden Saturday evening:

The vegetable garden on Sunday:

Unlike the veggies, the birds loved the snow, and were out in full force. Here is a chickadee:

And a tufted titmouse:

I also saw an American cardinal, a redheaded woodpecker, 50 or so robins, some sparrows, and an unidentified dark grey bird. That made me feel a lot better about the veggies!

Hello (winter) Goodbye (veggies)

2009-12-04T17:15:00.000-08:00

We're going to have our first hard freeze tonight. Time to say goodbye to (most of) the vegetable garden...
I took these pictures this morning before work. The tomatoes don't know what's coming - they're still blooming...

I picked the veggies that weren't terribly small or totally unripe...

I also took a few minutes to use my senses to observe and try to memorize the sights, textures, and scents of warm weather gardening. I rubbed the leaves of the pineapple sage between my fingers and took in the delicate pineapple scent...

I noticed a new rose bloom...

And I fingered the velvety soft flowers of the Mexican Bush Sage.

We brought a lot of plants inside. I had good intentions of cleaning up and de-bugging these plants before bringing them in, but didn't get around to it. Oh well, the kitties will surely take care of the bugs. (Garden blogger Persephone has some good tips for bringing your plants in, if you're more organized/less last minute than I am!)

Speaking of the kitties, do you see Gracie behind two of the "new" pots? She thinks she's hidden!

Have a great weekend and stay warm!

A Smorgasbord of November Garden Photos

2009-11-24T19:26:00.000-08:00

The fish are alive!! It's been two weeks!
Here is a fuzzy picture of the shubunkin ("Alex") and one of the two comets:

Here are both comets. They are quite sociable. I love having a fish pond!

My summer veggie garden is definitely living on borrowed time, as it is forecasted to freeze soon, but I haven't been able to bring myself to pull it up. Especially when the eggplants, bell peppers, and serranos (below) are producing like mad!

I get about a handful of beans a week. Just enough to throw in a stir-fry. These purple queen beans aren't as productive as normal "green beans," but it may just be the time of year.

Every fall, I wonder if it will be our last year with the approximately 5o-year-old Bradford Pears. They are magnificent in fall!

The small gingko turns such a pretty, distinct golden yellow:

Most of the beautyberry berries have been eaten by birds. They seem to eat one whole cluster at a time rather than munching on all of them a little at a time.

The black krim tomato plants look awful, but keep producing tasty tomatoes (albeit slowly):

Here are about a fifth of our tomato plants. They were all top-pruned at least once and still grew to be eight feet tall/long.

Fuzzy picture of a bell pepper that ended up in an omelet last weekend... I have about 50 bell peppers nearing maturity, which is why a freeze scares me so.

This eggplant ended up in a stir-fry last weekend. The eggplants have many flowers and lots of healthy new growth. Don't they know it's time to wind down??

Here are some of the eggplants. Hard to believe I started these from seed back in February!

These bell pepper plants are huge and healthy:

The dogwood we planted for Earth Day has pretty fall leaves:

Last but definitely not least, look at this DARLING plant tag Persephone in Bloom made me!! She actually made me three, and how cool is this - they are made out of recycled soda cans! Thanks Persephone!

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm very thankful that you read my blog.
Ginger

It's Easy Being Green: Homemade Vegetable Stock

2009-11-21T20:23:00.000-08:00

Awhile back, I read that you could make your own vegetable stock by keeping a large Ziploc in the freezer, adding veggie scraps/cheese rinds to it, and then turning it into stock once it was full. Today my bag was full, as you see below, and the timing was perfect, because Kroger has apparently quit carrying my favorite boxed stock (Wolfgang Puck). In the bag: celery trimmings, red and yellow onion skins and trimmings, spinach that I wasn't going to eat before it went bad, asparagus trimmings, Parmesan rind, and about a tablespoon of tomato paste that I had left over from a recipe.
Some recipes involve sauteing onions, garlic, etc. in butter before adding the freezer veggies and water. I skipped that step. Here is what I did: dumped the bag into a non-stick stockpot, added some things from the fridge that were on the verge of going bad (some scallions and a handful of carrots), added fresh parsley from the garden, added kosher salt (2 tsp) and freshly ground pepper (1 tsp), and covered with water.

I brought it to a boil, and then let it simmer for an hour and a half. Here it is at one hour:

And here it is after straining out the solids through a fine mesh sieve:

Oh my gosh, it is so delicious!! It actually tastes remarkably like the Wolfgang Puck stock. I'm going to use half of this to make vegetable soup this week, and freeze the other half. The strained solids will be composted.

Why is this an It's Easy Being Green post? (1) Because these veggies/scraps are doing double or triple duty -- some provided food for us, this stock, and will now be composted (others can claim the last two steps). (2) The resources used to box up and ship stock from who-knows-where won't be expended, and I don't even have to use the gas to go to the grocery store and get it. You can add another layer of "green" by using veggies from your own garden in the stock.

FYI: I read that you shouldn't add potatoes (not sure why) or cruciferous vegetables (too bitter) to your freezer bag.

Happy weekend!

-Ginger

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - November 2009

2009-11-15T15:42:00.001-08:00

I apologize in advance for the ridiculous length of this post! I have a lot of flowers right now, though many of them are in rough shape.
Anyway, here's what's blooming in our yard/garden this November:
First, multiple camellias:

These flowers always fall from the shrub in-tact:

Pineapple sage is at its peak:

Mexican bush sage and aster are still blooming:

Pink double delight coneflower:

Lorapetalum blooming for the second or third time this year:

Black-eyed susan is raggedy, but still putting out small blooms:

Black and blue salvia, which mom gave me for my birthday in Sept.:

Butterfly weed, also a birthday gift from mom:

The mums are winding down:

This out-of-control four'o'clock was started two years ago from seed. These are perennial here. If you are seed-swappin' with Dirt Princess or otherwise just want some seeds from this, let me know! It smells great.

The bell peppers are still flowering and producing. I have seeds from these, too, if anyone wants:

I love the lavender flowers of early long purple eggplant. Also have some of these seeds if anyone wants:

Endless summer hydrangeas aren't producing new flowers anymore, but the old ones are still pretty:

Just a couple of zinnia flowers are holding on:

This miniature rose I grow in a pot blooms on and off from April through November:

Canna intends to bloom again before the first frost:

This hot pink, fragrant rose surprised me with a late-season bloom last week:

This iris is apparently confused about the season, as it has two buds:

Gallo peach blanketflower has some baby blooms aside seed heads:

Last but not least, my beans are looking rough, but I found one dainty bloom for you:

If you're still with me (ha), visit Carol at May Dreams Garden for more November blooms!

November Veggies and Mysteries

2009-11-08T18:46:00.000-08:00

Here is today's harvest from the veggie garden: yellow pear tomatoes, one bell pepper, two early long purple eggplant, a few purple queen beans (will throw in a stir-fry):
I have many more peppers of the same size, but am trying to be patient and let them turn colors/get sweet!

We did a lot of work in the yard this weekend, which I will post about soon. Being down on the ground helped me discover a couple of garden mysteries that are not so visible from above. Here are elephant ears from above (in the beer bottle garden):

From ground level, working a few feet away, I saw these pods in the middle of the plant. What are these things?

From the same vantage point, I noticed something strange on the underside of a large branch of one of our trees:

Here is a close-up. I'm almost afraid to learn what this is. We have about 10 of these trees separating our and our neighbor's yards.

Anyway, we also took care of the first round of fallen leaves, and used up 99% of the rock remaining from the pond project this weekend. AND we added fish to the pond! Two small comets and a shubunkin (or as I, the cat-lover like to call it, a calico fish). They are still acting really shy, but supposedly that is normal. I'll post pictures of the rock projects and the fishies soon. Have a great week!

Finally Feels Like Fall

2009-11-01T15:19:00.000-08:00

I composted the pumpkins today. Here is a shot of most of our compost area (there is also a leaf pile). Our neighbor's compost area is right on the other side of the chain-link fence. He uses plastic panels to cover it when it gets too wet or cold.
I work with a very distinguished lawyer named Julie. Here is Julie's awesome/hilarious cupcake rendition of our compost area (Halloween version, complete with ghost):

Notice the (gummy) worms?! I keep trying to convince her that the compost area doesn't smell and isn't gross, but she refuses to come check it out!

It's finally starting to look like fall in Mississippi. One camellia is almost finished blooming, and another is gearing up.

The diminutive gingko tree's leaves are turning yellow and getting ready to fall en masse.

The holly's plump berries will be festively red by Christmastime.

Have a great week!

Pumpkin Carving Time

2009-10-28T20:07:00.000-07:00

I'm so busy with work right now that I haven't been paying much attention to the garden (or y'all's blogs - sorry!); however, I can always make time for Halloween pumpkin carving! Tonight, Scott, my brother Jeremy and I carved our pumpkins. Here is my alien:
Scott's Decepticon (from the Transformers):

Jeremy's creepy mummy:

Here are our pumpkins from 2008. Scott's pumpkin-headed horseman:

My evil kitty:

And from 2007... My ghost:

Jeremy's spooky tree:

My friend Katherine's cute bat:

And Scott's scary skull:

Happy Halloween!

Summer Vegetable Garden Recap

2009-10-18T15:53:00.000-07:00

The summer vegetable garden hasn't come to an end yet, as shown by the (random) vegetable flowers interspersed in this post. Still, it's winding down, so now seems like a good time to report on the varieties I attempted to grow this year.
I grew everything from seed except the Serrano pepper, which was purchased at Lowe's.
Lemon Cucumber (1): Vine was large and fairly productive. Cucumbers were delicious, especially when harvested before they turned bright yellow. I only ate these raw. Vine eventually succumbed to bacterial wilt, but appeared to be somewhat resistant. A keeper.
Sumter Cucumber (2): Grown for pickling and salads. Unfortunately, vines were infected with wilt quickly and I only harvested one small, deformed cucumber from two vines!
Black Krim Tomato (4): Delicious medium-sized tomato, resistant to cracking. Fairly productive. Vines were last to succumb to disease. Tomatoes were good raw and cooked in tomato tart. Will definitely grow again.

Yellow Pear Tomato (6): Huge plants, very early and very prolific. Tomatoes were good, but not nearly as good as the tart Clementines I grew last year. Better cooked (roasted in oven with other veggies or heated through in cream-based pasta sauce) than raw.
Beefsteak Tomato (2): Harvested approximately 4 tomatoes from two huge plants. Tomatoes were good-tasting, but not exceptional or unique in flavor. Vines were first to succumb to disease. Not impressed.
Cherry Peppers (1 red; 1 chocolate): These tiny plants took a long time to get established and start producing. The peppers are slightly spicy, not sweet like colored bell peppers. They would be good to use as appetizers, stuffed with some kind of dip, but they are so tiny that seeding them is a pain. Probably best for ornamental use.

California Wonder Bell Peppers (8): Slow to start producing, but going strong from late summer into fall. Typical green bell pepper flavor (I haven’t let any turn red). Plants were visibly boosted by a side-dressing of compost after fruit set. Plants are tall, requiring staking, and have had no problems with insects or disease.
Early Long Purple Eggplant (6): It took ages (and bottom heat) to get the eggplant seeds to germinate and grow into decent-sized plants, but it was worth it. The plants are problem-free (though they seem happier staked), and the eggplants are tender and tasty, especially when harvested young. They have produced steadily from mid- to late summer through fall.
Contender Bush Beans (1 pkt.): My first time growing beans, and I definitely picked the right variety. These plants were care-free and the beans were plentiful and delicious. They produced for a couple of months with regular picking.
Shallots: I planted my shallot sets too deep. They multiplied, but not much. I’m going to be replanting the best sets soon.

Yellow Squash/Zucchini: Borers killed every single squash plant before a single squash came to fruition. I’m done with summer squash.

Serrano Pepper (1): The one plant has been completely problem-free, and has produced what seems like hundreds of peppers! It produced consistently through the summer heat and is still going strong in the cool fall.

Hope this is helpful to someone. Have a great week!

-Ginger

Almost Wordless Wednesday: Today's Harvest

2009-10-14T18:44:00.000-07:00

Black Krim Tomatoes
Yellow Pear Tomatoes
Red Cherry Peppers

Fall Color, Deep South Style

2009-10-11T11:57:00.001-07:00

You probably think of red, yellow and orange leaves when you think of Fall color. Well, in Mississippi most of our trees haven't even started changing color yet. Prime raking season here is around Thanksgiving. Fall color here means lots of flowers, and not just mums and pansies!

This begonia is at its peak now that it's not quite so hot and dry:
The Gallo Peach Blanketflower continues to bloom:

Butterfly-weed isn't very impressive from afar, but amazingly brilliant in color up close:

I didn't notice the ants until uploading the picture:

I have a few of these flowering shrubs (camellias, perhaps?):

This one is decades old; the others are younger and not so full:

Pineapple sage is just starting to bloom:

These hardy mums, which I got from my mom, are very common in our neighborhood:

They bloom twice a year. Here is a close-up:

Aster and Mexican Bush Sage help conceal an ugly downspout:

Hope you're all having a great weekend!

More Birthday and Halloween Fun

2009-10-06T19:45:00.000-07:00

Scott isn't the only one who spoiled me on the 10th anniversary of my 21st birthday (do you like that?)...
I got all sorts of other awesome gardening gifts. My mom's best friend Jennifer, who I call Mom #2, gave me a subscription to Garden Gate magazine. My mom bought me some plants at a charity plant sale, including a thyme and the pretty black-and-blue sage and butterfly weed below:

She also gave me a collapsible salad spinner, which will come in handy with the lettuce I'm growing this fall, and a birthday card (below) with about 20 kinds of annual and perennial flower seeds embedded in it!

(Excuse kitty legs in background, please!)

My dear friend Katherine, who I've written about here many times before, gave me this AMAZING (and HUGE -- see picture with me for scale!) bat house:

I am sooooo excited about this, especially since we have a terrible mosquito problem! I've seen bats flying around the neighborhood at night when I take the dog on walks, so it shouldn't be too hard to attract them to our backyard.

If you thought the bat house was a big gift, check out the awesome rain barrel my in-laws sent!

I'm really excited about using this water to refill the pond when needed and water plants!

Enough of the birthday talk.... Q: How do you know when it's approaching Halloween?

A: When you find THIS upon opening the washing machine! (Yes, I screamed a little)

Here is the graveyard in our front yard:

The vampire bat is hanging from a huge branch that recently fell from a tree. We just stuck it in the ground.

The zombie is a new addition this year. Did you notice Scott traded out the skeleton head for a deer skull?

It's extra creepy now, isn't it?

I have tombstones and rats in some of my large flowerpots.

I made these monster-themed cocktail napkins for Katherine for her birthday yesterday (patterns from Sublime Stitching). She loves Halloween, too!

Happy Tuesday!

Purple Haze

2009-10-03T09:15:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not talking about the Jimi Hendrix song, or one of my favorite Abita beers... I'm talking about our yard/garden, where the color purple seems to have taken over!

This aster is the palest lavender. I love how at its peak, it has hundreds of blooms at once.
The beautyberry in the back has been stripped by the birds, but they haven't discovered the one in the front yet:

The beer bottle garden features purple with its elephant ears and coral bells:

My endless summer hydrangea has morphed from Wedgwood blue flowers to lavenderish-pinkish flowers over the course of the last few months (interestingly, without any soil amendments):

Mexican bush sage is blooming for the second time this year:

I had no idea this was a re-blooming iris!

Eggplants give us a double shot of purple. First the flowers:

Then the pretty vegetables:

Have a great weekend!

Birthday Gardening Gifts, Part 1

2009-09-28T17:43:00.000-07:00

Today is my 31st birthday, and all of the sweet, generous people in my life have done such nice things for me! Naturally, many of them are gardening-related. Check out my two gifts from my husband, Scott:
1. A huge, incredibly sturdy contraption for growing peas (fall/winter) and cucumbers (summer) in one of the existing raised beds:
(This picture is taken from above. This is a 4x4 raised bed.)

2. A waterfall for the pond:
I love the sound of the water! The waterfall basin is partially filled with rocks to create a bathing area for birds. I can't wait until it gets cold enough for the mosquitoes to die so we can really enjoy this area!
Is he sweet or what?! Part 2 of this post will be gardening gifts from my other friends and family - I am spoiled!
Have a great week!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-09-22T21:22:00.001-07:00

A Special Occasion

2009-09-20T16:14:00.000-07:00

We recently attended the wedding reception of our friends Emilie and Matt at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. Even though I lived thirty minutes from this gem the three years I was in Alabama for law school, I didn't know it existed! Such a shame, because it is a huge, beautiful place, and we didn't get much time to explore since I wanted to catch up with my law school friends! We'll just have to go back!
Here is one of the beds near the entrance:
There are numerous large greenhouses. One was filled with camellias, one with cacti, and one with tropical plants. Here are some bananas growing in the latter greenhouse:

Scott is 6'3" or 6'4". This was a tall cactus:

A view of the cactus greenhouse:

The rose garden is huge and smells wonderful. Here is about a quarter of it:

Here are just a few roses of the hundreds they grow:

Look at this thick trunk:

I love this reflection pool. There were a few different types of lilies in it, and this grassy plant I suspect is papyrus but might be umbrella plant.

Since we didn't have much time, we elected to spend it running around looking at a few more things rather than taking pictures. My favorite part of the Gardens was the large vegetable garden. It was really hard to avoid the temptation to pick some of the plentiful ripe veggies! Turns out they donate the produce to a food bank.

Anyway, since we were dressed up, I had my friend Jenny take pictures of us for a possible Christmas card photo. What do y'all think?

I am horrible at fake smiles, so Scott is tickling me in the picture below to try to coax a real smile:

Not exactly Christmas card material, but hilarious!

Anyway, the BBG was a cool place and I would definitely recommend it if you're in the area. It's free. Have a great week!

More Late Summer Blooms

2009-09-14T18:57:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how quickly things change in the garden. Just last week, I posted Late Summer Blooms. None of the below flowers were blooming then!
These spider lilies grow wild around here, but mine came from family friend Lynn Clark. They took two years to flower and I was sure the squirrels had gotten them! It's really neat to see these thick stems rise out of the ground with no foliage.

The two sedum above were gifts from a garden blogging friend, KMG. She sent me a great variety in late June, and they are already blooming!

This is a pass-along from my mom. She calls it Ginger Lily and a friend calls it a Canna. I don't know what it is, but it is beautiful and care-free.

Last but not least, nasturtiums started from seed ages ago are blooming! Apparently these do better in the middle of the vegetable garden than in a pot - at least at my house, where pots tend to get neglected.

Have a great week!

Small Surprises

2009-09-09T16:34:00.000-07:00

I looked out the kitchen window a few days ago and noticed a bird in the new beautyberry bush next to the pond. Scott and I have no idea what kind of bird this is, since it's fuzzy like a baby bird, but huge. Hmm... As you can see from the picture below, apparently the bird likes the berries! Good thing I didn't buy this plant purely for the decorative aspect!

It's amazing how quickly wildlife will flock to a new birdfeeder, birdbath, or natural food source. I should add breeding place to that list, because a frog has already laid eggs in the pond and they have hatched! The tadpoles are so tiny that I couldn't get a picture of them. When they are a little bigger, I'll scoop some up in a cup and take a picture then.

In other small news, assorted mini bell peppers planted from seed back in March are finally fruiting:

The seeds were a mix of red, green, and chocolate baby bells. The problem is that since I don't know what color the fruits are supposed to be on any of the plants, I have no idea when to harvest! Above and below are two plants which appear to be producing different colored peppers. They are still quite firm, which makes me think they aren't quite ripe yet... but who knows?!

The eggplants aren't new, but the babies are so cute I couldn't help including one here:

Hope you're all having a great week!

Late Summer Blooms

2009-09-04T17:57:00.001-07:00

I planted these two hydrangeas this spring, and they have bloomed all summer long! The white flowers are supposed to turn blush pink, but haven't. Hydrangeas are a rare flower I can cut and bring inside that the kitties will leave alone. (They especially love daisies!)

This rose has bloomed on and off since late March.

The last daylily of the year came up in the middle of some monkey grass a friend dug up and gave me to edge a bed. That's a tag-a-long I don't mind!

The hot pink crape myrtle next to our driveway makes me smile every morning when I leave for work:

Gallo Peach Blanketflower, bought on sale at Lowe's for $2 recently:

Butterfly bush is doing much better this year with regular dead-heading, but the blooms are still diminutive. Maybe it's a dwarf variety.

I cut the black eyed susans back a month ago. Some of the plants went dormant for the year (at least that is what I'm telling myself!), and some of them put on a new flush of blooms:

Variegated shrimp plant bought on sale recently:

Four-O-Clocks, which grow as a perennial here, and smell awesome:

Have a great weekend!

Edible Progress

2009-08-31T19:57:00.000-07:00

Progress in the Vegetable Garden:

Cucumbers- 1) Lemon Cucumber (below) - the vines appear to be suffering from wilt, which is very common here for cucumbers. I sprayed some neem on them to ward off more of the insects which surely infected the plant, and started a few more seeds. (We're fortunate to have a very long growing season here - it won't freeze until November at least.) The cucumbers are absolutely delicious in salads.

2) The small green pickling cucumber vines have produced ZERO cucumbers, and started suffering from the wilt way before the lemon cucumbers. Interesting that the LCs, an heirloom variety, appear to be more resilient.

Eggplants are producing steadily. Ratatouille, anyone? There are holes in the leaves of the plants, apparently from bugs, but the plants and fruits don't seem affected. I have discovered that you should pick eggplants before you think they are ready to ensure they will be tender.

Peppers - Bell peppers are producing steadily. I top-dressed the plants with compost last week since I'm sure the plants have sucked up all the nutrients in the soil by now. The plants seem happy staked and watered every few days. My one hot pepper plant (serrano) is still producing an absurd amount of peppers! I think I have used two all summer!

Tomatoes - 1) Beefsteak - healthy plants, producing slowly but steadily. These tomatoes are all somewhat cracked, but taste great.

2) Yellow pear - the plants are 7-8 feet tall even though I pruned them pretty heavily a month or so ago. I always have plenty to pick for salads. These are pretty good, but not nearly as good as the clementine tomatoes I grew last year, which had a ton of citrus-y flavor. I'll probably try a different cherry tomato next year.

3) Black krim - the best-tasting tomato ever, on healthy plants which produce numerous fruits at once. I am growing this forever more.

I rooted suckers of all of the plants in water and now have the suckers planted. I did this in anticipation of the original plants getting some inevitable disease (usually blight around here), but it hasn't happened yet - so I may end up with 20 tomato plants!

Beans - I planted a second set of beans a week or two ago. They are the purple snap beans that turn green when cooked. I picked them for the novelty, so hopefully they'll taste good! They are about 6 inches tall now.

The fruit garden didn't do so hot this year - pests got pretty much all of the strawberries and blueberries. I'm thinking of moving the strawberries out of the raised beds and into less prime real estate. I just can't sacrifice raised bed space for an unproductive crop.

The herb garden responded surprisingly well to being moved from a plush raised bed to a clay plot. Even the parsley, whose long taproot was curled in a ball and basically placed atop the clay, has overcome its brief period of stress.

Later in September, when it cools off a tiny bit, I'll be planting cilantro, lettuce, winter squash, and sugar snap peas. As hot as it is in the summer here, I'm thankful that our weather allows us to garden pretty much year round!

Tagged by the Queen

2009-08-30T13:40:00.000-07:00

Janet aka the Queen of Seaford tagged me! The challenge is to tell you seven things about myself that you don't know, and (hopefully) might find remotely interesting. Here it goes:

1. My ancestors came from Norway, and found their way to Westby, Wisconsin. In Westby, you can still buy Norwegian textiles and delicacies. There is also a great place to buy cheese called Westby Creamery.

2. Between college and law school, I took two years off. I spent the first year working towards a masters degree in philosophy (my undergraduate major). I then quit grad school and spent a year volunteering as an AmeriCorps VISTA, mostly teaching kids to read. It was awesome.

3. I have a tattoo of a butterfly. It was inspired by the book/movie Papillon, starring Steve McQueen.

4. I love colorful, modern art, including "folk art." Here are a painting from a street vendor in New Orleans, and a portrait of our dog Otis (by Steve Godbold, who perfectly captured Otis!):

(My apologies to the artists for the camera flash in these pictures.)

5. When I was in high school, I sang in a few bands, and dabbled in guitar. We played mostly original music, varying from folk to alternative.

6. I love to write. When I was in college, I wrote press releases as a PR intern, and some articles for the college newspaper. I don't get to do much substantive writing now (the occasional summary judgment motion or appeal), but it's my favorite part of my job by far.

7. I can cook a mean holiday turkey even though I don't eat them (or any other meat other than the very occasional seafood - for the past 10 years). The trick? Simplicity. Lots of butter, salt and pepper, and a little paprika for color. Celery, carrots and yellow onion stuffed in the cavities.

I am supposed to tag seven other people, but I know not everyone is into this kind of thing, so I'm just tagging one: Dirt Princess, who I recently got to meet! Hope y'all had a great weekend!

The Good... and the Disgustingly Bad

2009-08-27T19:57:00.000-07:00

Look at this big wheelbarrow full of compost that we harvested last weekend! The contraption on top is the sifter Scott built. It uses chicken wire, which has worked well for us. Obviously some larger pieces get through than if you used hardware cloth, but it's generally things like egg shell pieces, which are fine to add to the garden without decomposing at all.

Scott is amazed at how good finished compost smells. That is a common reaction --- people are shocked that neither the pile nor the finished product stinks (unless something is wrong!).

Now check out this HUGE and disgusting hornworm/cutworm that was scaling our house! I guess I'd rather have it on the house than on the tomatoes, but it totally grossed me out anyway!
I hope y'all have had a great week and have an even better weekend!

Fish Pond Progress

2009-08-23T19:07:00.000-07:00

This post could alternately be called "I have awesome friends/spouse," because the fish pond would not exist without all their help!
The 2500 lbs of stone turned out to be about twice as much as we needed, which is OK because now I can use the leftovers for other projects (I'm thinking bed borders, garden path...). Here is what 2500 lbs looks like:
Katherine came over earlier in the week and helped me sort the rocks into stacks by size (S-XL). That turned out to be very helpful. This is most of it:

Saturday, Pamela and her sister Melanie Jane came over and we edged the pond. It took a couple of layers under the lip of the liner (it's raised about six inches due to drainage issues in that area of the yard):

Here we are a short while (really!) later:

I don't have a picture of the yard two and half weeks ago before Scott and Katherine's boyfriend Matt dug the hole for the liner, but just imagine this scene without the liner in the ground. It was.... desolate:

Add sod, rocks and a couple of plants, and look at it now!!!

That is a beautyberry planted to the right. Louisiana irises from my mom's lake are potted on the shelf for marginals. I have a feeling getting the pond plants right (i.e. not killing them) is going to take some practice. We plan to add a pump and small bubbler at some point, and probably some goldfish. In the meantime, we have a cute frog swimming around to entertain us, and a "mosquito dunk" in the water so the pond doesn't become a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

If any of you have fish ponds, I would love your advice about plants and/or fish. This pond is 100 gallons.

Hope y'all had a good weekend!

You win some, you lose some

2009-08-21T18:30:00.000-07:00

Today's harvest: more yellow pear tomatoes, a bell pepper for omelets tomorrow (there are tons more!), and the first black krim tomato:

I am not kidding you - this black krim was the best tomato I have ever tasted by far.
Well, not everything in the garden can go so well. My squash got a massive FAIL for the year and were thrown out after the second set of borers infested the same plants. We picked the one watermelon last weekend, and unfortunately...

Oh no! I followed all of the rules! The nearest tendril was dead, the skin was hardening, the spot turned from white to yellow, and it sounded hollow.

Did I mention the cucumbers suddenly appear to be suffering from the start of wilt? Man!!

Tomorrow's project: turning 2500 lbs of stone into a pond border and probably a bunch of other stuff. I'll show you the results on Sunday! Have a great weekend!