Pollen, Allergies and Plants

I was recently thumbing through my first book, Notes from the Garden, looking for an inspiration for yet another winter article. In it I read that I had planted my ‘Merrill’ magnolia in 2001. I had forgotten that I planted it just twenty years ago this spring – it feels like it has always been there!

 

Looking out the window at that handsome tree which blooms each April with a thousand large, lightly fragrant double white blossoms made me think: how many of us plant a tree with a vision of what it will be like in twenty years? I had mainly hoped it would survive to bloom modestly. But it has already been a magnificent tree for a decade or more.

 

I invite you to draw up a wish-list this winter. Think of big, majestic trees that you wish to have and figure out where you could plant them. Dream of flowering trees. Think of native trees that will feed the baby birds with the thousands of barely noticeable caterpillars that feed on their leaves. Imagine a recliner in the shade of a tree you have planted. Picture grandchildren playing in its shade.

 

I think it’s important to realize that trees get to be of a good size fairly quickly. Most grow two to three feet per year, some even more than that. So what if you are 60 or 70 or 80 years old? Even if you never live to see it bloom or drop nuts on the lawn, you are improving the environment, now and in years to come.

 

Years ago I visited author, illustrator, eccentric and well-known recluse, Tasha Tudor at her home in southern Vermont. She was in her late eighties at the time, but still was planting trees. She asked me if I could help her find two specific crabapple varieties that she had planted 30 years before, but was unable to find anywhere.

 

One variety I found immediately at EC Brown’s nursery in Thetford, Vermont. The other I could not find, so I asked her where she had purchased it. She told me that she bought it at Weston Nurseries, and I called them. The woman who answered the phone remembered her, and the fact that she traveled with a rooster under her arm. Amazingly, she also remembered the fellow who waited on her that day, he still worked there, and he was brought to the phone. He explained that the variety was no longer in production. End of story.

 

Actually, it was not. I saw Wayne Mezitt, the owner of Weston Nurseries, at a trade show, and told him the story of his people remembering Tasha. He grinned, and said he would make her some of the trees she wanted by grafting branches onto root stock. And he did. Three years later, Wayne and I met and presented Tasha with the trees she wanted. By then she was past 90 years, but still planting trees. Did she ever get to see them blossom? Unlikely, but I love the idea of someone her age planting trees. I hope to do the same.

 

If you plant trees over a long period of time it is hard to keep track of when you planted them, and the variety planted. Keeping track takes real discipline. In my experience, tags are fine for a few years, but eventually they get lost or the writing fades until it is unreadable.

 

If you are linked closely to your phone or tablet, that might be one way to keep track of what you plant – until the phone dies or gets replaced. I don’t have a cell phone, so I cannot advise how to keep records on it. But I do take lots of photos and they are in my computer by date, so I should be able to find most anything I plant – so long as I label well – and the computer doesn’t eat things, which mine does from time to time.

 

I like writing things down, using a real pen, sometimes even using my trusty fountain pen. Years ago I bought a 10-year Gardener’s Journal from Lee Valley Tool Company. They still sell them, and at about the same price: $32.90. It is hard-covered and durable. The only thing it lacks is a search function. It has a page for every day of the year, and 10 sections per page – a few lines for every day. In principle I would write the weather, what I planted or pruned or dug out every day. But life gets in the way of even the best of intentions.

 

I like old fashioned “three-by-five” cards for making lists. To-do lists, grocery lists. They fit nicely in a pocket and good ones are quite sturdy. My Winter Resolution (that’s like a New Year’s resolution, but made after Ground Hog’s Day) is this: I will fill in a note card every time I plant something, whether perennial flower, tree or shrub. I have an old fashioned wooden box designed for 3-by-five cards, and I will use it to keep track of my plantings this year.

 

So what will go on the cards? First I have to decide if I will use common names or scientific names for alphabetizing the plants. I will use the scientific names, as that is how I think of most of my plants. But I will also include common names. Date planted, source of the plant, where planted, perhaps soil amendments added or any other details that might be useful. If plants die, I will keep the card, but place a black dot on the upper right corner of the card.

 

Last fall I wrote up a list of woody plants I have planted here in Cornish Flat since I bought my house in 1970. I listed nearly 80 species or varieties. I think, if I have time this winter, I’ll start the project. I’ll fill in a card for each tree on the next raw, gray, wet day.

 

Henry can be reached at henry.homeyer@comcast.net or PO Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746. He is the author of 4 gardening  books.

There is something about a bowl of warm soup on a cold winter day that warms the heart and soul as well as filling the tummy. And if the ingredients are from your own garden, the soup tastes even better! Here is a soup I made largely with ingredients from my garden.

 

This is a vegan recipe, but you can include some of your favorite sausage in it, or cook sausage on the side and add it to your bowl at mealtime if other members of your household don’t want meat.

 

The quantities listed below are enough for a large pot of soup able to feed six or eight, but they are only intended to give you an idea of proportions. You can cut the recipe in half. Or double it if you have half a dozen ravenous teenagers. Each time I make it I vary the ingredients and spices.

 

                             Henry’s Homegrown Winter Soup

 

4 cups cooked dry beans such as Jacob’s cattle beans or black beans              

2 cups leeks                                                                                                                           ½ cup chopped shallots                                                                          

2 tbsp smashed and chopped garlic                                                   

2 cups chopped kale                                                                                              

5 medium carrots (about 12 oz. by weight) 

30 oz. tomatoes, either frozen whole or one large can                                         

1 medium butternut squash (about a pound)                                                         

¼ tsp chipotle pepper powder                                                                              

1 tbsp fennel                                                                                                         

1 tsp each oregano and marjoram                                                                         

2 tbsp tomato paste                                                                                              

1 to 2 cups sweet peppers                                                                                     

2 tbsp finely chopped jalapeno pepper                                                              

salt and pepper to taste                                                                                                  

 

A day ahead of “soup day” I measured out a cup and a half of our home-grown dry beans, and soaked them overnight. Then I drained and rinsed them, and cooked them in plenty of water for an hour and a half. They produced 4 cups of beans when cooked and drained. They should not be hard or crunchy – but not mushy when the soup is done, either. Beans stored longer take longer to cook.

 

Other dry beans can be used, but avoid pinto beans as they tend do to get mushy when cooked a long time. And if you forget to soak dry beans, you can use canned beans – 3 standard 14 oz. cans would be needed, after draining and rinsing.

 

I cooked my soup in a 6-quart heavy enameled cast iron French cooking pot. I started by sautéing the leeks, shallots and garlic in a little olive oil on low heat. You can use onions instead of leeks, but leeks freeze well and I grow a lot leeks. My supply of onions from my garden is low by now, so I used leeks. When the garlic started to brown I added a quart of water and the beans, and cooked at medium heat.

 

While that was happening I chopped 2 cups of kale that I had picked that day from my garden. Yes, even in early February my kale was still okay, despite freezing and thawing many times. I also have bags of kale in my freezer. I remove the mid-rib before chopping. I added it to the soup, along with 5 medium carrots cut in rounds, not too thinly.

 

Carrots and onions come in lots of varieties, including those labeled “for storage” Storage carrots last for months in a spare fridge or cold cellar (so long as you keep them protected from mice). The classic storage carrot is a variety called ‘Bolero’. Plant on the Fourth of July weekend for fall harvest. Patterson is the yellow storage onion I grow.

 

Next I added a little hot pepper – not enough to notice, but enough to add complexity to the broth. I had frozen chopped jalapenos peppers I grew in 2018, and added some along with a smoky dry pepper I buy called chipotle. Fennel seeds compliment carrots well in a stew, so I added a tablespoon of them, and some marjoram and oregano we had grown and dried.

 

Tomatoes are central to most soups and stews I make, so I freeze large quantities of them whole and store in zipper bags for winter use. I used nine 2-inch tomatoes that weighed 30 ounces – roughly one big can from the store if you don’t have your own. To thaw them, I submerged the tomatoes in a bowl of hot water for 5 minutes or so, and chopped them coarsely.

 

Why are tomatoes a key ingredient? They contain the fifth flavor our tongues recognize, one called umami. Americans seem not to know much about it. We recognize sweet, sour, salty and bitter, but not umami, which is Japanese for “essence of deliciousness”. So I used not only those frozen tomatoes, but a cup of dried ‘Sungold’ tomatoes and 2 cubes of tomato paste I froze in an ice cube tray.

 

I have a few winter squash I’ve been storing in a cool room, but they don’t last forever, so I peeled and cut one in small chunks for the soup. After peeling and coring, it weighed about 12 ounces.

 

Lastly I added 2 cups of sweet peppers. I bought a half bushel last fall and froze it all in zipper bags. No blanching required, and they add a lot of sweetness to the recipe.

 

Use whatever veggies you have in your freezer and larder. Keep tasting, and add spices, salt or sweet things (like more carrots or dried tomatoes) until you have it just right. Bon appetit!

Notes from the Garden is supported by donations.  If you wish to donate, you can do so on-line by going to https://gardening-guy.com/store/  Click the donate/store button and follow the prompts. Of course you can do it the old fashioned way: send a check to Henry Homeyer at P.O. Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746.Thanks!

I recently asked a few readers, garden friends and tree experts a question: “What is your favorite tree in winter?” It’s not easy to pick just one, any more than most of us would be willing to name a favorite child. I invite you to think about the question, and perhaps, come spring, you will want to plant one if you haven’t already.

 

Pamela Kirkpatrick of Swansea, Massachusetts sent me this: I love the winter landscape, and, next to my family, trees are my greatest love. American holly, which comes into its own in winter, both for its gleanings and the way it reflects light. Beech of any kind, for showing off its muscular trunk when not in leaf. White pine, troublesome as it is with its brittle limbs, because it is home to an owl who returns there every winter and serenades us with his call.

 

 

Lynn Schadd of Cornish, NH e-mailed me saying, “Amur maackia is for me the best four season-interest tree in the garden. And right now its magnificent bark is stealing the show peeling, curling, showing off plates of designer colors all of which may be easily seen since the tree has no oak like aspirations of bigness.

 

 

Lisa Lovelette of Waterbury Center, VT wrote, “My favorite winter tree is the pine tree when dressed in white. I am a hobbyist photographer and nothing is more beautiful than a stately pine dressed in white when placed in front of a beautiful Vermont sunset, sunrise, or majestic sky…and a rising bright and bold full moon in the background makes the dressed pine a standout.

 

 

Anne Raver of Providence, RI is a former NY Times garden writer. Here’s what she said: “My favorite tree is the scarlet oak, or the white oak, or the red oak, any kind of oak.  They support hundreds of species of insects, whose caterpillars feed on the leaves, and who provide crucial food for birds. Also, the red and scarlet oaks turn beautiful colors.”

 

Donnamarie Kelly of Salem, NH wrote, “By far my favorite winter tree is the hemlock.  When snow-laden, the boughs remind me of ballerina hands dipping delicately downward.  Hemlocks are full, projecting a sense of being in the “woods” even when in a simple grove of two or three trees. “

 

Julie Moir Messervy, is a world-renowned garden designer and author of many great garden books. She e-mailed, “Our land in Vermont was an old sheep farm, as were so many.  My favorite tree (in winter and also all year long) is a stately White Oak ( Quercus alba) that may well date from the 1800s. For me, it’s a “Cosmic Tree” that shades and shields our deck and screen porch from the harsh western sun, while opening its boughs to the cool summer winds. It is home to squirrels, porcupine, and at least 13 types of birds in winter …”

 

 

Christine MacManus of Narragansett, RI e-mailed, “A favorite winter tree of mine is a neighbor’s Stewartia with its wonderful bark of mottled patterns and colors. I’ve kept my eye on this tree for 40 years and sometimes pull mulch away from the trunk flare. And of course the summer flowers are a bonus too. 

 

 

My favorite tree authority, Mike Dirr, author of “Manual of Woody Landscape Plants” could not limit himself to just one or two. He e-mailed, saying, “I love Nyssa sylvatica (black tupelo), Fagus grandifolia (American beech), Quercus alba (white oak) , Liriodendron tulipifera (Tulip tree) and Quercus bicolor (Swamp white oak) for starters.”

 

 

I know Professor Dirr is particularly fond of “Majestic trees” – trees that tower over the landscape and last for a hundred years or more, and all of those he mentioned can do so.

 

 

JD Lavallee of Henniker, NH loves blues spruces: “In the winter, I just loved how the snow is caught in their branches forming beautiful white pillows. And light snows simply add a beautiful dusting of their needles.” 

 

 

Tom Bacon of Hanover, NH emailed, “I love the majesty of the hemlocks in general, but the way they hold the snow is beautiful in the winter and just stunning compared to other evergreens.”

 

 

As for me? My favorite is the hybrid Merrill magnolia I planted long ago as a specimen tree in the back of the house. I love its smooth gray bark and the fuzzy buds like pussywillows on steroids. Those buds remind me that spring is coming, no matter how cold the weather now. Of the native trees, I love the hop hornbeam (Ostrya virginiana) in winter. The bare branches are fine and delicate, with tiny buds. The lateral branching patterns are so ornate and beautiful that I hung one on the ceiling above my computer.

 

 

One last perspective came from my friend Alicia Jenks of Weathersfield, VT. She noted that American beech trees produce a lovely rustling sound on breezy winter days. The young trees hold their leaves until May, and provide a quiet symphony in winter. And pines make such a soothing song on breezy days, too. So go outside to look – and listen – to the trees.  Pay attention, and your trees may surprise and delight you.

 

 

Henry is the author of 4 gardening books. His website is www.Gardening-Guy.com. You may reach him at PO Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746 or henry.homeyer@comcast.net.

 

I hate to be the one to give you bad news, but some seed companies are already running out of seeds. Don’t panic: there are, in fact, plenty of seeds out there. And if one company doesn’t have your favorite tomato or zinnia variety, chances are that some other company will.

 

 

Before panicking, you might want to go to your local feed-and-grain store, garden center or food coop for seeds, too. Most of those have racks of seeds, some with just one brand, others with several.

 

 

Most seeds are good for 3 years. Of the seeds I use, onions and parsnips are just good for just one year. Peppers, parsley, corn and leeks are good for two years. Most of the cabbage family (kale, broccoli, etc.) and squash family (cukes and zukes) are good for four years. Basil and some flowers are good for five years.

 

 

You can prolong the viability and vigor of your seeds by storing them properly: they do best in a dark, dry place cooler than 40 degrees. Freezing is fine, too, but put them in an airtight container. In fact, that’s always a good idea.

 

 

Despite what I wrote above, I have germinated seeds much older than the suggested limits when I have not been able to find the varieties I wanted. There are downsides to using old seeds. They generally germinate at much lower rates. You can test this by wrapping ten older seeds in a paper towel and keeping it moist on a sponge. If less than half germinate in a week or two, buy new seeds. You can do that now, before you place your seed order.

 

 

Older seeds also have less vigor. That is the main reason I avoid them, even if they will germinate at 60 %. Not all seeds are created equal, and I want those that are ready to explode with pent up energy, ready to grow.

 

 

It’s important to know what seeds need to be started indoors, and which can do well planted directly in the ground. All your root crops are best started outdoors in the ground, though beets can be started indoors. Beans and peas are direct seeded outside, too. Corn can be started in the ground, or indoors in flats. Crows love freshly germinated corn seeds with a little green leaf, so planting 4-inch plants started indoors is good if you have just a small plot.

 

 

Although you can start the vine crops directly in the soil, I have troubles with striped cucumber beetles killing the young plants when they first germinate by stripping them of their first leaves. So I start squash-family vines in small pots indoors a month or so before outdoor planting day, and the plants are big enough to survive some leaf damage by those insect pests.

 

 

Tomatoes, eggplants, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale and lettuce I start indoors in April or buy in 6-packs. Peppers and some flowers need to be started indoors very early: March 1 is good where I am.

 

 

What are my favorite companies? This year I ordered most of my seeds from FEDCO Seeds, a co-op based in Maine. I like that it’s a cooperative and does everything in a low-key, sustainable way: their catalog has no color pictures designed to make me drool. They offer small seed packs for as little as $2.00. And instead of saying that every tomato variety is “The Best Tasting” they tell the flaws as well as the positive attributes of each variety.

 

 

I always get some things from Johnny’s Selected Seeds, an employee-owned company in Maine that is favored by commercial growers. They provide excellent growing information. This year they provide excellent comparison photos in each section – all their tomatoes, side-by-side, for example.

 

 

Last year I tried John Scheepers’ Kitchen Garden Seeds and liked them a lot. If you are interested in unusual vegetables like shiso, Karikachi edamame, tatsoi, mizuna and other Oriental veggies, they have plenty to choose from. They even have peanuts for northern gardeners! Like Fedco, no color photos in the catalog.

 

 

Like Italian food? Seeds from Italy carries the Franchi brand Italian seeds, and more. They also have kitchen items, garden tools and more. All high quality.

 

 

Hudson Valley Seeds started as a seed library in New York State, and became an excellent seed company with seeds others do not carry, like their Siberian watermelon.

 

 

Fruition Seeds in upstate New York is another favorite of mine. They grow much of their seed on their 24-acre farm, specializing in heirloom seeds for short seasons like those we have in New England.  They have some nice varieties not found elsewhere. The owners are young and full of energy, and grow only organic seeds. 

 

 

Renee’s Garden Seeds has great seeds – but no print catalog. Still, I order from them most years. I love their mixes of different color veggies in one pack – 3 colors of beans, or two colors of carrots.

 

 

And lastly, don’t forget Burpee Seeds, one of the oldest and biggest seed companies for the home gardener. They sell lots of varieties that they have developed, especially disease-resistant hybrids.

 

 

So get busy, and buy your seeds now before all get sold!

 

 

You may reach Henry at henry.homeyer@comcast.net or PO Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746. Henry’s book, Organic Gardening (not just) in the Northeast: A Hands-O Month-by-Month Guide has been re-printed and is now available from him for $19.

 

 

I’ve been growing vegetables organically all my life. I use no chemical fertilizers or pesticides. I don’t often think about the reasons I do so, any more than I think about breathing – it’s just something I do.

 

 

I recently picked up a book written by Maria Rodale called The Organic Manifesto: How Organic Farming Can Heal Our Planet, Feed the World, and Keep Us Safe (Rodale Press, 2010) and it reminded me why I do so. I’d like to share some of the important points with you here.

 

 

In the introduction Eric Schlosser (author of the fabulous book, Fast Food Nation) presented some stark facts: American farmers use 1.2 billion pounds of pesticides each year – 4 pounds for every man, woman and child. Some of these pesticides – the organophosphates – were first developed in Germany in WWII as chemical weapons. The federal government does not require reporting of usage, and testing is done by manufacturers, not the EPA or USDA. Most food has some pesticide residue – except for organic foods,which shouldn’t have any.

 

 

One of Maria Rodale’s reasons for eating only organic food might surprise you: it has to do with climate change. Soils treated with chemicals, including fertilizers, do not have robust populations of microorganisms. Organic soils do. Key among these living beings are the mycorrhizal fungi that coat the roots of plants in organically tended soils. These fungi sequester huge amounts of carbon, taking greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere and holding it the soil. But they are virtually non-existent in soils treated with chemicals. Grow organically? Eat organically? You are helping the environment.

 

 

Secondly, irrigation water for commercial agriculture, particularly in the West, uses large quantities of water, depleting aquifers and polluting ground water. When I traveled through the mid-west in the early 2000’s I was amazed that supermarkets designated entire aisles to jugs of water – no one wanted to drink from their own wells. And there is a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico that is bigger than New Jersey caused by agricultural run-off of chemicals from conventional fields.

 

 

Children are particularly vulnerable to chemicals used in commercial farming. Rates of childhood cancers, asthma, diabetes, autism and other debilitating conditions continue to increase. Ms. Rodale attributes (with copious footnotes to scientific studies) many of these changes to the chemicals children consume. As she says, “Cheap food equals high health care costs.”

 

 

The “organic” label on food also means that no genetically modified organisms were used in producing your food. Back in 2010 when Rodale wrote the book, 91% of all soybeans and 95% of all corn produced in America was genetically modified to be tolerant of a weed killer called glyphosate, sold under the trade name, “Roundup”.

 

 

There has been much controversy about Roundup, and whether it is harmful to humans. Ms. Rodale points out that Roundup cannot be washed off food: it has a surfactant that allows the chemical to penetrate the cell wall. And since corn and soy are used to manufacture many foods from ice cream to baby food and ketchup, it is everywhere. The federal government does not consider Roundup a problem, though many scientists do.

 

 

Ms Rodale never once, in this book, criticized conventional chemical farmers. Organic or conventional, she recognized their hard work and a desire to work their land and support their families. She recognizes that transitioning to organic farming takes time, money, and education.

 

 

So what can you do? You may not be able to afford to buy nothing but organic food. But you probably can buy your meats from local farmers that do not use the feedlots of the mid-West that feed their cows and pigs antibiotics. And you can get eggs, as I do, from a local teenager that treats his hens well. (Thank you, Ian’s Eggs).

 

 

For vegetables, you can probably grow some of what you require for vegetables in summer, or buy from a local farm stand. Many farmers are happy to tell you about how they grow their vegetables. The supplier of the local farm stand near me uses an approach called IPA or Integrated Pest Management. This method encourages farmers to use natural controls, and to use pesticides only when a crop is threatened. They cultivate crops to root out weeds instead of spraying herbicides like Roundup.

 

 

But the bottom line is this: the more you grow organically, the better your soil will be. If you use only organic methods, you can avoid many chemicals in your food that might be present in grocery store foods.

 

 

I recognize that I cannot change the world with what I do. But I have learned to grow plenty of vegetables, and to keep them for eating out-of-season. So think about a bigger vegetable garden this summer, and I will tell you about how to put food up for next winter when the time comes.

 

 

Henry is the author of 4 gardening books and a UNH Master Gardener. He lives in Cornish Flat, NH. You may reach him at henry.homeyer@comcast.net.