7 Resolutions We Can Keep
Posted on Tuesday, February 26, 2019 · Leave a Comment
The holidays have come and gone. Resolutions have been made and broken. Now we New England gardeners are faced with that long, dismal wait before we can start our gardens, and it’s a good time to think about those resolutions we never made: the garden resolutions. If you make – and follow – some of the resolutions below, you’ll not only feel virtuous, you’ll be a better gardener.
Resolution #1. Take the pledge to be an organic gardener. That means using NO CHEMICALS in the garden, no matter how dire the circumstances. Japanese beetles devouring your roses? Get up earlier and handpick them every morning. Weeds in the walkway? No herbicides. Pour boiling water with salt on them, or yank ‘em. Burn them with a blow torch. And forget 10-10-10: no chemical fertilizers, either. There are lots of easy solutions – if you know what to do.
Resolution #2. Read more about organic gardening in this down time before we plant spring seeds. Go to your local library or family-owned bookstore and see what’s available.
Are you a vegetable gardener? Get a copy of Ed Smith’s The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible (Storey Publishing). Ed and his wife, Sylvia live in Vermont and largely live on what they grow. It is well illustrated, and full of fabulous information. They are all, organic, too. This book has stayed in print for 19 years and sold over a million copies.
Japanese Beetle
Another good book to obtain is “Insect, Disease & Weed I.D. Guide” by Cebenko and Martin, Editors (Rodale Press). It came out in 2001, but is still readily available. Organic gardeners have to be a little bit smarter and better educated than chemical gardeners, and this book will not only help you identify pests and diseases, it will offer organic solutions. It’s easy enough to spray a pesticide on a bug, and it will die. But knowing what the bug is, a little about its life cycle, and how to combat it without resorting to chemicals is better.
Resolution #3. Use more compost. Instead of looking for a bagged fertilizer to improve your soil, think long-term. Although bagged organic fertilizers have their place in the scheme of garden things, nothing is better for your soil than compost. Compost is not high in nitrogen, but it introduces beneficial microorganisms to your soil. A teaspoon of compost can contain up to 5 billion bacteria, 20 million filamentous fungi, and a million protozoa. No bagged fertilizer can do that.
Compost also improves the tilth of your soil. Most of us have soil that is either too sandy or too full of
You can make your own compost in a bin like this, or just in a pile.
clay. Who do you know that has the “rich, well-drained soil” that every plant book prescribes as the appropriate soil for your favorite plant? We have to make our own soil. We have to nurture it, and improve it until we reach the age of 99, when either it is perfect, or we no longer recognize perfection. Compost helps your soil get there.
Resolution #4. Resolve to mulch more. Mulch will help to smother weeds, add organic matter to the soil as it breaks down, and reduce water loss from evaporation or run-off. Leaves are great anywhere, bark mulch is good in flower beds, and straw, grass clippings and compost are good in the vegetable garden.
Resolution #5. Decide now that you will not let any weeds flower and produce seeds. That means that you have to yank the weed or cut off any seed heads of weeds when you see them – even if you all dressed up and are leaving for the airport. You have to grab the seed heads off that big weed on your way to the car. Stuff it in your pocket, or put it in the trash. But don’t let the weeds spread their seeds.
Try growing kohlrabi this summer. They’re tasty!
Resolution #6. Experiment. Every year plant something new, whether a new flavor of tomato or type of zinnia. Try veggies you’ve never grown, and learn to love eating them. Kohlrabi and rutabagas are actually delicious. Try a new type of watering device, or get a new weeding tool (such as the CobraHead, my favorite). Plant a new species of tree, one that flowers.
Resolution #7. And last but not least, resolve to keep gardening fun. Don’t bite off more than you can take care of. Try not to get discouraged if beetles eat your lilies or the phlox gets moldy. Gardening is supposed to be fun – that’s why so many of us do it. Accept that organic gardeners suffer some losses and that no gardener can have success with everything. In the meantime, enjoy the winter, and learn more about organic gardening now – so you’ll be ready come spring.
Henry lives and gardens in Cornish Flat, NH. E-mail him at henry.homeyer@comcast.net.
Around the World in 80 Trees
Posted on Tuesday, February 19, 2019 · Leave a Comment
I love trees, and find them endlessly fascinating. Each is unique, much as we are. One winter I attempted (and failed) to read all of Michael Dirr’s authoritative Dirr’s Encyclopedia of Trees and Shrubs – all 950 pages of it. I only read about trees that are hardy here, and still only found time to read about half of it.
Around the World in 80 Trees
Recently I found a more manageable project, reading Jonathan Drori’s Around the World in 80 Trees. At just over 200 pages, and nearly half of that illustrations, it gave me the satisfaction of a project easily completed. And it provided countless bits of information that I didn’t know.
For example, I never knew that the great violin builders Stradivarius and Guarneri used Norway spruce for their sounding boards. Apparently Norway spruce, particularly old ones that grew on the mountains of Switzerland, are very dense but lightweight – and perfect for violins.
And alders were important for the development of Venice, Italy. Apparently it is highly resistant to rot if submerged in water. Their engineers drove stakes of alder (9 per square meter) and filled in around them and over them with rocks and broken bricks. Then they built bridges and buildings on them – many of which still are solidly in place, up to 700 years later.
Also the Venetians used alders to make the best charcoal for gunpowder, allowing them to advance militarily. Even today the best gunpowders use charcoal from alders. And I thought alders were junk.
Norway Spruce Scaled
I recently bought some shampoo which touted that it contained “argan oil”. Huh? I’d never heard of argan, and it sounds to me like something from a factory along I-95 in New Jersey. Nope. It is a tree that grows in North Africa.
Argan produces a fruit the size of a plum with a nut inside with 1 or 2 hard, oil-rich seeds. Traditionally women in Algeria and Morocco harvest the seeds and grind them to a pulp and extract the oil. Amazingly, 3 million people depend on the oil for their income. It is used as cooking oil and in cosmetics. And goats love the fruit, often climbing the trees to get at it – despite the numerous thorns on the branches.
Then I read about the tree that produces quinine, Cinchona spp. Originally from Ecuador and Peru, it produces alkaloids that kill malaria parasites in humans, despite the fact that those two countries had no indigenous malaria. But quinine allowed explorers of tropical malarial zones to survive the ravages of this terrible fever.
And of course, quinine is key to the development of the gin and tonic, invented by the British in India. My grandfather got malaria living near the swamps of East Boston in the early 1900’s and probably resorted to quinine when it recurred – which may have given him an excuse for a gin and tonic from time to time.
I was fascinated to learn that the quaking aspen trees (Populus tremuloides) spread largely by root, and that huge forests of this aspen are all connected by roots, and are essentially one tree. The largest living thing in the world, by this definition, is a single quaking aspen that has 45,000 stems and covers 100 acres of ground. The tree, though not any individual stem, is thought to be 80,000 years old. It is the most widely distributed tree in North America – so you probably have one.
As a teen I read a book by Betty Smith called, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn about a family there. She used the tree as a metaphor for the immigrants struggling to grow in poor conditions, as the tree does. The tree in the title is the invasive Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima).
Originally from China, Tree of Heaven was introduced to New York State in 1820. It grows fast, grows most anywhere, and is nearly impossible to get rid of. Cut one down, and the roots send up new shoots all over – even through a crack in the sidewalk. It is hardy to Zone 4 (minus 30 degrees in winter) but I have never seen one here in New Hampshire.
We all know the Eastern White Pine, but I did not know that it sucks up nitrogen from the soil and saves it for use later. And that in so doing, the pine helps to discourage other trees from competing with it.
Sugar Maple
I also learned that our sugar maples, when grown in Europe, do not have the bright red leaves we love in autumn. Their fall climate is gray and cool, and maples need bright sun and cold nights to get those red colors. Maybe that is why some years our maples are less impressive – if we’ve had a rainy fall.
I visited a friend in Florida this winter, and went to a mangrove swamp. I learned from this book that the red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) gives birth to live young while they are still attached to the mother tree. The seeds germinate and grow, eventually dropping off as seedlings. Amazing.
So if you’d like an entertaining read, get a copy of Around the World in 80 Trees. There is plenty more to learn.
Henry is the author of 4 gardening books. His e-mail is henry.homeyer@comcast.net.
Cleaning Up Your Landscape
Posted on Tuesday, February 5, 2019 · Leave a Comment
Winter is a good time to look at the trees and shrubs on your property. Even though the snow may keep you from working on your trees, study your landscape now to see if you need to do some judicious tree removal or pruning before summer.
White pine needles come in clusters of 5 one for each letter in “white”
In nature trees grow willy-nilly. Where a seed lands is largely determined by chance. It is unable to know if it is 6 inches or 6 feet from another tree. If it germinates and grows it might be in a good place, or it might be smack-dab next to another tree – or your house.
If you have a wooded area on your property, it probably needs some help from you if you haven’t done any thinning or grooming of trees in recent years. Here’s what you can do – your garden project for the week: go outside and really look at the trees growing on your property with a critical eye. Take note of spacing, in particular.
Three trees growing where only one can survive and thrive
Ask yourself these questions as you walk around your property (or look out the window) at your trees: what is the future of this tree? How big do examples of this tree grow to be? What will this one look like in 10 years? In 50? Is it too close to its neighboring trees or to the house? Are there trees crowding it that you need to remove?
I’m a tree-hugger but I have no problem with cutting down trees when judicious thinning is beneficial. Now is the time to plan on some careful thinning of trees, and marking those that need to be removed to improve the health of others. A roll of bright colored surveyors tape to tie around trees will help you find any that you plan to remove.
Before you start tagging trees for culling you need to learn to identify the trees on your property, another good winter project. “A Guide to Nature in Winter” by Donald Stokes is a wonderful book that will help you with that. Because there are no leaves on most trees out there now, the Stokes book is great – it identifies trees by their bark, shape, branching and buds.
Buds like these basswood buds help identify trees in winter
Stokes notes that if you learn a few common trees, you will be able to identify 80% of all trees in the New England landscape. Those trees are oak, maple, ash, beech, birch and poplar, along with hemlock and white pine. It also teaches much about all the other living things out there in the woods – from snow fleas to deer and everything in between.
Trees that I cull from my woods include poplars (Populus spp.), boxelder (Acer negundo) and alders (Alnus spp.). These are fast-growing trees that are short-lived and that produce lots of seedlings. They lack majesty.
Trees that I revere are sugar maples, oaks, beech, birches and hophornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana). I would think long and hard about cutting down one of them. But trees need plenty of space to do well, so sometimes it is necessary to remove a young one.
Invasive shrubs I remove include bush honeysuckle, barberry and burning bush. Those are on the list of invasive in most New England states. All of those can choke out native shrubs and even many native wildflowers. I work on eliminating those two every spring, but they are still ahead of me. Learn to identify them and tag them for spring removal.
So put on your snowshoes and get outside. And if you can get a copy of the Stokes Guide to Nature in Winter, you’ll learn much and have a grand time.
Henry lives and gardens in Cornish Flat, NH. His e-mail is henry.homeyer@comcast.net.
Get Out of the House and Go to One of This Year’s Flower Shows!
Posted on Saturday, February 2, 2019 · Leave a Comment
I am always perked up when the spring flower shows arrive, and I always try to get to a couple of them. If you’re feeling the mid-winter blues, I highly recommend attending one – or more. Here’s this year’s lineup.
The first major show is the Connecticut Flower and Garden Show at the Convention Center in Hartford. It opens on Thursday, February 21 and runs until Sunday the 24th. This is a big show, with some 300 booths. I like to go down on opening day, or Friday to avoid the crowds. It used to compete with the show in Providence, but that show dissolved some years ago so the crowds in Hartford are even bigger.
As with most shows, the Connecticut show has educational seminars, always a big plus for me. I like to take an hour or two out of a long day of looking at displays to sit down in an auditorium and listen to a speaker talking knowledgeably about a topic they care about.
There are some 80 hours of seminars over the 4 days of the Connecticut Show. Topics like “5 Keys to Prevent Tomato Disease” by Petra Page-Mann, the owner of Fruition Seed Company, or “Benefits of Bio-Char Soil” by Pat White sound good to me.
Vermont Flower Show 2017
Next comes the Vermont Flower Show March 1 to 3 at the Champlain Valley Expo Center in Essex Junction. This is a nice small show that is a cooperative venture put on by the Vermont Nursery and Landscape Association every two years. It has one large central garden display, and many booths with vendors. I love the model train display that delights small children (and me).
Tickets to Vermont Show are $20, but discounted to $15 for seniors and $10 for students 13 to 17 if you buy them in advance. Kids 5 to 12 are just $5. There is plenty to do for kids, including a show each day at 11 and 2, (magic, song, or marionettes) and lots of arts and crafts activities.
The Philadelphia Flower Show is huge and runs for over a week, starting March 2 and running to March 10 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. This show has been around since 1829, so they know what they are doing. I went last year and was amazed at the number of displays. I loved talking to exhibitors about their favorite house plant or cactus on display. Many were there to answer questions. This year the theme is “Flower Power”. The entrance display alone has 8,000 fresh flowers in it, of 85 varieties. You get the idea. More is better seems to their mantra.
Philadelphia Show 2018
Tickets can bought in advance on-line for a saving. Day of the event? $35 to $42 for adults, no senior discounts. Students $21 to $26, kids ages 2 to 16 are $17 to $20. Week days are cheaper than weekends.
The Boston Flower Show runs from March 13 to 17 at the Seaport World Trade Center. Tickets are only about half the price of the Philly Show. I haven’t been in a few years, but checked with a few folks who went last year. The consensus? It’s a pretty commercial show. I checked the floor map, and less than a quarter of the space appears to be dedicated to gardens. Still, for many of us, buying things – plants, seeds, tools and other garden gee-gaws is fun, so maybe there is nothing wrong with that.
The following weekend, March 22 to 24 is the Capital District Garden and Flower Show in Troy, NY at the Hudson Valley Community College. I’ve never been, but hope to this year. It’s outside of Albany, NY. It appears to have about a dozen gardens, a dozen classes of flower competition, and nearly 150 vendors. Tickets are $14 and children under 12 are free.
Then March 28 to 31 is the Portland, Maine Flower Show at Thompson’s Point on the waterfront in Portland. The theme this year is “A Walk in Maine”. There are 4 or 5 lectures each day, display gardens, vendors.
The Rhode Island Spring Flower and Garden Show is a primarily a home show sponsored by the RI Builders Association on April 4 to 7 at the Convention Center in Providence. I called them and learned that 10,000 feet of floor space will be allocated to the Flower Show (out of 120,000). This is a new show, not the same as the RI Flower Show that took over the entire RI Convention Center up until 2016. Still, admission is just $10 and kids are free, so it would be worth a visit if you are nearby.
That same weekend The Seacoast Home and Garden show will be at the Whittemore Center at UNH in Durham, NH on April 6 and 7. Like the Rhode Island Show, this is primarily a home show, but some garden features are included.
Primroses at Chelsea Flower Show
The last, and most impressive show each year is the Chelsea Flower Show in London, England. This year it’s on May 21 to 25. I went a few years ago and was totally awestruck. The show has a big tent, but much of it is outdoors so many of the gardens include full-sized trees. Join the Royal Horticultural Society so you can get in the first 2 days of the show, and also get a discount on tickets. Still, a ticket costs between $70 and $85 for a day. Well worth it, if you can afford it. In any case, do try to get to a show somewhere.
Henry is a UNH Master Gardener, the author of 4 gardening books and a lifelong organic gardener. You may reach him at henry.homeyer@comcast.net.
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Staying Busy in the Garden’s Slow Time
Posted on Tuesday, January 29, 2019 · Leave a Comment
Winter is our slow season, and many gardeners begin to languish as January finishes and spring is still far away. It is important to keep busy. For me, this means reading gardening books and magazines, and working on small tasks that can be done indoors now. Preparing plant labels is one of many tasks that can be tedious in summer, but pleasant in winter.
Blue Balloon Flower or Platycodon
First, you might wonder, why bother with plant labels? There are several reasons. First, labels show you exactly where a plant will appear, come spring or summer. Blue balloon flower (Platycodon grandiflora), for example, stays dormant weeks past other perennials in the spring. It would be easy to disturb the roots of this plant in spring by digging a spot for a new perennial that needs a home. A label will prevent that.
Second, we forget names. I like to use the Latin or scientific name for plants with labels because if I have that, I will probably remember the common name. I like to include the cultivar or variety name, too, as visitors to the garden often ask me things like “So which aster is that?” If my tag includes ‘Alma Potschke’ or ‘Barr’s Pink’, I can help a fellow gardener find the variety they saw in my garden.
Aster Alma Plotschke
Labels can include lots of information. I generally include the year that I planted a perennial, and the source. The year will allow me to see how long a plant has survived in my garden, and how long it takes to reach a mature size. That will inform decisions I will make about planting others of the same species.
Many perennials die out after a period of time – perhaps 3 years, or perhaps 10. Please don’t assume it’s your fault if a perennial dies,. Most perennials, like people and pets, have a lifespan. Your labels will remind you how long your plants have been around.
That said, I have a peony that is the descendant of one my grandmother grew, and she died in 1953. My mom grew it, then I got a division. I don’t have a tag on it, but wish I did. I suspect I planted it at my house in the early 1980’s. Peonies are essentially forever, so plant them well.
Plant labels can be distracting, of course. The most common labels are made of white plastic about half an inch wide and 4 to 6 inches long. I prefer the longer ones, as there is more room for information. One side is usually slicker, one more grainy. I use the rough side with a #2 pencil for best results. Pencil, outdoors, lasts longer than pen or even a Sharpie. Both of those fade in sun.
Plant tags
If you are using many labels, your garden bed can start to look like a mouse graveyard with its little white markers. To avoid this I push the plant tag deep into the soil, leaving just an inch or less above ground. When I want the info, I pull the tag. And I always place the tag in the same relative position to the plant. I place them behind the plant and a little to the right of center. That way if it gets covered with soil or mulch, I can dig around with my fingers and find it.
Also available are bigger metal tags that are attached to 2 wire legs. Some of these come with a marker that is filled with paint that is said to last well outdoors. Others are soft metal like copper that can be permanently engraved with a nail or awl that either scratches the surface, or dents it.
Most perennials purchased from a nursery will come with a pre-printed plastic tag that will tell you everything you need to know except the year you bought it. Those tags, if left out to the elements, will start to break down in five years or so. Again, burying 90% of the tag will help it last longer.
If you are an “artsy” sort of person, this would be a good time to make some hand-painted plant labels for your garden. Use outdoor grade plywood or perhaps cedar for the markers. Vegetable gardens, where seeds are planted, are commonly adorned with nice custom-made labels. If you paint the tags, you might them coat them with a layer of marine varnish or the like.
Trees and shrubs often arrive with a tag that is looped around the trunk or a branch. Beware of these: some are attached with wire, or a wire coated with something. I once lost a rare tree, a dawn redwood, to strangulation. The tag looped around the base of the tree, and the tree eventually strangled as the wire cut into the cambium layer of the bark.
So how can you remember the plants in your garden, now, in winter? Most of us take pictures with a digital camera, and store them on the computer. Take some time to enjoy looking at your garden photos now. Not only that, if you took the pictures when you first planted things, the date will be on the photo.
I’ll have to admit I haven’t gotten around to making any plant labels right now, in winter. I got distracted looking at my gardens on my computer and admiring my flowers. Going through my photos month-by-month has helped me to see what flowers I need to purchase this spring, replacing those that have disappeared with time.
Henry is the author of 4 gardening books. He lives in Cornish Flat, NH. You may reach him at henry.homeyer@comcast.net.
Picking Flowers in Winter
Posted on Monday, January 21, 2019 · Leave a Comment
I’m planning to go pick some flowers today. Yes, we got a foot of snow recently and the temperature as write this is well below zero with the wind chill. And no, I am not crazy. I’m going to go pick them out at my local florist, food coop and grocery stores. I will cruise the flowers, picking out things that will brighten the house – and my spirits. Buying flowers does not have to cost a fortune.
Cut flowers are among modern America’s true bargains. For the price of a bottle of wine – or a couple of cups of fancy coffee – you can buy a bouquet of flowers that will grace your table for up to three weeks. But there are some things you should know about getting good table-life for your investment.
Two stems of Ginestra
There are advantages to buying flowers from a florist. Cut flowers need to take up water to stay fresh and healthy. Stems tend to scab over after a day or two, which means they cannot take up replacement water, or not much, so they suffer. A floral shop has trained personnel who trim each stem in the store every other day. And someone who regularly changes the water to keep to keep it fresh. Chain grocery stores probably count on you buying their flowers before the flowers need to be trimmed or their water changed, but that depends on the store.
And keep your arrangement cool if you can. Putting it near a radiator or wood stove will shorten its life. If you have invested in roses or tulips, you may wish to move the vase to the entryway or mudroom at bedtime to keep the flowers extra cool during the night.
Some flowers are better picks than others if you’re on a budget and can’t afford to buy new flowers every week. Here are my recommendations for pleasing, long-lasting cut flowers:
- Miniature carnations: Each stem has 2-4 blossoms. They come in a variety of colors. Mix dark red “minis” with red roses to make a bouquet of roses look fuller. And even after the roses go to Valhalla, the carnations will still be good!
- Chrysanthemums: These come in a variety of sizes and colors, from the huge spider mums to little guys. I love the scent of the flowers –it’s not overpowering, but it’s there if you sniff them.
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Statice
Statice: I grow these for use as dry flowers, which tells you that they really do last forever – even out of water. They come in blue, purple, pink and white.
- Ginestra: Less commonly known, this fragrant flower has tiny blossoms in white, yellow or light pink that are a little like forsythia blossoms. Good as filler.
- Spray roses: Instead of a single blossom per stem, these have 2-5 blossoms, giving you more bang for your buck. Will last about a week with proper care
- Alstromeria: Each long stem has clusters of 2-inch lily-like blossoms in pinks and reds, with yellow throats. Very long-lived. Great value.
- Orchids: While not cheap, orchids can last up to a month. I love dendrobiums, though they are not common, even in floral shops. Cymbidiums have bigger blossoms but also last extremely well. And you can buy a Phalaenopsis orchid in a pot that will keep blooming for a couple of months if you pick one with lots of buds.
- Kangaroo paws: These Australian natives are fuzzy and cute. They come in pinks, reds and browns, and last very well. Not every florist will have them.
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Sea Holly
Sea holly or Eryngium: Light purple or green, these look a bit like thistles. They can be dried or used fresh.
- Baby’s breath: A single stem can have up to a hundred tiny white pompoms. Great for contrast with other flowers.
So what else do you need to know? Get the store to wrap up your flowers in paper or cellophane. Some are quite fragile when it comes to cold temperatures, so don’t shock them if you can avoid it. And if you have lots of errands to run, buy your flowers last so they spend less time in a cold car.
What about those little packets of powder they give away with flowers? Are they worth the bother? Absolutely, especially if you lead a busy life and don’t change the water every few days. The powder kills mold or fungus that can grow in the water, and clogs up the stems. A teaspoon of bleach in a quart of water will do the same thing.
Cut off three quarters an inch of stem before placing your flowers in a clean, washed vase. And cut back the stems a little every couple of days. Also important is this: pick leaves off the lower stems. Leaves will rot in the water, clogging up the stems.
So yes, cut flowers are an extravagance, but can last well if handled properly. And you’re worth it. It’s still a long time till flowers bloom in our gardens, so treat yourself.
Henry is a Lifetime Master Gardener and a lifelong organic gardener. You may reach him at henry.homeyer@comcast.net.
It’s Time to Think about Hot Peppers
Posted on Monday, January 14, 2019 · Leave a Comment
I love hot and spicy peppers. As a young man I lived in West Africa for nearly 10 years, first as a traveler, then as a Peace Corps volunteer and Peace Corps Country Director. I lived in Cameroon and Mali where hot peppers were an integral part of the diet. If peppers are hot enough, they make you sweat – which cools you down. That’s good, as most African villages didn’t have electricity back then for fans or air conditioning.
Hot peppers are rated in Scoville Units to give you an idea of how hot they are. They are named after Wilbur Scoville, an Englishman who tested peppers in the early 1900s. In my first book, Notes from the Garden, I wrote, ”I like to imagine him serving little tea sandwiches to proper English lords and ladies, but with peppers beneath the watercress. Did he measure heat by face color or expletives?” I imagine he actually measured capsaicin content as it is the compound that gives peppers their kick.
Hungarian wax pepper indoors
Hungarian wax peppers, my mildest hot peppers, are rated for 300-700 Scoville units. Jalapenos and Cayennes run 3,500 to 6,000 units, while Habaneros can reach 200,000 to350,000 units. Be sure to wear glove if you handle very hot peppers – a little of the oil or a speck of dust in the eye (or another sensitive area) can be very painful. I’ve read that the more stressed a pepper is, the hotter it is – hence the range for any variety – I find they vary considerably from year to year.
I dry most of my hot peppers in a food dehydrator so that I can grind them into a powder to add just a little bit to a dish. I use my coffee grinder to do that, after I have dried them until they are brittle. That makes for an interesting cup of java, too, after I’ve ground the peppers.
Excalibur dryer does a good job drying hot peppers
Most hot peppers would rather be growing in Mexico or southwest France than in New England. They like plenty of sunshine and consistently hot temperatures. They don’t like heavy wet clay soils – so when planting, amend the soil, if necessary, with compost to lighten it up. But never add fertilizer to peppers. If you do, you will get big leafy plants, but few peppers. That’s true for sweet peppers, too.
I have a friend, Brian Steinwand, whose mouth must be made of leather. He can eat habanero peppers (one of the hottest kinds) like they are candy. He touts their fabulous flavor, but for most of us that flavor comes with too much heat to be pleasant.
This year I discovered a habanero that allegedly comes with all the flavor, but much less heat. It’s called “Roulette” by Johnny’s Selected Seeds, and is touted to have “a sweet, floral flavor without the traditional fire we expect from a habanero.” Of course that name makes me wonder if a few of the fruits will have the bite of a real habanero.
Espelette peppers
My favorite hot pepper is the “Espellette” pepper from southwest France. Like champagne, the name is controlled by the French government, and these peppers are only supposed to be grown in 11 specific villages. But the peppers are readily available in the Bordeaux region, and I’ve discovered that seeds saved from them can produce great peppers even in New England. Last year mine did not produce well as I started the seeds too late, I think. Or perhaps the weather was wrong.
Each year I like to try new varieties of the vegetables I like. Along with Roulette, a pepper I shall try this year is called “Amazing 2”, also from Johnny’s Seeds. According to the description in their catalog, this is a thick walled pepper, and needs a dehydrator to dry it. It is a traditional Korean drying pepper, and is said to be good for making kimchi, but has a lower heat rating than most. It’s said to be warm, not hot.
Like Roulette, Amazing 2 is a hybrid pepper, so I will not be able to save seeds. Hybrids are created by crossing 2 parents of different genetic makeup. But their seeds don’t breed true, so you have to buy new seeds when you use them up. But even a small packet of seeds will produce plants for 2 or 3 years if you only want a few plants. I find most seeds are viable for 3 years.
One nice thing about growing peppers is that they are sociable. By that I mean, they like to hang out together. Most peppers like to actually touch leaves with other peppers when the plants are mature, so I plant them just a foot apart – so they don’t take up much garden space. Of course if you plant 2 or more varieties, they will hybridize, so I don’t save seeds – who know what I would get. In years when I grow Espellette peppers and want to save seeds, I grow no other peppers anywhere in my garden, hot or sweet, to keep the seed line pure.
January is too early to plant any seeds, but I enjoy reading the seed catalogs or web sites, and ordering early. And before too long, it will be time to start them indoors. Meanwhile, I think I’ll go make a hot winter stew. Hot with peppers, that is!
Henry can be reached at henry.homeyer@comcast.net.
Stealing Ideas from a Chinese Garden
Posted on Wednesday, January 9, 2019 · Leave a Comment
Winter is a time for gardeners to rest. No weeding, no mowing, no moving plants from one bed to another. But now is a good time for planning what changes one can make in the garden, come spring and summer. I like to reflect on gardens I have visited, and see what ideas I can steal.
I recently visited the Chinese Garden in Portland, Oregon. At first I looked at the garden and thought to myself, “There really is nothing here that would work in Cornish Flat, NH. Or Providence, or Rutland or Brattleboro – or any of the places my column appears.” But then I realized there were good things to learn from this very formal garden that depends so much on architecture and pools of water.
Memorial Chinese Garden by Evan G. Schneider
The Chinese Garden has a formal family shrine in an ornate building with 3 sides and opening to the garden. Inside it has a mahogany sideboard with pictures of ancestors, a bowl of fruit, and tea cups. There were chairs there for family members to repose and think about those who gone on. It’s not the sort of space I could envision for myself – or for most of my readers.
However, the idea of a place in the garden where one can sit and think about loved ones who have passed away is nice. It need not be anything like what I saw in Portland. In fact, I did something back in 2009 after my dear sister, Ruth Anne, passed away. I built a bench using a slab of marble I had bought at a yard sale. I sat the marble on 2 stout cherry logs standing upright. I planted two wild azaleas behind the bench to give the space a sense of enclosure. Then, to one side, I buried some of Ruth Anne’s ashes. Over that spot I planted an umbrella plant (Darmera peltata). I go there and sit on the bench and think of her from time to time, especially when the flowers are blooming in the spring.
Bonsai trees in Chinese Garden by Evan G. Schneider
The Chinese Garden displays a nice collection of bonsai trees. These are miniatures that are pruned and trained into special forms, and are beautiful – but very labor intensive. To show them off, they are set in place in front of a plain wall so their silhouettes stand out. I have no desire to own a bonsai tree (which may need watering every day, or twice a day in the heat of summer) but I can see using a plain backdrop to show off a potted plant. The house, a stone wall, even a hedge can be brightened up and enhanced with a potted plant.
There was a fragrance garden in the Chinese Garden. Again, I would consider taking this idea and making it my own. Instead of spreading out fragrant plants around my garden as I do now, I could cluster several together and create a place to attract butterflies – and children.
I remember visiting a rose garden in Paris that had a competition each June. One of the categories was “Best Fragrance as Judged by a Child”. I liked that idea, and introduced it as a category in the Cornish, NH annual agricultural fair. You might like to create a fragrance garden this summer in your own garden.
Another feature of the Chinese Garden were spaces enclosed by 3 walls. Although this might have been done for a variety of reasons unknown to me, I saw the spaces as good for delicate plants. Our winter winds are tough on trees and shrubs, particularly those that are marginal in our climatic zone.
If, for example, I wanted to grow a Franklinia tree, I would consider protecting it on 3 sides. Perhaps the house could be one wall, with bamboo fences on the sides. Or perhaps I could enclose it on 3 sides with a living hedge. It is a small tree that is only hardy to Zone 5. It has beautiful bark and white flowers in late summer. This winter I shall ponder where I might put one.
The Chinese Garden used vertical stones as accents. I have been placing vertical stones for decades, though the stones they used were taller and smaller in girth than the ones I use. I like the permanence of stone, and stones show off well in winter against the snow. I plant one third of a stone in the ground for stability, and usually surround the bottom portion with Portland cement – one bag, added dry to the “planting hole”, will harden and serve as an anchor.
Another feature of the Chinese Garden was the use of trees planted and growing at an angle. Most of us are very careful when planting a tree to guarantee that it is vertical – straight up in all directions. But planting a tree at a 45 degree angle can be alluring, too. Both Chinese and Japanese gardens use trees planted on angles. Such a tree does make one stop and look a little longer, just as it would if the leaves were pink or blue, or a color one is not expecting.
Chinese garden uses water architecture and trees. Homeyer photo.
The last feature I remarked on at the Chinese Garden were all the pools for fish. Water is very soothing and adds tranquility to a garden. The fish at this garden were koi, a goldfish relative, and quite large. I won’t be adding that feature anywhere in my garden, but I did appreciate them. Perhaps you’ll try one, and invite me to see it.
I’m off soon to see friends in North Carolina and Florida, and hope to see some good gardens. Winter is a good time to get away, and to see new ways to use plants.
Write Henry at PO Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746 or by email at henry.homeyer@comcasst.net Please include a SASE if asking for a response by letter.
To Eat Better, Eat from the Garden
Posted on Wednesday, January 2, 2019 · Leave a Comment
As we go through the holidays, we tend to relax our vigilance about eating. Or at least I do. Like a woodchuck bulking up for hibernation, I find myself enjoying comfort foods during the long winter nights – and days. It is easy to gain a few pounds, even with the best of intentions, so I was attracted to Michael Pollan’s 2009 book, Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual. It does not attempt to prescribe a diet that will help me to lose weight after the holidays, but I know if I follow it, it will help.
Pollan book cover
I liked the book a lot, in part, because it is a quick and easy read. I read it all in 2 or 3 hours. And it is mostly common sense, but a good reminder about things I know instinctively, but may have ignored over the holidays. As a gardening guy I put up a lot of food I grow, and sometimes it languishes in the freezer, on the pantry shelves, or in my spare fridge. The book motivated me to dig out the frozen kale and use it! Eating from my own garden is always healthy.
Pollan starts by acknowledging that it is difficult to sort through mountains of conflicting advice. Should we all be avoiding fats, or is it the carbohydrates? Is gluten bad for all of us? Should we be drinking red wine for the polyphenols? What are omega-3 fatty acids, and are they worth fussing over?
His main premise is one he elaborated on in earlier book, In Defense of Food: “Eat real food. Not too much. Mostly plants”. By real food, he means food that comes from plants or animals, not factories. What is in a Twinkie? Can you imagine the products that make one coming from natural substances that you could grow yourself? I can’t.
Pollan explains that people who eat the so called “Western diet” are generally less healthy than people who eat a traditional diet, whatever that may be (Japanese, Mediterranean, even Eskimo diets are healthier than ours). The Western diet contains “lots of processed foods and meat, lots of added fat and sugar, lots of refined grains, lots of everything except vegetables.” So Pollan put together a short book of rules to follow. Many of the 64 so called rules are catchy.
For example, #7: “Avoid food products containing ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce”.
#13: “Eat only Foods that will eventually rot”. I’m not interested in eating anything with a long shelf life because I know it’s probably full of chemicals.
Organic fertilizers contain more healthy minerals than chemical fertilizers 002
#30: “Eat well-grown food from healthy soil”. I couldn’t agree more. Chemical fertilizers aren’t necessarily bad, they are just limited. A bag of 10-10-10 contains 10 percent by weight of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium, with 70 percent filler that is never specified (trade secrets).
Fertilizer will make plants grow, for sure. But a dose of compost contains 15 or more kinds of minerals needed by plants and by us, and lots of beneficial bacteria and fungi that evolved with green plants and support them. My tomatoes not only taste better than those that come in cellophane 4-packs, I believe they have more healthy ingredients.
#36: “Don’t eat breakfast cereals that change the color of the milk”.
#39: “Eat all the junk food you want – as long as you cook it yourself”. French fries are America’s favorite vegetable, but if we had to wash, peel, cut and fry them ourselves, we’d probably eat them about as often as we roast a turkey. I do eat a lot of potatoes because I grow them and love them. But I almost never fry them. And mine are cooked in healthy oil, and have little salt.
#63: “Cook”. If you buy frozen pizzas or even fancy frozen meals, you are allowing someone else to decide what goes on your dinner plate. They add the salt, the sugar, and the preservatives. Why is cancer so common now? My personal theory is that all those chemicals we eat affect our bodies over time.
Veggies fresh from the garden are healthy and safe
I’m lucky: I not only have the time to cook, I love cooking. I sometimes wake up in the morning thinking about what I will cook for dinner. I think about what is in my fridge or freezer, and how I can combine it with good ingredients to make something I want to eat today, and look forward to having leftovers tomorrow.
I plan to live well and be healthy until I am in my 90’s because I grow – and eat – lots of vegetables and fruits, many that I grow myself. What I buy is mostly organic, even when it’s expensive to buy. Heart attacks, Type II diabetes and many kinds of cancers are probably linked to the foods we eat, how much we eat, and the amount of exercise we get.
Gardening is good for us. It gets us outdoors, away from a desk or a TV. We get exercise and produce healthy food. Get your kids to help to grow the veggies this year, and they will be pretty enthusiastic about raw vegetables. Ask your children to pull a few carrots, rinse them with the hose and take a bite. You’ll see a big grin, and they’ll want another bite. Same for cherry tomatoes. I even know one boy that will eat raw onions straight from the row. So make 2019 and the year of the vegetable. We could all benefit.
You may reach Henry at henry.homeyer@comcast.net or PO Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746. He is the author of 4 gardening books.
Holiday Reflections
Posted on Thursday, December 27, 2018 · Leave a Comment
At this time of year I like to look back on the past year – in the garden, and in my life – to reflect on all the wonderful events of the year. I take time to count my blessings, look at my mistakes, and make plans for the future.
It was a good year in the garden. It started off hot and sunny, perfect for growing vegetables. Later in the summer we got a bit too much rain, which can encourage fungal diseases. But overall my tomatoes did well and produced plenty, as did my leafy greens and squashes.
My potatoes, on the other hand, were miserable. I planted them on the south side of my garden where there is a big magnolia that shades the garden during the afternoon, when the sun is strongest. Perhaps the magnolia roots were competing with the potatoes, too. No potato bugs, but still, very few spuds. And most were small. I am already buying potatoes, which is unheard of at this time of year.
Last year I harvested 100 pounds of potatoes and had plenty to give away. This year? Maybe 10 pounds. Lesson learned? Plant leafy greens, not potatoes, tomatoes or squash family veggies on the shady side of the garden. Lettuce, kale, spinach and such need less sun, but I knew that. My bad.
Catalpa blossoms
In 2017 I planted a nice 10-foot tall catalpa tree, and it over-wintered nicely. It bloomed this year, and I loved the sight and fragrance of the blossoms. It had some good growth, and I look forward to an even better display of blossoms next year. And I learned not to worry if it doesn’t leaf out early in the spring. It is one of the last to open up its leaves.
I have always loved the eastern redbud tree (Cercis canadensis). Unlike anything else I grow, it does not set flower buds on twigs. The blossoms pop out of the bark of the tree or the branches. And they are a bright magenta color. There is also a white variety, but I got the pink one.
Redbud
I had tried growing a redbud 25 years ago, but it died back to the ground each winter, and never blossomed, so I eventually gave up on it and dug it out. But our climate has warmed some, and I placed this one in a protected spot near a tall stone wall that will radiate some heat and break the winds of winter. It bloomed nicely for me this year, and I have great hope that it will winter well.
I have noticed that I am getting more adventurous as I age. I am more willing to try plants that are marginal in our climatic zone. Now I am also spending more and getting bigger trees, despite the increased costs. Knowing that I have a finite time on this earth, and that I’m past 70 years young, I want to see my trees come to maturity – and soon.
I remember helping artist and author Tasha Tudor some years ago to find some uncommon crab apple varieties when she was in her nineties, and being amazed that someone of that age was still planting trees. I use her as my role model as I age.
I am grateful to have had a young person helping me in my garden again this year. Celia is a high school student that loves working in the garden and has high energy, literally skipping from job to job. I resolve to never become a curmudgeon who says all kids are lazy or addicted to their cellphones. Many want to learn and are willing to work hard, and having a helper even 4 hours a week is a big help.
Allium schubertii
In the fall of 2017 I ordered allium bulbs because I had seen some amazing varieties at the Chelsea Flower Show in London. The Brits use alliums much more than we do, and I fell in love with them. One of those I loved the most, Allium schubertii, is not hardy in my climatic zone, but I ordered them anyway and planted them in pots. I kept them in a cold basement, and brought them into the warmth of the house in March. They bloomed fabulously.
My thanks to you, my readers, for asking me questions and keeping learning. My best wishes for 2019.
Henry can be reached at PO Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746 or henry.homeyer@comcast.net.
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