Easy Houseplants to Brighten Your Winter
Posted on Tuesday, February 7, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Before we launch into this week’s article…
Gardening Classes with Henry
Lebanon College: Gardening: A Practical Workshop. Garden writer Henry Homeyer will teach you the basics of organic vegetable and flower gardening. From garden design to seed-starting , planting, watering, weeding, mulching, and harvesting, this course will give each student practical knowledge of gardening. Tuesday nights from 6:30-8:30 for 5 weeks, April 3-May 2.Contact Lebanon College to reserve a spot for this5-part workshop www.lebanoncollege.edu or call 603-448-2445.
AVA Gallery, Lebanon. Henry will teach 3 classes at AVA Gallery this spring. You may sign up for one or all of these workshops:
Sculpting the Living Landscape: Starting Flowers from Seed
April 9; Monday, 6:30–8:30pm; One 2-hour class
Sculpting the Living Landscape: Perfect Perennials for the Upper Valley Garden
April 23; Monday, 6:30–8:30pm; One 2-hour class
Sculpting the Living Landscape: Organic Techniques for Enriching Soil and Managing Pests
May 7; Monday, 6:30–8:30pm; One 2-hour class
For more information go to www.avagallery.org or call 603-448-3117.
Easy Houseplants to Brighten Your Winter
Many a would-be gardener has been deterred from growing veggies or flowers outdoors because they’ve had a bad time with houseplants. “Garden? Not me! I’ve got a brown thumb.” If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it dozens of times. When I inquire, people tell me they’ve killed houseplants, even the so-called “bullet proof” ones.
More houseplants are killed by over-watering than by under-watering. Some inexperienced gardeners think they are being kind and attentive to their plants by watering often. But roots of most houseplants will rot if kept constantly wet. So my first rule of indoors plants is simple: only water a plant when the soil is dry to the touch. For most, that is no more than once a week. For some once every 3-4 weeks is adequate.
Some houseplants are grown for their blossoms and others for their lovely foliage. Foliage plants are generally the easiest: if it isn’t dead, it probably looks good.
Jade plant (Crassula ovate or C. argentea) is an easy plant that is almost trouble-free. It has thick, waxy succulent leaves that are round and shiny. The trunk is thick in mature plants, and is a smooth gray or brown. My friend Cindy Heath has one, and it languishes in her living room getting no care at all. I mean it gets little direct sunshine and if it gets a drink of water every couple of months, it’s lucky. Last summer I carried it outside on the porch for some sunshine, which prompted a growth spurt.
Jade plants are easy to propagate. Bernice Johnson of Cornish Flat, NH, showed me a jade plant that she started from a cutting 3 years ago that is now about 2 feet tall and 2 feet across. She said that to get a new plant she just snips off a short section of a branch with a leaf or two, and plants it, or sets it in water to root, then plants it. She plants her many houseplants in a mix of garden soil and compost she makes herself from leaves and garden waste. The soil drains well, which is important. She keeps the plant near a north window and waters it about once a month. I find a 50-50 mix of compost and potting soil is good for most houseplants.
Happy Griffiths of Lebanon, NH grows many houseplants, including both rosemary and bay. Those two not only produce handsome foliage, but also edible herbs for use in the kitchen. Both, she told me, like a cool environment with bright natural light. She keeps hers in an unheated sunroom that gets down below freezing on cold nights, but never very cold. Some forms of rosemary bloom annually, though other types do not.
If you grow rosemary indoors, you need to increase the water you give it starting in March, or even by mid- February. The sun is stronger, the days are longer, and the roots and leaves are beginning to grow. Even though it is a Mediterranean plant, if it gets totally dried out – as mine have in the past – the plant dies. Instead of once a week, water twice a week.
Clivia
I grow clivia (Clivia spp.) as a foliage plant – it has long, shiny strap-shaped leaves and requires virtually no care. I’ve had mine for more than 10 years and have never divided it nor fertilized it. Even so, once a year it sends up a flower spike with a big cluster of orange blossoms that last for a couple of weeks. I water it very irregularly –once a month, if I think of it. It doesn’t need direct light, which is nice as I have it in a pot too big for the window sill. Its leaves stand about 30 inches tall.
Another nice foliage plant is aloe (Aloe vera)). It is a succulent that needs little watering, rarely has pests, and survives wherever you plunk it. A nice benefit is that if you cut a leaf and rub the juice on a burn or insect bite it will soothe your skin.
Bernice Johnson grows lots of old fashioned geraniums (Pelargonium spp.) that she keeps on sunny window sills. When I visited her recently she had one in full bloom in her warm kitchen that also has a wood stove. Wood stoves generally are hard on houseplants – they make rooms too hot and too dry for most. But her geraniums thrive – in part because she waters them regularly. In the spring she will cut back the long stems and put them outside, pots and all, for the summer.
I recommend that everyone have a few houseplants. I have too many (including a large banana plant, a hibiscus tree, a nice clump of papyrus and many more). Plants make the interior air more humid, and some take out pollutants. And best of all, they keep my hand in gardening activities all winter long.
Visit Henry’s Web site, www.Gardening-guy.com for more information and photos of houseplants. His e-mail is henry.homeyer@comcast.net
Web Extras: Other House Plants I Grow
Another great foliage plant I grow is a banana “tree”. They don’t get woody, even in the tropics, but can get tall – even in the house. I got a small one 5 years ago and have been growing it in a large pot since then. In the summer it is outside, and in the winter I keep it in a west-facing window. Well, not in the window,but on the floor near the window. The banana has yet to produce fruit, but it has made 3 or 4 shoots that I intend to separate next summer and put in individual pots. My banana is now 4 feet tall, and has never had aphids or other pests.
The exception to the rule, “Don’t overwater” is the papyrus. It needs to grow in a constantly wet location. I planted a small one a few years ago in a nice Chinese vase that has no hole. I water until the water is saturated and standing water is above the soil line. I grow mine in an east-facing window. The stems get to be 3-feet tall, with nice lacy fronds.
Pineapple plants, decorative ones, are also on the market this year. I got one at a florist shop and it is very nice. It has a miniature pineapple on a stem above the foliage, but it will never get big – or edible.
Seed Catalogs
Posted on Thursday, February 2, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Before we launch into this week’s article…
Gardening Classes with Henry
Lebanon College: Gardening: A Practical Workshop. Garden writer Henry Homeyer will teach you the basics of organic vegetable and flower gardening. From garden design to seed-starting , planting, watering, weeding, mulching, and harvesting, this course will give each student practical knowledge of gardening. Tuesday nights from 6:30-8:30 for 5 weeks, April 3-May 2.Contact Lebanon College to reserve a spot for this5-part workshop www.lebanoncollege.edu or call 603-448-2445.
AVA Gallery, Lebanon. Henry will teach 3 classes at AVA Gallery this spring. You may sign up for one or all of these workshops:
Sculpting the Living Landscape: Starting Flowers from Seed
April 9; Monday, 6:30–8:30pm; One 2-hour class
Sculpting the Living Landscape: Perfect Perennials for the Upper Valley Garden
April 23; Monday, 6:30–8:30pm; One 2-hour class
Sculpting the Living Landscape: Organic Techniques for Enriching Soil and Managing Pests
May 7; Monday, 6:30–8:30pm; One 2-hour class
For more information go to www.avagallery.org or call 603-448-3117.
Seed Catalogs
I love thumbing thought the seed catalogs, and look forward to their arrival every year. On the other hand, I do wonder about the environmental impact of having so many seed companies sending thousands upon thousands of catalogs through the mail. So I have resolved not to request any more catalogs and I have started searching for seeds on-line.
Seed Catalogs - Just Say No!
I was inspired to shop on line this year, in part, by Renee’s Garden seeds, which only sells seeds from its Web site (www.reneesgarden.com). Her Web site is very easy to use. Click once, you have a basic description, cost and a drawing. Click on “How to Plant and Grow”, and you get lots of info. Click on “Photos”, and there they are – especially helpful for flowers. I have learned from her articles that are also on the Web site. (see Kohlrabi, for instance)
In my on-line search for interesting catalogs I found an old friend, Dan Nagengast, who now owns a seed company in Kansas called Seeds from Italy. (www.GrowItalian.com). Dan was in the Peace Corps in Mali, West Africa, when I was there. I called him right up and learned that he and his wife have been market gardeners for 20 years, and recently bought the company. He told me that seeds from Italy do well here, and that his company has seed racks throughout New England.
I use lots of fennel seeds in cooking (they add a nice licorice flavor), and love fennel bulbs for use in salads, but have not grown fennel in ages. Dan confirmed that there are 2 different kinds of fennel – bulbing fennel and a wild fennel that produces flowers and seeds that are wonderfully powerful, adding a licorice flavor to soups and stews. I shall order seeds of the wild one, Fennel Sylvatico. I’ll also try their chickory, a green that Dan recommended, and a few kinds of beans – they sell 35 named varieties!
I grow lots of heirloom seeds – varieties that have been around for a long time and that are good for seed saving. Baker Creek Seeds (www.rareseeds.com) is one of the leading companies for heirlooms – their online catalog boasts of 1400 varieties this year. But, quite frankly, finding what you want with that many varieties is a bit overwhelming for me. A paper catalog would be easier to manipulate. Their honesty is overwhelming. Describing one called “Big White Pink Stripes Tomato”, they write “Lovely big, globe fruit … a sweet tropical taste with hints of melon. A lovely tomato with low yields; yes, low. But who cares? It is so gorgeous!” I’ve never seen a catalog admit to low yields.
A great source for organic tomato seeds is in Carmel, CA: Tomato Fest (www.tomatofest.com). Gary Ibsen grows about 600 varieties of tomatoes. Like Renees’ Seeds, they only sell from their web site. They have a PDF file that you can print out to read if you must –but it’s 82 pages. They have been growing tomatoes for many years (and until 2008) they had a tomato festival each fall, hence the Web address. I like the fact that the web site allows you to search for things like “Cooler climate varieties”, or” Gary’s Personal Favorites”. Unlike almost all other seed companies, they grow all their own seeds.
Then I spent some time on the Seed Saver’s Exchange Web site. The Seed Savers Exchange is a non-profit organization that is ”a member supported organization that saves and shares the heirloom seeds of our garden heritage, forming a living legacy that can be passed down through generations.” Anyone can buy seeds from them. If you become a member you get the seeds savers exchange yearbook which connects you to other seed savers who grow and save heirloom seeds (and you can sell your seeds, if you wish). This year there are over 20,000 kinds so seeds available to you. You also get a quarterly magazine and other benefits, including a 10% discount on seeds.
I love the names of heirloom seeds, they tell a story, or the opening line, if you have an imagination. There is the Lazy Housewife Bean, a tomato called Black from Tula (which turns out to be from Russia, not Auntie
Seed Packets
Tula), or the Rat Tailed Radish (Native to South Asia. Grown for the crisp, pungent, edible seedpods (up to 6 inches long) and not for the roots. Pods should be gathered before fully mature and eaten raw, pickled, or chopped in salads. 50 days.). The Seed Saver Exchange Catalog online is not overwhelming – they only have a tiny percentage of the varieties offered by members. About 40 kinds of beans, for example, not hundreds. It gives planting specifications and a photo for each.
And of course, seed racks are great for purchasing seeds. I am a big fan of supporting local businesses and of course, there are no shipping charges for seeds purchased at your local feed and grain store. I like buying seeds of known companies, not the cheapie seeds of some big box stores as I have no idea how they were grown, or where. And of course, organic seeds are better even if sometimes a tad pricier.
For a list of seed companies Henry likes, visit www.Gardening-guy.com. Henry is the author of 4 gardening books. His latest, Organic Gardening (Not Just) in the Northeast, is available online and at bookstores throughout New England.
Web Extra: In addition to the catalogs mentioned above, I buy seeds from lots of companies, but here are some I like best, and what I like about them:
Johnny’s Select Seeds (www.johnnyseeds.com): This is a company that has been selling seeds under the same management for more than 35 years. It’s now an employee-owned company based in Winslow, Maine, and the founder, Rob Johnston is still running it. They supply a lot of farmers I’ve interviewed, which tells me that their seeds are top quality, reasonably priced and reliable year-after-year. They have a great selection of seeds as well as tools, row covers and other gardening/farming supplies. They sell both organic and conventional seeds.
High Mowing Seeds (www.highmowingseeds.com): These folks only sell organic seeds, and are located in Wolcott, Vermont. I like buying seeds from them because they test seeds in Vermont – over 800 varieties every year. I’ve talked to the owner, Tom Stearns, who is in the business not just to make money, but to help change the world. Their Web site explains their philosophy, which says, in part: “We believe in a hopeful and inspired view of the future based on better stewardship for our planet. Everyday that we are in business, we are growing; working to provide an essential component in the re-building of our healthy food systems: the seeds.”
Seeds of Change is another nice company (www.seedsofchange.com). They are fully organic.
Flower Shows of New England
Posted on Wednesday, January 25, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Before we launch into this week’s article…
Gardening Classes with Henry
Lebanon College: Gardening: A Practical Workshop. Garden writer Henry Homeyer will teach you the basics of organic vegetable and flower gardening. From garden design to seed-starting , planting, watering, weeding, mulching, and harvesting, this course will give each student practical knowledge of gardening. Tuesday nights from 6:30-8:30 for 5 weeks, April 3-May 2.Contact Lebanon College to reserve a spot for this5-part workshop www.lebanoncollege.edu or call 603-448-2445.
AVA Gallery, Lebanon. Henry will teach 3 classes at AVA Gallery this spring. You may sign up for one or all of these workshops:
Sculpting the Living Landscape: Starting Flowers from Seed
April 9; Monday, 6:30–8:30pm; One 2-hour class
Sculpting the Living Landscape: Perfect Perennials for the Upper Valley Garden
April 23; Monday, 6:30–8:30pm; One 2-hour class
Sculpting the Living Landscape: Organic Techniques for Enriching Soil and Managing Pests
May 7; Monday, 6:30–8:30pm; One 2-hour class
For more information go to www.avagallery.org or call 603-448-3117.
Each year I rejoice at the coming of the flower shows – they bring a taste of spring. By the time they arrive I‘m more than ready for blooming daffodils and tulips; I hunger for leafy trees and shrubs – even indoors. And I like their ambience: it’s like strolling down the midway at a country fair – but the products are different. Instead of trying to win a bear, I take a chance buying new and different bulbs or plants I can’t get in the ground for another 3 months. The hawkers, instead of selling temporary tattoos and Harley tee shirts, are selling garlic peeler/dicers and handy gadgets for cleaning floors.
The season starts February 11-12 with the New Hampshire Orchid Society’s annual show in Nashua, NH at the Radisson Hotel. Admission is $10, $6 for seniors. It’s a small specialty show, but nice. www.nhorchids.org.
Rhode Island Flower Show Sand Sculpture
The first big one, The Rhode Island Show, occurs February 23-26, and I can’t wait! I went last year for the first time and loved it. They have a wonderful line-up of speakers and educators showing slides and sharing wisdom. There is a real independent bookstore with hundreds of different titles of gardening books – I could stand there all afternoon, just thumbing through them. There are artists, craft producers and –get this – sand castles ten feet tall! (Someone brings in truckloads of sand and artists make a wonderland of castles with moats and gnomes and fairy princesses. It was fabulous last year, and will be there this year, too)
Last year the Rhode Island Show had competitions to see who could make the best sculpture using vegetables and fruit. There were garden hats decorated with flowers and –can you believe it? – women’s bathing suits made of leaves and flowers (displayed on mannequins, not gardeners!) There was beautiful stonework for inspiration, and lots and lots of plants – this year there will be 100,000 blossoms, I’m told. They are adding a food and wine section to the show in conjunction with Johnson and Wales College of Culinary Arts, among others. The show is at the Rhode Island Convention Center, Providence. Tickets $18-15. www.flowershow.com.
That weekend (February 24-26) is also the Connecticut Flower Show in Hartford. I went last year after leaving Providence and it was pretty crowded that Saturday – Saturdays anywhere are the busiest, and to be avoided if possible. It has over 300 booths and 80 workshops to attend over the course of the weekend. This year the theme is “Fabulous Fifties”. Tickets are $16. www.ctflowershow.com.
Next comes the Flower and Patio Show in Worcester, Massachusetts at the DCU Center March 2-4. I’ve never attended, but from what I’ve heard a major emphasis is on patios, outdoor furniture and the like. Tickets are $10. www.centralmaflowershow.com.
The Portland, Maine show is March 8-11 at the Portland Company Complex. Tickets are $15. www.portlandcompany.com.
If you don’t mind traveling, the Philadelphia Flower Show is March 4-11. Admission is $27, but the show is huge – and has gorgeous displays – it’s worth a visit if you can afford the trip. www.theflowershow.com.
Boston Flower Show Stone Sculpture
The Boston Flower Show is always a big event. It’s at the Seaport World Trade Center, March 14-18. I went last year and liked it despite the crowds. Admission is $20. Lots of displays, lots of garden paraphernalia for sale- plan a full day. This year’s theme is “First Impressions” – stressing the “Wow! Factor”. www.masshort.org.
New Hampshire has the Seacoast Home and Garden Show each year at the Whittemore Arena in Durham. This year the dates are March 24-25 and tickets cost $8. www.homegardenflowershow.com.
Bangor, ME has a show April 6-8 at Bangor Auditorium. Tickets are only $5. www.bangorgardenshow.com.
The Vermont show, always one of my favorites, is now held only every other year and is not happening this year.
Whimsy at the Vermont Flower Show
And for those of you with deep pockets, there is the Chelsea Flower Show in London, England May 22-26. Definitely on my list of places to go before I kick the bucket, I’ve never been, alas. It sounds incredible. www.rhs.org.uk/shows.
I try to go to at least 3 flower shows each year. There is something about the scent of flowers in winter that draws me in, and there is always much to learn at the lectures and demonstrations. Maybe I’ll see you at one.
Henry Homeyer’s web site is www.Gardening-guy.com. Go there to see photos of last year’s shows. His e-mail is henry.homeyer@comcast.net
Boston Flower Show
- Rhode Island Flower Show Fashion
Eating from the Garden – Now!
Posted on Wednesday, January 18, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Before we launch into this week’s article…
Gardening Classes with Henry
Lebanon College: Gardening: A Practical Workshop. Garden writer Henry Homeyer will teach you the basics of organic vegetable and flower gardening. From garden design to seed-starting , planting, watering, weeding, mulching, and harvesting, this course will give each student practical knowledge of gardening. Tuesday nights from 6:30-8:30 for 5 weeks, April 3-May 2.Contact Lebanon College to reserve a spot for this5-part workshop www.lebanoncollege.edu or call 603-448-2445.
AVA Gallery, Lebanon. Henry will teach 3 classes at AVA Gallery this spring. You may sign up for one or all of these workshops:
Sculpting the Living Landscape: Starting Flowers from Seed
April 9; Monday, 6:30–8:30pm; One 2-hour class
Sculpting the Living Landscape: Perfect Perennials for the Upper Valley Garden
April 23; Monday, 6:30–8:30pm; One 2-hour class
Sculpting the Living Landscape: Organic Techniques for Enriching Soil and Managing Pests
May 7; Monday, 6:30–8:30pm; One 2-hour class
For more information go to www.avagallery.org or call 603-448-3117.
___________________________________________________________________________
Kohlrabi
I made a nice omelet for breakfast Sunday morning that had (in addition to the regulars of eggs, cheese and onion) parsnips and kohlrabi saved from my garden. The kohlrabi gave crunch, but not much flavor. The parsnips, however, were fabulous. They added zing – real garden flavor in January. I could have used carrots, beets, potatoes, celeriac or rutabagas, all of which I still have from my garden. I really like growing much of my own food – and saving it for use all winter is something I’ve worked hard on. It’s easy, and if you are studying those seed catalogs now, you might think about the veggies you can store well for winter eating.
Root crops like those mentioned above store well at 35-50 degrees, with high humidity – and a low rodent population. That’s right, mice and squirrels like root crops, so storing those veggies requires that you have a system. In past years I’ve stored root crops in 5-gallon pails in a cement-block “cold cellar” with an insulated plywood lid. The cold cellar was installed in a cold part of my basement and it kept my huge potato crop nicely. But mice can slip through the tiniest sliver of space, and sometimes did. So this year I’m trying something new.
Through the town list serve I obtained a free refrigerator, which I installed in my basement. It’s not new, but serviceable. I’m storing my root crops in it, and it is doing a fine job. No rodents to worry about, and it keeps the crops at a steady 35 degrees. Its only imperfection is that fridges are designed to maintain a lower humidity than my vegetables prefer.
Only the 2 vegetable drawers allow me to maintain high humidity, so for the rest I use plastic bins of veggies covered with moist towels. I also have a jute-lined wire bin that I use for carrots and parsnips. I layered them
Blue Hubbard Squash
with moist sand last fall, which keeps the humidity right (available from Gardeners Supply www.gardeners.com). Of all my root crops, rutabagas seem to require the highest humidity, so I place those in the drawers of the fridge.
But not all veggies like cool, moist storage. Winter squash like low humidity and a temperature of about 50 degrees. I don’t have the perfect place for them, but if you have an unheated guest bedroom, that’s perfect. Onions and garlic like the same type of environment. Last year I stored a blue Hubbard squash for more than 12 months! It grows a leather-like skin which protects the interior nicely, and when I finally cracked it open around Thanksgiving the flesh was perfect!
Some years I find my Waltham butternut squashes store for 6 months or more without problems, and then some years they tend to rot. I imagine it has to do with the moisture level at harvest time. I’ve read that washing winter squash before storage and then dipping them in a 10% Clorox solution will minimize fungal rot, and I have done it, but cannot swear that it makes much of a difference.
The freezer is always great for storing veggies, so I am currently using 2 full-size freezers in the basement, and the big freezer section in my kitchen fridge. Each summer I fill gallon bags with whole tomatoes that I freeze for winter use in soups and stews. I suck out the air from the bag with a straw, which minimizes frost on the fruit – it’s almost as good as using one of those machines sold for the purpose, but much cheaper. I just zip the bag shut (up to the straw) and once the bag is clinging to the fruit, I slide out the straw and close the bag shut.
Here’s a list of what I am still eating from my garden, in addition to the veggies mentioned above: frozen broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts, leeks, peppers, beans, zucchini, winter squash, parsley, pesto, corn and peaches bought for winter use, raspberries, black berries, blueberries, plums, elderberries and apples and cider. I have tomato sauce in jars and in the freezer, along with tomato paste in the freezer. Then I have dehydrated Sungold cherry tomatoes, apples, blueberries, hot peppers on the shelf of the pantry or in the fridge. And of course I have lots and lots of garlic (stored whole in a cool, dry location), and a variety of winter squashes including butternut, buttercup and delicata.
But back to that blue Hubbard squash: There is something inherently daunting about a 20 pound squash. First there is cracking it open (I use a meat cleaver, but a saw or a wood splitter would work, too, I suppose).
Processing Blue Hubbard Squash
Then there is the question of what to do with all that squash – when I finally did process it, it yielded 25 cups of pure food.
I placed big chunks of squash in my 16-quart stock pot with an inch of water and steamed it. When the flesh was soft I scooped it out and used some for a soup and froze the rest in zipper bags for later soups. My favorite soup using winter squash (based on one I ate while a Peace Corps volunteer in West Africa) also has peanut butter, hot peppers, fresh ginger, cumin and frozen tomatoes or tomato paste. I sometimes add black beans or kale for variety. It’s a good hearty winter soup that warms the body and soul. It’s great to be eating out of the garden in January. For the complete recipe, and one for roasted spicy squash seeds, go to my web site, www.Gardening-Guy.com. Bon appétit.
Henry Homeyer is the author of 4 gardening books. Contact him at P.O. Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746 or by e-mail at henry.homeyer@comcast.net
Henry’s African Squash and Peanut Soup
This is my interpretation of a soup served throughout West Africa that I learned to love while living in Cameroon and Mali. You can vary the proportions according to your taste – a lot of hot pepper or a little; a lot of peanut butter or not so much. Improvising is good: I have been known to add kale or even fresh cranberries to it. Bon Appétit!
8 cups steamed winter squash, preferably Hubbard, but use what you have.
8 cups water
2 onions 2-4 cloves of garlic 4 fresh jalapeno peppers, chopped, or 1 tsp ground dry jalapeno
(add peppers in small portions until you decide how much you like)
2 stalks celery or half a large celeriac (which I use, because I grow it), chopped
6oz tomato paste
½ cup peanut butter
3 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon cardamom
½ teaspoon cumin
2-3 sprigs fresh rosemary, or 1 teaspoon Herbes de Provence or dry rosemary
2-3 bay leaves
2 Tablespoons honey (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
Cooking Directions: Blend the cooked squash with water in food processor, add to a large heavy kettle in which you have sautéd the onions, garlic and celery. Add the other ingredients and let simmer for an hour or two. If you wish you can stretch the soup by adding more water.
Spicy Squash or Pumpkin Seeds
Remove and clean the seeds from a large winter squash or pumpkin and allow to dry for a day or more on a plate. Oil a large cast iron frying pad and add seeds. Keep heat at medium.
Stir in chili powder or hot pepper powder according to your taste. A pinch of cumin can add zing.
Add salt to taste.
Roast until the seeds are dark brown, stirring regularly to avoid burning.
Inspirations – deCordova Sculpture Park & Museum
Posted on Wednesday, January 11, 2012 · Leave a Comment
January is generally an all-white month in my garden, though this year the snow has been off to a slow start. I love the curves of drifts, the smoothness of open spaces, the contrast between snow and the outlines of my trees, shrubs, arbors and stonework. Snow can create free sculpture in the garden – even without making snowmen.
In many gardens, however, winter is a boring time: without flowers, the garden is largely empty of interest. On a brilliant, blue-sky day I decided to visit an outdoor sculpture garden to enjoy a garden that is full of three-dimensional interest in winter. I wanted to see not only the sculpture, but the trees, shrubs and paths of the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln, Massachusetts.
The deCordova was once the summer home of Julian de Cordova (1851-1945), a Jamaican by birth, who made his money as a tea broker and President of Union Glass Company. It is now offers a 35-acre sculpture park with 60 works of art, a museum (once his brick castle), a store, café and classroom space. When I visited, the museum was closed for the installation of a new show which opens January 22.
I spent about 3 hours looking at the outdoor sculpture and studying the landscape to see what I might be able to do on my own property – or that you might on yours. I am not an artist and have no budget for sculpture, but I had a great experience looking at contemporary sculpture of New England artists – the focus of the deCordova – and the landscape.
Stone Gateway At deCordova
Leaving the parking lot on foot, I was immediately drawn to a glade of trees and shrubs that had a lovely collection of decorative grasses and a stone entrance created by cutting a doorway into large piece of granite. Any arbor or entry catches my eye, and draws me to – and through – it. Passing through this doorway, I ascended a gentle hill which had natural ledge exposed and other cut stone pieces added. Evergreen rhododendrons and tall pines provided texture and color. It was lovely.
At the top of the incline was an open lawn surrounded by majestic oaks and populated with large sculptures. I continued on, climbing a rocky hillside, following a pathway. Paths are great for moving visitors along, particularly in a multi-level landscape – I always want to move forward to see what lies ahead.
In the course of my visit I walked on several types of paths – gravel, grass, stone and pavement. The most interesting to me, and one that can easily be copied without having a big budget, was quite simple: an arrangement of stepping stones. By that I mean that the stones were not flush to the ground, but a few inches above it; each stone was anywhere from 18-48 inches in width and/or length. Due to the irregularity in size and shape, and the fact that each stone was separated from the next by 6-12 inches, the visitor is required to slow down and step carefully.
Steppingstone Walkway
I’d never seen a stepping stone walk like this in a public space. It is not wheelchair accessible (though wheelchairs could travel on the hard-packed smooth lawn near the pathway), and it would be easy to trip and fall if not paying attention. Still, I liked the fact that I could not rush along it. If you have a garden with interesting small flowers, a stepping stone path would be one way to keep visitors moving through the garden slowly to see them – or your sculpture.
At the far end of one path was a 3-foot tall retaining wall on which visitors had made their own sculpture, which delighted me. The wall was decorated with small cairns – 3-6 small stones placed in a pile. I made one myself. Again, this is something you can easily do on your own landscape – now, in winter. You can see a short video of the cairns here:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pPkbBy73iE
In order for your cairn to survive, given the movement of the ground as it freezes and thaws, you need to build it on a stable base such as a stone wall. But if you accept that your stone sculpture may tumble down by spring, you can build one anywhere. I’ve seen cairns that are 3 feet or more feet tall but a nice collection of stones can be just a few inches. Place them carefully so that when you lightly touch the stones they don’t fall.
Pine Cone Sculptures
Sculptor Ronald Gonzalez created a site specific installation, a collection of human-like figures made of pine cones and steel. This is something that I could do, even though my artistic talents are (very) limited. He made simple stick figures of steel rebar, then attached (with wire) various sized cones to create heads and bodies. He created a tribe of them – a dozen or so – standing inside a circle of evergreen trees. I almost missed it when I walked by – but then let out a shout of glee when I saw it. Art? That’s for each viewer to say – but it was fun to see, and I might just create one – for winter interest.
So if your garden is flat and boring in winter, visit the deCordova to see what ideas you can bring home with you – and create something that will tickle your fancy and delight your eye next winter. See below some of the other sculptures at the deCordova:
Sisters, Bob Boemig
Black Hearts, Jim Dine
Laid, Martha Friedman
Humming, Jaume Plensa
Cleopatra's Needles, Liz Glynn
Listening Stone, Joseph Wheelwright
Henry Homeyer is the author of four gardening books and writes a self-syndicated column on organic gardening that appears in 12 newspapers throughout New England. Henry’s Web site is www.Gardening-gGuy.com.
Gardening Resolutions for 2012
Posted on Wednesday, January 4, 2012 · Leave a Comment
I am, at heart, an optimist. I believe that the rodents will leave my tulip bulbs alone, so last fall I planted plenty. I believe that the Zone 5 perennials I planted last summer in my zone 4 garden will survive the winter. I believe that late blight will not return next summer to ravage my tomatoes the way it did in 2010. But I also try to learn from my mistakes – and from the mistakes of others. Each winter about this time I like to reflect on the past year’s gardening efforts and make resolutions about what to do – or not – this coming summer.
Easy Care Shrub, Fothergilla Major
This year I also asked some readers what resolutions they are making, and I’m going to share a few of their thoughts. I’ve had to edit and condense a few, so forgive me if I’ve edited yours – or left it out completely.
As the owner of a corgi, I liked this resolution, from Maria van Beuren: “I will plant the garden without assistance, however enthusiastic, from small dogs.” She provided this back story, which made me laugh:” I crawled down the row, carefully doling out tiny carrot seeds and tenderly covering them. Reached end of row and looked back to see that two puppies had concluded that I needed their expertise in digging and had come along behind me, efficiently trenching. Needless to say, most of the carrot plants I grew last year were oddly distributed in the garden.”
Nelson and Brenda Barter solved the carrot spacing problem (the seeds are small and hard to space properly), saying “We’ve learned that we really like premeasured seed strips for some applications. We always had trouble growing carrots and beets from seed packets, we’d thin them but they’d still bunch up and grow poorly or leave bare patches. We’ve had really good luck with both carrots and beets since we started using the strips; for us, they’re worth the small additional cost.” So try those, next year, Maria.
A number of readers said they were going to downsize next year. Tom Brennan had an interesting way of doing that – stay away from the catalogs:, “I’m going to make my garden smaller. At 79 it takes a lot longer to get things like weeding and cultivating done. BUT the drawback is I see something in a seed catalog and I’d like to try that, or something is said to be the very best tasting – and what’s one more row? So I think I won’t look at catalogs this year.”
Readers Donna and Bill Heroux wrote saying, “Instead of planting just one variety of radish, we’re going to plant an assortment-lots of colors, lots of flavors.” Now that is a resolution that I suspect will be kept – unlike some others which were much more ambitious.
Speaking of ambitious, Carol Mayer wrote, “Ditch the perennials and plant the trees and shrubs” is my motto for 2012. I plan to “garden smarter, not harder” as so many of us are saying now. I’ll keep the hostas and other easy care perennials but those that must be dug, divided, and replanted every 2-3 years must go.” Now that is a great resolution, but it sounds like a lot of work. More than will be done in 2012. And if Carol is like me, it’s very hard to shoot a plant – or throw it on the compost pile.
Might I suggest a modified resolution, Carol? How about this: Dig up 10 or 20 perennials and have a “yard” sale? Then use the money to buy those nice shrubs you want. A big perennial can often be divided into 6 smaller plants that still will sell like hotcakes at $2-3 each. Invite everyone from your garden club or even your entire e-mail address book! Twenty perennials can earn you a couple of hundred dollars. One last suggestion: pot them up nicely in the spring, and then sell them in mid-June when the plants have recovered from the move and look good. And remember that nothing sells better than a plant with blooming flowers!
June in Henry's Garden
Meanwhile Marta Smith had a different approach – “My resolution is to not get carried away and end up planting too many plants for the space I have. My plants were too crowded and consequently did not produce as well as they should have. I will plant less and hopefully reap more, or maybe I will just turn the whole yard into garden space! Who needs a lawn anyway?”
Judy Hallam wrote, saying, “From now on I will only use slow release fertilizer in my garden boxes and containers for healthier, thicker plants. She added, “PS: This was your suggestion, Henry!” Thanks, Judy, Glad somebody pays attention to what I write!
And on a more philosophical note, I’d like to end with this from my friend David Zoffoli, who wrote, “I resolve to not worry about weeding, to go outside when it rains and enjoy life with the plants; to continue to order way too many annual seeds that I don’t plant; to plant more trees for birds, and to eat a pint of blueberries straight from the bush.” In other words, relax and enjoy the garden!
As for me? I resolve to try moderation in everything I do – even though it’s not my inclination! Thanks to all of you who wrote, and my best to all gardeners for 2012.
Henry Homeyer is available to speak at your gardening club or library. His Web site is www.Gardening-Guy.com. E-mail him at henry.homeyer@comcast.net
End of Year Review
Posted on Monday, January 2, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Recently I sent out an e-mail to a hundred or more readers of this column who had e-mailed me a question at some point. I wanted to see how people had done in 2012, and got lots of responses. I asked gardeners to respond to one or more of these prompts: In 2012 I was pleased to see that ….? I was surprised to see …? I was disappointed to see …?
I’ll go first. I was pleased to see my new asparagus patch grew like crazy! I gave it lots of compost, some Pro-Gro organic fertilizer and a healthy dose of green sand. By fall I had 5 or more stems from each root, and most grew 3feet tall! My parsnips grew like crazy, as did onions … and all root crops.
I was surprised to see how deeply my scorzonera (a first year for it) grew into the ground: 8-12 inches, even though each root was less than an inch in diameter. And each was a nearly perfect cylinder. It’s a lesser-known root crop, one that is cooked and eaten, not munched raw like carrots. It tasted good in the turkey stuffing or sautéed with other root vegetables. I was surprised that my beets grew so perfectly, even the ones that I had not thinned enough.
I was disappointed to see, once again, that various blights terminated my tomato harvest early. In the “old days” tomatoes kept on growing and producing fruit through September and into October. We covered them with blankets to keep the frost off them. But not anymore. Late blight finished them off by Labor Day. And of course, there was the impatiens downy mildew that killed impatiens off.
Root Crops
But many readers had great a great summer, due in part, to the sunny weather. Peg Sullivan wrote saying, “In 2012, I was pleased to see that everything I planted (and many things I didn’t!) grew beautifully. My gardens were full of color, flavor, and diversity and I didn’t have one crop failure or disappointment. I was pleasant surprised at the number of bees, butterflies and birds that visited my flower and herb gardens, and with a minor “high security” fence in my vegetable garden this year, I was able to fend off the pesky, but oh so comical woodchuck who hid under my zucchini leaves the prior year and demolished my kale crop. It was an incredible gardening season for me, and more of them like 2012 would be great!
Gary Milek of Cider Hill Gardens in Windsor, VT was surprised to see that he could eat fresh garden tomatoes in December. Last fall his wife, Sarah, pulled some ‘Juliet’ tomato plants that were loaded with green fruit and hung them upside in the garage, where they slowly ripened.
But many readers were disappointed by their losses to animals. Rebecca Tucker on the Black River in Springfield, VT wrote that “In 2012 I was disappointed in that, though I caught one woodchuck early in June in a hav-a-hart trap and delivered it to my neighbor for a stew, I spent the next two months trying to stay ahead of the second. … NEXT year, I’m building a chicken wire fence with a base of PT lumber buried 6 inches down all around the garden.” Many readers complained of the large numbers of mice and squirrels this year, probably due to the relatively snowless winter.
Reader Jan Polex noted that she was “Disappointed by the number of rabbits and what I needed to do to keep them out and also by my poor aim of my sling shot (was better last year)”.
Ruth Winkler of Cuttingsville, VT, among others, wrote that she “was disappointed in the fact that our apple trees this year did not provide us with any. The year before I had so many we were giving them away and I made lots of pies.” I think they will be back next summer – most of us had an unseasonably warm spell in April, followed by a hard frost that killed those buds that were already opening.
Brian Steinwand , recently retired, wrote that he was surprised by “how well some crops do in containers. I can grow a lot in a small amount of space, and even move some of those containers to follow the sun during the day.” I chuckle, thinking of Brian walking his tomatoes like a puppy on a leash! But more power to him! I’m not sure I will ever be able to do that – retire, that is.
Reader Daniel Duffy wrote, “In 2012 I was pleased to see that you were available when I had questions. I am a beginning gardener, just completing my second year. I have your book, Organic Gardening (Not Just) in the Northeast: A Hands-On Month-to-Month Guide, and it guided me Spring thru Fall, with tips, suggestions, guidelines which I was grateful to have. It was particularly useful because of its concentration on the Northeast. You also were kind enough to reply to my many E-mails sent to you. “ Thanks, Daniel. I don’t have the time to answer all questions, but I do try. My best wishes to all of you for the New Year. Let’s hope that next year will be even better than this year!
Wobar and the Quest for the Magic Calumet, Henry’s new children’s book, is available at his web site, www.henryhomeyer.com or your local bookstore. You may write Henry at P.O. Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746 or e-mail him at henry.homeyer@comcast.net.
Protecting Plants for Winter
Posted on Wednesday, December 28, 2011 · Leave a Comment
I know people who take down their Christmas trees right after Christmas. I am not one of them. I think of my tree as a holiday tree, or even a winter tree. I like to keep it up at least until Ground Hog’s Day, and once, when I had a really fresh one, I kept it up until St Patrick’s Day. I like trees outdoors, but having lights and green branches indoors helps dispel the gloom of winter.
Because I keep my tree up longer than most, I keep my eyes peeled for trees set by the side of the road – discarded or unsold. I consider the branches of evergreens to be gold, and bring home unwanted trees. Why? I use the branches to protect delicate plants. You can, too, so don’t throw yours out when it comes down.
Snow is a great insulator, and in recent years we‘ve had lots of snow most of the winter, starting in early December or even earlier. Not this year. It’s been warm and we’ve mostly had rain, not snow through November and December. Or we’ve had cold or snowy periods followed by warm days – a recipe for trouble. Plants do best if their roots don’t go though freeze-thaw cycles, especially plants in their first winter when the roots have not yet extended far and wide.
Freezing and thawing of soil can push plants up out of the soil, or crack the frozen soil open, exposing roots to air – which is generally lethal. Which brings me back to those Christmas trees: I cut off branches and use them as mulch around or over new or tender plants.
Protecting Perennials
This year I planted 3 Himalayan blue poppy plants (Mecanopsis betonicifolia) to replace a clump that died in the winter of 2010-11. My ground is frozen now, and I want it to stay frozen, so I cut some evergreen boughs and placed them over those poppies. A 6-8 inch layer of evergreen branches will do much to keep the soil frozen if we have a few warm days. Of course a week of warm rain will penetrate even that, but there is only so much a gardening guy can do.
I have used Christmas tree boughs to protect tender shrubs by covering their branches, too. I lean the branches up against a tender rose, for example, creating a teepee that protects the above ground portion of the plant as well as its roots. Strong cold winds can kill flower buds – or entire branches of plants that really would rather be growing in Virginia, for example. I have occasionally piled straw or mulch hay over the branches for added protection.
Deer are not a problem for me: Daphne, my able-bodied, full throated corgi of great intelligence, is able to scare them away, even at night. I’m not sure how she does it, since she sleeps in her padded basket near the stove at night, not out protecting my shrubs. But deer rarely come – only passing to pick up fallen apples from time to time. (And once on Christmas Eve, before Daphne, they ate all my Brussels sprouts – though some think that damage might have been done by reindeer).
Protecting Shrubs in Winter
Deer repellents don’t work for long, and tall fencing for deer (8-feet is generally recommended to keep them out) is expensive. So what to do? Small shrubs like the yews favored as a front-of-the-house muffin-like decorations are easily wrapped in burlap, which will thwart even the most determined deer. Garden centers sell burlap by the yard, or in rolls. Wrap your shrub, and then keep it in place with some garden twine. This will also protect tender shrubs from winter winds.
Burlap is also good for protecting sections of the lawn. If your snowplow driver pushes sand and gravel up with the snow in a big pile at the end of the driveway, on your lawn, you will have lots of spring cleanup. If you lay down burlap (or black landscape fabric), you can catch all that messy detritus, making spring cleanup easier.
Don’t spread out a 20-foot section of material, however, as that would be impossible to move, come spring. Cut 6-foot sections and overlap them a little. If your ground is not frozen when you do this, I recommend pinning down the fabric with landscape staples.
One last idea for protecting plants in winter: you can spray your rhododendrons and azaleas with Wilt Pruf . It puts a clear waxy coating on the leaves to keep them from losing moisture and drying out once the ground has frozen and the plants cannot replace moisture lost on warm, sunny days. I’ve used this, and it does make a difference. According to their web site (www.wiltpruf.com) , the product is suitable for use by organic gardeners.
Basically I believe that plants should be able to survive on their own – without any special help from me. But I don’t always follow that rule, and protect plants, particularly young ones, from our cold winters.
Henry Homeyer is the author of 4 gardening books. His Web site is www.Gardening-Guy.com.
Tending Your Soils, Now!
Posted on Wednesday, December 14, 2011 · Leave a Comment
I have a confession to make: I added soil amendments last week without first getting my soil tested. I teach gardening, and the first thing I say about soil is it to get it tested before you do anything. But winter is coming, and I have a good idea what a soil test would tell me. So I added some limestone to my lawn around an aging maple tree, and I added sulfur around my blueberries.
Here’s what my thoughts were: I know that the acid rain we have leaches out calcium from the soil. Maple trees, in particular, suffer if they don’t have enough calcium, so I added some. I used a 28-oz can, spreading 6 containers of agricultural limestone in a circle with a radius of 25 feet around the tree.
Garden Sulfur
I know that blueberries like very acid soil, and that adding some sulfur is a good thing, especially since I haven’t done so in a couple of years. Blueberries perform best when the soil is between pH 4.5 and 5.5, and my soil is probably about pH 6.0. In a 6-foot diameter circle around each bush I sprinkled 1 pound of garden sulfur, which should help.
I recently spoke to soil scientist Dr. Wendy-Sue Harper of Monkton, Vermont to see what she recommended we do at this time of year. Her strongest recommendation was to make sure we cover up any bare soil with leaves, straw or mulch hay. She said that if you have cleaned up the vegetable garden and bare soil is exposed, it’s likely that some of your all-important top soil will wash or blow away before next spring. Gardens on any slope are especially vulnerable to erosion.
Some gardeners take soils for granted. They spread some 10-10-10 fertilizer on the soil in the spring or water with a liquid chemical fertilizer in summer, and they get tomatoes and carrots. But I recommend compost and organic fertilizers because they nourish the beneficial organisms in the soil. In preparing for this article I read a book on soils called, Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener’s Guide to the Soil food Web by Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis. The book, which is highly technical, makes the point that good soil is chock-full of living organisms, millions in a teaspoon, and that any chemical, including chemical fertilizers, reduce the numbers of living organisms in the soil.
The authors explain that chemical fertilizers are salts. You probably know what happens if you sprinkle salt on a slug. It dies. The same happens to your beneficial microbes when you add chemical fertilizers.
Lowenfels and Lewis explain that the microbes in your soil contain not only nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium (the contents of chemical fertilizer) but also all the micronutrients needed by plants but not found in chemical fertilizer. Bacteria, fungi and other microbes hold onto nutrients in their bodies, only releasing them when they die or are eaten by other organisms. The chemical nutrients in these microbes are in a form that can be absorbed easily by roots of plants when released in the soil.
The area right around the roots of your plants is especially full of microbes. Why? Because plants roots give off excess sugars. Plants produce extra sugars by photosynthesis during the day, and exude sugars at night. That may sound crazy, but it isn’t: plants and microbes in a healthy organic soil share nutrients, helping each other. Plants benefit by having fungi surrounding their roots because fungi hold water and minerals that they share with the plants; fungi benefit by getting food from the plants. It’s a win-win situation.
Fungi produce acids and enzymes that can dissolve minerals that plants cannot ingest. The tip of a fungal hypha (rootlet, if you will) can also breakdown cellulose and lignin, tough materials that contain useful ingredients for plant growth – recycling the nutrients.
As I explained in my book, The Vermont Gardener’s Companion, sandy soils have large particles and don’t hold onto water and minerals easily. Think of sandy soil as golf balls in a wire basket. Water flows right through. Add compost – like adding sponges to the basket of golf balls- and water and nutrients are retained.
Clay soils are more like a bowl of baker’s flour: fine particles that don’t let water pass through easily, and are sticky when wet. Loam is what we want: a mixture of particle sizes that allows water through, but retains water and minerals. Whether you have a clay soil or a sandy soil, the easiest way to get that fluffy, loose loam is to add compost.
Compost adds organic matter to feed the microbes in your soil, attracts beneficial earthworms, and improves drainage. You don’t want to be digging in your garden at this time of year, but you can spread some compost on the soil surface around perennials, shrubs, on the lawn and in the vegetable garden. Don’t walk in your beds now; they are wet and easily compacted, injuring soil structure.
So get your soil tested now, before the ground freezes solid. Come spring it takes 3 weeks or more to get test results from a soil test, as that’s when everyone else wants a test done, too. I recommend getting multiple soil tests: one for the vegetable garden, one for the flower beds, and from specialty locations like the lawn or blueberry patch. Contact your local University Extension Service, or go online.
Henry Homeyer is the author of 4 gardening books. He can be reached at henry.homeyer@comcast.net. His Web site is www.Gardening-Guy.com.
Holiday Gifts for the Gardener
Posted on Wednesday, December 7, 2011 · Leave a Comment
Gardeners are easy to shop for. We all need the practical (rubber-palmed stretchy garden gloves, watering wands, garden scissors, plant labels) and appreciate the whimsical (a nice garden gnome to surprise the grandkids). Gardening books keep us occupied during the long winter nights, and garden tools keep us dreaming of perfect peonies. Here are some suggestions for the gardener you love.
This year I discovered Tubtrugs. They are multipurpose, brightly colored, somewhat flexible containers made of food grade plastic that I like to fill up with weeds. I also use them when harvesting veggies or carrying hand tools; you can fill one with water to soak a dry potted plant or wash a small dog. They are easy to carry – handholds are built in. They come in 4 sizes from about 4 gallons to about 20 gallons. I have the 2 smaller sizes, which cost $11-14. Available at your local garden center or from www.tubtrugs.com.
As much as I don’t like plastic, I found another plastic product that is very handy: an Oxo brand watering can. As with other Oxo products, I find it not only functional, but handsome – and these come in a variety of colors. I like that the spout lets you see the water level inside when filling it up, and it rotates for storage (snuggling up, sort of, against the reservoir). The rose, which breaks the stream of water into a spray, is very fine for watering delicate plants, but I often just pull that off and water directly from the slender spout. They come in 2 sizes: 2 gallon ($28) and an indoor model that is just 3 quarts ($18). Available locally or on line.
Each year I have to tout my favorite weeding tool, the CobraHead Weeder, as it works so darn well, and I have met so many gardeners that just love it. It is a single piece of steel with a small, eye-shapede head and a curved handle. It has a nice bright blue, recycled plastic handle. It gets under weeds to pull from below while I tug on the topside; I use it when planting, too, stirring up the soil and teasing out grass roots. I like that it serves lefties as well as righties, and is light enough to please elderly weeders as well as big lunks like me. Cost? About $25. Available locally or at www.cobrahead.com or 1-866-962-6272.
Holiday Gifts for the Gardener
Books help get gardeners through the winter. We read and plan when we can’t weed and plant. I recently got a very handsome, glossy-photo book by Jeremy and Emily Gettle, co-owners of Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. He is quite a character – he started at age 3 and was growing 2 acres of vegetables by age 18. He started his own seed company when he was just 22 years old and now 33, he has quite a large operation – and a book.
The book, The Heirloom Life Gardener: the Baker Creek Way of Growing Your Own Food Easily and Naturally, is interesting and full of personal stories and anecdotes by Jeremy. He is opinionated, which I like, too. Best of all, it has a directory of garden vegetables that not only tells you how he grows them, but guides you to save your own seeds. It’s $30 in hardcover.
Another book I like is Ancestral Plants: A Primitive Skills Guide to Important Edible, Medicinal and Useful Plants of the Northeast by Arthur Haines. This is a fascinating technical book for survivalists, among others. It tells you not only about edible and medicinal plants, but which ones to use for making your own rope or are useful when starting a fire without matches. Haines is young (forty-one), and a serious scholar, having just written a 1,000 page taxonomy of plants.
Haine’s book gives information available in no other book I have found. So, for example, he tells you to eat eastern prickly gooseberries one at a time so that the crushing of the berry is done with teeth, not the palate (to avoid the prickles), and that it is high in Vitamin C, antioxidants and pectin so it can easily be made into jam. Each plant has at least 2 excellent color photos and 2 pages of text. $23 in paper available locally, or from www.anaskimin.org.
Each year I find some nice products from Gardeners Supply Company in Burlington, VT (www.gardeners.com or 888-833-1412). This year I like their pesto storage cubes for freezing pesto or tomato paste. They have attached lids, and fit into trays for storage. At $7.95 for 8 cubes they are a good gift. I also like their Root Storage Bin which costs $34.95. It is a sturdy wire bin lined with jute fabric designed to hold carrots, beets etc. in a cool dark cellar. It allows you to layer moist sand in it, keeping the veggies from drying out. It fits in a fridge I use for storing veggies. They also sell the Tubtrugs mentioned above. Since Gardeners Supply is an employee-owned company that supports lots of good causes, I enjoy supporting them, too.
I’ve been using LED lights this fall to pamper my houseplants, and I find my plants are much healthier this year. Best of all, for 42 watts of electricity I am getting the equivalent of 250 watts of light, and the spectrum of light, the company says, is just right for making plants happy. I got mine from Sunshine Systems (www.sunshine-systems.com or 866-576-5868). Each unit costs about $150 and is suitable for illuminating 5 square feet of plant space. The lights are designed to let you connect several together, which is handy.
Lastly, as an author I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my own new book: Organic Gardening (Not Just) in the Northeast: A Hands-On, Month-by-Month Guide (Bunker Hill Publishing). It’s a collection of my best writings from the past 10 years, organized around the calendar year. It’s $17.50 from your local bookstore or from my website (www.Gardening-guy.com).
So give Santa a hand. Go get something nice for the gardener in your family. And remember to try buying local first: local bookstores, local garden centers – only buy on the Web as a last resort! And Happy Holidays to you all.
Henry Homeyer is the author of 4 gardening books. His Web site is www.Gardening-guy.com.
Click Here to buy from Cobrahead
Another great foliage plant I grow is a banana “tree”. They don’t get woody, even in the tropics, but can get tall – even in the house. I got a small one 5 years ago and have been growing it in a large pot since then. In the summer it is outside, and in the winter I keep it in a west-facing window. Well, not in the window,but on the floor near the window. The banana has yet to produce fruit, but it has made 3 or 4 shoots that I intend to separate next summer and put in individual pots. My banana is now 4 feet tall, and has never had aphids or other pests.
