Gardening Blogs at GardenTenders.com

NOVEMBER 2009 #2: BAD blog novice!!

dott — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:36:12 GMT

No question anymore. I definitely overwrote an entry from last November.
Thought those things
locked-up and locked-out rewrites after a while—No? Oh well…. No great loss.

last blooms for 2009

mario1360 — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:07:45 GMT

here they are, these roses are from the Walmart $1.97 bushes I got last spring. They were amazingly prolific but they dont have any perfume.
There is nothing left in my yard….till next year….

Shrubs

GardeningGoddess — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 01:47:20 GMT

I am always so sad to see my garden turning brown, and withering; so this year I decided to plant some additional shrubs and trees as the season ended so that I would still be able to garden for a little longer. I planted a couple of Burning Bushes, and a Witch Hazel tree. They seem to doing well so far. The shrubs actually turned a beautiful shade of red before the leaves started to fall off.

Our Move #2: Replanting - Day One

Ingrid — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:42:51 GMT

We finally had a beautiful and warm day today. It was 63 degrees and gorgeous out! My 20 year old and I, with occasional help from my 11 year old were able to get 24 of the plants from my last house replanted. Tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful out again before the cold hits again so I placed some 3 dozen other plants so it will go smoother then. The plants were stored in our barn for the last two weeks and I guess some thought spring had arrived, they had new growth and some were budding!! Our last home was in the Adirondacks and very sandy. We are near the Allegheny Mountains now and the soil is so rich and moist. We went to the top of the property to look at where I wanted to plant the pines my children had brought home from school for Arbor Day over the years. We were amazed! The Realtor/owner had sold us more then was originally mowed and our neighbour was kind enough to use his brush hog and clear to the property line as much as he could considering it has been raining almost constantly all summer and fall. When we went up the hill we decided where to place the gazebo we plan to have built in the next year or so (we had to leave ours behind). From the top of the lawn we can see the neighbours pond and for miles to the north and south! This is where we planted the smaller crab apple we saved from the old house. We figure by the time we get the new gazebo, the tree will be well rooted. Everywhere we planted, the ground was so moist. A lot of my labels didn’t survive the move so we have a lot of mystery plants. This should be interesting in the spring.
We are glad we rescued my babies. We heard from friends and family in our old town that the new owners cut down all but three maples on our tree lovers lawn and bulldozed everything that was in their way. The lawn was already level, they bulldozed to remove all remaining plants. I think all I left behind was my spring bulbs and some Foxglove that spread massively and I couldn’t get all. They didn’t say about what happened to the flower beds my son built for me. I had felt badly that I had removed all of my plants and didn’t leave any but now I know I did the right thing.
The last person here at our new home loved Day-lilies. every bed has many of them and because the property was rental property before we bought it, the last tenants let everything go to weed. Our allergies were in full swing today. Tomorrow we’ll remember to use our allergy meds before we go to work on the remaining plants.

Recipes #13: Whole Grain Porridge

MsDebbieP — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:08:24 GMT

Nov7/09

I adapted this recipe from one I found online.

——————————————————————————————
1. spray inside of crockpot with oil
2. combine the following (mix well) and put in crockpot:

1/4 bulgar
1/4 c long grain brown rice
1/4 c barley (home-grown—oh yah!)
1/8 c cornmeal
1/8 c millet
1 c mix of rolled oats and steel-cut oats
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c dried cranberries
1/4 c goji berries
2 tsp cinnamon
one scoop of protein powder
1 tbsp psillium fibre
1 tbsp flax seed flour (I’d use flax seed but they say that until it is crushed our bodies can’t process it)

3. Stir in:

6 c water
2 tbsp vanilla

4. Set crockpot to low and let cook overnight.

5. Stir the contents in the morning and serve up with some milk and some sesame seeds sprinkled on top

———————————————————————————————-

This makes LOTS so I put the leftovers in the fridge and I’m good for the week. Just a little microwave zap and voila.

I also made up packages of the dry ingredients so I can just grab a bag and add the water and vanilla.

This recipe is a hit with everyone here.

Master Gardener Course #3: Class 3 & 4 - Woody Plants & Vegetable/Annuals

Al_PG — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:17:59 GMT

Well things are moving along nicely in my Master Gardening course. This course does require a lot of time, I’m glad they have it set up so a class is every second week, if not I think it would too much to squeeze in with the rest of life.

Class number 3 was titled Woody Plants, this was one of the ones I was very interested in when I saw the course outline. When the yard is ready for planting I want some tree/bushes that have a many purposes as possible, (looks, shade, fruit or nuts, etc.).

The class covered: Identifying wood plants, large trees, small trees, evergreen trees, deciduous shrubs, evergreen shrubs, vines, fruit and berries.

We discussed and the reading went through problems with typical planting sites, soil conditions, light, fertilizer, water, how to plant, moving, drainage, diseases, predators, winter protection and care. Another thing that was given out and discussed was a sample tree inventory that was done in our city. It was very interesting to know what others have planted and what stage of growth they are at.

Class 4 – Annuals and Vegetables. I remember helping Mom and Dad with the vegetable garden at a young age (5-8) but when we moved after that they never had one again, although now they do have some container veggies. My wife and I tried to have a full on veggie garden about 5 years ago but didn’t plan it out well and didn’t have the time to take care of it. The last few years we have planted some herbs in containers but I do want to make some raised beds to plant veggies in if not next year the year after that.

The overview of this class was: Planning a vegetable garden, seed vs. bedding plants, vegetable families, growing conditions, gardening tools, soil preparation, rotation planting, irrigation, weed control, when to plant, how to plant, transplanting, season extenders, container growing, soil mixtures, harvesting and storage. There was a lot of information for me to absorb in this one.

The next two classes are going to be Composting and Landscape Design 1, than we have a break until middle of January. I’m going to try to use the long break to hopefully stay ahead on the reading requirements, I’m sure that’s easier said than done.
Thanks for reading

Hydroponic garden #13: We be havin' a bloom!

NavyCop68 — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:19:23 GMT

A quick development I just noted tonight, even with the drop in temps over the last couple of weeks, we have blooms on one of the tomato plants! Very cool and a couple of quick shots to show that the darn things are still growing like weeds!

From Hydro Garden 2009

And, back to your regularly scheduled blog…

Moon Halo

MsDebbieP — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:22:46 GMT

Nov 4/09

This morning (at 4 AM) I woke up and the almost full moon had a giant ring around it. Beautiful.

A moon halo is created by a thin layer of cloud (formed from ice crystals). Supposedly this means that bad weather is coming. According to folklore the number of stars within the ring indicate how many days away the storm is. This morning there were 0 stars within the ring.

Late Blooming Iris

DougPhoto — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:03:36 GMT

What a surprise to find an iris reblooming in our garden this morning. The supplier guaranteed it would, but we were skeptical.

November colour and texture.......................

Iris43 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:52:29 GMT

On my morning tour of the gardens, I had to remove a sheet of ice from the birdbath. I guess it’s time for me to plug it in.
I’m surprised that the begonia and spiderplant doesn’r show signs of being touched by the frost…...we’ve had some very cold nights. There must be enough shelter under the trees to protect them. But after the severe winds we had over the weekend there isn’t much protection left under the trees. So I thought I’d take a few of the very last blooms (I’m sure they must be the last).