mudpies's Blog

Fresh produce
Jul 25, 2009 | 8:32 AM PST
Tags: fingerling potatoes , peas , carrots , onions , dill

C has done a great job of keeping such a large veggie bed weed-free in my absence.  While I regard weeding (especially hand-weeding) as a necessary evil, C calls it his relaxation.  He gets down on his hands and knees with a little L-shaped hand tool and winkles those nasty weeds out from between the plants.  He even worked away at my cutting bed despite his assertion that he won't tend any plants that can't be eaten.  I shouldn't cut him up so much.  Thank goodness he finds his carelessness as amusing as I do, but perhaps not as annoying.

Early this week, I dug three hills of fingerling potatoes - enough for a meal for us, one for the old gentleman who mows our lawn ( Before any of you think I'm taking advantage of him, he does it with a ride-on mower to keep hiself active. In return, besides paying him, I bake sweets for him.) and one for the friends who introduced the species to us. They were yummy.  Next week, I'm going to make 'Spring Stew' which is simply small new potatoes, fresh peas, baby carrots and small onions in a basic cream sauce.  I add fresh dill to the sauce sometimes, but it can be left unflavoured or any other herb can be subsituted for the dill.  I'm a dill freak and there's way more in my garden than I can use.  The recipe works only with veggies fresh from the garden.  I've tried using purchased produce in the past and produced a dismal failure.  I don't understand why.  That's just the way it is.

Today, C and I are off to watch one of our granddaughters compete in a horse show.  According to her mom, and judging by the number of ribbons on display in her bedroom, she's a very accomplished rider at 9 years of age.  We are supposed to get thunder storms this afternoon.  I hope not.  I really want to see her ride in competition.

Take care, everyone, an happy gardening.

Pickerel for dinner
Jun 22, 2009 | 4:53 PM PST
Tags: pickerel , cucumbers , cucumber beetles , herbicide , pesticide , Strawberries , pears , potato , Colorado potato beetle , carrots

C came home with several nice pickerel (walleye) from his fishing trip.  What a treat!

It's very warm here today - upwards of 80 degrees.  I know that's relatively mild to some of you southerners, but the sudden change in the weather from cool and wet to very warm  makes it seem even warmer.  I don't think I had a single mosquito bite today, but the horseflies were out in droves.  I think the change in the weather made them less alert than usual, because I was able to smack three of them - after they bit me, of course.

We went to the farm and discovered that our cukes are up.  Now if I can only keep those darned beetles at bay.  Ontario has strict new laws about pesticides and herbicides, so I can no longer buy Sevin or malathion.  There are a couple of pumpkins up, and a few buttercup squash, but no sign of my gourds yet.  C ate the first strawberry from our newly planted patch.  We had to till up the old patch last fall.  The weeds had taken over.   I'll have to wait till next year to get any quantity.  We've always had more strawberries than we could eat ourselves, so I resent having to buy them, but C and a couple of my sons-in-law plus a lot of grandkids can't be deprived of home made strawberry jam.  Pears are beginning to form on one of our trees.  The other tree, which is a year older (12) has never borne fruit.  I'm guessing it's because it takes the brunt of the wind and the blossoms get blown off, but that's just my best guess.  Most of our spuds are up and so far we've only found three potato bugs.  They're sneaky little devils, though.  We have to watch carefully.  C squishes them, but I'm too squeamish unless I have gloves on.  I drown them in a bucket of water.  We're going to have to replant carrots.  For the first time in 12 years, the soil *sandy loam) was too wet for the initial planting.

I spent most of the afternoon tidying up my shade bed and another area adjacent to our shed.  I turned the soil in that area last year so C wouldn't have to go at it with the whipper snipper.  I put in a few perennials, but for the most part I intend to fill it with self-seeding plants:  hollyhocks (or outhouse plants, as my mom calls them), bachelor buttons, forget-me-nots, etc.  There's still a lot of weed seed in that bed, especially stinging nettle, so my hands are sore this evening.  I was too impatient to put gloves on.  DUH!!  I was happy to note that plantain leaves crushed and rubbed on the affected area provide relief from the stinging, thanks to LynnChristo's blog.

While I was working on my shade bed, I came across a large paw print - way too large to be that of most dogs, but not as large as a bear print.  Besides we don't have bears in this area, anyway.  I showed it to C who was as puzzled as I was.   We considered and rejected coyotes.  The print was too large.  As I worked my way along the bed, I came upon a second print - a little larger than the first and not as well defined.  After working away all afternoon and upon closer inspection, the answer finally dawned on me!  I'm pretty sure it's a grandchild print!  If you remember, I created that bed using the lasagna method.  The soil's still very light and spongy. so a child's foot  would sink down into it and expand in size.  I expect my step-son took his brood to the farm to let off some steam, and in their exuberance, one of them ran into my garden.  I also expect that the little rascal got yelled at - hence, only two footprints.

I'm so glad I found this site - great members and great solutions ! ! !  Take care, all.

A warm day, at last!
Jun 14, 2009 | 7:10 PM PST
Tags: potatoes , carrots , beets , Cleome , asters , zinnias , celosia , bearded iris , poppies , peonies

Today was one of those gorgeous days that make me feel happy just to exist on this planet - sunny and warm with billowing cumulus clouds overhead.  I need to remember to start wearing a hat and/or sunscreen.

It's a good thing the weather put me in a good mood, because C is pushing his luck again.  I spent the morning tidying my house while he headed for the farm.  By the time I got there, he had gotten too close to my sunflowers with the tiller and planted four more rows of  potatoes from some of the small ones we had remaining from last year's crop.  That makes eighteen 40' rows of potatoes, folks!  What in heck are two old people going to do with that many potatoes??  I'm going to have to sneak pails full of them into the back seats of my friends' vehicles when they're not looking!  There are still five 5-gallon pails full in my cold cellar.  I had asked C to bury them under the compost heap.

As well, he decided that we don't have enough carrots and beets in the ground.  I still have seed for both, but had decided that two rows of beets and three of carrots were sufficient.  Oh no!  He secretly bought more seed and in went another row of beets and two more of carrots.  At harvest time, C expects me to distribute them all over town - particularly to the widows of some of his deceased friends.  That's a pleasant pastime because I get to visit, but it's also the time when I need to be in my kitchen canning and freezing produce for our own consumption.  It's a good thing I love the man, or I'd compost HIM! 

I planted cleome, asters, zinnias, and celosia in my cutting bed.  I know it's late, but the soil has been cold and damp up till now.  I've never planted annuals from seed before, so this is a learning process.  Wish me luck.

I spent some time edging more of my shade bed, but forgot to take my camera with me.  Will try to remember tomorrow.  I also planned on taking a photo of some of my favourite imperial irises.  I also have violet ones, pale yellow ones and a Japanese variety, but nothing can hold a candle to imperials in my books.  My oriental poppies are getting ready to bloom.  I hope I can find a nice day to photograph them when they do.  I consider poppies and peonies to be the tarts of my garden - a little over the top - like Dolly Parton - absolutely gorgeous despite their short shelf-life.

Enough gardening talk.  Back to mundane chores.  I need to start a load of laundry.  Take care, everyone, and happy gardening.

Catching up
Jun 13, 2009 | 8:36 PM PST
Tags: gladiolus , Cucmbers , gourds , squash , potatoes , Growing Tomatoes , Sunflowers , carrots , radishes

Now that I'm back on line, I'd better try to record what's been happening in my absence.  I hope to use my blog as a guide next year.  Hopefully, it'll remind me of successes and failures so that I can repeat the good stuff and avoid the problems.

First of all, I got my gladiolus bulblets planted a week ago yesterday.  I haven't seen any sign of them sprouting yet, although several of the parent bulbs planted the previous day are already through the ground.  I'm anxious to put my new bulbs in, but I'd better wait till later this week in the hope that they'll be ready for our fall fair.

I didn't go to the farm for a week.  Last weekend was really nice, but we went to visit with C's family.  His son-in-law's children from a previous marriage hosted a barbecue to celebrate their dad's 50th birthday.  It was a lot of fun and I got to see my mother-in-law for the first time in a couple of months.  She's a wonderful woman.  I'm so fortunate to have her in my life.  After that, we got rain, rain and more rain.

Today was warmer than it's been for a while, albeit overcast.  C tilled up the bottom of our garden without incident, (No plants damaged because he was far away from those that are beginning to show.) and I planted cucumbers, gourds and squash.  That's it for seeding this year.  Now comes the weeding and freezing and canning.

Our potatoes are coming up nicely.  No bugs yet, thank goodness.  C says, 'No more wide row planting!'  He finds it too difficult to distinguish weeds from veggies, but I spent some time cleaning the peas and beets up and he feels a little better about it now.  The tomatoes I started at home are amazing - tall and strong - some in blossom already.  I'll have to remove the home-made cloches this week and replace them with cages, but I want to mulch heavily with straw first.  Those that I bought at the nursery are coming along more slowly, but I'm sure they'll catch up soon.  There's no sign of my carrots yet.  I'm annoyed with myself, because I generally plant a few radishes in the carrot rows so I can see where they'll be and keep them free of weeds, but I forgot to do that this year.  I almost forgot to plant radishes with my cukes, too, but fortunately C reminded me.

One row of sunflowers I planted a week ago are already an inch or so high.  The volunteers I transplanted are almost a foot high.

After I finished with the veggie garden, I spent some time weeding my new shade bed.  I'm delighted with its progress.  Will try to take and post some photos tomorrow.

I want to plant some cleome and other annuals in my cutting bed tomorrow.  I wish I'd gotten them in earlier, but the rain and cool weather has kept me away more than I'd like.  Hopefully, they'll come along quickly.

Take care, everyone, and happy gardening.