And the raspberries...well, I think we didn't prune them properly last year, so we'll just see what happens with them this year.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Late May Garden Update
And the raspberries...well, I think we didn't prune them properly last year, so we'll just see what happens with them this year.
Posted by Amy Kate at 2:39 PM 0 comments
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Startin' the Garden...
EIGHTY FIVE DEGREES today, folks. 85. Degrees. In April. In Chicago.
60 and 50s this week.
I'll still take it.
I also claim every year that I am going to get grow lights and actually get my act together with growing seedlings in the basement. And then I don't grow anything.
Where was this guy last summer? Maybe he could have been a mouser...er, ratter. |
Posted by Amy Kate at 10:10 PM 0 comments
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Back for my usual January update...
After feeling so defeated after last season, I am getting amped up for a new season. I lay much of the credit for this on Baker Creek again, as their catalog leaves me drooling, though I also lean to D. Landreth for inspiration, as well.
Keep moving forward, right?
Anyway, we are in the process of looking for a new house, which may take some time. Of course, I am in a panic because like most gardening folks I know, your plans are laid out and in place by March, and who knows when we may find a place, close, and move? It could be March! It could be July! It could be October! What will I do with my garden???
Thankfully, I have already been doing Square Foot Gardening which I think will work to my benefit. My plan is to put bottoms on the boxes I have already built and perhaps put them up on "tables" made of plywood and horses so that if we end up moving mid-season, we can just hoist the "tables" up on the back of the truck and transfer it to the new yard. Thoughts? Suggestions?
Also, you know how after you spend a few years in the yard/garden, you have some plants and areas that you just adore and can't see leaving behind? Each seems to have a story to tell.
- The cherry tree from Michael and Charlotte the Mother's Day I was pregnant with Eleanor. It needs to come with us. It's just 4 years old, so I am hoping moving it will not cause any irreparable trauma. (Again, suggestions?)
- The lilac bushes that I had in about 3 locations before finding they work best next to our swing along the driveway?
- The raspberries that felt like they would never grow and thrive, and now are a veritable patch, and so delicious, and that we munch on straight from the plant all summer?
- The strawberries that started with a couple plants and have multiplied like crazy and I hope will continue to grow like crazy?
- My mini-butterfly garden?
So I guess my question is how poor form is it to uproot everything and take it with us when we move? I feel like a total weirdo, but you know you invest so much blood, sweat, tears, time watching some of these little guys grow, cheering for them, crying when they die off, cultivating new spaces for them to thrive...What to do?
I think it helps that in all likelihood, it will either be a family member moving in here who has minimal (no) interest in gardening or the home may come down altogether, so I don't feel like we are baiting and switching anyone who is purchasing it from us, you know?
It will be bittersweet to not look out at the garden and think "that's exactly where my grandfather had his garden when I was a kid!" but that is a mindset I am battling in every aspect when I think of leaving here.
I need recommendations for the tree transplant for sure (we're just outside Chicago, in the near west suburbs), and any thoughts or suggestions for the other stuff would be appreciated, too!
Posted by Amy Kate at 8:43 PM 1 comments
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Sad Garden and Seed Saving
Yeah, I crapped out on the garden this year.
The ongoing battle/issue with rats in the yard coming from neighboring properties beat me down. After seeing several in the garden (not snacking, just passing through IN THE DAYLIGHT on their way to chew a hole and nest in our garage) I freaked and broke down and ignored the garden for the rest of the season.
No tomato sauce. No frozen beans. No dehydrated tomatoes. Nothing. Just quit.
Which is pretty depressing, and goes totally against my intentions in the garden. My excitement of eating tomato sauce in March made from OUR garden's tomatoes was palpable. Ditto on the frozen beans and broccoli in January. It's an amazing feeling, and one I wanted to build on, and increase our yield and preservation each year. Our grandparents (OK, maybe our great-grandparents?) wouldn't have had the option to "get freaked out" and eschew their garden work for the season.
Obviously, I'm pretty disappointed in this whole deal. But am looking forward to next year ("KEEP MOVING FORWARD!" right?) and am collecting seeds from some of the fruit that has dried out on the vine or needs to be dried out. I planted a LOT of heirloom and non-genetically-modified vegetables this year, which means that saving the seeds should be a great head start on next year's garden.
SO...how does seed saving/local seed exchange work? Just find a local garden club? look on Craigslist? host a seed exchange myself? Is it in the fall or spring? so much to learn!!!
I'll post some pictures of the charming rat holes leading into their burrows under the yard, and the damage they've done digging up my whole strawberry pyramid. Arrgh. MOVING FORWARD!
Posted by Amy Kate at 1:14 PM 0 comments
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Bird Baby!
So one of the most fun things this summer was watching a couple of birds set up camp in our bird feeder to prepare for a little one.
Like March of the Penguins, McCook style - they tag teamed who was watching the egg, we witnessed the way that one would hang on a wire, the sitter would go meet it on the wire and then they'd hang for a couple minutes then make the switch.
And at the end?
A little baby.
Posted by Amy Kate at 10:25 PM 2 comments