Thursday, January 26, 2012

All it needs is love...

Pots for the herbs
     Oy, a busy week so far.  I know I'm a day behind getting the blog up.  However, I have started some of the slower growing herbs for this year's garden.  I'm using the biodegradable Jiffy pots with seed mix this year.  In the back is a dish with the oats for the cats so they'll leave the regular plants alone.  Since the seeds are so small for the herbs I did a mass spread and will thin them as needed.  Here's to this year's batch of herbs :)



Chocolate sunflower
     Not only that but I went through all the flower seeds and discovered another batch of chocolate sunflower seeds. *evil grin*  Last year only two of the seeds took with some spectacular flowers that lasted through the summer.  I'm looking forward to planting those come April.  I also have some chocolate violas, columbines and pincushion flowers.  Who knows, maybe I'll set up an area in the yard for a chocolate themed garden, not just in visual appeal but scent as well.  We'll see what boyfriend thinks of that idea....


The newest addition to the houseplants
     On a side note, I found a small plant abandoned to the doom that is known as Walmart's garden center.  They are generally horrible with their plants especially in our area because they built the new Walmart with the garden center in the direction of the wind patterns.  There's a history of said wind taking down hundred year old trees and power lines, so of course it's a genius idea to put the plants on the windy side of the building...The poor plant sat in the back room trying to survive in it's paper cup near other clearance plants such as glitterized trees for the holiday season and wilted ferns.  I repotted it in one of the smaller self watering containers and there's new growth so the outlook is hopeful.  It's a really pretty plant and I need something in the office that can survive low light.




Sunday, January 22, 2012

Reflect on the environment

As a gardener we have a close link with the environment as seen in the growth of food for our families as well as ornamental plants, shrubs, and flowers in our garden spaces.  However, what are we doing to protect and invigorate the environment?  While writing this post I'm watching the 2009 PBS Frontline special Poisoned Waters.  It raises an all important question, what are we doing to our drinking water, estuaries, and waterways? The agricultural industry (to include animal farms) provides the largest contribution to water pollution and waste that comes in the form of excess fertilizer and manures that makes their way into the water.

I live a few blocks from Lake Michigan.  There are times when people are not allowed in the water due to waste seepage from further up the shore.  My boyfriend remembers a time when the fish in the lake were deemed inedible for human consumption.  It's all well and dandy to meet regulation requirements, but what about going above and beyond standards?  While I'm not a country homesteader, I am an urban gardener and even though I am just one person among seven billion people in this world, I can still make an impact by implementing eco-friendly measures in my garden.

How about you?

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Fun in the house

The snow just keeps coming giving us nothing to do outside.  As a result we've taken to giving a lot of attention to the houseplants, which at times can be messy...Case in point putting the ivy into a bigger pot last night.  The poor thing needed a new home; however, now it's in the jungle of the dining room instead of its lone window in the kitchen.  The humidity of the sink and the sunshine caused a massive growth spurt for the plant.  However, it now has to deal with the cramped space; however, there are three plant lights (yes, I said three) in the dining room for all the foliage.  My boyfriend jokes that we should release the zebra finches and get a water feature to make it into a tropical aviary complete with ambiance.  I don't know how I feel about that...

But I do have to figure something out about all the plants since I'm going to be starting seedlings soon and my citrus plants should be here in March/April.  I know, I know that's a few months away but sometimes I forget (aka procrastinate) about projects, so the sooner the better.  In addition, we've been eyeballing the small plants at the local supermarkets and stores.  Only because when you walk into my mother-in-laws apartment there are a butt-ton of plants to the point where they're on the floor.  I'm slightly jealous but then I'm not the greatest with houseplants.  I have a tendency to kill them....oops. 

What are you doing to keep busy this January?  Are you looking at the discounted plants as well?

Sunday, January 15, 2012

It's windy out there...

Right after my Wednesday post we got hit by snow.  Several inches later...my snapdragons are buried and the ground looks sparkly at night.  In the backyard, there are trails from the local cats traipsing through my garden area.  Come summer you'll find a cat napping on top the compost bin enjoying the radiating heat.  But for now there's only their prints in the snow.  And since I'm not a big fan of blustery winds that chill to the bone, you'll find me warm and cozy in the house snuggled with a cat of my own :)  Enjoy the upcoming week and stay warm!
A hanging basket on the front porch....


Poor snapdragons, they tried so hard to adapt to winter in Wisconsin...

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Saving newspaper

This morning was recycling; however, not all the newspaper went out with our blue bin.  Nope, I'm saving some of the paper for making my own seedling pots.  I get two Sunday papers for the coupons each week, which results in a lot of newspaper and advertisement inserts.  A few weeks back, as I flipped through one of my garden books I came across creating your own seedling pots using newspaper.  Genius idea!  So I'm scrounging up the paper that doesn't have color ink only the atypical black and white for making said pots. I haven't gotten around to it yet, but at least the thought is there.

I have in the past used the seed trays that come in those kits at the big box hardware stores; however, I always run into a case of dampening off.  I have no idea what's running amuck.  So I'm trying a new approach.  We'll see how it goes...

Sunday, January 8, 2012

January Flowers

     It's not that often that flowers survive during the month of January when you're in Zone 5 like me.  However, with 40 to 50 degree days lacking real snow can make the flowers confused.  Case in point are the snapdragons that I planted last spring along the front flower bed and the pansies lining our new retaining wall in the front yard. Not only are they thriving but they're blossoming.


     In fact, I have a variety of colors popping up along the retaining wall thanks to the pansies while the snapdragons are confident enough to spread out.  They were pretty crazy during the Spring/Summer so I'm wondering what they're up to this time of year and if the colors will be just as vibrant.






     Now I will say that the pansies are sub-zero varieties that die back over the winter then come back in the spring; however, they haven't hibernated.  They're still kicking....Pretty hardy for pansies.  Now, hopefully the weather doesn't confuse my crocus, allium and tulips...

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Daydreaming of Spring

After my last post we got a decent blanket of snow (by decent I mean barely an inch), which only lasted until that following morning.  A for effort I guess.  However, the temperatures did drop quite a bit making me finally pull out the puffy winter jacket.  Bundled up like that kid from A Christmas Story, my boyfriend and I ventured out into the world to check out the New Year sales.  First stop the local nursery.  The place is practically empty.  There's glitter from the Christmas decorations everywhere as if an ornament exploded.  The shelves only house the leftover stuff that 80% clearance cannot get rid of.  While tucked away into a dark corner are the rakes, shovels, fertilizers, everything that speaks of *gasp* SPRING!

But there is some hope...Near one of the registers they had boxes of grow your own mushroom kits as well as mini starter kits for slow growing herbs like parsley, dill and chives.  I eyeballed the mushroom kit.  My family loves mushrooms.  Whenever the 8oz packs are on sale for a $1 I grab an armful.  Otherwise, we don't have mushrooms.  I'm frugal like that and really don't like spending out of season prices for fruits and veggies. Yet, I didn't get the mushroom kit only because the things in the box are alive and I didn't want to risk killing the poor things since we had more errands to run.  9 degree weather can't be good for them...Maybe next weekend.

What I did order this week were....*drum roll please*...citrus plants.  You're probably thinking but you live in zone 5 you crazy lady, do you know how cold it gets?  Why yes I do, thank you.  But here's the genius: they're potted and they were only $9 a pop through Michigan Bulb.  So I ordered orange, lime and lemon as well as a few Sweet William and petunia plants just to bump my order up to $40 to qualify for the order $40 spend $20 deal.  Last year, I made the goal to get mini citrus trees and this year I'm following through.  I'm looking forward to this little experiment.  Our summers are toasty and humid so the trees can hang out in the backyard while soaking up the rays.  In the wintertime, we have plant lights taking over the dining room so they should be fine in the house.  Needless to say I'm excited.

That's all I have for the Wednesday's post, stay tuned for Sunday!

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Bring in the New Year

It tried to snow today and it was really disappointing.  Only because there is no snow on the ground.  It makes me wonder what Mother Nature has in store for us...she's tricksy.  As long as she doesn't mess up my gardening schedule then we're cool.

How's your gardening planning coming along?  So far I have come up with new ideas for my 2012 garden, which includes expansion (woo-hoo!).  Every year I like to try something new.  This year will include pumpkin, melons, and sweet taters.  Last year, the wind storm that took out power for three days broke all my corn stalks so I'm trying again this year.  Talk about persistence, eh?

Right now outside doesn't look so cozy...here's a view of the garden area:


I know really gray, right?  And this is at 3pm.  So desolate looking.  Like my tubs just hanging out?  Yea...I couldn't squeeze any more into the shed...oops.