Go outside with Andrea!

Creepy Trees!

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FYI: The weirder, creepier, ooey-er and gooey-er you make things, the more the kiddos will enjoy gardening, and nature, especially if your kiddos are of the male species. Ahem.

And if you don't feel like getting your hands dirty, observing things around you and pointing them out to the kiddos works well too.

Unless you have teenagers. Then basically anything you do or think up or point out is worthy of ire and derision. But, I digress.

Today I noticed that while the trees around town still don't have any leaves on them, their trunks were turning green right along with the grass.

There I was, paying for my purchases at the local convenience store, mouth gaping open as I looked out the window and noticed that the tree across the street had a-gorgeously-gooey-glistening-in-the-sunlight covering of moss from the bottom of its trunk to the very top of its still life-less branches.

After that observation, I got the camera and convinced the oldest kiddo (who has his learner's permit) to take me for a drive around town so we could photograph the green bark.

Down every street, we found delightfully creepy trees.

The creepiest were within the city park.

Weird, eh?

I oohed and ahhhed and marveled at the glistening green trunks of the leaf-less trees, snapping photos and telling him to stop, back up, and get closer, as needed for my viewing pleasure. He, hands on the steering wheel of the car, mumbled, "They are just trees. With mold growing on them. Nobody cares. You are SOOOOOOOOOO strange."

"This is the most awesome thing ever." I replied, miffed that he was suddenly too cool to care about all things ooey and gooey and interesting in the great outdoors.

"Have you ever seen a leaf-less Cottonwood displaying fuzzy green bark so far up in the sky?" I snorted. "I mean, ordinarily moss grows on the bottoms, or on the north side, but, on every side, and all the way from the bottoms to the tops?! This is a sight to behold, my boy. You have NO idea."

"I mean, this is amazing. Well worth a spot on the memory card."

Green, leaf-less trees.

Awesome.

If you live near here, chances are you've had enough rain to turn the still-leafless-trees in your town green too. But, this strange sight prolly won't last long, so get off the computer, go for a drive and enjoy the awesome sight first-hand.

Labels: gardening without a garden, just for fun, outdoor art

Which one is a weed?

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When they catch me out weeding, in late April/early May, people often exclaim to me, 'How do you do it?' -- 'I can't tell what is a weed or a plant this early in the game?!' I've heard some horror stories about planting poppies from seed, only to pull them all out later, believing they were weeds, or uprooting perennials, thinking swamp weeds were invading the flower bed...other times, I've had friends invite me over to identify which 'ones' are the weeds so they can start weeding before the flowers bloom and they can tell the difference.
Identifying plants is something which comes fairly easy to me, thanks in part to Grandma, and Mom.
From the time I was very young, Grandma, with great gusto, pointed out which of her perennials were peeking through the soil in April and May, and as we walked around, Robins digging worms in the nearby greening grass, she would quiz me about 'which one was which.'
Mom, too, was always pointing out to me which green things coming up in the vegetable garden were the treasures soon to be on our table, and which ones were the thieves that must be destroyed before they stole the precious water from the good plants.
As a youngin' I spent many hours weeding inside the vegetable rows, by hand, as Mom ran through the spaces between the rows with her push garden tiller. It's safe to say my weed identification skills are the result of many years of practice!
I snapped a few photos of baby perennials emerging this morning, to show you what they look like in the early stages. Weeding is far less of a chore if it is done before they get out of hand, and a little effort now, saves a great deal of effort later. So...Can you spot the thief amongst the treasures?

If you guessed the middle photo was the thief, then you guessed correctly. That is a common dandelion, next to some tulips. The top photo is a Delphinium, and the bottom photo is Lamb's Ear. Lamb's Ear takes some time to get going, be gentle when you remove last year's growth on Lambs Ears' as they are sensitive (doesn't the old growth look like laundry lint??) Now I must get off this thing as apparently I have some weeds to pull!

Labels: practical advice

Just Wait...

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When I was last in the 'big' city running errands I noticed the greenhouses in the parking lots were starting to be assembled...and then I saw a woman loading a flat of gorgeous blooming annuals into her car. I wanted to gently grab her arm and tell her kindly, 'just wait'. But, no matter how kindly one says unsolicited words of advice out loud to a total stranger, you come off as a know-it-all. So, I kept my mouth shut :) and realized that blogs are the place for know-it-alls to give advice... And so, dear green-loving friends of mine, a bit of advice, learned the hard way by yours truly after thirty years of dirt under my fingernails: The best thing you can do, when living in South Dakota is resist the urge to plant tender flowers and vegetables too early.

Don't get me wrong, I relate to the urge to want to get outside and get going!!! The photo above, which is of the far end of our vegetable garden, was snapped on May 1st, 2007, after the soil had been cleared and tilled several times in the latter weeks of April, and the 'cold' stuff had already been planted.

I've always been 'in' the vegetable (and other) garden by the middle to end of April. Potatoes, peas, lettuce, radishes, and onions are among the seedlings which can tolerate a frost, and even seem to 'like' cold weather. It's best, though, to wait with the 'rest' of your plantings until after Mother's day, or even later than Mother's day (around here, it's a fairly safe bet that it won't freeze after Mother's day, however, nothing is certain!). Also, it's best to plant into fluffy soil that isn't still heavy from moisture and frost coming out of the ground.

This year, however, the season seems to be pushed back even further, and 'just wait' seems like even better advice than it ordinarily is...

Don't worry, though, there is always a season. When we have late Springs, fall seems to be extended, and we get our nice weather then.

If it isn't the weather, doesn't it seem like there's always some other circumstance to work around?

Due to the building of a new home where our old one used to sit, the vegetable garden shown above is now tracked through by pay loader and earth mover wheel tracks as the people running those earth movers must have thought I'd rather have my garden ruined than have the grass be ruined (oh, how little they know, eh?)...up until it got tracked up, I was still planning on having a vegetable garden this summer...but, well, I may end up begging and borrowing from the neighbors. Hey, some of them do owe me from prior years of sharing, so it'll all work out. I'm confident I'll still get my fresh veggie fix...somehow or other...and I'll have plenty of garden-y things to blog about, don't worry :) as the earth movers will not be able to get anywhere NEAR the perennial garden, which is protected by a big ole fence...ha.

Speaking of the perennial garden...

The above photo was also taken May 1, 2007....sigh...these tulips are barely coming out of the ground in late April of 2009...doubtful they will be blooming on May 1st...Yesterday as the temperature rose to nearly 90 degrees (according to my car*), I told myself I HAD to get into the perennial garden and finish clearing off the dead debris**.

Then, just like that we dropped 40 some degrees in an hour. As I put on a sweatshirt and took the hedge clippers in hand, snapping down the Sedum stalks to make room for this year's growth, something told me to wait with clearing off the rest of the perennials...Just wait.

In volatile Springs where winter won't leave... leaving that dead growth as cover for a while longer is the best gift we can give our perennials.

I should also mention that if you REALLY wait with some of your plantings, say until the end of June and beginning of July, most of the stores have amazing close-out prices on plants and it is actually a great time to find deals. And though the stores are clearing out of their plants, the earth is just getting into the swing of the growing season, and we gardeners should be as well.

So, again, back to the point of this post: when in doubt about getting started in the Spring--just wait a while. You won't be sorry and neither will your plants.

*My car thermometer is rarely accurate

**For stellar perennials it is important to clear off the prior years' growth in a timely fashion the following Spring, just be careful not to uproot the entire plant!

Labels: pennywise potatoes and thrifty tomatoes, practical advice

I was gardening before gardening was cool!

written by A. 1 comments link

I just felt the need to say that :) The photo below is 'proof' that I came into gardening at a young age...that is my Grandma's house, on the farm I grew up on (she and grandpa lived right next door!) My sister and I are posing in front of Grandma's much beloved Hollyhocks.

Actually, I am very excited to see that people are steadily, and now suddenly growing more interested in gardening. Due to rising grocery costs, and shrinking wallets (and retirement funds) sales of vegetable seeds are skyrocketing.

Of course, most of us who were gardening before gardening was cool would agree that the reasons why we do it have more to do with a lifestyle choice, a taste difference, and the 'love' of it, rather than the pocketbook. I will continue to garden, 'for the love', though I understand that others may stumble upon this site and desire to know a less expensive way of going about something or other--or at the very least would appreciate knowing the true cost of a plant or project I may talk about. Since I now have an upcoming writing project and an upcoming talk, both in which I've been asked to talk about 'ways to save money' (but still have fun!) in the garden...I'm finding, and dreaming up, ways to do just that.

Stay tuned for more 'frugal' tips under the pennywise potatoes and thrifty tomatoes category.

Labels: pennywise potatoes and thrifty tomatoes

Jan. = Plan

written by A. 1 comments link

Every winter, I find myself thumbing through last summer and fall's photos with nostalgia. I am eager to get my hands back in the dirt (an etiquette book once admonished me that proper ladies refer to the earth as soil; never dirt. Which is why I now make a point to use the word dirt. Being a proper lady would be boring, no?)

Here we are at the end of last year's season, clearing off the rest of the crop before the first hard frost hit. The green pumpkins in the photo were a variety called Blue Moon.

Due to below average late summer temperatures, they never did have time to mature into the blue color shown on their seed packet... However, they were a delightful green, and I would attempt to grow them in the future. (Not so with every thing that we've tried!)

And, yes, my boy is in shorts while I am dressed for winter. Indian Summer is never quite warm enough for me.

You would really roll your eyes if you saw how I bundle up when the weather gets truly cold...

Whether you are a novice, or an avid gardener, by this point in the new year, you have more than likely received garden seed catalogues for 09'...Mine came, like clockwork, on Jan. 2.

They are already full of sticky notes, pen circling, and folded pages. Among the new (at-least-to-me) things-I-have-to-try in 09':

Tomato Soup Echinacea
Lil' Pump-Ke-Mon Pumpkin
Fairy Tale Eggplant
Bule (gourd)
Knucklehead Pumpkin
Red Meat Radish
Blue Mouse Ears Hosta

Seed catalogues, (whether or not you order from them), provide a valuable tool to help you plan your adventures in gardening for the coming Spring. They are educational, with simple things from-- which plants are shade or sun loving, perennial or annual-- to the complex--which varieties are disease resistant, or freeze, can, dry/dehydrate best. Not to mention, seed catalogues are free! All of which makes them a great resource to help you become more familiar with the old standards, and for leading you to exciting new varieties and tips and ideas for experiments you can do with your kiddos (there is usually an extensive section in the back full of handy products, books, and gadgets; you can even find fun things like ladybugs and worms and mushroom growing kits...).

People ask me often where I find the 'best' seed. Each year, where I order from, or buy from, varies. And each year, I am starting to save more and more seeds straight from my garden *, and I've had gardener friends give me seeds they've collected and saved.

I don't have a great place to store seeds, though, in our tiny home, which lacks a basement (and a garage!). But, if you have a good spot in your home; you might want to take a moment or two in the late summer/fall to grab a few seed pods and throw them in Ziploc bags or canning jars (just learn from my mistake and be sure to label them. I'm not the best at remembering to label things...)

When I am ready to purchase seed, or plants, usually I end up going with a combination of several stores, greenhouses, and online sources.

One online source I've gone back to for years, is Renee's Garden. They are a reliable source to order heirloom, classic, and novelty varieties of flower and vegetable seed online; especially if you want to give a packet of seeds as part of a gift. (Renee's seed packets are gorgeous!)

Planning is a large part of the FUN to be had in gardening, so I hope you join me in thumbing through those seed catalogues and dreaming of Spring.

*Grandma saved seeds every year, storing them in clear canning jars in her basement root cellar.

Labels: practical advice, produce, winter ideas

And even more costume ideas...

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Since he ordinarily wears his hair super short 'Dad' buzzed Mr. Clean's hair extra short and clean (pun intended) last night, and this morning we applied white clown makeup to his eyebrows, added a clip on gold earring, a white t-shirt, and voila! Mr. Clean appeared in my house...err, but no, he didn't start cleaning anything...

How we made the Michelin man: an off-white pair of sweatpants and sweat shirt, in a men's small size, a pair of white puffy slippers (women's), a pair of white gloves and a white hat (also womens--and the gloves and hat were only $1 at WalMart, and the slippers, pants and jacket will be go into the boy's wardrobe after tonight, they are already arguing over who gets what...who knew sweat pants and slippers could be such wanted items?). Three bags of poly-fill, and some white string was also used. After stuffing him, we tied string up and down his arms and legs, tightly (the old 'put your finger on the string' when tying it came in handy), to make the 'tube' effect. I printed a logo (found online) onto sticker paper for the final effect.

Labels: just for fun, practical advice

More Costume Ideas...

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Okay, okay, as I stated prior I am not a fan of things 'creepy.' But two years ago I let things go to the last minute and we had no costume for the youngest when trick or treating day arrived. We whipped this one up in about twenty minutes.

I should note that at our house we have a big rubbermaid container full of old clothes, props, thrift store shirts, wigs, old masks and other various parts and pieces 'on hand' for those last minute needs during Homecoming week at school, class plays, and other events where costumes and creativity are needed. When the kids were younger we called it the make believe box...and it was always a big hit--and so simple, plus it provided a place to store, keep, and USE (playing with something is using it, eh?), those costumes year round.

The headless man was actually quite easy, as I stated above we came up with it at the last minute! First we cut eyeholes in a box, then cut some discreet 'eye holes' into a cheap second hand store dress shirt, pinned fake hands (you could use gloves) onto the bottom of 'Dad's' suit coat, wrapped a tie around the neck (you can't really see the tie, but it added a lot to the overall effect!) and voila, he stole the show-- a kind couple across town snapped this photo and shared it with us later, thankfully as I know I snapped one but can't seem to find it...la la la, nothing new THERE!

Labels: just for fun, practical advice

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Creepy Trees!

Which one is a weed?

Just Wait...

I was gardening before gardening was cool!

Jan. = Plan

And even more costume ideas...

More Costume Ideas...

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