That Time of Year Gardening

I went to a workshop sponsored by the Regional Farm and Food Project out of Hudson, NY. It was awesome, the first of six, and better yet, I did not have to buy any books! Altho’ he had some I would love to get. Daniel Kittredge is from the Real Food Campaign, and was very knowledgeable. “Nutrient-Dense is a production system based on Biological Agriculture to create an optimum environment for crops to grow at their maximum potential, and thus yield foods and feeds with reliably superior nutritional content.” He talked about the chemistry involved in plant growth, synthesizing protein and other nutrients and how the soil mineralization needs to be balanced. Also discussed amending soil and potting soils, what to use when making own. We then went to the greenhouse for inoculating seeds, and talked little more about potting soils. Altho’ the day was long, it was full of information, and am looking forward to attending the remaining workshops, since he is a “hands-on” type of instructor.

It is only the first week of January and already the temps are going down, down and too far down for beast or man or woman!!! What is a gardener to do? I like to cut back my indoor plants, let them dry out little longer than usual to let them go into their resting times, yet make sure they get enough natural light as possible. Dormancy is rest time for all plants, and it helps when the cycle is able to complete for healthier plants. If you see new growth, you are probably watering too much! Using a spray bottle to mist them is a good way to keep them from drying out too much with the dry air from indoor heating. Also, be sure to turn plants often to keep them straight.

Now that December is here, those of us who celebrate Christmas will be looking for that perfect tree to shine through out our holiday times. One thing that is troubling to me is the question of with what type of tree do we adorn our homes? Some people like the convenience of artificial trees, to keep and use year after year. Others prefer getting a cut tree for the wonderful smells it brings, along with dropping needles. Then there are those who have the space to plant, and buy a growing, potted tree. Lets look at all options, and you can decide which is best for you!

Artificial trees are easy to reuse, and can last up to 10 years or more with good care. They will not aggravate too many peoples allergies, unless the allergies are to vinyls. But most of these trees are hydrocarbon heavy, from the factory to the store.

Live cut trees are very common, my family has had one from my beginnings! Good things: renewable, use the carbon dioxide in the air, earth cooling, habitat creation while growing, and recyclable. But they grow in mono-cultures which involves high usage of pesticides and water, and also create hydrocarbons when trucked, and some need to be trucked long distances.

Potted live trees are my personal favorite, if I had a place to put it. There is some trucking involved, but most are local, which sustains the local grower. If you live in a place with the room, over the years 30 trees will offset the carbons from your home and car! One thing i found on the internet is the Original Living Christmas Tree Co., in Portland, Oregon; who for $55 will loan you a tree, then pick it up and plant it for $10 in a school or park. www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6753079/

Of course I knew that Tiny Choices had posted on this, forgot to credit or mention them, they do excellent and thorough environmental posts, check them out!

pic Flickr Creative Commons by the GraceFamily

Which of course means that probably the worst is yet to come. Here it is the Third of December and we are in our shirt sleeves, so warm, about 60 degrees F.

Yesterday did some envelope stuffing for our local Capital District Community Gardens, happy to be able to do that, raking is out of the question since had surgery on shoulder, some tearing but mainly bone scraping and tendon shortening, now in physical therapy.

But my first love is still available to do: designing gardens, and it is time to look at what you want to change for next year. Read a great book about the American Meadow, hope to institute some ideas in my daughter’s yard in the spring. Also doing some “studying” reading, “Understanding Perennials, A New Look at an Old Favorite,: by William Cullina. He really gets into the basics of botany of plants, almost a refresher for me, but the book goes beyond that with beautiful full color pictures and good descriptions.

A question I was recently asked, and yes, as long as the ground is workable, fall plants, and especially shrubs and trees can be planted! One thing to remember is to water and water and water! Want to get as much water in the soil as possible before the ground freezes. And maybe should wrap if in a western or northern unprotected place to keep the west and north wind from desiccating the plant (sucking the water out of the leaves) It is a little late for the bulbs that need time to start roots, but generally as mild as it has been here in the North East, GO FOR IT!

So many times people can be stuck with schedules, and landscapers are so busy spring through summer and early fall, we sometimes can catch our breath when fall hits hard. But there are so many things to do: putting in more bulbs, raking, mulching, putting burlap or some other wrap around tender plants, wrapping or fencing around young trees for rodent control, and pruning all bushes and trees that do not bloom in the spring (do not want to cut off the future flowers).

Good luck and happy fall, time to get the wood fire stoked up and the hot chocolate started, and don’t forget the marshmallows!

pic from Flickr Creative Commons

I spent all of September in Florida watching Sis’s house and 2 cats, rough duty! (HA!) Had a bay to kayak and swim in, Gulf of Mexico not too far, met new friends, had and great relaxing time.

But I guess the reason I wanted to mention it is the WIDE variety of environments/ecologies we are so lucky to have in this great Nation of ours. Makes my blog mostly a Zone 4 (upper New York as one) areas. I have family in Florida, Zone 9; Arizona,Zones 6,7; and Seattle, Zone 6. So it is even hard for me to make suggestions to my family!

All of the sudden, here in upstate NY, summer is OVER! There were frost warnings further north, and it has been chilly and crisp last few days! If you have tender flowers still blooming, consider covering them at night to save them, we intuitively know that surely (ok, hint of doubt) summer will return with a vengeance! Not quite Indian summer, but late summer usually comes and lingers, then fall comes! A lot of people really love the total change in seasons, it is so beautiful when the leaves turn.

This time of year can be confusing to all of us, from where the sun comes in my window there is a distinct change as the days get shorter. Plants use light to tell them when it is time to shut down and get ready for winter.

Where I worked, we would be pulling all the annuals, no matter how well they were still doing, and get ready to plant bulbs. Or mums. I really love mums, the hardy ones I planted came back again and again, and it was a nice to watch and pinch them into shape during the summer, and then seeing them come into full bloom in late summer and fall. Needless to say, where I worked, sometimes annuals would be replaced by mums, which would then be replaced with bulbs.

Even tho’ it seems as tho’ it is time to start planting bulbs, do not get into too much hurry! Daffodils will start growing, and we do not want that, and tulips, altho’ they need some root starting time, need to watch for animals who love them as much as we do. It is recommended to plant DEEP, the cute little bulb planters are not deep enough to save the bulbs from the animals.

One thing that is good to do now is prune your evergreen bushes (but not the spring blooming ones like the rhodies) back into whatever shape you like. The Yews and Boxwoods are common hedge plants and should be prunned this time of year.

pic by http://www.flickr.com/photos/8525214@N06/

Today was an absolutely beautiful day, and yesterday also, later storms will come through, but pretty much done for the day by the time they came through. Our neighbors over in Western New York had some tornadoes yesterday. YIKES! We lucked out here.

One thing that I have noticed in my walks and cruises around town is how so many people like to have something planted at the base of trees. Sure, bright flowers look lovely, but sadly anything planted at the base of a tree competes with the water and nutrient absorption. Most all tree feeder roots are a lot closer to the surface than people realize, and are usually with in the branch line of the upper part of the tree. The best way to deal with tree bases is to mulch under the tree, but not too high up the trunk or it will eventually cut off oxygen and kill the tree. I love trees. I hug trees, and rub my hands along their bark as I walk along, and hate to go into an urban area where the “landscapers” mulch the trees with little piles around the bases of their highly pruned “lolly-pops.
I guess that I wish more people would respect trees. With this tree and yew (Taxus) combination, everyone suffers, the yews need full sun, and all are competing for the water and nutrients.

Date: Thursday, July 2, 2009
ALBANY — An Alabama-based plant wholesaler linked to a destructive tomato blight that turned up in northern big-box retail stores has pulled its plants from New York and five other states. ”
this from http://archives.timesunion.com/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=8291541

This is a very disturbing headline printed last week on the Albany Times Union. It goes back to your buy local dichotomy you have heard me expound upon too much! We need to simplify our buying for more than just supporting our local farmers, but to keep diseases out of our area. Some will bemoan this as “the big box has cheaper prices!” But the ultimate cost is the spread of diseases, the cost of treatment, and ultimately replacement, or with these tomatoes, the extra time spent pulling and replanting. An as you know, I push for using natives, and trying to make our local ecology healthy. Did I say that before? Sometimes the bottom line is more than just money.

pic by craigemorsels

Sounds bad, right, but only weeding a couple areas on a little dune. In Albany, we have a natural pine bush left over from the last ice age, and the Palisades by NYCity was the dam, so we got the sand! It is so beautiful, walking out in it you think you will see the ocean as soon as you climb the next dune, but no, only the NTS Thruway! Over the years, roads have cut up the area, then lots of building, including a hugemongous mall, at which I personally try never to shop! Some of us old hippies still have our “things!”

One of the main things they are doing is killing off the invasives and replanting the natives. One of the worst of the invasives is the black locust trees, and school kids come out in the spring and help girdle trees. I did this last year, it is fun and hard work! Replanting scrub oak and pitch pines.

Also in the school program, lupine seeds are planted, and cared for until time to bring to the dunes and planted. In the top picture, all the little flags showwhere the baby lupines were planted by these school kid, and these kids were in lower grades! Also New Jersey Tea and Horsemint are introduced as native species to the pine bush.

I volunteer, and right now I have been trying to get the weeds under and around the lupines, because the seeds need bare sand and heat to break the pods for the seeds to germinate. Originally, lightening would spark natural fires, that kept the invasives out and helped the natives release their seeds. Today, they do prescribed burns in areas.