thriving on neglect...

 

bb's garden, be it ever so freaky...

tired cherry toms and vibrant chrysanthemums

all the chrysanthemums (4) I bought for $1 each 2 years ago on sale,
end of season scraggly, skinny, tall things, planted them,
they took root, survived the winter, and got BIG.

broccoli & chrysanthemum friends

broccoleaf

carrots living in a corn forest

stringed beans

tiny, adorable volunteer melon

empty tomatillo husks

the overview: not pretty

But, it all depends upon where you look.

Hunker down among the mums, and it's gorgeous.

=)

somnambulistic gardener?

 
Friday afternoon, I looked down, there was a shovel in my hand, dirt on my jeans, and, apparently, I'd turned over the soil on one of my 5x14 foot garden plots.

Did I commit a crime while sleeping, and wake up after burying the body?

Nope: it's somnambulistic gardening, gardening while asleep (or otherwise in an altered state).

Weather's been SO GORGEOUS lately, I think it's casting a spell upon me, and my body starts gardening, while my brain is still checked out.

Today it grabbed hold of me again, I planted lettuce (marvielle de quatre saison, in the back on the right, 2 long rows) and Swiss chard (neon lights, in the blob section in the foreground). Pretty much too early for the latter, but I really don't care; it was delightful.

And now that there is dirt under my fingernails, my mood is MUCH better than it was this morning. Hooray for earthen meditation!

xobb

tiny sparkling jewels: mid-winter gardening update

 
FYI, weather's been warmer and things actually GREW in the last few weeks.

First, an overview shot from December 24th.

In a word: ew.

Clearly I have spent virtually NO time here.

Much clean up to be done. Oops. =)

Next, more shots from Christmas Eve, 2010.

Plants tiny and hardly growing at all.

lettuce plot: TINY tiny things

very cute fraternal twins?

pretty & tiny

pak choi plot

broccoli plot

kale

kale leaf: such a gorgeous plant!

The main reason these guys are so tiny is that I planted stuff WAY late, so they didn't get time to grow before it got cold.

And since we're at over 3,000 feet in elevation, it gets pretty darn cold.

However, it's been hitting 60 lately, the days are getting longer, and it's been sunny and dry. So, I ventured out today, almost exactly one month later, and what did I see?

Things have GROWN! It's not a jungle, mind you, and still a ways from being harvested, but things are no longer almost invisible.

lettuce plot. aren't they adorable?

the twins--they're growing up so fast! =)

Glamor shot. SO beautiful.

Feel free to click to revel in colors and textures.

 Dark and mysterious lettuce.

Actually, looks kinda like bunny ears. =)

It's grown, this broccoli.

Not sure you can tell, relative to last month, but take my word for it.
You can tell the colors are getting more complex.

Kale plot.

 Not super easy to see the kale for all the weeds. =)

Closer view of this beautiful plant.

Again, is this a gorgeous leaf, or what??

So, THAT is the latest re: my garden. I didn't even bother taking pictures of the beets which have not grown in 3 months. Still tiny tiny.

Getting in the mood to clean up the garden, so if I make any significant progress, I'll share.

=)

What's happening in your garden, if you have one?

xo

bb

don't know your first frost date?

Just type in your zip code here. Just used it and it even showed me the data upon which it was based, which is great. I think this only works for the U.S.

THEN, go to Skippy's Vegetable Garden's fall planting calendar (top of page in parens on right) and type in your 1st freeze date.

Ooh, also, you can (per Skippy's VG) also go to a Burpee site for the date of first frost, so I typed in my zip code and got this: http://www.burpee.com/gygg/content.jsp?contentId=Zone8#null. I'm in zone 8.

Excerpt from the Burpee page:

Discover what you should be doing right now.  Our experts share gardening advice, techniques, news, and ideas to make your garden the best ever.  

Here's what's happening in your gardening region:

• Direct Sow Second Season Vegetables
• Transplant Indoor Started Vegetables
• Prepare Your Garden for Garlic and Shallots
• Start a Fruit Garden
• Plan Your Spring Blooming Flower Bulbs
• Plan for Fall Perennial Planting

So, which among those things am I doing now? Uh, none? Oh, well, I did put the dirt back into an area where I plan to put my irises (those which I've not managed to kill by keeping in a pot outside for 2 years).

I practically tripped on a huge zucchini while watering yesterday, then discovered several large cohorts--yikes! This is only PART of what I harvested yesterday (total was 10.25 lbs!), and a loving portrait of my favorite chef's knife and the beautiful cutting board a friend MADE for us when we got married. It's from urban wood (the trees they cut down in the city) so it's SUPER "green." ANYhow... =)

I am getting psyched to plant some fall veggies and just ordered purple broccoli to over-winter. If I get this done and am successful in raising veggies via post-August work, it will be a first.

Baby steps toward year-round sustainable living. BABY steps. 

Winter, she is coming (for us north hemisphere folks)... This was my view out the window in winter at Mount Rainier NP. I'd NEVER lived in a place where the snow bank would climb up your window.

Anyhow, check those sites out if you don't already have a plan for your fall garden, then you should have enough to do to keep you OUT of trouble and INTO vegetables.

=)

biobabbler (ps working on a post with more Merced NWR pics)