Garden tour, oregano, vinca, raspberries

This Saturday is the garden tour. I'm appreciating today the phrase "as welcome as a summer breeze" that is common in so much classical literature. Before air conditioning arrived, those summer breezes would have been even more welcome than they are today as I enjoy making my yard more suburban for visitors this Saturday, 9:00 -- 11:00 AM.

The jungle in the middle is receding, revealing a lot of wandering oregano plants. I hope many of you want to take one home on Saturday! I bought ONE at the Crane House long ago, and now I have... we won't guess how many. It's taken many years, so they aren't frightening if you keep after them. Alas, I haven't since the Virginia creeper has been confusing the issue. Now, THAT is invasive.

I also have plenty of vinca (aka. myrtle, periwinkle) for folks to take from my lawn. I can provide trowels and a shovel, but I'd appreciate your bringing a container. Or you can take one that others have left for me.

I do hope the invasive raspberry plants also find a good new home.
It's a year of tremendous weed growth. I was appalled to read a story of one of you who talked with someone who felt driven to buy five gallons of roundup for his property to destroy all the growth there. Our poor planet! We need to be more accepting of growth clutter. But meanwhile I will use what time I have to demonstrate that a yard can be presentable with NO poisons or power machinery. It's a lovely day for pursuing that goal.

Have a good holiday weekend... here or wherever you are!

Pat

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Open Garden Sat., freebees, update

My garden will be open from 2:00 to 4:00 this Saturday as part of the organic vegetable garden tour sponsored by the Cornucopia Network of New Jersey. All are welcome who can restrict their movements to the green grass, the cement, and the gravel driveway. There will be displays in the front yard, and two other gardens open within American walking distance. Three others will require moving your car.

I'm having fun getting my garden ready and I think it will be quite presentable by Saturday. My eggplants and peppers have JUST germinated, so I went to Bartlett's today and bought some to provide good eating early this summer. I can wait longer for the large quantities I will freeze in the fall. I also planted out some basil, but I discovered lastyear that the plants I kept inside grew much faster than those I put out
early. This may not be "early," but my basil too germinated late this year. However, dozens of basil plants have germinated, and I will have plenty to put around the tomatoes to protect them and to make into pesto, a favorite winter dinner and the easiest item to take to potlucks.

Please don't walk between the sidewalk and the street. I have planted out zinnias and transplanted some Echinacea from a more shady place in the back, and they are vulnerable. Two of the cuttings of my great-grandfather's primrose are also there, and the plants my cousin gave to me three years ago still has impressive red blooms in front of the holly tree. Malabar spinach and tomatoes (that I assume will bear small
fruit, either sweet 100 or sun gold) are sprouting wildly, and I am beginning to pot them up for you to take. We'll see how much time allows.

I've had tremendously helpful guests this week who have neatened up my yard and take home lots of plants. The only thing remaining from last week's list still available is lots of myrtle (aka vinca, periwinkle) that would like to take over the back of my yard. Please bring containers and take as much as you like, trying to even out the lawn!

I will dig grass that is invading my garden to fill in the spaces where my helpers have already dug out other plants, as much as time and energy allow.

Also, I now have allysm sprouting all over. If you want to take that, please do. Leave me a little, but I have far more than I need now.

See you Saturday!

Pat

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What to see and dig on Sunday

When my garden at 56 Gordonhurst, Montclair, is open to the public this Sunday, April 17, the viewings won't be too impressive, but I do have seven varieties of plants that you can dig and take home if your bring your own bag. Extra trowels will help, but I will have some around for the trowelless. I will not have time to distribute bags that busy afternoon.

Actually, right now there is a lilac plant on the right of my steps and two pots of columbine on the left (alphabetical order). The big pot has a columbine I dug from the compost heap, and the small one has two small plants that thought they might invade my vegetable garden. No, no! First come, first take.

For Sunday I have lots of minarda, also called "bee balm" because of the way it attracts bees (and hummingbirds), that I hope people will dig out between the street and sidewalk. It does well in the shade and has nice magenta flowers. I've enjoyed it and its visitors for years next to the north-facing house. When I made the street garden, I thought a little there might be nice. Bad idea. It behaves itself in front of the house, but thinks it wants to take over my front garden. If visitors would dig it all up and put it in tidy shady spots, I would be grateful. Warning: you don't want too much for yourself because it does spread.

Down the neighbor's driveway both chrysanthemums and strawberries are invading my lawn. I'd like that edge straightened to match the line nearer the house. Both will spread. The chrysanthemums are yellow, and their ancestor was given to me by Fred's parents after their 50th anniversary celebration in 1985. They like my front yard, and I like them, but I have some to share.

There are also strawberry plants in the back yard to be dug to straighten the edges of the lawn.

Both in the front and back Dutch iris needs to be trimmed. These have smaller light purple flowers that bloom the week after the Siberian iris. They were given to me by Mrs. Stroili down the street when I moved here in 1975. She brought them when she immigrated from Holland and told me as she delivered them, "They are guaranteed. If they die, they will be replaced." I didn't need to cash in on the guarantee and now have some to share. They aren't terribly invasive, but they've had plenty of time.
Years ago I bought one oregano plant at a Crane's House sale, and its progeny need to be curbed from the back lawn. I'd also like less under the kiwi arbor.

The myrtle (also called vinca or periwinkle) was at the back of the yard when I moved in, but it's moving toward my garden and I have plenty for folks who want to help me retrieve my lawn and take some home.

The garden itself won't be nearly as impressive. You can see tomato plants in WOWs and garlic looking good. I'm not going to invite visitors into the inner garden this time because I don't want to risk damage to the electric fence and you can see fine from the grass now. It's far from the jungle I anticipate in the July and Sept. Open Gardens.

You can see over the fence that the low peas are nicely up. I'm planting out lots of broccoli INSIDE the fence, hoping for a crop for the first time in three years. I'm feeling seriously broccoli-deprived, and there is nothing you can buy that tastes anything like garden broccoli. You will also be able to see the pathetic collards plants that I started from seed in February. Or was it March? Usually I'm eating fresh collards in March, but this year it will be well into April if I'm lucky.

I will leave up my cold frame, partly to show it off, but partly because this year's garden crises mean our eating patterns are different from other years, when by now I have planted that spot to beans and corn. Next week will have to do this year.

With decent eyesight, you will also be able to see my lettuce, pac choi, arugula, and Tokyo Cross turnips, tiny seedlings sowed directly in the garden.

So I expect a respectable show. Right now the flowers are lovely, and I hope that lasts five more days. This year's problems have given this gardener a slight spasm of stage fright, but I think I will have recuperated my composure (and my garden's) by Sunday. See you then!

Pat

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Open Garden Report

I had a wonderful time at Saturday's Open Garden, and I gather most of the other hosts did too. It is wonderful to bathe in communication with so many good people! About 60 came through my back yard, and many more enjoyed the butterfly tent in the front.

We seemed to have an unusually sociable group of 40-60 butterflies. Trina would open the tent flap, and offer the butterflies an opportunity to fly freely, but a remarkable number would sit, apparently happily, on children's fingers. Some remained so long, I wondered if they were injured, but eventually they took off and went far, far upward! They seem to like children's fingers, and the children clearly like them.

In the back yard I fielded many questions. Probably the most common was, "My garden and my neighbors' looks so dry. Why is yours so lush?

I think there are two answers. One is the as-thick-as-possible grass mulch that covers my vegetable garden. The other is the organic matter in the soil that holds water for a long time. I described double digging, which you can learn (as I did) from John Jeavon's book, "How to Have More Vegetables than you ever thought possible on less land that you can Imagine." It's in the Montclair public library. When I started gardening, I double dug spring and fall for three years, and then the soil was as friable as it is now.

This led to the question, "Aren't you afraid of the poisons on the grass clippings?"
"Yes, I think they are terrible. Please see the display about Safe Lawns Montclair (or its website), which is working to abolish them in Montclair. They are totally against the law in the entire province of Quebec. The lawns there look just as lush as ours." Then a discussion would ensue about unpoisoned lawns in Montclair, including one on Upper Mountain Avenue. We old timers told about the beautiful lawns before lawn chemicals became available.

Then I would tell about how dramatically my health improved after a few years of eating my own fresh, organic food. The short story is, "The garden is good for me, even with the poisons. I'm sure it would be better without." Later that day Jose, president of Green Harmony Montclair landscaping service, offered to bring me poison-free clippings. Whoopee!

"Do you turn your compost heaps?" No, I did at first, but that has lost its charm. My heaps turn to compost in a few months in the summer, and more slowly in the winter. I have plenty of compost.

"Do you water your compost heaps?" No

"Do you use bio starters?" No, I put weeds in the compost heap, and apparently the soil on their roots provides enough microbes to get the composting going.

"Why do you have all that soap around?" It keeps away the deer. Last year I had one devastating night in the spring, and I assume it was deer. I've heard that Irish Spring soap keeps deer away, so I sent Fred out for some and he immediately bought an 8-pack. Since then I've had not apparent deer damage in my garden, although some deer have been seen in my front yard.

"Why don't you water your lawn?" Mostly because I think I have better things to do with my life. However, the world is having a water crisis, and it makes sense to get into habits of not wasting it.

"What do you do about woodchucks?" That's worth an entire email, which I hope will get written within a week.

Happy gardening!

Pat

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What you can see in Saturday's open garden

My refrigerator is sufficiently well stocked with fresh raspberries that I can abstain from taking more until the Open Garden this Saturday from 2-4 PM. Barring an untimely visit from purple grackles, that will leave plenty for delicious nibbling by (at least) early guests. Take only those that are dark and ripe, and come off the vine easily! The almost-runs will be my treat on Sunday.

In the garden you can see impressive tomatoes (if I may be allowed some gardener braggadosio), eggplants, peppers, basil, carrot plants, celery, parsley, and just-planted-out pak choi, kale, collard, and Burpee's two-season Chinese cabbage, among other things. The last is in my cold frame, available for $325 from Johnny Seeds, so you can see where I will be picking in January. Oh, yes, and there is the Malabar spinach, pretty on the fence, but not yet providing free seeds.

See you Saturday!

Pat

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Jose's Garden

Just before I left on last week's trip Jose German and I found a common time in our schedule for me to visit his garden. Wow! He has much more variety of techniques than I do. He has a commercial set of short boxes that are suitable for worm composting in the winter in kitchen and he now has outdoors. He has a contraption that makes compost tea overnight. He raises crops in all kinds of settings that suggest nobody has an excuse for not raising some.

He has more beans than you could believe could grow in a Montclair yard. He was harvesting eggplant over two weeks ago. He aspires to rid his yard of lawn before long.

He told me he has 170 native species on his property, seven trees, 14 bushes, three vines, and more than 120 flowers and other plants. Twenty-seven different flowers are blooming "now." He knows an amazing amount about property care, which makes us very lucky that he has started GreenHarmonyNow.com. (If you want his landscaping or advising services, you can get in touch with him there or at 973-233-1106.) He agrees we have an inordinate amount of weeds this year, but adds he has a team of three men who can pull a thousand weeds in three hours!

Pat

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Open Garden report and homecoming

The Open Garden on July 10 was a glorious morning. Many new faces had found us from the STAR LEDGER article the day before. There were many questions, but three stand out 11 days later.

What is the soap for? "Irish Spring soap is there to keep away deer. I had one terrible morning last year, and I dug around for what to do. Then Fred went out and bought me an 8-pack, which I put around the garden."

"Does it work?"
"I've not had any deer since, and they are still in Brookdale Park. They've been seen in my front yard." Last week I visited a cousin who is a professor emeritus of biology and he insists that Irish Spring soap deterring deer is just a myth. However, it seems to work for me.

"What about the chemicals others put on the lawns whose grass clippings mulch your vegetable garden?"

"I live in metropolitan New York on planet Earth. Nothing is pure. However, by the time the chemicals sink into the neighbors' lawns, and the grass is cut, and whatever is left goes into my soil, only a bit of which comes up in the vegetables, I think I'm getting much purer food than anything you could buy. The mulch keeps away the weeds, keeps the moisture in the earth by preventing evaporation, and when it decays, it nourishes the garden."

"What is that plant?"
"That's an anti-woodchuck plant. It deters woodchucks."
"Does it work?"
"Maybe somewhat. I've done several things to deter woodchucks this year and have much less damage than last year."
However, I now know its sap stings human skin painfully, and causes a red rash. It is very invasive, but easy to pull in its infancy. I'm cautiously optimistic, but not as enthusiastic as I am about Irish Spring soap.

"What is its name?"
"I don't know its grown-up name. I call it the anti-woodchuck plant."
"It's euphorbia," said Alphonso, a newcomer. Whoopee! A possible grown-up name! I haven't checked it, but that gives those of you who are curious a name to investigate on the web and elsewhere.

Since I arrived home this past Sunday, I have had three woodchuck sightings in my back yard, so it isn't perfect in its efforts, but it may be worth the trouble. One of my collards plant is nibbled suspiciously, and one young zucchini has had most of its leaves eaten. What self-respecting mammal would stoop to ZUCCHINI leaves? Ugh! However, the plant had a blossom this morning, so it hasn't given up.

My first two zucchini plants died this week, earlier than usual, but they also bore fruit much earlier than usual, so I don't fret about that. I still have two younger ones still bearing, and the two I started in June that I hope will bear into the fall.

Monday morning, two days after the open garden, I left for a vacation in New England, culminating in a wonderful wedding. My five-year-old grandson and his parents stopped in here Saturday night on
their way home to Virginia. It was my first opportunity to show Nathaniel my summer garden, and his response to tomato picking was inspiring. The small tomatoes have become somewhat overwhelming, but he showed me how to enjoy it. Each evening since, I have picked a large container of small
tomatoes (about four cups), which serve as our "fruit" these days.

We're between raspberry seasons except for a few stragglers. It's time to cut out the old bushes, a daunting task. I've been spending as much "cool" time as I can cutting them back. I put two (used) lawn bags of raspberry bushes on the curb today that the collectors picked up. I don't choose to compost raspberry bushes, although I'm pretty fanatic about other organic waste.

I'm feeling lawn-clipping-deprived this week. My garden would like more mulch. But I can understand why others would not want to mow their lawns in this season; mine isn't growing very fast either. It has some brown spots, but I'm sure they will green up when the heat is less intense and the rain a bit more abundant. Weren't those thunder storms this week welcome?!

Pat

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Zucchini, collards, and NJ wind power

Both sex therapies on my zucchini flowers were successful! I will harvest at least two zucchini in the next few days. Until two years ago I harvested my first zucchini on June 26, and last year I was surprised that it was June 21. This year I expect to have zucchini dinner on June 13.

Oddly enough, none of my broccolis are showing any signs of heading. Usually I harvest broccoli weeks before zucchini. Life is endlessly surprising.

We had our first full meal yesterday with snap peas as the vegetable. We're each eating a small tomato every day this week, which is early but pleasant. We have enormous quantities of collards, Chinese cabbage, and lettuce, so we're eating well. Other good news is that I still do have sugar snap vines.

I forward below first a message from Gray Russell, Montclair's Environmental Outreach Coordinator in response to my query about local wind power.

Pat

Montclair's Water Bureau employs two wind turbines which are small, helix-type generators. That means their blades look more like an egg-beater than a wind mill. They are really experimental, but serve as a good model for further wind technologies. Although these are small turbines, Montclair is one of the only towns in NJ with any wind power at all.

Of course, we have the beautiful 7.5-megawatt (MW) Jersey-Atlantic Wind Farm in Atlantic City - visible from the Atlantic City Expressway (more than 30 million visitors see it every year) - which is the first coastal wind farm in the United States. It consists of five (5) 397-foot-tall wind turbines, each generating 1.5 MW of electricity. The project produces approximately 19 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, which is enough emission-free energy to power over 2,000 homes. The electricity is used by both the Atlantic County Utilities Authority (ACUA) Wastewater Treatment Plant, and delivered to the regional electric grid.

And the NJ BPU is studying plans for the nation's first off-shore wind farms, off the coast of NJ, which could host as many as 300 wind turbines and supply 3,000 megawatts - far more than a nuclear power plant - while helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent in the next decade.

Gray

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Energy Independence - Yes, we can!

Last evening on Channel 13 I saw a feature on a town that decided in 1998 to become energy independent. Samso in Denmark has about 4000 residents and is on an island. It succeeded in a decade. Last evening's show pictured the many solar panels and wind mills.

I now want to share a paragraph I read this week:
Energy experts like physicist Daniel Goldstein (the former vice-provost of Caltech and author of "Out of Gas") tell us that within a decade all of energy for America's homes can be generated by solar power in an equivalent of the area of 80 square miles in our southwest deserts. Americans should be aware that the United States has been called, "the Persian Gulf of Wind." Two-thirds of our nation's needed electricity could be generated by the winds of North and South Dakota with the other third by the winds of Texas. But hydropower still accounts for the
majority of the so-called alternative energy today, with 7% of the energy produced.
["Tikkun" July-August, 2009, p. 56]

The article concludes with my sentiments: "As Amory Lovins famously says, "because saving energy is cheaper than making it, pollution is avoided not at a cost, but at a profit." It is time to create an electricity system for the United States that relies neither on fossil fuel nor nuclear power. We can do it starting now - yes we can!"

If Samso can generate all its power without fossil fuel or nuclear power, why not New Jersey? Our solar panels have been surprisingly financially satisfying. Does Montclair have any windmills nearby yet?

Pat

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Tomatoes and coming open gardens

Tomatoes are beginning gardeners' favorites. Garden tomatoes usually taste much better than those you buy, and they are preposterously easy to grow. One of you worried this week that a deer had come through for the first time (near the Upper Montclair shopping center!) and nipped off the tops of his tomatoes. Would they survive? I think so. Some books advocate actually "pinching off" tomatoes, because they grow back more fully. If someone removes your head, you won't grow a new one, but tomato plants are different. Eat their heads and they will grow more, probably more than one.

There is the tale that they need light. There must be truth to that, but I've had tomatoes volunteer on my compost heap and actually bear. More convincing is the tomato plant that volunteered in the front of my north-facing house. "You silly thing!" I said to it when I first saw it. "You won't get any decent sun here, and I've done nothing to enrich the soil." But it impudently kept growing, so I gave it a cage, and it bore tomatoes -- not as many as in the good soil of my garden in the sunny back yard, but nice.

This week I discovered it had more great-grandchildren (or were they great-great grandchildren?) than I had realized. I potted them up and put them on the right of my steps at 56 Gordonhurst Avenue. Jane brought some more, so if you are still tomato-plant-hungry, you can pick them up.

Are there any folks willing to open their gardens on the morning of July 10 or the afternoon of Sept. 11? First and second year gardens are especially welcome. We experienced gardens can be a bit intimidating, and people like to see what can be accomplished "soon."

I took off my floating cover this morning. The root crops are not germinating quickly where I reseeded, but they are thriving in the mini-plots where they did grow at the first sowing. Gardens are mysterious, like much of life.

Pat

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25 Recommended local businesses

It's the time of year when I advertise Bartlett's as a good source of seedlings. They are just north of Montclair on Grove Street on your left. You can see the greenhouses from the road. I've always been pleased with their seedlings. I have nothing against the other nearby garden centers.

My (environmentally aware) bike is serviced by Brookdale Cycle just on the other side of the park at 1292 Broad Street. Mark is the third generation to do this work, and I delight in his service. There are two bike stores in Montclair, but he is closest to me.

The Bread Company at 113 Walnut Street is another family-owned business. It provides fresh-baked baked goods with the best of ingredients - and taste. I make most of my own bread with my bread machine, but when we want a treat, we run to them. They take orders for special occasions, but when you just go in, the choice is wonderful.

Terra Tea Shop at 10 Church Street provides simple meals and a good conversation setting. It also sells a variety of fair trade products.

Go Lightly around the corner at 4 South Fullerton sells environmentally sensitive items.

Milk Money at 76 Church Street is a consignment shop for children's clothing and toys. This helps prevent waste ("There is no 'away.'") and surely saves money. My grandson's presents come from there.

Jose German started Green Harmony Now last year and now has 5 employees! He provides sustainable gardening and landscaping services and advice. greenharmonynow@ aol.com 973-233-1106

Lullaby Lawn Service is a group of enterprising high school students that provide responsible inexpensive landscaping service with no power machinery. Lullabylawns @gmail.com 973-716-1216

This is fun. Aren't we fortunate to have so many fine services nearby? I was unhappy to hear the president of Bolivia say last week both in public at the people's conference on climate change and then to an interviewer that democracy and capitalism are incompatible. I agree with him that trans-national corporations have done a lot of harm and need to be curbed. Indeed, corporations that are too big lose touch with the people they serve need to be made smaller, I think.

However, real capitalism, people helping others and getting paid for it, is certainly compatible with democracy and maybe essential to it. Small business run by people who want to help the people who pay them are healthy and a joy to do business with. Thus, in this season when there is a movement to ban banks with assets of more than $100 billion (hardly small, but dwarfed by some current banks), I hereby want to add to the list of small locally-owned businesses that Fred and I recommend.

Brantley's at 91 Maple Avenue sells used tires. This is really important for the environment (there is absolutely no "away" for old tires!), and we buy all our tires there. It's at least a second generation business in that location.

Mac Automotive at 7 South Willow Street is Fred's auto repair shop.

Tony's Autobody at 126 Washington Street in Nutley is his choice for reliable body work on his cars.

Saunder's Hardware at 627 Valley Road is under new management, but I find them as reliable as the earlier owners.

Aspen East is an exercise center at the end of the parking lot in Watchung Center (122). I prefer less formal forms of exercise, but I am very grateful to their friendly staff for providing a place for my tai chi group to meet when it's too cold in Edgemont Park.

"I've got a notion" is a sewing store with wonderful fabrics along with notions, just to the right of Aspen East (also listed at 122 Watchung).

Watchung Booksellers on Fairfield Street is where I buy books.

Keil's Contractors, led by Gordon Keil (973-746-0603) did a fine job replacing our garage floor last summer.

Joe the Plumber (973-226-6607) is local enough to come to our home -- not the famous one from the campaign!

Stephane Mortier stephane.mortier@designbcm.com is a fine handyman. (973) 873-4330

Years ago I started going to "Mario's" at 213 Bellevue Avenue for my shoe repair. One time I was startled that Mario had turned Korean and had Korean talk radio on. The service continued to be excellent. Recently it changed its name to Montclair Shoe Repair. It's between Valley Road and Norwood on the north side in the middle of a group of stores.

A massage therapist is not exactly a business, but they do support themselves without being attached to big business. I am extremely happy with mine, who keeps me in good health. Marie-Christine Lochot practices at 88 Park Street. Her telephone number is 973-746-7476 and her email is massageappt @ Verizon.net

Since I raise my own vegetables, I'm not as plugged into sources as I might be. The only CSA that I know still has a few memberships available is Genesis Farm. To contact the Community Supported Garden (CSG) at Genesis Farm, call 908 362-7486. The membership form for the CSG is at www/csgatgenesisfarm.org.

The Montclair Farmers' market officially opens on Saturday, June 5. It is held every Saturday through November in the Walnut Street Train Station parking lot, from 8:00 am - 2:00 pm, running all summer and fall into November. A few vendors are there already on Saturday mornings from 8:00am - noon.

Janit London sent me the following: Purple Dragon Co-op provides local organic fruits and vegetables year round supplemented by produce from outside the region, Florida and farther away when necessary. Five types of NJ honey, Blue Earth Local Natural Foods NJ organic blueberry butter, heirloom tomato sauce, heirloom tomato garlic ketchup, NY eco apple butter, organic sunset salsa and salsa verde concentrate, local eggs, meats and cheese, regionally roasted coffee, grains, nuts, beans, vitamins, natural cosmetics, veggie brushes. Janit London at (973) 429-0391 9 am-7 pm or janit@purpledragon.com.

Jane Califf writes, "I just had a few things dry cleaned the other day in an "organic dry cleaning" business: Brookdale Cleaners, 1294 Broad St., which is near Brookdale Shoprite in the north end of Bloomfield and next to a post office. It was amazing to go into such a store and smell no chemicals. My clothes were cleaned well, and I have the satisfaction of knowing that there are no dangerous chemical residues on my clothes. Their phone number is: 973-338-7900.

Aren't we lucky to have 25 local, family-owned businesses to enjoy!

Pat

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Open Garden Report

What a lovely Saturday morning! Both the weather and the guests were delightful. The Open Garden was a success for me in the (usual) sense that it made me feel both happy and useful. There were, as usual, a variety of questions.

"How do you pinch the tomato plants?"
"I don't."
"But they say you should pinch them."
"It takes time, and I don't see any reason for it."
"I'm with you!"

"How do you turn your compost heap?"
"I don't. I tried at first, but it's a lot of work, and doesn't seem to be worth the trouble. I layer green and brown at about four inches, but it doesn't have to be at all exact. That seems to mix it enough for composting to happen in a couple months in the summer."


"What is that pile?"
"That's wood. It takes about a decade to compost, so I keep it
separate from the regular compost pile. Every decade or so, I take the top off, put it somewhere else, and take the good compost from the bottom. The regular compost heap takes less than a year, so I don't want the slow-composting sticks in it."

"Do you put weeds in the compost?"
"Yes."
"But then don't you have weed seeds in the compost?"
"No, it heats up to about 160 degrees, and that kills the weeds."

"That's nightshade," pointing to the wood pile. "I've been told
it is poisonous."
"Is it? It's not poisonous to the touch," I said, stroking it.
"I pull it out occasionally. I wouldn't eat it."

"Why do you have soap around?"
"Irish Spring Soap keeps away deer. I had one visit from deer
last year, and it was disastrous. I haven't had any more since I put the
soap around." It's wedged in various fencing and tomato cages.

"Shouldn't you take the flowers off the greens to make them last
longer?"
"I've noticed that when flowers come, the plants are nearing the
end. I don't worry about them too much, except to remove them to get to
the leaves."

The group seemed tolerant of the fact that I have not planted out peppers and eggplant yet, for the first time in a May open garden. "It was below 50 degrees this week!" The group nodded. I've been cleaning out the mess (dominated by pretty white alyssum) where some of them will go, and discovered in the wilderness a remarkable number of tomato seedlings. Their location and appearance make me suspect they are children of last year's Burpees hybrid supersteak tomatoes. One never knows, of course, what children hybrids will have. However, I've potted up some and put them on the right side of my steps at 56 Gordonhurst Avenue.

I gave the last 3-pack of Saturday's Malabar spinach to a late leaver at the end, but since Saturday, seedlings have been proliferating in my garden. I potted up some today, which are on the left side of the aforementioned steps (alphabetic order). Help yourselves. I will try to keep up a supply in the next few days. Warning: Malabar needs to climb either a trellis or a fence. It tastes much like regular spinach, but is beautiful and last from mid-summer until frosty temperatures.

Today far too many arugula plants germinated. At least, I think they are arugula. The last packet turned out to be Chinese cabbage, but that's nice too. Management error, apparently - I save arugula seed. Are these worth potting up? I won't do it unless there are requests.

Happy gardening!

Pat

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Open Garden report

Yesterday's organic garden tour was a glorious affair with the best possible weather (remember?) and about 80 delightful people. There were almost a dozen violators of the nobody-under-36-months-old allowed, but they were the best behaved bunch of toddlers and two-year-olds I've ever seen. Even that stereotype can be wrong! When a dog showed up, however, I did set limits. Back to the front yard!

Questions were asked about the soap, to which I replied that Irish Spring soap keeps away deer. One set scatted among the fences last year seemed to work for the whole season. In response to questions, I said that Malabar spinach seeds are available from Park Seeds and the cold frame kit from Johnny Seeds. I take it apart each spring and put it back together each fall.


Yes, I put orange and grapefruit peels in the compost heap. I mentioned buying citrus from the Glen Ridge Band Parents' Association each November. I keep meaning to tell this list about this great opportunity, but don't seem to remember at the right time. They deliver in early December and again in early February, and we love our winter fruit.

The groups' appreciation for my baby strawberries was gratifying. I think they are early this year, but that's not surprising. Nobody noticed any baby tomatoes (nor have I), but they did notice the many tomato flowers.

Many people dug my five offered freebees, and I'm grateful to their help in removing invaders. I dug a few more strawberry plants today, which are on the right side of the steps. On the left is a pot with mystery plants apparently left unidentified. Also, nicely identified but not easy to read after the rain, are calendula plants left by Helen. She tells me people eat the flowers in salads, as one does with nasturtiums. (I also eat nasturtium leaves.) Help yourself to anything on the steps, but don't take my houseplants or paper weights on the side!

Pat

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What to see (and dig) in my Open Garden

Since people tend to see more when they know what they are looking for, and an April garden is a bit sparse, I thought I would suggest what you might look for next Saturday, April 24, from 9:00 to 11:00 AM at 56 Gordonhurst Avenue, Montclair.. If you want to "Oh, wow!"" come on July 10 and/or Sept. 11.

If you haven't been here before, be sure to notice the solar panels on the roof (which can be seen only in the back of the back yard) and the greenhouse window sticking out of our kitchen window. My brother-in-law installed it from a commercial kit 30 years ago, and I am very pleased with it. You may have a similarly talented relative, or I suspect handyman Stephane Mortier would be glad to help you install one.

A cold frame that you are not likely to miss holds Burpees 2-season Chinese cabbage, planted in August and harvested all winter, and lettuce at various stages. More lettuce has recently germinated in the opposite side of my garden, and mature lettuce can be seen in the greenhouse window, where it has been harvested all winter. More lettuce has volunteered near the entrance to the inner garden.

Floating cover that admits both light and water is over some crops. This is used to keep crops warm in colder weather, but is now being used as protection from pests. I am currently protecting mature collards that we are eating now in an effort to deter wayward woodchucks. There is also some over broccoli because apparently broccoli leaves have become rabbit food. I use it for a couple months each spring to keep more traditional pests (insects and birds) off the seeds and seedlings of root crops -- carrots, parsnips, and beets this year, all planted in April. That is my biggest FC.

Wall of waters (WOWs) are around at least one tomato plant. I would have taken these off, but I knew you were coming. You will see lots of tomato plants. I started the sweet-100s (red) in January and the sun golds (yellow) in February. They both have flowers! Can you see any little tomatoes?

Other veggies include: garlic in odd spots; one kale plant; hukarei turnips, both some of respectable size and some that just germinated; newly planted-out celery just inside the inner garden, abundant arugula that we do eat but are primarily there to keep woodchucks from broccoli, small pak choi plants inside the fence that were supposed to protect the climbing peas; sugar snap peas readying to climb the fence apparently faster than their protectors; and shorter, earlier peas next to the grape vine. With luck, some corn and beans seedlings will be popping up to their left, sown where I removed the primary cold frame. Celery seedlings coddled inside and not appetizing to woodchucks are along the inside of the fence, interspersed with parsley, which is woodchuck food.

Flowers include bulbs and (probably still blooming) and lilacs. Columbine volunteers at odd spots. Shakespeare wrote repeatedly of "sweet
columbine." Bulbs were not brought from the Middle East until after his death, so I suspect columbine was the first flower he saw each spring.
Most exciting to me are the small red primroses in front of the holly tree and near to the curb, descended from those of my great-grandfather.

The anti-woodchuck plant (name unknown - can anyone inform me?) has planted itself in seven spots around the garden. Here's hoping it's successful! The Irish Spring soap stuffed in the fences keep away deer. successful this year! Vacant spots are still available for supersteak tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, zucchini, cucumbers, and basil. Their seedlings are now in the greenhouse window, but if you come back Saturday, May 22, 9-11 AM, you can see them planted in the ground.

Bring bag(s) and/or pot(s) if you want to dig and take home some strawberries, oregano, Dutch iris, fern, and/or periwinkle (aka myrtle, vinca) plants. You may bring digging tools, but I probably have enough for you to borrow. There are a couple of baby lilac bushes for the first-comers.

Helen wrote me the following on April 15. "Accuweather.com has predictions for the next 15 days. The lowest they predict is 39 degrees on Sun 4/18 and Friday 4/23." I am getting nervy about planting things out!

Pat

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Seedling hiatus

Business" was brisk yesterday. I believe about a hundred plants left my steps. There isn't much there now, and won't be for a few days. I'll let you know if more is available next weekend.

Pat

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Freebees, Spring!, Open Gardens

Gardening in shorts! Whoda thunkit a week or two ago? What will a week from now be like? Meanwhile, it's great for all sun worshipers. My daughter says everyone is a sun worshiper these days.

The lettuce I sowed in the cold frame in January has gone crazy. I'm potting it up in garden soil, just digging out whole patches of seedlings. The pots are now on the right side of my steps at 56 Gordonhurst Avenue, Montclair. Each pot contains enough seedlings for a decent lettuce patch. If you want maximum yield, place them at 6" apart. If you have limited space, they will bear okay at 4" apart. Remember that lettuce is good only for a few weeks, so if you want a continual harvest, sow seeds again every 3-4 weeks. Also, :( woodchucks love lettuce. These are "leaf lettuce," which means you cut only the leaves you are going to eat that day and let the others grow until they are too bitter to enjoy. These seedlings came from outdoors and I expect you to put them outdoors, but it isn't illegal to coddle them in your kitchen.

I will put celery seedlings on the left side of the steps tomorrow morning first thing. These hatched in my greenhouse window, and I'm carefully potting them in potting soil. I'd suggest letting them grow in a sunny window before putting them out. They are tinyly (is that a legit taking only the celery stalks I will eat "today" and letting the plant regenerate. Treated this way, each container will probably feed a family celery for some time, possibly the entire season.

I've decided to put things in alphabetical order: Celery on the left and Lettuce on the right since we read left to right. I'm going to do the same with Purple and Yellow irises, where you have no other way to tell them apart: purple on the left and yellow on the right side of the steps. They have been getting invasive into my vegetable garden, and I've decided they must go. The books say to transplant irises in July, but then the vegetables must be risked to do iris editing, so I'm digging
them today and tomorrow. They are in 6" pots, but you don't need to take the contents of an entire pot; please bring a bag to protect your vehicle. No guarantees on any porch offerings, of course.

There is also a black pot with a mystery plant. I think they are garlic, which are all over my back yard, but this is the first time they have appeared in the front yard. Why not? Anyway, they were cozying up to my great-grandfather's primrose plant, and I decided the plant needed to be relieved of the competition. If you put one back into your soil at about the same depth as it was before, I suspect you will have a garlic bulb late this spring. The alternative, I think, is that you will have a flower sooner or next spring. I bought one garlic bulb years ago, and these are the descendents. I have more than I can use, and give many away.

Necole offered to put her leftover seeds on my front steps for others to take, and I have accepted. I may put out some of my own if I get a round tuit. You are welcome to put your left-overs there, or take whatever you want. A friend brought weights, which are next to the steps, that we use for hand-outs at Open Gardens, and they can be used to keep seed packets from blowing away. I don't mind your putting LABELED seedlings (as well as seeds) on my front steps if you have some to share.

The next two open gardens will be Saturdays April 24 and May 22. My garden will be open from 9-11 AM those days with displays in the front yard. All humans over the age of three are welcome. There will be a tour both days from 9:00 AM to noon. If you want to open your garden at one or both of those times, let me know. Already I have two volunteers for both dates, but we are glad for many.

My Hakurei turnips have germinated. Spring is exciting! I doubt that we will have a blizzard again, but I do expect frost (incredible to contemplate today) so my dozen tomato plants are protected by
wall-of-waters. I have also planted out my pac choi along the fence to defend peas against woodchucks. I put arugula (which the woodchucks disdain) with my broccoli in the hope of harvesting some of the latter this year. Here's hoping we all have good harvests, eaten by humans!

Pat

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Today's Open Garden (and pesticide action)

It turns out I have just as much to say in February about my garden as in May. Hmm... Maybe I have much to say whenever I'm awake? Anyway, people kept asking questions for the whole half hour, and I enjoyed today's impromptu Open Garden very much. About a dozen people showed up, both old friends and some people I haven't met before.

I dug some carrots, and people commented about how soft and easy to dig the soil was. We observed the effectiveness of the bags of leaves in keeping it unfrozen, but afterward I realized that maybe they haven't seen soil so full of organic matter before. Unlike "natural" Montclair clay, it's easy to run your fingers through my garden soil, but that's because over all the years, it has absorbed LOTS of organic matter.

There were comments about the two different appearances of my Chinese cabbage this year. One group is dark green and spread out as it usually is. The other has been infected with some kind of disease or invader. I cut out the affected parts when I prepare it for stir fries, but the result is that I have cut off the outer leaves and the inner ones have "headed up." I so routinely cut off the outer leaves of the heads while harvesting that I hadn't really noticed the difference between the two types before my visitors commented on it.

Some people walked back in the yard in the snow to see our solar panels, and one hardy soul walked all the way back to inspect my compost heap, which I'm not sure she found worth the effort. It still grows these days, but less regularly. I keep a black 1' pot outside my kitchen door into which I put compostables, and then make the pilgrimage to the compost heap only every few days in the snow. The compostables cause no trouble in this weather; in warmer weather they would soon stink and probably attract unwanted visitors.

Someone asked about the practice of gardening only on top of one's native soil, buying soil ingredients. This sounds very expensive to me and unnecessarily consumptive of petroleum. I use only my own compost (from the garden and kitchen), the hundred bags of leaves that Fred brings me each autumn (as he drives around anyway, not using extra petroleum), and others' grass clippings that I use as mulch.

One person asked where I get the grass clippings. "From the neighbors." Nancy was next to me the first time this question was asked and observed with a twinkle in her eye that the gardeners on this block compete for the bags of grass clippings that appear on nearby curbs. I nodded, grinning back. It can become quite competitive, but we have several successful organic gardens on this block. Sometimes I wheel in grass clippings in my garden cart from nearby blocks.
Twice (the beginning and the end of the time) people asked, "Don't you care about the pesticides on the grass clippings that you pick up?" Yes, I care very much in the large, but in the small I figure that by the time the pesticide has been washed into my neighbor's lawn, and the residue into my garden, what grows in that soil is lots better than anything I can buy -- especially if freshness counts. "I live in the metropolitan New York area on planet earth. I'm not going to get perfection."

Both my parents were chemistry majors in college. Shortly before she died 25 years ago, my mother mused, "When we were young, we thought chemistry would save the world. Now we wonder if it has destroyed it." My father lived 14 more years and was less articulate, but he would occasionally blurt out, "These chemicals are dangerous! Dangerous! People don't realize it, but they are dangerous." Yes, I do care -- very much.

This afternoon my email included a message from the Pesticide Action Network of North America, and I signed their petition at http://www.panna.org because of the following statement.
"Thanks in part to our advocacy efforts with partners, EPA is currently considering three related actions that would go a long way towards addressing the realities of pesticide drift exposure in farming communities: stronger buffer zones, better drift labeling, and updated risk assessments. Arcane? Yes. And meaningful, too."

So my visitors' questions have caused me to mix the personal with the political. Yes, I use my neighbors' grass clippings, ignoring what was put on them and commenting that the perfect can be the enemy of the good. But yes, I care very much about the pesticide issue, and more generally the effects of chemicals on modern human life.

I enjoy showing how easy and pleasant it is to grow food without intentionally using any chemicals. And today was a fun time of sharing lots of ideas with great people!

Pat

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What You Can See at Saturday's Open Garden

This Saturday afternoon, Sept. 19, offers an Open Garden at 56 Gordonhurst Avenue, Montclair, with displays in the front yard. The displays will run from 2-5 PM, but my back yard vegetable garden will be open only from 2-4, with the last tour beginning at 3:30 PM. The major display will be a butterfly tent, where you can take charming photos, especially if you bring children. When many children are present, some butterflies will be released from the tent to begin their migration to Mexico. Several butterfly raisers will be available for questions.

In the back yard you can see:
RASPBERRIES, and you can nibble on them if you come before they are all gone!
MALABAR SPINACH, and if you bring an envelope, you can take home seeds so you can raise it yourself next year. First time offer: If you bring a container, you can pick spinach to eat at home. I have so much this year, it seems silly not to share it.
SMALL TOMATOES: You may nibble on these too if you see tomatoes that are either bright red (sweet 100's) or bright yellow (sun gold). These are past their prime, but they are still respectable. They also have lots of dead branches, but I regard these as gray hair in humans.
BIG TOMATOES to be admired only. I have filled over 30 ziplock bags of tomato sauce made from Burpee's hybrid supersteak tomatoes. Each will provide a delicious dinner for two of lentil stew, spaghetti, or eggplant parmesan. These also provide tasty contributors to a pita dinner, or stirred in with zuchinni. I have been harvesting them as they turn color to keep the consumers human, but I may try to let some ripen on the vine to show off this Saturday. One plant under the peach tree with very little sun has borne six big tomatoes. One was 5" across. Yes, they are delicious.
EGGPLANTS I hope, critters willing.
BASIL
CELERY
ZUCCHINI They went two weeks with no females (in contrast to the beginning of the season!) but are now providing both sexes of flowers, and some nice zucchini.
PAK CHOI that promises to give me a good fall crop. Last year it survived the winter and protected nearby pea plants from the woodchucks, so I've planted many of that plant's seeds in auspicious places.
PEPPERS
ARUGULA
NASTURTIUMS Yes, I can eat them, and you may nibble.
LETTUCE, if I'm lucky.
Meager beans because the woodchucks ate them when they were vulnerable.

I mowed the lawn today because rain is predicted for the next three days. This means it will be more lush than ideal on Saturday, but I guess you can forgive that from a lawn that has had no poisons, chemicals, power machinery or watering for 34 years.

If you want to get more involved in the Cornucopia Network of NJ, the sponsoring organization that has promoted local, organic food since 1983, you can join a nearby potluck dinner after the garden and the CNNJ annual meeting afterward. All CNNJ events are free, but a can is available for donations.

I'm looking forward to enjoying a large crowd from 2-4!

Pat

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Open Garden and Newsletter

On Saturday afternoon, September 19 (two weeks from yesterday), the Cornucopia Network of New Jersey (CNNJ) will sponsor an event at 56 Gordonhurst Avenue to share raising butterflies and home gardening. From 2:00 to 4:00 PM I will take half hour tours through my organic vegetable garden. The last tour will begin at 3:30 PM.

In the front yard from 2:00 to 5:00 PM a butterfly tent and other displays will be available. Visitors are encouraged to enjoy close encounters with butterflies in the tent. Bring children and cameras! Trina Paulus, Nancy Taiani, and Bob Simpson, who raise monarch butterflies after finding their eggs on milkweed, will be available. When many children are present, some butterflies will be released to begin their flight to Mexico.

Afterward a potluck supper will be held nearby, followed by a meeting of CNNJ, and then conversation about our current concerns. All Cornucopia events are free and open to the public, but a can will be available for donations.

In preparation for this event, the CNNJ has "published" a beautiful color newsletter with photos of butterflies and articles about them and current food issues. Some of us are busy this weekend preparing the print black-and-white edition for snailmailing. However you can read the color edition at http://cornucopianetwork.org/newsletter.html At that page you can click to get to any of CNNJ's four most recent newsletters; the Sept. issue is the one I am advertising now.

If reading online or printing from the online version is satisfactory to you and you regularly get the print version, I'd appreciate a return email with "no print newsletter" in the subject line, and your name and (at lesat partial) address in the content of the email. It's easier for me if there is nothing else. This will save trees and CNNJ 44 cents for mailing.

Happy reading! and hoping to see you in two weeks.

Pat

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Jose and Stephane: garden and businesses

Jose German urged me to see his garden this week, and I did. It's a remarkable garden, very different from mine. He has LARGE pots in his macadam driveway in which he raises tomatoes, eggplant, and even collards, showing that a paved driveway need not prevent a gardener from raising vegetables. His three large raised beds next to the driveway have wooden enclosures, and they include many different types of edibles. Vegetables are tucked into a variety of other places among the flowers. He raises potatoes ably, an art I have not yet mastered. His pea vines are still up in many places, dead as is seasonably appropriate, but evidence of a good crop without woodchucks. Maybe the critters don't like Grove Street.

Jose's flowers are amazing and abundant. It is little wonder that his garden, at 69 Grove Street, and mine apparently had the most visitors in Saturday's CNNJ tour.

You may remember that Jose has started his own landscaping and gardening business this year, Green Harmony. (www. greenharmonynow.com 973-233-1106 josergerman@aol.com) It is thriving, and he has hired several employees. I keep getting praises from his customers both for his design and maintenance successes.


Jose is one of two of my friends who left a high-paying, money-centered career in NYC to work locally helping people live better lives. The other is Stephane Morteir, who is now a handyman. He writes the following about his current offerings:

"Creative handyman services:
Projects: I analyze problems and present clients with several creative solutions.
Fix/Setup: I also do the traditional fare around the house and outside (walls, doors, insulation, painting, carpentry, plumbing, electricity, landscaping, etc...).
Fix and maintain bikes: I extend the life of these wonderful method of transportation one way or another. I gave a class at the adult school of Montclair last spring, on bike maintenance and ride preparation.
Appliance repairs: Most problems are easily diagnosed with a little research, and fixing them often involves replacing a part, not the whole unit. Having a knowledgeable handyman do the job is a clever way around expensive repairmen (lots of whom end up recommending to buy a new unit for the cost of the repair).
Computer support, repair and maintenance: I've supported technology and users for a bank for 7 years, and still love to share my knowledge of computers to make people more proficient. I can recommend a plan of action to keep your computer humming along for over 5 years (the average life expectancy being less than 2 years). Mine is 7 years old and faster than so many of the computer I work on.

Graphic design: I design ads for stores participating in www.ShopLocalMontclair.com, business cards/logos and manage web sites design projects.

Voila! (Oh, I give French tutoring and conversational too) It is eclectic, as I follow what I love to do in order to provide the best service to my customers. I am meticulous, creative and naturally try to repair rather than replace."

You can reach Stephane at 973-873-4330.

I have lots of faith in these two men, and I hope we can support them in their useful, local businesses.

Pat

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