This coming Saturday, April 25, the Cornucopia Network of NJ will sponsor the first of three spring organic vegetables garden tours from 2-4 PM. This tour includes three gardens: mine at 56 Gordonhurst Ave. (with displays in the front yard), Renae Baker's at 68 Beverly Rd.(one block away), and Mary Szumski's at 166 Alexander Ave. Mary's is a first year garden, begun with the help of Jose German of Green Harmony, Inc. It provides inspiration for prospective gardeners to see what can be done the first year. Jose is glad to help others get started. Renee's is a "front" yard garden that can be glimpsed over the hedge on the Grove Street side any time, but will be easily accessed with commentary on Saturday. It is on the southeast corner of Grove and Beverly. I have raised almost all my family's vegetables for decades, but this is our first APRIL Open Garden, responding to requests for a tour while there is still time to start a main-season garden. Collards, lettuce, kale, and garlic are in full season. Chinese cabbage and pak choi are nearing their end, but I won't pick them all this week. You can see seedlings of (new) lettuce, arugula, celery, parsley, peas, and Hurakei turnips. Carrots and parsnips are under floating covers. There are tomato plants under wall-of-waters. One, started by Renee on January 11, actually has a tomato today that is likely to be as large as a marble by Saturday! While you visit, be sure to admire my lawn. I have never used poisons, chemicals, power machinery, or a watering hose. The same is true for the garden, except that I do water it during droughts. However, I have not watered my vegetable garden with a hose in the past two years. (I use a watering can for babies.) Everyone over the age of three is welcome. Babes in arms are also acceptable. The event is free, but a can for donations will be available, as will literature on how to join Cornucopia. My tours last about a half hour and can be joined at any time; the last will begin at 3:30. There will be other garden tours on May 16 and 17, but mine will be the only garden open all three dates; there are ten in total. Pat Other events of interest-.
Learn about the founding of Anderson Park a century ago and how it shaped Upper Montclair and led to the formation of other parks in town. Also hear about plans to restore the park's landscape, designed by John Charles Olmsted, and place the park on the National Register of Historic Places. Free. Sponsored by Friends of Anderson Park. Meet at the boulder at the park's northeast entrance, near Bellevue Avenue, east of North Mountain Avenue; 10:30 a.m. Light rain does not cancel, but heavy rain reschedules to May 16, same time. Information: (973) 744-8433, or lisanne@friendsofandersonpark.com or www.FriendsOfAndersonPark.com.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
OG Saturday, more lilacs, revised further schedule
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Lilacs, lawns, onion grass, kiwi, etc.
I was sitting on my front steps this evening when a stranger walked by with his dog.
"Good evening," I said.
"I LOVE your lawn," was the response. "It looks great." I'm not one to let an opportunity like that slip by.
"We've lived here 33 years, and that lawn has never had any poisons, chemicals, power machinery, or watering." His jaw dropped. "This lawn has never been watered in 33 years!"
"It looks great. Just GREAT!"
I thought you might be interested in this interchange. (There is a moral to this tale.)
Lawns in the garden are less welcome than in the front yard. My late friend Tom Haas used to take such lawn and use it to repair places where it was better needed. I've been doing a bit of that this week, mostly where the irises, which I should have clipped last fall but didn't, have smothered the lawn.
One friend agreed this is a great year for onion grass (that scallion-type plant that pops up "everywhere"). She said her husband said it could be just mowed, but she thought that just postponed the problem.
I decided they were both right, but it started me thinking. To the extent that I have time and inclination to remove onion grass, I should give priority to places where it can't be mowed -- like in and around the garden, orchards, the garden paths, and the gravel driveway. I prefer using squat-time to plant peas or transplanting seedlings, but, oh well...
Someone telephoned me today wanting ideas on starting kiwi. Perhaps others are interested too. "Arctic kiwi" is the kind that grows here, and I bought it mail-order from Gurneys. The fruit has a smooth skin and is about twice the size of a grape. Best of all, it is ripe in late October. Last fall I was harvesting well into November, and kiwi taste wonderful!
The worst part is making a strong enough trellis. We did it about this time of year, and it reminded us of those constructions 2000 years ago. You need two sturdy wooden cross pieces about 6' high between which wires can be strung to hold the branches. Kiwi is HEAVY. A commercial pretty plastic trellis that I bought over 20 years ago for about $100 just plain blew over under kiwi weight.
However, after that the only care is pruning each February. The fruit come on last year's new growth, which is beginning to look promising by February. I recommend kiwi for all.
Yes, I'm putting out tomatoes now under wall-of-waters that I am taking off the brocolli. I'm thinning arugula and Hakurei turnips, and giving away some extras (not enough for a general advertisement). When I want a gentle activity standing, I cut away the dead parts of the raspberry plants, which are leafing out nicely. Soon we will eat the last of the Jeruselum artichokes, parsnips, and carrots, and start on the collards.
Lettuce is reasonably plentiful, and the Chinese cabbage in the cold frame is really showing off. I'll keep it for the April 25 Open Garden (2-4 PM at 45 Gordonhurst.
Isn't spring great?
Pat
Read More......Monday, April 6, 2009
Upcoming Eco-Events
Our region is having many! Cornucopia is sponsoring THREE Open Garden tours featuring at least 9 different gardens on April 25, May 16 and May 17. Details will follow, but my own garden will be open all three dates from 2-4 PM. Some of the others will stay open later on the May dates. Bloomfield is having an Eco-Fair from 10-2 at Brookside Park on the corner of Bay and Broad Streets on Saturday, May 2. Glen Ridge is having an Eco-Fair from 10-2 the following Saturday, May 9 at a place not yet revealed to me. Meanwhile, a Gloriously Green Festival will be held on Sunday, May 3rd from 12-5PM. It takes place at Congregation Agudath Israel in Caldwell (20 Academy Road), but is an interfaith, community-wide festival. I will be speaking at 2:30 on lawn care. There is also a film series that begins next week. I don't know when the movie starts but it's Wednesday evening, April 15, at the Montclair Public Library: "A Sense of Wonder"(http://www.asenseofwonderfilm.com/), a movie about Rachel Carson that won lots of awards. Van Vleck gardens in Montclair are having several events, described in the following forwarded email. Upcoming Events: 4/15--The first film, A Sense of Wonder, will be shown Wednesday, April 15, at 7:00 p.m. The film, which stars actress Kaiulani Lee, is an adaptation of the inspiring one-woman play about Pulitzer Prize winning author Rachel Carson, who is heralded as the mother of the environmental movement. Carson is best known for her book Silent Spring, which transformed the world's understanding of the dangers of pesticides and was first to shed light on the interconnectedness of the natural world. Jane Nogaki, Pesticide Program Coordinator with the New Jersey Environmental Federation will speak briefly. Nogaki is an expert on pesticides in our environment and has assisted nearly 100 school districts, municipalities, counties, and the State of New Jersey to develop Integrated Pest Management (IPM) plans and policies. 4/18 -- Essex County Earth Day at the County Environmental Center in Roseland. "Join the Essex County Environmental Center and partner agencies for a celebration of Planet Earth. Enjoy the Green Vendor Tent, canoeing, hikes, beekeeping demonstrations, and more! Plus, learn about natural resource and energy conservation and stewardship opportunities. Sponsored by PSE&G. Time - 11am to 4pm Location - Essex County Environmental Center, 621 Eagle Rock Avenue, Roseland Fee - Free For more information - Please call 973.228.8776" (from website) 4/22 -- "Greening Your Home" 6:30 - 9pm in the LEED-certified GreenWorks building, 100 Grove St. "Sponsored by six Re/Max Realtors and Renee of Renee Realty who have all earned the NAR's Green Designation. The purpose is to both educate the public about the things that each of us can do to become greener in our homes and also to draw attention to the fact that we have gone the extra mile to earn the designation and that we are different than your average Realtor. The target audience is our clients and friends and anyone else that wants to attend, so feel free to let others know about it." (Gray Russell is the keynote speaker) 4/30— Jan Zientek, Senior Program Coordinator of the Cooperative Extension of Essex County, Rutgers Agriculture and Resource Management, Presentation Getting Started With Organic Gardening Thursday, April 30th at 7:00 p.m. at the Nutley Public Library Learn about: Planning Your Garden Developing and maintaining healthy soil Managing pests and invasive weeds Call the library at 973-667-0405 ext. 2604 to register. 5/3 -- Rand (Montclair's Environmental Magnet) Annual Community Eco-Fair has a "Green Innovations" tour--a self-guided tour of several residences (includes green kitchen renovations, solar installations, and properties of note) and one commercial property, GreenWorks on Grove--Montclair's first LEED certified commercial space. Tour hours are 12-4 and begin at 176 North Fullerton; tickets $15/person or $20/couple or family. Proceeds support environmental programming and other educational initiatives at Rand. At the Eco-Fair (hours 10-4; no charge): kid-friendly activities (Storytellers Brian Fox Ellis at 11; Nia Gill at noon), music, vendors, plant sale, and educational workshops. Questions? Call Kelly McDonald at 973-655-0146 5/9 -- Glen Ridge EcoFair is same place as last year: Ridgewood Avenue at Bloomfield. Van Vleck Events: April 18 - Save the Date! Spring Celebration for Families Join us to celebrate spring with your family and learn how to become more environmentally friendly in your home and garden. Activities will include a scavenger hunt, children's crafts and activities, information on plant selection for your garden, composting, yard care tips, guest presenters and more. While the event is free, registration is recommended. Please call 973-744-0837, or email education@vanvleck.org. May 1 - "Wellies & Jellies" Plant Sale Preview Party 6-9 pm don't miss Van Vleck's Annual Spring Plant Sale Preview Party! Put on your favorite pair of wellies and join your friends at Van Vleck for a casual garden cocktail party. Celebrate spring, mingle, and of course shop our fabulous selection of plant offerings before anyone else in town! Advance Registration Required. Call 973-744-4752. May 2 - Plant Sale 9am - 4 pm-- What better way to kick off the spring planting season than with a visit to the Annual Van Vleck House & Gardens Plant Sale offering unique and unusual shrubs, vines, perennials, tender perennials and trees. Many of the plants for sale are closely associated with the gardens, including plants favored by the late Howard Van Vleck. Experts will be on hand to answer questions and help visitors navigate the sale. Potted planters, plants and garden accessories make great Mother's Day gifts. This annual event offers something for everyone, from the veteran gardener to weekend warrior. Van Vleck House & Gardens- 21 Van Vleck Street Montclair, New Jersey 07042, 973.744.4752 www.vanvleck.org "Van Vleck House & Gardens is dedicated to preserving for public enrichment the spirit and beauty of this late 19th and early 20th century house and gardens. Continuing the Van Vleck family's commitment to the community and to horticultural excellence, the house serves as a center for non-profit organizations and the gardens are open to the public for display, education and research."
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Introduction
Hi! I've been raising almost all my family's vegetables year round for decades in a small back yard plot 12 miles from Manhattan with no poisons, chemicals or power machinery. When I was also raising my family and working full time, I allowed myself only a half hour a day. My health improved remarkably. It's easy and fun! Now that I am feeding only two, we have about 300 square feet with vegetables. The only vegetables we buy are potatoes and onions. I've raised them, but they take up too much space in our small yard. I also raise many flowers and fruit. In 1997 I was fruit self-sufficient from late May to late October, but since then the squirrels have challenged that lovely arrangement. When I was raising vegetables for six, I had 1000 square feet of vegetables. I gave birth to two (humans), and in the early 1980's my husband and I became licensed emergency parents for teen-agers having difficulty with their parents. We often had two extras in our home, and we all six ate from the garden. Raising vegetables takes remarkably little time in the Garden State. About half the years I've been gardening, I did not water with a hose. I never water my lawn, and it looks fine. Of course, I use a watering can for baby plants, either seeds or seedlings that started in my greenhouse window. I've never used the hose more than three times in one year. When I do, I water deeply, aiming the water in one direction for an hour at a time. I learned this from the "old guys" who were still selling plants when I started gardening, the heritage of several generations of gardeners and sellers. Back then they were disappointed that their youngsters were "going to college and leaving the business." I also learned from my parents, whose fathers raised abundant gardens amid successful careers. My earliest memories were of Victory Gardens, my parents' and others'. I learned lots from reading seed catalogs and books. For several years I've had a growing email list of those who want to learn how to garden on a small plot in a metropolitan area and to be entertained by stories from my adventures. This blog will reach out to a wider audience, and include some recipes. I plan to post some choice past emails and add others when the spirit moves me. As time permits, I will answer questions. There is much to be learned, and everyone who gardens experiments. We can learn much from each other! You don't have to know much to get started. Sweet-100 tomatoes just grow! They even volunteered in my front yard, where they get little sun and I've done nothing to improve the Montclair clay soil. I said to the first, "You stupid thing, tomatoes can't grow there." But they were right and I was wrong, so I gave them a tomato cage and the great-grandchildren of those first pioneers grace my front lawn as I write. And they taste so much better than anything you can buy... Pat
Pat and Fred at the pear tree.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
The peas are up!
I remember the excitement in a letter to my grandmother from her sister about the emergence of peas in the spring. Back in those super-pressured days I didn't understand that excitement, but this morning I surely did. My first (Sugar Ann) peas are up, the ones I planted in the second week of March. They poke up a stalk of about a half inch, in startling contrast to those celery and parsley seeds I could scarcely see while transplanting indoors. I found plenty of weeds to take from among the pea seedlings this morning. Anyone else having a bumper crop of early scallions (also called "onion grass") this year? Yesterday I rejoiced in planting the last of my peas this year. You put them in the ground about two inches apart at about a two inch depth. I put two rows (alternating close and near to the fence) on each side of each "pea fence." Thus my big pea fence supports four rows of sugar snap peas. I still have a few from last year in my freezer, but I'm licking my lips for fresh ones. If you haven't planted any yet, they say it's not too late throughout April for a June harvest. I pulled the last of last year's carrots this morning. They tend to get stringy or mushy if I leave them in the ground much later. I now have lots in the frig, due partly to last summer's great growing season, and partly to the fact that I put lots of area last year into carrots and parsnips (which aren't quite all pulled). I've sowed seeds outside of lettuce, arugula, and hurakai turnips, and plan soon to sow radishes. Less fun than this is filling the wall-of-waters with water. These are connected plastic tubes in a circle that you can buy from most garden catalogs. After you fill the tubes with water, you put them around a plant. Now I'm putting them around broccoli, but soon I'll have some around tomato plants. Renae gave me two amazing tomato plants she sowed inside on January 11, and one already has seven buds -- one of which is thinking of flowering! I plan to put it out in the most protected place inside a WoW on the first day of April, next Wednesday. I'm sure it won't think that's an April Fool's joke, but it may be startled. What do plants feel? The fruit trees are budding, as are the lilacs. If you walk by 56 Gordonhurst Avenue, do notice that the winter rose is blooming next to the sidewalk. It is advertised to bloom in February, but late March is nice. The crocuses are outdoing themselves now. I have almost finished putting this winter's bulbs in the ground for next year, and the spring bulbs outdoors are looking promising. (Yes, I put the forced bulbs into the outdoor soil as soon as they look finished.) Spring! Others have volunteered to open their gardens with me from 2-4 PM on April 25, May 16, and May 17, so we will have three garden tours this spring. Pat
Thursday, September 25, 2008
September garden and Marcia Sward
September is a poignant month. The garden is lush, the food delicious, but there are signs it is about to end. Now is a good time to collect your burlap if you are traditional, or some old blankets or sheets, against that day when a light frost is predicted over night. Throwing them over tomato, pepper or eggplant plants may preserve your crop for a few more weeks, perhaps a month. We used to have our first frosts in November, but the past two years they have been in October. First frosts tend to occur at the full moon, when the moon's gravity pulls the covering atmosphere away from the earth. The October 2008 full moon is only a couple of weeks away. Today's beauty is fragile. Malabar spinach and basil are not likely to make it through a light frost. Now is the time to freeze spinach and pesto. If you calculate it right, you can pick the eggplant, tomatoes and peppers just before the first killing frost, and have a frenzy of freezing at that time. Now is also the time to prepare for winter crops. I sowed some more lettuce seed outdoors today. My lettuce has not been flourishing in recent months, but some is trying. The arugula is wonderful, so we have good salads. Identifying the volunteers in the garden is challenging. Is that green that looks like collards the real thing? I've been coddling some collards, kale, pak choi, and Chinese cabbage in my greenhouse window to supplement that which does not come up on its own. The Chinese cabbage in the cold frame is looking promising for January stir fries. The poignancy of September seems special this year for two reasons. My own life is joyful and full of good harvests, but we all know what is to come. (Medieval schedules would have me now in December, but I live in the 20th century, so I'm still in September.) A contemporary, Marcia Sward, died on Sunday, making me especially aware of the temporary nature of life. In June she was happily at her daughter-in-law's graduation from medical school, but on July 4 she began her bout with what would turn out to be terminal cancer. A close friend emailed that she "never wept, complained or looked back. She concentrated on enjoying what life was left and the friends around her." Marcia was the first female executive director of the (national) Mathematical Association of America, and I saw her only twice a year. Yet it was important to me to talk to her over the phone while she was still alive. She told me happily that her first grandchild will be born this winter. Recently she has been director of a regional Audubon Society. Forgive me if this doesn't seem appropriate in a gardening email, but to me this week, it's relevant. Marcia Sward lived a good life, as my tomatoes and peppers are doing now. Marcia Sward reminds us to cherish life while we have it, in the garden and elsewhere. Pat
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Raspberry Riches
The second crop of Heritage raspberries is in full swing. What a sense of being rich one has as one nibbles around a raspberry patch! Its past time to cut out the dead raspberry bushes (no, not by the roots), but there is no great problem if you're late. Dead bushes wait patiently. I keep thinking I've done it, and then find more. This morning three bags were taken away; in Montclair you put them out on recycling day and they go to commercial composting sites. I save the bags in which I have picked up others' grass clippings, so I always have plenty of bags available. That's not a problem. But starting a fifth bag... One was taken last week. Quite a few dead bushes were tucked away in and near the Jerusalem artichokes, with whom the raspberries compete for land. Actually, the strawberries are entering the competition; I guess they are resigned to not having much light since they surely are tiny compared to their two competitors. Unlike roses, the thorns on raspberries are usually relatively peaceful. I believe last week was the first time in my life that one drew blood. Everything is growing with more passion than usual this year. If you don't remove last year's dead plants (raspberry plants live only one year), picking the fall crop will be unnecessarily prickly, and apparently hazardous. Leaving the roots increases the probability that another plant will rise next year. I first got the idea of raising raspberries in the spring of 1978 when I was eating lunch in a staff lunch room. My companion was eating a container of raspberries. He told me he had raised them, and said they were very easy to raise. He didn't offer me a single berry, so by the end of lunch, I felt truly raspberry-deprived. I ordered ten plants (the minimum number) from a now-defunct mail-order source, and planted them. They all died. They were guaranteed, however, so in 1979 ten more arrived without charge. That summer we drove to western Pennsylvania to visit my Great Aunt Ruth Nail in the home where my grandmother grew up on our way to visiting Marie Smilanich in Minneapolis. My pre-teen children picked raspberries in her yard as I had when I was a child and my father had when he was a child. His Uncle John had dug their ancestors out of the Allegheny Mountains before he went to fight in World War I. That summer (1979) Aunt Ruth insisted that my daughter and I go over old photos with her as she labeled them. At the end she said we should take them with us. She died the following January. More surprisingly, she insisted we take some of the raspberry plants. She packed them nicely for the trip, but all the friends and relatives who were our hosts were astounded when we took them out of the trunk each evening and watered them. "You think they are going to last until you get home?!!!" They did, and I harvested from their descendents this spring, memories of that home where my family lived for 83 years. Back in 1979, I said to the struggling Heritage raspberries, "Now if they can survive a trip to Minneapolis and back, you can certainly hang on here!" One of the ten survived, and bore some fruit the following spring. It also bore six babies before it died that summer, each of whom had at least five babies, and my raspberry crop had begun. I've given away many and sold them on behalf of various charities. One out of twenty mail-order Heritage plants survived, and they surely taste wonderful this week. You can buy "Heritage" raspberry plants at many garden centers. Aunt Ruth's raspberries don't have a fall crop, but they are juicer and have a different, luscious taste in the spring. Another activity which should be done now or a tad earlier is sowing seeds of collards and pak choi for fall and kale and Chinese cabbage for winter. I hope that this strange season will be kind to those of us who are a bit tardy in our planting. It's always time to plant lettuce, but this is an especially auspicious one. Pat
