Gardening on the Cheap,,, I mean, really cheap

  
    Do you know that Bible verse about "train up a child in the way that he should go?"  Well, it really works..  Alice-Ann and I were on our way to Grandma Combs' house on a detour the other day when I stopped the car in the middle of the street, backed up, and yelled, "Throw that stuff into the back!"   Which she promptly did!  What was worth all that, you say?   FREE   wire closet racks, which will soon be turned into the shelves in my greenhouse.  My greenhouse, which is becoming more and more a reality, now that I have MORE windows, and these were FREE! 

 Can I say "FREE" any more?  Yes, yes, I can!  After band practice Wednesday night, I was chatting with a Wabash prof/trumpet player, and started telling him about our building project.   He is also a woodworker, so he was interested in how it will all come together.  I then mentioned "greenhouse" and "recycled windows"  and he perked up.  He then offered me 5 tall, double-paned, refurbished storm windows from his historic house  (red Italianate with a tower on Cherry St.).  He and his wife finally became tired of carting them up and down the stairs and had replacement windows put in.  Bill and the boys picked them up yesterday,  and now they are mine, all mine!   I'm not sure where they are resting right now,,, Sissy and I were too busy thrifting in Indy to watch that whole process.  

                                               

     This is the basic idea of what I want the greenhouse to look like. 

 I also snagged three heavy greenhouse windows (formerly from a Purdue greenhouse) from freecycle.org.  I had never tried that website, but I'm here to tell you, it worked the first day I got on there!  Someone had these in his potting shed, tore down the shed, and just wanted them out of his way.  FREE!  I just had to go get them.  I'm thinking that if they are not wall or ceiling material, they may become lids to cold frames, which are large slanting boxes on the outside of the greenhouse where I can harden off seedlings in a protected area.  

Another project I'm working on now is planting a native/bee friendly garden in the backyard for Bill's little friends.  We had an ugly foundation for an old horse barn in the back, so the foundation digger guy moved dirt he had dug back there.  He filled in and smoothed out over the area, which is very close to the beehives.  So now I've moved two ninebark shrubs, 

 some lilies, 

 oregano,

 hyssop, 
               

and a redbud tree sapling, which will eventually look like this.

                          

I need to move several more native plants back there, but with all this rain and the resultant mud, I'm having to bide my time.  I did just sprinkle buckwheat seeds all over the fresh dirt.  Buckwheat comes up quickly, is a great nitrogen fixer, and when turned under, or left to rot, adds green manure to the soil. Buckwheat is legendary for bee nectar production.  In fact, it is one of the best plants for honey.  It will help keep the soil intact on the hill, and keep down weeds while I try to fill in with plants.  It's supposed to be up and growing well within 20 days, we'll see!  

Also, alongside this spot is a patch of wild raspberries, which I partake from every time I'm back there.   I have to do "poison ivy yoga" to get to some of the berries.  That means bending into unlikely poses, leaning over, and hoping to snatch some berries before I touch the dreaded beastie plant.   I have left several patches of raspberries untouched along the edges of our property in the back for bird food, and bees.   Bailey and I were back there planting the shrubs and eating raspberries the other day.  I told him to go get a bowl.  His remark--"Mom, a bowl means sharing, and I'm not willing to do that."  I agree. 

Plant of the week:  Bee Balm
                              
This is a great plant if you want to attract and feed butterflies, all kinds of bees, and other flying creatures.  It can spread itself out nicely if it is growing in a large patch of garden.  It's perennial, so no need to replant, it does a great  job of finding new places to live ( a nice way to say "invasive")all on its own.   There are several varieties of bee balm,  find a color you like, pull up a chair. and have a free nature show. 

Hey, it's rained a lot lately, but no one's building a boat yet, so there's hope for us!   At least everything in the garden is lush this year!

Dirt up!
Dianne

Merciless Gardening

     My name is Dianne, and I am a merciless gardener.  I can't help it, I pull as many of those da--- little maple seedlings as I can find, and creeping Charlie?  He needs to get outa town.


Have you SEEN this guy?  He is like the ugly drunk uncle who calls you names,  stays until the end of the party, and doesn't help to clean up.  He just makes you sweep under his feet and prop his head so he doesn't fall on the floor.   I swear to all greenness, this guy is a real nuisance.  Mulching doesn't help.  He climbs right through it like a knife through buttah. He tangles in my flowers.  He makes the grass look horrible, and he. never. ever.  goes. away.

And those freakin' little maple seedlings?  Remember that day early May when the helicopters fell like rain and covered the sidewalks?  And now they have reproduced like rabbits in my flower beds.   I must kill them,  Kill them ALL!  I confess to getting some satisfaction from pulling those suckers right out of the ground.  Ahhhh,,, that's better.

Now, back to the part of nature that I love.  Native plants.  I've recently joined INPAWS (Indiana Native Plant and Wildflower Society), and am learning tons of facts about the green life around us.  Here is one example.  You've all heard about monarch butterflies and how they return to a certain spot in Mexico every year.
Isn't that an amazing sight?



 Well, in order to complete their life cycle, they must lay eggs.  And the only thing they like to do that on is milkweed.  I've been watching for milkweed plants to stick their heads up above the waving grasses along the roadsides now for a few weeks, and in the last two weeks, milkweed have been blooming in our area.

  This is like crack to monarchs.

My new friend, Reni, of Tippecanoe County, has instructed me on how to get started growing milkweed for monarchs.  She's been successful at it, and I'd like to give it a go.  So, if you have a patch near your house, or you , ahem,,, acquire some  pods from the side of the road (just take one pod from a plant), and give them to me, I'll get some started in the spring in my greenhouse.  We can make Montgomery County a way station for monarchs!   If you have some milkweed near you, or stop to look,   watch for tiny holes or munched areas where the caterpillars have been chewing.  Leave the cat, and wonder at the miracle of life.  That caterpillar will eventually turn into a monarch, and travel farther that you probably ever have.



   Also, since becoming more interested in wild flowers and such,,, I have my eye on the roadside every time I go out now.  Do you keep watch on the changing flora growing in the ditches and alongside the roads?  This week I've noticed low yellow flowers on some ditch sides.  In some places in Tipp. County, they are growing together into a ground covering blanket of pretty yellow flowers.  I have no idea what they are.   I also have noticed areas where "Pheasants Forever" or some other group have been planting wildflower seeds.  Lafayette has done a great job of planting wildflowers in the ditches.  So, if you see an unmown patch of "weeds," and think, "wow, they need to mow the roadsides,"  look closer.   You may see many wildflowers that need to be there for bees, butterflies, other insects, and some animals for food.   Just don't drive off the road while looking.


Keep your boots on, Lucy, it's still raining!

Dirt up!

Dianne

Dreaming Days

   You are about to see pictures of my messy yard.  Do NOT be alarmed.   Plans are being made fast and furiously in my coffee-stimmed brain to get that raw earth growing green again.   

  This is the future side yard to the new garage/workshop.  Yes, it's a mud pit this morning.  One nice note,,, I saw a squished mole on the ground, he won't be tearing up my yard any more.... I spared you a picture,, you're welcome.   So, beyond the fence to the left is my veg garden, must be fenced because the neighborhood deer have found it to be especially tasty.  I'm a dreamer, so imagine along with me.  The plan for the workshop is for Bill to make wooden coffins, so I'd like the garden along the side to be a place of rest and comfort.  Hollyhocks,  maybe some roses, although I frequently kill them. I have some Miss Kim lilac, which don't get very big and have a delightful aroma.  Catmint nepeta, which attracts our bees and looks great most of the summer.  Daylilies I have in abundance.  When not blooming, they still fill in nicely.  I'm working towards having more native plants so I'm collecting seed from my baptisia and starting some again this year.  I started some fresh seed last summer and have about 6 plants from that.  I also have some small orange-flowered milkweed (butterfly weed-we have at church, also) and some common milkweed to attract monarch butterflies.  I saved the clematis from the side of the garage, that will get put back up on a more interesting trellis than the bent-up wire fence I had before.  I've seen some interesting trellis thingies on pinterest made from metal beds... hmmm.  That Pinterest, it sucks me right in..Now, I just have to get on it!  Bought ten bags of garden soil last night to help the garden get started right.  The tire compaction from the trucks will have pushed all the air right out of the soil, making it difficult for plants to breathe and to grow roots.  I just have to wait on the concrete truck to get here this coming week. 

Why, Dianne, are you showing us a picture of your grass?   Well, I'm dreaming again.. I should have printed  "Watch This Space"  across it, because that is the future home of my greenhouse!  Drove two of my little buddies to school in Lafayette on Thursday, and went around the corner to the Habitat for Humanity Restore on Fortune Drive.  Not for the faint-hearted or those without a vision.  People bring old cabinets, unused flooring, tile, sinks, and WINDOWS!!  Stuff gets sold to make money for Habitat.   I found a stack of vinyl clad, double-hung, 24 x 76 thermal-pane windows for about $50 apiece!  They had been in a nursing home for about a year before it was torn down (your social security/Medicare dollars at work.)  I have been haunting some places in Covington for some old wooden windows, but these I won't have to worry about lead paint, or scraping and painting.  Also found a doorway  with side windows but without a door from a Victorian house in the back of an antique store, not sure if it will part of it.. but for $75, I'm still considering it.  

It's a beautiful end-of-spring morning, I'm sitting on my front porch, enjoying the hummingbirds fight at the feeder,  and dreaming of my finished backyard.    Having a garden makes me believe in the future and better days.   Have you tried it?

Dirt up!

Dianne 

  

Holy Seed Germination, Batman!

Wow,  we talk about the Indiana heat and humidity being unbearable, but for some just-planted seeds,  it is perfect weather for germinating!   I planted flower seeds on Friday night, and here it is, Monday after supper, and I already have baby plants bursting through the soil!  I've never had anything germinate that fast!  Look for the little beauties on the bottom right of the box on the left. These are from a cheap packet of California Giant zinnias from WM, probably.   I'll update you later in the week on these seedlings.  I want people to know that growing seeds is not difficult.   Some soil, a container,  sunshine, moisture, and some seeds.   For most seeds, that's all it takes.   I have never lost the joy and thrill I experience when I see something I helped to grow go from a tiny seed to a full plant.  It's like magic!   

Also, on a FB page about Indiana native plants,  we've had a conversation about wild strawberries versus mock strawberries... I can't remember ever knowing about mock strawberries, but knew I had something small and strawberry-like growing out in my grass.

http://gypsyscribe.hubpages.com/hub/Wild-Strawberries-Versus-Mock-Strawberries

Mock strawberries have yellow flowers, the fruit is about the size of the end of my pinkie, the fruit sticks straight up into the air, and the seeds stick out from the fruit, they are not embedded in the skin. 

Do you have any of these in your yard?
                         

Speaking of strawberries, I HAD some in my new beds, but they have become one with my digestive system.  I had a wonderful patch for several years.  I picked pots full, but the last two miserable winters have wiped out most of my plants.  I've never been one to mulch  heavily in the winter, it never really bothered the patch, but from now on, I will.

Get out and enjoy some sunshine!  Remember January?

Dirt up!
Dianne

Weather up!

Why am I starting a gardening blog since there are so many out there, and gardening season is in full swing here in central Indiana?   I have been a gardener since go-go boots and Apollo astronauts were cool, and I think I might have my own angle on the joys of gardening.   I live in a small west central town in Indiana, where tornado sirens rang out last night, accompanied by 2 1/2 " of rain,  which is why I'm sitting in the comfort of my bugless kitchen,  pounding my keyboard instead of hauling weeds out of my garden.
 
  I come from a long line of gardeners,  my earliest influences being my mother, and my English grandfather, who always had new potatoes and fresh peas with mint straight from the garden when we went to visit across the pond.  He lived in a row house, which meant he had a long narrow lot behind his home, which he filled with any number of veggies.  His wife, my sweet Nana, worked the fields in Norfolk during my mother's childhood, and I've heard many stories about her picking strawberries for "chits"  which were turned in for pay later.  I often wonder what she would think of me stopping for rest, and having a soda, while she would have worked her knuckles raw  to feed her family during the war and after.  I have lavender and flax in my gardens to remember them both.  Flax for the fields grown in England during the war to replace the cotton they could no longer get shipped to them. 

 My grandmother worked in flax fields.  Flax was used to make soldier's uniforms, tents, and any number of other things that needed a sturdy cloth. .



  And lavender?  East Anglia, that bulgy bit of England on the eastern side of the island, has fields and fields of lavender.  One of my favorite places to visit there was a lavender mill, at Heacham, where I saw every variety in every size, shape, and color of lavender.  Serious olfactory overload!



I started out with a small garden next to the backdoor at our 1950's ranch in Greenwood.  I always had petunias and other pretty flowers blooming, and it was probably a bit weedy, but I enjoyed it immensely.  My sister had the garden patch on the other side of the door,  and I'm thinking nothing grew there.  She was too busy learning to sew any manner of clothing, and eventually stitched both our wedding gowns.

I now live in a rambling 1880's midwestern farmhouse with 3 acres on the edge of town.





 My front gardens include a shady spot, filled with bleeding heart, squirrel corn, hosta, bloodroot, celadine poppy, and astilbe.


I have a fence along the sidewalk, just far enough back that I hope my neighbors won't walk their dogs through my garden.


There is a long, straight walkway from the sidewalk to the front door.  It's made of  old-fashioned concrete,  sturdy, and older than me, that will probably outlast me and many Indiana winters.   It deserved its own garden, full of daylilies,  daisies,  flax, several ground covers, strawberries, iris, hellebore, and lots of other lovelies.
 Come by in the next couple weeks to see all the daylilies which will be bursting out into the summer sunshine!   I could be coaxed into laying down my trowel and sittin' for a spell with a cold glass of something,,,

Dirt UP!!
Dianne