The Hearty Sage

The other day I was throwing some kitchen scraps on the compost pile when I caught a glimpse of something truly shocking!  I looked over and what to my wondering eyes did appear but a fairly large and budding sage plant!  The reason this is so shocking is because of where it was growing.  Our compost pile is in the very back corner of our yard, behind several tall bushes.  It is completely shaded.  And there, in the middle of all that shade and undeveloped terrain...grew a hearty sage.  What is even more amazing is the fact that this sage was a cast off from last year.  I had bought it on clearance (I think I mentioned before I never by plants unless they are on clearance) and did an excellent job killing it in the ensuing months.  By October, I had given up all hopes on my impulse purchase and relegated it to the compost pile.  I now know that my husband (being the sneaky little miser he is) came along a few days later and plopped it into the ground right at the edge of the compost pile.  I never noticed until the other day....what a pleasant surprise!

Sage, like most herbs, typically likes full sun.  Although it has come back rather nicely in its current spot, I don't believe it can truly flourish there.  So I made the decision to move it to one of my vegetable garden beds.  I chose the "cool crop" bed where I grow my parsley, lettuce and cauliflower. I have been reading a lot about companion planting lately and found that sage helps repel cabbage moths, beetles and carrot flies (which can attack parsley).

I also decided to try and grow a few more plants from "cuttings."  Most herbs (with the exception of parsley and thyme) are notoriously hard to grow from seed.  One of the best ways to propagate herbs is to do so via "cuttings."  Last year I posted about growing basil from cuttings.  The process is virtually the same for sage.  You want to take a 4 to 6 inch cutting of the plant.  For sage, be sure not to cut a "woody" part.  Remove the bottom several leaves by snipping them with pruning shears.  These will eventually form the new roots.

You can then root the plant by placing it in a glass of water in a sunny location (takes about a week for roots to form) or placing it in some rooting medium (such as sand, vermiculite or even potting mix).  If you do use potting mix, I recommend a kind that contains high levels of phosphorus for better root development.  Its usually best to keep the cuttings indoors until they are firmly established, then you can try and move them outside.
Sage makes a great addition to your vegetable or herb garden.  It also looks fabulous in your regular flower beds.  It produces a nice, bushy, elegant plant.  Make a bunch of sage cuttings and then give the plants away to friends and family!

....And We're Back!

I cannot believe its been three months since I last updated this blog.  I am so sorry!  My reasons being...one part laziness, two parts business and one part I lost my camera!  Thankfully my father-in-law came to the rescue and gave me one of his old cameras so we are back in business!

I thought I would take this opportunity to show you whats going on around the homestead.  Due the mild winter and unusually warm March, the garden beds are already in full swing!  I've been spending the last few weeks preparing my vegetable beds and even have some early crops in one of them.  I have two 8' x 4' cedar raised beds (courtesy of my hubby and his mad carpentry skills).  The back bed has cool weather crops such has cauliflower, lettuce, spinach, radishes and parsley.  I started all of those from seed in late February/ early March.  We have already enjoyed some tasty lettuce!

The front bed I'm reserving for my tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and basil.  I started all of those from seed too and they are growing happily indoors!  I'm hoping to get them out by the end of April or beginning of May.
As I said earlier, I've been preparing my vegetable beds.  By that I mean I've been performing soil tests and adding a layer of blended compost and manure to the top of the beds.  Burpee makes a really cheap, easy soil test kit.  It allows you to test soil pH, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium to see if there are any deficiencies.  (And no I'm not receiving any kickbacks from Burpee for promoting their product, which would be nice).  The tests are very easy to perform and can be done in 10-15 minutes.  First you gather soil samples from around the garden bed you are testing.  The samples need to be below the surface several inches (where the plants roots would be).  You mix the samples together and then take a small amount and put it in the mini test tube.

Then you add the capsules with the test reagents, add a little water (straws make nice pipettes), shake and wait.  

The pH of my soil came out to be neutral to slightly alkaline.

Depending on what you want to plant, you may want to adjust the pH.  Most vegetables and plants do well in neutral soil.  Some plants prefer more acidic soils, such as azaleas and hydrangeas (if you want them blue).  I have an "acidic" bed in the front of my house where I keep an azalea and  hydrangea.

Every spring and fall I treat the soil to very slowly bring down the pH.  You don't want to do it too fast or it will shock the plants.  The azalea pictured is a crimson azalea, that produces beautiful crimson blooms every spring.  It usually doesn't bloom until May but just yesterday I saw a few blooms open up...

The rest of the garden beds are doing just as well.  Here is a picture of the "dead nettle" we have planted under a tree with shallow roots.

As you can see it is going to town!  It makes excellent ground cover in shady areas.  Don't give it too much sun or it will poop out on you!  I think its called "dead nettle" because just when you think its dead and its not coming back, it really surprises you!  Here is another picture of a shade garden out by our shed.  The coral bells and astilbe are growing vigorously, as are the hostas.

So far, the garden is coming along!  So what are YOU planting this year?

Spring is in the air?????

We have had some unusually warm weather here in Ohio.  Granted we've had a few days of freezing temperatures, but overall the winter has thus far been very mild.  Yesterday, the temperature was pushing 60 and there was a hint of spring in the air...even though it's only been winter officially for a few weeks.  Unfortunately my plants are getting a little confused.

Zinnias Gone Wild!

As I've said before, this is my very first year having a vegetable garden.  Like any good gardener-to-be, I did a little research before planting.  I knew I wanted to try and not use pesticides, so I looked into tips on "organic gardening."  Turns out there are good bugs (lady bugs, wasps, bees and certain types of beetles) and bad bugs (aphids, beetles, flies etc). when it comes to vegetable gardens.  The idea is to attract the good bugs so they will then deter/eat the bad bugs.  One way to do this is to plant flowers that attract the good bugs.  The most popular flowers people tend to use are Marigolds and Zinnias.  Their brightly colored blooms help attract bees that pollinate the other plants and lady bugs that eat aphids and flies.  I planted a little of both in my vegetable garden and they seemed to really help.  Of course there will always be insects but I think the Marigolds and Zinnias really helped cut down on any possible insect infestations!

As you can see my Zinnias have gone wild!  I had no idea they would grow as tall as they did....and if you cut them after their blooms start fading they spread like mad!  Most Zinnias are listed as growing anywhere from 12-30 inches.  As you can see some of my tallest have grown to over 40 inches!  Probably has to do with the Miracle-Gro garden soil...

Pinching off the stems really helps them spread!

So if you are thinking about having a vegetable garden next year, or have been having problems with insects in your current vegetable garden, consider adding some Zinnias and or Marigolds.  Burpee has a great information page on Zinnias.  Check it out: All About Zinnias

Late summer blooms!

Getting ready to BURST with color!

I was so glad this morning to see my gladioli (plural for gladiolus) or glads are starting to bloom!  I know, I'm corny.  I planted these on a whim in late May.  I found the corms (bulb-like structure) on clearance at Walmart and decided to give them a try.  As I've said before, I can't resist plants on clearance.  I truly didn't expect them to do much but to my surprise they are doing quite well!  Something I didn't know (until just now when I googled it) is that, apparently, you have to stake gladioli to keep them from falling over.  That makes sense now.  We had quite the storm last night and some of them are looking a little floppy.  I'll be sure to remember that for next year.
Presently, they are kind of interspersed in my front flower bed.  Next year I plan to create my own separate "cutting garden," so I'll move the bulbs there.  These flowers are perfect for cutting and bringing indoors.

Some interesting facts about gladioli:

• Of the Iris family, or "iridaceous" (I think that's a cool word)
• The word "Gladiolus" is Latin for "little sword"
• Glads are not hardy here in Zone 5, so you plant the corms in mid May and dig them up again in late September, then store them inside until they are ready to plant the following May (ideally a cool garage or refrigerator, just don't freeze them)!
• During the summer, new corms form under the old corms.  You remove these old corms in the winter and discard

For being such a showy flower, they are relatively low maintenance.  I've practically ignored them since planting (other than some occaisional fertilizing) and they are doing well.  So next spring if you are looking for an easy and elegant flower to add to your garden, maybe try some glads....I bet you'll be glad you did!  (I know I am)! 

Some Like it Hot...

This summer has been exceptionally hot and humid and most of my plants are struggling to keep up.  Even with daily watering they are looking pretty sad.  I'm happy to report there are a few exceptions.  Below is a picture of my Mexican Male Fern, which is one of the few plants I have thriving in this un-Godly heat.  Who new a Mexican fern would thrive in southwest Ohio???  I just planted it this spring and according to plant tag its hardy to Zone 5, but we'll see if it survives the cold Ohio winters.  We have a saying here in SW Ohio....the only predictable thing about the weather is that you can't predict it!

Mexican Male Fern...thriving in the summer heat

Another one of my plants that is thriving is some Munstead Lavender I planted by my porch.  This was kind of an impulse buy.  I can't resist clearance plants and I got 3 pots of Munstead Lavender for about $2.00.  The only problem with clearance plants is you then have to find a place to put them.  I finally settled on a place close to my porch.  Hopefully it works out.  Since they were on clearance...you can imagine they looked pretty sad.  I wasn't sure if they were going to make it and in fact 1 of the three is dead...or mostly dead.

Mostly dead Lavender

Not to despair!  The other two are actually starting to turn around!  After poking around on the internet, I found out that Lavender actually does quite well in high heat.  It's native to the Mediterranean area.  Now I know SW Ohio is a far cry from the Mediterranean but I'm still going to give it a shot.  After all, Lavender is such a wonderful plant with so many uses.  I think I'll leave the dead one in the ground for now....after all it is a perennial and sometimes they surprise you.  It might come back next year.  

Lavender making a comeback!

As my friends and family will tell you I pretty much never by annuals.  Planting and replanting year after year seems like a lot of work, not to mention a waste of money.  However, I broke my own rule this year and decided to plant some wave petunias out by the mailbox.  This area of the yard receives full sun all day.  There aren't too many plants around these parts that can stand up to that kind of heat.  Well wave Petunias are certainly one of them!  They've gone absolutely viral over there.  And they don't call them wave for nothing....these things spread like mad!  

Purple wave Petunias

Of all the plants I have, these are by far doing the best in this scorching heat.  I guess some really do like it hot!

There's a reason its called "Miracle" Gro

Small Sampling of Our Tomato Harvest

Its harvest time around our house and we've got more tomatoes than we know what to do with.  This is the first year I've had a garden. I usually manage to kill things right away but I must say my garden is doing particularly well. My husband was kind enough to build me a 4' x 8' cedar box. I decided to splurge and purchase Miracle-Gro garden soil for it. WOW! I'd like to say that I'm a fantastic gardener but I think the secret to my success is probably the soil. Lets just say I have "tomato jungle" going on.

My hubby, standing next to "Tomato Jungle"

A co-worker of mine said he used to have a garden but he got tired of having a bumper crop for a few weeks and then nothing....Well the key to that problem is successive sowing and not planting everything at once.  I started a few plants indoors ahead of time, some I planted directly outdoors when it finally got warm and then I just bought a few Bonnie Plants from Lowe's.  So far, the plan is working.  We've been harvesting tomatoes for weeks now...with no signs of it stopping!  Wondering what to do with all those extra tomatoes?  Well you could give them away...but I like to reap the benefits of my labors.  I've started making homemade spaghetti sauce to freeze.  Its so easy....a domestically inept person can do it...which brings me to my next topic:

Peelin' Maters':

The first step in making your own spaghetti sauce is to peel the tomato.  Here's how you do it...its so easy I promise:

• First wash your tomatoes and mark an "x" on the end opposite the stem with a paring knife

"X" Marks the Spot

• In a large stock pot, bring about 6 cups of water to a rolling boil

• While you are waiting for the water to boil, prepare an "ice bath" (and no this isn't to rest your weary feet).  You do this by filling a bowel with ice water.  I know...so hard.

• Once the water is boiling start plopping your maters' in there a few at a time.  It only takes about 30-60 seconds for their skins to start peeling.  

"Its gettin' hot in here!"

• As soon as this happens, remove them from the boiling water (using tongs) and plunge them into the ice bath. 

See the skin loosening off?

• Remove the maters' from the ice bath and the skins will peel right off.  

Like taking candy from a baby

• You can use this same procedure for removing the skins from peaches if you want to make your own peach jam (which I highly recommend because its awesome)

Now you are ready to proceed with making your own spaghetti sauce....which will be covered in a later post!