Maggie's FarmWe are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for. |
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Saturday, June 9. 2018Carts VermontFor many purposes, I prefer these things to wheelbarrows - even to two-wheeled wheelbarrows. I have the smaller one. Over the years, I have kept the wood waterproof because I store it outdoors. Because they have narrow tires, they are not suitable for loads of rocks or heavy loads of dirt, but great for most outdoor purposes. At rural lodges etc. they are commonly used to bring luggage from boat docks, etc. Friday, April 20. 2018Rose thorn puncturesEvery time I cut back my roses I get a puncture or two. Usually it's a nothing, but sometimes they become nasty. Sunday, April 8. 2018Garden Cancers to avoidMints will invade everything. My Mom would just let it loose in a meadow. When the meadow was mowed, wow. Great smell. When you needed some for lemonade, it was out there. Same goes for beautiful flowering vines like Trumpet Vine and Wisteria. Their desires to spread and metastasize via underground roots are relentless and close to impossible to prevent. My advice is not to plant them anywhere they cannot be mowed around. Bamboo. Unless you have a good local Panda population, you will be sorry you even planted it. Agent Orange is one approach. What sorts of garden plants have you had difficulty controlling?
Sunday, October 15. 2017A LandscapeA Landscape at Peace With Man and Nature. We go for natural or naturalistic plantings around here. Just a couple of perennial borders that we supplement with annuals. The fewer gardens you have, the less work. Our best naturalistic plantings are a meadow hillside full of daffodils. At some point, you can just mow it with the tractor. We also have plenty of daylilies along walls. They make for an August delight.
Monday, October 9. 2017Can you eat raw Elderberries?No, you probably ought not to, and they are bitter anyway. Birds love them which is the main reason I have planted them. They are known to like damp habitats or stream edges, but they grow well, and spread, almost anywhere. They like sun. I have found them very easy to grow, and highly productive of fruit in Sept/Oct. What are they good for? Jam and pies. I have never had Elderberry Wine, and most likely neither have you. Why bother? People use their flowers for flavoring things. Saturday, September 2. 2017A cool garden plant: the Castor plantA friend has a patch of Castor plants, self-seeding in the garden. 5-6' tall, dramatic foliage. Shade plants, annuals in northern climates. They are the source of castor oil, also of the poison ricin. However, many garden plants are poisonous (eg daffodils). I have a shady spot for a patch of these. Sunday, August 20. 2017Vitex agnus castus: Monk's PepperA few years ago I posted a photo of a garden shrub that I see occasionally thriving on the Outer Cape. Many of our readers concluded that it was Mexican Sage. It is not. I wasted some money buying a couple of Mexican Sages online, and they will not survive my winter. I finally got to the bottom of it today. It is Vitex (aka Monk's Pepper, or Chaste Tree). The leaves look like marijuana leaves. Vitex can grow into a small tree or, if pruned, can remain a small shrublike perennial. In northern climes, it tends to die back to the ground in cold winters (like buddleia) but comes right back up in spring. This site sells a dwarf version which is exactly what I have been seeking. Give it a try in a perennial bed as a bushy perennial. Butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds like it. It blooms all summer. Thursday, August 3. 2017Lazybeds, plus a comment on golf
Lazybeds are the original raised-bed farming. On the Isle of Harris, where almost nobody bothers to farm or garden anymore since the Medieval Warm Period, remnants of old lazybed "farming" - more like heavy subsistence gardening - are often seen where there is enough soil to plant. There is not very much soil for planting, and peat bogs can not be gardened. However, raised beds with good drainage (always sloping how towards the sea), enhanced with seaweed as fertilizer, could grow enough peas and potatoes for a crofter (who also had some sheep and cattle). Maybe some oats or barley, but not much. Like Ridge-and Furrow farming, Lazybeds date back at least to Roman times in the rough parts of the British Isles. Today, on the islands, wool is the cash crop. The sheep just run wild until shearing time which is why so much of the landscape looks like a putting green. In fact, sheep originated putting greens. (The "rough" was, more likely than not, heather - which is very rough indeed.) Below the fold, somebody in the Hebrides is still using lazybeds - and a view of what looks like a golf course with natural water hazard and sand traps Continue reading "Lazybeds, plus a comment on golf" Saturday, June 24. 2017Garden Cancers
Such things should only be planted where they can be mowed around because they spread underground, or just spread, to the point of overwhelming everything in their vicinity: Wisteria I had a few more on my list, but I can't remember right now. Saturday, June 17. 2017PeoniesOur friend Francis posted a photo of his wife's charming country garden (they also have a charming city garden). Along that garden path she has a wall of peonies and a row of nepeta. I wonder what they have for summer bloom. I guess his photo gives me a little peony envy. We could use some peonies, but I don't know where I would put them. Here is Planting Peonies
Sunday, June 11. 2017Baptisia (False Indigo)Baptisia is an excellent 3+-ft. high border perennial. It's a late-spring/early-summer bloomer, likes full sun to half-day sun but can get leggy without enough sun. It's a tough and vigorous perennial - once it is established. It grows deep roots, so it can unfortunately take a couple of years to reach its full effect. The three new ones I planted in the fall are pathetic now, but next Spring they should be ready to show some vigor and bloom. Many good things need patience. For instant color, go with annuals.
Sunday, May 21. 2017Tomato growing temperaturesIn New England, with our relatively brief growing season, it is difficult to have a crop of tropical and subtropical fruits like tomatoes for more than several weeks - mainly August-mid-September. Unless you are on the coast, it is hardly worth bothering to grow tomatoes (other than cherry tomatoes which ripen quickly) from mid- Massachusetts, north. Some people, with more drive than I have, construct polyurethane tents, like greenhouses, to give their tomatoes a head start on the season. It is of minimal effectiveness. Why? Because tomato plants do not like to grow until nighttime temperatures are consistently above 60 degrees F. They might make an effort, but without vigor. Raise the night temperature and they grow like weeds. That's why putting them in early doesn't make sense unless it's your only chance to get them in at all. Experienced gardeners around here aim for putting them in around Memorial Day and their crops are generally more productive than those who try to jump the season. The domestic tomato was bred, probably by Aztecs in Central America, into a useful food (as they did with the tomatillo). A brief History of Tomatoes. The wild version of tomato seems to be the Currant Tomato, a perennial vine with berry-like green fruit. By now, that plant has so widely cross-bred with man-made tomato that the wild type may be extinct. All of the modern colors, including bright red, are relatively recent genetic inventions. Every tomato today (including "heritage") is a testament to GMO - the slow kind achieved by the Aztecs up through the 20th century. Monday, May 8. 2017SweetFew shade garden plants are as sweet, subtle, and sentimental to me as the diminutive Lily of the Valley. A clump of 20 in a dry shady corner or under a shrub will spread a bit via rhizomes, and, like Bluebells, create a patch of cheer in early May. Sunday, April 30. 2017Glass Gem Corn"Rare heritage" corn. That's called marketing. I'd call this Krazy Korn. Sort of cool, though. Seeds via Amazon of course. Saturday, April 22. 2017ThymeIf I could only have one herb, it would be Thyme. Not Tarragon, not Rosemary. Certainly not Parsley which is pretty but has too little flavor. Thyme has the richest, earthiest, deepest flavor (technically, fragrance) of them all. It's a Mediterranean plant (Thymus vulgaris) but the Romans spread it around and it can now be found growing wild in the US. At the Farm, it grows wild in dry, nutrition-deprived meadows and makes a soft and fragrant footing as long as you avoid the bees. Wild Thyme and garden Thyme are the same things. Around here, there is Creeping Thyme (good for between flagstones) and regular Thyme. It's evergreen, and has no problem with rough winters. All Thyme wants is bad soil. There is no need to harvest Thyme except when you need some. Even in winter, it stays fresh and fragrant under the snow. I usually use whole twigs in a recipe, not leaves. You can pull the twigs out later. This year I am growing more herbs amongst the perennial flowers as they do in Spain. I have figgered out how to help Sage survive feet of snow. Tuesday, April 11. 2017Against vegetable gardens, mostlySpring is on the horizon up here. Snow piles are melting. Thoughts about the gardens appear. I have always had a vegetable garden, as did my parents, as did my Grandpas. It's a guy thing mostly, symbolic providers only since WW2. I had a couple of reasons for adding this hassle to my life: family tradition, tomatoes, and to teach and show my kids where food comes from. It is rewarding for kids to go out and pick a couple of cucumbers or peppers or summer squash, or a basket of beans to bring to the kitchen. Except for tomatoes, in my view home gardening makes no sense unless you value your time at zero, which makes it pure hobby. Home-grown stuff, for the month or two it is available up here, may be marginally better, but truly marginally and often worse. And there are the bugs that eat everything. If I were rational, I would stick with my fruit trees, tomatoes, figs, herbs, and rhubarb and forget the rest. Almost forgot my Mouse melons - they are cool. I gave up on raspberries because the birds ate them all. I gave up on the native blueberries too because they never thrived. I have a pal who has a huge fenced and irrigated vegetable garden. Definitely one of his hobbies. He leaves bags of chard, peppers, and eggplants on my front porch. Much appreciated but I do not know where he finds the time. With kids, definitely good to show them how to grow things, though. Kids love to dig and love to pick stuff. That's why I always grow some pumpkins. With the inspiration of Mrs. BD (and my Mom), I have become more interested in flowering borders in recent years. Very rewarding and challenging without being edible, the bugs are no problem, and the hummingbirds and butterflies are good fun. Do you enjoy weeding? I don't, but I enjoy the (fleeting) results. I use Preen on the flower beds, and it sort-of works for a while. I would rather take a long hike with Mrs. BD, or go to the city, or go fishing, or to the gym, than spend half a weekend day growing something I can pick up at the market for 99 cents. Go ahead and argue with me - Photo is a Rhubarb patch. I love rhubarb. You can even munch the stalks raw, and it never fails to come up strong. You often find a cute snake curled up in there, which makes it fun. It's a crop you can count on and do not have to do anything for other than throw a little manure or fertilizer on it in April. Do not bite into the Garter Snake because it will piss him off.
Thursday, March 23. 2017Living better with chemistry: Good tomatoesPlant geneticists are using GMO techniques to return the flavor to supermarket tomatoes As Insty would say, "Faster please." It's not just the flavor though - it's the texture. Supermarket tomatoes are tasteless and rubbery. Sunday, March 19. 2017Big flower showMrs. BD thought you might like to see some of her snaps from the annual Philadelphia Flower Show (since 1836) this week. This is a show put on by professionals, not amateurs. An annual treat for Mrs. BD and her pals. More pics below the fold - Continue reading "Big flower show" Saturday, February 18. 2017Time to order bare root treesIt's time up here to put in orders for bare root trees, whether fruit trees or otherwise. We use Musser Forests, Stark Bros, and other websites where we can find what we want. While November might have been the best time to plant them, the second-best time is as soon as you can get a shovel into the thawing ground. Bare root trees establish themselves quicker than burlapped or potted plants. There are many sites and Youtubes which explain how to properly plant bare root plants. It's not a bad idea to soak the roots for a few hours before planting. When you plant them in dormancy, water them in well and then withhold any watering until green shoots appear. In the first summer, a deep watering once or twice a week works well. After the first summer around here, no watering is needed after that. In the first Spring, it's recommended to pinch off any fruit tree blossoms that appear, so the plant can devote itself to establishing itself in its home. I have ordered three Crabapples (edible crabapple, semi-dwarf,as in photo. Not the ornamental) to put in as soon as we get some thaw. Right now we have 12" of snow and the soil is like a rock. Saturday, December 31. 2016Not my favorite landscape plant: Dwarf Alberta Spruce You see hundreds of these mini-trees in pots during Christmas season. I don't mind them in pots and planters, but as landscape plants (which is where they often end up), I feel they rarely fit in and have a tacky, artificial, gas-station appearance. I have two of them next to my vegetable garden, thrown into the ground many years ago for the heck of it after outdoor Christmas use in outdoor pots. They are about 7' tall now. I hate to cut them down, but I don't like them. They are happy misfits. Dwarf Alberta Spruce is a dwarf GMO of Picea glauca, aka Alberta White Spruce, etc. They are tough, dense, shapely, and can handle temps down to -40 degrees F. Millions are sold each year of these ugly unnatural-looking freaks of man-made nature. Thursday, September 8. 2016HelleboresIf you plant some now (in the northern hemisphere, temperate zone or above), you will have their foliage and purty flowers busting through the snow in Feb or March. Lenten Rose. Happy with deep shade. The more the better. Too bad they are expensive, but good things often are. Wayside has lots of them. My Autumn ClematisOn a warm day, you can smell its sweetness 10 yards away. A good thing about this tough vine is that it does not spread undereground, which is why I had to destroy the yellow Trumpet Vine I had there before. Seduced By Sweet Autumn Clematis
Tuesday, August 30. 2016Sun Exposure - useful info for fall plantingMany of our posts here are simply topics we research a bit, and then share the info with you. The assumption is that whatever we feel curious about is something somebody else might too. Fall is the best planting season for shrubs and trees, hence this post on exposure. (Generally, I would never advise planting anything without an overall plan. I have learned from many landscape errors and I wish I had the money back from all of them. Learning is expensive.) Plants do not thrive without a climate (of course), a soil they prefer, an exposure they prefer, the duration of sunlight they prefer, or the amount of moisture they prefer. "Exposure" means the amount and direction of direct sunlight, or the lack thereof, on a given spot during growing season. Only a plant in the middle of a large field or large lawn has no limiting exposure. That is known as "Full Sun," 7+ hours of direct sunlight. Full sun is what is needed for vegetable gardens, hayfields and other farm crops, most trees, and many perennial plantings. In most of the US, trees and buildings determine the exposure of a planting site. Before you plant anything or put in a garden, you need to determine the exposure and the hours of direct sun the spot gets. For example, an Eastern Exposure location gets direct morning sun for maybe 4-5 hrs. That is known as "Partial Sun" aka "Partial Shade." Many plants love that eastern exposure such as Dogwoods, Hydrangeas, Rhododendrons. Such plants hate the afternoon intensity of a Western Exposure so their Partial Sun needs to be morning. OK. Before planting something, we need to determine the exposure and the amount of direct sunlight. There's another sun consideration too, though. As this site notes:
As you move towards more northern latitudes, the angle of sun varies seasonally, expanding and contracting exposure. A couple of my Western Exposure rhododendrons only get afternoon sun for several weeks in midsummer, and even that is too much for them. They survive but do not thrive. If they had afternoon "Dappled Shade," they would be fine. Which brings us to Dappled Shade and other definitions. Some good definitions from here: Continue reading "Sun Exposure - useful info for fall planting" Saturday, August 20. 2016Why do plants need mitochondria?A young friend recently asked, while on a lovely July walk, how plants got the energy to grow. It is high school bio, but I forgot some of it. I recalled the rough outlines of the Calvin Cycle, then began wondering whether plants had mitochondria because they use solar energy. Well, plant cells are eukaryotes just as are animals, so of course they have mitochondria. The mitochondria of plant cells are somewhat different and are more variable than those of animal cells (meaning everything from the paramecium to humans). But why do plants need mitochondria at all? For photosynthesis, they don't need mitochondria much. Light waves provide the energy to split water into the Hs and the O, and to attach those Hs to ADP onto ATP - the main energy source of most living things. Thus oxygen is produced by plants from water. The second step of photosynthesis is to use the ATP to produce glucose (sugar) from CO2. Technically, triose phosphates are produced, which the cell combines to construct glucose. Simple sugar is the main building block for plant structure (eg cellulose, etc). That whole thing is called the Calvin Cycle and it is one fancy mini-machine. However, for night functioning and for extra needs, plants can also burn sugar (that's called respiration) just as animal cells do. Mitochondria do that job. In the respiration of plants and animals, glucose is metabolized to CO2 and water to produce ATP - the energy for cell life and growth. Thus plants are CO2 emitters and oxygen emitters. Animal life requires plants, but not vice versa. Only plants can produce glucose which is the building block for many things including carbs. I will not get into the topic of how plants and animals construct proteins now. It is all a miracle. Friday, July 29. 2016Raw beans are toxic
This seems to apply mainly to real beans, shelly beans, and not string beans. Raw Lima Beans are toxic also from a different toxin.
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