Note to Michele: Too Much Rain

Michele,

We've had too much of a good thing in Maine this summer. I'm talking about precipitation. An unusual weather pattern has been impacting the Eastern United States this summer. You mentioned it's like Portland in the rainy season. We have had some seriously heavy downpours and everything just feels humid and damp. The sunny spells are sandwiched between rainy days so the ground doesn't dry out. And it's starting to negatively impact my garden.

For one, the grass is growing like crazy, but it's too wet to mow.  My peppers are rotting on the vine. These three peppers are all I have left, though the plants may produce more later. I'm not sure what the black spots on the peppers could be, but I've never experienced it before. Could it be from too much moisture?

This year, the squirrels are eating all my patio tomatoes, even the green ones. I've been picking them as soon as they are pink, but then they started eating green tomatoes. The sad part is they only take a bite and leave the rest.

I don't think there is anything I can do about this. I've put up chicken wire to keep the groundhog out, but squirrels can get through almost anything. I think I'll just have to let them have the tomatoes and buy my own from the market.

~Caroline

Note To Michele: New Green House, Spring in Maine

Michele,

Happy Spring! Spring has been slow arriving to Maine this year. We've had fluctuating temperatures and ample rain, with more due over the weekend. One sunny day recently, I assembled my new greenhouse. It is identical to the one I had before which lasted me three years. The plastic finally gives out as mine did, but considering the affordable price of this green house, I think it's well worth it.

Assembling the greenhouse is simple. Anyone who played with Tinkertoys as a child will have an easy time with these, and if not, the instructions are clear and the parts labeled. It took me about an hour and 15 minutes to assemble.

So now that it is done and the temperatures are slowly starting to rise, I will start some seeds soon. I have mostly flowers this year. I will buy starts for my veggies.

I wintered over my geranium plants with a grow light this year. Most survived and are now out in the greenhouse. I am also going to attempt to re-bloom a beautiful poinsettia from last Christmas. It's looking quite sad at the moment, but still alive, so I'm going to try it. I have heard it's not an easy feat, and simpler just to buy a new one, but I'm up for the challenge.

I don't have too much going on in my garden right now but the forsythia is in bloom, as well as daffodils. Tulips should bloom soon.

That's about all the news from here, but now that spring has sprung, I will be posting with regular updates.

~Caroline

Note to Caroline:Off the topic of Gardening-Late Summer

Well, it seems like Fall is on its way here. My squash and tomato leaves are turning yellow and look like they have had it for the season in a way I have never seen this early before. For Labor Day tomorrow, I am planning a visit to the Community Garden to harvest the rest of the Lemon Cucumbers and Cherry Tomatoes. I think I am going to get my bed ready for a late sowing of Lettuce and Carrots. As usual, I have not made up my mind about Winter Gardening.

Like everyone else I am trying to juggle a lot of plates at the same time, so to speak. My Ayurveda Studies start back up in a few more days and I am looking forward to graduating in June. Ayurveda is the third largest Health System in the world, with Western medicine being number one and Chinese Medicine number two. I will be an Ayurveda Health Counselor and will be helping people with a wide range of health issues through diet and lifestyle adjustment. Right now I am trying to integrate the treatment part of Ayurveda into my existing list of Facial and Energy Work. I can tell you more about the treatments in another post if you are interested?

A Shirodhara Ayurveda Treatment

It is also a busy time for my River Organics Products because Spas and Salons start ordering their Pumpkin Skin and Body Care to use and sell to their customers. I use fresh Pumpkin Pulp in most of the products like the Pumpkin Mask. I often think about adding Pumpkin as a gardening crop although it would have to be a very early variety to be ready on time for my orders that start late August.

Handmade Pumpkin Skin and Body Care

Lastly I am still running my Bridal Dress business Lemon Chiffon Bridal Boutique, but online. I did my first photo shoot a few weeks ago with my Photographer friend Alexis and Model friend Irene. Irene also designs and makes some of the dresses. Like you she is a single mom, but has three children. I think I told you that all the dresses I sell are made by independent designers or vintage. I have also started making Bridal Hair Accessories and Veils like the popular Birdcage Veils and Fascinators. The flowers I use are all handmade by me too.

One of my Birdcage Bandeau Veils with Silk Flower Fascinator

The designer of this dress is Peppermint Pretty

This is a vintage inspired Fascinator or Mini Hat

How is your late summer going? I know school starts back with the kids soon. Have you seen any signs of Fall?

Note to Michele: June Garden Tour

Dear Michele,

Things are starting to blossom in my garden now that it's June and we've had our first heat wave. It's a bit early for 90 degree weather, but the past four days have been tropical around these parts! Flowers are opening up in my garden. The peonies, iris, phlox, climbing roses, and many others are in the bud stage but just about ready to burst into bloom. Below you see a patch of bachelor's buttons in bloom.

This is a rhododendron bud starting to blossom.....

 ...and here, on the very same bush, are two rhododendron blossoms fully opened.

For the first time in many years, I have lupine blooming in my garden. I started these from seed I collected in a meadow a few years ago. This is a light purple. I also have a patch with darker purple flowers.

 My rhubarb is getting bigger.

 The "Cut and Come Again" salad greens are almost ready to cut. I am eager to start making salad with this mix.

And this beautiful sight below is what we lugged home from the beach- buckets of seaweed. I will spread this on the garden. I also hope to make some seaweed tea for an organic fertilizer.

All over the garden, the seeds I planted are sprouting into tiny little seedlings. The heat killed some, but I think we'll still have a good variety of produce in the end.

What's happening in your June garden?

-Caroline

Note to Michele Mom's Flowers

 With Mother's Day approaching, I thought I'd show you the blooms in my mother's garden. I took these photos as the sun set the other night.

 Mom has many forsythia bushes in bloom which supplied this spring bouquet.

 She's making plans for her summer garden and window boxes. Below you see morning glory seeds soaking. This makes germination easier as these seeds have a tough shell.

Note to Michele: My New Pile of Loam and the Virtues of Rock Dust

Michele,

Just wanted to show you my new pile of dirt. Specifically, it is three yards of screened loam that arrived today. I think I'm going to order some rock dust to add to it. I've been watching Growing Your Greens on Youtube and John talks a lot about the virtues of rock dust. In addition, I'll add some compost and then to my gardens it goes. When my house was built, gravel fill was used with very little topsoil, so I've had to bring in good loam for the gardens over the years. When my kids were little, a truckload of loam was always a happy event for them. Their collection of Tonka trucks came out of storage and they'd play for days making roads, towns, and rivers in the loam pile. I almost hated to lug it to the gardens and spoil their fun.

Here are a few videos by John at Growing Your Greens discussing rock dust. I'm intrigued and want to give it a try!

Want to see more? Go to YouTube and search for Growing Your Greens Rock Dust.  John has even more to say on the subject. I'm convinced!

Note to Caroline: First harvest of sorts

Caroline, your garden looks great! I can't believe how much you have done in a very short time and

now it seems as if you are in full blown spring planting mode. I have a padded envelope full of the seeds that I have started to post to you tomorrow. I had a few packets from last year so we are actually sharing more than we indicated on our 2013 seed list. I hope you guys enjoy beets because we have three varieties of them. Here are some photos I took from the community plot this morning.

Here is the lettuce that I harvested this morning. Basically I was thinning it out.

Good news-no slugs this year yet.

Potatoes that I did not plant. I have discovered that I have at least six plants that someone put in last year.

My only concern is that it is going to take up room that I had anticipated for other vegetables.

Here are those Cha Cha Chives. I clipped a little of it off for my dinner salad.

A raised bed project in progress at the community garden.

Lavender in bloom.

Sage. I love Sage!

I planted 4 Cherry Tomatoes this morning. It is a tad early, but I was able to buy 4 plants for 0.79c.

Photo of the greens I harvested today. Hopefully the peas will be ready in another few weeks.

Here is a video about making an American Salad from the Garden Girl.



Note to Michele: My April Garden

Dear Michele,

Today, I took my camera out in the garden to show you my April garden.  The forsythia are in full bloom.

 

 My daughter planted three flats of pansies in a new garden flower garden we made. I've been dividing perennials from my old borders to add to this new little flower garden. We've added lupine, day lilies, iris, daisies, creeping phlox and a tall variety of phlox.

 The tiny pansies are always so cheerful this time of year and don't mind the chill.

My rhubarb plant is growing rapidly. I planted this last year.

 

 We have several varieties of daffodils. Some are naturalizing in the woods. I'm not even sure how they got there!

 

The Egyptian walking onions and chives are growing quickly.

 

Indoors I've started lettuce, parsley, spinach and cosmos. I planted some of these same seeds outdoors in the raised beds as well. I also planted sweet peas in my daughter's flower bed.

 My mother and father started some pussy-willows from cuttings of their own pussy-willow tree. Today I planted a tiny tree which they gave me. It will be nice to have pussy-willows to cut each spring. Their tree is huge now.

 Below you see the little pussy-willows gone by and the tree is starting to leaf out. To root these my mother and father simply cut branches and stuck them in some dirt last year and now we have a little tree.

What's happening in your garden?

Until next time....
Caroline

Note to Michele: The Spring Butterfly and The Easter Tablecloth

Hi Michele, 

Even though my world is still a palate of browns and grays,  I think I accidentally tricked this butterfly into believing I have a garden in full bloom! A few days ago, I draped my Easter tablecloth over the deck railing to dry, yet unwittingly attracted a butterfly. It's a bit early for butterflies here, so I was surprised.

Then it landed on the tablecloth and started looking for nectar the way butterflies do. I do believe this poor creature thought it found the mother of all early spring gardens. As you can see the tablecloth has bright tulips and daffodils on it, as well as blue butterflies. And this poor thing thought it was the real deal. A butterfly's dream come true!

 

So, I put my Easter Lily on the rail, hoping it would see the flowers and go for some real nectar. It didn't work. The butterfly was so interested in this tablecloth, it ignored the beautiful REAL flowers nearby. I wondered how long the butterfly would ignore the real blossom for the tablecloth. But, I felt pity for it, so pulled the tablecloth inside. Later in the week, I put it outside again, just to see what would happen and before long I noticed a bee buzzing around the tablecloth.

Which has me pondering. If a gardener would like to attract more bees and butterflies to the garden when real flowers are in need of pollination, could a tablecloth like this be useful? Or would they just ignore the real flowers for this fake garden?

Mahatma Gandhi said, "An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it." Tell that to the butterfly!