I try to contain myself when flipping through the 2011 seed catalogs on a zero degree morning. The sun comes out and warms the room, but outside it remains painfully brisk. The warm photos in the catalog entice our gardening minds to wander toward possibilities and good intentions. I intend to weed and water more frequently this season. I intend to protect my garden from molds and pests. I intend to mulch and fix up some row covers. I intend to plant some cover crops and enrich our soils.

Who knows what will really happen? At this stage, who cares? Let’s just dream for a while.

Our Pinetree Garden Seeds order:

SCARLET SPINACH (F1 hybrid 40 days)
HABANERO HOT PEPPER (heirloom)
BLOOMSDALE LONG STANDING (heirloom)
STARBURST BLAZE SUNFLOWER (F1)
DELICATA SQUASH (heirloom)
ARACHIS HYPOGAEA PEANUT (120 days)
JACOBS CATTLE DRY BEAN (83 days heirloom)
KELLOGGS BREAKFAST TOMATO (79 days)
PACKMAN BROCCOLI (F1 hybrid 52 days)
TENDER SWEET CARROT (heirloom)
PURPLE RUFFLES BASIL
BIG RED PEPPER (75 days)
BEER FRIEND SOY BEAN
LEMON CUCUMBER (65 days heirloom)
ORANGE SUN PEPPER (81 days)
HORN OF PLENTY SUMMER SQUASH (F1 hybrid 45 days)
HOMEMADE PICKLES CUCUMBER (54 days)
MATTS WILD CHERRY TOMATO (55 days)
LAVENDER TOUCH EGGPLANT (F1 hybrid 66 days)
EARLY GIRL TOMATO (F1 hybrid 60 days)
FANTASIA MIXTURE SUNFLOWER(F1)
REDBOR KALE (F1 hybrid 55 days)
PINETREE LETTUCE MIX
MINNESOTA MIDGET MELON (60 days)
SUGAR LACE II SNAP PEA (65 days)
PURPLE CAYENNE PEPPER (70 days)
ITALIAN LARGE LEAF BASIL

I also purchased some Burpee seed packs today:

BIG MAX PUMPKIN
HOT LEMON PEPPER

It’s nearing the end of the semester – a time when college students start scrambling for extensions. I don’t recall ever asking for an incomplete myself as a student, but as an instructor, I awarded my fair share of them. This type of inequality doesn’t sit well with me, so I am giving myself a number of incompletes to even the score.

Putting Away/Clean up — Incomplete

There is little reasonable excuse to be given for not putting things away, but I will give some anyway. Excuses and incompletes go hand in hand. The items in this category were in their present location for so long, I really thought they belonged there. Certainly, it would not take much to move them to the barn or other preferred spot, but it’s really windy outside. The cut cedar tree at the bottom greets us at the bottom of the drive every day – a constant reminder of things to be done. It’s almost in the way and will likely need moving before any real amount of snow falls.

Skirting Project – Incomplete

Once I made it far enough with the corrugated metal deck skirt to work on the steps, all work on the skirt seemed less fun. It still seems less fun. Extension granted to next Summer or late Spring when the ground is dry.

Gravel Piles – Incomplete

These are not snow drifts. They are piles of gravel that were supposed to be fill for the massively washed out driveway and pathways in the garden. Instead, they remain piles of gravel until next Spring. The workshop also has much interior work to be completed, but I can keep working on this during winter, so no incomplete is necessary.

Hoophouse – Incomplete

The hoophouse frame was assembled, but the cover material never materialized. It probably would have blown off this weekend anyway. Incomplete granted until cover is available.

Garden/Grape Maintenance – Incomplete

Early last season I spread some black plastic to solarize a new area for a raised bed. I buried in the edges to keep out the light and water – probably spent a couple of hours working on it. Later in the season, we noticed several tears in the plastic, but it had done its job – the grass underneath was dead. I never managed to prepare this bed and now bits of torn plastic remain resembling buried trash bags among weeds.

The grape trellis has been rather neglected. At a minimum the wires need some tightening. Perhaps I took the safety warning “Keep Hands Clear” a bit too literal. There are always incompletes around the garden, but these two stand out as items I had intentions to complete.

This very post was also an incomplete as the photos and idea have been around for a couple of weeks now. But now that it’s done, I can check this off the list. Complete.

Anne gathers and saves lots of pots. And on the last warm sunny days of November, she managed to wash them all (or at least most).

It’s not uncommon for Anne to pick me up from work with a car load full of empty pots someone was unloading. Plastic is nasty landfill material, so it feels good to re-use.  You might think finding someone like Anne in your area, someone who REALLY wants your empty plastic pots, would be difficult. It’s not as hard as you think.

Craigslist has been good to us on several occasions when shopping for raked leaves. We don’t have many mature trees around mowed areas, so we love bags of leaves. Freecycle has been even more useful when looking for that certain treasure-from-trash person. Sure, it’s a hassle to deal with arranging pickup, but it’s worth it. What people want and need is often surprising. It’s also surprising what people don’t want and need. Anne likes to make regular trips to the dump, there is a large metal refuse pile that is often hiding some reusable treasures. Reusing is important.

This planting started out as a big eyesore. We had had some work done on our septic system and heavy earth moving equipment had left this area looking like a construction site- a right muddy mess. I believe the plan at time was to hurry up and plant some perennials and put down some mulch before the weeds came to reclaim the space. And I don’t believe this plan was executed that first season. The following spring I put down landscape fabric everywhere to smother the quack grass and perennial weeds that had colonized there. I decided where the main paths should go and laid down bark mulch and covered the areas to be planted with straw. There were a few meltdowns involved with the quantity of bark mulch and the amount of schlepping this required- 3 truckloads? I planted a few things here and there but there was no overall plan. There never is. My approach to planning new plantings is usually along the lines of overplanting with whatever and dealing with the consequences later. This approach has resulted in some very nice looking plantings believe it or not! However, after visiting the Oregon Garden where I was introduced to a new style of gardening- primarily trees, shrubs and groundcovers, and a few flowering perennials but certainly not the ones that look like hell after they are done blooming!- I had a plan of attack for this area. This bed even in its infancy out competes all our others in terms of multi-season interest. Throughout the season there are a few blooms here and there but no lush flower displays. Yet it looks good all the time, especially now in late fall.

November 2010

August 2010

July 2010

May 2010

Please indulge a little introspection. I am not much of a planner – while I enjoy puzzling things out from every conceivable perspective, I don’t ever really want to begin. To begin would mean all perspectives have been exhausted, and how likely is that really?  I have learned/inherited some pack-rat tendencies. Thanks M & D! “I might need this” is etched into my bones.  I’m nowhere near hoarder status, but I sympathize with the psychology. And I am certainly a good consumer – a sucker for seed catalogs in the Winter or any time of year.

Red Burgundy Okra Seeds and Pods. Click image for larger view.

With all this in mind, I collected seeds today. This appeals to the perspective seeker and saver in me. It disrupts the good consumer, but I’m okay with that. As a Midwesterner, I am certain my consumption is well beyond my needs.

Cleome Seeds and Pod. Click image for larger view.

Seeds are relatively inexpensive and hold much promise during those cold Winter months. Low cost and promise is marketing genius.  Their shapes and sizes are as interesting as they are extreme. The general size of the seed tells us little about the size of the plant. And each holds the genetic key to an entire plant that might grow over 100 feet tall. The tobacco seed pods hold hundreds if not thousands of tiny little specs of seeds. I have a feeling we will see some volunteer tobacco next year, but I saved some seeds anyway.

Tobacco Seed Pods. Click image for larger view.

From the tiny to the large – the sunset pole bean wasn’t my favorite fresh green bean, but the blooms were a subtle salmon color and the seeds are dark with bright pink blotches. The seeds appeal to me, and so they win the game of natural selection. This is a plant I am actually considering growing again for the seeds themselves! Yes, the blooms are nice, but the seeds are even better.

Sunset Pole Bean Seeds and Pods. Click image for larger view.

It was our first time. We were virgin bean shellers. And I’m afraid it showed. Our technique needs some work. Shelling these two pints of Dragon Tongue bush beans took us over an hour.

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Beans are amazing. They produce frantically and for an extended period of time. They can be harvest fresh, they are good frozen or canned, and they can be dried. That’s crazy versatility. I can completely comprehend the Dave Ramsey’s beans and rice economy diet in terms of production quantities. At least I can speak to the beans half of the equation.  It would be interesting to plant a rice patty some day.

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I’ve read of gardeners slamming the entire bean plant with dried pods against the sides of a metal garbage can. The seeds presumably fall to the bottom, and I’m sure much of the chaff would too.  I didn’t look very hard, but I couldn’t find any metal garbage cans lying around.  And most of our beans are pole varieties, so pulling out the entire vine is not a great option.  Shelling by hand, one bean at a time, was fine – just time intensive. It would have been nice to have an air compressor to spray the chaff off the seeds. That could work. Or maybe just a strong fan. The amount of beans we grow can certainly be done by hand in a few hours so I don’t plan on running out to buy an air compressor tomorrow. Then again, we did lose our tire pump the other day. What would Dave Ramsey say to that?

A peck (1/4 bushel = 2 gallons) might be a conservative estimate, it’s been a great year for peppers.

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Above is a paprika pepper. It’s been a decent producer and much larger peppers than I expected – bigger than a golf ball and smaller than a billiard ball. I had anticipated more spice to them, but there isn’t really any kick to these. They aren’t exactly sweet though either. I’m not sure how to describe the flavor. Smokey?

We grew a large variety of peppers this year. Let’s review.

Canary Bell – A green to yellow/orange bell. Nice size and flavor. Best when allowed to ripen rather than eating green. Most susceptible to blight this year.

Healthy Red – A sweet yellow to red medium sized tapered pepper. Very solid. Very aromatic. Very good. Heavy producer. Needed staking.

YumYum Gold – A sweet green to red (even though the name and pictures suggest more orangish hues). Smaller tapered shape. Perfect for morning eggs, salsa, pizza, etc. Probably my favorite of the sweets this year.

Paprika – See above. Also somewhat susceptible to blight. I thought I might try to dry some, but eating them proved easier and delicious.

Cayenne -A spicy green to brilliant red. A small, quintessential chili, crinkly shaped pepper. Has some serious kick and nice lasting burn.

Bulgarian Carrot – A spicy green to orange, jalapeno shaped pepper. These were grown from last years seeds and did not seem to produce as much. And one plant turned out to be mutant. Fun. Looks to be a cross between the B Carrot and Tabasco (also grown last year).

Tabasco – A very small and very spicy pale yellow to orange/red. We grew these last year too, but none had time to ripen red. I have collected over a pint now. It seems to me the spice of tabasco doesn’t linger for long. The fruiting habit of the tabasco is interesting as the peppers are small enough to point up to the sky (image below).

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We were doing a little garden cleaning and this kiwano horn melon was sacrificed for better garden path clearance. The lemon cucumbers are perfectly ripe and so abundant it’s almost comical.

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The vines of the Kiwano’s have grown considerably well. They really want to ramble and climb. Much like the banana melons in this regard. I really should have given them more to climb on, but they managed to make their own trellis of the sunflower stalks and asparagus. The horns of the horn melon are indeed rather pointed. But even more of a nuisance are the fine spines along the vines and leaves. It is almost a necessity to wear gloves when checking on these plants. Otherwise I can expect to spend some time extracting the fine hair-like needles from my fingers. I have sensitive hands.

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At this yet to ripen stage, they taste like cucumbers. Nothing very exciting. When ripe I understand their flavor resembles bananas. If any ripen I will post again.

I took this photo of golden, coral bark and green curly willow branches in early spring while they were still dormant and at their best colorwise. The green and coral bark were harvested from my trees, and the golden had just arrived in the mail. Golden is a new variety for me and I look forward to seeing it against a backdrop of snow. But don’t misread me. As hot and humid as it is I’m not suggesting that winter should arrive early.

I’m also growing scarlet curly willow for the first time. This curly willow’s +1 year growth is purple, and the new growth is scarlet- both great colors which makes it my favorite, for the moment anyway. I believe it has great promise and I’m enjoying watching it grow.

Welcome to Bark and Bloom! There are still some pieces coming together, and we like to change our mind about once a day on little messages, slogans, and the general vibe of the business. Lately we have been aiming for cool and messy-zen, and with a keen eye on plants that have stood the test of time and timelessness. There is also a whole lot of experimentation going on at all times. If only we were good at science or at least better with our documentation. We try.

We are still blogging – check out the blog link at the top. Our most recent post titles will appear to the right. Several gallery pages are also featured under the gallery link above. We take quite a few pictures. The galleries consist mostly of those photos that have appeared in a post along the way. You can always visit our Flickr page to see more, but be warned, there will be many Peaches (the cat) photos.

And before you leave, make sure you visit the buy page! We will be selling many unique varieties starting May 1st, 2010 April 16, 2010. I’m going to start more seeds this week, bring on the Spring.