Category: garden

Goodbye Christmas Tree

Marie Haigh2 Comments

When we moved to this house 6 years ago, there were 18 trees on approximately 1/3 acre of land. Our neighbors  to the left of our house were partial to the 5 dogwoood trees. They told us stories about how the trees were often used as the back drop for their children’s prom pictures. Our neighbors to the right of our house were partial to the holly tree and the red berries it bore every winter.
The dogwoods and the holly are nice trees, but my 2 favorites were the huge pin oak

and the Colorado blue spruce.

The first 2 years we lived here I trimmed the spruce tree for the holidays. I loved how it almost shimmered after a snowfall.

A few days ago we had TreePro come by and remove it as it was slowly dying. I’m going to miss that old tree come winter.

For the record, despite removing 4 of the old trees for one reason or another, we have more trees than we started with thanks to my planting 5. Well, I actually planted 9, but only 5 took.

In Need of a Goat

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5 years ago when I researched how to remove poison ivy without chemicals, I came across 2 recommendations.

1. Dig up the entire root system
2. Buy a goat

Since the poison ivy was wound tightly around a section of the hedges, the odds of me being able to locate the entire root system in amidst the roots to the hedges were slim at best. So, option 1 was out.

Option 2 was ruled out because of our location. The Borough of Pottstown does not allow its residents to keep a goat as a pet. It’s for the best. Not only would a goat eat the poison ivy, it would eat everything else in sight. Perhaps the only shrub a goat would steer clear of is my Firethorn bush; the 4-inch-long thorns are wicked.

Thus, 5 years ago, I bought the strongest chemical I could find and sprayed the heck out of it. Yes, I lost a section of the hedges, but I killed the poison ivy. I had won.

This year, I had broken out in a rash on my arms and feet several times from poison ivy. I assumed it was because my neighbor had the ivy intertwined among his prized raspberry bushes.

It wasn’t until my neighbor pointed out a small weed underneath my pin oak tree, labeling it as poisonous, that I realized the problem was right in my backyard. Not only was it in my backyard, but it was infested in the very area we like to sit and relax in: underneath the pin oak tree.

I bought Round Up for poison ivy from Lowes and sprayed any plant that had leaves of 3. I probably sprayed over 20 plants. I wasn’t quick enough though. Poor Elly broke out in a rash on Saturday. Thankfully, it was only on her ankles.

Despite spraying with chemicals, the poison ivy still thrives. Maybe I could borrow a goat and corral him to the area underneath my pin oak tree.

Recycled Garden Walkway

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It had been my intention to simply purchase a bag of wood chips to strew along the path in between my garden beds. However, an idea popped into my head while I was breaking up the branches from an unwanted bush. The soft needles seemed like they would make a perfect mulch substitute.

Since I had to cut the branches into smaller pieces to fit them into a compost bag anyway, it was no more effort to cut off the soft needles first.

It’s not your conventional looking mulch due to its fluffiness, but I think it will work just fine. Now to find a solution for my other pathway….

Yard Waste Disposal in Pottstown

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The Borough of Pottstown now collects yard waste from its residents separately from regular trash.

There are pros and cons to this new service.

Pros:
1. It’s great for the environment. The yard waste is composted rather than just added to the heap of trash. Although I do have 2 compost bins in our yard, they simply can’t hold all the materials that I need to clean up each Spring and Fall. Rather than designate another corner of our yard for compost and further annoy our neighbors, I can throw the yard waste away.
2. It’s free. There was no increase in our trash service when this new service was added.

Cons:
They only pick up the yard waste once a month. For lack of a better place to stack the bags away from the weather, I line them up like soldiers on our front porch.

It’s a bit unsightly, which doesn’t please me or my neighbors.

Even Elly looks on disapprovingly.

What We’re Having for Breakfast This Week

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Pumpkin bread

It was made from the last batch of pureed butternut squash that I had frozen in the Fall. A farmer had advised me to use the “neck pumpkin”, his term for butternut squash – not mine, in my pumpkin recipes, stating that the canned pumpkin at the stores was actually the neck version and not the jack-o-lantern version. He was right; the butternut squash is a perfect substitute for pumpkin.

Dan, who loves pumpkin, will have to wait for the squash to be harvested from my veggie garden before he gets any more pumpkin desserts.

It’s my first time growing butternut squash. Fingers are crossed!

Protesting the Cold

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It snowed yesterday. It rained the day before that. It might snow again over the weekend.

If it’s cold enough to snow, it’s too cold to garden.

Walking Jake in this weather is only fun for Jake.

Elly stays warm with the handmade wool blanket she received from a colleague of my MIL. The blanket was made from wool that the woman, also named Elizabeth and thus the reason for her wanting to make something for my little girl, hand-dyed and handspun.

Riding the bike only makes it feel colder so that’s out too.

This house is starting to take on the shape of a pumpkin shell. Why hasn’t Spring sent Old Man Winter packing? Elly and I want to go out and play!

Effort equals Results (in a perfect world)

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This is the first year in 3 years that I expect high yields from my vegetable garden.

In order to thrive, gardens require a lot of time and effort, both of which have been in short supply. I have some pretty good excuses though.

2 years ago I became pregnant with Elly. Since I felt like death warmed over the entire 1st trimester, not much besides my tomatoes got planted. Preparing Elly’s room took priority once I did start to feel better. When the tomato plants got too big for their cages, I just let them lop over and take over the walkways. Though my yield was high that summer, many of the tomatoes rotted on the ground out of reach.

Last year revolved around the birth of Elly. The garden was basically allowed to grow wild. The tomato plants that did grow did not bear a lot of fruit. But I was thrilled to have anything at all.

This year shall be much different. I’ve already put in more time and effort than the past two years combined. Not only did I manage to plant 65 onion plants, but I managed to plant them on time.

Between now and Mother’s Day in May, I’ll be adding the following veggies to my raised beds:
lettuce
carrots
zucchini
tomatoes, of course
butternut squash

It doesn’t look like a lot, but it should keep me busy during harvest time.

Elly will be happy. She loves it when I have an excuse to take her outside.

Yes, she’s eating dirt again.

Gardening Weather

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The weather is warm enough to work in the garden. So that is exactly what Elly and I did yesterday.

It felt so good to get my hands dirty again. Elly had a great time getting filthy herself. Of course, she had to eat the dirt. How else would one find out what it tastes like?

Despite searching for a gardening set for Elly at Walmart, the best I coud find was a beach set. Elly ended stealing my tools anyway. I don’t know why I bother buying her toys sometimes.

Our neighbor Irene stopped by for a visit while we were outside. Elly gave her a tour of the yard. She just loves being able to walk everywhere now.

Jake’s Job

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Outside of companionship, Jake’s responsibilities are minimal. We never even bothered to teach him the normal list of tricks.

Thus, Jake doesn’t play Fetch, preferring the ‘Keep Away’ game.

He doesn’t bring me the newspaper every morning, since the first few attempts resulted in a shredded paper.

Being the social bunny that he is, Jake doesn’t guard the house. Even Elly joining the family hasn’t triggered any desire from Jake to protect us – for which I’m thrilled.

Despite his commitment to the task, Jake has been unable to chase off the resident squirrel family.

Yet, Jake has found a way to be useful. He breaks up the sticks that fall from our pin oak tree into kindling. He’s quite efficient.

First, Jake collects a stick from me.

Then, he lays down nearby to snap, tear, gnaw and bite the stick until it is reduced to pieces small enough for the kindling pile.

Upon completion, Jake dashes over to receive another stick.

He just loves his job.We see it as nothing but a bonus. I encourage it because it keeps Jake entertained while I’m gardening. Dan is always pleased by Jake’s efforts because it means less work for him when he’s bringing sticks in for the fireplace.

Where was Elly in all this gardening? In her Ergo, of course.