Focus Plant: Basil

8 July, 2011 Reply

Basil (Ocimum basilicum) is many people’s favorite herb. Almost every Italian dish we prepare has basil as the base of its herbs. Of course basil is good for many other dishes, as well.

Sweet basil is extremely easy to grow from seed, and the seeds stay viable for a long time. I found out the hard way this spring when I took a couple of old packs sprinkled them in a flat and ended up with seven flats of  basil to show for it. In some instances it will even self sow, as I have several plants to show for it this year. You can start the seeds inside in the early spring to get a head start. Just use a soilless mixture (I recommend coconut coir), put them in a bright sunny window, and keep them moist, not wet. In 7-10 days you’ll see your plants begin to emerge.

Plant basil outside after all danger of frost is past as it is not tolerant of frost even a little bit, even temperatures near freezing can do it in. Once planted basil is an easy care plant. Just water regularly and fertilize as you would any other annual. It is recommended to use organic fertilizers, since you are going to eat it. I’ve never had a pest problem with basil, and I’ve lived in several different states, and climates.

You can start to harvest basil at almost any stage, but definitely start harvesting when it gets to its sixth set of leaves. That is when it will start to flower. You want to harvest before it flowers if possible, as the taste is better. I never manage to make it all the time, but keep up with it if possible.

You will not need a lot of basil plants even 3 or 4 can provide you with all the fresh and dried basil you’ll need for the coming year. I had sixteen plants last year and have enough basil for several years!

Harvesting involves cutting the leaves and either using them fresh or preserving them for later use. Fresh cut basil should be put in a container with water and set on your counter. DO NOT put it in the refrigerator or you’ll come back to find a glass full of black slimy leaves. On the counter it can last as much as two weeks. I’ve even had it root in the glass and stay fresh even longer, but don’t count on that.

To preserve basil you can dry or freeze it. If you dry it, try to use a dehydrator with temperature control. Set the temperature at 90°F, place the leaves on the racks spread out in a single layer and allow them to dehydrate overnight. Doing it at a low temperature preserves some essential oils that are lost when dried at a high temperature. Your basil will taste just like fresh!

If you want to freeze it you will need to put it in a carrier oil to keep it from turning to slime when thawed. You can use any oil, but olive is typically used. Place basil in a food processor and chop it into fairly large pieces. Drizzle just enough oil on them while they are being chopped to coat the leaves. Put spoonfuls into ice cube trays and put in the freezer. Once frozen you can pop them out and store them in a bag. One cube will be enough to flavor a soup, salad dressing, or any main dish.

Next blog will be about the different varieties of basil that are available and how to use them.

I’ve Created A Monster

5 July, 2011 Reply

A couple days ago I found a real bargain. I was actually shopping for sewing stuff at a local store, but they have branched out into all kinds of things I’d never go there for and guess what? I found something I’ve been looking for, for a long time, and on sale at 75% off. Guess others don’t shop there for these things either. I found a double hook sheperd’s hook. I’ve wanted one for a hummingbird feeder, but wasn’t interested in shelling out around $25 to watch hummingbirds eat out of a $5 feeder! This was just $7.50.

So, yesterday I put it out and hung the feeder with fresh nectar and the ant guard all filled with water. I had company almost immediately, as I have a lot of flowers that hummingbirds like in my garden. The only problem is that now only one of the hummingbirds is getting to feed, as she’s guarding the feeder and chasing all the other hummers away! Everywhere I’ve ever gone there’s been dozens of hummers feeding at one station, but here she’s decided that she is the owner of this feeder. So, I created a nectar monster. Hopefully over time she’ll get less possessive and I’ll get to watch the others feed with her.

Hummers are so much fun to watch. They’ve gotten used me being in the garden when they feed, so they’ll come within about five feet of me when I’m gardening. They’ll even just hang out looking at me sometimes. Of course I always look back and get to enjoy their tiny inquisitiveness.

Organizing A Garden

30 June, 2011 Reply

You’ve decided to put in a new garden. You’ve picked a location. Now, what to do from here? First you need to decide the size and shape of the garden. Try to plan gardens so that you don’t have to do extensive standing on the soil once planted. You can plan a couple of key stepping places, but compacted soil is hard for roots to live in.

When considering shape remember that curved lines are more appealing. If it a purely utilitarian garden for grapes or berries, then straight is not a problem, but gardens, especially ornamental gardens look softer and more inviting when the edges are curved. You can play with a hose or rope trying out different shapes until you get one that you like.

When picking plants for the garden consider several things:

  1. Do you want evergreen plants in the garden?
  2. What about deciduous shrubs or trees?
  3. Are perennials in order?
  4. Will you want to include any annuals?
  5. How tall do you want plants to grow?
  6. How wide can they spread?
  7. What is their water requirement?
  8. What is the soil requirement?
  9. How much sun or shade do they require?
  10. How much sun or shade does the garden area get? If you’re growing evergreens you even need to consider sun and shade throughout the year.

If you are including perennials:

  1. What is their bloom time and blossom color?
  2. Is it hardy in your zone?
  3. How tall does the mature plant get? Often plants in nurseries are not as tall as they’ll get once planted in the ground. They often don’t get as tall when grown in pots.

Plant your plants so that the tallest are in the back or center of a garden and then layer them down to short plants along the border, otherwise, the short plant will be overshadowed by its taller neighbor.

Remember you are not buying mature plants at a nursery, so read the plant tags carefully.Don’t be afraid to ask the staff for help in making a choice. A nursery is a place where babies live, same thing with plants. Nurseries are where baby plants are born and brought up until they are big enough to be adopted by us plant enthusiasts.

 

Focus Plant: Catnip

28 June, 2011 Reply

Honeybees on catnip

Catnip (Nepeta cataria) is well known for its affects on cats. Anyone who’s ever seen a cat given a catnip toy knows that they lose all their reserve and act like they’re totally uninhibited, drunk possibly.

Catnip seems to have that same affect on all the pollinators. Right now my catnip is in full bloom and it is covered in every sort of flying nectar drinker I’ve ever seen. There are bees, green flies, butterflies, etc. They just don’t seem to be able to get enough of the nectar.

I originally planted catnip, because it was supposed to repel ants. Well that didn’t work at all. I was about to pull the plants up, as I didn’t really see any use for them since they failed to eradicate the massive ant population on our property.

For whatever reason I never got to it last fall and then didn’t have the heart to do it once it started growing this spring.  Now that I know that it draws pollinators I’m going to keep it in the landscape. The past couple of years I’ve had a hard time with pollination of my vegetable garden. Now things seem to be much better. I’ve got lots of baby vegetables coming on.

Now that it is going to be a part of my landscape I decided to see what other uses it has other than cheap entertainment for your cat, and you watching your cat.

There’s a long list of ailments catnip is supposed to help. The main being that it is a relaxant. It’ll help you get to sleep when you are restless. So, don’t drink it before driving as it causes drowsiness. It also helps with respiratory infections, fevers, cold or flu, colic, gas, headaches, indigestion, menstrual cramps, etc. As with any herb if you are pregnant consult with a knowledgeable herbalist before using.

Catnip growing specs: 3-5’ tall, Zone 3a to 9b, full sun/part shade, water regularly, don’t overwater. Will freely self sow in some conditions (like my garden) deadhead if you don’t want seedlings (I have lots).

 

Ideas Into Reality

24 June, 2011 Reply

Many homeowners have dreams about how they want their yard to look. However, sometimes our dreams don’t quite live up to what we envisioned. Some people are great at visualizing. Whatever they envision becomes reality. For some it is hit or miss, sometimes it looks great, others it’s lacking. For some, what they see never matches they get.

There are a several ways to overcome this. First, you can practice with small projects until you can visualize what you want and have it come out like envisioned.

Second, you can find pictures of what you visualized and then copy them. This can be drawn from books, web sites, places you’ve visited, etc.

Third, you can enlist the help of software. These can be especially helpful when you are doing remodeling or landscaping.  Many programs these days show you what the yard will look like when it’s first planted and then progresses it over the years to show the mature yard. This can really help in placement of larger trees and shrubs. Often trees and shrubs are planted too close together, to give a more mature feel. When they mature the plants suffer because they don’t have room for proper growth.

Last, you can enlist the help of a professional landscape designer or architect. You tell them what you want and they then envision it and make it a reality for you.

I would always recommend that you work on the first option, even if you use one of the others in the interim. There is nothing as satisfying as seeing your vision materialize right before your eyes. That is the ultimate in creativity.

I did that when remodeling the interior of our home and now I’m using it on the exterior. It’s working out very well. Sometimes things even come out better than I expected!

 

Drowning In Weeds

16 June, 2011 Reply

We all have the best of intentions. We see our yard beautifully landscaped, not a blade of grass out of place. The flowers are blooming happily, raising their faces to the sun. Funny, we never envision our garden choked with weeds, or the grape trellis breaking and our grapes now lying on the ground. We don’t see the reworking of the deck taking weeks, instead of hours.

Gardeners are optimists. If we weren’t we’d never plant a seed, because planting a seed is an act of faith. You believe that the seed will grow. You trust that not only will it sprout, but that it will grow up to be a beautiful healthy plant that will either flower or produce food abundantly.

We never imagine the innocent little plant that we put in the garden, could be invasive in our climate (or maybe even just our yard). We don’t ever envision our garden being eaten by deer, or insects or plundered by fungal diseases.

Even when things like this happen we continue on. Hardships are taken in stride. They are a part of being a gardener. It’s almost like childbirth, we don’t remember how bad it was even a few days after the event. We’ve turned our attention to another new project, or plant.

I just spent approximately 12 hours weeding the berries and grapes. I got up this morning and my fingers are swollen from all the intense pulling, digging, etc. But do I stop the plans I have to increase the berry and grape patch. NO! I’ve got bigger and better plans that will keep them free from weeds and growing beautifully on trellises that are strong.

I still have other gardens to rescue from being choked alive with weeds. I’ll dutifully clean them out, over and over, until I get ahead of the onslaught. I love gardening, even when there are pitfalls. When the first bachelor button opened its beautiful purple blossom I’m still just as enchanted as I was when I was 5.

 

Quality Makes A Difference

13 June, 2011 Reply

After nearly 20 years still shiny & work great!

For years I bought my garden equipment at Walmart or the Dollar Store. I didn’t have a lot of money and thought it was thrifty to buy inexpensive tools.

Finally, I needed to replace my old worn out shovel. I looked around and began drooling over a stainless steel garden spade and fork set. I really, really wanted it, but didn’t think we could afford it. I put a shovel and fork on my Christmas list, little expecting my husband would buy the set I coveted.

On Christmas morning I went to open up the obvious garden tools, and to my delight there lay the bright shiny stainless steel set. It was so shiny. I almost couldn’t put it in the dirt. Finally, I took the plunge and the shovel slid into our hard clay dirt so easily! I was shocked. The fork did the same thing.

The write-up said dirt wouldn’t stick to them, that they would stay sharper longer and they were guaranteed for life. As I began spring cleaning I was flying through tasks that took me much longer with cheaper, poorly made tools.

Today, nearly 20 years later, I’m still using the same set. I’ve only had to sharpen the shovel twice. The fork broke right after I got it and they replaced it immediately, no questions asked. The second fork is still going strong. The dirt doesn’t stick to them, unless I’m trying to work soil that is too wet. They clean up like a breeze, they’ve never rusted at all and they are still shiny!

It taught me a lesson, quality is important in some things. Tools is one of those. It’s not like a cheap pair of flip-flops that are worn one season. A fine tool will last you a lifetime and will make any chore simpler and easier to accomplish than a cheap tool would.

My recommendation to anyone interested in gardening is buy the best tools you can afford. It will make gardening a delight and you’ll be much more likely to continue gardening, than if you have cheap, built in obsolescence tools.

 

Birth Of A Daylily

10 June, 2011 Reply

A year or so ago I noticed a new little daylily plant coming up. I hadn’t planted it there and it was obvious it had come up from a seed, as it was tiny. I decided to just leave it and see which plant it was from. I expected to look like one of the two daylilies nearby, either yellow or peach.

This morning I opened the door and it was blooming. A big glorious bloom that doesn’t look much like either of the two daylilies I have. I was pleasantly surprised, as I was expecting it to be a copy of one of the two. It does have some yellow in it, but it has the deep rusty red of the native daylilies in it. So, it must be a cross between the two of them.

The markings on it are unique and unlike either of the parents. After looking at about a dozen daylily sites I couldn’t find one that was very close to this one. I was shocked. I may have a truly unique flower going here! That would be exciting and fun.

Daylilies are easily bred, but I had no idea they could do such spectacular things all on their own. Hopefully I’ll be putting in my daylily bed this year and then this little gal will have a new place to show off from. I’m going to call it Blissfully Victorious, that’s what my name means. All this from a little patience, allowing a stray plant to grow to maturity.

 

Focus Plant: Zinnias

7 June, 2011 Reply

This is the year of the zinnia! Zinnias (Zinnia elegans), are super easy to grow annuals, that will provide a plethora of blooms perfect for cutting the entire summer season. There are dozens of varieties of zinnias. They range from tiny to gigantic, and just about every color in the rainbow can be found.

If you just want a flush of color there are the “Profusion” series that are low growing, small flowered, but masses of them. Or you can make a statement with zinnias that get upward of 3-5 feet with blossoms 5-6” across. There is a zinnia for everyone.

Not only do they come in different sizes, but different shapes, too. There’s cactus petaled, with their pointed, twisted petals. Maybe you’d like the dahlia style. Maybe beehive shaped blossoms interest you. Or a simple pointed petal look. You can get single, double, and even pompom looks.

Colors range from white, to green, with pinks, reds, oranges, yellows, purple, bi-colored, spotted, or even changing color over time.

Only the most common zinnias can be found at garden centers and they are usually expensive, sold in 4” or larger pots. You can easily start zinnias indoors in early spring or outside once the soil has warmed. This gives you access to a diverse collection of beautiful, tough, long lasting flowers.

Zinnias attract both butterflies and hummingbirds and few pests really bother them much, maybe slugs on the low growing varieties. I always save lots of room for zinnias in my gardens. Mine have already started flowering.

Understanding Annuals

2 June, 2011 Reply

This is the big show for annuals. Summer months are when they get to show off. Since annuals only live one season, they bloom profusely in an attempt to set seed. Their goal is to see the next generation born.

From early spring until hard frosts in fall there are annuals that you can grow in your area. You just need to be aware of a few tips when purchasing annuals. There are some annuals that do best with cool, mild days. In some areas of the US they will bloom throughout the summer, due to the mild climate, however, the same annual planted in a hotter environment will either languish or die in the heat of the summer.

Other annuals love the heat and sun. These will not flourish in the milder climates, but will put on an amazing show in the hotter climates. You also need to look at humidity, because even some heat lovers, don’t care as much for humidity. In this case planting them in an area of the yard where they’ll get relief from the hot afternoon sun can keep them blooming throughout the summer.

It is a good idea to read up on annuals that do well in your area, before purchasing. Home improvement and department stores don’t necessarily send plants that are designed for your area of the country. So, to avoid disappointment, doing a little homework is worth it. You can also talk to employees at garden centers, as they know much more about the proper growing conditions for the plants they offer that non-specialty businesses.

Last, in order to keep those annuals blooming like crazy, don’t let them set seed. Since their sole purpose for blooming to perpetuate the species, if you don’t let them do it, they just keep trying. So, deadhead on a regular basis if you want continuous blooming out of your annuals. It is worth the little bit of effort it takes to clean the spent flowers.

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