The Stillness & Silence of Winter

The garden & "pond" covered in snow...

There's not much to journal about lately. The gardens are tucked in for the season, and now that the holidays are over, my days are spent battling the snow to get to work and run errands. That leaves me with little energy for creating, but I have plenty of energy for dreaming. I have plans for the flowers and vegetables I want to grow this summer and ideas for how to expand the gardens. I have a lot of seeds leftover from last year, but still have orders I want to place for new plants. For the next few months, I'll be researching the plants that will work well in our zone, finding native alternatives to others, and looking for a few fun annuals.

Winter is Coming

I meant to write in October, but somehow I didn't. I keep coming back here to write something, but don't really know what to write! The gardens have been put to bed; we've expanded one in preparation for next year and are making even more plans for the yard.

You can see the lightest dusting of snow on the moon garden and raised box edges.

Inside, I'm painting and being creative in a million ways -- yet feeling like I'm not productive enough -- and we're all preparing as best we can for the holidays and the winter weather that's fast approaching. What kinds of things are you doing this time of year?

Turning of the Wheel

The Autumnal Equinox is tomorrow, the astronomical start of fall in the northern hemisphere, Mabon if you're pagan, a balance between day and night. Labor Day and the start of school signal the end of summer for most, but the summer weather hangs on a few weeks longer, even as the leaves begin to change color and the overnight temps start to drop.

Geese have begun to gather together in preparation for migration, flying overhead morning & evening;
bright red autumn meadowhawks have supplanted the blue & green dragonflies of summer;
but the tropical hibiscus continues to bloom beside the marigolds, and the peppers ripen.

Here at Faerie Gardens, we celebrated the changing seasons with a seasonal feast (if there's no feast, is it even a celebration?) and bonfire, sitting in the dark, talking and laughing until the sun had long since set. It was a wonderful welcome to fall.

Summer

It's been a busy summer here at Faerie Gardens. The gardens are overflowing with growth -- flowers, fruit, and veggies -- all slowly ripening.

Tumbling Tomatoes

Tiny Sugar Baby Watermelon

Three Frogs

Even the "pond" is alive with frogs!

Fall Garden

October 24, 2024

It's time to clean up the garden and put the pond to bed. There are a few warmer days coming up this week, and I want to get the pond drained while we have those warmer temps. That way the froggos will have time to find a better place to hunker down for the winter. Every year there have been frogs hanging out in the bottom of the pond when I emptied it; I can't assume this year will be different. And the pond will freeze solid over the winter, I have no doubt about that.

Also the tomatoes and most of the flowers are done. Ok, we did get some new blossoms on the tomatoes, and the nasturtiums are still blooming, but the growing season is over. 

The Black Beauty tomatoes were beautiful, but not as tasty as the Rose de Berne, but I think I'll try a completely different variety next year. Now that I've had some success. 

Beets were not a success and I do not know why. Same as last year's lettuce. Maybe I'm a little too haphazard when sowing them?

The pawpaw seedlings are growing well. I hope to keep them well protected this winter and plant them in the ground late next summer.

Time to start thinking about what to grow next year! Beans of some type, I think. Maybe a fast growing watermelon and some kind of squash or pumpkin. MAYBE some corn...??? No I don't think I am ready for that. For sure, I want to map out some gardens and wild areas and plan for more "taming" of the woods.

Beets

When we went and purchased our tomato plants this spring, we also purchased some beet seeds.

April 27, 2024. Tomatoes and beets purchased.

We planted about half the seeds when planting the tomatoes, but we didn't really get any thing. A few leaves, but no beets, and not enough greens to even add to a salad. I never even took pics of them.

August 31, 2024. No beets yet!

On August 25th, after most of the heat had settled down for the season, we tried again, planting them in the pool garden. They should have germinated by September 11th.

September 12, 2024. Still no beets.

We didn't see them by then, but it had turned a little colder than anticipated, so we were patient.

September 22, 2024. Still nothing.

Another ten days and still nothing. 

September 27, 2024. I think the garden is done.

How long does one have to have patience? I think I'm not getting any beets. :(

Planter Painted

Last spring, I decided to paint my planter box. So I took a lot of measurements and did a lot of math to figure out how much paint I'd need of the colors I wanted. Then I had a hard time finding the right exterior paints in the right sized containers in the right colors. And all of a sudden it was winter! So the project was paused.

This spring, when the weather warmed up a little, I went to Walmart, picked out some cheap craft paints in the colors I wanted, and just started slapping paint on! I thinned it out so it would be more like a stain than an actual layer of paint, and I love how it looks!

The spring flowers in the box are pretty much done for the season, but I don't want to cut them down  until they've dispersed their seeds, since I thinned them so much last year. However, I've planted some summer flowers amongst them, which will hopefully, before too long, fill everything out nicely. The frogs have even found the pond already!

My next project is getting the garden along the house all mulched and easier to tell from the lawn.

Putting the Garden to Bed

Yesterday was a yardwork day. I wish I had stayed home from work the day before to get it done when the sun was shining and the day was a wee bit warmer, but I did the dutiful thing, went to work on Friday, and did my yardwork in the cold, grey rain.

First up was the pond. With freezing weather coming, it was time to empty it of bricks and water and frogs, before it froze solid. I used the pump to siphon the water out, down the last few inches, removed the brick steps, then brought the pond into the woods, close to the stone wall, and slowly dumped the rest of the water, leaves, and my frog friend out. I was sorry to have to wake them on such a chilly day, but if we wait much longer, they won't be waking up!

Then it was time to move the paw paw seedlings to a more sheltered place in the yard (just under the south-facing side of the back porch), dig up the elephant ear for overwintering inside, and plant the dappled willow in the ground. (Many thanks to Jacqueline & Snow for digging the hole!) Erm, and play some Pokémon GO too of course...

There's not much left to do outside now. The green tomatoes were harvested a week or so ago and made into fried green tomatoes, and before everything is buried in snow, I will want to cut all the potted annual plants down and move the pots to a sheltered place. I also still need to cut the geraniums back, and move them to a cold dark place, so they can go dormant too. I never did move the daffodils from one side of the steps to the other, but there won't be a porch built over them yet. So maybe next summer. 

Garden Harvest

 Time for another garden update! Is this a gardening blog now? Maybe...

I started by planting radishes on May 31st, and although they should have germinated in 7-10 days (June 7-10), they didn't actually start germinating until the 13th. First with one one sprout then more and more until the 17th. The packet said to thin them when 1-2 inches tall and on the 18th, I thinned some. And again, although the packet claimed they would mature in 29 days none were big enough to pick until my birthday, July 22nd. I got about 5 or 6 radishes and they were HOT. So while as beautiful as they are, I might not grow them again.

Watermelon radishes, July 22, 2023

The Roma tomatoes were planted by a co-worker as part of an educational program and were leftover. I was surprised to get any tomatoes from them at all, but did get quite a few, albeit small, hard, and not too flavorful. I did purchase a beefsteak tomato plant from a nursery, but got only one tomato from the whole plant. There are just a few of the Roma tomatoes left to ripen, and several green ones that we'll pick before the first frost to make fried green tomatoes from.

September 11, 2023 - tomatoes ripening in the back

After the radishes were all picked, we decided to fill the empty space with some lettuce. So on August 13th we planted seeds which said they would germinate in 10-14 days. By the 17th (FOUR DAYS) many had germinated, but after another three days they started to disappear, and we never saw them even get to an inch tall. No idea where they went.

October 7, 2023

Now, we've put up the Halloween décor, and are just waiting for those last few tomatoes. All said, I think the garden placement was successful enough that I'll try some other things next year.

Mary Mary Quite Contrary

 How does your garden grow?

Raised bed garden and friends, September 24, 2023

It has been about a month since I last posted, and not much has changed in the garden, although she is dressed for Halloween now. Soon the hummingbird feeders will be brought in, and the elephants ear and pond will need to be prepared for winter storage. 

A collection of

But for now the fall flowers are blooming and a few friends still visit. Eventually, the winter birds will arrive, and the suet & seed feeders will go out. Until then, I intend to enjoy the rest of the season in my garden.

More Gardening

 Today was dirt day. I topped off the garden box (almost, it needs more, but next year), and covered some of the shallowly planted bulbs along the house and between the lilac and the garden box. I also replanted the chipmunk-planted nut tree (butternut, bitternut, hickory? Time will tell.) and staked up the bird(?) planted sunflower.

Raised Garden Box, August 25, 2023

And despite the sad outcome of the lettuce we planted (They should be growing in that bare spot to the left back of the pool, but they all vanished!), I am pretty pleased with the outcome of the watermelon radishes (even though we only got about five and it took over two months instead of 29 days). And just look at my tomatoes ripening! So excite!

Swimming Pool Veggie Garden, August 25, 2023

So I gave myself a pep talk, when I came back inside, dirty, sweaty, itchy. I can do hard things, physically hard things! I carried (dragged) those big bags of dirt to the garden box and scooped all that dirt in, carefully spreading it around as to not squash the already growing grape hyacinths (I guess I didn't get them all, that's ok). I moved those heavy containers around. I can get all hot & sweaty & dirty, and all beat up by the mosquitoes (bit up), and it's OK! I did it and didn't die. And now I have a pretty place to look at! Proud of me.

Adventures in Gardening

My parents weren't much into gardening, but my grandparents on my mother's side were very into gardening. They built a greenhouse onto their house and would start seeds inside, 100s if not 1000s of them. They would start marigolds for the garden that ran down the length of their driveway, and tomatoes and other veggies for the big garden in the backyard.

May 28, 2023 - Marigolds

They were also into canning and preserving, even going to pick-your-own farms, gathering bushels of tomatoes, and spending days processing them into canned tomatoes to use throughout the year. My grandfather would make pickles and they both would can the tomatoes, and other veggies like beets. They also froze a lot of fruits and veggies.

June 26, 2023 - Watermelon radishes & tomatoes

I doubt I will ever get into it that much, it's far cheaper now to go and buy canned tomatoes, pickles, beets... at the store. Seeds are cheap yes, but the canning supplies are not, and there is so much work involved. Also, I've never had much luck growing my own vegetables or flowers from seed. From rained out gardens to gardens plagued with pests, or gardens that just don't produce more than a few tomatoes or squash, that's been my luck.

July 20, 2023 - Still nothing ready for harvest

This year I tried again though. I bought a kids' swimming pool and some bags of dirt -- we are blessed with gravelly loamy sand for our soil type, which isn't good for growing -- and planted a ring of marigolds for protection, and scattered some watermelon radish seeds. They took much longer than the packet said they would to come to maturity, and they were SO HOT. Also of the whole packet, I only got 5 actual radishes. I was also given some tomato seedlings from work (Ag in the Classroom started tomatoes this year) and bought a beefsteak too.

August 18, 2023 - The start of some lettuce...

Only one beefsteak has deigned to grow, but have several Romas from the seedlings. And with most of the radishes gone, Jacqueline & I thought we'd try some leaf lettuce. So we've sprinkled a packet of those seeds across the empty space. They sprouted, but now seem to be disappearing. The tomatoes, though, are finally ripening! I hope they finish before the first frost!

August 20, 2023 - Ripening Romas!

Heading Out

Monday, August 7, 2023, 6:38 AM

My photos don't upload here as easily as they used to. I think I mentioned that a few weeks ago. Google doesn't really seem to be doing anything to fix the issue; there are many complaints going back months.

Tuesday, August 8, 2023, 6:39 AM

So I'm considering posting these to Instagram as a daily project, instead of posting here weekly, since it's become such a hassle. I don't seem to get much interaction here anyway.

Wednesday, August 9, 2023, 6:39 AM
Photo by Jacqueline, enhanced by me

In other news... This summer has been a roller coaster of drought and rain, sun and clouds.

Thursday, August 10, 2023, 6:40 AM

I haven't had to water the garden much lately because of all the rain, but it also hasn't been warm enough to get the really good growth of my plants.

Friday, August 11, 2023, 6:40 AM

Of course when it was supposed to be cooler, and I had just planted my radishes, the days were hot hot hot, leading to hot hot hot radishes that didn't grow fast enough.

Saturday, August 12, 2023, 7:36 AM

So, yeah... I htink I'll be posting these on Instagram daily from now on. Follow along if you'd like! https://www.instagram.com/bunnykissd/

Sunday, August 13, 2023, 7:07 AM

Exhausted

Monday, July 31, 2023, 6:41 AM

I'm starting to realize my exhaustion is never-ending. 

Tuesday, August 1, 2023, 6:41 AM

The only way to have any kind of a life outside of work is just to push through.

Wednesday, August 2, 2023, 6:40 AM

So that's what I did this week. Saturday errands run after work over the course of a few days. 

Thursday, August 3, 2023, 6:37 AM

A fun after-work walk on Wednesday at the park, something I haven't done since last fall.

Friday, August 4, 2023, 7:55 AM

And Friday off of work to adventure! We went to see Fall Out Boy and were up SO late (3 a.m.!!!), and although I *did* wake up at 7 a.m. and take a walk, it was because I had an ankle cramp (which I always get sleeping on those soft soft mattresses), and I only walked around the giant hotel room we were given. I did open the blinds all the way to let the sun in while I did, but I didn't take a photo, and then I crashed for another hour before getting up for the day. We visited a friend vending at the Lockport Farmers' Market, had Lake Effect ice cream for lunch, Arthur Treacher's fish & chips for an early dinner, and made it home without crashing.

Sunday, August 6, 2023, 7:08 AM

This morning the sky gave a big (silent) cheer for all I did.

Birthday Week

This week was the birthday week for three of our five kids. Boom boom boom, all in a row. Yes, just a few days after my own. It makes for a week filled with lots of fun & treats.

Monday, July 24, 2023, 6:37 AM

Because of the event I worked over the weekend, I had to flex some time and so I took Wednesday off.

Tuesday, July 25, 2023, 6:42 AM

And I slept late late late for me!

Wednesday, July 26, 2023, 8:11 AM

I also took Thursday off to attend a fun art event, but sadly both it and my morning walk were cancelled due to rain. :(

Friday, July 28, 2023, 6:41 AM

The mornings may look lovely, but often I am fighting off hoards of mosquitoes and deer flies while attempting to take my photo(s).

Saturday, July 29, 2023, 6:52 AM

They've been so bad this year. If I keep walking, they can't catch up, but the moment I stop...

Sunday, July 30, 2023, 7:22 AM

Frustrations

I've been working for hours this morning, trying to find a work-around to having to download and re-upload my photos for this blog, since both platforms are owned by Google. There *is* a tool that should allow me to add them directly from my Google photos, but that tool is not working. This certainly doesn't make me want to keep blogging here, but here we are. Anyone have other options for similar platforms?

Monday, July 17, 2023, 6:05 AM

Monday, I woke before my alarm, and we took our walk as the sun was just breaking the horizon.

Tuesday, July 18, 2023, 6:40 AM

Tuesday, the sun was red and sky dark from more Canadian fires. As before, I don't know why my camera won't pick up the colors right. The sun in this image is almost the accurate color, but the sky wasn't so dark & purple, more of an hazy yellow-grey along the horizon and blue above.

Wednesday, July 19, 2023, 6:44 AM

Wednesday and Thursday were sunny but hazy, foggy mornings, but not due to poor air quality.

Thursday, July 20, 2023, 6:39 AM

Friday was a cloudy morning, but not all day.

Friday, July 21, 2023, 6:38 AM

And Saturday was my birthday, but I had to work, and earlier than usual. The sun was just climbing over the horizon again during our walk.

Saturday, July 22, 2023, 6:00 AM

And today I slept later than usual, and the sun was high and the sky was beautiful.

Sunday, July 23, 2023, 7:59 AM