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December 4th and Still Harvesting Many Veggies.

Claytonia in Pots for Winter

The claytonia is just up and so many other things are going great this fall. This fall has been the warmest on record and while some may be missing the cold, this has been terrific for my leafy greens. I have many lettuces, kales and choys wintering over in both the cold frame and under plastic. There is no additional heat used to keep any of this going throughout the winter. I rely on using row cover and plastic and hoping that the limited sunshine keeps the tunnels just at freezing but does not let the ground freeze too deeply. In February, when the sun gets higher in the sky much of this will resume its growing phase and I will harvesting again in early March.

Kale In December

I find that the red lettuces do really well in pots in the cold frame. I leave the snow on the cold frame, once it comes, for added insulation.

Harvest From December 4th 2011

The carrots have been amazing this fall. I am not sure what I did to the soil, but they look like they are on steroids. I had no damage from the carrot fly to the carrots that were planted in August, unlike the carrots planted earlier in the season.

Johnny's Seeds Carrots Planted August, Harvested December

These pots are in the cold frame and I am harvesting the outer leaves from many of them for salads this month. Its great having such fresh veggies so late in the season.

I was already craving some vibrant color this month when I decided that the dried hydrangea needed a bit of spruicing up. So I went to the hardware store and bought a can of blue spray paint. Voila, instant color. Its really neat to watch cars drive by and the drivers have very perplexed looks on their faces as if to say, "how the heck did he find a plant that is still blooming now".

If you are looking for something that flowers in October and even into November how about adding this beauty to the garden? Chrysanthemum koreanu
'sheffield' is one tough plant, with lots and lots of single salmon-pink, yellow-centered daisy flowers beginning to bloom in mid-October and lasting a month or more in some cases in fall. For me this is the very last of my garden perennials to come into bloom. This plant will grow larger and larger with each passing year spreading under the ground and creating a very large clump. You can give this away to you friends and they will thank you each fall for giving them something wonderful as another season of gardening comes to a close.

No matter where you live you can start seedlings in the fall. You might think why start seeds just before winter right? However, you can grow many crops outside through a light frost and even freeze. Also, you can grow some of your greens indoors using artificial light or a sunny winter and enjoy microgreens all winter.

This picture is from last December when I had a huge harvest of greens for dinner. I don't live in a warm climate, rather I am able to grow many of these cold hardy vegetables because they are grown under a low tunnel throughout the colder months. This enables you to extend the growing season well beyond the typical May-October cycle. I also started raising my low tunnels to make high tunnels. This enables me to actually get into the tunnels when there is now on the ground. Click here to watch my video on high tunnels. Whether you grow under high or low tunnels, the greenhouse plastic and row cover create an environment that is good for growing this cold tolerant plants.

You might be wondering what crops will do well in the cold. There are a couple of books by Eliot Coleman on this very subject.

Here is a rough list of what grows well in the cold.

Carrots-Mokum and Nelson varieties (shorter growing time)

Beets-Also use beet greens

Bok choy and many other choy.

Broccoli-Sante Fe can be started in summer for fall harvest

Cabbage-I like using the napa cabbage planted in August for October harvest

Collards-my spring collards continue until a hard freeze.

Endive-Can be dug up in the snow.

Green onions

Kale-My kale often makes it through till spring

Kohlrabi

Leeks – Often can make it through with no protection

Lettuce-I find the red sails and oakleaf variety does well

Mizuna-One of my favorite greens

Onions – only varieties meant to winter over in the ground

Peas-I do not have great luck

Radishes

Spinach-I have wintered this in a cold frame in a pot all winter

Swiss chard-Use bright lights for great color

Turnips-harvest greens if they do not grow well

The Lifespan Of A Landscape

Landscapes change over time. That statement is not so insightful is it? However, many of us fail to actually do anything about these changes to keep up with them. What do I mean by this? Well, when a home is built the builder often puts a bunch of plants in the front and along the sides of the foundation. These plants, often refereed to as foundation plantings, grow over time. While that is a good thing in general, it is a problem as well. The plants which looked cute 20 years ago are now blocking doors, windows and paths to the home. They overwhelm the home and detract from its aesthetic beauty.

So what can you do? Some plantings can be pruned and shaped to look better. Don't be afraid to really cut things back either. A large rhododendron that is 8 feet tall and blocking your view out the window can stand to loose 4 feet of its growth and will often look thicker and fuller in a year.

Besides pruning you can also removed and redo plantings. I have many clients that have gone this route the past few years and been thrilled with the change. By removing your plantings from the foundation and starting over you gain years of a landscape which will have time to mature. The other advantage to removing plants is that many contractors and even some professional landscapers have placed plants along side homes which do not belong there. In other words, these plants would be better served to be in an open area where they can mature to their full size without being constrained by the walls or windows of a house.

During the past few decades plants have been breed to stay small. For example, there are now varieties of some evergreens that would have gotten to be 50 ft in the wild but have been developed to grow to within a fraction of that size.

Whatever you decide to do, have a plan of attack and be sure to read the label for any plant you buy. 5 years goes very fast and that 3 foot cute little tree you place next to the walkway today may just become a 50 foot nusence tomorrow.

Camp Gardening:Building The Kingswood Garden

Anyone over the age of about 16 realizes how fast life passes. I hear kids in the gym talking about being freshman and how they can't believe they are juniors or seniors. I want to run up to them and say, you have no idea how fast that train is about to go. Of course, those of us older, realize that a month lasts about a minute and a year is about 12 minutes long. This makes the fact that this summer marks 30 years since I set foot in Camp Kingswood in Maine seem very surreal and also feel like I arrived there just a few days ago. In 1981, I was in high school, Reagan was in the White House and well, everything was different. However, I was gardening already. I had, at that point in my life, put in about 7 or 8 seasons of gardening. That included one I remember trying to grow carrots in very poor soil. I just didn't understand why the carrots didn't push through the clay. It has been a learning experience ever since. Even this season, I continue to read, ask other experts and try to add to what I already know about gardening.

Yesterday I spent the day back at Camp, in Bridgton, ME, getting the garden ready for the kids this summer. A few years ago, I started a science program at Kingswood through the help of a grant. Last summer we created a gardening program to have the kids learn about the wonders of growing your own food. We ended up putting lots of stuff into the salad bar and it was fun to watch the produce from Camp always go first. This will be the second summer of the garden. I went up to Bridgton this weekend and cleaned up the dead stuff from last year, fertilized, added lime and planted tons of vegetables in the 5 raised beds Eric (runs the physical plant) created. I even made little buckets with potatoes in them for the kids. I am thinking by late July they should be able to flip the buckets and see how the potatoes have grown.

The big issue for the next few weeks will be water. I have to rely on mother nature and anyone up there that can water. If its a dry June, I am not sure what will survive. I know that some things will be ok, but some may die and of course no one wants to spend 8 hours doing something only to have it die. I am like a nervous parent waiting to see what happens! I am thinking we will have fresh green onions in the salad bar for the first day of camp. Here's hoping.

Upon Arrival. Some herbs survived harsh winter.

Eric with his headphones on. I think he likes to tune me out.

Start of David Herb and Flower Garden

Halfway done, ready to start planting.

Ready For Kids

Unique Containers

This time of year I am putting containers in for clients. One of the challenges is to find plant material that is unique and of course cost effective. If you are designing your own containers think about three elements to the containers: thriller, a spiller, and a filler. The thriller is something big, bold and unique. You can have more than one in larger containers. I did a container recently that was 68" and I added three thrillers. The spillers are those things that fall over the edge of the containers to soften the edges. The fillers fill the gaps between your thriller and spiller. The fillers can be flowers or foliage with great color, unique textures and sometimes a bit of height.

Here are some pictures of containers I did this weekend. I hope the inspire you a bit.

Standing In The Driveway The Red Catches My Eye

Nature never ceases to amaze me. This is what I saw this week as I pulled out of my driveway heading to work. I quickly ran into the house and grabbed the camera. Somehow one load tulip had come up in the woods across the street. How it go there is a bit of a mystery, but it seeded in somehow or perhaps a squirrel carried it there and buried it last fall. At any rate its a reminder to me just how little we actually matter. I tend my garden, weed it, feed it, prune and primp all year, yet in the end, nature planted this tulip in the perfect spot, surrounded by nothing and let it shine for a week or so giving me a smile every time I pull out the driveway.

Out my car window

One Shinning Star

Persian Ironwood Tree

One of the tricky aspects of moving a mature tree is that if you don't get all or most of the roots, the tree may at worst die or just not thrive in its new environment. Several years ago arborists started using air tools for all sorts of horticultural application. Today I got to see a mature Persian ironwood tree being moved. The process is actually quite simple. Blow the dirt away from the tree using the Air Spade, dig the hole for the tree in its new location and then move the tree, fill the hole and water it in. Now, this process while simple actually took several hours. Along the way some of the girdling roots were removed from around the tree and there was lots of care taken to ensure no roots got damaged.

Notice all the roots are saved.

Great shot of the fiberous roots.

	Trench for dirt that will be blow from roots.

Doug filming the tree as its lifted out.

Tree in new spot. (maple behind will come out)

I have my dill going in a container in the foreground. I love going outside in the morning and using it in eggs. Behind my dill is a pot of spinach. It was started last fall and I have been harvesting the outer leaves for some additional greens in the salads. Its looking a bit tired right now. I think that although I can winter over many leafy greens, they still don't look as good to me as they do when started in late winter.

I have these old wooden planters I got on a job several years ago. They are now rotting so badly the bottom has fallen out. So I had my friend and expert carpenter make me new planters out of the same decking material you see above. These planters will last forever and match so well the rest of the yard.

We added false bottoms so that we don't have to fill them entirely with soil. I left about 14" of planting depth. I am going to line them with landscape fabric so that the soil doesn't leak out the bottom or sides, but I think these are going give me years of fun. Check back in a few weeks and I will post how I am planting them.

I finally am planting my peas. I am three weeks later than last year due to being sick and just not having the time. I am planting under my tunnels so the peas should have a good chance to germinate quickly and grow rapidly, but I don't think I will be harvesting in June like I did in 2010. At any rate this year I am planting Caseload variety. This is medium size pea that is great for early season picking and tends to turn starchy slower.

I plant my peas in 3" wide bands and put about 24 seeds per foot. You don't have to stake this variety but I will probably give them some support anyway. I dusted the area with potash as peas like a higher amount of potash and I keep my soil at a higher pH using ground limestone. Whats interesting about growing peas under cover in early spring is that I have to keep them moist by watering. It seems strange to be watering when there is still enough moisture in the ground by the moisture in the tunnels dries out quite rapidly. I have also had to place some traps inside the tunnels. I did plant a few peas in early March but they all got eaten by voles. So now I have the traps in the tunnels and that should prevent this round from being eaten. Stay tuned.

Peas being planted. Mouse traps on lower left to catch voles.

You can see some of the seeds if you look closely. That wire thing is to keep the row cover off the plants if I need to use row cover in colder weather.

Cheese, Fruit, Wine and Bread

I am often reluctant to blog about vacations. I don't want folks to see these as anything more than sharing my experience. I think there can always be a danger of flaunting a trip that I realize most folks don't experience in their own lives. In Italy, we went to two regions in the far south known as Basilicata and Pulia. Both regions are not that well known to travelers and not well traveled. The reason we chose to go there was that it is off the beaten path and things tend to move a bit slower. Our guide on this day was Michele Cappiello a native of the area and a great guide! He does these sorts of customized trips and we were lucky to have him as our leader. So on this day we walked around the hills of Matera. Matera is a great village. The one way you might know it is that parts of the move Passion of the Christ were filmed there. The landscape is somewhat stark as you can see, but there were all sorts of wild flowers coming into plume and since many of the trees, including the olive trees, are evergreen, it felt like spring. The weather was mild, but not warm and perfect for hiking. Since it was mid-March the sun is also not as strong as its going to be in 12 weeks at the height of the summer. The day was memorable for its beauty, relaxing lunch and lessons on the history of the region. Looking out at snow flurries today here in Boston, I would like to be back there right now. If you want to check out more about the region go here http://www.walkbasilicata.it/