First Snowstorm of 2011

The above photo of my gate to the front garden can be thought of as both happy and sad. I say that because while I can't be outside gardening right now, I know that with this snow there is

already hope and warm thoughts of the spring that is only 3 months away. A lot of what January is about to a gardener is hope. We look beyond the ice and snow and spend the time indoors reading and planning for the spring. Seed catalogs seduce us with their glossy-colored pages that make the spirit stir with inspiration of what will be. Our starry eyes sparkle with each turn of a page, we fill up order forms and wonder why they can't be longer. Ah, yes it's that time of year - and it only gets better!

Temperatures hovered in the teens the last few days as we had snow all day yesterday into the night which ended up being about 8 inches total. This was the first big snowstorm of 2011 - I'm just glad that I was asleep while the bulk of the snow fell last night. By the way, the time on the clock is still set to summer time, it was really 8 AM...

The orchard looks like it was photographed in Siberia - so barren, so bleak... It's hard to believe that these trees could be alive from this scene. One thing's for sure, these trees are protected with white plastic trunk guards below the snow. This is a no mole/vole zone!

I thought this was a nice winter photo of the remaining Mugwort that grows close to my mailbox. One thing that I learned from recent reading is that you should be careful where you plant mugwort because it tends to kill-off any flowers or plants nearby. Once established, mugwort will grow back each year and it's great for making incense or smudge sticks.

I'm glad that I brought the remaining 2 cords of firewood in last week because I sure wouldn't want to have to be digging it out as in previous years. I guess I might actually be getting smarter with age after all!

The big garden can be seen in the distance, dormant as ever, but I'm adding wood ashes to each section on the weekends to help amend the soil for the spring. Some so-called experts say not to put too much in the garden - but I disagree. My soil is starving for anything to be added to it! It's better than doing nothing at all. Besides, I add bags of compost manure in the spring to help even things out.

I placed my first seed order last week with R.H. Shumway. I like their online ordering and rate the site 8 out of 10 for ease of ordering. The only problem I had was that an offer in the catalog was not listed online - yet I was able to get the offer in my cart by using the quick order number from the catalog (it was tricky, I had to open that in a 2nd window) that's why I can't give the website a 10.

There's much more ordering to do and many books to read. January is good for that.

Keep warm!

:)

Christmas Outside

I created three of these wooden thermometer houses last summer. The temperature reading pretty much sums-up December around this area. Temps only get into the twenties by mid-day and generally go down to the low teens each night.

I've seen no evidence of the garlic bolting, so that's good news. My only concern is that I may have been a week or two too late in getting them into the ground. They may not have had enough time to establish roots before the ground became frozen. We'll see...

I shoveled some ashes from the stove down the center of this garden last weekend. It can only help - and I personally disagree with the experts that say to limit the amount of ashes thrown into the garden. They're wrong!

This is what's left of the seed bell that I set-out for the birds 6 days ago. There was a 2nd bell hanging next to it, but the raccoon pulled it down!

I created this birdseed sanctuary to entertain my 2 cats. The Blue Jays start early at 6 AM, then the Black-Capped Chickadees spend the rest of the day feasting on the seeds. FYI: The Black-Capped Chickadee is the official State Bird of Massachusetts.

I've also got plenty of suet hanging for the birds. This bird feeder is something I designed earlier this year. I plan on making many more of these to attract a larger bird population to the gardens.

This is as bleak as it gets as far as the big garden looks... It boggles my mind at how barren this scene appears right now - when only a few months ago it was lush and green and teaming with life - weeds & all!

Things may have screeched to a halt outside, but inside, next to a warm wood stove, the dining room table is adorned with seed catalogues. Each page teams with life and color!
A spark of hope kindles my imagination and glows within my mind - the garden planning for next season has begun!

I will list these seed catalogues (as photographed, left to right) below with links to each website. These are my favorites and the best sources for rare heirlooms in the country:

Johnny's Selected Seeds
955 Benton Avenue
Winslow, Maine 04901-2601
1-877-564-6697

Vermont Bean Seed Company
334 W. Stroud St.
Randolph, WI 53956
1-800-349-1071

Totally Tomatoes
334 W. Stroud St.
Randolph, WI 53956
1-800-345-5977

(Yes, I was surprised to see that the above two catalogues have the same mailing address!)

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
2278 Baker Creek Road
Mansfield, MO 65704
1-417-924-8917

Comstock Seeds
263 Main Street
Wethersfield, CT 06109
1-860-571-6590

Seed Savers Exchange
3094 North Winn Road
Decorah, IA 52101
1-563-382-5990

Click here to print or download this list in MS Word format.

Let's get busy and start ordering seeds!
:)