Archive for March, 2009

Appreciating the Little Things

Some photos today in celebration of the little things we enjoy at this time of year:

The 'Purple Emperor' sedum is making its appearance.

I love the lime green color of this 'Black Watchman' hollyhock.

The hyacinths are in bud. These are the best-smelling flower in my spring garden.

The purple color of emerging bleeding hearts is always a delight.

Under the lights, I have basil seedlings...

And sturdy little pepper and eggplant seedlings....

And lots of cute little tomato seedlings!

I hope you enjoyed this “mini” tour of our garden today. What’s going on in your garden?

4 comments

Eulogy for the Alley

Ask most kids raised in Detroit anytime through the mid-1980’s and they’ll undoubtedly tell you that one of the best places to play was the alley. To the adults, the alley was a necessity; somewhere to place the trash cans or dumpsters for the city to pick up. To the kids, the alley was a wonderland.

The alley was the nearest thing we had to wild, untamed nature. Granted, some alleyways in Detroit in the 80’s rivaled today’s front gardens in terms of beauty, but they were untamed in a way that is hard to understand unless you were part of them. Maybe it was the knowledge that your parents weren’t around watching your every move. Maybe it was the fact that you knew what was going on in all of your neighbors’ yards, just by being a denizen of the alley. But most likely, it was that the alleys were anything we needed them to be.

My alley was always a danger-ridden path to somewhere else. Whatever adventure I was on at the time required that I follow a long and treacherous road to get there. I’d hide among the alley plants (daylilies, holleyhocks, lilacs, in my neighborhood) and creep stealthily along the gravel tracks down the center of the alley. Who knew what danger lurked beyond that overgrown lilac, and what was that cat doing down there, anyway? The crunch of gravel beneath my sneakers was satisfying in its pure noisiness, and the smell of freshly-cut lawns and lilacs still reminds me of my days in the alley.

My husband and I have talked about this. Back in the day, everyone played in the alley. Unless it was garbage day, you were free and clear. Flowers grew there, and, if you were really lucky, a neighbor or two had planted raspberry bushes along the alley fence. Sometimes, I’d just sit there, enjoying the silence. My husband tells of how he and his friends snacked on alley raspberries and pulled the buds off of hollyhocks to throw at one another (boys…) It was ours, and it was whatever we needed it to be.

Then, the city decided that the alleys were a liability. Garbage pick-up went curbside, and the dumpsters of the alleys disappeared. The alleys were a route for criminals, too difficult to patrol. They were unsafe. You could buy your section of the alley, the one behind your house, for a few hundred dollars and fence it in if you wanted, to add to your yard. It just wasn’t the same. Today throughout Detroit, you can still see the places where the city fenced off the alleys. They sit behind chainlink overgrown and abandoned, shadows of the glory they once were.

Why does it matter? What good is an alley, anyway? I’ve been reading Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv, in which he investigates the rising rates of childhood depression and obesity (among other issues) as they correlate to a lack of contact with the natural world. Nature is not just the woods and the streams. If you were a kid around here in the 80’s and earlier, it was the alleys, too. Nature is anywhere that puts you in contact with flowers and fruits, trees and bees, birds and squirrels. It is somewhere you can go and be someone else, or not be anyone at all. It is the place where imagination and instinct take over, and, for just a little while, you are completely free. That is what we have lost.

My kids will never play in the alley. They’ll never know how it is that a simple gravel track between two sets of fences can become a truly magical place. They’ll never feel that faint sense of danger, knowing that the alley wasn’t meant for play, but making it yours anyway. They’ll have to find their own version of the alley, a nearly impossible feat in today’s cities and suburbs, where homeowner’s associations reign supreme and kids “free” time is scheduled down to the minute with sports and other extracurriculars.

As a former denizen of the alley, I’ll do everything in my power to help them find it.

9 comments

Pretty Pictures from the First Day of Spring

Spring. Aaah. Can’t you feel that warm breeze? Feel the sun warming the top of your head? Smell the amazing aroma of crumbly, fertile soil as you dig in the garden?

Nah, me neither.

It’s in the high 30’s here today. It is sunny, but not nearly sunny enough to warm much of anything other than the lettuce seedlings growing in my hoop house. But it is spring, and for that I am eternally grateful. Winter is finally officially over, and I have eggplant, peppers, basil, and thyme growing under my grow lights. Life is good.

Nothing is blooming yet around here, but a quick (very quick—it’s cold out there!) stroll around my yard this morning gave a hint at what I can look forward to. Daffodil, tulip, hyacinth, muscari, and bleeding heart foliage is evident all over the garden. The crocuses are in bud–hopefully I’ll have blooms early next week. Here are a couple of nice shots from the garden today. Enjoy!

Crocuses, very close to blooming.

Leaf buds on my favorite shrub, common lilac, just beginning to open.

What’s going on in your garden today?

6 comments

The Ingenuity of Gardeners

After getting to know more and more gardeners over the years, both online and in person, I’m convinced that they are some of the most creative people in existence. I suppose you need to be creative to be able to see a lush, bountiful garden where nothing but dirt and maybe a few newly-planted seeds presently exist. Gardeners are visionaries, and designers, and problem-solvers. I think the world would be better off if we had more gardeners in charge of things. Think about it….

I’ve run across two posts in the last couple of days that illustrate exactly what I mean. They are fantastic, free, practical ideas that will make planting seeds and keeping track of where they are planted in your garden much, much easier. Check them out:

Over at Mr. Brown Thumb’s blog, he introduces a nifty method for marking where you direct-sowed seeds in your garden—using cut up toilet paper rolls.

Mrs. Chiot over at Chiot’s Run has turned Square Foot Gardening into an art form with her ingenious plywood seed planting templates. She explains exactly how to make and use them in your garden.

I am totally stealing….er, incorporating….these ideas into my gardens this year. Thank you MBT and Mrs. Chiot for sharing your great ideas!

12 comments

All About Seed Starting

Welcome, Ask Farmer Phoebe listeners (and anyone else who wants to learn more about seed starting)! I hope this post, and the links I’ve included, help answer all of your questions about starting from seed indoors. If there’s anything I haven’t covered here, or you have another question, feel free to drop me a comment or email me at colleen [at] inthegardenonline [dot] com. Thanks!

Seed Starting Set-Ups

Of course, you can purchase racks and light set-ups for your indoor seed starting, but that gets pretty pricey, and I’d rather spend money on seeds than racks. The photo below shows the set-up I use at home. It is constructed with two by four lumber with 2 by 12 boards for the shelves. Inexpensive shop lights are hung from the bottom of each shelf with small hooks and chains. This allows me to raise and lower the lights as needed. The lights should always be two to three inches above the tops of the plants. This results in sturdy growth, and prevents spindly plants. I use two typical, cool fluorescent tubes in each fixture.

seedrack2 A note on locating your seed starting set-up: mine is located in an unfinished part of my basement. A utility sink is nearby, and there are plenty of electrical outlets. This works well for me, as I am a fairly messy gardener. I can spill soil or water and it’s easy to clean up. Watering is a breeze, because I’m not carrying watering cans around. I realize that not everyone has this option, but it is something to consider when placing your seed starting racks.

Regarding electrical outlets, you’ll need access to at least one outlet. I have a power strip plugged into an outlet, and I am able to plug my shop lights, timer, and seedling heat mats into the power strip. I am a huge fan of putting your seed starting lights on a timer. This ensures that your plants always get the perfect amount of light to grow well. Sixteen hours per day is perfect.

Equipment for Seed Starting

I use a variety of containers and tools in my seed starting. What I use depends largely on what types of crops I’m growing. For example, soil blocks are perfect for eggplants, peppers, melons, and squashes–things that I don’t anticipate having to move to larger pots or that dislike having their roots disturbed. I start tomatoes in plastic cell packs, because they usually end up having to be transplanted into larger pots at least once or twice before making the move outdoors. Here are a few links about my favorite seed starting equipment:

Obtaining Seeds on the Cheap

When to Plant What

I put these charts together when I first started my website, In the Garden Online. They’re specific to Michigan gardeners, but if you’re in zone 5 – 6, the dates apply to you as well.

More Info About Veggie Gardening

Of course, there’s plenty more at my About.com site, and if you subscribe to the In the Garden Online blog, you’ll get regular updates about what’s happening in my garden, as well as plenty of tips and information on all things gardening.

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