Search ITGO
They’re Back!
Support Our Wonderful Sponsors
Colleen’s Organic Gardening Blog at About.com
Friends of ITGO
My Favorite Garden Blogs
- A Study in Contrasts
- Chiot’s Run
- Cold Climate Gardening
- Gardening Gone Wild
- Growing With Plants
- Ilona’s Garden Journal
- In My Kitchen Garden
- Kitchen Gardeners International
- Mr. Brown Thumb
- My Northern Garden
- My Skinny Garden
- Our Little Acre
- Pollinators-Welcome
- The Cheap Vegetable Gardener
- The Compost Bin
- The Gardener’s Pantry
- The Plant Hunter
- The Transplantable Rose
- Veggie Gardening Tips
- Zanthan Gardens
From the Archives
Archive for December, 2009
2009 Year in Review
2009 was a whirlwind. In some ways, it feels like the year came and went all too quickly; in others, it seems like too much happened to possibly be contained in a mere 365 days. Shall we take a walk down memory lane?
After a mostly quiet January (except for some historic inauguration during which I wept like a baby), February saw the birth of my son, Alex — our fourth child. At a prizewinning 10 pounds, 13 ounces (it hurts just to think about it….) he is the current family record-holder for birth weight. After battling my own health problems during the pregnancy, we ended up having to induce labor. There is nothing on Earth quite as frightening as seeing the look of utter and complete relief on your OB’s face when it’s all over and everyone’s come through safe and sound….
Alex, home from the hospital.
March was spent figuring out how to write, blog, garden, and be a mom to four kids, two of whom were under a year old at the time. It was exhausting (and still is, a lot of the time 
)
In April, I started my 2nd year as About.com’s Guide to Organic Gardening. It is the most fun I’ve ever had for a paycheck, and I hope to continue with About for years to come.
May. On Cinco de Mayo we celebrated Elizabeth’s first birthday. A week before that, we received a box of author’s copies of my book, Edible Gardening for the Midwest, in the mail. Holding that first copy of my book was the realization of a childhood dream. I still get a little giddy when we go to Barnes & Noble or English Gardens and I see my book on the shelves!
The summer was full of gardening fun. We grew our best tomato crop ever, and I even finally accomplished a long-time goal of canning some tomatoes for winter. As a bonus, I also made several jars of pickles, green tomato jam, and dried tomatoes. The front garden was much improved, and is finally starting to look like the garden I’ve wanted since we bought this house.
The new side yard garden bed, AKA the jungle.
I blogged for The Detroit News‘ Garden Blog this summer. It was a lot of fun, and again, it was a thrill to see my name associated with something I grew up with.
I also started writing for Planet Green in July. It’s been fun branching out into more aspects of living the green lifestyle, and I even had the honor of seeing one of my posts, 50 Ways to Never Waste Food Again, go popular on Digg. It (and a few other articles of mine) were also picked up by the Huffington Post. Kind of weird to see oneself referenced over and over again by people you have a ton of respect for. I could get used to it, though.
Oh, speaking of being quoted: I was quoted by The Nation when I wrote about big agriculture’s opposition to the First Lady’s White House Kitchen Garden. That was kind of cool.
My oldest daughter started Kindergarten in September, and I have not had the easiest time adjusting to having to leave the house on time and with everyone dressed. I also volunteered to redesign and replant the school’s gardens. You know…in my spare time.
The end of the year has been pretty quiet. I’ve managed to annoy a few people this year, but I’ve also managed to help some as well. I’ve wasted too much time on Twitter and Facebook, and not spent nearly enough time trying to write for magazines. And we won’t get into all of the baby weight I need to lose.
Before I close, I want to say thank you to everyone who visits, reads, or comments here at ITGO. You make it fun to blog here. I also want to thank my friends who support me both here and at the other sites I write for, and who I can always count on for a good laugh or wise guidance on FB or Twitter: Katie, Mr. Brown Thumb, Chris, Doug, and Kerry – you all rock. Thank you for everything.
All in all, it was a good year. I can only hope 2010 can live up to it
2 comments
Another Good Reason To Leave a Few Seedheads
We’ve probably got about three inches of snow. Not nearly enough to really get out there and make snow forts and have snowball fights, but enough to make the kids rabid to get out there. So the girls bundled up and made this cute little tabletop snowman in our back yard.
Cutest. Snowman. Ever.
The nose is a sprig from our Christmas tree trimmings. The mouth, eyes, and buttons are garlic chive seeds from the couple of clumps that I didn’t deadhead at the end of summer. I leave some of them because they look so pretty dusted with snow, and I was hoping for a couple of good photos of them this year. But, I think this is even better
I’ve written before about leaving seedheads in the garden for winter interest, as well as for feeding wildlife during the winter. Leave it to my kids to remind me, yet again, that we should have fun in the garden, too.
5 comments
Feeding Santa’s Reindeer
I had the best time today. I volunteered to help out with my daughter’s Kindergarten class holiday party. We ate, we crafted, we sang “Jingle Bells” at the top of our lungs. So much fun!
The craft I was in charge of was helping the kids make snacks for Santa’s reindeer. It’s a cute idea. We mixed old fashioned oatmeal, red and green sprinkles, and glitter together, then scooped the “magic reindeer” food into little bags for the kids to take home, complete with instructions to sprinkle it out on the lawn on Christmas Eve so Santa’s reindeer could have a snack, too. Never mind that one of the kids ate it. It’s non-toxic And never mind that I totally freaked a few kids out when they asked what would happen if they ate it and I told them their noses would start glowing red. Hey, you take your fun where you can get it.
But as I helped the kids scoop this concoction into baggies, I found myself thinking that this could be a really fun way to sow some flowers in your garden. Instead of the red and green sprinkles, what about adding flower seeds? I think you need the glitter, because we all know that magic is glittery. But I can totally see changing up the mixture to be a little bit of the oatmeal, and then a few scoops of the flower seed of your choice — anything that you would wintersow, or that self-sows reliably in your zone would work. I think when we make a batch of this next year (because this will become a tradition — the girls have already informed me of that!) we’ll use cosmos seeds in the mix, and the girls can sprinkle them out front, where most of the yard is taken up by flower beds anyway.
And, if you were sprinkling your reindeer food on a lawn, you could add clover seed or chamomile seed. Your lawn will be prettier, and the beneficial insects in your garden will love you for it.
2 comments
Proof That Vermicomposting Really Is Easy…
You wouldn’t believe the amount of email I get over at my About.com site about worm bins. It’s probably the single topic I’ve written the most articles on over there, simply because once I think I’ve got the subject covered, another email comes my way. And I understand. Remember back when I first started my worm bin? My biggest fear was that I would have the deaths of hundreds of red wigglers weighing on my conscience.
Worms Are Tough
I am not exactly an attentive worm farmer. I set the bin up, tried to remember to keep the contents moist, added food when I remembered, and have harvested vermicompost three times (though the bin is sorely overdue for another harvest.) I have gone, literally, weeks at a time without looking at my worm bin, other than when I pass it when bringing laundry up from the basement, and think to myself “I really should check on the worms.” Which is forgotten by the time I’ve reached the top of the stairs.
I’ve refreshed the bin once, this past August. This entailed dumping the contents of the worm bin out on a tarp in the back yard, then sifting worms and coarse materials from the fine vermicompost. Then I refilled the bin with clean, moist bedding, the worms, and a fresh batch of kitchen scraps. I did it that way mostly because there was a nice load of vermicompost in the bin — and very little bedding left. I was also able to see that, despite my lack of coddling, the worms had indeed reproduced, which explains why I need to harvest vermicompost again already.
Did I forget to tell you about how I got distracted and left the bin outside after I refreshed it? In August. On hot cement. And then it rained. And then it got kind of cold. And I left the worm bin outside because I was sure they were all dead anyway after a couple weeks of that. But then I checked, and there they were, doing their wiggly thing. So they came back inside, where they’ve been just kind of hanging out in the basement.
I tell you this story to ensure you that if someone as over-scheduled, scatterbrained, and forgetful as I am can keep worms alive and thriving, there is absolutely NO REASON you can’t keep your worms alive and happy too. If fear has kept you from starting your own worm bin, trust me. There really is nothing to fear but fear itself.
Ready to Start Vermicomposting?
Here are a few useful resources from around the web (including several of my own articles):
How to Set Up a Worm Bin and, How Not To Set Up a Worm Bin
Make Your Own Vermicomposting Bin
Indoor Composting: Bokashi + Worm Bin (I started adding my Bokashi compost to the worm bin over the summer— big success!)
Using Vermicompost
So, what to do with your vermicompost after you’ve harvested it? You can store it until needed in covered containers, and then use it just about anywhere. You can add it directly to garden beds, of course. You can also topdress the soil in your houseplants with a bit of vermicompost to add nutrients or use it as an ingredient in a homemade potting soil mix. But my favorite way to use vermicompost is to make a really good seed-starting mix. No matter how you use it, your plants will appreciate it!
1 comment
First Snowfall
Our recent abundance of frigid weather, rain, and wind finally gave way overnight and we woke this morning to a world dressed in white. It’s not enough to shovel; just enough of a sprinkling to cover the lawn and garden. Just enough to transform fall’s tired looking landscape into a bit of a winter wonderland.
I kept the snow a secret from the kids, knowing that when we opened the door to go to school this morning, I’d get to hear their squeals of surprise and delight. They didn’t let me down, and I realized that part of me still hasn’t grown up. I still delight in the gift of a midnight snowfall and the anticipation of these precious weeks before Christmas. I still believe in the magic of the season, knowing that we create our own magic by making memories, even out of the smallest moments, for ourselves and our families that last a lifetime. The memory of my daughters’ surprised laughter this morning will stay with me forever.
I’ll try to remember that when I’m shoveling snow later this season 