The Compost Pile

This is my first year for a compost pile. I started it about a month ago by putting branches on three sides to contain the pile in a small area under our deck where the grass does not grow very well because of the deep shade.

The first layers of the pile were parings from the kitchen (veggie scraps), pine needles, and leaves. I collect the parings from the kitchen in a large bucket just outside the door closest to the kitchen. In a month’s time, I had about half a bucket collected…so they went onto the pile this week along with the plants (peppers, tomatoes, zinnias, and marigolds) that were wilting after the first frost in pots on the deck, some shelf fungus that our neighbor’s ground crew dislodged from an old stump, and more leaves/pine needles.

I hope the pile will ‘cook’ all winter and the compost will be ready to augment the deck pots and garden next spring!

Aloe Harvest

I made the decision in September to not bring the big pot of aloe back indoors for the winter. It overwhelmed the breakfast area last year. By mid-October when we started having some cooler days, I dug up two small plants that had come up from the roots of the parent and moved them to smaller pots that would easily fit on the plant table in front of a sunny window this winter.

I also harvested some of the larger plant. Instead of doing a lot of work peeling the pieces - I cut them in small wedges to expose the gooey pulp and piled them into ice trays to be frozen. Now the aloe cubes are popped out of the trays and stored in the freezer in a gallon Ziploc bag. My plan is to thaw a cube frequently to pamper skin and hair all winter long.

Sweet Potato Crop 2014

I clipped the leaves from my sweet potato plant was grew in a trough on my deck all summer over a week ago … enjoying that bounty in salads. Now I have harvested the sweet potatoes themselves. There are 5 good size sweet potatoes and two smaller ones. I cut up the enlarged roots (about the diameter of my little finger but orange inside) for a stir fry before I remembered to take a picture!

I planted a sweet potato that sprouted last October and enjoyed it as a house plant during the winter.

It went out on the deck as soon as the weather was warm and I added a bell pepper and zinnias to the pot. But the sweet potato vine was the dominate plant. I’ve already got the ends of the vines rooting in my kitchen and I’m preparing to plant them as houseplants. Now that I know the leaves are edible, I might trim the plants for fresh salad ingredients this winter - long after this crop of sweet potatoes has been consumed.

Fourth Mint Harvest of the Summer (2014)

The weather is getting decidedly cool here in Maryland so I have made the last mint harvest of the year. The weather and the additional plantings have made for a very good harvest this year. Almost every pot on the deck has some mint in it; I pushed stems from the early harvest into pots and they are overflowing just about everywhere they were planted. The pot that I planted last year has stems growing round the inside rim of the pot (I discovered this when I made my final harvest)! The front flowerbed has grown vigorously as well. It would have been even better had I watered it more consistently between rains.

Most of the mint I am drying and then combining with black tea to make a ‘blend’ for winter.

I have re-purposed a soup tureen to hold the blend; it looks great on the cabinet next to the ‘tea’ maker. One eighth cup tea in the basket of the tea maker makes a ‘just right’ carafe of tea to drink either hot or cold.

I am also putting some mint leaves in the smoothie maker with water and then freezing the resulting slush in ice cube trays for use in smoothies or soups during the winter. It’s a bit more work and requires freezer space but I like the flavor of fresh mint!

The Deck Garden - September 2014

I walked around the deck before beginning the harvesting. There are signs of fall. Some of the leaves are not quite so green. Both the sweet potato and carrots have some yellow leaves are parts of leaves. The sweet potato has done very well in the trough container; the soil is heaving and the sides are bulging….a sign that the part of the plant under the soil is as robust as the vines above. There is a pepper that came up from immature compost in the trough too!

The tomatoes are leaning on garden ornaments and stakes. Pretty soon - the weather will get too cool and I’ll pick them all to (hopefully ripen inside). The carrots and beans will come in too. I am re-potting one of the small aloes to bring inside. The big one will be sacrificed since I don’t have enough indoor space to dedicate to it.

I’ve enjoyed the deck garden this summer. Green has been the dominate color although the zinnias, marigolds and morning glories offered some variety. It surprised me how much textures and shapes caught my attention even from the kitchen window. I am already planning the new things I’ll try next summer!

Tiger Swallowtail - 2014

There have not been as many butterflies in our area this summer so I was delighted to photography two enjoying my deck garden in August and this week. In August, the butterfly weed and marigolds were the big attraction. Note how battered the edges of the wings look in this view of the feeding insect (with the butterfly pot decoration overhead).

I’m always surprised at how hairy the area where the winds and body overlap looks…at the powdery blue…at the delicacy of the whole wing.

From the side, the body looks robust compared to the legs and the proboscis. This insect spent quite a lot of time with the marigolds - so maybe the flowers will produce a lot of seeds.

This week the draw for the tiger swallowtail was the zinnias. When the wings are held vertically they are folded a little as well. Their ribs show more.

It was a breezy day so the insect would flatten itself to maintain its stance on the flower. The wings look very symmetrical when they are fully extended.

Notice that the edges of the wing are battered in this one too. This butterfly spent quite a long time at with the zinnia - flying away for a few seconds and then returning - and I’ll keep the seeds that develop over the next few weeks.

Favorite Memories of Summer 2014

Today - the traditional ‘last day of summer’ - I am savoring the memories of the past 3 months. It has been cooler than usual in my area (Maryland, near Baltimore) so the outdoor activities have been especially pleasant. Here are my top 5 memories from this summer:

The Deck Garden. The plants on the deck are a daily draw to go outdoors. There is always something changing - new flowers blooming, a tiny tomato forming, sweet potato vines spilling over the edge of the pot then the deck…and blooming, and all the associated insects and birds enjoying the plants (sometimes causing some damage) and the water in the birdbath and the pot saucers. I may change some of the plants next year - but using every available pot for something is definitely something to continue from now on.

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens. The place made my list because it was a new experience. I still enjoyed places I have been many times this summer (Brookside Gardens and the National Arboretum and the Howard County Conservancy Mt. Pleasant Farm) but the lotuses at the aquatic garden with the dragonflies that abounded were a high point of the garden visits this season.

Josey Ranch Lake. What a pleasant surprise it was to walk around the small lake near the library in Carrollton TX! It hosts such a variety of resident birds (although I did wish the nutria were not there).  It became the high point of ‘sights’ for the two weeks I spent in Texas this summer.

CSA Veggies. This was my first participation in a Community Supported Agriculture farm and I’ve enjoyed the enhanced flavor of fresh-from-the-field vegetables. I will do it again next summer!

Classes. I become more aware all the time of just how much I enjoy being a student. Whether the classes are online (Coursera and Creative Live) or ‘live’ at the Howard County Conservancy…classes have the effect of broadening my horizons and tweaking what I do. It may not be healthy to grow larger physically but growing mentally is always a good thing.

Happy end-of-summer 2014!

The Deck Garden - August 2014

The deck garden is probably at its peak this month in terms of foliage. The mint is overflowing the pots that also contain butterfly weed, a few carrots, and a tomato plant.

The cucumber plant is gone but the beans that were in the same pot are blooming again.

The marigolds and zinnias add color. Occasionally the morning glories have a flower although they have not done particularly well on the deck this year.

The sweet potato is still growing rapidly and the soil in the pot is beginning to heave - a sign that the potatoes underneath the plant are growing too. I have some peppers that came up from the ‘not quite decomposed’ compost; hopefully they’ll get big enough to be worth picking. I am starting to get the second crop of tomatoes from the deck plants.

I’m beginning to think more about what I want to grow next year on the deck. Right now I am leaning more toward plants with color (flowers and leaves) rather than vegetables. The CSA is supplying plenty veggies!  The sweet potato vine has been better that previous years in terms of growth and color (the new leaves are a deep red) so I may try to propagate cuttings from the vine after I harvest the sweet potatoes this fall.

The Deck Garden - July 2014

The deck garden is growing vigorously. My favorite plant this season is the sweet potato vine. It was started last winter when a sweet potato sprouted before I got around to eating it. I cut the sprouted end off and planted it in a pot. It did not grow very fast until it to outdoors in this summer. The soil in the pot is already being pushed upward by the tubers underneath - and the plant has two other appealing characteristics: the foliage is purple and it has occasional blooms. I’m going to root some clippings from this plant to take through the winter indoors in pots so that I’ll more the plants next summer for the deck.

Several of the other veggies have been an interesting experience but I probably go back to growing flowers on the deck next year. I get plenty of veggies from the CSA each week. The tomatoes are good picked fresh and eaten immediately. They might be worth it.

I have a spaghetti squash that is starting to grow. Watching it mature will be a learning experience. I also have a pot full of pepper plants that came up when I stirred some kitchen parings (including the waste from bell peppers) into one of the pots before I planted a squash plant in it. The squash has not done so well but I have several small peppers.

The cucumber plants are the ones that scream ‘water’ the fastest. I planted them in a pot that is too small. They need water every day - and more than that on very hot days.

And that leads me to the big lesson learned from the past 4 weeks: my shoulders hurt after only a few days of carrying big jugs of water out to deck to keep the plants hydrated. I’ve maneuvered a hose from the faucet below the deck to water the plants from now on!

My Deck Garden - June 2014

The deck garden has changed quite a lot since my post in May. The sweet potato has a lot more leaves ad may be overwhelming the bell pepper plant in the same trough pot; the pepper plant has a small pepper …. but will it grow big enough to be edible?

The watermelon and cantaloupe are blooming - I look each day for a small melon beginning to form but it hasn’t happened yet.

The tomato plants have a lot of green tomatoes. In the pot next to the peacock pot, a lot of peppers that sprouted from kitchen compost are overwhelming the cilantro that I’ve already harvested once. The spaghetti squash in the peacock pot has been blooming but I have not found any small squash forming yet.

It’s the same story for the zucchini squash.

I’ve harvested mint for the second time this year - from the big round pot and the turtle sandbox. The harvest is already dried and in the crock beside the tea maker.

In the meantime - the beans are growing rapidly in the jug that originally held cat litter and the cucumber that was severely damaged by hail is hanging on - blooming! The shallow bins with miscellaneous flowers are just beginning to bloom. The morning glory has quite a ‘glow.’

Squash Blossoms

Earlier this week I noticed that the zucchini squash plant I have in a large pot on my deck had almost as many buds as it had leaves! The weather has been cool and the many of the leaves still had tears caused by hail a week or so ago.

A little over a day after the first two pictures were taken, most of the buds opened. I glanced out my kitchen window as I fixed my breakfast to see the plant full of blooms.  What a cheerful view to begin the day (and I’ll be even happier to see some squashes).

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This morning the squash has more blooms!  In the morning light, the green veins seen on the outside of the blooms contrasted with the glowing yellow.

In addition, the blossoms from a few days ago have a deeper color in their curls - another stop along the timeline of a zucchini squash.

My Deck Garden - May 2014

I am enlarging my deck garden this year and done some planting in small pots indoors to be ready.  It was finally warm enough here late last week for them to all go outdoors. I’ve planted combinations of plants in larger pots - one that will spill out over the side and one that will grow upward….or one that makes a large root and one that grows tall. I’m not sure it will work or not, but at least the deck will look interesting this summer and I’ll do a monthly post about the deck garden until the fall. I supplied the plants I had started from seed with potted plants bought at Home Depot once they were sale priced. The mint that wintered on the deck has already sprouted so I simply added something else to those pots. I have pots or troughs of:

Sweet potato and bell pepper

Watermelon and tomato

Zucchini and cilantro

Tomato and spaghetti squash

Cucumber and cilantro

Tomato and cucumber

Spaghetti squash and mint (in the old ‘turtle’ sandbox)

Tomato and carrots (in a repurposed bin that cat litter came in)

Cantaloupe and cilantro

I just realized that I probably should plant some basil somewhere.