Last Leaf Raking of 2014

The last raking of our yard was done this weekend. I put it off until the loud noises from leaf blowers ended. I prefer to hear the noises of leaves and small animals in the yard and forest while I work. There were only a few places where the leaves were deep enough that the lawn mowing in a few days (the last of the season) would not shred them enough to feed the grass rather than smother it. The base of the maple was the largest area; I had already raked once but the tree still had half its leaves at that point.

I left the leaves in the flower bed. The mint seems to be enjoying the protection of the leaves through the recent temperatures in the teens and twenties; this calls for another small mint harvest to create a pot of fresh mint and ginger ‘tea’.

I am putting leaves around the base of the sycamore that came up in our backyard a few years ago. It is growing up: the bark is beginning to peel and it had one seed ball this year.

In a little over an hour, the job was done - mostly. I stopped because the base of my thumb felt raw under my work glove; sure enough - a few layers of skin had been rubbed away by the friction of the rake handle. 

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 - 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.

Third Mint Harvest of the Summer (2014)

The mint is even more prolific than usual this year because our hot weather in Maryland has been occasional days rather than long slogs…..and I have watered consistently.

I was surprised to find some dense patches where I had stuck some mint stems after stripping off the leaves after one of last year’s harvest. Mint is providing the ground cover around the iris in the front flower beds.  Some of the patch was cut for this third harvest of this summer.

The pots on the deck had grown back from the previous harvest. The post with mint and butterfly weed looked a bit overgrown so I trimmed the mint severely.

I was going to trim the mint in the turtle sandbox but decided to only cut about a quarter of the mint since I already had so much to process.

There were multiple baskets of mint leaves to rinse and then feed into the food processor.

I decided to use the leaves and tender stems (and then stick the tougher stems that remained around the gardens and other pots. Usually I stop at one processor bowl full of processed mint but there was so much this time that I forged ahead had two.

The drying process started on platters in the kitchen then in a muslin bag hanging in various rooms of the house….what a joy to have a mint scented house.

I may have one more batch in the fall….and then savor hot mint tea all winter!

Our Summer Yard - July 2014

Maryland has had a variable summer so far: a few hot days with thunderstorms in the later afternoon and then relatively cool days that start out in the low 60s. The yard always seems to need mowing. The flower beds are better than ever.

The day lily bulbs I dug up last fall from a place that had become too shady for them to bloom are blooming profusely - where buds survived the deer back in June. They are a bright splash of orange around the bird bath (along with the purple blazing stars) and around the base of the oak tree where there branches are trimmed high enough that they get a little morning sun.

There is a dahlia with one flower open and loads of buds.

There are a few leaves on the lawn. Some were jettisoned by the tree like the sycamore leaf on the right and some were torn off by our recent storms (like the small brach of oak leaaves below).

The patch of cone flowers is always good for some insect photography.

As I walked around, I noticed mint growing in some unexpected places. It’s probably time for another harvest!

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.’

Garden Dreaming

My gardening areas have snow on them right now but I remember them from last summer and am dreaming about the garden for this next summer. I am full of plans as soon as it is a little warmer.

• I trimmed the hydrangea away from the window and house last fall but I need to be sure it was sufficient to keep it away from the wood. I’d like to try dividing the bushes again this summer (last summer my attempts were just putting out new buds when the deer found them). This year I plan to buy the deer repellent scent to keep them away from the garden.
• Our deck is a full story off the ground and underneath is very shady. Ferns might grow well there with enough mulch….maybe another area I should put the partially decomposed leaves from last fall.
• The deck pots will be mostly herbs this year although there are zinnia and cardinal flowers that will come back in a couple of pots at least (the hummingbirds and butterflies like them so I’ll cheer them on. Mint, stevia, basil and parsley are my favorite herbs and they do relatively well in pots. The mint will probably come back from last year. I’m going to look at seeds (and try not to go overboard) for the others.
• I’d like to do some composting directly into the garden - veggie scraps, tea, and egg shells. I think I’ll use a bucket outside the door and take it down to the garden every few days.

I can hardly wait to get started!