Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds - Nature Boy

Since I received my Master Gardener certification I frequently have friends asking for advice with their gardening and plant questions.  Recently my friend Laura decided to get serious and redo her backyard…so I offered to help “coach” her through planning and picking plants and arranging them in her yard.

We got together early this month to survey the backyard where she wanted to start.  After looking over the space it became clear that she really had to do some hard-scaping before we could put in plants.  An old fence would need to be replaced and a bunch of large “trash” trees cut down.  She also had to find a new location for her grave site collection of empty nursery containers.  We looked over her soil and it wasn’t good. Like most people in Dallas she was sitting on top of that thick black “gumbo” clay…she would have to amend the soil before putting in plants if she really wanted to do it right.

Carolyn helps dig a spot for Laura’s new plants.

After our meeting she and her best beau Gabriel got right on it and I was really impressed at how fast they got all the prep work done. Laura can really crack the whip! A crew came and cut down all the trashy and dead trees, Gabriel replaced the back fence, and Laura and friend Gini did some heavy lifting by moving all the concrete pavers into a stack out of the way. The yard debris was sorted and carted off. It was stripped down to the dirt and weeds, a nice clean slate, all in one week.

Gini gets a work out moving pavers.

Now it was time to pick plants. Like a lot of new gardeners Laura had dreams of Northern blooms in her head…lilacs, azaleas, and tulips…oh no…I had to stand firm and try to persuade her to make better choices for our climate.  I showed her some Texas hardy perennials in hopes that she would come to accept and love the zone 8 plants as much as the zone 3 flowers from her childhood memories.  This was not going to be easy… before I could accompany her to the nursery to pick plants she snuck off and bought a dwarf lilac!  DOH!

We went on a fun shopping spree to a couple of great nurseries in Dallas and she picked out some plants much better for our area.  In the end we had a lot of plants and they filled in nicely. They include, a Montmorency cherry tree, a Vitex that we will let grow into a small tree, a Chinese fringe flower bush, a couple of Indian Hawthorn bushes, a couple of Texas sage bushes, and some knock-out roses she already had growing in pots. We filled in with some smaller perennials including, a lipstick salvia, white candy tuft, evening primrose, lambs ear, some purple shamrock, silver mound, a sago palm and some butterfly weed.   For the shadier spots, some Hinkley columbine, some green leaf “coral bells”  Huchera, and Brian dug up and passed along one of his Redbud tree sprouts and a small fig tree,  ….oh yeah, and that Lilac bush Laura couldn’t resist buying!

Ken shows his bunny tiller skills.

So the big planting day came last weekend and a bunch of our good friends got together and helped Laura and Gabriel break ground for the new garden.  And we literally did break up the ground… Gabriel, Ken, Steven and Brian took turns on the tiller that had been rented for the day and attacked the hard clay soil. Laura had a huge truck load of compost and expanded shale delivered and dumped in the driveway, and wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow, it was all worked into the new garden beds with the tiller.  That black clay is hard to dig but those guys really showed off their manly man skills and knocked it out fast. I was extremely impressed with their energy and positive attitudes in getting it done.

Carolyn and Gini were also there to help move and arrange the old pavers that had once been a walkway into a new patio area where people can sit and relax in the middle of the new garden.

The new fence serves as a nice backdrop for the new plants.

Once the tilling was done and the pavers laid everyone pitched in to dig and set out the plants. It went super fast and the yard was literally transformed in a single day.  Now it was time for pizza and Laura’s famous homemade sangria!  YAY!

I think Laura is happy with the outcome even though she’ll have to wait for the plants to get bigger and fill out. She may have to replace some that won’t make it on this first round, but I think she has a strong start and there will be a lot more gardening in her future as she expands and adds new plants to other parts of the yard.  I had a great time orchestrating the activities and a little part of me feels like I got a new garden too!

UPDATE: Sign the Petition HERE.

An association of chemical companies that make fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides have got their hazardous panties in a wad and are on the defensive because Michelle Obama is promoting an organic garden on the lawn of the White House.  The Mid America CropLife Association (MACA) dashed off a letter of reprimand…

“Fresh foods grown conventionally are wholesome and flavorful yet more economical”

Grown conventionally?  More economical?  HUH?

Since when does “conventional” gardening imply that you have to conform to using synthetic chemicals and petroleum based products to have a traditional garden?   And since when is it more economical to have to purchase a bunch of chemical products to get a few tomatoes from your home plot?  Yes it has become all too common for people to use, and misuse, the chemical products these companies sell; but it’s far from being the mandated ideal in gardening and it certainly should not be the norm.

They seem to be concerned that their “contributions” will go unnoticed and unappreciated … and they’re worried that an organic garden on the White House lawn is going to give people the wrong idea about their massive multi-billion dollar business providing environmentally hazardous chemical products to mega agribusiness corporations so they can make profits off the colossal food industry.

Boo Fucking Hoo.

I noticed in the news this morning, here and here, that they are breaking ground today for the new vegetable garden at the White House.  Excellent!

With some activism from groups like Kitchen Gardeners International and their Eat The View campaign, a little editorial pressure from author and organic enthusiast Michael Pollan, and some creative petitioning from others, the idea of turning part of the front lawn at the White House into a sustainable garden space has been getting a lot of attention and support.  Good thing the Obamas (or the administration’s PR people) were listening.

Here’s a layout of what’s to be planted and where it will be located on the South lawn.  It’s not too conveniently located next to the kitchen, but it does look like it will be viewable from the street by visitors at the gates.  That’s good because this will hopefully allow people to see how a vegetable garden can be a beautifully landscaped feature and encourage people to put a vegetable garden in their own yards.

As far as what will be grown, it looks like they have planned to start out with mostly greens, lettuce and spinach, along with your basic peas and onions, and an area for herbs.  The walkways are lined with flowers which will make it extra colorful and appealing. It’s a great start and later they will be adding other things like tomatoes and peppers.

I hope they keep it going and maybe even expand it later. I’m excited to see how it develops.

A vegetable garden is nothing new to the White House lawn, it’s just that in our modern society we have moved away from the responsibility of growing our own food and eating healthy even though it can be cost efficient  once you get a garden established. It would also help improve the environment if more people kept a home garden and relied less on eating food that has been processed and shipped from miles away.

Here’s a great little educational video from the Eat the View campaign that illustrates some of the history…

The Garden of Eatin’: A Short History of America’s Garden by Roger Doiron.

And HERE is a blog devoted to all things culinary going on at the White House or associated with the Obamas. They are also covering the new vegetable garden project and should have some good updates in the future.

Darn it!  I overshot Bloom Day and I’m tardy to the party again!  Boy the 15th really sneaks up on your fast…

I thought I would have more things blooming by now but a lot of the plants are just barely budding and haven’t really popped out yet. Like last month, the Japanese Quince is blooming and there are a few Daffodils still scattered here and there but with a lot more Muscari in the grass.

New editions would be the Bridal Wreath Spirea that is just getting started…

and the first and only Iris currently making an appearance…

I also have a new Chinese Fringe Flower, some Alliums, and a tiny Germander flowering. But I can’t honestly count those since I just got them from the nursery. Once planted and established in the yard they would probably not normally be in bloom.

I thought my Columbines would be out by now but they are just putting up their flower stalks…which is weird, because five blocks away there are some in full bloom. I also see everyone else in my neighborhood has their Irises in bloom too.

So I’m not the only one tardy to the party… my plants heard the alarm but decided to roll over and hit the snooze button to catch just a wee bit more sleep.

Since I started gardening I have focused most of my attention on putting in perennial flowering plants and annual vegetables.  I still have perennial plants I want to purchase but on a small budget it’s taking me a while. This year I devoted most of my spring budget for fruit. I have been wanting to put some fruit trees on the property for a couple of years and this month I finally went ahead and got some.

I decided to start with apples and pears.  Mom and I found a sale at a local nursery and bought a couple of trees. I picked a Fuji apple and a Bartlett pear. I knew I had to get more than just these two because you need two different species of tree per fruit to get pollination.  So I did some research to pick some other types I liked, and started looking around at the nurseries.

I found a Granny Smith apple to go with the Fuji but everyone I called were out of pear trees.  I remembered hearing my fellow Master Gardeners talk about a nursery outside of Stephenville called Womack, so I looked them up. It’s quite a drive out of town to get to their location from here in Fort Worth. My good friend Brian, who also wanted to plant some fruit trees, decided he would go with me and we could make a mini road trip out of it.

It was a nice sunny day and we started out after having a great lunch at our favorite Indian restaurant.  I was excited to be going to a new nursery and was looking forward to splurging on some trees and maybe a few other goodies.  I was anticipating the visit but started to get a little anxious as we were trying to find Womacks on the country back roads.  Brian finally spotted a sign and not much farther down the road we found the turn and then the entry drive…which, I wasn’t sure was really the right place…but it was.  Good right?   Well…

Let me just say Womack has a really FANCY web site with flashy graphics and pretty pictures; but you won’t find any photos of the “nursery” on their site because it’s really more like a farm.  There were no greenhouses with neat rows of potted trees or plants. There was a barn…a trailer for an office…a large field, with sand… some tractors… and a large Mondrian inspired water tank on wheels (I’m just assuming it was water. It could have been chemicals. I sure didn’t see any weeds in that sand).  So the surroundings were logical I guess. If you think it through, you don’t want to uproot the trees until your ready to sale them.  I don’t think that many people make the drive out into the country to buy things. Most of their business is obviously mail order.  However, it was still what I had pictured in my head and made me nervous.

When we drove up toward the barn and parked I turned to Brian and said…”You don’t think we have to dig up the trees ourselves do you”?  Brian then gave me his famous scolding frown that relayed the silent but clear message, “If I have to get out in the afternoon sun and dig up a tree, in hicks-ville-mac-back country nowhere, then pay money for it; I’m going to kill you and bury you in the hole”.  I started to get a little worried.

In my defense I had called ahead that morning to get directions and make sure they had the trees since the other nurseries were out of the stock I wanted. So I knew we would come away with…well, something?

We got out and made our way over to the open barn doors to look for someone. We found a group of dirty tired farm hands huddled together taking a break next to a bunch of machines and hay bales.  An older gentlemen, who seemed nice enough, but never smiled and certainly didn’t look happy to stop what he was doing to help some city people, stepped forward to assist us.  We told him we were looking for some fruit trees and he asked what kind we wanted. So I started listing them off.  The conversation went something like this…

Fuji Apple?   “Nope we’re sold out”.

Granny Smith?    “uhm…I’m not sure, I’ll have to look”.

Crabapple?   “All gone”.

Shinseiki Pear?  “Don’t carry that one”.

YaLi Pear?   “No, Don’t have that one either”.

Orient?   “uhm…I think they’re all gone, but I’ll check”.

At which point I started to get irritated because I had CALLED that morning to make sure they had the trees we wanted. I told him this and he said sometimes there was some miscommunication between the barn and the office. Uhm, you think? (I must note that they did update their website this week and it now says what they have in stock and what’s out…but if you are ever going to go out there, double check)!

So Brian finally just asked, well what DO you have?  He told us we might be interested in the Arkansas Black apple…it wasn’t one they listed but they had some…and I picked an Ayers from the pears he had.

He then disappeared with another guy into the field and left us standing outside the barn where I was forced to make eye contact again with Brian.  We just started laughing at the predicament I had gotten us into.

The old farm dude finally came back and told us he had an Orient pear for each of us but there was only one Ayers left and it didn’t look that great so he picked out a Magness pear for me and was going to just give me the Ayers for nothing.  OK.  How could I argue with a free tree?  He was obviously beginning to feel sorry for the confused, pathetic city folks.  He also found a Granny Smith apple for Brian so things were looking brighter.

He asked if we wanted anything else and in fact, yes I did. I had better luck on the second round of requests and added a Vitex and some asparagus starts to the list.

He said they would wrap them up for us so Brian and I poked around the edge of the field looking at the trees while they got everything ready. I couldn’t believe the trees were in so much sand! And with no noticeable irrigation besides the water tank on wheels (?). It’s amazing that they are able to keep their stock alive under these conditions and with the drought we have been having here in Texas.

I was taking photos and didn’t notice when the large plastic package was dumped in the back of my truck. Everything was bare root and bundled up together with a bunch of wet straw.  Oh crap… we really were not trying to be a problem for these people, but we had to ask them to unwrap the trees and separate Brian’s trees from mine since he lives in Dallas and they were going to two different locations. Live and learn right?

Now that I know what to expect I will be better prepared if I ever go out there again.  The Arkansas Black apple that Brian got looks like a really nice little apple.  I looked it up when I got home and it’s an heirloom apple that keeps for a long time once picked.  The limbs and bark are almost black and very pretty (not sure if it will lighten once the tree gets older).   In fact, I’m thinking I might get one for myself (but have it shipped this time!)…or maybe in a couple of years Brian and I can trade cuttings to graft.

I gave Brian the Bartlett pear I had bought earlier with my mom because he had been wanting one and I kept the new pears, Orient, Ayers, and Magness.  Since the tree whips were all bare root I had to get them planted quick so they wouldn’t dry out.  Everything was planted out last week. We had a lot of rain the last couple of days so they should really be off to a good start.  I hope they grow and are healthy. Now I just have to patiently wait four or five years for the first fruit!

I have been so distracted with work lately that I almost forgot about Bloom Day again!  But I did find time today to get out and piddled around in the yard. Mostly I watered the mounds of mulched beds that have bulbs and other things nestled underneath. I also pruned back some of the salvia stems that never got trimmed after the blooms and leaves died off in the Fall.

There still isn’t much going on as far as a variety of flowers blooming, but I do have a few things adding color around the yard…

The Japanese Quince bushes are just starting to bloom. The branches are basically bare with a few leaves but the pink blooms are budding and busting out. I took cuttings of some of the branches and now I have a beautiful vase full of flowers sitting next to me as I type this post.

The daffodils and paper-whites are also in full bloom along the driveway. As you can see, I still haven’t raked the extra leaves here either. I like to keep them down at least until March. It doesn’t look that tidy, but it protects the plants.  When the last frost date has past I’ll rake them up and add them to the compost.

While poking around the garden I also saw a little blue peeking out next to the walkway and found these wild Muscari, also called grape hyacinths, beginning to bloom. It’s kind of early for them; so I was surprised to see them getting started.

Well that’s all I have right now. I need to add more early blooming flowers and bushes to the garden so that I have more variety and color in the late winter (must note that on my “to do ” and “wish” lists).  Hopefully next month I will have a lot more blooming goodies!