The Garden Chronicles - May 30, 2009 - The Plot

By end of May the garden is fully planted with seeds, purchased plants, and plants started from seeds in the Bio-Dome. The plot below shows the layout of the vegetable garden.

Peppers and Tomatoes

Beans and Carrots

Lettuce, Kohlrabi, and Swiss Chard

A Showy Lilac Bush

Gallardia Daisies

Dutchman's Breeches and Ferns

A Showy Bridal Wreath

Tremendous Peony

Herb garden is thriving

Lucy and Ricky are close to full-grown now. Lucy is a very big girl!

Back in Wisconsin, the trillium were on display along the forest floor over Memorial Day weekend.

Over the holiday weekend, we took a hike/run along the Red Cedar State Trail.

This bend along the Red Cedar State Trail is the Dunville Wildlife Area where heron are often seen feeding on fish. We did not see herons, but the river was scenic nonetheless.

The Garden Chronicles - May 17, 2009

By mid-May, it feels like spring has come to stay for a while. The apricot and pear trees have finished blooming, and the apple tree is pollinating this week. The strawberries have flowers, too.

We planted seeds in the house in early March, which are now close to planting size. We started them in a Bio-Dome planter from Park Seed Company. After years of starting seeds in peat pots with starter mix, and having moderately good results, we decided to try this new system for starting seeds. The Bio-Dome comes with a tray and a clear lid that protects the plants from drafts and keeps the planting medium evenly moist. The planting medium is a set of little cone-shaped sponges of peat and other material that fit into a styrofoam mold. Our Bio-Dome holds sixty little sponges. We started hollyhocks, petunias, salvia, Savoy cabbage, tomatoes, and basil in the house, and all germinated! Most have survived to now, and we are beginning to harden them this week.




This is a better photo of one of the garden bunnies. We expect to see more of them in the weeks to come. The neighbor's cat got a baby bunny this week, and we suspect that there are more in our yard. We believe the rabbit's den is behind the compost heap next to the garage. Perhaps we have not seen the other bunny in a few days because she is caring for young ones. The garden is ready for them this this year: We have wrapped chicken wire fencing around everthing.

What's doing in the cold frames? The cold frame plantings are getting bigger each day. Radishes will be ready to harvest within another month, and the carrots will remain until almost the end of the summer.

Lettuce, Oriental mixed greens, beets, kohlrabi, and Swiss chard were among the early plantings in the cold frames.

We have had a lovely show of tulips throughout the neighborhood, including these in front of our house. The warm days and cool nights have kept them fresh for a couple of weeks now.

The Garden Chronicles - May 4, 2009

Some rains, some warmer weather, a little sunshine, and spring gardening has improved immensely. Under the watchful eye of a garden bunny, the apricot trees' profuse blossoms were last week's feature.

Another harbinger of spring is our early asparagus, so welcome after a winter of frozen vegetables.

There is more to come from spring, and perhaps more rain this week will help the cold frame seedlings grow large enough to photograph next weekend.

The Garden Chronicles - April 14, 2009

If placing a catalog order for seeds marks the most optimistic day of the year, then the first day of yard work marks new beginnings. Our first day in the backyard was full of the typical tasks: raking out the remains of last fall's leaves, removing dead plants and fallen branches, tilling the recently warmed soil, and looking for earth worms and other signs that we start the season with fertile soil.

After an hour or two of work, a contented gardener enjoys a few moments of sunshine overlooking the prepared beds. Four cold frames are helping the soil to stay warm over the next few weeks when the temperature is still cool at night. We want to start planting cool weather lettuce and other greens next week, if conditions are good to get started.


At the south end, we found some tulips starting in a place where there were none last spring. They seem to move around and reproduce, and they surprise us each season with new colors, too. We also moved the blueberry bushes to a place beneath the evergreen with the hope that they will perform better in soil made acidic by the fallen needles.

Our last important gardening spot is the herb garden where the only returning herb so far is the chive plant. Our first harvest of the season of chives on April 12 went into a lunchtime salad. It was a very good beginning to spring. Now we just need some rain to get the resting growing.

The Longest Winter

A long winter has taken hold and won't let go. The warmest of clothing to fight bitter cold winds and deep freeze seems hardly enough some days. A fresh cover of snow this weekend has hidden the drab, gray remains of some earlier snows and ice storms. And with days now growing longer, we are reminded that spring is just weeks away now.

It has been a good winter for finishing some stitching projects, including this small gift quilt with its spring theme and bold colors.

I prefer the back of the quilt, though. The Asian print, and its medley of white egrets, is worthy to be a quilt front.


What better thing to do on a cold winter afternoon than snuggle in the middle of a down comforter. Lucy and Ricky, the eight month old kittens, have a snooze date here every afternoon.

Until spring arrives...

Photos of Fall

Summer Vacation

A long weekend was too short for exploring two state parks: Copper Falls State Park in Wisconsin, and Porcupine Mountains State Park in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. David took these pictures of some beautiful views.

We first hiked some trails in Copper Falls State Park, enjoyed a beautiful day, and took in the sight of the falls.

Next day we visited the Porkies and took many photos of scenic Lake of the Clouds from elevation 1,500 feet.

The view opposite the lake was just as stunning.

And back at our hotel on Lake Superior, the sunset was a show in itself. Who would have guessed that southwestern colors would paint the sky in the northwoods of Michigan?

And back at our place in Wisconsin, we were treated to a show of wildflowers featuring these black-eyed susans.