Resolutions? Help!

Another like - do more art, start with a sketch a day

I love fresh starts, don't you?  It's one of the reasons I love January.  Even though it's cold and often dreary outside, I'm happy with plans and possibilities.

But resolutions?  That's a word that's fraught with negativity for me.  If we were doing word association, my first response would be "failure."  Because, you see, I'm a classic over-achiever:  I consistently bite off more than I can chew.  I make a big list of things I want to do (love lists!) and have every good intention, but...

So this year I resolve to "like" things.  I'd like to clean out my attics.  I'd like to lose weight.  I'd like to knit a sweater.  You get the idea.  Then I'm going to do make small changes that will affect each of my likes.  For example, I'm setting a goal of cleaning out and organizing my kitchen pantry next week.  It's not my attic, but it's also not as daunting a project!  If past history is any indication, making this small start will get me in the organizing zone and I can progress to the attic, hopefully before summer when it's way too hot!

I wish - from Pinterest

Another thing I'd like to do is improve this blog.  But I need your help.  The blog was originally meant to be a place where we Master Gardeners in the Memphis area could share photos, stories, tips, and all things interesting - mostly, but not necessarily, garden related.  In practice, though, it's become a place where there the only sharing that goes on is mine!  That's an overstatement.  There are two or three other MG's who submit articles and I'm very grateful to them.  This is not my personal blog, it's the Memphis Area Master Gardeners blog.  I know what a talented group you are!

So maybe you would LIKE to help?  Send me an email (sallen0126+mamg@gmail.com) when you come across something that piques your interest.  If it interests you, it probably will interest a lot of us.  You don't even have to write it up, I can do that if you don't want to.  I just want content from someone other than me!

Let's like 2013 and make it fun and interesting and productive for us all!

Catching Up With Dianne

Final tomato harvest

Tomatoes at Christmas!

Hi, Suzanne!

I thought you would like to know what is going on in the garden and what is planned. The tomatoes and peppers were pulled the first part of November. There were a lot of green tomatoes that I put in bags to ripen. We were still eating the Black Cherries the week of Christmas. 

The peppers did very well, but I believe would have produced even more if they had not been planted so close together (one square foot each). I had no idea they'd get as big as they did, and next year will spread them out a little more. All the square foot markers will be removed because I find that not everything fits into this template. Overall, I was really happy with the peppers and tomatoes from my little patch. 

Final pepper harvest

I am now trying my hand at winter gardening. One problem I've had is not having enough fall/winter seedlings to fill all the space when crops are harvested. I bought some lettuce and collard seedlings, but most of the fall seedlings in the stores looked old and wilted. I started about a dozen Baby Romaine seedlings myself, and also direct seeded some things. I have spinach, mustard greens, kale, parsnips, kohlrabi, beets, carrots, several varieties of lettuce and snow peas. 

Mustard greens - these did well and I've planted more

I had slow germination on some things, especially the kale and spinach. I finally tried soaking the spinach seeds in water overnight, and then had good germination in less than two weeks on direct seeding in December. I seem to have more success with seedlings than direct seeding. The snow peas had lots of blossoms but very few peas. I don't know why, because those planted last spring did very well. I have talked to two other gardeners who had the same problem this fall. 

So far, the only root crops I've harvested have been the carrots. 

Everything else is slowly growing with the protection of the row cover. I will be getting my soil tested again because I have a feeling I may be low on nitrogen and possibly need to add lime.

A great book for learning about winter gardening is TheWinter Harvest Handbook by Eliot Coleman. I was happy to find out that he used the same brand of row cover that I chose for my garden. I put hoops over the entire bed and covered it with Agribon AG-50 row cover, which is supposed to protect it to 24 degrees. For lower than 24, I plan on putting on an extra layer of plastic.  The row cover can be sourced here.

My next project is seed starting. I am setting up a small area with just the light fixture yet to be hung. I hope this will enable the garden to be more productive, as I will be able to have a constant supply of seedlings ready to put in whenever there is an empty spot.

Suzanne, it will soon be a year since I started planting in the raised bed. I have learned a lot. I am looking forward to expanding with the second bed. I will be correcting some of the things I did wrong last year, but I realize that there will always be other challenges to deal with. I look forward to learning new things and sharing experiences with other gardeners. We all learn so much from each other. I will send you an update of anything that might be of interest to veggie gardeners in the coming year. Thank you so much for asking me to share my adventure.

Dianne

"A garden is never so good as it will be next year."
             ---Thomas Cooper

Holiday Tables

I wish you could have been at the Master Gardeners' holiday party last night.  We had great food, great fellowship, and a great table decoration competition.  It's so much fun to get to socialize with the spouses of our members, too.  Several people were shocked to learn that my dear husband actually exists!

Here are a couple of photos of the tables that Julie sent me.  Neither of these was a winner, can you imagine?

Here's hoping that we all have joyful holidays, safe travels, and time for family and friends.  I'm going to take off from posting until after the new year, so see you then!

Lifelong Learning at Meeman

Dorothy C. King Hall - the Meeman Center's home

Because it's not all about gardening (gasp!), I want to tell you about a wonderful community of learners in Memphis.  The Meeman Center for Lifelong Learning, across from the Rhodes College campus on University, is one of those places that quickly becomes a second home for anyone interested in continuing their education.

The classes are small and participation is encouraged, but not required.  The format for most of the classes is this:  three to eight weekly sessions, from 5:30 to 7:30 with a break (and wonderful refreshments provided by the Meeman.)  An instructor from the Rhodes academic staff leads each class, so you get the advantage of some of the best minds in their fields.

The courses are varied, as you would expect from a liberal arts university, so there's sure to be something that will pique your interest.  Most of us Meemanites have the difficult problem of narrowing our choices!  After all, there are only so many days in the week!

The Spring 2013 course schedule is online now.  You can also request a free catalog at this link. Take a minute and peruse the classes and consider joining one.  I guarantee you'll be so glad you did.

Here are some of the classes I'm interested in this semester:

Lore of Literature
Constitutional Controversies
As You Like It
Hilary Mantel
Anna Karenina
Search for Values

So many good opportunities, so little time!

Quilt Squares

I promised to post pictures of the quilt squares that my neighbors in North Carolina have made and put on their houses.  But when I went back through my photos, I discovered that they were not good enough to give you a good picture (as it were.)  We're going there for Christmas, so I'll take some better  photos and post them later.

Are you familiar with quilt squares?  They're large paintings of quilt motifs that appear on barns in rural areas of the country.  North Carolina has several quilt trails and it's fun to drive through the countryside and locate them.  Middle Tennessee has one, as does the Upper Cumberland and East Tennessee.  Arkansas has a different version, with full size quilts photographically applied to vinyl and mounted on the sides of buildings.  I couldn't find one in West Tennessee - what's up with that?

I made a quilt square for my house there.  You can read about it here.

It hasn't been such a good week.  I have a bad cold, I had to miss a party I was really looking forward to, and the Christmas cards I ordered have gone into deliveryland limbo.  So forgive me for slacking off a little.  I hope to do better next week.

Here's a article from the great folks at America's Test Kitchen about using dried herbs.  Since fresh herbs from my new bed are still just a glimmer in my eye, this will help tide me over!

Labyrinths

The Crossnore Labyrinth (source)

Did you read Felder Rushing's column on Friday?  I love labyrinths.  There's a large one in Crossnore, NC that I visited one day with a group of my Blowing Rock neighbors.  We made a day of the trip and viewed the Ben Long fresco, visited the gorgeous Presbyterian church, the weaving rooms at Crossnore, and the shops there.  We had lunch and we walked the labyrinth on the grounds of the Crossnore School.  (This is a wonderful residential school for children in need - read about it here.)  Our special purpose in walking the labyrinth was to hold up our friend, Debbie, who was undergoing treatment for breast cancer at the time.  The good news is that Debbie recovered and her health is fine.  Ironically, one of our group, Martha, died six months later from breast cancer that was diagnosed too late.

Martha was a great lady, a prolific and thoughtful reader, a fabulous gardener, art collector, and hostess.  I still miss her.  Remembering the wonderful day we had at Crossnore, I located a small clearing on my property and determined to make a labyrinth in her memory.

For Christmas that year I asked for a labyrinth design from The Labyrinth Company. (You can certainly lay one out by yourself; I just found this to be much easier, though more expensive.)  I chose the Mini Classical^TM from their Garden Templates^TM designs.

Mini Classical

I had a small area and, after some clearing, this one fit perfectly!  We leveled the area as best we could (lots of roots!) and spread a layer of builders sand.

Then we laid out the template.

Each of the sheets is marked with its position and the labyrinth lines are printed on.  You basically match up the lines and secure the sheets, which are landscape fabric, to the ground with u-shaped pins.
Then you start laying whatever border material you've chosen.  We decided on stacked stone.

This clearing is in the midst of pine trees and rhododendron, so I just went to Lowe's and bought several bales of pine straw for path cover.  Here are my handyman, Sherman, and his helper laying the straw.

And here it is, finished:

We had a dedication ceremony and invited our neighbors.  I had a sign made up for "Martha's Walk" and we took a few moments to remember and reminisce about her.

The labyrinth is at the back of our property and is used by our friends and neighbors for quiet meditation.  Sherman built some steps from the street on that side so that folks can come enjoy the quiet without walking through the backyard, which I felt might make some people uncomfortable.

Every time we're in Blowing Rock, I spend time in the labyrinth.  I especially like to be there early in the morning as the sun comes up.  It fills my heart.

I have to tell you a funny story about Sherman.  He has a gravelly voice and a slow, mountain drawl.  As we left the stone company after choosing the stone, he said (and I wish you could hear this), "Suzanne, you need to save your receipts so you can deduct this on your income taxes."  Ever being the CPA, I replied, "No, Sherman, this is a personal item.  I can't deduct it."  He thought for a minute, then said, "Then give them receipts to me - I'll use 'em!"

Where are your favorite labyrinths?  Let me know in the comments.  In my next post, I'll tell you about my neighborhood's quilt squares!