Using the Harvest

It is the middle of December and I still have some of these wonderful tomatoes left to eat from last summer’s garden. This variety is Golden Treasure and keeps really well.

The potatoes are slowly but surely getting eaten. So far they are storing well in this potato bin.

The onions are almost gone. Soon I will have to buy some. Wish I had enough to last me through the winter but I don’t.

I do have enough tomato sauce frozen to get me through the winter. And using home grown garlic, home grown peppers which I froze and the last of my onions I made shrimp creole this week. I also used some parsley that I dried and I snipped a couple of bay leaves off the bay plant that I haven’t managed to kill yet. This is a great recipe.

1 ½ cups chopped onion
1 cup finely chopped celery
2 medium green peppers, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
15 ounces tomato sauce
¼ cup butter or margarine
1 cup water
2 teaspoons snipped parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne red pepper
2 bay leaves, crushed
14 to 16 ounces fresh or frozen cleaned raw shrimp
3 cups hot cooked rice

Cook and stir onion, celery, green pepper and garlic in butter until onion is tender. Remove from heat; stir in tomato sauce, water and seasonings. Simmer uncovered 10 minutes. Add water if needed.

Stir in shrimp. Heat to boiling. Cover and cook over medium heat 10 to 20 minutes or until shrimp are pink and tender. Serve over rice. 6 servings.

Green Point Nature Center in Saginaw Michigan

Green Point Nature Center is a great place to cross country ski in the winter. Get there at the right time of day and you will see plenty of wildlife.



And yes,de Tocqueville did visit here, so you can think that you are skiing in the footsteps of history as well.

Okay, I know that the following pictures of some of the deer I saw at the Nature Center this morning seem a bit remote from the world of gardening. And you may be asking yourself, what the heck?

Well, other than the fact that I am glad the deer live at the Nature Center and not in my backyard, no, this doesn't have much to do with gardening. Deer may be majestic and regal, but not when they eat the hostas down to the ground. So I, for one, am thankful for the Nature Center as it provides a nice home for these beautiful creatures which leaves my garden in peace. I am always happy to have one less pest to worry about as there are already quite a few I deal with.

What is the difference between poison ivy and grape vines? If I remember correctly, the poison ivy has all the hair and the grape vines don't. So I didn't touch the plant growing up the tree with the red mark.



The Tittabawassee River is now frozen over. At least I assume it is as a deer must have crossed it recently. I decided to stay on my side though and will just drive over to the Shiawassee Wildlife Refuge when I am ready to ski there.

So this is what a gardener in Michigan does in the winter. Ski, ski and ski some more. I know many people don't much like snow, but heck, I need a break from all the digging and Michigan is good at giving it to me.

The Garden in Winter

The garden can be a beautiful place once the snow starts to fall. Planting evergreens such as Arbor vitae and Boxwood will give you that Christmas look at the right time of year. If you leave your ornamental grasses uncut until spring they will give you additional winter interest. I took these pictures this morning which was the first serious snow we have received this year. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Five Reasons to Grow Vegetables

I started growing vegetables before I grew flowers because my grandfather was a farmer and I remembered what fresh vegetables tasted like. So here are five reasons to grow your own vegetables.






1. You can make mashed potatoes with your own heirloom vegetables to enjoy at a Thanksgiving feast. These are German Butterball, All Blue and Purple Viking potatoes that I am using in Make-ahead Mashed Potatoes (recipe to follow). We will eat them tomorrow on Thanksgiving. I have enough potatoes to last me into March!

2. If you grow rhubarb you can freeze it and then use it later for baking. Tomorrow we are going to have Oatmeal Rhubarb Crisp for dessert.

3. Onions are another vegetable that will last if you store it right. I am eating potato leek soup this week that I used homegrown potatoes and onions and leeks from the farmer's market.

4. There is nothing better than a homegrown strawberry in June. Yes, I know strawberries are fruit (and perhaps tomatoes are fruits as well) but I am lumping them in with my vegetables as they are the reason I started a garden in the first place. I wanted to taste the strawberries I remember from grandpa's farm after many years of the mealy hard ones from the supermarket. There is a difference, the difference being the ones you grow yourself actually taste good.

5. One of my favorite meals is to take a piece of good bread, toast it, spread pesto on top of it and add some tomato slices. I had this yesterday for dinner with my own tomatoes and pesto I froze using my own basil and garlic. Now if I only had a cow I could make my own cheese!

Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes

8 large potatoes peeled and pared

1 8 ounce package cream cheese

1/4 cup dairy sour cream

salt pepper to taste, butter, paprika

Boil potatoes in boiling salted water until tender. Drain. Mash. Add cream cheese, sour cream, salt and pepper, mixing well. Put in a greased 2 quart casserole. Top with pats of butter. Cover May store in the refrigerator several days. Before serving, sprinkle with paprika and bake, uncovered at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

Ten Reasons to Garden Organically

Organic Gardening Magazine has a wealth of ideas for the gardener who doesn't want to use chemical fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides. It is a great resource and I have subscribed to this magazine for many years now. What follows are my own reasons for gardening organically. And believe me, if I can do it so can you!

1. My grandfather was a farmer who used two horses and a plow. He lived a good, long life (88) as did my grandmother (91). What is good enough for my grandparents is good enough for me. I may not have two horses and a plow (I garden on a small city lot after all) but I do generate kitchen scraps and they work pretty darn well.

2. Organic food to buy is more expensive. If you grow your own organically you are getting a really good deal.

3. I can make compost for free. I can use leaves to make mulch for free. Free costs less than what fertilizers cost which is a good thing for a retired person living on a fixed income.

4. My soil is a lot easier to deal with since adding compost to it. I have hardpan clay soil that was awful before compost. Vegetables grow so much better now.

5. I can make my own soap sprays which is a lot cheaper than buying insecticides. Who doesn't want to save money? The saving money theme keeps repeating itself. I guess I am cheap.

6. I make barriers out of used cottage cheese containers to keep the cabbage moths away from my brocolli, cabbage and cauliflower. It's cheap, it works and it recycles.

7. The bees, butterflies and birds seem to love my garden. I suspect that is because it is pesticide free. Who doesn't want these wonderful creatures buzzing around their little patch of land?

8. I can walk anywhere in my garden at anytime without any warning signs saying something has just been sprayed and it is best not to walk on it. The bees are happy, the butterflies are happy, I am happy and Fido is happy.

9. The clover in my grass attracts bees. Bees are needed to pollinate the vegetables. Most of our crops are pollinated by honeybees. Can you imagine how much your food would cost if everything had to be hand pollinated because we have turned the world into a place where honeybees can't live?

10. I feel I am doing my little bit of good on my little bit of land to make the world a better place. I can't solve all the world's problems, but I can give friends and neighbors something to make them feel better, and what can make you feel better than a homegrown heirloom tomato in August in Michigan after living through a winter of either mealy tomatoes (from the grocery store) or no tomatoes (which is what I do). Here are some tomatoes in the middle of November which I am going to dine on tonight. Bon appetit!

Article in the Saginaw News

Okay, I know I am being backwards here, but I figured that since it is November and I have less to write about that I would provide a link to an article about my garden that occured in the Saginaw News back in 2008. So, to see Anne's Garden circa 2008, just click!

The Lowdown on Dirt

I just watched the movie "Dirt: The Movie" (available through Netflix and probably your local public library) and decided it was time to put a plug in for one of nature's most precious resources. The good earth, compost, soil, but my favorite word to call it is dirt. Yes that stuff you used to play in when you were a kid and hated like heck when the day was done to be called inside by your mother who was intent on washing it off of you. Kids are on to a good thing here and many of us adults seem to forget just how much fun dirt is.

A book available through the Public Libraries of Saginaw entitled "Dirt: the Erosion of Civilizations" by David R. Montgomery is must reading if you care about your own future. Montgomery takes the reader through the history of dirt and how it relates to the rise and fall of civilizations. We abuse this most important of natural resources to our own peril.

Here I am holding some dirt from my backyard.



The dirt in this compost barrel is near ready to use.

Here is my future dirt holder (i.e. the compost bin) Making compost for your garden is probably one of the most important things you can do for it (and the planet). I use my kitchen scraps (except meat which attracts unwanted critters), grass clippings (what little I have as I mostly don't have grass anymore), and leaves. You want the brown (leaves) and the green (grass clippings) to mix in together and eventually you will have that life sustaining black gold called compost. You don't have to have a barrel to do this. You can just make a pile if you want. But don't throw those leaves away, and be aware, there are leaf thieves out there! You can read all about them in Confessions of a Leaf Thief.

Here are some leaves I chopped up with my lawnmower. Great stuff for future dirt.

Throw me on the compost heap when I die. Yep, that's me and my sister; from dust ye come and to dust ye shall return. I am a proud member of the future dirt society.

What's in Bloom Now

I could make a list of plants that are in bloom in my garden today, but instead I took a video so you can see what color I have now. Go to Anne's Garden and enjoy!

The vegetable garden area is now cleaned up with the garlic mulched and protected by netting against pesky squirrels who like to dig up everything I plant, whether they like to eat it or not. I made the mistake of not protecting it last year. This year I am not making that same mistake! I do learn from my mistakes; it may take me awhile, but I do learn.

I have used the lawn mower to gather up my leaves since it makes good mulch and is easier than raking. I don't have a leaf blower, but don't need one the way I need good mulch. It also saves me the money I would have to spend on a leaf blower. Gardening Anne's way is the cheap way of course. But it works for me!

Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden

Recently while visiting my friend Margot in Pittsburgh, I had a chance to go to the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden. If you ever go to Pittsburgh, make sure that this wonderful garden on your to see list. You will not regret it! The Conservatory, which was founded in 1893, has several rooms with lush plants that take you from the tropics to the rain forest; with orchids and ferns to an incredible dahlia garden outside, the colors and textures of the plants will stun you. Not only were the flowers of the dahlias huge, the plants were so large they had to be staked. So here are a few pictures of this amazing place.

Sometimes the gargoyles are obvious; sometimes you have to look for them.

The sculptures give bright color amongst the green plantings.

There is an entire room of ferns. This picture shows just how varied ferns can be.

I can see a face in this orchid!

My feet aren't small enough to fit into these dazzling lady slippers.

Here is a wall of succulents.



These dahlias are almost as tall as me.

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Margot enjoys a break in the tropics.

This knot garden is far tidier than anything I have ever planted.

Window of Opportunity

Today was not a complete bust in the garden, although I thought it would be. All week I have been cleaning up and I created a pile of future compost for the city to cart away to the compost center. I let them take care of it since they have more space than I have and the equipment to get it smoking hot.



Anyways, today was the day I was going to bag it all up and what did it do? Rain of course. An all day rain. A cold rain. A wonderful rain, if only it had come in the middle of August when I really wanted it. It rains, it pours, but never when I really need it. Such is Mother Nature and Father Sky.



And windows of opportunity. Take them when you can. An hour ago it ceased raining, and yes I was out there filling nine bags of future black gold. So thank you Mother Nature and Father Sky for providing me with that opportunity.



This week I intend to can pickles, if my cucumbers haven't rotted yet. I took a canning class at the Cooperative Extension Center and figure I can do that! So I went out and bought a hot water bath canner, plus all the stuff to go with it. And if I don't drop dead of botulism when I open a can I will write how absolutely wonderful they taste! If only I had watched and helped my grandmother when she did it. The things I could have learned. That was a window of opportunity I missed and I know I am the poorer for it. Here she is, Florence (Finky) Stitt Donnelly, the hardest working person I ever knew, and I only knew her when she was retired!

More on Stratford

The town of Stratford, Ontario has many lovely gardens to enjoy. Near where I stayed at the Bard and Breakfast is the Stratford Gallery. Surrounding this gallery are some lovely gardens one can stroll through or just sit and contemplate whatever one wishes to contemplate about. If you have never been to this city, then do plan to visit it some day. You will certainly enjoy yourself here.

Among the many chores I have to do in the fall is digging up the potatoes, cleaning and drying them so I have potatoes to eat all winter long. This can be quite a chore as the cat seems to think they are footballs for her to play with. This year I planted heirloom varieties: All Blue, German Butterball, Purple Viking and La Ratte Fingerlings. Now to make potato and leek soup!





Another chore I managed to get done this past weekend was return the houseplants indoors after their summer vacation outside. They seem to enjoy the out of doors more than inside (don't we all) but since they can't survive Michigan winters they necessarily need to be moved back inside. I spray them with water first to hopefully dislodge any critters before bringing them in. Now they are enjoying comfortable companionship with my other true love, books.

Garden cleanup continues of course. It is never over with until the last leaves are raked. But I don't mind. Especially now that I am retired and can do whatever I need to do outside any day of the week.