October 8, 2011, Indian Summer

Indian summer in chicago ...this is just been the best 7 days of the whole year I think... and we should have at least 4 more... we have been busy with a few last of the season plantings and beginning the seemingly never ending task of garden closings... time to put it all to bed and store it away for the season ...this past week we installed a new turf plot with small planting .. pictures are here ...and I went down to the Wee Ma Tuk cottage and began the end of season closing ...sad since I didnt even stay for one week all summer ... oh well there is next year .... here are pics...

patio and reclaimed wood planter box

I completed a small patio with natural flagging and sand base. As we excavated the area it was clear we had alot of really nice top soil...which when we designed and bid the job we were going to haul and dispose of ... (usually in another garden , as I hate to waste anything) but as it piled there I thought ... this could actually be something... how to use this ...and voila ... a planter box was built... with some new wood(left over from another project) and reclaimed pieces (from the customers own stock) we whipped together this box around the pile of dirt...check it out in these pictures

summer 2011 #2

summer 2011

this has certainly been a quick summer ...it seems as if it just began and all of a sudden it is August... we have been maintaining gardens, they always seem to grow so quickly between visits. This season we had some record breaking rains, or amount of rains... In July we had more than 10 inches of rain for the month and it has continued into the beginning of August. The rains are unusual for Chicago in that they produce a lot of rain in a short time and lots of lightning... they are more tropical in feel than the mid west...anyway ... this has made for some very humid weather, and soggy working conditions. held up a few times for installations this past month we hope to have those new projects finished soon and pictures following... in the mean time here are some summer pictures ...enjoy and thanks for checking in...

topiary ducks

These cute ducky topiary...installed today ...anyone want some ...all sorts of topiary available ... can't wait for the plants to sprout out of them ...

New Moon in May

I have not posted in a few weeks...well since the full moon ... of course this time of the season it is busy ..but we ended the month of April with the most rain in that month in something like 140 years...it did rain what seemed like every day ... we have had a few days of good dry weather ..but the temps are cool ... last night it was about 40 degrees in the city center .. my little starts and plants that I have out are startled... I know I have been pushing it a bit , but I need to oplant at home when I get the chance... I love the spring months ... it is warmer ... and the trees are greening and flowers are popping up everywhere ... seems the color is in stark contrast to the grey winter... I like to cut flowers in the garden and bring them into the home... I think it makes for a smile... I start early when I prune shrubs and trees bringing in the the branches and forcing them ... and recently I picked tulips from my garden in central Illinois... there we are a few weeks ahead...and this month when I go the lilacs will be blooming ... here are pics of my tulips and a lonely pasque flower that I could not pick yet but love it because it is such an early bloomer...oh and some hyacinth, perfect spring scent.

full moon april 17 2011

I was was about 3 hours south and west of Chicago yesterday , the day was a bit warmer the flowers were a few weeks ahead of us ... I love the spring flowers and it is so nice to see some color in the garden ...even the lowly dandelion with its bright yellow petals yelling look at me look at me ..even the ever hated creeping charlie and it's promising purple flowers quietly taking over the rest of the world in your garden... but my favorite "weed" is the violet I love the nodding little hat like flowers ..purple, lavender and white....

April Moon

Sunday, April 17—The Full Pink Moon
This Moon is also known as the Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, and the Fish Moon. Pink refers to wild ground phlox, usually in bloom around this time.

Historically, Native Americans living in what is now the northern and eastern United States kept track of the seasons by giving a distinctive name to each full Moon. With some variations, the same Moon names were used throughout the Algonquin tribes from New England to Lake Superior.
this reproduced from the old farmer's almanac

april 7, 2011

New project today ... all cleaned up for the spring and ready to show ...

April in the Sky

March 31, 2011... this is the last day of the month on the cusp of a new April. April, in our northern hemisphere, is the month of spring, the month of showers and the month of buds. April is derived from a latin word, aperio. Aperio means to open or bud. We are prepping the gardens for the season ahead. Cleaning up the autumn leaves left out to coat the winter gardens for warmth. Seeing the bits of green here and there , the fresh buds coming from the earth is refreshing to our soul. It gives us hope that our lives can renew.

In these waning days of spring now is a good time to do our garden chores, cleaning and prepping for the season ahead. We have short windows of opportunity to sow any early season crops. Our season in the midwest isa cool spring compared to last year, so our ground is not warmed up quite enough to plant. Last year on this date we had 80 degree weather , this year we are topping out in the 40's. It has been dry so let us all get out there and scratch the earth and let the seedlings get the April rains

Enjoy the season!

Winter's done,
and April's in the skies.
Earth, look up with laughter
in your eyes!
-Charles G. D. Roberts (1860-1943)
this poem re-printed from the old farmers almanac

spring?

again i have jumped the gun...with the short warm up in mid march i was tricked in to believing that spring has arrived...well...it isn't so ...necessarily... while it is spring according to some calendars it is not spring like today ... 20 some degrees, snow flurries in the night... though "they" promise me that it is going to warm up , even in one weeks time...up to 60 degrees...though according to some plants in the garden it is spring..i see perennials and spring flowers popping up through the mulches and even some perennials greening up in the sunny patches of the yards...this is comforting and promising... spring weather will arrive..

I have begun forcing some spring blooms...this only by way of doing some pruning.. a picture here of Canadian cherry blossoms

starts of seeds....

season is beginning ...i have started seeds in the sunny part of the house... tomatoes, peppers, cilantro, parsley, basil,amaranth, and more... check it out....

We like March, his shoes are purple
He is new and high;
Makes he mud for dog and peddler,
Makes he forest dry.

–Emily Dickinson (1830–86)

Food Safety???

Senate Bill 510, the Food Safety Modernization Act, has been called “the most dangerous bill in the history of the United States of America.” It would grant the U.S. government new authority over the public’s right to grow, trade and transport any foods. This would give Big brother the power to regulate the tomato plants in your backyard. It would grant them the power to arrest and imprison people selling cucumbers at farmer’s markets. It would criminalize the transporting of organic produce if you don’t comply with the authoritarian rules of the federal government.

“It will become the most offensive authority against the cultivation, trade and consumption of food and agricultural products of one’s choice. It will be unconstitutional and contrary to natural law or, if you like, the will of God.” – Dr. Shiv Chopra, Canada Health whistleblower (http://shivchopra.com/?page_id=2)

This tyrannical law puts all food production (yes, even food produced in your own garden) under the authority of the Department of Homeland Security. Yep — the very same people running the TSA and its naked body scanner / passenger groping programs.

This law would also give the U.S. government the power to arrest any backyard food producer as a felon (a “smuggler”) for merely growing lettuce and selling it at a local farmer’s market.

It also sells out U.S. sovereignty over our own food supply by ceding to the authority of both the World Trade Organization (WTO) and Codex Alimentarius.

It would criminalize seed saving (http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/20…), turning backyard gardeners who save heirloom seeds into common criminals. This is obviously designed to give corporations like Monsanto a monopoly over seeds.

It would create an unreasonable paperwork burden that would put small food producers out of business, resulting in more power over the food supply shifting to large multinational corporations.

I encourage you to read more about this dangerous bill at the Food Freedom blog on WordPress: http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/20…

Watch this excellent video on NaturalNews.TV which explains S.510 in more detail:
http://naturalnews.tv/v.asp?v=9209B…

spring or late winter ?

is it spring or is it late winter ...I guess that depends on where you are... during the first garden walks this season I spotted this lovely witch hazel(hamamelis virginiana) or winterbloom... with its rusty leaves still hanging on from the past autumn and the bright yellow flowers of the late winter , or early spring...check it out

green house garden

I am so excited for the new season to begin...this winter has gone on long enough I say ... though we are not through the woods yet... more snow and cold due this weekend and next week... oh well ...I have tried to keep my focus honed and my spirits up ...finally today there is a bit of sun....hooray.. but also I have this great indoor room... I enclosed the porch with heavy duty nursery plastic and insulated the areas...and PRESTO we have a sun room...it has been so nice all winter ... here's some pictures...

winter garden

the first few hours of 2011 were calm and lovely , today January 11,2011 we are reminded that it's winter until march 21 or there abouts...snowing today a cool light snow the kind that almost makes shoveling a joy... can I share a secret with you? Ok, I will anyway. I do not like winter weather. I yearn for a warm climate near a beach perhaps ... definitely not Chicago. the best I can do is pretend I am some place else... even if just for a minute I believe I am in a tropical space, like when you go to the conservatory , you feel transported...that is how our gardens should feel.. in the winter we don't have our gardens, but this year I created a small garden room for myself. off the bedroom of my city apartment I enclosed the porch with plastic and insulated areas and created a small green house. the plants are thriving...so far. now anyone who knows me , knows , i am not a house plant person...i like the ease of watering with a hose... no buckets or pails or cans.... but we all sacrifice ... the space is my little oasis in Chicago .. a bit of the tropics.. up until Jan 10 i didn't run a heater , but just started a space heater and it keeps a constant 60f degrees plus in that room now ...i leave the sliding door open and it is like having a spring day on the deck... such a joy day and night... a place i can sit and create the next season plantings all while the snow piles at my door...