Garden 2011

This summer, just as the past two, I planted a garden. I made sure to wait until the nightly frosts had passed before putting the plants in the ground and for several weeks now we have been enjoying the fruits of my labor.

I have been pretty consistent in my plot arrangement, which I shared last year, and this year I didn't change much again. Some newbies that joined the ranks are cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, and soybeans. Sadly, the grape tomatoes have been underwhelming and to make matters worse, the soybeans didn't even sprout. (I think a few Peter Cottontails nibbled-up the seeds before they even had a chance—poor little guys.)

On the flip side everything else is flourishing including the green beans (I bought the right kind this year!)

jalapenos (by the dozen)

basil (finally learned how to keep it alive!)

aforementioned cherry tomatoes (what can I make with these?)

as well as, roma tomatoes and green and red bell peppers.

On another positive note, our Japanese beetle invasion has nearly left the building. I noticed that the only minor damage they have caused has been to the weeds—haha!

But back to a more pressing point, what can I make with those cherry tomatoes? When I planted them I thought I would be one of these people who, as she leisurely strolls around her yard, grabs a few and eats them right off the vine. Well, that's definitely not the case and these things grow in clusters so when I pick my garden I always come in with dozens more. We have so many that we have been giving them to our cats to roll around as toys (well not really but you get the point). Please, this girl's desperate, if you've got a recipe that calls for cherry tomatoes, send it my way!

Tillandsia Terrarium

Tillandsia have been sprouting up everywhere: in magazines, websites, and now stores! I've been secretly harboring a need-to-buy-crush since I first spied them way back when, so when Justin and I were out enjoying a beautifully-weathered evening a few fortnights ago (I'm reading Jane Eyre right now so pardon the ye olde English) and came across an abundance of them at The Mossy Twig, I had to snag some surprisingly affordable sprouts (six for $30!). Fortunately, for more than just us, this venture coincided with the recent engagement of our friends so I nabbed an extra to use in a quick'n'easy engagement present.

Tillandsia, better known as air plants, is "a genus of around 540 species in the Bromeliad family (Bromeliaceae), found in the forests, mountains, and deserts, of Central and South America, and Mexico and the southern United States in North America. The thinner-leafed varieties grow in rainy areas and the thick-leafed varieties in areas more subject to drought. Moisture and nutrients are gathered from the air (dust, decaying leaves and insect matter) through structures on the leaves called trichomes. Tillandsia species are epiphytes (also called aerophytes or air plants)—they normally grow without soil while attached to other plants. Epiphytes are not parasitic, depending on the host only for support." (Thank you Wikipedia.)

According to the associate at The Mossy Twig and proven over the past few weeks, to care for my air plants all I have to do is soak them in water once a week for about 10 minutes. Then before putting them back in their soil-less and water-less containers, shake them free of excess water. They do not do well with direct light but enjoy filtered light. If the ends begin to dry out, they aren't receiving enough water and if they appear soggy, they are getting too much water. Pretty simple, no?

Upon returning home from our weeknight out, I learned that not only was I drawn to these unique plants, our cats and their crunch-desiring appetites are too. Through a quick google search I found that "Tillandsias are NOT toxic to animals—although this does not mean your pet won't eat them, but they will survive the experience, your plant might not." Therefore I knew I was going to have to find containers that would completely enclose each plant, which wasn't a bad thing since my plan was to create little terrariums with them anyways.

I wasn't sure how many containers I would need but I did want them to be clear glass and clean-lined shapes so the next day's lunch hour was devoted to perusing my favorite closest thrift store where I found several containers that would do but only three that I left with—all for a whopping $6. After work I sidled up to our kitchen table with nothing more than the air plants, freshly washed glass containers, and some river rock that I have on hand for filling flower vases when needed.

(Look at Harley trying to sneak up and attack.)

In just a few minutes, I had arranged several terrariums. I even had to dig in my decor cabinet to pull out two more vases because when I was shopping for containers my memory underestimated the size of the plants and I clearly needed more.

First I laid down a layer of river rock, then I placed the air plant inside and called it a day! Nothing could have been easier and look at how simply beautiful they are.

To add another layer of texture, I tossed in some twigs I picked up outside my office. I think they especially work well with this leggy number.

So for a grand total of $36, I created five tillandsia terrariums, making each arrangement $6. This definitely is a winning project.

It's about time!

After my griping about how my garden seemed to be dying and cursing those darn japanese beetles, I am actually harvesting mounds of produce from my vegetable wild bandit. Just a few days ago, I went out to check on my tomatoes and came back 30 minutes later with a bucket of tomatoes and green beans.

I'm crediting this sudden burst of fruit on the weather change we've experienced in the last couple weeks and boy am I grateful for it (in more ways than one). Look at this glorious pico-de-gallo salsa I made from half of our bucket of tomatoes. Doesn't it look delicious?

Take it from us, it is scrumptious and it will keep us snacking healthy for at least a week and a half. We even steamed a handful of those green beans and partnered them with a nice teriyaki glazed salmon last week, yum! Is anyone else reaping delicious rewards from their gardening efforts? Do share!

Garden Update: 3 Months

It's been about 3 months since I planted my garden and I can whole heartedly say that it has taken off like a wild bandit...literally. In fact, I almost titled my post Garden Havoc: 3 Months and you'll find out  why soon enough.

This year I planted a different green bean family and unfortunately, they are the climbing variety for which I have nothing for them to climb, except their neighboring tomato plants. The green beans are so aggressive that they are pulling the branches of my tomato plants down and because of this, I have had to keep trimming them back, which means that I am reaping very few beans for all my hard work—boo!

However, to repay me for my gentle care and protection, my tomatoes are thriving and boy are they delish! (Just ask Justin. He sliced one up for his BLT last night and it looked good!)

But of course, this joy cannot shine through the storm clouds of the japanese beetles that have been wreaking havoc on my plants. For those of you who aren't familiar with these lovely buggers, I researched them a bit to explain what they are and where they came from. Ahem...
Japanese beetles are insects native to (what do you guess) Japan and showed up in America in the early 1910s (supposedly on a shipment of tulip bulbs). The beetles are not entirely destructive to the vegetation in Japan because of natural predators, they can be highly dangerous to US crops and gardens (as you see in the photos of my garden below). For the most part, the only infested areas in the US start in the far northeast trickling down into the southeast and midwest. They are detrimental to plants because they skeletonize the foliage, eating the leaf between the veins. When plants no longer have the leaf material between the veins they cannot absorb the sun and grow, eventually dying.

I have noticed a large population of these beetles in my garden and since one positive reason to grow your own plants is to keep them pesticide free, I have done nothing to control them by ways of chemicals. As a result, about 30% of my garden looks like this.

Not too appealing, eh?

Fortunately, they seem to favor my green bean plants, which is fine by me since they are becoming a PITA (pain in the ass) anyways. Nonetheless, does anyone have suggestions for how to eradicate or at least decrease their numbers? I have heard that the best way is to fill a bowl or bucket with soapy water and knock them into it but I've been too lazy to do that yet. Any other chem-free ideas? I'm all ears!

What the blooming?

A few days ago, I noticed this weed-looking growth spurting from one of our mother-in-law's tongue plant (also known as snake plant and sansevieria trifasciata). At first sight I thought "Ack! How could a weed grow in my indoor potted plant?" but then I googled around a bit and confirmed my suspicions with my mom, that in fact is my plant is in bloom.

I have never seen a snake plant bloom, and neither has my mom, so this event is exciting for me, especially since I think my mom has the greenest thumbs around. In the morning the blooms are shut (photo above), but later in the day the blooms open up (photo below).

I don't know what I did to encourage the bloom, but my mom said that the plant must be happy. So, in trying not to make it mad, I will continue caring for it just the same and maybe next time there will be more than one bloom to report.

Garden Update: 1 Month

It's only been a month since I planted our garden, but with the sunny-hot-humid-rainy days we've had the last couple weeks, our garden is flourishing.

Check out my onions!

The green beans are growing a life of their own.

The lettuce is thriving.

I even have 2, count 'em, 2 larger-than-a-golf-ball tomatoes!

It's going to be a summer full of great goodies from our garden and don't worry I'll keep you updated on all the freshness coming out of there.

Embracing Gravity

In May, we hosted a Mother's Day grill-out at our house with Justin's extended family. Can you believe it was their first time coming to our home? You all know that I'm not a mom (nor soon-to-be), so I didn't expect to receive anything that day, however, Justin's relatives showered us with house warming gifts. One of these said gifts was this odd-looking tomato tower garden station.

As you can kind of see from the packaging (above), it is a stand with a container on top that you can plant flowers, herbs, or other favorite foliage. The unique part about this contraption is that in the bottom of the container (pictured below on the right) there are openings where you can plant tomatoes so they hang upside down. How cool is that? I have always wanted to get a topsy-turvy tomato plant, but never had a spot to do so, until now!

Assembly was a breeze and after a few minutes, it was standing strong and I was ready to go shopping for my vegetation.

Before I could do so, I had to ensure it wouldn't fall over, so I filled the base's container with leftover landscaping rocks and sand; then I went shopping.

While at Home Depot trying to decide which tomatoes to plant, I talked with an associate who recommended planting strawberries or cherry tomatoes in the planter. He suggested planting something with small fruit because as large tomatoes grow they become so heavy that they fall off the vine when hung upside down, even the topsy-turvy planters. I had already planted roma tomatoes in my garden, so I picked out a couple strawberries to plant upside down—yum! To fill in the top of the basin, I decided to plant an herb garden and bought catnip, basil, cilantro, and oregano.

Back at home, I separated some of the strawberry plants and slid a single plant in each hole.

The planter came with these handy-dandy caps that I put on the hole, leaving a small gap where the plant hung down through.

After placing them all in and securing them with the caps, I filled the planter with dirt and gave it a refreshing drink of water.

To plant the herbs on top, I filled in some more dirt and planted them like any other vertical plant. I also used the same marker tags that I used in my garden to label the plants. Can you imagine wanting cilantro but grabbing catnip instead? (Blech!)

All in all, the planter turned out great. It is awesome having an herb garden a step out my back door and before leaving for work this morning, I checked my strawberries and saw some buddings of future fruit. I can't wait until those are grown and ripe.

Does anyone else have a planter like this? What did you plant in yours?

PS: Check back for an update on our garden, it's growing like weeds!

Just a Couple Tree Huggers

Even though this story is a month old to us, it's never too late to hug er, plant a couple trees right? Well, that's exactly what Justin and I did the weekend after Earth Day this year (yes, I know about a month ago). I could say we planted them in celebration of Mother Earth, but that wouldn't be accurate because we planted them for purely selfish reasons: we want large lush trees in our backyard one day and I had a Home Depot Garden Club coupon to use (of course). And this coupon wasn't any old $10 off a $50 purchase—which we have scored many times in the past—oh no no no, this was a buy one tree get one tree free coupon. Yes, you read correctly, 2 trees for the price of one, who could go wrong with that? Not us! So, while out and about one day, we stopped at good 'ol HD and snatched up two of their largest trees in stock, one maple and one birch tree for (drum roll please) 100 smack-o-las. As we danced to our good fortune in the car on the way home, we talked strategy about where these big-daddies were going to go.

Unlike most other projects I tackle, I did not mock up the location of these guys, because moving them around the yard was a much faster way to get a sense of the space. We ended up choosing to plant them about 6 feet in from the back of our property, aligning them with the sides of our house and across from each other. We think they frame the yard nicely and dream of planting more friends around them in the fall. After determining the best spot for each tree, we were ready to start digging.

But before we started the actual tree-planting-process, the most important part of this project was making sure we did not hit any gas or electric lines when digging. To ensure we didn't, we called up the Illinois JULIE hotline (8-1-1) and submitted our request. JULIE is an extremely convenient resource for anyone planning any digging in their yard (trees, decks, additions, etc.). The hotline takes your information and contacts each utility company for you. Within three days later, our backyard was tagged and flagged. (JULIE was new to me for this project and when Justin told me he had to call Julie before we could plant the trees, I got all huffy and said, "Who's Julie!?" Now I know.)

Any who, back to the action. When planting a tree, the hole should be twice as wide as the ball and just as deep as the height of the ball.

Another important step (almost as important as JULIE), is straightening out the roots. As you can see, the roots of our tree molded to the container it had been sitting in for who knows how long and we needed to loosen these up so that they didn't continue to grow in a circle, but stretched out into the earth like arms, allowing the roots to grow out and suck up the nutrients in the native soil.

It's a little hard to see the ball here, but this is how it looked after we broke it up and shook the roots out a bit.

Next, we started filling the hole back up. To provide additional nutrients to our new babies, we mixed a bag of Miracle-Gro garden soil for trees and shrubs with the dirt we dug up. It is important to mix some sort of tree soil with the native soil so that the roots are fed and the transplanted tree isn't shocked by the new dirt environment.

We started by filling the hole only half full because we had to make sure the tree was straight from all directions. I won't stand for crooked trees in my yard!

Then, we stomped the dirt down, compressing it as much as we could to hold the tree in place...

...and topped it off with the rest of the dirt.

Once safely in the ground and straight up-and-down, we gave them a good dose of H2O and continued to water them every day for the next couple weeks. Trees soak up water at a slow rate, so no need to blast them with buckets of water, a slow stream will do the trick.

Since then, we've sat back and admired our work, secretly wishing we could fast forward five years and see how much bigger they'll be in the future.

Did anyone else tackle a planting project around Earth Day? There's no better time to give back to the earth than the present!