Empress of Dirt: The Garden

I was just sorting some photos and started noticing how often I photograph this swamp near our house. I find it incredibly photogenic and never the same twice. Late winter before any trace of Spring green: Late fall before the snow (same location as above, just a little farther back from the water): This winter after a hoar frost: I fully qualify for a bumper sticker reading: I brake for swamps. And next time there is hoar frost, I'm staying out taking photos from dawn to dusk. So beautiful! Here's more swampage:

I'm always cynical of the latest trends and definitely not what is referred to as an early adopter or a compulsive consumer. That said, I had just finished The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle and was digging into A New Earth the day Oprah announced it as her next book selection and the subject of her live, free webcasts with the author. Good timing! Everything written about nature in these two books sums up my love of gardening, nature and simply being outdoors. I've never read anything that comes closer. It's all in the timing, and your time may not be now, but should you feel so inclined, you might want to hop over to Oprah's and listen to a podcast or two. Or give one of the books a whirl. I downloaded some Eckhard Tolle talking books from the library and those have been most inspiring and affirming as well. These are scenes from our hike on the weekend. Funny how it can be absolutely wintery out yet there's a definite sense that spring is indeed on its way. As a kid I looked at my brother's copy of Be Here Now over and over again. Here I am all these years later doing the same with The Power of Now. Photos of the same place, last fall:

INTRODUCING SIR's FIRST MAJOR MOTION PICTURE Sir would make a fetching hood ornament, don't you think? Here's what happened. He was pigging out on so much birdseed, I had to move the feeder to a less accessible location. Sir arrived this morning right on schedule to discover his beloved feeder was not in its proper place. Instead, he was faced with the peanut feeder (pictured above): a device which frustrates him to no end. He can smell the peanuts but there is no way he can get to them. Hush, now. It's not that cruel. Really. The little furry man loves a good challenge. So he sat like a perfect hood ornament on top of the metal hanger, brooding. Pouting. Scheming: Suddenly, an upwind sent the scent of birdseed to his damp little nose. He raced over to the new location, and spent 20 minutes trying to figure out them most efficient way to get to the seed. Let's just say that I won't have to refill the 5 pound feeder every day anymore....And he's burning more calories than he's taking in. Mission accomplished. For now.... Rosie O'Donnell is in charge of the New York Chapter of Make A Squirrel Work For His/Her Supper: http://www.rosie.com/blog/2007/11/29/another-shady/

Click on the pics for a larger view In Part One of this tour [link], I promised a gorgeous waterfall and pond and lo an behold, I'm delivering the goods. The waterfall is about 15-20 feet tall and really impressive in person: In this short clip, you can see the falls in action and have a view around the farm to the long, long driveway. For those of you who dread viewing a video online or worse still, fear catching some dreaded virtual disease from such an act of faith, fear not. It's harmless and fun. And who knows, it might just open up a whole new world for you. Worst case scenario, I owe you 30 seconds of your life back: This photo gives an idea of the slope behind the waterfall. I think they chose a perfect location, working with the natural grade of the property: Next to the pond there's some wet and dry beds. Dry beds are murder to keep weeded in my yard because of the dry clay soil and the relentless determination of the weeds, but I sure love them in other people's yards: I love sitting areas and think they're a basic essential in most gardens though I confess I have to this day never ever sat in a garden! If I'm there, I'm working or touring, but this does look inviting: Behind this outbuilding there was a massive amount of rusted tools and gizmos and containers, just waiting to be arranged and planted. I think I was so overcome with ideas, I forgot to snap that picture! But here's the front of the building: The homeowners have great junk/plant arranging style: I showed this tree from another side in Part One of the tour. That garden has no bad angles: It's gardens like this that make the long drive out of town so worthwhile. And you have to admit, Ontario Zone 5a is a gardening hot zone. Stay tuned for more inspiration. PS: See Part One of this tour here Have you seen this bird photo? Funny how mothers do this with siblings....[link] Coming up: How I stopped the wasps from nesting: a special 2007 report Today's words of wisdom from The Empress: Let no garden beauty go unphotographed.

I've decided we'll (that's the Royal we'll) take a break from garden blogging now and then for something completely different. This break is sponsored by my brother Steve. He spends a portion of each year travelling the world and takes oodles of movies and photos. Have a look at what happened when he was filming a monkey in a zoo in Thailand (it's short and funny and the monkey almost wins! Be sure to turn on your sound first for the full effect): More: Steve's travel blog [link] . If you're interested in travel to Thailand, India, Viet Nam, Cambodia....have a look. He's a great blogger.

We were promised a good storm [click to read details]: And we got a good storm (plus a bonus power failure) [movie has no sound]: On this day last year, I was contending with an onslaught of garlic mustard, which seemed to affect gardeners near and far as well. It's back again this year...

It would be much easier to record what's not in bloom rather than what is. Mind you, everything looks like late summer: kind of straggly, and, with a few exceptions, not really vibrant in colour, but blooming none the less. This is the second blooming for the bearded tongue. I am totally taken by it. It's like a combination of the best of a delphinium and a foxglove: Here's some more pics for my own indulgence: Here's the official blooming list: bearded tongue: sour grapes blanketflower carnations clematis vine coneflowers dahlias daisies delphiniums honeysuckle vine hostas lobelias - blue and red mallow monkshood moonbeams phlox sunflowers tickseed trumpet vine yarrow Veggie Garden Notes: -the red peppers started getting red about a week ago and are now almost entirely red -the tomato plants keep ripening about 10-20 tomatoes per day -the little cantaloupe may be full size (?) Names to look up when I've got my plant tags cleaned and sorted which I'm finally getting around to: pink rockery plant yellows-front bed blue in front of stove bells Related Entries: The 2006 Blooming Cycle - my attempt to record blooming times. There's a complete listing of my virtual garden tours here I keep track of garden weirdness here See my garden art/junk. Do you have a picture to add to the Garden Shed Hall of Fame? Mirrors in the garden? Don't they break?

Front yard of a house on a local garden tour (2005). Does your garden reveal things about your personality and how you live your life? I find myself thinking about this when I'm on local garden tours. There are so many different approaches to gardening, all within this one little town. There are obvious factors like money and how much has been spent to create the garden, particularly landscaping and structures. But beyond that, the main factor that stands out to me is how much control each gardener is trying to exert over their domain. Some approach a garden like it's a beast to be conquered. It must be controlled at any cost! Financially and/or environmentally. Gardening is a form of combat and any potential foes are thwarted with an arsenal of fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and the almighty weed wacker. Some let the garden dictate its own plan to a point where it looks overwhelming: well if it seeds there, I guess it's meant to be! And be and be and be. It reminds me of the saying, Art is art because it is not nature. To me, a garden is a garden because it is not nature simply left to its own devices. Others settle somewhere in between, perhaps rejecting the toxic artillery altogether, preferring to engage in the relationship of give and take and compromise that nature offers. To be fair, the amount of time one has to garden also plays a huge role. Some years I haven't been able to do more than a spring weeding, and a visitor to the garden mid-summer would have some pretty harsh things to say about how I care for things. But overall, do these characteristics show themselves in other parts of our lives? Is a control-freak gardener also an obnoxious spouse? Is the gardener who bows down to every self-sewing seed repeatedly taken advantage of by other people? Are we middle-ground gardeners so well-versed in the give and take of a relationship that we're a joy to be married to? I think I just answered my own question. Perhaps what grows in the garden sometimes just stays in the garden. Otherwise, I could make a fortune with a matchmaking service that featured gardens in the profiles section.

As the day progressed yesterday, I could see more and more signs of frost damage on my new veggies. While the watermelon plants were looking quite withered first thing in the morning, the tomatoes gradually showed white patches on their leaves as the day went on. Is there hope for a recovery? It's very hard to tell at this point.Should I be removing the affected branches? I'm going to wait on that, assuming that there's still beneficial life in there.Is it game over for these plants? Man, I hope not. I'm going to wait and see, following the advice in this thread at gardenweb. Am I kicking myself for not covering them up that first night? Ok, don't answer that one. If the plants need replacing, I'll invoice the Weather Network for the incorrect forecast.

Brad and Angelina stopped by today while I was was working on the front garden. They gave their approval of the new veggie garden and proceeded to look for a nesting spot. It seems they are quite anxious to get settled: After rejecting the spot behind the cedar tree, Brad decided to have a look in the backyard: Brad, honey, I said, I know you won't like it back there. The kids and I spend a lot of time there and the constant disruptions will be very annoying. Not to mention that I'm constantly taking photos.... Photos? Paparazzi? That did it. Brad turned right around and went over to say something quietly to Angelina: Nodding in silent agreement, they carried on their way. If I'm not mistaken, they found the perfect location in the neighbor's never-used back garden: Bye you two. Good luck with the kids!

A full-sun garden bed is prime real estate around here. The front yard is the only place that gets full sun and the suburban trend of burying all underground service conduits means we're not permitted to do much digging. I also do not have good success with container gardening because of the watering restrictions during our very hot, dry summers. This makes finding room for a veggie garden a bit of a challenge. While I don't generally wish to grow produce that I can find locally-grown at great prices, I do try to grow some things each year that will hook the kid into life as a gardener: passing the green torch, if you will. Not only does she marvel at the growing process, but she's far more likely to try and enjoy new veggies when they've come from our very own garden. I had just enough digging allowance to expand this front bed a few feet wider, with an artistic curve thrown in to avoid the natural gas line. After seeing the term double digging on Doug Green's blog, I realized that I am double-digger by nature. It probably comes from having heavy clay soil. New plants don't have a prayer unless the soil is deeply (1-2' deep) turned and richly amended (compost, manure). Which makes me rather thankful that I don't have more room for the veggie garden because lifting the clay is exhausting work. Enemy number one is the abundant wild rabbit population, so I installed some chicken wire fencing burying the base in the soil and blocked it off with stones to thwart their digging efforts. I decided to try a variety of tomatoes (Ultra Sweet, Better Boy, Lemon Boy, Sweet Chelsea, Sweet Gold, Health Kick), some sweet/red peppers, and for the kid: pumpkin, watermelon and canteloupe. Nothing too thrilling but we'll make use of all of it and that's what I'm after. Planting was done yesterday and last night the temperature did go below freezing. When I checked this morning, there was no sign of rabbits but the frost had wilted one of the watermelon plants. Hopefully it will recover. Because I have Gardener's Amnesia, I attached the nursery tags to my old copper plant markers (hole-punched the plastic and used a bit of wire to hang them), and kept every plant labelled. Of course, given that there are thousands of varieties of tomatoes, it seems forgiveable to forget their names. I'm looking forward to deciding which tomatoes are new favourites. Nothing from the market compare to a homegrown, sweet, fresh tomato.

Description: A prevelant condition wherein the gardener convinces herself that she will remember exactly what she has planted where and why, because it all makes so much sense at the time, and then later goes on to either weed out the very same plantings or leave the plant but completely forget its name (common or Latin). Known causes: gardening rapture; composted grey matter. Treatments: reliable and consistent tagging system with plant markers, planting records with photographs, and garden blogging.

There's a secret initiation that takes place when you're a new gardener. It's conducted by more experienced gardeners who generously offer to pass along some free plants to help get your garden established. My hindsight? With few exceptions, run like mad. If they're offering you something that isn't showcased in their garden, or appears in copious amounts in a distinct pile when they're weeding, you know they are part of the Initiation Pact. In my case, they worked as a team. Three of them. And I was duped because (I thought) my gardening friends didn't even know each other, thereby obliterating any suspicion of a conspiracy. Yet each one of them offered me the same 'starter plants'. It all seemed like a happy coincidence. Peppermint. Lemon balm. Musk mallow. See what I'm saying? Was I a mark or what? They must have laughed themselves silly when I graciously accepted their offerings and distributed them throughout my garden. I couldn't believe how generous gardeners are! A few weeks later I blushingly remarked how thrilled I was that these new additions were growing LIKE WEEDS. I was so thrilled that anything would grow in my new garden that I didn't even notice the sound of the mint roots burying like mad men throughout the yard as I lay in bed at night. I couldn't hear the musk mallow seeds spreading like air. So in that regard, the initiation worked. It brought me to the other side. It ignited my gardening fever and gave me the confidence to try other more virtuous plants. However, I feel their choice of 'starter' plants was bordering on unforgivable. The lemon balm I can manage. The mint and musk mallow are the bane of my weeding and yanking existence. It took me a while, but now I get it, you naughty gardeners, you. Maybe you'd like to come over for a garden visit and pick up your free thank-you gallon of garlic mustard? It's the least I can do.

These are the new bloomers this week (left to right): strawberries, the (very late-blooming) varigated tulips, sandcherry (shrub), the early (yellow) irises, and phlox (below). [Note to self: ever since I said I don't like yellow flowers in the garden, I seem to have yellow blooming everywhere. It's a conspiracy.] After ten days of rain, we had a full day of that big ball of light in the sky yesterday. I felt like I'd escaped the asylum; overwhelmed by the choices. Weed? Transplant? Fix arbors? Prepare veggie garden? Everything was calling out for attention. Since the ground was still quite wet, I went after the weeds first which, despite their grotesque heights, pulled out like budda. That's a rarity in this Garden-O-Clay. After that I worked on the new veggie garden bed (not pictured) which required moving about four hundred rocks. That which does not kill me will make me stronger. Or so I tell myself. Our growing season is so short, if I don't get the veggies established pronto, I'm going to have produce the size of marshmellows.

This is a photo tour of my garden in 2003. I feel like I'll jinx my good intentions by saying it (which is why I normally write about what has happened instead of what I intend to do, since that seems to cause an instantaneous bend in any road), but, that said, I really hope to have an update for this year showing lots of new changes to the garden. I've tried to do the time-lapse effect (in still photography and movies) a few times, but without much success so far. Our growing season is so short, you'd think it would be possible to capture.... I'll keep trying. This movie was shot in the garden in the summer and the winter. It wasn't shot at peak season but it does capture much of what I love about it.

Watch the video Footage by my daughter from the back seat of the car while we drove through Waterloo County (Ontario Canada) during the Winter thaw this weekend. Lots of Mennonites with horses and buggies and wide open spaces. (2 min 21 secs)

Watch the video Clips from our visit to the local Children's Museum. (54 seconds)

Watch the video Some favourite weird things from our visit to the Ontario Science Centre.Ontario, Canada. (1 minute 19 secs)

Watch the video Last summer seven year-old K.T. shot this footage of her pet grasshopper, Jumper.

Watch the video A birthday movie for my daughter.

Watch the video After the warmest, greenest January in recorded history, February is bringing Ontario Canada some snow. Weather cam February 4, 2006. (34 seconds)

Watch the video If you've been to the University of Waterloo, you probably know that weird hallway....

Watch the video This could be about life, death, seasons, cycles, birth, rebirth, renewal, reincarnation, and the other markers of life, or it could just be my garden in summer and winter. (2 min 32 sec)

Watch the video Scenes from a visit to Lake Huron (Goderich, Ontario, Canada) in summer 2005. (1 minute)

Watch the video My little girl and I stopped to play on the swings at the park during a (snowless) winter walk. Canada. (1 minute 18 seconds)

Watch the video Each year we visit the local butterfly sanctuary. This video is from our visit last year, hosted by my seven year-old daughter. Features include: an owl butterfly and a waterfall. (49 seconds)

Watch the video May 2005: My first trip to England. I was mesmorized by the natural beauty, the art and architecture, and how fantastically jam-packed the museums and galleries are with wonderful treasures. This short video captures some favourite sites.(2 min 44 secs)

Watch the video scenes from life in a Canadian winter.(1 min 47 secs)

The Amazing K.T.--A Magic Show--Episode #1 Watch the video A magic show by seven year-old K.T.

Happy 8th Birthday! Watch the video A birthday movie for my daughter.