October 1
Rabbit run
Berry patch
Compost tumbler and bins
Rain barrel
Rhubarb
Leafy quince
Supposedly original-to-the-house picket fence
November 28
Path partially built
Low stone walls, in progress
Arbor duct
Seating area
Soon-to-be bird feeding area
The bench bin is complete, except for the decoration part. The worms have taken up residence, in a bedding of shredded newspaper and timothy from the rabbits’ box, plus some soil and kitchen scraps including coffee grounds and crushed egg shell.
Prunus dulcis
ROSACEAE, The Rose family
Slivered almonds are such a nice thing to have on hand this time of year. Lovely toasted in salads, makes cake more nutritious, mixed into crumbling topping on pies and crisps, so many uses. Tonight I made biscotti for the first time - it’s easy and has only 2 tablespoons of butter! I admit that a lot of my favorite recipes call for ‘a stick’ or ‘a cup’. I adapted a recipe for hazelnut biscotti off the Bob’s Red Mill flour package. I omitted the hazelnuts and anise, instead using slivered almonds, chopped bits of chocolate that I had left over from another recipe, and almond extract in addition to the vanilla. It made 2 dozen small biscotti. The honey makes it delish.
It was a year of stone fruits for sure. Usually this time of year I’m surrounded by apples and pears. But now, aside from kiwi, quince and persimmons that are ripening on the counters (all of which are from friends!), and a growing squash collection, most of what we have for the winter is peaches and plums in various methods of preservation. We’ve started nibbling at the jars of cherries. The almonds will be key in the winter baking.
Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus
BRASSICACEAE, The Mustard family
The wind! It’s crazy out there today. It’s exhausting to be out in, but I want to take advantage of the few daylight hours I have in the garden this week. The winter vegetable seedlings are all coming up and need protection, so I made a cloche out of clear plastic stapled over branches.
The daikon is growing quickly. It’s on the list of things to plant in fall, but around here that means in late August or September. I hope the soil is still warm enough, and with the help of the cloche they will make it. The cherry belle radish are taking off as well, and they grow so fast I imagine they’ll produce harvestable roots. If not, the rabbits will enjoy the greens.
Daikon is good for soil building because the long taproots can break up the earth, or “till” and bring nutrients from deep in the soil into a range where they are usable for other plants. It’s also been used in bioremediation projects. The sustainable farmer/philosopher Masanobu Fukouka refers to daikon often in his writing.
The worm bin is in progress! Like many components in the garden, it is multi-functional: it’s also a bench that will go on the back porch. Michael helped me make it out of plywood, and next I will sand and paint it and decorate it will images and diagrams of soil biota. A far-removed homage to William Morris’ s St. George cabinet.
I’m excited for my Permaculture design course this weekend. Jude Hobbs will be the guest instructor. Here is an excerpt from her website, a nice synopsis of Permaculture:
“Permaculture is based on empowering individuals to create positive change through their decisions. As a guide, one can tap into a set of evolving principles to find beneficial solutions to most challenges. This design system is all encompassing: from eco-building to organic gardening to economics. Permaculture is about inter-relationships of all living things in consideration of: Care for the Earth and Care for People.”
I won!
The prize I most wanted in the raffle at the Holiday Bazaar was the worms. After initial feelings of joy and disbelief, I became anxious at the thought of being responsible for a new pet, one I knew little about. So I’ve been researching worm bin construction and have plans to make a wooden one on the weekend. In the meantime I added some rabbit droppings to the bucket the worms came in. They disappeared quickly. So I added some more.
I’m looking forward to having worm castings to feed house plants and bulbs. And it’s neat that the worms and rabbits are complementary in a system.
Art, Music and Food
at Dennis’ Seven Dees Garden Center
This weekend the first ever Holiday Bazaar is going on at the garden center. My coworker John and I are co-coordinating, with the whole garden center team pitching in in multiple ways. We’re really excited to have over 20 local artists and crafters each day, selling irresistable handmade items (alert: low-stress, easy on budget gift-gathering opportunity):
-small paintings (especially jewel-like resin coated fantasies by Brittlestar)
-cards
-soft hats and mittens and arm warmers
-a diverse array of jewelry
-preserves
-soaps
-garden art especially metal sculpture
-glass art especially the carefully composed lightboxes featuring marine life by my studio mate Anne Phillip.
The artists are the main attraction, but there are a lot of other things happening: be serenaded by live musicians in the straw bale lounge, drink hot spiced cider and snack on gingersnaps, or tamales by casa de tamales, preview handmade, all local wreaths (rosehips! willow! salal!) that just arrived and fresh cut trees. Or check out the ridiculous selection of living trees (Turkish fir, Mountain Hemlock, Doug fir, Alaska cedar, about 20 more..) if you still want that humid yet fresh scent of boughs in the house, but would prefer to plant the tree afterward in your garden or a park, or keep it potted for future use.
If your personal traditions dictate none-of-the-above, the season may best be celebrated by planting Hellebore. Also called the Christmas rose, it’s a true winter bloomer. When grown from seed, as most are, the flower color will be a surprise unless you buy when it’s blooming. They interbreed like columbine or hostas and are highly variable. They are a potent medicinal plants, also known as toxic if you don’t know what you’re up to. They make sublime cut flowers: so lovely and detailed. And because they often nod in the garden, it’s nice to be able to enjoy them up close. The centers of the flowers are complex and the petals are often veined and spotted in contrasting colors. But I digress. If it’s winter interest in the garden you seek, or even winter edibles, come hither. Kale, cover crop seeds, cool season herbs and starts and edible flowers. Tea bushes, blueberries, garlic, shallots. Come in.
My new friend Ruthie and I began an experiment this weekend. After taking down the tomatoes, peppers, eggplants (a sad project, they being still so hopeful and naive, laden with never-to-be-ripened fruits,) we commenced a winter veg planting. Beets and just-sprouting garlic were all that remained from the previous layout. We infilled with seed of spinach, daikon, cherrybell radish, microgreen mix, asian greens mix, beets and pak choi. Over the top we constructed hoops out of hazel coppice, which I will cover with clear plastic in my free time.
I have been dreaming of these and other veggies and painting tiny little blocks and small blocks with seeds and veg. They are part toy (for ages won’t-put-in-mouth and up), part knick-knack. For the bazaar I’ll be setting up a display of them in the Cottage, which we are turning into a little gallery, along with some recent paintings.
One more thing. If there are little folks in your life please bring them to enliven our beloved kid’s area: Fishing game, bean bag toss, coloring station, decorate a pot and plant a paperwhite bulb to take, or a pot of cat-grass. We have ridiculous, 90% healthy and environmentally friendly prizes for the games.
This Saturday and Sunday, 10 am - 4 pm
November 7 and 8
6025 SE Powell Blvd.
Asplenium ebenoides
ASPLENIACEAE, The Spleenwort family
I think I have a fern fetish.
Many of my plant acquisitions this season have been ferns, despite the fact I have very limited shade in the garden. I keep thinking of my sister’s former garden in St. Paul, where her entire garden was composed of ferns. It was really lovely.
This fern has such interesting leaf shapes, and the whole gesture of the plant is a little wild, while also being organized.
Asplenium scolopendrium
ASPLENIACEAE, The Spleenwort family
Bright evergreen spears, a clean transition between the Kohuhu and the Fringe flower.
