January 27, 2013 by Born To Organize

Pruning the Fruit Tree: Living to Tell the Tale

Four-in-one fruit cocktail tree

My fruit tree ‘cheat sheet’ told me to get out there and prune by the end of January. The four-in-one fruit cocktail tree is still relatively young, so good pruning is key to the tree’s long-term success. This time last year my son was adamant that I not prune the tree, worried that I would kill it. I read him a long article, published by one of the universities, on the importance of pruning in the first five years of the tree’s life. He would have none of it. Finally he relented, as long as I pruned the tree when he wasn’t looking.

What a difference a year makes. Playing Minecraft with a good friend today took precedence over anything I was doing. I quickly pruned the tree while my husband kept a hand on the ladder. Today was dry and clear, but cold. I wanted to get the job done and he wanted to get back indoors.

Last spring, I tried to put a net over the tree to protect the fruit from marauding squirrels. I managed to partially cover the tree, but then one of the legs of the ladder sunk into the soft soil, sending me backward into the shrubs. I skinned my chin, bruised my back side, broke the ladder and damaged my ego. It’s called learning the hard way.

Fresh cuts, new buds

Generally speaking, I enjoy pruning, but not when I’m ten feet off the ground. I’m glad the job is done for another year. I started the weekend with a bump on the head after ‘gracefully’ tripping over a warped mat in the garage. No sense adding injury to injury.

Did you do any big chores this weekend?

Good things to come

Lumber for the fairy garden fence

January 26, 2013 by Born To Organize

Cauliflower Fail: Yes or No?

Browning Cauliflower
January 26, 2013

I’ve been trying to deny the inevitable for a week now. My cauliflower is done-for. Gone. Kaput. Or at least it looks that way

It didn’t occur to me to protect the plants from frost damage. Cauliflower is a winter crop in warm climates. Shouldn’t it withstand the elements? The plants look okay, but all of the cauliflower heads turned brown.

Upon further reading, I’m wondering if I missed a step, something known as blanching. It sounds counter-intuitive: instead of allowing the flower heads, called curds, exposure to the sun, you cover them. The articles I’ve read suggest folding the leaves over the curds and holding them in place with twine. Leaves should be tied loosely to allow air to circulate.

Apparently I’ve spent one too many years eating vegetables from the supermarket. Or not. At this point, I suppose time will tell. The browning will continue or abate. The curds will grow or wilt. Meanwhile I just evicted some gray scaly pests from the broccoli plants. In a word: ick!

Stay tuned.

Resources:

Organic Gardening: Growing Cauliflower
Weekend Gardener: Blanching Cauliflower
National Gardening Association: Plant Care Guides

Broccoli and Cauliflower
November 9th

Broccoli and cauliflower
December 17, 2012

Cauliflower
December 18, 2012

January 25, 2013 by Born To Organize

DIY Nesting Wreath

I stopped by Los Gatos Birdwatcher last week and saw the coolest idea: a wreath made from nesting materials. They covered the wreath with soft wool, feathers and other natural material.

For a few years I’ve saved my laundry lint, then tied it to a tree in a mesh bag. Making a wreath looked like way more fun.

I picked up a frame at the craft store for a few dollars and got to work. I wrapped the entire wreath with soft, oatmeal-colored yarn. I pulled the yarn taught to prevent entanglement. It also gave me a base to push bits of lint, string and wool into the frame.

Wire Wreath Frame

Wrapping Frame with yarn

Small pieces of laundry lint

I pushed the lint through the taut yarn with the round end of a small paintbrush

Having nesting material on hand is a great way to attract birds to your yard. Spring’s coming. Start making those wreaths and stashing them throughout the yard.

Materials:

Wire wreath frame (any size) I used a 6 inch frame.
Neutral colored yarn or string
Laundry lint (neutral) Birds build nests in subtle colors that blend with the environment
Scraps of yarn, or string, cut into short lengths no longer than one or two inches (to avoid bird entanglement.)

I found the cutest hook to hang it from at our local fabric store for just $3. It’s a bird (of course). Let me know what you think.

Nesting Wreath

Bird hook

January 24, 2013 by Born To Organize

All’s Well with Slinky

A quick Slinky Malinki update for all who’ve been following along: her labs came back normal! She lost a bit of weight so they recommend a weight check in 30 days. Otherwise, all’s well. =^..^=

We’re doing the happy dance! Thank you for your support

Slinky Warming Up

January 24, 2013 by Born To Organize

Gravel Mulch Muchas Gracias

Pansies

Last fall I planted purple pansies along the deck, then interspersed bulbs in between. What beautiful planters we would have come spring.

Then the squirrels dug them up. One by one, over a couple of days, they unearthed the hidden gems. Normally I add a layer of organic mulch, but in my never-ending quest to discourage snacking squirrels, I covered at least half of the pots with rough pea-gravel. I used what I had on hand, left over from a summer project.

It was a good, though unintended experiment.Those rascally squirrels dug up all the bulbs in the soft mulch pots, but left the ones under gravel untouched.

I bought more bulbs, a lot more gravel, and replanted with help from the eager day-care kiddos next door. It worked!

Emerging bulbs

At least half a dozen bulbs broke ground this week. I see tiny shoots pushing up between the pansies. Muchas gracias, gravel mulch

Gardening Nirvana and gravel mulch, 1. Squirrels, 7,364. It’s amazing what you can get away with when you’re so darn cute.

January 23, 2013 by Born To Organize

Daffodils, Pomegranates and Wordsworth

I was feeling a little blue yesterday, so what better way to bring cheer than flowers. Yellow flowers really brighten a room, especially in the middle of January. Further, nothing says “spring is coming!” like daffodils.

The small potted bulbs were an impulse purchase, but I bought them without remorse. (Okay I’m a bit remorseful that I left a Weight Watchers meeting and bought dark chocolate-covered pomegranate seeds, but it was the daffodils I went in for.) I lost weight so why wouldn’t I celebrate with a bit of heart-healthy dark chocolate?

I digress.

Daffodils (narcissus) originated in Spain and Portugal, though it was Holland that perfected the bulb trade. According to American Meadows “over nine billion flower bulbs are produced each year in Holland, and about 7 billion of them are exported, for an export value of three-quarters of a billion dollars. According to the Netherlands Flower Bulb Information Center, the USA is the biggest importer of Dutch bulbs.”

I guess I’m not the only flower-lover making impulse purchases! William Wordsworth says it best:

And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Daffodils, by William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed–and gazed–but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

January 22, 2013 by Born To Organize

Slinky Malinki: Garden Kitty and a Paradigm Shift

Slinky Malinki in the Garden

Slinky Malinki is a character in a well-loved children’s book by author Lynley Dodd. Slinky is “a cat as black as midnight with a kink in his tail.”

Our beloved Slinky is a shiny black cat, too, with a kink in her tail. The resemblance, however, ends there. Dodd’s character is a “thief in the night;” bold and adventurous. Our Slinky spent the last two years hiding in the garden, afraid of her own shadow, and everything else. The paradigm shift happened today.

In recent months, Slinky in the garden finally became a house cat, venturing outside for five or ten minutes a day, but otherwise spending her day asleep at my feet under the desk. She’s come a long way from the cat we first knew. She used to swat and bite, refusing all attempts at affection. Gradually I’ve figured out ways to stroke her chin, avoiding the business end of her claws. As she spent more and more time indoors, I started to wonder if her hearing might be impaired. I would call her with her back turned without a response. Was she hard of hearing or simply aloof? I wondered if poor eyesight might by the reason she swung at me with my hand extended. Perhaps she was once mistreated, learning to distrust human hands.

Slinky Stretching

The Paradigm Shift

We saw the vet today and here’s what we learned: The kitty we thought was three to five years old is probably in her teens. They ordered a geriatric blood panel, the last thing I expected on today’s visit. Slinky is hard of hearing, picking up some sounds but definitely hearing-impaired. She doesn’t see well either and things will likely get worse.

Our wonderful vet was decidedly upbeat. I’m grateful there are people in the world like her. Results from the lab work will be back tomorrow.

I’ve thought about the time we shared in the garden, Slinky and me. She tentatively rounded the corner each day, then kept a watchful eye on the proceedings. Any sudden move and she was out of their lickety split. She ran from my outstretched hand. One day Slinky gave me a gentle headbutt, a clear sign of cat affection. I knew at last we had turned a corner together.

If cats could talk, she would have her own tales to tell. A Haiku:

Slinky Malinki
lived more winters than I knew.
Safe and warm at last.

Slinky Moves In Collage

January 21, 2013 by Born To Organize

Sweet Alyssum: Growing a Namesake

Alys Milner (Lancaster)

Sweet alyssum is easy to grow. True to its name, it has a light honey-scent, with tiny white flowers that grow close to the ground.It’s intoxicating.

Alyssum is an annual, starting small, then spreading a foot in diameter by late summer. When I want it to grow in a certain spot, I’ll buy a six-cell pack. It easily self-seeds, so I often scatter the spent flowers around the garden in the fall, then enjoy what comes up and where the following year.

As I was plucking weeds in the side yard this week, I noticed at least two dozen alyssum seedlings. I’m sure I pulled out one or two in my zeal to rid the dirt of pesky weeds before I realized what they were. I made a hasty retreat.

My garden is not complete without Sweet alyssum and here’s why:

I’m named after my father’s sister, Alys, a fashion mannequin in the 1920s.
My father was an English horticulturist.
My former boss called me ‘Sweet Alys’

What better flower to honor my father and aunt than ‘Sweet alyssum.’

Sweet Alyssum

What’s in a name:

The spelling of Alys dates back to the 1600s. In Welsh the name means ‘of the nobility.’
Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia maritima) originated in Greece.

January 20, 2013 by Born To Organize

Only Eight Weeks Left!

Can you believe it? The first day of spring is just eight weeks from today.¹ Are you ready?

Of course spring arrives whether we’re ready or not, but if you’re planning a garden it’s nice to be prepared. If you’ve been gardening for a while, you’ll have learned plenty of lessons from past seasons. I sure have. In my experience, no two years are alike. Once you’ve sorted out soil, amendments and irrigation, you can start planning the fun stuff.

Cosmos

A garden can encompass an acre plot or a few pots in a sunny corner of a patio or deck. I’ve figured out ways to garden most of my life, regardless of circumstance. I once planted corn in a skinny strip of dirt next to an otherwise barren lot in a rented house. I’ve grown herbs in a sheltered porch. Many years ago, single and renting a small space, my mom gave me a hundred dollars for my birthday. I used it to buy several bags of soil and some seeds and created a flower garden outside my front door. My neighbors enjoyed it too. The best gardens are shared.

Sunflower

A sunny kitchen window or a humid bathroom counter are great indoor garden spots. You needn’t have a lot of money to start your own. Ask friends for seeds and cuttings. Many plants need dividing every few years. Ask your friends if you can help them divide plants, then take home some of the splits. It’s another opportunity to bring plants into your domain. Check out Freecyle in your community, and post wanted ads for old tools, pots, and the like. My neighbor planted tomatoes in an old cat litter container. Let your imagination be your guide.

Are you planning a garden this year? What will you grow?

Tomato and Basil

¹I’m writing from the Northern Hemisphere. If you live south of the equator, of course, fall days are just around the corner.

January 19, 2013 by Born To Organize

Garden Guffaw: Plotting Tomatoes

Heirloom Tomato Seeds

I walked the garden with my husband this morning as we made summer plans. We’re enjoying a warm, sunny day with highs climbing into the seventies. I wish you could be here along with me, especially those of you snowed in.

In order to maximize the planting boxes, we’ve agreed on a place to relocate the raspberry vines. I’m always angling for more planting space out back, so I’m pretty excited.

This year I’m planting all of my tomatoes in the City Pickers. They worked great last year. The ability to move them around as other garden plants grow larger is a boon. It feels great putting a plan in place.

My sister sent me the following funny story a few years ago, about planting tomatoes. It always makes me smile. I don’t know the origins, so I’ll extend thanks to the universe and the anonymous writer of this tongue in cheek tale. Enjoy!

Plotting Tomatoes:

An older gentleman living alone in New Jersey looked forward to planting his annual tomato garden, but it was very difficult work. The ground was simply too hard. His only son Vincent would usually help him but he was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son describing his predicament.

Dear Vincent,

It looks like I won’t be able to plant my tomato garden this year. I’m just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. I know if you were here my troubles would be over. I know you would be happy to dig it for me, like in the old days. I’m feeling a little sad. I hope you are well.

Love, Papa

A few days later he received a letter from his son.

Dear Papa,

Don’t dig up that garden. That’s where the bodies are buried.

Love, Vinnie

At 4 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left. That same day the old man received another letter from his son.