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November 21, 2009

Speaking of the garden

Garden Variety"We can complain because rose bushes have thorns or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses." --Abraham Lincoln
Posted by Susan Reimer at 6:00 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden quotations
        

November 20, 2009

Speaking of the garden

Garden Variety

 

“People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us.” --Iris Murdoch

Posted by Susan Reimer at 6:00 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden quotations
        

November 19, 2009

Pumpkin crisis




Start thinking pecan pie.

The folks who make just about all the canned pumpkin in the world are reporting that this year's harvest was so poor that we're going to see the impact on our grocery shelves this holiday season.

Libby's says heavy rains during the 13-week harvest in Morton, Ill., -- pumpkin capital of the world -- frustrated efforts to collect all the pumpkins. That, on top of a poor growing season.

"Libby’s has been part of [the holiday pie] tradition for more than 80 years and we appreciate that honor," said vice president Paul Bakus. "That's why we wanted to alert bakers to the anticipated shortage.

"Our calculations indicated that we may deplete our inventory of canned Libby's pumpkin as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday."

There was a shortage of pumpkin in August and September, too, when Libby's typically relies on surpluses from the previous season. But 2008 wasn't much of a year, either, and home cooks started noticing the empty spots on grocery store shelves.

Libby's, as reported here on Garden Variety, seemed confident that the 2009 harvest, which was scheduled to roll into the stores by the end of September, would take up any slack. But the rainy fall made it impossible for the heavy trucks to get into the fields.

The longer the pumpkins sit in the field, the poorer the quality, said Libby's, and the company is considering simply plowing the remaining pumpkins into the fields to enrich the soil for 2010.

Meanwhile, Giant, Safeway and Wegman's in Maryland report enough canned pumpkin on hand to make it to next Thursday. Giant, in particular, anticipated the shortage and contracted for other brands.

For a look at a Libby's tractor stuck in the mud, keep reading.

Continue reading "Pumpkin crisis" »

Posted by Susan Reimer at 9:56 AM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Garden news
        

Be nice or leaf (Part 2)

For those who consider fall leaves nothing but a bother, take a minute to view the whimsy of illustrator Christoph Niemann's "Bio-diversity" in the New York Times.
Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:30 AM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Garden art
        

Weekend garden events

 

 

 

Photo credit: AP (file photo 2008)

Friday, 8 to 10 p.m. "Ladies Night," Homestead Gardens, Davidsonville. Potted paperwhite giveaway.

Saturday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. "Poinsettia Tour," Homestead Gardens, Davidsonville. Take a free shuttle to Homestead Growers to see where the poinsettias are grown; 6 p.m., "Illumination Ceremony" with carols by The Annapolis Chorale.

Saturday, 10-10:30 a.m. "Meet the Critter," Irvine Nature Center, Owings Mills. No fee.

Saturday, 1-3 p.m. "Pumpkin Spice Candles," Irvine Nature Center, Owings Mills. Adults. $8 for members, $10 non-members. Make your own. All materials included.

Saturday, 1-3 p.m. "Box Turtle Art," Irvine Nature Center, Owings Mills. Ages 4-8. $10 members, $18 non-members. Make a box turtle art project. Stories and snacks.

Saturday, 1-4 p.m. "Jim Shore Collectibles Expert," Valley View Farms, Cockeysville.

Sunday, noon to 4 p.m., "Poinsettia Tour," Homestead Gardens, Davidsonville. Take a free shuttle to Homestead Growers and see where the poinsettias are grown.

Sunday, 10-10:45 a.m., "Nature story time," Irvine Nature Center, Owings Mills. All ages. No fee.

Monday, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. "Native American Art Workshop," Irvine Nature Center, Owings Mills. 4 to 6 years old. $25 for members, $40 for non-members.

Tuesday - Dec. 31, 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. "Evergreens 101," National Arboretum, Washington. Learn firsthan which trees last the longest, smell the best and make decorating easiest. Free. No registration required.

Tuesday - Dec. 3, 7 p.m.- 9 p.m. "Full Moon Hikes," National Arboretum, Washington. Seasonal highlights and points of interest on this 4-mile, mildly strenuous hike. Held rain or shine. Ages 18 and older. $18 for members, $22 for non-members. Registration required.

Friday, 1-6 p.m. Book signing with Dr. Joe Wheeler, author of the "Christmas in My Heart" series. Valley View Farms, Cockeysville.

 

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden events
        

Speaking of the garden

Garden Variety

 

"The Best Plants Come with a Story." --Maria Rodale in Organic Gardening Magazine, June/July 2006

Posted by Susan Reimer at 6:00 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden quotations
        

November 18, 2009

Be nice or leaf

Baltimore Sun file photo

I found my neighbor Bob just outside my picket fence the other day, using his leaf blower in reverse - sucking up, and chopping up, the leaves my husband had swept into the street.

Next, he went into the leaf bags we'd put out for recycling and was sucking those dry, too.

Bob, as you might guess, is a big believer in composting and in using leaves as mulch in his gardens.

I agree. But things are a little tricky at my house.

My husband is kind enough to blow the leaves out of my many gardens and then run over them with his mulching lawn mower, bagging them as he goes.

I use a bag or two in my compost pile.

And then I put the rest right back on my gardens.

My dear husband is so tolerant of all my gardening, but I think this chore maddens him. It is pretty clear I am undoing what he has just done!

There is a school of thought that all leaves must be removed from the garden, to prevent disease and infestations. And of course, there is Bob's point of view: leaves are a gardener's gold.

(Susan Harris does a good job of sorting out these opinions on her Sustainable Gardening blog).

Me? I'm just trying to keep the peace in the house.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 8:00 AM | | Comments (2)
Categories: Weekend Chores
        

Fun with rain barrels

rain barrel

If you have been conscientious enough to install a rain barrel to collect the rain the pours off of your roof, now is the time to put it away for the winter.

That's the advice of Shawna Coronado, who blogs at GardeningNude. (Ok. Stop it.)

She recommends that you disconnect the rain barrel from the downspout and drain it. If it is possible, move it inside. If you can't do that, flip it over so water does not collect in the bottom and freeze because that will cause just about any rain barrel to crack. I know. Mine did.

It might also be necessary to get come flexible downspout tubing to direct rainwater away from your foundation or your garden or your deck - wherever you have located your rain barrel.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | | Comments (3)
Categories: Weekend Chores
        

Speaking of the garden

Garden Variety

 

There is a great pleasure in working in the soil, apart from the ownership of it. The man who has planted a garden feels that he has done something for the good of the world. --  author unknown

Posted by Susan Reimer at 6:00 AM | | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden quotations
        

November 17, 2009

Spent blooms

Beautiful blooms are not the only subjects for the garden photographer.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 8:00 AM | | Comments (1)
Categories: Garden photography
        
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About Susan Reimer
Susan Reimer has spent 16 years writing about raising kids - among other topics - in her column for The Baltimore Sun. And every time son Joseph or daughter Jessie passed another milestone - driver's license, college, wedding or a move to a new military duty station - she has planted another garden. Now she will be writing about those gardens - and yours - here on Garden Variety.

Susan isn't an expert gardener, but she wasn't an expert mother, either. Both - the kids and the gardens - seem to be doing well in spite of her.

She lives in Annapolis with her husband, Gary Mihoces, who loves to cut his grass but has noticed that there seems to be less of it every time the kids pass another milestone.
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