Dreaming of Figs
Two years ago I ordered a ‘Hardy Chicago’ Fig from Richter’s Herbs. I’ve read that I could grow it in my garden on a Southern slop with winter protection, but I’m not about to risk losing the plant. I have it planted in a large pot and it gets lugged down to the basement during the long cold winters in my zone 5 garden. This summer it has finally taken off, it’s HUGE. Now that it’s so large I’m going to take a cutting and I’ll try planting that in a protected spot next summer to see if it overwinters successfully.
A week or two ago I was watering my fig tree when I noticed a tiny fig. It’s quite exciting when a plant fruits for the first time in your garden. I’ll be keeping my eye on this little fig waiting and watching for it to ripen (hopefully that won’t happen while I’m on vacation).
Last summer I acquired another fig, a ‘Brunswick’ that I purchased at Monticello. Eliot Coleman talks about overwintering figs in cold climates in his book Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long. That’s where I first got the idea and decided to give it a try. It’s actually not very difficult because I simply put the pots by my seed starting area and move them outside again in late February.
Do you have any exotic fruits or vegetables that you try growing in your garden?
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Quote of the Day: Dr. Joyce Brothers
“When you come right down to it,
the secret to having it all
is loving it all.”
Earlier this week, Mr Chiots and I were talking about how blessed we feel. That’s not to say our lives are easy, that we don’t have difficulties and that we have everything figured out. I think it’s more a matter of being content with what you do have and the situation that you’re in. It comes from living within your means and having clearly defined goals to work toward. Sure it would be great to have extra money, be able to work fewer hours, cultivate a larger garden, and many other things – but in reality we have food on our table, a little plot of soil to grow things in, a roof over our heads and we have each other. We could spend our time longing for more – but that would only take the joy from what we do have.
The older we get, the more we strive to simplify our lives by getting rid of the unnecessary. We have learned to love simple food, our small home, our jobs and our community. The more I try to cultivate the simple life, the more fulfillment I find in my life, even in those simple mundane tasks like cooking or cleaning. Perhaps it’s because I’m finally figuring out what things bring me true joy, or maybe it’s about learning to be satisfied with what I do have. Learning to be content no matter what our circumstances are truly makes life more enjoyable.
What things in your life are you blessed to have at the moment?
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Another Reason to Have a Garden Pond
Last year we installed a small garden pond. It used to reside in my parent’s garden until they replaced it with a 350 gallon livestock tank. I’ve talked about how great it is to increase biodiversity in your garden and installing a water feature is a great way to do this. You’ll create a little niche for water loving things like fish, frogs, toads, water beetles and wildlife. It also allows you to incorporate water plants. I was lucky enough to get a water lily from my parents, which I planted in the pond not long after it was installed.
Last year the water lily put up some leaves and this year it’s been doing much better. My mom’s started blooming quite a while ago, so I wasn’t expecting mine to bloom until next year, figuring it would take another year to get established
Then, this past Wednesday I noticed a bud right under the water. I wasn’t sure how long it would take to emerge and open up. Happily, Thursday morning I noticed it was out of the water. Then later Thursday morning it opened up. I’m so happy I was around to see the bloom and it didn’t wait until I went on vacation!
No doubt I will have a few more blooms this summer. Water lily blooms are definitely one of the many reasons to incorporate a small pond in your garden.
Any great water plants in your garden pond?
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Quote of the Day: Rachel Carson
There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature – the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter.
– Rachel Carson (The Sense of Wonder)
We’re in the height of summer here in NE Ohio and I’m really enjoying it. The weather is warm, climbing into the mid 80’s on most days. The sun is strong, driving me indoors between noon and four. All these things bring the lush growth of the heat loving plants: peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, and zucchini.
Fall will come soon though, it seems each year the seasons get shorter – I suppose it’s because I’m getting older. One of the benefits of being a gardener is that you become keenly aware of the distinctness of each season, the good things, the challenging things. I certainly would not want to live anywhere without a variety of seasons!
What are you enjoying about the season you’re in wherever your garden happens to be?
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Daylilies – ACK
I have a confession – I do not like daylilies – at all. I don’t know why, they just really bring out a strong reaction of dislike when I see them. The funny thing is that I have tons of them in my gardens. They were all here when I moved in. I gave a bunch to my mom, but the ones that stayed have been multiplying and I have even more now than we had in the beginning.
Perhaps it’s the lines of the plants, that they have a tendency to look kind of messy. Maybe it’s the strong bold colors, I’m not a big fan of bright primary colors in the garden. Maybe it’s the shape of the flowers. I really don’t know why it is that I don’t like them. There are a few varieties however, that I don’t mind as much as others. I have a wine colored one that’s not bad and a light buttery yellow one.
I especially do not like the ‘Stella de Oro’ lilies for some reason and there’s a huge patch of them in the garden. They are filling a space and will be replaced with other plants when I have propagated or purchased new plants. Oddly enough I don’t mind the wild tiger lilies, I kind of like them. We have a few in the garden and I want to plant a large patch of them in the ditch in front of the hedge on the new lot.
It’s kind of interesting how flower and plant tastes are varied. We have certain colors, shapes, and textures that we’re drawn to when it comes to our garden. I find that I like white, purple and light yellow flowers in my garden and pretty much anything that provides something delicious for my plate.
Do you have any kind of plant/flower that you have a strong dislike for?
