Plantsitting
Since I’m the gardener everyone knows, I’m often asked to plant sit when friends go on vacation. So far this month I’ve spent 2 weeks looking in on different people’s plants.
The funny thing is that I rarely ask anyone to plant sit for me, though I met a neighbor last year that I’ll ask next time we are away. Over the years, I’ve developed a system for my plants when we’re gone. What’s my system?
I move everything to a shady corner of the garden. I collect some big plastic storage containers and put the pots in those. Then I water them well the night before we leave and top them off the morning of our departure. I try to make sure there’s an inch or two of water in the bottom of the container. I’ve successfully used this method many times when we’ve been gone. When we are planning on being gone for more than a week I usually move the potted plants to the basement and put a grow light on them. After watering them in well they will last for almost a month with no water in the cool basement.
In the last eight months we’ve become great friends with a neighbor that lives only a few houses away. She’s an avid gardener as well and is well versed in taking care of container plants. I’m actually plant sitting for her this week, so next trip we take I’ll have her look after all my potted plants.
Do you ever plantsit for others when they travel? Do you have someone that watches your plants while you’re gone?
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So Sweet
Some of you were reading back when “Miss Mamma” a feral cat moved her kittens into our garage. Miss Mamma is no longer with us, she is resting peacefully under a pussy willow in the front garden. One of her kittens survived A Series of Unfortunate Events and still lives in our garage. I was trying to remember how old she was, then I realized she’s just turning two now.
We’re so glad she survived her series of unfortunate events as a wee kitten because she has grown into a super sweet cat. For the longest time she was feral, not letting either of us get near her, much less pet her. Probably because of her early trip to the vet as a kitten and once again to get her fixed at 6 months.
She’s still semi-feral, but in the last few months she’s finally tame enough to let me pet her. Everywhere I go in the garden she’s not far behind, watching what I’m doing with her big curious eye, chasing insects and simply enjoying life as a cat.
Now that she’s older, we’re noticing a lot of her mamma’s traits in her and we’re thankful for that. We both say Miss Mamma was the best cat we’ve ever had. She doesn’t have an official name, we just call her “The Sweets”. We figured naming outdoor cats wasn’t a good idea since they usually live short lives, as was the sad case with Miss Mamma.
The Sweets keeps our garage rodent free and she keeps the chipmunks out of the garden. We never set out to have outdoor cats, but sometimes you can’t help it, they just show up at your door. They get trapped, fixed and fed and usually weave themselves into the fabric of life here at Chiot’s Run.
We’ve had our share of cats that just show up, I can’t even begin to nail down an actual number, most are feral and move along, though a few stick around. In the case of Dexter we think he was a pet someone left at the back gate of our allotment.
While I love cats, it makes me sad that we have to deal with so many because people don’t spay & neuter or decide to dump them off “in the country”. At least a few of them end up at Chiot’s Run where they can live a cat’s dream!
Have you ever had an animal show up at your door?
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Quote of the Day: La Quintinye (Louis XIV’s gardener)
Where a potager should be located with respect to the house? If there is enough space, the area nearest should be kept for flowers and parterres and the potager should be on the best ground beyond that is still readily accessible. But if one can have but one garden, it would be far better to employ fruits & legumes than in box & grass” La Quintinye (Louis XIV’s gardener)
The Art of French Vegetable Gardening
I had to laugh when I read this quote, too funny with the current cultural norms in our society where the opposite is the case. Here at Chiot’s Run we have both box and grass alongside edibles. We definitely have more edible plants than ornamental, but I find many edibles to be highly ornamental. Of course back when this was said one would have to choose edible over ornamental if you weren’t wealthy and wanted to eat.
Stan Hywet in Akron has both ornamental and edible gardens. As does Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania and many other botanical gardens.
While I love my edibles, I still really appreciate the beauty of box, grass, and other non-edible species. My efforts will never be solely spent on growing edibles, for I find just as much nourishment, though of a different kind, from a fragrant peony and hydrangeas, to shaped green boxwood. In fact I’ve always dreamed of having boxwoods in pots by the door and just recently added some (read my post on the Your Day Blog about it).
What’s your favorite non-edible plant(s) for the garden?
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Resting
As I’m sure the case is with all of you, it’s been a bit crazy around here. We’re in our busy season for our business so we’re out working every weekend. Add to that getting the house ready for the market, planting all the summer garden crops, working the other few jobs I have and I’ve been going non-stop. After realizing last night at 10:30 that I hand’t written my blog post yet I realized it was the perfect opportunity to share this photo that I took yesterday afternoon.
Those cats sure know how to make sure they rest up, something I need to do every now and then! Make sure you take some time this week to rest and relax a bit.
When is your busiest time of the year?
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Quote of the Day: Gertrude Jekyll
“If you will take any flower you please, and look it over and turn it about and smell it and feel it and try to find out all its secrets, not of flower only, but of leaf, bud and stem as well, you will discover many wonderful things.”
Gertrude Jekyll found in English Gardens in the Twentieth Century: From the Archives of Country Life
I’m certainly enjoying the happy sunny oxeye daisies that are springing up around the garden. They’re carefree and move around, blooming in different spots each year.
What wonderful things have you been noticing in your garden?
