today marks a year in the blogosphere for grwhryrpltd, and i wanted to celebrate the making of its first growth ring with you. while i don’t have any images of cross-cut trees to share, i found these lovely growth rings this morning:
Stereum ostrea, turkey tail fungus
there’s nothing like a walk in the woods or stroll in the garden to find a bit of inspiration and gratitude… thank you, dear readers, for coming along with me. here’s to another year of growing where you’re planted…
yesterday the tamu holistic garden was hosting a fruit tree sale, so a friend picked me up in her fancy new truck and we headed to campus. they had several cold-tolerant species to offer including apricots, peaches, pears, persimmons and plums, and even some heat-tolerant apples. figuring that some of our citrus will decline due to our recent and current cold snap (yes, those posts need updating…), i think we’ll be able to find some room in the landscape for hardier selections.
bare root additions
the hort club acquired good quality bare root trees from a regional nursery. if you aren’t familiar with the benefits of planting bare root trees, see this resource from cornell’s urban horticulture institute. in general, bare root trees are easier to plant because 1.) you can see exactly where the root flare is, and not have to guess where the correct soil level is (b&b and container plants often bury this level, resulting in suffocated roots, but reason enough to rent an air spade), 2.) you can inspect the quality of the roots and prune out any girdling, wayward or broken roots without washing off the soil from the entire root ball (because really, who wants to give a tree a bath time you plant one?), and 3.) you don’t have to dig a huge hole to accommodate the root ball (in this heavy clay soil? where’s my mattock?). they’re even easier to ship and move around:
light as a feather
now all i have to do is find the right spot for the methley plum, kieffer pear, ayres pear and black spanish grape i acquired… move over, crape myrtle, your time has come…
welcome to millican farms
on sunday, the brazos locavores visited tanya miller and steve king of millican farms, formerly known as millican produce. they supply greenhouse-grown tomatoes to the brazos valley farmers’ market, several local grocery stores and many of the finer restaurants in town.
steve and tanya give us the background on their farm
farming is in steve and tanya’s blood; both grew up in families that farmed, which naturally encouraged them to seek plant-oriented careers. about six years ago they decided to construct their own greenhouses for off-season tomato production, a niche market that until then did not exist in the brazos valley.
january in the greenhouse
1000 indeterminate (vine type) tomato plants greeted us as we walked into the 6000 square foot greenhouse for a tour. each is planted in a five gallon coconut coir filled polypropylene bag that is connected to the watering and fertilization system. the trellising is particularly interesting as each plant is wound around a polypropylene spool that hangs from the greenhouse “rafters.” as the plants grow up, the strings and attached tomato plants are lowered for ease of harvest. simultaneously, the plant suckers are pruned and flower clusters pollinated by hand. using this method, they can harvest an average yield of 22-25 pounds of fruit per plant. that’s a lot of tomatoes!
tomatoes are grown in coconut coir filled bags
tanya demonstrates her growing techniques
millican farms produces beefsteak or dutch type tomatoes, and now by popular demand are growing grape, cherry and roma type tomatoes. you can’t find prettier tomatoes than these:
steve and tanya discussed their methods of heating the greenhouse (propane and wood), watering (reverse-osmosis to filter out salts), fertilizing and pest management. while they aren’t certified organic, they try to utilize as many organic techniques as they can.
yellow sticky cards indicate pest levels
millican farms also produces lettuce, cabbage, cucumbers, bell peppers, melons, herbs and eggs. at the end of the tour, steve and tanya had an exciting announcement: in april, they are launching their inaugural csa (community supported agriculture), in which 25 members will pay for and receive 12 weeks of produce from the farm. see their website for more information. but don’t worry, they’ll still be selling their beautiful produce at the weekly farmers’ markets and local grocery stores.
farm fresh produce for sale
a big thanks to tanya and steve for hosting a record turnout of 50 locavores on a beautiful january day!
tomatoes in january - go texan
it’s a bleak mid-winter this january bloom day. the cold spell we had last week had many gardeners frantic, emptying their closets of cast-off sheets and blankets as a last-minute attempt to save their tender plants. the strawberries in our garden seemed to appreciate their blanket of basil prunings:
fragaria, safe under a tumbled blanket of basil
if only the citizens of haiti were so fortunate… my heart goes out to them all… especially the ones that make “zee paper flowers…” may they receive the water, nutrients, light and love to bloom and grow once again…
happy bloom day.
i couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate winter solstice with you all:
this beautiful song was written and sung by sara bareilles and ingrid michaelson. the video was animated by crush design and art direction. the song and video were released last year, when i originally heard and fell in love with it. the combination brought both tears and smiles to my face…
may your winter be warm and light fill your heart…
the stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that saint nicholas soon would be there…
but wait a minute, saint nick won’t be able to stuff these stockings. he could stretch some newly knit stockings on them though…
i just had to show this to the knitting crowd amongst you. the sock stretchers, imprinted with an “11″ at the top, came from a collection of my mom’s. i remember when she had them hanging on the wall in our family room, but i had no idea what they were for. she wasn’t even a knitter at that time, but appreciated antiques – especially those related to hand crafted items.
speaking of, she painted the three santas on the left hand side of the mantle. she taught tole painting in our basement when we were growing up, and sold her work at craft shows in the tri-state area. it’s so nice to have some of her handwork become part of our holiday decorating…
the flattened wire star came from a ball and burlaped tree basket that i acquired at the first nursery i ever worked at in michigan (abbotts). i find it to be a beautiful, yet utilitarian item that reminds me of my roots. it’s traveled with me to the places i’ve since lived.
we picked up the wavy-glass mirror when we were celebrating our wedding anniversary in toronto a few years back. found it at a wonderful weekly antique market, but i couldn’t tell you where.
the picture is of the two of us when we lived “the good life” in colorado, prior to grad school. i had three jobs but managed to learn how to snowboard. i don’t care how easy people say it is to do – it was one of the hardest skills i’ve had to learn so far, but i can at least get down the mountain now. it reminds us of the cold, snow, and stylish outdoor gear we used to be surrounded with.
the glass jars were salvaged from a lab in the same building that the mister spent most of his graduate career. they were on a table marked “free”. he brought them home, knowing i would love them.
one of the jars holds a pinecone-studded branch from a local friend’s newly purchased property. due to the clay soil and high sodium water in our area, we can’t grow pines, but she searched long and hard to find just the right spot so that she could. it’s only half an hour away.
my mom sent the wreath for our anniversary gift this year. it’s made of preserved basil, cedar, coffeeberry, manzanita and salal – and smells nice. i add things to it as the seasons change. this time it holds a wooden bird to coordinate with my collection of bird ornaments on this year’s christmas tree.
an antique basket on wheels fronts the fireplace. i found it this spring in warrenton, during their acclaimed antique weekend not too far from here. the wheels actually work and roll smoothly. it’s heavy duty. and it holds pillows nicely.
what favorite things are you surrounding yourself with these days?
what kind of tree has a hole in it...?
a few posts back i promised to reveal the “tree” that mr. grwhryrpltd was working on this weekend. he had to take a work trip this week, so progress has been a bit delayed. since it’s not done yet, and i know how much some of you really wanted to see it (ahem, kylie and maggie…), i hauled it into the garden just for fun. here’s a view of the process:
plywood cutout
primed
painted
ready to hang, errr, stake
the only thing left to figure out is how to keep it upright. you see, this little tree isn’t meant to hang from the rear-view mirror of a monster truck or lean against the side of the house – it’s going in the front yard. where everyone can see it. nothing like a little lawn ornament humor during the holidays to get the neighborhood talking… i found it very timely that roy blount, jr. has an editorial in the recent issue of garden & gun magazine on the very subject – weird things in your yard, that is:
we don’t believe in gnomes. we aren’t churchy enough for madonna in half a bathtub. my friend ken wells says that when he was growing up in louisiana, he had a monkey outside, living in a hollow television set. we’re not that ambitious.
mr. grwhryrpltd actually got the idea for his lawn ornament from the november ‘09 issue of landscape architecture magazine. it featured an article about the international garden festival at les jardins de metis. during the ‘08-’09 festival, the design team rita installed passe-moi un sapin rita, that provided visitors with styrofoam trees based on the car freshener variety to plant themselves.
image: louise tanguay, jardins de metis/reford gardens, 2008 (LAM, Nov 2009: 99)
their installation had 100 trees. we only have one. which is plenty, for now…
it’s beginning to smell a lot like christmas…
while the first day of winter has yet to officially arrive, the affects of the season are apparent here in texas. the st. augustine grass is brown and dormant; frost has decimated the above-ground portion of tender plants to a blackened skeleton; and the drizzly weather has percolated into the muddy earth. that said, there’s not much blooming in our garden this bloom day… however, on my walk around the neighborhood this morning i captured a few seasonal moments of what were previously blooms:
Ilex vomitoria (yaupon holly)
Smilax rotundifolia (green briar)
gorgeous Smilax rotundifolia foliage
Crataegus spathulata (little hip hawthorn)
Symphoricarpos orbiculatus (coralberry)
Ligustrum vulgare (privet) - an invasive, i know...
Maclura pomifera (Osage orange, hedge apple)
Maclura pomifera fruit (Osage orange, hedge apple)
Ilex decidua (possumhaw holly) - the orange berries are an unusual find around here !!!
Cerotama ilex decidua "Wannabeus"
Crataegus crus-galli (cockspur hawthorn)
holy crus-galli!
Photinia sp. (Christmas berry)
as you can see, there’s lots of “winter” interest around here. you just have to stop and look closely enough to see and appreciate them.
happy bloom day, and happy holidays to you.
i spent some time this weekend decorating for the holidays. it’s one of my favorite things to do, especially when i have the time to actually MAKE some of them. one project i thought of this year was to make a group of trees using seedpods of the sweet gum tree (Liquidambar styraciflua) that i collected a while back in georgia. the photos don’t do them justice, but i like how the trees turned out. i just can’t feel my thumb and forefinger anymore.
sweet gum trees
sweet gum trees
sweet gum trees
sweet gum trees
i wanted to make five trees (because you know, it’s better to plant in odd-numbered groupings than in even…) but i ran out of seedpods for the largest styrofoam cone form. oh well, guess i’ll just have to go gathering again, this time closer to home.
meanwhile, mr grwhryrpltd was working on a tree of his own for the front yard… it’s not done yet, but i can’t wait to show it to you. okay, you twisted my arm, here’s a teaser photo:
the morning after i wrote my last blog post i put on my mudders and headed out to check on the citrus. i was a bit leery of what the frost and cold temperatures might have done to the young trees, but curiosity got the best of me and i had to take a closer look… as i unwound the twine around the top of the sheeted frost protection silo (i know that sounds odd, but that’s what i’m calling them), i peered on tippy-toes to see inside:
a mostly green blood orange
a yellowed tangelo
a yellowed and droopy grapefruit
a very yellowed satsuma
the kumquat that we covered with a plastic tub came through just fine, but i somehow managed to miss photographing it. the fifth silo was covering a box, which was covering the remaining avocado. it was also nice and green, but since it really hasn’t grown much all year i’ve pretty much lost interest in it, even though mr. grwhryrpltd doesn’t want to give up on it yet.
i know the citrus trees don’t look their best, but i wasn’t too disappointed in what i saw. to be honest, the leaves on most of the trees had started to turn yellowish before the cold snap, probably due to a lack of nitrogen, and the to-be-expected color change of normal senescence. the past few days have been overcast, contributing to decreased light levels – and the sheets certainly haven’t assisted in the leaves’ chlorophyll department. but why, you ask, haven’t we picked the blood orange, tangelo and grapefruit yet? because someone wants to let them ripen a bit more, and as i read somewhere, the best storage place for citrus is on the tree.
elsewhere in the garden, the frost effects are more pronounced:
Orthosiphon
Belamcanda and Caladium
Justicia spicigera
Rosmarinus 'Blue Lady'
Agave
Solanum (eggplant)
Clerodendrum ugandense
Hibiscus coccineus
the temp is again expected to drop to upper twenties by morning… i wonder what will advance to the next round…
