Ecological Gardening and Other Creative Pursuits
Yes! The garlic is IN and hangin’ in the shed! It looks great!
With this announcement, I have another – the short version is, there is not much there.
No – it’s not another infestation disaster. Simply, I scaled way back on the number and varieties of bulbs I planted (and scaled way UP in the permaculture / food forest plantings).
What this means is that although, yes, of course, I am still willing to share (how could I not?) – supplies are limited.
…or, Good Grief! Give the Bees a Break!
My 5-year-old grandson gave me a special letter the other day. Inside the envelope was a carefully folded (multiple times) picture he had colored of a rad dude on a motorcycle. (Nice job!) But more revealing was the envelope on which he had scrawled in his very best handwriting “GRAMMA,” along with a little happy face, below which was a large letter B. He explained to me that the face was a bee, because he knew his grandma loved bees. More pointedly, he had earlier told his mother, “All Gramma ever talks about is bees….
It was Mother’s Day. We were headed to our son’s house for a celebratory feast for a room full of mothers. As the matriarch of the group, or at least, the oldest, I had made a kick-A potato salad of grand proportions. I was considering a rhubarb-cooler-sort-of-drink and headed out to the garden to pick some stalks, when I couldn’t help but notice a LOUD buzzing. The air sure was full of a lot of bees! They were flying every which way. And I thought, Oh. My. Gosh. They are swarming AGAIN!
Ok. Mass chaos yesterday in catching the swarm that was wrapped around a steel fencepost & in installing them in a new Warre Hive, but at least they are in there. But what’s this? ANOTHER swarm in the garden? NOW what??
…The bee saga continues…. Where did the swarm on the cedar go – in the bait box in the tree or in the hive on the ground? We noticed the little cedar tree over by the beehives looked a bit odd yesterday – and as we got closer, we realized, Holey Moley! a swarm of bees was almost completely covering it! Now for the hard part: how to persuade them to move into our hive! Does anyone else out there see the utter impossibility of shaking 15,000 bees through a small hole in the center of a box DOWN into another box without them all just flying UP into your face??? There has to be a gentler way. In my attempt to avoid Shaken Bee Syndrome, I managed to completely botch this bee installation. Learn from me and avoid. Or follow. The choice is yours. The Willow Room in spring takes on a life of its own. Individually, the reeds are supple. They bend with the forces that shape them. Together, however, they are strong – forever interlocked. Recent events in Boston remind us how together we are stronger, and, too, how each of us needs an inner garden sanctuary in which to find peace and make sense of this world. It’s officially spring and that means the beginning of Panic Season! So much to DO! Here is one more urgent task on your to-do list: WEED YOUR GARLIC. Early Spring is the most important weeding you will EVER DO in your garlic bed – and here is why. Ok – so the truth is, I just cannot narrow it down. I have spent days and days looking at websites of different nurseries and purveyors of exotic seeds – and I have spent months and months reading about plants and planning different guild arrangements and compiling “wish lists” that rivaled the loving letters I used to send to Santa Claus – and I, much like our dear friends (ahm) in Congress, cannot seem to reconcile the expenses with the budget. And, like them, the debate goes on and on – because my vision does not coincide with reality, which I am still trying to define, in terms of the vision, of course. It’s a loop-thing. As is life. And so I took a break to try to put it all back together in the Willow Room, because even in winter, this is a good place to go see how things with a little creativity, intertwine. (Besides, it was time to do a little pruning.) What? Looking for shadows to predict weather? I’d say the bees are better indicators! As well as the snow geese, the pussy willows, and the Cornelian cherry…not hard to find things that say Life is Good! Happy Groundhog Day! A list of seeds I collected last fall – and also some roots and tubers. Care to trade? Buy? Barter? Personally, I think New Year’s resolutions are over-rated and goal-setting can be counterproductive. A To-Do list, though, Yes! Break it down into action items! Here’s what’s in store for the garden! Frost is on the grapevine! The dill looks like a sparkling fireworks! And our friend, Toad, well, he looks like he could use a little warm sunshine! Wow. What a transformation! Here are 12 accomplishments and lessons learned in the 2012 garden. It’s all good! And 2013 promises to be even better! I had to throw out my words today about crazy holiday gift ideas. The recent news of innocent children slain in Newtown make us all question who we, as a human race, have become. Maybe it’s time to get back to the garden… A sunny day in early December and the bees are out! Hooray! And even more amazing – they are finding pollen! But where? Should I feed them? Are they ready for winter? Wishing you abundance in your life, however that may be defined! Have a safe and happy holiday – and may it be full of love and laughter! Grass, to me, is Orchard Enemy #1. I talk about how to get rid of it, how to turn an orchard into a food forest, and what to do to get your orchard ready for winter, thanks to tips from Michael Phillips’ book, The Holistic Orchard. Welcome to my secret garden: the Willow Room. It didn’t start out as much – just a few twigs; but it has transformed into something truly magnificent! A place to dance and celebrate autumn! Time to get that garlic in the ground if you haven’t already! Need garlic? We still have some! Want a tool to make the planting easier, faster, & more uniform? We have just the thing! Need planting tips? Look no further! The time to plant garlic is NOW through November, depending on your location and climate. With a little forethought and planning, you can minimize the chances of your garlic garden of paradise descending into a den of decay. However, you need a strategy – and I am here to help. What’s Wrong with My Garlic? Does your garlic have yellow-tipped leaves, signs of mold and rot, falling over stems, thirsty insects sucking the living juice right out of the plants? If you don’t think you have problems, after reading this, you might change your mind. It’s been awhile since I’ve played harmonica for the ol’ garlic patch (or at least shared it). We are bringing her into the kitchen for her own protection… bwahahahaha I am getting lots of questions about where we’re at with the garlic – when we’ll have bulbs for sale – and how about the bulbils? Here’s my final, not-so-final, wishy-washy answer to predicting the future. Thinking of a “3 Sisters’ Garden”? (corn, beans, and squash together). Can you still plant corn in the Pacific Northwest? I planted June 16 last year, sort of 3-sisters’ style (sort of not). Great results! Read on! A short post to give you an update on the status of Barbolian Fields garlic and a couple of thoughts about the value of taking plant surveys. Is it too late to plant spinach? When should you plant tender veggies? What to plant? Did you miss your planting window? Or is it just opening? These questions and more, not necessarily answered. Before we coined the word, “Permaculture,” Nature was already perfecting it on her own. Here, Paul Gautschi describes his methods of mimicking nature by applying mulch in his garden. The results? Absolutely amazing! His approach has recently been featured in a film, “Back to Eden.” Happy International Permaculture Day! A heroic effort on my part, as well as by the bees. We all had the same mission, really, to Save the Queen – we just had slightly different approaches, being as I was perceived as a smoke-breathing giant intent on raiding their hive! Do you install bees? Dump them? Pour them? Knock them in? Release them? And what happens when you let loose 15,000 (or so) bees? Here’s how it went down, folks. Happy Earth Day! A video and some close-up pictures on the Warre hives we built. If you are looking for something simple, inexpensive, and something that naturally lets the bees do what they instinctively do – this is it! Happy Earth Day! In celebration, we are releasing somewhere around 20,000 bees into their new home, a Warre Hive situated on the back side of Barbolian Field. Here are a few videos to show you how we are getting ready for this big event (and conquering a few fears in the process!) Looking for a good recipe for Nettle Soup? Look no farther! All these nutrient-dense weeds growing out there wild and free – and free for the taking! Indulge in one of nature’s superfoods! Hooray! It’s officially spring! Days are getting longer than the night – finally! Here are some cool tools to help you track the way the sun changes with the seasons and some ideas on how to apply that info to your garden design. Has winter exposed your garden as a bunch of boring rectangles and squares? Do you wish it more replicated real life, running in circles? There is help for people like us. Work WITH nature to transform your labor-intensive squares into a self-supporting food forest. Winter doldrums got you down? Beware of March Madness – when everything goes a little crazy – and not just the weather and the weeds. Indulge your compulsion to “buy more plants.” They are good for you. A gallery of buds and blooms – the garden is waking up and it looks like it has been watered with a triple shot of caffeine! Spring is only 16 days away! Yippee! Mid-February and the garlic is UP! Tallest in the patch is the Chinese Pink, a Turban variety, but all varieties are making a showing. These hardy little bulbs can handle the rough weather ahead. Just be careful with the mulch! February is a weird month – we get a little bit of everything in the weather department. We do a lot of fantasizing through seed catalogs and are anxious to get our hands back in the dirt. When the winter blues & blahs get you down, our latest kale recipe, “Death by Garlic, Revived by Kale,” is sure to bring you around. What’s to salvage out of a garden hammered by winter storms? Italian Lacinato (or Tuscan) Kale stands strong! Here’s a great recipe for Chicken-Kale-Cauliflower casserole (with a fair amount of garlic, of course!) Got pruning phobia? Never fear. This 5-step approach to fruit tree pruning will help you get those old apple trees back into shape in no time! (Well, maybe in a few years, anyway.) Do you make garden resolutions? I’m going to keep it simple in 2012 – going to make it a year to slow down, linger awhile, and smell the flowers. A garden teaches us so much if we just stop, look, and listen. Ok. We’re in countdown-to-Christmas mode. We love the idea of handmade gifts, but finding time to make them is another matter. Here’s a strategy on how to manage your time and achieve your wildest dreams. Ok, maybe not that exactly. Here’s the basic recipe: turkey, pumpkin, whole eggs, rice flour, nutritional yeast, a little oil and molasses. No wheat, no corn, no artificial anythings. Give your dog something to howl about! Hope your Thanksgiving was full of giving thanks. A few thoughts on gratitude, abundance, and how fortunate we are. Thank you, readers, for following my posts! Did you grow a giant pumpkin this year and are now wondering what to do with it? We’ve got some ideas… Have you thought of planting garlic bulbils? Let me count the ways! Easy, fun, cheap. Halloween Night! What a fright! Protect yourself with Transylvanian Garlic! Special sale on braids – while supplies last. Warning! It packs more than just a little bite. Seriously. I warned you. Vampires need not apply. I tried a little unconventional approach to this year’s garlic garden. I built the beds in a series of circles around nitrogen-fixing shrubs and a meandering form that looks a lot like my life – er, I mean, a whirligig. Whatever. I was lost. We still have lots of garlic! In trying to set up a storefront, I wiped out my page that lists them. If you’re looking for great garlic to plant or to eat, shoot me an email and I’ll get back to you. It might take me awhile to find a fix! Having trouble figuring out how much garlic you can plant in your garden? Or maybe how much garden you need to plant all your garlic? I’ve created a little tool in Excel that will do all the math for you – leaving you more time to get down and get dirty in the garden! Check out the Barbolian Fields Garlic Planting Planner. Got garlic? We do! Need some? Contact me! This post lists what’s left… Got garlic? One can never have too much. See what it’s like to be surrounded by about 1000 bulbs and over 130 pounds of this fragrant stuff — swooooon… Our garlic harvest was a full month later than in some years, but yes – the garlic is in and hanging in the shed – AND THE GOOD NEWS IS: IT LOOKS FANTASTIC! We planted my mother with the dogs in the pet cemetery. It’s true. She would have wanted it that way, right next to her best friend, little Lambchop. It’s not as bad as it sounds. The cemetery, which we affectionately call “Boot Hill,” sits on a little knoll with a view of the Olympic Mountains, … Read more If you’re looking for a really good book on permaculture, check out Toby Hemenway’s “Gaia’s Garden, A Guide to Home-scale Permaculture,” second edition. This book was life-changing for me – and could be for the world, if we would only apply it. I’ve hit a turning point. Actually, several of them. In the process, I’ve been examining my self-imposed limitations, my concept of sustainability, and why now is the best time to break a few rules. Another lengthy psycho-analysis post of how our gardens teach us much about life and visa versa – and what to do about it. Want to grow more food in less space with less effort? The “All New Square Foot Gardening” by Mel Bartholomew has the approach you might be looking for. With gas headed skyward, putting away the tiller and growing what you need makes a lot of sense. 100% of the harvest at 50% of the costs, 20% of the space, 10% of the water, 5% of the seeds, and 2% of the work – that makes it a no-brainer. “Lasagna Gardening” – heard of it? read it? Here’s my review of the book and a take on a method that heaps organic matter on top of weeds and lets you kick back while nature does the work. Also a tip on slug control that doesn’t involve squishing them with your bare hands or watching them shrivel under salt. Blame it on Seasonal Affective Disorder if you wish, but this is the time of year when many of us otherwise-very-reasonable people succumb to buying seeds for things we know we don’t have room for or can’t possibly grow in our zones. We need to get real. A strategy. A garden PLAN. I’ve been reading a lot of books this winter and am passing on some cool ideas – obviously, not my own. This post is an introduction. Snowstorm in the PNW! The garlic is under a blanket. Here’s a good recipe for a simple high-energy food mix for the birds. Garlic is up and growing strong! This year, we did not apply mulch to the garlic beds. Mulch is the new mantra for a lot of people – we say, that depends… Time to plan this year’s garden! In this post, I share a bunch of pictures of plants I grew from Renee’s Garden Seeds – things like poppies, morning glory, larkspur, yellow pole beans, beets, kohlrabi, and more. These will definitely be on my “grow again” list. Did you make any gardening New Year’s resolutions this year? Do you have a strategy when it comes to keeping up with your garden? Last year, I used goal-setting and time-management techniques to try to get an upper hand on the weeds. My mission was to “Establish Boundaries” over which no weed should dare cross! Lesson learned: weeds do not respect my boundaries. Many things – particularly the garden – are beyond my control. This year, I’m working more from an attitude of cooperation rather than conflict. We’ll see whether Mother Nature agrees. As the winter weather sets in, there has been a frenzy of activity at the bird feeder. This post gives some ideas on how to make muffins for the birds out of suet, nuts, seeds, and other goodies. We also made a bird feeder by drilling holes in a small log and filling them with a suet mix. Enjoy! A happy Thanksgiving to one and all, and a few thoughts about abundance, gratitude, supporting family farms, and thinking about what is important in life. Thank you everyone for all your support, and may you have a wonderful and safe holiday! Remember to buy local! Here’s how I recently planted garlic bulbils – those little seed-like clusters in the scapes. Planting scapes is a great way to increase your crop at a low price. Can you still plant them? Yes, I think so, but you may want to wait for the snow to melt if you’re on the Olympic Peninsula! I am sure there will be warmer days ahead if you still need to get them in the ground. No time to lose! You still have time to harvest things to use in making gifts from the garden. Holiday gift ideas include seed sharing, taking cuttings for propagating plants, herb blends, food treats, an assortment of crafts, and a recipe for calendula salve. Frost is on the pumpkin and it’s time to plant garlic! I am going back to basics this year – keeping it simple. This post is all about planting garlic: planning, building beds, enriching the soil, planting, and mulching. So many reasons why I love this simply gorgeous time of year! But aaaghhh! So much to do! …last-minute scramble to button things up for winter, can and freeze surplus produce, get the garlic in the ground, don’t forget fall cover crops…and what to do with all those apples? Try this Skillet Apple Cake Recipe – it’s fast & easy! Tomorrow, Saturday, October 2, is the 14th Annual Harvest Celebration Farm Tour in Clallam County. If you are on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington State, this is a very fun event that gives you a glimpse of what the Peninsula has to offer. This year, nine different farms are opening their barn doors and throwing a party – hayrides, music, great food, farm animals & produce, demonstrations – a ton of down-home family fun. We are incredibly blessed to have such an abundance of “real” food and local products available to us. It’s up to us to insure that availability. By supporting our local family farms, we are supporting our independence, our self-sufficiency, and our communities. Our health – and our quality of life – defined on so many levels – depends on it. So when you check out some of our local farms this weekend, take time to get to know our farming neighbors. We’re all in this together. Hey! We are doing the Corny Happy Dance here at Barbolian Fields. YES! We are harvesting CORN! Amazing but true! Here are my 10 tried-and-true tips for growing corn in the Maritime Northwest, where summer heat can be fleeting, at best. We’re running out of heat units here! What do I have to do to inspire this corn to get with the program? Maybe this little Gershwin Summertime tune will help, by yours truly & trusty harmonicas in Em and Am. (the livin’ ain’t so easy if you’re an ear of corn in the Pacific Northwest) Save money, eat healthier, control the ingredients, be more self-sufficient – all good reasons to can your own food. It is a connection to past generations who understood the importance of self-reliance to survival. And like our grandparents, come some blustery day in the midst of winter, we can gather with family and friends, crack open a jar of those home-canned peaches, sit back, and close our eyes at the sweet taste of summer. Mmmm-hmmmm. A little sunshine in a jar. We have artichokes! Celebrate by making your own aioli – basically garlic, lemon juice, egg yolks, and olive oil blended together in a smooth mass – to transport yourself into some other realm. It is a night and day difference from the stuff you buy in a jar called mayonnaise. Artichokes – extraordinary thistle that they are – are the perfect partner to this excursion into a gastronomic swoon. We delve deeper into the whys of a poor garlic crop this year, and although I highly suspect it was a combination of a long wet winter and spring, incessant strong winds, and too thick a mulch, I thought it might be a good idea to buy an NPK soil-test kit and see what the soil could tell me. Think your garlic crop is a disaster? Look again. There might be something worth saving. A sad farewell to my garlic crop, which did not do well this year. And a thank you to all the frogs that spontaneously joined me in my song. A little retail therapy helped offset the dreary weather and having to face a very poor garlic crop. Sad day. Looking for some bright spots amidst a lot of bulbs that rotted in the ground. Looking for reasons why. Even after over 30 years of growing this stuff, gardening is always such a learning process, huh.
The Bee Saga Continues
And what’s this? MORE excitement the morning after? Adventures in backyard beekeeping…
Swarm Alert!
Avoiding Shaken Bee Syndrome
A Quiet Place for Peace
Urgent: Weed Your Garlic!
Plant and Seed Quest 2013
Happy Day – Rodent or Otherwise
Seeds for Trade
Garden Resolutions, Goals, and To-Dos for 2013
Frosty Morning at Barbolian Fields
12 Good Things about the 2012 Garden
A Message for Peace
December Bees
Thanksgiving Every Day
Food Forest Beginnings and Fall Tasks in the Orchard
The Willow Room Dance
Time to Plant Garlic!
25 Garlic-Growing Management Strategies for Preventing Problems and Growing the Best Garlic Ever
What’s Wrong with My Garlic?
Garlic: You Better Come On In My Kitchen
Garlic Status: Mid-July
Three Sisters Corn Patch
Garlic Status – Memorial Day Plant Survey
Plant ON, Plant People!
Permaculture by Nature
Warre Beehive Update: Save the Queen!
Let ‘er Bee Free!
Warre Hives Set Up at Barbolian Fields
Bee Ready – Ain’t Mis-bee-havin’!
Nettle Soup
Tracking the Sun
Is Your Garden Boring? (The Food-Forest Solution)
A Case of March Madness
16 Days Until Spring
First Sprouts of Garlic!
Death by Garlic, Revived by Kale
For the Love of Kale (and Garlic and Cauliflower)
How to Prune an Old Apple Tree
Reflections, Resolutions, and to All a Good Night
Handmade Christmas Gift Strategy
Thanksgiving Dog Biscuits
Thank You, Good Earth
What to Do with a Phat Jack
Planting Garlic Bulbils for Fun and Profit
‘Tis the Season for Transylvanian
A Somewhat Unconventional Garlic Garden
Got Garlic???? YES we DO!
Garlic Planting Planner
Garlic Still Available!
Surrounded by Garlic!
Barbolian Garlic Harvest 2011
A Memorial Garden Sanctuary
Permaculture: What is it? How do you do it? And how do you save the world?
Self-Imposed Limitations, Sustainability, and Creatively Breaking Rules
Square Foot Gardening and Getting a Grip on What You Really Need
Lasagna Gardening and the Great Mulch Cover-up
Garden Planning Season
Garlic Under Snow
Garlic is UP! and Much about Mulch
Garden Planning 2011: Some Successes from 2010
Themes and Resolutions
New Year’s for the Birds
Thanksgiving – today and every day
How to Plant Garlic Bulbils
Harvest Now for Holiday Gifts from the Garden!
Time Again to Plant Garlic
Fall Abundance – and a Great Recipe for Apple Cake
Harvest Celebration Farm Tours
10 Tips for Growing Corn in the Pacific Northwest
Grow, Corn, Grow!
Capturing Sunshine in a Jar
Artichoke Beauty and the Art of Aioli
Every Soil Tells a Story
The Good, the Bad, and the Downright Ugly
St. James Infirmary (Ode-to-Garlic) Blues
When All Else Fails, Buy Plants