Mid Atlantic region- winter chores

It's a hit! and you could chnage the herbs if you want, next stop, rosemary onion bread...

Sally, did I create the next bread queen!

oh, maybe just a bread princess/ lady in waiting. LOL

Sally,

I saw a recipe for "Onion and Poppy Seed Bread" in one of Laura Deans recipe magazines at work. I hand-copied it out--sure would like to try it.
Maybe Ladygardener, who posted the recipe above saw it there too?

Onion and Dill---Onion and Poppy Seeds.....no matter. I LOVE Dill and Poppy Seeds in breads.
If you made it--how did it turn out?

G.

It was easy as pie- easier than pie LOL. I used two cups o f bread flour and one of AP, don't think it would make any difference. Nice and savory- even the young one said it smelled good. the older one took some slices and toasted them with cheese, yumm
You could probably play endlessly with the basic recipe...oats, herbs, grains

WOOHOO, It's to be another really nice day again. I was out a couple of days ago and cut back the butterfly bushes and cut back some of the perennials. Today that Forsythia is "going down". LOL
I've also got to clean up my plant room. It's a mess and I have several flats of plant plugs coming first week of March. Busy today.

Holly,

How far back to you cut your B-fly bushes?
Allan Summers (our radio Guru) used to say--12". I have done that--but my B0fly bushes are in my "YUK" bed and I am sure suffer greatly. I seldom have nice blooms.

Went out yesterday--clippers in hand to "do the deed"--but changed my mind. They are only 4'-5' tall! I decided that this year--I will let them be and see if it makes a better bush.

One thing I HAVE TO do is spray it regularly before the leaves are all out--as they always get some kind of mites ald the leaves get all chewed up and mottly and the plant suffers.

Gita

Gita- do you dead head that Butterfly bush at all? I think you should at least trim off flower heads. But otherwise, yes you may be helping them since they can start out with more leaf to make up for being under that tree in summer.

Gita, I took the big one off at about 18 inches, knee high on me and the smaller one about 12 inches. I do dead head mine a bit but I don't always keep up and some of them are just too tall for me to easily reach. I just came in for a quick break, great day to burn, no wind and a lot of wet ground. I started working on the Forsythia, I hate to miss the spring bloom but I don't want any birds nesting in it. I'll be putting in a nice tree there in another month or two. I'm cutting some branches to bring in side and a bunch for my Mother, too. At least they all won't go to waste.

I almost never deadhead mine and my big white one has never been pruned and they all bloom like crazy. I never prune mine that drastically because I want them to be big. I can't imagine hard pruning does anything to affect blooming, though, since they grow like weeds.

Gita, do you happen to have a photo of whatever is getting on your butterfly bush? That's probably the problem. If you can show me what it looks like, I can look it up in my old Ortho Problem Solver book and that tells you what it is and what to do to get rid of it.

Two other things - they are extremely drought tolerant but I've found they establish better if they get some moisture the first couple of years until they get rooted in, and they do like to have a certain amount of sun but they tolerate a bit of shade too. I think the real problem is whatever is eating them.

I didn't use to prune mine either, but when I put in the Holly hedge it's too close the the old BB and it had to come down. I cut it back severely a year or two ago thinking I would try to dig it out and move it. I've heard that's pretty difficult especially with old large ones. When it started to grow back I realized that I could leave it in place for a few more years if I kept it smaller.
I just did my mini controlled burn of the Ornamental Grass looks like it worked real well. Heading back outside.

They only bloom on new growth, so early spring or late winter pruning helps a lot.

You're supposed to cut down to a pair of buds, but I usually left two pair per stem. Mine would go from knee-high to nine or ten feet every year. It was too big, I got rid of it. The mailman always comlained about the bees and didn't seem to believe the carpenter bees wouldn't sting him.

Picking up all the tree branches that have fallen down due to winter storms.....that's what I did this past weekend when we enjoyed 60 degree temps.

They only bloom on new growth but that doesn't matter much with butterfly bushes because they grow as much in one year as other shrubs do in a decade. LOL If you don't ever prune them, they still bloom like crazy because they still put out lots and lots of side shoots. My big white one is probably 15 feet tall and is covered in blooms every year.

I think the main reason to prune them is to keep them smaller.

Sally--I dead-head them if I think of doing it. More "yes" than "no"....

Holly--Overgrown Forsythia bushes are a pain in the neck! When my oldest niece bought a home in NJ--they had a row of unattended, overgrown, neglected and huge Forsythia bushes at the back of their property.
Eventually, they dug them all up and got rid of them and gained about 12'-15' of garden space.

Hart--I do not have a photo of whatever is eating/sucking the leaves dry, but it looks like a bad case of Spider Mite damage. Of course--they could also be some kind of other mites---I don't know. The leaves just turn all mottled and dry looking.
When I have sprayed--I can see the recovery, and the new leaf growth almost immediately afterward. I DO NOT usually have any major insect attack issues in my garden.

I think i will spray them really early with Neem--and then follow up semi-regularly.
What do you recommend to feed Butterfly Bushes? I might throw some Espoma Plant Tone all around them soon. I generally use all the Espoma fertilizers. Get them from Meyer Seed Company here. Big Box stores do not really carry them.

Oh! And I did cut the Butterfly Bushes back some today after all--to some new leaf buds on a main stem. At least all last years branching tips where the blooms came one after another. Now they are about 3' tall.

I KNOW these would do better if they were in a normal bed--but this "YUK" bed is beyond help. I can't even dig a shovel in it for all the roots, but I so appreciate all the plants that I do have in there that survive--year after year....even a Rose Bush and a Peony. Two Hellebores--A bunch of Daylilies--Two big clumps of Shasta daisies--Autumn Sedums--A couple of small Ferns--some Gaura--Planted some perennial Cosmos (not sure they made it)--your Bell Flowers, hart--(we will see in 2009???)--have some pink Evening primroses--one clump of some kind of clumped, VERY fragrant small Daffodils--a clump of Chrysanthemum Pacificum (really suffering!)-- and assorted "wannabees".....
Any annuals I plant in this bed never make it. I should stop wasting my money!

Pruned back my one and only Gooseberry bush too. It seldom produces more than a couple hand-fulls of berries--as it is also in my "YUK" bed--the elevated part. Should dump a whole bag of composted manure all around it--might help.
Only ONE year in the past, long ago, I gathered enough berries to make some jam!

In the same bed (elevated) where the Gooseberries are--I also have my Northern Sea Oats. They seem to be doing just fine. Grasses do not really require much of anything....

For this season--I am hoping the seeds I scattered today in this bed (Hyssop "Black Adder" and some Mixed-color Yarrows) will add some extra color--IF they make it.

Gita

I didn't prune my butterfly bush for several years because it was rather puny and I thought it should save its energy or something... Last year, I pruned it hard (down to 12-15"), and it was fuller and flowered better than it ever had before. :-)

Gosh ya'll my snow didn't melt until late in the day on Sunday. This am I picked up all of the apple tree prunings that were on the ground from before the snow. Maybe I'll get to the Butterflies over the weekend. Maybe not, I'm still house cleaning!!

Stormy---

Can't fruit tree wood (of many kinds) be used to add flavor to foods cooked on the grill?

Just dry it out good and then chunk/sliver it up--and before grilling--soak some of it and throw it over the hot coals...I bet apple would taste good on a grilled ham!

G.

Thanks, Gita. I'll keep a small amount. I want to sell the branches to the compost site for another scoop of mushroom soil.

I have to take out one of my apple trees, it's been slowly dying for years and has finally become more dead than alive. I only have two and the one that is coming out is the one I like best. I'd actually prefer to take them both out and put in something different but Ric is holding on to that other one.

Stormy,

Here in Baltimore--we have recycling pick up of any garden recyclables every 2 weeks.
That is where I would put out any branches and wood--except they have to be bundled.

These all go to our BIG land-fill here, where huge machines churn everything up and it is left to compost. In the Spring--if one is a Baltimore County resident--you can go there and scoop up this compost for free. YOU have to do all the digging and transporting.
It is not the "cleanest" of composts as it is a bit chunky and also has weeds and everything in it--but it sure looks great.

I have never done it myself--a bit too hard for me, but my neighbor used to go get bags-full.

I was surprised that you can, actually, sell yours! Is it because it is apple wood?

Also, what, especially, do you use Mushroom Compost on? I know it is good.....
Meyer Seed Company here carries it in big bags (like mulch). I think it runs about $7.
I believe they ship as well--UPS. Might cost you a bit!

They are a Farm Supply type of a place and carry all kinds of products and fertilizers not necessarily found in big box stores.
You can call them at: 410-665-5511...or.....Toll free: 888-503-7333

They are only about 15 min. from my house..

Gita

Well I got a surpise yesterday--claypa and I talked about this small sapling oak near my blueberries, last fall when we swapped winterberry for hosta--Anyhoo, it was laying on the ground now---see how the base is freshly eaten???

This was a four foot tree and here is a big hole where the tree USED to grow
I think I'll go get all pitchforky on it after lunch-What is living down there?

A Groundhog???? Size of the hole looks about right.
I know they can chew roots....but of an Oak?
Seems a bit bizaare!

Throw som CO2 bombs down there. HD sells them--a pack of 3, I believe. They are like thos emergency fuses you stick in the pavement--when drying to divert traffic, just smaller.
You light them and toss them in the tunnels. Mostly, they are sold for destroying Moles.

You can find them where all the garden chemicals are--in the section where all the mouse and rat traps and baits are.

Now CO2 sounds good--no persistent poison! I think this was a vole buffet

Sorry to say, I agree Sally.

Gita, The large places that make mulch for sale to Landscapers buy the tree and branch cuttings from them for $20 to $30 a pickup load. I wandered into one & they also deal with the public.

Mushroom soil costs anywhere from $20 to $40 a scoop. Keep in mind, some scoops are larger than others. I use it in my "yuk" bed to improve the soil nutrients and texture. It is very high in nutrients but lacks living microbes.

Here it's $40, and a scoop ( a front end loader scoop, heaping full) is about a ton. I should have gotten another ton last fall. The neighboring houses on both sides have been vacant for months, so at least no one will mind the smell if I get another.

Sally, that's just crazy that a critter would chew that oak down, but not the blueberries? That was a stout little tree! I'd would have thought it was over the hump as far as vulnerability to rodent damage goes.
I think a rabbit gnawed one of my tiny blueberry bushes down this winter, but it looks like it might come back.

I screwed up yesterday!!!! At least I think I did.....Please tell me if this will have any long term effect on my compost....ALL opinions welcome!

I wanted to add some N to my compost in my S.E.M. Seeing an old bag of Lawn fertilizer (Very high in N) I grabbed it and started sprinkling it over the stuff in my S.E.M. Fluffed it up and sprinkled another couple hand-fulls in there....

THEN I saw that it was Scotts Turf Builder PLUS-2!!!!! Oh, my God! That is a weed killer!!!!
I scooped and scooped and got rid of the top layer in my composter, but I know much of it had already sifted deeper down.
Now I am worried that if I use some of the compost from this to dig into my beds there might be some bad side effects. The "good stuff" is wayyyy down, though. But, as I water it, I am sure some of it will dissolve and trickle down.

Now--I also know that Lawn weed killers have to adhere to the leaves of the weeds before they will kill the weed, that is why we say the lawn has to be wet. Hoping that it has NO effect when just dug into the soil....Hope....Hope....

Gita ....:o((

Just don't use the compost on a bed that you'll be putting seeds into, I think it should be fine.

That stuff has herbicides in it, 2,4, D and something else...I don't know about the other stuff but 2,4, D is not a pre-emergent herbicide that would just prevent seeds from sprouting, it works on contact with living plants.

I remember reading about using lawn clippings that were treated with 2,4,D in compost, and it was said that you should wait 6 months before you used it around plants. It won't hurt grasses or other monocots though.

There's a thought--take that portion and use it as a top dressing on lawn.

More than likely I will be digging some of the "done" compost in when I plant my Tomatoes.

Now--have to tell you, that the "done" stuff is about 2' down in this S.E.M. (Stupid Earth Machine). I was thinking this is the year (again) that I will disassemble the S.E.M. and remove the top half of all the stuff in it to get to the GOOD stuff down below.

I did it 2 years ago---I think.....maybe 3.
I spread a tarp on the ground and piled all the stuff from the upper 2/3 of the contents--the stuff NOT yet totally composted.
Then I got my wheelbarrow and started digging the "gold" into that. Oh the big, red worms in that part!!!! Will throw them all back into the composter once I re-fill it with the not-yet-composted stuff.
For me--this is a huge job! One should not have to do all this to gain finished compost for one's Garden! NO! That is why this thing is so "stupid"......
However--that is all I have to work with. The edges of this "machine" have been cracking for a long time. Pretty soon--it will have weathered to the point where I will not be able to use it any more. THAT IS WHY IT IS "STUPID"......

Here she is--in all her glory--on a base made of 2x8x16 concrete paver blocks.
The S.E.M. has no base--so it sits on whatever platform you have given it.
I KNOW the maple tree roots from the nearby maple will have invaded this awesome, nutritious compost from between the cracks of the concrete blocks. I saw them the last time I performed this "procedure".....On the positive side--that is also--more than likely--where all the fat worms came from. So--good and evil balances out here....

Ain't she a "beauty"?????..........wretch.....

OHHH...
See that little "drawer" in the front? You should see the ads for this--and all the pictures in their brochure!
They have, more than likely, poured a bag-full of potting mix in front of it--like, this is SO EASY! THIS is what you can just scoop out of it...any time you want!.....Oh, Yeah? :o(
They want you to believe that you can recover ALL the good stuff through that lift-up flap! I'd like to get the CEO of this company to come and demonstrate how, exactly, this is to be achieved! I would challenge him/her to show me!

I can only scrape out what I can reach with my cultivator tool. Dig--dig--scrape--scrape--Ahhhh...I have about a shovel-full! Happy dance!
This would be about 1/4 of everything that sits in the bottom of this composter.
Pray tell--HOW am I supposed to get to the rest of it other than dismantling the whole container??????? Which I am about to do--again......

Whew! I feel better already! Thanks for letting me vent! Advice? DON'T buy this!

Gita

Gita, I love your Patriat of the Earth Machine, it's painted beautifully. That's exactly the way it is. I know cuz I have one also. Love how every month or two, somebody gets on SOil and COmposting forum and says they're dying to buy a certain composter, and do people like it. I've never seen anything convincing about any composter unit that works as effortlessly as they'd like you to think.

I have three compost things in progress-no, four----this warm spell was a good chance for me to turn them--wish I had remembered to mix in some urea. I was counting on some rain to keep them moist--{: ^(
and wash my salty vehicle

So true about the composters. Mine does have a wider but narrower section for removal at the bottom. Of course if I tossed it on a regular basis like I'm supposed to, it wouldn't be completing in layers with the good stuff at the bottom, but I don't have anything that would do that job with any efficiency, especially since the bin is usually pretty full.

The ideal compost situation is what you describe, Sally - three or more bins. That way you can toss the material between bins to turn it and/or have bins always in different stages with one full of the usable stuff.

Maybe those turning bins work better. I've never used one, but at least they would simplify turning, which would make the compost work faster and more evenly.

Tumbling/ turning bins get a lot of negatives comments too! I really think you lose a lot of compost efficiency as soon as you take it off the ground. The same way a plant in a pot gets more finicky than one in ground.

Nothing like the old fashion bins. Or just a pile. I have a Rubbermaid bin but still it is hard to turn, but it is easy to take apart. I just toss all the goodies in there and in the spring I take it apart and set it back up in a different location near by. Take the pitch fork and toss (lol, thats a laugh) into the bin as the base for the new compost. What is left after the toss I use in the garden. Not the best, but it looks nice in the yard.

You can see part of it in the upper left of this picture, the light green is half of the roof.
Anyone have one of those turning bins? I would think you would need 2 of them, one that is pretty well along in the composting process and the other for starting the next batch.

Sit down to enjoy the late Christmas Cactus. See rooted cutting needing trimmed. Trim it. Sit down to enjoy the late Christmas Cactus. See an early spring ant. Stomp it. Sit down to enjoy the late Christmas Cactus. Sit down to...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

I just came back in, beautiful out there today. I can't believe that I am still hacking back that forsythia and I haven't even starting digging it out yet. I also have been cutting back the Quince bush. I don't know if I'll get blooms on that this year, but it really needed to be cut back lost blooms or not. They are both huge, I have a whole 5 gal bucket of branches to bring inside and force. At least I will get them.