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A Plan (and Hope) for Spring

After days of temperatures in the 50s and 60s (Fahrenheit), yesterday’s forecast on my Weatherbug app read, “Cloudy with rain showers likely with a chance of snow showers in the morning… Little or no snow accumulation.” Wait, what?!… Snow???  Nooooooo…… Hasn’t anyone told Mother Nature that Spring officially started last Sunday? OK, we’re talking about flurries at worst and only during the morning hours but… *sigh*  And more snow in the forecast for the weekend…

Last weekend we began prepping for spring by tackling the yard. A neighbor loaned T. a limber and he pruned the lower limbs on the bigger oak trees in the front yard. There are 9 mature oaks on our small half-acre lot — good for shade and the environment but raking up the leaf fall in November and December was challenging, to say the least! Now it’s up to me to clear out the remaining leaves along the fence line and to plan some of the landscaping. Of course, we’re going to include as much edible landscaping as possible.

We haven’t had a yard in which to plant since we left Germany — and that was in 2005, so we’re really excited about having a garden this year. Our new house came with a raised garden bed, and the front of the bed is already planted with asparagus (from the previous owners), so it will be interesting to see what comes up from there this year. We also “inherited” some raspberry canes along the west side of the fence, and we’ve purchased 2 varieties of blueberries (the Reka, Arandano reka, is pictured left) to plant alongside them. Shortly after we moved in last fall we were gifted with two mature black currant bushes from a friend’s garden, and we intend to supplement those with red currants as well. The black currants are already budding (see, they were fooled by the warm weather too)… let’s hope there won’t be a hard frost any time soon. We’ve also ordered a sour cherry tree, which should ship sometime in mid-April and we’re on the look-out for a Nittany apple tree.

The house came with some terraced planters built in to retaining walls around the patio (east side of the house) and in front of the basement (west side). The west side planters have rhubarb and horseradish planted in, and we hope we’ll be able to move both to free up those planters for herbs. In border areas we’re planning to grow lots of lemon balm, lemon verbena and lavender. And I recently learned that lemongrass grows well here as an annual, so that will have to figure in somewhere too.

This week we also sowed some seeds. So far we’ve started rainbow chard (photo, right), spinach, zucchini, Tuscan kale, pumpkin, bell pepper, Italian romano beans (photo, left), blue lake beans, sunflowers, shiso, basil, borage, oregano, dill, flat leaf parsley, and donne (Guam) peppers. We’re not sure yet about planting tomatoes this year. After only 3 days, some of the seeds have already already sprouted. Don’t you love starting seedlings — there is so much promise in such a tiny package!

One big thing we have to consider in our landscaping plans is mitigating rain runoff. A couple of weeks ago we had a torrential downpour and discovered exactly where rain runs off and pools around the backyard (and, unfortunately, into the crawlspace… yuck). Much of the backyard is on a slope so we have to think about planting hardy ground cover to prevent erosion and trenching to direct the worst of the run-off into a rain garden. It’s going to take some work (and $$$) but we’re looking forward to doing it ourselves. Fortunately we just happened to find one our favorite ground covers at a local garden show last week — sweet woodruff, which we know better by its German name, Waldmeister (Galium odoratum). As its name implies, Waldmeister is a shade-loving plant found in wooded areas (Wald is German for woods) and is perhaps best known as the key flavoring agent in May wine. We bought a dozen and they should feel right at home beneath all those oaks in the backyard…

Should we or shouldn’t we?
The state of Maryland encourages residents to plant native trees and offers $25 coupons towards the purchase of preferred native trees. Since we already have so many oaks (I think they’re pin oaks and black oaks, the former are natives), we’re planning to use the coupons to get a couple of paw-paws (photo above, courtesy of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture) — the only natives on the approved list that produce an edible fruit (for humans). What is a paw-paw? Not being a native myself, I had to look it up too! According to the all-knowing Wiki, the common paw-paw (Asimina triloba) belong to the same family as soursop and cherimoya, and is the only member of that family that can grow outside the tropical zone. It does look kind of like a papaya (hence the name, which is Spanish for papaya), but is said to have a banana-like flavor and texture. What do you think?

Besides the cold rain (and snow) forecast for much of this week, perhaps the biggest obstacle to spring yard projects will be the competition for T’s attention now that he knows that the ponds and lakes around us are stocked with bass and full-grown trout! On Saturday, our next door neighbor stopped by while he was outside pruning to tell him the lakes around the county had been stocked earlier in the week. First thing Sunday morning we were at the nearest pond (1 mile away), he with his fly rod. Since there is a stocked pond so close, he was back Tuesday evening after work, and plans to fish after work regularly.

And you know how friendly fisherfolk can be… T. has since learned where the key fly-fishing spots are within a 20-mile radius, so I may be a fly-fishing widow until May. I don’t have a problem with that as long as there is fresh trout to be had. So far, no such luck. So that leaves us warming ourselves by the fire, waiting on our seeds, pampering our starter plants, and designing a rain-friendly landscape.

Help us forget about the weather outside… tell us what you’re planting this spring!

March 24, 2011

1,501 New Housemates: Chloë & Friends

After months of searching in vain for fresh calamansi in every grocery that has crossed our path (no, Dorothy, you’re not in Hawaii any more), we’ve finally found a reliable source for this unique and essential lime… a tree of our own! We named her Chloë. She’s already in flower and has a few fruit peeking out here and there so we should be ready for those calamansi margaritas again by summer.

Chloë was a real find because last fall when we first started looking for a tree, we didn’t see ANY citrus at the garden centers or nurseries at all. We learned there was a quarantine on all citrus coming out of Florida, which would be the natural source of citrus plants for the East Coast. Chloë is a California gal, so she’ll need a good bit of TLC after her long trip. She’ll stay outdoors while the weather is good — she needs lots of full sunlight to keep us in limes — but we’ll bring her in when it starts to get chilly again.

Chloë is our third calamansi tree. We also had potted calamansi both times we lived in Germany. We were surprised to find calamansi trees when we first moved there, but they were exported from Tuscany. Calamansi are more than ornamentals — their limes are a wonderful substitute for other citrus in marinades, beverages, and seasonings. Sadly, we had to re-home our trees each time we returned to the States, but we’re counting on Chloë being with us for a long while.

If you’re looking for calamansi trees at a nursery or garden center, or for limes at an ethnic market (unless it’s a Filipino grocery), you might have to ask for it by its more widely recognized name, Calamondin.

But Chloë wasn’t the only new resident to join our household from the garden center, we picked up 1500 (yes, that’s fifteen hundred!) pest control managers there, too. They’re already on the job and we hope that they’ll keep the aphids, mites, mealy bugs (and whatever else is eating our basil) out of the planters and tomato beds. And they’re cute, too, aren’t they? With this little army of ladybugs and a spray bottle of pepper soap (I still have to make some), we’re hoping to win the battle against the other bugs without any pesticides.


This is the first time we’ve tried “recruiting” friendly insects in our cause so this will be an interesting venture. The garden center sells bagged ladybugs — 1500 for less than $10.00 (the notes on the bag say that 1800 are actually bagged to account for some mortality in transit). The directions say to release most of the ladybugs at dusk, then to repeat the process with a second wave a week later. We were told to keep the second wave in the fridge and they will go dormant again until next week.

We just released the advance guard last night (that’s them in the top photos), so I’m curious to see how many survive the first night and how many actually stick around where they’re released.

And remember, not all ladybugs are “ladies.” Remember Francis in “A Bug’s Life” by Pixar Studios?

*****************************************************************
The unbeatable flavor of the calamansi lime is essential to these recipes:
Calamansi Marigarita,
Tequila & Calamansi Marinated Flank Steak (aka Margarita Steak), and
“Rim of Fire” Paella
Also cruise on over and see what Marvin at Burnt Lumpia is making with calamansi, including an infused vodka, and candied peels.

 

May 30, 2009

Spring at Brookside


It’s sunny and warm today…YAY!! The last time it was this nice, I found myself at the Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, Maryland, and came across this goose by the side of the brook that runs along the east side of the Gardens.


It may not have been a golden egg she was guarding, but I’m sure it was precious to her!

May 12, 2009

Happy May Day

Happy May Day! My spring sabbatical is officially over with a welcome to the warm weather ahead. YAY!!!

The weather here in metro D.C. has been quite chaotic lately — swinging between the mid 40s and high 80s. Lots of rain, too. I understand now where the expression, “April showers bring May flowers” comes from! And although today is the first day of May, it is the second of 4 days of promised rain. So to remind myself that rain is a good thing, and that the gardens and blooms are happy to see the showers, even if I’m not, here is my tribute to all things in bloom and coming alive everywhere.

This post is dedicated to my SIL, Tra, who is just home after a too-long stay in the hospital. Tra reminds me of these cherry blossoms — she looks delicate and fragile, but she returns after every bitter winter as resilient, beautiful and signalling hope to everyone who sees her. Stay well, Tra!

In April, the sakura, or cherry blossoms, around the Tidal Basin were every bit as stunning as I had always dreamed they were…






This year we took off in the early morning with only spam musubi and oatmeal cookies on hand, but next year I’d like to follow fellow blogger Biggie’s lead and prepare a proper Hanami, or blossom-viewing picnic. Check out the grill and other goodies her guests enjoyed under the cherry trees in San Francisco!

May 1, 2009

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