Wednesday, March 27, 2013

A weed is a plant thay has mastered every survival skill except learning how to grow in rows.
-Doug Larson

Out like a lamb

Ok everyone, despite all your kvetching spring has arrived, now get out there and do something about it! Mulch, till, weed, plant! Go get your hands dirty!

Friday, March 15, 2013

St Paddy's Planting!..and soil PH

In honor of St Patrick's Day-and because Spring is tiptoeing into my neighborhood-I bought a flowering heather. Now I only have the vaguest notion of heather being an Irish plant....something about moors and heaths and the wind that shakes the barley...who knows. But softly undulating fields of heather under rainwashed skies seems to me about as romantic as it gets.


Image courtesy of www.discoverirelandtours.com
(See, I told you it's romantic.)


Anyway here is an image of the plant that I purchased.


I have a perfect spot for it: damp but sunny and room for it to spread, but Heather needs acidic soil and I have no idea what the soil type is for my selected spot so I went searching for ways-other than buying a PH tester-to determine soil PH.
And, lo and behold, there's a totally easy-and free way to test!
Soil PH Test:
You will need 2 soil samples, 1/2 cup of vinegar, water-preferably spring water, and 1/2 cup baking soda.
Add vinegar to soil. if the soil fizzes it is alkaline.

If soil does not fizz, take second sample, add water to make...mud...and then add baking soda. If it fizzes or bubbles your soil is acidic.

If nothing happens in either case your soil has a neutral PH.

Wood ash or lime can decrease alkalinity.
Sulfur or pine needles can decrease acidity.
*Most plants grown in home gardens prefer soil that is PH neutral (7) or slightly acidic (6).
(Oh and apparently there's another way to test it, by tasting the soil, but I'm just not that committed a gardener.)

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Countertop Compost

I am kinda sorta obsessed with composting. Kinda because I care about the environment and sorta because I'm kinda obsessive. Here's the latest...


Either way I've been keeping all my compost scraps on the counter in a pyrex bowl and emptying them on a daily basis which prevents smells but is a bit of nuisance. So I just purchased-from Crate and Barrel-a 1.3 gallon self close trash can that was only $14 and am going to use it for my scraps. This will mean fewer trips to the compost pile and the bonus that the little green can looks a little like R2D2.



I know that there are a whole lot of bins specifically for countertop compost but most of them are not very cute and the only major difference as far as I can see is they usually contain a charcoal filter in the lid to prevent odors, but I empty mine very frequently so I'm not too concerned about that.


Lining comes out so easy to clean and empty.


Friday, March 8, 2013

Barn Quilt

I have recently become aware of-and subsequently obsessed with-barn quilts. I don't know if everyone knows about these or if it's a rural, midwestern secret but the basic idea is a huge board is used like a canvas, mounted on the side of a barn and painted to look like a quilt. There are even tours you can go on and see these wonderful, folksy bits of Americana in person!
http://www.boonebarnquilts.com/
http://www.butlercountyiowa.com/barnquilts.html
http://www.visitcalhoun.com/files/CalhounBarnQuiltMap.pdf

Just so happens I have a barn with a big blank wall that seems to me is begging for a quilt! My idea is to buy a 1/2" piece of plywood probably 5'x4' and tape out a design. I am still debating color scheme and pattern but I know that I definitely want it to have a familiar, colorful, design.

Here's some inspiration:

Image courtesy of www.barnquilts.com



Image courtesy of www.barnquiltinfo.com


Image courtesy of www.barnquilts.com


Image courtesy of www.americanquilttrail.blogspot.com


Image courtesy of www.oliveandollie.com

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Discontent with Winter

I am from and of the North. Born in Alaska, grade school in Illinois and middle school in Nebraska. Winter is a way of life there, it is expected, accepted and-to a degree-embraced. People bundle up, they go outside, they spend time in the cold. The days are bright and fierce. Snow comes in great quantities blanketing everything for months at a time, when it starts to blacken around the edges more snow comes to cover the grime.

People cross country ski down Clark Street in Chicago. Sure it's cold and biting but it is expected. Northern Summers are hot and damp. Endless stifling, sticky days bleeding into one another. But winter bears down on the North and drives all thought of heat and humidity away. Summer and green things seem like a languid, half remembered dream. But here, in southern Ohio, on the cusp of the South, winter sneaks up in fits and starts. It is fickle and petulant. Snow appears and disappears in an afternoon. It is 50 during the day and 15 at night. Ice storms pop up with little warning and make the roads unbelievably hazardous. Grocery store shelves are emptied at the mere suggestion of inclement weather. Northern transplants long to fire up their snowblowers but there's never enough time. Seldom are there chances for sledding or snowball fights. The sky is grey and the landscape murky brown. There is no rhyme or reason. Nothing to count on.

Moving to Southern Ohio, 30 miles from the Ohio River and Kentucky has brought with it a steep-sometimes painful-weather related learning curve. I struggle to reconcile the cold with the lack of snow. But now it is mid-March and, already, little green shoots are poking out from the water logged soil and I am reminded that Spring here in Southern Ohio makes up for a lot...