Lovely day...

For a drive?? I had this pleasure as I ran work errands this afternoon.
Miserable.

Golden Day with Rotten Hay

When I turned on the news on January 8th, I could not believe what I learned. The next two days were projected to be in the 50's.
 In January. In Northern Illinois.
I immediately called my co-worker, Lyn, and asked for buckets of manure. Bring as much as you can, I told her. The next call I made was to my boss. I told her I would be taking half days for the next two days, leaving at noon.
My plan was to work in my yard, enjoying the unbelievable gift of nice weather.
In January. In Northern Illinois.
True enough, the days were incredibly warm and sunny-a different kind of sunny that cast low and long shadows in the yard.

Here is the before. The raised veggie beds were never cleaned up, the parsley and tomato beds still sported skeletons of the plants from summer. The blue barrel is what Lyn brought me from her barn.
She usually brings manure and it has been pretty composted, in the past. This day, she brought something I had heard about, even read about, but never dreamt I would have access to it.

When I first began to garden, in Louisville, KY, I read all the books I could get my hands on. In Kentucky, I was faced with red clay. We had 2 small kids and not a lot of money, I didn't know how to bust thru the clay, until I learned about "double digging". The good news was, I was a youngish woman. The bad news was, I was going to double dig my garden. It worked, but it was slow and laborious.
When we moved to Memphis, the soil was even worse and I was even older! I had to find a better way. A little research, speaking with my Master Gardener instructors, I was introduced to this lady:

Ruth Stout

Ruth Stout wrote a book, The Ruth Stout No-Work Garden Book: Secrets of the year-round mulch method. I was captivated by this crazy, charming lady. She did not want to waste any growing season, waiting for the local farmer to plow her garden. He was frequently making her late in planting. She began piling something called "spoiled hay" on her gardens. She had a neighbor with livestock and he brought over the hay from the stalls. 

In my city girl mind, I could not fathom such a thing. I had never seen spoiled hay and did not see how such a thing could help break thru the red clay of Tennessee. Living in a large suburb of Memphis, there was no way I was getting my hands on any hay, spoiled or otherwise, so I became a compost fiend. We all know what good compost does....

Forward 20 years to this blue barrel in my yard on a 60° in Northern Illinois. The barrel was so heavy, I needed a dolly to move it. I pushed and pulled it over to the raised beds and dumped it out onto the first one I came to. 

I could not believe what I saw, but I knew what it was, immediately. 

Spoiled hay. 

I had to laugh as I shoveled this wonderful stuff onto the 4 raised beds. I thought about reading Ruth Stout's book and how I thought there was NO WAY I would ever be able to garden with her "No Dig" method.  I filled the raised beds and had enough to move into the new Deer Bed. 

I don't know how much of this plant material is going to survive, the other side of the trees and shrubs have devastating deer damage, but this spoiled hay can only help. (see what I mean about long, low shadows?)

The hours ticked away much too quickly and I felt a sense of urgency as the sun got lower. I really wanted to move as much of my Impervious Pile of Grass as I could. 

As I got my shovel into the middle, I found a surprise. 

compost.

At this point, I had help. Nick came out and began to dig as I tossed the rough compost onto every single landscape bed in the yard. It felt like a race against time. The sun was not waiting for us to finish, it continued to set. Soon, it was sitting on the horizon and the wind was blowing cold again. Nick helped me put away the pitch fork and the shovels and the wheelbarrow. 

With everything put away, I took a cup of coffee out to the deck as the sun finally disappeared. I felt like I had really pulled one over on someone!

To be able to put the garden to bed so late in the season? With spoiled hay? On such a gorgeous day?

In January! In Northern Illinois! 

I watched the sun until no part of it was visible, knowing I would not steal another day until March or April. 

An incredible sense of gratitude came over me. I thought to myself, "Ruth Stout would be proud". 

More college visits have kept me busy. We head to sunny Florida, this week. We will have to wrap this up, very soon.

Farewell, Fair Weather

Spent the last 2 days working in the yard. Tonight, as the sun set on a 57* day, I sat on the steps of the deck with a cup of coffee in my hand.
I watched the sun set all the way down. I wanted to soak every bit of it in. The weather of the last 2 days is historic, I need to know I got every bit of it.
I know it is the last time I will work in the yard for months.
Months.
Months will pass and the snow and cold will prevent me from moving compost around. That thought makes me uncomfortable.
Honestly, seriously, I don't think I am a Northern person. My Southern friends call me Yankee.
Hardly.

Warm Enough For Ya?

Today the plains states are getting hammered with a blizzard, but here in the Midwest, we are warmer than normal! The precipitation is all rain, because the temperatures are so warm. 

Many folks are complaining about the lack of snow, something you will never hear from me. I was interested to see how far behind we actually are. 

Part of the reason we are low on snow are the warm temperatures. How warm? Yesterday marked the 16th day of above normal temperatures for December. To date-December 2011 is 15 degrees warmer than last year's temperatures. The experts have been keeping track of December's temperatures since 1871 and 2011 falls in the top 20% of the 141 years.

All the warmth and rain is just fine with me, but I wanted to know exactly how much snow this area normally sees this time of year. I went to the National Snow Analyses sight. (Did you know there was one???!)

Snow Depth, 2009

2010 Snow Depth

Current Snow Depth

Wow. What a difference. Yesterday, it was 50 degrees.

Wonderful, but I am not naive enough to think this balmy weather will last all winter. It will snow, sooner or later!

Charlie Brown, I can relate.

I saw the Midwest's Long Range Forecast for this winter.

This is how I feel.

Just like this.

Is there anyone you can sympathize with, more than our Good Ol' Charlie Brown? 

I live in the Northern part of Illinois, 60 minutes directly west of Chicago, almost in the center of the Northern Illinois region. As the crops are coming up in the spring and the fields are a patchwork of color, it is stunningly beautiful. A little red tractor chugs on the horizon, a fat robin hops on the front lawn; I have lilacs. It's really a lovely place to be. 

Why anyone would live here if they didn't have to, is beyond me.

I checked the Accuweather forecast for the predictions for the upcoming winter. I wanted to throw my laptop across the room. 

If you are squeamish, I must warn you, the following picture might put you over the edge, like it did me.

My area says "worst". 

Worst.

I cannot believe it could be worse than last year???

AccuWeather.com Long-Range Meteorologist Josh Nagelberg even went so far as to say, "People in Chicago are going to want to move after this winter."

WHAT???!! 

Why would you say that??? How can we go on if the weather man doesn't like it here?

People talk of the snow like it's beautiful. Makes everything clean, they say. Quiets it all down. 

Bull.

This is a more accurate photo of a snowfall.

Dirty. Wet. Painful.

Brutal.

I was raised in the Western Suburbs of Chicago. I learned to drive in it, spent my childhood in it.

My husband and I moved to Louisville, KY and then Memphis, TN and I promised myself I would never ever ever live in that weather again. I would watch the Weather Channel and see the storms hitting Chicago and think "why do they live there??" I remember one particular day, it was 12* in Chicago and 57* in Memphis while I planted sugar snap peas in February. 

I cannot stop the snow or the cold. I cannot change the winter or my current address. 

I can work on my attitude. (and my driving skills...)

I will start working on my attitude tomorrow. 

Not a Fan...

Today was the first snowfall. 

I know some women who cry at the sight of the year's first snow.

I guess they are overwhelmed with the beginning of such an incredible season. 

If I did cry, it would be for the end of the growing season. I don't consider the snow to be a blanket of white, although without it, a lot of plants would surely die from the brutal cold. 

If I did cry, it would be in response to the silence that this white death brings. 

The driving becomes difficult, the sun sets too early. 

Worse than the snow is the cold. 

Relentless cold. 

Really, I am not a good spokesperson for this season and I don't pretend to be. 

Relief

As I sit here, buckets of cooling rain fall. The entire atmosphere is churning and cranking out this glorious water. After working 8 hours in the scorching sun on the asphalt yesterday, my skin feels parched and broasted today. I was a hot pink mess yesterday, crabby and irritated at those that would leave me stranded to take care of dozens of trees. A corporation that wouldn't even help me buy lowering the price to $5. just to get rid of them. A company that didn't offer support to the last rep on the road, trying to dispose of the landscape waste, disguised as perennials and shrubs and clematis that nobody wanted.
That is almost over, today I sit in my big comfy robe watching the cleansing rain do it's thing. Washing away the grime and sticky and mulberry stains, it is also washing away another summer retail season for the grower that employs me in the summer.
I am relieved this is over. There has been some sort of financial hiccup in the company I work for and the support system is not there. They did not come and pick up the remaining trees and plants, and it caused so many problems for me, this week. I am angry and I am burnt.
I do have lots of free plant material, ready for my deer resistant border. I should not say "free". I should say as a result of many hours of sweat and hard work, I was able to bring home plants nobody else wanted.
See? The rain is softening my memory, already.

edit: @ 10:00, I still sit in my robe, in front of the TV, catching up on blogs and not moving plants! The rain still falls and Gracie tries to catch a fly.

From Space

This video really fascinated me. It shows the heating of the ground from July 13-July 21, as seen by the weather satellite 22,000 miles above the earth. It really reminds me of food coloring spreading in water!

I would take less red, if I could, thank you very much!

Would ya gimme a break???

I seem to be encountering every obstacle in my landscape, this year. One thing that promised to be plentiful was the basil. The Genovese Italian basil with the monstrous glossy green leaves was overtaking even the pepper plants, in size. I saw lots of pesto in my future!
I was so pleased with this crop, I begged Mother-in-Law to come for dinner of grilled pizzas with tomatoes and mozzarella and this fresh basil. She accepted and I went out to water them.
I couldn't believe what I saw when I brought the hose over to my raised herb bed. The plants were covered in Japanese Beetles. Covered. Most of the plants were chewed, the leaves were lace.
Well, folks, I am not too proud to tell you I sat down and cried. Right then and there. I stomped my feet and had a tantrum, threw myself down and cried. Just like a grown woman should.
I would sure like something to go right, I thought to myself. I couldn't spray food with Sevin, like I did the crabapples and Linden. What will stop this scourge?? It's like a Biblical plague. Then, it dawned on me:
Floating Row Cover
I picked myself up off the lawn and ran inside and "googled" Floating Row Cover. Few places carry it, anymore. It seems to be out of garden fashion. Any place that did carry it wouldn't deliver it for 10 days.

The Japanese Beetles will have totally devoured my basil by then!!

I texted Ronda, who seemed to have so many good ideas. She came thru, yet again. She suggested tulle. The tulle that was in the fabric section at the WallyWorld. She's brilliant, I tell you. A gardener needs a friend like that, you know? Luckily, she was going to the city, she says she'll pick it up for me. In a matter of hours, we had the offending beetles shaken off the basil and the tulle pinned around the basil plants. 

Later that evening, I went out to check and sure enough, there were Japanese Beetles on the inside, munching away on my basil. They were probably hiding under the basil leaves when we placed the tulle. I took the tulle off, flung the beetles away, stripped off all the chewed up leaves and pinned the tulle back in place. 

This morning, I went straight out there, to see how it worked. This is what I found:

These are on the OUTSIDE! It works!! The tulle is very fragile, I snagged it on the small tomato cage the keeps it above the plants themselves, and that tore a tiny hole in it, so I will have to be more careful.

Today was a miserable day. Truly, I think it is the worst day I've ever had at this job. I went to 3 stores, tossing plants in the dumpsters and by the third store, it was well into the 90's, with heat index over 110°. I 

thought I was going to be sick for about an hour. I look back on my conversations with my friends at that store, and I wonder if they knew how sick I felt. I kept look at her and thinking, she looks great, why isn't she feeling bad? How isn't she so hot??

I needed to move on, fully intent on going to one last store, so I finished tossing some stuff and I said good-bye and headed south east. I got ten miles down the road and became dizzy, feeling out of control in my car. I pulled the car over in a Sonic drive thru and suddenly knew I was in trouble. I felt very sick, my stomach cramping and my head pounding. I couldn't stand the air conditioning in the car, any more. I opened the car door and fell out onto a strip of grass. I was dizzy and my ears were buzzing. I could hear the bell sounding over and over, the noise the car makes when the key is in the ignition and you leave the door open. I was just trying to hear the bell, trying to make sure I stayed with it, trying not to pass out. But it wasn't the bell...it was an employee of the Sonic. She was saying, ma'am? ma'am? ma'am?
She had brought out a huge cup of ice water and she was holding it out to me. Oh, I felt so silly, sitting in the grass with the door open like that, the talk radio was absolutely blaring! I felt fuzzy, but I was drinking the water and I felt a little bit more normal. I thanked her profusely and I ran into the restroom and got very very sick. I gave that Sonic all the water back. I realized I was probably in heat distress, or something. I ran the cold water in the Sonic sink and practically took a bath in it. I looked at my reflection in the mirror and my face was so red. I was scared to drive because I was shaking so much. After a while, the employee who brought the water was knocking on the door to see if I was alive. 

I opened the door and told her I was ok, that I felt much better. I said, I bet you think I am a drunk driver or something, don't you?? But she said, no, I was very dirty and had a tree leaf in my hair, she could tell I worked outside because my shirt had a greenhouse's name on it. I thanked her again and got back in the car, (which I had left running with the key in it!), I got in the drive thru and ordered 3 drinks. Large. With sugar. 

50 miles down the road, I began to feel normal again. I was sweating again. 

I got in the shower when I got home and sat and had a cup of tea. I realized I hadn't eaten all day and made the strangest thing for dinner:

 

Spaghetti noodles with American cheese. Can you imagine? Two reasons to question my sanity. 

1) I continue to do this job with it being even hotter tomorrow

2) Spaghetti with American cheese???

This is the Double Decker, viewed from the top. Looks like a mum. 

The plans for the Deer bed are still trying to move ahead, but with 100* heat forecasted, I didn't want to try to do it while I still have garden centers open. With much research, I decided to go with blue and scented plants. Blue fescue, upright sedum, Yarrow, 'Moonshine', artemesia, 'Lace Brocade', Salvia plumosa, Lupinus 'Russell Hybrids', Penstemon, 'Hidcote Pink', Flame Grass, and other ornamental grasses. If you have any doubts about the deer resistance of any of those, I would very much like to hear your experience! I will also be moving some threadleaf corepsis, shasta daisies, and some monarda. I also have a Ninebark and 2 winterberry hollies, and 2 Ivory Halo dogwood that need to be moved from their current places. I also have a Blue Boy and Blue Girl holly, but every winter they struggle to survive, so I might just pitch them. I will be ordering the allium Moly that I fell in love with on Zoey's blog: Check the second photo in this post!

There is a tremendous heat wave coming! They are all over the news, just like the snowstorms, they warn of imminent doom!  One thing I know for sure, we are going to burn up the well pump, if we don't get some rain, soon! Every day, I am walking the yard, noticing signs of stress, especially in the new trees we've planted. I just set the hose near the newly planted tree, set at a trickle. After a few hours, the ground is soaking and the tree is sitting up straight again and I move on to the next one. I don't hear the pump running, but I know it must be, although well water is sorta new to us, having always been city folks. 

Have you been watching the USA Women's soccer?? Hubby is an avid sports fan and watches whatever sport is on and has now got me hooked on this women's soccer team. I have never watched soccer in my life, other than the handful of games Little Darling played in elementary school. The USA women play Japan on Sunday for the championship. These women are in tremendous shape and the dedication is admirable. If you get the opportunity, check in on them on Sunday. Even the announcers have a deep respect for these women, and they are funny to listen to!

Foggy Sunday Morning

Blogger has not been kind to me! I couldn't post or leave a comment for quite a while, but I am back and awoke to a very foggy Sunday morning...

I cannot remember the variety of this viburnum! It is so lovely, I had to post it. I have it limbed up because it's right smack in the middle of the mixed bed. You can barely see them, in the bottom right...but I scored some Sonata Cosmos at a local Independent Garden Center. I used to have no problems growing them from seed, but lately, neither the larkspur nor the cosmos come up.
The evergreen with the yellow tint on the left is Golden Globe Arborvitae. To the right of him, in front of the viburnum is the most pitiful Sumbucus 'Diablo'. This guy has been in there for 4 years! Time to make a change, I think...
ugh...you see the deer damage on the Norway Spruce in the background? I am hoping it will fill itself in.

This Memorial Day is different for me. I have a girlfriend whose son was killed in Iraq.

Thank you from one grateful American family....

What NOT to do...

Great for selling pool covers. Not so much for the plants underneath..






I feel luckier than some of the other sales reps. They got tons of snow!

My drive to work

So many miles of NOTHING but farmland! Beats fighting the traffic at Mannheim Road and LaGrange Road. The weather today was bone chilling and I can't seem to warm up. 45° and winds up to 40mph. Some of the hoop houses feel like they would blow away with me in it. The creaking and whining makes it sound so eerie. Not good hair today. I really need a hat, I think!!

Hail? Yes.

Beautiful warm spring day....

Chewing a real good stick, enjoying the sunshine in April.

Wind picks up and the next thing ya know...

Hail! 

Taken thru the screen door. Hail hurts...!

Herbed Baked Goat Cheese Salad

3 ounces Melba toasts , white (about 2 cups)

* 3 large eggs

* 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

* 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves

* 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives

* 12 ounces goat cheese , firm

* extra-virgin olive oil

Vinaigrette and Salad

* 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

* 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

* 1 teaspoon minced shallot

* 1/4 teaspoon table salt

* 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

* 1 tablespoon fresh chives

* Ground black pepper

* 14 cups hearty greens (mixed), washed and dried

To make the vinaigrette, combine all ingredients in a jar, seal the lid, and shake vigorously until well combined. If you don't have a jar to use, combine all ingredients (except oil) in a small bowl and whisk together. While continuing to whisk, add the olive oil in a steady, small stream.

For the salad, place the pecans in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl. Add the cheese, chives, and thyme to the food processor and process until smooth, about 30 seconds. Cover and chill until firm, at least an hour or up to a couple of days.

Scoop about 2 tablespoons of the chilled goat cheese mixture out at a time and roll into balls. You should have about a dozen or so. Beat the eggs in a small bowl. One at a time, dip the balls into the egg mixture (allow the excess egg to run off), then roll them in the nuts, pressing gently to adhere. Place the balls about 2 inches apart on a rimmed cookie sheet (a small 1/4 sheet pan works well if your low on freezer space). Grease the bottom of a measuring cup and use this to gently press the balls into disks (about 2-inches wide). Cover entire pan with plastic wrap and freeze until completely firm, at least 2 hours or up to 1 week.

Place oven rack to the upper position in your oven and preheat to 475 degrees F. Remove plastic wrap and spray the disks lightly with nonstick spray (or brush with a little oil or butter). Bake until the nuts are golden brown and the cheese is warmed through, about 7-10 minutes. Let them cool for a few minutes. Toss the greens with the prepared vinaigrette and serve the warm cheese rounds over the dressed salad.

Serves 6.