What to do with squashes? 10.24.14

Two squashes for roasting.  Butternut and Verte et Blanc

Butternut.  Sliced and seeds/soft contents removed.

Did the same with the Verte

Ready to roast.  On parchment paper.

Baked 375 for 75 min.  Butternut is easily pierced with fork, but not Verte.

Blurry pic.  Butternut contents scooped out.  Pureed in food processor.

Same with Verte.  This one I froze for future use.

I used the butternut puree in the same amount as I would use canned pumpkin, for a pumpkin pie.  Flavor was excellent, richer than my usual pumpkin pie.  I might do the same with the Verte, for a blond pumpkin pie.  Or find a different recipe.

Garlic Planting. 10.19.14

Garlic Planting.  10.19.14

Today I planted garlic.  I used last year's garlic bed, which is not the best garden practice but it's what I have.

I added an inch of well aged home-made compost and raked it in.  This compost was in a plastic garbage can for a few years.  So it's really well aged.

4 rows are the biggest cloves from last year's Inchelium Red.  Huge cloves.  Well adapted to local conditions - I've been growing this one for about 14 years.

3 rows are either Inchelium Red or German Porcelain.  I had a mix up.

2 rows are some new German Red that I bought locally.  To try something different.  Smaller cloves but my grow bigger in my bed, or not.

These are 8 cloves per 4 feet, and there are 9 rows per 8 feet.  I use bamboo sticks between the rows to mark the space.

Tree Autopsy. 10.19.14

Roots of dead dogwood.  10.19.14

Roots of dead dogwood.  10.19.14

 This year I had 3 dead trees.  Two, a Satsuma plum and a Kousa dogwood, were planted summer 2012, did well in 2013, and died mid summer 2014.  The first summer I watered frequently, the second summer I watered rarely.

The 3rd, a Madrone, died without any growth at all.  From what I read, madrones transplant so poorly and die so quickly after planting, I should not have bothered.

I did an autopsy on the plum and dogwood.  It looks like the roots did not grow beyond the original root ball. 

I don't remember if I planted these without cutting away the surrounding roots.  Now I do.  From the book, The Informed Gardener by Linda Chalker-Scott - paraphrased -

The gardener should disturb the root ball, aggressively.  Nursery-grown trees, especially those bought in containers, often have roots that wind around the pot, creating a "root pot" that new roots can't escape.  Roots cross each other and strangle each other.  The roots don't grow into surrounding soil. 

The result is a tree basically growing in a pot, even though there is no pot and it's in the ground. 

The author washes away all soil with a hose, bare-roots the tree, and prunes all winding roots, then replants entirely in native soil, carefully spreading the roots. 

It looks like these trees were victims of my own poor planting technique.   As far as I can see, the roots never extended beyond were the original root ball had been.

Roots of dead plum.  10.19.14


The trees are now replaced with home-started trees.  No issues with recovering from nursery abuse, although there's still the forces of nature, and my own learning process.

Gardening is not about what you have, it's about what you create, and grow, and do.

It's not about what you know, it's about what you learn.

I'm glad it's fall. 10.19.14

I'm glad it's fall.  I can clean up what's become messy, and not have it become messy before I can clean it up again.  I can plant trees and shrubs, or transplant them, and not have to water them every few days or every week.  The grass is green again.  It's cool enough to be outside without becoming winded.  I can harvest pine needles for mulch.  And leaves.  I love planting Spring bulbs in the fall, to have something to look forward to.  I love having a fire in the fireplace in the morning when I'm up, alone.

I've quoted this before....

"My creed is that:

Happiness is the only good.

The place to be happy is here.

The time to be happy is now.

The way to be happy is to make others so.

 

Robert Green Ingersoll

Sourwood tree at one year after planting.  10.19.14

This is the Sourwood after a year.  The madrone that I planted at the same time died quickly.  I read that would happen, so shouldn't be surprised.  I wondered if the sourwood would live.  It did.  There is still a "Dr. Suessian" look.  That may take a few years to fill in.  Leaves will be pretty in a week or two.  Having survived a historic freeze it's first winter, and the nursery abuse / removal of most roots, with a chance to recover for a year, it has a good start for the future.

Varmints already chewing. Tree protection 10.19.14

Chewing damage.  Asian Pear.  10.20.14

Hardware Cloth Tree Protection.  10.20.14

 This is the first time I've seen chewing damage at the base of pear trees.    I suspect voles.  Could be rabbit.  Deer don't chew so low.  Fortunately it doesn't surround the tree, and pears heal quickly. 

This protection is a central part of winterizing.

I've learned it's just best to have a roll of hardware cloth on hand, and some zip ties.

The  zip ties make it very easy to put on a sleeve without a helper.  When it's time to remove the sleeve, the zip tie is easily cut with a scissors.  The extra tail can be trimmed off if the appearance is an issue.

The pear now has a protective sleeve of hardware cloth.  Usually I have more overlap where it joins, just didn't here.  I don't think the varmint will squeeze through the seam, anyway.

I try to make the sleeve loose enough for several years of growth.  That way I don't have to put it on every fall.

There are hardware cloth sleeves on, probably, most of my young trees.

I don't think the mesh size is too important.  I've used 1/2 inch and 1/4 inch.

It's time to get them protected.  Tender fig bark is a critter favorite.  Apparently they like Asian Pear bark.