Meditation Garden. 5.9.22

 Here are some photos of the meditation garden, also called the deer park garden because deer cone through here.  zit's sort of the blue season there, mostly Camassia and a few Hiacinthoides.

In addition to the fig trees that were already there, off the top of my head here are some of the established plants that I moved there over the past few months -

About a dozen big Camassia clumps.

Several clumps of Hyacinthoides

2 clumps of Crocosmia "Lucifer"

Several divisions of Horseradish.

4 divisions of rhubarb.

A half dozen large rosemary plants, but I think only 2 or 3 are surviving.

About a dozen sage plants.

About a dozen lavender bushes

Three Itoh peonies

Three clumps of Leucojum (large snowdrops).

About 5 daylilies (Transplanted two today).

Several divisions of lamb's ears.

A big helleborus.

A dozen sedums.

About a dozen forsythias that I started, closer to the fence, eventually for more privacy.

I'm sure I've forgotten some things.

Of new perennial starts from seeds, I've planted several six packs of Rudbeckias, two six packs of Coreopsis, a six pack of Gallardia, A six pack of Ratibida, six packs of common milkweed, tropical milkweed, four O'Clocks, echinacea, carnations, and some statice (I think the statice will be annual, maybe the carnations too).   I'm sure I've forgotten some things there too.

This summer I'd like to dig up some batches of spring bulbs that are abandoned around the yard, and plant those too.

I still have some room for summer annuals, which will be zinnias, lots of  marigolds, cosmos, cleome.  I out up the beginning of a privacy trellis for Morning Glories, which I already planted and growing, and sweetpeas which are already growing.

The common themes for everything, are drought tolerance, not appetizing to deer, adapted to this climate, and something to attract lots of bees and other pollinators.  I already know the established plants that I moved fit those criteria, because they are from this yard and grow happily here already.  if deer do eat something, I wont mind and I wont add to my efforts to protect it.  As for watering, I might do some minimally to get things established, but all of the established plants already proved themselves during the past dry seasons anyway.

Carnation Update. 2.9.22

 Like statice, I've never grown carnations before.  (Actually I might have but I don't remember and it wasn't here).  After losing the first batch, I didn't know if it was the timing, the pitting soil, or the cool weather.  So I planted a few more six packs of seeds.  I think the ones that did the best were the ones I planted in the larger silicone six-packs, but all did OK.

On April 8, I planted the first batch in one of the large containers in the container planter I built.  I kept the others indoors at night, outdoors during the day, until recently.  Here is how the first ones look today.

The irrigation lines should be hooked up in a week or two.    I think these are growing pretty nicely.  Last week I planted the second batch in another container, but outside the deer fence as a test.  Plus I didn't know where else to put it.  I also planted a couple in the ground in the meditation garden.  Today, I planted the rest of them in the ground there too.

I hope the early planting will give some nice flowers.  I read somewhere that deer wont eat them.  I don't know if the need a lot of water.  I think they might be fairly dry tolerant.  It's fun trying these plants that I haven't grown before.

Statice Status Report 😀. 5.9.22

 The statice plants that I set out in the large container bed on April 8, are looking pretty good.    Not growing by leaps and bounds, but they are growing and looking sturdy.  The red color had at first is more green-ish now.  The tubing is for irrigation lines I will install soon.

 The statice seedlings that I held back from planting outdoors in April, because I didn't know if it was too early, are a little smaller and the leaves have a more red - ish tint.  Kind of maroon, sort of.  They have been sitting in the vegetable bed for a week or two, pending being planted.  I planted them outdoors today.

  It's interesting, they look a lot like dandelions or similar weeds.  Also, they have a red taproot.

These are interesting plants.  I bet that taproot will give them good drought tolerance.   It's a good thing I didn't wait longer to plant them.   I planted four in a large container, and three in the ground in the meditation garden.  

Getting Dahlias Started Again. 5.9.22

 Last fall I dug up the dahlia tubers, pruned off the tops, let them dry out, and stored in boxes of peat moss over the winter, in the unheated, attached garage.  I gave the boxes of peat moss a little water during the winter but not much.  Maybe once or twice.

Today I got them out.  The actually look pretty good, and are starting to sprout.

I used a pruning saw to split a couple of them in half.  It's hard to have any finesse about it, because the tubers are all packed in there together.

Then I planted three of them.  My neighbor says that deer don't eat hers.  I don't know.  I planted the first three in  the blackberry enclosure, which has the room.  I might plant others in the open as a test,

Cookies And Biscuits. 5.7.2022

 I bought a "vintage" Sunbeam Mixmaster cookbook.  Actually two of them.  This one was from the late 1950s, and is between my mom's oldest and newest mixers in age.

That cookbook doesn't have as many recipes, but I feel certain many of them were what my mom used.  There was a biscuit recipe, so I made some.  Before making them, I couldn't really remember her making them.  But then, as I made them, seeing them coming together in the mixer, feeling the texture of the biscuit dough, smelling the aroma of dough and the baked biscuits, it all came rushing back to me.  This was a very nice thing to feel again.

I also made a batch of ginger snaps.  Before I took this photo, about 2/3 of the biscuits were eaten.

I made a mistake and used the wrong flour (bread flour)  for these - accidental.  So the might not have been as light as they could have been.  Plus, I added 1/2 teaspoon of butter extract to the dough.  I think she would have used plain shortening.  The brand she used was "Fluffo" (How do I remember that, LOL).

 Another difference is that old shortenings contained trans hydrogenated vegetable oils, which probably contributed to her incredibly high cholesterol levels, her early heart disease and then dementia, so had a role in why I lost her so soon.  So it's good we don't have the trans hydrogenated shortening any more, but that might change the texture and flavor a bit.  

Those biscuits were very good anyway, and a lot better than corporate factory biscuits in cans.

This is the other Sunbeam Mixmaster cookbook.  That mixer is exactly the last one my mom had.   It has a lot more recipes, but a quite a lot them are meat based.  I don't eat meat, but the others look good.

I remember that exact cookie press too.   I think there will be what are now called "Spritz" cookies one of these days too LOL.  Funny, the ones on the cover don't look as appetizing as they ate in person.  Maybe it's the old photography and inks, and fading.

Edit - Yes it was Fluffo.  Internet sourced vintage ad -

I want to say I even remember the can, but I think it was way before my time.   Maybe they didn't change the label much over the years?