Instant Bonsai's Gonna Get You

I went to a barn sale this past Friday and was lucky enough to come home with a few treasures. I didn't really go looking for them, but they found me - a couple of vintage metal bonsai sculptures. They are really quite beautiful, each in their own way.

One, with jade-like leaves, white glass flowers and a small bird's nest is charming. The other, made of twisted wire, is stark but striking in it's simplicity. I feel a collection coming on . . . 

What I was looking for and have been for some time now, is a good deal on a wooden garden bench for a section of yard I've cleared and would like to make into a sitting area. I feel like I have been literally everywhere looking for that elusive bench. Today, I ended up in Kmart (yes, they still exist), to see if they had any clearance outdoor furniture (and maybe a wooden bench tucked into the back corner of the garden center). Alas, no benches, but as usual, ever the sucker for all things green, I made my way out to the discount perennial section. What did I see? A cute little juniper, with a bit of a lean to it. Bonsai on the brain, and a little cash burning a hole in my pocket, the little three-dollar juniper comes home. A couple of snips later, pot it up, and instant bonsai!

OK - you bonsai aficionados out there know that a few cuts do not a bonsai make. First off, after talking to the fine people of the Bonsai Society of Greater New Haven http://www.angelfire.com/art/bonsaict/index.html a week ago at an outdoor event (and my bonsai fever is all their fault), you really don't want to start with a dwarf plant (as this one is). And there are all sorts of special wiring, planting mediums, bonsai pots (pots? there's got to be a better bonsai-sounding word than that). Not to mention incredible patience. See? I have a lot to learn. And a place I just might visit next is: http://www.shantibithi.com/ one of the nation's premier bonsai growers/importers. Nice - it's in the area (broadly speaking) and they have classes too.

But for now, my little juniper will satisfy my craving. Hmm . . . now where did I keep that garden wire and those pliers? Look out, little juniper. You are about to become my latest experiment.

July Fourth Travels - You Never Know What You'll Find!

Athens? California? Newport? Think Again . . .

Itching to get out and explore somewhere different, we took the opportunity of a day off to take a little road trip on the Fourth of July.  Heading north on I-95 along the shoreline, it wasn't long before we hit major holiday traffic slow-downs. So we jumped off onto Route 1 and while the trip was longer, we had a nice ride through such scenic towns as Guilford, Madison, Old Saybrook, Old Lyme (to name a few).  In a nutshell, quintessential New England charm.

We passed a few state park entrances along the way (Hammonasset Beach, Rocky Neck), but no stopping there. No room at the inn on this Independence Day (parking lots were full).  But these were not our destinations anyhow - we had somewhere else in mind.

Late last October, we had stopped at another park on our way home from the Mystic/Stonington area (which is a whole blog post on it's own). It was near dusk, and the park was closing, but we were able to take a quick drive in and I got a few beautiful photos with the sun setting behind some silhouetted trees. I knew I would return one day - and this was that day.

Harkness Memorial State Park. There - the secret's out. This park is what the word "magnificent" was invented for. Located in Waterford, CT near the Eugene O'Neill Theatre, it is a little ways off the beaten path (not as many signs to this park as to the others; the parking lot was thankfully not full either).  A little bit Newport RI (think mansions), spectacular gardens (ala Frederick Law Olmsted, but instead by acclaimed garden architect Beatrix Farrand), with lawns that stretch forever down to a pristine shoreline, beaches, conservation areas (plovers nesting); we were practically speechless. All this for six bucks (the resident price after 4:00pm). Out of staters pay a bit more, but I am telling you - it is worth it.

Parking Camping Fees - CT State Parks

 The photos I took represent just a sampling of the sites you'll see. To top it off, the State of Connecticut is refurbishing the beautiful greenhouse on the property (the work looks to be nearing completion and it too should be amazing). Now that's taxpayer spending I can approve of. The recent budget cuts to the state parks are however sadly evident here too - parts of the gardens surrounding the Harkness mansion are quite overgrown with weeds / vines (it was all I could do to keep myself from jumping in and yanking them out)! But even that didn't diminish the sheer wonder at what we saw.

In total we spent about three hours rambling through the park with our jaws dropping. We vowed to return again this summer - but this time with blankets, coolers and some good friends to share the magnificent day.

An Update on the Vegetable Garden . . .

I've had a few requests to post some recent pictures on how the vegetable garden is evolving, so here they are! I finally settled on staining the gate to match our deck. I used a really great non-toxic stain that uses natural mineral pigments instead of dyes and no formaldehyde or other toxic ingredients called DuroStain by Safecoat. Unfortunately, you can't find this at your local Home Depot; I found it at the Center for Green Building in Bridgeport CT: http://www.centerforgreenbuilding.com/

 

I added a little decoration to the gate; a metal honey bee to pay homage to these most necessary workers in the garden. Plus, I like how it looks against the honeycomb pattern of the chicken wire:

The veggies are starting to really pop; some rain and then warm days following have finally caused the cucumber plants to take off in earnest. Baby squash are appearing; I picked the first sugar peas yesterday. By now, the kale is old hat (not that I'm complaining); it's been producing it's nutrient-rich leaves for about a month now.

Here come the zucchini!!!

Oregon Sugar Pods - they taste amazing!

the kale is coming in strong as always . . .

Amongst the veggies, I planted a new variety of nasturtiums - "Alaska Variegated" to add a different look to the garden this year.  I'm excited to see these plants mature and their jewel-colored flowers appear:

In addition, we have a couple of tomato plants, collards (try wrapping a banana in a collard leaf - tasty and nutritious!), lettuce, garlic chives and cilantro. I'm planting some extra-dwarf pak choy this weekend. So the garden is well on it's way of providing us with some really good (organic) eating this summer.

Flippin' For Flea Markets!

Flea Market Flip Taping at One of the Vendor's Booths

It's hard to resist a good flea market on a late Spring day; we had the good fortune of perusing the wares at the Elephant's Trunk Flea Market in New Milford CT last weekend. In addition to all the usual antiques and collectables the vendors bring, they happened to be shooting a few episodes of HGTV's Flea Market Flip that day on the grounds. 

We watch the show, so it was kind of neat to see the process, and to see the host Lara Spencer (you may know her from Good Morning America, or the Oscars Red Carpet etc). Anyway, evidently she's a big flea market/antiques/yard sale buff (you may even remember her from Antiques Roadshow some years back), and she seems genuinely nice, down-to-earth in person. 

Host Lara Spencer Chats With Spectators . . .

But we don't go to flea markets for Hollywood excitement; we go for the goodies! These days, I'm usually shopping for outdoor items, gardening stuff and lately, illustration art for inspiration.  A few flea market rules - go early (gates open at 7am), wear comfy shoes and sunscreen, be prepared to get dusty, make a few passes (you always miss things the first time through) and most of all have fun! 

The Elephant's Trunk Flea has a bit of everything, from antiques to mid-century modern, kitschy collectables, weird and wonderful, plants and veggies, etc. You name it, you can probably find it there:

http://www.etflea.com/_/Home.html

Among our finds were some very pretty original greeting card illustrations (we picked a few out of a virtual boxload). These appear to be done in gouache, and are small - they were done in actual size to fit on a greeting card:

 And I was able snag a couple of garden-related things too - a handmade birdhouse (one of a collection to go on top of my trellis), a wrought-iron plant hanger, and a hose holder (which was a steal at five bucks. I saw the exact same one new at Lowe's for $29.95 later that day).

 So it was a pretty good day all around.  The appeal of the Flea is hard to resist; we will definitely be back at least a few more times this season. Thanks to global warming (or so it appears), the Elephant's Trunk now runs every Sunday (weather-permitting) through the first week of December, so there's plenty more opportunities to search for hidden treasures at the Trunk!

Things That Go Bump In the Night

Last night I awoke at about 3:00 am, only to find Bill already awake. "I heard some noises outside, but I couldn't determine where they were coming from," he said.  Always up for a challenge (well, not really, but I was up  - that counts, right?) I decided to go investigate.

First stop - the bathroom. The window overlooks our deck, so it's always a good place to start. I close the door quietly, leave the light off, and gently pull the blinds up. AHA! Smack in the middle of my view is a youngish-looking raccoon, hurriedly rushing across the top of the railing. I don't think he knew he'd been caught yet, because he hopped down on the deck floor and headed towards me and the window.

"Bill - come see this!" I shout excitedly (maybe a little too loud) and he rushes in, iPad in hand (yes, it's still 3 am, by the way). I point to the window, but of course by now the raccoon has slipped from view, and Bill has come precariously close to dropping his iPad into the open toilet bowl. He catches it just in time - crisis averted! Not enough excitement to keep him occupied, however, he heads back to sleep, but not before saying we should do something to scare the raccoon away. 

I take up the gauntlet, head to the back door, and raccoon still milling about, I proceed to rattle the screen door as loudly as possible. This startles the raccoon greatly (and probably all my neighbors within a mile radius too) and it quickly scampers away down the steps and into oblivion.

I turn around and head towards the kitchen window to see if I can catch a fleeting glimpse of it (literally moments later); instead, there now sits our neighbor's cat in the driveway, totally relaxed and looking back at me, right in the path of where the raccoon just scampered! And I always thought that cat was shacking up with the groundhog; now it appears he's hanging out with the raccoons, too!

The scene of the crime the morning after . . .

 A few hours later in bright daylight heading out the door to work, I see the full effect of the night's events. Seems the raccoon had pulled down one of my birdhouses and proceeded to do terrible things (that explains all the ruckus Bill was hearing). So now, one of this weekend's chores will be to hang the birdhouse somewhere less raccoon-accessible.

We should be thankful it was just a raccoon; I had read an article that same night about how bears now number in the hundreds in Connecticut. That's all we need, a bear on the back porch! We've had about everything else, so it's probably only a matter of time. I can just see it now, Monty the Cat riding bareback on some grizzly through my vegetable garden. UGHHHH!

YAY! The Fence is Done!!!!

The groundhog fence is up . . .

In the last few weeks, we finally finished installing the fence around our vegetable garden, finished adding the mowing strip pavers, and completed the mulch pathways which fill in the interior of the plot. There were a lot of stones encountered along the way; I have them piled up around the edges for now, but I think I may have other plans for them. Plus, installing these pavers was the equivalent of doing four hours' worth of chair-squats, so needless to say, I was walking a bit funny the week after they went in (ouch)!

We now have an awfully nice garden gate too, thanks to my husband Bill's fabulous handiwork. It is lined with chicken wire to keep out our little furry friends:

. . . and the gate is doing it's job!

And if you look closely to the picture above, you can see baby kale and collard plants in the raised bed - our first crop to christen the newly-upgraded garden!

I'm thinking of painting the gate and posts a dark green, mainly because we opted for non pressure-treated posts (due to possible chemical leaching into the ground). Going au naturale will for certain shorten the lifespan of these components. Painting them will afford a bit more protection than leaving them unfinished, and also make them blend in more with the surrounding fence and flora. Or maybe staining them, or maybe painting them a contrasting color . . . as you can see, I'm still on the fence (ha ha) with this decision.

In the end, this was a bigger project than I think either of us thought it would be. But we were fortunate in that we planned fairly well, measuring and buying just enough materials to complete our project (through sheer luck, the wire fence spool was literally the exact amount needed to completely enclose the plot).

And (of course), we haven't seen that groundhog since we first broke ground some weeks back. But I have no doubt that he will return the moment I forget to close the gate. So I suppose it was all worth it in the end . . . and I'm not talking about the chair squats, either!

The Whole Fence Thing In Progress . . .

Another Sunday working on the vegetable garden. .  .

We finished digging out all the soil we planned (or, frankly, could physically take out. There comes a point where you just go, "I'm done with this," right)? We were able to get the fence up, in preliminary fashion. It's not all fastened yet; but at least we get a visual. I can tell you it's TALL.

A few changes to the original plan - we decided to go with pavers as a mowing edge around the fence. We're three-quarters of the way done with them. They aren't perfect, they're a little wonky, but HEY, we did them ourselves. I'm pretty sure Martha Stewart isn't out there laying pavers anymore.

We're still trying to figure out how to do a gate. I'm tentatively planning on building one myself (unless of course, I have another "I'm done with this" day and decide to go and find a ready-made one. I'm fighting the urge).

The other change is a big one. We're going to use mulch instead of stone for the interior paths. First off, stone is pretty darn expensive. And labor-intensive. And heavy (see the "I'm done" part above). Plus, I've been reading comments on the internets from people who totally regretted putting in stone, as once you commit to it, there is basically never the possibility of getting rid of it should you change your mind down the road (as in, hmm, I don't think I'm done here after all). Plus, they complain that the weeds still make there way into the paths, and they are even more difficult to pull. And while the pavers help with keeping the stone from migrating into the surrounding lawn, I happen to have a freakishly strong gravitational pull to my head, which seems to attract basketballs, baseballs and stray stones flying up while I mow the lawn. So you see, I just can't take the chance of putting an eye out. SO, mulch it is!!!!

Then there was the debate over landscape fabric. The consensus is that it doesn't really prevent weeds from popping up, either. And it's not an approved material for an organic gardener; it's made from petroleum and can possibly leach into the soil when it breaks down after many years. So, I shall say no thank you to landscape fabric.

I did learn that newspaper is a certified-organic material to place as a weed barrier as or under mulch (only the black and white pages though - no glossy color ads, magazine pages or that god-awful USA Today color rag), so that's what I think I'll do. You do have to replace it yearly, along with replenishing some of the mulch which, as an organic material, will break down too. So that digital edition of the NYT you're reading will do you no good in the garden. Please support your local newspaper, if just for the composting:-)

So next weekend is the home stretch - a couple more posts to go up, set the rest of the pavers, a gate, and the mulch. THEN it will be time for the vegetables (I almost forgot about them)! How embarrassing. Stay tuned . . .