North Country Reflections

Oh… the difference a day makes!

Last Monday, just four days ago now, the old snow on the trails around here was thoroughly pock-marked by humans.

But on my daily walk with our three-legged dog Bruno around the little mountain behind our house, in addition to the human footprints, I would also note the tracks of many four-legged creatures, as well those of a couple of wild turkeys, demonstrating that we are not alone in the forest.

As they walk, turkeys place one foot directly in front of the other, slightly dragging a toe as they go.  So a single bird leaves a track in the snow that resembles a row of arrowheads strung along by a slender thread.

Fresh snow is transformational

But, by Tuesday morning, several inches of fresh snow had completely obliterated all  yesterday’s tracks. As I set out with Bruno to walk once more around the mountain, this time under a brilliant blue sky it was like a new world.

No people had marked the snow.  But, crossing the trail, a few tracks told of animals who had been out and about in the past twelve hours.

There were tiny tracks, like pairs of little prick marks in the snow with a line down the middle—field-mice no doubt, scurrying to and from their homes at the base of the trees. I also saw some smallish footprints, possibly a bob-cat, and larger tracks, most likely a fox.

Turkeys on the march

And then, around the backside of the mountain, I came across an amazing sight: the very recent tracks from a stampede of birds, that completely filled the ten-foot wide ski trail. A large flock of turkeys, probably about twenty birds in all, had apparently come up the hill out of the ravine to my right, and for about fifty yards along the ski trail had marched together, seemingly in lock-step. Then, bird by bird, they peeled off the trail and back down into the shelter of the ravine.

Turkeys love crabapples

So I know it won’t be long before turkeys appear in the garden in search of a winter treat from our crabapple trees.

Just outside the kitchen door a diminutive Sargent Crab apple (Malus sargentii) grows in the center of the herb garden.

Its branches are just a few feet up off the ground and any turkey, standing tall and stretching its out neck, can easily reach most of its persistent fruit.

A few year’s back we took the top picture of these very regular visitors to our back door.

Our Snowdrift crabapple by the pond also attracts the turkeys with its yummy winter fruit. This is a larger tree and its branches cannot be reached from the ground by a turkey. However as winter wears on, its fruit will eventually drop off, and is quickly eaten by the birds below.

And it is always fun to watch the most daring turkeys fly up into the branches where, ever so precariously, they stretch their necks out as far as they can to reach every last morsel, even right to the tips of the branches.

The holly family…Ilex… is a large and familiar genus—over 400 species of trees and shrubs that inhabit woodlands in many parts of the world.

The holly of my youth was the ‘Christmas card’ holly— spiny, evergreen leaves and fat red berries.  I can still remember the huge holly bushes in my parent’s garden—presumably they were the English Holly, Ilex aquifolium.  As a child I felt they exuded a somewhat gloomy look and I disliked the prickly dead leaves that collected beneath them.

Most evergreen hollies— including smaller varieties like China Girl (and its counterpart China Boy) and the Blue Holly (Ilex meserveae)— are not hardy in much of northern New England.  And in Zone 5—the limit of their hardiness—they need a sheltered spot to avoid winter burn.

But New England’s Winterberry is different

The winterberry, (Ilex verticillata), is also member of the Ilex family. It is native to New England and, with its bright red berries, makes a great addition to our winter gardens.

Unlike other Ilex species,  Winterberries are deciduous…

…which means, as a defense against our much colder winters, in early November, all winterberry bushes drop their leaves, leaving each branch decorated with an amazingly abundant crop of berries.

The berries are a rich source of food for the birds, and surely a wonderful symbol of the season for us humans.

Wild winterberries

At this time of year I slow down at the sight of the huge colony of wild winterberries—also known as Black Alder—growing in a boggy spot at the side of Vermont Route 73, just east of Brandon.

Black alder grow in damp spots throughout New England.  Most of the year they are just a tangled jumble of nondescript-looking bushes, but in November and December they become laden with bright red berries.

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Taming the jumble:

winterberries in the garden

Winterberries also make beautiful garden plants, although we probably would not want such messy-looking jumble as you see along the road in anything but the wildest corner of our gardens.

So plant breeders have worked to develop a range of elegant garden-sized cultivars.

Winterberries are slow growing…but eventually most cultivars will spread to 8 foot high and wide or more…so space your plants accordingly!!

And it is important to remember that most species of Ilex are dioecious, meaning that the male and female flowers are borne on different plants. So, for your female bushes to set fruit, you need a compatible male variety that flowers at the same time.

A winterberry hedge

I wanted to create an informal hedge around the corner of the driveway where we park our cars. So,  ten years ago now, I planted six ‘Winter Red’ female plants, eight feet apart, as an L-shaped hedge.

‘Winter Red’ flowers in June, and in the angle between the two sides, I added a single compatible male plant, ‘Southern Gentleman’, that also flowers in June.

Today the bushes take up plenty of space. They have spread out, low to the ground, in a wide vase shape about ten feet across, and stand about eight feet tall in the center.

For a small garden the cultivar ‘Red Sprite’—which grows about three feet high and wide—is an excellent choice. But I feel a single ‘Red Sprite’ on its own looks somewhat puny, so I plant them in groups, along with one compatible male, which in this case is ‘Jim Dandy’.

The controlling gardener!

Most gardening is, to a greater or lesser extent, about exerting partial control over nature. I generally like things to be a bit orderly and tidy and, even though I may want my gardens to be ‘wildlife friendly’, I sometimes resent wild creatures helping themselves to all the fruits of my labors.

Shapely shrubs…

a gardener’s delight

I love to see attractive shapes in the garden. So I select shrubs that will have simple silhouettes and further enhance them with careful pruning.

Most winterberry cultivars are inherently more elegant and shapely, and less inclined to put out myriad suckers, than the plants growing in the wild along the side of the road.

And their basic shapes can be further enhanced by careful pruning and removing unwanted suckers.

I still enjoy this sight of the arching silhouettes of our winterberry bushes in late winter, even though the berries are gone.

The battle of the robins

But nothing beats the picture of the brilliant red winterberry fruit against the snow.

Thus I feel especially protective of the berries on the bushes closest to the house.

Unfortunately, in early November, the robins gather in large flocks, eager to fill their bellies in preparation for their coming migration.

Many years a flock of robins will discover my winterberries and, over the course of five days, strip the bushes clean.

The robins are more than welcome to partake of winterberries growing near our pond, but I draw the line at those around the house.

However, scaring off a crowd of determined thieving robins can be a quite challenge, and over the years I have tried a number of different approaches:

I started by tying paper plates —with round ‘eyes’ painted in the middle– to the bushes.

Then I set fake owl on a post in the middle of the bushes.

After that I floated  ‘Evil Eye‘ balloons above the bushes.

Nothing worked.

So this year we turned to NOISE MAKERS.

Banging a yogurt container against a garbage can lid certainly sent the robins flying….but I still had to run outside each time they returned.

 

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And then Dick had the brilliant idea of activating the car horn remotely from the house!!

AND FINALLY SUCCESS….

The car horn is now our remote-controlled bird scarer.

And I get to feel like the ultimate control freak!!!

Kale is a most excellent garden crop for places…like Vermont…where we have cool summers and a short growing season. Kale matures in about 55 days from the time when seedlings are put in the ground, it does not require copious heat to grow well, and it is relatively pest free.
And, best of all, kale is extremely good for you.

The flavor of kale actually improves after a frost, and the plants will keep on smiling even after being inundated by snow. So, providing you do not anticipate nighttime temperatures dipping below about 20°F, you can leave your kale in the garden to ‘cut and come again’ as you need.

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Kale is versatile in the kitchen…

…and it freezes well too.

After washing the leaves, removing the stems and chopping it coarsely, I like to blanch a good amount of kale at one time.  Put it in a sealed container, and it will last for several days in the fridge, and any excess stores well the freezer.
In addition to making a whole dish out of the kale (see below) I will pop a smaller amount into soups and stews a few minutes before serving, and I like to add it to gratins and pasta dishes.

Braised mushrooms and kale

Here is a favorite way to prepare kale for two people…with many thanks to Martha Rose Shulman for the genesis of this recipe.

• 1 tablespoon oil (canola and/or olive)
• 1/4 onion finely chopped
• 3-4 ounces of mushrooms, coarsely chopped
• 1 apple, peeled, cored and coarsely chopped
• Optionally: 1 apple, peeled and cored
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 leaves of fresh sage, chopped
• 3- 4 ounces of blanched kale
• 1 0unce of sun-dried tomatoes, sliced
• 1 ounce of raisins
• Optionally: 1 ounce of walnuts, chopped
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 ounces of feta or goat cheese, crumbled

In a medium-sized frying-pan, saute the onion until translucent. Add the mushrooms and apple. Continue cooking, stirring from time to time, over a medium heat until the mushrooms start to brown and the apple is soft.

Add the garlic and sage, raisins and nuts, sun-dried tomatoes, salt and pepper.  Stir over a low heat until fragrant. Add the white wine and simmer until most of the liquid is evaporated.

Add the kale (and a small amount of water if needed)  and let everything cook gently for about 10 minutes.

Stir in the goat cheese. Serve over pasta or polenta and sprinkle with a little Parmesan cheese.

Varieties of kale

Over the years I have grown three basic types of kale: curly, lacinato and Red Russian, a smooth variety with big leaves. The first two are common in the markets, but the red Russian less so.  And since Dick is less fond of the curly kinds, for the past two years I have grown just the lacinato and Russian red types in the garden.

And of these two I find the Red Russian carries on later in the colder weather, and caterpillars seem to like it less.

And Russian kale is a good-looking plant in the garden too. I have seen it grown among flowers to great effect. So if you like the idea of mixing a few veggies among your flowers here is one to start you off.

If I had to limit myself to a single variety, it would definitely be the Red Russian. In the spring seedlings can often be found at local garden centers and farmer’s market. And, for the grow-it-yourself-from-scratch gardener, Johnny’s Seeds of Maine, carries seeds

‘EAT MORE KALE’ and Bo Muller-Moore

Just as I had finished writing this post i heard about Bo Muller-Moore who lives in Montpelier, Vermont. From his home he runs the ultimate small business, creating hand-silk-screened,  T-Shirts from organic cotton, which he sells through the Internet.  He is man after my own heart, since his signature design simply proclaims  EAT MORE KALE.

But.unbelievable as it may sound, Bo is currently being hounded by a big bully of a company from Atlanta that sells fast-food chicken and claims that he is infringing on their copyrighted phrase of Eat Mor Chikin. However, like many other people, I fail to see any connection between fast-food chicken and wholesome kale. And now even Governor Shumlin has come to his defense, in a move which has been heard around the world.

Check it out Bo’s website and maybe you will feel moved to support him by buying some of his T-shirts as a gift for your ‘favorite somebody’ this season.

 

It is the last week in November and yet, in a sputtering sort of way, the gardening season continues on.

For me, winter has really arrived when the ground freezes solid and stays that way until next April.

So far this year we have had a couple of cold spells, where the temperatures dropped to about 20° F and the ground froze down a few inches, only to have this long run of ‘unseasonably warm’ weather into late November where everything has softened up again.

In all the time we have lived in Vermont (16 years) I do not remember the ground being still soft at the end of November.  Last year it was fully frozen by mid-November and in prior years by the first week in November. Climate change is surely coming, and as gardeners we will need to adapt many of our long-term strategies.

However, looking to the short term, for the past six weeks I have continued to harvest the remainder of this year’s crops and been able  to ready the garden for the year to come….my version of ‘making hay while the sun shines‘!

 

In the vegetable garden…

…the kale and leeks are still growing directly in the ground, plus there are carrots and spinach in the cold frames, producing fresh vegetables for the kitchen.

The remaining beds are weeded and covered with newspaper and hay, in preparation for spring planting.

The fall-bearing raspberry plants are pruned.

For fall bearing raspberries I remove the smaller canes all the way to the ground,  but I prune just the top third from the stoutest canes. These will provide fruit during the summer next year, even as the plants put out new canes that will bear fruit later in the season.

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Manure is spread under the fruit bushes

I was delighted to pick up some nicely-aged manure—a welcome gift from my neighbor  Kinna Öhman and her menagerie of cows, sheep and lama—and spread around it under all the fruit bushes in the long perimeter bed.

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Indoors…

… leaves from the sage, rosemary and bay-laurel plants, now wintering in the greenhouse, brighten our everyday soups and stews. And, down in the basement, squash and garlic await their destiny in the kitchen.

And in the flower beds…

…I have been taking full advantage of the warm weather, cutting back perennials, weeding and generally re-arranging things in preparation for next spring.

Reflections

The weather have had in Vermont this November is actually the way I remember winters in England as a child.

There, despite the short, dark and oftentimes rainy days, the weather for gardeners was actually quite benign.  And my father, like other proper English gardeners, would continue working outdoors for much of the winter, weeding his beds and nurturing his beloved roses, most especially pruning them and spreading manure around their roots. He would be so happy to see my fruit bushes!

But now my family back in England is fretting about the way their climate is changing before their eyes. They tell me that the weather in both summer and winter is becoming positively ‘Mediterranean’.

And certainly gardeners may enjoy the idea of extending the gardening season. But warmer winters are ushering other less benign changes into New England…such as the northerly spread of  Lyme disease ticks and certain plant destroying insects….certainly not something that any of us would desire.

Gardens are built on the past. In large part, the garden we enjoy today is determined by what we did months or even years ago. And likewise:

what we do in the garden today sets the table for the garden of the tomorrow.

With this in mind I would like to suggest that:

Late fall is the perfect time to ready your kitchen garden for spring.

I well know that if I miss this opportunity in October and November, I must wait until the ground is both unfrozen and warm enough to work in spring…usually about mid-May in the mountains.

And, come May, all too often I find reality thwarts my best intentions.

In Vermont the weather in May can be quite chilly, sometimes raining for days on end.  And on the days when the sun is out I am off helping clients with THEIR gardens.  So by the time June arrives all the weeds are growing mightily and definitely winning the war.

Last fall (2010) we were blessed with a long spell of mild weather that lasted until Thanksgiving, and to my great satisfaction I was able to prepare my entire vegetable garden.

And this past summer (2011) my efforts were rewarded with the most wonderfully productive and essentially weed-free garden.

My ‘fall clean-up recipe’ for the kitchen garden

In my four-square kitchen garden I like to work on one bed at a time. I always start with the four center beds where I will be growing my annual crops. As time permits I move on to the perimeter bed and maybe even prune the fruit bushes while I am at it.

Here is my recipe. And what you don’t complete this fall can be finished off next spring.

Gather your ingredients:

• Compost (from your compost pile or elsewhere), reasonably well aged and mixed
• A big stack of  old newspapers (NO colored sections)
• Mulch hay…I find 8 bales of hay will cover my four center beds (approximately 500 square feet)

And follow these simple steps:

1. Cut and remove any ANNUAL weeds that are setting seed. (You can leave any that do not have seed heads)
2. Remove ALL PERENNIAL weeds…dandelions, field grasses and the like.  Do this carefully, being sure to get out the whole root system; otherwise next summer the offending weed will surely return to haunt you.
3. Spread up to four inches of  compost over the whole surface of the bed.
4. Using a garden fork, gently incorporate the compost into the top few inches of soil and rake it smooth.
5. Cover the whole bed with six layers of newspaper…overlapping the sections somewhat.  If you use boards for a path, tuck the newspaper under them too.  If the wind insists on blowing the newspaper about, douse it with water to keep it in place.
6. Cover the bed with several inches of hay .

Hay as mulch??

Hay is readily available from the farms around here and many of us use it as a mulch for our veggie gardens. But I do like to check that hay I am getting was cut young enough so that it does not contain visible seed heads from field grasses or other undesirables.

Why the newspaper??

The purpose of the newsprint, which will still be reasonably intact next summer, is to keep the LIGHT away from the soil and prevent the ANNUAL weed seeds that live in the soil from germinating.

Next spring: reap the benefits!

If you follow this late fall ritual, a bed can sit without any further attention until YOU are ready to plant it out. No more worrying about the race against time and the weeds.

Select the time that is just right for any particular crop…. for instance: peas in April, salad greens and spinach in early May, beans, tomatoes and squash on Memorial Day!

To plant individual seedlings: where you will be planting just pull the hay back a little,  cut a hole through the newspaper and plop your seedling into the nice fluffy soil beneath. Water well and reposition the mulch around it.

To plant a row of seeds: first  pull the hay back a few inches along the entire length of the row. Now cut a slot in the newspaper and plant your seeds.

For the heat-lovers: If you are concerned that the mulch is preventing the soil from warming up enough for crops like tomatoes, just pull the entire mulch sandwich to one side for a week or so to expose the soil to the sun.  After you actually get around to planting, pull everything all back around your plants to stop the annual weeds from getting a foothold.

What could be easier??!!