There's the Rain!

One of my top ten all-time favorite things is a rainy day off.  Most people complain about the "bad" weather that ruined their day, but I for one LOVE the chance to settle in for the day, with nary of pang of guilt for ignoring some outdoor task.

So, you ask, what does an urban gardener do when there's no going outside?  

She bakes, of course!

Dog biscuits,

 which Frank seems to approve of:

And whole wheat molasses bread,

which my favorite Norwegian transplant taught me to enjoy with a few thin slices of cheese (I like Gouda) and cucumber.

If you ever have a rainy day that frees you up from gardening, and want to bake something, I implore you to check out the best baking blog on the internet:

www.transplantedbaker.blogspot.com

If you can't find something appealing on Siri's blog, you may just be missing a heart.

Where's the Rain?!?

According to our favorite Scandinavian meteorologist, this weekend was to be full of rain.  So, I planned to bake, clean, and do otherwise not-always-interesting tasks for the duration. However, I woke to birds chirping, sun, and a cold breeze.  Not sure what to do, or how to proceed, I did the only thing I could.

A pot of tea on the porch:

With the dogs:

After a lovely time with my new Ceylon from my favorite Aunt, a plan was hatched!  I decided to run gardening errands, waiting for the sun to shine and make yard work more pleasant. Or at least more warm.  I have been reading about corn gluten meal as an organic pre-emergent to fight lawn nasties such as crabgrass, dandelions, and about 20 others.  Corn gluten doesn't allow seeds to take root (note, ANY seeds, so don't go applying it where you want to add your own something or other) for 5-6 weeks after applying it to lawn/garden/veg beds, etc.

After a bit more research on-line, it seemed like a good thing to try, so I headed over to one of my favorite local sustainable nurseries, Mother Earth Gardens.  They had a big stack of bagged corn gluten, so I snapped one up (they have a Blue Sky Guide coupon, all of you Twin Citians) and came home to apply to the edges of my lawn:

Why just the edges? Well, is seems that the parts of the lawn closest to concrete, asphalt, sidewalks, etc. warm up a few weeks earlier than the center of the lawn, which is key since you want to apply the corn gluten when the soil temps are around 52-55 degrees F.  As an added bonus, the corn gluten has nitrogen in it as well (about 10 percent by weight), so you get some fertilzer action out of your weed prevention. I do want to watch the amount of nitrogen added, as too much is too much, regardless of the source.  My plan is to use it sparingly and see what happens.  My lawn is not picture perfect by any means, so there's really not too much worry that I'll do much harm.

By the time I got home, with a detour to the local Ace Hardware for my precious Shake-Away squirrel deterrent, it was far too windy to do anything with corn gluten. I didn't remember the stakes I needed to finish installing my landscape edging, and I couldn't set up my rain barrel since the hardware store didn't have any cinder blocks-so I was left with very few options:

And:

It's so nice to have neighbors with fun toys!

Happy Earth Day

It couldn't have been a more idyllic Earth Day in Minneapolis.  The weather was unusually lovely for this time of year: sunny and warm with mild breezes.  Even more importantly, my sweet husband spent a part of his day off tilling the veg garden for me:

As you can see by the photo above, our urban vegetable patch is really quite small. It's about 16' x 20', and it used to be the nicest part of the lawn-but who needs grass when there's so much potential in the awesome black dirt of Minnesota? Don't let the diminutive size fool you, either-this piece of land can make trips to the farmer's market obsolete during the summer months. That is, assuming we manage everything properly and there's no plant-based disasters...

I am so excited for today's activities, it almost rivals Christmas Eve. You see, for the past month, once a week I drag out all the seed packets, eye them anxiously for half an hour, and try to figure out what I can plant, frost and snow be damned!  Common sense always prevails, but now I am justified in my seed packet mania: The time is right for planting. We're set to have an unusually warm (read 80 degrees F) day tomorrow, followed by a weekend of rain.  According to my friend, Josh, this is the perfect scenario for spring plantings. What else was there to do other than set up Command Central and enlist the husband to help plant seeds.  Luckily we love several cool-weather crops, so I am not only able to satisfy my seed packet mania, but plant things we can't wait to eat: beets, carrots, radishes, lettuces, peas, kale and spinach:

My parents gave me some Walla Walla onion sets, as well as a fistful of shallots.  So, we put the little guy to work:

In all, a super-productive way to celebrate!  We'll have to pick up some more liquid fence or garlic shake-away to discourage the biggest predator known to Minneapolis:

Welcome!

Hi, and welcome to my little blog about gardening in a city! Minneapolis, to be exact.  One of my best friends suggested I start a blog so he could keep up with what's happening on my little slice of paradise, and I took him up on the offer. Disclaimer:  I'm no professional-I just happen to have grown up in a garden-crazy household (and I swore through gritted teeth that I would NEVER do this stupid stuff when I was older) and I'm blessed with some really knowledgeable friends. I hope to share the goings-on of my gardens, and learn from all of you, too!

My husband and I live with our two dogs in a little white house (yes, there's even a white picket fence!) on the south side of town with lots of gardens scattered about. My love for plants is equally divided between edible and ornamental, so this blog will cover both. We find that we're mixing the two more and more-mostly because one thing an urban garden does not have is a lot of space. Last, but not least, Jon and I are committed to the principals of organic gardening, and while not experts by any stretch of the imagination, we hope to show how easy it is to do.

I also happen to be a chef, so if it's O.K. with you, I'll be sharing what happens once my lovelies are ripe and ready for eating, cooking, preserving and more.

Thanks for stopping by, 

Heather