A little friend

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Isn't he (or is it a she?) adorable? I found the tiniest of toads hopping around in my garden recently. Barely the size of my fingernail, I'm sure it will grow and help consume the bugs I don't like out there. He joins the other toads I've seen out there- some much, much bigger, some medium sized ones. They even hop up the steps and onto the deck looking for bugs to eat.
Late spring nights I can hear them singing in the weedy edges of the yard- I'm not far from a small lake- it's a sweet sound of one toad calling to another, looking for love. As a friend so nicely put it: "It's all about the nooky."

Summer Flowers

I am really enjoying my little gardens this year. The above photo is of the herb garden outside my back door. With easy access to the kitchen, I can run out quickly and grab something to add to the evening meal or breakfast omelet. Last year's pineapple sage survived the winter snuggled in close to the house, and looks really healthy there in the back. Chives, lemon thyme, rosemary, basil, sage, plus lavender and some catmint for scent and color round out the herbs, along with some nasturtiums and pansies to add to a salad.

I love to decorate my garden with old furniture and impliments. The chair above sits alongside the parking area and holds a lovely mixed planter. My favorite blue lobelia, and a pretty coral pelargonium fill out the barely visible cobalt blue pot.

I can't tell you how many generations of impatiens I've grown from seed collected each year from plants I've started in the house. I never tire of saving the seeds, starting them in March, and patiently waiting to see what surprising colors show up each summer. Coral swirl is my favorite color, and there's one I'm especially fond of with spatters of dark burgundy on a coral background- very unusual!

Green Gardening- Making use of Recyclables

Take a good look at this planter- it's an old chair, rescued from the trash, it's upholstery removed and replaced with chicken wire, a coir insert, and a terrific combination of bloomers!

The following is an article written by a guest blogger- you never know who you might meet on the internet, eh? Some great points are made, reinforcing the things we already know as Master Gardeners, ideas we can use, and things we learned about starting seeds outdoors at last month's meeting using recycled materials.

There isn’t a better way to enjoy the warm springtime weather while making a difference on the environment than with indoor or outdoor gardening. Not only are we adding a little bit of green to our home but we’re also lowering the demand for non-organic vegetables and herbs by starting our own supply of fresh food for our cooking and eating enjoyment. Once you take up gardening, you’ll soon find that you can make the space around your outdoor furniture even greener by taking up eco-friendly practices such as using recycled materials to aid in the growth of your garden and by creating a nutritious compost pile.

One of the easiest ways to get started on living a greener life is by creating a compost pile in a backyard area from grass clippings and dry leaves produced from past seasons. Compost piles benefit your garden by providing an organic fertilizer filled with an abundance of minerals and nutrients that will nourish your organic garden and allow you to recycle waste from your kitchen. Used coffee grounds and tea leaves can be added to your damp mulch pile and are the perfect addition to plants that thrive off of acid-based fertilizers. Adding sheets or shreds of old newspaper around your plants will help with weed control as this material decomposes and becomes part of your nutritious garden soil.

If you’re looking to get your garden growing, there are a number of materials that are normally thrown out in the trash but can actually be used to house seedlings for a young garden that is just starting out. Plastic yogurt containers as well as milk and egg cartons provide a great space for transplanting new seeds and plants while you’re getting your soil ready. If your garden is well underway and you’re looking for a way to use recycled materials, try tying old pantyhose or T-shirt strips around metal or wood gardening posts to keep your tomato plants upright and growing strong. Also, add a charming aesthetic by building a small walkway with reused pieces of concrete or stone leading to or through your beautiful garden.

New Garden Coach Directory

It's a cold crisp day and I'm impatiently waiting for spring here, trying to figure out what to write about for this month. Well, sometimes the subject comes easily, and sometimes, like today, it just pops up! I no sooner opened this document when an e-mail arrived in my computer with an update to a site I joined a few weeks ago- The Garden Coach Directory ( http://gardencoachdirectory.wetpaint.Com/ ). It's a new version of the site I joined a couple of years ago that had grown to be too big for it's originator to handle. I've written about it before on my blog (August 3, 2007), set up a web site, and have even had a few clients since then.

As Master Gardeners we provide a valuable service to the public- educating, volunteering, caring for our environment, and hands on gardening efforts to show people the value of gardening as a whole. With the economy in such turmoil this year, I believe that there will be many people interested in learning how to grow their own food, and to care for their own landscapes and gardens as well as the environment as a means to conserve their own resources and even to nurture their own souls. We are all in a position to help them learn to do that.

There are a few ways to teach people about gardening available to us as members of the MGAWC. One is the tried and true "Let's Go Gardening" program set up years ago by Leo Blum. By volunteering on Saturdays in May at local nurseries, we can answer questions, advise on safe gardening practices as well as earn a bit of income for our organization. Another way is to direct people to the series of classes offered by our organization meant for beginning gardeners, the "Intro to Gardening" classes. Yet another is to man a booth at a local farmer's market and answer questions there. I predict that there will be a lot more people interested in taking advantage of our words of advice this year. I urge you to volunteer a few hours of your time to provide this valuable service. If that isn't enough for you, hang out a shingle as a Garden Coach as I have and provide the service right at the new gardener's home.

Visit the new Garden Coach Directory at: http://gardencoachdirectory.wetpaint.Com/ - it's growing quickly to be a valuable resource, user friendly, and a great group of gardeners all over the world dedicated to teaching about gardening. Each individual coach has their own page, listed in their home state- mine of course can be found in the great state of Michigan. It's absolutely free to join, and could be a great place to scatter your gardening expertise and help grow new gardeners.

See you in the Garden!

Ready, Set, Garden!

I don't know about you, but I've had enough of winter. Seems like every time I turned around, I was shovelling snow, and as I write this a recent warm spell with record setting temps has melted most of the snow piled up out in the yard. More snow is in the forecast for the week-end. I am so ready for spring!

It's time to rev up the grow lights, get out the seed packets picked up or ordered in the dead of winter, and load up the seed trays. Warm everything up, get the timing just right on the lights, add a bit of moisture and stand back. Within days, a miracle happens and those tiny seeds send forth a tiny root, seed leaves and then sprout their first true leaves, reaching toward the bright lights set above them.

Last year, I didn't start too many different kinds of seeds- I don't have a lot of places to garden here, so I figured that I'd just pick up a few four packs of annuals somewhere. I was sadly disappointed with the lack of variety available, and sorely missed Clyde Smith's garden center. This year, I still don't have a lot of garden space, but have picked up some of my old favorite annual seeds that I missed having last year.

There's lots of shade here, so my impatiens did very well in pots on the deck, I saved some seeds from those. Along the driveway is enough sun for a few tomatoes, herbs and sun-loving annuals. I adore the little Star White Zinnias, so I picked up a packet of seeds for those, along with some Cinnamon Basil I had a hard time finding last year. I think I have some Phlox of Sheep seeds left, I'll try to grow those again this year, last year's plants did not do well at all and I really missed their beautiful colors.

The soil here is very poor, I have my compost bins working to try to rebuild some areas. I'm hoping that the leaves I left to rot in place will also help to improve the texture of the compacted areas along the drive. I'll expand the small garden area I dug out, and make that bigger, it's sunny enough for some annuals, but not sunny enough for vegetables. Vegetables are fun to grow, and taste great, but it's hard to only grow enough for one or two people, so it's not a big deal to not have them.

It's an exciting time of year- just before Spring- there are so many possibilities, so many choices. We take all the new information we learned from our gardens last year, and apply it to this year coming up. Doesn't matter if we've gardened the same one for decades, or like me, a brand new place. Things change and evolve- sunny areas grow shady, shady areas can be suddenly sunny. Every Spring is a chance to start again, try again with Hope for a wonderful new season. Can you dig it? Are you ready?

See you in the Garden!