Carolee's September E-Newsletter

The leaves are beginning to fall.  Birds are beginning to gather for their annual migration to warmer climates.  The air is cooler and the color in annuals intensifies in a final attempt to get pollinators to visit before the season ends with frost.  I’ve switched from iced tea to steaming mugs of hot tea as I go to the farm each day, and the extra jacket layer feels good until the sun comes out, or until I go into the greenhouse to work.  There have been days of weeding, so I’ve started several new compost bins.  My mind swirls with all the jobs that need to be completed before winter arrives.  There are still gardens to be cleaned and mulched, bulbs to be planted, cuttings to be taken, seeds to be collected and planting to be done.  A few beginning orders have been placed for the Big Barn Gift Shop and rough sketches of next spring’s displays are thickening a folder, along with lists and ideas, and tasks to be done indoors.  Fall is never as long as I’d like it to be!
     I’ve been able to visit some gardens, spend time with friends, and test lots of recipes this month.  I’ve also canned tomato juice, diced tomatoes with peppers and onions, apple pie slices, green beans, and applesauce.  I love seeing those jars on the pantry shelves.  And my house now has lots of autumn décor.  Don’t you just love the colors of fall?
     I finally pulled the purple beans and planted garlic in their place.  They were the most productive beans I’ve ever grown.  I picked them over and over again, beginning in late June with the final picking on September 23.  I’ll be sure to plant “Royal Burgundy” again next year, because I can plant them earlier than green beans.  The seeds are less prone to rot in the cold, damp soils of spring and bean beetles seem to bother them less.  They turn a lovely dark green when you cook them and have a great flavor. 
     I’ve cleaned the greenhouse, so it’s ready for the plants that need to go indoors before frost arrives, and taken lots of cuttings.  The seed catalogs have arrived, and orders have been sent off.  There are some fun, new plants that I’m going to grow for next season.  I hope you are already thinking about next year’s garden, too!    

Possible Trip to Floriade, Keukenhof, etc.
   Once every ten years, Floriade, world’s largest horticultural show is held in the Netherlands.  It’s a show I’ve always wanted to attend, after hearing glowing reports and seeing amazing photos of past shows.  The 2012 show will be held in the picturesque village of Venlo, which happens to be only thirty minutes from my family!  So, I’m going and maybe you can, too.  University of Illinois educator, Chuck Voigt is joining me in sponsoring a tour to not only the Floriade, but also the fantastic bulb/garden displays of the Keukenhof and as many other gardens and sights that we can fit into eleven days.
The trip is tentatively planned for mid-May.  If we get enough interest, we’ll begin to finalize the trip.  No cost is set yet.  If you are interested, let me know immediately.

Sunken garden at Garfield Park

GWA Conference
Last month I attended an invigorating Garden Writers of America conference, which this year was held in Indianapolis.  I was worried about professional writers and photographers visiting Indiana gardens in August, when most gardens are stressed from heat.  This year’s late planting season followed by drought made Hoosier gardening even more difficult than normal, but I only heard positive comments as we walked through garden after garden filled with beautiful plantings. Some of the highlights were the IMA gardens, several private gardens on the near Northside, Garfield Park, and the Wishard Slow Food Garden (see below.)  We also visited the gardens at the Eastman Lilly House, which have never been on a public tour before.  I skipped the final day of touring, which visited the White River Botanic Gardens, since I’m often there.
     One of the best things about the conference is networking with other garden writers, bloggers, and speakers.  I spent time with lots of “old” friends and made many new ones.
     The informative sessions were inspiring.  The keynote speaker was Stephen Orr, former editor of House & Garden magazine and current editor for Martha Stewart Living.  There were several sessions explaining the newest technology available, classes to help hone writing skills, and introductions to new trends and plants.  The trade show was overflowing with new plant introductions, and we were given many plants, garden tools and products to test that are not even available on the market yet.  I came home and immediately began re-doing many of my gardens!  Next year’s conference will be held in Tucson, AZ.

Wishard Slow Food Garden
      Part of the GWA conference was a visit to the “Slow Food” Garden at White River State Park in downtown Indianapolis.  The term “Slow Food” has evolved over the past few years to mean a healthy alternative to “fast food.”  The garden is a working showplace, utilizing organic, sustainable methods of food production.  Volunteers and interns grow food crops in five beds.  Each bed represents a method of promoting healthy, locally grown food:  1) growing your own at home, church, school, workplace or community garden space; 2) buying produce at a local farmers’ market; 3) membership in a local CSA; 4) supporting restaurants that use locally grown food; and 5) membership in a local food co-op or neighborhood groceries that sell locally grown food.  The food produced in each bed is planned, produced and distributed according to its designation.
     Volunteers can work in the garden and learn to grow food crops first hand each Wednesday evening from June through August.  For more information, visit http://growingplacesindy.org/get_involved.html. 

Van Wert Children’s Garden
      If you want get ideas for a garden to enchant children, visit the Smiley Park Children’s Garden in Van Wert, Ohio.  You’ll be amazed at the color, vitality, ingenuity and playfulness in this jam-packed garden.  The other amazing fact is that the entire project was accomplished with only local contributions!  Civic pride and commitment to community is obvious in this town of about 10,000 people who have made this garden a destination for all ages.  The garden began as a project idea at the completion of a Master Gardener class by Louise Hartwig.  Her ideas and tireless efforts brought together donations of plants, artwork, signage, and hardscape.  Carpenters, concrete workers, electricians, quarry workers, students at the local vocational school, and of course, gardeners have contributed to the beauty.  Local business and families contributed benches, paving stones, trash bins and artwork.  The town supplied a water fountain and land.  The end result is a delight!
     The brightly painted entrance welcomes visitors, but the colorful Butterfly House immediately catches the eye.  Winding paths lure children and adults through native plants, a secret garden, the land of Winnie the Pooh, a fossil garden, flower-covered tunnels for exploring, and much, much more.
    

 Butter print
      When I was a little girl, I loved following my dad around our farm, “helping.”  I’m sure most of the time I was more hindrance than help, but he was always patient and over the years taught me to use common tools, drive a tractor, to observe the weather and the plants growing around me.  I learned the names of weeds from my dad….foxtail, devil’s twine, bindweed, burdock, smartweed (“No, it doesn’t make you smart.  No, I don’t know why it’s called smartweed.”)  lambs’ quarters, ragweed, sow’s thistle, and many more.  My favorite, however, was butter print.  Dad explained that when he was a little boy, and grandma churned butter, she’d often send him out to pick the seed pods of butter print.  The pretty star-flower design was pressed into the tops of a pretty bowl of butter if company was coming.  I thought they were fascinating, and made them into tiny fairy lanterns.
     Butter print is a member of the malva family.  Its name, Abutilon theophrasti, tells one that it is related to the pretty houseplant, flowering maple.  Other names for the plant are Velvet leaf, because the leaves are exceptionally soft and downy.  The plant is an annual, growing about 3’ in height and 2’ across.  At one time, it was a common field weed, difficult to eradicate because the seeds have been shown to remain viable for over fifty years!
     This and now the pretty seed pods are forming.  I think I’m going to harvest them all so they can’t drop seeds.  And, I’ll summer, a butter print emerged along our patio.  I know I should have pulled it, but I found that every time I passed it, it brought back wonderful memories of summers with my dad on our old family farm.  So, I left it, bake a batch of buttery sugar cookies and press the cookie tops with that star flower design for my grandkids, and tell them family stories and fairy tales about this special plant with velvety leaves and fairy lanterns.

Country Living Fair
      Being closed has allowed me to do some things that have been on my “Wish List” for years.  This month, I was able to combine a buying trip for the shop with a visit to the fair sponsored by “Country Living” magazine in Columbus, Ohio.  It was a perfect autumn day, and the crowd was in a great mood.  The crisp fall air held an appetizing hint of barbeque and smoke from the food vendors as I crossed the foot bridge onto the lawns filled with dozens of tents.  Colorful merchandise spilled from historic buildings along the streets.  Piles of pumpkins and squash made a charming display.  Artisans demonstrated their crafts of rug hooking, pottery, painting, and more.  Musicians entertained crowds of foot-tapping, hand-clapping patrons.  It was just fun to be part of the scene.
     A large open-air structure held an audience that had brought items to be appraised by experts.  I didn’t take time to stop, but the occasional “oooh” or applause indicated that there were some interesting appraisals going on.  In two other buildings, presentations on decorating or cooking were taking place.  I only had half a day, so I didn’t stop at these either, focusing instead on the booth-filled tents.  I wasn’t looking for anything specific.  Mainly I was interested in spotting trends and gauging customer reaction to various booths and products.  It was a fun-filled day

September in the Garden
1.  It’s a good time to collect seeds and store them for next year’s garden. 
2.  Take advantage of season-end garden center sales to stockpile mulch to put on the garden after the ground freezes.
3.  It’s time to plant hardneck garlic….not the soft-neck that is available in grocery stores.
4.  Make a cold frame, so you can plant late-season salad crops (lettuce, spinach, kale, etc.)  that will last far into frosty weather with that little bit of protection it provides.
5.  Start thinking about creating a space indoors for tender plants that will come inside soon.  You may need to add supplementary lighting if there’s less than 8 hrs. of sunlight.
6.  Plant mums….the sooner they go in the ground, the better their chances of returning next spring.
7.  Enjoy the sedums that are blooming.  They add so much to the garden’s appeal this time of year, and butterflies love them!  Toad lilies are also beautiful right now.
8.  Plant hellebores in shady spots…they’ll begin blooming in late March.
9.  If you haven’t ordered bulbs, do it now.
10.  Remove weeds, especially those that are seeding now.  Replenish mulch that is thinning.

Stuffed Summer Squash
     If your plants produced the way ours did, you have an abundance of summer squash.  This year, I grew the wonderful “Sunburst” patty pan type.  We prepared them in a dozen different ways, but this recipe has become one of our favorites.  Pick the squash when they are about 5” in diameter for this recipe.
     Cut the stem end from two squash.  Hollow out the centers, using a sturdy spoon to remove everything except a 1” thick shell.  Sprinkle inside the shell lightly with salt and pepper.  Chop the squash removed into ½” bits, removing any large seeds if squash is more mature.
     In a large skillet sauté together in 1 T. oil:  1 medium carrot, finely diced and ½ c. chopped onion just until golden and almost tender.  Add:  the chopped squash, ½ of a jalapeno pepper (seeds removed); ¼ tsp. ground pepper; 3 small cloves garlic, finely chopped; and 1 c. mild ground sausage.  Cook over medium heat, stirring often until the sausage is lightly browned.  Add ¼ c. diced tomato; 1 T. chopped fresh basil (or 1 tsp. dried basil) and 1 T. chopped parsley. 
     Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
     Place squash shells in a baking dish.  Roughly divide the filling into five parts.  Place one part in each shell.  Slice a 4 oz. pkg. of cream cheese into ¼” thick slices.  Place a layer of sliced cream cheese over filling.  Add second layer of filling and another layer of cheese.  Divide the final part of filling onto the tops of the two squash.  Sprinkle generously with grated parmesan cheese.  Put a small pat of butter on top of each squash.  Cover dish securely with foil and bake for 20 min.  Remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes.  Makes 2 generous servings, or cut in half for four smaller servings.

I’ve spent most of September in the gardens or the kitchen.  Next month, I’ll be moving plants back under cover, planting bulbs, packing up the barn for the winter, and hopefully blending some new herbal teas before cold weather arrives.  Till next time, enjoy the color and sounds of autumn. 

Herbal blessings, Carolee