Home Garden Companion

Ilona's Garden Journal




Featured

Rural Landscape

by

Shepherds from my nativity set

I’ve been in the middle of my Christmas devotions on my Advent blog.

While writing about the shepherds watching their flocks (from the Christmas story), I thought about the fact that while sheep were once a common sight in fields around here, there has not been a flock in recent years, now that I think about it.

I know that agriculture business changes quite a bit and sheep raising in Ohio was once big business, before it all moved out West. Then some years ago there seemed to be a resurgence of flocks, so that they were a common, if not ubiquitous sight in my “neighborhood”.

I once thought about raising a few sheep myself, but that is yet another dream that didn’t materialize. There was never the money for simply satisfying my personal curiosity and love of sheep.

Now, I must be contented with a “Sheep” Pinterest board!

From my Pinterest collection

 

 It Has All Changed

Some Natural Changes

It makes me think of the many changes I have observed in the rural landscape over the years. I’m sorry to say that most has been to the detriment.

Windstorms, ice storms, the entry of Emerald borers, Japanese beetles, Stinkbugs, and Asian ladybugs… all are changes in my history here. But it is the manmade changes that most trouble me, as they are those which we could exercise some control over.

I actually saw the last deep economic recession as having a silver lining, in that it put a damper on the mindless development that is steadily creeping into our county.

We have some of the best farming soils in the world, but the greed of people who must ‘develop’ as they call it, and destroy those lands is disheartening. People are not generally long-sighted, and the voice of money has shut up many of the reasonable voices for environmental stewardship.

Are there people who value the production and quiet of the rural countryside left? I mean those who value it enough to preserve it?

We depend on laws and regulations to somehow control the greed, but I really think we need a mindset change. For people generally to be introduced to the beauty, the needs, and the cultivation of the land.

All the shilling about education, and little thought given for education of this kind.

The back field, Alfalfa growing on the right

 

Except From Passionate Gardeners

No Pesticides in my Garden
This is the one light I see shining in this dismal picture.
I see hope in gardeners who carry their love of nature, of growing things and what that inspires, in encouraging responsibility to the environment.
I am so happy when I see people who advocate for sustainable gardens, organic foods and cultivation methods, green tips that are made generally known, and all the many avenues that individual gardeners take as they band together to make a difference.
In their gardens and in society…
I hope that it will extend to create less demand for “people who want to live in the country” – those who then complain about animals, fence off their properties, pour chemicals into their suburban style lawns, and generally make a city out of the once open country.
Instead I wish citizens and homeowners throughout the country would give thought , money, time, and effort to creating places of production, of green spaces, of even the “village green” of old in their own venues and choices of living.
Give some green, space, and quiet in the midst of the cities and suburbs. Make them more “country”. Or at least large swathes of them.
That is a worthy, if lofty and impractical goal.
What is most attainable, however, is our value system. We can fend for that.
“Love for country” takes on a whole new connotation in that case.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ // ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Visit Ilona’s Garden Journal on facebook: Click here
© 2014 written for Ilona’s Garden Journal by Ilona E. An excellent blog.

The De-clutter Journey

by

Specifically, How Did You Do It?

For those who are struggling, like I have, here are some of the practical steps of getting rid of clutter and the whole lifestyle that goes with it.

Like some physical maladies, this one might have a different root for some people than it has for others. It might be the result of more than one contributing factor.

What causes our messiness and proclivity to collect clutter?

  1. Perhaps we just don’t know how to organize and sort, with the additional problem of not wanting to throw away something useful or which holds sentimental value.
  2. Along with that second factor: we might know how to keep house if we wanted to, but we have the frugality gene gone awry. Everything seems important and valuable; we can’t throw anything away. We can’t give it away. And then that stuff starts to accumulate.
  3. Some of us are lazy and we have a prejudice against housekeeping. Our time is too important, we have better things to do. Yeah, right. If it were only that, wouldn’t we hire someone to take care of these onerous tasks for us?
  4. It got away from us, pure and simple. Now, we have to take charge of our lives again.
  5. We are “messies” who get distracted, who never finish anything and we box up stuff willy nilly until there isn’t room any more. Every time we want to go through the boxes… we get caught up reading some magazine articles we cut out seven years ago….

Photo credit: sideshowmomSo, now that we identify our challenge, and we have come to the place where we are serious about doing something about it, what else is to be realized to move forward? Here is my own story of what I’ve been doing lately and what it took to get me there.

Why You?

You might ask why it had to be me that did all the “heavy lifting” of sorting through everything and making order in my home. My husband also has a problem with being disorganized and sloppy, a fact that was hidden by my layers of collecting, and making do attitude.
I was the one most invested in curating, sentimental about my grandmother’s lace hankies, or the worth of some china bric a brac.  For years, everyone around me advised to throw away, burn, or otherwise divest the world of things that I believed had value.
Only I could do the sorting and saving.
However, I could ask for help lifting, carrying something up the stairs, removing and moving. And I did. I also drafted some help in washing, etc.

Organizing Thinking

Though not challenged with organized thinking, the nitty gritty of taking the physical steps of buying organizing containers, walking up and down stairs in and out of the house…whatever it took to place something in its rightful home, required energy and self discipline.
Also, when newly organized it is maddening to remember the old, nonsensical place you had something… rubber bands, safety pins, furniture casters, and forget the newly organized and “logical” place for that item. Be patient with yourself, it takes a few times to remember to put it back and go there (without racking your brain).

Use Boxes

These are simply cardboard boxes for sorting purposes.

Years ago I learned of a system that really helps me move through mental barriers. I use a box for things that I know I want to keep, another for “unsure, I’ll think about it later”, and a third for “oh, hell no”. Sorry for the breach of good language, but sometimes you have to shake yourself and just throw things away.
I use a couple IKEA matching boxes for photos and memory items  (I just cannot get rid of my once 4 yr. old’s Mother’s day card, for example). Just exercise control on that kind of thing… you know how you get.
I fill giveaway bags and get them right out to the car with items that I know someone would buy at a tag sale.
I used to save things to have garage sales, etc. But they were more trouble than they are worth in my rural area. Not like the alley setup my mom used to have in the city. So I stopped kidding myself and just got rid of those things.
How many years do you save stuffed toys or outgrown overcoats? Stop the madness, let someone else deal with it.

KEY:

Stop kidding yourself. That is exactly what is happening when you believe your children will want used clothes for their children…from thirty years ago. C’mon.
 
Refuse to hide things in the attic, or to even have a “junk room”.  Refuse to let “junk drawers” proliferate. 

You get one, that’s all.

I extend the same mercy to you that I give myself. You are welcome!Of course, next I must help my husband reform. Oh, I know he is going to love that. ( but the secret is that the more he enjoys a clutter free house that I am working on, the more he is inspired to tackle his own spaces). I guess I will have to report in an update sometime next year.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ // ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Visit Ilona’s Garden Journal on facebook: Click here
© 2014 written for Ilona’s Garden Journal by Ilona E. An excellent blog.

And Now It Is Arctic, But My Home Is Cozy

by

Bookcases, boxes, magazines -I can’t get rid of everything!

While it was a personally productive fall for me, the blogging and the garden had to take a back seat. I made good on decades of promises to de-clutter and come to grips with the pile of life’s detritus and accumulation.

You see, I come from a line of “collectors” on my mother’s side. My dad was spare in his living and his spending, but I inherited the idea that everything is good for something… someday from my mother.

Then the fact that I had ten children kind of caught up with me. The economics of those days meant saving old clothes as “pass me downs”.  I believe I was a bit over optimistic in what actually constituted a worthwhile saved item. And was worse when it came to my own clothing.

I finally got rid of all the size 6-8 apparel of my thirties and forties. A certain realistic attitude must take hold. I hauled excess sheets, and perfectly good clothes to the nearest thrift center.  Baby clothes? Out.

While we had some warm, lovely gardening weeks, I was delving into the dusty innards of old boxes. Washing and sorting the bric a brac of a lifetime in the same old house. A roomy house, inviting storage of the most unnecessary, never-to-be tackled mending, repairing, and crafting projects. I don’t even have that many years in me, if I started tomorrow.

Yet, I still couldn’t give up at least one attic box of “craft doodads”, just in case the muse and the time should magically appear together. Not totally reformed, I still must be able to find that thing that “I know I have somewhere”. At least, now, I know where to find it.

 The Awakening

During said nice weather of just a couple weeks ago, I awoke at dawn to view the most beautiful sunrise. As if the world had become encased in the sphere of a fiery opal, so intense were the colors of blue, scarlet, and golden apricot, sparkled with streaks of an ethereal, incomparable green.
I mentally contrasted that rich visual treat with the dusty, dim world I had been inhabiting all fall;the parts that I had not traveled elsewhere.
That world of dust shrouded objects, incomprehensible jumbles of precious memories with trash heap junk, that had been moved around from room to room for years. The realms of cobweb encased dungeon of the basement and back porches to webhung neglected rooms of the attic and “junk room” bedroom.
clutter
Recorded on Instagram

 

I am finally seeing my way through this tunnel of clutter, The light, free feeling is worth the sacrifice of a season of bulb planting, and putting off the pyracantha pruning.
The days spent inside mucking through the many years of “Mañana” were well worth it to me, and to my family. I hope to host most of them this Christmas in my newly decluttered home.

It Was A Long Time Coming

How did I arrive at the place where action finally caught up with good intent? I was like a slow train. Making resolutions about two to three years ago, in which I made tiny steps of progress, helped. Teaming with my husband to finally finish off the last couple remodeling projects inspired and motivated. After all, I had to clear the attic and the “junk room” to get started with those.
Ceiling of the junkroom removed and replaced; view of attic above
The outside needed new siding, added the upper window for good measure (a project that had waited, oh, about 15 to 20 years)

Perhaps you will forgive me for not writing, not posting, not taking photographs, or making video (although I find it hard to forgive myself- why can’t I do more?) However, I do not regret the progress I have made (though at this late date) in life, despite those pesky guilt trips.

Next year, though, If still in the land of the living, I hope to find myself happily puttering around in the garden.  Writing the musings such pursuits inspire, and maybe even rationalizing buying a new camera, or at least making some of the planned garden videos that didn’t materialize yet.

Until then my family and I will enjoy the simplified spaces that allow me to think and actually use and enjoy the things that I own. …Ahhhh… such peace of mind.

My cluttered, disorganized life always interfered with that endeavor. It feels so good to take something from the dimension of wishful thinking and bring it into the now of experience. It cost sweat equity, a little blood, and yes, some tears here and there, but after months of steady determination to be “at it”,  the end is now in sight.

Thank You

  • I have a list of thankful mentions in this… God, who daily gives me strength,
  •  the encouragement of husband and children, their hands-on, down and dirty, physical help in the work;
  • the many organizational self-help books I read through the years,
  • Target, IKEA, and other stores that had containers and bookcases and boxes…magazine holders…well, you get the idea.

Then there is the inspiration of people who organize and get a handle on this part of life who made role models for me.

The philosophical takeaway is that everything is so inter-related and we can’t do everything on our own. And maybe, too, that we don’t need as much stuff as we think we do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ // ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Visit Ilona’s Garden Journal on facebook: Click here
© 2014 written for Ilona’s Garden Journal by Ilona E. An excellent blog.

The Down And Dirty Weeding Tool List

by

The Bare Essentials

Some essentials when brand new
I’ve done a lot of tweeting and writing about weeding this season. There are a couple of reasons for that including the unusually wonderful weather (from my perspective, anyway), and my desire to have my yard look like I actually garden, despite many trips to visit the children and grandchildren.
The weather: It has been a cool summer with plenty of rain. That means everything stayed in growth mode and I was able to continue working outside. When heat and humidity skyrocket I hide in my airconditioned room ( we have 1) and write.
The desire: For years I said I would declutter and renovate my gardens. This has been the year it is happening.
So I thought that would record in my blog the essential tools I drag around with me when doing a marathon of weeding. I have many, many specialized weeding tools, but there are a few that are the most useful for certain jobs.

Before The List

Weather conditions make a difference in how easy it is to tackle certain weeds. Some are best hoed out when the days are hot and dry, others pull easiest after a rain, some cling to clay soil that is damp. Take notes on times when weeding is easiest in your garden. Days been dry and sunny? Grass pulls out easier, small weeds are best scuffle hoed (cut just below the surface). Rain yesterday? Many roots are loosening and can more easily be pulled.

The List Of Best Weeding Tools

weeding tool
Cape Cod Weeder, for right handed people.
  1. Almost always, I want my Cape Cod Weeder . It is wonderful for tight spaces between plants or cracks in the walk, etc. sharp blade makes quick work of dislodging roots.
  2. Garden gloves are  more important to me than I ever realized. I have many pairs now, and can grab thistles, rose canes, and grub out hand pulled weeds better than I  possibly could if without them.
  3. I keep bypass pruners close by, and if I think I will have to grub out an overlooked Mulberry tree- I have loppers with me. but always haul along a cutting tool of some sort. Have poke weed? Cut the cane off at the ground level.
  4. Nurseryman spade. Admittedly I don’t always grab this particular tool, but if I don’t I usually end up going back to the shed for it. Any shovel will do, but a narrow Nurseryman spade will work better in perennial beds and get just the roots you wish to dislodge. This is best for removing Burdock, and other deeply rooted weeds. Simply scoop out the crown of the Burdock- no need to get all of the taproot.
  5. Dutch hoe is a hand hoe that works like the big one, but with more finesse and sharp tip can hack out stubborn weeds. When I don’t need the Cape Cod-der for tight spaces I often go for the Dutch hoe. (Seen in the beginning photo).
  6. Weeding Adze which is sometimes called other names, is the best for large areas of deeply entrenched weeds. The claw end pries, while the blade edge cuts. A most efficient combo.
  7. Dandelion Weeder  might seem specialized, but this narrow, strong tool with the little fork at the tip is a whiz at sliding down alongside taproots and levering them out without disturbing the neighbors.

For Clean-up

Garden Carts and Rakes

I try to keep the garden cart and a leaf rake nearby, so that when finished with the mad weeding I can tidy up right then and there. If put off, a pile of weeds can smother grass, and it delays the feeling of satisfaction from getting your flower beds all cleared away.

What I Did Today: Cleaned and Sharpened My Tools

Every once in awhile you need to take care of your tools to keep them in good working order, especially cutting tools.
After viewing some tutorials (yes, my Dad taught me how to sharpen tools, but I needed a refresher), I followed some of the advice. Today I got out the isopropyl alcohol to clean off the blades, and used a Bastard file to sharpen my loppers, pruners, and hedge shears.
The alcohol cleaned the surface and sterilized the edges, the file sharpened the edges quickly. I simply followed the manufacturers edge to know where to sharpen.
It made a world of difference in the pruning and trimming results.

Another thing that is new for my gardening this summer was a solution for my most hated garden task: watering during hot and dry periods. Sure, this is not the year which best tests my new found FAV garden tool, but I am ready for those years when the weather is more normal with late summer droughts. I loved it so much I couldn’t wait to write a review on it. Enough suspense…what is it? One of those “advertised on TV” garden hoses that are so light that even wimpy, aging me is able to water the containers and the borders with ease. I am so happy!

I had a review for the Flexable Pocket Garden Hose, but though I loved my first one, they proved to be short-lived . They aren’t very expensive, and the amount of grief and work it saves is worth it. How long do they last? I found that the first one lasted for two seasons, but the replacement only lasted a few weeks.

What does this have to do with weeding tools you ask? Well, consider this: when trying to pull out those unwanted plants from dry hard ground or soft moist earth… which is easier? Yes. You may wish to add the humble garden hose to your list of “weeding tools”.

Do you have tips to share? How do you handle pesky “garden thug” plants or what way do you sharpen your tools?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ // ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Visit Ilona’s Garden Journal on facebook: Click here
© 2014 written for Ilona’s Garden Journal by Ilona E. An excellent blog.

Ready To Eat Local? How About Slow Gardening?

by

Go Slow

Slow Food and Slow Gardening are related.

What is slow food you ask? Sourcing your ingredients locally and using high quality is the gist of it. Growing your own would be a part of it, but patronizing the farmer’s markets and encouraging your grocer’s to supply locally produced products would be part of it, too.

How about slow gardening? I suppose there is something of an official definition, but I think of it as the way I garden plus a few additional considerations thrown in.

My Own Slow Gardening

  • I don’t sweat the small stuff, but I sure do sweat. (I betray my Midwestern roots, since I am given to understand that Southern ladies do not sweat under any circumstances)
  • That means weeds are taken care of by hand, usually with hand tools. And as I age, that means weeds have a place, albeit a controlled one, in my gardens.
  • My gardens are not just for working. They are for gazing at an impossibly perfect summer sky, getting my hands dirty, taking time to smell the roses, …and the honeysuckle,… and the lilacs…. and, well, you get the drift.
  • While I plant more vegetables and herbs than I eat… because I have become a lazy cook, I like to grow them every year with good intentions.
  • I buy as many plants and seeds locally as is feasible.
Now, on that last one, the fact is that we don’t have the many full service nurseries and garden centers that I remember from the heyday of garden years past. Economics means we must source our supplies through the internet and by mail order, oftentimes. But I do like to find nice, thrifty plants ready to haul away immediately, preferably grown locally.
This last point may find us needing to buy seed and grow our own.
A little plug here for American Meadows. They sent me wildflower seeds to trial, and if you go to their site you can see that they bag it up with your territory in mind. It was also was such a generous amount for economical prices. And the seeds looked exceptional when I put them into the ground.
I expect great pictures, come this summer.

Inspiration For This Post?

Actually I was researching something totally different and came across a few resource for those interested in slow gardening and slow food ideals and lifestyle. Thoughts of passing on to my readers gave rise to talking a little about the concepts for those who want to join in on whatever level to encourage local growers and gardeners.

First:
In Columbus, Ohio the Slow Food Columbus site has a nice map where you can identify many local growers and the list of what they are known for.
Map of Locally Grown Produce in Ohio

Second:
From the LocalHarvest site is a way to locate your own nearby Farmer’s Markets- how cool is that?

Find Farmer’s Markets

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ // ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Visit Ilona’s Garden Journal on facebook: Click here
© 2014 written for Ilona’s Garden Journal by Ilona E. An excellent blog.

Seeds For Trial Garden

by

A few of the seeds that were sent to me

This year I received seeds to trial in my gardens from American Meadows. They arrived this last week, and the weather is finally warming up so that I can get ready to plant them. Exciting, is it not?

I have a large amount that were sent in the nicest cloth bags, 1/4 lb. worth of an annual Wildflower mix, and equal amount of a Honeybee mix! Those are really generous amounts.  I plan to place some in my prairie style patch in the front yard, some in the vegetable patch ( a row of honeybee friendly plants should help with pollination) and go looking for other sunny spots for this windfall of glorious seed.

I was especially glad to see the little packets of forget-me-nots. This has always been a favorite of mine and I lost them due to the fact that I mulched heavily in that area of my garden. Reseeding can’t take place when smothered by mulch. In fact, that is the main reason we mulch, to prevent seed sprouting- although it is the weedy type that is unwanted.

Just goes to show that when we prevent one type of seed, we sometimes unknowingly deny ourselves some of the pretty plants that we wanted to reappear.

American Meadows Wildflower Seeds

Some of the things that I like about what I received is the fact that that this company is GMO free.

“All the seed we handle at American Meadows is GMO free.”

Seed Order
A timely order well sent

They have regional mixes, and mixes for specific uses, like fragrance or the Honeybee mix I received. The seeds arrived on one of the few nice days we’ve had and were well packaged in a bubblewrap type of envelope.

I am going to be able to prepare some ground this week, and will plant at least some of the seeds into the ground. I plan to stagger the planting since we are able to have frost into May. That way I can also determine the best results from planting times. In looking at the types of seeds in the mix, I expect that if planted too early, some would be lost to cold conditions.

Meadow gardens

I have been wanting to create more of this type of garden, although I do find that I must keep after my wild looking little prairie patch. Canadian thistle likes to settle in there, and the goldenrod is pretty pushy, although it belongs in such a place.

I mix in exotic species (don’t hate me), including some ornamental grasses, plants like the Shasta daisies that do a little too well elsewhere. My rationale is that an ecosystem like a prairie is almost impossible to truly replicate. So, I am happy with an area that is supportive of bees, wildlife, and has little or no need of extra water, or chemical and mechanical maintenance.

I expect to have plenty of topic and photo fodder to report on throughout this growing season.

Are you changing how you grow and landscape your yards? In what way?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ // ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Visit Ilona’s Garden Journal on facebook: Click here
© 2013 written for Ilona’s Garden Journal by Ilona E. An excellent blog.