The garden in June

It is a pleasure and a privilege to have a garden. It is also a manifestation of faith in the natural order of things--that the cycle of life, death, and life again will continue each year, unchanged, predictable, orderly. There is peace in knowing that.

The tomato plants in the greenhouse are already starting to grow tomatoes, and the pumpkin and summer squash plants are starting to flower and take off. The green bean plants are pushing themselves up out of the soil and starting to grow. The potato and yellow onion plants have been growing well for about a month already, and the carrot plants are showing their green fronds. The dahlias and gladiolas are quite high already; the hollyhocks are also doing well. The lavender and celosia plants are blooming, as are the carnations and Dianthus. The hydrangeas are also blooming, as are the panicled hydrangeas (syrinhortensia in Norwegian--translates to 'lilac-like hydrangeas').

I was in the garden yesterday and took some photos, as I always do, to document the garden's progression from one week to another. Enjoy!

One of three rose bushes that is blooming

Once a cherry tree, now covered in wild ivy, with coral bell plants and pansies at its base

Green beans, yellow onions, carrots, and potatoes growing. In the background, pumpkin and zucchini plants, sunflowers, and cornflowers

Outdoor tomato plants, royal geraniums, different hydrangeas, and my ninebark plant that has grown a lot this year

Lots of lavender plants, gladiolas, Cock's comb (celosia), carnations, hydrangea, dahlias, lilies, peony, and Dianthus ('pinks')

Pachysandra planted under the Emperor bush 

Strawberries from the garden--so good! There is nothing quite like them. 

Pansies 

Pansies

Pansies and coral bells 

Update on our garden--July 2017

It hardly seems possible that we've nearly reached August. It feels like gardening season has just begun. We put up the greenhouse in late April, and spent some time organizing and arranging it as documented in an earlier post (https://paulamdeangelis.blogspot.no/2017/04/this-years-garden-project-greenhouse.html). May, June, and July seem to have flown by. There are now six pots with tomato plants in the greenhouse that are doing well and starting to produce tomatoes. The tomatoes are still small and green, but I have high hopes that in a month or so we'll be able to try eating one. The two cucumber plants are flowering but have not yet produced cucumbers, whereas the chili pepper plant is producing a lot of small peppers.

In the garden itself, the corn plants are growing tall and straight and appear to be quite healthy; ditto for the three different types of pumpkins I planted this year--two French varieties and a Jack-o-Lantern variety. The pumpkins now have vines that are spreading happily in every direction, just like last year. Some of them have produced very small pumpkins already. It remains to be seen how fast the pumpkins will grow and mature. Last year at this time the pumpkins were a bit further along. I also planted three different kinds of string beans--standard green beans, asparagus beans, and dwarf beans. If you ask me, they're all variations on a theme; the type that stands out is the one with a mottled appearance, but otherwise they all taste pretty much the same--good. The snap peas are also doing very well, and have produced a lot of edible pods, also good.

The sunflower plants have grown tall and straight and I hope they'll stay that way as the summer progresses. One never knows, especially if a very windy storm comes along. My flower garden looks lovely--a combination of lavender plants, a butterfly bush, pink and purple Salvia, marigolds, hollyhocks, chrysanthemums, among others--and under the dead cherry tree that is covered in wild ivy, I've planted Heuchera plants (lovely perennials in gold, green and red colors) as well as daisies.

I love watching the garden grow a little bit more for each day that passes. Generally I just love being in the garden. There is always something to do--weeding, transplanting, cutting the grass, pruning, fertilizing, watering, or just puttering. The greenhouse has all the tools and accessories needed for doing all these things. Here are some recent photos from one of the wonderfully sunny days we've had:

corn and string bean plants in background, pumpkin plants in foreground

pumpkin plants

Heuchera plants and daisies

view of the vegetable part of the garden

view from the garden entrance

flower garden--lavender, hollyhocks, Salvia--among others

another view of the garden with hydrangea plant in the background

 

Happy Thanksgiving

This photo is what Thanksgiving means to me this year--a harvest, not only of pumpkins from our garden, but a harvest of rhubarb, corn, beets, string beans, runner beans, snap peas, strawberries, black currants, red currants and raspberries--all from our garden. We have spent a lot of time making preserves and jams (strawberry, strawberry-rhubarb, red currant and plum), and freezing down cut fruit for use in our morning smoothies. I have made rhubarb relish that is used as an accompaniment to meat dishes. And recently I made pickled pumpkin, which can also be used together with meat dishes; we tasted it for the first time last night and it was very good. I have learned to dry seeds for planting next spring. I am planning on buying a greenhouse so that we can grow tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables that will need a bit more warmth and protection from the elements. God blessed us this year with a garden, and on this Thanksgiving, I give thanks for all the blessings that we have enjoyed this year. I have also shared our harvest with friends and family--there were definitely enough pumpkins to go around. I loved planting the seeds, watching them grow, caring for the plants, and harvesting the fruits and vegetables. But the fun part was when people commented on the pumpkins--passing strangers and friends alike. And it made me feel productive to give some of them away to others--an accomplishment. After all, this was my first year as a gardener. Even I was surprised that everything I planted grew. The only vegetables I lost were spinach, broccoli and cauliflower, and that was because the slugs ate them. I learned a lot about what it takes to be a gardener and it only makes me look all the more forward to next year. It was Audrey Hepburn who said that “To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” She's right. I do believe in tomorrow and I look forward to it.

Video of our garden--September 2016

Slugs 3 – Garden 3

It’s a tie so far; the Iberia snails (also called Spanish slugs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_slug) in our garden have decimated three of the six different vegetable plants that were planted in mid-May. I prefer to call them slugs. I planted corn, pumpkin, sugar peas, broccoli, spinach and cauliflower; the slugs have eaten the last three. The first three remain untouched, at least for now, but you never know. The weather situation here in Oslo during the past two weeks has not helped the situation any. It has rained steadily for a few hours each day; the humidity, cooler temperatures and moisture bring out the slugs in droves. I never thought I’d say this, but—the slugs have to go. Otherwise it will be slugs 6 and the garden 0, at least where the vegetables are concerned. Now I understand why farmers despair when it comes to weather and insects; they invest so much time and hard work in getting their farms to grow, and rain or drought or grasshoppers or other insects can destroy them in no time. As I said, I can understand it without really having to worry about it, because we are not farmers and our livelihood does not depend on the success or failure of what we grow. 

But I’ve learned a lot already about what to plant, and that was the point of my being overly-ambitious in terms of what I planted this year. I wanted to see what would do well and what would not. Next year, I will NOT be planting broccoli, spinach and cauliflower. I will plant more corn and more pumpkin if they end up doing well and are not disturbed by the snails. I’ve bought a slug-fighting chemical substance called Ferramol that consists of iron phosphate crystals; you spread it around the garden and the slugs eat it and over the next few days, lose their appetite for food and die. The entire community garden has recommended its use in each allotment, so it’s just to try it and see what happens. I’ve also learned that the slugs like the compost bins and heaps, so it’s best not to have too much compost. We have enough at present. I had tossed the dead spinach plants on the top of the compost heap; wouldn’t you know that the next day, the slugs were there on top of them, happy to be eating the dead spinach leaves. I don’t know whether to laugh or to cry. So I did what I needed to do, and removed all the dead vegetable plants and the slugs simultaneously. The slugs do not seem to want to be bothered with the strawberry patch (not overly-so at least), nor do they like raspberries or red currants, apparently. And they leave all of the different types of flowers alone (lavender, petunias, pansies, etc.).

The Turkish ladies who have the allotment garden above us have planted a lot of different kinds of salad plants and beans. The slugs love the former, so their salad gardens always seem to be frequented by them. It makes it easier to remove them physically, but it must be frustrating for them as well to watch their patches be decimated by these little creatures.

I’m including a photo of an Iberia slug (photo taken by CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=258591), so that you get an idea of what they look like. Keep in mind these creatures can lay up to 400 eggs a year. That gives you an idea of the immensity of the problem. They are considered an invasive pest and a major agricultural threat in many European countries at present. If you want an organic vegetable garden, you must be willing to invest time each day to pick up slugs from your garden. Otherwise, you can just plant flowers and berry bushes, and trim the grass every so often. It’s easier and who knows, perhaps more rewarding. Because it’s sad to watch these beautiful vegetable plants die due to slugs and to the stresses caused by their presence. The plants are stationary and cannot move away from them, whereas the slugs are mobile and can travel the length of a garden in no time. If it's possible to get rid of them using Ferramol, which does not affect earthworms or birds, I'm all for it. 

The freedom of garden life

I've been working in the garden nearly every day this week after work. It's been very warm here, unusual for Oslo at this time of year, over 80 degrees Fahrenheit each day. Sunny and warm, perfect conditions for plant growth, but a bit exhausting to work in such weather. Our rescued rhododendron is now blooming (I cannot believe that our co-op complex had just tossed it onto the garbage heap--their loss), and last night I found a tiny bud in one cauliflower plant, but not in any of the others. My spinach plants have also taken off, and the corn plants and pumpkin plants are also doing well. I have learned something for next year already; I can plant a lot more vegetable plants than I did this year. I was afraid of crowding them, but that doesn't seem to be a problem. I've harvested a lot of rhubarb stalks already; my husband uses them in the smoothies we make each morning, and I will make pies and muffins with the remainder. The red currant bush is loaded with developing berries, and that will be an interesting harvest when that time comes. I've sown grass seed in some of the barren areas, but it seems that grass takes a while to grow, even though the package I bought said that I could see growth within four days. Highly doubtful.

The bird bath seems to be well-used by the birds, for bathing and pooping. I clean it out each evening when I am there and refill it with water. I rescued a honeybee from drowning in it the other day. I've made friends with the local cat who likes to frequent our garden (because of the bird bath, I'm guessing). He sneaks silently into the garden and makes his way toward the bird bath. I caught him the other night and he reacted the way cats react when you catch them doing something they know they shouldn't be doing--a bit startled and embarrassed.

There is a harmony in the garden that I like--between me and nature, first of all, but among the various insects, birds, and plant life. It's interesting to see the worms, ants, beetles, snails and slugs all move about at their own pace and in their 'habitats'. The natural order of things, without interference from man--that is a blessing and a lesson in how to leave the natural world alone. It carries on quite well without us. I am blessed to have this garden, but I want to coexist peacefully with all of the other creatures that live there, even the slugs, but we have been informed by the garden board that we must clear the garden of them, as they will destroy most vegetables they come across. I do it, but I must say that I don't enjoy doing it.

Being in the garden gives me a sense of peace and connection with nature that I haven't had in years, at least not in this way. I love being outdoors and always have, but I've been active in other ways--walking and biking. Gardening has given me a sense of freedom that I have longed for, for so many years--freedom from worrying and freedom from my computer. The hard work, the sweating, the dirt on my hands and knees and face, the tired back and stiff muscles are all worth it for the feeling I get when I enter the garden and when I leave it. I think about it during my workday and I want to be there. It's given me a purpose and a focus that I need now.

Here are some new photos:

red poppies

rhododendron in bloom

baby cauliflower?!

Hard at work in the garden

It has been a mostly chilly and rainy April; I am hoping for a warm and sunny May so that we can get started planting our garden. My husband and I worked in the garden this past Friday evening; when we arrived and started working, it started to hail, but over the next several hours it cleared up and became a nice evening. We have in fact had hail three or four times this past week, despite having temperatures in the mid-forties. Weird weather; it seems to be chilly both here and in New York as far as I understand from my NY friends on Facebook. Go figure. The garden board had decided to cut down an old tree on our premises, so we spent Friday evening clearing away the cut tree stumps and large twigs that covered a large portion of the garden. The smaller twigs and underbrush went into the compost bin. We also turned the earth in several areas so that it is ready to be planted in a week or two, and discovered that the soil appears to be very good--there are a lot of earthworms in the earth and that's supposed to be a good sign. Today I spent several hours in the semi-sunshine raking the entire plot of land and turning the earth in two additional locations. The tree that was cut down must have been quite a large tree, because its leaves covered a large portion of the garden plot. So I had a fair amount of work in front of me, but it was enjoyable work. I enjoy the physical work; time passes without my being aware of it, and I like being outdoors in the sun and fresh air. My back muscles suffer a bit, but the pain passes and then I'm ready for the next round of work.

The pumpkin plants in our living room are now quite large and will most likely do well when planted. My spinach plants are doing well, as are the beet plants. The broccoli and cauliflower plants are taking their time, but will get there. My husband is looking to buy about ten raspberry bushes and we were at different garden centers yesterday to check out prices; I purchased some corn plants as well when we were at one of the garden centers called Plantation (Plantasjen in Norwegian).

I got a good deal on a table/two matching chairs; paid about fifty US dollars for the set. I've also purchased a birdbath online through Natur og Fritid AS; it's so beautiful and I can't wait to set it out for the birds. You can see it here if you want to see what it looks like:  https://www.naturogfritid.no/614151/Hobby_og_hage/Foringsautomater/Fuglebad/Ekko+fuglebad

Lots of photos today, just to keep you updated on what's happening with our garden. I love garden life so far.

ready for planting

the garden entrance, with strawberry patches on either side of the path

the raked garden 

pumpkin plants grow amazingly fast

corn plants 

beet plants 

broccoli plants 

cauliflower plants 

spinach plants

Getting ready to plant our garden

We finally got word that we will be getting a garden plot in a nearby community garden (in Norwegian called 'parselhage'), and will pick up the keys very soon. We've been on the list to get a garden plot for about seven years; last year we were told that this year would be the year. My plans are to plant vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, pumpkin, beets, and spinach). My husband would like to plant fruit bushes, among them raspberry bushes. We haven't seen the plot of land yet, so we don't know how much space we'll be getting. Plots range in size from 800 to 2000 square feet, fairly large by my estimation. I've already started some plants from seed, and they are growing fairly well so far, especially the pumpkin plants (see the photos below).

cauliflower and broccoli

spinach to the right

pumpkin plants

beet plants

pumpkin plants growing large