Signs of New Life on the Farm, a Consequence of Heavy Ice and Snow, and Some Contemplation

This winter has been a rather brutal winter; to put it mildly. For those of you who don't know Middle Tennessee (and other parts of the south) have endured storm after storm of mainly ice and freezing cold temperatures. Such was the case last Sunday when a big storm came in and dropped 4-6" of ice pellets, snow, and sleet. This in and of itself is not too awfully unusual, but what made the storm extra bad was that the temperatures stayed quite cold for several days. This resulted in iced over roads and it was a brave soul indeed who ventured out onto the roads. While the county highway department did the best they could to clear the roads; it was a very large job and many of the back roads did not get cleared until around Thursday.

I was fortunate in that I could pretty much stay at home while my family members worked. I was seriously stressed about their welfare on the roads; especially when I ventured out on Wednesday to feed a stray dog I care for in an adjacent town. I wound up getting stuck but that is another story. Fortunately all family members stayed safe on the icy roads around town. 

While I was home bound I enjoyed watching the birds. I have never ever seen so many birds and so many types of different birds visit my feeders. All of the snow and ice sure brought the birds to my back door. I happened to venture outside and enjoyed getting up close and personal with a few of the brave souls who chose to eat the black sunflower seeds I offered up to them. Here a towhee along with some finches is enjoying the food. Surprisingly enough as soon as the snow left so did most of the birds. I have not hardly seen a grackle or European starling or towhee since the snow melted. They are most likely enjoying the new buds on all of the trees surrounding the area.

Mr. Fix-it and I finally made it out to the farm as well. While I had been by there I did not dare stop my car and get out on the snow as I feared I would not get going on the iced over road again. Yesterday was a beautiful day to get out and about and most of the snow is now all melted. Our little vernal pond is showing signs of new life in the form of frog eggs. We are always delighted to spot these masses in our ponds each spring. It seems like it would be way too cold for frog eggs, but the frogs don't seem to mind the cold. Now that the snow is melted and the ice is gone it seems that it is business as usual.


The above frog eggs are located in this tiny vernal pond created by miners back in the 1800s when they hand dug this pit looking for iron ore. I had the great idea to build a little bridge across this pond so we could enjoy being over the water and not just beside it. It was Mr. Fix-it who spotted the frog eggs while standing on this bridge.

The pond is fairly clear but it can be hard seeing to the center of this pond from the sides so a vantage point of being overhead works well for us. This little pond is surrounded by several mature hardwood trees. As such those trees drop a lot of leaves and debris into the pond. During the summer when this pond will most likely dry up, I like to go into the pond area and scrape up the organic material for use in the gardens as a great garden amendment.

I transplanted several scilla to the edge of the above vernal pond last spring. I was delighted to see them breaking ground this year. Moving a large garden is quite hard and while I have a process, I am not so sure the plants are agreeing with my process. Many plants resent being disturbed let alone being dug up, thrown into the back of a truck, and transported fifteen miles to another location with completely different soil and growing conditions. The garden move has been a lesson in patience and humility. I am no where near to being in the spot I thought I would be by this time. It has been a little more than one year since we bought the farm and while we have come a long way in that year I am humbled to remember it takes a lifetime to build a garden. In my case not only am I building a garden but I am dismantling a garden and this is not a fun thing for me to do. At any rate I revel in the small treasures I have placed on the land that decide to grow and gift me with blooms and greenery.

On the other side of the scillas next to the little pond there used to reside a lovely little shelter covered by a gazebo metal frame and canvas top. It was Mr. Fix-it that discovered that the gazebo top was no more due to all of the heavy ice and snow we received last weekend. I was really upset this roof caved in. I had expected to replace the canvas with a hard metal roof at some point simply because canvas is not a durable material when situated outside all year long, but I did not expect it to be so soon. This canvas top had withstood windstorms that blew down trees and ripped off roofs, it never sailed away or collapsed in any way. I always thought it would be blown away so I was quite shocked to find out it caved in. There really was nothing I could do about the situation and although I should've taken off the canvas cover at the start of the winter, I really thought I was home free by March! Next weekend it looks as though I will be working on a new roof for this shelter. It will be a more permanent roof of metal but I am not sure how I will design it. I've never put on anything but a shed roof so building  this roof will be a lesson for me. The frame of 4" x 4"s is still intact so that is a good thing. We simply must have a shelter to keep us out of the sun and sometimes out of the rain, and to be able to relax while we are working on the land. We will soon begin building our home so it is also important this location is comfortable and workable for us to take breaks under from time to time. I can't wait to get started on it and get it done! 

I know I have not been posting all that much lately as things have gotten so busy for me sometimes that my mind is in other places than on this blog. I do enjoy talking with all of my blogging friends and sharing things going on in the garden but I am just not dedicating as much time to blogging as I used to do. That does not mean I will stop blogging. As I've always said the main reason I blog is to document things going on in my garden and life in pictures and words so that I can easily look back on the articles. It is a kind of a scrapbook for me. I am especially grateful that I have documented my current garden on this blog so well as I am trying to design and create a new garden I do not want to forget my old garden. My old garden is where my heart has been for many, many years. All of the thousands of bulbs, and hundreds of perennials, shrubs, and trees are all a little bit part of me. It is almost like giving birth when you plant a garden. You are responsible for that plant and can watch it grow to maturity. Many of the plants and trees I have planted will long outlive me. This part of gardening is fascinating to me and the fact that gardens are alive and ever changing is probably the number one reason I garden. As long as I garden I will endeavor to blog as well....

in the garden....

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Aesthetic Versus Functional Gardening

From In the Garden

Are you the type of gardener who values aesthetic or function more?

Aesthetics as defined by Dictionary.com is: "having a sense of the beautiful; characterized by a love of beauty". It stands to reason a gardener who loves beauty might consider only the whole picture in a garden and want to see only the pretty parts of a garden. Don't we all?

Function as defined by Merriam-Webster is "any of a group of related actions contributing to a larger action; especially : the normal and specific contribution of a bodily part to the economy of a living organism". It stands to reason then that a gardener who values function might consider the mundane and working parts of the garden more important than the overall view of the garden.

When taking these two definitions into account let us look at the first photo of the crocuses. The leaves function as a great mulch and ground cover but are not as aesthetically pleasing as some other mulches might be. I choose to garden functionally and use pretty much only natural materials that are readily available and I am okay with the looks. Some gardeners would rather black shredded hardwood mulch that has to be trucked in and spread. I'd love black hardwood mulch all over my gardens but the leaves function just as well and since they are free and readily available, I have chosen to forgo the aesthetics of black mulch (and the cost) and will instead focus on the function of the free leaves. Both types of mulches work just fine and one is no better than the others-looks and costs are the only variables. Let's look at some other ways to garden functionally versus aesthetically.
As evidenced by the above picture you can see that both my compost bin and my potting bench are well within sight of the house and sitting areas in the garden. I could place the compost bin way back behind the garage where it would be out of sight, but then it would also be out of reach of most of my garden debris and therefore not a functional compost bin. I am undoubtedly a functional type of gardener. I consider mundane things and am not willing to work harder or spend more monty to keep the garden in an aesthetic manner that is beautiful to all. But then again, I think compost bins are pretty special, maybe not beautiful but special nonetheless and I don't mind it in full view. I totally understand not all gardeners will feel this way and those gardeners will strive to camouflage their compost bins or place the bins in an out of sight area.
Let's look at another case of aesthetics versus function. Everyone knows most peonies need to be staked or somehow secured in order to keep their lovely heads out of the dirt when it rains. My functional procedure is to cage all of my peonies in my garden. When the peonies are up and growing you cannot see the cages. They look very beautiful and are aesthetically pleasing in the above picture.
However, when the peonies are asleep the cages are clearly visible and are not such an aesthetically pleasing bit of the garden. I could pick them up and store them but I'm a bit lazy so I've decided to leave them in place. They are not pretty but they are functional, even when the peonies are not growing these cages remind me of where they are located. For me it is all about the functionality of the garden and all the small parts need to work together in conjunction with me and my capabilities-read less work. Leaving the cages in place contribute to the overall garden by contributing to my overall health in that I have less work to do in the garden. My gardening methods are functional though not always aesthetically acceptable.

I know the majority of gardeners would probably value aesthetics over functionality and that is understandable. Just watch HGTV on the weekends and listen to them talk about how ugly vegetable gardens are so they need to be placed in an out of way spot or camouflaged. How silly is that? As we get older it only makes sense to have gardens function in a manner that is easy to use.

Check out gardens on garden tours and you almost never see a compost bin or a pot or a tool or anything functional. All of these functions are usually hidden and out of sight so that the aesthetics are pleasing for the tour participants. I guess that is what gardens are all about but in my opinion, gardens need please only the gardener-me. I choose functionality over aesthetics any day of the year and that's okay because it is what works for me. Another gardener might think my garden could be improved a bit by placing those ugly old functional things in an out of the way spot but that is their opinion and we are all entitled to opinions. My garden works for me but it might not work for another gardener based on priorities and values: aesthetics or function.

Now that you know what type of gardener I am, what type of gardener are you? If it is hard to figure out (it should not be) just ask yourself this question, "Where is my compost bin....

in the garden.... ?"

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team,

In the Garden

Magic....In the Garden

From In the Garden

Magic in the garden-what does the phrase conjure up in your mind?

Is it a forlorn bench under a snow draped evergreen in the winter?

From In the Garden

Perhaps a flower filled spring garden with a nearby chair for dreaming?

From In the Garden

Maybe it is a romantic and wistful view into the fall garden while you are looking toward winter?

To me magic in the garden is all of these things and more but not a tangible thing. It is not something outside of me like a garden, flowers, veggies, birds, or butterflies. It is a feeling I get when I enter a garden-any garden. That feeling may be of awe, inspiration, wonder, excitement, surprise, amazement, or any number of other feelings, but most of all,

Magic in the garden is an emotion of well being and happiness.

It is unique to each of us and the gardens we enter.

in the garden....

Visit Dave at The Home Garden for more magic posts and to describe your own magic in the garden.

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team,

In the Garden

New Life and Old...In the Garden and Plant of the Month

From In the Garden

"Spring is near!" say the Hellebores.

From In the Garden

"But the glory of the past summer remains." says the Pink Turtlehead.

From In the Garden

"Ah, but I am so tired and weary of winter that I have to hang my head." says the Goatsbeard.

From In the Garden

"I second that thought!" says the Hakone Forest Grass.

From In the Garden

"Standby you all!" says the furry Star Magnolia. "We're getting ready to put on a show! You all are so lovely even in your winter colors we can see the glory of the summer to come-even now in the winter...."

in the garden....

This month's Plant of the Month is the Hellebore, but we wish to say goodbye to all of last summer's plants as we clean the garden and make room for the new in the garden. For more information on hellebores click on the above link and it will take you to last year's Plant of the Month-also the hellebore.

Right now the garden is thawing out from a big snowstorm, but the hellebores and remnants from last summer's garden are displaying their glory still-spring is near though.

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team,

In the Garden

I've Got My Brand

Okay, we all know I can talk, sometimes a bit too much. Then comes the two times a day posts. I once said early on this blog I could talk gardening three times a day for a year and not cover the same subject. This post is short. (I promise!) I have just been so excited with my new decal on my car I wanted to share it. So, if you see me around Tennessee (hopefully I am not driving badly!), just wave!

I've got my brand! No doubt about it. I have found my niche and where I am happiest-In the Garden of course! To let the world know, Mr. Fix-it bought me a windshield decal and put it on my little black Buick. Isn't he sweet?

When Mr. Fix-it retires in a few years, we will most likely open a business together. Not sure what it will be, but it will surely be something that we both like and are good at. He has agreed the name of the business will be Tiger Enterprises because In the Garden just won't work for him. Tiger Enterprises is a combination of our names (Tina and Roger hence TI-GER). It is also the name I am calling my gardens. Soon I will have a sign that tells the world that bit of information, but for now, they can all see my brand and it is In the Garden....