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June 24, 2007
Snap Beans
Master Gardener Column 6/23/07
Anyone fortunate enough to take Latin as an adolescent remembers the beginning of Julius Caesar’s Commentary on the Gallic and Civil Wars. With a simple, declarative sentence, he wrote, “Gallia est omnis in partes tres.” (All Gaul is divided into three parts.) The parts were the Belgae, the Acquitani, and the Celts, all of whom were markedly different from one another. So it is with beans (Phaselous vulgaris), the snap, the shelled, and the dry. Rather than take on all the beans, as Caesar did Gaul, our concern is the snap, formerly called stringed, sometimes green. Needless to say, dry Pinto beans are markedly different from a freshly picked, tender Blue Lake.
As with most clearly stated distinctions, Caesar did not include the overlaps. So it is with beans. Some shelled beans become dry. Snaps can be shelled and dried. However, the heart of the matter is the preferred state in which they are eaten. Dry Pintos are eaten only after being soaked, boiled, and simmered. Snaps are eaten when green or immature.
Snaps come in two sizes, pole and bush, although some bush are straggly and need support. Also, they come in three colors, green, yellow, and purple, although some are mottled. Pole beans require more work, as in poles, trellises, ladders, lattices, fences, strings, corn stalks, or anything that works. As with tomatoes, pole beans don’t do well by themselves, always needing something on which they can hang, but they produce more than bush beans and are tastier to boot. The only advantage to bush beans is that they are easier to grow, a considerable advantage.
Snap bean fanciers begin with the ‘Kentucky Wonder’ pole bean, an heirloom from the 1800’s. First produced in 1864 as ‘Old Homestead’, it was renamed ‘Kentucky Wonder’ in 1877 and has been the most popular snap bean down to today along with ‘Blue Lake’. A genuine American heirloom, ‘ Kentucky Wonder’ is prolific, disease resistant, and tasty. It’s the old standby of snap beans and American as apple pie.
As with artichokes, snap beans are best eaten when immaturely tender and tasty. A mature snap is fibrous, dry, stringy, and wanting in savor. After much chewing all that is left is a flavorless mass of fiber difficult to swallow.
However, there’s a lot to life beyond the familiar. Hanging out with Kentucky Wonders is safe and rewarding, but a trip to Europe is salutary for the soul as well as savory for the palate.
The French, as always, have a fancy phrase for the snap bean and everything else. Haricot vert, pronounced ah ree koh Vehr, literally means green bean. Haricots vert are served in fancy restaurants. They are slimmer, longer, tenderer, more elegant, and thought more flavorful than American snap beans. Amongst the literati, cognoscenti, and gastronomes they are fashionable if there can be such a thing as a fashionable bean.
Two interesting haricots vert are the purple pole ‘A Cosse Violette’ and the yellow wax bush ‘Beurre de Roquencourt’. Both reach maturity in 55 days. With these two snaps Wolfgang Puck of Malibu has nothing on the backyard gardener of Flagstaff.
Of course, a trip to France is best finished with a trip to Italy, the home of the anellino snap bean, a bean in the shape of a shrimp, grub, or sleeping dog with its snout touching its tail. Children who view eating as entertainment, that is, they play with their food, will love the ‘Stortino de Trento’, a mottled green anellino bean of varied colors which curls upon itself. Another Italian is the ‘Marvel of Venice’, a long, yellow, flat pole bean of rich taste.
A select few remaining adolescent Latinists may recall the Venerable Bede’s simple, declarative sentence with which he began his 8th century Ecclesiastical History of the English People, “Et Britannia insula est” (And Britain is an island.) For High Country gardeners their backyard gardens serve as an island in which they can to grow fresh, e coli free, and flavorful snap beans which are served at the fanciest restaurants in all corners of the world. Without leaving their backyards they can eat the best that money can buy.
By Dana Prom Smith
The author is a Master Gardener volunteer for Coconino County Cooperative Extension. If you have a gardening question, call the Master Gardener hotline at 774-1868 ext. 19 or visit our Web site: highelevationgardening.arizona.edu.
Posted by maxmaddy at 4:04 PM
June 19, 2007
Olivia White Hospice Home Garden Project 6/28
On Thursday, in the heat much was accomplished early in the morning by our regular work crew (Judy Chen, Karen Kent, Marcia Lamkin, Evelyn Haven, Collene Barnhart and Leslie Penick). Baskets were planted for Hodge Podge by Collene while Evelyn and Leslie did weed patrol. Karen deadheaded and planted some left over annuals purchased for pots. Judy moved some plants, planted a few perennials and watered the back garden. Tree rings were created by Leslie for our new aspens and Marcia worked on the Faerie Garden and Bird House Trellis.
The whole crew put weed cloth in one of our less planted areas as an experiment, to see if we could do less weeding. They also peeled off plastic from our new greenhouse sun wall.
Last Sunday the Coconino County Jail adult probation community service group moved our greenhouse and repaired and retooled one of our benches to prevent wind blow-over. We will also be using them to restain the gazebo and build shelves for our new greenhouse. They are a strong/talented group of men who frequently help us with difficult and expensive construction tasks.
Thank-yous this week to:
Our regular crew - Karen Kent, Evelyn Haven, Leslie Penick, Judy Chen, Marcia Lamkin, Collene Barnhart and David and Zane.
Community Service from the Coconino County Adult Probation Dept.
New blooms this week:
More lilies, Shasta daisy, Missouri evening primrose and red Mexican Hat
Plans for 7/5/07
Begin tagging the roses for identification
Pole one of our leaning fruit trees
Moving some abundant yarrow to other dry areas of the garden
Moving a shrub from the door of the greenhouse
Plant more hanging baskets for the gazebo
Continue work on the Tea Faerie Gardens
Clean and fill birdbaths
Weeding the north end of the property in preparation for an Americorp crew later this month
Watering? depends on current weather but if continues to be dry we will need extra help watering.
Meeting and pot luck at 11am - Tea and 10% day.
July 2 - Paintings on display at the Artists Gallery for the month. Stop by on the 1st Friday Artwalk to see them.
July 21 - Warner's 10% day
August 18 - Garden Tea - Auction/Raffle at Olivia White Hospice Garden
2:30-4:30 pm in the garden
Tours, food, music, and raffle-auction at 3:30pm
Parking at the 1st Congregational Church
Fundraising
We do have note cards (prints of the paintings of the garden) and raffle tickets for 2 of the paintings available for sale at the Northland Hospice Office, the Olivia White Hospice Home, and Hodge Podge. The cards come in a package of 4 for $10. The raffle tickets for original watercolors by Mary Swanson and Lynn Overend are $3 each or 6 for $15. The paintings by Roberta Rogers and Catherine Sickafoose will be auctioned at our tea in August.
We still have photo note cards and bookmarks with flowers from the garden available at the Northland Hospice office. Profits from all items are used for creating our beautiful gardens.
Get out in your garden or find one to visit or help in.
Come join us next week and/or drop by and purchase some cards to benefit the garden.
Thanks, Loni Shapiro
Posted by maxmaddy at 8:45 PM
Olivia White Hospice Garden Project 6/21/07
This has been a busy week in our gardens. On Wednesday, Cynthia Katte and her Master Gardener crew were busy re-mapping the gardens. This is a long overdue project since the gardens are now 5 years old. The original maps no longer reflect the structure or plants in the garden.
On Thursday our regular crew was in attendance even in the heat. Evelyn Haven, Leslie Penick and a new volunteer Collene Barnhart weeded and added a few plants to the north Inferno Strip. Collene also watered the east side gardens. Linda Daugherty returned from Ash Fork to finish feeding the trees and re-working their wells and planted a few more perennials/annuals. Elsie Ellis was back to clean bird baths, the gazebo floor, and make soil for planting some more annual pots. Karen Kent did her usual deadheading and getting the roses outside the rose garden ready to grow. Cynthia Katte helped supervise the first couple of hours in my absence, while planting some new color in the old inferno strip. Several residents spent time in the garden with David and Zane.
If that wasn't enough we had a whole new crew on Friday. Laura Davis help supervise a crew from GORE. They did 4 hours of their 8 hours of yearly community service in our garden. We had 8 people that accomplished our list for the day and then some. Hattie Braun stopped by to help decide on where to plant some donated aspens. The crew of 8 planted 8 trees, one shrub, and 3 color pots. They also cleaned several areas - the back of the Faerie Garden, the shed and surrounding area, and our pile of leftover wood and pots. Two of the crew hauled materials out to the dump, another watered the back garden, and several people sanded the gazebo in prepartion for re-staining
Thank-yous this week to:
Our regular crew - Karen Kent, Cynthia Katte, Evelyn Haven, Leslie Penick, Linda Daugherty, Elsie Ellis, David and Zane, and our new volunteer Collene Barnhart.
Cynthia Katte and her MG crew for mapping.
GORE for a successful community service day.
Nick Lipinski for a donation of gladiola bulbs from his mom.
New blooms this week:
Lilies, dianthus, many volunteer larkspur surrounding the birdbath in the rose garden.
New plantings:
6 Aspen, 2 popular and one Three Leaf Sumac shrub
Plans for 6/28/07
Begin tagging the roses for identification
Pole one of our leaning fruit trees
Plant baskets for Hodge Podge
Continue work on Faerie Garden
Clean and fill birdbaths
Clean remaining pots
As always - weeding (but very little this week)
Watering? depends on current weather but if continues to be dry we will need extra help watering..
Upcoming Plans
June 1 - Paintings on display for the month at the Arboretum at Flagstaff.
Paintings to be raffled/auctioned on August 18th at our Garden Tea. Come see some
additional painting of gardens/flowers/butterflies by Mary Swanson, Lynn Overend, and
Catherine Sickafoose in the display this month.
June 30 - Fundraising table for Run for Your Life
Allen Katte to man a table on the morning of the race.
June 30 - Fundraising table for Radisson RN Conference
Loni Shapiro to man a table for sales of note cards/bookmarks/raffle tickets.
July 1 - Paintings on display at the Artists Gallery for the month
July 21 - Warner's & Flagstaff Native Plant & Seed - 10% day
August 18 - Garden Tea - Auction/Raffle at Olivia White Hospice Garden
2:30-4:30 pm in the garden
Tours, food, music, and raffle-auction at 3:30pm
Parking at the 1st Congregational Church
Fundraising
We do have note cards (prints of the paintings of the garden) and raffle tickets for 2 of the paintings available for sale at the Northland Hospice Office, the Olivia White Hospice Home, and Hodge Podge. The cards come in a package of 4 for $10. The raffle tickets for original watercolors by Mary Swanson and Lynn Overend are $3 each or 6 for $15. The paintings by Roberta Rogers and Catherine Sickafoose will be auctioned at our tea in August.
We still have photo note cards and bookmarks with flowers from the garden available at the Northland Hospice office. Profits from all items are used for creating our beautiful gardens.
Get out in your garden or find one to visit or help in.
Come join us next week and/or drop by and purchase some cards to benefit the garden.
Thanks, Loni Shapiro
Posted by maxmaddy at 7:37 PM
June 18, 2007
AZ Native Plant Society June 2007 Events
AZNPS Program Meeting, Tuesday, June 19, NAU Biological Sciences Building, Room 313, 7 p.m.: Ken Morrow, AZNPS board member, will present, "Arizona's Champion Trees: Honoring and Protecting the State's Largest Trees." Ken has been involved for many years in locating, registering and protecting Arizona's 120 species and varieties of old growth native trees. Several of these giants live in Northern Arizona. Those of you familiar with James Redfield's, "Celestine Prophecy" and his "Tenth Insight" have a reverence for the significance of old growth trees. The research of Richard Preston resulting in his book, "The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring," reveals the giant California Sequoias have the ability to create their own worlds and unique habitats. Come, see and be awed.
Field Trip, Sunday, June 24; meet to carpool at AZ State Credit Union parking lot, corner of Butler and Beaver, 10 a.m. "Exploring the World of Northern Arizona's Champion Trees" A trip, led by Ken Morrow and research colleague, David Thornburg, will bring us to the sites of giant trees and detail the history and measurements of each specimen. Location will be in the Cottonwood/Verde Valley area. We expect a full day trip so bring lunch, water, wear sun protection and sturdy walking shoes.
Posted by ferrise at 3:10 PM
Garden Visit
Bridget and Bruce Morson invite the garden club, and other interested gardeners, to visit their garden at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 23. The Morsons have developed their garden over 20 years by 'figuring out how it looks.' They have planted mostly field flowers, going for color. The garden has soothing paths and the flowers include Rocky Mountain lemon lilies, delphinium, regosa, iceland poppy, larkspur and flax.
Bridget says she will have drinks and munchies and a little drawing at the end. Refer to the Master Gardener column posted 2/3/07 for a look at the garden from another master gardener.
Address: 2809 Erin Way, Cheshire.
Driving Directions: Hwy 180 to Fremont, go 1/4 mile and turn right on Wilson 1/4 mile, turn left on Erin whichis a cul du sac.
The Garden Club meets when we have an invitation to visit a garden or to hear a presentation on a gardening topic. There are no dues. To receive email announcements of events send your name, email address and your phone number to Jean Hockman at djhockman@npgcable.com, or phone 928 526 5813.
Posted by hockmanj at 2:52 PM
June 17, 2007
Floating Row Covers and Frost Protection
Master Gardener Column 6/16/07
Last week my garden was gaudy with reds, greens, pinks, purples, and yellows. This was not due to a profusion of flowers but rather the hodgepodge of sheets that I used to protect my plants from cold. With impending frost, northern Arizona gardeners will use anything to save their gardens.
Frost was forecast for June 7th and my warm-season crops including tomato, pepper, squash, cucumber and basil were at risk. These plants need protection from freezing temperatures. In late afternoon, I turned an old nursery container upside down over each plant. Ten gallon pots are perfect for covering burgeoning squash.
Later that evening I rechecked the weather forecast and shivered when the predicted low was actually 26 degrees, a temperature that warm-season crop cannot handle. Out came colorful sheets to cover the pots and further shelter the plants. The fabric helps by trapping heat that is radiated from the soil keeping the temperature around the plants several degrees above the low. Once the temperature was above freezing in the morning, I removed all trace of color.
Sheets are not ideal covers for plants but that was what I had on hand. Floating row covers made of lightweight spun-bonded polyester or polyethylene are a much better choice. Depending on the type and weight that you purchase, they provide between 4 and 8 degrees of protection and can be left on for weeks at a time.
In spring, a few degrees of frost protection can extend the growing season by several weeks. As many northern Arizona gardeners plant several weeks before the frost-free date of June 10th, row covers become invaluable for protecting warm-season crops. The greenhouse effect of most row covers will not only warm the air surrounding the plant but will also warm the soil, enhancing seed germination, root growth, and maturity.
Floating row covers differ from other fabrics and plastics used for frost protection as you can lay them directly on the plants. Unlike sheets, these products dry quickly and will not damage plants.
Light will penetrate row covers and, depending on the weight, allow 50-80% light transmittance. This reduction can aid transplanting tender plants. Row covers also provide wind protection for seedlings.
Row covers are an environmentally friendly way to prevent insects and other pests from damaging plants. They are great for keeping flea beetles off radish, turnip, arugula, broccoli and cauliflower.
Cool-season crops can handle light frost once they’ve hardened off. I didn’t cover my peas, spinach, lettuce, kale or argula and they showed no ill-effects from the cold. But, cool-season seedlings can suffer from freezing temperatures. Row covers can provide the protection they need to become established in spring.
Row covers can be used for several seasons but eventually will be degraded by UV radiation. You can extend their life by folding and storing them away from sun and moisture when not in use.
Floating row cover is often called by the manufacturer's name such as Typar, Agri-Pro or Agribon.
The down side to row covers is that pollination of crops such as melon, squash, and cucumber will be prevented unless the cover is periodically folded back to expose flowers to insects.
Floating row covers are not practical in windy neighborhoods. And they are not inexpensive.
But floating row covers are much easier to use than a collection of old cotton sheets and nursery pots. My garden survived this frost but may not be so lucky next time. For high elevation gardeners, it is not a matter of if a frost will occur but when.
By Hattie Braun
The author is the Master Gardener Program Coordinator for Coconino Cooperative Extension. If you have a gardening question, call the Master Gardener hotline at (928)774-1868 ext. 19.
Posted by maxmaddy at 4:49 AM
June 16, 2007
Olivia White Garden Project Workday 6/21/07
On Thursday we had a large crew of our regulars and were able to complete many items on our agenda. Karen Kent returned to caring for the roses after spending several months in California. The roses and we are still smiling! Nancy Palmer did some planting in the Faerie Garden. Linda Daugherty came all the way from Ash Fork and fed and improved tree rings for many of our trees and did some weeding with Evelyn Haven. Cyntha Katte, Elsie Ellis, Evelyn Haven and Karen Kent planted annuals in many of our pots.
Judy Chen watered the back garden and added some annual color to the beds. David Hockman returned with his golden shovel to plant a large Forsythia and repair one of our benches. Allen Katte helped David and gave us a demo on our new power drill. Leslie Penick, back from her trip to New Zealand/Australia did her usual weed removal. We also had a new volunteer from the hospice training class, Chris Hochuli, and he re-sanded our walkway from the parking lot to the rose garden. I spent my time cleaning up the sensory pots and adding a few plants and signs for the season.
Thank-yous this week to:
Our regular crew - Karen Kent, Nancy Palmer, Cynthia & Allen Katte, Judy Chen, Evelyn Haven, David Hockman, Leslie Penick, Linda Daugherty, Elsie Ellis, David and Zane, and our new volunteer Chris Hochuli.
New blooms this week:
Desert 4 O-Clock (Mirabilis multiflora), Penstemon pinus 'Mersa Yellow and Red' , many of our roses (so far, not eaten by the deer), dianthus and lamb's ear.
Plans for 6/21/07
Begin tagging the roses for identification
Pole one of our leaning fruit trees
Finish feeding trees
Finish planting color pots with annuals and adding to the Inferno Strip
Plant some donated aspen trees
Continue work on Faerie Garden
Clean and fill birdbaths
Clean and ready gazebo for re-staining
Haul debris to dump (garbage bags, unused wood, pallets)
Clean remaining pots
As always - weeding
Watering? depends on current weather but if continues to be dry we will need extra help watering.
6/22/07
Volunteer crew from GORE to help with special projects.
Upcoming Plans
June 1 - Paintings on display for the month at the Arboretum at Flagstaff.
Paintings to be raffled/auctioned on August 18th at our Garden Tea. Come see some
additional painting of gardens/flowers/butterflies by Mary Swanson, Lynn Overend, and
Catherine Sickafoose in the display this month.
June 30 - Fundraising table for Run for Your Life
Allen Katte to help man a table on the morning of the race.
June 30 - Fundraising table for Radisson RN Conference
Loni Shapiro to man a table for sales of note cards/bookmarks/raffle tickets.
July 1 - Paintings on display at the Artists Gallery for the month
July 21 - Warner's & Flagstaff Native Plant & Seed - 10% day
August 18 - Garden Tea - Auction/Raffle at Olivia White Hospice Garden
2:30-4:30 pm in the garden
Tours, food, music, and raffle-auction at 3:30pm
Parking at the 1st Congregational Church
Fundraising
We do have note cards (prints of the paintings of the garden) and raffle tickets for 2 of the paintings available for sale at the Northland Hospice Office, the Olivia White Hospice Home, and Hodge Podge. The cards come in a package of 4 for $10. The raffle tickets for original watercolors by Mary Swanson and Lynn Overend are $3 each or 6 for $15. The paintings by Roberta Rogers and Catherine Sickafoose will be auctioned at our tea in August.
We still have photo note cards and bookmarks with flowers from the garden available at the Northland Hospice office. Profits from all items are used for creating our beautiful garden.
"June is bustin' out all over".
- Oscar Hammerstein II, 1945
Get out in your garden or find one to visit or help in.
Come join us next week and/or drop by and purchase some cards to benefit the garden.
Thanks, Loni Shapi
Posted by maxmaddy at 7:51 PM
Rainwater Harvesting Workshop: Cistern Installation
There will be a Rainwater Harvesting Workshop at the New Start Garden near Downtown Flagstaff. This free workshop is sponsored by Native Movement and Keya Earth.
Brian Keeley, Gardens Director for the Arboretum at Flagstaff, will direct the installation of a rainwater collecting cistern using reclaimed materials. The information covered and skills learned will be relevant to homeowners, landscapers, gardeners, builders, and community members interested in learning how to become more waterwise.
When: Saturday June 23rd at 9:00 am
Where: New Start Garden, 320 N Aztec St., Flagstaff
For more information contact Brett at (928) 213-9063 or brett@nativemovement.org
Native Movement Urban Lifeways Project
Keya Earth
Posted by hbraun at 11:09 AM
June 5, 2007
Arboretum Plant Sale & Garden Fair
22nd Annual
Plant Sale and Garden Fair
Schedule of Events:
Friday, June 15, 2007 (Members Only)
Class: “Plants of the Summer Sale”
2:00 to 3:00 p.m.
A free, members-only introduction to the plants for sale, led by Arboretum staff and participating vendors.
Members’ Presale
3:00 to 6:00 p.m.
An opportunity to purchase the “pick of the crop”, for members only. Non-members may purchase memberships at this event.
Saturday, June 16, 2007 (Public Welcome)
22nd Annual Plant Sale and Garden Fair
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
For members and the public. In addition to the plant sale, enjoy our new selection of Arboretum-themed merchandise and gardening books.
Along with the dozens of species of native and adapted trees, shrubs, herbs, vegetables, herbaceous perennials and annuals that will be on sale, we are spotlighting the following species at this year’s event:
New Mexican checkerbloom, blue eyed grass, Fendler's meadowrue. yellow monkey flower, wine cups.
Other noteworthy Mentions:
Chiricahua Mountain columbine, Rocky Mountain columbine, golden columbine, coral bells and scarlet gilia.
The following Arizona growers will be participating in this year’s sale and donating a generous portion of their proceeds to the Arboretum:
Flagstaff Native Plant & Seed
Mountain Meadow Farm
Torque Ranch Gardens
Warner’s Nursery & Landscaping Company
Posted by maxmaddy at 6:05 AM
Olivia White Hospice Project Workday 6/14/07
Our small crew accomplished many chores on our to-do list for the day on Thursday. Cynthia Katte stained part of a repaired bench, helped install some new memorial bricks and a hummingbird feeder pole, and added some streamers to keep Bambi out of her favorite roses south of the Gazebo. My Mom, Elsie Ellis, joined us again and helped us clean-up bird baths, droppings in the gazebo and swept out the patio. She also help make some soil for the last of 4 tomatoes planted, that were covered with remay due to the impending frost. Leslie Penick and Evelyn Haven worked on one of many weed patches. Judy Chen did some potting, fixed some loose flagstone on the back patio, and hand watered all the plants new to the garden. Nancy Palmer worked on her two projects - the Birdhouse Screen and the Faerie Garden. Our plan was to plant some annual color pots, but because of the possible frost we decided to wait until next Thursday. We were also joined by the sound of some small birds nesting in one of our old dead ponderosas. We were unable to identify them - too small and too far up the tree.
Thank-yous this week to:
Our regular crew - Nancy Palmer, Cynthia Katte, Judy Chen, Evelyn Haven, Leslie Penick, Elsie Ellis and David and Zane.
Thank you also to Cynthia and Allen Katte for a new much needed drill for the garden and to Evelyn Haven for a set of gloves for the summer auction/raffle.
New blooms this week:
Centaurea rothrockii (Basket Flower), Allium moly 'Jeannine', Penstemon linarioides (Mat), gaillardia (Blanket Flower) and Robusta Rose. The red runner beans planted on the new Birdhouse screen have taken off.
Plans for 6/14/07
Begin tagging the roses for identification
Pole one of our leaning fruit trees
Plant color pots with annuals and finish raised beds
Re-sanding the path between the parking lot and Rose garden
Continue work on Faerie Garden
As always - weeding
Watering? depends on current weather but if continues to be dry we will need extra help watering.
Upcoming Plans
June 1 - Paintings on display for the month at the Arboretum at Flagstaff.
Paintings to be raffled/auctioned on August 18th at our Garden Tea. Come see some
additional painting of gardens/flowers/butterflies by Mary Swanson, Lynn Overend, and
Catherine Sickafoose in the display this month.
June 30 - Fundraising table for Run for Your Life
Allen Katte to help man a table on the morning of the race.
June 30 - Fundraising table for Radisson RN Conference
Loni Shapiro to man a table for sales of note cards/bookmarks/raffle tickets.
July 1 - Paintings on display at the Artists Gallery for the month
July 14 - Warner's 10% day (tentative schedule)
August 18 - Garden Tea - Auction/Raffle at Olivia White Hospice Garden
2:30-4:30 pm in the garden
Tours, food, music, and raffle-auction at 3:30pm
Parking at the 1st Congregational Church
Fundraising
We do have note cards (prints of the paintings of the garden) and raffle tickets for 2 of the paintings available for sale at the Northland Hospice Office, the Olivia White Hospice Home, and Hodge Podge. The cards come in a package of 4 for $10. The raffle tickets for original watercolors by Mary Swanson and Lynn Overend are $3 each or 6 for $15. The paintings by Roberta Rogers and Catherine Sickafoose will be auctioned at our tea in August.
We still have photo note cards and bookmarks with flowers from the garden available at the Northland Hospice office. Profits from all items are used for creating our beautiful garden.
"This is June, the month of grass and leaves . . . already the aspens are trembling again,
and a new summer is offered me. I feel a little fluttered in my thoughts, as if I might be too
late. Each season is but an infinitesimal point. It no sooner comes than it is gone. It has
no duration. It simply gives a tone and hue to my thought. Each annual phenomena is
reminiscence and prompting. Our thoughts and sentiments answer to the revolution
of the seasons, as two cog-wheels fit into each other. We are conversant with only one
point of contact at a time, from which we receive a prompting and impulse and instantly
pass to a new season or point of contact. A year is made up of a certain series and
number of sensations and thoughts which have their language in nature. Now I am
ice, now I am sorrel. Each experience reduces itself to a mood of the mind."
- Henry David Thoreau, Journal, June 6, 1857
Get out in your garden or find one to visit or help in.
Come join us next week and/or drop by and purchase some cards to benefit the garden.
Thanks, Loni Shapiro
Posted by maxmaddy at 5:15 AM
June 4, 2007
Public Tour and Sale at Mountain Meadow Farm
The Bioshelter at Mountain Meadow Farm
Public Tour:
Saturday, June 9th, 10- 11a.m.
A $5.00-$10,000 per person donation is requested. No one will be turned away due to lack of funds.
Sales Event:
Saturday, June 9th, 9a.m.-2p.m.
This sale, at the Farm, features farm-grown one-gallon heritage tomatoes, Jerusalem artichoke plants and ready-to-plant unsprouted tubers, native and edible perennial plants from Jan Busco's nursery, composting red worms and made-to-order cold frames and mini-greenhouses made at the Farm from recycled materials. A listing of available plants is available on our website FlagstaffPermaculture, and advanced orders are welcome.
Directions to the Farm are at: VisitMountainMeadowFarm
We will also be selling Mountain Meadow Farm's products, plants and composting redworms at the Arboretum at Flagstaff's Summer Plant Sale Saturday, June 16, 9a.m. - 5p.m. at the Arboretum at Flagstaff. 928-774-1442 or www.thearb.org and at Flagstaff Community Market. Plants sales can also be made at the Nursery at Mountain Meadow Farm by appointment. Contact Jan Busco (928) 774-3584 or JaniceBusco@gmail.com, or Chuck McDougal (928)527-0986, chuck@mountainmeadowfarm.org.
Chuck McDougal, Farmer
Jan Busco, Horticulturist
Mountain Meadow Farm
4509 N. Mountain Meadow Drive
Flagstaff, AZ 86004
Posted by hbraun at 8:38 AM
June 2, 2007
THE ARTICHOKE: An Improbable Vegetable
Master Gardener Column 6/2/07
During the Middle Ages, a gang of Vikings raided Scotland in the dead of night. Trying silence, they landed bare-footed but hadn’t reckoned on the Scotch thistles. Their howls awakened the sleeping Highlanders who drove them back into the sea.
The Scotch thistle became the symbol of Scotland and the emblem of the fabled Highland infantry regiment, the Black Watch, whose motto is Nemo me impune lacessit (No one touches me with impunity.) However, nowadays the Scotch thistle (Onopordum acanthium), formerly Scotland’s early warning system, has been benched as an invasive species and even sent to the showers as the U.S. Forest Service’s Weed of the Week.
Another famous thistle, the globe artichoke (Cynara scolymus), hails from softer Mediterranean climes. Not to be confused with the Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus) or the Chinese artichoke (Stachys affinis), whose edible parts are tubers, the edible part of the globe artichoke is its flower bud, a thistle’s flower bud certainly being an improbable vegetable.
Legend says that the first artichoke was Cynara, Zeus’ beautiful, young earthling mistress with whom he dallied when his wife, Hera, was out of town. When Cynara wanted to return to her mother on earth, Zeus, miffed at the rejection, hurled her back to earth, turning her into the first artichoke. As Cynara is botanical Latin for artichoke so the Arabic al΄qarshuf is the root of English word. Arabic Moors introduced the artichoke to Spain where monks developed it in their monastic gardens.
During the Renaissance, the wives and mistresses of dottled aristocrats weren’t allowed to eat artichokes because they were considered aphrodisiacs. Apparently they feared their sex-crazed young wives and mistresses would dump them, taking up with younger bucks. Marilyn Monroe was California’s first Artichoke Queen. The oxymoron of a sexy thistle is far cry from “No one touches me with impunity.”
Historically, artichokes can be traced to the 4th century B.C. Martha Washington’s Booke of Cookery had a recipe entitled “To Make Hartichoak Pie.” Early in the 20th century Fannie Farmer introduced artichokes to America in her cookbook’s ninth edition.
Anyone who grows tomatoes knows the drill. With a 90 day cycle from transplant to fruition, the best thing to do, unless the gardener’s a greenhouse horticultural aristocrat, is to start them indoors, early, seeding two or three seeds ½ inch deep in little discs or pots of sterilized potting soil. Water well and place on a window sill. After the first green appears, fertilize them with a small amount of water-soluble fertilizer. Transplant them to a larger container after the first real leaves appear, and then transplant them outside either after the last frost or before within Walls O’Water. Purchasing an artichoke plant from a nursery is lots easier. However, seeding offers the possibility of exotic varieties, such as, the Italian Carciofo Violetto di Chioggia, a violet tinged artichoke without thorns.
As perennials, artichokes can survive the winter, but as Mediterraneans, four or five inches of mulch, leaves, pine needles, or straw are required. Even then survival is chancy. They grow well in containers, saving water.
Artichoke buds in bloom adorn a garden with intense purple, five inch blossoms. Stems grow nearly three feet high with long spiny leaves.
Eating artichokes is akin to eating corn on the cob, messy. Rinse and boil them in water with a squirt of olive oil and pinch of salt for 40 to 50 minutes. Crushed garlic cloves, crushed oregano leaves, or lemon slices may be added to the water. When the scales are easily pulled off, drain upside down, and serve with melted butter. The gastronomical prize is the crown, a concave disc at the base of the scales. First, use the lower choppers to scrape off and eat the scales’ fleshy base. Remove the inner, undeveloped scales and savor the crown. A Cream of Tomato, Avocado, Basil, and Artichoke Crown Soup recipe is blogged at http://oldfartskitchen.blogspot.com.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the great German poet and master of nearly everything else, after his tour of Italy, wrote, “Only peasants eat artichokes.” In America, Thomas Jefferson’s “natural aristocracy” relishes corn on the cob and artichokes. Comme il faut.
By Dana Prom Smith
The author is a Master Gardener volunteer for Coconino County Cooperative Extension. If you have a gardening question, call the Master Gardener hotline at 774-1868 ext. 19 or visit our Web site: highelevationgardening.arizona.edu.
Posted by hargers at 8:35 PM
June 1, 2007
Olivia White Garden Project Workday 6/7/07
For our workday this week much was accomplished again. We had our regular crew (Cynthia Katte, Nancy Palmer, Marcia Lamkin, Judy Chen, Linda Daugherty and Jillian)) out working in the heat for a couple of hours and then had a break for a snack and meeting about our summer Tea Auction/Raffle. My Mom Elsie Ellis also joined us to begin adding plants to the sensory pots and raised beds.. We also had a new visitor to welcome people to the Faerie Garden thanks to a sale at Warner's Nursery.
Most of our crew worked on cleaning up the Rose garden - removing excess pine needle mulch, cutting back dried or dead branches on lavender, planting a few plants and moving some spreading ground covers. Nancy and Marcia worked on creating an entrance to the Faerie Garden. Judy added some plants to the Tea Garden and sheep trough. Zane and David continue to brighten our days bringing residents to visit the garden.
Thank-yous this week to:
Our regular crew - Nancy Palmer, Cynthia Katte, Marcia Lamkin, Judy Chen, Evelyn Haven, David and Zane and two new regular volunteers Linda Daugherty and Jillian.
New blooms this week:
Sulfer buckwheat, Austrian copper rose, salvia, several penstemons (strictus, pseudospectablilis, and etoni) and the Mountain Ash tree.
Plans for 6/7/07
Begin tagging the roses for identification
Begin planting color pots and finish raised beds and tomato pots
Re-sanding the path between the parking lot and Rose garden
Continue work on Faerie Garden
As always - weeding
Watering? depends on current weather but if continues to be dry we will need extra help watering.
Upcoming Plans
June 1 - Paintings on display for the month at the Arboretum at Flagstaff.
Paintings to be raffled/auctioned on August 18th at our Garden Tea. Come see some
additional painting of gardens/flowers/butterflies by Mary Swanson, Lynn Overend, and
Catherine Sickafoose in the display this month.
June 30 - Fundraising table for Run for Your Life
Allen Katte to help man a table on the morning of the race.
June 30 - Fundraising table for Radisson RN Conference
Loni Shapiro to man a table for sales of note cards/bookmarks/raffle tickets.
July 1 - Paintings on display at the Artists Gallery for the month
July 14 - Warner's 10% day (tentative schedule)
August 18 - Garden Tea - Auction/Raffle at Olivia White Hospice Garden
2:30-4:30 pm in the garden
Tours, food, music, and raffle-auction at 3:30pm
Parking at the 1st Congregational Church
Fundraising
We do have note cards (prints of the paintings of the garden) and raffle tickets for 2 of the paintings available for sale at the Northland Hospice Office, the Olivia White Hospice Home, and Hodge Podge. The cards come in a package of 4 for $10. The raffle tickets for original watercolors by Mary Swanson and Lynn Overend are $3 each or 6 for $15. The paintings by Roberta Rogers and Catherine Sickafoose will be auctioned at our tea in August.
We still have photo note cards and bookmarks with flowers from the garden available at the Northland Hospice office. Profits from all items are used for creating our beautiful garden.
Today's Quote
We must remain as close to the flowers, the grass, and the butterflies as the child is who is not yet so much taller than they are.
-Friedrich Nietzsche
Get out in your garden or find one to visit or help in.
Come join us next week and/or drop by and purchase some cards to benefit the garden.
Thanks, Loni
Posted by maxmaddy at 4:41 AM