December blooms

It's about 30F (-2C) right now and sunny out. Here's what's blooming today:

My pansies are looking rather sad, and my outdoor roses just have buds on them, so for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, I took some pictures of some indoor flowers --

I just got this rose bush yesterday, and this morning it apparently wanted to say hello :)

My potted lemon bush has two lemons which are ripening nicely, but it also has some flowers on it as well.

And then I went outside again and found that something was indeed blooming after all!

My neighbors will be so happy ;)

Roaming around the garden

For once it's sunny (and above freezing) this morning, so I went out with my camera.

The weather has been quite cold, dipping down into the high 20's F (around -3C) every night this week. It's interesting to see what likes what areas of my garden. My onions and garlic are quite happy in the backyard, yet none are growing in the front. The kale and cabbages in the back are all but dead, but the ones in the front are having a party:

The holes in the cabbage leaves are from cabbage moths earlier in the year; if you notice, the new leaves in the center haven't been touched.

My sage continues on its quest for front yard domination, and my rosemary bush is doing fine as well. The "Hill Hardy" rosemary bushes I planted for my porch hedge seem to be unfazed by the cold. I'm having trouble getting good photos of the hedge, so I'll give you a picture another time.

On the other side of the sage is this parsley, which seems to think it's spring! It's putting out new leaves in the center and isn't showing any signs of distress, even though it's in the shade, which should be a cold spot out here.

Over in the sun is my lavender plant, which really likes it out here in front. When I brushed off some leaves to take the photo, the leaves released the most amazing lavender aroma ... I wish I could send it to you. If you at all like lavender, it's a wonderful plant for your edible garden (or for any other garden, for that matter).

Out here under the "crazy tree" is a strawberry plant who is also taking advantage of the lack of competition freezing weather to stake out new territory. ;)

--

If I feel up to it later on today I might go out and stake out my Food4Wealth plots. If not, it'll happen sometime this weekend, as it's not supposed to freeze for the next few days, so the hoses should be thawed enough to do some watering. Right now, there's still frost on the ground out back so it will have to be in the afternoon. Pictures to come soon!

Also, there are still spots open in the Food4Wealth plant-along group. If you're interested, send an email to ediblelandscapedesign@yahoo.com. Everyone who has contacted me should have gotten an email from me about it -- if you didn't, let me know.

The plant-along will start on February 1st, so there's still time to get your copy and read it before we start.

Have you roamed around your yard lately? What's growing out there?

I got an idea this morning ....

It's quite cloudy here, and it's supposed to rain/sleet/snow this afternoon depending on what weather channel you listen to. (ETA: it just started pouring ...) It seems like one of those days where's it's better just to stay inside, so that's what I'm doing today.

Last week I mentioned the experimental garden I'm planning for the backyard using the new program I got called Food4Wealth. Well, I had a lying-in-bed-on-Saturday-morning brainstorm about it that I thought you might like.

The instructions for this planting method specify a particular size plot, square or round with rows, sort of like a farm ... but that seemed pretty boring ... so of course I'm doing something different with my garden. :)

I think I will put a potager in the corner of the fenced-in portion of my back yard. It will have lots of greens, some edible flowers, herbs, and a dwarf fruit tree in there somehwhere. Here are a couple of ideas I've had for the design:




The heavy lines at the left and top are my existing fences, the lines directly inside of those mark out planters I already have there. Hope that's not too confusing.

Which design do you like better? I go back and forth, but I'm kind of partial to the one on the right at the moment.

But the idea I had this morning is about something else.

I've decided to set up a study group or "plant-along" for those of you interested in trying out the Food4Wealth system along with me, which will start on February 1st. That will give you time to read the material and think of where you'd like your garden. Since some of you will be going into spring and others of you headed into fall, this will be a perfect time to get a new garden set up.

The only cost will be the cost of the program itself, which right now is $34. You can get the Food4Wealth program by clicking here. If you're interested in doing the plant-along, send me an email at ediblelandscapedesign@yahoo.com