In the garden — A Cultivated Nest

The Garden Game – A Vintage Gardening Board Game

January 30, 2013 By Manuela

I thought all you gardeners and lovers of vintage would like to see my Christmas present to myself!

It’s a British gardening board game called The Garden Game by Lady Sarah Ponsonby. It’s a rummy style game and was named “best game of the year for 1980″. Isn’t it marvelous! They don’t make beautiful board games like this anymore.

The beautifully designed large board is the garden and has 4 garden beds.

The object of the game is for each player to plant Seed Packets in their garden until it’s full, with plants that do best together (companion planting!). The first player that completes their garden wins. But you have to watch out for Acts of God, Weather Reports and other disasters (you could also have an accident go to the hospital)!

The seed cards are beautifully illustrated with various plants and flowers!

They’re planted in the furrows (grooves) of the plots (those white lines on the board)

It has miniature metal garden objects as playing pieces and wooden dice!

It’s a stormy day here in Georgia (we started the day with tornado sirens at 8:30 am), so my daughter and I are going to play The Garden Game and work on our puzzle, bake some cupcakes and probably check the weather channel compulsively until these storms pass through later today!

What are you doing today?

Filed Under: Collections, In the garden Tagged With: garden, vintage

Have You Ordered Your Seeds Yet? My Favorite Seed Catalogs.

January 20, 2013 By Manuela

This is a quiet time of year for most gardeners. A time to dream about your spring garden and to make plans. Yes, it’s seed catalog time! I’m sure they’ve been arriving in your mailbox as they have mine!

I love seed catalogs! I just love slowly pouring over my catalogs, looking at all the different varieties of flowers and vegetables that are available. Reading the descriptions – they all sound so good! I always circle all the ones I would order if I had no budget limits.

Normally I order my seeds in February/March but this year I’m placing my order tomorrow. We have had extremely mild temps all winter and I think we’re going to have an early spring. The forsythia is starting to bloom and some of my daffodils are popping up!

There are quite a lot of seed catalog companies out there. Here’s a guide to my favorite seed catalogs.

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange – certified organic seeds that grow well in the midatlantic region
Seed Savers Exchange – they’re dedicated to saving and sharing heirloom seeds and the sometimes they’re the only ones to have certain varieties.
Bountiful Gardens – untreated open-pollinated non-GMO seed of heirloom quality for vegetables, herbs, flowers, grains, green manures, compost and carbon crops
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds – carries one of the largest selections of seeds from the 19th century, including many Asian and European varieties
Fedco – your source for cold-hardy selections especially adapted to the demanding Northeast climate
Renee’s Garden – All their seeds are carefully trialed and evaluated in test gardens in different climate zones before being added to their line.
Territorial Seed Company – Each year Territorial’s research garden staff grows and evaluates thousands of varieties for best taste, Northwest hardiness, and good germination. More recently they began reclaiming older, favorite vegetable varieties sometimes shelved by their seed suppliers.

Feel free to add your favorite seed catalog in the comments!

P.S. One year I didn’t have the budget to order seeds and got my seeds at the Dollar Tree – 4 for $1.00. I had a perfectly wonderful vegetable garden that year. It’s great if you can afford heirloom, non-gmo seeds but don’t let it stop you from trying to grow from seed if they are out of your budget.

Filed Under: In the garden Tagged With: backyard vegetable garden, garden, growing from seed

Thrifty Garden Finds

January 7, 2013 By Manuela

I ‘ve been really lucky with thrifting lately and wanted to show you a few things that I’ve gotten that have to do with the garden.

This Smith & Hawken Bird Attracting Seed Kit was $2.92 at Goodwill. I know they sell them at Target but I don’t know what it retails for. Anyway, I’m not going to use it as a planter.

I have a craft project in mind for the wooden crate and I’ll use the peat pots and cocopeat disks for starting some veggie seeds this spring. The 2 seed packets (6 are sold with this set apparently) I’ll direct sow in spring and see what happens.

I stopped at the thriftstore (in another town) before heading to Lowe’s to buy some clearanced spring bulbs and found this long handled bulb planter for $3.93! It looks brand new! They retail for anywhere from $20-90.

Isn’t that weird that I would find a bulb planter on the day I was going to buy a bunch of bulbs!!

Wouldn’t you know it, Lowe’s was all out of their clearanced bulbs so I headed back home to Home Depot where they had a ton of bulbs. Know why they still had a ton of bulbs? Because they never mark down their stuff correctly! All the bulb displays still had the full retail price on them. I took one up to a register and they scanned at 50% off. So I bought a few bags of daffodils, hyacinths and alliums. I’ll go back in another week or so and see if they’re 75% off.

I spent several hours outside happily working in the yard since today was a gorgeous, sunny day. It was so nice to be outdoors! I used my bulb planter and planted all of the bulbs except the alliums. The bulb planter worked great. I’ve never had one before. I usually just dig a big hole and throw a bunch of bulbs in at once.

spring 2012 flowers

When to plant spring flowering bulbs depends on where you are. Our ground isn’t frozen yet so I can still dig a hole. We have at least 2 more months of cold weather before spring so the bulbs will get the cooling period that they need. This is the way I always do it because I refuse to pay full price for daffodils! The only thing I’ve noticed is that they bloom later than the bulbs that have been in the ground for a while, which is fine with me.

My last find is 60 feet of Pro Garden Edging for $2.92! One of my 2013 garden projects is to enlarge and change the shape of the cottage garden in front of my vegetable garden (that’s where I’m planting the alliums) and I wanted some edging for it. And now I have some!

I found all these items within the last week!

Now is the time to go to the thrift store! People are decluttering/organizing and donating stuff they can’t use/don’t want.

Have you been thrifting lately? What did you find?

Filed Under: In the garden, Thrifting Tagged With: garden, thrifting

My Barn At Christmas

December 4, 2012 By Manuela

We did a little barn decorating the other day and I thought you all might like to see. It’s great that it’s already a Christmassy red!

My aqua planter box got a wreath and some greens.

It’s so hot it might as well be summer! At least my flowers haven’t died yet!

We’re going through all of our Christmas decorations and getting rid of lots of things. We have waaay too much stuff. Why do I think we have too much stuff?

Because we found this huge wreath with the price tag still on it! Apparently I bought it at Target after Christmas several years ago. So long ago I don’t even remember when!! When you don’t even know what you have then it’s time to get rid of stuff! We layered it on top of our barn star.

We also added some lights.

Have you ever tried taking photos in “night mode” on your camera?

That setting doesn’t seem to work on my camera. Strange photo isn’t it?

Just a little holiday spirit in the backyard!

….and some wishful thinking. Will winter ever come to Atlanta….

Filed Under: Exterior Decorating, In the garden Tagged With: barn, Christmas Decorating, exterior decorating

Put Those Gorgeous Fall Leaves to Work!

November 9, 2012 By Manuela

We are finally seeing some color change and the leaves are falling!

My Neighbor’s Beautiful Trees

I enjoy seeing the beautiful color of the leaves (fall is my very favorite season), but more than that, falling leaves mean free mulch for me!

The afternoons have been pretty gorgeous even though we’ve had our first freeze warnings this week.

So I’ve been enjoying being outside tidying up my garden a bit. Which means trimming trees and roses and the start of chopping up the leaves with my lawnmower. I’ll be doing this for at least a few more weeks.

I use the chopped leaves to mulch some of my flower beds and the raised beds in my vegetable garden that I’m not using. This limits weed germination. Normally I’d have more beds to cover with leaf mulch, but this year I’m using all my beds but 2. You can work any leaves that haven’t decomposed into the soil in spring and use them as an organic soil amendment. They don’t have many nutrients so I don’t use them as a fertilizer.

I don’t use leaves under plants that do better with pine straw which is acidic & makes the soil acidic when it decomposes.

Last Summer’s Blueberries Mulched With Pinestraw

So acid-loving plants like my blueberry bushes (you can see the pine straw underneath the leaves), hydrangeas, azaleas, and gardenias get pine straw. Fortunately pine straw is cheap in the South and you get good coverage for a bale. So it’s very economical.

I have mostly Maple, Pecan, Poplar, Crepe Myrtle, Bradford Pear & River Birch leaves to mulch. Normally I have a mix of leaves to use as mulch since I have different trees all over. Oak is fine but takes a little longer to break down (as do Pecan). My neighbor shreds her Walnut leaves and says they are safe to compost or use as mulch. Just do a quick Google search if you are uncertain about whether or not your leaves are safe to use as mulch or compost. I think Eucalyptus can be composted but not shredded and used as mulch for example.

Besides mulching my empty raised beds I had to water the veggies I have growing. Although, I have a separate post coming on my fall/winter garden, I have to show you my peppers now!

I’m experimenting with some summer vegetables to see how long I can keep them producing under the row covers we installed.

I’m so excited that I’m still picking bell peppers in November!! Anyway, I do have a post on my winter vegetable garden coming up but I had to share these with you!

So back to leaves …. don’t just bag them (unless you’re keeping them to use in your spring/summer compost), use them now as mulch!

Filed Under: In the garden Tagged With: garden tips, vegetable garden

My October Garden

October 16, 2012 By Manuela

Here we are, summer is officially over, fall is here, daylight savings time is right around the corner and yet my garden is still looking pretty good !

I just cut back the yellow mums last week

It helps that the first official frost date for my town isn’t until around November 1-10. Which is great because I still have a few trees and grasses I need to get into the ground this week!

Speaking of planting…I planted this Yellow Knockout Rose last week (clearance from Lowe’s). It has the most wonderful fragrance! Did you know that the Red Knockouts don’t have a fragrance? Did you ever notice that? The yellow variety is supposed to be more compact than the red and I did notice that the yellow color fades to a whitish yellow as the blooms get older.

I planted this yellow climbing rose in April – I think it’s called Golden Showers. It seems to stay a nice yellow color even as the bloom fades. It’s still going strong.

Some of the hydrangeas are still producing blooms. You can see a newer flower next to a fading one here.

I always plant my mums after they are done blooming in their pots. These are about 6 years old.

Even the Coneflower seed heads are pretty this time of year!

This is the Limelight hydrangea I planted this year. Sort of looks like a Pee Gee Hydrangea.

This is where the bigger gnomes live Under the floss flower otherwise know as Ageratum (I know it’s Ageratum because of Diana).

I forget what that whispy pink plant behind the teacup birdfeeder is called. In the summer it has more flowers.

Last but not least, the Camellia’s are blooming (they deserve a post all on their own I think).

I know some of you have already experienced your first frosts. In a few more weeks, we’ll be dealing with our first killing frosts and things will look a bit different!

Filed Under: In the garden Tagged With: backyard vegetable garden

A Budget Friendly Garden Makeover

September 29, 2012 By Manuela

Fall is a great time to plant just about everything! The cooler temperatures and added chance of good rain help the roots to become well-established. Plus, planting in the fall gives plants a head start compared to spring planting. Also, most of the Big Box stores start to clearance their garden section in fall in preparation for Christmas trees (at least around here). So that’s another reason why I try to do most of my landscape planting in fall.

That’s how I was able makeover my side garden on a budget. First I got new plants on clearance at Lowe’s & Home Depot. I got some mums for .88, ornamental grasses in 3 gallon containers for $7.50 each (which are going in the backyard), 1 Dwarf Fountain grass in 1 gallon container for $2.50 and Double Knockout Roses for $6.50 (some are going in the backyard).

#2. I moved existing plants that I already had such as cannas and daylillies.

I also spruced up my tired old bench by painting it with some red enamel paint that I already had.

Hopefully since it’s enamel it’ll weather alright – but if not I have more paint to do touch ups. Isn’t it amazing what a little paint can do! It looks like a new bench.

I did buy two bales of pinestraw and 2 bags of the cheap topsoil ($1.14 each). I could have used a jack hammer in that area. There really was some “red earth of Tara” there. Good brick making soil! I had to use a pick ax to make holes for the new plants!

Sometimes just cleaning up an area -pulling weeds, trimming bushes and plants, creating fresh edging and adding some mulch is all you need for a nicer look without investing a lot of money.

Basically I dug up some plants that never did well in this area & moved them into the backyard, I re-shaped the bed and dug a new crisp edge, weeded, trimmed back the crazy Lantana that comes back every year, planted my clearance plants and topped it with some pine straw for a finished look.

It took me about 1 1/2 weeks to makeover this side area. It gets full sun around 1pm and it was just too hot to be pick axing in the blazing sun! So I was only able to work on it for a bit the mornings.

I think it looks so much better and I can’t wait for next year when the roses get a little bit bigger. I think the red bench with the red roses is going to look really nice.

I guess you can tell that I take my inside color palate and use it outside as well

Filed Under: DIY Projects, In the garden, Theme Parties Tagged With: before & after, Budget Decorating, exterior decorating, painting

My Largest Fall/Winter Vegetable Garden Ever!

September 26, 2012 By Manuela

The weather has just been perfect for the past week so I’ve been a busy bee getting my summer vegetable garden cleaned up and planting the fall/winter vegetables.

I had such wonderful success using row covers on one bed last fall & winter that I decided it would be worth the investment to buy a few more to use this year.

Row covers are specially designed to allow sunlight and rain to filter through. I bought some from Gardeners.com and they protect plants down to 27 degree F. They also sell garden quilts that protect to 24 degrees F. If we get an especially cold winter I may also throw some plastic over my hoop houses at night and see how that works.

My husband made the hoop structure from pvc piping and rebar. The rebar goes in the ground and the pvc piping gets put on top of the rebar to form the hoop shape. Then the row covers are added on top and clamped onto the piping. I also weight the sides down with bricks/rocks.

This bed has some veggies that are still going strong from summer and some brussel sprouts and spinach that I just planted.

The peppers and eggplant probably have a few more weeks to go before I have to pull them. Then I’ll plant more brussel sprouts and maybe some bok choy if I can find it.

I still have lots of zinnias left and lots of bees and butterflys too.

The seating area my daughter and I built last year in the vegetable garden. I love this little area! Right across is the cutting garden raised bed and I love watching the birds, bees and butterflys in action.

The blueberry hut which protects our blueberries from birds. We have a couple of bushes on the outside of the vegetable garden and they are welcome to those berries – but not these!

Along this fence inside the veggie garden I have 1 of 2 grapevines, Nanking Cherry bushes, flowers and blackberries that are creeping in from the other side of the fence.

I still have tomatoes that are producing. I have to wait for these to be done and then I’ll plant this bed with leeks, swiss chard, beets and more lettuce.

This kale is from last year! I planted it last fall and we’ve been eating kale all summer. I cut some of it down to see what would happen and it looks like it’s sprouting new leaves. I didn’t know it would last so long as I’d never grown it before. I also planted some more kale in this bed and some radish and lettuce mix. There’s an artichoke in there that I never got anything from this year. Artichokes are perennial and produce after the second year so we’ll see!

This bed has bush beans and broccoli in it. On the other side are cherry tomatoes climbing the arbor.

This bed has red cabbage and collards.

This fall/winter I’m growing the following vegetables:

kale, swiss chard, garlic, lettuce mix, radishes, leeks, broccoli, beans, red cabbage, collards, brussel sprouts, beets, spinach and maybe celery if I can find space for it. I don’t think I have room for much more unless we build some more raised beds (which we have room for).

I’m excited to see how I do this winter! It would be amazing to be able to have a bunch of fresh organic vegetables from the garden…during winter!!

I’m working on a little garden area makeover for the rest of the week! I hope you all are having lovely weather as well.

Filed Under: In the garden Tagged With: backyard vegetable garden, winter gardening

Sprucing Up the Deck

September 15, 2012 By Manuela

I really need to re-do the stain on my deck – it’s been peeling all summer. But that’s too big of job to tackle right now so I thought I’d start with this -

I know…awful right? A summer of neglect and hot temps and what was a planter full of colorful petunias is now one dried up petunia and a bunch of weeds!

So I started by removing most of the dirt in the planter (I used it to fill in a hole in the backyard). Then I painted the top of the bench (I got this bench at Goodwill in 2009). I also decided to paint my planter red.

I had painted these little concrete planters red a few years ago and they still look great. The concrete seems to absorb the paint.

This time I didn’t do the color as solid as the small planters in order to give it a more weathered look and I added some fresh potting soil and filled it with some pansies, ornamental kale and a mum.

I also like to keep my little gnomes in this planter.

I collect gnomes…

I have the larger ones in the garden. I have a few photos of them on my flickr photostream here

I just think they’re funny – my daughter thinks they’re creepy

The window behind this planter is my kitchen and there’s a window seat.

So now when I look out that window, I have something nice to look at once again!

Filed Under: In the garden Tagged With: decorating the deck, exterior decorating, planting in containers

Decorating My Barn

September 12, 2012 By Manuela

The weather is finally a bit cooler – YAY!! In the morning it feels quite like fall but by afternoon it’s warm – but not hot and humid – so I’ve been trying to get caught up on all the gardening projects I had planned for the summer.

A little project on my to do list was just to hang the window box my husband made me on my barn.

I love the dusty blue against the red of barn!

I filled it with some plants. Trailing vinca on the ends, yellow pansies, and an ornamental mustard in the middle. These should last through spring unless we have a particularly cold winter.

My husband is going to make me some shutters to add to the sides. The only problem is that I don’t remember what combination of paints I used on the planter since I used a little of this and that!

I was going to remove the grass from under the arbor and lay pavers but that’s out of the budget now. Besides I decided mowing the grass was easier anyway. I’m just going to find some easy to move chairs and a table or maybe just a bench to make a little seating area. I’ll probably move some daylillies or hydrangeas over to plant along the foundation.

I think it’s going to be a cute little seating area when I’m through with it!

Filed Under: In the garden Tagged With: barn, exterior decorating

The Garden After The Rain

August 25, 2012 By Manuela

We’ve been lucky to get some really good rains lately and I went out after one to take a few pics of the garden.

The River Birch and Redbud branches drip on me as I walk down the garden path.

The flowers in the raised bed cutting garden are happy for the deep drink of water they just received.

Then the sun started to come. Don’t the morning glories look pretty intertwined with the rose bush!

They just all popped out at once. I thought at first all I had was leaves!

But after a few good soaking rains I have tons of flowers.

Crape myrtle branches weighed down by the rain

the hibiscus too.

Later (after harvesting some veggies before the birds can peck them), I walked around and noticed this vine clinging to the fence with little red flowers.

Must be something my neighbor planted or a volunteer. I like how it just clings to the fence with no support. I’ll be saving the seeds to plant next year!