I'm waiting for hummingbirds

In these mild winter days, on the last day of January, I'm thinking about spring.

I gathered up some organic compost to enrich my vegetable beds, cleaned the beds up (of dead greens and parsley), admired the leeks of various sorts (some looking wan, others - the perennial ones- looking more robust), clipped back some perennial stems, and thought:  I'm waiting for spring.

It's still way too early, I know, but there are daffodils in flower around the corner.  And tulip foliage is emerging, too, in spots I've tucked former Valentine's Day bulbs in, to overwinter.

I'm remembering hummingbird visits some years ago (we saw lots in Guatemala recently, primarily visiting feeders, but also in gardens).

Here was a great sequence of photos on a venerable Campsis at the Biltmore Estate, some years ago.

A hummingbird coming in to visit a Campsis flower: click for a larger view.

Day 7 #challengeatnaturephotography

Hellooooo Sunshine!

In the last riveting episode of High Altitude Gardening... I was bragging up the fact that I'd rented out my home to vacationing snow lovers. (I live in a ski resort.)

I, in turn, rented a desert oasis in Cave Creek, Arizona, and I was champing at the bit to say good-bye to all that.

"That" being the cold and the snow and the boots and the gloves.. not to mention the trudging, relentlessly, through deep drifts to exercise my rambunctious little puppy, aka the energizer bunny.

We went from this ->

To this! In the span of two days.

But... before that...!!!

I worked my proverbial fingers to the bone, preparing to vacate my home sweet home. It's easy to rent the place. Not so easy getting it in tip top shape for the renters.

We painted kitchen cupboards, stained 14 wooden doors. Made sure to hide the valuables! Oh, wait a minute, I don't have any valuables... tried desperately to organize and decorate in a way that would make me happy, and visitors feel at home... once they arrived.

Then I tossed everything into the car 

~ including the cat ~ 

He's valuable. (Sort of.)

And off we went!

Charlie, consoling Pete the cat, on his first ever road trip.

It's slow going because there's no direct route, or happy interstate, between here and there. Though, the scenery is quite spectacular. And, it makes you kind of giddy ~ watching winter slip-sliding away, with every mile you drive.

My route takes us over the Navajo Bridge, and past the north rim of the Grand Canyon. (Not necessarily in that order. )

I can't begin to tally up the number of times I've gotten pretty darn close to the Grand Canyon. And, it's always closed. :) Because I'm always traveling south in winter.

'Round about sunset, on this 55 mph single lane highway... you reach the last bastion of civilization. Or, so they say.

Kanab, Utah is the film location for lots of movies, including Raiders of the Lost Ark.

'Tis here, in Kanab, Utah, 4 whole miles from the Arizona border... that everyone feels obligated to grab an over-priced hotel room vs. braving the unknown on the other side of that last, big mountain.

Tip:
There's better digs an hour farther south. Here's a photo of my lovely hotel room at the Cameron Trading Post. I've been here many times, too. I absolutely love this Navajo decor.

Cameron Lodge is a sweet little spot in the middle of freaking nowhere:

Road Tripping with the Kids.

The following afternoon, we arrived in the land of perpetual summer. Cave Creek, Arizona - a far north village, in the sprawl that is called Greater Phoenix.

And, I checked into my rental home for the month of February:

Be still my heart! My vrbo rental has an orange tree in the backyard!

Cave Creek is a well-established horse town. You know how they have those golfing communities? Well this, here, is a horsie community.

You can go anywhere on horse back, including riding your pony down main street, tying said horse to one of the many hitching posts, reminiscent of those wild west, Gun Smoke days, and grab yourself some lunch!

How cool is that?!?

* This 'Running Away for the Winter' is an experiment for me to see what life would be like living some place else for part of each winter.

On the right, Ms. Gracie Girl!

** I didn't bring a horse. But, horse folk stick together. I found friends with horses the moment I arrived and this pretty lady, on the right, is my loaner horse, Gracie Girl.


Follow @Kate_HAGardens

Back home on a mild winter day

Beaver Lake in late January

Missing the big snowstorm in the eastern U.S. while traveling, we were glad to catch a bit of the snow and remaining ice, too, on one of our favorite spots in Asheville, Beaver Lake.  Day 6 at #challengeonnaturephotography.

Ice on Beaver Lake

 

Market in Quetzaltenango

All over the world, markets have distinct characteristics; they're full of people, local favorites, and often surprises.

This one, near the bus station, in the highland city of Quetzaltenango in Guatemala, was distinguished by lots of prepared vegetables (an unusual market offering).

And this goat was unusual, too (she was providing milk, perhaps on demand? according to the "leche" sign).

This will serve as Day 5 in #challengeonnaturephotography.

The vegetables and fruits fall into that category, I think.  Hmm, of course, now I've just realized that I already posted about this!

Seed Exchange FAQ

I have been getting a number of emails and phone calls about the upcoming Washington Gardener Seed Exchanges. I thought I'd put together the following FAQ. Feel free to pass it on to any fellow gardeners:

- Yes, you can still register. We have plenty of spaces open. The preregistration deadline is by Friday, January 29 for the Brookside event and by Friday, February 5 for the Green Spring event. To register onsite, you can still fill out the registration form and bring it with payment to the event starting at 12:00noon on Saturday. The form is posted here: 

http://washingtongardener.blogspot.com/2016/01/register-now-for-11th-annual-washington.html

or email wgardenermag@aol.com with "Seed Exchange" in the subject field and we can email it directly to you.

- We recommend eating lunch before coming. We will be serving a healthy, light snack break mid-way through the event -- fruit, granola bars, etc. We have filtered water - if you have a travel mug, refillable bottle, or cup you like, please bring that to fill up. We will have some plastic/paper cups on hand, but are trying to keep this event as “green” as possible.

- We will have generic blank name tags -- but we ask participants to be creative and make their own tags or if you have your own name tag from work or another event, by all means bring it. We will do prizes for the most creative name tags :-). Again, we are trying to recycle and make this event eco-friendly.

- When you get your goody bag at check-in, please make sure to label it with your name -- all the bags look alike and can get easily mixed up. Bringing a few sheets of those personalized address labels you get with charity mailings will come in handy for this and for labeling your seed packets, giving out your contact information to fellow gardeners, etc.

- If you are bringing seed/garden catalogs for our give-away table, be sure to rip off the address labels and tear out any order insert with your personal information on it. 

 

~ We also welcome gardening books for swapping, so feel free to bring those too!

- We screen incoming seeds and do not accept any invasives listed in the "Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas" booklet from the National Park Service. See the listing at: http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/pubs/midatlantic/toc.htm. (We do not allow GMO seeds in either, but chances are slim that any home gardener would have access to them.)

~ You can bring unused seeds from purchased packs or seeds you gathered from your own garden. Carefully pack and label your seeds as best you can. The more information you can provide, the better. More details on seed packing and labeling are on the registration form. Did you know you can make your own seed packs? Get great free downloadable templates are here: http://tipnut.com/seed-packets/

   Please do NOT bring large quantities of seed in one bag. Our volunteers are over-whelmed at the check-in tables already with sorting seeds into the table categories, please break them up into smaller quantity packs ahead of time.

    (No, you don't have to bring seeds. It is great though if you do bring them. Store-bought is fine.)

    (Yes, you can bring bulbs, tubers, corms, etc. to the swap. They should be bagged and labeled just like seeds.)

   (Older seeds are fine, if you can test for viability that would be great. The exceptions are lettuce, onions, and impatiens seeds, which should all be less than a year old.)

 
~ Make a list of your seed “wants” in advance.  It is easy to get caught up in the excitement of the day and forget the basics that you came for or the rarities that you had been seeking.

- Here is the updated event schedule*:

12:00-12:30 Registration and seed drop off to WG Staff & Volunteers

12:30-12:35 Introductory remarks and overview

12:35-1:25 Speaker 1

 1:30-2:00 Speaker 2

2:00-2:30 Refreshment Break and Seed Swap Preview

2:30-3:00 Seed Show and Tell**

3:00-3:30 Seed Swap!

3:30-3:45 Garden Photo Contest Winners Presentation (only at Green Spring location)

3:45-4:00 Final Door Prizes and closing remarks - Kathy Jentz Washington Gardener magazine


*As with all live events, the schedule is subject to last minute change.

**Show-and-Tell participation is voluntary. We encourage you to introduce yourself, share some fun facts and background on the seeds you bring, or tell us about any local garden projects or groups that you are involved in. 

 

Growing organic vegetables

Day 2 at #challengeonnaturephotography

These are photos of growing plants organically, and creating a "kitchen garden" in a country (Guatemala) where it's most unusual to have an restaurant serving organic food, much less from their own garden (on the hotel's grounds, in a very modest, non-tourist town on Lake Atitlan).

Jose with Swiss Chard, kale, and other greens

To these gardeners, it was definitely about living in harmony with their year-round growing season.

Banco de similar (seed storage shed)

Jose showing Tim their saved seeds

Nature comes in guises both familiar and wild; both are worth celebrating.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Sleeping dogs and organic gardens

In a town that's the poorest of any we've seen in Guatemala, there are still dogs that look reasonably content and well-fed.

And the schools seem supported, and the children there wear smart uniforms, maybe thanks to the non-profit that's carrying on a long-term American priest's work here in this town, which has made a significant difference over the last 50 years, helping this town avoid the worst of the Guatemalan civil war.

These dogs were near the market; we disturbed the one on the right, who got up to check on what was happening.

The local folks found us amusing, paying attention to these dogs....

We're staying in the only "tourist" hotel in town. It's very nice, even if smoke from the neighbors' cooking fires is wafting down into the hotel's lovely gardens, which include a remarkable organic vegetable garden, probably an acre in expanse.

It's full of various kales, broccoli, lettuces, fennel, herbs, amaranth, carrots, arugula, etc.

Amazing for this part of the world, and the head gardener and his assistant deserves to be proud of their work, which supports the hotel's restaurant, and by extension, the outreach missionary work of the non-profit nearby, who have discounts for staying here or for meals.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala

Looking towards town, the two volcanoes (Toliman and Santiago) rise to the left.

Explore America! at the Philadelphia Flower Show

Welcome SPRING at the Philadelphia Flower Show

Sick of SNOW and COLD weather? Me too! Come join us for a day-trip to a virtual Garden of Delights at the upcoming Philadelphia Flower Show!
Washington Gardener Magazine has two tours this year going up to the Philadelphia Flower Show. The Philadelphia Flower Show is the oldest and largest indoor flower show in the world. the theme for 2016 is “Explore America.” Guests will discover the range of horticulture in the national landscape, including the rainbow of wildflowers, desert blooms, coastal flora, verdant meadows, fragrant pinelands, and ancient redwoods. The Flower Show will tell the diverse stories that forged the United States with exhibits inspired by the nation’s monuments and places where history happened. “Explore America” will spotlight Independence National Historical Park, Lincoln’s birthplace, Liberty Island, and other sites honoring our national heritage.

The Flower Show attracts non-gardeners as well as die-hard green-thumbed people of all ages. Foodies of all tastes will love the Garden to Table Studio. Participate in the Lectures and Demonstrations series, Gardener’s Studio, and the “Make & Take” workshops. First-time and returning riders will enjoy the welcoming, custom details of our coach service.

The two tours are on different days; from different locations. Here are the details:

~ Wednesday, March 9 from 10am-10pm, leaving and returning to downtown Silver Spring, MD - includes a lunch and is nearby to public transit - see the registration form for more details:

~ Thursday, March 10 from 10am-10pm, leaving and returning to Behnke Nurseries in Beltsville, MD - includes a lunch and has free parking - see this registration form for more details: 

Note: The forms are for printing and mailing along with your payment. They are not interactive online forms.

If you have any trouble printing them out, please send an email to kathyjentz@gmail.com and I can send the forms directly to you. 

Our coaches fill up quickly, so please act fast to reserve your spot with us!

Volcan Pedro at sunset

Win Passes to one of the upcoming Washington Gardener Seed Exchanges

For our January 2016 Washington Gardener Reader Contest, Washington Gardener is giving away two passes to either of the Washington Gardener Seed Exchanges (prize value $40).
   The 11th Annual Washington Gardener Seed Exchanges, hosted by Washington Gardener Magazine, take place on January 30, 2016, at the Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, MD and on February 6, 2016, at Green Spring Gardens in Fairfax, VA. You have a choice of which side of the DC Beltway you want to visit! Seed Exchange attendees trade seeds, exchange planting tips, hear expert speakers, and collect goody bags full of gardening treats. The event also includes such “green” features as the garden book and catalog swap. Everyone will leave with a bag full of seeds and loads of gardening inspiration for the upcoming growing season!
   To enter to win the Seed Exchange Passes, send an email to WashingtonGardener@rcn.com by 5:00pm on January 25 with “Seed Swap” in the subject line and in the body of the email. Please also include your full name and mailing address. The pass winners will be announced and notified on January 27.

UPDATE: The winner (chosen at random from among the submitted entries) of the two passes to our Washington Gardener Seed Exchanges is Kevin Alsop of Capitol Heights, MD. Congratulations, Kevin, who says he is new to gardening!

Market in Quetzaltenango

Heading back towards Lake Atitlan, we took a "chicken bus" from Quetzaltenango to San Pedro.

Xela market, goat with milk

Getting to the Minerva terminal took us through a major market, perhaps the main one for Xela (Quetzaltenango). It was packed. It was full of surprises, including this goat, whose milk was for sale.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Top 3 New Cars for Gardeners

I spent the last two days at the preview days of the annual Washington Auto Show. What, you may ask, was this car-free gardening girl doing there?

Well, I was invited to join with other female bloggers from the DC-area and beyond to see write and tweet and live chat our hearts out about the show. Some of us write on topics closer to the world of car shows (travel bloggers), others of us cover topics a bit farther afield (fashion, food, and gardens). I think, though, that we were all able to find our audience angle and bring a unique perspective to the event.

What I found most interesting was the many green features (hydrogen cell batteries with zero emissions) and safety improvements (driver-less cars) coming soon to the market!  What I though would be of most interest to you, my dear fellow gardeners, are the vehicles that will make your lives easier when hauling plants and soil bags back home, so without further delay, here are my choices for the top 3 new garden vehicles:

1. Chrysler Pacifica - This minivan is stylish and practical. When bringing mulch home, the available Stow ‘n Vac integrated vacuum powered by RIDGID provides easy access to all corners of the vehicle for quick clean-up. Also, the Stow ‘n Go seating and storage system has a new press-bttton to the move the front seat forward to allow the second-row seat to be stowed into the floor tub.

2. Toyota Tacoma - This small pickup is the perfect size for city living, but is tough enough for farm chores. I could someone looking to transition to a horticultural career in landscape design or garden maintenance really getting a lot of use out of this sporty vehicle.

3. Subaru Forrester - This wagon is Subaru's best-selling model and I can see why. It has all-around appeal and value. This model was also featured at last year's Philadelphia Flower Show and that is where I noticed it has a low-to-ground floor, so it was easy-to-load and bonus: you could easily get in while wearing a skirt!

See these models and many more at the Washington Auto Show. Note that the show is closed this weekend due to the blizzard, but will re-open from 1/25-1/31/16 at the DC Convention Center. Let me know what you think and if you see other vehicles that gardeners would love. Did I leave out your favorite gardening vehicle?

UPDATE: The show opening has been pushed back one more day to Tuesday, 1/26.

Sponsored blog post: #DCLovesAutos program.

Growing vegetables in Guatemala's Western Highlands

We've been in a relatively small area of the Western Highlands, between Antigua and Quetzaltenango, and haven't been officially farm visiting, so I'm commenting as an interested observer....but most of the fields we went past on the bus, and near the villages and towns that we stayed in, were largely devoted to corn (currently brown), grown as dry land crops.

In the area around Quetzaltenango, where spring water was abundant, the fields were green with cool season crops of all sorts. Water seems to be the key ingredient, along with the rich soils, and these fields were being intensively cropped.

It's a labor intensive process growing vegetables here in Algohongo and Xunil.

There weren't any mechanical devices to be seen, outside of pickup trucks, water hoses, and an occasional set of irrigation sprinklers. We spotted one small water pump, but largely watering was done with wooden water "scoops," using water from the ditches surrounding each field.

Cultivation, planting, watering and harvesting were all done by hand. We saw both onions and carrots being harvested, cleaned, and gathered up for market.

The soil looked rich and deep; here was one spot where additional mulch/compost was apparently being added. Recently harvested fields (where dusting of lime was apparent) had me wondering about the pH of this presumably volcanic, but VERY hard working soil.

The mild spring-like climate, even here in the Western Highlands, allows growing of crops continuously, at the what we can "cool season" vegetables in the SE U.S.

Hoop houses seemed to provide enough additional warmth for tomatoes and maybe peppers, although I think most were coming in to the markets from more lowland areas.

But my take home was just how labor intensive in these commercial market gardens. I'm familiar with the process as a vegetable gardener myself, and know what hard work it is; the vegetables looked beautiful, and were carefully cultivated. My guess is that they were reasonably prosperous compared to the dry land farmers; I hope they're finding good markets for their vegetables. The guidebooks say these are prosperous towns, and they certainly look the part, compared to many others.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Vegetable growing in Almolonga and Xunil, Guatemala

Vegetable growing hasn't been a common sight in places we've been so far in Guatemala, but two exceptionally fertile valleys, encompassing two towns near Quetzaltentango, have been extraordinary. Blessed by abundant water from springs and rivers, along with rich volcanic soils, these fields were patchworks of greens: chard, broccoli, carrots, beets, onions, cauliflower, parsley, and potatoes.

This plots apparently are owned by individual families as well as by larger landholders, but it seemed to definitely a commercial enterprise, with plots harvested all at once.

 

Posted with Blogsy