Phaedra's 2023 Adventure

[baymule]

The flower bed has gone from ugly duckling to beautiful swan. You have done a marvelous work on it!

 

[SPedigrees]

I cannot beLIEVE that you would consider travel at this time of year, when Vermont is in the throes of beautiful fall color!!
Here, in Illinois, we NEVER see our leaves in the same way.

Color is just starting here. Later this week and next week it will take off. No matter how many fall seasons you've lived to see, you're right, it never gets old.

 

[Phaedra]

It's a very happy Sunday.

DH and I went for an one-hour morning walk. The weather and the temperature are just perfect.

After we were back, I kept painting. First of all, I added one more extra protection layer to IKEA flooring pieces.

Then, I added wheels to the small, old potting table - so it can become a multi-functional tool.

Finally, I painted it with the same grey and teak colors like the sitting area I just finished yesterday.

Now it has a completely new look, and I like it!

It will be a good helper when I work in the front yard, and can also be used for displaying the homegrown bouquets from the next growing seasons. I like such customized consistency.

I also started positioning the bearded Irises. The transplantation should be done within the next few days.

 

[SPedigrees]

It's a very happy Sunday.

DH and I went for an one-hour morning walk. The weather and the temperature are just perfect.
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View attachment 61057

View attachment 61059

After we were back, I kept painting. First of all, I added one more extra protection layer to IKEA flooring pieces.

View attachment 61060

Then, I added wheels to the small, old potting table - so it can become a multi-functional tool.
View attachment 61061
Finally, I painted it with the same grey and teak colors like the sitting area I just finished yesterday.
View attachment 61062
Now it has a completely new look, and I like it!
View attachment 61064

It will be a good helper when I work in the front yard, and can also be used for displaying the homegrown bouquets from the next growing seasons. I like such customized consistency.
View attachment 61063

I also started positioning the bearded Irises. The transplantation should be done within the next few days.
View attachment 61065

You live in a lovely area, Phaedra. I love the potting bench. It is the perfect match to your sitting area wall, and a nice mix of the modern and the antique. You have an eye for decorating.

 

[Phaedra]

According to the forecast, the frost might arrive on time in the mid October. So I started to pull some young annual (especially calendula and cosmos) to feed the compost, and let bearded Irises check in.

When those Irises reached us, I don't have ideal locations to plant them yet. I put them in the 13cm nursery pots. So far, it seems to be a nice solution. Their roots develop well. Now, the annuals are gradually removed, and the Irises get their places.

The Asters are shining in the morning sunlight.

 

[baymule]

I love the new look of the potting table. It looks like an expensive table!

You have a lovely place to take walks. How refreshing!

 

[Phaedra]

Working on Bonsai, this one is a MUM, so I can realize why it sends out flower buds now. I just did some routine cleaning up and removed some buds.

This one, is however an azalea - I didn't know why it starts to bloom now. I dug out some moss from the wet ground and tried to transplant them on the surface.

Romaine lettuce seeds - more than enough
As the lettuce seeds will deteriorate soon, I only kept a very small portion for now and next spring.

Anyway, the seeds look healthy and viable. I sow a tray today.

 

[Phaedra]

DH and I are working on the second small terrace on the slope, and I decided to use it as one of the two (or three) asparagus patch. So, we tried to dig asparagus out from the raised beds. Gosh, it's a 'labor-intensive' work!

Anyway, digging them out let me see how do 1-year/2-year/3-year and more than 5-year old asparagus plants look like.

@ducks4you
This is the plant grew from seed this spring. They are very tiny and already entered dormancy - they are 'invisible' as the part above soil surface died down. But they are there, preparing for the next growing season.

Here are asparagus plants at different ages - those youngest one are on the left upper corner, so tiny and all dormant. The one still with two tiny green stems is the plant from seed last year. The biggest one at the left lower corner is more than 5-year old. I bought them in 2019, the next year after we bought the house. When I got them, they were already 2-year old crowns.

That's why we can start harvesting them a bit earlier than those growing from seeds.

For all those 'senior' asparagus plants, they didn't enter dormancy yet and are still sending shoots.

Today, I have learned something about my asparagus!

 

[Phaedra]

Making ketchup with new tool!

I just know this tool (food mill) from the garden magazine this month, talking about making ketchup. This tool is called 'Flotte Lotte' here, and according to wiki page, it's an invention from Belgium. I felt in love with this tool immediately, it's very easy to work with and clean.

All skins and seeds will stay in the upper part. With this tool, I am very willing to make jam with raspberries, currants, grapes, or rosehips.

As I used a lot of yellow tomatoes, the color is pretty light. The chili powder and muscovado sugar adjusted the color well. Apple vinegar and other spices enriched the overall flavor.

To ensure we will finish each portion easily, I used smaller glass jars.
Homemade sauce is the best!

When we dug out the asparagus, some potatoes appeared. I didn't know there are still so many left in the raised bed, and the good thing is, I am just in a mood for having some potato salad!

 

[Branching Out]

So, we tried to dig asparagus out from the raised beds. Gosh, it's a 'labor-intensive' work!

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A couple of years ago I dug out my mom's unproductive 30 year old asparagus patch with the hope of rejuvenating it, and by the end I clearly understood why they don't recommend trying to move or transplant asparagus. Their roots are beasts, like strange sea creatures from the abyss. It is far more fun to start adorable asparagus seedlings from seed-- an easy and endearing pastime.