Wednesday, November 13, 2013

A day of digging; taming our Roses

When I first signed on to help with this project there was talk about making some improvements to the mostly ignored Rose Gardens.  Since January I have been mainly observing the roses, thinking about what we can do with the space and how we can make it a better demonstration garden.  The first step was early in the spring, when we observed the plants in their annual bloom.  It was a good time to identify who was who, and figure out what their growth habits are.  From this research the Rose Garden page was created.   (see tab at the top of the page to read more)  It was decided that we had WAY too much of a good thing, the roses had taken over the three beds opposite the veggie garden.  But then, that is the habit of heirloom and old garden roses, and a big part of the reason that they were able to survive the trip over the Oregon Trail, and still bloom each year many years later.  But these beauties needed to be tamed.

So in early November we put out a call for some help in our little garden.  Please bring your shovels and pruners, there are Roses to be dug!  And they came too, we had many of our regular volunteers along with some new faces.  In all we had 13 gardeners digging and chopping out those thorny plants on a brisk sunny day.  The work was not easy, but the results are so worth the effort!  We are very pleased , and can't wait to embark on the next step in our renovation.
"Volunteers are not paid -- not because they are worthless, but because they are priceless." (unknown) 
A big THANK YOU to those that came out to help dig the roses and put the veggie garden to bed for the winter, and for our regular crew for showing up week after week in service to others.

It was a successful year for our humble veggie plot

All ready for winter planting 

The Rosa Mundi had taken over most of this bed and was crowding out one of our prized Moss Roses 

Now there is some much needed space around the Moss Rose. 

Our Cardinal de Richelieu is crowded by starts and some Oregon Grape 

Now he has some room to grow, and the little starts have found new homes

Sweetbriar, Rosa Mundi and Moss Rose all crowded together in this overgrown bed

The Rose Mundi has been removed and the Sweetbriar tamed a bit, now what is left can breathe

The Rosa Mundi had taken over this bed.  
We took out about half of the plants

the opposite end of the bed pictured in the before photo above, the Rosa Mundi will be a beautiful hedge next summer

look at all the room we now have for some different varieties! 


This is most of the debris we cleared from the gardens. Time to fire up the chipper! 



Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Time to Harvest; September in the Gardens

September arrived right on time this year, and our garden was ready with a beautiful harvest! We dug potatoes and beets, picked beautiful red corn, and collected seeds for sale in the End of The Oregon Trail shop.  And of course we will be using seeds to start the garden next year, too.  Enjoy the photos of the gardens in their prime.  Coming next:  A day spent digging in the Rose Garden.

A beautiful day in the garden 

collecting seeds 

up close and personal 

Amaranth and Red Stripe Marigold made a beautiful display in the gardens this year. 

we had help in the gardens from this lovely garden slug 

Bean Tee Pee 

pretty head of cabbage 

Boston Marrow Squash 

Bloody Butcher Corn 

up close and personal 

such beautiful harvest colors! 

Monday, September 9, 2013

Mid August Gardens

We were out in the gardens in August, checking on nature and our hard work.  We were rewarded with a bountiful garden!  It's September  now, and time is going way too fast!  Here are the pix from about 3 weeks ago.


Corn Stalks 

Bloody Butcher Corn 

Three Sisters Corn and Beans 

Three Sisters Corn and Squash 

Boston Marrow Squash

Summers Bounty 

Purple Mountain Orach Seeds, we have started to collect

Amaranth Love Lives Bleeding 

Amaranth

Bean Tee Pee 

Cleome and French Stripe Marigolds 

French Stripe Marigolds

French Stripe Marigold close up 

Hops on the Arbor 

Grapes 

Seeds for sale in the visitors center 

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

The Summer Gardens

Don't you just love summertime?  Work in the gardens slows while we wait for the fruits of our labors to ripen. Last week we started the harvest, so I thought it would be a good time to share some pics from July and early August with you.  We have harvested Potatoes, Beets and Carrots so far. Enjoy the pics, and when you have the chance, stop in and see the gardens for yourself, we love visitors!


New Herb Garden added this spring 

Scarlet Runner Bean Tee Pee 

Pink Moss rosebud 

Pink Roses unknown name

Tansy and Bee 

White Hollyhock 

French Stripe Marigold

Camomile

Pink Hollyhocks

Tall Corn 

Three Sisters Garden: Corn, Squash and Runner Beans 

Running up the corn stalk 

Beans and Blooms 

Boston Marrow Squash, part of the Three Sisters 

Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage 

Rabbits munch on the Cabbage heads, and when they get watered the heads split open

Cheerful Volunteer

Solarization Project 

Visitors in the gardens 

Garden view, the red leaves are the Bulls Blood Beets 

Runner Bean Tee Pee in August 

Peeking Potatoes 

Beets and Carrots harvested in August 

Garden view in August