How Does My Garden Grow?

This week my garden grows in bags. :)

In case you missed it, this cool gardening tactic has been making the rounds on Facebook lately. Bag gardening isn't new - just do a Google search and you'll yield thousands of results. However, the blog post that has been referenced on FB presents the idea in what I think is a better way. It brings the height of the garden up to waist level (for me, anyway) and out of the reach of the voracious bunnies that live in my neighborhood.

So here, in pictures, is my adventure in bag gardening. Easy to do - took me one shopping trip and about a half hour to plant. I'll post updates as the bags grow (or don't!). And please, send us pics if you do this too. I'd love to see your results.

- Alex

Shopping list:

2 wooden sawhorses (Home Depot) - $19 ea - reusable for many jobs

1 piece of cow fencing - cut to 3' widths (Farm & Fleet) - $20 for eight finished cuts

4 one cubic foot bags of garden soil (Home Depot) - $5 ea

Seeds for shallow rooted plants (herbs, greens, etc)

You'll also need a utility knife or some other sharp knife or scissors.

This is what cow-fencing looks like.

Two sawhorses, one cut of cow-fencing, holds four bags of soil.

Poke holes in the bottom of the bags for drainage.

Cut open the top of the bag, leaving about a 2"-4" border.

Like this. Leave the "flaps".

Loosen the soil.

Remove and retain the top layer of soil (you'll reuse this).

Shallow-rooted seeds.

Sow the seeds per the package instructions.

Use the removed soil to cover the seeds.
Roll the flap up and tuck them in the sides. This provides stability.
I used the seed packets to mark my plantings.

My finished bag garden!

Fingers crossed, I should have a fabulous garden of greens for my summer eating!

My Love Affair with Willow

I'm sure I've mentioned it about a million times now but, just for safety's sake, I'll say it again - Madison is a unique place, full of unique people and opportunities.

One of my favorite, unique-to-Madison occurrences are the annual "Plant Guys" sales. The Plant Guys are a group of friends who garden perennials and then sell them "yard sale" style at their homes. Generally, there are about 6  sales per spring season and you can buy nearly any kind of perennial you can imagine. I can honestly say that about 80% of the plants in my yard are from the plant guys. They've introduced me to so many types of flora, I can't begin to describe their impact on my gardening.

Last year, they sadly announced would be their last. They were retiring after lord-knows-how-many-years of doing these sales. More time to spend on their own (glorious, I might add) garden. I nearly broke down in tears as I paid for, what would certainly be my last, Plant Guys purchase. I hugged them both even though I'm sure they have, at best, a vague memory of who I am...

The thing is, because of the threat of never having this resource again, I bought LOTS more stuff than normal -  including a curly willow tree. I figured I'd find somewhere in my garden to plant it...

My fave neighborhood curly willow.

 The one of the plant guys gave me the rundown on the curly willow:

1. It is super-hearty 
2. It can be grown from cuttings (that's how they propagate new ones to sell - they just trim their own tree)
3. It can be left to grow in a pot (ever bigger pots as the tree gets bigger) for YEARS
4. It can be totally neglected over winter and will still bounce back in the spring
5. It is curly!

I looked at their mature tree - planted against a side fence - and wasn't crazy about the way they had it pruned. However, I knew I didn't have to prune it the same way.

I looked at their "teenaged" plant - still in a GIANT pot - and loved the way it looked with all it's crazy curly branches.

And I took one home.

It did great all summer. Lots of delicate little leaves on an ever-expanding system of little, curly branches. My neighbors all asked about it. I put it in a larger pot and took great care of it.

When fall came, the leaves dropped and I, dubiously, put the tree, in its pot, in the garage and neglected it for nine months. As soon as I knew that the temperatures wouldn't drop to freezing again, I brought back out to the patio, soaked it with water and waited. About a week later, I had baby leaves. I couldn't believe it!

My willow - still in the pot - after being neglected all winter. LEAVES!

A week or so later, I was walking the dogs and noticed a HUGE pile of curly willow cuttings in front of one of my neighbor's houses. I ran home, got my clippers and went back to salvage some cuttings. I wanted to see if I could propagate curly willow too. The neighbor was all too happy to let me take as much as I wanted. So I cut a bunch - all different size pieces - and put them in a huge vase of water in the middle of my dining room table. A friend called it the Tim Burton centerpiece.

Lo and behold, within a few days I had baby roots sprouting. This past weekend, I bought pots, picked the healthiest looking trimmings and potted them.  So far they seem to be doing well. Fingers crossed!

My willow babies

This phenomena of propagating from cuttings means that the plant has some special kind of rooting hormone. As it turns out, you can "harvest" this hormone and use it to help other plants to root. I found this amazing tutorial, from Mr Brown Thumb, on how to make your own "willow rooting hormone" for use on seedlings, plants, etc. All you need are some willow branches, a mason jar, and some hot water. Easy-peasy!

My friend, Johanna, says that curly willow is an invasive species and, as such, she is not supportive of my growing them but I love them. I love their crazy curly branches and their even crazier ability to live all winter with no water or sun. I love their tenacity and their flexibility. I aspire to be as awesome as the willow.

- Alex

P.S. My cherry tree is blooming!

How My Garden Grows

Friends of Mighty Distractible know that I love to dig in the dirt. I've posted about my garden and/or my desire to be gardening many, many times - and this year was no different. I was lusting over seed catalogs and dreaming of putting plants in the ground before the ground was even defrosted.

The early spring and subsequent great weather has made this year a gardener's dream. My plants got in early (although still later than my more industrious neighbors) and many things are already starting to flower or fruit.

Happy Buddha = Happy Garden

When one lives in a relatively urban setting, one looks for any nook or cranny to plant in. I'm forever impressed by people who live in real cities, like NY or Chicago, and find empty lots or rooftops to cultivate. I'm lucky in that I have a pretty decent sized lot which allows me a yard for my dogs and spots to plant fruit, veg, and flowers.

My standard plantings include tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs, basil (which gets its own plot), and arugula. One corner of my little plot only gets afternoon sun and I've tried for years to find the right plants to grow there. A few years ago I stumbled on the cucumber/arugula combo which seems to work fairly well. Once the cukes get high enough on the fence, they get more sun and they thrive very well. The arugula is always a bit puny but there's enough for a few meals anyway.

Any strip of ground is fair game

This basil will end up 2.5 feet tall and overflow this space

This "weed" along the edge of the basil is edible purslane

It looks a mess but this is my herb garden.

I was lucky enough to inherit two gorgeous plants when I bought the house - a prehistoric rhubarb and a likewise blackberry. Both of these plants are HUGE and prolific, keeping me in fruit for months.

I'm also lucky in that my thyme, oregano, and chives (of course) keep coming back each year so I haven't had to replant them in a while. My parsley was also perennial until this year when it inexplicably died. So, a new flat-leaf parsley went in this spring. I also decided to plant a raspberry to go along with the blackberries.

Then, for some reason, I went a little nutty. Maybe it's because, for the first time, I cultivated some items from seed. I grew things I'd never grown before - without thinking about where they might actually get planted. These actions led to this:

Greens, greens, and more greens

Eggplant, chard, & zucchini

Beans and peas

There are plants EVERYWHERE. Every container that I had laying about in the garage or the shed now has plants in them. And, when I ran out of containers, I went and bought more.

So, now I've got eggplant, zucchini, swiss chard, rainbow chard, two types of lettuce, spinach, two more varieties of basil (besides my normal plot), bay leaf, two more containers of arugula (because I want more than just a couple of meals out of it), green beans, yellow beans, and sweet peas. WHEW!

My first-ever green beans!

On top of this, I have my flower beds. Most are on autopilot now, having planted lots of perennials, but I did end up with a volunteer lupine that needed attention and I put in a few new flowers to fill in some gaps.

Clematis in the foreground and my lily & iris bed in the back

I had to do something to distract from the back of the garage!

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the garden this year. I'm excited to see how much yield I get from my vegetables and how well all these things are going to grow in pots.

I'd love to hear about our readers' gardening exploits. Do any of you have favorite plants you put in every year or a "best practice" you'd like to share? Let us know!

- Farmer Alex

Friday Finds: Gutter Garden

One might misinterpret the title of this post and assume that I'm referring to the weeds that like to grow along my roof line when I neglect to properly clean my gutters.

Oh, but no! I'm referring to one of my favorite Friday Finds of all time - hanging planters made from pieces of gutter.

Look at this!

Seriously... how cool is that? And the building plans look really, really easy.

Based on the instructions for planting, you need shallow-root plants (obviously) and most greens fall into that category. I know where my arugula and chard are going this year! Woot!!

I'm so ready to start gardening it's not even funny. Hopefully our weather will even out a bit and I can get some stuff in the ground soon. I feel like I'm already behind. So, one of these cold, weekend days, I'm going to build a gutter garden planter and, hopefully, kick off the official gardening season. I can't wait!!!

–Alex

Completely Distracted

I know we talk a lot about being distracted here at Mighty Distractible but, folks, I have to to tell you... 80 degree weather in March, in Wisconsin, is the equivalent of being stoned. I can't focus on anything!


I'm plodding through work and, about every 10 minutes, I stare out the window and think about how badly I want to be raking my garden.


I walk outside and my brain fizzles at the feel of a WARM breeze hitting my lungs.


I meander around the block with my dogs and the ground is a riot of color from early blooming crocuses and now daffodils.

My brain simply can't handle the dichotomy of May weather in March.


The cynics around me keep saying that they're "waiting for the other shoe to drop" - a stupid euphemism for the expectation of another snowfall soon. However, I simply refuse to believe it.

This past Sunday morning, I took down the winter, insulating curtains and put up the summer shears. My living room was immediately transformed from a cozy cave of darkness to a sun-filled paradise - and I could see every speck of dust that had accumulated over the last six months. I spent the day dusting and vacuuming (hoovering for you @pinkundine!) and generally ushering in the Spring. That made it official. I nearly moved on to my closets and to put away winter clothes but thought better of that. While I don't believe it's going to snow again, I do imagine I'll need sweaters (occasionally) for a couple of months yet.


This weekend I'm tackling the yard - as long as the weather holds. My cherry tree has leaf buds ready to burst and my flowers are breaking through the fall mulch.

Welcome Spring and thank you Global Warming. I've never been happier to be a Wisconsinite.


- Alex

Is it Spring yet?

Feb 18, 2012 - in Madison, WI. Crazy.

As many of you know, Cassandra and I live in Madison, Wisconsin. This is a place known for relatively brutal winters (especially for a gal who lived in Atlanta for 16 years.) However, this winter we've been blessed with the fruits of global warming and are enjoying the mildest winter since I moved here in 1996.


Let me illustrate the mildness this way... On Saturday, February 18, when there would normally been multiple feet of snow on the ground, I was outside in bare feet chasing my dog who had slipped out the front door when I wasn't looking.


When I walked out of the house on Saturday and the sun hit my face, I had an automatic response that went something like this:

1. Look at the yard.
2. Realize it needs to be cleaned up.
3. Mentally start planning the garden.


On Saturday February 18, I was thinking about doing spring yardwork. It's a mad, mad world.

I couldn't shake the need to plant something in the ground so I decided to make a couple of terrariums instead. This is a craft project I've wanted to try for a while but had never gotten around to it. So... I got to go to the garden center and buy some supplies, including plants, and get my hands dirty. Here's the step-by-step and my meager results:

Things you need include some rocks, charcoal, and potting soil.

Some nice glass containers:

Some very small, slow-growing, low-light plants:

One coffee filter per container, a pen, and a pair of scissors:

Step 1 - Add rocks to the bottom of your container.

Step 2 -  Measure and cut the coffee filter to fit on top of the rocks (the coffee filter keeps the soil from dropping down into the rocks)

Step 3 - Add a layer of charcoal (this helps keep the terrarium clean and sweet smelling)

Step 4 - Add potting soil deep enough to put your small plants in.

Step 5 - Separate your plants out into small, individual plants and plant them in your terrarium in an appealing way (this is where the process broke down for me.)

As you can see from my finished product, one container was too small for the plants I bought - but I do kind of like having them come up and out of the container - and the other isn't particularly pretty. Maybe after it's grown in a bit.

At least I got my planting jones out of my system for a bit.

 Happy "spring" everybody!

- Alex

Bloody Battles

Grape tomatoes - bought already fruiting

Bloody Battle No. 1 - The Battle of the Cold.

It's finally garden season in Wisconsin. Granted, heartier stock than I got their gardens in ages ago and are probably thinking, "WTH, girl?". But I'm the definition of a fair-weather gardener. I, quite literally, will not work in the garden if the weather is bad - or even questionable. So, as you all know, Mother Nature has been weirdly unpredictable here for the last couple of months which has severely effected my digging in the dirt.

Bloody Battle No. 2 - The Seige at Market

Saturday morning, I hauled my butt out of bed at an ungodly 6a.m. and went to the Farmer's Market. My intention was to just to get the plants I needed to finish up the food garden. I managed to come home with most of what I needed and a bunch of stuff I didn't. My bag contained:

• A grape tomato plant
• A Mr. Stripey tomato plant
• Three Heritage Cherokee Purple tomato plant (because they only came in packs of three)
• A bunch of little cucumber sprout, of which I used 6 or so and gave the rest to my neighbor
• A bunch of sugar snap peas, most of which I used
• Four Swiss chard plants
• Four fennel plant (the kind with the bulbs)
• A new oregano plant, since mine died over the winter
• A rosemary plant
• An Italian parsley plant

As if that weren't enough, I still needed arugula because I couldn't find it at the market. At the greenhouse I found one, solitary pot of the peppery leaf (with four plants in it) and - my favorite find of the year - Malabar climbing spinach. I know... I'd never heard of it either. But the idea that I could have spinach all year long and that it would grow UP instead of out?? Heaven, baby!

I also bought some new tomato stakes that are supposed to be the bomb. It's just a spiral piece of coated metal and you train the tomato's main stalk up the middle of it. I bought the 7 foot Gardman's brand. We'll see if it works. I despise tomato cages. 

The spinach is against the fence

Fortunately, the weather was glorious on Sunday - sunny, low 70's, no humidity - so I got a solid three hours in the garden and everything's in the ground.

Making the most of small spaces

Bloody Battle No. 3 - The Colonization of the Patio Strip

Mine is an urban garden, taking up little strips of earth wherever I can wedge something in. As a result I tend to plant things pretty densely and deal with culling the plants later. I tried pot gardening a few times but never had much luck and I seem to get quite a bit out of my tiny plots of land. The concept of "square foot gardening" is great when you have a tiny area to work with. While I don't specifically follow it, I think that it's a good starting point for people with limited space. I'm also fond of the concept of "vertical gardening" where you plant things in such a way as to make them grow "up." My favorite example of this is the potato cage. I haven't built one yet but might now that the bulk of the gardening is done.

Bloody Battle No. 4 - The Battle of the Bunnies: The Final Stand

Another plight of the urban garden are urban rabbits. My neighbor encourages them. This year, I bought some deer and rabbit repellent. We'll see if it works. My dogs keep trying to eat it because it's made with garlic and spoiled eggs or something disgusting like that. All I can say is that, if the little bast*rds eat my cool new spinach, I'm coming after them with a rake.

Not actual rabbit

The war is won. With the plants in the ground and the work shifting from "planting" to "tending", I finally feel like summer is here. Unfortunately, with my late start, I'll probably be eating from my garden a little later this year. There are a lot worse things to worry about, I suppose - like, who's going to pull all the weeds that pop up.

- Alex (aka Ms McGregor)