Thankful for CORN on Thanksgiving Day

Happy Thanksgiving!

Can a small ear of corn give so much pleasure to the palate?  In a word… YES!!  Corn has been a staple of our American diet for centuries, and although it is considered a carbohydrate, most people can indulge in an ear of buttered corn (or a bowl of corn) and find great pleasure in its simplicity and flavor.

In late summer, my husband and I were invited to pick our own sweet corn at a friend’s farm in Washington County (Wisconsin)—owned by The Heidtke’s (see photo).  This family-owned farm was established in 1846 and continues to grow corn and soy crops today.   

Besides corn and soy, the Heidtke’s also supply our garden center with truckloads of straw bales and dried corn stalks  every autumn for our harvest and hayride activities.  We can count on the Heidtke farm to provide enough straw for our straw bale maze, climbing mountain and, of course, the haywagon.

Wisconsin is blessed to have a plethora of corn fields throughout our state—each of them tended by a caring farmer.  This Thanksgiving Day, when giving thanks, count our Wisconsin family farmers among your blessings.   Be sure to pass a dish of CORN at your Thanksgiving table!

M. Lynn Schmid,   Certified Master Gardener
A.A.S. Landscape/Horticulture/Arboriculture

Small tomatoes with BIG flavor!

Mexico Midget Tomato…big flavor, small packaging

A single ‘Mexico Midget’ heirloom tomato plant is the perfect addition to your veggie garden… this summer it found a happy place in mine!  The plant is indeterminate and by July achieved a height of more than six feet (with support). 

Tiny, flavor-packed fruits began to appear in late July, and I was eager to taste them.  Fruits range from ½” – ¾”  and the “packaging” is a delicate, thin skin that melts in your mouth.  These tomatoes add color and pizzazz to your favorite salads and will provide a lovely garnish for your casseroles. My plant continued to yield hundreds of tomatoes throughout August and early September.  (I photographed a few in hand to show how tiny the fruits are at maturity.)

Solanum lycoperisicum ‘Mexico Midget’ will find a home in my veggie garden next summer too, since it was a great performer in 2013.   It maintained healthy leaf tissue throughout our wet-dry-hot-cold Wisconsin growing conditions (and I did NOT spray chemicals on my edibles—no fungus, nor blight developed.)   Fruits were plentiful and picturesque, and each little gem was flavorful without being too acidic.  Try ‘Mexico Midget’ in your veggie garden next year… stand back and watch it grow!

M. Lynn Schmid,   Certified Master Gardener
A.A.S. Landscape/Horticulture/Arboriculture

Warty, Winged & Wonderful :)

Warty, winged and wonderful… grow your own gourds!

Plants have “personalities”—some seem calming, others are bold and beautiful.   But ornamental gourds offer characteristics ranging from FUN to FUNKY, and add a splash of color and whimsy to your autumn décor.

Although I’ve often grown gourds in our home garden, last year I purchased some winged gourds (genus Cucurbita) and saved the seeds for planting this summer.  In early June I planted a dozen seeds in our southern exposure garden.  Gourds are heavy feeders, so I sprinkled a bit of fertilizer over the seeded area.  Soon cotyledons emerged; then leaves formed, and vines developed soon after.      

Velvety, vivid yellow-orange blossoms appeared, which were attractive to pollinators, and soon tiny gourds formed.   By mid-August I harvested my first winged gourd, but it was still a bit soft around the edges, so I allowed remaining gourds to develop fully and form firm outer shells.  (Since I enjoy decorating with gourds through late November, allowing outer shells to mature is preferable. Gourds with soft shells can shrivel and rot prematurely… be patient!)

Gourds and pumpkins (a type of gourd) share the same genus, Cucurbita.  Their growing habits are similar also, but the pumpkins I have grown in the past took longer to reach maturity.  This summer, the winged gourds were ready to pick in less than 90 days.  There are additional gourds developing which should be mature by mid-September—then the vines will be added to our compost bins, while the winged gourds will be enjoyed indoors for the next few months. 

NOTE:  Gourds and pumpkins will be available soon 

at Lammscapes!  in Jackson. Come visit to find some FUN and FUNKY gourds for your autumn décor.   Save the seeds in a dark, dry place and try your hand at growing gourds next season!

M. Lynn Schmid,   Certified Master Gardener
A.A.S. Landscape/Horticulture/Arboriculture

Summer Herbs for Summer Drinks!

Summer Herbs… enhance and flavor your drinks!

In late July herbs are plentiful in many home gardens… those culinary herbs find their way into lots of casseroles and salads, but have you added them to your summer drinks?   Lots of possibilities await you… give your herbs a dip into an icy concoction and notice the subtle flavors the herbs impart to your favorite drink.

This afternoon I experimented with lavender blossoms (Lavendula angustifolia ‘Hidcote’ is blooming nicely in my garden—smells good—tastes great!)   Lavender lemonade should be made ahead so it can be fully chilled before serving:

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Lavender Lemonade

Two cups water + one-third cup white sugar (bring to a boil; remove from heat).
Add   8 – 10 sprigs of freshly picked lavender buds (no foliage please).
Cover and allow to sit one hour; this will extract flavors from lavender buds.   Remove sprigs of lavender with small strainer.   Add this lovely liquid into one quart of your favorite lemonade.   Add ice and fresh lemon slices; chill.

Variation:  Add the lavender liquid to one quart lemon iced tea.  Enjoy!

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Be creative—think SWEET—think SAVORY.    Limeade with Mojito mint… lemonade enhanced with lemon basil.  Try it… you’ll LIKE it!!

SATURDAY  (AUG 3, 2013) visit LAMMSCAPES!  for our “Sweets & Treats” garden tea party.   We’ll show you how to find refreshing goodness in your garden— please join us for tea!    LAMMSCAPES!   2708 Sherman Road, Jackson WI  53037

M. Lynn Schmid,   Certified Master Gardener
A.A.S. Landscape/Horticulture/Arboriculture

In Honor of Mother's Day!

Plan to Play in Your Garden!

With Mothers’ Day approaching, make a plan to play in your garden with the young children in your life on a sunny day this spring.  The simplest equation can lead to happy moments and lasting memories:  moms/grandmas/aunts + kids + garden soil + seeds and sunshine = FUN!   As an added bonus, you should enjoy pretty flowers or fresh veggies in months ahead.

Gardening with children is filled with “teachable moments” and also encourages patience as they wait for sprouts to emerge and buds to form.  Even after the fruit or flower forms, they can observe the changes as each comes to fruition.

If you have a small child, grandchild, young niece or nephew, I encourage you to devote a small portion of your garden to those children and allow them “artistic license” when planting… (straight rows are not required!)

I’d like to share my recipe for FUN IN THE SUN, in honor of Mothers’ Day:

Ingredients

1 or 2 small children

One small plot of rich, loose soil** (use ribbon or yarn to mark off their garden)
  **can use large container if garden space is unavailable

Little garden tools, hand trowels, shovels

Kid-sized garden gloves (see photo)

Seeds or small plants (or both!)

Small watering can with water

Lots of love

Directions:   Plant, play, giggle, get dirty, enjoy the moment, enjoy the day!

M. Lynn Schmid,   Certified Master Gardener
A.A.S. Landscape/Horticulture/Arboriculture

 

"Yes! You Can" - Pruning the Canopy of a Tree

"Yes, you can!"

Pruning Trees & Shrubs

Part II - Pruning the Canopy

1.    Now we will do the detail work in the canopy of the tree.  Use a good ladder!  This magnolia has some dead stubs left over from poor previous pruning.  Cut off the stubs, again flush with the trunk at an angle.

 

2.    The last step is to thin the canopy.  We want to create a canopy that is uniform and open, to allow good air circulation for the leaves.  Find any overcrowded areas where there are many branches emerging close together, and choose some of the smaller ones to remove. Use your previous experience: look for crossing or rubbing branches, and also those which are growing towards the inside of the tree.  We want to encourage branches which are growing outward and upward, and not towards the center of the tree where they are likely to run into other branches.  However, don’t get too prune-happy with flowering species such as this magnolia (or crabapples, for instance) because the little branches carry the flower buds.   Here, we have before and after pictures of some thinning cuts, eliminating some minor growth to let larger branches grow strong!

 

        Before thinning                                                                 After thinning

 

 

                                                                                                                         After Thinning

        Before thinning

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.    Here we are!  Bottoms up, your shrub or small tree will be

       ~ clean around the bottom - you pruned off the suckers!

            ~ spreading open in the middle - you pruned out crossing/rubbing stems!

                ~ open in the canopy - you pruned out minor branches in crowded areas!

 

The best part of pruning is admiring your renovated tree or shrub!

 

We pruned this unkempt magnolia...  

 

 

 

 

            Into this lovely magnolia!

                       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And look at your nicely pruned Japanese tree lilac!  Remember the lilac tree we started this pruning tutorial with?

 

 

Beautiful & ready to bloom this season!

"YES, you can!" Pruning Tips for Suckers & Rubbing Branches

 

"Yes, you can!"

Prune your trees and shrubs

Part I - Removing suckers & rubbing branches

In this tutorial, we are restoring two multi-stem shrubs, a magnolia and a Japanese tree lilac, that have gone unpruned for several years.  These general pruning techniques are applicable for any of your trees or larger, tree-like shrubs.  We like to do pruning in early spring before tree leaves obscure our view of branch structure, but this type of pruning may be done any time of year.

 1.   Start at the bottom.  Look for suckers, which are small shoots growing from the base alongside the trunk.  Suckers need to be removed before they get big enough to start diverting energy from the growth of the main trunk.  Cut them off with a sharp pruners or saw. 

 

 

2.   Now the we can clearly see the base of the magnolia, sucker-free.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.   Now we can examine the structure of the larger stems as they grow from the ground and start to branch.  We want these stems to be healthy and uniformly spaced so they can form a nice crown to the tree.  Look especially for large stems that are crossing or rubbing, like the two on the left.  This creates wounds which are good entry points for insects and disease. 

 

 

4.    Decide which stems to retain at the bottom by looking at how they progress further up the tree.  Often, a branch crossing or rubbing near the bottom is also causing similar problems further up.  Imagine the gap you will leave in the canopy when you cut out your ‘culprit’ branch, but don’t be afraid if there is a space for now - the ‘culprit’ will only cause worse problems in the future!  Here, we cut off the smaller of the rubbing stems.

 

5.    Now that we addressed crossing branches at the bottom of the tree, we continue to look for similar problems further into the crown.  Here is an area with multiple small crossing branches.  We removed two of these, opening the area up so the remaining branches can grow healthily!  Be sure to cut these branches off flush with the trunk so the wound can heal over well - no stubs left over on the main trunk.

 

6.    We have now established a nice structure to the bottom of the tree - no crossing or rubbing branches, and the remaining stems are more uniformly spaced and have room to grow.

 

Check out Part II of this pruning tutorial next:  Pruning the canopy of the tree