Roadies & Rhodies

I think I mentioned before that I joined the Master Gardener program through the UNH Cooperative Extension.  It has been a great way for me to scratch my gardening itch while keeping my won't power intact here at TOPH.  I have pledged not to do any serious gardening here at TOPH until Spring 2013.  But, I will say that I am kind of enjoying living vicariously for awhile.  I feel like a roadie.  And I'm following this band of talented folks who are doing all that I can't right now -- just kind of soaking it all in and nodding enthusiastically.

In the meantime, I am doing a minor gardening project.  I am getting away with it only because it pertains to grading and drainage and foundation-saving.

We have these two enormous Rhododendrons.  They are on the west side of TOPH between the kitchen door and driveway.  The trunks are 8" in diameter and they are each about 8' wide and 8' high.  When we visited TOPH in the late Spring they were gorgeous.  Massive, multiple blooms of a pleasant not-pink, not-purple hue.

Unfortunately, they were planted too close to the foundation and their root balls sit a little higher grade-wise than I would prefer for healthy drainage and sill-health.  Sad, but they need to go. 

Moving large bushes has its risks, but, the way I see it, these rhodies owe us nothing. We bought the house and they came along for the ride -- free parking as it were. Now we just have to figure out how to reassign their parking places without killing them.

We covered  planting and transplantation in Master Gardener class, but I had a feeling that our well-established monster-Rhodies might require some more creative attention.  I was right, according to Michael Garrity (Garden Works LLC & Blueberry Gardens Organic), an expert on perennials and ornamentals, we're "going to have break some rules and make it ugly, before it can be pretty.  Patience is key."

His advice was to prune them hard, selectively stripping off all outer new growth and buds, then cut a trench in around the root balls this Fall, then finish digging them out and moving them in the early Spring, as soon as the frost lifts.  Finally, once they are relocated and dug in nicely (with root ball flare safely above grade -- that's one of his big campaigns), then I am supposed to prune all of the massive (now-budless) growth off the outside and let the inner buds and branches go nuts.  Sounds reasonable.  That way all the inner stuff will be protected this winter and through the move.  We shall see.

Pruning a Rhodie in the Fall is a no-no, usually.  And doughnut trenching around bushes has some real downsides, but this is a special circumstance and Mike seemed to have a rhyme to his reason.  Something about helping the plant to conserve energy, kick-starting some close-in root growth, and looking forward to a spectacular bloom (if they live) in the Spring of 2013 in their new locale.  OK.


So, I have now selectively pruned all of their outer growth and extremities.  The inner buds look very promising!  OK, maybe that's wishful thinking... And I also took out all the dead twiggy stuff to eliminate harmful pest habitat.  That was my idea, but it seemed like good, basic IPM (integrated pest management) practice to me.

I have to admit they look kind of sad at the moment -- sort of like a long-haired cat after a bath.  I still have to do the trenching, but the weathers been rather soggy lately.  I think I will wait until there is more dirt and less mud to slog though for that little task.  The digging will be hard and I will have my bot cutters in-hand as the root system on these puppies is fibrous and thick and woody with no fine hairy stuff.  Quite ingeneious, really.  That's how come they are so acid-loving (-tolerant).  No fine, hairy roots.  Just the smart ones with uptake sensors.  It's really fascinating.  They are closely related to blueberry bushes in that way, you know.

In the meantime, I am chanting words of encouragement to the granite foundation wall nearest to these impinging root balls.  I'm sure it will be fine until spring with the bushes can be safely moved and the small door yard there can be regraded and planted with some storm-water-sucker-uppers.  We will be paying close attention to rooting distance and spacing relative to the house and driveway, as well as appropriate root-ball-to-grade depth assignment.  Right-O!  I'm thinking red twig dogwoods on an island in a drainage pond... Wait, the hubby is wholly opposed to the p-word.  So we'll call it a kidney shaped sub-grade catch basin with appropriate outflow, landscaping and aeration.  And frogs.  Yep, that's it!

Recipe: Ginger-Pear Clafouti

It was my turn to bring the snack to Master Gardener class.  Thought I would share.  Turned out SO yummy.  A real any-occasion dish -- brunch, tea, dessert...  Enjoy!

Ginger-Pear Clafouti (Melissa Currier 9/22/2011)

(Makes 48 servings in 2 lasagna-sized Pyrex.  Scale at-will. Small scale will work in a 10" skillet -- start on stove like a frittata.)

8 T TJ's Organic Brown Sugar

1/2 C Ginger Brandy

2 t Cinnamon

10 Ripe Organic Bartlett Pears

________________

3 C Bob's Organic Whole Wheat Flour

1 C Organic Bread Flour

12 T TJ's Organic Raw Sugar

1 t Celtic Sea Salt

________________

16 Large Nellie's Cage Free Eggs

2 C Hatch's Light Cream

2 C Hatch's Lite Milk

16 oz. TJ's Greek Yogurt

4 t Vanilla Extract (bourbon-base)

________________

12 T Organic Butter

________________

Preheat Oven to 400 degress with butter in Pyrex

Prepare pear mixture, toss and set aside.  Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Beat wet ingredients in another bowl.  Pour wet mixture gradually into dry mixture, mixing well as you go.  Batter should be smooth.

Ladle a portion of the batter into your preheated baking pan(s) (1/2-3/4") and return to oven until it begins to set like the first side of a pancake.  Remove from oven and spread pear mixture evenly into pan.  Cover with remaining batter.  Put the whole thing back in the oven, reduce heat to 375 and bake for approx. 20 minutes until it puffs up and begins to brown nicely.  Toothpick stuck in center should come out relatively clean.

Serve hot or cold.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar (optional).

Willpower & Won't Power

When you have a lot on your to-do list, sometimes the hardest thing to do is stick to your to-don't list.  That's when willpower is really more about "won't power".  When we bought TOPH, we knew there was a very long to-do list, and we had to make a to-don't list to keep ourselves on track.

As a passionate digger of dirt (and soon-to-be-official Master Gardener), I would like nothing more than to focus on, and obsess about, our neglected yard and escapist landscape and grimmest-of-the-grim absentee gardens. But I have sworn off proactive gardening on our property until the Spring of 2013.  I am limited to clearing brush, cutting firewood, preparing for goats and grading in some minor drainage-required areas.  Oh, and some very selective transplantation and/or removal of "vintage" plantings that are impinging on the solidarity of our pieced-granite foundation and deteriorating sills.

My hubby is sacrificing too.  And, honestly, he's fighting genetics to stay on the wagon, so I really can't complain too much about my clean fingernails.  I married a tinkerer-packrat and the poor fellow will also have to wait awhile to have his dream: a barn.  In the meantime he will have a workshop in the basement and disparate storage in hidey-holes around the house and some no-power, no-heat space in the too-small, not-tall garage, but it's not the same.  And I get that.

I have to say that living without our nearest and dearest habit-hobbies is forcing us to really think and plan and mull over what we will eventually do.  Time will tell if their absence makes our hearts fonder and goals sweeter. I'm guessing YES!

In the meantime, we are progressing on all of the many before-the-snow-flies necessities around TOPH.  And we are available to consult on any of your yard and/or gardening projects and vehicle projects (land or sea).  We are living vicariously through you.  Don't be shy!

POD-crastination

OK, we are officially in one of those cart-before-horse situations.  We've got a lot of projects to do in the short term that require massive muss and fuss (and dust), so we've retained the PODs we used for our move to keep work- and our precious-few living-spaces clear.  But these projects are taking longer than expected (shocker) and the PODs are costing us money, which cuts into project budgets. 

• Basic budget logic says, "Um, hi.  You have a 4,000+ sq. ft. house with a bunch of empty rooms.  Why are you paying to store stuff in the driveway."
• POD-crastination logic says, "Why move things around a bunch of times?  Your boxes of stuff are high and dry and dust-free.  Out of sight, out of mind.  Wait 'til the coast is clear."
• DIY logic says, "Use sweat equity and repetitive-task-torture whenever possible to save the almighty DOLLAR."

SO, it's 2-to-1.  PODs lose. Domestic open space legislation = FAIL.

We shall dedicate this rainy week to find (temporary, but remotely logical) places for everything and put everything in those places.  And just to make sure we accomplish this, I have invited my mother to help.  Nothing like inviting a task master to your own work party.  Sigh.