New Plants and Planting in the Rain

Last Friday was one of the days that I look forward to all year. Along with April Deitrich and Judy Candela, my coworkers here at the museum, I went to the annual Landis Valley Herb and Garden Faire in Lancaster County, PA. It's a long drive, but the incredible volume and variety of plants for sale at the Landis Valley Museum every Mothers Day Weekend makes it worth the trip.

Though it is so easy to be distracted by all of the beautiful and unusual plants, I was on a mission to acquire new medicinal plants for the Pry Garden. I made a two-page wish list and both April and Judy got their own copy. I was hoping to scratch a few more items off the list than I did, but I came home with a good haul and we all had a great time. It all seemed to be over too quickly!

Here are some pictures from the trip:

heirloom tomatoes and other vegetables

April and Judy!

Plant Sitting! The museum would babysit your plants while you kept shopping!

Even though I did not get as many different plants as I wanted, I still had a lot to plant.

I also had to plant the the seedlings that I have been growing at home since winter.

Tomatoes from seed!

Saturday was our scheduled planting day, but unfortunately the weather did not cooperate. We had rain throughout most of Friday night and Saturday. That kept most of our volunteers away and made the garden paths very muddy. Luckily a few dedicated volunteers did come out to help and we had a two-hour stretch without and rain, and even a little blue sky!

Standing in the mud!

Refreshments for volunteers

For a brief time, it was a beautiful day!

 Thanks to those who came out and helped! It really made an ambitious day possible!

Despite the thick mud, it's not looking too bad!

Snow and Seedlings

It is formally spring this week, but the weather outside doesn't seem to have heard! We had one of the heaviest snowfalls of the year yesterday, covering the garden a thick, fluffy layer of white. I hope that won't hurt the seeds I planted last week, but if it does I will just replant. I am hoping this is the end of cold!

White it has been snowing outside, seedlings inside are coming along!

 Fenugreek (in the foreground) was the first to germinate and is doing the best. I tried growing fenugreek last year, but it did not work out. I am hoping that this year I will have some better luck. I think that I just have to work a little harder to give them the right conditions of light, soil, and moisture in the garden.

Fenugreek has been under cultivation for thousands of years and no one is really certain of when or where it originated. It probably comes from the Middle East, but is found throughout the ancient world. While its popularity has waned in recent times, fenugreek is a versatile plant, useful as an herb, spice, vegetable, and medicine. It remains popular in Indian and other Asian cuisines. It has been used in ancient times, the 19th century, and even today as a supplement to increase lactation in nursing women.

All five varieties of tomato are coming along. Some are bigger than others, but I think I will have some plants of each type to put in the garden in May. Friends are clamoring for some tasty and unusual tomatoes, so I am hoping that the tomato crop won't meet with disaster like last year! There is nothing like a fresh garden tomato right off the vine!

Valerian is just beginning to poke its head above ground. It's too soon to tell how well it will do, but I am hoping that, like fenugreek, I will have more success with it this year.

Also like fenugreek, Valerian is an ancient medicinal plant. As I have written before, Valerian has been used to promote relaxation and relieve insomnia and anxiety for more than two thousand years. Both Hippocrates and Galen specifically mention Valerian in their writings.

 I'll be out in the garden later this week. It's time to plant more seeds in the garden. Hopefully I will see some lettuce germinating while I am out there!

Late Winter Seeds

Spring is on our doorsteps, and accordingly, I have begun sowing some of the first seeds in the garden. With snow falling on the ground yesterday afternoon, it might seem as though I am a bit early, but it's recommended that some early spring crops be sown a few weeks before the last frost. For example, the University of Maryland Extension Office recommends beginning to plant spinach as early as March 10, and leaf lettuce on March 15.

Before putting seeds in the ground though, the soil had to be turned over. I think that nothing works better than a plain old shovel.

I had some help from Kady, a Museum Studies student at nearby Shepherd University. Kady was visiting us last week to fulfill her museum practicum requirement. Helping in the garden was one of the many hands-on experiences we tried to show her during her visit.

I have put in six varieties of heirloom leaf lettuce. I have stayed away from head lettuce, both because I am not as much of a fan and because it was difficult to find an appropriate variety to the 1860s. The now ubiquitous and tasteless iceberg lettuce just wasn't around. As they take shape, I might talk more about the varieties I did select.

This is the first year for spinach in the garden. I am a big fan of the nutritious green leaf, so I hope that come spring we will have a bountiful harvest for salads and cooking. 

Inside, some of the first seedlings are emerging and looking healthy! This picture is already a few days old, but you can see some fenugreek sprouting. I hope that will have a few more seedlings to show you next week!

Seed-Starting Time Again.

I did not post this blog yesterday because I was away in Washington, DC at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. It was my great privilege to take a private tour of their current exhibit, "The Civil War and American Art," with the museum's senior curator of painting and sculpture, Eleanor Jones Harvey. Because I had been involved with our recent exhibit, "Bringing the Story of War to Our Doorsteps," based around "The Dead of Antietam" photography of Alexander Gardner, I was asked to meet Dr. Harvey and take an intimate look at their wonderful exhibit at the Smithsonian. If you have an opportunity, please do stop in at the Smithsonian American Art Museum to see their Civil War exhibit. It is much more than just a collection of Civil War paintings; rather, it takes a wider view of art during the period and how the war impacted the creation and reception of artwork.

Outside of stuffy museum galleries, it really feels like spring! As temperatures rise and the Sun stays out longer, people's spirits seem brighter and the garden is beginning to wake up. I enjoyed the wonderful weather over the weekend and got out in the garden to finish preparing it for some new tenants. On some of the perennial plants, I cut back the last of the winter die-off and pruned for fresh spring growth.

I also started planting my first indoor seedlings on Saturday. Last year I started some seeds a few weeks earlier, but I am growing some different plants this season, so it wasn't quite as important to start so early.

On this first round, I sowed five varieties of tomatoes, each of which will look a little different than your modern kitchen-variety tomato if and when they come to fruit this summer. One unusual variety, the poma amoris minora lutea or lesser yellow love apple, is a small variety of yellow tomato that has been cultivated since at least the 16th century.

I have also sown six different medicinal plants, none of which I have successfully grown in the garden before. Some of them may be a bit too tricky and temperamental to survive in the Pry Garden, but I am going to give everything a chance and hope for the best.

One plant that I am particularly unsure about is the Blue Flag Iris. This was a popular medicinal plant during the Civil War, and it was listed on numerous drug supply tables by the Confederate States Medical Department. I have never tried to grow an iris from seed before, so I am curious whether it will work out. I worry about growing it in the garden because the Blue Flag Iris likes a very wet environment, which will be difficult to provide.

I have planted each in small biodegradable pots that will make it easier to transplant seedlings into the garden in the spring. I used these last year on just a few plants with great success. Even though they are biodegradable, I don't just plant the whole pot in the ground; I usually tear off the sides and throw those in the compost because they don't really break down that quickly.

My indoor growing set up is similar to last year. I have a small table set up near a window. I don't really get enough light through that window though, so I have added two desk lamps with compact florescent bulbs. I keep my home fairly warm and I use a spray bottle to make sure the little pots stay moist, but not too wet. I am hoping that many of these seeds will germinate into healthy plants that will live well in the Pry Garden.

Stratifying Seeds (I Hope)

I took a break from the blog last week because it was New Year's, and in the wake of the Christmas holiday there was nothing much to talk about. I hope that most were able to enjoy a little time off with friends and family.

We are in the heart of winter now, but it's still time for me to begin the preparations for new plants in the spring. I wrote in previous posts that in the fall I collected some seeds from the wild and from plants in the garden. Many of those seeds have to be properly prepared if I am going to sow them for growing this year.

Separating milkweed seeds from the fluff

When we buy packets of seeds from the store or online, they are usually properly prepared and ready to be planted right away. However, the seeds of many plants, especially perennials, have to go through a winter's cold before they are willing to germinate in the spring. This is a protective measure so that seeds do not drop in the fall and begin to sprout, only to be killed by freezing temperatures.

Because I collected these seeds rather than leaving them in the dirt outside, I will need to give them a simulated winter inside before I can use them in the spring. This process is called stratification. this is something I have never tried before and I am hoping that it works, giving me productive seeds to start a little later this year.

Milkweed seeds ready for a cold treatment

To stratify the seeds, I needed some kind of medium to hold them during the process. Many experts have recommended a variety of options including vermiculite, perlite, and sand. I have chosen fine peat moss, made from decomposed sphagnum. I purchased it from a garden store, so it is sterile, meaning that it should be free from diseases and unwanted seeds from weeds.

Peat Moss

I took a bit of peat moss from the sealed packaging and added some water in a bowl. I then nestled the seeds in the dampened moss. Dampening the moss is supposed to allow the seeds to absorb some moisture, helping prepare them for eventual germination.

I put each bunch of seeds into small plastic resealable bags. After a few days at room temperature to encourage the seeds to take up some moisture, I put those bags in the refrigerator. I chose the bottom drawer of the refrigerator because that tends to be the coldest place without freezing.

I am currently stratifying for different species: Common Milkweed, Butterfly Weed, Jimson Weed, and Common Mullein. Stratification times can vary widely for different types of seeds, but for these particular species I think that about a month will be enough time in the cooler. 

I am very hopeful that this process will yield positive results come spring. If it does not work out though, it was at least an interesting learning experience.

Limited Prosperity

It has been inexcusably long since this blog has been updated, but hopefully I can begin to make amends for that. I have been very busy with the garden over the past few weeks, and have had plenty of great help from our two new interns at the Pry House, Mike Wilburn and Caroline Schoonover.

Caroline, our expert weeder, in her anti-gnat hat

A few weeks ago I went to the Landis Valley Herb and Garden Faire in Lancaster, Pa, where I picked up numerous plants to add to the garden, including some that are fairly hard to find. It is quite an experience to see so many vendors selling such a colorful variety of plants, some common and familiar, some bizarre and exotic. I was able to procure numerous native medicinal plants and very happy with my haul. I was only constrained by my finances.

I returned from Lancaster with two dozen unique plants to add to the garden. I have also been finding some great additions locally, from the Washington County Master Gardeners plant sale, and the Middletown farmers market. All of these new additions have been planted in the garden and most are flourishing in their new home.

Unloading new plants with my grandmother

We recently cleared out the remaining areas in the rear of the garden. After a great deal of digging, turning, and transplanting, we now have two varieties of squash, pumpkins, watermelons, and gourds growing in the garden! They are doing very well and seem to have escaped the carnage of cutworms thus far! I started them from seedlings and am proud to see how well they are doing.

Summer Squash (with pokeweed in the background)

Summer Squash

Watermelon

I have been enjoying harvests of radishes, lettuce, claytonia, and various herbs for weeks now. I am hoping that more vegetables will be available soon, like peas and beans. If the flea beetles can be kept at bay, I should eventually have some tasty cabbages to harvest.

Claytonia, or Miner's Lettuce

Claytonia is an almost succulent leafy green. It is native to the west coast of the United States. It's flavor is very mild and it is well-suited to eating in green salads. It is called Miner's Lettuce because during the California Gold Rush many prospectors were purportedly saved from scurvy by eating the plant, which has a  high Vitamin C content.

Unfortunately not everything in the garden has gone perfectly. My tomatoes have all expired and my cucumbers  are just barely hanging on. I believe that these beds were accidentally exposed to herbicides. I will allow these beds to lay fallow for a time and try again to plant in the fall. Encouraging carrots to germinate has also been a challenge.

Most plants are doing very well though, and I am very pleased with my first efforts at gardening. The garden looks great and is fully under cultivation. Come and see some of our unique plants!

Lavender in bloom!