The White House Kitchen Garden

Last week I went on a pretty exciting adventure as far as gardening is concerned.  The farming organization that I work for was chosen for a private tour of the White House kitchen garden! Although I wasn't allowed to bring my camera, I was able to snap a few shots on my iphone. We all had our fingers crossed that we would meet Michelle but she is a busy lady as you can imagine so we settled for a run in with Sunny and Bo, the Obama's dogs!

Located on the South Lawn, the garden was beautiful and extremely well kept and organically grown, full of some of the Obama's favorite fruits and vegetables. They eat lots of different salads so the garden was chock full of a variety greens and even a papaya tree (that gets over wintered inside) for one of their favorite papaya salads. When I asked what Mr. President's favorite vegetable was I was answered with "he likes everything but does not like beets." So there were none growing in the garden.

I was most intrigued with those stunningly gorgeous Chinese purple long beans which can grow up to three feet in length and peanuts which I have always wanted to try growing.

 There were many heirloom varieties growing from Jefferson's Monticello garden such as sea kale and Purple Calabash tomato. After Jefferson left the White House in 1809 and moved to Monticello, he grew 170 varieties of fruits and 330 varieties of vegetables and herbs!

The White House kitchen preserves some of the garden food pickling things like baby radishes and carrots that have been served at many prestigious State Dinners

And I was most excited to share with Melissa the first White House beehive! When White House chef, Sam Kass found out that the White House carpenter, Charlie Brandt was a beekeeper hobbyist he was quick to find out how honey could make it's way into the White House kitchen. Here's a little video on the hive. And why are there bolts and straps holding the hive down? For keeping it from blowing away from the White House helicopter which takes off and lands right there on the lawn.

rooting plants in water

this is the time in my garden when some things begin to peter out and gaps and holes begin to appear in planters, window boxes and pots.

a simple way to increase your plant collection at no cost is to root your own plants. coleus, mint, basil, lavender, wandering jew, begonias, geraniums, sweet potato vine as well as many houseplants such as african violets, ivy, spider plant, philodendron and creeping fig all root well in water.

most plants that can successfully produce roots in water have thick, succulent leaves and stems. don't let the above list deter you from trying others though!

below is a simple guide to rooting your plants.

 ::water the plant thoroughly a day or two before taking cuttings so it is not under drought stress.

::take cuttings from a healthy, vigorous and disease-free plant.

::cut 3 to 6 inch sections of stem that each contain a growing tip, if possible, off the parent plant. make a clean, angled cut just above a leaf node.

 ::trim off any leaves on the lowest one-third of the cutting, keeping at least two leaves on each cutting.

 ::place the cuttings in a water-filled jar so that the leafless portion of the stem is submerged and the remaining leaves are out of the water and hanging over or resting on the lip of the jar.

::set the jar with cuttings and water somewhere that gets partial sun, like a windowsill.

::check the cuttings regularly. add more water to replace any that evaporates and replace water that becomes cloudy.

::if roots turn brown and mushy with rot, discard the cuttings and water, clean the jar and start over with fresh cuttings.

::once several roots have appeared and grown a few inches long, the cuttings are ready to be gently planted in moist potting soil.

 happy rooting!!

my new garden companion

I have no  acceptable excuse for my absence here other than it's been so darn hot and I haven't had much gusto to do much of anything in the garden and oh yes we got a puppy!!

Luckily though the garden still grows without my help and we have had plenty of rain to keep it going. Thankfully the weather broke last week and has been quite pleasant allowing me and Harry (our new pup) to get out there.

It's been so nice to have a companion in the garden who follows me around and keeps me company as I weed and harvest. He absolutely loves cucumbers!

The garden is showing signs of late summer and even peeks of early fall with it's Black-Eyed Susans and Joe-Pye Weed in full bloom. The Crape Myrtle's bark is beginning to shed  and I have seen a few Aster and Toad Lily buds beginning to form.

I hope to sow some fall greens in the next week or two, dry a whole lot of mint and get a spring bulb order in. All with Harry's help of course.

August Happenings

August is usually the time when I begin to peter out.
It's been a hot summer!
I have used the sprinkler more days than not and I closed my eyes as I opened last month's water bill.
This past week there were a few days where the humidity dropped and I jumped at the chance to regain my stamina and catch up on what I have let go in the garden.
Some weeding, pruning, edging and pulling out to make room for new plants soon gave my garden a new cleaned up look.
Let's go on a little tour shall we?

We only have 3 Bartlet pears this year but they are large and beautiful. They look so pretty there hanging on the tree. Every day I keep my fingers crossed as I walk out into the garden that they will still be there. It's a dual between me and the squirrels.

If Black Eyed Susans were edible we would have enough food for the winter. They seem to take over in my garden and I find myself digging up large clumps of them at this time of year to give away. We do enjoy the gold finches and chickadees that feast on them and I would love to experiment with using them to make dye.
 
After digging up the Susans as well as a few other plants I made a list of new plants to fill in the gaps. This is the time of year that local nurseries are trying to clear out.  Over the next few weeks I plan to try to find some good deals.
   
The front garden is taking off. The full sun has given us huge stems of swiss chard and baskets of tomatoes. I still need to fill in with perennial herbs. I will be keeping my eye out for them at the nursery as well.
   
The mint totally took over on top of the rabbit hutch. I pulled it out and dried a bunch to make tea. There is still plenty growing in other areas of my garden to use fresh.
   
We canned San Marzano tomatoes this week (some from the farm and some from our front garden).
It was just the beginning of our preserving. I am looking for a chest freezer. We can't keep up with all of the kale and swiss chard we have growing and I would love to chop it up and freeze for the winter months.

What's happening in your garden this August?