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Quick Fixes for the Garden & Kitchen
Quick Fixes for the Garden and Kitchen
There is always so much to do in the garden that sometimes I can’t keep up with it all. Right now there is weeding, pruning, dividing, garden clean-up and more. So I’m always looking for ways to save time and energy. Last fall I experimented with a “Quick Fix” for planting bulbs, and I’m pleased to report it worked just fine.
For the past 30 years or so I’ve been planting bulbs each fall so that I can enjoy big punches of color in the spring. Most years I plant 100 tulips as annuals – I find that they go down hill each year, with fewer and fewer blossoms. So I buy them in bulk and don’t worry if they return, and often plant new tulips in a big bed that already has tulips. By treating them as annuals I get a great show each year – and plenty of tulips to give away.
The backbone of my bulb collection, however, is my display of daffodils – from early to late. Daffodils are foolproof. Rodents won’t eat them – they are vaguely poisonous – and deer ignore them. They will grow in full sun, but will also flower reliably in a hardwood forest. Daffodils can get enough sunshine to recharge themselves in a forest since they get a start before leaves are on the trees.
When I was a boy we had hundreds of daffies that bloomed in our woods, year after year. Eventually we had to dig them up, divide and replant with the addition of bulb booster or slow acting fertilizer. We did that because the woods had so many trees with hungry roots that eventually they needed added minerals.
Bulb Planting - Quick Method
But digging holes for a couple of hundred bulbs can be a lot of work. So last year I tried a new method: I simply planted them above ground and covered them with soil and compost. Here is what I did: I mowed the lawn so that the grass was very short where I planned to plant. Then I put down a thick layer of newspapers and covered that with an inch and a half of compost. I arranged bulbs on that base, pointy end up. I placed the bulbs close together in order to fit in as many as possible – they were almost touching shoulders. Then I covered the bulbs with a 50-50 mix of topsoil and compost. The directions that come with most big bulbs like tulips and daffodils suggest a 6-inch layer of soil over the tips of the bulbs. I didn’t add that much soil – it was more like 4 inches. But then I put down mulch over the fresh soil, which acted much like soil.
I didn’t write about this technique last year as I didn’t know how well it would work. I shouldn’t have worried – it was a success. My bulbs planted above ground bloomed beautifully, and this past summer I planted some annual flowers in the same soil. Next spring? Who knows how they’ll do. Until I’ve had success for a few years I only will recommend it provisionally. Rodents, for example, may find this technique to their liking – to the detriment of the bulbs.
And the mounded beds may look, to the neighbors, like grave sites. The bed I made was large enough for a dog, but if I wanted more bulbs it might raise eyebrows. I can imagine the gossip at the store: What ever happened to Henry’s crazy Aunt Mathilda, anyway?
As I clean up the garden I look for time savers, too. Instead of cutting back my hostas, I wait until we’ve had a few hard frosts. Frost will turn the leaves into mush, so instead of cutting back the plants I can pull the leaves, or just rake them up. I’ve been known to use an electric hedge trimmer to cut back big beds of phlox or other tall perennials. Hedge trimmers are fast, but require one to bend over for a long time with a machine that is considerably heavier than pruners or hedge shears. If you use electric trimmers, be sure to use a GFCI outlet for your cord. Those are the outlets with with re-set buttons to prevent your from getting hurt if you cut off your cord – which I’ve been known to do.
In the kitchen have some quick fixes, too. I freeze sliced apples in pie pans now and when they’re frozen I remove the contents and store in big zipper bags. Later, come winter, I’ll make a crust, put in those frozen apples and add the spices. They will thaw and cook in the oven, taking just a little longer to cook.
To save time I have a couple of wonderful tools for slicing apples. The first looks like a 6-inch metal wagon wheel with wire spokes. Push down on the tool and it slices an apple into 8 or 10 wedges (though the skins stay on). I have another tool that both slices and peels apples. It bolts down onto the edge of the kitchen counter, you spear an apple onto the pointy end of the machine, turn a crank, and lickety-split the apple is peeled and sliced. I found one like mine at the Vermont Country store (www.vermontcountrystore.com or 802-776-5730) for about $30.
If you have some good time savers, be sure to write me. We all need to get our chores done so we can settle into winter and relax with a good book.
Write Henry Homeyer at P.O. Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746 or henry.homeyer@comcast.net or visit his Web swite www.Gardening-guy.com.