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Greetings!
I hope you enjoyed our brief little cold snap last weekend - it might be a little while before we get another one. I'm afraid the high temperatures are creeping perilously close to 90 - again! I thought we were done with that for the year, but I guess not.
 | | Plant petunias now! |
But we're getting into the fall mood over here at Papershell. Pumpkins are here, and the first wave of fall flowers: dianthus, snapdragons, petunias, nemesia, and lobelia. I've got a few pansies and we'll get more but the bulk will arrive after this little mini-heat wave subsides. If you're planting pansies now, try to provide a bit of afternoon shade for the next 2 weeks or so.
 | | Last year's prettiest... |
We still have a good selection of fall bulbs and I'm expecting the amaryllis any day now, just in time for Margaret Cherry's class on October 21. Margaret has over 30 years of experience in this business, and no one knows more about bulbs for our area. You won't want to miss her talk on planting and caring for fall bulbs!
Keep your eyes open out there - last week we spotted the first bluebirds of the year. The wrens and chickadees have been here for a while, arguing with the hummingbirds, and the red-shouldered hawks appear to be checking out the nest site again. Birdwatching becomes so much easier when all those leaves fall off the trees!
If you're in the neighborhood, stop by the Richmond Art & Artisan Market, sponsored by the Historic Richmond Association. I'll have a booth at the corner of 5th and Jackson and Kristy will be holding down the fort at Papershell. Stop by and see one of us, just so we don't get lonely!
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Update on Hibiscus Tea
If you got your "tea" hibiscus (Hibiscus sabdariffa) planted earlier this spring or summer, you should be seeing the blossoms now. Congratulations - and now, it's harvest time.
I've prepared a little slide show that explains how to harvest and use the tea that you've so carefully grown. We are picking as fast as we can at Papershell, and when we get a good-sized stash, we'll be serving hibiscus tea with our lemonade on weekends.
 | | This is what you use for tea |
If you're growing this lovely plant, remember to let some of your flowers go to seed. The fruit will be a large, round ball where the flower was, about the size of a ping-pong ball. If you let the fruit mature, it will contain many small seeds. Dry the seeds thoroughly, and put them aside until next spring, after about March 15. Plant in full sun and enjoy a repeat of the hibiscus harvest!
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Gin Trash As Garden Compost
The cotton harvest has been very good around Papershell, and our neighbors have been talking about "gin trash," or the byproduct of cotton-ginning.
Gin trash contains fragments of burs, stems, immature cotton seed, lint, leaf fragments, and dirt. Sometimes the cotton is "double-ginned," removing extra seeds.
Cotton ginning produces a lot of "gin trash" for each bale of cotton - between 20 and 25% of the weight of the final bale remains left behind as trash. One of the most common uses for gin trash is as compost for gardening & farming.
 | | Gin Trash, raw & composting |
So what's in gin trash? The chemical composition will vary dramatically but if you are able to get your hands on good, composted (for at least a year or two) gin trash, it can contain up to 2-3% nitrogen and lesser quantities of phosphorus and potassium. Once it is composted, it will be very light and should be mixed with other organic materials such as manure so it can be spread.
If you're using gin trash in your home garden, be sure it is well-composted. Cotton farming relies on many different chemical applications and you want to make sure all pesticide and herbicide residues have subsided before you use it on your garden.
If you don't want to go to all that trouble, we stock Acidified Composted Cotton Burrs, made from Texas cotton which is naturally defoliated. It makes a good soil additive, mulch or top-dressing and is completely organic.
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Winter Veggies
I hope you got "round 2" of the warm-season veggies planted in August & September, because we're well into planting cool-season veggies now. This despite the forecast of unseasonably warm temperatures for another 10 days.
But shake it off! The nights are getting longer, the earth is cooling, the light is less intense now and it's really okay to plant winter veggies. Lettuces might appreciate a bit of afternoon shade, but the rest of them will be fine.
 | | Chard - yummy & pretty too |
Ever wondered why so few of our favorite cool-season veggies produce actual "fruit?" It takes so much more energy to make a fruit or flower, energy that the sun's intense rays in summer provide. But the cooler light of winter makes it much harder, so we plant leafy greens & root vegetables like turnips, beets & kohlrabi.
 | | Kohlrabi from outer space |
The weird and wonderful kohlrabi! This odd little veggie is a member of the cabbage family that produces a swollen stem with a cabbage-turnip taste. It's mild and sweet and if harvested early, quite tender and tasty. You can harvest young leaves for salads & stir-fries too. Plant in a sunny, well-drained location and harvest the round stems when they're about the size of a tennis ball. Once you've sliced off the round part, treat yourself to Kohlrabi Home Fries - a great way to enjoy a new veggie!
 | | Mustard greens! |
Plant these veggies in October: beets, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, chard, collards, garlic, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, mustard, onion, snap peas, radishes, spinach & turnips.
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Please stop by and visit! Have a glass of world-famous lemonade (or a beer!) -- we'd love to meet you!
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Barrow
Papershell: A Garden Gallery
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Watercolor Painting: Negative Space October 13 9:00am-12:00pm Artist Michael Vollmer leads this exploration of negative space and contrast in watercolor painting. We recommend as a prerequisite the introductory class or some experience with watercolor painting. This is the fourth in a series of 4. The techniques taught in one class form the foundation for skills covered in the next class. If you have supplies already, please bring them. You will need to bring a 1-quart container for water and a pencil with an eraser. This class is $35 and space is limited. Call (281) 232-4485 or email us to sign up.
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Richmond Art & Artisan Market October 13 9:00am-4:00pm Come visit the Papershell booth at the Richmond Art & Artisan market today! Elizabeth and artist Lee Steiner will be manning the booth, enjoying the fall air and selling a little bit of this and that. Stop by for a visit! More info about the market is here.
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Butterfly GardeningOctober 14 2:00-3:30pm Butterflies -- the jewels of the garden! Learn to attract these winged lovelies to your outdoor space. This class, led by master gardener Barbara Buckley, is $10 and participants receive a coupon valid for 15% off that day's purchases. Call (281) 232-4485 or email us for more information
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Watercolor Painting: Spontaneous PaintingOctober 20 1:00-5:00pm Artist Michael Vollmer leads this exploration of abstraction & spontaneity in watercolor painting. We recommend as a prerequisite the introductory class or some experience with watercolor painting. If you have supplies already, please bring them. You will need to bring a 1-quart container for water and a pencil with an eraser. This class is $40 and space is limited. Call (281) 232-4485 or email us to sign up.
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Fall BulbsOctober 21 2:00-3:30pm Join us! Papershell hosts Margaret Cherry of Abbott-Ipco for this informative session on planting bulbs in the fall. Margaret is an expert on Gulf Coast gardening and will explain how to create lasting beauty with bulbs. This class is $10 and participants receive a coupon valid for 15% off that day's purchases. Call (281) 232-4485 or email us for more information
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