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The Perennial Landscape
Fall Blooming Flowers: Asters
When everything else in the garden is winding down, asters turn their starry faces to the sun in a profusion of blues, purples and pinks. These flowers need just a little care so they produce blooms year after year. Here's a tip: after the first hard frost, cut them back to within a couple of inches of the ground and mulch with straw or fallen leaves.
Click here to read all about growing asters
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The Edible Landscape
Harvesting and Storing Pumpkins
Pumpkins will keep in proper storage for two to three months, so whatever you don't carve for Halloween can be eaten after the snow falls. When cooking, treat them like any squash and your family will be very happy!
Read the details of harvesting and storing pumpkins by clicking here
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The 5th Dimension
 Everything else you need to know about successful gardening
Got the itch for a little home improvement?
Building a garden shed isn't that difficult if you have a good plan and a strong helper. And a few power tools! Here's a good garden shed plan from Popular Mechanics with complete, easy to follow instructions. Yours doesn't have to be quite this fancy, so you can save a few pennies for filling it up with gardening tools.
Read this garden shed plan from Popular Mechanics
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The Beautiful Landscape
 More on Storing Bulbs for Winter
You can never read enough information about storing bulbs over the winter... every article offers its own insights. This one is especially good because it talks specifically about Elephant Ears, Canna, Dahlia, and even Freesia. Did you know you can keep Freesia over the winter? Try it!
Read about digging up bulbs and storing them for the winter by clicking here
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Green Tomato Pickle
Makes 6-8 Quarts
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A "peck" is 1/4 of a bushel or about (2) ice cream pails filled to the top.
Directions and method directly from The Joy of Cooking, 1931:
Wash and cut into thin slices:
1 peck green tomatoes
Peel and cut into thin slices:
12 large onions
Sprinkle them with:
1 cup salt
Permit them to stand for 12 hours. Wash them in clear water. Drain them. Heat to the boiling point:
3 quarts cider vinegar
12 green peppers, sliced thin
6 sweet peppers, diced
12 cloves garlic, minced
4 pounds brown sugar
Add the tomatoes and onions. Add and cook slowly until the tomatoes are transparent--for about 1 hour:
2 tablespoons dry mustard
2 tablespoons whole cloves
2 tablespoons stick cinnamon, broken
2 tablespoons powdered ginger
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon celery seed
Stir these ingredients frequently. Place the pickle in jars and seal them.
Recipe courtesy of Beier's Greenhouse. Adapted from Joy of Cooking 1931 Facsimile Edition by Irma S. Rombauer . Indianapolis, Bobb-Merrill: 1931.
September 27, 2009
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Never used Fennel? Well, it's about time!