Cathedral of Junk

In an effort to comply with the “Keep Austin Weird” motto, we visited the Cathedral of Junk there – appropriately enough, on Easter Sunday. It rises, almost imperceptively from the street, from Vince Hanneman’s quiet backyard in a suburban neighborhood. Plants are creatively integrated.

Vince has been collecting stuff since the 1980s and has faced city ordinance violations and irate neighbors, but has managed to expand and maintain this crazy 80-ton structure, including it’s stained glass windows,

collections,

color themes,

inexplicable juxtapositions,

child-friendly climbability (hellooooo up there!)

and wabi-sabi strangeness.

The cathedral is open during daylight hours most days.

Come worship at the holy throne.

And leave your mark on the holy surfboard.

Apologies to my blogging friends that I haven't visited in weeks...my biggest work deadline of the year is looming! See you in June, if not before.

Flower Show Recap

Don't you love the color of these orchids?

The Garden Club of Nyack held it's 18th annual Flower Show on Saturday.  Both adult and child gardeners were able to enter in several horticulture and design categories, and for the first time this year, there was a photography division.  Last year, I really enjoyed clerking for Jeanne, who was the chief judge for the design division. This year, I clerked for the children's judges Joanne and Celia.  I also served as an entry clerk for both the children and adult divisions, helping the exhibitors categorize and display their entries. (I even worked up the courage to submit a few entries of my own this year - and have included them in this post.)

There were so many outstanding submissions this year - it was hard to pick a few favorites, and I was limited by a dead camera battery that forced me to take most of these photos on my phone.

The "invitational" category, which is unique every year, asked that the exhibitors create a place setting for a celebration.  I liked the more formal entries best- this one celebrating spring, and another for a garden wedding.  

There were lots of great entries in the children's divison.  Classrooms at Upper Nyack school, and my group of afterschool gardeners at Valley Cottage were among the groups submitting.

This was the entry from our class -- it won second place!

This class had their seeds "race" to the finish line!

More entries from the kindergarten classes.

I loved this pasta herb garden, planted in a colander, and mulched with real pasta!

This gorgeous and heartfelt tribute to a gardener who passed away won "Best in Show" in the children's  category. 

This colorful flower cart won the People's Choice award in the children's division.

Here's one of the recycled soda bottle planters we did in our afterschool gardening class.  The idea for this project came from Mike Lieberman's Urban Organic Gardener site.  It won a second place!

Another one of our group submissions, a gourd grown from seed in our school greenhouse, placed first. 

Richard's tribute to the people of Japan won "Best in Show" for the Adult Horticulture Division.  It was accented with handmade origami cranes.

Here's my little dish garden, which was inspired by my facebook friend Helen Yoest, who has been posting photos of some amazing creations from Moss and Stone Gardens. 

Unfortunately the handles prevented this from qualifying in the the miniature category, so it went into a separate division called "other plant designs," and won a second place.  (I also learned that some varieties of moss are endangered in New York State, and because of this, moss may not be allowed in future shows.) 

A spectacular succulent that we had some trouble identifying. 

Here's an unusual and creative egg arrangement that won a first in the miniature category.  I love the way edibles, including chili pepper and asparagus, were used in this arrangement.

I tried to duplicate last year's daffodil bouquet, but not all of the varieties I used then were in bloom yet, so I supplemented with pussy willow and forsythia.

It got a first place in the forced branches category.

Isn't this an amazing Christmas Cactus in bloom?  It comes from the owner of one of our favorite restaurants, the Golden Mushroom.

There was a good turnout for the photos.   I entered a photo of an allium in the first stages of bloom, and got an honorable mention.  Congrats to Phoebe Farrell, who took home a first place ribbon for her tulip photo in the children's photo division!

Don't miss the Garden Club of Nyack's plant sale on May 22!

Attracting Birds (and Keeping Them Happy)

It’s feeder filling time. How do I know? A couple of chickadees and a titmouse appeared at my feeder station to remind me. They were looking right at me through my kitchen window, chiding me, “Where’s my breakfast already? It’s November! Get a clue!”  (My little nieces and nephew who visited this past weekend wondered at the fact that I call them “my birds.” )
Mother Nature does need help – especially when there’s snow on the ground and food is harder to find. Aside from filling up your birdfeeders, here’s a list of some other things you can do to be nice to birds.

1) Make some homemade suet. Melt 2 cups of lard (get it from your butcher!) and 1 cup of peanut butter together, then add 2 cups of corn meal and cool. Choose your own add-ins. Try seeds, raisins, cereal or oats. What do your birds like best? You can serve it in an hanging cage (above), or spread it on dead sunflower heads.

2) Birds need to drink water every day, and that can be a challenge in the winter when the lakes and ponds begin to freeze. If you don’t want to invest in one of those expensive heated birdbaths, there are other ways to keep your water from freezing, although it’s probably not a 24 hour solution. During the morning hours when birds are feeding heavily, you can set up a watering station, too. Take a large coffee can and take off both ends with a can opener. Punch a few holes in the can a few inches from the top end. Place the can on a sturdy, flameproof level surface and place a pillar candle inside the can. Light the candle and place a metal dish or pie pan full of water on top. If you do this a few hours every day, you can make sure that your birds get a drink.

3) If you have a real Christmas tree, and little foliage or evergreens on your property, put your tree near your feeders when you take it down in January. The birds will have a place to hide and shelter themselves from the winter wind.

4) Tape some snowflakes or other opaque décor to the inside of your larger windows to prevent the birds from flying into them.

5) Drive a long (3” or longer) nail at least an inch into an old tree stump. Cut the top off with a bolt cutter. Stick your old corncobs on the nail- this is a real treat for chickens, too.

6) Stop using insecticide. Birds feed on insects, so using insecticides like Neem on your property can severely affect their food supply.  One type, neocontinoids, could be particularly toxic to pollinators.  Weedkillers like Round-Up and other herbicides can be dangerous too.

7) Give a bird a shower - cut the bottom off a 1 liter soda bottle. Push a pin through the bottle cap to create a tiny hole. Screw the cap onto the bottle and turn the bottle upside down. Create a hanger for the bottle by punching holes on two sides of the bottle and stringing a wire through the holes. Fill the bottle with water and hang it from a shepherd’s hook over your birdbath. The water will drip from the pierced bottle cap into the bath, giving the birds a little splash. In cold weather, water that’s moving is also slower to freeze.

8) Plant berry bushes. Spicebush (Lindera benzion) Highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum), Serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.), Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) are a few that are native to the Northeast. Or maybe some fruit. Try putting out sliced grapes, kiwi, cranberries, apples, and oranges. Do any new birds show up?

9) Hang a house.  At Birdhouses101.com, you can search by species name for the kind of house preferred by that type of bird.  Some birds, such as the mourning dove, prefer nesting on a platform.

10) Baby birds are on the way. In late winter and early spring when the birds are making their nests, fill an old suet cage (see top photo) with coir, string, hair, and hay. Birds will use these materials to create their nests.

What else can we do to be nice to birds? Please add your suggestions in the comment section!

Holiday Boutique a la Russe

Here's an annual event in Nyack that I try not to miss.  It's the "Holiday Boutique a la Russe" at the The Holy Virgin Protection Russian Orthodox Church.  This year it will be held on Sat. Nov. 20 and Sun, Nov. 21. 

Go for the gift shopping (lots of beautiful handcrafted ornaments and jewelry), or the food (my favorite are the little meat dumplings served with vinegar and sour cream), and try to time your visit for the music and dancing.  The atmosphere is just magical (think Nutcracker!) - can't imagine a better way to get into the holiday spirit.  They offer tours of the beautiful church sanctuary - try to get in on one of those, too. 

Do you have a favorite holiday event or festival that you're looking forward to this year?

How to Make a Toad House

You can make a toad house out of an old or broken flowerpot.  Dig a hole about twice the size of the pot.  Turn it on its side.  Add a bed of leaves. 

Make sure you label it, so people who come across it know what it is.  Use permanent marker so that it doesn’t get washed off in the rain. 

You can decorate it .

Add rocks.

For a luxury touch, add fluff from a cattail.  

Other treats?

You might add a dish of water for the toad or frog to spash around in.

These were made by our afterschool gardening class.  This, and lots of other great projects designed to attract wildife to your garden, are in this book.

Frogs and toads become scarce when the weather gets cold.  What kind of critters do you find in your backyard this time of year?  

Lidia's Egg Peeling Method

Last year I did a post about how chefs make hard boiled eggs, but I neglected to include the wise words of one of my favorite women in the kitchen, Lidia Bastianich.  By cracking the eggs and letting the water soak in a few minutes before peeling, you give the membrane an even better chance of separating from the shell. Makes sense to me.

Here's my simple method for hard-cooked eggs with nice color and good texture: Put the eggs in a saucepan that doesn't crowd them together. Add water to cover the eggs by 2 to 3 inches. Bring the water to a boil, then turn off the heat. Leave the eggs in the water until they've cooled to room temperature.

To peel, crack the shells a few minutes before you need the eggs by rolling them on a flat surface. Let them sit in cold water for several minutes before peeling.

K. at dottedyellowline reminded me to check out the Washington Post Peep Diorama winners this year.  Not to be missed!

Happy Easter & Passover to y'all ! 

(image from Marthastewart.com)

Winter Classroom Gardening: Beany Babies

This project is an alternative to being "parents" to a raw egg or a sack of flour -- something that most kids end up doing at some point during their school careers.  It has the added benefit of being really, truly, ALIVE and GROWING.

Supplies needed:

Small jewelry bag
hole punch
Supermost granuals or other soil moisture medium.
Water
Bean seed
Yarn
Warm body

1) Punch a hole in the bag through both layers above the seal line at the top.
2) Fill the bag with a half teaspoon of granules.
3) Add a couple of teaspoons of water, seal and knead the bag until the water is absorbed.
4) Open the bag, place the bean seed inside and manipulate until the seed is in the approximate center of the bag, surrounded by granules. Re-seal the bag.
5) Thread the yard through the hole at the top of the bag.

6) Wear under your shirt, close to your body.  Keep in darkness as much as possible.
7) In a couple of days, your "baby" will sprout!

What will you name your baby??

I took a class in "Winter Gardening in the Classroom" recently led by the outstanding Master Gardener volunteers at Rockland County Cornell Cooperative Extension.  Hope to share more of what I learned in time!

How to Make a Pinecone Wreath

Warning: this is the non-Martha way to do it. You are welcome to go to her site and find the “right” way to do it, using lots more wire and sheets of moss. This is the shortcut method for people whose cookies will burn or children will bleed if they get too caught up in craft projects.


Supplies needed:
About 3 quarts of pinecones per wreath
12” grapevine wreath frame (from craft store)
Small decorative ornaments, picks or bulbs
Glue gun and glue sticks
Floral wire – about 12 inches

1) Get the kids out from in front of the TV and send them out into the backyard or neighborhood with some bags to collect pinecones (and don't let them back into the house until they're found!).   If there are no trees near you producing pinecones, you can probably get them at your local craft store or Oriental Trading. Get a variety if you can. If the squirrels haven't taken all the larger acorns, they’re nice too.

2) Inspect for bugs. Not a bad idea to rinse them off. Lots of ours had a nice frosting of sap on them. I like this because it smells wonderful, but it can make them a little sticky. (or if you're like me you can break out in little red bumps wherever the sap touches you.  Small price to pay for beauty.)

3) Lay out the cones on the wreath and decide on your layout. They look nice 2 or 3-deep in a braid-like pattern.

4) Using the hot glue gun, make two dime-sized globs of glue on the top and bottom of the pinecone. Apply them to the wreath one at a time. (Note: Older kids can do this, but make sure they’re instructed on how to use the glue gun. It’s very easy to get a burn from hot glue, or by touching the wrong spot on the gun. Emergency room visits can ruin your night.)

5) Apply glue to the base of the ornament or pick. Find the ugly or empty spots in between the pine cones and fill them in. Acorns can be added now, too.

6) Take the wire and twist it so that it loops at one end. Tie the other two ends around the wreath so that the loop is in the back. The loop can be used to hang the wreath from a nail. Or you can skip this step and just hang it from the grapevine.

Now it’s just a matter of waiting until some kid slams the door a little too hard, dislodging the wreath, so it comes crashing down, making it necessary for you to re-glue a large percentage of loose pinecones. Have fun!

If you’ve ever had a regretable craft project, you have to see the snarky and hilarious blog, Regretsy. Where do they find this stuff? (They’re probably outside taking a photo of my wreath right now!)