Here are photos of the new greenhouse, which is not done yet, but will be used this winter. We will be adding more windows, expanding the size and adding corrugated plastic sheeting in place of the plastic.

Sheri

Brunfelsia facinates me. The main reason is because I love night blooming plants. Although I have germinated many different varieties of Brunfelsia over the years, due to heat loss and other unexpected situations the only variety I have left is Brunfelsia floribunda which has survived for the past several years.

This past spring I potted it up into a much larger pot and sit it outside. With the storms and other problems we encountered I had all but forgot about it until it was time to bring it inside.

I had never pruned this plant and was beginning to wonder why it had not bloomed. It seems many of my plants grow but do not bloom. I am not big on pruning and this is part of the reason why it takes so long for many of my plants to bloom. It seems Brunfelsia actually benefits from being pruned and pruning can induce flowering.

Brunfelsia prefers to be grown in part shade to full sun, which is not a problem now that I have moved it from mostly shade to full sun. Container grown Brunfelsia usually reach two to three feet tall, which I would say mine is. Depending on variety they can bloom anytime from early spring to late winter.

Brunfelsia prefer a soil pH of 5.5 to 6.2 and need moderate amounts of fertilizer during their active growth cycle. A bit of chelated iron will not hurt either as Brunfelsia is prone to iron chlorosis.

If you live in zone 10 or higher these plants can be grown outdoors year round. For the rest of us, container culture will have to suffice. Luckily these plants do quite well in containers and have been known to live for over one hundred years in a container as long as they are well cared for.

The best part of growing Brunfelsia is the intense fragrance you will be rewarded with once your plant comes into bloom.

Here is a bit of germination information on Brunfelsia americana and a photo of my seedling.

On December 4, 2004 I began soaking fresh seeds. They were in the water for about four days before I planted them directly on top of some vermiculite.

On December 23, 2004 the seed germinated.

Enjoy!

Sheri

We have dug our potatoes and have them in the root cellar curing. Today I picked the remainder of the tomatoes that were turning red and some of the green ones. The red ones are on the table where they will turn the rest of the way red in another day or two and then get canned. The green ones got wrapped in newspaper and put into the cellar. This will allow us to have ripe tomatoes for some time to come.

The mugwort I hung is drying nicely. So far only two bunches have fallen – one the rubber band broke on and I am not sure why the other one fell.

We are still canning – tomato sauce, tomato juice, fruit, whatever is available. The nights here are cooling down and winter will arrive soon.

I also infused some lavender buds in olive oil today. I have some other herbs to infuse yet to get them ready for making salve. The distiller I bought to make essential oils has not arrived yet. I am hoping it gets here before the first frost so I can distill some oils.

The rose hips are ripening nicely. I found a recipe today for rosehip wine. I thought that might be interesting. Although I do not drink I do like to use wine for cooking.

I purchased a really interesting book on ebay from 1867 that is full of neat info on homesteading, including recipes. It has not arrived yet. I have asked the nice lady if she has some other books I am interested in and she is looking. I may have found some real treasures!

I am exhausted and have to help Jerry make some lasagna tonight. He just came in from trying to finish up the new chicken coop. Once that is done we will need to work on the barn roof so the roof men can come and finish it up. Then we have to work on our office roofs and build a new greenhouse. Something tells me all of this is not going to get accomplished before the snow flies, but we will just have to wait and see.

 Sheri

The order from Forest Farm arrived today in excellent condition. I had placed an order for two Sapindus drummondii trees as well as three Lindera benzoin shrubs.

 The Lindera has several edible uses. A tea can be made from the leaves. The dried berries can be used in place of pepper or allspice. The berries can also be used fresh to season meat, stews or soups, however they do need to be crushed. The fresh berries make a great drink as well that is similar to ginger ale. The sticks of the spice bush can also be used to flavor soups. This is a plant I have wanted for some time. In addition to having all of these uses, it is native and attracts birds and butterflies.

The Sapindus trees, once they grow, will produce a fruit that can be dried and used as a soap. These dried fruits are known as soap nuts and they make a great natural laundry detergent.

Jerry helped dig the holes for these five plants tonight. We amended the soil with compost, watered them in well and will now wait until spring to see how well they do over the winter. Hopefully there is plenty of time for them to get a good start on rooting in before the bad weather hits.

Sheri

Have you ever wanted to learn to make dream pillows? If so, now is your
chance! I am offering a class on making dream pillows using a pleasant
dreams blend.

The class will cost $10 per person and you will take your dream pillow
home with you at the end of the class.

If you wish to take the class, please email me with your name and phone
number so I can call to confirm that you will be attending.

The class will be held on September 27 at 2pm here in Marion, Indiana. 

Thank you,
Sheri

It seems like the preparation for the garden never ends. I have already started ordering seeds for spring and plants for fall planting. We are still trying to get the yard cleaned up and the roof repaired from the storm damage in June. It sure takes a lot to keep a farm going, especially when the unexpected happens.

I sent in several seed orders already. For fall planting I ordered some hard red winter wheat. For spring planting I ordered Brussels Sprouts ‘Rubine,’ an Amaranth mix (for grain), a beneficial wildflower insect mix, breadseed poppy, perennial sorghum, Amaranth ‘Golden Giant’ (grain), Turnips ‘Noir d’Hiver,’ Seakale ‘Lily White,’ Spinach ‘Monstruex de Viroflay’ also known as the Monster of Viroflay, a Wild Garden Kale Mix, Regina Fiber Flax, Evelin Fiber Flax, Luffa, organic Nankeen Cotton, organic Mississippi Brown Cotton, Red Foliated Cotton, organic Erlene’s Green Cotton and organic Arkansas Green Lint Cotton. I should have plenty of grains and fiber for processing next fall!

I also sent in several plant orders which I am anxiously awaiting arrival of. From Logee’s I ordered a Musa cavendish ‘Super Dwarf’ and a Vanilla planifolia variegata. From Forest Farm I ordered two Sapindus drummondii trees so I can grow my own soapnuts as well as three Lindera benzoin shrubs. I have been looking for the Lindera for quite some time and hope that I end up with a mix of male and female plants. The berries can be used as a substitute for allspice and the butterflies simply love this plant. I also placed an order with Gourmet Garlic Gardens for a Gardener’s/Epicure’s Delight Assortment of garlic to plant. The assortment will include a mix of mild, medium and strong garlic’s perfect for my growing zone.

We did get the Union Loom Number 36 home and I am working on threading it now. This is a real job to say the least. In the meantime I am still working with my knitty knifter looms on two other projects – a sweater made of wool and mohair and a blanket that I plan to felt. The blanket idea came about as a way for me to use the small amounts of handspun yarn I have been learning to spin.

In a few more weeks it will be time to get Leonardo shorn for the first time. I am looking forward to having my own mohair to spin. The sheep, Johnny and Pearl, are fitting in nicely and are such sweet animals.

We are planning to add a small shop that hopefully will be open sometime next summer so I can have a place to set up my goat milk soaps, bubble baths, bath fizzies and other farm products to sell. I also want an area to sell extra produce.

The greenhouses will have to be rebuilt soon so I have a place to bring my plants in for the winter. The plastic is trashed on them from the tree branches hitting them during the storm. Jerry wants to redesign the greenhouse to make it wrap around the house and make it bigger. Bigger is nice, but that will take more to heat it.

This afternoon I will be working, trying to earn a few more pennies to add to the project fund. It will be nice once the farm earns its own money. This farm business is a full time job plus some.

Sheri

We went to look at a buggy for Beauty to pull and met a lady who raised bees. I mentioned that some honeybees had taken up residence here and needed a hive. Judy, the lady who was showing us the buggy, said she had some and gave us one.

We got it cleaned up and set it out in the bird garden under a tree. The other lady said to put some sugar water out there to attract the bees. I have that done but have not moved the bee hive yet. I am hoping she will find someone to come help us get set up.

I am excited to have the hive and although she said it would be two years before we would get any honey, I am happy that at least the bees will be safe here.

Sheri

Sometimes nature sure suprises us. Today, as I was cutting dill for our salad, I noticed some caterpillars. I came inside to research and grab the camera. The caterpillars will be black swallowtails eventually. Needless to say I won’t be harvesting from that dill patch anymore until they are gone, that is, if anything is left then.

 I also wanted to share some photos from my garden with you.

 Sheri

It has been a busy time here at Exotic Gardening Farms over the past few days. I have been canning more food as it comes on. I have frozen sugar snap peas, canned spinach and strawberries. My first picking of strawberries today came to five and a quarter pounds of fruit. The plants will continue to produce berries for several more weeks so there is much more to come.

We have been working in the garden trying to get rid of the creeping Charlie that wants to take over and laying paths. I cannot wait until all the pathways are laid so there are nice places to walk. The weed cloth simply became covered in weeds in too short of a time plus our ground is rocky so walking on it was difficult.

The aristolochia vine I planted when we moved in has not done much. It did bloom once, has grown a lot but there were no butterflies laying eggs on it until this year. I went out the other day to find close to fifty pipevine swallowtail caterpillars eating my plant. I am thrilled.

Tonight my epiphyllum oxypetalum has finally bloomed for the first time since I got it which was back in 1998. It has two beautiful, fragrant blooms. See the photo above.
Sheri

The front flower garden is beginning to look really good, finally. The peonies have opened, some iris are open, others are just beginning, the roses are open, the heliotrope are blooming. The plants are much bigger and the empty space that usually fills with weeds, then bare soil, is beginning to fill up. I am quite pleased with the progress.

Most of the day was spent working on another vegetable garden area. The tiller quit working so it had to be taken to be worked on. This slowed the progress but even so, I am pleased that so much has been planted over the past several days. In the vegetable garden there are plants of sugar snap peas, sugar beets – I am going to try to make our own sugar, brussel sprouts, tomatoes – I have a variegated tomato this year, radish, turnip, mustard, carrots, lettuce, melons, watermelon, spinach, kale, potatoes and cabbage. Not bad so far. The new seeds that have been planted include corn – popcorn, sweet corn and flour corn, more watermelon, green beans – purple, green and yellow, peanuts, cucumbers, soya beans, flax, amaranth, African millet and more lettuce. I also planted basil, zinnia, sunflowers and nasturtiums in the garden area. With any luck all of the plants will grow and I will get a nice harvest. The addition of the flowers was for companion planting and to attract beneficial insects.

 We are slowly moving the herb garden into the vegetable garden area. Jerry is building raised beds for the herbs. Each bed will hold a different herb. This will make picking easy for people who do not know how to identify the plants. It will also mean that I can grow more of each herb which I am really excited about. Some herbs, such as mint, I can’t grow enough of.

The fruit trees and strawberries are looking great. The fruit is maturing quite quickly this year. I noticed the grape vine is going to have a lot of fruit this year as well. I planted mint and chives under some of the fruit trees last year. Today I planted nasturtiums under the apple trees.

Some things just take time and there is no rushing a garden. It develops its own personality over time as the plants mature and grow. The great gardeners of the world know this and the rest of us are learning this. Flowers have their own way of showing up in a garden unexpected. Sometimes flowers disappear or change colors. For example last year I had three pink peonies, this year I have two pink and one white with a yellow center. No kidding. Nature certainly does do her own thing.

Tomorrow will be another exciting day in the garden. It is raining quite hard tonight and so I am not sure what I will get done tomorrow but if nothing else I will marvel at the plants that are opening, admire the colors mixing and invite visitors into the garden so they too can enjoy the bounty of the season.
Sheri