WTF Wednesday, 1st Edition

I just moved to the Chicago region. My finace and I bought a dear little cottage that has been beautifully landscaped.

The only problem is that I have no clue what most things are, because I did my early gardening in a mid-Atlantic state.*

So I've decided to start a game - I'll call it 'WTF Wednesday.' Most weeks, I will try to post a photo of a plant that I do not know what it is, probably from my yard or garden plot, but I may take photos around Chicago if the mood so strikes me. Sorry to say, there are no prizes. You just get the personal satisfaction of having helped a fellow dirt grubber get to know who lives in her yard.

Let's get started.

This plant is ~3' tall and appears to grow alone or with one or two others. Here's its flower, which is in bloom now (mid-July):


Here's its leaf:


Thanks for playing.


* For example, it took a lot of Google-ing to figure out that this is Lady's (Ladies) Mantle (Mantel). Right?
Right??

...because, it - you know - happens

Yay! Look what came this morning! I ordered it from composters.com last week with some babysitting money.


And I got a little innoculant to start my whole compost pile going. Barley thinks it smells GOOD.


I decided on the Garden Gourmet because I've read good reviews, it's compact, and I can hide it behind the clematis quite well.

It only took about 30 minutes to set up, including dragging the heavy box 'round to the back. Check it, 'cos this is the only time you'll find it empty.


Just in case you forget what is compostable and what is not, there's a friendly pictorial guide on the lid.


Barley is helping prepare some of the bigger sticks in our yard for the composter.


Thanks, babe!

Weed? Or not?

My last post was actually regarding an incident that happened a little over a week ago at our community garden plot and originally published on my knitting blog. Honestly, I expected to lose a tomato or two to petty theft this summer but had no idea that thieves would be so bold as to take our largest and most healthy tomato and pepper plants.

People suck.

Despite the fact that we have no extra money to finish fencing in the plot, we are going to keep on keeping on. This is how the plot looked when we took possession of it:



After some initial clearing I found that there is a raspberry bush in the back corner with immature fruit and some scraggly little strawberries hiding under it. Nice surprise!

I had planted some seeds before the theft and will continue to tend to them and the smaller vegetable plants and herbs that are left. I will also continue to clear the site and lay out the beds for next year, when we can afford to put up a fence. I really hate to lock out a space in a public park, but the investment in time and money is too high not to.

Regarding seeds. And weeds. I just moved here from the mid-Atlantic. Weeds, desired natives, and landscaping are so different here that I have no idea what to pull and what to leave. So I nicked an idea from Wintersown and made some little greenhouses to plant my leftover seeds. They were set out on Sunday afternoon and already my Cut Flower Mix from Heirloom Acres Seeds...


...and the Calendula (Pot Marigold) from The Thyme Garden are sprouting.


I'm especially pleased about the Calendula because they are from 2005 and I had variable luck germinating some other seeds I received from the company.

The stolen tomato plants were 4th of July hybrids that Rock Star started from seed late in the winter. We still had a few left at home, so I decided to plant them in the back, next to the garage at our new place.

A few stabs of the shovel revealed gravel - probably related to an old parking pad - under the wood chips. Damn. If we don't have the money to put up a rabbit fence this year, we certainly can't hire someone to come in with a backhoe and a truckload of manure!

Hey Dumbass

Yeah, you - the one who stole all our seedlings from the community garden plot. Did you know that you took them from an UNEMPLOYED PERSON who was actually banking on EATING this summer?!

I hope your face is horribly, irretrievably disfigured in a fiery accident.

Really. Fuck you.