Art Design 4 Garden

Leaving Matera, we headed towards the valley known for trulli – conical stone-roofed houses that were traditional for centuries. Without a detailed map, we looped around the industrial outskirts of Bari and along the coast, before heading inland through agricultural areas full of lettuces (butter and red), parsley, what looked like pac choi greens, and endless olive groves.
The soil is rocky (an understatement); piles of excavated stones make up stone walls, smaller stones provide a rocky mulch for young olive trees, and other stones were piled up near remnant holm oaks.

We stopped at the Grotto de Castellana, the largest caverns in Italy, maybe in Europe. We’d never been in such extensive limestone caves; I vaguely recall visiting Carlsbad Caverns, in New Mexico, USA as a child, and thinking they were expansive.

We passed several garden centers. Now that were able to get online again, I can check to see if my ‘small seed lots permit’ has been approved. I would really like to bring some seeds home for some unusual Italian vegetable varieties.

The countryside through Arborbello (a main trulli town), Locarando, Cisternino, and Ostuni was pastoral, and nice; Southern Italy seems to alternate between wonderful towns and landscapes, and ‘modern’ block apartments and industrial development. Arborbello is supposedly overrun by tourists, but not this time of the year. We had the trulli area designated by UNESCO to ourselves, basically,

But always, there seem to be pockets of growing things; olive groves are everywhere, intermixed with vegetables.

The smaller Puglia hill towns (Locarando and Cisternino) were a delight, with atmospheric pathways and attractive buildings. Parks provided views into the countryside, a patchwork of agricultural fields and olive orchards. Not a hotel to be found, at least this time of year, so we ended up in a small hotel in Ostuni, a much larger town spread across three hills.

I looked around for some information on bagging my apples and pears. Heres an informative thread: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fruit/msg0400030418546.html. It seems that plastic Ziploc bags are the way to go. Zip the baggie over the stem of apples about 3/4 inches in diameter and cut off the lowest corner of the bag so any water that gets in will drain.

I have 24 apples bagged now. Will do my 5 pears soon.

Our official total was about 20 inches of snow today!

Getting ready for fall vegetables, I dug some (commercial) mushroom compost into some of my already well-worked beds (in the Piedmont).  They were like dust, as I turned over the soil, incorporating the compost.  Yikes.

And leaving the office this afternoon (at the botanical garden where I work), I was startled by a couple of woodchucks foraging in the lantana (weird).  They popped out, saw me, fussed, and ducked back into the lantana.  Hmm.

Very strange, and it isnt a good sign for our nearby kitchen garden, as woodchucks need to get their moisture from green plants, and thats in short supply right now.

Im doing a Harvest Moon walk tomorrow evening, which should be nice.  And, its always good to celebrate the first day of fall.

Its warm enough still (too warm, actually) that the nocturnal symphony (crickets, cicadas, tree frogs, and their ilk)  is still in full swing, although muted by droughty weather.

And, we need rain.  Planting (of shrubs, perennials or fall vegetables) requires lots of watering to properly get a planting place ready.  Even in the mountains, Ive had to frequently drench my raised beds to keep up moisture levels.

Monday my second favourite radio programme came back on air for a new season - Creature Curious on Resonance FM. Host Bridget Nicholls spoke with a behavioral scientist touching on topics including imprinting between mother and offspring and very early development. Some of which is relevant to plant growth as well. Weve all seen the way that a check in the growth of a seedling (sudden cold or forgot to water) will have on its later growth.
On the subject of animals adapting to urban life he referred to the large population of stray dogs in Moscow which now scoot under barriers and ride the tube out to suburban destinations with markets, chow down and head back into the centre at night. I googled and found a first hand account on this blog. This story reminded me of Nevilles cousins dog Ratty up in Dunnington who got his 15 minutes of fame last year on breakfast TV. Unbeknownst to his owner Ratty was taking the bus to his local where he had (before the mangement change) been invited in for food and drink. If you can stomach the buffoons that present the piece, youll get some idea of Rattys shrewd and resourceful character.

Ive been threatening to write a post on my favorite garden tools for a while now. Actually, I guess I have been threatening to write anything for a while. Maybe because it is the gift giving season, or maybe it is because I no longer need for these tools now that it is winter. In any case, I thought Id write about some tools I like to use. * In the spirit of full disclosure, I have not been paid or received any compensation for the following reviews. However I would really appreciate any endorsements or compensation from these fine companies!

Here are some of my favorite garden tools:

AM Leonard soil knife, my favorite all around garden tool. This is the tool I reach for most often. I use it for transplanting, weeding, and any relatively small digging job. It is very well constructed and stout. You won’t bend or break this- it will last a lifetime. It is made with stainless steel and a orange poly something handle, easy to find, and will last forever, no splinters, and does not need any care. I have used a bunch of hori horis (Japanese soil knife) and other soil knives and this is my favorite. This knife has been redesigned and it is much better than the same model I currently have. The serrations are deeper and sharper, and it even has a twine cutting notch (pretty useful). Mine are several years old and probably have decades more use in them. A close runner up is the Lesche soil knife , it looks really cool and tough with the much more aggressive serrated edge and the hand guard. I have both and I like them. They are both made in the USA, which I also appreciate.

Diggit 2 weeding tool. This tool is nearly indestructible (and comes with a lifetime warranty) , with a bright yellow vinyl handle. It is really narrow to cut through compacted soil to get the deep roots of dandelions and other plants. It is so string and stout, that I use mine to pry up or reset concrete or urbanite pavers. For weeding in a small space it is my favorite, plus it is made in the USA.

Felco #2 pruning shears. I wrote a post about these a while back. A fantastic tool- there is a reason everyone likes these.

17# pencil point San Angelo bar (hard to take a picture of it, but it looks like a bar). Here is my shout out to Texas. The one I have been using for years was a wedding present (no lie, my wife and I registered for it). Around here digging holes does not require a shovel, but rather a digging bar and your hands. My favorite tool for the job is a 72”, hexagonal-shafted, chisel point on one end, pencil point on the other end, carbon steel digging bar. A friend of mine recently dug all the holes for a fence with a screw driver and a coffee can. The coffee can was for the soil. It can be really rocky here.

Drain spades- for general digging and transplanting I use one of these (the green handled one in the picture at the top of the post, and most of mine have been bent from using them as a pry bar or something), but they are light weight and good for general use. But when the digging gets tough, the one to use is this one: The King of Spades 16” rounded blade digging spade. This is a real piece of machinery. Heavy, sharp, unbend-able, with and removable and replaceable foot pad. Although not advertised as a pry bar, you can use it for one, and I have (made in the USA).