Mid-Winter Sights

Even though it is in the middle of winter, some plants still provide beauty and edibles. Last week, prior to unseasonably warm temperatures and a thaw, I took some pictures of a few of the evergreen or "still going strong" plants peaking through the snow.

The picture of the sunrise on January 8th (to the right) was too beautiful not to share as well. It is a rare day here in winter when the sky is clear enough to see a sunrise let alone one so spectacularly colored. Enjoy.

Kale

If I recall correctly, this kale variety is "Fizz." The one you can barely see behind it is "Nero di Toscana." I have quite a number of different kale varieties in the garden still green and still very tasty. This is always a great plant to add to your veggie garden but especially if you end up getting a late start to things. Kale will happily grow into the fall and winter extending out your fresh harvest season.

Bloody Dock

While this plant is a little hidden by some grass - it did plant itself here after all, the beautiful red veining for which this dock was named, is visible. While you can add young leaves of this dock to the salad bowl, I like it better for it ornamental qualities since I don't find the flavor anything special.

Sage

Sage (Salvia officinalis) is one my favorite herbs and garden plants. As a garden plant, what is not to like? It has striking grey-green foliage and blue-violet flowers and is a well-mannered and evergreen plant. In the winter my sage takes on purple colors - hints of that can be seen even in this picture. Some years, depending upon the severity of winter, they get even more purple. Even though the sage hails from the sunny Mediterranean, it survives Western NY State winters quite nicely.

Mustard

Like kale, I have a variety of mustards, radishes, green onions, and other cold tolerant plants still available in the garden. This is one of the many mustards still green in the garden. I can't seem to recall this variety's name at the moment but if I do recall correctly, it was from Kitazawa Seed Company. Kitazawa is a great source for Asian vegetable seeds of all sorts. 

Broccoli

This strikingly colored broccoli came along very late in the season. I got the seed in just as our summer-long drought began and so these plants got a slow start - my fault, not the seeds'. Even so, as our rains finally returned in the fall some of the plants that were in a "holding pattern" all summer finally began to grow. This variety is called "Purple Peacock" and I got the seed from Horizon Herbs. I've always been very happy with seeds I've gotten from Horizon Herbs - they are plant people who truly love their plants and the seeds always have shown that. 

Friend or Foe?

(click to see a larger image of any of the photos)

Just because winter has chased the leaves from the forest's trees and vines, doesn't mean that you can't still get poison ivy. The worst case of poison ivy I ever got was in the winter time when I was helping my dad cut and stack firewood. After that I learned to ID the dreaded PI in ALL seasons and all its many guises.

What makes it more complicated to those that don't know how to winter ID poison ivy is that we have three very common vines that grow in our area and may grow all together as the photo to the right indicates. The three vines are: poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans), virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia), and grape (Vitis spp.).

Poison Ivy

Poison Ivy climbing on a tree trunk

Poison ivy is the chameleon. It can appear as a vine, ground cover, and even rather bush-like plant. It is an attractive and robust plant all year long. If it didn't cause extreme contact dermatitis as it does, I'm sure it would be a much loved garden addition with hundreds of cultivars.

In winter it is the large bush-like and vine forms that we see most while out on the trails and the dried - yet still very irritating to the skin - vines on firewood. Yes, you can get the poison ivy rash from the vines on firewood too. Vines on firewood will look much like the picture to the right. Older vines will be thicker, woodier looking with a lot more of the hair-like tendrils along the length of the vine - more like the first picture above.

See the detail below for a close up of the hair-like tendrils. The detail also shows a shoot where leaves will sprout from come the spring. Slender buds can be seen on the tips of the vines. The picture farther below shows a vine with buds growing along an old fence.

Tendril detail

Like the grape and virginia creeper, poison ivy also has berries and the remnants can often be spied on the winter vines. These often still have a light color that hint at the white color the berries originally were. Both grape and virginia creeper have dark fruits. Poison ivy produces tiny fruits in greater numbers than either of the other two vines. (Click on any of the images for a larger view.)

Identification?

Wikipedia has a list of identification aids for this tricky plant. You can find it here.

There is also a whole site on poison ivy here with more info and images which you can find here.

Poison ivy vines and berries. Notice bud at end of vine.

Of course the image search at google will show you many images as well. If you add other qualifiers to the search like "vine," you will get other results that will show you many images of that specifically like so. Try other qualifiers like "buds" and "berries" for other images.

Got a photo of a plant you are questioning the ID of? Try GardenWeb's Name That Plant forum for identification help.

Virginia Creeper

Virginia creeper's small looping tendrils and knobbed joints 

Virginia Creeper is another common vine in the Northeastern US. Some people are sensitive to this plant as well and may also get contact dermatitis but that sensitivity is no where near as common. I personally pull this from the gardens (in which it can be quite a "thug") bare-handed with no ill-effects.

It too has its beauty - attractive leaves with 5 leaflets, scarlet fall color, and blue-black berries. This is also a "robust" and vital vine that is not easily removed from the garden. And a word of warning - never rototill the roots of this plant. Each piece will sprout a new plant. Yes, personal experience talking here!

The thin-barked and green fleshed vine

Unlike poison ivy, you rarely see any other form of this plant other than a vine. You may occasionally, however, see virginia creeper appearing as a ground cover in the full-shade of the forest understory. It is only waiting for some sunlight before vining off to the nearest tree. I have read that ginseng, too often harvested completely from areas, can hide amongst these young, low-growing creeper plants for it too has 5 leaflets. A thank you to the creeper for hiding the besieged 'sang!

Virginia creeper vines have a very thin bark with green flesh right under the surface. The vines have knobs or "knuckles" where the leaves would sprout come spring.

The tendrils grasping bamboo

The tendrils on the virginia creeper are never hairy. The tendrils are always small tight loops which they use to grasp fences, trees, or as in the pictures here, bamboo. All the vines featured here are very effective climbers.

Virginia creeper also has berries in the fall, but I have never seen them hold these berries into the winter season. The fruits are produced in clusters that have more of an umbrella-like arrangement than the standard downward hanging clusters that grapes prefer.

Identification?

Like with many plants, google image searches provide many wonder photos to compare against and learn from. Find one such google search here. Add other qualifiers to see more.

For information as well as images, please see here or here.


Grape

The large looping tendrils of the grape

Last but definitely not least, is the wild grape. The grape is the only one of the three vines featured here that is not poisonous - in fact, the fruit is edible and foragers can collect them for preserves and food. The leaves and young shoots are edible as well. Stuffed grape leaves - who doesn't love those!

The wild grape in our Northeastern forests can grow into such large woody vines that not only Tarzan but Tantor his elephant could successfully swing on them. The vines are also so plentiful in Eastern North America that the Vikings who discovered America, named the continent "Vinland" - "vine land." (The Vikings were first Europeans to discover America - sorry, Christopher Columbus!)

The bark and filaments in a grape vine

The grape is the visually most woody looking of the three vines. It has a rough bark when the vines get any sort of maturity on them. Larger, mature vines have almost a shaggy appearance to them with paper-like bark bits hanging from the vines. Even young vines demonstrate that papery quality if you break the vine - as in the picture to the right. Woody filaments are visible right under the surface of the bark and undoubtably give the grape vine some of its toughness and strength.

Last season's grapes

The grape also has rather knobby joints and "knuckles" on the vine - as you can see in the pictures here. But the large looping tendrils will not be confused with either of the two other vines featured here. See the picture at the top for a size comparison of of the tendril loops of the virginia creeper and grape. Side-by-side, the difference is incredibly obvious.

The grape often holds its last season's fruit clusters and maybe dried out bits of fruit on its vines. Albeit smaller, the wild grape fruit clusters look just like the cultivated grape clusters bought in a grocery store. They will look like a grape cluster to you.

Important - Before eating any wild grapes, be sure to know how to ID them from the poisonous look-a-like Canada Moonseed (Menispermum canadense). Always be smart and be safe.

Identification?

You have to love the images available via google - they are a boon to plant lovers and enthusiasts every where. Check out some wild grape images here and here. Use other qualifiers to the search for other image results.

Get more info and pictures of the wild grape from here and here.

Late Fall - Early Winter Veggies

Daikon Radish
(Photo by Chris 73 / Wikimedia Commons)

While the first hard frosts and freezes of fall this year were nearly two months ago, I still have vegetables going strong in the garden. I just picked some more daikon radishes. I think I will have to make some quick pickles with them - they are so good! Here is a basic recipe for takuan which is a Japanese-styled quick pickle made with daikon. I tend to adjust quick pickle recipes to my own taste, sometimes adding more or less of an ingredient and other times adding others.

Pickled Daikon Radish 

1/4 C. rice wine vinegar
1/2 C. sugar
1 Tbsp salt
1 medium daikon, cut into bite-sized slices

Bring first three ingredients to a boil to dissolve salt and sugar. Allow to cool slightly, and pour over sliced daikon. Store in refrigerator for up to 4 days. Make a day head for best flavor.

I've added minced fresh red hot chili pepper, black sesame seeds, other veggies, or whatever else suits me at the time. The first time making a new quick pickle recipe, I would suggest to make a small batch exactly per the recipe. After than, have fun. Adjust the ingredients and seasonings plus you can add or substitute other veggies. With white veggies like daikon and turnips, the red of the hot chili is a stunning color combination. And yes, this recipe is good with Japanese white turnips too. Be sure to add a small bit of the turnip greens for color and a bit of mustard bite. 

Note, I often like using mirin, a sweet cooking rice wine, instead of sugar for quick pickles. No boiling is needed to dissolve the sugar and it has a different character and flavor than white sugar.

Speaking of still growing in the garden....My garden also still has mustard, radishes, kale, broccoli, and some other scattered veggies still going strong after cold weather including snow. The snow peas gave up a few weeks back and so did the favas when we had a couple of days very bitter weather with 20 degree F nights. With a bit of planning and mid to late summer planting, you can extend out your fresh vegetable season to late fall - early winter. Something to consider in your planning for next year's veggie garden.

And so it begins....

Just before Thanksgiving I received my first two 2013 gardening catalogs. (Huge grin!) I so love this time of the year. I start getting all my various plant, seed, and gardening supply catalogs - and I do get dozens. Some vendors are deciding to cut their paper catalogs or won't send you the paper catalog if you order online. (I request them if I don't get my copy!) But I love the paper catalogs so much. I curl up on the couch with them and like Santa Claus, I "make my lists and check them twice." I see who has what varieties I want and offers the best prices. Who is offering "new" heirloom varieties - yeah, oxymoron intended! I take the catalogs in the car, to appointments, and where ever else I have to sit and wait for five minutes. It is one of the ways to pass the dark and quiet winter months that I look forward to each year.

I'm no newbie to technology - I've worked professionally with it for decades. I know how to use the new technologies and browse online catalogs plus I do place many of my seed/plant orders online. But most all of my plant and seed shopping is done on paper. The paper catalog still offers me an experience that no smart phone app can compare to. So I offer a warning to plant and seed vendors, if you decide to drop your print catalog to save the cost, you will probably end up loosing my business.

Cordage Plants

Our ancestors, regardless of what corner of the world they lived in, all had to answer the same questions with regards to food, shelter, clothing, and the other basic necessities of life. How they answered those challenges varied. Often those variations were because of the raw materials they had at hand.

Plants were often one of those key those raw materials that supplied our ancestors and in fact, still supply us with the basics of life. The study of how various peoples have traditionally used plants for food, medicine, utilitarian needs, sacred purposes, and so on is called ethnobotany. It is one of my passions because it combines two of my life-long loves - plants and archaeology/anthropology.

One of the things you will find in ethnobotanical references that modern peoples give little thought to is fiber and cordage plants. While we can visit our local department store for thread, rope, or even fabric whenever we want, our ancestors had no such resources. They made all the ropes, cords, and cloth that they needed. While certainly there are some animal sources like wool and sinew that were used for these purposes, plants provided the bulk of the fiber raw material used.

Why should this be so important and so universal a need? Think of what a cord, rope, or piece of fabric meant. A bow string, net or snare for hunting and fishing meant food. Fabric clothed and so warmed or protected our bodies. Even if you wore skins and furs, you probably stitched them in some manner to better fit and cover your form. Ropes and cords lashed our shelters together, made it possible for us to better haul, pull, or carry items. Ropes or other bindings kept our animals from wandering away. Fibers and the cordage were indeed a key element of survival.

Stinging Nettle Fibers

Visiting my gardens this morning, I happened to collect up three examples of plant fibers traditionally used for cordage in different parts of the world - stinging nettle (Urtica dioica), jew's mallow (Corchorus olitorius), and dogbane (Apocynum cannabinum).

Stinging Nettle

Stinging nettle is one of the great plants of the world. Like the dandelion, it is much maligned yet it gives us so much. The leafy parts of the stinging nettle provide a nutritious food and a host of medicinal uses.

But the nettle has also been used in Europe since ancient times (Bronze Age at least), for fiber and cloth. The fiber from stinging nettle is linen-like. In the raw fibers I collected today, it was by far the most fine and luxurious to the touch.

Jew's Mallow Fibers

Jew's Mallow

Jew's mallow or "molokhuiya" is a popular potherb and vegetable in the Middle East and it too has some medicinal usage. The fiber from this plant is the main source of jute. Jute is a coarse fiber. It is indeed "sack cloth." But since it has so many utilitarian uses, it is second only to cotton in its important vegetable fiber source.

Like linen and variety of other fiber plants, jute is normally "retted" or soaked in water until the plant fibers can be worked free. I didn't ret the plants and my plants were not dry so the fibers were rather hard to peel from the stems. But it is clear that the fibers were the most coarse I collected today.

Dogbane Fibers

Dogbane

Dogbane is a New World plant that despite its toxic nature was a medicinal plant used by the Native Americans. But its use as a fiber plant gives dogbane one of its more common names, "Indian Hemp." Earlier this year I attended a workshop that focused on Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) cordage making. If you would like to see photos from that workshop or read more on that topic, please see my article on it.

Dogbane is an amazingly strong and fine fiber. I find it relatively easy to peel from the stems - no retting required. This native and hardy perennial supplies fibers that can be worked into a variety of cordage needs.  

Frosty Herbs

The frost this morning was so heavy that the ground looked white. I couldn't resist sharing these pictures of some frost-kissed herbs.

Common Mullein

Borage

Calendula

Seed and Plant Sources

One of the questions often asked of me is, "where do you get your plants and seeds?" My answer is always many places! Hopefully this article will share a little of my years of experience and favorite vendors with you.

Local

I shop locally whenever I can - and I'm not talking about your "Big-Box" stores like Lowes and Walmart. I urge everyone to visit your locally owned and operated nurseries. They are people who know and love plants and will be willing to work with you. They will help you make the best choices plus your dollars will be going back into your community.

Ok, yes. The Big-Box places have great prices on flats of summer annuals like petunias and marigolds. Get those there if you that is your thing, but shop at your locally-owned nurseries for everything else.

Vegetables & Food Crops

I have a lot of favorites here. Not every place carries all the varieties I want so I end up placing seed orders to a dozen or more vendors each year. Many of these vendors also carry herb and flower seeds as well. Some seed vendors also carry vegetable transplants if seed-starting isn't an art you've mastered.

Abundant Life Seeds - Organic and biodynamic vegetable seeds
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds - One of my favorite heirloom seed sources.
Comstock Seeds - A 200 year old tradition of selling seeds
Johnny's Selected Seeds - A wide range of vegetable and herb seed. No genetically modified seed.
Miller Nurseries - A local company that specializes in fruit tree, shrubs, and plants. Get a variety of plants and varieties. Great edible landscaping source.
Pinetree Garden Seeds - A favorite place to get not only a wide range of vegetable varieties but a place to get small amounts of seed for a small price which is a wonderful way to test out a variety
Raintree Nursery - All manner of fruit-bearing plants and trees are available here. Great edible landscaping source.
Seed Savers - Heirloom vegetable seeds.
Seeds of Change - Organic vegetable, flower, and herb seed.
Territorial Seed Company - A wide range of heirloom, open pollinated, and hybrid vegetable varieties. No genetically modified or treated seed.
Totally Tomato - Can't find a particular tomato or pepper variety elsewhere? Find it here.
Terroir Seeds - Heirloom and open-pollinated seeds.
Kitazawa Seed Company - Specialty Asian vegetable seed source.

Medicinal & Native Plants

Other than the food plants I've planted in the vegetable garden and the edible landscaping I've done, this is where I spend the most gardening energy. Given the number of medicinal native plants, I rolled both this two categories together, but the sources are easy to pick which is which.

Horizon Herbs - Medicinal plants and seeds of many herbal traditions
Nichols Garden Nusery - A nice selection of culinary herb and vegetable seed
Richters - A wonderful source for medicinal plants and seeds of all sorts from nearby Toronto
Forest Farm - While shipping from the westcoast is costly, this is a wonderful place to find many hard to find plants, trees, and shrubs.
Musser Forests - A nice place to get many native trees and shrubs in small amounts or in quantity. Located in nearby Pennsylvania.
Prairie Moon Nursery - One of the best native plant and seed sources around.
Amanda's Garden  - A local nursery specializing in native perennial plants
White Oak Nursery - A local nursery specializing in native trees and shrubs
Ion Exchange - A great source for native plant seedlings

Flowers

I don't do much ornamental gardening these days but I do always slip some flowers into the vegetable beds to attract pollinators.

Select Seeds - Get antique flower seeds from this company including some of my favorite poppy varieties