Mad Cat Garden | January 2020

Winter may not be the best time for gardening where we live, but there were some surprises this month and some progress. We are still lamenting that we didn’t get it together to create a winter garden. Especially when there were January days that were in the 60s.

The garden is mostly bare… except for some lingering radishes and spinach. It’s a waiting game now until we can clean up the beds, turn them and start again.

Meanwhile, we have this little elephant to watch over it.

We are also taking the time to build our compost. Winter means winter veg and winter scraps. We are waiting to turn the compost, too, but for now, we are happy to add to it.

Irving helped us check out the garden in the snow this month.

We worked on your seedlings and plantings this month. Many of the small plants we are propagated have sadly died died. But our jackfruit trees are trying to hold on.

Did you keep a garden this Winter? What are your thoughts?

Mad Cat Garden | December 2019

December was definitely a slow month for the garden, as expected. We spent little time outside this month, but we cleaned up all the beds, and tidied the yards. We go out to check on things every few days, but for now we are mostly waiting for Spring.

All the bluebs have lost their leaves and are looking only like sticks now. Hopefully they all come back in the spring. It’s always a little scary to see them in this state.

Our wood pile is in a better state than it was a few month ago. We didn’t have many fires in 2019, but I would love to change that in 2020. My dream is to supplement our heat with a wood stove and all foraged wood. Maybe the new year is the time for that, as well. I see this going hand in hand with the garden and becoming more self sustainable.

Our orange thyme is still going strong, even in the snow. We will need to turn this bed ion Spring, so hopefully we will find a good new home for it.

December was mostly about propagating seeds and starting plants indoors. We’ve been saving or foraging seeds and some, especially those that are tropical, we’ve started growing early.

Although December was mostly dormant, there are new things popping up. Hopefully January will see more new growth and plans for the future.

What method do you use to plan your Spring garden? What tools do you use?

December Plant Update

I was surprised that December was a great month for plant observations. While it was happening, it didn’t feel like it. December ran the gambit on weather, saw the other side of the country, saw dying plants and blossoming.

A little bit of snow.

A lot of snow!

A very nice blue sky.

I love these orange and vermillion berries in the winter! Such a pop of color!

Squirrel friend.

Tom, not quite comfortable.

Our hibiscus bloomed. Twice!

Tis the season, and Asbury Park was decked out in December.

And decked at home. (not mine, tho.)

A visitor to Asbury Park we came across.

An interlude in Arazona.

Fuzzy little jojoba.

Cutest leaves ever.

Back in town and hanging with the locals

Everything lavender.

More winter berries.

Hello sir!

Sometimes you just need to hang out in the green.

December was a great mix of plants and animals. It was really nice to take a break from east coast winter and go somewhere warm and green. As a quick fix, visiting a green house does the trick. But I plan to take more winter trips to warmer climbs in the future.

What is December like where you live? What were the plants that stood out to you?

Best Nine 2019

Each year, I love to see my Best Nine, on instagram!! Looking at the nine most liked photos is always interesting. I love how this year the middle three pics are all rainbows! 2019 was a great year for rainbows for me.

It’s neat to look back over the year this way. A lot of times there are photos I wouldn’t have expected and they bring up a memory I hadn’t thought about in a long while.

I always find it fun to check out previous years, too so here are 2018-2015.

2018

2017

2016

2015

Do you find your best nine? Post a link to your in the comments!

I struggled to find this website last year, so I went back to that post to find it again. This is the original Best Nine and it’s my favorite of all the new versions out there.

I really like to look back to see which of the photos of the year that people liked. I always check on Irving Barry’s insta and on @anlight’s too!

2019

2019

Mad Cat Garden | November

November saw the winding down and cleaning up of the garden. We did very little in it this month. But we are also making plans for plans for the new year!

It’s getting to be winter here, the blueberry bushes have all gone red, but there is still time to hang out in the yard with Tom.

We pulled up all the large bushes in both the front and back beds. Tomatoes, poblano peppers, greens and radishes, all got pulled out and went in the compost. It’s sad to see all the beds looking so bare, but it’s also exciting to think of all the things we will plant in spring.

Our herbs in pots are mostly dead and dry. Last year I had intended to collect the seeds, but never did. Hopefully I will actually get to it this year.

The cat nip and mint are still hanging on. We took some herbs and other plants inside for the winter.

The milk weed is just about done for the season but held out for the very last momemnt of warm weather.

At the end of November we had a visitor that also solved an ongoing yard mystery. Early one morning we saw a very large perrigrine falcon hanging out by the bluebs. We had actually seen this same bird (I think) before a few years ago. Today, he sat for a while but swooped quickly after a sparrow!! We have often founds small clusters of feathers from some eaten bird in the yard, but we never knew who was doing the eating. Mystery solved. I’m not sure if the falcon got a meal this morning.

I was hoping our last garden meal would have been more spectacular, but in truth the last thing we ate out of the garden in Nov was some radishes in a ramen bowl!

How is your garden this month?

What I Ate on Thanksgiving 2019

Started the day as every day should begin - with coffee.

There were quite a few breads and things about the house that needed to get eaten, so I toasted a few olf buns and reheated some hashbrown patties that were left over from a breakfast out. I also had a bit of veggie bacon that has been hanging around the freezer collecting ice.

Another thing I’m trying to use up is my old stash of various teas. This was the last of a loose leaf jasmine green.

Next we headed to my father’s house for Thanksgiving Dinner!

He always has lots of cheese and crackers for us, and we shared a aged sour beer that we like. The stuffed celery are a holiday tradition. Some days we have olives, but today we had some fresh fruits.

He prepared the entire dinner, which was mostly just veggies. Roasted cauliflower, roasted brussels sprouts with hollindaise sauce, green beans with tomatoes and garlic, mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes, herb stuffing, and veggie gravy. He makes the best gravy from a from scratch veggie stock and onions.

Last Year we tried a field roast, but this year was tofurkey. Like last year, we all agreed that we could have done without this as a “main” dish and just stuck with more vegetables. This tofurkey was one he actually purchased last year and had frozen, so it was better to use it up than not eat it.

After a walk we got into dessert but we barely made a dent. We had locally made pie and cheese cake, as well as some chocolates my father bought. Decaf coffee was in order but still kept me awake too long!

This was definitely not a zero waste thanksgiving and I struggle with that more and more each year. But one must do what we can. I do feel like becoming more mindful of zero waste and low impact living reflects in every choice I make now. But I can’t let it drive me or my family crazy, either. I feel the same about social justices, learning from and reflecting on history and standing up for the rights of the oppressed. It’s easy for this holiday to be done away with in my mind for the atrocities it is based in. But to keep the memory of many good times with family and friends alive is important as well. Let’s learn from our triumphs and our offenses and do better in the future.

How was your Thanksgiving?

Mad Cat Garden | October

I was surprised at how far our garden lasted into October. We didn’t get our first frost until the first week of November, and the garden thrived in the mild weather. The garden was working away, but we didn’t take too much advantage of it, mostly letting it do it’s thing unhindered.

Poblano peppers grew and grew and we harvested them for salads and tacos.

Radishes that we planted late grew up and we enjoyed eating them as well. But end of October, they were big and happy but early November’s frost means we have to pick them all soon.

Wind storms and rain battered our beds and the flowers were loosing their perkiness by mid Oct. The tomatoes were looking scraggly but hanging in and still ripening on the plants. We ate tomatoes but they weren’t as sweet or flavorful as in peak season.

We tended top the blueberries and tried to make a start winterizing those and other plants that will remain outside. It’s our goal to create a snow shelter for our bluebs this year, as we think it will be a snowy winter. Much discussion was had on this subject, but no plans were confirmed.

The tomatoes in the front bed all died and we were able to take the stakes down. But the orange sage is still going strong for the end of it’s second season. We transplanted all the peppers we had in pots to the new front bed that we had intended for herbs but never planted. The peppers did well in the front until the cold snap.

We are still rueing that we didn’t get a chance to plant a Winter garden, but we will have larger plans for that and for next Spring, Summer and Fall!

How is your garden looking in October?

Something Nice: Life Drawing

Technically life drawing, or live drawing, isn’t new to me. I was an artist when I was young and life drawing was always one of my favorite activities. So the activity itself isn’t new, but going to a class in my very own city by the sea is. And that is nice!

I’d seen the advert in a local gallery but it took years before I actually signed up. I’m glad I finally did and after one session, I’m hooked!

Now I have to figure out how to incorporate this activity into my monthly routine!

Have you taken any classes in your area recently? What resources are there for learning near you?

September Plant Update

September was full of flowers and the last of Summer. We tried to get out and observe as much as possible, taking in as much of Local’s Summer as we could. We saw critters and got to explore new landscapes. We ate from the garden. We saw plenty of our favorite flowers and some of our not so favorite “pests”.

We tried to rescue this $1 hibiscus. Not sure that it’ll make it.

A neighbors mushrooms.

echinacea are one of my all time favorites.

I will always remember when I saw my first american beauty berry.

We were still getting visitors to our milkweed.

And these flowers we planted in spring were still thriving in the raised beds.

So many bees.

Met this fellow in a corn maze.

This bee was preparing for fall.

A lake in Colorado.

The beach at home.

My husband does not like spiders, but I thought this fellow was so sweet!

We broke in our new car with hauling some stumps home.

What were plant observations like near you? Was the season winding down, or gearing up? September didn’t feel like the end of summer as it was so vibrant, warm and bright. But we know the seasons are turning.

Mad Cat Garden | September

September saw the garden wind down considerably. We had hoped to get a Fall/Winter garden going, but we waited to long and ran out of time. It was hard to find plants, too late to sew seeds before we knew it. Lesson learned for next year!

But in early September, our compost patty pan was still going strong.

We had already cut back most of the cat nip, but some new buds started growing thru the cracks in the patio. Tom took full advantage.

Broccoli never took off for us but someone was enjoying it all Summer. Poblano peppers were a favorite throughout the growing months and were still going strong in early and mid month. We thought September saw the last of our favorite summer pepper meal, but at the very end there are still more poblanos to be had. The flowers we planted in Spring are still blooming and attracting pollinators!

Tomatoes are still reddening and ready to eat in mid Sept. We planted some last Summer radishes to enjoy in Sept/Oct salads.

In mid September, a new fancy blueberry bed was made and planted.

Most of the peppers we planted in pots got too dry in the heat this year. Unlike last year, in which they thrived in pots. My take away there is all good things in the ground! Almost everything in bed survived and did well.

We planted one milkweed this year and by end of Sept it is still going strong with flowers, pods, and visitors! We have been capturing seeds and planning our milkweed empire for next year!

September was a slow month in the garden, a natural winding down. Our second year garden has been so different than the first year’s. We are excited to remember the lessons we have learned and make plans for the third year! And yet we do not know what to expect!

Did your garden go as planned this year? What is the biggest surprise you encountered? The biggest challenge you faced? The biggest victory?

Mad Cat Garden | July

July saw the garden really take off. Here is the record of last month progress.

The flowers and cat nip were still going strong.

We moved the corn out of a bed and into the ground.

Strawberries and raspberries growing but slowly.

Spinach and arugula went nuts. We plan to take them all out when and replant for fall.

The last picture is of our compost squash. We had to wait until August to find out what it was!

What’s your best growing garden items this year?

July Plant Update

After a very rainy June, July’s bright hot days made all nature pop around Asbury Park, New Jersey! It was a great month for plant observations. We mostly stayed close to home, worked on the garden, and the beach.

From the beginning of July…

… to the middle.

Our clematis is going nuts.

The hostas bloomed.

My husband picked up some beautiful milkweed. Previously, I didn’t know there were so many varieties of monarch butterflies favorite plant.

Late season honeysuckle still going strong.

Mid month we had some crazy storms, Many old trees were downed.

Lots of mushrooms this year.

Anyone know what these magic puffballs are?

A neighbor’s garden in the beginning…

…and end of July.

We were able to spend some time observing the sky at the beach.

A rainbow gave July a good send off.

What did you observe this July? Are your favorite plants out now? Are flowers blooming?

July in Review

July finally seemed like a month I could sink my teeth into. It was a full month, lots of work, some beach time, some exploring, long walks, a show, a little bit of travel, fireworks!

My husband took two trips in July, and while I mostly said home and hid in the one AC’d room we have, I was also able to spot some #watchercats near home and abroad.

Summer means smoothie bowls, ice cream and watermelon! With those treats also came heat waves. and thunder storms.

We tried to stay close to home a good deal, and took many walks in July. We met kittens and saw old friends. We met new old friends, too (I’m still contemplating my meeting with @mermaidtrousers). We helped celebrate friends (@mobilehearth, @sentimentalhogwash) and family (happy birthday @g_d_johnson!).

The garden finally blew up in July (more on that in the garden update) and we were so happy to enjoy some home grown meals, welcome monarchs and other pollinators, and take nightly strolls around the yard to see what changed for a sunny day.

July historically isn’t the best month for blogging or creative work and while it’s true we didn’t get much done in that respect, it still feels like a banner month. July was full, healthy and vibrant. August will you turn it up a notch?

Mad Cat Garden | June

May was the first month we started working on and tracking out garden, but June was when we really got down to business. June saw us buying and plating more, making more beds, and seeing plants grow and change. The changes between the beginning and end of June were huge, but these photos and records are mainly from the beginning on the month.

June was extremely rainy. Many of the plats loved it! Our lilies returned and grew taller then me this year. They are not strictly part of the garden but a focus of June was to bring in pollinators with many flowers. The strawberries over wintered and started blossoming. We planted herbs and they thrived in the rain.

In out front bed, also our first bed, tomato volunteers started popping up like mad and we had to thin them out. Rather than just toss the extras, we planted them in small pots to give away, or replanted them in other areas. We made new beds in the back and planted lettuce, arugula, broccoli (one is pictured in the first photo), corn, beans, and cucumbers.

Many flowers helped attract bugs and bees. Our blueberries got off to a good start, enjoying the rain and producing lots of little soon to be bluebs.

Tom often helped by inspecting the catnip patches. In June we created three new beds and had a delivery of filtered soil dropped off to fill them. Although pricy, we found this to be a convenient and zero waste alternative to buying many bags of dirt. We are still contributing to our compost on a regular basis, but it’s not big enough to fill beds. We do use some compost to help enrich the soil.

By the end of June, the yard looked very different, but we’ll have to wait until July’s update to take a look!

How is your garden growing?

June Plant Update

June was all about the flowers! The previous months were not as spectacular as they usually are, so June really shown this year. It was a wet month with only a few very hot day, so flowers and plants took a lot of days to grow and flourish in the wet and temperate weather. We were able to take some long walks, go to new places, visit nurseries to buy plants for our garden, and see some critters this month. This is the first month of 2019 that I feel like we got outside a proper amount.

The colors of various roses this year took my breath away.

Does anyone know what this plant is? It’s stunning and I’m seeing it in many places this year.

Cuties.

So many climbing roses this year. These are not ours, but the ones we have in the back year went bananas. Those blooms were gone by June, however.

We didn’t plan(t) well for pollinaters this year, but the bees loved our little lavender.

Such colors!

Brooklyn Blooms.

There have been so many lightening bugs this year, it makes me happy!

Between rain showers, this neighbor headed to a dry porch.

Another surprising color of rose.

So many kittens this year! Blooming like flowers. I hope they all find homes!

A shy chicken at a local farmers market.

Always in style.

A new generation of bunnies.

What animals and plants are you seeing where you live? Do you have a favorite Summer plant?

On My Mind On Friday Morning

I love to see photos of Japan right before and after WWII. It’s a fascinating time for combining fashion and culture. Here are some interesting photos from that time.
A queen in Toms River.
I’d love to eat more foraged foods, maybe I can start in the back yard.
I love that food trends just like fashion. What’s the next hot Super Food??
We did not get out in to our garden yet, we are soooo far behind!! Luckily, some tomatoes and our orange sage are doing their own work.

2019 Goals | April Recap and May Goals

Goals are funny things. Sometimes they make you feel great, sometimes they make you frustrated and sad. Goals and what the results are when we meet them have the power that we give them. The goals I set here are for myself, to improve my life and my state of mind. Sometimes they are about work, life, or more creative endeavors. But not achieving them in the time frame I’ve put out for myself shouldn’t mean I feel bad or like I’m failing. How do we meet our goals, or not meet them, and feel good about the progress we’ve made, no matter what?

Here are some goals I set for April:

Make and post 1 youtube video
I’ve made several in the past, but tis is really something I want to get into and incorporate into my creative life.
I can’t quite seem to make this goal a reality. I wonder what is holding me back or if it’s just that the right focus hasn’t been placed on it.

Plan our next 2 trips
I want to make sure to get away a little in April and May before the Summer season really sets in.
We have talked a lot about this but not actually done it yet. Let’s roll it over.

Get out into the yard 3-4 times
There’s a lot of yard work and garden work to do and we are running up against the planting clock.
I was able to get out in the yard and, as a bonus, in the community garden in April. We haven’t done much planting yet. I want to modify this goal to keep me getting outside and in the yard.

Get back to blogging 4-5 times per week
Gotta get back in the habit!
This was a big N O for April, let’s try it again for May.

Better health 15 days of the month
I want have some breadless days, some vegan days, some exercise and stretching days, etc…. Overall be more mindful of my body and health. (I’ve eaten totally vegan 1 day of the month so far!)
Yeep, shall we try again?

Move my 50+ plants
Rolling this goal over, too.
This was the one goal that I totally finished this month. I like to do this every few months so that my plants continue to be healthy and happy. Next move will prob see many of them go outside!

Inbox to 500 and maintain
Another goal from last month. I’m ready to get back on track with this in April.
Why is this last 500 emails so hard? Anyone have any tips for this?

OK, here are some goals for May:

Make and post 1 youtube video
Let’s try this one again. What are some videos you would like to see?

Plan our next 2 trips
I want to get this done this month so we can take the time off we will need to.

Plant 6 or more garden beds.
Now that the weather is nicer, getting out in the yard and garden shouldn’t be too hard. I want to make sure we have our beds planted, so that’s the new goal.

Better health 15 days of the month
Ok, getting out into nature will help, eating better will help, morning walks will help, stretching and exercising will help. Now I’ve got to actually do those things.

Inbox to 1000 and and decrease
My inbox has crept back up to well over 1000. I even had to buy more storage, so this task should be easier.

Blog as many times as I can for the month.
I want to eventually have a steady 5 days per week blog schedule, but posting as many as I can will help me settle in.

I feel like I could add a bunch more goals, like getting a new car, trying to find a therapist, or loosing 10 lbs, but I’m going to cap them there.

What are your goals for May?

6 Months of Zero Waste: February Declutter Review

In January I posted about 6 ways to reduce you waste, or become closer to the Zero Waste lifestyle. Here is a little refresher of something to do each month leading up to Plastic Free July:

January - Trash Audit
We separated and looked our trash to see what we are throwing away and what we can reduce.
February - Declutter Everything
March - Switch to Paper
April - Compost
May - Meatless Monday
June - No Bottled Water

How have you you been doing so far? I’ve gotten behind in reviewing and documenting each month, so hopefully you’ve been following along on your own. If not, no worries, it’s never too late to jump on and start! If you need the push to get started here is the February Review:

In February we declutter.
That could be a motto for America this year, right? With Marie Kondo’s method for clean living being on the top of everyones to watch list, this was an easy month to get your self and your stuff sorted. Whether you use her life changing magic, or you just had some good old fashion cleaning sessions, decluttering and minimizing is a great step towards Zero Waste. Like the trash audit, it allows us to see what we are using and what we are wasting. Once we have established that, it’s easier to see where we can reduce in out day to day.

Personally, I didn’t get a lot decluttered in Feb, but I have been trying to declutter as I go, day to day. I know that I still need to take a full day for each area that needs to be reassessed.

What’s great about this challange, is it’s ok to go at your own speed. Starting to think about waht your wasting, cstarting to be aware of waste that’s created day to day is the biggest piece of the puzzle. Changing your midset to think like a zero waster is the hardest part of being sero waste, but it’s also the biggest step, so once you’ve made that mindset shift, you’ve already come a long way!

How did your declutter go?

March Plant Update

I had high hopes that I would be out and about for most of March, but the weather was still cold and I was still in hibernation mode. I did get out some and we were able to check out some local plants in March.

Still brown, but this day spring was in the air.

There was a theme this month.

totally happy to see these babes sprouting out.

And fully popped!

Another.

What are these? I wish my whole yard was covered in them!

These strawbs are ready for spring.

So is our grandma rose.

And these magnolias. They’ve been trying since January.

Current state of our front bed.

What do the plants look like where you live?
Was March a good month for your plant observations?
What were you most excited to take note of this month?

On My Mind On Friday Morning

One of the very first places my friend and roommates felt comfortable and frequented when we moved to Brooklyn was the Old Carriage Inn Lounge, which we lovingly called Sports Bar. Sadly they are closing after many decades in operation. It as great to learn the history of this business and building, which played such a big role in my personal history.
I love a good list of pet friendly houseplants!!
Have you heard The Hum?
I can’t wait to visit this really quite fascinating town, Roosevelt, NJ.
I was so happy to see Chagin Soap get a shout out on Tree Hugger!