March Plant Update

March was amazing for flowers, plants, greenery, buds, seedlings, critters, colors and getting out and about. Thank goodness that groundhog didn’t see his shadow this year, bc I think we all needed the early Spring. I know I did. It is always astonishing to me that just seeing the blooming magnolias makes me SO. MUCH. HAPPIER.

Here they are.

Here they are.

Whoever was the genious that planted this sidewalk bump out in AsBury Park with hundreds of daffodils?

Whoever was the genious that planted this sidewalk bump out in AsBury Park with hundreds of daffodils?

Loved this color combo this month. In Sea Girt.

Loved this color combo this month. In Sea Girt.

And in Asbury Park…

And in Asbury Park…

…twice.

…twice.

These chicks and hens are from my former landlady in BK. This year I finally decided to divide them as she used to do.

These chicks and hens are from my former landlady in BK. This year I finally decided to divide them as she used to do.

We haven’t done the big houseplant replant, replenishing of soil yet, but these few needed new pots ASAP.

We haven’t done the big houseplant replant, replenishing of soil yet, but these few needed new pots ASAP.

Happy by the window.

Happy by the window.

Houseplant tableau in greens.

Houseplant tableau in greens.

New monstra leaf.

New monstra leaf.

Less new, but still good.

Less new, but still good.

A day with the birds.

A day with the birds.

One side of a sunset….

One side of a sunset….

… and the other.

… and the other.

Evening walks with Magritte light.

Evening walks with Magritte light.

We had plenty of cold and rainy days in March, plenty of grey days. But the warmer weather and brighter skies made up for all of them. What a pleasure that long walks are not only allowed but encouraged while self isolating (as long as they are on your own or with your partner/person/child/parent/etc… only!). What a pleasure that it is Spring here.

Are you observing Spring where you live?

Life Lately - Winter in Asbury Park

Winer is a hard time for me no matter where I am. Being in a beach town certainly eases that burden a bit. But only if I take advantage of it.

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Here are sone things I love about life in the winter.
Fog.
Winter light on the beach.
Grapefruit.
Making time for friends, even if you have time for little else.
Cozy naps with cats.

I took an unexpected break from the blog this month. I needed it even though I didn’t know I needed it. I’m hoping that the break gave me a rest and I will come back renewed. This blog is something helps me to get thru Winter as well.

Have you taken a break this Winter? What have you done to recharge?

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.

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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.

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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?

January Plant Update

I thought January would be slow for plant observations but it was pretty packed. We traveled a little, saw indoor and outdoor sights, remnants of the holidays, and many critters.

Every month is a good time to observe our house plants.

Every month is a good time to observe our house plants.

Irving agrees.

Irving agrees.

He also lets the neighborhood know.

He also lets the neighborhood know.

George is a friend.

George is a friend.

The last of xmas.

The last of xmas.

I only saw this interesting display after the holiday.

I only saw this interesting display after the holiday.

A great plant display at Montclair Vegan.

A great plant display at Montclair Vegan.

Twilight moon.

Twilight moon.

Some new additions.

Some new additions.

A day at the beach.

A day at the beach.

Feathers and sand.

Feathers and sand.

A fellow visitor.

A fellow visitor.

Big sky.

Big sky.

I was startled by this bright fellow on vacation.

I was startled by this bright fellow on vacation.

It was a cold January and we are deep in the heart of Winter. It’s been making for many winter plant observations. Is it winter where you are? What have your observations been this month?

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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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

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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!

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How is your garden this month?

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.

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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?

Mad Cat Garden | July

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

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The flowers and cat nip were still going strong.

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

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Strawberries and raspberries growing but slowly.

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

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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…

From the beginning of July…

… to the middle.

… to the middle.

Our clematis is going nuts.

Our clematis is going nuts.

The hostas bloomed.

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.

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.

Late season honeysuckle still going strong.

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

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

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Lots of mushrooms this year.

Lots of mushrooms this year.

Anyone know what these magic puffballs are?

Anyone know what these magic puffballs are?

A neighbor’s garden in the beginning…

A neighbor’s garden in the beginning…

…and end of July.

…and end of July.

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

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

A rainbow gave July a good send off.

A rainbow gave July a good send off.

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

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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.

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

Cuties.

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.

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.

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

Such colors!

Such colors!

Brooklyn Blooms.

Brooklyn Blooms.

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

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

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

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

Another surprising color of rose.

Another surprising color of rose.

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

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

A shy chicken at a local farmers market.

A shy chicken at a local farmers market.

Always in style.

Always in style.

A new generation of bunnies.

A new generation of bunnies.

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

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:

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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.

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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?