Last week I attended a MG plant propagation class at UNH. We covered the various ways to divide perennials, take cuttings, and how to overwinter plants.
The most interesting take aways for me were a couple of simple ones. When you pot up a plant and sit it on the ground you lose two gardening zones – who knew. If you are going to hold over plants from year to year, dig a trench lay pots in there in and then sit your pots inside. That way you always have your trench and your initial pots ready to go.
Our good friends from up north came to lunch bearing gifts 
last week. They brought about twelve quarts of fresh, beautiful, wild blackberries. I immediately made dessert. Hey, what’s a woman to do.
As you age, it is interesting how much you appreciate having friends who will pick fresh berries and bring them to you just because they know how much you enjoy them. It is way better than any store-bought gift I can think of.
I don’t have blackberries, but I have tomatoes. Lots of tomatoes. I’ve given away bags of them to our neighbors.
Big, medium, small, and cherry. I really like the large Celebrity tomato. It doesn’t have any blemishes, tastes delicious, and the plant has not developed blight.
I bought a smaller cherry tomato this year, Matt’s Cherry Tomatoes (top left), but I won’t buy them again. They taste good, but when you pick them, the skin rips, they leak, and I end up pitching them. We’re getting to the end of the tomato season, and I’m okay with that because I’ve eaten my weight in tomatoes and have bags and bags in the freezer. Even with the drought, it has been a fantastic year for tomatoes.
The weather cooled down, the humidity disappeared, and most of New England headed outdoors. We picked up some dinner and went to Hilton Park to enjoy the weather, the water, and the boats.
If you are feeling uninspired this week, check this ‘camper’ out. We saw it yesterday, and it just brought a big smile. It took a creative mind to do this. Have a great week friends. 🙂
We are now entering my favourite time of year … the nights are cool, the days are warm, and it’s a delight to be outdoors. The markets are bursting with fresh produce and everything just tastes SO GOOD.
Your post has inspired me to get out the rolling pin and start making some fruit pies. My husband thanks you 🙂
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My husband’s pulse quickens just hearing the words, fruit pies, so I understand. Happy eating to your hubby. 🙂
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That’s some camper. Meanwhile, what a harvest you’ve had. I like the tips you shared. Didn’t know the first. And can you explain the second, please Judy? Not sure I got it. “If you are going to hold over plants from year to year, dig a trench lay pots in there in and then sit your pots inside.”
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For instance, I have a MG friend who enjoys receiving plants from friends but never quite gets around to actually planting them or she has a bigger picture in mind and she just isn’t ready for the plant yet. So, his suggestion was to have a trench in the ground in which empty pots sit. Then when you have a plant you have divided, purchased or gifted, that is not ready for its forever home, you just plop it right into one of those pots and it can sit there until you are ready. An easy over winter blanket was also several inches of hard wood leaves to keep them warmer. If I didn’t answer your question fully, I’ll be glad to try again. 🙂
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I think I get it now, Judy. Thanks. For years, we dug up our fig tree in the fall, buried it in a trench, and resurrected it again in spring. One spring it returned with baby figs already formed on the branches!
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What a treat that must have been. Wow.
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I’m just fascinated about your MG tips, Judy! Can you share more about these tips and the other things you learned about dividing perennials, taking cuttings, and overwintering? It’s the perfect time to think about these things in the garden. This week, I’m going to take cuttings from my herb garden. I’m planning a little indoor herb garden in our sunny dining room during the winter months! Your dear friends know the way to your heart ~ blackberries! 🙂 We have been the lucky recipients of wonderful tomatoes from two of our gardening neighbors. So yummy! We have a few lovely, cool days so I have been digging and transplanting before the heat returns! ♡
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I have so many gardening moves I want to make, but we are still in the midst of the worst drought in years so I’m having to hold off until Sept-Oct. I have to fight with myself every day not to go out there and start digging. 🙂 Taking cuttings and overwintering is a process in itself, and it sounds like you have a plan which is always good. He showed the usual method of take the cutting, getting your rooting hormone ready, then cutting it back again so it can absorb water better, dip in hormone, and plant in vermiculite (no fertilizer). Dividing perennials was more of a refresher. One tip that several of us use is to dig the plant up and put it in a bucket of water. The soil washes away and you have a better idea of how many plants you can get while dividing. Each plant is different but you are looking for the ‘eyes’ to make sure you are moving enough to establish itself and then saw or cut away. If there is anything else, just ask, Dawn.
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I love the ‘bucket of water’ tip, Judy! So helpful! I’ve never heard that before. Just one more question… Would you like to come over and dig with me today?? 🙂 I always look forward to your posts, Judy! ♡
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I would LOVE to come dig with you. My tool bucket, shovel, rake and I would be more than thrilled. 🙂 If you are digging a lot of plants up, you might consider a wagon that would hold water and you could put several in there and pull them around. When you are ready to plant they are hydrated and ready to go. 🙂
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Such great advice, Judy!! Sending big hugs across the miles! 💗
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Wow, two zones? That’s good info to have!
You freeze whole tomatoes? In bags? Please tell me. I always have more than I need as well. I jar some refrigerator sauce, but not this year. Didn’t grow San Marzanos, just cherries and Goat’s Bag.
I have blackberries and raspberries and the blackberries have had a fabulous summer! 😀 I’d share, but you’re too far!
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I pop tomatoes of all sizes right into plastic bags into the freezer. Then when I’m making anything that calls for tomatoes, I just get them out and enjoy the fact that I know they don’t have any pesticides on them and that they haven’t been on a shelf somewhere for two years. I use the crockpot a lot in the winter so I just start the tomatoes a little early if needed but most times I just throw them right in with everything else. 🙂
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NICE. Thanks for the tip!
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Great post – Congratulations on your super tomato harvest! And that TRAILER! I just enjoyed that so much!
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I was hoping others would get a kick out of it. Talk about thinking outside the box. 🙂
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I love “Your World.” I never knew potted plants on the ground lose two gardening zones. It makes sense though. Love your tips and jealous of your blackberry gift and your abundant tomatoes!
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I’ve set potted plants out in the fall in the corner of a fenced area with leaves on top and thought I was doing really well. A two zone difference blew me away – talk about a simple fact that can certainly make a big difference on how you over winter plants. 🙂 Those blackberries were a real gift.
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I love seeing the bounty of harvest that people like you, so dedicated to the craft of gardening, enjoy when everything ripens. I’m surprised, too, that you can pop whole tomatoes into the freezer. For those of us without skill, every tip like that one totally amazes us! We’re the ones who eat the food with pesticides that have been “on a shelf somewhere for two years!” (Maybe it’s a vicious cycle – eat bad food to further addle the brain, leaving you even more disabled in the garden!)
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Joyce, you always make me laugh. 🙂 But, even those who don’t garden can head to the local farmers’ market, pick up some locally grown produce, and freeze away for the winter. Just think of all the things you could cook and bake for those beautiful munchkins you have running in and out of your house. They’ve built their own libraries, zoos and everything else, maybe now they need to take a cooking course with Grandma. 🙂
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Holy cow! I also never knew you could pop whole, fresh garden tomatoes into a plastic bag and then in the freezer. I no longer grow vegetables (just flowers!), but sometimes my neighbors bring me LOTS of their tomatoes. The two of us can’t eat them before they start getting mushy. Can’t always find someone else to share them with so, sadly, I wind up chucking them.
What wonderful friends to bring you those blackberries. My husband would’ve eaten them “as is”!
The camper is a hoot. Creative and functional. Works for me. Bet it’s a great conversation starter wherever they park it. That’s good old American ingenuity alive and well.
I bought a Calla Lily this year…..from Walmart. Never had them. It was maybe 8″ tall. Yellow. It now stands 5′ (yes, 5 feet) tall!! The leaves at their widest are at least 12″ wide. It is magnificent. Blooming for the fifth time, and has 5 blooms coming out. Have to read up on how to prepare it for winter. I’m gonna cry if I lose it. 😪
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Take those extra tomatoes and just store them right in the freezer. Two people here too so we can’t eat them all. Oh, your hubby would have loved those fresh blackberries because I ate several bowls just as is. Delicious. That camper was a hoot. 🙂 I just looked up Calla Lily, and it appears if your temps drop below 30 degrees you’ll either have to pot it up and bring it in for the winter or trim it back, take it out, take the dirt off it, and store it in a brown paper bag like I’m going to have to do with my Dahlia bulbs. But, it sure sounds like it would be worth the effort if it is growing and producing like that. Wow.
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Many thanks for that info. I will go the brown paper bag route because the other option would be impractical, and difficult, for me. The pot would have to be huge. If I filled pot with soil before I brought it in, I would never be able to move it! Filling it while already inside presents it’s own set of problems. And we live in a mobil home….double wide …… but space is always a premium.😃
Thanks so much for going to the trouble of looking that up. Youse is a good girl!! 😜
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You have a bucket load of tomatoes and we have a fridge full of limes. Want to swap?? That camper is so cool.
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Fresh limes – what a treat that would be, and I sure have bags of tomatoes to share. 🙂
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We’ve finished all our oranges, and only have a few mandarines left. It’s pretty much lemonades and limes to go now.
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Friends with berries or tomatoes are my best friends! 🙂 I bought some Sun Gold tomato plants at the farmers market earlier this year and we’ve had fun eating those delicious little things. Lots on the vine to ripen, so I look forward to that. Have to harvest basil and make pesto soon. That’s about the extent of the edible part of my garden (some parsley, rosemary, and a patio tomato plant.) Enjoying the cooler weather for the week or so, especially at night!! I do love having the windows open. Not so excited about the earlier night and later morning.
janet
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The trade offs always get you thinking don’t they. Starting to get dark at 7 is depressing but the lack of humidity is a real gift.
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I was just looking at the assorted tomatoes on our window ledges (and popped a few cherry tomatoes as I admired them). Isn’t this a great time of year? The garden dictates what we eat, and it’s all fresh and delicious.
Love the camper, even if it needs a little finishing.
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Isn’t it wonderful to eat fresh veggies that you know right where they came from. 🙂 Yes, the trailer needs a little work, but I love the idea of a person deciding to cut a truck in half and building a trailer. Blew me away. 🙂
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Our garden veggies are the best! In addition to eating fresh, organic food, we are able to gift friends and neighbours throughout the growing season. Best gifts ever!
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That camper cracked me up 🙂 Our tomatoes are doing well and I’m not tired of them yet. One of my wife’s pepper plants turned out to be a hot one. She’s not a fan, but I kind of like them. Moving the plants into pots really makes a difference. I would never have guessed.
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I’m thinking to myself that I’d sure like to meet the person who had a vision, cut a truck in half, built a camper, tows the back end of the truck, loads a canoe, and heads out. I knew you’d get a chuckle. 🙂
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That’s some camper! Very inventive. Blackberries are a treat to receive – picking them can be difficult. We got a few this year, but it’s been so dry that they are small and squishy and hard to pick. It’s tomato season here and I’m doing lots with them, also green beans and plums. Such a luxury to have this bounty.
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Your world is a good one: friends, blackberries, dessert, gardens, nonconformists’ campers, dessert, crowded freezer, fresh food, picnics, dessert….thanks for inviting us in!
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Is there anything better than blackberries?! What a lucky woman you are! Your gardening tips have me thinking ahead to some of the chores I need to do–it’s been hot so I haven’t really thought about them yet! That camper is quite the hoot–but I keep looking at the canoe! All wood? Gorgeous!
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I loved that camper because it looks like a very nice truck sawed in half, a very modest living quarter, and then that gorgeous canoe. It just stopped me dead in my tracks smiling and thinking about the person who did it. 🙂 I have so many gardening chores that I’m looking forward to doing but am so concerned about the drought we are experiencing.
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Summer just wouldn’t be summer without tomatoes. Glad you’ve enjoyed a bounty. We’ve had only a few as I don’t grow them myself. Usually we buy them at a self-service stand at a house down the road, but hers must have developed a problem and she closed after less than two weeks. Someone said they suffered from too much rain this year.
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We’re in the midst of a hot dry spell, and I guess the tomatoes are happy even if the trees, bushes and perennials are all struggling. 🙂
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Tomato’s aren’t the same in Texas. I’ll bet yours were delicious – they look amazing!
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Your descriptions make me want to rush out to the farmers market for what we in East Tennessee call ‘maters! So ripe, so juicy, and soooo delicious.
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I planted more cherry ones than usual this year due to the grand kids loving them so much but oh my the haul was ridiculous…so next year back to just one, two at the most as I prefer the big ones.
That camper contraption is a sight !! 🙂
There’s not MUCH to compare with a tomato sandwich or a fruit pie from fresh fruit and not the canned stuff which is mostly goop and little fruit!
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We are just starting gardening again, so good to hear your tips. I love getting fruit and vegetables from friends, what nicer gift from friends and neighbours than something homemade or to give some home produce. I just love that camper, but would just hate to have to sleep in it! There is a little part of me that was born to be a duchess!
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Have owned three different RVs, I kept looking at it and thinking that I’m not seeing the possibility of a toilet facility in there. 🙂
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Well …definitely staying at home for me!
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Blackberry pie – yum! Someone told me to remove all the lower leaves of the tomato plant to delay the onset of blight. Seems to be working.
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Good advice, and I think I should have done some thinning out of leaves. Thank you. 🙂
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Judy, I so admire your gardening skills, Sadly, I can’t tell a weed from a plant! I love seeing what you’ve grown 🙂
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Thanks for the update and the inspiration that it brings to me…that camper too ;o) I have no doubts that if it was yours, you would beautify right away! xo Johanna
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I love it when you learn something new, I’m glad you have shared it. Thankyou. This is a lovely time for harvesting fruit from your own trees and vines, we have got a huge amount of black mulberries ,Victoria plums and damsons. Your tomatoes look delicious
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Sounds like your freezer is going to be full too. 🙂
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Reblogged this on thelaundryrocks and commented:
Worth a read
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No time to read other comments but enjoyed this post, Judy. A gift for the home you visit is something my parents taught me. As you visited recently my post, you noticed a similar “hostess” gift. Fresh fruit is especially scrumptious from a garden or woods! ❤
This trailer home makes me think of the expression or ad, "it's your home away from home!"
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OMG, that camper is too funny. It looks like it is still a work in progress. I’m envious of your large tomato crop and isn’t it nice about no blight this year…perhaps because you’ve had so little rain.
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I think it could have used a sign on the side ‘work in progress.’ Hope the mosquitoes aren’t bad where you are. The ticks are down here because of heat. 🙂
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Thankfully are town is known as having the best mosquito control in Florida. Thankfully, I’ve not see one since we’ve lived in Vero Beach. 🙂
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