Papaya Trees in New England

Yes, I know. Papaya's are tropical. They're not supposed to be grown in the frigid Northeast where blizzards and NorEaster's are more common than sun bathing gecko's on a lanai. Where the vegetable growing season is just a short 3 - 4 months long before frost sneaks up and casts a cold spell of death on any living crop just before you get a chance to pick it. It just doesn't make sense.

But sometimes it's fun to buck the odds and see if life can flourish in places that you'd never expect.

As a native New Englander I enjoy the change of seasons, the brisk Autumn, the hopeful Spring and yes, on occasion, even the stern brace of Winter. But the season I love best is Summer. Ahh, summer. Sunny summer days make my heart sing. That's probably why I lived in beautiful South West Florida for a short while. To escape the chill and live in the sultry, humid swelter of a more tropical climate.

On my most recent trip back to visit Naples, FL, I reconnected with a cousin and his family who live there. Immediately I noticed he had papaya trees growing in his back yard. When I explained that I love the sweet taste and smooth consistency of ripe papaya, he plucked one and handed it to me to take back to the hotel for a late evening snack. Sweetness.

I decided then that I'd try to grow them myself at home in New Hampshire. I tucked away the seeds and planted them in seed trays when I got home. Things didn't develop very fast at first. After all, the dead of a New England winter is not the best time to start papaya tree seeds, but I remained optimistic. I kept them warm and moist and gave them as much sunlight as New Hampshire could naturally offer and then added some extra light with lamps. Sure enough seedlings started to emerge.

Countless repottings and a few good growing years have yielded a bountiful wealth of papaya trees. In fact, I have a whole grove of them. In summer, they enjoy spending time outside on my deck which has wonderful southern exposure and provides the 70 - 90 degree temperatures they adore. In the winter, they're not quite as happy. They hunker down inside with cooler temps and less light, but have seemed to adapt. Actually, I've adapted more than they have. I keep the house temperature much warmer than the 60 - 65 degrees that better suited my heating budget in order to accommodate their tropical preferences.

The papaya trees now range in height from 18" to 6 feet. Some have even flowered and produced small sweet fruit, which I've eaten with emmense pride and a side of accomplishment. I've even donated a few trees to Fuller Gardens, a botanical garden in Hampton, NH to be added to their collection of standards there.

Papaya trees in New England. I guess it just goes to show you that with a little care and attention, fruitful life can not only survive, but flourish. Even in the most unlikely of places.

Additional Papaya Resources
Papaya Facts: http://bit.ly/Dd1SN
Papaya Recipes: http://bit.ly/kVkS3
How to Cut & Prepare Papaya: http://bit.ly/16DjdZ
Papaya Seed Dressing: http://bit.ly/JdVVB
Papaya Nutrition: http://bit.ly/YYFOp

Green Living Tip for Gardening: Making Plant Markers from Mini Blinds

Reducing, reusing and recycling are great ways to go green, especially in the garden. Here’s another living green tip on how to reuse broken mini blinds as plant markers. I can't really take full credit for this great idea. It was shared at an Herbal meeting I went to last month by Daryl Hoitt of RedFoxFarm.org, an organic grower who was kind enough to pass along her sage gardening advice.

At first glance, mini blinds may not seem to be an ideal candidate to reuse as plant markers. When I first heard it, I thought the very same thing. Mini blinds are big, bulky and not all that attractive, how can they possibly be re-purposed for gardening, I thought. It didn't take much convincing though before I understood that they are a perfect way of going green in the garden.

Here's how to make handy plant markers for your deck plants, vegetable garden or even seedlings.

1. Find a set of broken mini blinds. Sometimes that's as easy as walking through your house and finishing up your "to do" list. Item #4 to do - fix broken mini blind. If you don't have your own, ask friends and neighbors, or even pluck them curbside to save them from an inevitable life in a landfill. You'll probably want to use light colored ones like cream or white.

2. Make sure the blinds are relatively clean. If not, dust them off or take a hose to them to remove the major dirt that may have accumulated during their first career as window coverings.

3. Snip the horizontal plastic strips with a pair of scissors. Make sure at least one end is cut at an angle so it can be easily pushed into the soil. Depending on the width of the blind you can cut several plant markers per blade. I found that cutting the angled end next to the holes that allow for the vertical cords works best. That way, you don't have to use the piece with the holes, but still end up with lots of markers.

4. Use a china marker (I know them as grease pencils) to write the name of the plant on the marker. You can use whatever color you'd like, I just happened to have a red one handy. Then push the marker into the soil next to the plant.

5. When you're finished cutting you'll have reused the majority of the blind and only the broken "skeleton" will remain, which you can then discard knowing that you saved most of it to live again in your garden.

Enjoy.

A Green Living Tip for Garden Seed Starting. A Micro Greenhouse.

In the spirit of reduce, reuse, and recycle, here’s a great tip for gardeners looking for an easy way to start seeds indoors. It’s a micro greenhouse.

Most grocery stores sell prepared cakes and pastries which quite often are packaged in a food-safe plastic container with a see-through raised lid. Although I don’t usually buy a lot of prepared foods, I do occasionally enjoy a single layer carrot cake from my local Hannaford Supermarket. Even though the cakes are tasty, I always felt bad because it seemed like such a waste to toss such a sturdy container in the recycle bin after its first and only use as a cake pan.

This spring, I had an idea to try to reuse it as micro greenhouse to start some basil seeds for an herb class I was teaching. The solid black plastic base worked great to hold the soil and the clear lid made the perfect greenhouse enclosure to keep the soil moist and the seeds warm. It was a great success.

Here are the super easy directions to create your own.

1. Buy a cake and enjoy it with your family and friends
2. Wash the empty cake pan and remove the sticker on the clear plastic lid so the sun can shine through
3. Fill the bottom with soil
4. Plant your seeds and water them in. You can poke or drill a few holes in the bottom for drainage if you'd like
5. Secure the clear plastic lid back on top creating a ‘greenhouse’ environment for your seeds
6. Place your new portable micro greenhouse on a sunny windowsill or under a lamp to grow
7. Monitor and water when needed
8. Transplant seedlings when they no longer fit under the ‘greenhouse’ lid
9. Enjoy

The photos here show the cake when I bought it, the washed pan with soil ready for planting, and some green onion seedlings I started. As you see, I had to buy three of them to take the photos. I called it research, but enjoyed the cakes all the same. Its a great way to reuse everyday items in new ways to reduce garbage and go green.

Lavender Cookies

Yes, you can use lavender in food! Adding a touch of lavender to cakes, lemonade, jellies, and cookies makes for an unexpectedly pleasant tasting surprise. It’s a delicate flavor that smells as good as it tastes.

But when using lavender beware. The old adage that “if a little is good, a lot is better” doesn’t apply here. Too much lavender in foods turns an elegant essence into a sudsy mouthful by making foods taste a bit like hand soap. So go easy on the measuring and enjoy the fresh-from-the-field flavor of lavender.

Here’s a recipe that’s fun to make and share. It’s from The Complete Book of Herbs by Andi Cleavely and Katherine Richmond. Enjoy.

5/8 Cup butter plus more to grease baking sheets

½ Cup granulated sugar

1 egg beaten

1 tbsp dried lavender flowers

1 ½ Cups self-rising flower

Assorted leaves and flowers to decorate

Preheat the oven to 350º. Cream the butter and sugar together, then stir in the egg. Mix in the lavender flowers and the flour.

Grease two cookie sheets and drop spoonfuls of the mixture on them. Bake for about 15–20 minutes, until the cookies are golden. Serve with some fresh leaves and flowers to decorate. Makes about 30.

Hyacinth in Spring

Spring is the only season whose arrival I anticipate with the unbridled enthusiasm of a young girl. I love the healing and moist warmth that follows the long icy-cold winter. I love the promise of summer that it delivers in small incremental doses every day as it melts away the barren white of winter and introduces the lush colors of summer. And most importantly I love the smell.

One of my favorite spring scents is the hyacinth, also known affectionately as “high-a-stinks” by my neighbor Elsa. Their aroma cuts through the stale air of any room, soothing my senses and relaxing my mind.

Before it’s warm enough for them to flower naturally outside, I always get some forced bulbs to add to my office and bedroom. To give them their proper presentation, I put the already budding 4” potted plants in decorative planters and add some Spanish moss around the base.

At work, I place the hyacinth in a location that I can see, touch and smell. It’s a great lift-me-up during the day and reinvigorates me with energy. At home, I place the potted hyacinth on my night table. It’s amazing how just walking into my bedroom and catching a whiff of the aromatic perfume puts me at ease.

It’s a special treat to fall asleep and wake up to the pleasant and healing scent of hyacinth. Purple-blue is my favorite color.

The True Harbinger of Spring – the Crocus

Many people think that daffodils herald in the spring season, announcing the warmer weather months with bunches of bright yellow flowers and St. Patty Day green leaves.

In my mind though, the true harbinger of spring is the ever-so-early-arriving crocus. Long before daffodils grow tall and strong enough to support their blooms, the short, colorful crocus pushes its head above the frozen ground to dazzle us with the splendid hues of purple, yellow and cream shaded flowers. You can almost breathe in the colors.

I love to walk out on my back deck, look down, and see the rich green leaves and vibrant flower petals emerge from the winter-warn brown of the lawn. It’s a sure sign that warmer weather is certain to arrive.

Every fall I add a bag or two of bulb plantings right into the lawn in the back yard. And, every year I am rewarded with a few more flowers that add to the spring carpet of color.

Thank Goodness the crocuses have arrived to wipe away the winter doldrums and reinvigorate us with energy and life.