Just a reminder that you have just one day left to enter the Delight.com – one for me, one for a friend giveaway. (Contest closes Monday, November 3 at midnight PST.)

Here’s a recap: tell me what you want for yourself. Tell Delight.com what you want for a friend. Win both. See my original post for details.

Posted by Andrea Bellamy at 9:53 pm | Permalink | Comments (0)

Halloween #28, originally uploaded by stevechasmar.

Enjoy the costumes, candy and kidlets. Not in the spirit yet? Check out GreenWalks’ post on spooky plants, this great collection of vintage halloween photos on Flickr, or some awesome dog costumes.

Then go paint your face and eat some candy corn.

Posted by Andrea Bellamy at 10:22 am | Permalink | Comments (5)

Gratuitous baby photo: Lila in the leaves, 6 months old.

The autumn colours are pretty spectacular in the Pacific Northwest this year (at least by PNW standards). Sure, normally we get a few weeks of pretty leaves, but it’s nothing compared to the show back east. Which made me wonder: what makes fall colours more vibrant from one year to another?

Autumn colours at Trout Lake, East Vancouver…

As I suspected, it’s all in the weather. Chlorophyll, the chemical compound that makes leaves appear green, disappears fastest during an autumn with dry, sunny days and cool nights, exposing the leaves’ orange and yellow pigments. Dry weather concentrates sugar production, which brings out the red.

…and on my back patio. (’Fireglow’ Japanese maple.)

That explains it. We’ve had an uncharacteristically sunny, cold autumn. So next time we have our usual ho-hum fall colour? I’ll just blame it on the rain.

Posted by Andrea Bellamy at 9:40 pm | Permalink | Comments (5)

I didn’t do so well at planting a winter vegetable garden this year (I am terrible at planning for winter in the height of summer, which is, unfortunately, when you need to do your planting for winter harvesting). Other than some quick-growing salad greens that I managed to sneak in at the beginning of September, the holes left by my tomatoes, beets, kale and herbs might have gone unfilled all winter, if it weren’t for cover crops.

A cover crop, also known as green manure or living mulch, does double – make that triple – duty in the winter garden. First, it protects your soil from harsh winter weather, preventing erosion, compaction and nutrient leaching. Second, it fixes nitrogen in the soil. There’s a whole scientific explanation behind the “fixing” of nitrogen, but all you really need to know is that cover crops, many of which are legumes, add nitrogen back into your soil, prepping it for spring planting. It’s a great service to soil that has been depleted by hungry feeders like tomatoes. Finally, cover crops improve soil structure by adding organic matter when the crop is dug under in the spring. Yay!

So what do you do in the spring? Watch for flowers: they’re the indicator that it’s time to either dig under your crop or cut it down, leaving the roots in the ground and using the greens for your compost. If you dig under your crop, let the soil rest for three weeks before planting. Enjoy improved soil fertility and structure.

Popular winter cover crops include red clover, hairy vetch, fall rye, fava bean, alfalfa and Austrian winter pea.

Posted by Andrea Bellamy at 10:10 pm | Permalink | Comments (8)

The Basics

Gardener: Marcelle Stone
Location: Spokane, WA, United States
Size: Edges of an 8 foot-by-12-foot balcony (tried to keep the weight over support posts)
Orientation: West-ish
Zone: 5b
Years gardened: Three
Style: Let’s see what we can grow in a pot.

The Details

Inspiration: British window boxes
Favourite element: End-of-summer overgrowth
Favourite plants: Herbs: Lemon balm, parsley, mint, cilantro
Biggest challenge: Weight: This is a balcony garden. Aphids also figured–let’s say prominently–this year. Many thanks to Warren Wessels for his help on this, and all, fronts.
Biggest save: Free bee-and-frog visits: The frog eats bugs, the bees pollinate. How the frog found the garden/climbed up to it is a mystery.
Biggest splurge: Not-really-necessary Wellington garden boots.
Advice for others: Start somewhere: There is a lot of information out there and it can seem daunting (there seem to be a lot of ways to do things wrong). Let the plants surprise you with how hardy they can be. Expect to make some mistakes but count on a lot of pleasant surprises.

Herbs such as mint, cilantro and parsley mingle with nemesia and cucumber.

Marcelle mixes ornamental with edible for a lush effect – while restricting the weight to the edges of her balcony.

Yes, you can grow carrots in containers. These look like ‘Thumbelina’ to me.

Peppers and nasturtiums are obviously thriving on this sunny deck.

See more photos of Marcelle’s balcony here. Thanks Marcelle for sharing your garden with us!

The Heavy Petal Garden Tour is on a roll! I’d love to post a new garden every Friday, but I need your submissions. Want to join the fun? Find out how!

Posted by Andrea Bellamy at 10:24 am | Permalink | Comments (6)

Contest alert! The delightful Delight.com has partnered with Heavy Petal to offer fabulous prizes to one very lucky reader. What do you win? That’s up to you. Yep, you choose your prize! Here’s how it works:

Head on over to Delight.com and check out some of their awesome wares. Comment on this post, telling us what you’d love to win for yourself. Then head back to Delight.com and comment on something you’d love to win for a friend. (Each item for sale at Delight.com has a comment feature just like a blog – click on “discuss or review this item” to leave your comment. Be sure to note that you’re coming from Heavy Petal.)

Even if you don’t win, Delight.com has also extended an offer to all Heavy Petal readers: free shipping for purchases over $25! Just enter code HeavyPetal at checkout. (Password is case sensitive.) Who knows? Maybe this will be the year you get your holiday shopping started in October.

Now, if I may… here are some delightful picks, and my personal faves:

The Grobal by Karim Rashid. Delight.com dubs it the “cutest self-watering plant pot ever,” and I’m forced to agree. Available in two sizes, I’d like mine in “sky” (a lovely aqua-tinged blue) please. This would be great to have on hand as a quick hostess gift.

Better Life Cleaning Products. Yes, the whole line (although unfortunately I have a pressing need for the one called 2am Miracle – a safe, non-toxic nursery cleaner that is “perfect for the three P’s: poop, pee and puke.” Yay, babies!). I never thought cleaning products would make my top … anything list, but hello? 100% plant-based, eco-friendly cleaning products that really work. And the packaging? So fun.

Envirosax reuseable bags. I love the patterns on the Mikado set (shown). I already have one Envirosax bag, and I absolutely love it. It folds up super tiny and I carry it everywhere and use it for everything (it’s great for plant purchases – really!). As such, one is not really enough. More, please.

But enough about me. Here’s what I’d choose for my nearest and dearest.

The J.Fold card case is perfect for my husband. He keeps buying them for friends’ birthdays. Doesn’t that really mean he wants one for himself?

The Fabulous Wine Finer and Corkscrew for my dad, who I think would appreciate it for the fact that in just 30 seconds you can decant a whole bottle of red wine just by pouring it.

The Sun Jar for my mom, who’d love its low-tech romance.

The gorgeous Snow and Graham calendar for my best friend. Love the fine-art quality and sweet letterpress designs.

These beautifully-illustrated language flash cards for Lila. Okay, yes, she’s not even six months old. And I’m not really a flash card type of parent. But they’re so sweet, and they could easily function like a book or sorting game.

Drooling yet? Get clicking. Contest ends November 3, 2008. A winner will be chosen at random.

Posted by Andrea Bellamy at 9:00 am | Permalink | Comments (22)

The Basics

Gardeners: Francesca and Scott
Location: Portland, Oregon
Size: The total lot is 50′ x 100′ but the backyard is only a tiny portion of that.
Orientation: Northeast
Zone: 8b
Years gardened: 3

The Details

Style: Chaotic
Inspiration: Eating
Favorite element(s): Miniature fruit!
Favorite plant(s): Banana, pineapple, fly eating thing.
Biggest challenge: The rocks were our first hurdle. Now we are combating the moles.
Biggest save: There really wasn’t anything but rocks when we moved in so we didn’t have to get rid of many invasive plants, just several tons of river rock.
Biggest splurge: I can’t stop purchasing containers and pots.
Advice for others: Just do a little at a time as you feel like it. Don’t underestimate rocks. Don’t plant too many cherry tomatoes. Pumpkins are unhappy in the shade and in small containers.

This little container grouping holds unusual edibles like coffee, limes (not shown) and even pomegranates among the ornamental plants.

Fennel and curry find their way into the perennial side garden.

And check out the bees on this artichoke flower!

See more photos of Francesca and Scott’s garden here, including “before” photos that show just how much this garden has changed in three years.

Thanks Francesca and Scott for sharing your garden with us!

Want to share your garden with Heavy Petal readers? Do it now!

Posted by Andrea Bellamy at 12:38 pm | Permalink | Comments (4)

Laurel and her Green Tomato Jam! Laurel wins a copy of Mimi Luebbermann’s Heirloom Tomato Cookbook.

Thanks to everyone who entered the Tomato Recipe Challenge. There were some fabulous recipes and I enjoyed making – and eating – them all. The Green Tomato Jam wins for a few reasons: it’s super easy to make; it’s unusual, and it is the perfect use for those unripe tomatoes. Oh, and it’s tasty tasty tasty!

Green Tomato Jam

5.5 cups of fresh green tomatoes, cored, peeled* and minced
2 cups of fresh raspberries, minced
3.5 cups of white sugar

Bring to a boil for about 15 minutes. Skim off foam. Place into sterilized, hot jars.

*I dropped the tomatoes into boiling water for a few minutes, then plunged them into cold water for handling. This makes them easy to peel.

Congratulations, Laurel!

Check back on Monday for the start of an exciting new contest!

Posted by Andrea Bellamy at 9:38 am | Permalink | Comments (4)

Voila! I have for you the perfect election hangover cure: I just discovered Cup of Coco, the blog of artist/creator/interior designer Jennifer Talbot of b.delicious. Hot damn, that girl is talented! I was originally drawn to this birch tree she created for a client’s room – beautiful, isn’t it? Look closer:

It’s made out of fabric – felt, perhaps? I totally thought it was an actual birch trunk! Jennifer says, “The piece is meant to be quiet and compliment the room’s existing color story. The little orange bird can be removed from the hole in the tree.”

Then I discovered that Jennifer had created a little girl’s room with a woodland theme (which is also what we chose for Lila’s room). Please, please, go check out the photographs – this is the most amazingly sweet room – sure to rid you of any residual snarkiness.

Posted by Andrea Bellamy at 8:25 pm | Permalink | Comments (3)

I’ve got a bit of an election hangover today. Feeling kind of snarly and sick to my stomach. When you’re feeling nasty there’s nothing like trolling the interwebs for guilty pleasures (I like the trashy celebrity blogs, personally). But today I found something that gives you a bit of a voyeuristic thrill without feeling bad about yourself: a Flickr set called Rich People Rooftops. Check it.

Photo by JWilly.

Posted by Andrea Bellamy at 6:30 pm | Permalink | Comments (3)