GETTING THE GARDEN VACATION READY

So I'm alive. I feel like I should probably clarify that since I just totally disappeared on you. Once again I got behind on things before I headed out of town to go sailing and then the posts I had scheduled to go up didn't and well, I figured you'd all hang in there and wait for me.

I snapped a quick shot of the garden off the deck as I was running around before I left. 

I was off on my annual summer sailing trip (it was highly successful and full of great sailing, warm Lake Michigan water and lots of sun), but one of the posts I had planned for you while I was gone was about preparing to leave your garden for a week or more. It's scary to do, especially at this time of year when everything is growing so much, but after doing it every year, I've developed a few strategies.

This was the topic of an article I wrote for the Troy-Bilt e-newsletter "The Dirt." We always have someone stay at the house to take care of the animals and the containers, so I'm fortunate that I don't have to worry much about container watering.

I love a bouquet of sweet peas and sometimes the smaller they are, the more charming.

Even though I was running around like crazy before I left (this is my natural state of being before I go anywhere; I am always running around like crazy), one of the last things I did was make several big bouquets for the house. Sure they are a nice treat for the housesitter, but I have a much more selfish for cutting every flower I can: There will be more for me later. Flowers keep producing when they are deadheaded, but lots of spend blooms go undeadheaded when you're gone. By cutting all the flowers I can I get a head start on the deadheading. Sure the garden lacks some color while I'm gone, but who cares? I'm gone!

The 'David Howard' dahlias were going nuts when I left so I cut everyone I could find.

I also made sure to fertilize all of the containers (I don't ask the housesitter to fertilize, just water) and water them really, really well. And the last thing I did was run around (in the dark, for the most part) with the deer spray.

Only one 'Crichton Honey' dahlia was blooming when I left but I cut that too. I can't get over the gorgeous color on this one. 

I don't have a lot coming out of the veggie garden yet, but if I did I would have made sure to harvest any ripe vegetables so the plants keep producing.

So how did the garden fare while I was gone for 10 days? I'll show you the "after" tomorrow.

I wanted to share just one photo from while I was gone. We left to take the boat to Chicago at 11 p.m. Tuesday during the Buck moon. By 5:30 a.m. or so, the moon was still shining brightly while the sun was rising. I took this panoramic photo (and yes it's a real, untouched photo) that managed to capture both the full moon and the sun rise at the same time on opposite sides of the boat. 

PRODUCT REVIEW: A MACHINE TO MAKE GORGEOUS COMPOST AND FREE MULCH

One of my favorite movies is "Fargo." The relevance of this will soon become clear.

I am alternately fascinated by and intimidated by large machinery. I go into using it afraid that I'm either going to break it or myself, but as soon as I start using it, I'm hooked.

And that's about how it went with the Troy-Bilt CS4235 Chipper Shredder. This thing is a beast. Frankly, in my opinion, if you're going to get something like a chipper shredder, I think a beast is the way to go. You want it to do what you need it to do without ever needing to force it. And that means a big machine.

So how big are we talking? Well, in order to see into the brush hopper, I have to stand on my tiptoes. Granted, I'm 5'2" on a good posture day. The branch chute is adjustable, so you can angle it in several different positions. And it's heavy, too. Fortunately, it has large, very sturdy wheels that make it easy to move. When I gave it its first real test, I wheeled it all the way down the driveway and across the grass over to the compost bin with no trouble.

Yep, the first time I tried out this chipper shredder, I was all alone, which is sort of a big deal for me as I usually require several walkthroughs with a piece of equipment before I'm comfortable with it. I read the manual and was happy to see that the starting procedure is repeated on a sticker on the front of the chipper shredder as well as a quick reminder.

Don't mess around with safety with a machine like this. Safety glasses and hearing protection is required. A handy quick-start sticker walks you through the steps of starting and operating the chipper shredder.

Although I'll be the first to admit that I am sometimes lax with safety equipment, this is no machine to play around with. This is where the "Fargo" thing comes in. Anyone who has seen the movie will recall that one character meets his fate at the hand of a wood chipper, head first. And I'll be honest, I could not get that image out of my head when I first approached this chipper shredder. Fortunately this chipper shredder isn't THAT big and there are a lot of safety functions built in. Still, ear and eye protection is required when using this, so much so that it comes with safety glasses.

Having donned my ear muffs and the safety glasses, I followed the starting instructions to the letter: Push the choke all the way over, slide the "gas" over to the fastest setting (the rabbit), and pull. Despite not having a good pulling arm (something I've discussed ad nauseam here), it started up immediately. You have to love that.

This chipper shredder can accommodate branches up to 3 inches in diameter, which is pretty darn big. I didn't have any that large around, but I did have a small pile of 1.5-inch to 2-inch diameter branches. I slid one in the branch chute and the chipper shredder did the rest, seeming to (gently) grab the branch and guide it through. Frankly I was relieved that I could just put it in and let go so my hands never got close to even the end of the chute. (Again, I'm scarred by that movie, so I think I'm probably more nervous than most.)

Branches are "sucked" into the chute so as soon as they start going, it's a hands-free operation. The white bag on the right is large and will hold a lot of material before it needs to be emptied.

The chipper shredder has a large bag that attaches to the outflow area if you like and despite continuing to feed branches in, I was surprised that it didn't seem like it was filling up very fast. And that's the beauty of this machine: It makes the most lovely little wood chips. I would estimate that the pieces were a half-inch or so. In fact, it reduces material so much that I think the bag would get pretty heavy if it were completely full. I was thrilled though, because this is the size of wood mulch that I will drive many miles to find by the bag. If we have enough material that needs chipping I can see saving a ton of money on mulch.

Branches were reduced to nice half-inch sized chips, perfect for mulch.

Leaves and brush were chopped into lovely tiny bits that should break down extremely quickly, giving compost and leaf mold a big head start.

With the branches dispensed of, I tried out a few other materials in the larger hopper, which works on a gravity feed. Some dry leaves on the top of the pile were dispensed with quickly. This will make composting and making leaf mold an absolute dream and I expect it to cut the decomposition process down by many months. I also tried freshly cut comfrey stems and leaves. Comfrey has very thick, water-filled stems and fuzzy leaves. I wasn't sure which chute would be more appropriate for it, but it seemed to work better to put it in the branch chute. What came out was sort of a gelatinous goo and the machine didn't grab it as easily as it did the dry leaves and branches.

Then I put some half-composted stuff in the big chute. This was mostly damp, decaying leaves plus decaying green material. It didn't really go well. In addition to getting caught up on the way down the brush chute, what came out looked more like the leftovers from a juicer. In fact, I ended up pulling out a wad of material that didn't seem to want to go through, AFTER the engine was shut off and after waiting a little bit just to make sure everything was done spinning. (Again, abundance of caution caused by watching "Fargo" too much.)

What I deduced from this experiment was that dry materials are best. Damp, partially decomposed material probably isn't the best.

I'm certain that this chipper shredder will be in frequent use in fall when we clean up leaves (the idea of all of that goodness breaking down in time for spring use in the garden is thrilling to me) and collect fallen branches and in spring when we do tree pruning. It's going to up my composting game big time and I can't wait for that.

I'll just limit my "Fargo" viewing for a bit beforehand.

Disclaimer: I am a member of Troy-Bilt’s Saturday6 Program which provides compensation to me, and in the case of product reviews, tools or equipment are provided to me at no cost for the purpose of providing an evaluation and sharing my honest opinions.

THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE (aka A REVIEW OF A VERY COOL HANDHELD BLOWER)

If you've read my power tool reviews before, you've probably picked up on a trend: I like power but I like it when it comes easy. What I'm about to say makes me sound like a pathetic girl, but I hate pull starts. I'll use them when I have to, but I feel like my arms aren't long enough to do it properly. That is probably ridiculous as I think I have relatively normal arms as far as length goes, but suffice to say, if I can avoid a pull start, I will.

In fact, why in the world can't I just push a button and have the thing turn on? Guess what? I can and so can you.

For me, that's the best feature of the new Troy-Bilt Handheld Blower powered by CORE (technically the TB4300): Squeeze the trigger and it's on. Squeeze it harder and it blows harder. Lighten up on your trigger finger and it blows softer. This seems incredibly obvious, right? And yet, this is the first power tool I've used that is just that simple.

CORE is Troy-Bilt's new battery-operated line of machines. It includes the blower, a hedge trimmer a string trimmer and, soon, a lawn mower. All of the machines operate off one pretty large battery, so you can save money by only buying the power tool after you have a battery and a charger. The blower kit, with a battery and charger costs $279, but if you already had the battery and charger you could pick one up for $179.

Doesn't everyone use their leaf blower barefoot?

As part of Troy-Bilt's Saturday6 blogger team I gave the blower a test after fully charging up the battery. Actually, Mr. Much More Patient snagged it before I could even get my hands on it and do you what the first thing he did was? He turned it on in our kitchen, opened the door and blew out the dog hair tumbleweeds.

You may be inclined to use this anecdote to judge my cleaning skills, but in my defense this happened during the peak of shedding season in our house (with Newfoundlands and dogs with undercoats it's called blowing coat for good reason), and even daily vacuuming can't keep up with the hair for a couple weeks in spring. No, I shared this story with you because it really says something about this leaf blower: It's battery operated, which means you really can use it inside, unlike gas-powered blowers (which I once read are some of the worst pollution offenders). Now, I don't actually recommend using it for this purpose as I learned that for every piece of hair that goes out the door, three go up and float down, which is generally not a good thing in your kitchen.

Love those lights.

I will also admit to being a sucker for good design, so forgive me for a minute while I wax poetic about lights. Yes, lights. The lights on the blower ramp up as you use more power. It's pretty, but more than that, it's practical. I won't say it's a light machine because the battery has some heft to it. But with the battery inserted, it is well balanced and not difficult to wave around while using it. It is certainly lighter and easier to handle than the gas powered model we previously used.

And of course, there are great benefits to not having 100 feet of electrical cord dragging behind you like you do with electric blowers.

I can't tell you how long the battery lasts from personal experience, but I just don't use a blower for long periods of time. In our yard we use it as the last step in cleanup, blowing debris and grass clippings out of garden beds and off the driveway and patio. We've recharged the battery, but not because it was dead, just because we figured it was a good idea since we'd used the blower several times.

This little video gives you a quick idea of what the CORE blower can do. Mr. Much More Patient starts it in Eco mode then pushes the Boost mode for more power and then decreases the power with the trigger when he gets near the plants. The deck was covered in tree bits but unfortunately it's a little difficult to see them.

As for power, I love how much you can control it. There is an Eco setting, which feels a little puny to me, but honestly it'll do just fine for most blowing. Tap the Boost button though and you get serious power. Of course you'll drain the battery faster that way so there's a trade off. I like that I can scale way back on the power when I'm around delicate plants. The other thing that is nice is that changing from more power to less is smooth, unlike other blowers that seem to rev out of control. If you've ever had your neighbor use a blower while you are sitting out enjoying cocktail hour and all you hear is the blower revving up and down, you know how annoying that is, and not just because it's interrupting cocktail hour.

I love the technology behind this tool. As we know, batteries are the future: Cars, phones, computers ... it's all about batteries. I feel like Troy-Bilt has really stepped into the future with this one.

Disclaimer: I am a member of Troy-Bilt’s Saturday6 Program which provides compensation to me, and in the case of product reviews, tools or equipment are provided to me at no cost for the purpose of providing an evaluation and sharing my honest opinions.
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FRIDAY FINDS + A PEEK AT AUSTIN

It's Friday Finds time, but first I wanted to share a couple pictures from my trip to Austin with Troy-Bilt's Saturday6 gang last week. Troy-Bilt sent the Saturday6, a group of bloggers who work with them, on a shindig to find out about some new products, explore Austin and do a little good. (Disclaimer: They paid for this trip as part of my Saturday6 contract, but I'm sharing pictures with you just because.)

We took a tour of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and although we were about three weeks too early in terms of the blooms putting on a show, it was a pretty fascinating place.

The entry kiosk is entirely self-sufficient. Solar panels on the awning provide all the power, including for air conditioning, which they are able to do because it has a green roof that keeps it significantly cooler than a normal roof would.

For several years, a great-horned owl has returned to the center to nest and raise her young.  She's in the corner in the photo below.

See her head peeking up?

The Texas mountain laurels were blooming.

And the bluebonnets (Lupinus texenis) were just starting to come to life in warmer areas of the garden.

They had very interesting ideas for creating raised and tiered beds.

Unfortunately I can't recall what this plant is, but I loved the combination of blue foliage and orange flowers.

We also spent a day working at a community garden project along with Planet in Action. This was a nice area that sort of fell into disrepair a few years ago, so we, along with Planet in Action, a few county parks employees and a group of very enthusiastic Americorps volunteers (who did a lot of push-ups throughout the day), created some large raised beds, planted grapes and new fruit trees and pruned existing fruit trees that hadn't been touched in a long time.

Raised beds planted and mulched.

This was an example of one of the pear trees we pruned. Everyone sort of divided up and Eric from GardenFork and Kenny from Veggie Gardening Tips and I seemed to end up on pruning duty. It was fun to group prune. Gardening can be such a solitary activity, but we had all had a nice chat while pruning and it was nice to bat around pruning ideas amongst each other. These trees hadn't been pruned in over five years and we had to constantly remind ourselves that you can't undo five years of unchecked growth in one day.

Before pruning.

And here's what it looked like after.

After pruning.

 This next photo is also an after shot although you'd probably not believe that because you can see there's still quite a tangle in there. We were wary of taking out too much of the tree at once (the general rule is no more than 25% of the growth, not counting dead wood), and we had to prioritize the worst offenders. I lobbied hard to take out that older crossing branch that you see in the front of that picture, but was overruled, because it would have left a huge hole in the canopy of the tree. It can and, I'm sure, will be taken out next year.

It was great to get in the garden again and it was nice to help out such a worthwhile project. My fellow bloggers must have felt the same way because we ripped through that project list much more quickly than I think anyone expected us to.

Rochelle and an Americorps volunteer tackle a giant pile of mulch.

 So that was Austin. Now onto what's been good on the Internet this week.

I don't care for corned beef, but plenty of people wouldn't be without it this time of year. Here's what I can only assume is a great recipe for it.

I really enjoyed Matt Mattus's behind-the-scenes look at how the cover of the latest Pith + Vigor came together.

 I love this DIY table.

I'm completely giddy about Michelle Obama's latest initiative.

 Heather is offering up some great March gardening tips to get you going.

That's it for this week. I'm off to the Chicago Flower and Garden Show tomorrow. I'm very excited as I've never been to that one before. I also have some homework to do this weekend. I'm taking an advanced master gardener course on landscape design and one of our first projects is to design a garden for a fictional hospital courtyard. Our designs will be analyzed by professors and students in the landscape architecture program at the University of Wisconsin so I'm alternately excited for real, unbiased feedback and more than a little nervous.

What's on your docket for the weekend?

A SERIOUS YARD TOOL THAT ANYONE CAN USE

It is a big time of year for yard work. Those of us in the north know that any day could be our last opportunity to clean up the yard before snow and ice descend. And with the garden more or less minding itself at this time of year (at least until we get a good hard freeze) it is the perfect time to really get in there and take care of a few serious yard projects.

Which means it's also a great time to put another cool Troy-Bilt tool to the test. This time around I'm testing the TB60044 Straight Shaft String Trimmer. I know, string trimmers are so, um ho-hum, right? Well not this one because it claims to be a string trimmer but really it's a do-everything little bundle of magic.

First off, it's a four-stroke engine which means, among other things, that you don't have to premix the gas and the oil, it's quieter and a little more fuel efficient. Am I the only person in the world who is a little intimidated by premixing oil and gas? I realize it's a relatively simple process but I've always been afraid that I'm going to do it wrong and wreck something. No worries with a four-stroke engine; you just fill up the gas tank and fill up the oil tank and you're good to go.

I was a branch cutting machine.

This string trimmer comes with the string trimmer bit, but other attachments (and there are many to chose from) are also available. I'll be honest, I don't like using string trimmers and I actually didn't even personally try the string trimmer part of this. Mr. Much More Patient did and I assure you, he is smitten. I, on the other hand, went straight for the good stuff, which was the TrimmerPlus pole saw, aka a mini chainsaw on a long stick. Chainsaws scare me. They are cool but I'm pretty sure you ought to know what you're doing before you operate one. But this is a mini chainsaw that is not at all intimidating. And let me tell you, I had a blast going around and trimming up all the small low-hanging branches on our trees, up to a good 10 feet off the ground or more. It cut through them (I would say they were maybe 3 inches in diameter or less in most cases) with no problem and there was zero flex in the pole so I really felt like I had a lot of control. In fact, I got a little carried away and we spend the next couple hours dragging branches all over the yard.

This shows the reach of the pole saw. Throw in a tall guy and you can really get up there.

Then I tried out the Trimmerplus brushcutter. This is just a really sturdy metal blade that spins like a string trimmer attachment does, but it takes out, well, brush. I have been anxious to reclaim some of the areas under the big trees on our property that have gotten really overgrown and weedy and I went to town with this thing. It worked great, but I quickly learned that this attachment is one that you definitely need to think about safety with. It's loud, so I used ear protection and pants and good shoes are a must because stuff goes flying. In fact, the gator-type protectors they sell would probably be best because even with jeans I had a few pieces of brush that stung a bit.

That area is a such a mess and the brushcutter attachment is the first step in taming it.

There are many other attachments available with the Trimmerplus system, including a lawn edger, hedge trimmer, cultivator, blower and more. But what good are all these cool tools if you can get them started? Ladies, you know what I mean; pulling those strings to start gas-powered tools is difficult to impossible. Honestly, I don't think it's a strength thing. I think it's an arm length thing. I'm not joking; my arms are not long enough to pull the string on a tool and hold it with the other hand. When we first bought our house, Mr. Much More Patient was out of town (and out of the country) most of the time so I sort of MacGyvered a lot of things around the house. And on one occasion, I used a brick, my foot and some sort of yoga pose to start some sort of tool (the specific kind eludes me) that I propped up on a rock. It occurred to me shortly after that I was probably going to get away with something that stupid without hurting myself exactly once and never did it again.

Enter the Jump Start Lithium-Ion Engine Starter, which is the single coolest thing to happen to gas-powered engines in possibly forever, at least if you are a person who has struggled with pull string starting. Charge it up, stick it in the hole on the trimmer, push the button and the trimmer starts. That's it. As silly as it sounds, it's incredibly freeing to know that I can go cut down low branches whenever I feel like it, without having to ask for Mr. Much More Patient's help in starting up the trimmer. It's empowering. I'm not kidding. Wanna see how it works? Check this out:

Alright, I'm gushing. I'm trying not to, but it just make so much sense. You have to like that in a tool.

Disclosure: Troy-Bilt provided the products mentioned here for the purpose of this review, but they didn't tell me what to say. Or, in this case, what to gush about. All opinions are my own, even the ones about string trimmers usually being kind of boring.

THE DAY I PRETENDED TO BE A TV GARDENER

You are reading the blog of a movie star.

Well, not quite, but I sort of felt like one for a day. A couple weeks ago I drove 60 miles west to the charming town of Merton, Wisconsin (where I think I actually covered a school board meeting once for one of my first jobs), to help at the grand opening of a Katie's Krops garden and make a few videos for Troy-Bilt in the process. This was part of my relationship with Troy-Bilt as one of their Saturday6 bloggers, but it was the part of the deal I was most looking forward to.

Removing the sod and tilling the beds per Ted's design.

Two quick bits of background for you. Katie's Krops is an organization that helps kids create gardens that feed the community. Founded by young gardener Katie Stagliano, who grew a 40-pound cabbage as part of a school project and realized she could feed hungry people with it, the organization offers financial support, advice, camps and more for young gardeners seeking to make a difference in their communities. 

Ted and me.

Ted is a young Wisconsin gardener who also happened to get bit by the gardening bug through a big cabbage. The garden I spent the day at was entirely Ted's vision. Located on a large plot of land behind a district elementary school, the garden will support area food pantries and 14-year-old Ted's principal said he envisions that kids helping with the garden will not only plant, tend and harvest the food, they will also deliver it to food pantries, help prepare meals with it and serve meals. Truly farm to table.

Ted's principal talks about the project.

Before I tell you more about my day "on set" I should start with a little disclaimer. I was alternately looking forward to it and completely filled with dread. I won't bore you with my personal insecurities but I think most people are a bit self-concious about their appearance (especially on film), their voice (particularly when it's a midwestern twang) and their propensity to screw up. Fortunately there were a great bunch of professionals there who eased my mind about the whole thing and I ended up having a great time and really enjoying myself.

I tried so hard not to talk with my hands. This picture proves that I failed. By the way, I was freezing, but it was much cooler than I expected in the morning and I couldn't wear either of the two jackets I brought because one had a big logo on the front and the other was nylon, which the sound guy said was a no-go.

While I waited to do a few videos, a local Troy-Bilt distributor and a few other people went to work on getting the garden ready. Since it was a giant swath of dead grass when I got there, I was so impressed when 45 minutes later, the sod had been removed and beds were created to Ted's design. Ted, by the way, was stuck in school all day while most of this was going on.

I had worked with the people from Troy-Bilt's promotional arm to come up with some ideas for short video tips ahead of time and in the weeks prior to the filming we ironed out what I would say. Or what I was supposed to say, because mostly I just made sure to hit the main points and ad libbed the rest. I'm pretty sure this gave some of the production people fits, but in they end they were happy with it.

Sad comfrey.

There were some foibles. One of the tips I wanted to give was about using comfrey tea in your garden. I dug up some comfrey and potted it up the night before to bring but by the time we got to that part of the shoot the comfrey was completely flopped and so sad looking. 

They also wanted me to plant a few things on camera as part of a video about crop rotation. They picked up a few vegetable plants at a local nursery and I planted them. And then I dug them up and put them back in their pots and planted them again for a second take. And again. There was one poor kale plant that I planted four times at least, all while trying not to look like a complete dork.

I also "harvested" a bag of Yukon gold potatoes and several beets with the greens still attached. I have doubts how this will work in the videos but maybe there's more to movie magic than I know about.

The crew getting some shots of the garden.

All in all, we whipped through my videos pretty quickly thanks to all that ad libbing and then I hung out and waited for the kids to show up after school. I was very excited to meet Ted, whom I've heard wonderful thinks about, including from Katie, who raved about him when I met her in Charleston.

The kids jumped right into the project. 

Ted's expression when he showed up and saw all the beds created was fantastic. He got the biggest grin and said, "Oh wow, this looks awesome!" Several other kids immediately jumped in, putting together a donated irrigation system and deciding which plants would go where. 

I wish I would have had more time to talk to Ted, but he was the true man of the hour and everyone was demanding his attention. I hope they are having great success with the garden and I predict that next year there will be a lot more garden and a lot less grass.

As for the videos I made, I doubt I'll be able to watch them. I'll just cringe, I'm sure. But I'll let you know when they are online so you can watch me harvest a beet that was in the grocery store just hours before. You know us movie stars, anything for the story!

A MACHINE THAT MAKES YOUR LAWN LOOK BETTER QUICKER

We've been caught in a crazy weather cycle all spring. We'll have days of weather doing exactly what it is supposed to do here this time of year followed by days of intense cold. All of that has made gardening a little challenging, but it has been enough to turn the grass a brilliant green. Add in a lot of rain, and we've got a healthy lawn that is growing rapidly.

As much as I love my garden, at this time of year, before the garden is really doing much of anything, it's the lawn that steals the show and it is looking fantastic.

I look like a bad-ass on the Troy-Bilt Horse XP don't I?

Mother Nature plays a role in that, but so does the best new machine to come our way in a long time: a Troy-Bilt Horse XP lawn tractor. Although we've only had to cut the lawn a handful of times, this baby is making quick work of lawn-maintenance on our acre-and-a-half property.

I'll admit to liking this mower in part for purely aesthetic reasons. I think the charcoal gray paint job is sort of stealthy. The seat is super cushy, the steering wheel is padded and oh yeah, there's a cup holder. I'm just going to declare this now: There should never be a lawn mower without a cup holder.

Apparently you are not supposed to choose a lawn mower because of its color or its cupholder, so the good news is that there is plenty to like on the Horse XP on the practical side of things.

It has a hydrostatic transmission, which is a fancy way to say that you control the speed through lever controls with your hands. To put that in practical terms, basically you can settle into a speed you're comfortable with, sit back, have a sip of that drink next to you and just steer.

Adjusting the seat is just a matter of flipping it up, loosening a wingnut, sliding it forward and tightening the wingnut.

There is a 13-inch difference in height between Mr. Much More Patient and myself (something we've made other accommodations for including a height-adjustable showerhead and tilting mirror), so the fact that the seat placement on the Horse XP is easily adjustable is much appreciated. I have to put it all the way forward and he puts it all the way back. You just flip up the seat, unscrew a wingnut-type device, slide the seat into the desired position and retighten the wingnut.

My one small complaint about the Horse XP has to do with the seat. Because it has the built-in safety function of requiring a certain amount of weight in the seat for operation, if I'm not sitting far enough back in the seat, the engine can threaten to cut out. I suspect this is probably because I have the seat so far forward and I'm a bit of an edge sitter. I think I'll get used to this in time, and obviously I'd rather have to deal with that than have a kid get hurt if they came across the mower.

The mower does not have power-assisted steering but you would never know that. It turns easy as can be, with no need to muscle the wheel around, something I really appreciated after having an old riding mower that was more of an upper body workout than I cared for. As for the cutting ability, well you can't ask for much more. It rained buckets all day Saturday and after letting the sun dry things out for the morning, I gave the Horse XP a spin on relatively damp grass. It didn't mind a bit, its 46-inch wide cutting deck still making quick, even work out of the long grass.

I'm able to easily mow right up the edge of the garden beds. Check out the cup holder.

We also got a bagger attachment for the mower and this is where the gardener in me goes a little nutty. The first time we cut the lawn with it, there were a lot of leaves still kicking around after winter, so what ended up in the bags was about a 50-50 mix of chopped up leaves and grass. I added the whole lot to the compost pile and boy did that kickstart some serious compost making (allowing me to achieve all new composting highs). Mulched grass is good for your lawn, so most of the time we allow the clippings to remain there, but come fall the bagger is going to be my best friend.

We have a tough time growing a good lawn. We have really sandy soil, use only organic fertilizers and have two large dogs using it as a bathroom, so the kind of lawn we can have can be somewhat limited. I really think our lawn is looking better than ever this year and I attribute that to leaving the lawn longer. Yes, I admit, in the past we were lawn scalpers. That's because mowing the lawn was such a pain and took so long that we'd just cut it short to extend the time between mowings. But now that it is easy and quick to mow, we're leaving it longer and the grass is much better for it.

Here's the technical language you need to know: This is a paid endorsement. I have been compensated and provided with the product free of charge in return for my honest opinion. Here's what I have to say about that: You know I will always give you my real opinion on anything I review and this is no different. On top of that, Troy-Bilt went out of their way to make it clear that they wanted a REAL review, whether it be good or bad. 

SMITTEN WITH SOUTHERN CHARM

What are the components of a great trip? Great people, a beautiful garden, amazing food and an exciting and completely charming city are good places to start. Throw in some power tools and you've got a fantastic experience and one that I was fortunate to have earlier this month when I ventured to Charleston, South Carolina, to be with the Troy-Bilt Saturday6 blogging team.

To say I am smitten with Charleston, which I was visiting for the first time, would be putting it mildly. But before we get to some of what I discovered in the city, in addition to the amazing food, let's get to the cool part: power tools. 

Prepare to be envious. We went to a rice plantation, Middleton Place, and got to spend the better part of a day playing with dozens of Troy-Bilt products. We mowed, rode, tilled, mowed some more, blew, pressure washed and trimmed on a little corner of a national historic landmark property all in the name of familiarizing ourselves with Troy-Bilt's line of products. 

The FLEX system starts with a Power Base (note the foldable handles to make it even smaller to store) that clicks in to various attachments. You literally scoop up the attachment and it clicks in and you're ready to roll.

Rochelle Greayer of Pith and Vigor wields a mean power washer.

There were some standouts, the first of which is the company's new FLEX system. This is one of those ideas that you can't believe no one thought of before and you're sort of bummed it wasn't you who came up with it. FLEX consists of a power base that clicks in to various attachments, saving money as you add equipment to your collection and maybe even more important, space. Right now there are wide-area mower, snow thrower, pressure washer and leaf blower attachment but more attachments are coming down the pike. The Power Base costs $399 and the attachments range in price from $279 for the pressure washer and blower to $499 for the mower. That means it's probably not economical to go with the FLEX if you only need a mower, but the savings are realized as you add attachments. As I think about our small garage storage area full of a mower, snow thrower and pressure washer, I can't tell you how nice the space savings of the FLEX system would be. There is no doubt in my mind that if I were a new homeowner or someone starting out, FLEX would be the way to go. There's even a shelving unit to organize it all that appeals to my desire to be organized.

Kenny Point of Veggie Garden Tips tries out the FLEX mower. The front wheels spin 360 degrees which makes the mower very easy to handle but if you are mowing on an incline or aiming for super straight lines you just lock them into place.

The other product that really impressed me caught me by surprise. I was not expected to be excited by a tiller. In fact, I'm not really a tiller person. I don't believe in frequent tilling of soil, but they have their place when starting a new bed or when working in a lot of amendments. And I find them rather unpleasant to use. I always feel like I'm trying to control a bucking bronco when I'm using a tiller.

Enter the Bronco Axis tiller. Instead of the blades moving like a paddlewheel, they are actually vertical and rotate in a circle. This means that instead of needs shoulder surgery when you're finished tilling, you can actually walk next to the tiller, using just one hand to steer it, so you don't have to walk in the area you've just tilled. It sells for $899 and I'll be the first to admit that's a lot of money for tiller (other, more traditional Troy-Bilt tillers sell for between $400 and $599), but after trying the Bronco Axis, if I were in the market for a tiller I'd absolutely pony up the extra dough.

You can see the difference between a more traditional tiller, upper left, and the Bronco Axis, which has blades set vertically, upper right. Eric Rochow of GardenFork enjoyed the smooth ride.

But let's be honest, we were all chomping at the bit to to get on the riding mowers. There were three models for us to try: the Neighborhood Rider (a small rider targeted to people who have small yards but want a rider that stores in the same space as a walk behind), the Super Bronco XP and the new Mustang Pivot zero-turn mower. We buzzed all over the place and it was fun to see the differences between the different models. Of course we probably all had the most fun on the zero-turn mower, which has a wheel instead of the bars you see landscapers use. This makes it much easier to operate (apparently the bars take a little practice), but what I really liked the most was being able to see right in front of the mower since the engine was in the back (and the cup holders).

Teresa O'Connor of Seasonal Wisdom puts the Neighborhood Rider through its paces.

With the lawn sufficiently mowed (I sort of wonder if a grounds crew was lurking nearby shuddering), we took a tour of the fabulous Middleton Place. I ask for your forgiveness in advance because you are about to see a lot of picture of camellias. It was the first time I'd ever seen one in person and camellias, which are sort of otherworldly in that they look so perfect they almost look fake, were a sight for sore eyes for a flower-starved northern gardener.

Isn't this just so southern? The Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides, an epiphyte that causes no damage to trees) is so romantic.

This live oak may be more than 500 years old. A few years ago it lost a couple of large branches and arborists from around the country consulted on its care. If you look to the right you can see the low brach is being supported by a crutch and wires help support other parts of the tree.

As you leave the formal French gardens, you come across this perfect framing of a view. When you walk around, you see this charming wood nymph statue. I love how someone has put a camellia blossom in her hand.

I was fascinated by this lovely bark on the crepe myrtles.

Although the original house is gone, it was set here, with a perfect view of the Ashley River.

As we were walking, we happened upon this scene; a hat casually set on an original brick wall. I have no idea who it belonged to, but it feels like a gardener has just set it down before taking a break.

The old stableyards ooze plantation charm.

This guy saw us coming and immediately put on a show. (OK, it was probably for the girls just out of the shot, who were far more interested in eating than admiring him.)

I also had several hours one morning to explore the city. I probably put on six or seven miles, with no real idea of where I was going, just running in to one charming vista after another.

Kim from Sand & Sisal took the same picture but I have no idea when. I think it's funny that we both happened upon the same place. I've never been a big fan of ivy but window boxes like these could change my mind. 

There are some gorgeous private gardens, on view just through the fence.

Check out those fantastic pillars.

Fantastic details abound in Charleston. Not only would I love to live on a street called Ropemakers Lane, but I'd really like this marble street sign to mark my street. This marble-cased window might be the coolest window ever.

I told you I was smitten. Between the gorgeous gardens, charming historic detail and the amazing food (I can't even describe how good it was but I'm pretty sure I had the finest bread pudding ever), I can't wait to go back to Charleston.

My trip was provided by Troy-Bilt, but you know how I roll and they didn't tell us what to think or what to write (I'm just guessing they wouldn't have required as many photos of camellias if they had). For more on my partnership with Troy-Bilt, read this post.

Check out my fellow Saturday6 bloggers for their take on the Charleston trip. Just promise to pretend not to see the unflattering photos of me. Oh my gosh, what was I thinking when I got dressed that morning? I need a stylist or at least someone to give me some fashion advice. I'm not kidding.

Rochelle at Pith and Vigor
Teresa at Seasonal Wisdom
Eric at GardenFork
Kenny at Veggie Gardening Tips
Kim at Sand & Sisal