It's been so hot and dry (around 105) these last few weeks that pretty much all I've been able to do is sit in the air conditioning and dream of next year. I have kept my containers watered, and the Roma tomatoes are still rolling in. There are a few other goodies cooking as well. We actually did eat twice out of the garden this week. Monday I cooked up the rest of the yellow squash in the refrigerator as well as the first of our green beans. Tuesday I made gumbo with my tomatoes, onions, and pepper. But the okra was from my uncle's garden since I didn't get that planted in time. It was all super yummy and awesome to enjoy the fruits of my labor. Unfortunately, someone broke a water main this week so combined with the drought, we had a outdoor watering ban. It looks like it has been lifted, so tomorrow I'll see what there is to see.
So, with enjoying the fruits of my labors and not enjoying the heat, I have been dreaming and reading. After reading many people's opinions, here are the tomato varieties I'd like to try next year. (Well, not all of them...I need to narrow the list down.)
1. An early good producer: Early Girl or Rutgers
2. Roma (of course...I was quite happy with that one this year)
3. Cherry: Sweet 100 or Grape or Sungold
4. Other yummy sounding ones to look for: Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Mortgage Lifter, Kellogg's Breakfast
5. A good bicolor: Marvel Stripe or Burracker's Favorite
I know I will grow 4 plants in between my roses. I probably will also grow my Roma in a container again as well as one other if I can find one on the list that's a determinate. (probably one of the cherry varieties) Or, maybe I'll just grow 2 Roma's so I'll definitely have enough to can for sauce.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Saturday, August 18, 2007
August Visual Report
These pictures were taken today. You can tell what a big difference the heat and lack of rain has made on the plants. There still are some positive notes however...
Friday, August 17, 2007
Harvest Slowdown
Just as I thought we were starting to have a peak in harvest, it got hot dry again again. These last couple of weeks temps have been averaging at 105. Irregardless, I had an abundance of yellow squash and corn. (The squirrels were kind enough to save us 3 or 4 ears. grr...) And the green beans were starting to really come in as well.
I had started lettuce, spinach, mustard, and collards again, but the heat has not left many survivors. Now the garden is looking rather sad all the way around. We are starting to get bell peppers and lots of Roma tomatoes. There are also a couple more eggplants forming. (The previous eggplant was a little green, so I will wait a little while to pick.) The squash and beans are still good, just stressed from the heat. The corn is finished for the season. And I just read an interesting squirrel remedy to try next year. Once the ears are beginning to form, wrap packing tape loosely around each ear. The squirrels can't peel down the taped husks. I can't wait to try it... hee hee hee! Now if only there were a good way to stop Mr. Mockingbird's tomato pecking. Guess I'll be picking up some bird netting when I get my fall seeds/plants.
I had started lettuce, spinach, mustard, and collards again, but the heat has not left many survivors. Now the garden is looking rather sad all the way around. We are starting to get bell peppers and lots of Roma tomatoes. There are also a couple more eggplants forming. (The previous eggplant was a little green, so I will wait a little while to pick.) The squash and beans are still good, just stressed from the heat. The corn is finished for the season. And I just read an interesting squirrel remedy to try next year. Once the ears are beginning to form, wrap packing tape loosely around each ear. The squirrels can't peel down the taped husks. I can't wait to try it... hee hee hee! Now if only there were a good way to stop Mr. Mockingbird's tomato pecking. Guess I'll be picking up some bird netting when I get my fall seeds/plants.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Who's in the Corn?
My corn is producing nicely. Unfortunately, we haven't really gotten any. Not only are there ants, Japanese beetles, and cornworms in it, something is actually peeling down the husks and eating it before I can get to it. My biggest suspect is the squirrels. Grr...
Otherwise, I'm harvesting yellow squash regularly and the zucchini and beans are starting to flower.
On the porch, I have one small eggplant which I think is ready. I was hoping for it to get bigger. I found a HUGE hornworm on my bell pepper plant, so now it's starting to produce again as well.
Otherwise, I'm harvesting yellow squash regularly and the zucchini and beans are starting to flower.
On the porch, I have one small eggplant which I think is ready. I was hoping for it to get bigger. I found a HUGE hornworm on my bell pepper plant, so now it's starting to produce again as well.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Feeding & Planting
I finally found a fertilizer to try on my container plants. It's fish based and completely organic: 4-6-6 + 6 of calcium to help with blossom end rot. Hopefully things will start producing better soon. My Roma tomato still happens to be doing well though. It has lots of fruit in all stages.
I also planted some spinach and Green Ice lettuce in containers this week, and they're already starting to come up.
My corn is producing a couple of ears already as well. So, hopefully we'll be out of the harvest rut very soon.
I also planted some spinach and Green Ice lettuce in containers this week, and they're already starting to come up.
My corn is producing a couple of ears already as well. So, hopefully we'll be out of the harvest rut very soon.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Gardenweb Notes
1. The tiny shotgun like holes in the eggplant leaves are probably from flea beetles. Neem oil might help. Feeding the plant to keep it strong will help better.
to be continued...
to be continued...
Catching Up
Today I dug up my onions. They are pretty small, but my mom's were too and she said they were still good. I'm sure with more water and food they will turn out nicer next year. I also thinned out my carrots. I read on Gardenweb that someone cooked her thinnings and enjoyed them very much. I only have enough for a small taste, but I am looking forward to steaming them. Then, I pulled up my peas and sad broccoli and weeded the rest of the bed. I was very pleased that the soil was soft and crumbly. It defintely is improving over time.
I transplanted one of the zuccini plants over to the hill with only one plant. Hopefully it will take to its new home nicely.
I forgot to mention that I dusted both beds with diatomaceous earth a few days ago. It is supposed to cut up the ant's exoskeletons so they won't be a problem. However, I noticed there are still a lot of ants on my corn and around. This doesn't seem to be working. So far, they don't seem to be too big of a problem as far as ruining the plants, so hopefully I won't really have to worry about them.
I transplanted one of the zuccini plants over to the hill with only one plant. Hopefully it will take to its new home nicely.
I forgot to mention that I dusted both beds with diatomaceous earth a few days ago. It is supposed to cut up the ant's exoskeletons so they won't be a problem. However, I noticed there are still a lot of ants on my corn and around. This doesn't seem to be working. So far, they don't seem to be too big of a problem as far as ruining the plants, so hopefully I won't really have to worry about them.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Transitioning to Summer
Summer is just about officially here. We've finally been having some good summer showers. But it looks like we are still over a foot below normal in rainfall here this year.
My peas are all wilted off and the onions should have been dug a couple weeks ago. I've harvested 3 peppers and 3 cucumbers, and there are another couple of cukes just about ready. My roma tomatoes are /finally/ starting to turn red, and the other tomatoes are flowering.
The three sisters plot is really starting to look like something also. The corn is waist high, the beans are slower, but steady. And the squash I planted two weeks ago is starting to put out true leaves. I'm having issues with someone eating the plants, so I only have one butternut plant and three or four zucchini. I'm pondering transplanting one zucchini to even out the hills.
My main problem is that the current flowers on my tomatoes, pepper, and eggplant are not seeming to set fruit. I'm sure I need to fertilize them. I've been reading that plants in containers get the nutrients washed out from all the extra watering they need. After much research, I think I need a high K fertilizer. The best suggestion from my books seems to be liquid seaweed. So, I'll see what I can find this next week.
I've been fighting sickness, so everything is so behind. I hope it's not too late to plant okra. I think I'm going to get some plants this year instead of starting from seed. This week I want to:
1. Weed & pull up old peas & broccoli for compost.
2. Dig up onions.
3. Plant okra and broccoli plants.
4. Plant spinich, lettuce, mustard, & collards in containers.
5. While I'm shopping I might buy some herb plants to pot in containers also. I'd like to start with mint, basil, & rosemary. We'll see what there is.
My peas are all wilted off and the onions should have been dug a couple weeks ago. I've harvested 3 peppers and 3 cucumbers, and there are another couple of cukes just about ready. My roma tomatoes are /finally/ starting to turn red, and the other tomatoes are flowering.
The three sisters plot is really starting to look like something also. The corn is waist high, the beans are slower, but steady. And the squash I planted two weeks ago is starting to put out true leaves. I'm having issues with someone eating the plants, so I only have one butternut plant and three or four zucchini. I'm pondering transplanting one zucchini to even out the hills.
My main problem is that the current flowers on my tomatoes, pepper, and eggplant are not seeming to set fruit. I'm sure I need to fertilize them. I've been reading that plants in containers get the nutrients washed out from all the extra watering they need. After much research, I think I need a high K fertilizer. The best suggestion from my books seems to be liquid seaweed. So, I'll see what I can find this next week.
I've been fighting sickness, so everything is so behind. I hope it's not too late to plant okra. I think I'm going to get some plants this year instead of starting from seed. This week I want to:
1. Weed & pull up old peas & broccoli for compost.
2. Dig up onions.
3. Plant okra and broccoli plants.
4. Plant spinich, lettuce, mustard, & collards in containers.
5. While I'm shopping I might buy some herb plants to pot in containers also. I'd like to start with mint, basil, & rosemary. We'll see what there is.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Third Sister
We had a wonderful downpour of rain Friday evening. Yay! Unfortunately, it seems to have cut down a few of my corn stalks (or maybe something else did?) Otherwise the rest of the corn & beans loved it.
I planted the third sister, squash, today. Three sections of straightneck yellow on the left. Two of Black Beauty zuccini in the middle. Three sections of Burpee's Bush butternut on the right.
On a side note: I also finally started my compost pile behind the shed.
I planted the third sister, squash, today. Three sections of straightneck yellow on the left. Two of Black Beauty zuccini in the middle. Three sections of Burpee's Bush butternut on the right.
On a side note: I also finally started my compost pile behind the shed.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Monday, June 11, 2007
Second Sister
The pole beans are up today! Yay! The three sister's plot is starting to look really cool! I've been fighting sickness, but I will be planting the third sister as soon as I can.
I also fed my bell pepper, Mr. Stripey tomatoes, and eggplant with some bone & blood meal. Some of the lower leaves on one of the tomatoes and the eggplant are turning yellow, so I hope that they just need a little boost. I had forgot to note it, but I had already fertilized my cucumbers in May. They seem to be growing nicely now. Lots of flowers and baby cukes. Although, they seem to not be growing much bigger too fast...
And... I received my books from Amazon today! I used a birthday gift certificate and got my own copy of the Rodale's Illustrated Organic Gardening and Lasagna Gardening. Yippie!
Now if I can only feel good enough to get some work done both in my garden and otherwise. I'm really falling behind.
I also fed my bell pepper, Mr. Stripey tomatoes, and eggplant with some bone & blood meal. Some of the lower leaves on one of the tomatoes and the eggplant are turning yellow, so I hope that they just need a little boost. I had forgot to note it, but I had already fertilized my cucumbers in May. They seem to be growing nicely now. Lots of flowers and baby cukes. Although, they seem to not be growing much bigger too fast...
And... I received my books from Amazon today! I used a birthday gift certificate and got my own copy of the Rodale's Illustrated Organic Gardening and Lasagna Gardening. Yippie!
Now if I can only feel good enough to get some work done both in my garden and otherwise. I'm really falling behind.
Friday, June 8, 2007
Companion Planting
Tuesday I planted the second sister, Kentucky Wonder pole beans, in my lasagna garden. The corn is really taking off for the most part. It's about 6 in. high. (Although a couple mounds have tiny 2-3 in. plants. You can tell where most of the nutrients ended up.)
In the excitement of wanting to discover more on companion planting, I checked out Carrots Love Tomatoes from the library. Although kind of a hard book to follow at first because it's in alphabetical order by topic/plant/pest/etc., it had a lot in interesting info plus a suggested garden plan. The nice thing was that the author is from Southern Oklahoma, so it's one of the few books I've discovered that actually discusses okra, peanuts, sweet potatoes, and even cotton.
I took a lot of notes, copied a few pages, and recharted a possible long term plan for my garden. Here are some basics that I will definitely try either this year or next:
1. Tomatoes and garlic can be planted practically on top of each other. Not only does the garlic help ward off pests for the tomato, they both can be planted with roses to help with aphids, black spot and other nasties.
2. The brassica group (cabbage, broccoli, etc.) gets a lot of help from the aromatic herbs such as dill, mint, sage, thyme, basil, and rosemary.
3. Onions should be rotated with the other root crops such as carrots & beets, not with the legumes as my other chart had showed. Carrots & onions together confuse their separate pests. (Score one for me. I actually did that this year for no good reason.)
4. The three sisters plan was mentioned several times. It's a good plan, and I'm sticking to it for now.
5. Strawberries should be interplanted with spinach.
6. Sunflowers can be happily underplanted with melons. I will attempt canteloupe next year maybe.
In the excitement of wanting to discover more on companion planting, I checked out Carrots Love Tomatoes from the library. Although kind of a hard book to follow at first because it's in alphabetical order by topic/plant/pest/etc., it had a lot in interesting info plus a suggested garden plan. The nice thing was that the author is from Southern Oklahoma, so it's one of the few books I've discovered that actually discusses okra, peanuts, sweet potatoes, and even cotton.
I took a lot of notes, copied a few pages, and recharted a possible long term plan for my garden. Here are some basics that I will definitely try either this year or next:
1. Tomatoes and garlic can be planted practically on top of each other. Not only does the garlic help ward off pests for the tomato, they both can be planted with roses to help with aphids, black spot and other nasties.
2. The brassica group (cabbage, broccoli, etc.) gets a lot of help from the aromatic herbs such as dill, mint, sage, thyme, basil, and rosemary.
3. Onions should be rotated with the other root crops such as carrots & beets, not with the legumes as my other chart had showed. Carrots & onions together confuse their separate pests. (Score one for me. I actually did that this year for no good reason.)
4. The three sisters plan was mentioned several times. It's a good plan, and I'm sticking to it for now.
5. Strawberries should be interplanted with spinach.
6. Sunflowers can be happily underplanted with melons. I will attempt canteloupe next year maybe.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Rose Thrips
My roses came up beautifully last week. Well, almost beautifully. There are lots of blooms, but it looked like the tips were rotted brown. After some looking, I discovered that they are being invaded by thrips.
Today, I looked at the blooms carefully. Sure enough, there were tons of tiny brown bugs all over. Eww... According to what I read, these are worse when the plants are stressed because it has been severely hot and dry. So, too much rain=black spot and too much drought=thrips. Great...
I pruned off all the blooms to kill off what I could. Then I pulled away the mulch from the crowns and applied Bayer All-in-One fertilizer for Roses. This is my second treatment for the year. It's supposed to fertilize, plus prevent against various rose pests and diseases, including black spot and thrips.
Hopefully the next round of blossoms will look better.
Today, I looked at the blooms carefully. Sure enough, there were tons of tiny brown bugs all over. Eww... According to what I read, these are worse when the plants are stressed because it has been severely hot and dry. So, too much rain=black spot and too much drought=thrips. Great...
I pruned off all the blooms to kill off what I could. Then I pulled away the mulch from the crowns and applied Bayer All-in-One fertilizer for Roses. This is my second treatment for the year. It's supposed to fertilize, plus prevent against various rose pests and diseases, including black spot and thrips.
Hopefully the next round of blossoms will look better.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
The Good:
1. Still picking tons of peas. Looking forward to cooking them this weekend.
2. Cleaned up dead bulb foliage from front flower bed today, and planted marigolds.
The Bad:
Original raised bed has always had problems with ants. Ideas from garden web: Orange oil, Diatomaceous Earth (crushed shell calcium), coffee grounds, or Auntie Fueg0 soil conditioner (mixture of compost tea, orange oil and molasses). All should be found the organic garden sections and if nothing else should enhance the soil.
The Ugly:
Found cabbage loopers (inchworms) eating my broccoli. Two plants have tons of holes in the leaves, and I picked off three of them. I learned that insects are more likely to attack stressed/sick plants--which my broccoli is. Lady bugs are natural predators. There are a ton on my daisies, so I think I will move some to a new home this weekend. If things get bad I can use Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) for caterpillars.
Note to self: Next thing to learn more about is companion planting. One good website is Plants That Attract Beneficial Insects. Many of these plants are herbs, so perhaps that will influence me to get going with fresh herb growing faster. Other major flowers are Queen's Anne Lace, Sunflowers, Marigolds, and Yarrow. One book that was recommended is Carrots Love Tomatoes by Louise Riotte as well as her second book Roses Love Garlic for flowers.
1. Still picking tons of peas. Looking forward to cooking them this weekend.
2. Cleaned up dead bulb foliage from front flower bed today, and planted marigolds.
The Bad:
Original raised bed has always had problems with ants. Ideas from garden web: Orange oil, Diatomaceous Earth (crushed shell calcium), coffee grounds, or Auntie Fueg0 soil conditioner (mixture of compost tea, orange oil and molasses). All should be found the organic garden sections and if nothing else should enhance the soil.
The Ugly:
Found cabbage loopers (inchworms) eating my broccoli. Two plants have tons of holes in the leaves, and I picked off three of them. I learned that insects are more likely to attack stressed/sick plants--which my broccoli is. Lady bugs are natural predators. There are a ton on my daisies, so I think I will move some to a new home this weekend. If things get bad I can use Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) for caterpillars.
Note to self: Next thing to learn more about is companion planting. One good website is Plants That Attract Beneficial Insects. Many of these plants are herbs, so perhaps that will influence me to get going with fresh herb growing faster. Other major flowers are Queen's Anne Lace, Sunflowers, Marigolds, and Yarrow. One book that was recommended is Carrots Love Tomatoes by Louise Riotte as well as her second book Roses Love Garlic for flowers.
Building a Lasagna Bed
Here's some step by step photos of my first attempt to create a "lasagna" type bed. I should have started this much earlier to let the layers "cook" for better compost. By the time I really started a decent enough collection of materials it was already getting late in the season.
Basically, I collected everything I could round up that was organic. I bought some composted cow manure and a couple of bales of peat moss to give it a decent start. And then I left it for about a week before planting corn last Monday. I should have made a few more layers than I did. Irregardless, I used what I had and what I could afford to buy. I didn't want to use a lot of peat moss as is suggested in the book because it's a very slow growing resource and kind of expensive.
Now that I'm in the composting mode, I will be starting a pile behind the shed. My goal is to go ahead and start another bed this summer and then gradually pile onto that over the year. Then, it will have cooked much more sufficiently like compost should.
It will be interesting to see how well this truly does.
Basically, I collected everything I could round up that was organic. I bought some composted cow manure and a couple of bales of peat moss to give it a decent start. And then I left it for about a week before planting corn last Monday. I should have made a few more layers than I did. Irregardless, I used what I had and what I could afford to buy. I didn't want to use a lot of peat moss as is suggested in the book because it's a very slow growing resource and kind of expensive.
Now that I'm in the composting mode, I will be starting a pile behind the shed. My goal is to go ahead and start another bed this summer and then gradually pile onto that over the year. Then, it will have cooked much more sufficiently like compost should.
It will be interesting to see how well this truly does.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Growing, growing, growing...
Notes from this week:
1. Sunflowers are all up and doing nicely.
2. Daylilies are transplanted. They looked a little wilty today, but hopefully will establish over the weekend. Maybe they'll start blooming this weekend too. :)
3. The few zinnias that are up are slow but steady. There are a few more than before...that's at least something. Next week I will plant marigolds in the bare spots. Hopefully it won't look too funky in the next month or so.
4. Started picking peas this week. Don't have quite enough to cook yet, but they're steadily coming. Next time I will plant another row, I think.
5. Lasagna bed is just about as done as it's going to be for now. I'm starting to doubt that it's less work, but hopefully the hard part is done. I will plant corn early this next week.
6. Roma tomato & cucumbers are blossoming already. Yay!
7. Strawberries are steadily putting out more leaves for the most part. I think what's left will last, although I certainly won't get any berries this year. I was told on Gardenweb that I shouldn't use the growing bags. I think I will try to keep them happy now that it's summer, and put them in a huge pot this fall.
1. Sunflowers are all up and doing nicely.
2. Daylilies are transplanted. They looked a little wilty today, but hopefully will establish over the weekend. Maybe they'll start blooming this weekend too. :)
3. The few zinnias that are up are slow but steady. There are a few more than before...that's at least something. Next week I will plant marigolds in the bare spots. Hopefully it won't look too funky in the next month or so.
4. Started picking peas this week. Don't have quite enough to cook yet, but they're steadily coming. Next time I will plant another row, I think.
5. Lasagna bed is just about as done as it's going to be for now. I'm starting to doubt that it's less work, but hopefully the hard part is done. I will plant corn early this next week.
6. Roma tomato & cucumbers are blossoming already. Yay!
7. Strawberries are steadily putting out more leaves for the most part. I think what's left will last, although I certainly won't get any berries this year. I was told on Gardenweb that I shouldn't use the growing bags. I think I will try to keep them happy now that it's summer, and put them in a huge pot this fall.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Plant Recovery
It's been hot and dry this last week or so. We really, really need rain. I got my sunflowers planted and a few zinnia seedlings are up. It seems like I had more zinnias than I do now, but there's still not very many. Something is trying to eat them. But, I think the seedlings also need more frequent watering to get started. I will give them another several days and then try to plant marigolds where there are holes. Hopefully it won't end up looking too funny once I'm all done. I really need to get some daylilies from my mom's garden transplanted. Hopefully it's not too late yet.
My crapemyrtle is recovering, sort of. There are lots of new canes coming from the rootball. Unfortunately, the original branches look quite dead. I have this bad feeling I'm going to have to start completely over and wait a few years just for the tree to be the height it was supposed to be this year.
The raised bed is starting to look quite nice. The peas have finally taken off. There are tons of flowers and quite a few pods forming. I'm hoping we'll have fresh peas for supper next week. The broccoli is looking better as well, although it looks like a couple plants are buttoning off from the stress. Sunday I will probably have to cut them. The only real concern in this bed is my romaine. The extreme cold to hot seems to have put them in a stasis. The leaves look dotted or something as well. I haven't looked up what I can do for them yet.
My containers are doing great as well for the most part. I've harvested my spinach again as well as the mustard and collards. Here again, my lettuce is slow probably because of the heat.
My main concern right now is my strawberries. They came up wonderfully and survived the cold snap inside. But, then they started turning brown and dieing off a few days before I got them outside again. Some plants look okay, but I've lost about half of them. I tried to transplant two of my nice ones from a pot into the growing bag. I didn't do anymore because I wasn't sure if that was too healthy. So far they look okay though. The soil inside the bag was pretty wet, so perhaps they were suffering from some root rot? I really don't know what the problem is or what to do.
I finally registered an account at Garden Web I'm going to take some pictures tomorrow to record here as well as hopefully to get some answers about my strawberries and crapemyrtle.
I also started laying out my new lasagna garden bed. It's about 7x12', and I will try the three sisters method with corn, pole beans, and squash. It should be really interesting combining methods. I hope I can build one more small 8x8 bed next to my current one for okra and cantaloupe. I'm getting so late though; that probably isn't going to happen. My long term goal is to have 4 big beds for rotation and the two small ones for strawberries, asparagus, and herbs. If I get one bed built per year, that will be another 4-5 years down the road...
Goals for this week:
1. Finish building lasagna bed and plant corn.
2. Dig up daylilies and transfer.
3. Find answers to my strawberry dilemma.
My crapemyrtle is recovering, sort of. There are lots of new canes coming from the rootball. Unfortunately, the original branches look quite dead. I have this bad feeling I'm going to have to start completely over and wait a few years just for the tree to be the height it was supposed to be this year.
The raised bed is starting to look quite nice. The peas have finally taken off. There are tons of flowers and quite a few pods forming. I'm hoping we'll have fresh peas for supper next week. The broccoli is looking better as well, although it looks like a couple plants are buttoning off from the stress. Sunday I will probably have to cut them. The only real concern in this bed is my romaine. The extreme cold to hot seems to have put them in a stasis. The leaves look dotted or something as well. I haven't looked up what I can do for them yet.
My containers are doing great as well for the most part. I've harvested my spinach again as well as the mustard and collards. Here again, my lettuce is slow probably because of the heat.
My main concern right now is my strawberries. They came up wonderfully and survived the cold snap inside. But, then they started turning brown and dieing off a few days before I got them outside again. Some plants look okay, but I've lost about half of them. I tried to transplant two of my nice ones from a pot into the growing bag. I didn't do anymore because I wasn't sure if that was too healthy. So far they look okay though. The soil inside the bag was pretty wet, so perhaps they were suffering from some root rot? I really don't know what the problem is or what to do.
I finally registered an account at Garden Web I'm going to take some pictures tomorrow to record here as well as hopefully to get some answers about my strawberries and crapemyrtle.
I also started laying out my new lasagna garden bed. It's about 7x12', and I will try the three sisters method with corn, pole beans, and squash. It should be really interesting combining methods. I hope I can build one more small 8x8 bed next to my current one for okra and cantaloupe. I'm getting so late though; that probably isn't going to happen. My long term goal is to have 4 big beds for rotation and the two small ones for strawberries, asparagus, and herbs. If I get one bed built per year, that will be another 4-5 years down the road...
Goals for this week:
1. Finish building lasagna bed and plant corn.
2. Dig up daylilies and transfer.
3. Find answers to my strawberry dilemma.
Friday, April 27, 2007
It's spring...no it's winter...no it's spring!
At the time of my last post, March 31, it was 80 degrees. The windows stayed open, my plants were happily coming out, and the lilacs down the road were georgous. Then we packed up for Oklahoma to celebrate Easter and it snowed! It felt like January for a whole week. When I got back, half of my peas and my crape myrtle looked dead. The broccoli didn't look much better. The other seedlings were fortunately just suspended in time. And my Bradford pear trees were starting to turn color. I'm sure they were thinking summer was rather short this year.
I was really worried about this setback. Fortunately my strawberries had been brought inside, but what was I going to do if all my plants died.? So, I saw on the news that night that I should fertilize my shrubs and they would be as good as new. Now that the warm temperatures are here to stay (hopefully), my roses are starting new canes and leaves, and there is a new cane from the crape myrtle as well. I'm hoping that it will have new growth on the original shrub though. I want it to grow up to be a tree, not bushy.
Since the broccoli was turning red and yellow, I determined they needed some nitrogen. At least I think so. In the end I couldn't decide which would be better, so I got a combonation of bone & blood meal to fertilize the peas & broccoli. Hopefully, next week I will see a good improvement.
Now that it's warm again, the lettuce and carrots and everything else are growing happily again. It looks like I will have to replant part of a row of romaine and peas. Hopefully, it's not too late for that. We'll see what happens.
This week I bought my vegi plants for containers: bush cucumbers, Mr. Stripey tomato, roma tomato, bell pepper, and eggplant. I haven't gotten them planted yet, so that will be my first project this next week.
I also am finally setting aside my kitchen scraps for compost. I've been wanting to compost for some time, and I finally found a good container to save the kitchen scraps in and seal pests out. I am trying to collect a lot of various organic matter in a hurry so that I can start my lasagne bed in the next couple of weeks.
I did get zinnas planted in my front flower bed. It looks like the free poppies I got will never come up. Oh well, you get what you pay for. I also got the bed in front of the office dug up. I need to break up the clay and maybe add some good soil and then I will plant sunflowers there. That will be project #2 next week.
And to end on a happy note, I harvested my first spinach of this spring today. We enjoyed a wonderful spinach and sliced egg salad with a Greek Vinigrette dressing for supper. Yummy with no recalls in sight. Isn't organic wonderful?
To Remember: I have been enjoying a wonderful couple of blogs by FarmGirl. She left her city life in southern California to homestead in Missouri. She now is an organic sheep farmer with a few cows and a huge garden. Amazingly, she has time to be a gormet chef at home and teach cooking classes. Her blogs are: Farmgirl Fare & In My Kitchen Garden
Today's readings influenced me to try Swiss Chard and to check out The Vegetable Gardener's Bible by Edward C. Smith.
I was really worried about this setback. Fortunately my strawberries had been brought inside, but what was I going to do if all my plants died.? So, I saw on the news that night that I should fertilize my shrubs and they would be as good as new. Now that the warm temperatures are here to stay (hopefully), my roses are starting new canes and leaves, and there is a new cane from the crape myrtle as well. I'm hoping that it will have new growth on the original shrub though. I want it to grow up to be a tree, not bushy.
Since the broccoli was turning red and yellow, I determined they needed some nitrogen. At least I think so. In the end I couldn't decide which would be better, so I got a combonation of bone & blood meal to fertilize the peas & broccoli. Hopefully, next week I will see a good improvement.
Now that it's warm again, the lettuce and carrots and everything else are growing happily again. It looks like I will have to replant part of a row of romaine and peas. Hopefully, it's not too late for that. We'll see what happens.
This week I bought my vegi plants for containers: bush cucumbers, Mr. Stripey tomato, roma tomato, bell pepper, and eggplant. I haven't gotten them planted yet, so that will be my first project this next week.
I also am finally setting aside my kitchen scraps for compost. I've been wanting to compost for some time, and I finally found a good container to save the kitchen scraps in and seal pests out. I am trying to collect a lot of various organic matter in a hurry so that I can start my lasagne bed in the next couple of weeks.
I did get zinnas planted in my front flower bed. It looks like the free poppies I got will never come up. Oh well, you get what you pay for. I also got the bed in front of the office dug up. I need to break up the clay and maybe add some good soil and then I will plant sunflowers there. That will be project #2 next week.
And to end on a happy note, I harvested my first spinach of this spring today. We enjoyed a wonderful spinach and sliced egg salad with a Greek Vinigrette dressing for supper. Yummy with no recalls in sight. Isn't organic wonderful?
To Remember: I have been enjoying a wonderful couple of blogs by FarmGirl. She left her city life in southern California to homestead in Missouri. She now is an organic sheep farmer with a few cows and a huge garden. Amazingly, she has time to be a gormet chef at home and teach cooking classes. Her blogs are: Farmgirl Fare & In My Kitchen Garden
Today's readings influenced me to try Swiss Chard and to check out The Vegetable Gardener's Bible by Edward C. Smith.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
It's Spring!
My strawberry plants came this week, and all my seedlings are up and doing well so far. I fertilized my broccoli plants this week. I also planted my last half row of peas, carrots, and romaine lettuce.
On a non edible side, I pruned my roses down to pretty much nothing last week because of the terrible black spot from last year. Now if only it would rain...
On a non edible side, I pruned my roses down to pretty much nothing last week because of the terrible black spot from last year. Now if only it would rain...
Sunday, March 18, 2007
New Techiques
I wanted to record a technique that I read about and want to try this year.
Three Sisters Planting: In this month's Park Seed newsletter, there was a description of a great companion planting technique that the Native Americans used. The three sisters are corn, beans and squash. They are planted in mounds. Two stalks of corn are planted on the top. About two weeks later, a few pole beans are planted. The beans will climb up the corn and fix nitrogen for the soil. A couple of weeks later, a few plants from the squash family are planted at the bottom. The squash provides weed control for the beans and the corn.
I also bought 25 strawberry plants and two growing bags last week. With the growing bags, I can just hang them up from the top of the porch. No worry about weeds. I'm probably a little late getting started, but hopefully they will arrive soon and I won't be too late.
It looks like most of my seeds are beginning to come up. Yay!
Three Sisters Planting: In this month's Park Seed newsletter, there was a description of a great companion planting technique that the Native Americans used. The three sisters are corn, beans and squash. They are planted in mounds. Two stalks of corn are planted on the top. About two weeks later, a few pole beans are planted. The beans will climb up the corn and fix nitrogen for the soil. A couple of weeks later, a few plants from the squash family are planted at the bottom. The squash provides weed control for the beans and the corn.
I also bought 25 strawberry plants and two growing bags last week. With the growing bags, I can just hang them up from the top of the porch. No worry about weeds. I'm probably a little late getting started, but hopefully they will arrive soon and I won't be too late.
It looks like most of my seeds are beginning to come up. Yay!
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Cool Season Planting
As usual, I'm a little late in posting what I have done, but not too late. Last Sunday, March 11, I planted my early spring vegies. In the raised bed I planted another half row of Alaska peas, 7 Packman broccoli plants, a half row of romaine lettuce, half row of carrots, and a little under 2 dozen sweet onion plants.
The first row of peas is starting to come up nicely. It was so cold after I planted the first half of the row that there's actually not much difference between halves. They're about 3 inches high at this point.
Unfortunately, I've noticed that something is randomly digging up my onions. Today it looked like about three were dug up. I'll try to replant them tomorrow. Grr...
I also planted bibb lettuce, collards, mustard greens, & spinach on the porch in containers.
The first row of peas is starting to come up nicely. It was so cold after I planted the first half of the row that there's actually not much difference between halves. They're about 3 inches high at this point.
Unfortunately, I've noticed that something is randomly digging up my onions. Today it looked like about three were dug up. I'll try to replant them tomorrow. Grr...
I also planted bibb lettuce, collards, mustard greens, & spinach on the porch in containers.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Goals for 2007
1. Cool season vegetables in raised bed: peas (followed by green beans), carrots, broccoli, onions, and garlic hopefully with room to plant a hill of butternut squash later. In August I hope to replant broccoli, peas, and maybe cabbage.
2. This year, I want to start a couple hanging growing bags of strawberries on the porch.
3. Other containers: Mr. Stripey & roma tomatoes, bell pepper, eggplant, collards, mustard, spinach, lettuce, cucumber, zucchini, & yellow squash This is pretty much the same as last year with the addition of eggplant.
4. I want to try the lasagne technique (where you build the soil up in layers instead of digging and amending). I plan to create a good size bed for corn and okra as my experimental crops.
So far, I have sown half a row of peas and started 4 broccoli seedlings in the house. Nothing that exciting to announce from either, but it's still February.
I have also found two GREAT books in the library that I would like for my own library.
*Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening -- This book has it all. Lots of pictures and charts and easy to follow descriptions for every aspect of gardening. It's truly and encyclopedia, and I know it will help me tons.
*Month-by-Month Gardening in Tennessee & Kentucky -- Nicely organized by garden type and month. Then further organized by planning, planting, water, etc. Super nice because it's hard to find information specific to this area. Lots of handy charts
2. This year, I want to start a couple hanging growing bags of strawberries on the porch.
3. Other containers: Mr. Stripey & roma tomatoes, bell pepper, eggplant, collards, mustard, spinach, lettuce, cucumber, zucchini, & yellow squash This is pretty much the same as last year with the addition of eggplant.
4. I want to try the lasagne technique (where you build the soil up in layers instead of digging and amending). I plan to create a good size bed for corn and okra as my experimental crops.
So far, I have sown half a row of peas and started 4 broccoli seedlings in the house. Nothing that exciting to announce from either, but it's still February.
I have also found two GREAT books in the library that I would like for my own library.
*Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening -- This book has it all. Lots of pictures and charts and easy to follow descriptions for every aspect of gardening. It's truly and encyclopedia, and I know it will help me tons.
*Month-by-Month Gardening in Tennessee & Kentucky -- Nicely organized by garden type and month. Then further organized by planning, planting, water, etc. Super nice because it's hard to find information specific to this area. Lots of handy charts
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Turning a Brown Thumb Green--Or--What I Have Learned From Past Experiments
Mostly I have been container gardening on my back porch. You don't need a huge garden when you are just feeding two of you, and I had seen a few books that suggested you can do quite a bit in a small space. So, I thought hey, no weeding and easy access for watering and picking. How nifty! What exactly can I get away with just putting in a five gallon bucket or some such thing? Besides this will help me learn about my plants up close and personal.
My first year, I discovered I could fairly successfully grow individual broccoli plants in containers (although they looked a little sickly). That year we lived on a wooded mountain with not a lot of sunlight coming through the trees. It was pretty, but not a happy situation for vegetables. I also sort of made a raised bed out of some fallen logs beside the house and planted a yellow squash plant. Without much sun it only managed to make one tiny squash.
Year two: We now lived in our very own house. This house came with one raised bed in the backyard. It obviously had not been used in several years however. The good thing was that there was a lot more sun. That year I was fairly successful with a tomato, yellow squash, zucchini, and mustard greens (each in a five gallon bucket on the back porch). I tried growing a couple okra plants in a bucket too. They grew okay, but don't have many pods per plant. This is one for a regular garden. I also cleared a small section of the weeds in the raised bed and attempted some broccoli, but the soil was very poor and I didn't water and feed them as I should.
Year three: Last year the real experiments began. One problem of note this year was that we had a ton of rain early in the spring and then a serious drought... Many gardens and farms around here suffered...
Back porch successes: Mr. Stripy tomato, Roma tomato, Green bell pepper (I even had enough to freeze for the winter.), mustard greens (although I planted a different species that was prickly and bloomed quickly--must look up that one for record), collard greens, and lettuce. The tomatoes and peppers started slowly and began with some blossom end rot. I read that they needed calcium and to crush up some eggshells for each plant. This helped them greatly.
Other back porch attempts: 1. cucumbers - actually grew quite well in a five gallon bucket, trained up a tomato cage and then over the porch railing, harvested a few but should have harvested them sooner to be more tender, definitely should have watered more regularly 2. beets - grew okay, but really need to have more room for the root to get adequately big 3. yellow squash - started great and harvested a few, but then it developed a fungus 4. garlic - I keep hearing that you can just break off a clove and plant it. Only one clove even ever came up, and after many months the bulb was super tiny. After several attempts, I have decided that a small pot is definitely not the way to go. I will try again this year in the raised bed. 5. peas - These actually grew quite well in a five gallon bucket trained up a tomato cage. But one bucketful of plants wasn't enough to do anything with. 6. broccoli - I started some seeds inside to transplant to pots in August. I also found some cheap broccoli plants later. The seedlings had to be kept away from green munching kitties, so they didn't get much sunlight. I was able to transplant 3 however, and they made an attempt at growing. The plants I bought did better, but still grew extremely slow. My uncle gave me some mushroom compost that he said would really help green leafy vegies. It helped them greatly, but by then it was too late and they were frozen. Two plants still are miraculously surviving, I think, so I'm curious to see if they'll revive at all when it gets warmer. 7. spinach - same problem as broccoli, not enough water or nutrients, mushroom compost too late to make a difference
Raised bed attempts: My neighbor saw me diligently hoeing weeds in the spring and kindly offered to rototill the whole thing. He went over the ground several times. I then added several bags of rotted cow manure and a little lime. I planted corn and okra. The corn started well, but only three okra plants even came up. I wasn't nearly as diligent about watering as I was with my containers on the back porch and nothing really came through our severe drought. In August, I hoed everything up and threw out a bunch of black-eyed peas just to see if they would sprout as a cover crop. Nope. But, at least I'm starting this year ahead of last year in the soil department.
Moving to the exotic: My husband happily brought home a banana plant a year ago with the goal of actually getting real bananas in Tennessee (ha ha). We kept it in the house until April and then repotted it and moved it to the back porch for the summer. The move should have been a little more gradual since it got a little sunburned, but it survived and grew nicely. In September we properly acclimated it back to the house where it continued to grow nicely until our cat decided he would help water it. No matter what I tried the winner was clear: cat 1, banana 0.
I also bought my husband an avocado tree for our anniversary last fall. This is a new cold hardy, dwarf species that claims to fruit in 14 months. So far it is still doing fairly well despite our cat's best endeavors. Hopefully it will make it another two months so we can put it outside where it will be safe.
My first year, I discovered I could fairly successfully grow individual broccoli plants in containers (although they looked a little sickly). That year we lived on a wooded mountain with not a lot of sunlight coming through the trees. It was pretty, but not a happy situation for vegetables. I also sort of made a raised bed out of some fallen logs beside the house and planted a yellow squash plant. Without much sun it only managed to make one tiny squash.
Year two: We now lived in our very own house. This house came with one raised bed in the backyard. It obviously had not been used in several years however. The good thing was that there was a lot more sun. That year I was fairly successful with a tomato, yellow squash, zucchini, and mustard greens (each in a five gallon bucket on the back porch). I tried growing a couple okra plants in a bucket too. They grew okay, but don't have many pods per plant. This is one for a regular garden. I also cleared a small section of the weeds in the raised bed and attempted some broccoli, but the soil was very poor and I didn't water and feed them as I should.
Year three: Last year the real experiments began. One problem of note this year was that we had a ton of rain early in the spring and then a serious drought... Many gardens and farms around here suffered...
Back porch successes: Mr. Stripy tomato, Roma tomato, Green bell pepper (I even had enough to freeze for the winter.), mustard greens (although I planted a different species that was prickly and bloomed quickly--must look up that one for record), collard greens, and lettuce. The tomatoes and peppers started slowly and began with some blossom end rot. I read that they needed calcium and to crush up some eggshells for each plant. This helped them greatly.
Other back porch attempts: 1. cucumbers - actually grew quite well in a five gallon bucket, trained up a tomato cage and then over the porch railing, harvested a few but should have harvested them sooner to be more tender, definitely should have watered more regularly 2. beets - grew okay, but really need to have more room for the root to get adequately big 3. yellow squash - started great and harvested a few, but then it developed a fungus 4. garlic - I keep hearing that you can just break off a clove and plant it. Only one clove even ever came up, and after many months the bulb was super tiny. After several attempts, I have decided that a small pot is definitely not the way to go. I will try again this year in the raised bed. 5. peas - These actually grew quite well in a five gallon bucket trained up a tomato cage. But one bucketful of plants wasn't enough to do anything with. 6. broccoli - I started some seeds inside to transplant to pots in August. I also found some cheap broccoli plants later. The seedlings had to be kept away from green munching kitties, so they didn't get much sunlight. I was able to transplant 3 however, and they made an attempt at growing. The plants I bought did better, but still grew extremely slow. My uncle gave me some mushroom compost that he said would really help green leafy vegies. It helped them greatly, but by then it was too late and they were frozen. Two plants still are miraculously surviving, I think, so I'm curious to see if they'll revive at all when it gets warmer. 7. spinach - same problem as broccoli, not enough water or nutrients, mushroom compost too late to make a difference
Raised bed attempts: My neighbor saw me diligently hoeing weeds in the spring and kindly offered to rototill the whole thing. He went over the ground several times. I then added several bags of rotted cow manure and a little lime. I planted corn and okra. The corn started well, but only three okra plants even came up. I wasn't nearly as diligent about watering as I was with my containers on the back porch and nothing really came through our severe drought. In August, I hoed everything up and threw out a bunch of black-eyed peas just to see if they would sprout as a cover crop. Nope. But, at least I'm starting this year ahead of last year in the soil department.
Moving to the exotic: My husband happily brought home a banana plant a year ago with the goal of actually getting real bananas in Tennessee (ha ha). We kept it in the house until April and then repotted it and moved it to the back porch for the summer. The move should have been a little more gradual since it got a little sunburned, but it survived and grew nicely. In September we properly acclimated it back to the house where it continued to grow nicely until our cat decided he would help water it. No matter what I tried the winner was clear: cat 1, banana 0.
I also bought my husband an avocado tree for our anniversary last fall. This is a new cold hardy, dwarf species that claims to fruit in 14 months. So far it is still doing fairly well despite our cat's best endeavors. Hopefully it will make it another two months so we can put it outside where it will be safe.
Journey Towards a Dream
I have always had a fascination with the Amish, hippies, survivalists . . . any type of people really that could live totally supporting themselves. It all started as a small child reading Little House on the Prairie where Laura Ingalls describes in great detail how her family stored food for the winter, built their own house, made their own cheese, clothes, and even bullets. Such independence, I thought. Such freedom to be who you are and answer to no one except yourself and God. Such possibilities to be truly at one with the God who created us and all His creation. How wonderful would that be?
I have grown up and realize that independent living is not just a dreamy fairy tale of fuzzy horses, blue skies, and sweet apple pies cooling at the window. And yet, I still have that fascination . . . not to seclude myself from people, but to have the pride of independence from the system as well as the knowledge that the food I use and the products I eat are as pure and "green" as possible. One day, I hope to find myself on my own farm, raising my own food , creating our own energy, and being indebted to no one.
I don't know if I will ever reach that goal, but I am making small steps toward that future. This blog specifically is to record those steps, at least those steps I learn in my garden. This will be my fourth year as a gardener. I have been making very, very slow steps for three main reasons: 1. my health 2. there's only two of us in our family to feed and 3. there's not a ton of space in our current yard for a huge garden anyway. I have realized though, that I need to start recording what I learn, what doesn't work, advice I have been given, great sources of info, etc., etc., etc.
So, here it is, my record of experiments gone wrong and experiments gone right in my garden.
I have grown up and realize that independent living is not just a dreamy fairy tale of fuzzy horses, blue skies, and sweet apple pies cooling at the window. And yet, I still have that fascination . . . not to seclude myself from people, but to have the pride of independence from the system as well as the knowledge that the food I use and the products I eat are as pure and "green" as possible. One day, I hope to find myself on my own farm, raising my own food , creating our own energy, and being indebted to no one.
I don't know if I will ever reach that goal, but I am making small steps toward that future. This blog specifically is to record those steps, at least those steps I learn in my garden. This will be my fourth year as a gardener. I have been making very, very slow steps for three main reasons: 1. my health 2. there's only two of us in our family to feed and 3. there's not a ton of space in our current yard for a huge garden anyway. I have realized though, that I need to start recording what I learn, what doesn't work, advice I have been given, great sources of info, etc., etc., etc.
So, here it is, my record of experiments gone wrong and experiments gone right in my garden.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
