Garden Friday

 

 

Good Garden Friday to ya!

Autumn weather has been a welcome change

here in the Piedmont.

The garden is humming along with some serious progress.

 

Several lettuce varieties have been sown,

including this Red Planet Mixture,

 

and buttercrunch, which are both doing quite well.

 

The carrots are popping up and we will most likely sow another batch in containers

before too much of October gets away from us.

 

The broccoli, kale and red cabbage have all germinated

and are enjoying daily doses of sunshine.

 The Cylindra beets are starting to sprout as well.

This was a new crop to me in the spring.

I decided to see how they do in cooler temperatures.

So far, so good!

 

All the beds have now been covered with this deer netting,

in hopes of keeping the birds, chickens and squirrels out of the boxes.

It is draped over the boxes and the nails that hold the baling twine in place

also keep this netting from moving about.

 

 

The pansies that were picked up last week

were planted in a few odd containers.

We like a lil' pretty in the veggie garden.

And after all, can you ever get enough of cheery pansies?

 

The Dutch white clover is coming in so nicely

and will be a wonderful groundcover over the drain field.

Big K even suggested that I get more and spread

it in other areas of the yard.

Any time I can get rid of grass, I'm happy to do it.

The seed has been ordered and should be here soon.

 

The cattle panel compost bin is working well,

and was added to after working on the planter boxes downtown.

A few of us Master Gardeners got together to do a bit of fall trimming.

 

 

Not sure if you can tell by this picture,

but the chooks have found their favorite spot

for their dust bathing.

This is the front flower bed

that right now doesn't have much growing,

but it will be a challenge to plant something here

that they can't tear up.

Some of the bulbs that were under the soil

have been dug up with their scratching.

Hmmm...this will take some figuring.
 

 

We still have tons of blooms in the flower beds,

like the tithonia that starts blooming in early summer

and gives us loads of brilliant color for months.

 

The beauty berry is the most vibrant shade of magenta.

The pictures can't really capture their intensity.

 

These cactus zinnias are one of my absolute favorite summer blossoms.

They come in a variety of colors and sizes

and are fabulous used as cut flowers for the house.

 

The hyacinth bean pods are starting to swell.

That means that I'll be able to dry them

and save the seeds inside to use for next year's vines.

 

This wild flower is growing near our woods.

I'll have to remember to get it ID'd.

It looks similar to feverfew, but it's low-growing.

 

Another busy week on the homestead.

Thankfully, I've been able to keep up with projects.

This weekend, I'd like to get the irrigation installed 

in the new veggie garden area.

With the weather cooperating,

it'll be a breeze to get that all buttoned up.