Garden Friday

 

 

 Welcome to Garden Friday!

Our Zone 7b Piedmont garden is keeping me busy.

So are these curious and ravenous critters,

who insist on not only stealing the corn

from the chicken run,

but also diving right into the chook feeders.

This guy cracked me up when he tried to make a quick escape

with the corn cob still in his mouth.

He couldn't fit through the welded wire so he had to leave it behind.

Score one for the chooks!

 

The green beans have started climbing up the corkscrew poles.

More varieties of drying beans have been started

including Jacob's Cattle beans, Rattlesnake beans and Red Ripper beans.

The okra has also germinated in the soil blocks,

so those will be planted out as soon as they have their second set of true leaves.

 

The sweet potato bed was prepped with twigs and shredded leaves,

compost and then organic soil on the top.

 

With nearly three dozen slips that were homegrown,

we're hoping for a great harvest later in the season.

Sweet potatoes are one of the easiest crops to grow,

requiring very little in the way of care.

I'm trying to come up with a proper trellising system,

mostly to keep the chooks out of the bed,

but also so that the vines (which are edible)

don't take over the garden. 

 

sweet potato bed 2019

 

 

It looks like the asparagus is slowing down.

It's been fairly consistent in producing delicious, tender stalks,

some of which were quite lengthy!

The ferns have started to fill the bed,

which ensures that another crop will show up next spring.

What a blessing!

Some of the lettuce varieties have started going to seed,

but a few are still being harvested every week.

The chooks get any that are pulled up to make room for new crops.

They don't seem to mind the bitter taste of bolted lettuce.

 

I've sampled a few ripe, red strawberries in the main round bed,

but we also have these coming along in grow bags.

Every two weeks or so, they get a good dose of fish emulsion.

A batch of compost tea was made up this week,

and being stirred at least once a day.

It will be strained and used to pep up anything edible.

 

The flowers are still taking off!

This rudebeckia just doesn't quit,

and it's a bright pop of color in our front porch bed.

This week a few foundation plants were installed,

as I continue to work on recreating my flower beds out front.

magnolia

coneflower

We swapped out the bird feeders and added this baffle

to deter squirrels from eating us out of house and home!

So far, so good.

This feeder, which was gifted us,

has a rotating ring on the base,

which is supposed to deter squirrels from raiding your feeder.

They figured that out pretty quickly,

so we moved it to the back of the house and added this baffle.

All is well in the chook run this week.

I sure wish that they would chase off the squirrels

that invade their space.

At least they got all of these yummy leftovers.

They love rice!

Life is Better with Chickens.

Have a safe weekend.

Bless those who gave their all.