Garden Friday

Welcome to Garden Friday,

where we share what's growing in our Zone 7b garden.

The strawberries have been juicy and sweet,

with more on the way!

It makes dealing with the heat all worth it!

 

 

A couple of weeks ago,

sister and I worked on creating some garden spaces at her townhome.

We planted up two tall boxes in her driveway.

I never tire of sedum,

and this chartreuse color really pops against the darker geranium leaves.

 

Hostas are one of her favorite plants,

so we found some shade-lovers for her backyard,

which doesn't get a lot of sun.

 

Coleus and this grassy plant

filled out two other containers

and share space on her back patio.

I adore the color of these containers.

This was phase one of a multi-phase project.

Can't wait to get back there to work on it again.

 

 Back at home,

it's trellis time!

Cattle panel arches were added to several beds,

in hopes that melons and squash will enjoy climbing the frame.

We do have melon, watermelon and pumpkin already germinated.

With rain predicted for later today,

I'm hoping that the seedlings will take off!

Straw bales have been added to several areas

and the conditioning process should be completed by Tuesday,

when we will begin to plant okra, squash and cucumbers.

I'm reusing the stake-a-cage supports I made a few years ago.

Here's how I did it.

 

The mailbox bed has a few gaps that I'm hoping to fill in.

The irises look lovely and the yarrow is starting to take off,

but I'd like to find something lower for the front of the bed.

Any suggestions for full sun?

 

The salvia in the front porch bed need to be divided.

The goal is to add more interest,

so putting these elsewhere in the garden will give me room

to find some other interesting specimens for the pollinators to enjoy.

 

The California poppy has been a prolific bloomer since early last month.

The bright pop of color really catches your eye.

 

In the same bed, this sunflower surprised me.

No doubt I have the squirrels to thank for this,

as I don't remember planting any sunflowers this close to the house.

It's far ahead of the other sunflowers that I have started,

so it'll be an extra early sign of summer.

 

The spider wort is so gorgeous first thing in the morning.  

By midday, it has closed up all of its blooms.

I look forward to seeing this each morning as the chooks are let out of the coop.

The front porch bed is going to be retooled.

I need to remove some of the salvia

and have already dug up some of the rudbeckia,

to make room for other sun-loving plants that I want to add.

Still, it's a welcoming sight to come home to.

 

The bird bath in the center of the picture

(really just a repurposed plant saucer),

is going to be replaced by a friend's custom ceramic vessel.

I can hardly wait to see it and put it in place.

She is a talented artist and I know I'll just love it.

I bet the birds will too!

What changes are you making in your garden?

 

 

 

Garden Friday

Welcome to our first August edition of Garden Friday.

Over the next few months,

we hope to work on our goals for the new garden location,

(read why we need to move it here),

and create a separate chicken garden area.

As for the existing garden,

it's pretty much been left to fend for itself.

Between getting the news about the drain field,

and then being away at a dog-sitting job for a week,

it's been on the back burner for a while.

The okra is a testament to how neglected its been.

This Bradford family variety still tastes good,

even at this size,

but unfortunately,

we won't be able to eat anything from the garden this year.

The volunteer cantaloupe I found in the huglekulture bed

is massive.

Although we won't be enjoying it,

it gives me motivation to plant this crop again next season.

Someone is enjoying the cantaloupe out there

(pesky squirrels).

Another success this summer is the watermelons.

These are the biggest watermelons I've ever grown.

Again, we won't be able to savor them this year,

but they will be on my planting list next year.

These were both sown in straw bales and left to sprawl.

Not one to give up on the dream of a fall garden,

I've pulled my seeds out and used these homemade pots

to sow a few things.

There's just nothing like the thrill of planting new seeds,

except maybe for the sight of them germinating!

I'm intending to grow beets, broccoli, carrots, chard,

kale, leek, lettuce, onions, and spinach.

Of course, I have a whole bed reserved for planting our garlic.

The plan is to use containers on top of pallets as a temporary measure.

I'll be working on obtaining free 5-gallon buckets and pallets

wherever I can to move forward.

When the weather cools off, I'll take on the task of

relocating beds in the new spot to be ready for spring planting.

The other major change on the homestead will be

turning this area of our side yard

into a chicken garden!

I have so many ideas for this area,

but of course I'm trying to figure out ways to do it on the cheap.

I want to set up some cattle panel arches

so that the chooks have some protection from the weather.

This will also serve as a place to keep their feed and other necessary items.

The idea is to fashion a garden where they can explore, forage for bugs,

hide if need be, take dust baths, and enjoy their "chickeness".

A talented friend is helping me with plant selection,

so that I can create a place they love to roam.

I'm hoping to build an adjoining compost area out of pallets,

to make it easy to add the chickens' bedding to the pile

so that it can sit a good, long time before adding it to the veggie beds.

So far, they are doing well and seem to feel fairly comfortable in their new home.

We recently got this mobile fencing

that can be moved wherever we want them to forage.

I have to say that I didn't think I would enjoy them as much as I do.

It just feels right.

This was our first dozen eggs from the girls!

We have one rooster and three hens,

but we are picking up two more hens this weekend.

"I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

Garden Friday

Welcome back to Garden Friday!
This gorgeous clematis was found in a neighbor's backyard.
It has been enjoying ample sunshine and sporadic rainfall.

This week I took some time to germinate flower seeds

using a paper towel in a repurposed plastic bag.

As you can see, within a week,

we had the beginnings of a colorful pollinator bed.

I much prefer to start my plants from seed.

The fascinating process always leaves me in awe.

With just a bit of water,

(no sun even required),

the seeds burst open to fulfill their purpose.

Amazing!

Many of them ended up in the pollinator bed

we have in the vegetable garden.

This bed is designed to promote pollination

of all of our crops needing their help.

So far, we have sunflowers and a few other 

seedlings coming up that will last throughout the summer.

In the front porch bed,

the purple salvia is about to bloom.

I discovered this plant when we were living in Florida,

and am so happy that I can enjoy it in my NC garden.

Coneflowers are planted all over the property,

but somehow, it still doesn't seem like enough.

One of my favorite blooms,

I can see sowing a lot more of these wherever I can find space.

The milkweed was cut way back in the late fall,

and has decided to come back on its own.

This is the host plant for the Monarch butterfly,

so we look forward to delighting in watching the transformation

from caterpillars to butterflies.

It's magic, I tell ya!

The alyssum has come back on its own as well.

It forms a border in our front porch bed.

The salvia, alyssum, and lantana planted here,

all help to create a blue/purple theme.

My neighbor's peonies are just about to pop.

These plants have amazed me in the past few weeks,

as they seem to grow 6 inches overnight!

In the veggie garden,

the parsley is starting to get some height.

This plant hosts the black swallowtail butterfly,

but so far, no eggs have been spotted under the leaves.

Here's a post from years back 

about the caterpillars we hosted in our Florida yard.

The lettuce seeded a couple of weeks ago is holding its own.

We sowed buttercrunch, and green oakleaf lettuce

as well as scarlet kale.

Coffee cans work well for these shallow-rooted crops.

It looks like the wire covers did the trick

so that critters couldn't dig up the seeds.

Now that they've germinated, the screens come off.

The snap peas are getting a leg up on the arches.

They were planted closer than usual,

and it doesn't seem to have bothered them one bit.

I'm thinking of harvesting some as shoots,

and leaving others to grow for pods.

The potato/onion bed is looking better every day.

When this post was written,

we were in the middle of an all-day rain event,

and when I did a quick check on the garden,

I think I actually saw the potatoes  

s

   m

     i

      l

       i

          n

              g.

There's just nothing like a good rain.

I've been working on ridding the garden area of grassy areas

by adding cardboard which will then be covered

by mulch.

If we don't get a delivery of wood chips via our local tree trimmer,

we are able to acquire them for free from our county landfill.

 More cardboard here will rid us of pesky grass and weeds.
(Have I told you how much I abhor dislike grass
for its water-robbing properties?)
This area is where our newly established asparagus bed
and strawberry tub reside (out of the photo).
The structure at the top of the photo housed our loofah plants
last year, but will this year be the trellis for hyacinth bean.
Maybe.
I'm toying with the idea of growing melons and watermelons on it.
We'll see...

And lookee what I found the other day in one of our birdhouses!
Aren't birds fascinating?!
Just look at that lovely cushy nest.
Who wouldn't want to live there?
 

And inside was an even better surprise!
We believe these to be baby sparrows
and three more siblings yet to come.
Spring is truly a magical time.

How's your garden growing?

Container Planting Strawberries

These two galvanized tins were recently acquired
from a friend who was discarding them.
Metal is one of my favorite things to plant in,
and I knew that I'd come up with a plan for these.

Having purchased strawberry starts from our local

Cooperative Extension's yearly plant sale,

I decided to make the larger tub into a portable 

strawberry bed.

Not being sure where a permanent bed would end up,

this seemed like a golden opportunity to grow them this year,

and take the rest of the season to figure out a better solution.

Although strawberries savor a good dowsing,

they do not like to remain wet,

so drainage is paramount to their health.

A power drill did the trick quick as a wink.

The starts were laid out,

so that I could see how many I had to plant.

By next year, I hope to have some runners from these first starts,

to give us a continual supply of plants.

Containers are one of the best solutions for growing strawberries,
for several reasons.
First of all, they like a particular pH (between 5.5-7),
so being able to control the amendments to aid in that balance
is a bit easier in a container.
Another reason vessels work well are that they can be watered easily.
Once the water runs out the bottom, you know they've had a good drink.
The pots are also easy to keep weed-free, which this crop prefers.
We planted them so that the crowns are above the soil.

Straw or leaves can be added to retain moisture.
Some worm castings or worm tea will be added
every month after flowers appear.
We hope to harvest a bounty of berries
for fresh eating, jams and smoothies.
Once the season is over,
the plants will be covered with straw or leaves
to help them survive the winter cold.

For more information about the growing and care of strawberry plants,
enjoy this website. 
The Farmers' Almanac is a great go-to guide
for everything gardening.
Get your berries on!