Garden Friday

 

 

Welcome back to Garden Friday,

where we share what's going on in our

Zone 7b Piedmont garden.

Peonies are all abloom at this time of year.

They are gorgeous, with all of their fluffy layers.

 

 

Work has continued on the front flower beds.

This week, I was able to install our handmade birdbath

that a friend made for me.

I think it looks great next to the purple salvia. 

As beds are coming together in the new plan,

I'll share some before and after pictures.

 

The greens are growing gangbusters!

With the irrigation running once again,

I've been able to pick fresh salad greens all week!

 

 

This is the best looking tat soi I've ever grown.

It is vibrant green, so you know it has to be good for you!

It is usually eaten raw, but I'll bet it's great in a stir fry.

My cup, er, basket runneth over.

 

 

This circus-tent contraption was necessary

after I spied the first ripe strawberry of the season

being eaten by a naughty chook.

I really can't blame her, she knows a good thing when she sees it.

 

This volunteer squash/pumpkin was found growing 

from the gravel off of our driveway.

Amazing how plants will grow anywhere.

This will be transplanted to a raised bed this weekend.

(For the record, I gave up growing squash a few years ago.)

 

 

My sister was kind enough to pick up this raised bed

at a yard sale.

It will house our sweet potatoes this year.

 

This week, I was bitten by a jumping spider.

Avoid them if you can, for it was mighty painful

for a full 24 hours.

With all the time I spend outside,

imagine the shock of being bitten on our sofa!

 

Another curious critter I learned about this week

was this click beetle.

It was found resting on one of the terra cotta pots outside.

God sure makes some interesting creatures, huh?

 

This pesky varmint did not succeed in pilfering much feed

from this new feeder that was gifted us.

It has a perch that spins,

so that anything larger than a small bird

will not be able to dine.

This guy had that figured out from the start,

but thankfully, he did not achieve his goal.

Update:  (He later cleaned us out!)

This lovely critter was a bit big for the feeder,

but I think it managed to get a few morsels.

 

sleeping micelets

 

These wee things were found in the garage this week.

No momma came back to claim them 

and we didn't really know what to do.

We did our best to nurse them,

but one perished before we could get them

to someone who could help them recover.

What an amazing woman I met who does

animal rescues out of her home.

There are really some good souls in this world.

 The other good thing about our adventure

is that we ended up taking everything out of the garage

to look for the momma or a nest.

Neither was found,

but our garage sure looks a lot better!

What discoveries have you made on your homestead this week?

 

Garden Friday

 

 

 

 

 Welcome to Garden Friday,

where we share what's growing in our

Zone 7b Piedmont garden.

These bluebird eggs were discovered recently

in one of our bluebird houses.

We've got another that is very noisy already,

and we are hoping to catch the fledglings in flight!

 

A mulberry tree was identified in our wooded area.

It has been relocated to a more favorable location.

 

The planting has begun!

All of those winter sowing seedlings

are finding homes, slowly but surely.

A setback this week slowed me down

(more about that later),

but I am in transplant mode now!

 

All of the empty beds have had something installed.

In one of the 3X8 beds,

carrots, leeks and onions have been sown,

while transplants of lettuces and tat soi have been added.

 

This 3X4 bed had already overwintered

a thyme plant and several stalks of kale.

Other brassicas were added as transplants,

and they are neatly tucked under row cover.

(The row cover is to keep chooks out!)

 

A few buttercrunch lettuce plants

came back to life on their own,

and cabbage and broccoli transplants filled in

the empty spots.

 

The remaining seedlings will be distributed

to fellow gardeners and tucked into flower beds

to expand my foodscaping experiment.

This bed will then be free to be planted

with summer crops.

 

Nothing fancy here.

I secure the row cover on the beds

using clothespins fastened to nails on the frames.

I'm planning to transition to all Birdie's beds,

buying a few at a time as the budget allows.

I love the retro look of them,

and it will be fun to recreate the design of the layout.

 

The stake-a-cage builds I made for tomato and pepper support

a few years ago, are being used to keep the chooks

out of the garlic bed.

 

I needed a place to house all of the seedlings I had transferred into pots,

and so placed them here between the garlic.

Once the pots are shared with others,

the garlic will have more room to grow.

It's doing quite well thanks to all of the rain we got this winter.

 

 

Our flower beds will be changing as time permits me to work on the new design.

A fellow master gardener helped create a layout for me,

and I hope to get started transplanting, relocating

and adding a few new things to the landscape.

 

The irises look even better this year

since some of them were removed and placed elsewhere.

The yarrow fills in the area near the mailbox

and at the other end of the bed,

but there is still room for a few zinnias, sunflowers and other fun stuff.

I love that the allyssum came back all on its own right in front of the mailbox.

 

The rudebekia will be thinned out here and other things moved around.

This front porch bed will be a riot of color if I do my job right.

A few evergreens were suggested as foundation plants,

so that there is something growing year round.

 

The coneflowers are almost blooming! 

 I can't wait to see all of the new life emerging!

There can never be enough coneflowers!

 

The spider wort is making a lovely border near the oregano patch.

I had transplanted quite a bit to this area earlier in the season,

and it seems much happier with additional sunshine.

Who wouldn't be?

 

Digging out one single mass of yarrow just about laid me out!

Making a mental note to divide that next year

when it is still small!

Many new things will be going in this bed.

The garlic border is doing well.

 

Don't you just love salvia?

Aside from being my favorite color in the garden,

it blooms nonstop for months on end,

and asks very little.

Some of this will be divided to add in other places.

The bonus is that the pollinators adore this bad boy!

 

I mentioned a setback earlier in the week.  

Well, actually we've had a lot of chook drama

here on the homestead.

Our rooster spurred me in the leg just below the knee

(my fault, not his),

so after a lot of pain and a trip to urgent care,

I am on the mend, but not up to full speed just yet.

 

Then there's the mystery of what's ailing our sweet Betty (above).

We think she somehow has mites,

as her back end is lacking feathers and is quite red and irritated.

We are treating her as best we can

and giving her lots of one-on-one time.

I hope she is feeling herself soon.

 

The chooks are loving their time in the shade of our woods.

Every day that I can, they get time out there

and it is a joy to watch them.

What a blessing they have been to our family.

 

What's happening in your spring garden?

Garden Friday

 

 

 

Welcome back to Garden Friday!

Summer has come back to visit

and we are feeling every bit of the heat and humidity

we are usually accustomed to.

The only positive thing I can say about it

is that it does foster abundant blooms like these beauties.

 

 

A load of compost was unloaded from our trailer,

to be used to fill up the raised beds

which have settled since last being filled.

This will need to sit for at least another week

before being added to the beds,

as it may still be too hot to plant in.

I will plan to add some Daddy Pete's to it and mix it in well.

 

Some plastic scraps were placed underneath

the melons to keep them healthier. 

I just cut up some distilled water jugs.

It keeps them off the ground to avoid fungal problems

and promotes better air circulation.

The sweet potatoes, planted at the onset of summer,

are vining out onto the grass.

No flowers have yet been spotted,

so they still have a ways to go.

 

 

It's sad to see even the drought tolerant plants

struggling in the heat.

With no rain to speak of in weeks,

supplemental watering has been helping them along.

 Even the bees are trying to find what they need.

These watermelon rinds were placed in the run,

and the chooks couldn't even get close to them.

I've been feeding the chooks melon rinds all summer,

and I've never seen the bees go so ga-ga for them.

 

The chooks got a layer of organic straw added to their run.

It gives them something to scratch and they seem to enjoy

peeking underneath for new bugs that might be hiding there.

 

 

I'm working on a plan to redesign the chicken run,

including lots of cottage-style plants along the fencing. 

I got this photo from my research online

(sorry, I didn't write down the source),

to help me visualize what I want to add.

I have a very hard time designing garden areas,

and need to find clear examples of what I hope to accomplish.

It might be worthwhile for me to hire someone to make a plan,

but it seems so difficult here to find folks to follow through on jobs.

 

 

This is one of the beds at one of my client's home,

(one I weed quite often),

and it is a good jumping off point to help me with ideas.

This fascinating web was found yesterday,

and it makes me wonder what type of critter created it.

It's a work of art.

 

A few weeks ago, these caterpillars were found on the milkweed.

At the time, I didn't know what they were,

except that I knew they weren't Monarchs,

as the coloring is quite different.

After some research, I found out that they are tussock moth caterpillars,

which, as far as I know, are not native to North Carolina.

One caution with this particular caterpillar

is that their fuzzy outer covering can cause a skin rash.

Here's more about this fascinating creature. 

They have since disappeared, and the milkweed

is awaiting the arrival of the monarch caterpillars.

 

These hot and sticky days don't find me out in the garden much.

I am looking forward to fall planting,

which will occur in the last days of August,

after beds are prepped.

This season, I will not be following a plan,

but simply adding to beds with the crops I know I can grow.

I'm also planning to grow some cover crops

in the 3X8 bed that usually houses our garlic.

Once the sweet potatoes and melons are harvested,

the cover crops will go in for the season.

The garlic will be planted in another bed in October.

What's happening in your summer garden?

Garden Friday

Here we are again, it's Garden Friday!
The biggest chores are complete for the season
and we are coasting into fall planting time.

These were our straw bales last spring.
You'll notice they are set up side-by-side 
instead of end-to-end, like most folks have them.
Now I know why most gardeners do that.
Much.
 More.
 Efficient.
Next time I will follow suit.
We had pretty good success with growing in our bales.
I plan to do it again in the spring.

After a full year of being in the garden 

(I actually bought the bales last fall),

they were toast.

It was time to repurpose them for our raised rows.

This is the method used by Jim and Mary over at

Old World Garden Farms.

What a wealth of knowledge you can find on their blog and in their books!

Most of the time, I am fairly relaxed about how the garden takes shape,

but this time, I wanted to follow their instructions.

This is the first time I'm trying this technique,

so I was grateful to have the book handy.

There are three zones to the raised row method:

the walking zone

the growing zone

and

the planting zone.

The growing zone measures 18 inches across and 6 inches high.

The growing zone in my garden started with a foundation of mulch,

then the straw bales (shredded) on top.

The walking zones were made between the growing rows

and measured 24 inches wide.

Their foundation is cardboard and shredded mulch.

Our beautiful compost was added to the tops of the rows.

The berms were leveled so that the tops are flat

and the sides taper down.

Is it just me, or do they kinda look like graves?

The last step for the raised rows

was to add mulch to the top.

Cover crops will be sown through the winter
to keep weeds down, help with soil erosion
and improve the soil integrity.
Once spring rolls around,
the soil in these hills will be warm enough to plant in,
maybe even up to a month earlier than elsewhere,
and will have extra nutrients from the cover crops.
It's the first time I'm trying cover crops,
and I look forward to the learning.

 Elsewhere in the garden, a few odds and ends got buttoned up.

An extra hose was added to the ones I'm using out there,

until we get a drip irrigation system installed.

I'm saving for that now and hope to complete the project

so that spring watering will be a breeze.

I'm experimenting with planting by the moon phases.

Here, I've sown beets and carrots in our newest hugelkultur bed.

Adding the hardware cloth will hopefully keep critters out.

As the plants germinate and grow, the cage will be removed.

squirrel feed

My farmer friend Lynn was right (as usual).

When I asked him why my maters weren't ripening,

he calmly said, "Just be patient."

They are slowly coming around,

even though there are some issues like splitting.

(I think my inconsistent watering is to blame.)

But, there are some beauties out there!

A few have been found on the ground chomped on.

It irks me that they don't eat the whole dang thing!

This is the one I'm waiting for.

SHHHH...

Hopefully, I will get it before the squirrels do.

The garden has gone through some major changes in its first year,

but more are sure to follow. 

Next year I'd like to add fruit trees, berries 

and possibly chickens.

I love gleaning new ideas from other gardeners.

The cardboard and mulch pathways have really worked out well.

There is plenty of room to maneuver, even with a wheelbarrow.

Now that we have a trailer,

we can pick up free mulch from the dump anytime we need it.

To the right of these tomato plants

is where I am considering putting a tunnel,

made from hog panels.

I'd love to grow flowers and beans on them.

It would add a bit of height and drama to the garden,

don't you think?

 I was beyond thrilled to find this with my own eyes!
The hornworm is being invaded by parasitic wasp larvae.
I've only seen pictures of this before,
so it was great to see it in person.
Of course, they were left to their own devices.
Mother Nature keeps everything in balance.

The pumpkins aren't doing too well.
I have yet to find another female flower on them,
and I noticed this weird black spot where the stems are growing.
Any ideas?

These coneflowers were seeded months ago,

but are just beginning to find their wings.

They were moved to the veggie garden

and placed under the okra plants.

Echinacea is one flower I can't get enough of,

and I know the bees and butterflies feel the same way!

These alyssum germinated immediately.

They should give us color throughout the fall.

These gems are part of our downtown beautification project

with the Master Gardens West End group

and will be donated to the boxes on Main Street.

Are ya kiddin' me here?

How can y'all look so good in this heat

when the rest of us are melting?

These plants in the butterfly bed have not been watered

for over a month.

With little rain during that time, their resilliance amazes me.

We had two peach trees on the property

that were never well-cared for.

The former owners just didn't enjoy yard chores,

so the trees ended up fairly diseased.

Rather than try to bring them back to life,

we decided to take them down.

Our neighbor Joe, who is in his 70's and spry as a cricket,

brought over his mighty chainsaw and did the deed.

He does odd jobs for neighbors and obliged us.

Joe told me he started learning to cut down trees

when he was 5 years old.

Five years old?

Holy cow, that's quite a chore for a preschooler!

 By the time I got my camera out, at the ready to document,

he was already finished with the job.

I guess he's had a little practice.

Some of the branches will be used in our repurposed sandbox bed,

which will be used as a pollinator attractor near the veggie garden.

We will fill the bottom with logs, twigs and leaves

before adding the soil.

I like to keep some brush piles in the wooded area

for the animals to take shelter.

Now that the bush in this corner has been permanently removed,

I can move my work bench against this wall.

The rain barrels will be to the left

and the hose that I use to water the veggie beds connects here.

At some point, a timer will be added to this spigot

and hooked up to the drip system.

We replaced the tarp on our soil pile.

I like to keep it covered to keep the leaves out.

It also keeps the soil in place when we have rain.

This part of the yard is sloped,

and this designated spot has a metal frame around it.

Look at our poor, lone decrepid sunflower.

It looks like something from "Little Shop of Horrors".

Better luck next year.

sweet summer sipper

There is always another project looming.
As cooler temperatures approach,
(our dogwood tree has berries,
so I know it's true),
productivity increases, and
more tasks will be crossed off the list.

I'm expecting my Sow True Seed order anytime now.
It's like Christmas a few months early.
Savor your weekend!

"I am not in competition with anybody,
I just want to be productive."
~Ajith Kumar