Garden Friday

It's Garden Friday

and it also happens to be my birthday!

The giving starts here with these shots of the garden

taken with my new phone.

C'mon, let's take a stroll.

Tuesday night brought a fierce storm

with ferocious winds and about an inch of rain.

The poor sunflowers held on for dear life

and I have no way to prop them up because of their size.

Some of these are upwards of 12 feet tall!

Thankfully, most of the garden was unharmed.

This butternut squash should be ready to harvest within days.

I see soup in my future...

The pumpkins started flowering this week

and were promptly fertilized.

No doubt the rainfall helped them along their way.

Last year, I grew okra in a raised bed.

This year, they are in raised rows,

and they are much more difficult to harvest 

because they are low to the ground.

I have a couple in a straw bale,

so I'm hoping those will be a bit easier.

The magic of beans, in this case,

Red Ripper beans.

Here they are in two stages,

fresh and dried on the vine.

The dried beans will be used to make soup

and also used for sprouting.

The loofah is really taking off now.

It seems to thrive in the heat

and doesn't mind one bit if it stays dry for a while.

This is the first gourd I spotted on the trellis,

and it's now turning yellow.

Never having grown these before,

I'll have to do a little research about peak harvest times.

This plant is a delight to grow and I will continue to add it 

to the summer garden each year.

It asks for very little and the sweet golden blooms alone

make it worth growing.

The melons are starting to suffer from something.

Many leaves are turning yellow or brown

and it's too late in the season to try to save them.

There is one hanging on the arches that looks promising.
Even if it's the only one we get, I'll be over the moon!

Here's a little bitty one just getting started.
This is one crop I will try to do better with next year.
We can't get enough melon around here!

Considering that I wasn't planning to grow tomatoes this year,

these volunteers sure look healthy.

I picked a couple of them so that the critters couldn't get them,

and I'll most likely give them to a neighbor as they come in.

(I'm avoiding tomatoes at the moment.)

Aren't these sweet potato blossoms just the cutest things?

The bees love 'em and I often see them fighting for space inside.

The black-eyed Susan vine is enveloping the straw bales

where the cucumbers refused to grow.

Works for me.

With summer coming to a close in the next month or so,
the butterflies will soon be bidding us adieu for another season.
They have been plentiful and spectacular this year,
and for that I am truly grateful.

Today I start the last year of my 50's.
Where has it gone?
I'm thankful to have had another year with my family,
friends and neighbors.
I hope this year is filled with opportunities to give back.

Enjoy your weekend!

Garden Friday

Welcome back to Garden Friday.

Each week, we share what's going on in our North Carolina gardens.

There is so much gardening going on right now,

that it may require daily posts to get caught up!

It's ALL GO(O)D!

 

 Last week, we showed you how we created potato towers.

I've gotten feedback on this method,

some folks swear by it, others say they didn't have much success with it.

It's all a great experiment!

seed potatoes

 With the towers in place, it was time to plant the taters.

They were cured for a few days,

which just means that they are left to dry out.

We sliced them in half and placed them on a cookie sheet which was covered with a large rag

and placed them on top of the refrigerator.

The vital step in this process is to make sure that you have at least 3 "eyes" on each piece.

These are the spots where the potato leaves sprout and grow up.

 Our materials were gathered and we headed outside.

I decided to make things interesting by planting with three different types of fertilzer.

 In all three towers, vermiculite was added to the soil.

This soil is from a big box store and wasn't as loose as I'd like,

so the vermiculite should help with aeration and drainage.

 In the first tower, rabbit poop was added.

I had gotten this supply from a fellow vendor at the 

Mooresville Farmers' Market last season.

 The second tower was fed with compost tea,

made from turkey poop and aged a good, long while.

In the third tower, the turkey poop (Mighty Grow) that I found at Ford's Seeds
(where I also bought the seed potatoes)

was added.  It will be interesting to see if there are any differences in growth.

Each tower got 7 seed potatoes, nestled into the soil and amendments.

 The cut side is placed down against the soil

so that the "eyes" can find the sun.
The spuds were then covered with a layer of soil.

The pinkish bumps can be seen here

and if all goes according to plan,

that's where the leaves start to sprout.

After some heavy rain, I noticed some of the potatoes were peeking out of the soil.

That's a no-no.  Potatoes don't like the sun.
If they are exposed to sun and start to turn green,
they are not fit to eat, and can make a body very ill.

Only the leaves should be showing themselves,

so I added a layer of composted straw to cover them up.

They've been watered each day when we've had no rain.

They will continue to be water only as needed,

and hopefully, soon, we will be seeing some foliage popping up! 
Once the leaves start to head for the sky,
more soil is added, and then more mulch or straw.
This is done a few times until harvest. 

One  astounding discovery was made earlier in the week
as I was adding leaves to the leaf mulch bin.
This pile was already quite large when we bought the house.
We have an abundance of leaves on the property.
I decided to dig into it to see what might be taking up residence there.

Jackpot!
All sorts of wonderful slimy critters were hanging out.
What a goldmine for the garden!
I'll be adding some of these workhorses to the containers
and any beds I may decide to throw together.
They do a fabulous job of composting and adding nutrients to the soil.
There are plans in the works to start a worm bin,
but I guess I have a good running start!
 

 Although we are still having temperatures overnight in the 30's,

Mother Nature is screaming for spring to begin!

Look at these lovely, delicate Grape Hyacinths (thanks for the i.d., Ben) 
we have speckling our property.

After these have finished blooming,

the plan is to relocate them into some of the established beds,
although these bulbs are fairly easy-going
and can even be transplanted while blooming.

From all accounts, this looks like the foliage of a tulip.

I was thinking maybe they are some sort of parrot tulip,

but now I'm not so sure. 

There is so much to learn about all of these amazing bulbs shooting up.

What a treat to witness all of God's handcrafted wonder.

What's going on in your garden this spring?

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day, y'all!
It's that time of year where we honor our Mother.
Here are some simple things we can all do to make the planet a better place.

Plant a tree.
Different parts of the country celebrate Arbor Day at various times.
Everyone can plant one tree.
Even if you don't have a yard or any room left on your own property,
you can always donate a tree to a public space,
like a library, fire station, post office or school.
Read more about planting trees on the Arbor Day website.


Compost
There are a myriad of ways to do it.
A pile close to the garden, a tin in the kitchen for food scraps,
a worm bin on the patio.
There really isn't much to it,
and just think of all that waste you'll be preventing!
Even if you don't have space for a big system,
you can direct compost, like we do.
This great informational chart on composting was found here.
Some of us appreciate that visual cue to help things stick in our brains.




Buy Less

Not only does this help you save money,
but there's less chance that packaging will end up in a landfill.
Concentrate more on experiences, rather than material things.
For a special event like a birthday or graduation,
enjoy a unique adventure (read zip-lining),
or revisit a miniature golf course or bowling alley.
I love this idea at Echoage,
where friends can donate to your favorite charity in your honor.


Volunteer

If you have a little more time,
or just feel the need to be outside more and give back a little,
volunteer at a national or state park.
There are all kinds of jobs that can be completed by folks who have the time.
You could even make it a project for your family or any organization to which you belong.
Think of it as giving a little back to Mother Nature,
who is abundantly generous to all of us.
Here's where you can start your search for jobs near you.

 We can all do something.
After all,
Mother Earth gives us so much everyday.
She deserves our very best.

This ROCs!!!

A couple of weeks ago, 
I attended a meeting of the Ridge Organic Cooperative (ROC).
It's a group of citizens who get together
to discuss their concerns about our food system.
Some of the goals of the group are to be more responsible
in the growing and distribution of local and sustainable food,
to network with others to find resources,
to participate in community work days to aid others in creating gardens
and 
to provide educational experiences for the community at large.

At the last meeting, we discussed what we are currently growing in our gardens.

We came up with quite a list.

Several members of the community recently got together

to help another member start a garden in her yard.

The local paper covered the event here.

That's the kind of project I can get behind.

Any excuse to do more gardening works for me!

Each meeting presents an opportunity to swap garden-related items.

It could be magazines, plants, seeds, fruit or veg,

whatever might appeal to a fellow gardener.

I brought some seeds and homemade seed packets.

This is just the type of community I would enjoy getting to know.

Grass roots groups like these can make an impact.

And what a wonderful way to extend to others

the gift of being a gardener.

To find out more about the Ridge Organic Cooperative,

you can go here.

Homemade Living Series

Staci and I are sharing our ideas about
Homemade Living 
today in our ongoing Wednesday series.
~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's time I come clean.
For those of you who've been reading for a while,
you know that I believe in living a clean life.
I've gotta confess, I have a new addiction.


It's okra.
Yeah.
Okra.

Before you start making faces,
 let me explain.

It's all Ms. Carolyn's fault.

I'm a Yankee transplant and never in my life 
would I ever have imagined
that okra would be passing through these lips.
Okra?
You mean that stuff that is so slimy you can't eat it 
unless it's had the living daylights fried out of it?

That's the stuff.
Only this is not fried.
I don't do fried.
This is pickled.
For the life of me, I can't get through a day without it.
I've got it bad.
So I had to learn how to make it myself.
My suppliers are my friends Faye & Lynn.
They keep me in the stuff so that withdrawl is kept to a minimum.

Here's a modified recipe that their neighbor Ms. Carolyn shared with me.
The original (more conventional) is below the post.
Just be forewarned.
You may find yourself taking extreme measures to find your own stash.

This is about 1/2 pound of fresh okra grown by my friends Lynn and Faye.

It was gently washed.

1 1/2 cups of white distilled vinegar and 4 T water were added to a pot.

Along with 3 good-sized cloves of garlic,

2 tablespoons of pickling salt
(you can use kosher salt that is not iodized),

and 1/4 cup of sugar
(I used sucanat instead).
Bring ingredients to a simmer,
then turn off heat and let it cool down about 10 minutes.

While the mixture is cooling,
add your washed okra to a jar
(wide-mouthed jars are easier when retrieving your treats).

After the 10-minute cooling period, pour mixture into jar,
cloves and all.
Cover and shake a couple of times.
Let it come to room temperature before refrigerating.

It's best to wait 3-4 days before sampling.
All I can say is that I'll try.
I've been without it for only a couple of days
and I'm feeling it.
Nothing I try to eat in its place satisfies.

I never thought I'd say this,
but I guess I'll be growing okra next summer.




Cold Pack Okra
 1-2 jalepeno peppers, sliced (optional)
1/4 C white sugar
1 1/2 C distilled white vinegar
2 T kosher or pickling salt
1 1/2 t horseradish
3 garlic cloves, smashed and roughly cut
splash of water (about 4 T)

Peel garlic and smash to release oils.
Wash okra.
Wash and thinly slice peppers, discarding seeds and core.
Pack okra and peppers into jar lengthwise.
Add vinegar, sugar, garlic, salt and water to pot and bring to a simmer,
and then immediately turn off heat and let cool for 10 minutes.
Pour over veggies in jar and add horseradish.
Tighten lid and give a few firm shakes.
Allow to reach room temperature before placing in fridge.
Give them 3-4 days of pickling before eating.
Enjoy!





Next week join our friends
Jackie
Mary
&
Tammy
for more Homemade Living perspectives!