Garden Friday

alyssum

Welcome back to Garden Friday!

Thankfully, everything seems to be in working order,

so we'll jump right in!

 Whoever wrote the song,

"Summertime, and the livin' is easy"

never spent it here.

Ooooh-weee!  It's hot out there.

The leek don't seem to mind.

They are happy as clams in their plastic tote.

Some of the leaves are drying out already,

so they may soon be ready for harvest.

 Although the October beans are starting to show these yellow spots,

they are still producing.

We'll keep an eye on them to see if it starts to spread to anything else.

If so, they will be promptly pulled out of their pots and destroyed.

The potatoes seem to like their shady spot near the maple tree

and keep exploding out of the wire cages we made.

I spied these on them.

Not sure if these are what the flowers look like before they bloom?

The butternut squash has done so well since being transplanted into the raised bed.

 It seems to have tripled in size since last week.
This weekend's project will be to build a trellis for it to climb.

 The loofah is scaling the framework, it just loves this heat!

 I managed to spot the first loofah growing on the vine.
These gourds are edible at the young stage.
I may give 'em a go.

 What an amazing plant.
Just look at this beautiful array of male flower buds.

The female flower, which sits next to the male buds,
looks similar to a rose before it opens.
Isn't it gorgeous?
This crop will be a mainstay in our garden from now on.
It's just so fascinating!

 To my surprise, a couple of volunteer tomato plants
decided to take root underneath the loofah structure.
I'm not tending them, I just want to see how they do.

So far, so good.
It never ceases to amaze me 
how Mother Nature creates with absolutely no help from us.

 A few of us at the West End Master Gardeners meeting
decided to grow pumpkins for the Apple Festival this fall.
This seemed like a great spot.
I'd love to see vines sprawling and covering this area
to kill the grass underneath.
My goal is to eliminate water-greedy turf wherever I can.

 I grew pumpkins once in Florida with limited success,
so it was time to give it another go.

Two hills were mounded right over the clay soil
and three seeds were sown about 1 1/2 inches deep.
Then straw was added around the hills.
This will help with insulation, keep weeds at bay,
and give the vines a cushion to grow on.
I plan to keep adding straw as they grow.
With rain predicted steadily over the next 5 days,
they should get a great boost!

The morning's harvest of greens (and reds) 
are a wonderful supplement to store bought lettuce.
Here, I gathered buttercrunch, Freckles and Red Salad Bowl lettuces,
Vates kale and Bright Lights Swiss chard.

A few of the lettuces are allowed to go to seed,
then I simply shake them over the bed to resow.
My intention is to be able to grow greens year-round, 
so that they can be removed from my weekly shopping list.

 This plastic tub makes a great seat next to the hugelkultur bed.
It's just the right height and easy to move where I need it.
These types of containers are usually planted in eventually,
but I'm working on a new design for the garden this fall,
which doesn't contain as many bins in which to plant.
We're going to transition to all raised beds.

Look at this curious fellow on one of the sunflowers.
Although there were a few holes present,
the plant overall still looks good, so I won't worry just yet. 

If anyone tells you that nasturtiums thrive on neglect, believe them.

This was one of the plants in a raised bed before I fertilized the crops in it.

Afterword, they started declining and turning yellow.

These marigold plants are in bondage to keep squirrels out of the tub.
The easiest organic remedy to deal with squirrels digging for seeds
is to cover them with something, chicken wire, shade cloth or welded wire.

I repurposed these riding mower tires to use as flowerpots.
We love reusing things in the garden.

As is indicated on our "Meet the Family" page under the header,

we don't fish.

I couldn't resist this minnow bucket at a thrift store.

There are so many ways to reuse everyday items.

Just let your imagination run wild!

The tithonia plant sown in the mailbox bed has taken off!

The pollinators love it and it is constantly covered in bees, wasps,

and other flying critters.

The bright orange blooms are striking next to the dark green foliage.

It keeps company with the zinnias.

black diamond sunflower

The weeks just seem to fly by!
So many wonderful surprises in the summer garden each day.
I feel blessed to have a piece of dirt to call my own.
Garden On!

Garden Friday

Welcome to Garden Friday!
Here's an update on what's growing in our summer garden.

In March, we put up our potato towers.
This was the first time we've grown white potatoes
(these are the Yukon Gold variety).
We showed you this method here.



The technique was pretty easy.
The towers were topped with dried leaves
whenever the potato stalks showed themselves in the cage.
The plants were fertilized once a month,
just like everything else in the veggie garden.

Over the last few weeks,

the potatoes began to flower.

Once the flowers dropped off, the leaves started to turn yellow.

Over the weekend, we harvested the crop.

The potato stalks were trimmed,

so that the tower could be easily lifted off the pile.

The pile of leaves were put to the side,

and used to cover the spot where the potatoes had been growing.

We will be redesigning the garden for fall,

so this was a good time to add the organic material.

The spuds were found at the ends of the stalks.

After gingerly digging them out of the pile,

they were placed in a bucket.

They will be cured for 2 weeks in the coolest place I can find.

Here's what the spent seed potato looked like after harvest.

This material will be added to the compost pile.

There is no waste in this method to growing spuds.

I would consider this a success.
We got enough spuds to last us a few weeks.
The towers were easy to manage and 
the potatoes were easily harvested.
The towers were almost too short for the growth,
so I might consider changing the design in the future.
I will definitely be planting potatoes again,

making sure to increase the number planted.

Elsewhere in the garden,
some things are winding down
while others are just getting started.

 The cucumbers are getting some size to them.
This plant was a gift from a friend.
She showed me her first pick the other day
and it was about twice this size.
Good enough to eat!

 The turtle beans are coming along.
This is the first time I've grown drying beans,
but it won't be the last.
It would be fantastic to have a pantry full of dried beans
to make any of the vegetarian dishes on the "Scratch Recipes" page.

The watermelon and cantaloupe plants keep climbing
the wire arches.  There are lots of flowers, but not much fruit.
I think I have some investigating to do...

Unlike most of us, the okra is relishing the heat!

Sweet potato slips were purchased at the local hardware store.
This is the first time I've bought them.
These are the Beauregard variety that grow so abundantly here.
They are getting a late start in my garden,
but we should still be able to get a good crop.

This is my tried-and-true method of starting sweet taters.
Creating your own slips is easy,
I just didn't start them early enough.

This thyme has found its sweet spot on the back deck.
It's as happy as can be in this icing bucket.
I'm thinking about getting some hangers for the railing
on which to grow my lettuces, kales and herbs.
It would save space on the deck top and the conditions out there are perfect.

 Some of the butterfly attractors are coming alive.
We are working toward getting certified as a wildlife habitat,
to add to our Monarch Way Station certification.

 Although a handful of Mammoth sunflowers were planted
along the back of this bed, only one has made it this far.
New flower seedlings are being started in the trays to the left.
If I can keep the doggone squirrels out of my pots,
maybe something would grow!

 The heat of summer looks like it's here to stay.
I'm thankful for lots of shade trees
and time in the early morning hours
to get outdoor chores done.
And lemonade.
And air conditioning.
Oh yeah.

Happy Summer, y'all!