Garden Friday

 

 

Welcome to a lazy, summer dazey Garden Friday.

The critters don't seem affected much by the heat of the season.

As for this gardener, I get out early

and spend most of the afternoon inside. 

The swallowtails have been visiting in full force.

The corn is coming along.

This is a first-time crop for me,

so it's very exciting to see any little changes!

 

 

This week, a handful of Jacob's Cattle beans 

were harvested.

They will be saved for next year's planting,

and hopefully, we'll get a few more to actually eat.

Aren't they just spectacular?

 

 

 

A couple of trays of herbs and flowers were sown.

Everything I plant is protected from squirrels

(and our resident chipmunk)

using welded wire. 

We were graced with 1/2 inch of rain this week,

for which I am sincerely thankful.

 

 

We have a lovely array of zinnia colors this year.

 

 We also have a few creatures that are sleeping the day away.

 

Not everyone is a slacker though.

There are plenty of pollinators doing their work.

 

 

This is the old oak tree that was taken down a few years ago.

It seems that fungi enjoy hanging around here.

This is the spot where wood chips have gotten dumped,

and I'm wondering if that lends itself to the mushrooms growing.

The chooks are enduring the heat as best they can.

It seems that the Golden Comets handle it the best.

I'm not sure if that is a trait of the breed,

or simply because they are a bit younger than the others.

They have been a wonderful addition to our homestead.

 

Life is Better with Chickens!

 

 

 

 

Garden Friday

2019 garlic

It's Garden Friday once again!
The weather has been absolutely stunning,
with much-needed rain helping our parched beds.
The fall garden is underway.

Last weekend, I was able to plant some of our garlic.

These are the heads you see in the first photo.

We had a beautiful harvest in May and used these same heads for planting a new crop.

The largest and most pristine cloves were chosen.

There were only a few cloves that were saved to use for cooking

because they were smaller than what I wanted to plant.

Using the best cloves will ensure a better harvest next summer.

The heads were separated just before planting,

so that they didn't dry out too much.

These are some seriously dense cloves,

originally acquired from Sow True Seed in Asheville.

I decided to use half of the hugelkultur bed to sow the cloves.

Last year, I used one of the 4X4 raised beds,

and it just wasn't enough garlic, so I needed to go BIG!

Using a tape measure, I planted every 4 inches along the row.

This California soft neck variety was planted about 2 inches deep,

making sure that the root end sat on the soil.

It has a mild garlic flavor,

and is perfect for those who say they don't like garlic's pungency.

Garlic is one of the most satisfying crops to grow

because it has virtually no pests, it overwinters easily,

and yields a whole head for each clove planted.

The gifts just keep on a comin'!

Using baling twine, I separated the other two rows that I planted with the same variety,
obtained from another source.
(I waited too long to order more garlic and Sow True sold out.)
All together, I should have almost 40 heads coming up,
so next year, there will plenty to eat, 
and enough to plant in the garden.

The other half of the hugelkultur bed has already been planted
with chard, kale, lettuce and spinach.
When I'm getting ready to sow,
I take the seeds packages out from my storage spot
and place them in this bin,
along with tags I've made myself from plastic water jugs,
and my favorite garden marking pen.
That way, everything's in one place and I can get the job done efficiently.

More spinach, as well as broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower
are the next things to go in.

This garden marker is the best I've ever used.
It doesn't fade, no matter how long it sits outside.

One of the 4X4 raised beds is now filled with seeds.
This is the first time I'm really putting an effort into
creating a design with the plantings.
As the 4 foot width is a bit of a challenge for me,
(I'm on the wee side),
I decided to plant those crops that require less picking in the center,
and things like spinach, which are picked almost daily on the perimeter,
resulting in less reaching across the span.
(All of our new beds are 3 feet across for this reason.)
The nasturtiums are still doing well,
so we'll leave them in place.

The straw bales have been lacking any interest for a good bit.
The holes were filled with good soil and some worm castings.

These bales have already produced cucumbers, flowers, and okra
over the summer.
Now they will host new veggies and some parsley,
which I think will overwinter just fine.
Once we harvest these crops,
the bales will be taken apart to use as mulch
and a new batch of bales will be put in place.

 

 
The Egyptian walking onions are slow growing,
but I'll be happy with any I get,
as it's the first time I've grown these.

Leeks have successfully been grown at this time of year,
so I decided to plant a tub's worth.
This is one of my favorite veggies to use for soup.

 Speaking of dining,
someone's been enjoying the sunflower heads left out.

 The lemongrass and aloe vera were watered well,
so that they can be brought into the house for the season.

 The loofah is piling up!

   
It's always so exciting awaiting the seedlings' arrival!
With more rain predicted, 
here's hoping we get to see them before the next Garden Friday!

Garden Friday

Welcome to Garden Friday!
It's actually starting to feel like spring around here!
Several sprays of daffs have been noticed around the neighborhood,
and it looks like we will be enjoying some in our yard soon too!
Temperatures here are still in the 30's overnight,
but we've had a few brilliant days in the 50's with ample sunshine.

 Recently our local Soil and Water Conservation District
had a tree seedling sale.
According to their website, this department 
"offers free technical assistance to landowners in the county 
with land management, drainage, wetlands, soils information, 
best management practices and other land resource problems".

white pine

I was able to pick up a smattering of white pine,
red bud and red cedar tree seedlings for under $20.
The goal is to add some privacy around our property
using these evergreen varieties.
What a bargain for the homeowner! 

With the weather cooperating,
I was able to get some veg seeds started.
My handy-dandy tweezers help with small seeds like lettuce.

I sowed a few trays of different lettuce varieties,

some broccoli, cabbage, kale and thyme.

The trays have been monitored to ensure they stay moist.

They will remain covered until germination takes place.
I checked them yesterday,
and no sign of it yet.
Once they have sprouted, the covers can come off during the day,
so that they can drink up the sunshine.
At night, they will be covered again,
until temperatures warm up a bit more.

 Much to my surprise,
some carrots were ready to be picked.
We roasted them yesterday with some other veggies.
The tub I grew these in somewhat stunted their growth,
so they will be sown in the raised beds from now on.

 I am absolutely blown away by this parsley!
It was planted months ago,
and made it through the winter uncovered and virtually ignored.
I'll be picking some for the freezer this weekend.

Another pleasant surprise was this broccoli growing
despite miserable conditions this winter.
We can never grow enough broccoli around here.
Both C and myself could eat it everyday.

Some of the crops in the hugelkultur bed are still trying to make something of themselves.
This Green Oakleaf looks scrumptious,

 and this Swiss chard is coming right along.
These crops have not had much attention and yet, keep right on growing.
Isn't Mother Nature just a wonder?

I'm not sure what happened to the cover crops.
This was the first time I have tried growing these,
so I'm not sure exactly what they should look like.
I guess I was thinking they would be taller.
The idea with cover crops is to keep the soil covered during the colder months,
to deter weeds, keep the soil warmer and enable earlier spring planting.

 These are the new raised rows I put in last fall.
I am still trying to decide on the final design of the garden.
I'm leaning toward all raised beds,
but the raised rows are less work and maintenance,
so the jury is still out.
We'll see how the crops do this season before making a final decision.

Meet my new best friend.
We have had a time gathering leaves, twigs,
sawdust and straw in the past couple of weeks 
since Big K brought it home.
It's been a regular rake-o-rama!
I love me some raking!

It seems that finally we are making some progress in the garden.
Slowly but surely, that task list will be tackled.
We are forecasted to have a week's worth of rain
without any letup.
So, although it will be a great time to install those tree seedlings,
not much tray work will get done.
Ah well.  
A gardener is at the mercy of the weather.

"Show me your garden
and I shall tell you what you are."
~Alfred Austin