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?

 

 

 

"A" Frame Trellis

A few weeks back, I got the idea to find some space 

for some runner beans and cucumbers.

With no more space in the raised beds,

I decided to go UP.

A neighbor had given me some bamboo,

so I fashioned an "A" frame for the beans and cukes to climb.

With just a few materials, I was ready to go.

This was a one-woman project,

although it would be easier with two willing hands.

A sawzall, tape measure, scissors, hammer, baling twine or jute,

and some conduit are all that are needed, along with the bamboo poles.

I first decided where I wanted the frame.

The garden has full sun most of the day,

so I just tucked it in next to one of the raised beds.

After measuring out the distance between the end supports,

I hammered in some pieces of conduit,

which were cut in half to 2 1/2 feet.

The length of the frame will be determined by the length 

of your longest bamboo pole.

The bamboo was slipped over the conduit and tilted toward the center,

so that it could be attached together.

Some of the bamboo was plugged up at the end,

so I just hammered the material out.

Here are the two pieces of conduit in the foreground.

I laid the longest piece of bamboo across the ground

so that I would know where to install the conduit on the other end.

The piece that spans the top should overlap on the sides.

The two end poles are crossed (like an "A") and the baling twine is used

to bind them together.

The longest bamboo pole is then laid across the top between the crossed poles.

Baling twine was again used, this time

tied from the horizontal pole,

to offer a place for the beans and cukes to climb.

Soil was added at the bottom, and the seeds were sown.

I love how much growing space this gives me,

without taking up much room.

I can see another one of these in our future.

Now, let's get growing!

 

Support Needed

With spring weather standing by,
it's a great time to get some garden planning done.
Some of what we grow requires staking, trellising, 
or some kind of visible support.
Vining crops such as beans, cucumbers, loofah, peas and squash
all need something to grab onto and have vertical space to sprawl.

We installed this cattle panel fencing last year
and they are one of the easiest and quickest ways
to add vertical growing space to the garden.

  

 At the base, we planted beans, melons
and snap peas and let them do their thing.

 

 This year, I have an idea to increase our growing area.
I'm planning to grow lettuce in old coffee tins
and hang them on the inside of the panels.
In this way, I use more of the space
while allowing the lettuces to be shaded by the beans
during the hottest part of the summer.
I'm hoping to figure out a way to deter the squirrels this way as well.

 

This old gazebo frame used to hold a canvas covering,
which didn't last long after a few strong winds.
We saved the frame, bringing it all the way from Florida,
because I just knew I could find a way to repurpose it in the garden.



Last year, the loofah grew gangbusters on it!
It was such a welcome sight when turning the corner on our street.
The structure held up to the weight of the mass of vines and fruit.
This year it will be used for the same purpose.
As the loofah are sown in pots,
this is another area where something can garner some shade underneath.

last year's garden

A simply constructed teepee sits in the pollinator bed,
awaiting the climbing of morning glory or nasturtium. 
These poles were originally used as stakes, 
so we just tied them together at the top
with leftover baling twine.
This type of teepee, perhaps made a bit bigger,
would be the perfect host to a crop of climbing beans,
cucumbers or flowering vines.

There is no end to what you can create
with things that are probably already laying about.

If you need further inspiration,
check out these innovative (and cheap) solutions:

Check out this link for more upcycled trellis ideas.

A fellow frugal gardener shows how to create a rustic twig trellis.

This obliesk seems so easy to make 
and just look at the color it adds to the garden! 

Garden Friday

Welcome back to Garden Friday!

Things are hoppin' in the garden.

Let's see what's going on this week...

 Lettuce is still doing well

and will hopefully continue.

Our temperatures during the day have been in the 80's,

with overnights in the 60's,

so I'm hoping it continues so that I can keep on pickin'!

 This Red Planet variety has been grown strictly for baby greens.

They will soon be big enough to add to my daily salad.

This is the first year I have grown mixed lettuces,

and the diversity of colors is quite appealing.

The buttercrunch (seen here) and the green oakleaf

have been favorites up to now.

What a blessing to have such an assortment to grow.

Three red cabbages are holding their own.

This is the first year I've tried growing cabbage,

and I think I will grow more next year.

They store well and I just love adding it raw to salads

or roasting it on a sheet pan as a side.

 This green cabbage is hiding underneath a giant kale plant.

Although the kale has had cabbage worms on it,

so far, this cabbage has stayed clean.

Hope I don't jinx it!

Here's the giant Premier kale plant I was talking about.

It's been harvested for a couple of months now,

but it's finally bolting.

I left it where it is as a trap crop,

to keep the cabbage worms off other things in the raised bed. 

(Did you notice the flowers on the peas behind it?

Whoo-hoo!)

The leeks are planted all around the perimeter on this side of the trellis.

The leek on the left have some smaller crops around them,

while the leek on the right are covered by that same kale plant.

It's easy to see that they are not getting enough sun,

as all other variables are the same.

Lesson learned for next time.

 The potatoes are growing by leaps and bounds!

I just hilled them on Tuesday with more straw,

and they need to be banked again.

Strawberries were transplanted into two straw bales.

I've never had much success with strawberries,

so I'm curious to see how they do.

The blueberries are a new crop too,

and they are doing great.

What an easy plant to grow!

I can't wait to have the first taste.

I see bowls-o-berries in my future!

 Last weekend was a planting marathon!

I got our cucumbers, eggplant, okra, peppers, bush and pole beans,

melon and watermelon all planted.
I had planned where everything would go
and tweaked it as I went along.

 To each new planting hole,
whether in the ground or containerized,
I added these three ingredients:
eggshells, coffee grounds, and worm castings.
The secret's in the sauce.

This is where the melons and runner beans will grow up the arches.

They are in pots and I plan to add flower seeds between them.

I'm so glad we added the arches and I can't wait to see them

with crops covering them to create a food tunnel!

This little corner of our property is right next to the veggie garden.

It's so peaceful to go out there and listen to all of the birds singing.

The assortment of trees we have is wonderful,

as they each attract and house different species.

Our yard is full of clover and I love that the pollinators

have an ample supply of what they need.

More clover, less lawn!

The parsley that made it through the winter with no problem

is finally getting ready to flower.

Plants are so amazing, they are all so different,

but equally beautiful, in all stages of development.

The mailbox bed is framed with iris,

which are getting closer to flowering.

A couple of weeks ago I seeded this bed

with daisies, rudbekia, echinacea, alyssum, sunflowers and zinnias.

Things are slowly popping up.

Spring is such an exciting time!

 I guess this sunflower is a late bloomer like me.

It came up before I planted the front porch bed,

so it must have been dormant all winter.

Better late than never!

Here's a cute lil' fella that seems to have taken up residence

under our outdoor garbage can.
The bonus?
Brown snakes eat slugs!
Yeah, have at it, bud!

What a fun time to be out in the garden.

Food is making its way to the table,

seedlings are showing themselves

and so many flowers are about to bloom

and grace us with untold beauty.

Every day is filled with abundance.