Garden Friday

 

 

Welcome to Garden Friday,

where we share our Zone 7b garden.

The sunflowers have been gracing us with their beauty.

It just isn't summer without them.

 

This volunteer squash plant showed up near the canna lilies

earlier in the summer.

Pumpkins had been planted around here last year,

but nothing ever came of it.

 

After checking it for a couple of weeks,

a female flower was finally found yesterday!

Even if we don't get any harvest,

it's fascinating to watch the development of a volunteer.

 

The sweet potatoes are rockin'.

All it takes is some full-on heat,

they don't even mind not getting watered much.

With rain scarce these days,

it's a good thing.

If you look closely, you might see insect damage on the leaves,

but we grow it for the tubers, so it doesn't really matter.

 

All sorts of beans are poppin' up out there.

We have green beans and beans for drying.

These are Jacob's Cattle beans,

which will be left on the vines to dry.

 

 We've got tassels, folks!

So exciting to see this corn get this far.

It's a fight to the finish though,

with squirrels creating pressure for harvest.

 

Another heat lover,

the loofah is making fast work of climbing the trellis

in the chook run.

The shade it will provide will be most welcome.

 

With most of the kale and lettuce having bolted,

the chooks have been given free rein in this bed.

They are allowed to snack on whatever remains.

 

Surprisingly, a few asparagus spears were harvested last night.

Since most of the crop has gone to seed,

I assumed it was done providing for the season.

Always a delightful treat.

 

The hyacinth bean vine is decorating the north side of the chook run.

The purple flowers are so dainty

and I can't wait to see how it fills in.

 

We have some milkweed flowering in the front porch bed.

The pollinators are swarming them daily.

This is the host plant for the Monarch caterpillar. 

We have quite a few of this variety that volunteered in the bed,

but we have yet to see our usual type of milkweed pop up.

 

A few of the frustrations of dealing with squirrels

have been shared on many occasions. 

Here's the latest.

These two sunflowers were toppled over

and the entire heads have been removed.

No doubt someone is enjoying a nice, round belly full of seeds.

 

 

The bluebird eggs we showed a few weeks ago

have hatched.

These four sweet babes will soon be on their way
after careful tending by their parents.

 

A few of the chooks have discovered

that lying in the compost bin is indeed

a very nice place to be.

Here, Betty and Wilma share the space

and enjoy the coolness of afternoon shade.

Any way to beat the heat, girls!

 

 

Life is Better with Chickens!
 

 

Happy Independence Day!

 

 

 

 

God Bless America!

 

So grateful for our independence

and our interdependence with each other.

We're all in this together.

Blessings~daisy

 

Garden Friday

 

watermelon lemonade

 

Welcome to Garden Friday,

where we share what's growing on in our

Zone 7b Piedmont garden.

Summer has arrived and it's the perfect weather 

for this tasty treat.

You can find the recipe here,

although I now sweeten with honey instead of sugar .

 

 

The garlic that had been cured over the last two weeks

has been braided or placed in a net bag

for all of our culinary needs.

Feels good to have a year's worth of it on hand.

The green beans are starting to strut their stuff.

This is a summer staple on the supper table,

and beans will grow throughout the summer,

as long as they are continuously harvested.

We also have drying beans growing,

so that they can be dried for use all through the year.

Rice and beans, soups, and bean burgers

are some of the different dishes in which they are used.

 

 

 

 It looks like the corn will indeed be knee high

by the Fourth of July,

so something is going right!

Time will tell if the squirrels beat us to it!

 

Next to the corn grow pinto beans,

which are making their way up

the bamboo poles.

Bamboo is one of the most versatile tools

in the garden, and its strength

makes it optimal for trellising and staking.

 

 

The elderberry is blooming,

which is a first for us.

This plant has been on the property for 

a couple of years, but we haven't gotten berries yet.

Maybe the surrounding trees being trimmed aided this along,

by providing more sunlight. 

 

 

We have tithonia blooming,

which is one of my summertime favorites.

This plant is a prolific bloomer and will 

bless you with flowers well past summer.

 

rudebekia blossom

 

The pollinator bed where the old garden was located,

is exploding with blooms, 

including these beautiful Shasta daisies.

We also have marigolds, nasturtiums, rudebekia, 

sunflowers, and zinnias planted there.

I'll take another photo in a few weeks

when everything is in bloom.

cactus zinnia

nasturtiums

 

I've never before seen the Japanese beetle damage

on zinnias, but they are eating them this year.

It seems they are getting less fussy about what they munch.

Fortunately for us, we have chooks that enjoying

the beetles as a daily treat!

 

 

Apparently, someone didn't care for my pest management

technique.  I used insect netting to cover the strawberry bed.

Except for 1 or 2 berries, this gardener has been robbed!

They managed to find a way in to the goodies.

 

 

This critter was on our cannas.

Not sure if it is friend or foe,

so I left it alone.

I tend to let Mother Nature battle these things out.

 

 

Can you ever get enough of sunflowers?

 

 

 Most of these are the Mammoth variety.

Our summer garden just wouldn't be the same

without them.

 

 

The dust bath/chill area was recently expanded

for the chooks and are they loving it!

It's rare to see them all together like this 

in one big free for all!

Welcome to July!

 

"Roll out those lazy, hazy

crazy days of summer."

~Sam Cooke

Garden Friday

 

Welcome to the first Garden Friday of summer!

We are expecting another family of bluebirds soon.

This will be the second set of eggs hatched in this birdhouse this season.

What a blessing to be able to watch the miracle of Mother Nature.

 

 

Our garlic was harvested last week.

We pulled up all of the heads from one of our 3X8 beds,

as well as the garlic planted as a border around the property.

The border garlic was not as productive as the crop

grown in the bed.

I imagine the soil is just not up to par,

but that can be remedied with a little attention.

 

The curing process takes about 2 weeks,

and we use our garage to complete the task.

In the first couple of days, the smell fills the space,

(even I can smell it),

but within the week, it dissipates.

Another year's worth of garlic is worth any temporary inconvenience.

 

Due in large part to our amazingly cool spring,

I am still harvesting lettuce and kale.

The insect netting has done a fabulous job

of keeping out anything that might try to eat it before I do.

 

This was one morning's harvest of lettuce, kale

and tat soi blossoms.

The tat soi has gone to seed but still tastes good,

and the delicate flowers add flavor to salads and scrambled eggs.

 

Once things start to go bitter,

the chooks enjoy their share.

Not much goes to waste around here.

 

One curiosity has confounded me.

The cabbage I'm growing is not forming heads,

although the leaves are a good size and in good shape.

Any ideas about this?

 

During our Community Garden workday last weekend,

I got a few great trellis ideas for the beans.

I used the frames (made from half of a cattle panel)

that usually cover the smaller beds

and stood them on their sides.

This allowed me to transplant the seedlings

and not have to change the shape of the panel,

so that they can be used again in the fall

with row cover.

The corn is coming along.

So far, the squirrels have not tampered with it.

I guess they don't like the welded wire

I used to surround each stalk.

Not an easy solution if corn is grown in abundance,

but being a newbie at it,

there are only about 20 plants growing in this bed.

There are pinto beans growing on the outside edge

of this deconstructed raised bed.

It will be transitioned to a raised row for future planting.

The Ruth Stout method of growing spuds

left a lot to be desired.

I still like the idea of growing crops in straw,

so I'll try it again in the fall,

perhaps prepping the ground a bit more first.

We did end up getting enough for a couple of meals

from the volunteers that came up in one of the raised beds.

They are curing on a wire rack in our coat closet!

 

 

The front garden makeover is a work in progress.

With the garlic harvested,

I am hoping to get some annuals to fill in the border.

 

The butterfly bed near the street has exploded

with all of the rain we've gotten this week.

In the last three days, (as of Wednesday),

we have been graced with over 3 inches,

and there is more on the way.

Rain is a gardener's best friend.

 

The first set of hydrangeas on our property are blooming.

I'm not sure why, but I've felt that 

it was important to add this plant to the landscape.

It's almost as if the garden wasn't complete without it.

This is the Blushing Bride variety.
 

The front porch bed has gone rogue!

With all of the potted plants placed in it

to collect the precious rain water,

it looks a bit more full than it really is.

The lettuce border will be harvested

and given to the chooks.

Alyssum might be a colorful addition in its place.

 

The loofah has been slow to germinate because

it loves the heat and conditions just haven't been favorable.

With the blessing of rain this week,

no doubt it will be quite content.

It has been planted next to the frame inside the chook run,

where it will add much needed shade for the girls.

It'll be fun to watch the loofahs form and

perhaps this year I will have some to give away.

The canna lilies have gone wild in this one area just outside the chook run.

They will need to be divided after they bloom,

and my neighbor has agreed to take some for his backyard project.

To my surprise, I found a pumpkin plant growing 

amongst the cannas.  

Don't ya just love a volunteer?

 

 This curious critter was found on the outside of the 

insect netting on one of the beds.

It looks like it wants to be a snake,

but the head is malformed.

Any ideas?

Moonflower

With this daily rain,

the garden has blessed us with so much.

Blooms to admire,

and food to savor.

What a gift gardening is to the body and soul.

Enjoy whatever Mother Nature brings you!

AWOL

 

 

 I'll be away taking care of these two cuties.

Or maybe they'll be taking care of me.

Dogs make my heart smile.

See you in a couple of weeks!

(Secretly hoping that my garden is still alive.)

Blessings...daisy