Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Busy times!
Back on March 30 & 31 (2015) I managed to plant the broccoli, onions, beets, kale and spinach. My green kale did not come up very good and the red has outdone itself. Also, the spinach did not do too well but will just have to do with what is here. We had about a month of rains and so it has been hard to get into the garden to do anything. However, I did work on redoing the rock border around the front of my house. Bermuda grass has been taking over the border next to the flower beds and several other places. That stuff is awful! Now I'm trying to weed and put out the main garden things like tomatoes, peppers, okra and beans besides the squashes and melons. The weeds have taken over!
Guess I did say I'd been busy. There were Master Gardener meetings and 3 gardens in town to help take care of. There was Easter and a birthday party for a 3 year old. I went to a 2 day regional church women's gathering and then helped 2 days at the city wide garage sale and now I'm trying to get back into the mode of baking cookies for the Farmers Market on every Saturday. Our local Master Gardeners had their annual plant sale last Saturday and next weekend is our Truman Days sidewalk sale and event in town. Did I mention that I work too???? Guess I wouldn't have it any other way as I would just get bored. :-)
Spring is Here 2015!
March 24 , 2015 Hello Spring!
Last week on St. Patrick's Day I had a drive by garden working. This is how some of our rural areas work. No drama here. :-) I had though she would wait another week. However, St. Patrick's Day is the official day to plant potatoes here and she had 4 gardens to work so she was going to get it done. As I had never had any luck with potatoes, they are not on my agenda. Regardless it is good to see it worked as I had gotten the tomato cages up and all the trash raked and burned up. It was a little damp as we'd gotten some rain and are to get more this afternoon. In anticipation of an early garden, I did go get some broccoli plants and seeds for kale, spinach, onion sets and a tray of saliva. Coming home I got poured on.....
I set outside the pots of chives, lemon thyme and regular thyme from my unheated plant room last weekend. They are in front of my garage on the east side. This keeps them from being fried in the warmer days ahead. I will set them inside Friday night as it is predicted to be 24 degrees on Saturday morning. Glad I do not have any tomatoes or peppers out!
Already, I've had some fresh chives on my salads. Yum! Common chives have twice the vitamin C as oranges without the sugar. After Saturday morning the weather is supposed to be getting better. By this time next week I should have my early garden planted and maybe some of it coming up if my dog does not dig it back up. Here it is Friday and now the garden is sopping wet.
My 5 chickens are laying 3-5 eggs a day, keeping me busy eating eggs. My daughter in law and the grandkids love to pick out baby chicks to raise so I will be getting more ....
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
My Flowers Out Front
I've been having beautiful flowers out in front of my house and just had to share! :-)
The daylillies are spectacular this year! However the Japanese beetles are totally wrecking the roses-both the blooms and the leaves. I hope to find a natural way to get those bugs gone!
The hot pink is a seedless loosestrife. In the bottom center is a blue salvia that often overwinters here and the yellow is a Stella Supreme daylilly.
The bottom picture is a white loosestrife called Shepard's Hook from White Flower Farm, black eyed susans and a daylilly called Shideko or something like that-big blooms in a cluster.
The daisies and black eyed susans really bring out the other colors.
The daylillies are spectacular this year! However the Japanese beetles are totally wrecking the roses-both the blooms and the leaves. I hope to find a natural way to get those bugs gone!
The hot pink is a seedless loosestrife. In the bottom center is a blue salvia that often overwinters here and the yellow is a Stella Supreme daylilly.
The bottom picture is a white loosestrife called Shepard's Hook from White Flower Farm, black eyed susans and a daylilly called Shideko or something like that-big blooms in a cluster.
The daisies and black eyed susans really bring out the other colors.
A Bouquet to Start the Day
Oh How My Garden Grows!
Just about a month ago here in SW Missouri, in early June, I
planted the yellow squash, zucchini, watermelon and pumpkins. I like having pumpkins in October instead of
August…. You also miss the first squash bug hatching by waiting until June to
plant the vines. The peppers and
tomatoes were out for nearly a month or more before everything else and now some
are about ready to pick. Anyway, there
are blooms starting on the watermelon and squash already! Look out for that missed zucchini! There is
more weeding to do but I am pretty proud of this garden. The okra and green beans were started just
about 2 weeks ago. We had rain both
yesterday morning and this morning-in July no less! Usually we see very little rain from the end
of May until August or later. As you can see I need to do some more
weeding…….There will be some good eating out of this. It is all done with as little insecticide and such to keep it as natural as possible.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Bringing My Plants In
It has been about a month since I put all my tender herbs and perennials out in my unheated plant room. They should be acclimated to a drier and less sunny location now. Our weather is about to get nasty and as it is a beautiful day, so I decided to bring in those that could freeze.
First I trimmed the plants all down to the 'nubs' and then cleaned up the sides of the pots to be able to bring them in for the winter. It is very hard to cut off all the beautiful blooms on my impatiens but know that they are much better off as the plants just get tall and leggy and drop over half of their leaves and blooms if you do not. :-( Later they will reward you with blooms.
Next the pots all got wiped down to prevent disease and carry in pests. Several friends with the Master Gardeners will use systemic insecticide to prevent any bug problems over the winter. Somewhere I have some of that stuff and had best find it and apply it!
Happy gardening all!
First I trimmed the plants all down to the 'nubs' and then cleaned up the sides of the pots to be able to bring them in for the winter. It is very hard to cut off all the beautiful blooms on my impatiens but know that they are much better off as the plants just get tall and leggy and drop over half of their leaves and blooms if you do not. :-( Later they will reward you with blooms.
Next the pots all got wiped down to prevent disease and carry in pests. Several friends with the Master Gardeners will use systemic insecticide to prevent any bug problems over the winter. Somewhere I have some of that stuff and had best find it and apply it!
Happy gardening all!
Friday, October 19, 2012
Herbs the Easy Way
Years ago I decided to try herbs out on the outskirts of my main vegetable garden. It was nice to have them but it was also a pain to go out and gather them for a quick addition to a dish. Sometimes it was raining or the grass was wet with dew and I did not want to get my feet wet or feed the chiggers. If it was breakfast I was working on, I did not want to get caught in my jammies by the neighbors.
When my garage was built next to my house, facing East, there was about a 4' divider between the garage doors and a second space on the south east corner. This looked too blank and needed dressed up. I had 2-24" pots that filled part of the bill but as time went on I clustered several more smaller pots of various sizes around the big pots. I used bricks or blocks of wood under several to vary the heights.
At first, I just had flowers in the pots but realized the opportunity of adding herbs that I could easily dash out and snip. All spring, summer and fall I can easily cut fresh chives, thyme, basil, sage and oregano for my dishes. While I do not use lots of these herbs, this gives me easy access as well as adding variety to the floral grouping. Variegated sage is especially pleasing to see in the mix with the silver, grey-green and white. The different forms of the plants add interest too. Chives have nice and thin upright leaves with the benefit of lavender flowers every spring. Thyme is more prostrate with tiny leaves and flowers-a must for the French. Lemon thyme has a pretty little yellow-green leaf and is wonderful with fresh fruit. Greek oregano has a prostrate habit too but with larger leaves. The tiny flowers and seed clusters are pretty too. It can be brought in for the winter as it is not winter hardy here in Zone 5. Sage is a more bushy plant with medium sized leaves and will get leggy after a few years. The seedlings will probably make prettier plants for the new year. Basil is a bushy annual that grows easily from fresh seed only and has many varieties. I just tried some pesto on some of my end of summer Roma tomatoes-Yum! Rosemary is one plant that I have not learned to use properly but will grow in a pot just fine. It can get very large too. The pot will help determine the size and trimming will help.
The basil and chives love to be watered while many of the other herbs are used to more arid regions and don't need as much attention. Also all of your plants, especially those in pots, will thank you many times over if they are given a weak fertilizer on a weekly basis or sprinkle the time release pellets on them. The pellets are easier and last about 3 months so a second but lighter application is OK. Composted manure might work too but few have access to it.
When the temps begin to drop, bring in the tender perennials and cluster the hardy plants in a protected area. You want to protect the bases with mulch or something so the roots won't freeze. If you have a brick/rock house, the heat radiated from the brick keeps them warmer and take advantage of any pockets where leaves gather to mulch them. Right now I have my oregano in my garage in an unheated plant room and will bring it in the house before we have freezing temps.
For more information on growing herbs in containers click here
When my garage was built next to my house, facing East, there was about a 4' divider between the garage doors and a second space on the south east corner. This looked too blank and needed dressed up. I had 2-24" pots that filled part of the bill but as time went on I clustered several more smaller pots of various sizes around the big pots. I used bricks or blocks of wood under several to vary the heights.
At first, I just had flowers in the pots but realized the opportunity of adding herbs that I could easily dash out and snip. All spring, summer and fall I can easily cut fresh chives, thyme, basil, sage and oregano for my dishes. While I do not use lots of these herbs, this gives me easy access as well as adding variety to the floral grouping. Variegated sage is especially pleasing to see in the mix with the silver, grey-green and white. The different forms of the plants add interest too. Chives have nice and thin upright leaves with the benefit of lavender flowers every spring. Thyme is more prostrate with tiny leaves and flowers-a must for the French. Lemon thyme has a pretty little yellow-green leaf and is wonderful with fresh fruit. Greek oregano has a prostrate habit too but with larger leaves. The tiny flowers and seed clusters are pretty too. It can be brought in for the winter as it is not winter hardy here in Zone 5. Sage is a more bushy plant with medium sized leaves and will get leggy after a few years. The seedlings will probably make prettier plants for the new year. Basil is a bushy annual that grows easily from fresh seed only and has many varieties. I just tried some pesto on some of my end of summer Roma tomatoes-Yum! Rosemary is one plant that I have not learned to use properly but will grow in a pot just fine. It can get very large too. The pot will help determine the size and trimming will help.
The basil and chives love to be watered while many of the other herbs are used to more arid regions and don't need as much attention. Also all of your plants, especially those in pots, will thank you many times over if they are given a weak fertilizer on a weekly basis or sprinkle the time release pellets on them. The pellets are easier and last about 3 months so a second but lighter application is OK. Composted manure might work too but few have access to it.
When the temps begin to drop, bring in the tender perennials and cluster the hardy plants in a protected area. You want to protect the bases with mulch or something so the roots won't freeze. If you have a brick/rock house, the heat radiated from the brick keeps them warmer and take advantage of any pockets where leaves gather to mulch them. Right now I have my oregano in my garage in an unheated plant room and will bring it in the house before we have freezing temps.
For more information on growing herbs in containers click here
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| The unheated plant room |
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| More of the fall garden |
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