Garden Journal June 28 2015

Welcome To My Gardens

I know that I have not written here in a while.  That is due to nothing really happening in the garden right yet.  I am just letting things grow as they should.  So this morning I went out and took some pictures of all my vegetables in their garden beds to show you the progress that they have made.

The first ones that I have pictures of is my cucumbers.  It seems like they have had blooms on them for a week now but are starting to have tiny cucumbers on them.  Oh and I did see a bumble bee pollinating them on Friday evening.

I think that I finally got them in my area and I think it is because I have planted some white clover in my yard.  They now have lots of things to get their meals from and pollinate at the same time.  I am hoping that will be the same for the humming birds that I have feeding at my feeders. I also have a bit of Bee Balm growing up front too.  Last year they did not flower, but they are flowering this year.  They are pretty to look at.  Perhaps I will take some out of the wheel barrow and plant them in other places in my yard.

Next stop is the Tomatoes.  I have lots of tomatoes growing.  I have so many that I might just get enough of the first picking to make a couple of jars of marinara sauce and put up for the winter.  I have many tomatoes on my Yellow Boys, Roma's and small ones starting on my Beef Steak Tomatoes too.  Almost time to get busy again.

Friday before it rained I added some more of the Thuricide to my lettuce and spinach bed because I was all those baby orange centipedes growing and crawling around in there.  I also saw some sow bugs and both of them are dining on my lettuce and spinach plants.  I think the plants are done in that bed anyway.  I am not sure what I can plant in there now.  I tried cantaloupe seeds, but they didn't grow.  That might be due to those bugs that love to eat roots and seeds.  We shall see.

I also put the Thuricide on my Peppers and they are doing so much better now.  We had lots of rain all day yesterday and I think that helped everything too.

I have squash on my Yellow Straight Neck Squash plant!  I also have lots more flowers on it so that will produce even more.  I think that I may cut the small squash off and add it to my Ham and Rice dish.  I have my ham bone in the crock pot today and will make the rice and the vegetables later today.  That's dinner!

My Purple Green Beans are coming around nicely.  I grew these last year but I waited to long until Pi harvested them that they weren't very tasty.  I also read on the packet that they turn a bright green when you cook them.  I will be picking these for daily meals or so and might have enough to freeze for later eating. We shall see how that goes though.





Well that is about all for now.

Until next time......

All My Vegetables Today June 10 2015

My Vegetable Garden Blog For June 10, 2015

 

Frederick

I have been on the Injured Reserve List, as my husband has aptly named my condition.  I was doing a lot of copying and pasting of articles and using my wrist a whole lot and got some tendinitis there and that was preventing me from doing anything on the computer for a while.  Then my outdoor stray cat that we named Frederick decided that I was some prey and he bit me really hard and broke the skin.  Well it was not totally his fault.  I put some catnip down for him to roll in and I put my hand under his chin...viola!  I was stupid and I got what I deserved.  

It has taken a good 4 days of healing that up and last night I had to open up the scab on my thumb and drain the puss that was forming there.  So that is healing up nicely right now and I am finally getting back to my blogs and writing and such on the computer and Internet.

Here is a picture of my hand from Monday.

I am sorry that the picture is blurry but it was the best that I could do using my left hand.

While on the Injured Reserve list I was unable to weed or water anything, but it seems like things are going pretty good anyway.

Tomatoes 6 10 2015

My tomatoes have started producing small tomatoes during the last few days while I was unable to tend to them.  They are so full and all the different varieties that I have in that raised garden has tomatoes growing on them.  The Roma's are doing really well with at least three per stem.  The Yellow Tomatoes have lots of new tomatoes on them and so do the Beef Steak Tomatoes.  All are doing excellent.

Lettuce and Spinach 6 10 2015

We have been harvesting our Lettuce and Spinach for a couple of weeks now.  I even plucked some Spinach and gave it to my neighbor across the street so that the plants would not go to seed.  I love being able to go out to my gardens and harvest fresh produce that I have grown myself.  It is a plus to know exactly what kinds of bug fighting things I put on them and that they are all natural and no chemicals being used at all.  It is also great to know that my plants will not get that dreaded Salmonella.  

Peppers 6 10 2015

I find it hard to understand why my Pepper plants are not as lush and healthy looking as my Tomatoes, Lettuce and Spinach have been already.  It has been kind of cool and we have had lots of rain, but this week should get them growing better because it is supposed to be in the upper 80's and low 90's and really warm at night in the 60's.  We shall see by the time that I wrote my next post in my Gardening Blog here.

Purple Bush Beans 6 10 2015

I found these seeds from my last years garden and decided to plant them as well.  They are Purple Green Beans.  They are a bush type and I figured that I had this raised garden that my husband was using as a compost bin for now.  I made a compost bin out of an old plastic trash can and so it freed up this raised garden.  On the seed packet it is written that when you cook these purple bush beans that they turn a bright and vivid green.  So I am guessing they are still "Green" beans.  They are growing great in this raised bed and the seeds sprouted much earlier than I had expected.  Usually things take about 7 to 10 days to sprout or pop out of the ground but these babies only took 5 days.  We shall see how long it takes for them to take until they are able to be harvested.

Straight Neck Yellow Squash 6 10 2015

I found out how to keep that incessant squash bug away from my squash.  I had been trying for years to grow the yellow squash but each time I would grow it there would grow a flower on it and the next day it would be flat, like someone or something sat on it overnight.  I asked the local farm store about it and they told me what it was and how to kill it before it can even have a chance to kill my plant.  This is my squash plant today and is doing really well and looks really healthy and there are squash that are forming right on my plant this year.  I am so happy!

Zucchini 6 10 2015

The Zucchini is for my neighbor as he asked me to grow it because he can no longer do gardening of any kind.  I also like Zucchini in my soups and stews and I will freeze some of this if I get enough.  This year was just an experimental year for this and the squash.  If it turns out well enough and plentiful I will grow it again next year.

 

Cucumbers 6 10 2015

I am kind of disappointed in my Cucumbers this year as they would have been all over that trellis that I made on my deck for them to grow onto. I am not sure what is going on with them either.  First I thought that it was the lesser amount of sun that they were getting, but I moved them into a spot that got more sun.  That did not help them and I found, by observation, that they do get more sun on my deck than the other spot in the front yard with all the raised gardens.  We shall see and they are making a little bit of progress too...just not as fast as I would like them to be taking.  I remember last year that I got most of the cucumbers in August, so we shall see and this is only the beginning of June.

Until Next Time......

May 24 2015 My Garden Journal-Where It All Began

Welcome to Our Humble Garden

Here I Am

Have you ever wondered who I am and what I look like?  I bet some of you have and yesterday I finally got my husband to get a picture of me working in my gardens for you.  So Here I Am!

Just about every weekend and sometimes during the week I am weeding or planting something or other.  I am always in my gardens.  This was the last of the big gardens that we weeded and raked yesterday.  More pictures to come!

Finally we got someone out here to cut the grass.  Now you can see all of my gardens without having to see the sea of grass in front of you.  It did look nice though.  I love to have the grass mowed and the beauty of the raised gardens visible.  It is so nice to be able to sit on the front porch and see all the things that we have made with our own hands.  It has taken many years and a whole lot of work to get it to the point that it is now.  

Here is what we started out within 2001

We took out the steps and put a ramp there instead.  Then we moved the ramp to the outside of the deck so that burglars could not just walk up the the house and come into our window.

Most of the vegetation in the front was thorny type bushes and we tool them out along with much poison ivy that I am really allergic to.  

In about 2005, after most of the inside of the house was remodeled, we were able to start working on the outside.  We, at one time, thought that it would be a good idea to move the parking where we have out raised gardens now.  Boy was the a silly idea!  At the time we only had a gravel driveway.  When it snowed or froze and we were left with an icy driveway, you can imagine the difficulty walking down it with a load of groceries.  So we moved it back to the way it was.

Here is the first attempt at raised gardens.  We had no idea that the roots of the trees would grow up through the dirt and take all the nutrients from anything that we planted.  My goodness it was like something out of the Twilight Zone when we took the planters apart to build them better and seeing all those roots sticking straight up out of the forest floor and into the garden beds.

So we got some brains and when we put them together again we lined the beds with black plastic and they started to grow better.  We got lots of vegetables the first year that we had done this back in 2006.  The next few years the weather was not so cooperating and we didn't get any good crops for our efforts for about 4 years later.  We tried everything and I vowed that I would not plant anymore.....but farming (a small farm that is) is somehow in my blood.  So I planted every year.  Things and bugs and animals would eat my hard work and so I learned what to do...or at least I thought that I learned.  I began to see different insects that were not supposed to be in this area.  The deer were relentless and ate everything.  I mean everything, even the plants that they are not supposed to like. 

The next year we had lots of this growing around and on everything.  I think it is a variation on the Crown vetch weed.  We pulled and we pulled and we pulled some more and it was just like a fire as it spread and grew over and on and up everything that it could get too.  The first year we just pulled and threw the weeds down into the ravine.  Bad move on our part because the next year it had taken over the whole yard, and started growing up the walls of our house.  That was when we got the bright idea to pull it and put it in black trash bags and let the trash man take it from here.  It took a total of 3 years for us weeding that and other stuff before we actually got a handle on in. 

So we have learned much on growing our own food here in these woods and on what my parent's called this place when my first daughter was born, Misty Acre.  My daughter's name is Missy, but for some reason my parent's named it Misty instead.  I like to think of it as Misty Acre too because when we have fog or a haze it sure does look magical and misty for sure. We have one acre.  Each lot in this development is approximately one acre.  We can only want to use the top part of our acre because it is the only part that get enough sun to plant anything.  We did try to plant some lilies but the deer grazed them down before they even got a chance to grow.

Here are some of the things that we have grown over the last few years.

Now we have solved the problem with the deer and this is the simple and inexpensive solution to that problem.  The deer do not like the light that it gives off.  They do not like the motion that it does in the breeze and this is night or day.  They also do not like the sound that it gives and so this is a very easy solution to keeping the deer away from plants like vegetables, Hostas or anything they like, Including marigolds which they are said not to like.  I know this because I planted a whole bunch of marigolds one year to keep the deer away...and they ate those too!

Here is another one of my children's windmills that are protecting my lettuce and spinach.  I have one of these windmills in ever raised garden and in the main Iris garden and in the lower garden in front of the White Pine Trees.

This is what we have been doing year after year after year on our yard.  It has taken a long time but the effort has brought much fruit.  Both my husband and I have toiled in the soil for years and finally are able to take pride in our accomplishment and hard work.  We can now enjoy our labors.  The hardest part is behind us and we can now manage to keep up with the weeding, the seeding, the heaving of what it takes to take something and make it into something of a thing of beauty.  

My Husband Raking Grass and Duke Supervising him. May 23, 2015

This is Me doing what I do most of the time in my garden...Weeding!

The farthest garden with Astilbes, Hostas and various other plants.
A Holly bush is growing in there too. When we cleaned it out
we found that the deer has snacked on the Hostas there.
We don't have any deer chasers, but we are going to be getting some! 

The largest of the gardens and it took us 4 hours to clean it up yesterday
There is a large Holly Bush and I am planting different colors of
Bearded Irises and some other specimen plants there..
May 23, 2015

One of the Climbing Roses that we have.
This one is the earliest and fullest one.

Cucumbers!

Grass cut and these are the three gardens you can see them all at once in the back-side yard.
All the way in the back are some Wine Berry (natural and invasive) and I found some
Forsythia and am trying to get them started back there as well.
May 23, 2015

This is a new garden that we just made in April 2015.
There will be new plants coming in August to plant there for next year.

Tomatoes, Yellow, Roma and Beef Steak

Peppers; Yellow, Green and Hot

Purple Bush Beans!  They only took about 5 days to sprout up!
Behind those are my Knock Out Roses and they are
growing super and about to flower in about a week.

Lettuce and Spinach

Zucchini!  I planted this because a neighbor who does not have the sun that I have wanted it.
I also like this in sups and stews in the winter.  It is great added to Beef Stew.

Yellow Straight neck Squash.  I got something that you mix with water and water
the plants that kill the Squash Bug.  I read on the bottle and you can use it for just about anything.
I did and everything is growing lots better.

This is the combination that I used and my gardens are doing so well.  I am amazed!
They are both natural pesticides.
The bag is Diamataceous Earth, that is food grade.
The other is Thuricide and it is natural too.

I hope that you have enjoyed the tour of my gardens and do hope that you get a chance to read all my other garden post and all my other blogs as well.

Until next time!!!

Garden Journal Entry May 15 2015

It has been a while since I have posted about my gardening around here.  It is because I was anticipating on re-purposing a large 33 gallon trashcan that we re-purposed for a rain barrel and it got a split in it and could no longer hold the water that came from the roof.  I am a recycler of things around my house, if I can do it I will, other than that I will add it to my recycled items for my husband to take to the recycling center in town.

Before I tell you how I re-purposed and how I made it I want to show you all my gardens.  There are lots of new developments and plants and ideas that I got, implemented and observed concerning the things that I have done so far.

The first thing that I was wanting to do for a while was make a new name sign for my small address garden.  It has been a few years that I have really need to get sown and find another board, trace a heart on it and cut it out.  The old sign feel apart in my hands when I picked it up.  I did have it hanging on some hooks under the bar, but every time the wind would pick up the sign would fall off.  I finally just laid it on the ground until I could find the time and the wood to make a new one.  It was toast as we say around her for things that un-usable anymore.  No re-purposing for that one.  Here is a picture of the new sign and one of the old one.  I screwed the new one on the bar this time and it surprised me that it looks better than hanging.

BEFORE

AFTER

I went to my local farm supply store, Boltz Hardware, Garden Center and General Store and asked them about how every year that I have tried to grow squash I get a flower on it and then the next day the plant is dead.  I have asked the same question of the Extension Office when they were at the last 4-H club County Fair and they did not even know.  Isn't that strange?  I thought that it was.  Anyway he told me that it was a Squash Bug that will come out of the ground...any soil.  The larvae will burrough it's way up the stem and eat it as it goes along.  That is why it is so sudden.  He gave me something that will kill that bug and a lot more bugs along with it.  I also got me a bag of Diatomaceous Earth to sprinkle on my roses and any other vegetables and flowers that all the new caterpillars will devour in a single night.

HERE IS THE STUFF THAT I USED TO POUR AROUND THE PLANT

 AND ALSO THE BAG OF DE.  

It is hard for me to pronounce the full name correctly so I just say DE.

I used the liquid on all of my plants, not just the squash.  I almost used the whole bottle.  I don't think that store person understood that I have a large assortment of gardens.  Wow is all I can say after I used this stuff on my plants.





I have a holly bush, really small and had not grown at all in the last four years that we planted it in one of our gardens.  After I put this stuff on it and around it, It actually has new growth on it.  That was about in a week's time and not months or years!  I am very happy about that as I think the Holly is too.

We have a creep crawly that loves to eat roots and I dropped a drop of this stuff on it and it killed it instantly.  Since we live in the woods we have all kinds of things that live under the ground that will eat and steal roots, bulbs and the like.  It sure did the trick with this plant!

We have these gardens growing like weeds!  Hahaha!  That is what I called the new one that we put in next to the driveway.  I had to divide and move some Daffodils to a new place and then I had orders many Fall blooming bulbs from Brecks Bulbs another favorite place of mine and spending lots of money there.

HERE IS THAT GARDEN

VEGETABLES

I purchased more tomatoes, Peppers and Squash and Zuccini and they are doing really good after I also put that liquid bug, creep crawly stuff on them after planting them.  I am excited that I have flower buds on some of my Yellow Tomatoes today.  I am on my way to really having a garden that will produce for me.  It is good to know that I fixed the bug problem that I never realized that I had.  Thank Goodness for that!

DEER CHASERS

This is one of the many Deer Deterrent that I use.  It is very inexpensive and has worked for 2 years now and my Hostas are really growing now.  You can purchase these at any store that has children's toys and it will be in the toy section.  I have a variety of colors of them and have them in various gardens.  They are the pinwheels and I get the plastic one show here.  The wind catches them and spins it around, night and day and the metallic of the plastic shines bright all over the place.  The deer and other critters do not like the noise, the sound and the sparkles.  Good for me and bad for those who like to dine on my flowers.  Win-Win all around!