April Showers

Today, we had a break in the rain...hooray! I sure hope the water table is making a comeback with all this moisture falling from the skies.

The 2015 Garden begins to give!

Here's the wrap up on the Way Back Gardens from April (look below for upcoming May activities...:):


Things have been rolling right along, with lots of progress in all the gardens.  I got a nice cool season garden planted in the raised beds of the Box Garden, and then eagerly tackled the warm-season planting checklist for the Kitchen Garden, following the average last frost date for our area (typically quoted as being April 15). Since the first two weeks of April have been warmer than usual, I took a chance on getting many of the tender transplants and seeds in the ground, although I am prepared to still have to make a mad dash to cover some tender tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants, along with the boxwood basil (in the photo, right) should the weather forecast turn chilly.

I'm happy to report that I got fifteen tomato transplants in Row #1 of the Row garden, along with ten pepper plants and two eggplants...in spite of all the help I received from Abbie and Winston (pictured, below). I planted three each of Park's Improved Whoppers, Juliets, Beefsteaks, and Celebrities; and one each of German Queen, Red Beefsteak, and Better Boy. I've also planted a Bush Goliath in a container on the deck. I remembered that when setting out tomato plants, to set up stakes and cages so as not to disturb the roots later. I also reused the landscape fabric I used last year, having already cut the X-shaped holes in the fabric at just the right distance for planting tomatoes and peppers.

I planted two each (sweet) green bell, yellow bell,  red bell, and purple bell peppers; and one each of Tabasco and Dragon (hot) peppers. I still have seedlings of Better Boys, Park's Improved Whoppers, Cherokee Purple, and Black from Tula, along with Orange Blaze, Mariachi, and Fish Peppers. These will all be ready to go into containers in a couple of weeks, about the same time I plant lima beans, sweet potatoes, okra, and cotton.

Although I missed the April 15th date ("pay your taxes, plant your corn"), I did get four rows of Silver Queen corn into the (muddy, sloppy) rows in the caged Block Garden. Fingers crossed the seeds germinate! I also got seeds planted for pole beans and bush beans in a couple of the raised beds in the Box Garden, joining two kinds of broccoli (pictured below), red cabbage, carrots, spinach, beets, several varieties of lettuce (pictured below), and (for the first time) potatoes. I had a few seed potatoes left over after I planted the grow bags, so I thought I'd trial them in a raised bed "just to see how that would work."

 

 

This year, Mr. T built me a raised bed to dedicate as an herb garden, next to the area dedicated to the asparagus raised bed. While I include herbs here and there all around the Way Back, I think they are pretty enough to be stars of their own show.

We have been enjoying our asparagus, harvesting a few stalks on nearly a daily basis, since just after Easter. I didn't get into the garden for a couple of days during the rains, and a few stalks grew too tall and tough. But, it's nice to be realizing the fruits of our labors several years ago.

First asparagus shoots 2015

Rounding out the report from the Kitchen Garden, I'm happy to see that the garlic (planted in the former home to the sweet potatoes and the onions (planted at the ends of all the raised beds in the Box Garden) are all growing and looking great.

The blueberries have already flowered and are fruiting up nicely in the Berry Patch. We also are seeing lots of strawberries, even though we probably should have been more diligent about weeding and mulching the bed; but honestly I don't remember seeing this number of potential fruit before. I pruned the grape vines and the blackberries rather lightly this Spring, and they are all greening up grandly.

I'm proud to report that all the trees in the Orchard flowered this year...no frost or freeze damage! Hooray. I need to spray the trees after the last of the apple trees finish flowering to ensure some protection against the summer onslaught of pests.

And we finally got the last of the roses we'd planned to move from the back yard to the Way Back planted in the Rose Garden: Mister Lincoln, JFK, and a Chrysler Imperial. We had to remove an Abraham Darby due to suspected RRD, making a total of four roses we have lost to this disease (of which there is no cure...only removal). We planted two more hybrid teas (Pink Peace and Chicago Peace...both from Home Depot) and a Duchesse de Brabant (from Antique Rose Emporium...in memory of our departed Duchess) in containers, and that should do it for planting for this year...except for the perennials and annuals for accents, of course. There is ALWAYS an "except for...," isn't there?

So, here's what's on our 'To Do' List for May*:

Kitchen Garden:

·         May 1^st is the beginning of the recommended planting time for bush lima beans (through July 1^st), okra (through May 31^st), and both sweet and hot peppers (through May 31^st ).  May 15^th marks the date to begin planting sweet potatoes (through June 15^th).  I've got a good start on this one.

·         Continue planting pole beans (through July 1^st), cantaloupe/muskmelons (through June 1^st), sweet corn (through June 1^st), cucumbers (through May 15^th), pumpkins (through June 15^th), summer and winter squash (through May 15^th), tomato plants (through July 15^th), and watermelons (through June 1^st). I currently have transplants-from-seeds almost ready to go in my Bio Dome seed starter in the kitchen.

·         Be sure to remove any suckers on tomatoes to encourage the plant’s energy be used for larger fruit rather than side shoots. (I always attempt to root the suckers; many times I'm lucky and get a freebie tomato!). And, take the precaution I learned while in the Seeds of Change at EPCOT: remove the lower branches on tomato plants to help prevent diseases such as blights that are transferred from water splattering off soil onto leaves.

·         When planting beans (pole and/or bush) and corn, make successive plantings every two weeks to ensure a longer harvest.

·         Plant basil and dill directly in the garden this month.

Orchard and Berry Patch:

·         Fertilize blueberries, blackberries, and grapes this month.  Read more about it in the NC Cooperative Extension publication Grapes and Berries for the Garden.

Rose Garden (and perennials and annuals):

·         To prevent black spot on roses, continue a weekly fungicidal spray regimen, if you don't use the 6-week systemic variety.   The latest research says NOT to remove black spot infected leaves UNTIL you don't see anymore green...thereby giving your rose bush all the help it needs in continuing to produce chlorophyll.

·         Prepare beds for summer annuals such as petunias, marigolds, and zinnias; a location with 6 or more hours of sun each day is ideal.

 

Flowers, Shrubs, and Trees in the Front and Backyard gardens:

Azaleas blooming in the back yard

 

·         May is time to plant summer-flowering bulbs, especially caladiums and gladioli. I already have some glads coming up inside a "protected" area, so they seem to have made it through the mild winter we had.



·         Prune and fertilize Spring-flowering shrubs such as azalea (pictured, left) and rhododendron after they have bloomed. We NEED to make this a hard-prune year, as ours are all rather wild looking.

 

·         Remove broadleaf weeds from all landscape planting areas. If left to grow, they will rob water and nutrients from your plants. We have brought nearly 200 bags of hardwood mulch onto our property, spreading yards and yards by cubic yards of the stuff.  We still have lots to spread in the Rose Garden.

Lawns and Grasses

·         According to the Home Lawn Calendar for May from the Center for Turfgrass Environmental Research and Education at NC State, mow tall fescue lawns at 3 to 3 ½”, and at least once each week.  This article also encourages grasscycling, which is the practice of leaving grass clippings on the lawn.  “Grass clippings decompose quickly and can provide up to 25 percent of the lawn's fertilizer needs.”  We actually use the clippings from the Way Back (around the Orchard and the Berry Patch) to "feed" the compost piles.  Good as gold!

·         Lawns need 1 to 1 ¼ inches of water per week.

Other             

• Take some time to enjoy the butterflies, honeybees, and hummingbirds!  We have a small raised bed Pollinator Garden in the Orchard, with a bird bath; I see that the bee balm, lavender, and pineapple lilies are returning this year...yeah! Soon, I will direct-seed zinnias to fill out the spaces.
• Move houseplants out-of-doors when the nighttime temperatures are consistently above 50 degrees. We are waiting to move the lemon trees out of the plasticized screen porch...just for their protection, since we are still getting some 45-49 degree nights.
• Be sure to incorporate finished compost into the garden,  and then begin a new compost pile. We have a wonderful barrel-type composter that Mr. T rolled out to the Row that will host the sweet potatoes and okra, so we are ready to begin the process again. Learn everything you ever wanted to know about the subject from the NC Cooperative Extension publication:  Composting: A Guide to Managing Organic Yard Wastes.

Remember, May is Melanoma/Skin Cancer Detection and Awareness Month.  Before you dash outside to your May gardening activities, put on a hat, sunglasses, and adequate sunscreen protection. It's also a good time to visit your dermatologist for a skin check. I'm getting a jump on that this Friday!

Happy hoeing!


==================================
* This May To Do List is updated and revised from an article I had published on GoGreenTriad.com in 2011.

Goodbye February, Hello March

What does a Piedmont/Zone 7b garden look like as the month of February comes to a close? More white than green, as the photos (taken 2/26/15) show!

Snow days, together with an enforced (left) 6-week wrist-resting period due to a diagnosis of de Quervain's Tenosynovitis, have conspired to limit my outdoor activities in February. I missed checking off most...if not all...of the items on the To Do list (as shown in this previous post). Instead, you will likely have found yours truly inside, in front of the fire, holding a steaming cup of coffee rather than a garden trowel. Still, I have continued to study seed catalogs and draw up plans for the 2015 gardens (in pencil...in my garden journal...:-).

Looking ahead to the ten-day weather forecast, it is easy to see that we are headed for warmer temps. Time to think in earnest about March!

Here's what my own "To Do in March" list looks like:

Soil: Bed and Row Preparation —

1. Our heavy Piedmont clay soil is very wet going into March, so we'll check the soil before digging, cultivating, or tilling in any of the gardens. [Walking on wet soil will cause it to compact, but we have gone completely to raised beds and raised rows, connected in a system of wide pathways.] We'll test the moisture level in the soil the old-fashioned way: make a small ball of it in the palm — if it wads up and sticks together it is too wet; if it is fairly crumbly — we are good to go to work the soil.
2. When we can work the soil in the row garden, we will add amendments, such as compost and leaf mold, to allow for better drainage. This will make the native clay soil more friable...to give the soil "good tilth." Tilth is the "physical condition of the soil as it relates to tillage ease, seedbed quality, easy seedling emergence, and deep root penetration." While peat moss is often recommended as an amendment, it adds to the acidity (decreasing the pH), and our soil test showed a typical Piedmont soil with a pH in the range of 5.2-5.9, which is too low to support (almost all) healthy, productive veggies. We've added line to raise the pH per our soil test report, so we won't use peat moss to negate all our efforts.
3. Raised beds provide better drainage, so they will be workable before the row garden. Each raised bed will get 1-2 bags of compost prior to planting, along with a fluffing up to decrease compaction from the snowfall.

Veggies and Herbs — 

1. St. Patrick's Day is the traditional time to plant English peas and potatoes. The peas will go on the fence surrounding the Block Garden, and the potatoes will go in the grow bags.
2. We hope to be seeing the first shoots of asparagus, which is in its 5th year of production in its own bed. Last fall, we covered the bed with the compost-rich soil from the potato grow bags to help keep the crowns in place during winter heaving. We should be able to enjoy harvesting this perennial for 4-5 weeks, beginning when soil temps reach 50 degrees. While asparagus dislike sharing their space with anything else, I might add some pansies here this spring. They'll add color, and we can use the blooms in salads.
3. Speaking of salads, it'll soon be time to seed lettuce, carrots, spinach, and beets. We will also be setting out transplants of broccoli and cabbage.
4. Since most herbs are Mediterranean natives, it is too early to think about planting them prior to the average last date of frost (typically quoted as April 15 for our area). It is time to give the rosemary a nice haircut, and I'll check on the other perennials (sage, thyme, and oregano). I will start seeds of annuals dill and parsley indoors, and I'll move my pots of chives outside on the inevitable warm days.

Orchard and Berry Patch — 

1. Since we haven't already done it, we will have to prune the fruit trees (including apples, pears, peaches, plum, crab apples, and a cherry), the grape vines, and the berry bushes such as blackberries. After pruning, we will spray fruit trees, berry bushes, and canes with Lime Sulfur Spray. It is organic and protects against scales, mites, and borers. It's a dormant spray, so we will have to apply before the plants begin to bud out.
2. I have concerns about the blueberry bushes, which have swollen buds that are exposed to the current snow and freezing conditions. We had a decreased harvest in 2014 due to a very late snow and hard freeze in April (which also eliminated all fruits in the Orchard). We shall see...

Roses, Grasses, Perennials, and Shrubs —

1. When the forsythia blooms, it's time to prune the roses, following the 5-D plan: removing dead, diseased, damaged (trim back winter-killed rose canes to one inch below blackened area), diagonal (crossing), and dinky (any canes smaller than a pencil). Then we will prune remaining canes to about a foot or two above ground level. (This does not apply to the climbing roses, which get pruned after blooming.)We will also begin to deal with pests now by applying a dormant spray, like All Seasons Horticultural Spray Oil. We will also transplant roses at this time.
2. We will prune summer-blooming shrubs such as butterfly bushes (buddlea) and crape myrtle (although we will avoid "crape murder"!). We will wait to prune our spring-blooming shrubs (such as forsythia and azalea) until they've finished blooming so we don't cut off this year's flowers. Since we haven't pruned the azalea for 5 years and they have all grown too tall and are not blooming as well, we plan to rejuvenate them by using "severe pruning," with the electric trimmer, "whacking" the whole plant down to within 6"- 12" of the ground. It is amazing how fast shrubs will grow back following this severe pruning and they will have much better form and flowers in coming years.
3. We will cut back the dead stems of any perennials or grasses before or as the plants put out new growth. On the lamppost in the front yard, we have a jackmanii Clematis in pruning Group 3, which blooms on new wood. They can be cut nearly to the ground just before growth begins in March before new growth begins.

That should give us plenty to do, don't you think?!

Happy hoeing!

To Do in the Zone 7 Garden in June

It's the last month of Spring...how is your garden growing? Here's a photo I took after this morning's coffee walk...peas and carrots...and one ginormous onion! The "English" peas are winding down, the carrots are finally ready, and the onions just might take over our world...wow!

By now in Zone 7, you should be well into your planting of warm season vegetables: tomatoes, peppers, beans, squash, melons, cucumbers, okra, and Southern peas are all in the ground here in The Way Back Kitchen Garden. I chose to forgo eggplants this year since we are neither big fans.

And, like us, you are probably pulling up many of the cool season crops as they begin to bolt and go to seed. I made a contribution to the compost bin this weekend as I replaced the broccoli, cabbage, spinach, and bolting lettuce plants (all in the raised beds in the Box Garden) with plantings of a variety of bush beans and some Salad Bowl lettuce that is supposed to withstand the coming Summer heat "better." I'm giving it a good chance by planting it against the west-side boards on the raised beds (which will provide shade from the harsh setting sun) and under the cucumber trellis frame, over in the Row Garden...again for added protection.

I also decided to devote one box (L-shaped, with the equivalent of 3 3x3 squares...or 27 square feet, if you do the math) to a tomato trial. Last year, you may recall I put three Sun Gold tomato suckers I'd rooted in this box...one in each 3x3 square. And they thrived, to put it mildly. 

When our first frost threatened last Fall, I harvested all the remaining tomatoes, green and gold ones, and turned them into Green Tomato Relish (great on hot dogs...and black-eyed peas, by the way!). But I didn't pull the plants. Well, they survived that first frost. We had another warm spell, as we often do...and the plants flowered again...and more Sun Golds arrived. But many of these fell into the box when I did finally pull the plants. I tried to remove as many as I could, but apparently missed as many as I got. 

I didn't plant this box with cool season veggies, as I was going to let it rest. Nature had other plans! Before I knew it, I had worlds of tiny Sun Gold tomato plants. Good grief! Knowing that SG is a hybrid tomato, I "knew" that I couldn't count on any of these reseeded babies to produce fruit like the 3 parent SG plants. But, what would the fruit look like? And would there be any fruit at all? Sounds like an experiment to me!

I pulled all except three "baby" plants...the ones that had seeded themselves in the center of their respective squares, more or less. I wanted to see what I will get from the seedlings of hybrid plants. Well, one question is answered: will they fruit? Yes! The three remaining (and many of the ones I removed) have all flowered and are developing tomatoes...and they look just like the tiny bunches of Sun Golds that the parent plants produced last year. I'll report back on how the reseeded plants' fruit tastes soon. Very soon!

Additionally, I seeded my garden borders with marigolds and zinnias, using the seed-heads we save every year after frost kills off our favorite annuals. The seeds we harvested last Fall are descendants of flowers we had around our garden in O'Fallon, MO...over 5 years ago. The originals were hybrids, so the first generation of plants from the saved seeds weren't "true," but subsequent flowers are pretty reliable. And the whole point is to get lots of flowers to attract pollinators...without spending a fortune. Check!

Speaking of pollinators...

Mr. T cleaned and cultivated the Pollinator Garden, which starts its second full year in the Orchard. The pineapple lilies we purchased at the Daylily farm in Garner last year have all survived this past Winter (how, I will never know!) and are sending up reddish-purple leaves. I set out tiny transplants of zinnias and marigolds (started from purchased seeds), plus some Root-tone-dipped cuttings of the Moonlight mums and Shasta daisies, which are thriving elsewhere on our property. I also planted a few sunflower seeds, but I think the crows were observing me from their high perch on the transmission line tower...and will probably make a meal out of my efforts before I can say "shoo!"

So what else is on this month's checklist? Here goes:

Checklist for Zone 7 Gardens:

• Mulch container gardens to help retain moisture in the coming hot weather, using a top-dressing of compost
• Remove Spring annuals as the weather heats up
• Set out seedlings of warm-weather annuals; direct-sow seeds of annuals like nasturtiums. 
• Prune and fertilize spring-blooming vines such as clematis and wisteria after they bloom
• Fertilize and prune spring-blooming shrubs such as azaleas and rhododendrons after they bloom
• As vegetable plants start to flower, begin regular feeding with diluted fish emulsion
• To direct growth of new canes, pinch tips off of blackberries and young grapevines
• Keep blueberry bushes well-weeded and well-watered as their fruit ripens; wait until after the harvest to prune and fertilize
• Weed strawberry beds and add a mulch of compost topped with a layer of straw
• Prune indeterminate tomatoes by removing suckers and topping off the main vine as it reaches the height of its cage and/or stake; try rooting a couple of the hardy suckers to have more plants.
• Sow seeds of heat-loving vegetables (squash, pumpkins, melons) directly into the ground
• Continue to feed roses monthly and treat with a 3-in-1 systemic per label instructions; deadhead as they finish their first round of blooming
• Prune once-blooming roses after they've flowered this month
• Check the undersides of leaves of warm season veggie plants like squash, tomatoes, cukes, and melons for the eggs of pests such as the potato beetle, squash bugs, etc. Squish ALL eggs...or if that doesn't sound like fun, remove the egg-infested leaf and put it in a container (I use a 3-lb coffee canister) half-filled with soapy water; ditto with any adult pests you see. Don't just leave the eggs! The goal is to keep the next generation of pests from hatching. The more pests, the less produce. Simple math.

June is a busy month in the Way Back gardens, as we transition from one season to another. Happy hoeing!