Happening in the Garden This Week

The four-letter weather-word has shown up on our forecast for tonight: SNOW! If it happens, we will be ready for it.

One would think with the arrival of cold weather that we'd be hanging out the "Closed for the Season" sign, wouldn't one? One would be wrong! We have quite a bit of activity going on around here.

Fall Broccoli - 2013

1. The Kitchen Garden - The Third Season is in fine form out in the Box and Block Gardens. The raised beds in the Box Garden are sporting carrots (harvested the first three of the Fall last week), lettuces (3 kinds...my fave being the Red Sails), spinach (coming in fast and furious), beets (a little late here...had to replant), broccoli (pictured, right), cauliflower (replants), collards (replants), and one lone cabbage (a replant...all its friends succumbed to the dreaded cutworms, which were the cause of the replanted brassica). The Block Garden has been completely surrounded by a temporary fence (no worries...I can "open" one side of it...:-) that is supporting a good stand of (English) peas ('Wondo'...just picked some of those and popped them in our pot of soup)...and enclosing the rows where stands one lone surviving Red Cabbage plant (yes, cutworms again...you better believe I will be using cardboard collars come Spring-planting time!).

All the raised beds are sporting winter-weight row covers (purchased two years ago from Gardeners Supply...and still showing up for duty...:-), clothes-pinned to the hoops that bend over the plantings, so they should be OK down to 28 degrees. Mr. T came up with the clever idea to corral all the leaves that our neighbors are steadily gifting us with inside the fence around the Block Garden...brilliant, indeed! They provide protection to the peas...better than straw...and, of course, that lone cabbage must feel coddled, like being wrapped in a warm blanket.

We got most of the spent plant materials pulled up and into the yard waste toter, including the 5 pepper plants and the lone eggplant. Because of the high risk of overwintering of pests and pathogens on the members of the Solanaceae family (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, eggplants, etc.), I don't compost this debris...I get it off the property. Good riddance to blights, I hope!

[By the way, I finished my latest Master Gardener article yesterday, written about the End-of-the-Season Clean-Up. Be sure to check it out here if you have the time...and LIKE and SHARE it if you are on Facebook! (If you have arrived on this post before that link is active, check back later. Thanks!)]

2. The Orchard - Granted, there isn't much activity going on amongst the fruit trees...and, since the squirrels and their pals picked all the fruit before it ripened, there wasn't much clean-up required. Still Mr. T harvested the seed pods from the zinnias and pulled up the remaining flower stalks, while I planted 6 pineapple lily bulbs (from Lakeside Farms) in the new-this-year Pollinators Garden. When the front-porch mums are finished with their blooming, I will plant them here.

I also tilled up a long bed in the back of the Way Back, across the Orchard and the Berry Patch, and planted 110 daffodil bulbs (that have been hanging out in the garage fridge for 6 weeks, as directed). They will be putting on a show, come Spring...fingers crossed; toes, too!

Seeds of the butterfly weed
Asclepias Tuberosa - 2013

We have several wonderful outcroppings of butterfly weed, Asclepias Tuberosa, in the Orchard...planted by either the birds or the wind. And, now is the time to harvest the seeds which have broken out of the pods following the recent frosty nights [shown in the picture Mr. T snapped with his iPhone (right)]. Aren't they just amazing? They are designed to be wind-dispersed, with fluffy, silky tufts. We'll keep them in a paper bag in the garage fridge until Spring, then plant...and cross our fingers and toes because butterfly weed is notoriously difficult to grow from seed. We shall see...

3. The Berry Patch - All is quiet on this tasty front. Mr. T has filled the blueberry boxes 3 (raised beds, containing the 9 blueberry bushes) with bags and bags of our neighbors' shredded (mostly oak) leaves...remember, blueberries love an acid soil and oak leaves can help maintain that. I also tilled up and refurbed another strawberry bed, this one containing the newest Ozark Beauty runners. (No snakes were found this time!)

4. The Rose Garden - All of the hybrid teas, the grandifloras, and most of the David Austen ("English" shrub) roses are winding down, forming as many rose hips as rose buds. The two notable exceptions are the coppery 'Pat Austen' and the lemony 'Molineaux.' So, when you look toward the Rose Garden from another part of the Way Back, you will see the colors of Fall: orange and yellow. Beautiful combination!

Additionally, the 'Mardi Gras' floribunda rose bush (located just outside of the Rose Garden, in the Rondel) is still budding, producing the flamboyant pinks, oranges, and yellows...all swirled together into colorful blooms. Makes for fabulous bouquets, especially when you add the prolifically-producing 'Gethsemane Moonlight' mums that now dot several corners of the property. I pruned the original 6 plants after their first growth spurt in the Spring, in order to assure lush flower production in the Fall...then dipped the "prunings" into rooting hormone...lo and behold, WORLDS of new plants. Gotta love propagation!!

The rest of our weekend activity revolved around general cleaning up and taking relaxing breaks in the swings. Since it has been a difficult week around our house, we needed some time for rest and contemplation.

And the garden is the very best place for it.  Happy hoeing!

Today in the Garden: May 3, 2012

Cool Season Crops...getting warmer

It is HOT, HOT, HOT around here. Mr. T's car recorded 93 on his drive home from Charlotte yesterday, and I wouldn't be too surprised to hear a higher number when he gets in from Raleigh in a bit. [Missy M called in a 97 from Louisville as she was driving her hybrid home...or rather as she was sweltering while sitting at a stoplight, when her AC clicks off...a downside to going green...:)] People: it is only the third day of May! What in the world will August be like?!?

The unusually hot weather ...unaccompanied by any significant rainfall...means that the greens (phone, left) will soon show signs of suffering. So, I grabbed my new hod (a gift to myself from myself, purchased online from Gardeners Supply) and some snippers, and headed to the spinach and leaf lettuces to give them seasonal crew cuts. I also snipped some broccoli for good measure.

All of these (plus the cabbages, beets, and carrots) are considered "cool season crops." You plant them in the late Winter or early Spring (and again in early August for a Fall crop), and they are typically vacating their real estate by the time you are looking for some more space to put Lima beans or purple hulled peas (to name a couple of "warm season crops"). When the temps ratchet up, the spinach will bolt...or send up flower stalks and turn bitter-tasting. As neither are good candidates for the freezer (well, you CAN freeze spinach, but it isn't one of my favs), you will have to harvest as much as you can...and start giving some of the bounty away. (I carried some of this morning's harvest next door, and my neighbor reciprocated with a quart of strawberries he got at the Triad Farmers Market...yum!)

I also ran up the water bill as everything looked a little droopy, from the roses to the fruit trees to the tomatoes and peppers. Some places have soaker hoses (like the Rose Garden), and some places I used the hand-held sprayer. I gave the greens a good soaking spray as they were looking a bit sparse after I had harvested. I noticed that the early sweet corn has germinated under the row covers (which will stay in place for at least another week or two to protect the tiny plants from our army of crows), so I watered it, too. Getting a good soak from a soaker hose were the newly-sprouted pole beans along the bean fence, as well as the squash, melons, and cukes...all showing signs of new life along the pea fence (which is smaller and shorter than what we call the bean fence..and which didn't get installed until it was too late to plant peas...so it will serve to support other vining crops). It's all looking good!

Speaking of looking good...we noticed on our Morning Coffee Walk that many, if not most, of the new David Austin English roses have buds on them! Now that's cause for celebration around here. Hip hip hooray!!!

Two things I need to take care of:
1. Get a new wheeled hose reel. The one I have has a leak at the connection; not fixable I don't believe.
2. Figure out how to get water to all the trees in the Orchard. I can't reach the ones in the last row...and we have a new apple tree that's replacing one we lost back there.

I'll give it some thought, and report back to you.

Until then, happy hoeing!

Wrap Up for April; To Do's for Zone 7 Garden in May

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

View of Kitchen Garden with new corner fences:
Lettuces, spinach, broccoli, and cabbage in foreground;
Early corn under cover in back. Taken 4/28/12

Things have been rolling right along, with lots of progress in all the gardens.  I eagerly tackled the planting checklist for the Kitchen Garden, following the average last frost date for our area (typically quoted as being April 15). Since we had experienced a later than usual frost, I had held off on getting many of the transplants and seeds in the ground (although I still had to make a mad dash 4/22/12 to cover some tender tomatoes and boxwood basil (in the photo, right) when I heard the weather forecast).

I'm happy to report that I got eight tomato transplants in, along with seven pepper plants. In the tomato row, I planted a German Johnson, a Marglobe, a Bush Goliath, two Early Girls, a Lemon Boy, a Bonnie Select, and a Rutgers. In the pepper row, I planted four sweet green bell peppers, a yellow bell, an early bell (which matures to red), and a Cubanelle. I still have seedlings of Better Boys, Jet Stars, Romas, and Juliets under grow lamps, along with Fish Peppers. These will all be ready to go into the garden in a couple of weeks, about the same time I plant the next four rows of corn.

I also got seeds planted for pole beans, bush beans, okra, yellow and zucchini squash, cantaloupes, watermelons, and cucumbers. Following a re-read of Louise Riotte's Carrots Love Tomatoes: The Secrets of Companion Planting (a new copy of which I downloaded to my iPad's Nook ap...:), I've interplanted herbs and flowers, such as basil and marigolds in the tomato row and nasturtiums with the squash...attempting to add some natural pest control. (I already have sage and onions planted with the cabbages and the broccoli.)

The blueberries and the blackberries have already flowered and are fruiting up nicely in the Berry Patch.  We knew if we wanted to have any fruit this year, we'd better get the bird nets up, so we did.  We also are seeing lots of strawberries, even though we probably should have removed all the flowers this year (per usual instructions for a new bed) to let them take root...as this is a new bed from the runners of the old bed (formerly in the space now occupied by the Rose Garden)...but I ask you, who can remove the pretty flowers?  Not I.

And I'm proud to report Mr. T put the last three trees in the Orchard, and got the last order of the English roses planted in the Rose Garden. We have three more hybrid teas on order, 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).

·         When setting out tomato plants, set up stakes or cages so you won’t disturb the roots later.  Be sure to remove any suckers 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!)

·         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 your 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.

• Additionally, on our list is to finish the Rose Garden Patio I wrote about in an earlier post.  We are installing three lattices that will support beautiful red mandevillas.   

Flowers, Shrubs, and Trees in the Front and Back yard gardens:

·         It’s time to plant summer-flowering bulbs, especially caladiums and gladioli. I already have some glads coming up that seem to have made it through the mild winter we had.  We shall see...

Our rhodo in full bloom in April.
Time to fertilize and prune in May.

·         Prune and fertilize Spring-flowering shrubs such as azalea and rhododendron (photo, right) after they have bloomed.

·         Remove broadleaf weeds from all landscape planting areas. If left to grow, they will rob water and nutrients from your plants.

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!  Remember to use low toxicity pesticides to protect these beautiful and beneficial creatures.  And, even though Neem Oil is marketed as an Organic spray, it is still toxic to bees...so don't spray when in the morning when bees are most active.
• Move houseplants out-of-doors when the nighttime temperatures are consistently above 50 degrees.  
• After incorporating finished compost into your garden, begin a new compost pile. Or, make this the year that you start composting.  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.

Happy hoeing!


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

This Week in the Garden

New Beginnings:
Southside Community Garden
in High Point

With apologies to the Chinese...

Give a woman a vegetable and she'll eat for a day.  Teach a woman to garden, and she and her family can eat well forever.

OK, so I trampled that Chinese proverb about fish(ing) for my own purposes.  Sorry.

Still, it says what I want to say about my latest Master Gardener volunteer activity, working with the Southside Community Garden here in High Point (photo, right).  Ah, but I'm getting ahead of myself here.  Let me take it back a couple of paragraphs.

Last week was a busy one, gardening-wise.  I got the seeds started for some tomatoes, green and cayenne peppers, eggplants, and more herbs.  They are all currently basking in the glow of the light-tube on the shelf in the plasticized screen porch (AKA:  our greenhouse), as I mentioned in my last post. 

Thomas and I tilled up rows for more lettuce and carrots, and I planted a row of beets.  I purchased some red-leaf lettuce plants, some cabbage (3 kinds) and broccoli plants and got them in the ground just before the rains came, along with three kinds of potatoes:  Kennebec, Irish Cobbler, and Red Pontiac.  Whew!

On the Master Gardening front, I had lots on my plate.  On Tuesday, I was the assistant for the Speaker at a presentation on Culinary Herbs to a group in Whitsett (a very long way from High Point...:).  I really enjoyed this experience and hope I'll be able to do Speaker's Bureau more often throughout the year.

Wednesday was our regular class day, with the topics being Flowers and Houseplants.  Then, on Thursday, I found out that my article on "What To Do in the Garden in March" had been published online at GoGreen.com. Yippee!  Writing gardening articles is another activity I enjoy...and hope to continue.

Also on Thursday, I assisted with another speaker's bureau presentation...again on Herbs...but this time beyond McLeansville.  A really, really long way away.  I had no idea Guilford County was such a whopper!



Move that mountain of mulch!

 Then, on Saturday, I got to help get that new community garden going...this one, right here in High Point!  I loved working with the folks who are just starting...or, in some cases, returning to...their own gardening journeys.  Such a joy! 

My job for the day was to help move a mountain of mulch that the city of HP had delivered to the site...one wheelbarrow-load at a time (photo, left).  When someone mentioned how wonderful the mulch smelled, I realized that it was because of the Christmas trees.  Yep, our Christmas tree had indeed been recycled into mulch for the garden paths at the new Southside Community Garden.  How great is that?  (Sealed the deal on whether to have a real or an artificial tree...:)

Back on the home front, we got over an inch (!) of gentle rain, so everything is looking happy and healthy.  I'm already seeing the spinach and the peas popping through the clay crust that is our soil.

Chores for this coming week:

• Pull the weeds in the strawberry patch.  Rake away some of the straw mulch.
• Keep checking on the seeds in the greenhouse.  Remove the protective covers when they sprout.
• Empty the compost barrel onto the garden; mix into the soil.

Happy hoeing!