Wrapping Up 2013

December view of Box Garden,
from Center path in Way Back

Here's a snap (left) of the Box Garden, all covered up for the recent cold weather.  You'd never guess there are carrots, beets, spinach, broccoli, collards, and lettuces under those row covers, would you? And onions...lots and lots of onions! Oh, and some garlic in the Center Square...almost forgot about that.

Turnip Greens, growing in
the Way Back Row Garden

You might also see a row of green in the middle-upper left. That's a row of Seven Tops turnip greens, which don't seem to mind the frosty temps in the least. The more frost, the better the taste! Here's a close up I took of that very productive row a few weeks ago, right:

Unless you are a gardener...or farmer...you may think that the Winter months are a time of rest and reflection; a time to relax, have another cup of coffee, and enjoy the arriving seed catalogs...far removed from the soil. You would only be partially correct.

As the year comes to a close, there are several things on our To Do list before we can put the Way Back gardens to bed:

1. Apply dormant oils to orchard trees, berry bushes, and roses. (That's what I'm working on later today...when the temps hit 50. Remember my motto: "Between 50 and 90...no lower, no higher." In summer I say, "Noon or 90...whichever comes first." But that doesn't apply here...:-)
2. Remove the remaining vegetation in the Kitchen Row Garden.
3. Till up the rows in the Kitchen Row Garden.
4. Add lime to rows and to rose garden, per Soil Test Report.
5. Mow over and collect remaining leaves on the ground in the Way Back. Add to gardens for mulch and compost. (Mr. T actually got the leaf-mowing done a couple of days ago, so we can check this one off the list.)

To elaborate a bit...

Dormant Oils -- So called because they are applied in the dormant season (winter months in the Northern Hemisphere) before bud break in late February to mid-March (in USDA Zone 7b in the Piedmont area of NC), a more accurate name would be horticultural oils, because they can be used at other times of the season (at lesser strengths). Because there are NO leaves or buds on the plants to be sprayed, we can use the oils at full-strength, as directed on the label ("the label is the law"). The winter applications of these include "All Seasons" Dormant Oil, Copper-Sulfate, and Lime-Sulfur Oil, which we purchase in concentrated form and then mix with water in a 2-gallon pump-sprayer.

As I have said before, I try my best to use the kindest, gentlest methods of pest control possible, preferring a natural choice...although I stop short of saying that I am an "organic" gardener.

The trickiest part is getting the "environment" right: temperatures must be above 45 degrees (preferably less than 70) when sprayed; there must be no rain and/or freezing temperatures forecasted for at least 24 hours; and the wind should be negligible-to-light (less than 5 mph). Finding a day that meets all of those criteria in December is tough...but fortunately today is almost perfect to get started! Yes, we could postpone until January...but we can't wait too long because (ideally) we will want to do another spraying after 30-45 days, and that second spraying MUST be done before bud-break...which can sometimes surprise you in mid-February. Plus, we can't spray the Lime Sulfur or the Copper Sulfate at the same time as the Dormant Oil without risking vegetation damage; we have to wait 1-3 weeks...and until we have ALL the right "environmental" conditions.

A good way to remember WHEN to spray is to think in terms of Holidays: New Year's for the first spraying, Valentine's for the second. That should give you a little wiggle room for dealing with the vagaries of the weather.

Here is some great information on Dormant Oils:
http://extension.missouri.edu/phelps/documents/Horticulture_News/Time_for_Dormant_Oil_Application.pdf
http://ucanr.edu/sites/marinmg/files/116758.pdf

Remaining vegetation -- As you have seen, we still have a good stand of turnip greens in one of the rows that we need to till (more on that in a minute), which I will harvest and cook for my "Good Luck Greens" on New Year's Day...putting the rest in the freezer. I'm the only one that eats turnip greens, so I'll have plenty to keep me busy until next Fall...no worries! My original plan was to leave the greens to "go to seed," which means they send up flower stalks...and serve as excellent attractors for the pollinators (bees, mainly) that we will need for the orchard in a couple of months. And, we still have a few okra stalks still hanging on to their roots that must go to China. All of that has to be removed so we can...

Till up the rows -- We have two main reasons for tilling up the rows in the Kitchen Row Garden: (a) to turn the soil over to expose overwintering pests, especially the squash vine borer; and (b) to add amendments like lime (per our Soil Test report) and compost (like leaves). While adopting a no-till policy is admirable, we find that a winter-till is more beneficial to our soil and our harvests. Hence, the change in plan about the greens being left to flower.

Of course, we have to wait until we have dry soil to till...and that has thus far eluded us this month. We got another 1" of rain yesterday, so it will be early January before we can check this chore off the list. Sigh. Oh well, while we are awaiting dry soil, we can catch up on a couple of things inside...by the fire...with a warm beverage in hand...

Journaling -- I have been pretty faithful in keeping my Garden Journal this year, but the Holidays played havoc with my resolve to write. I want to have a good verbal "picture" of the gardens in 2013 so that I can begin planning 2014 in earnest.  That's where the letter carrier comes in!

Perusing the arriving Seed Catalogs -- Oh yes, they are arriving daily, sometimes 2 or 3 a day...making me feel for our letter carrier. And I see that along with the usual suspects (red tomatoes, green peppers, and orange carrots), the Color Purple is becoming quite popular in the vegetative universe. Purple carrots. Purple-podded (green) peas. Purple-skinned potatoes. I kid you not.

And, we know how I love to trial new things in the gardens!

Happy hoeing!

Third Time's the Charm

It's Year Four for the Way Back Garden...and Year Three for my Gardening with the Giants blog.  Just as the start of Spring brings hope to every gardener and opens the possibilities of the coming months, so too has this Spring brought hope and possibilities to me.

Reclaiming the Way Back
100 bags of mulch

Paths done!
Only 50 bags of mulch to go!!

I am happy to report that, after a sad and unproductive 2011, this year is looking fantastic!  The Way Back went neglected and unattended last year, while our energies and efforts were directed to helping Mom in the final steps of her journey (the details of which I posted on the family blog The Adsit Adventure). But, in the first quarter of the year, we are making great strides at reclaiming our quarter-acre of paradise.

So far in 2012, we have:

Mr. T fills the potato grow bags

1. Redesigned the Four Year Plan, designating the lower-left quadrant of the Way Back as the Kitchen Garden and the lower-right quadrant is now the Rose or Cutting Garden (we call it both...:).  The upper-left continues to be designated the Orchard and the upper-right continues to be the Berry Patch. (To recap, the Way Back is an almost-square quarter of an acre, fenced on all sides, nestled under the transmission lines of Duke Energy...the "Giants" of this blog's title.  The only trees are on the periphery, which means we have almost full sun in this area...great for veggies, fruit trees, berries, and roses.  We are making a silk purse out of a sow's ear, if ever...:)
2. Planted a row each of cabbage, broccoli, spinach, lettuces, carrots, and beets in the Kitchen Garden. Onion sets were interplanted with the cabbage and broccoli. All are doing well, with the exception of the carrots...which have been slow to break through the crusty clay soil...and I still have the cabbage and broccoli under row covers to protect them from pests.  Weeded the asparagus bed, which is in its second year and beginning to produce shoots. 
3. Planted 6 grow bags (purchased from Gardener's Supply; photo, above/right) of Yukon Gold potatoes (from seed potatoes, purchased at Tractor Supply) and one row of Russets (from potatoes sprouting in my kitchen, originally purchased at Harris Teeter grocery...:).
4. Used over 100 bags of mulch (see "before"  and "mid-task" photos, above) to re-mark the paths and the Rondel, which is what we call the center oval where the paths dissect.  Prior to putting down the mulch, Mr. T put a layer of old newspapers, covered with a layer of Preen black landscape fabric. Hopefully, this will block the grass and weeds that sprouted through the original mulch in the Rondel.
5. Ordered, received, and planted 11 new fruit trees from Stark Bro's Nursery in Louisiana, MO, in the previously-prepped holes in the Orchard. [Mr. T had triple-tilled the holes and added several bags of leaves as compost.] We now have planted 18 dwarf fruit trees (remember, we are limited by the easement agreement with Duke Energy to trees of 15 feet or under), including two cherry trees, three pear trees, two peach trees, ten apple trees, and one crabapple tree.  All are doing well, with the exception of one of the apple trees, which is one of the ones we purchased at Tractor Supply and planted last Spring.  I think it will need to be replaced this Fall.  Meanwhile, we plan a rest area in the Orchard, with a paver-patio and a covered swing (which we got on our last Tractor Supply run...:).
6. Ordered, received, and planted 12 new roses from David Austin Roses (3 William Shakespeare, 3 Golden Celebrations, 2 Huntington Rose, 2 Gertrude Jekyll, and 2 Susan Williams-Ellis)  in the newly-tilled and prepped Rose Garden quadrant.  Mr. T has also assembled and stained a new teak glider that will be placed on a stone-paver patio we will lay.  We will place a bird bath and a feeder across the path from this patio, so that the bluebirds will have their own Bistro near the two bluebird houses on the fence.
7. Tilled and retilled...and populated the new strawberry bed in the Berry Patch with runners from the "old" bed (that was tilled under to create the Rose Garden). We had so many runners that I have planted strawberries in every empty pot and hanging basket I could find.  All are doing well...and many are already flowering and fruiting. 
8. Fertilized all the blueberries (which are already flowering), the blackberries, and the grapes in the Berry Patch.  Also, fertilized the crepe myrtles and privet.
9. Seen our first snake of the season...and lived to tell the tale about it..:)
10. Ordered and installed 2 (of 5) cottage garden corner fences, to mark the corners of ...and the path between...the Rose Garden and the Kitchen Garden.
11. Pruned and started the feeding of all 18 rose bushes, in the back yard and in the Rondel.  Two didn't make it through the heat of last year's summer and the (mild) winter, so I replaced them in February.  All are looking good; most have buds already!
12. Started 4 kinds of tomatoes and fish pepper seeds in peat pellets/egg cartons.  They are now under the grow light on the screen porch (which is still plasticized).  The tomatoes are getting their first true leaves (the ones that arrive after the seed-leaves) and will be ready to move into larger accommodations (3" pots) this week.
13. Placed...and received (while I was composing this...:) our Lowe's order for the materials to construct two patios in the Way Back and one "pad" that will run from the driveway, under the double gates, and into the back yard.  More on this in a later post.

Whew!  I'm tired just recounting what we've already accomplished! Here are a couple of shots of some of the work:

Rondel and paths are mulched in the Way Back.
Row covers on the cabbage, broccoli, and lettuce (left)

Standing in the Rondel, looking toward the Berry Patch:
Blueberries in raised beds...blackberries behind them.
New Strawberry Bed on lower right.

We have an outstanding order with Roses Unlimited for 9 hybrid teas, and another order in with David Austin for 14 more English roses...all of which are scheduled to arrive over the next few weeks.  I got several perennials at Home Depot on Friday (when we took both cars to pick up 35 more bags of mulch to create mulch rings around the fruit trees...and to cover the path in the Rose Garden), and I will be adding those to the Rose Garden to give us some color while we are waiting on the English roses to grow.  I also picked up some herbs that I shall pot up in larger pots.  I am trying Boxwood Basil this year, with the plan to use it as a border between the Kitchen Garden and the center path.

Gus says...time for a break!

I have a long to-do list for the garden for this week, but I'll save it for the next post.  I don't know about you, but I need a break after all of that.

Lemonade, anyone?

Let's Get This Season Started!

There has been just enough warm weather to make me want to get outside and play in the dirt...how about you?

First things first, though...

Under the Grow Light:  Lettuce and Herbs



I have a metal 5-shelf shelving unit set up inside the screened-in porch, which has been "plasticized" and is where the ferns, palms, and assorted over-wintering plants are residing during the cold weather.  I keep a small fan/heater going most of the time to attempt to keep the temperature from ever dropping below 50 degrees.  Think of it as a greenhouse...I do.  And, last weekend, Mr. T attached a fluorescent light fixture under the top shelf to give me direct light for starting seeds (photo right). Yippee!!


Over the past week, I got started with my herbs (parsley, rosemary, and thyme), including a couple of pots of chives that were created when I divided one big, overgrown pot from last season.  Then, I couldn't stand it, so I popped a few Ferry-Morse Early Girl tomato seeds (left over from a packet from the 2010 season, which I'd kept in the refrigerator in an effort to keep them "fresh") in some seed starting mix (I use Jiffy Organic Seed Starting mix which I purchased at Tractor Supply last weekend).  And, last but not least, I seeded an oblong deck planter with Grand Rapids leaf lettuce, which is said to be the best variety for "greenhouse" or cold-frame plantings.  Am happy to report that the lettuce has sprouted and is growing toward the light!

Season 3:  Row Covers protecting (r. to l.)
carrots, spinach, lettuce and onions

Right now, about the only thing growing in the garden is the onions planted last September.  I've got several rows seeded and row-covered (for protection against the cold nights) in the garden (photo, left).  I haven't checked them today, so I'm hoping I'll find that things have germinated since the Big Rains of the past two days.  I also put in a half-row of garlic last week, knowing full-well that garlic goes in in the Fall...but I couldn't find any seed-garlic last Fall, and I did find some last week at (you guessed it...:) Tractor Supply.

That's not all we found at TSC:  bare-root apple trees!  I know, I know.  My Master Gardener Training class a couple of weeks ago convinced me that we had to make a change in our plan of planting our orchard this Spring to planting it this Fall, when there is a better chance of success.  But, who can resist little tiny sticks with colorful tags picturing fat, juicy Cortland and Golden Dorsett apples?


Season 3:  Planting the first apple trees in the orchard
A Cortland and Two Golden Dorsetts

In watching the weather report for the week ahead, we saw that the Big Rains were on the way for NC, so Mr. T moved all the machinery into the Way-Way Back to do the final digging on the holes to plant the new apple trees (photo, right).  He'd already made the first dig last year, mulching the tops of the holes with oak leaves for the Winter.  Now, it was time for the deep digging, so he used the big tiller to assist him.  We also incorporated a "Sidney" idea:  when planting a tree, add a vertical length of pipe that will help you water directly to the roots for the first few years.  I remember my Daddy doing this with a dogwood tree he planted near the back door of our house in Henning...and I remember how healthy that dogwood was.  He finished the plantings off with water-collars (berms of soil around the tree, to aid in getting more water to the root system) and a layer of oak leaves for mulch (photo, left/below). 


Gus supervises Mr. T as he plants the
Cortland Apple Tree - Season 3


Of course, if these apple trees don't make it through the Long Hot Summer to come, I'll feel terrible...and totally responsible.  But, if they do...I'll be ecstatic!  Fingers crossed...trowels, too!










Tasks for the week ahead:

• Start seeds of broccoli, cabbage, and peppers in the greenhouse.
• Plant a row of beets, a row of head lettuce, and another row of carrots in the garden.
• Cut up the Yukon Gold seed-potatoes to let them "seal" before planting in the garden after March 1st.
• Continue to set up beds and rows.  April will be here before we know it!