Dog Dayz of August

It’s the first Monday in August 2020...must be time for a garden update! 

First of all, allow me to state the obvious: it is hot. And humid. When I clocked my morning walk today at 7:30, it was already 72° and 94% humidity. The forecast has a chance of rain today, but I’m not holding my breath...been there, waited in vain for that. You can probably tell how hazy that picture is. Hot and hazy.

Anyway...

It’s a good time to take stock of how this year is going in our gardens. One thing is certain, spending copious amounts of time in one’s gardens is a great pandemic survival technique! So, I will count “daily gardening” as a plus for this year so far.

We gathered an amazing amount of blackberries from the four 2-year old plants that are located in what we call “the fence garden.” It’s an area along the backyard wooden fence that runs north to south, which we have tried to protect from the dogs by adding a parallel wire fence, allowing for about three feet by thirty feet of fruit and flowers. Next year we hope to add some blueberries to the mix. The blackberries have finished for the year, so we will be cutting off the canes to prep for new growth for next year’s berries.

The year-old Rose garden is better than we’d initially thought, owing to our fear of losing so many new plants to the drought last Summer through Fall...when the poor babies had little to no established root systems. We did lose a few, but we’ve added six more from an auction of Alba’s roses (she the former president of the Gwinnett Rose Society who passed away late last year and who asked that her roses be auctioned for funds for the GGRS). Every single one of them seems to be thriving! And although the garden itself is starting to look weedy because it has been entirely too hot to work in it lately, it continues to give us bountiful blooms for our dinner table display. 

Also in the plus column was the decision to sow so many flowers in and around the kitchen gardens. The zinnias, marigolds, and sunflowers have been attractive assets, both in color and in being pollinator magnets. From mid-morning to early evening, we enjoy the activity of a record number of bees, butterflies, and birds. And we pack the vases of roses with many more colorful blooms!

In thinking about the Kitchen gardens, I think if I had to pick a veg winner this year, it would have to be our beans. We have picked enough to eat and to freeze...and given several “messes” to neighbors. I staggered planting several varieties, starting as early as March, and I pick them on a near-daily basis in order to keep the vines productive. 

However, a remarkably cold and wet April delayed planting of almost everything else, meaning all crops are behind schedule as far as production is concerned. And then Mother Nature turned up the heat and turned off the taps in July, meaning more stress on the already-stressed tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, and corn. More stress=less...and smaller...produce. Sigh.

Still we continue to enjoy our little slice of Heaven on Earth here in Georgia...hot and humid as it may be. I am spending some time, researching plants to create a Dye Garden, hoping to make a match between two of my favorite activities: gardening and knitting. Speaking of knitting...here’s a picture of a recently-completed cotton shawl that was done for a Ravelry Mystery Knitalong (MKAL) called “Dog Dayz.” Timely, yes?

Anyway...again...

I’ve identified the area of the yard that will be converted from lawn to flowers, and I’ve started purchasing seeds to start the plants for Fall. I’ve also designated my old crockpot for a dye-pot, and I’m researching how to create dyes from the plants I grow as well as how to dye different yarn fibers. More on that at another time...

Between now and then, though, we came up with a rather unique way to both kill the grass in that area AND beat the heat of August: a play pool on any old rug! Missy M ordered it to be delivered here in time for her week-long staycation this week; Mr. T aired it up with the air compressor; and we filled it and hopped in yesterday! Ahhhh...

Back Where I Belong

Confession is supposed to be good for the soul, so here goes: I have neglected my garden terribly this year. And it shows. 

Oh, sure...I have excuses. First, I was nursing a stress fracture and then a ganglion cyst in my foot (3 weeks, no walking...or gardening allowed). Next I spent a couple of weeks dog-sitting my grand dogs in GA (2 weeks, no gardening). Then I had another flare up of the DeQuervain's tendinitis in my wrist, followed by DeQuervain's Release surgery (6 weeks, no gardening); and wedged in amongst the health issues were some trips that gobbled up a good part of September: one week to Disney World to celebrate Mr. T's milestone birthday; a week to Iowa to attend and present at the International Master Gardener Conference; and finally another week at Dear Darling Daughter's in Georgia (3 weeks, no gardening).

  

You neglect your garden for 14 weeks and what happens? Yes, things began to look wild, and weeds do indeed take over where there is no mulch. The caged Block Garden, that had hosted our sweet corn, is so overgrown that it is heart-breaking to look at it. And even well-mulched but moisture-sensitive plants succumb to lack of rain. The beans (lima as well as garden beans), purple hull peas, melons, squashes, cukes, and pumpkins are all history. The tomatoes are on their last legs, although I did get a few tiny Juliets today and may be able to harvest a few more before frost, as there are green tomatoes on several of the survivors.

But, remarkably, some veggies just keep on growing...and growing...and growing...

When I checked the garden after the torrential rains of last weekend, I was immediately drawn to the first row in the Kitchen Row Garden, where bright colors were calling to me. The peppers, as usual, are finally coming into their own. I harvested green (bell), gold, purple, and red sweet peppers...they may be small in size but they are lovely to look at. I'll bet that if I dice all those up, it will look like "confetti!" 

Further along the same row, I saw them. Reds and golds and greens...all jumbled on tall, healthy, lush-looking plants. The two hot pepper varieties I planted last April (Dragon Cayenne and Tabasco) are groaning under the weight of all their fruit! "Prolific" does not begin to describe it! More hot peppers than we could use in years. These will make fabulous Seasonal gifts...Patricia's Pickled Peppers!

And then I did a double-take when I came upon the eggplants. These are the two plants I babied from the moment they went into the ground on April 13, putting tomato cages around them, and covering the whole thing with row covers to protect them from the wide variety of pests that seem to love eggplants. I removed the row cover in early July, but had imagined that the neglect of August and September would have done them in. Amazingly,  they are healthy...and the fruit on the Black Beauty is gigantic! Probably not edible, but enormous nonetheless. 

Turning to Row 2, I tripped over the sweet potato vines. They have reached out to Rows 1 & 3, even! What a mass! And I could see some pretty large sweet potatoes pushing each other out of the planting holes which were cut into the landscape fabric that serves to keep the weeds at bay. 

I had planted 15 slips of Beauregard Sweet Potatoes in the 35' row, along with trialing 3 slips in the center square raised bed, last May 8. This row had been the recipient of a good addition of composted leaves last year, which Mr. T had tilled in well. He again tilled this row to a depth of 8-10" to allow the roots to reach down deep. If you go by the plant tag and the calendar, Beauregards require 90-110 days from transplant, so I should have been able to begin harvesting mid-August or so...during the height of my neglectful period. Didn't happen. 

But, after the recent excessive rains and ahead of frost (which is an enemy of this warm-season plant) and Mr. T's upcoming knee replacement surgery and 4-6 week recovery period (which will probably be another good excuse to neglect the garden), I decided to tackle the chore of digging sweet potatoes today. If not now, when?

Oh. My. Goodness. I didn't realize what I was getting myself into! I first pulled back the vines. Then I gently wedged the garden fork down the outside edges of the holes...trying to avoid stabbing the tender roots. Then I loaded up my small trug, since I really shouldn't be carrying much more weight than it will hold, and carried the harvest to the deck, where they could dry out in the sun. All-in-all, I loaded up my trug 5 times! 

I weighed each haul, recording a total of 130 pounds of sweet potatoes. You read that right. One. Hundred. Thirty. Pounds. The largest weighed in at 11 pounds (no, not even close to the record, which was over 89 pounds!). And the funniest looks a lot like a duck!

Oh, and my trial of growing sweet potatoes in a raised bed vs. a (raised) row? Of the three slips that I planted in the center square/raised bed...I harvested one usable root. One. So, growing in the the row wins hands down!

Elsewhere in the Way Back, the signs of neglect are evident. It appears that some of the roses lost all of their leaves and have weakened canes, due to lack of moisture. Still I am hopeful that the recent rains can save most bushes from death. Of note, I see that several are putting on buds for a final show of the year. We shall see.

Both the Berry Patch and the Orchard are showing signs of the approach of Fall, with the pear trees having lost most of their leaves in the strong winds of the weekend. I need to give the strawberries a good trim, but will wait until it's time to cover them with straw for the Winter.

Yes, I'm glad to report that I'm home again, playing in the dirt. Back where I belong...

Happy hoeing!

Here's What Spring Brings

March is always a busy month in our Zone 7 garden...with far more items on the To Do List than decent days to do the To Do's! With our wacky, wintry weather still hanging around (we had snow flurries on Tuesday of this week!), we have had to cram a lot into shorter blocks of time.

What we have done so far in March:

►Celebrating St. Patrick's Day is a good reminder that it's time to plant potatoes. We have used grow bags successfully for several years now (remember? I have posted about them before here...:-), and this year is no different. I've planted 10 bags so far (2 more to go) with Kennebec, Yukon Gold, Midnight Moon, and Russet. I have seen tiny green shoots in the very first bag of Russets I planted, so that means they survived some pretty chilly temps. 

►Planted 6 new bareroot roses in the Rose Garden: 3 Midas Touch (AARS), and 1 each Sweetness, Lagerfeld, and Wild Blue Yonder (AARS winner...& dedicated to my Daddy, who often sang the Army Air Corps (now Air Force) song: "Off we go into the wild, blue yonder, flying high into the sun..."). Also we (and by "we," I mean Mr. T...;-) transplanted the two Cinnamon Girl miniature roses that survived the winter from their containers to the Rose Garden, replacing the two First Prizes (AARS) that did not survive the polar vortex. Sun Sprinkles, the 3 AARS-winning miniatures also in containers, seemed to have fared a bit better, so I just pruned them lightly.

►Noticed that 10 of the "cuttings" I kept when I pruned the roses in February are showing some new growth and promise of tiny root hairs. Got them in pots and covered with plastic. We'll see if I get any new roses this year...fingers crossed!

Compost Happens!

►Added the contents of the compost barrel to the Row Garden (as you see in the photo left), along with shredded leaves, pulverized (powdered...so it will break down faster) lime, and 10-10-10 fertilizer. Then turned the rows and hilled them back up. After a couple of weeks, I'll cover them with landscape fabric like I did last year. Interestingly enough, I heard an Ag agent from another county speak last week, and he advised against covering the soil in this manner. Hmmmmm. Since we had such fantastic results with our trial last year, I think I will have to go against his advise and rely on my experience. I happen to like not having to weed...& and there is no denying our soil looks great!

►Applied 10-10-10 fertilizer to blueberries, blackberries, and grapes in the Berry Patch. All were beginning to break dormancy, although I have concerns about what this later-than-usual cold snap might have done to all those buds, as well as the early-to-break-dormancy-and-leaf-out plum tree in the orchard.

 

►Planted cool season transplants in the raised beds in the Box Garden. As I watched the calendar march through March, I knew that I wouldn't have time to rely on seeding these veggies for a good harvest this year. So I put in 4 kinds of lettuce transplants (red and green Romaine, Buttercrunch, and Red Sails), and then seeded for Black-seeded Simpson and more Buttercrunch; 2 kinds of broccoli transplants, along with red cabbage and spinach transplants. Then, as soon as I planted the boxes and let Mother Nature shower them overnight, I put row covers on to protect the tender transplants. Box Garden looks like it has been eaten by giant caterpillars again. Sigh.

►I also seeded some Danver's half-long carrots to one box. Then, I finally, finally got my peas planted on the fence in the Block Garden...just before this latest dip into the 20's. I haven't checked to the damage yet. Fingers crossed. Again.

►To repair some bare spots in our lawns, we overseeded with grass seed and slow release fertilizer. I got out our soil test for the front yard and realized that we didn't add the second application of phosphorus last year (our soil was so low in phosphorus that we couldn't add enough in one season, so we had to break the application into two parts). We'll put that chore on this weekend's list, as rain is predicted...and a good watering-in by Mother Nature will be perfect.

►Transplanted and divided some pots of liriope that our neighbor had given us last year. Also gave the existing stands of "monkey grass" their haircuts, shearing the old brown fronds before the plants begin to turn green.

Bio-Dome Seed Starter -
New Tomato Seedlings growing to the light

►Started seeds of tomatoes and peppers in my new Bio-Dome seed-starter, as you see in the picture above. I had it on top of the kitchen fridge to provide bottom-warmth for germination, but have now moved it to the counter under the warm, intense undercounter lights. 

I have 4 Roma VF, 4 Park's Whoppers, 4 Beefmasters, and 2 Cherokee Purples (new to my garden this year)...and they have all germinated! That is truly remarkable because those Romas? Well, those seeds are 5 years old! I've started some every year since I purchased the packet in 2010, keeping the remainder in the garage fridge.

I cannot tell you how happy it makes me to see tiny seeds actually come to life...almost before my very eyes. I have some transplants on order...and I will get a couple of transplants at the garden center, as I always do...but growing from seed still thrills this gardener's soul!

And the peppers? The peppers are slower to germinate than the tomatoes, but I did notice a couple of teeny, tiny stems this morning. Soon, I hope to have California Wonder, Jalapeño, Fish, Mariachi, Cherry Poppers, and Orange Blaze...those last three brand new to my garden this year. 

OK, let me get a hot cup of coffee, put on my jacket, and go see what the garden looks like today. Can't wait!

Happy hoeing!