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...

Long time...No See

Hello again! It’s been far too long since my last post. And in the intervening years (has it truly been 4 years?!?), we moved from North Carolina to Georgia...so, all new gardens to talk about. I will take the next few posts to catch you up, but for now... I just wanted to jump back in to my blogging journey at my current spot. It’s the first of June, 2020, so that means posting my “first of the month” photo. And here it is:

First of the Month Photo: June 2020

Well, that looks very different from the title photo, doesn’t it? Yes, when we retired, we downsized from 2500 square feet of row gardens with a few raised beds to about 500 square feet of raised beds (unimaginatively called the Raised Bed Garden or RBG) and containers (located mostly in the Garden Pen). You might notice a different pup, too. That’s Logan, my pointer mix garden guard guy...we adopted him in 2017 after we moved to our smaller abode in Loganville (called Casa 303), where we helped our hearts heal after having to say an unexpected goodbye to Abbie (who developed cancer of the spleen).

Logan is one of four current members of Our Drool Gang, the others being Winston (you remember him...Aussie mix); Pepper (another Georgia adoptee...supposed to have been part black lab; turned out to be mixed with either Great Dane or Appaloosa); and Rowan (the family basset hound...you know we have to have one, right? He is technically Missy M’s dog, but he has lived with us since he arrived...when he bonded with then-puppy Pepper.) All of that is to say, if we want to grow anything here, it must be protected by a fence or barrier of some sort. Sigh. We do what we must, right? At least we do not have a deer problem!

As we near the 3rd anniversary of closing on this property, I’m happy to report we have made great strides in putting down roots and making this our own. We started with excellent bones, including mature landscape with trees (including a gorgeous magnolia), flowering shrubs (like the gardenias ), and fencing around the rear and sides, as well as well-established bermudagrass lawn, front and back.

The first thing we added was the garden shed...the exact model as we built in HPNC...but we paid a bit extra to have this one built onsite for us.

Then, Mr. T built the U-shaped, hip-high raised beds...and we promptly enclosed the RBG with a gate. After one season, we knew we needed more growing area that could be a bit more adaptable to changing needs...and the (enclosed) Garden Pen was born. This year, he added a newer version of a feature of the Wayback Garden in HPNC that we missed (visible in the title photo): the tuteur!

Additionally we have planted our roses in our side yard, visible from our Coffee Room just off the kitchen. And we have recently tested the waters to see if any can survive the Backyard Dogs by adding 4 container specimens we bought at a recent estate sale of the former Prez of our local Rose Society. Mr. T took inventory last week of the survivors after the first winter: 33 bushes. Half of the number we had in High Point, but that’s ok...especially when it comes time to do the monthly rose care chores. One of the 6 successful transplants from the HPNC Rose Garden includes Don Juan, in full bloom on a trellis as I write this.

Don Juan

And you know we have our share of irises and day lilies...many brought as transplants when we moved. This is the first year to bloom in their new home for several...and we are doing our best to chart their new locations around the property.

Forever Redeemed 

Elvis’s Cape 

Strawberry Shortcake

So that brings us up to date...sort of. At least it gives us a place to begin...again.

Stay tuned!

It's Almost a Wrap!

One would imagine that the Kitchen Garden as well as the Rose Garden would be settling down for a long winter's nap. One would be wrong.

Even though we had frost and a freeze in both October and November, we are now experiencing a period of balmy, Spring-like weather here in the Piedmont of NC. So, my December pictures of the harvest from our gardens are quite unexpected.

Enjoy them while you can. At least that's our approach to this wacky weather!

Raised bed of greens:
7-Top Turnip (left and right); Collards (center)

Raised bed of lettuces; hoops and row covers showing

Ready for my salad:
bibb and red sails lettuces; spinach; and carrots

What is this narcissus doing blooming
in the Rose Garden in December?

Christmas centerpiece: roses, mums, n
arcissus, rosemary, and pineapple sage...
all from our garden!

May Flowers

My previous post mentioned all the rain our gardens had been enjoying, apropos of April. Now, let's talk about the positive results we see in May.

This morning, I took a pre-breakfast coffee walk with a purpose. I had noticed on Sunday's walkabout, that in addition to the mountain of flowers, there were several nearly-ripe strawberries in the beautiful bed on the edge of the Berry Patch. 

I just knew I would find at least a handful in the first harvest of the season...but I was hoping for enough to make my bowl of Raisin Bran worth eating. I was justly rewarded for my two-day delay in picking.

While in the Berry Patch, I was thrilled to see all the lively blueberries on the bushes...won't be long now before the berries on my cereal will be blue instead of red! And the blackberry bushes are loaded with flowers, foretelling a heavy harvest in a couple of months. The grapes are adding leaves on all the vines, except one that was lost to winter damage. So far, so good.

Over in the Orchard, I noticed fruit on the pears, peaches, plum, apples, and crabapples. I need to spray sooner rather than later, since the trees have all finished flowering and this is one of the most vulnerable times to pest damage.

Checking on the Block Garden, where the (English) peas are busy vining up the fencing and flowering, I spotted some corn leaves poking out of the ground! Hooray! Ok, I admit I'd had my doubts. I planted those seeds of Silver Queen (some of which were from 2012!) on a rather cool day...and in extremely muddy conditions (I almost lost my garden clog to the sucking mud when I stepped in the wrong spot!). It was a case of having to plant that day...or wait another week or so until I returned from Georgia. So, maybe it will work out after all.

Then I moved on to the lettuce in Box #3 in the Raised Bed garden. Oh my goodness, what a delight for the eye! 

Of course, seeing all that lettuce reminds me of two stories:

1) After my parents retired and moved to Smithville, TN (buying my Aunt Christine's house on Jennings Lane), Daddy took on the weekly chore of going to the grocery store. He would start out with an early run to Webb's Drug Store on the Square for coffee...and the latest "news." Following any other trips (to the post office, to the hardware store, etc.), he'd eventually wind up at the Sav-a-Lot, where he thrived on getting the best bargains...and hopefully most of the items on Momma's shopping list.  One particular week, they had iceberg lettuce (the only kind he knew) 5 heads for $1.00. Granted, that's a great price, but remember it was just the two of them at home...and he was always more of a meat 'n potatoes kinda guy, calling salads "rabbit food." Anyway, he comes home with 5 heads of lettuce...to which Momma said "Sidney! What are we going to do with all that lettuce?" And he famously replied "well, we can freeze what we don't use...can't we?"

Ahem.

2) In 2011, just after we found out that Momma's lung cancer had returned, she became withdrawn and began staying home most of the time. So, I was preparing three meals a day, rather than counting on many meals eaten away from home. At about the same time, we were enjoying a bumper crop of salad greens. We had mounds of leaf lettuces on every sandwich; spinach leaves in omelettes; and a salad with almost every supper. When the Hospice volunteer came by for a visit, I overheard her ask Momma if she was eating well...meaning, did she still have an appetite for food? Momma exclaimed, "heavens yes! Patricia gives me a salad from her garden every time I open my mouth. I'm going to turn into a head of lettuce!"

Looks like 2015 might turn out to rival the salad days of 2011!

I did say this post was about May flowers, didn't I? The irises in the Rondel (the ones that are descendants of ones passed along to us by my Lunn cousin Betty Jean) are looking so pretty, with the red-bronze ones in full bloom and the yellow ones just beginning to open. 

And the (mostly purple) irises in the front yard have been putting on quite a show for us this year. We divided the ones around the lamppost last year, so I had little expectation of flowers this year. Wow! Did they ever surprise us!

The rhododendrons in the back yard are both in full flower, as the azaleas end their run for the year. 

And the roses are loaded with buds, poised to pop open into a riot of colors over the next few weeks. As usual, the winner of "first bloom" in the Rose Garden is the David Austin rose "Susan Williams-Ellis." Although small by comparison with most of the so-called English roses, SWE has proven both hardy and reliable...and we are always assured of having white roses in bloom to honor the memories of our mothers, Edith and Maryen. 

Around the path from SWE is this Winchester Cathedral (also white, but with a pink edge, denoting its "Mary Rose" parentage)...

...and this Abraham Darby (on our lone remaining AD bush...having lost one to Rose rosette disease and one to winter damage). 

What you may not be able to see is the beautiful brown mulch that Mr. T spread last weekend in the Rose Garden...with Winston's help, of course. Along with black mulch to mark the paths, this brown mulch makes the roses really stand out.

So, How Does Our Garden Grow?

• This week, I planted Clemson Spineless 5195 okra in Row #2, as well as Nanking Green cotton seeds. Many of you will remember, I got my first few colored cotton seeds from the 2011 Seed Exchange at Old Salem; the seeds I planted yesterday were descendants of those, hand-ginned and saved in the fridge over the winter. I will get a couple of containers of sweet potato slips (probably 18 in all) from Soviero's Tri-County Garden Center and plant those just before the next rainfall. The landscape fabric I used last year for the sweet potato row...complete with perfectly-spaced holes...is already pinned to the north end of Row #2 (which Mr. T tilled a couple of weeks ago), just waiting to receive the slips.

• I planted seeds of yellow and zucchini squash; Sweet Slice and Straight Eight cucumbers; cantaloupes; and three kinds of watermelons (Jubilee, Sugar Baby, and Charleston Grays) on Row #3. The cukes will grow up the latticework trellis again this year, under which I transplanted 6 pots of basil. I put tomato cages around the squad seed hills and added some seeds of the Empress of Indie nasturtium And we are trialling growing the melons on either side of a 5'x35' fence, placed in the center of the north end of the row.

• We also put a fence down the north end of Row #4 to accommodate the green beans. I planted seeds of Kentucky Wonder pole (both white 191 and brown seeds) and Garden Bean Advantage. Then, I created a three-row bed for Fordhook 242 Lima beans on the south end of Row #4 (calling it Dixie's Bed, like last year...;-), along with a bean tower, planted with the gigantic seeds of the Garden Bean Tenderstar, a runner type from England.

• The tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers in Row #1 are growing well. In fact, there are yellow flowers appearing on several tomato plants already! Unfortunately I also see some lesions appearing on a few of the tomatoes, too. It's time to trim up the lower branches of the tomatoes (up to the first flowering branch), remove any suckers (rooting the more promising ones), give them a second dose of Tomato Tone, and mulch them with straw. I will also dust all with Dipel to ward off the tomato hornworms.

• Not to be forgotten, over in the Raised Bed garden, in Box #1, I dusted the broccoli and cabbage plants with Dipel after noticing a few holes in the leaves (of the cabbage, mainly) and a single green worm. Where there is one visible worm, there are probably many more I can't see. I also dusted the beans growing in Box #2 and The Center Square with Dipel after seeing some cutworm damage. The lettuces in Box #3 look great, as do the carrots, spinach, and beets in Box #4. I noticed some "volunteer" tomatoes in Box #4 (again this year...no doubt from the Sun Golds there last year), so I thinned out all except the three in the middle of each 3x3, around which I placed tomato cages. I know, I know...this flies in the face of all gardening wisdom (hybrid tomatoes don't come back "true;" you should never grow tomatoes in the same place year-after-year, etc.), but I figure "what have I got to lose?" They are free plants...let's just see what happens.

Remember I told you in my last post that May is Melanoma/Skin Cancer Detection and Awareness Month.     I heard back from my dermatologist about the biopsy she took a week ago, after removing a suspicious mole on my back. Calling it a "dysplastic nevus with mild dysplasia," she said that she wants to observe it for any changes in the next three months. She also said that I should stay out of the sun from 10:00-4:00 each day; always wear sunscreen with a minimum 30 SPF; and wear protective clothing (long sleeves, hat) and sunglasses. I know I should not be surprised since I fit the description of someone at-risk for skin cancer (fair hair and skin; sunburn-prone as a child; works outside; and family history of skin cancer), and I am thankful that I got the next-to-the-best possible report she could have given me (the best being "it's absolutely nothing...go on about your business;" the worst being "it's definitely melanoma"). And, I am going to have to make adjustments around that "10-4" restriction. But I frankly am counting myself one lucky ducky!

Happy Hoeing!

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!


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