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.

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!

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!

Blueberries...Beautiful Blueberries!

First harvest of blueberries,
2013

Growing up, I thought the only place one could grow blueberries was Maine. You know, blueberry syrup and all. Am I ever thankful to have learned the truth! Blueberries can be grown in North Carolina (and other parts of the South)...easily, and with great results.

I totally understand how Fats Domino found his thrill on Blueberry Hill. Our blueberry bushes may not be on a hill...actually, they are in raised beds on flat ground...but it has been thrilling to be picking this year.

To recap...

We have 9 rabbiteye blueberry bushes planted in 3 raised beds in the Berry Patch (northeast)quadrant of the Way Back Garden. We purchased our bushes from the Guilford County 4-H in two "batches:" 2 Climax and 1 Premier varieties in the Spring of 2011; 3 Climax and 3 Premier in the Fall of '11.


According to our Soil Test, performed in March of 2011, the soil in this area of the Way Back had a pH of 5.1 (can you say ACID soil?). Fortunately, according to the North Carolina Cooperative Extension/NC State publication, Growing Blueberries in the Home Garden, blueberries are happiest growing in acid soil, with rabbiteyes preferring a pH of less than 5.3. No lime needed here! We were good to go...after adding the recommended 2 pounds of 10-10-10 fertilizer. (The actual recommendation on the Soil Test Report says 20 lbs per 1000 sq. ft.; as we have three 32 sq. ft. boxes = 96 sq. ft. total...I rounded that up to 100 sq. ft. to make the math easier...we needed 1/10 of the recommended application = 20/10 = 2 lbs.).

Why rabbiteyes, you may ask? Or, even...what are the different species of blueberries? There are 3 main species that are cultivated for the home garden: high bush, rabbiteye, and southern high bush.

"The rabbiteye (Vaccinium ashei) is more drought and heat resistant and will tolerate a wider range of soil types than the highbush. For these reasons, rabbiteye is easier to establish and grow successfully in the Piedmont..." according to NC State.

The BackyardGardener.com site says the following:

"Vaccinium ashei is a Southeastern U.S. species, well adapted to hot, humid summers with mild winters. They tolerate conditions that other blueberries will not. They generally grow 6 to 8 feet tall, and the blueberries ripen in late spring or early summer."

Both sites recommend planting more than one rabbiteye variety to provide the cross-pollination needed for maximum yields. NC State lists recommended varieties for the Piedmont, including Climax and Premier, which were developed by NC State. And that is just what the (NC) county 4-H was selling. Funny how that worked out, eh?

Mr. T built the raised beds, 8" deep, 8x4 in size. We simply tilled up the native soil, amended only with compost and leaf mold (mainly to help improve the tilth of our native CLAY soil) at planting time.  He also added metal fence posts, one at the end of each box, with a wire strung between them, to provide support for the netting used to protect the harvest from our ever-present bird friends. Here's a shot of the Berry Patch, taken from the Rondel in early 2012:

View of Berry Patch from Rondel,
looking NE, at the blueberry boxes
Spring - 2012

Last Fall (2012), we mulched the beds with leaves (mostly oak), and this Spring prior to bloom, I fertilized them with 10-10-10. As the bushes began to flower, I added Milorganite, which is chiefly a nitrogen fertilizer (5-2-0), based on the Soil Test report's recommendations for Maintenance/When Plants are Mature (after Year 2) :

"After another four to six weeks...nitrogen alone may be applied at this time."

After harvest (and prior to July 20), I will apply another topdressing of Milorganite. Then, we will have the soil tested next Spring per recommendation.

So, that's what we did...now let's see some results! As I have said before, we missed last year's (2012)harvest, due to our extended stay in KY. We didn't know what to expect from this year...but I was basing my expectations on what I wanted to eat.

I wanted a blueberry pie!

Check that goal off the list.! The blueberries have performed in the OUTSTANDING category, if you ask me. I picked an initial 1-2 cups (see picture above) (oh, I can't tell you the exact amount, as I ate so many when I was picking [ducking my head with a sheepish grin]), which were washed, lightly sugared, and eaten on cereal and for dessert.



Second harvest of blueberries,
2013

Then, four days (and three rains) later, I picked over 6 cupsful (left)! That was enough for blueberry pancakes for Sunday Brunch...and my blueberry pie.  [If you want to see those pictures and get the recipe, please visit the family blog The Adsit Adventure posting Found My Thrill here.]

It's Day 3...and as many rains...since I last picked berries, so I am mouth-wateringly looking forward to tomorrow. I'm hoping for another large haul, as I now want to "can" blueberry pie filling.

I found that recipe in the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving, edited by Judi Kingry and Lauren Devine. I'm adding this book to my favorite gardening books, for sure...since, once you harvest, you have to do something with all that produce, right?

I'm also thinking at trying my hand at making Blueberry Syrup. Never done that before. I found this recipe on the Ball FreshPreserving.com site:  Blueberry Syrup recipe.

So, let's do the math.  I will need 7 cups of blueberries for the Pie Filling recipe. And, I will need 8 cups of blueberries for the Blueberry Syrup recipe. That's 15 cups of blueberries I need!

Grow, blueberries, grow!

Happy hoeing!



Ah, Sweet (Corn) Mystery of Life

We planted a block of Silver Queen corn (3 wide double-rows = 6 rows, with about 56-58 surviving plants) on April 15th ("pay your taxes, plant your corn"). About six weeks later, I interplanted (down the center of the wide rows) with pink-eye purplehull peas...for the weed protection, for the crop of peas, and for the nitrogen "fix" they will provide. And all was growing well until...

Corn patch, flattened
after high winds

This week. Monday. High winds (clocked at about 40 mph at the airport) and driving rain. After it all blew over, I ventured out into the Way Back to find our corn flattened. Broke my heart when I saw it.

I immediately started researching what to do. I grabbed several of my gardening books; only one had anything about storm-damaged corn...and that was mainly about how to protect the corn before the storm comes (shoulda, woulda, coulda). I then began a web search and got many suggestions (stake it, pull it up and replant, do nothing, etc.) all over the map.

I posted the photo to Facebook, seeking sympathy as well as advice, and received several responses. One of those was from a friend whose father was both a rural letter carrier with Daddy out of the Henning Post Office and a farmer. He suggested I try to right the stalks before the heat baked the ground to bricks again.

While it made sense, it proved more difficult than I anticipated. I had to abandon my first and only attempt to raise the stalks when I slipped in the mud...and realized no one was around to hear me if I wound up on my back, calling "I've fallen and I can't get up!" It would just have to wait.

And "wait" is exactly what I did. I left the corn alone. I did nothing. And, amazingly, the stalks righted themselves!

Corn standing again...on its own...
three days later

I am still having a hard time believing what I am seeing. Hence the pictures...

Of course, I have no idea whether these stressed stalks will make a crop...or even if these stalks with survive the storms that are predicted for today: winds in excess of 60 mph...plus hail! That's almost hurricane-strength, folks. And hail took out my corn crop 3 years ago, although I had time to replant a late season crop then. Not this year...we are two weeks past the last day to plant corn in the Piedmont, so that's not an option.

We will just have to wait-and-see how things turn out after today's storms blow through. I'll keep you updated.

rain...rain...rain...rain...rain

Here comes the umpteenth rain shower of the week. Nice gentle rain...but rain, nonetheless. We've poured out the rain gauges twice in two days, and with the addition of the amount from earlier this week, we have captured over 2". For the past 24 hours, we have been northwest of the path of the first named tropical storm of the season, Andrea. Now we (the Big Blue Dot in the picture below) are due West of the storm (the whirling red symbol, below), and we are getting soaked. Could be a lot worse...we could be getting the nasty storms (the red boxes below), but thankfully we have been spared that misery.

So, I can't actually do any work in the Way Back, but I certainly can slip outside during a lull in the showers with my camera for some photos to share. A little rain cleanses the dust, dirt, and debris of daily life in a garden...more rain gives everything a "green and growing" look...still more rain, and the blooms on the flowers begin showing signs of being bruised and beaten. Ah well, we will ALL be grateful for this rainfall when the next hot, dry spell comes upon us.

Enjoy the pretty pictures:

First Zucchini

Green Goliath tomatoes

Always and Forever rose
(Planted in 2013)

Edith Ann Daylily

Spanish Lavender

Chipmunk in the leaf bin

See you again when the sun shines!

Tomatoes from Suckers in Ten Easy Steps

Tomatoes in Row Garden, May 25

Hopefully, by now your tomato crop is coming along nicely. Ours is too, thank you very much for asking.

Row Garden, June 1:
Tomatoes in center row

Here in our Zone 7 Way Back Garden, the 6 transplants (two Celebrity, two Goliath, and two German Johnson...in foreground of picture, above/right) that were planted April 5th...ten full days ahead of the "optimum" time (AKA: the average last date of frost for the Piedmont, which is usually quoted as 4/15)...are growing strong and tall and bearing beautiful green fruit already. Even though we had to use row covers to protect the lot of them on a couple of occasions when the temps dipped below 45 degrees, I gambled and went against what I said in the recent Master Gardener program I did on Totally Tomatoes: "to be on the safe side, wait a week to ten days after ALDF before you plant your tomatoes." So much for playing it safe...and for "do as I say, not as I do."

Bush Early Girl, June 1,
in container on deck;
56 days after transplant

All the other tomatoes in the Row Garden (9 online-orders from Burpee added around 4/23: 3 Sun Golds, 3 Big Daddy hybrid, and 1 each grafted OPs Brandywine Pink, Brandywine Red, and Mortgage Lifter; 11 started indoors from seed, added about a month later: 3 Lemon Boys, 4 Roma, 2 Jet Stars, and 2 Juliets) are coming along well also, with a couple of those online-order Sun Golds fruiting up remarkably well already. The four bush varieties in containers (2 Early Girl bush, 1 Goliath Bush, and 1 Ace 55) are loaded with green fruit and yellow flowers. The Bush Early Girl that was planted 4/5 in a container on the deck actually has a red tomato (pictured left), only a couple days away from being my first BLT of the season.

In addition to bearing fruit (and tomatoes are fruits, botanically speaking, of course), tomatoes also go to great lengths to reproduce themselves by creating whole new plants...right there in the crotches between the main stem and a lateral branch. Those little suckers are known as, well...suckers.

Many folks who grow tomatoes see suckers as annoyances, as they can redirect the main plant's energy from producing fruit and must be pruned or removed, especially in the lowest 1-2 feet of the plant. But those same suckers can be a source of joy for the serious tomato gardener. Where some people see "more work," others see "more tomatoes!"

It's easy to start new plants...which will be clones, retaining the same genetic make-up of the parent plant...from those suckers you have to remove anyway in order to maintain the optimum production of the parent. That's a even-better proposition than trying to reproduce the characteristics of your favorite hybrid from saved seed, because hybrids notoriously are unreliable in this effort. Plus, with the high price of decent-sized so-called 'heirlooms' (a better name might be 'open-pollinated'), getting an off-spring with very little work cuts the cost in half. Because you will start with a 6-8" "cutting," you will have a jump-start on replenishing your mid-summer tomato crop, should one or more of the parent plants succumb to disease or insect invasion come late June or July.

Here are ten steps to get your new tomato crop started:

Removing a sucker from
hybrid tomato,
planted in Row Garden 4/23

1. Pick an overcast day, preferably after a good, soaking rain (which will "plump up" the parent tomato), to remove a sucker for rooting. Suckers are those new stems that grow at the join of each lateral branch on a healthy tomato main stem. If you wish to start a new tomato by taking a cutting, allow the sucker to grow on the healthy parent tomato (no evidence of disease, please) to about 6-8 inches long, then gently cut the stem off just above the joint where it is starting, using sharp floral scissors (see picture). If the suckers have started flowering, that's OK.
   
   Helpful tip: Be sure to make a plant marker, showing the name of the parent tomato and the date you took the cutting...especially if you are taking more than one sucker-cutting from more than one variety of tomato.



2. For each sucker, fill a container with a mix of good potting soil and compost, avoiding soil from your garden.  Any suitable container deep enough to accommodate one-half of the length of the sucker plus one inch will do. [For instance, if your sucker is 6" from cut to top, choose a container that is at least 4" deep: (6/2=3)+1=4.] You can use a commercial potting mix with fertilizer, if you wish, but fertilizer is not necessary to root tomato suckers. Still, it can be a time-saver after the sucker has rooted in the container.
   
   Another time-saving tip: always have a prepared container or two ready to receive a cutting.


3. Gently snip off any branches or leaves on the lower half of the sucker, leaving at least 4 leaves at the top of the sucker. Avoid stripping any of the stem as this can create a pathway for pests.
4. Dip the end of the sucker in rooting hormone and tap off any excess. Do you absolutely need to use rooting hormone? No. Does rooting hormone give your cutting a jump-start on developing a good root system? You betcha! Plus, I find that I get more successful rootings, increasing my plant count.
5. Poke a hole in the soil in the prepared container with a chopstick or a pencil, and then push the sucker into the hole in the soil, being careful not to knock the hormone powder  (if used) off.   Plant the sucker at least halfway in the potting soil, with the leaves left on the upper portion above the soil line.  Gently firm up the potting mix around the sucker's stem.
6. Water the container thoroughly. If necessary, add some more potting mix to maintain the proper depth of the sucker. Place the plant marker in the container to help you remember the variety.
7. Place the container in a shaded area, providing protection from the harsh rays of the sun.
8. Water daily to keep the soil moist while the sucker is rooting.  Don't worry if new tomato wilts for the first couple of days. By Day 3 or 4, it should be standing straight again.
9. After about two weeks, begin checking the new tomato to see if roots are developing, by gently tugging on the stem.  In about three weeks, roots should have developed enough to  (a) move the new tomato to a larger container, if necessary to accommodate the root system, and (b) begin exposing the new tomato to direct sun.  You should also give the new tomato a feeding of diluted fish emulsion at this time.
10. After 4-6 weeks, sun exposure should be up to "full sun" (6-8 hours/day) and the root system should be developed enough and to move the new tomato to a permanent location.  Congratulations! You have rooted a new tomato from a sucker!

New plants from rooted tomato suckers

Here is a shot of my own Sucker Garden to date (left).  I have rooted cuttings of the following varieties:

Sun Gold (in the purple containers)

Goliath

Celebrity

German Johnson (an open-pollinated 'heirloom' variety)

Brandywine Pink (an OP 'heirloom' that I ordered as a grafted tomato)

So far...so good! Only problem...where am I going to plant all these new garden members, hmmmm?

Gardening from Inside Out

Even when you can't get outside into your garden, you can still increase your yield by taking stock of your situation and increasing your knowledge. It's review time!

Today, in addition to recapping and reviewing our garden situation, I'll share my comments of a recently-read book with you, Landscape Planning - Practical Techniques for the Home Gardener, by Judith Adam. As she advises on page 43 in the section entitled "Putting it Down on Paper," "you may appreciate seeing the broad picture," so I will take a brief detour...back to where it all began...and attempt to paint a picture with words.

A regular reader of these posts will know that we have been in the planning phase for the Way Back Garden for 3 years now. We took what was essentially a tabula rasa (literally a scraped slate) of a more-or-less square quarter acre on the rear of our suburban lot (the house, driveway, and front/back yards occupy approximately 1/2 acre) and designed four garden "rooms" in what we call the Way Back Garden or WBG.

You will also know that, while we own the property, we also have an easement on most of the WBG, to Duke Energy for their transmission lines. We count ourselves fortunate that it's just the lines that cross our Way Back...no towers...and that, as long as it is under 15 feet tall and not a water feature nor a permanent structure (as in a building), we are good to go!

The previous owners, who built the house and landscaped the front and a small portion of the back yards, just left the Way Back to nature. So when we bought the property in 5/2009, we set about polishing up this neglected jewel by first having it mowed and scraped of the tangle of weeds and brush.

While you might imagine that...with no trees on the Way Back itself (Duke Energy had just come through the easement and whacked down everything that was growing a few months prior to our purchase), that we would be talking about full sun, all day long. And you would be as wrong as I was!

There are giant trees on the north and south sides of this easement, creating what is essentially a huge alley-way, approximately 125 feet square. The Way Back is defined by 8-foot "privacy" wooden fences on both the east and west sides; by a 4-foot "picket" wooden fence with a center gate for access from our back yard on the south side; and by a fledgling ligustrum and forsythia hedge across the north property line. There is also currently a temporary "farm yard" wire fence immediately behind the hedge-row to protect the young bushes from the overly-enthusiastic children of the neighbors beyond.

It is probably good to note that we didn't "design" the fencing across the rear of the Way Back like this. Duke Energy gave their approval to construct the privacy fence down the east side of the property (the one on the west side was already in place, built by our neighbor several years ago), transecting the transmission line alley. But, for reasons that defy logic but conform to the letter of the law, they would NOT allow us to put a fence across the north side, or paralleling the transmission line alley.

Put you a nice hedge across there, said the Duke engineer with the thick NC accent, when we asked what we could do? Of course, hedges do not hinder hounds when they are on a scent, so we had to build the picket fence across the back yard to keep the Drool Gang from going off on routine walkabouts.

Hedges...especially young,growing bushes...do not keep rambunctious kids at bay either. So when we added the first fruit trees to the Orchard on the northwest side of the Way Back, we put up the "temporary" fencing to protect our investment. Two years later and it's still standing...and doing a good job of keeping "them" out and keeping the dogs in. But, I'm getting ahead of myself here...and planning is all about "order and method."*

Some of you will be starting out, much as we did, with a blank slate of certain dimensions. Some of you will already have a garden** in some state of completion, but not the Garden of Your Dreams. Either way, it all begins with your Master Plan. The Master Plan can be summed up as:

1. Define where you are today: Point A.
2. Decide where you want to be at some point in the Future: Point B.
3. Determine how you will get from Point A to Point B.

Think of it as a road map. Know that there may be several interim stops along the way from Point A to Point B. And, you may have to take detours and u-turns and breaks before you reach your final destination, the Garden of Your Dreams. But given time, resources, and determination to succeed...you will succeed!

One the resources you may want to tap is the wealth of information "out there" on designing and planning the Garden of Your Dreams.

Wikipedia says:

"Garden design is the art and process of designing and creating plans for layout and planting of gardens and landscapes. Garden design may be done by the garden owner themselves, or by professionals of varying levels of experience and expertise. Most professional garden designers are trained in principles of design and in horticulture, and have an expert knowledge and experience of using plants. Some professional garden designers are also landscape architects, a more formal level of training that usually requires an advanced degree and often a state license. Many amateur gardeners also attain a high level of experience from extensive hours working in their own gardens, through casual study, serious study in Master Gardener Programs, or by joining gardening clubs."

As a Master Gardener, I almost always begin with the written word, since we are trained to use research-based information. Of course, not everything you read is researched-based, but published works are a good place to start.

Judith Adam has written an excellent multi-purpose book for gardeners in Landscape Planning - Practical Techniques for the Home Gardener, Second Edition, published in 2008 by Firefly Publishing. "Practical" is the watchword. From her "Ten Point Property Assessment" to her many and varied "10 Best..." lists ("10 Best Drought Resistant Shrubs;" "10 Best Flowering Shrubs and When to Prune Them;" etc.), Adam has written a garden book that you will return to, long after you think you have achieved the Garden of Your Dreams.

As it relates to our current discussion about planning, though, I think she has outlined the definitive approach: create a multi-year plan. In her case (as well as my own), she has recommended a 4-Year plan, and has given an excellent example on page 46. There is also an exercise to help the reader write up a 4-Year Plan, beginning on page 48.
She made my practical and realistic self sing when she wrote: "Look carefully at what you want to accomplish and establish a logical sequence of events that maximizes all your resources." (p. 42) For instance, you will want to design and create the basic "bones" (hardscapes, such as paths, benches, fences, rock borders, etc.) of your garden before you start sticking pretty flowers here and there...unless you are willing to move those flowers or see them crushed by the wagon hauling the mulch for a new side path. (OK, lesson learned the hard way...:). Hardscapes, you ask? Adam's book not only helps you decide on what you need where and why, it gives you ideas of how to use specific plants to make the most of your investment.

The one weak spot is the paltry "Home Gardener's Reference Library," found on page 238...and it doesn't even fill the whole page. Please. While this book would be a valuable asset in any gardener's library, we trust there must be more than 16 in Ms. Adam's.

I checked today, but there is still no digital version (Kindle, Nook, iTunes, etc.) of this book available. Too bad. It is the perfect reference to be able to search and bookmark and highlight...and not have to heave it off your bookshelf. Still, I imagine lifting this hefty tome will help keep a gardener's arm muscles toned...in order to tackle items on the 4-Year Plan!

Happy hoeing...and reading!


===================================

* "Order and method" is the way Agatha Christie's famous detective, Hercule Poirot solves all of life's mysteries. I'm certain he would approve of my using this approach to gardening.

** Although we in the USA usually use the word "garden" to describe the productive or Kitchen garden...and most often define the word further, i.e., rose garden, flower garden...as opposed to the "yard" or lawn-space, I am using the word to include all the outdoor areas of your property...vegetation as well as amenities.

Singing in the Rain

And the rain kept falling...

Water, water everywhere...and we are slap-happy about it! We were nearly 4" in deficit for the year, and yesterday's rainfall erased 2.8" of that. Hooray!

We have so many new plants in the Way Back Garden: 14 new fruit trees in the Orchard, 40 new roses in the Rose Garden, and worlds of new perennials and seeds of annuals planted as pollinators everywhere. Not to mention the Kitchen Garden, which is still populated with cool season crops that need lots of moisture to keep producing in the mounting heat this May...plus all the warm season plants that have just gone in this month that need lots of water to help germinate and establish healthy root systems. Oh, and don't overlook the lovely blackberries and blueberries that need water while plumping up on their respective vines in the Berry Patch. Oh yes, the rain is most welcomed around here!

I got out during a lull this morning for a walk-around to check on things and take a few photos to document this week in the garden. I noticed that the row covers on the sweet potatoes and the cowpeas (both of which went into the garden last week...just in time to benefit from these downpours...:) suffered the most storm damage...probably beyond what can be repaired with duct tape. Fortunately, I had placed an order just last week for some new Summer-weight covers, so I'm eagerly awaiting the delivery van from Gardeners Supply. [In years past, I have lost two plantings of sweet potato slips to the bunnies, so I now take the extra precaution of row covers...even though the dogs regularly roam the Way Back these days.]

And the winner is...
Gertrude Jekyll!
First of the new David Austin roses to bloom.

I also noticed that the rain...while much-needed on all the new rose bushes...did a number on the opening blooms of the gorgeous pink Gertrude Jekyll, which we have declared the Winner of the First-to-Open contest among the new David Austin English roses. Actually, ALL 12 bushes from Order #1 have budded up, and most of the 16 bushes from Order #2 are close on their heels...with the slow-to-show Brother Cadfaels and even pokier Winchester Cathedrals finally leafing out nicely. The 6 bushes from Order #3 are all leafed out, with buds just around the corner, I'm certain.

So what warm season veggies are now coming up in the Kitchen Garden, you ask? We've had decent germination on the KY Wonder pole beans purchased this year, but I've had to replant the row from a pack dated 2011. Remarkably, we had almost 100% germination on the little packet of heirloom Lazy Housewife beans (an oldie, so named because it's stringless...:) marked 2010 that we got at the Old Salem Seed exchange in January. Go figure.

View from the garden gate...
The Kitchen Garden on 5/14/2012

Zucchini loves rain...
and so do the tiny nasturtiums...

We also have Dixie cream peas and Burgundy Bush beans from that same exchange, but not such good luck with the red burgundy okra seeds (which I've since replanted with Clemson Spineless). I got great germination of the fish pepper seeds, and I've got most of those plants growing in containers on the deck...since the info says the plants themselves are variegated and interesting to look at. And I noticed on my walk around that the Amish melons were responding well to the rains, as are the hybrid cantaloupes (no germination on the watermelons yet, though...waiting, waiting, waiting...:) . I have them (the Amish melons) in the row next to the so-called "pea fence," as we hope to train them to grow up, as we do all the vining crops.  We also have yellow Summer squash on that side; on the opposite side are cucumbers (Straight Eights) and zucchini.  I interplanted with nasturtiums, using the companion planting guidelines to help with pest (squash bugs) control. [If you squint and look just left of the lettuces (above/left), you can see the beginnings of growth along the pea fence. A close-up of the zucchini is on the right.]

And it's almost time to say goodbye to the cool season goodies:  the broccoli, the cabbage, the spinach, and the lettuces.  Almost.  But not quite.  Here are some close-ups (below) of some that will probably be coming into the kitchen after the rains subside today.

Happy hoeing!  Just not in the wet ground...:)