Monday, September 5, 2011
FORE!!!
What was I thinking? Up at 6 am on a holiday?? On the course at 8? So much dew in the rising sun who could see the ball? 4th time playing.First 18 holes (only played the first 9 and drove the cart for the final 9) and first golf cart. Good thing we had carts. Good thing that David didn't turn it over on the steep hill going down and skidding in the wet grass. Really good thing. Whew. Rewarded by one or two good putts and maybe 4 or 5 other balls. Next up........lessons.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Ahhhhhhhhh..........
Best weather of the summer! Sunny and breezy with temps in the 70's. Being energized, we tore out the culinary herb bed that has gotten so overgrown. Garlic chives and lemon balm had taken over. Left in a small patch of lemon balm and pulled the chives (though it will take more digging and maybe a shot or two of Round Up). Trimmed up the Greek Oregano and pulled out the parsley. The plastic fence that has surrounded the area for the last few years is no more. What a different sight! This area is slated for David's very own workshop, hopefully next year. All that's left to move is sage, chives and oregano. Easy enough.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Fruit of the Harvest
Sadie Mae sure is enjoying the melons and cucumbers. Anyone else have a bassett hound who eats such things? The "Minnesota Midget" melons are anything but midgets, but they are sweet and tasty!! Hungarian Heart tomatoes are HUGE. They remind me of beefsteaks with a different shape. Very sweet and juicy. Martina's Romas tomatoes are prolific. Great for salsa! Growing the basil in with the tomatoes seems to make them both very happy. Broccoli is growing and we should have a nice harvest before the first frost. I can't wait to try the potatoes. The vines still seem too vigorous to dig into the barrel and try them out. Japanese climber cucumbers are as good as ever (as witnessed by Sadie Mae). Our two disappointments this year--zucchini and the corn. I believe that we continue to succumb to vine borers on the zucchini. It grows initially and bears fruit only to die back from the stem. The corn has not done well at all. Both are Anazazi strains from Horizon Herbs. The early corn bore well with small but tasty ears. However the later corn's ears did not fill out at all or are very patchy. A huge disappointment. The kernels that did develop are a rainbow of colors and would have been delightful at a corn roast. Not sure what to make of it. We fertilized, watered and there appeared to be good pollination. Plenty of silks, but no kernels. Not recommended. Beets cooking now. Carrots are gorgeous multicolored and sweet. Jalapeno peppers doing well--flavorful and not too hot according to the family taste tester of hot things--David. The sweet peppers growing nicely and turning red. We've had 4 eggplants and more coming on, so with one plant, very pleased with how it is doing. Doubt we'll have cabbage. It is growing, but since we direct seeded, it just doesn't seem like it will have enough time before frost. Maybe. We'll see. KY Wonder pole beans coming on. The Anasazi pole beans have flowers, but no beans yet. Hope our growing season isn't too short.
All in all, we are sure blessed. No hurricane damage. No hail. No tornadoes. No drought. No floods.
Life IS good.
All in all, we are sure blessed. No hurricane damage. No hail. No tornadoes. No drought. No floods.
Life IS good.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Dog Days of August
July's a blur of heat and a lot of sweat and gallons of water drunk.Honestly don't remember much of it. 12 hour days at work and hot weekends. David has been a regular farmer hero keeping the gardens watered. Very little rain other than some thunderstorms and the wind from them was strong enough to blow the corn over twice. It is amazing to me how it uprights itself after being flattened down.
The Anasazi Sweet Early is harvested. Small ears, but tasty. Since it is an heirloom and doesn't have the "supersweet gene" in it, we picked it just before eating. Prepped in microwave and once on the grill. Butter and salt.....mmmmmm good. Still waiting for the late. No raccoon issues this year, David has a fully electric line at the top of the fence around the corn. Probably has been keeping Sadie Mae out of it, too. She has been harvesting melons and cucumbers much to our dismay and chomping on them like they are toys.
The Japanese climber cucumbers are good as usual. Really crispy and sweet. First green beans harvested today. Pole beans take a bit longer to mature and the Anasazi beans are still growing and flowering without any pods yet. We did get some zucchini this year, but again succumbed to vine borers and took them out to plant some mesclun and chard for fall harvest.
For the first time ever, we planted broccoli and cabbage from seed right in the garden. It does make them a bit later than when setting out seedlings, but they will bear before frost, so I imagine that's what I'll continue to do with those cold weather plants.
Tomatoes are wonders.From puny little transplants they become monsters bearing tons of fruit. We put in two plants in the 3x3 raised bed along with planting basil seeds and all are growing well, but pretty snug. Maybe one tomato per raised bed along the the basil would be better.
The "star" this year are the "Minnesota Midget" cantalope. Not as small as advertised on the seed packet, and the vines sprawled more than 3 feet, but the cantalopes are primo in flavor and the vines bearing well.
Let's see......oh yes, beets are ready. We've gotten 4 eggplants so far from one plant and the two pepper plants are doing well. We bought these plants at Seed Savers this year at their plant sale rather than trying to start our own and I"m sold on it.Just that much less work, though I do like starting seeds--it's the space and having to be here constantly tending to them. Nice drive to Decorah in April and fun to get away overnite.
Flower beds have taken up most of my time since vegetables tend to take care of themselves once planted and fertilized and kept watered. We were lucky to get a truck load of mulch from Davey when they came to trim our maple and linden. It was enough to cover all of the area from the patio to under the silver maple. We could use two more loads for the fence line and Debby's garden where mulch is thin or non existent.
The roses that we planted last year are growing well. the only issue with that bed are the Japanese beetles,which have been plentiful this year. All in all, I'm really pleased with them. We have also been gifted with a generous portion of milkweed in various areas of the gardens this year, including out front by the lilac near the culvert. Good homes for the Monarchs! Saw some mating today and am hopeful of the cocoons in the milkweed.
New lavender bed is doing well, too, with 8 cultivars planted. I noticed today that the labels are fading and I need to see if I can restore them so that I know all their names. The white butterfly bush that I planted from a broken part of the one in the border bed in front of the house took off like a weed and is blooming and about 30 inches tall. Nice.
The Anasazi Sweet Early is harvested. Small ears, but tasty. Since it is an heirloom and doesn't have the "supersweet gene" in it, we picked it just before eating. Prepped in microwave and once on the grill. Butter and salt.....mmmmmm good. Still waiting for the late. No raccoon issues this year, David has a fully electric line at the top of the fence around the corn. Probably has been keeping Sadie Mae out of it, too. She has been harvesting melons and cucumbers much to our dismay and chomping on them like they are toys.
The Japanese climber cucumbers are good as usual. Really crispy and sweet. First green beans harvested today. Pole beans take a bit longer to mature and the Anasazi beans are still growing and flowering without any pods yet. We did get some zucchini this year, but again succumbed to vine borers and took them out to plant some mesclun and chard for fall harvest.
For the first time ever, we planted broccoli and cabbage from seed right in the garden. It does make them a bit later than when setting out seedlings, but they will bear before frost, so I imagine that's what I'll continue to do with those cold weather plants.
Tomatoes are wonders.From puny little transplants they become monsters bearing tons of fruit. We put in two plants in the 3x3 raised bed along with planting basil seeds and all are growing well, but pretty snug. Maybe one tomato per raised bed along the the basil would be better.
The "star" this year are the "Minnesota Midget" cantalope. Not as small as advertised on the seed packet, and the vines sprawled more than 3 feet, but the cantalopes are primo in flavor and the vines bearing well.
Let's see......oh yes, beets are ready. We've gotten 4 eggplants so far from one plant and the two pepper plants are doing well. We bought these plants at Seed Savers this year at their plant sale rather than trying to start our own and I"m sold on it.Just that much less work, though I do like starting seeds--it's the space and having to be here constantly tending to them. Nice drive to Decorah in April and fun to get away overnite.
Flower beds have taken up most of my time since vegetables tend to take care of themselves once planted and fertilized and kept watered. We were lucky to get a truck load of mulch from Davey when they came to trim our maple and linden. It was enough to cover all of the area from the patio to under the silver maple. We could use two more loads for the fence line and Debby's garden where mulch is thin or non existent.
The roses that we planted last year are growing well. the only issue with that bed are the Japanese beetles,which have been plentiful this year. All in all, I'm really pleased with them. We have also been gifted with a generous portion of milkweed in various areas of the gardens this year, including out front by the lilac near the culvert. Good homes for the Monarchs! Saw some mating today and am hopeful of the cocoons in the milkweed.
New lavender bed is doing well, too, with 8 cultivars planted. I noticed today that the labels are fading and I need to see if I can restore them so that I know all their names. The white butterfly bush that I planted from a broken part of the one in the border bed in front of the house took off like a weed and is blooming and about 30 inches tall. Nice.
Monday, June 6, 2011
It's June
Hot, hotter, hottest. This is the hottest early June that I can remember for a long time. Heat index 107 today and I'm not doing much outside. Over the weekend, it was warm, but bearable (can you tell I'm a cool weather fan?). I would love a longer growing season, but no warmer than 75 degrees.
Ah, but the corn LOVES the heat and we got it planted yesterday complete with a fence that will be electrified to keep Mr. and Mrs.Raccoon out. They were such rude guests last year.
And all of the seeds planted just a week ago today are thru the birth canal of the top of the soil. Even the potatoes are peeking up out of the barrel....such an interesting way to plant them in a 30 gallon barrel.
More weeding to do and still a few plants to get in to Debby's garden and a few seeds. Conjuring up cooler weather.
Ah, but the corn LOVES the heat and we got it planted yesterday complete with a fence that will be electrified to keep Mr. and Mrs.Raccoon out. They were such rude guests last year.
And all of the seeds planted just a week ago today are thru the birth canal of the top of the soil. Even the potatoes are peeking up out of the barrel....such an interesting way to plant them in a 30 gallon barrel.
More weeding to do and still a few plants to get in to Debby's garden and a few seeds. Conjuring up cooler weather.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
2011 Garden Update May
Running behind in activities partly due to very wet weather and partly due to other priorities that have needed attention on weekends when I have the time to devote to gardening. I did manage to get some plants and decided to create a lavender bed using several different cultivars of lavandula and two lavandins. These plants are from Goodwin Creek and they sent some great advise on amending the soil. We found quartz granite grit at Farm and Fleet to help make the soil more porous and looked at several different sands at Home Depot to use as mulch. The builder's sand seems to be the best with the least clumping. All in all there are 8 different cultivars that we will get planted this week hoping that it continues to dry out a bit. In the center of the octagon shaped bed is a buddlia with white flowers. I did get allysum seeds, but not sure if there is enough germination time.
Veggies and seeds got planted yesterday. It was HOT! Crop rotation good this year. Melon bed with 2 hills "minnesota midgets"--a 4 inch in diameter melon. Fun! Put in a rhubarb plant that I got at the MG sale. Here is a list of what I planted:
Tomatoes--2
Peppers--2
Ky Wonder Pole Beans
Anasazi Beans (pole)
Basil--2 cultivars
Radishes--2 kinds
Carrots
Beets
Leeks
Zucchini
Broccoli
Red cabbage
Japanese Climbing cucumbers
Lettuce mix
Lima beans
Still have kale and corn to plant
I made a round raised bed for sorghum as the hub ringed by Hopi black dye sunflowers. This should tower at 9 to 10 feet!
We also got a new shade bed in under the krimson king maple that we mulched around last year. Several new hostas, geranium, huechera and others. New echinacea in the butterfly bed--a new hybrid. Transplanted zebra grass behind the red twigged dogwoods. Cleared out the spearmint to make room for a new orange mint that I bought annuals for window boxes, pots and cart and got the cart planted. Purple, orange, silver and lime green are the colors this year.
Debby's Garden and the prairie garden are left. I did weed the lupines that reseeded wonderfully, but were inundated with dandelions. Interesting how the annuals reseed and move around in the bed.
Veggies and seeds got planted yesterday. It was HOT! Crop rotation good this year. Melon bed with 2 hills "minnesota midgets"--a 4 inch in diameter melon. Fun! Put in a rhubarb plant that I got at the MG sale. Here is a list of what I planted:
Tomatoes--2
Peppers--2
Ky Wonder Pole Beans
Anasazi Beans (pole)
Basil--2 cultivars
Radishes--2 kinds
Carrots
Beets
Leeks
Zucchini
Broccoli
Red cabbage
Japanese Climbing cucumbers
Lettuce mix
Lima beans
Still have kale and corn to plant
I made a round raised bed for sorghum as the hub ringed by Hopi black dye sunflowers. This should tower at 9 to 10 feet!
We also got a new shade bed in under the krimson king maple that we mulched around last year. Several new hostas, geranium, huechera and others. New echinacea in the butterfly bed--a new hybrid. Transplanted zebra grass behind the red twigged dogwoods. Cleared out the spearmint to make room for a new orange mint that I bought annuals for window boxes, pots and cart and got the cart planted. Purple, orange, silver and lime green are the colors this year.
Debby's Garden and the prairie garden are left. I did weed the lupines that reseeded wonderfully, but were inundated with dandelions. Interesting how the annuals reseed and move around in the bed.
Friday, April 22, 2011
April Showers
What a great spring month April is. The greenest greens, the freshest smells, the cleanest feeling and so many green people peeping up through the ground! We've had some great rain to get the ground water levels where they need to be. Thankfully we don't have the wildfire problems so prevalent in Texas right now.
Unfortunately I've not had a lot of time to get out and remove the winter debris in the gardens, but the cooler temps have allowed the daffodils to have a long blooming period and the tulips are coming on so it really doesn't look too bad. This weekend we are off to Decorah to Seed Savers Exchange for the plant sale since we didn't do our own indoor seeding this year. We're looking forward to a weekend away.
Unfortunately I've not had a lot of time to get out and remove the winter debris in the gardens, but the cooler temps have allowed the daffodils to have a long blooming period and the tulips are coming on so it really doesn't look too bad. This weekend we are off to Decorah to Seed Savers Exchange for the plant sale since we didn't do our own indoor seeding this year. We're looking forward to a weekend away.
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