Garden Update July 2012

 

I thought that the July garden update would be a lot happier as July tends to be the most exciting month, with the big producers providing some great summer vegetables. Unfortunately, I’ve learned a few garden lessons from the disappointments that this July held.

The first of those disappointments was that I didn’t get a single zucchini because as soon as they started to flower, two of the four plants up and died, and the other two didn’t produce. It made me very sad, but I think I figured out the cause- I planted them in the exact same spot as last year (and the year before). Most garden books and gardeners recommend crop rotation, something I’ve up until this point, ignored unless it was convenient. Well the death of usually prolific zucchini has cemented the crop rotation as a rule in my mind.

 

 

During my June Garden update, I mentioned that Jon had brought me three strawberry plants from a friend in Pittsburg. At last count, I’d killed one of the three, but another one died after that. It’s okay though, because the last one is doing splendidly, and I suspect it’ll come back even better next year.

 

July was very hot, and so lettuce season came to end when all of my lettuce bolted. Before I leave for Wisconsin, I’ll plant some more lettuce seeds for my parents to enjoy lettuce into the fall.

 

Eggplants love the heat, and they are doing very well, even if I haven’t eaten any since June. It looks like they’re going to be pretty prolific for us in August.

 

The string beans sort of made up for the zucchini failure. I moved them to a new spot this year, because I thought it’d be better. They grew up the trellis I made, and now look like a giant bush that provides the most delicious string beans about twice a week. They remain one of my favorite things to grow.

 

 

Okra, oh okra, you are so cool! The thing I love about okra (other than the gorgeous flowers) is that they continue to grow up as they produce fruit. They are just a really neat plant and delicious when fried or grilled or roasted.

My favorite thing to grow is absolutely tomatoes. And in the past, other than blight, I’ve always had a ton of fruit each year. Enough that I share it with everyone I know. Unfortunately, I’m only just now starting to get ripe edible tomatoes, and there are a bunch, but nowhere near last year’s yield. I’ve also experience blossom end rot for the first time. It’s the affliction where the bottom end of the tomato starts to rot before the tomato has a chance to ripen. I’ve researched it a bit, and I think it’s because we’ve overwatered, which probably happened because it’s been ridiculously, and consistently hot. Luckily, we noticed right away, and altered our watering, and the newer tomatoes are not afflicted.  But still, it was another disappointment and another lesson learned.

 

July gardening, is usually as very happy time, but this year it was a mix of emotions. I enjoy learning new things each year when I garden, I only wish the lessons weren’t from failing. Some of the other things not pictured: the cucumbers are producing, but not as big as they’ve been in the past- another case of planting them in the same spot as last year. The soybeans are prolific and awesomely delicious. The beets were beautiful but have all been pulled up and eaten. The swiss chard is gorgeous and hard to keep up with! And the carrots are still growing but the ones I’ve eaten have been perfect.  

How  did your garden fare this July? I hope better than mine did!

Garden Update June 2012

For me, June gardening is mostly anticipation with a slight touch of satisfaction. I was able to eat some delicious garden produce; carrots, radishes, lettuces, and swiss chard. But really, I was always focusing on the star vegetables that are growing but not yet yielding fruit; cucumbers, tomatoes, beans and zucchini. Despite my anticipating July’s bounty, June was a great month for my little garden.

Some eggplants have shown up!

The beans grew a lot and started to flower.

Beautiful lettuces and Swiss Chard were harvested and enjoyed.

Herbs flourished both in pots and in the garden.

Tomatoes grown in the raised bed and in pots started to flower (so soon next month I’ll have tomatoes.)

Soy bean plants got really big, but still don’t have any flowers!

My sweet boyfriend, brought me home my first ever strawberry plants. Two out of three survived their trip from Pittsburgh and being transplanted.

I was surprised, when I pulled up some carrots and they were perfect. (This is a globe carrot which is supposed to be round.)

Cucumbers started to creep up a strategically placed trellis.

zucchini started to flower, but rather than eat them, I left them to grow into actual zucchini.

Flowers provided color at every turn! (From top left: snap dragons, petunias,day lily, Portulaca and cosmos, another day lily, hydrangea, and marigolds)

How was your garden in June? I’d love to see!

DIY Trellis for Climbing Plants

When it comes to gardening, one of my biggest influences is my nonna (Italian Grandmother). She utilizes all the space that she has, and she doesn’t grant aesthetics any undo importance.  (Her garden is the one place where appearances don’t matter to her.) She has a cucumber plant growing in a mini bed on the plot of grass between the road and the sidewalk and tomatoes and fava beans flourishing in the flower bed beneath her front windows. It doesn’t matter to her that vegetables are traditionally absent from view from the road. She’s taught me to value functionality in gardening above all else.

So when it comes time to give my beans something to grow up, I don’t waste money purchasing a trellis. Instead I create my own, using materials we have on hand. My father and I keep a collection of sticks, that we collect when they fall from trees during storms; these sticks plus some twine make a perfectly functional trellis.

To make the trellis, plant the beans (or other vine/ creeper) in two long rows. Then place a row of sticks on the outside of each row and one row of sticks between the rows. Then weave the twine around the sticks to create a web, on which the beans can grow. Some people might describe my trellis as trashy or cheap, but I adore its old country, rustic appeal. Besides, when the beans begin to take over, the trellis will disappear into one giant bean bush.

How do you feel about store-bought trellises versus DIY? Do you plant vegetables in your flower beds, or other unusual places?

Garden Update: May 2012

May is the month for many garden happenings…

More radishes are growing and simultaneously making my mouth water.

Recently planted beans are shouldering through the dirt and reaching towards the sun.

The first-ever-planted Romanesco broccoli are towering over nearby weeds.

A newly-placed-old fence is hopefully keeping out the rabbits (and an overly enthusiastic cat). 

Gorgeous lettuce is flourishing, too pretty to eat, almost.

Not-quite-hardened-off-but-planted tomatoes are struggling to adapt to new life outside.

Zucchini, cucumber, and soy beans are sprouting and making me smile

What’s going on in your garden? I love to see the differences that happen in gardens in various parts of the country. Even if I get a little jealous of people who are already harvesting tomatoes and such!

A Little Garden Update

It’s been somewhat quiet over here the past few days because I’ve been feeling a little funky. I’m mostly blaming it on the wedding’s being over. Sometimes when I’ve been looking forward to something for a while, I get a little melancholic when it’s over. Does that happen to anybody else? Well yesterday, after a lovely, sewing session with Deb, I felt renewed, so I’m back.

I’ve actually been getting a lot done lately, which feels good. I haven’t done a garden post in a while, but things are definitely happening on that front. I finally transplanted my tomato seedlings into bigger pots a little over a week ago. They went from looking like they do above, to looking like they do below. You don’t always have to transplant seedlings into bigger pots before transplanting them into the garden, but after last year’s tomato tragedy, I decided to do everything in my power to make my tomato seedlings as strong and healthy as possible.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been repeatedly planting lettuce and arugula every two weeks or so. So I have lettuce and arugula growing in various stages. I also planted swiss chard as well, but it hasn’t sprouted up yet. I have various herbs sprouting in pots, including basil, purple basil, cilantro, and parsley. Since they sprouted, it’s about time to plant more to guarantee a continuous supply.

Unfortunately, all my garden news isn’t good. While I was so happy that the radishes are looking so beautiful and are ready to eat, they forced me to look at the rows of carrots and beets I planted on either side of them, and realize that if they haven’t sprouted yet they’re probably not going to. In the next few days, I’m planning to plant some more radish, carrot, and beet seeds, and hope that they all grow as nicely as the radishes did this time. Does any one know why those guys wouldn’t have grown? I think they’ve proven that sometimes even when I do everything right, I can still have a garden flop. Here’s hoping round two is more successful. 

The radishes really are lovely. I picked and ate one on Tuesday. It might look misshapen but it’s actually the type of radish I planted called French Breakfast. It was a lot milder flavored than I expected but I think that has more to do with the weird weather than the type. I’ll know for sure when I try the other variety I planted but I think I should let them grow for a week or so more, before I eat any. 

Planting cucumber, bean, and marigold seeds directly into the garden is also on the to-do list for the next week. I’m going to begin to harden off the tomato and eggplant seedlings in about two weeks, as they should all be content in their new pots until then and the temperature is still too low at night to consider planting them outside. (tomatoes flourish when the temperature is steadily above sixty-five degrees.) I have more I plan to plant, including peppers and okra, but those like really warm weather, so I’ll probably wait until more towards the end of May. May is possibly my favorite gardening month, because there is so much that happens. I’m really looking forward to all the sprouting and planting that will occur. How are my fellow gardener’s doing? Anyone else looking forward to May?

Unrelated Comment: I again used PicMonkey to edit my photos. The website has some really neat capabilities and I love the resulting photos.

Garden Advice; The Simple Process

I’ve been gardening since I was a very young girl. Some of my fondest memories of my childhood revolve around time in the garden or at the annual Garden Sale my mother helped run for my elementary school.  As an eight year old, I was extremely proud of my ability to name nearly all of the plants without looking at their markers, and I thought nothing of the fact that I knew which ones were shade, part shade, or full sun.  As I prep to write this post with some gardening tips, in answer to a request from Kira, I am acutely aware of just how much I don’t know. I’m no gardening expert, but my garden has always been my happy place, and I’ve picked up a few things along the way. 

In truth, growing things is a really simple process, all you really need is soil, seeds, water, sunlight, a bit of love, a go- get-‘em attitude, and some know-how. 

Soil: Technically you don’t need soil, if you want to, you can experiment with hydroponics, but that’s not something I’ve ever ventured into. A lot of my gardening efforts, are spent readying the soil. It’s really the basis for everything and definitely not something to ignore.  By adding compost or fertilizer to my soil each year, I replenish the nutrients that my plants will need.  I understand not everyone can have a compost bin in their yard, but even just digging in some compostable materials before you plant, is beneficial.  If something’s not growing in your garden, one of the first things to check is your soil.

Seeds or Seedlings: Once you have your soil set up and you’re ready to dig, you’ll need either seeds or seedlings. It’s really important to choose your seeds and seedlings wisely. I buy my seeds online or from a catalogue because of the selection available, but if you’re not as picky as I am, definitely head to your local nursery. Purchasing seeds or seedlings at a local nursery is a great option for two reasons; one, they’ll only have plants that will grow in your area and two, the people who work there will happily discuss and advice. Befriending the employees at your local nursery is one of the best things you can do for your garden. Their tips are the most beneficial because they’re specific to your area.  Whether to plant from seed or buy seedlings is a personal decision. My family used to buy seedlings but when I started to become more involved and in charge of the gardens, I opted to plant from seed. I enjoy the process of seed starting, appreciate the larger selection of plants seeds provide, and value the money I save by starting from seed.  Seed starting is a win-win-win for me but for others with less time and/or less experience buying seedlings is a great option. Just remember to buy seedlings that look healthy and are in appropriately sized containers (not too small or too big for the plant). And unless you’re not transplanting it, never buy a plant that already has fruit on it!

Water: Plants, like people, need water to survive, but they can also be damaged from overwatering, watering at the wrong time, or watering in the wrong way.  I don’t have a specific way to tell if my garden needs water. Instead we keep on a basic schedule, watering nearly every day and skipping a watering when it rains enough.  My dad taught me the importance of watering at the right time. We never water between 10 and 4 in the summer, because (according to my dad) the roots will move up to retrieve the water and fry! (I’m not sure this is true, but I stick to the rule anyway.) I either water in the morning before 10 or between 4pm and 7pm. I don’t water at night or in the early evening in order to prevent mold or disease.  We are also careful in our watering methods. I try very hard to only wet the soil, not the plants. Only the soil really needs to be wet and wetting the entire plant can cause disease and/or sun damage. We don’t use sprinklers, just a hose with a soaker spigot. In my dreams I have a system of soaker hoses dug into the ground and all I have to do is turn the water on when I want to water, but right now this manual watering system works for us.

Sunlight: All plants need sunlight, to varying degrees. It’s important to know which plants need full sun, partial shade or full shade. Some plants will grow under any condition, but they always do best in their recommended place.  If anyone’s interested, I can make a more detailed list of what plants have worked for me where.

A Bit of Love: Plants need love. I don’t think my garden would be as successful as it is, if I didn’t love the process as much as I do. The amount of time and effort I put into my garden would be considerably less if I didn’t enjoy it. I talk to my plants from the time I stick the seeds in the soil until the end of the season when the plants are composted.  I encourage them from the start and at the end I thank them for all they gave me. Am I a bit creepy? Undoubtedly, yes. Do I care? No, because I think it makes a difference.  The amount of love I put into gardening almost always correlates to the amount of love I get back. And nothing is better than having a sizeable harvest to share with friends. I think gardening is fun, but if you don’t enjoy it, don’t do it (Join a CSA instead.)  

A Go-Get-‘Em Attitude: While sowing the seeds and prepping the soil are important aspects of the planting process, gardening definitely doesn’t end there, and it’s not easy. It takes a lot of effort and labor to garden. There’s watering and weeding and harvesting that continuously demand attention the entire season. If you want a constant supply of a particular veggie, there’s repeated seed sowing involved as well.  It’s important to be excited to tackle this feat, but it’s also important not to jump the gun and get in over your head. I recommend only trying out 1-3 new plants a year, that way you can keep track of what each plant needs and how it reacts to your treatment of it. If you’re just starting to garden for the first time, try growing tomatoes, cucumbers, and string beans or zucchini. In my opinion, those are the easiest things to grow and the most productive.  

Some Know How: I could definitely write an entire post on just this subject, but since this post is getting long in and of itself, I’ll try to keep this brief.

        Make sure what you plant can grow in your area. The US is divided into areas and not all plants grow in every area. Sometimes something isn’t growing because of your area’s weather patterns or the length of your growing season.

        Pick the appropriate placement of your plant. Some plants need more space than others. Make sure you check each specific plant and give it the appropriate amount of space in all directions.

        Pests are going to hang around your garden looking for a free meal ticket. Know who’s good and who’s bad and how to keep them away. Evil bunnies will chew through plastic fencing, and unless there’s space between your fence and your plants deer will chew plants’ tops off.  Having trouble identifying a bug? Bring it to your nursery and find out how and if you should eliminate or deter it. Marigolds are great to bring beneficial bugs around while deterring rabbits. Have an evil tomato-loving, possum in your garden, set a trap and take him at least 5 miles away before releasing him into the wild. Pets can easily become pests; teach them not to trample your seedlings and to stay out of the garden!

It’s better to harvest things when they’re on the smaller side, than when they’ve grown way too big. The more string beans you pick, the more will grow, and the same goes for almost every other plant.

Only grow vegetables that you like to eat or herbs you’ll use or flowers you like the sight of. If you’ve never bought a jalapeno from the store, it makes no sense to plant them in your garden. You’ll end up with way more frozen jalapenos than you can ever use!

Read gardening books and blogs, consider others advice, and then experiment. Gardening for me is all about learning from trying different things.

This post was really general and unintentionally aimed at the beginner gardener. I may write a post or two about more specific gardening topics, if anyone’s interested.  Did I miss something in my description of the simple process?  Again, I want to stress that I’m not an expert or a professional. I’m still a pretty young gardener and I’m learning as I go but I love to help so if you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask!

Getting Dirty

As planned, I spent the past two afternoons digging in the dirt, conquering the wild flower weeds in the side garden bed.  It took a total of about five hours to remove all those weeds and ready the soil. My process is labor intensive, but somehow relaxing. First, I use the pitchfork to loosen a stretch of soil. Then I sit and pull the loosened weeds one at a time, putting them in a bucket/pot. Once a decent space has been cleared, I use the hand rake, the hand tiller, and my hands to loosen the soil down about a foot. During this part of the process I also keep my eyes and hands on alert for stones or rocks that have worked their way up; they get put in the bucket as well. Then I move onto the next stretch of weeds and start the process over. As soon as all the weeds are cleared and the soil is loose, I use a tall rake to comb through it once more, and to add in some compost if the soil needs it.

While it is definitely not time-efficient, I really enjoy this process. The feel of the dirt between my gardening glove covered hands, its soft sponginess beneath by boot covered feet, and the unearthing of all the lovely creatures and not-so-lovely creatures living in the dirt.  Luckily, only a few of the hundreds of bugs I encountered, were what I would consider bad. I found three grubs and my plea is not-guilty by reason of garden defense. Grubs are the worst for the lawn but they are definitely not good for the garden.

I cherished the time spent alone in the garden, reacquainting myself with fresh warm air and muscles unused for the past few months, but I also loved the company of my four-legged garden assistants. Tex and Tony roamed the yard, enjoying the nice weather in the ways typical of a dog and a cat, and every once in a while, stopped by to check on my progress. My favorite moments, were when Tex would stop by, walk around the freshly turned soil, through the un-weeded part and plop on my lap for a spell; he didn’t mind the dirt that unceremoniously landed in his hair from my digging. When I told my assistants I was finished, they both walked around the bed, inspecting my work.  Exhausted by the inspection of a job well-done, Tony took a nap on the side; I picked up all my tools and put them away.

As happy as I was to see the signs of spring beckoning me outside, I’m even happier to have the soil in this bed ready. Today is another beautiful day in central New Jersey and this afternoon will be the perfect time to get those seeds into that luscious soil.

Spring Garden Fever

Everywhere I look, I see spring. It’s in the awakening tree branches, it’s in the hyacinths peeking up from the warming ground, and it’s in the giant buds on the azalea bush out front. Spring fashion is popping up on blogs and in stores. Easter decorations are everywhere; pastel colored bunnies taunt me in my sleep. However, it’s still early.

The atypical lamb-like warm weather of this March’s start has me itching to get into the garden to do a lot of planting, but there’s only so much a person can do before the risk of frost has passed. (There’s always a chance March will go out like a lion!) There are certain seeds that can be planted as soon as the soil is workable in Spring; carrots, radishes, beets as well as many lettuce types.  I checked yesterday; the soil is most definitely workable, and in desperate need of some working.

The compost looks lovely, and is ready to be worked into the soil to replenish its nutrient supply. But none of that can happen until I’ve removed the field of wild flower weeds that have been flourishing during the recent weather, in my previously empty gardens.  I hope to accomplish many of these things this week.

My garden to do list for this week, includes destroying the weed invasion, readying all the soil by turning it and adding in some compost,  planting what’s plantable, readying the materials to start the tomatoes and eggplants from seed in the house, and hopefully putting the fence back up.  (Those nasty bunnies really enjoy radish, carrots, beets and lettuce, you know.)

There’s a lot I need to do to continue to break in my new rain/garden boots. I’m really happy it looks like the weather here will continue to co-operate. One of my favorite things about gardening is all the planning, dreaming, and hoping that it entails. I’m still a relatively new gardener, although I’ve been helping do it since I was a girl, so the multiple resources and advice found online is very helpful. I thought I’d share some of my favorite online inspiration, tools, and tutorials.

This year I decided to stop growing peppers because they never produce enough to make an impact, but after seeing this advice (found via pinterest), I might have to rethink that.

I might do a variation this diy sprinkler, where it will only squirt water out the sides, that way my plants only get watered at their bottoms, not on their upper foliage where it’s unneccessary.

I think this is probably genius, but unless compostable organic diapers are available for cheap, I doubt I’d do it for any of my plants, especially vegetables.

Have you considered using toilet paper rolls to start seeds? It probably works best for smaller seedlings.

It seems possible that I could make this awesome veggie basket, but knowing myself, I would probably be injured in the process, unless I have help. (Wink, wink, Dad).

A growing vegetables chart is perfect for the beginner gardener, but this website has more in-depth descriptions of more veggies.

I want to make my own vegetable markers; these, these, these, and these are all awesome, but maybe I’ll do my own thing.

This year, I ordered all my seeds from Seed Savers Exchange. They are quick and awesome, and have a vast selection but for next season, I hope to save the seeds from this year.

Have you caught the Spring Garden fever yet?

Magic…

Hey Friends,

Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about the trip Jon and I took to Portugal last December.

Now that my dad’s party is over, I feel like I don’t have anything to look forward to and it’s bumming me out a little bit. I want to get excited for the holidays, but right now I can’t help but reminisce about our trip. Thinking about it makes me feel better but also makes me long to get away.

Portugal was amazing. This picture was taken in a garden full of different secret passageways in Sintra. These stepping-stones were in a little man-made pond that had green algae floating on top. It was a magical place. It makes me happy just thinking about it.

Where do you go in your head when you need a little magic?

<3 Frankie

How a Pumpkin Grows

Hello Friends!

Pumpkins are everywhere right now and I love pumpkins. I love pumpkin recipes, pumpkin lattes, and pumpkins as decor. This summer I grew pumpkins in my garden and it was super fun! The plants themselves are pretty amazing but I love the watching the little pumpkins go from green to orange.

Today, I’m going to buy some more pumpkins, since I only got a few little ones from the garden, not nearly enough to decorate the house!  This weekend I’m going to make some desserts to freeze to eat at a Halloween Surprise Party we’re having for my dad. I also get to see my bestie Laura! I couldn’t be more excited.

What do you have planned? Whatever it is, I hope you have a fabulous weekend!

<3 Frankie