Fruitiliciuos!

With the exception of snipping off an okra pod every day or so, and a few more green beans, it's been pretty quiet in the back yard the past week & a half. I was able to get about 10 more beans from my plants, but I think that will be it for edibility. The rest of the beans are pretty curled (we're talkin' 360* here), are smaller, and lumpy (seeds). I am concerned they'll taste the way they look. Funky. Here are a few sweet & spicy developments: My Dwarf Meyer Lemon tree has finally settled into it's new home. I moved it to the west side of the yard where it enjoys spending it's afternoons in the shade of our neighbor's trees. Hopefully we'll be able to enjoy some lemons from this round of growth! I counted 8 buds that are close to opening... On the east side of the yard, our pear tree is bursting with fruit. Well, the part of the tree that is still alive... I don't know why, but this spring after the fruit started growing, the top of the tree just shriveled up and died! I noticed this occurred where the tree had previously been trimmed (by someone else, not us!), and the new growth is what perished. The orange tree is finally producing some sour oranges. Here's a cluster of fruit that is much smaller than what we harvested last fall/winter. Hopefully they'll taste as yummy! My Fresno Chili's are still growing strong! Look at the red one I discovered at the bottom of the plant. DH and I might be fighting over this one! My cherry tomato plant is about 4 feet tall, and producing more and more fruits, but none have turned red yet, so I won't take a picture until then... It just looks like any other green plant right now. lol I've had a visitor hanging around my SFG today... It's a Gray Hairstreak. I love butterflies, and since I haven't seen many around here, this was a welcome visit. Wait a minute... I did some reading on gray hairstreaks, and now I think I know what's been helping the grasshoppers put holes in my bean leaves! Looks like they like my okra too (it's in the hibiscus/mallow family). That's ok... They're a welcome bug in this garden.

Finally Seeing Green!

This was my first "substantial" harvest, on or around June 30th. A lot of garden bloggers out there are weighing their harvests, and I think I'll do that this fall... For now, my harvest is small enough that I can count what I get! LOL 9 Green Fresno Chili's - I've really enjoyed these, and have been our most useful vegetable so far. I've added them to pizza and ramen for a little zip. We've also grilled them, and added to our steaks and burgers. Having these chili's have been great because DH and I like things spicier than the boys, and they're small enough to dice up and add to our individual meals. 25 Green Beans - I have two varieties growing; Kentucky King and Greencrop. I picked 9 today, and the rest are in the picture above... I steamed those, and split between the boys and I for dinner (DH worked late, so he missed out). Boy Wonder really enjoyed them. We both agreed that they're a lot sweeter than store bought beans. 7 Clemson Spineless Okra - I'm clipping 1-2 of these every other day or so... I've been cutting and freezing these without blanching. I'm hoping to have enough before too long to make some fried okra. Here are a few pictures of what the garden was doing on July 4th... The blooms on the okra truly are magnificent, but I have mixed feelings about them because they only last for one day. This is good because it means I get to enjoy the okra that much faster, but I also wish I could enjoy the blooms a little more. I don't get to make it to the back yard every day, and when I do, the blooms are typically on their way out. It's really hard to tell yet, but the cantaloupe are growing. Hopefully they'll pick up some speed, and produce a melon or two before the end of the season. I planted my watermelon on June 19th, and they are taking off! These are called, "Family Fun" watermelon, which I was told is an heirloom variety (yay me! I'm growing somethin' old school). Behind the watermelon are my sweet potatoes. I think they've been taking their sweet time establishing their roots--but that's ok! That's where the potatoes will be! I did notice a new leaf forming on one of them, so there's proof of growth above ground too. I'm pretty sure these are going to turn into long skinny potatoes, which happens when there's too much nitrogen in the soil. And, I think there's too much nitrogen in the soil because it's a brand new bed... We shall see!

Jumping on the Gardener's Death Day Bandwagon

After reading Annie's Granny's blog, which led me to the Gardening Without Skills' blog discussing Garden Blogger's Death Day, I decided to jump on the bandwagon and post this month's garden carnage for my garden. My garden may be small, and my carnage smaller, but it's a big deal for this first time gardener... Two crops that I've previously mentioned are my failed carrots and broccoli. Scroll down a bit to see how beautiful my last broccoli was looking (I had three but pulled two that weren't growing well). After a heat wave hit, however, I pulled it. It turned out good that I did this because there were a LOT of eggs on the undersides of the leaves, which I'm fairly certain would've grown into cabbageworms. Yolo Wonder bell peppers - These poor plants... I've put them through so much... First I gave them too much nitrogen (blood meal), then I over watered them. Finally, they were fine and dandy until I separated them from one container to two. Then with the 98-104 heat we've had since last week, the fruits were getting burned, and the roots probably steamin' in those pots! I moved them off of the concrete and cut the largest of the peppers off, but I'm pretty sure they're done for. Snap dragons and verbena - I haven't had my snapdragons and verbena for very long, and was able to get two rounds of blooms from them. But with their location above the concrete, sitting along a stucco wall, and, again with the heat, they finally succumbed. I wonder if snapdragons are edible... These fried up all crispy-like... See that peat pot nestled in the soil? I think these, and a combination of spider mites are leading to the demise of my green beans--and largest crop. I've pulled one plant whose roots didn't travel too far outside the peat pot, and the others seem to quickly be following it's lead (boo hoo). To end on a quirky note, my last garden carnage occured this evening with the death of my sweet potato surrogate. She did a great job at producing slips for me. I was even able to freecycle enough for two people to grow some in their gardens YAY! Sadly, I needed to lay her to rest--in the garbage. She was starting to get stinky, and was well into the rotting phase of life. Thank you sweet, sweet potato. Here's winkin' back atcha. ;-)

Plum Crazy!

It's been a week or so since I last posted, but it's been pretty busy with my 7yo out of school, and switching gears to summertime. Plus, I feel like my recent posts may be getting a little repetitive, so I'm trying not to blog about the same things all the time... To break up what would be a really long post, I'm going to post recent garden happenings into a few posts throughout this week. Last weekend Boy Wonder, DH and I spent some time gathering plums from the tree. DH had a long pruner, and Boy Wonder and I held a bed sheet below the tree to catch the plums. The plums were so juicy, if we didn't catch them, they would've gone *splat*! ;-) We collected 2.5 gallons of plums!!! I bought an organic plum that looked the same as ours for taste comparison... Absolutely in NO WAY compares to our plums! Oh, man! These puppies tasted like candy! Sweet, succulent, drippy candy! The two sections on the left are from the store bought, and a section from ours is on the right. I will never buy a plum from a store again. So, what did I do with all of those plums? I made a plum pie! Looks tasty, don't it? Well, unfortunately, it was waaaay too tart for us. I don't think this was the recipe's fault. Most of the plums were about the size of a hand ball which meant more plum "skin" than normal was added (although I skinned a bunch), making it a pretty tart pie. Oh well. The crust tasted great!

Pictoral Update

I thought I'd share a pictoral update of the gardening's happenings... The SFG. Currently growing in the back row: spearmint; 3 squares bush beans; 3 squares okra; fresno chili. Front row: cherry tomato; 1/2 a square bush beans; failed carrots; marigold; empty square; okra; failed broccoli; bell pepper. After pulling the broccoli and carrot tops, I'll have 3 empty squares in the front row, but none next to each other. I think I'll leave them empty until the end of September since I don't know what to put in them this late in the game... My last broccoli plant. The one plant in my garden actually enjoying the cool weather we had, and it bolted in yesterday's 95 degree heat. I'll pull it this weekend. My first okra bloom. Sadly, it's already wilting, and won't open. I think it just petered out because of the cool weather... No worries though! See the other buds waiting to open? My third RB. The sweet potatoes are at the back, and I planted the watermelon seedlings this morning. Our plum tree, and a plum DH plucked on Sunday. The plums are really starting to fall off the tree now, so we're going to try getting as many off this weekend as possible. I have NO idea what I'll do with them, so I'll have to look up a few recipes. One of my Yolo pepper plants practically *bursting* with baby peppers now. I found this little guy this morning protecting my beans. Hopefully he'll stick around for a while to eat the aphids and whatever else has been putting holes in my leaves (I suspect grasshoppers). The only thing I saw in his web was an enormous mosquito--but that's a good catch too! Since moving here, I've seen so many different kinds of spiders I'd never seen in VA. I tried to identify him, but I hate hate HATE spiders, and couldn't stand looking at the different pics for long at all before getting all creeped out!

Ode to Bug Hunting

Ok, not an "ode" exactly, but I can't think of the right word to use... Today the boys and I rode our bikes to the library (ok, the LO hitched a ride with me). I reluctantly--and sadly, returned the Garden Insects of North America. Already feeling lost without my 672 page bug reference, I thought I'd create a list for identifying bugs online... Please feel free to add your favorites! (I don't endorse any of these sites, just sharing to make others' lives easier...) 1. Naturally, GardenWeb's Pest and Diseases (a.k.a. Garden Clinic) gets first dibs on the list. http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/pests/ Got bug? Need help? This is your crew. 'Nuff said. 2. My most recent site find is What's That Bug? http://www.whatsthatbug.com/ People can send in pictures of bugs for identification. The replies, posted on the site can be humorous. Also, if you're feeling defeated by bugs in your garden, check out the "Carnage" section. It'll lift your spirits a bit, and help get you back in the game (or have you feeling bad for all of those hapless creatures that unnecessarily met their demise). 3. I plucked this bug gallery from Annie's Granny's comment on GrafixMuse's page: http://www.pbase.com/tmurray74/bugs Pretty pictures, not so many words... Helpful if you have a general idea of what type of bug you're trying to find. 4. I've enjoyed receiving Dave's Garden newsletters for a while now, and the Bug Files is a small section in this big website... http://davesgarden.com/guides/bf/ Another site for visiting when you already have a good idea of what you're trying to identify. You'll find the technical information (order, genus, etc) on bugs here. If it's a common bug, you may have reader's responses and pictures, but it takes a lot of (unnecessary) clicks to get there. Happy hunting!

Wittle Garden Babies and Pepper Toddlers

I wasn't planning on planting the sweet potato slips for another week, but I just couldn't take it anymore (they rooted really fast!). See that container in the back corner? Those are "Family Fun" watermelon seedlings. I picked those up at OSH this weekend, originally intending to replace my cantaloupe in my other RB, but that just ain't gonna happen. The cantaloupe are still struggling, but I'll give them a chance. I'll move the fourth SP slip to the left side of the bed, and plant the watermelon seedlings on the right, and have them trail/grow out the right side of the bed. Since I'll be training the SP vines up the deck, my only concern with having the watermelon in there will be the actual sweet potatoes taking up too much room in the bed. I've decided I'll be asking for a new camera for Christmas... Trying to take pictures up close with my current camera is hard, and since I'm taking a lot, I need a better camera... LOL... Here is my wittle bean baby with another pretty flower behind it... This is my lonely Green Bell pepper. I think I added a little TOO much bone meal to the plant... The leave's edges are a little burnt, and it's not producing new flowers right now. The unusually cool weather isn't helping any either... The Fresno Chili's are getting big (wiping drool from chin). He has been taking his dose of bone meal quite well...

The Good, the Mad, the Ugly

Starting in reverse order... The UGLY: This WAS one of my three okra babies... This IS (see story below) my first cutworm, sitting it the peat pot I placed in an empty square earlier this week. The MAD: As I was inspecting this cutworm after taking it out of the peat pot (and waiting for it to uncurl to take a picture, of course), out of the corner of my eye I see a long-tailed gray mouse bolt from the section behind my SFG!!! He hid under an old dresser I'm using as a potting table, so I grabbed my hose and sprayed the heck out of him until he scampered off behind the shed (soaking wet--HA!). Meanwhile, my cutworm darted off into a crack (I think) between the patio and AC unit, which is on the left of the SFG! Oh, they musta' had this planned... I'm so mad at that cutworm, that mouse, and at myself for not killing that cutworm when I had the chance! Oh, bring it you pests! Bring it! It's on now you @#$%&!! The GOOD: My first green bean bloom!!! She's so pretty... My orka... Three plants in the back, two seedlings in the front right, and empty hole from the cutworm-ed third seedling. I'm stomping off to the store for a mouse trap now (note to self: no angry music allowed in car while driving).

A few Days of Work

Few! It's already Wednesday! With the LO being sick, Boy Wonder's last week of school, and working in the yard, I've forgotten to blog... This weekend DH built my 2 2'x4' raised bed (RB) frames (yea, I "let" him lol just kidding honey). He also went the extra mile for me and leveled out the ground for the beds to go on. It's good that he did that instead of me... He's very detail oriented, and had a level out n' everything. I would've just eyed it, thrown some dirt down here and there, and gone about my business. The RB on the right will have my sweet potato slips growing in another week or two... As I was filling the bed, I decided to try the "dig and drop" method of trench composting. My pallet compost bin isn't doing very well (yet! I won't give up!), and I was tired of storing food scraps in my freezer so I buried them at the bottom of the empty RB. LOL I felt like an animal burying my food... Oh wait. I am an animal, and I was burying food. Doh! The box on the left has my cantaloupe and unhappy marigolds (suffered heat stroke from sitting in containers on the concrete). The cantaloupe already look a lot happier not being crammed together! This weekend I broke off a few SP slips and placed in water. They're not very big, as you can see, they're sitting in standard size shot glasses. I noticed the slips still growing from the SP have taken off, and almost doubled in size since removing the below slips. DH and Boy Wonder had a little fun picking cherries from the tree. Someone at GardenWeb let me know we're growing a sour cherry tree. And sour those cherries are! Whoa! We won't get enough to make a pie or anything, but the boys still had fun... I wanted post this pic because I think it's so darned cool! Again, my GardenWeb gurus let me know this is a parasitoid wasp resting (or parasitoid-ing) on a bean leaf. Before borrowing Garden Insects of North America from the library, I'd never heard of parasitoid wasps, so it woulda' been a goner! I love that book... I took daring action with my Yolo Wonder bell peppers on Monday, and separated them. They were doing perfectly fine sharing the container--my best growing plants so far in fact, but I had an empty container after moving the cantaloupe, and decided to separate the plants to give them more growing room. The existing fruits appear to be doing well, but a few buds have fallen off. The roots were pretty compact, and filling most of the container, so I think they'll be happier now... I pulled up a radish to see how they were growing, and it was all leaf, no root. I proceeded to tear them all out, tear the leaves into shreds, and put the shreds back into my empty squares (the ones previously holding broccoli). I read somewhere to do that with the leaves... don't know why though... In those squares, I also planted my okra seedlings. Lastly, my cherry tomato plant is growing like crazy, and has it's first buds. "Oh, neat" I flatly thought when seeing them... I don't like tomatoes, so am rather indifferent about their growth.. But I'm growing a tomato plant, so don't be a tomato hater hater, ok?!?! ;-)

First "Harvest," and This n' That

It's been slow-paced in the garden this week... The LO has been sick so he's needed some extra lovin' from Momma the past few days. I picked an onion to see how they were growing, and ended up pulling them all up. I was hoping for the bulbs to grow, but some of them were mushy. I only ended up with the greens that I chopped, and added to the taco meat I made on Wednesday. I guess that was my first harvest! YIPPEEEE! LOL One spearmint plant replaced the empty onion square. I'm hoping the mint will detract some of the bugs making homes on my bush beans. I'll keep a good eye on the mint to make sure it doesn't spread too much. Boy Wonder and I have been enjoying plucking the leaves, and munching on them after dinner. I also got rid of two of my three broccoli plants. I discovered more leafminers in the leaves, and decided to pull the plants instead of attracting more bugs from growing unhappy plants. The third broccoli plant is doing well. I haven't been shading it as much--partly forgetting, partly because it's been cool out, and it's really grown. Maybe I'll end up with a head of broccoli soon! I fertilized my bush beans and okra with a slightly diluted 24-8-16 fertilizer. They're now forming little buds, and the leaves on the beans are green again. Along with the new buds, I counted eight peppers growing on ONE Yolo Bell plant! My two Yolo's are in one container with some marigolds shoved in two corners, so I'm happy they're being so productive, and coping well with the tight quarters. The fruit may end up a little smaller, but I'm so excited!!! Things are finally starting to happen! Thanks to a fellow Freecycler, I was able to obtain enough grass clippings to start my compost bin yesterday. I added shredded paper to the grass (that's the only "brown" I have right now), watered it down, and will check on the pile tomorrow. I've done reading on composting, but still have no idea what I'm doing! Just gonna play it by sight and smell... If I have some heat generating in the pile, I'll add some food scraps I previously froze. Yesterday I managed to get the LO and I out of the house long enough to get my wood cut for my 2'x4' beds that are going next to the deck. I'll (ok, maybe DH if I let him) will construct and fill those this weekend.

Weekend Work

This weekend my family and I worked together to get a few things done around the yard. On Saturday I mixed up the soil for my trailing lantanas, and got those in the ground. That task was a lot easier than I expected. There was excess cardboard sticking out of the bottom of the sfg, and I thought I'd have to cut that out with a box knife but the cardboard had decomposed enough for me to just lift it away... It was a little precarious working over the sfg and it's plants, but again, easier than I anticipated. I don't know how fast the lantana will spread, but I went ahead and added a few giant purple zinnia seeds between them. I figure it's a good spot to get them going since there isn't anything else there, and I can always move them next to the deck once I'm ready to plant in that spot. Doesn't the purple add a nice accent of color along the back of the bed? On Saturday I also finished removing the last two plants and bark/mulch from the right side of the 24' bed. Yesterday DH removed the stumps. The one on the far right came out with little effort. Unfortunately, while taking a hatchet to the roots of the larger stump, DH hit the sprinkler line. There was barely a mark on the PVC pipe from the hatchet, but it is so darn thin that a huge crack formed perpendicular to where the hatchet hit the pipe. Thank goodness for the internet! Five minutes of reading, a quick trip to OSH, and the pipe was easily repaired in 15 minutes. After the pipe sealant dried for a few hours, we were back outside finishing our work. DH and Boy Wonder worked on putting the ground border back in place (to prevent soil from "oozing" under the deck). The LO and I "swept" the patio. Ok, he "swept," I took pictures and kept him out of Dad's way... Now I'm ready to move on to the next steps with the 24' bed. I'll be having the boards cut for the raised beds, and construct those this week. After noticing my two of my three tiny cantaloupe plants beginning to bloom, I've decided to put them in one of the two 2'x4' beds. I knew this pot would be too small for them, but didn't know where they'd go when I impulsively bought them... I added bone meal to my chili and green bell pepper plants. They were flowering, but no fruits were growing so I thought I'd give them a little boost. Now all four of my pepper plants have begun to grow their fruit. We are big pepper eaters, and our mouths are beginning to water! This is one of my two Yolo Pepper plants...