Growing Broccoli Sprouts

Growing Broccoli Sprouts

Broccoli sprouts are a good source of sulforaphane- which is believed to have anti-cancer health benefits.

These are the stack trays that I grow my sprouts in. I start the seeds in these trays in a kitchen cabinet. After 3 days growth, I move the stack to a countertop that receives indirect sunlight.

Below are the links for the growing containers and seeds. If you click on the links, I may realize a few cents for affiliate marketing promotions. Thanks!

A Big Tomato Harvest after a Wet August

Fresh Harvest of Cherry Tomatoes

We had a lot of rain in the last 30 days. 8-10 inches in fact. My gardening friend quoted "17 inches in 16 days" so results vary. The good or the bad part of it, depending on your perspective, is most of the rain would fall overnight. There was no progress made on indoor projects. I remained outdoors mucking around wet grass and picking over-plump tomatoes.

Eggplant with Garlic Sauce

Vegetables

Tomatoes were splitting with the excessive rain, but mostly edible. I harvested a nice bunch of eggplant to make my eggplant with garlic side dish. The eggplants are small, about 6 inches long, but I'm happy to have them. It looks like another group will be ready for a September harvest.

Tomato Harvest

Tomato and Eggplant Garden

Tomato Plants

The jalapeños are plentiful. My summer's first serving of jalapeno poppers were so intensely hot, however, it scared us away from one of our favorite dishes.

Pests

Hornworm Eating Green Tomato

There was an uptick in hornworm and other caterpillar activity on the tomatoes. This is a challenging game of trying to spot the very well-camouflaged worm on the plant. Clues are a stripped stem or a chewed green tomato (see photo) or waste material on leaves.

False Dragonhead Flower

Flowers in bloom

The late summer flowers are starting to bloom now. A couple of days ago, the first False Dragonhead bloomed. When several of these bloom together, the color impact of the purple is amazing.

Crape Myrtle Tree in Bloom

The flowers on the Crape Myrtle tree are a deep pink or fuchsia color. The tree has been allowed to grow tall so that the blooms are at the second story windows. Cleomes have finished blooming and I've collected seeds.

American Beautyberry

The American Beautyberry is known more for its purple berries than flowers. The green berries are starting to change to a dramatic purple.

Coming Up Everywhere

Wind and birds have reseeded several plants across the yard.  Lemon Balm, Crape Myrtle, and American Beautyberry plants are popping up everywhere.

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I hope you are having a great August! You can find rainfall totals for U.S. locations here.

Lots of Green Tomatoes in my July Garden

Cherry Tomatoes on Patio Plant

 Vegetable Garden

Since I planted tomatoes and peppers late this year, July presents itself with lots of green tomatoes. I have bunches of cherry tomatoes growing in containers on the deck. Massive caged tomato plants are along the back of the house. Small eggplants have started in this area also. I hope to get good eggplant produce, but recent years have been plagued with the opposite. In the past, aphids have overrun the eggplant so I aggressively treated these with a soap solution this year.

Cherry Tomato Plants Thrive on Deck

Tomato Plants off the Deck

Across the yard in the traditional vegetable garden, the yellow and zucchini squash are battling with the insects. Jalapeno peppers are producing great, but the green pepper plants are off to a slow start. Several of these plants died after bugs ate most of the leaves..

It is interesting that my zucchini, which has always been a stalwart of the garden, has not produced a single fruit. I photographed the beginnings of one, but haven't seen anything since. The squash bugs have been around for a couple months and I haven't had the heart to use a pesticide. The store-bought yellow squash plants are producing in small numbers.

We're making plans to rest this garden area next year. Because of back problems, I'm to avoid bending, and weeds and grasses have taken over.

Japanese Beetles on Eggplant Leaves

Red-spotted Purple Butterfly on Butterfly Bush Flower

Flowers in Bloom

The Butterfly Bushes are smelling great and attracting many skippers and swallowtail butterflies. The Hibiscus is blooming and attracting bumble bees. Stargazer lilies continue to bloom.

Hibiscus in Bloom

Pests

Japanese Beetles are numerous this year. In the past, they have destroyed Hibiscus blooms and Azalea leaves with their relentless appetites. This year, my gardener neighbors and I have noticed the diversity of plants being attacked by this pest. Butterfly Bush blooms, Crape Myrtle leaves, Strawberry leaves, Cleome blooms, and Asparagus ferns are now on the menu. I collect the clumsy beetles in jars of soap water. It's a chore that can go on all day. It seems I will have to treat the yard in the spring to curb the beetle infestation.

Sedum Showing Leaf Damage

The mystery pest of the month has attacked the sedum growing in the front yard. The leaves have been partially removed down the stem in "corn cob" fashion. Is it insect or is it animal?

Thanks for reading my blog post! I hope your gardening is going well. All the best, Pam

June is Flower Time!

Stargazer Lillies

Flowers in Bloom

Early June brings daily blooms of all varieties. Perennials flourish from a 20 year history in this patch of cultivation. The succulent garden has spectacular yellow prickly pear blooms and orange daylilies - these are the same daylilies that grow on the roadsides in North Carolina.

Prickly Pear Cactus Blooms

Succulent Garden

Stargazer Lily Flower

What we call the "Mother's Day" lilies are some exotics like the Stargazer Lily gifted to me over the years. Sometimes they make a May appearance, but this year they started in early June.

Gardenia Flower

The gardenia bush with a lovely sweet fragrance has more flowers every year. It starts slow with 2 blooms and then, like popcorn, busts out in white blossoms. I can see 20 blossoms from my kitchen window. This bush is a testimony to patience and rooting your own plants. A girlfriend and I were walking through downtown Wake Forest when we admired a blooming gardenia. She picked a flower, and I put it in a water glass where it grew roots. Now it's a bush with a 3 foot diameter! ( 15 years or so have passed)

Cleome Flower Blooming

Cleomes are the only annuals I grow every year. They drop enough seeds to insure plants sprout the next season.

Red-spotted Purple Butterfly on Butterfly Bush Bloom

My blooming flower report would not be complete without mention of the butterfly bushes. The one by the mailbox has started to bloom (purple). It gets the most direct sun. This year seedlings are sprouting everywhere seeds were dropped. Cracks along the brick steps, pots on the deck started with lemon balm, and the vegetable garden. Starting out small, these plants turn into mighty purple butterfly-attracting bushes!

Zucchini Squash is Blooming

Last Year's Overgrown Zucchini Squash

Vegetable Garden

The right combination of weather factors caused all the zucchini squash to bloom together seemingly overnight. Even the purchased yellow squash flowered.

Zucchini is tricky to raise because the green fruit blends in and under the large leaves. They are often discovered as gigantic fruits- 12 inches plus!

The bush bean plants are blooming, but my yield will be small. A whole row was lost to squirrel predation of the seeds. A couple of the "bush beans' are actually vines - not sure where they will go.

Cherry Tomato Plants on Deck

Mulched Tomato Plants

Late in May we purchased eggplant and tomato plants. Because of last year's fungus, we have started these plants in new gardens around the house. Cherry tomato plants are in pots on the deck. I had fun mulching these new vegetable gardens with decayed leaves. Hopefully this will hold back the Bermuda grass that is so persistent in these areas.

My enthusiasm over the strawberry plants has waned as the squirrels help themselves and leave half eaten fruit to clean up.

Moss Disturbed by Raccoons

Pests and Problems

There are lots of mossy areas on the property and raccoons have "rolled up" the moss in their nocturnal searches for food.The disturbed ground looks terrible, but I'm unaware of any solutions.

Every year as my hibiscus leafs out, small caterpillars skeletonize the leaves. I've played it both ways. One year I let the leaf massacre proceed, the plant bloomed as usual. Last year, I dusted lightly to stop the carnage. Because the plants are at the entranceway to the house, I'm leaning towards treating the leaves.

If you have made it to the end of this article, you realize there's a lot going on with the June gardens in North Carolina. I'm sure with warmer weather your garden activities have picked up as well. I would love to hear about it. Please leave your comments below. Have fun in your garden and all the best!

My May Gardens

Lamb's Ear

After planting perennials for 20 years or so, my May gardens have new blooms every day. The most spectacular of those are peonies. I have a pink peony that has expanded and produced more flowers every year. It's about 3 feet across now and loaded with flowers. Lamb's ear, iris, and azalea are also  blooming.

Peony

Bearded Iris

Another fun thing about the May garden is starting vegetable plants from seeds. I have bush beans and zucchini started. We're holding off on tomatoes and eggplant. I had a problem with those plants collapsing from a fungus last year. This year they will be relocated to another location in smaller quantities.

Zucchini Sprouting

Zucchini- 1 month after planting seeds

Bush Beans - 1 month after planting seeds

As an experiment, my husband bought a couple of strawberry plants last year. I enjoyed a few tasty bites while working in the garden. Through the fall and spring those plants sent out runners that developed into two dozen strawberry plants. I have strawberries ripening everywhere ya'll! It's a lot of fun to check on these.

I hope your gardens are off to a good start. All the best!

The April Garden: Ready to Roll!

Bearded Iris

It's early April and, while I am cautious about a late frost, it's time to plan and start on spring garden activities.

Asparagus

Vegetable Gardening

The asparagus bed has started producing. A weekend away resulted in a couple of foot-high stalks.

Asparagus Harvest 4-8-2018

About a month ago, I discovered new strawberry plants shooting off of a couple of last year's. With just a little replanting, I have two respectable rows of strawberries. Some of these are flowering and small green fruits are visible.

Strawberry Plant with Flowers and Fruits

If you read my blog, you might remember that we put down tarps and barrier fabric between rows and around plants. This was a super easy way to control grass and weeds growing around the vegetables. For the first time, we left most of the tarps down for the winter. This has saved us a lot of work as the rows are ready for planting.

The uncovered part of the garden is full of weeds and grass and will need tilling. In the past, I have planted sunflowers in this area. The squirrel predation was heartbreaking last year, and I am undecided about planting the sunflowers again.

Because of serious losses due to a wilt virus, no tomatoes or eggplant will be started in this garden. I'll have a few container plants on the deck.

Bush beans, zucchini squash, and yellow squash grow great and will be planted from seed soon.

Azalea

Flowers

I've transitioned most of my flowers to perennials. The bearded iris and azaleas are blooming now as the forsythia fades away.

Over the winter, we cut down two 20-year old camellias that had outgrown their locations. Although the blooms were gorgeous, these bushes were small trees and blocked window views. Sometimes life gets busy and plants really grow out-of-control. Guilty as charged. I am so excited to see out these new open views to the wildlife around the house.

Thanks for reading! I'll write more after I get some vegetable plants going. This will be soon I hope!

If you're interested in seeing more of my photography, please check out my portfolio: istockphoto.com/portfolio/PamSchodt

August in the NC Vegetable Garden

Green Peppers Sauteed with Onions

Since I last wrote about the vegetable garden in early July (only a month and 1 week ago), plants have peaked and crashed. In what I referred to as a "winding down" period, most plants are no longer producing.

Tomatoes, eggplants, and squash provided great meals and side dishes. The tomatoes, especially, experienced a premature end as a wilt fungus crept through the garden. This situation is described in more detail, in my posted article about wilt.

Wilted Eggplant July 21, 2017

It is a challenge to write about the garden of August and not list a bunch of negative situations, but it is August. The bugs are multiplying, microbes are spreading, and squirrels will be squirrels.

I've started the garden cleanup and all yellow and zucchini squash has been removed with, hopefully, all the families of squash bugs, pickle worms, and vine squash borers with them. It's important to resist the urge to compost infected plants. Stink bugs and the like will overwinter in compost and leaf litter.

Spaghetti Squash

Squash with Downy Mildew

A beautiful spaghetti squash gourd appeared and grew rapidly, but rotted from the inside. After its removal, the remaining plants choked of powdery mildew. Spaghetti squash is a delicious vegetable, but, because of the long growing season, is challenging to bring to maturity.

Some Creature Likes Jalapenos

Small Tobacco Hornworm

My extra-large Jalapeño crop continues to produce along with a smaller number of green pepper plants. Only in the last 2 weeks have 4 plants been affected by wilt. Like I said, the wilt fungus has truly crept through the garden in a random pattern. For some reason, the peppers have been very resistant to this problem. I'm very pleased with this year's harvest. The tobacco hornworm came back in a second wave of young worms that had a taste for hot peppers 😏 and eggplant leaves.

There are 3 eggplant plants left out of 12 (wilt). I am optimistic about getting enough for a side dish.

Bush Beans

My original bush beans planted in late April are still producing! A few plants dried up, but others thrive. This is such an easy crop that I planted more seeds in spaces where the tomatoes were pulled.

I like to grow sunflowers with the vegetables to attract pollinators. This year a squirrel ate a lot of seeds before germination. A spectacular Mammoth Sunflower survived and was 13 foot in height when a squirrel climbed up and broke the stem. The flower wasn't even open yet.

I hope everyone is having a good vegetable gardening season. Some of my Twitter friends are just starting to harvest in other parts of the country. All the best and thanks for reading!

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