State of the Garden July 2016

A Cute Fawn Visitor While Gardening - Garden Lady Blog

Vegetables

This year's vegetable garden was started in April. Particularly with the squashes, this gave everything a head start on growth before the insects started cycling through. I've had to pull some plants because of Squash Vine Borer, but, by now, I've had my fill of Crook Neck, Straight Neck, and Zucchini squash. The Spaghetti Squash is growing beautifully up a trellis ( and across to neighboring tomato cages). One vine has borer damage, but it is entangled with healthier plants so I'll have to leave it for now.

Spaghetti Squash gourd on a trellis - Garden Lady Blog

This was my first time growing Bush Beans. They were easy to grow with no insect worries. Simple to cook: prep and wash, cover with water, add salt and boil then simmer for 30 minutes.

Front View of Vegetable Garden - Garden Lady Blog

Cherry Tomatoes have been producing for well over a month. The regular tomatoes are just now turning red at a quick pace. A few plants have wilted, but some of those continue to produce fruit. At this late date, I found my first Hornworm on a green pepper plant. The green peppers have been trouble-free.

Hornworm on Pepper Plant - Garden Lady Blog

Flowers

The Sunflowers are a sight to see! There is always a new bloom to admire. Frequent rains have knocked down some stalks so I'm tying them up. To discourage squirrels, I remove the flower after blooming.

Sunflower Bloom - Garden Lady Blog

The Loofah is a running plant like spaghetti squash. It produces beautiful flat yellow flowers. As of yet I haven't seen anything capable of exfoliating on the vine.

Loofah Flower - Garden Lady Blog

The Red Okra produced gorgeous flowers and shiny red fruit. I admired the flowers and gave away the fruit.

Red Okra Flower - Garden Lady Blog

July is a hot month in North Carolina. Fortunately, this year we've been blessed with frequent showers so dragging a sprinkler around trying to save plants is unnecessary. I look forward to winding down the squash harvests and a resurrection of the eggplant. One can hope, right?

I would love to hear your comments about vegetable gardening.

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State of the Garden June 2016

Front View of Vegetable Garden - Garden Lady Blog

Back View of Vegetable Garden - Garden Lady Blog

Vegetables
Garden planting started much earlier this year. In March I planted snow peas and Brussels sprout seeds. In April we started a bed of blueberry plants. Later that month I planted squash and sunflower seeds. Bush Blue Lake and Harvester beans followed a few days later. The snow peas have been abundant and tasty while ripe blueberries are scarce.

Snow Peas - Garden Lady Blog

Plantings purchased from a nursery included green peppers, jalapeno peppers, tomatoes, and eggplants. Flowering is well underway and peppers and tomatoes are developing. The eggplant has been ravaged by flea beetles so it may be a bad year for them.

Zucchini Squash and Tomatoes - Garden Lady Blog

Green Beans and Tomatoes - Garden Lady Blog

Spaghetti squash was started indoors and transplanted in March. Since it grew over tomato cages one year, I'm training it to climb a trellis. In this way I hope to contain this plant that tends to run all over the garden. It is flowering and small fruit is visible.

Spaghetti Squash Climbing Trellis - Garden Lady Blog

By the way, you may recognize recycled material in use for the 3 trellises. I used railings from old cribs and toddler beds. ( Hey the kids are in college now so why not?)

Sunflower Hybrid Mix - Garden Lady Blog

Flowers

This year's garden includes a wide row of sunflowers: hybrid mix and Mammoths. Another row has seeds from pollinator packets and harvested sunflower seeds from last year. The squirrels had their way with some of the latter, but a whole bunch are sprouting.

Sunflower from Hybrid Mix - Garden Lady Blog

As an experiment, I started Loofah seeds indoors. The transplants are frail so I've lowered my expectations. I think it's good to experiment on one thing in the garden every year, don't you agree? Speaking of experiments, a friend gave me a seed pod from Red Okra. I'm not an okra-lover, but I've heard the flowers are Hibiscus-like and gorgeous so I've have 8 of these seedlings struggling at various locations.

Well that's a summary of activities in the vegetable garden. It hard to believe that I've been writing these State of the Garden articles for 3 years. Last year's can be found here.

With weekly grass cutting and vegetable harvesting, it's going to be a busy summer. I would be interested in hearing about your vegetable gardens. Please comment below!

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The Joy of Growing Sunflowers

Sunflowers Make Me Smile - Garden Lady Blog

Sunflowers were something I admired in other people's gardens and in roadside fields. Occasionally one had sprouted near my birdfeeder. The anticipation of seeing the bloom mounted only to be dashed by a grazing deer. This year we grew a patch of sunflowers inside our vegetable garden fence. Protected by an electric current, this garden has been a joy to observe.

In this blog post, I'll share photographs of my sunflowers. The monetary investment was minimal. I planted two Burpee seed packets: Fun 'N Sun Hybrid Mix and Girasol Mammoth variety. I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I've enjoyed and am still enjoying the flowers.

Sunflower Garden - Garden Lady Blog

Mammoths on left; Hybrids on right - Garden Lady Blog

Girasol Mammoth Blooming - Garden Lady Blog

Girasol Mammoth

How tall will they get before blooming? Most of the plants bloomed at 8 - 9 feet. An exceptional plant measured 12 feet! Just before blooming it bent in a graceful arc. Photography without a ladder became possible!

Giant Sunflower - Garden Lady Blog

How Tall Will It Get? - Garden Lady Blog

Measurement of Giant Girasol - Garden Lady Blog

12 Feet Tall! - Garden Lady Blog

Sunflower Curved Gracefully Before Blooming - Garden Lady Blog

Girasol Mammoth Bloom - Garden Lady Blog

Fun 'N Sun Hybrid Mix

The Hybrid Sunflowers started blooming at 3 - 5 feet. Mixes are so interesting because different colors and types of blooms surprise the gardener with every flower.

If you haven't grown sunflowers before, I hope I have convinced you to give it a try. More of my sunflower photography is available at iStock.

State of the Garden July 2015

Tomato Plants in July - Garden Lady

There are so many changes in the garden since my last post, here's an update. 

Black Beauty Eggplant - Garden Lady

The Black Beauty Eggplant started ripening last week and it's thrilling to give this away as well as prepare my favorite eggplant dishes. (See Eggplant with Garlic Sauce here: recipe and video)

In my last post, I was concerned about some shriveling of the leaves on the green and jalapeno pepper plants. Despite the damaged appearance, these plants are producing just fine. I came across a North Carolina Extension article on tobacco leaf shriveling due to inadequate calcium uptake. Since tobacco shares the Nightshade family, this could be the issue with the pepper plants as well. We like jalapeno poppers (click here for recipe) and sausage served with sauteed onions and peppers.

Tomato on the Vine - Garden Lady

Just this week, tomatoes have turned to a light orange and I've started to pick. If left on the vine too long, there are issues with squirrel and insect predation.

Spaghetti Squash 10 weeks from seed - Garden Lady

Spaghetti squash was planted from seeds and is now in it's 10th week. No gourds yet, but the bees are busy pollinating. The yellow and crookneck squashes are still producing although a week-long drought while I was on vacation slowed them down a bit. That is fine as I have plenty of garden produce right now. There's some powdery mildew on some of the leaves.

1st Mammoth Sunflower to Bloom - Garden Lady

The special thrill in this year's garden is the Sunflowers. I planted Burpee Hybrid Mix and it's a surprise to see the color and size when each flower blooms. The larger Mammoth variety is reaching to the sky. I will need a ladder just to photograph the flowers. The tallest is 10 feet and growing. The rest are at 8 feet. I encourage everyone to plant sunflower seeds as they have brought me so much enjoyment. As mentioned in my previous post, the deer are an issue, and these plants are inside an 8 foot electrified fence.

Row of Mammoth Sunflowers - Garden Lady

I've learned a few things this season that I'll incorporate in next year's garden. For one, I let the tomato plants get too tall, and they are falling over the tomato cages. Next year, I'll top them off. I would also like to try mulching next year. We stopped using leaf mulch because it seemed to increase the bug population. This year, we have had lots of stink and squash bugs, and use Sevin Bug Killer to keep them under control. How do you feel about leaf and grass mulch contributing to insects in the vegetable garden?

I hope my readers are enjoying their gardens and nature as much as I am. I would love to hear from other gardeners in the comment section below.

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