Dried American Beautyberry Stalks Feed Wildlife

 

Hermit Thrush in American Beautyberry Bush

I've found that leaving my American Beautyberry bushes intact through the Fall and Winter provides food for wildlife. This is something my "neatnick" gardening friends would never consider. Dried up berries on stalks are untidy looking, but have brought in many birds. Carolina Wrens, Dark-eyed Juncos, Hermit Thrush, White-throated Sparrow, Eastern Bluebird, and Eastern Phoebes are species that I've observed in my backyard. 

By the way, I have about 20 Beautyberry bushes. These include the original 3 given to me by a friend and the other 17 that are spontaneous volunteers "planted" by wildlife. My rural street has the bushes coming up on the roadside as well.

Dark-eyed Junco under Beautyberry Bush

Eastern Phoebe in Beautyberry Bush

Eastern Bluebird in Beautyberry Bush

White-throated Sparrow in Beautyberry Bush

The American Beautyberry is a native plant of the United States.

Controlling Weeds in the Vegetable Garden

Vigorous Grass Growing Under Squash Plant

A joke around our house is that wherever we want grass to grow, we only need put a tomato plant. Indeed it seems that the best grass grows in the vegetable garden!

A few years ago we started placing old plastic tarpaulins between the rows of vegetables. This allowed a weed and grass-free path to inspect plants. This year we've expanded on this idea by laying weed block fabric over furrows and cutting openings for the plants. Any unplanted area is also covered with weed block or other plastic material. This gives us a rectangular garden area that does not need mowing. It's also a way to upcycle old tarps, awnings, and pool solar panels.  A few swipes with a weed eater around the perimeter and we're done.

A Combination of Tarpaulins and Weed Block Fabric Surround Eggplant

In addition to making garden chores so much more pleasant, the reduction in weeds and grass has resulted in larger and stronger plants.

Plastic Scraps Upcycled to Block Weeds and Grass

I post on Twitter daily about my garden activities at @gopamnc . Follow me and retweet to show your interest and comments. Thanks!😊

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Garden Happenings June 2017

Yellow squash 7 weeks after planting seeds

This is a fun and exciting time in the garden. It's awesome to walk through the rows and decide what to pick. Most plants are heavy with produce, and the bugs have not yet overwhelmed the garden.

Squash

Squash is a fast-growing vegetable that is easy to cook. I have 25 squash plants this year. The straight neck yellow squash started producing first. This week I look forward to picking and cooking this squash.

Zucchini produce growing at base of 7 week old plant

7 weeks after planting seeds, produce on the zucchini squash is now visible. Zucchini easily camouflages itself among the green base of the plant until the fruit grows a foot long or more. It's tricky to find it at a smaller, manageable size. I have Spaghetti squash planted in a far corner of the garden. This gives it ample room to run vines for a much longer growth period than the other squash plants.

Tomatoes

Plants have green tomatoes now, but we're not taking this stalwart of the garden for granted. One plant wilted and had a burned appearance. Another had a partial wilt that was removed. This geographical area has a bacterial wilt virus that can contaminate the soil for years and make tomato growing impossible. With optimism, I'll hope the wilting is limited (like last year), and carry on.

First pepper harvest of 2017

Peppers

I've harvested a few jalapenos already. Jalapeno Poppers prepared with cream cheese and bacon will be on the menu this week.

Peas
Both sweet peas and snow peas are growing. These make a nice, crunchy snack while working in the garden.

Flower of the sweet pea plant

Bush beans
The beans have just started flowering. This is another plant that can "hide" its fruit in the foliage. I look forward to fresh beans in a couple of weeks.

Eggplants
Last year's eggplant harvest was limited by a severe aphid infestation. The plants were stunted and didn't produce fruit. Allowing for problems, I have increased my crop to 12 plants. Interestingly, many of the plants have spines on the leaves and flowers. Also, insects seem to be attracted to eggplant leaves. This week Japanese Beetles made an appearance.

Sunflowers
With screened cages to foil squirrels, a few sunflower plants are managing to grow. See last month's blog for more on that problem.

June will reveal daily surprises and challenges in the garden. I tweet regularly about my garden activities at @gopamnc . Follow me and retweet your support and comments. Thanks!😊

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Winter Comes Roaring Back in March

Beautiful Daffodils in February 2017

In central North Carolina, we enjoyed extremely mild February weather, and the most beautiful daffodil crop in recent memory. People were wearing shorts, and even I wore sandals on February 12 when temperatures hit 83F. The mean temperature for February was 53.3F which was higher than the record set in 1887. 1887!

It was a glorious month! We were planning our vegetable garden. Fortunately,  local meteorologists cautioned that April 15th is the average last frost so most gardeners resisted the urge to rush spring planting.

Dark-eyed Juncos Hung Around for Winter's Return

Winter came back in March. I'm writing this on the 19th, and temperatures have dipped below freezing on 7 days. I have never seen vegetative damage from a hard freeze this severe. Because February teased the plants into an early spring, more blooms and tender leaves took a beating when temperatures dipped below freezing.

Frost Damage on Leaves of Butterfly Bush

Cold Temperatures Drop Irises

 

Sedum was Unaffected by Cold

Young Peony Survived Frost without Damage

 Have you had unseasonable weather in your area? How has it affected your plants? Please share in the comments below. All the best everyone! Nice spring weather is just around the corner.

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Harvesting Loofah Sponges in the Garden

Loofah Sponge Drying

Years ago I used a loofah sponge in the shower for exfoliation. I assumed this was a natural sponge harvested from an exotic faraway sea. Actually, loofah is the fruit of a plant. This year I experimented and grew loofah sponges. Details on growing can be found in my last blog post.

We had a hard freeze late in the season (November). This forced me to get out and cut the loofah gourds off the vines.

I twisted and pressed on the largest gourd until the skin cracked. This opening provided a place to start peeling off the skin. This was a sticky job. After the skin is removed, I ran water from a hose through the loofah to wash off the sap. Afterwards, I left the sponge in a warm location to dry. Fortunately, temperatures rose to the high 60s and drying was completed in about 3 days.

Loofah with skin partially removed

Much to my amazement, this loofah looks just like the one I used years ago. Imperfections and all. I still have 4 gourds to process so I am well-supplied with loofah sponges.

Garden experimentation is fun, and I encourage you to try growing loofahs or any other unfamiliar plant. Let me know how it goes!

Note: I used the helpful Loofah.info website for tips on harvesting the sponges.

11-25-2016 Update: Today I processed the remaining 4 loofahs. The second time around was much easier. I used disposable gloves which eliminated the stickiness of handling. Before cracking open the loofahs, I applied pressure downward with the balls of my hands. I then rotated the fruit 90 degrees and applied pressure again. I repeated this 3-4 times. This cracked open and loosened the skin. I was able to slide my gloved hands between the skin and the loofah and peel them apart.


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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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