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!

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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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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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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