This has to be the largest post I have ever done on the blog. There were just so many things I wanted to remember for next year and this blog kind of serves as a diary for the garden, so we know what works and doesn't work. First up is the 1st flower blooming on this Delphinium. My bride planted these from seed last summer. She saved three of the little boogers who never bloomed last year. We kept them in the window all winter and planted them this spring. So one year later we have two plants getting ready to explode with flowers. This one is red the other one we do not know what color it is yet.
Here is our Christmas tree from the last two years. We know it is a hibiscus but since it has to come in every year during the winter we make it our Christmas tree. Last year however we had a ton of gnats to kill every day because of the tree. This year it is going to a good home (besides ours) or it may be placed in the basement to winter the season. We have talked about enclosing the front porch to serve as a green house/three season porch. It could live
there but I only have 4 or 5 months to make that happen before we need a
decision made.
The left over bed frames we salvaged from the trash can have served well for the wisteria. Every time I say wisteria I can not help but think of
Desperate Housewives because they live on Wisteria Lane. I found out that this plant is heavy so I am glad I have cemented the arbor in the ground. I also found out that this plant takes some time to bloom. Ten years on the outside I was reading. If we are here in ten years I guess we will see it. I read also last year that you should plant trees like your going to be here for ever and weed today like there is no tomorrow.
A lot of the things we have done down here on our Summer Vacation will not
benefit us but the next people who live here.
This is the Rose of Sharron that we planted last Fall, just coming into bloom. It's about 4 feet right now and I am guessing it will be 8 ' by the end of this growing season. I look
forward to it being filled with the flowers for the rest of the Summer.
One of three Hydrangeas we planted last Fall. We hope they establish themselves this 1st year and next year they will be 4 to 5 feet tall loaded with flowers. We just have this one flower now.
Here are the traveling Artichokes. Last Spring we loaded three seedlings up along with tomatoes, peppers and such in the back of the Jeep. We then drove up to Minnesota & Wisconsin. We needed to water the seedlings so the traveled with us. One artichoke we left in Minnesota as a gift, these two made it home. It has been a battle to keep these guys growing but it looks like they are
beginning to thrive. I don't even know if I like artichoke so I hope when all this effort comes to the end on the dinner plate they are wonderful. I have never had anything my wife has made that I do not like so I am sure it will be wonderful. If not these artichokes will come back year after year so they will also be for the next people who live here.
Last Summer we purchased three grape vines on close out at a hardware store. Buying plants at a hardware store is not recommended but we did. Two of the grape vines were just dead as door nails right from the start. This
one made it through the Summer as it waited for me to build something for it to grow on. I did it finally and look at it go. I do not know if it will put grapes on the table yet. My bride
believes it is a Fall producing plant and we should see grapes starting soon.
Seven watermelons started from seeds we saved from Harvey the Watermelon last year. I guess these are Harvey's kids. Last year I put the
cantaloupes and watermelons together. The
cuke beetles worked both over pretty good, so I split them up this year.
Cucumbers growing in the compost bin I made for it. We have only seen 1 beetle this year, but we know they are coming. This year I hope to defeat the little %#@* things. We only had one
cuke to eat last year. I know I could buy chemicals to put on everything but then I might as well give up and go eat at
McDonald's. The
pendulum swings pretty fast in my head.
lol
One
Brussels Sprout at the top of this Broccoli bed. My wife planted it last Fall along with a bunch of other ones too late to produce anything. Under the bags of leaves they hid all winter. We thought for whatever reason we would try to save them this year. One lives here on life support. Each day we go out to pick off little green worms eating the leaves. Last night however we found 6 old issues of Organic Gardening at a thrift store. Inside was a recipe for
brassica eaters to choose another food rather than our garden. We mixed the stuff up and I sprayed it everywhere with great hopes of having
Brussels Sprouts on the table. It's another food that I don't know if I like.
This is the patch of Two Sisters. It's suppose to be three sisters but we had one sister there last year. The three sisters are corn, beans and
squash. Because of the
squash bugs last year we didn't plant it here again this year.
The corn is starting to tassel.
We also have beans and peas growing on the other side of the garden.
This is a
Tennessee Sweet Potato that we have
tied up on the fence. We will place the fruit in stockings to grow in the air.
The flowers of the TN Sweet Potato.
Two
compost piles have the pumpkins growing in them. This is from the pumpkin my wife made the pie last Thanksgiving.
We had hundreds of seeds from the
Naturism's last year. The edges of each bed have them growing now.
We picked up two
raspberry plants in Minnesota two Octobers ago. Last year we had
raspberries but they were pink like the ones we are getting this year. I thought it was the soil. So I made a new bed along the fence last Fall, dumping compost in the soil. I had hoped they would be red and sweet this year but it looks like we will be getting these bland pink things again. I am waiting a few more weeks and then I am going to tear the things out and get a local
variety if we don't get good berries soon.
Swiss Chard and carrots grow in the bed above the beans and peas. Onions are everywhere of course.
The first of many sunflowers has bloomed.
The second crop of potatoes has popped up. This set of potatoes I will earth up with straw when the reach 6" or so. It will make a plant produce 40 - 50lbs of potatoes rather than 20 to 30
individual potatoes per a plant.
Finally shots around the garden on June 19
th 2010 just to have a reference for next years crops and where they were this year.
This has to be the largest post I have ever done on the blog. There were just so many things I wanted to remember for next year and this blog kind of serves as a diary for the garden, so we know what works and doesn't work. First up is the 1st flower blooming on this Delphinium. My bride planted these from seed last summer. She saved three of the little boogers who never bloomed last year. We kept them in the window all winter and planted them this spring. So one year later we have two plants getting ready to explode with flowers. This one is red the other one we do not know what color it is yet.
Here is our Christmas tree from the last two years. We know it is a hibiscus but since it has to come in every year during the winter we make it our Christmas tree. Last year however we had a ton of gnats to kill every day because of the tree. This year it is going to a good home (besides ours) or it may be placed in the basement to winter the season. We have talked about enclosing the front porch to serve as a green house/three season porch. It could live there but I only have 4 or 5 months to make that happen before we need a decision made.
The left over bed frames we salvaged from the trash can have served well for the wisteria. Every time I say wisteria I can not help but think of Desperate Housewives because they live on Wisteria Lane. I found out that this plant is heavy so I am glad I have cemented the arbor in the ground. I also found out that this plant takes some time to bloom. Ten years on the outside I was reading. If we are here in ten years I guess we will see it. I read also last year that you should plant trees like your going to be here for ever and weed today like there is no tomorrow. A lot of the things we have done down here on our Summer Vacation will not benefit us but the next people who live here.
This is the Rose of Sharron that we planted last Fall, just coming into bloom. It's about 4 feet right now and I am guessing it will be 8 ' by the end of this growing season. I look forward to it being filled with the flowers for the rest of the Summer.
One of three Hydrangeas we planted last Fall. We hope they establish themselves this 1st year and next year they will be 4 to 5 feet tall loaded with flowers. We just have this one flower now.
Here are the traveling Artichokes. Last Spring we loaded three seedlings up along with tomatoes, peppers and such in the back of the Jeep. We then drove up to Minnesota & Wisconsin. We needed to water the seedlings so the traveled with us. One artichoke we left in Minnesota as a gift, these two made it home. It has been a battle to keep these guys growing but it looks like they are beginning to thrive. I don't even know if I like artichoke so I hope when all this effort comes to the end on the dinner plate they are wonderful. I have never had anything my wife has made that I do not like so I am sure it will be wonderful. If not these artichokes will come back year after year so they will also be for the next people who live here.
Last Summer we purchased three grape vines on close out at a hardware store. Buying plants at a hardware store is not recommended but we did. Two of the grape vines were just dead as door nails right from the start. This one made it through the Summer as it waited for me to build something for it to grow on. I did it finally and look at it go. I do not know if it will put grapes on the table yet. My bride believes it is a Fall producing plant and we should see grapes starting soon.
Seven watermelons started from seeds we saved from Harvey the Watermelon last year. I guess these are Harvey's kids. Last year I put the cantaloupes and watermelons together. The cuke beetles worked both over pretty good, so I split them up this year.
Cucumbers growing in the compost bin I made for it. We have only seen 1 beetle this year, but we know they are coming. This year I hope to defeat the little %#@* things. We only had one cuke to eat last year. I know I could buy chemicals to put on everything but then I might as well give up and go eat at McDonald's. The pendulum swings pretty fast in my head. lol
One Brussels Sprout at the top of this Broccoli bed. My wife planted it last Fall along with a bunch of other ones too late to produce anything. Under the bags of leaves they hid all winter. We thought for whatever reason we would try to save them this year. One lives here on life support. Each day we go out to pick off little green worms eating the leaves. Last night however we found 6 old issues of Organic Gardening at a thrift store. Inside was a recipe for brassica eaters to choose another food rather than our garden. We mixed the stuff up and I sprayed it everywhere with great hopes of having Brussels Sprouts on the table. It's another food that I don't know if I like.
This is the patch of Two Sisters. It's suppose to be three sisters but we had one sister there last year. The three sisters are corn, beans and squash. Because of the squash bugs last year we didn't plant it here again this year.
The corn is starting to tassel.
We also have beans and peas growing on the other side of the garden.
This is a Tennessee Sweet Potato that we have tied up on the fence. We will place the fruit in stockings to grow in the air.
The flowers of the TN Sweet Potato.
Two compost piles have the pumpkins growing in them. This is from the pumpkin my wife made the pie last Thanksgiving.
We had hundreds of seeds from the Naturism's last year. The edges of each bed have them growing now.
We picked up two raspberry plants in Minnesota two Octobers ago. Last year we had raspberries but they were pink like the ones we are getting this year. I thought it was the soil. So I made a new bed along the fence last Fall, dumping compost in the soil. I had hoped they would be red and sweet this year but it looks like we will be getting these bland pink things again. I am waiting a few more weeks and then I am going to tear the things out and get a local variety if we don't get good berries soon.
Swiss Chard and carrots grow in the bed above the beans and peas. Onions are everywhere of course.
The first of many sunflowers has bloomed.
The second crop of potatoes has popped up. This set of potatoes I will earth up with straw when the reach 6" or so. It will make a plant produce 40 - 50lbs of potatoes rather than 20 to 30 individual potatoes per a plant.
Finally shots around the garden on June 19th 2010 just to have a reference for next years crops and where they were this year.
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