Vegetable Garden Update January 2016

It's hard to believe it is 2016 already. Time sure does fly. Now that it is finally winter here in Tennessee, the weather has turned much colder. We even have snow! Prior to the weather turning colder Mr. Fix-it and I harvested most all of the cool weather vegetables from the garden. I would say it is a fairly successful year and I am quite pleased. I've learned a few lessons and hope to improve next year but this year was not so bad. 

First of all the kohlrabi. I have never grown this vegetable before but one of my blogging friends (can't remember who) said it is easy to grow. I managed to toss out some seeds and the plants grew like crazy. The mistake I made is I did not thin the plants out. I got lots and lots of greens (the rabbit and chickens love them) but only a few of the bulbs. I commit to doing a better job of thinning them next year. I cut the two bulbs (pictured above) up and cooked them in a homemade turkey stew. Kohlrabi is really good and I'll definitely grow these each year. I also tasted the kohlrabi raw. The taste and texture is most similar to a radish-albeit a mild one.

We harvested all of the Brussels sprouts we could whether they were small or large. This is a rather tough job. You have to twist off the little heads from the stem. It does take some force to twist them off. I managed to freeze a batch and we also ate a fresh batch of these and they were much better fresh! The red cabbage I had planted in this bed would never have a chance to grow larger due to the incoming cold, so we picked all of the baby cabbages. It's enough I can make some coleslaw. The radishes we ate in a salad and they were actually quite mild. This was in comparison to harvesting some radishes earlier that were quite hot. I like the mild version better.



Brussels sprouts.

A long view looking west.

This is the cold weather bed I started predominantly from transplants. It is also where most of the crops I recently harvested came from. The cauliflower (in the foreground) was harmed by the recent cold snaps. There were several heads ready for picking but we did not get to them in time so they turned to mush. The foliage of the cauliflower still looks good.

The garlic on the far end is doing well. It will be harvested sometime in late May to early June. Stay tuned for that. I am not sure what I'll do with all that garlic but I bet some of my friends might find some on their porches so if you don't like garlic let me know.

This bed is empty. I will soon be planting onions and potatoes in it in another month or so. This is the time to plan your garden for the year and to order your starts and seeds. I am excited because I think I have a good plan to maximize my space and provide for succession planting of a large variety of crops in amounts that can sufficiently feed us. This particular bed will start with potatoes and onions then transition to corn in June. I hope the potatoes and onions are ready by then, but if not I will plant the corn around them.

The strawberry bed has all turned shades or red with the winter cold.
Come spring it should be loaded with lush juicy fresh strawberries.

The herb bed is a delight and I often cut rosemary and sage for dishes.

This bed has pretty much been cleaned up. The carrots planted this past summer are weathering over just fine in the ground. I sometimes harvest a few. This summer will see this bed full of vining plants such as gourds, watermelons, cantaloupes, and cucumbers.

This last bed will become our tomato bed. Instead of five tomato plants I plan to double that number and will grow all the same cultivar. I think I have decided on 'Bradley' tomatoes that I plan to start from seeds. I rotate crops in each of my four beds each year so that I never grow the same crop in the same bed two years in a row.

The cover crop in the foreground is dying off and has done its job well. If it is easy to till the dead vegetation into the bed come spring I think I'll continue with cover crops.

This end of the same bed has some more cold weather crops I started from seeds. Lettuce, spinach, radishes, beets, carrots, and kohrabi all share space here. There were some sugar snap peas growing on the trellis but the cold weather has killed them back to nothing. This bed has been a productive bed.

The outside of the vegetable garden is beginning to wake up with its multitude of irises. This one spot of the outer bed has allium bulbs planted in it instead of irises. I have overseeded the alliums with poppies. I have never ever had success with poppies but am hoping this time the seeds work. Time will tell. One of my cats (Tiger) got in on the action. The other two were nearby but never stop moving enough to get into a picture.

Generally my vegetable gardens are not as productive this time of the year as this one has been. It can all be attributed to the mild fall. That has changed because by the time I post this Monday morning the temperature will have dropped to the 20s and a good amount of this garden will finally go dormant... 

in the garden....

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Let's Talk About the Pot-AH-ger: It's Been a Long Time

The pot-AH-ger has been soooo very neglected on the blog and is crying out for attention. Okay, not really, tis me who wishes to post about the vegetable garden. The AH in the potager is what I say each time I go to eat a strawberry-ah then yum! The fact that I haven't been posting about the vegetable/potager garden does not mean that it has been neglected. Quite the contrary. In fact I somehow manage to fit in maintenance on the potager as well as a few gardens but all gardens are feeling about as neglected as the potager this spring. It has been a busy spring!

The strawberries are awesome! They are so awesome the chipmunks think so too. Do you see the bite out of the big one? Yup, the chipmunks have that sixth sense and know exactly when to nibble the strawberries. We have had a big problem with chipmunks this year and I hear we are not alone. I have taken to trapping them and the dogs have been killing them. Together we might get the population down a bit so the fruits and vegetables in the potager will be safe for us to eat. 


I grew June bearing strawberries this year. Actually, the plants were planted last year. We really didn't get any strawberries last year but this year we've gotten a whole bunch. I recommend planting June bearers over everbearers. The everbearers are good and sweet and you can pick a few over a period of months but you never really get enough to satisfy the desire for sweet strawberries. At least I didn't when I grew them years ago. With everbearers we actually enjoy strawberries daily and not just one or two. This is in spite of the chipmunks and a mold or fungus that has been attacking the ripe strawberries. If we don't pick the berries fast enough some of them are molding and turning gray; especially the ones inside of the above bed. The mold is very frustrating and I need to figure out the problem. For the most part the June bearers have been easy to grow and harvest and so AH yummy! 

The blackberries are beginning to change colors. Raspberries are also ripening and boy are they good! I ate one on Wednesday and wow they taste just like the berries my grandmother would feed me as child. This is only the second year for both the blackberries and raspberries and judging by the amount of new canes (which will bear fruit next year) the amount of berries will only increase with time. I'm so excited!

The tomato plants are getting big. There aren't any blossoms or tomatoes as of yet. I am also growing three 'Silver Fir' heirloom tomatoes in pots out front. I started those plants from seed and had great luck with the seeds. Those plants already have blooms and I am looking forward to tasting those tomatoes. The 'Silver Fir' tomatoes are determinate and not indeterminate. Normally I grow only indeterminate tomatoes (the plant grows indefinitely) and not the determinate variety (plants stop growing at a certain point and all tomatoes ripen at the same time) 'Silver Fir' is but I received a bunch of free heirloom seeds last year. When I sowed them in the mini greenhouse in March all seeds germinated and have grown into lovely plants. I am pretty sure I got the seeds from Seeds of Change but can't find 'Silver Fir' on their website; which I think is odd. I did a posting on Seeds of Change last year you can find here if you'd like more information. Perhaps they don't carry 'Silver Fir' anymore.

The lettuce was late this year. Odd since everything else was early. Usually we eat fresh lettuce every day but so far this year we've not eaten as much. It is most likely most of the lettuce will be used to feed the rabbits as I suspect it will start turning bitter soon.

The peas are quite tall and are finally producing. I just can't get the knack of growing peas. No matter when I plant them the peas take weeks and weeks to germinate. Then they are slow to get going and before I know it the weather is hot. Note the strawberry plants outside of the potager proper, those are the strawberries for the chipmunks-if only they'd stay out of the potager they could have all they want! Since we have dogs we like to only eat the veggies and fruits from inside of the fenced potager; which makes sense for obvious reasons.

The blueberry bushes are loaded this year. They like the new location of a well watered potager over a dry partly sunny ornamental bed in the Northside Shrub Border. The robins are anxiously waiting for these berries to ripen. I can't walk near the potager without half a dozen of them flying off and scolding me for intruding on their space. The robins are a big nuisance. I will soon be netting the blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries. I don't mind sharing but last year we got only ONE blueberry  the whole season. That will certainly not work this year.



I have told you all about our chipmunk problem and I have also alluded to a dog problem as well, but I really haven't discussed the issues in detail. The chipmunks themselves don't cause half as much damage as the moose known as AJ and the ballerina known as Lady. AJ cannot jump so he barrels after the chipmunks-no fence or plant will stand in his way. He has destroyed daylilies, croscomia, hydrangeas, flowering tobacco, and peonies. What he doesn't destroy by trampling on his quest to catch a chipmunk (he never does catch them but does steal them from Lady when she catches them and acts like he caught the varmints) Lady will dig up. She has dug up Japanese maples, hellebores, a kerria, a camellia, and numerous other plants. I have finally gotten so fed up that we have begun outlining the gardens with the underground wire fence that keeps our dogs contained. Soon the dogs will not only be contained but they will also be limited to only grassy areas-that is my hope. That underground wire fencing system works well. Can you see AJ's collar with the receiver on his neck? He never goes outside without that collar on. Immediately after we (okay, Mr. Fix-it and the Jimster) installed the wire the dogs somehow just knew it and wouldn't even come off the deck! So far two large gardens have been wired but now the transmitter is not sending out as strong of a signal as it did when we initially installed it. The signal is enough to keep the dogs at bay for now but as we install more wire Mr. Fix-it is worried about the dogs going through the signal. All I am worried about are my gardens. We love our dogs but they can be really annoying at times. 

I have to tell you a funny story about AJ. AJ tries so hard to be a good boy but he is hard headed and not as laid back as my dear BJ was. AJ cannot jump and doesn't move very fast. He is a big stocky dog with short legs and is not a nimble dog at all. The other day he came up to the back door holding in his mouth what I thought was a stick. I told him to drop it and what fell out of his mouth? A stiff and straight as a board chipmunk! And he acted like he had the best prize in the whole world. His tail was just a wagging and he was smiling at me as if to say, "Aren't I a good boy???? Yeah, yeah, yeah!" He wasn't fooling me though. That varmint he had 'caught' had been dead a while and I'll bet 100 to 1 that Miss Lady killed it. That's okay, hopefully we'll fix the chipmunk problem so the vegetables and gardens will be safe for fresh eating....


in the garden....

Happy Mother's Day to my mother and all the mothers out there!

 

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

A Few Pumpkin Pictures for Skeeter

When I had posted a picture of this pumpkin while it was growing in the vegetable garden Skeeter remarked she did not know pumpkins start out green. It seems like everything starts out green then changes to another color. Even the fall leaves. I never really thought about this fact and find it interesting so I thought I'd try to show the changes in the pumpkin. I did not however anticipate the vine this pumpkin was growing on would dry up and wither and die.



So I cut the pumpkin off from the vine. I never pick them or pull them off from the vine. The stems can be quite long and need to be cut. The pumpkin was still completely green when I cut it off the vine. I then placed the pumpkin on a table on my deck outside. It has slowly turned to a bright orange and I'm happy to report it is completely orange now. I had no idea if it would continue to ripen after being picked but was simply delighted it did. Some vegetables you must pick when ripe-for instance cantaloupes. Others you can pick when they are green and they'll change to the ripe color. Some examples include tomatoes. If you live in Middle Tennessee you might be doing what I am doing with my tomatoes. Pick all of the green ones off from the plants and store them in a double paper bag in a cool dry area like an unheated garage. The green tomatoes will slowly ripen and you could conceiveably be eating ripe tomatoes from your garden in January! I've done it before and it is a treat. But for now Skeeter, enjoy the orange pumpkin....


in the garden....





I received my new camera this Wednesday. This last picture is taken with the new camera. So far I am liking the quality but not the learning curve on how to manage the pictures. The software is extremely difficult to use and it is driving me crazy. Any suggestions on good software for Nikon pictures? 

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Frozen Tomatoes

By SKEETER
I did not plant any vegetables other then Tomatoes in my Georgia Garden this year. The only tomatoes I seem to have luck with are Roma. That is fine by me as I love to use Roma's in sauces, soups and chili.
I planted 4 slips last spring and one did nothing more then just die on me. I have no idea what happened as it was beside the others in a nice row. As you can see, I harvested lots of red beauties from the 3 thriving plants. I had so many that I blanched, peeled and froze many tomatoes in containers in my freezer.
Here is a tomato plant that came up totally Voluntary for me! I did nothing to this plant but water it when the sprinkler was in the area and water just happen to hit it. I am amazed it survived the hot, dry summer we had.
I was able to harvest many maters from this Volunteer as well. Maybe Mother Nature was being nice to give me a plant since one of my bought ones died. I had a nice stock of tomatoes in my freezer waiting for winter and me to cook some yummy treats.

Over the weekend our freezer went out! Yep, it just up and died on us. The freezer was running but not keeping a freezing temperature. So it was out a bit before we realized it had died! Sunday, we grilled all the meat that had thawed. We got the new refrigerator in place on Monday morning but everything else in the freezer had now thawed. I went on a cooking frenzy! I made Soup, Chili, Spaghetti Sauce, Green Bean Casserole, etc. I have cooked enough food to feed an Army! So much for FROZEN TOMATOES, In the Garden...

Note: We lost our Washing machine a few months ago. That makes two major appliances purchased in 2001 now dead. They sure don't make things like they used to....
Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

The Fabulous Ornamental Vegetable Garden (aka Pot-AH-ger)

I must say my Vegetable Garden/Potager has given me my most joy this year. It is not because it is doing fabulously, or looks good, or attracts butterflies and wildlife. I do enjoy all of those things but the main reason I love this garden so much has to do with my husband. He, being of the manly kind who prefers greasy cars and boats to wonderful smelling dirt; does not take much of an interest in my gardens. He enjoys them fair enough and knows they add to our home and property but generally they don't interest him-except for the potager. I always know when he's been browsing in it; which he does daily. I come into the kitchen and the counter will be filled with fresh vegetables from the garden courtesy of Mr. Fix-it. I simply love it that he takes an interest in this garden and this is why my potager gives me so much joy. 


While preparing this post on the potager I happened to look up at my large PVC arbor and spotted the crossvine 'Tangerine Beauty' blooming. Wow on it as it is my favorite native vine. In fact, I will soon (already done) be chopping down my wisterias in order to replace them with this lovely and less aggressive and less heavy crossvine. The crossvine  blooms in the above picture are about 15 high and were very dark so I used a fill flash. I like how the effect of these blooms came out against the cloudy sky. Crossvine is a rebloomer, reliable in sun or shade and not picky about soil or moisture. It is a lovely vine I've been growing many years so I would recommend it to others. It will spread pretty fast once happy so even though it is less aggressive than wisteria it still needs a strong support as it is no wimp in the garden.

Today was the day I finally removed the screen from my upstairs dormer and took a few aerial shots. Here I show you the vegetable garden in its entirety from the second story window. I wish pictures could give you the feel of the whole garden but they don't. However, I do think this long and high picture helps out with the scale of my backyard and the vegetable potager. We live on one acre and the amount of real estate in this picture probably encompasses only about one twelfth of the property. I try to fit lots of plants and gardens into my little one acre as you can tell. The PVC arbor is in the left hand corner of the picture and this is the east side of the vegetable garden proper. To the right of the vegetable garden is my very full Sunny Perennial Border. This border is about four feet wide and traverses the entire northern and eastern sides of the vegetable garden. To the north and south of the gardens there are multiple mature oak trees; which provide shade for the vegetable garden (tongue in cheek because of course you want NO shade for your vegetable garden says I). I'll orient you to what is what as I walk through the garden on my morning walk.

We enter one of three gates into the enclosed vegetable garden from the east under the PVC arbor which holds a crossvine and gelsemium as well as annual vines like cypress vine and hyacinth beans. The brick pathways are obscured by self seeders I allow to grow. The multiple self seeders in this walkway and picture include: 'Chocolate' eupatorium, chives, great blue lobelia, lambs ears, and beautyberries. Additionally catnip, sedums, flowering tobacco, verbena bonariensis, dill, zinnias, cleomes and cosmos grow among the cracks of the bricks in this garden. If you should spot a weed growing amongst the self seeders just let me know! I hate weeds here that's for sure. The plants soften the bricks and help to create a more diverse garden so I leave most of them and pull only those plants that I don't wish to self seed anymore or which are in my way when I walk in this garden. 

Many readers ask about the wonderful metal gates adorning my vegetable/potager garden. I was fortunate enough to purchase three of these gates (two are identical and this one stands alone) at the Nashville Flea Market several years ago. I painted them yellow with a good quality metal paint and have really loved them in my garden. If you are local and have not been the Nashville Flea Market you are missing out. I once read in one of my women's magazine that the Nashville Flea Market is rated as one of the best in the country. It is a wonderful place for great architectural finds for both the garden and the home. If you are not local but planning a visit to the region the Nashville Flea Market is generally held on the last weekend in each month except December. Check their website for more information.

Looking to the left as we enter the garden we see two beds. The first one contains blackberries (only one of two survived) I mail ordered from Farmer's Seed. It is a thornless type but I can't remember the name at this point. I also  transplanted another blackberry from another area in my garden to another location in the potager which will not be shown in this post. Among this bed are self seeding beauty berries. I will soon be digging them for the Montgomery County Master Gardener Plant sale scheduled for 8 October at the Habitat ReStore on Madison street. Directly behind this bed looking to the west-southwest is another bed you'll see better below. The chives, lamb's ears, lobelia and other plants in this area are all self seeders. This bed used to be my nursery bed until I moved the blackberry plant there.

Looking to the right I do not show the three 'Sunny' knockout roses or dwarf irises under the PVC arbor but take my word they are there. That small garden containing the roses is just to the right of the 5 gallon bucket you see in the picture. I leave a few buckets in this garden to not only catch rainwater but to tell me when I've reached one inch of water when I water with my sprinkler once per week.You can also use tuna cans set about in your garden to measure the amount of water your garden receives from sprinklers. 

The bed I focus on in this area contains the cantaloupes and vining crops and is not visible due to the sprawl of the vines. The vines have trickled onto the brick pathways. Normally I would train the vines to grow up my A-frames but for some reason I was negligent in doing this in this particular bed this year. Actually though, cantaloupes seem to do better when left to sprawl and I do not mind their sprawl because those fresh cantaloupes are just so good! We've picked one, lost one due to not picking it in time and still have four more cantaloupes to come. There is also a watermelon or squash vine growing in this bed. I won't know until the fruits are mature exactly what it is that grew but I do know I threw out both squash and watermelons here.

Looking back to the left past the blackberry bed with its self sowers we see a long bed containing carrots and zucchini (in the foreground under the A frame) that were successive sown in late June. They are doing well. On the other side of them are my four 'Better Boy' tomatoes. We are consistently picking tomatoes to eat fresh daily. Mr. Fix-it always eats tomatoes and cucumbers with his dinner. I'm not sure if this is something he established for health or not but it is a healthy habit. We obviously enjoy the fresh picked ones very much during the growing season. I have found that four tomato plants are just about perfect for our family of three. I have enough to eat daily but not quite enough to freeze; which I would like. But nonetheless it works out for us with our small vegetable garden.

This round bed used to hold bananas. It was the focal point of my potager but I decided to remove the bananas last year. It took a LOT of work to completely remove them since they were so well established but I don't regret taking them out. I decided to consolidate my fruits and vegetable all to one location this year so all edibles would be fairly centrally located. Here I have planted two 'Bluecrop' blueberries from another location in my garden then I added two new blueberry bushes last fall. They are 'Powderblue' and 'Climax'. You'll see a ripe 'Powderblue' below. 'Powderblue' and 'Climax' are rabbiteye bluebeerries (Vaccinium corymbosum) and the 'Bluecrop' is a northern highbush blueberry. I have found the 'Bluecrop' never needed a pollinator but I did have two of the 'Bluecrop' and they apparently worked together to produce a good crop each year-once they matured after about four years. The 'Powderblue' and 'Climax', the rabbiteye cultvars (Vaccinium ashei), are recommended for the south but in my experience I like the 'Bluecrop' or highbush berries better for my garden. To be fair it may be that the two new rabbiteyes I just added last fall need more time to mature but so far their ripening dates are a bit out of order for me. The 'Bluecrop' was ready for picking in late June to early July (even though the robins ate them all). I like the large crop at this time. So far this year the 'Climax' really did not produce and the 'Powderblue' are producing but it doesn't seem like the berries are coming at a logical time. They are just now ripening up nicely in mid August. To me that is late but I guess it can be good considering the blueberry season is very long in my garden. Now if I could just get more than a handful or so I'll be content with the rabbiteyes. I'll give all the bushes time to grow. As we all know gardeners have lots of time and so we'll see how it goes for the blueberries. Remember, blueberries must have a pH of between 4.5-5.2 in order for them to do well. Be sure to soil test prior to planting these berries.

Just past the bed that houses my Pumpkin on Stick is another long bed (the northern side of the potager). Here is an ornamental self seeder I did not mention already. It is of course night blooming jimsonweed, aka Datura stramonium. It is a wonderful ornamental that provides the southern nighttime fragrance that is heavenly. The flowers only last one day and bloom in the evening to late morning then they are gone. These flowers positively glow at night. I never know where this night bloomer will sprout up but tend to let one or two of them grow so I'll have plants for next year because this plant is a tender perennial. It will not return in my Zone 6B garden next year. In and amongst its leaves you can see basil that is going to seed, and if you look closely you'll see the cucumber plants growing in this bed. Again, my potager/vegetable garden is an ornamental as well as functional garden for me. I believe in mixing things up in the garden and have the art down pretty well after all these years of gardening here in my Tennessee home. My garden is not going to be a designed garden because I wish to grow everything and anything and mix it all up in different ways. Ways many gardeners might cringe at but as is my gardening mantra, gardens must reflect the gardener and please only the gardener. If they don't and you have a garden then you either have an outside gardener or are a business person looking for curb appeal or to keep up with others or you are not a gardener. But my feelings on gardens might best be left for another post. But truthfully, who would garden if their garden did not please them and they did not strive to produce a garden they like?

Now on to close up of veggies. The pepper plants are growing under the A frame containing the many cucumbers and they are doing quite well. There is a tomato leaf in front of the pepper. I did not plant this tomato-it was a volunteer from last year that self seeded in the bricks and I just let it go to see what I would get.

The cantaloupes are doing quite well. They will most likely all ripen at once like they did last year. Here you can see some cosmos and flowering tobacco leaves. The cantaloupe vines spread into the self seeders but surprisingly all are working well together.

Here is the 'Powderblue' berry I promised you above. I ate this berry and a few others as soon as I was done taking the picture. It was a special treat.

We in the Ramsey family just celebrated a major milestone in our lives. Our baby Jimmy just turned 17! He is a senior in high school and will be graduating next year. It's so hard for us to believe. Here we are singing him Happy Birthday and getting ready for him to open his gifts and cut his cake. He returned home late after having a nice dinner with his girlfriend. You know during the teen years girlfriends are really important to young men. Jimmy had a fantastic birthday and we are looking forward to a good senior year and his graduation in the spring. It will be the first graduation both Mr. Fix-it and I will be able to attend. When the older three children graduated he and I were both deployed. Since our retirements we know that won't happen again. My mother also recently celebrated her birthday. There are lots of August birthdays in our family so let me just say to all a Happy Birthday....


in the garden....

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Pumpkin On a Stick & Other Garden Goodies

This is a two for one post. Normally I like to post just one subject but since I've cut back on posting and just can't seem to stick to one thing to photograph in the garden you all get a twofer! The main thing I'd like to share is my 'Pumpkin on a Stick'. Ever heard of it before? No, it's not a fair treat in the class of butter on a stick or koolaid on a stick but it is indeed a neat thing-you will not eat this 'pumpkin' though.

This pumpkin is actually an eggplant, Solanum integrifolia to be exact. This is an ornamental eggplant and as you can see the eggplants look just like pumpkins. I must say this has to be one of the neatest if NOT the neatest thing I've grown in my vegetable garden. I received this one little plant from a fellow master gardener when I won a door prize drawing. Thanks David! He was kind enough to supply me with all literature he had on this plant. David told me he purchased the seeds and started several plants for his garden and to give away to us master gardeners and to a select few of his friends. At first I thought my new acquistion was a brugmansia (which I believe is in the same family as eggplants-Solanaceae) but that was not the case.

Like all eggplants this one needs lots of sun, staking, fertilizer, and heat. My pumpkin on a stick has grown from a 4" plant in June to a more than four foot tall plant in August! There are several small fruits growing on it but only a few have begun turning the pumpkin orange as is characteristic of this fruit. I have read where these 'pumpkins' are great for use in dried arrangements. I suspect they'll come in handy for my garden club this fall. This is a very easy and rewarding plant to grow but I must say it has been mercilessly attacked by flea beetles. I do not normally use any pesticides in my gardens but have resorted to Sevin to combat the flea beetles. Overall the flea beetles have not severely damaged the plant but the damage could get to that point if not treated. 

So I ask you all-have you ever heard of 'Pumpkin on a Stick"? And if so what is your experience with growing it?

Now onto some late summer garden pictures. Here in Tennessee it is Surprise Lily time and boy oh boy do these ever make for treats in the garden. I have several clumps that were started when a gardening friend gave me some bulbs (in February of course). These lilies (Lycoris squamigera) have a great fragrance and last forever as cut flowers in the house.

The butterflies and bees have taken over all the self seeded cosmos in my vegetable garden. It is such a joy to watch all of the insects!

Here we are looking into the vegetable garden-jungle. Not a jungle really but quite full of plants and vegetation. The vegetables and orange cosmos have really done quite well this year. I must say this has been the best season for my vegetable garden. We are still picking great tomatoes and cucumbers and peppers. The cantaloupes and squash will be ready soon. The zucchini plants are the largest I've ever ever grown in my life and the funny thing is I haven't done anything special-except water regularly. I've never had cucumbers past the end of July in my garden. Disease and insects usually take out the cucumbers and squash but this year both have stayed away for the most part. 

I purchased an absolutely fabulous native grass a few months ago at the Perennial Plant Society meeting in June. It is 'Northwinds' Panicum virgatum. I call it my punctuation mark amongst all of the other frilly, roundy, and busy perennials. It really sets off the pineapple sage in front of it and Rudbeckia lacinata to the right of it. Asters and lantana round out the perennials in this area of the Sunny Perennial Border looking toward the Vegetable Garden, aka jungle.



Lastly, you know it is nearing fall when the ornamental grasses begin blooming in Tennessee. This one is my absolute favorite (even more than 'Northwinds'). It is 'Adagio' Miscanthus sinensis and does so well here in my garden that I've spread it all around. It is drought and shade tolerant-a total bonus here. I have it paired with a 'Limelight' hydrangea, an arborvitae, several 'Immaculee' peonies and a 'Little Richard' abelia along the northern edge of my Foundation Beds. 


I hope everyone is enjoying their summer and are looking forward to fall. My neighbor (Mr. C. the farmer) tells me it will be an early fall because all of the swallows have left his farm. He says they usually stick around through most of August but have been gone for a while now. I always listen to him because with all of his years of farming the land and loving the critters that live on it I've found he has a great deal of wisdom-and hasn't been wrong yet. 


in the garden....


Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

The Star of My Winter Vegetable Garden: Chinese Cabbage

It has been a while since I've talked of my vegetable garden so today I wanted to share the star of my winter vegetable garden. I had to wait until I actually ate this Chinese cabbage first before sharing it. Sometimes I just grow things to grow them and don't really fully utilize my things once they are grown. Ever do that? Well I'm not doing it anymore-at least not in the case of this cabbage. I planted a six pack of these little starts last fall and my how they have surprised me. Winters in northern Middle Tennessee can be cold and brutal. Usually even the most hardy vegetables will succumb to the cold by the end of January. Not this Chinese cabbage! It laughs at the cold and is never fazed. I love it! It looks so pretty in the vegetable garden as it is the only green thing there in the winter. But what I really really like is how it tastes. 


I was a bit hesitant to eat this cabbage because I had nibbled a bit of it straight from the garden. Rabbit I am not as I did not like the taste of this very leafy vegetable when it was raw. My two rabbits adore it though. Well, one snowy evening when I was giving a talk to a home school group and talking about this vegetable I mentioned I did not know how to cook it. One of the ladies perked up and said I do! I asked "How then?" She replied, "Saute it." I happen to have a wok and we love stir fry so I thought that would be the perfect meal to try out this Chinese cabbage. It is so pretty cooked up and added that bit of green that makes stir fry dishes colorful. We all loved it here. The only downside, the two fertilizer bunnies might be eating a bit less Chinese cabbage....


in the garden....
Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Veggie Garden Update-August 2010-Cantaloupes Anyone?

From In the Garden

What a difference a month makes in the vegetable garden! We have to pick every day or else we wind up with a basketful of lots of vegetables-including some that have grown too big. Do you see the cucumbers? Yuck! I love the cucumbers to eat and to grow but hate the fact they tend to hide out amongst the foliage and are very difficult to find. The two huge ones that have begun turning yellow are destined for the compost bin-back to the earth to feed next year's vegetable garden; and the cycle continues. I think one of the best things about gardening is the ability to recycle wastes from our homes and everyday lives back into a usable product-compost-that can then grow healthy vegetables to feed us.

From In the Garden

July Veggie Garden Update Picture

From In the Garden

August Veggie Garden Update

The two photos above might best show just how much the vegetable garden has changed. Wow! I love the changes in gardens and it never fails to amaze me just how much plants grow in a single season. Where we could see the A-frame and some of the brick pathways last month both are covered by vines this month. It makes for tricky walking trying to avoid stepping on the cantaloupe vines but I have to work with what I have-a small vegetable patch in part shade.

From In the Garden

The primary vining crops that are taking over the garden are the bushel gourds and cantaloupe. Gourds really love the garden as they are taking over part of the lawn and nearby beds as well! The cantaloupes are not as bad about taking over but since they are growing in the old banana spot and were an afterthought, they are taking over the pathways since they are not growing up a trellis. On the gourds I am actually relieved to see them take off and grow so I don't begrudge them their real estate. I was afraid I wouldn't get any gourds due to their slow start but just look at the three in the picture! It seemed like the gourds grew overnight.

From In the Garden

Another big surprise is all the cantaloupes we have in the garden. I think at last count there are six of these huge fruits growing. They are pretty close to a foot in diameter. We were SO ready to pick one and determine its ripeness and taste that I think we prematurely picked a cantaloupe.

From In the Garden

This cantaloupe was the victim of us rushing in so to speak. While it tasted good and disappeared in two days, it was a bit more firm and not as tasty as we'd like our cantaloupes to be. Mr. Fix-it and I decided it probably needed another few days in order for it to fully soften up and develop a deep flavor. We'll wait a bit longer than we think on the other cantaloupes-but can you blame us for jumping the gun and picking it? Please forgive Mr. Fix-it's appearance-he was working outside on this very hot day and got his white shirt smudged.

Update on cantaloupe ripeness: the outside of the cantaloupes are quickly changing color to a very distinct orange and not the tan and green you see on the above pictured cantaloupe in the garden. My friend Vonna says THAT is when to pick them but to still leave them a day or two longer. That day will be tomorrow since I am having a bunch of garden club members over to do a leaf casting workshop. You can bet cantaloupes-probably this one-will be on the menu for snacks! I will let you all know how it goes and maybe post a picture Friday or next week.

From In the Garden

Here is a long shot showing both the gourds and the cantaloupes-do you see how much less room the vines take when grown vertically versus along the ground? Oh how I wish I could let all my vining crops run but that is not to be so. Just to the right of the vines is one of two beds with tomatoes. They are doing quite well now but are beginning to decline due to the heat. Watering has not been an issue for the vegetable garden believe it or not. One of the advantages of the French intensive method of gardening I employ is to have the ground all covered either with plants or mulch and to ensure the soil is double dug and enriched with good compost-this alleviates water loss and helps to protect the soil. It has worked like a charm for me for nearly many years. I've watered this garden only twice all summer. That is super great!

Aside: I believe the French Intensive Method of gardening is a precursor to square foot gardening. In my little research on the matter I have found the French intensive method to have become popularized in the mid 1970s and the square foot gardening technique became popular in the early 1980s. Correct me if I'm wrong. Both methods employ good soil practices and are favored by organic gardeners. I find I like the French Intensive method better because all work is done up front and there is no need for exact and precise measurements. While the SFG method seems to work for many people I just find it ludicrous you must be meticulous with measuring. This may be good for new gardeners but for me gardening is to go and do. Spacing can become second nature and rotation simply common sense. I know my opinion may be controversial but it is my opinion. You hardly ever hear of the French Intensive method of gardening anymore and I think it is a shame. All blogs ever talk about is SFG so I had to get in a plug on the French method. I will, no doubt, post on it and my views at some point.

From In the Garden

Lastly let's look at the cucumbers growing vertically. I have an overabundance of cucumbers-as I know most of you do that grow cukes. I tried to compensate for not having any cukes last summer by over planting this summer. These vines are growing up on a nylon trellis that you can find at just about any store for a few dollars. I cannot recommend these trellises enough. Many think the nylon rots quickly but in my experience the trellis will last many years. I just retired one last year after six years. It was not retired due to rot but due to tears when I'd move it around or I would pull vine residue off from it-basically I mistreated it a bit. In came two new trellises and I'm leaving these put for now.

We are also harvesting straight neck squash just about daily. I have found this type of squash to be very squash vine borer resistant. I did not plant any Waltham winter squash this year but I can attest to its durability as well. One vine I will not plant again though is the Kuri squash. It has been a dismal failure, along with the hay bale experiment. We got one banana pepper and one shriveled eggplant from the two hay bales I planted. I will do more research and try that experiment again next year but with a few changes.

A note on fall planting: until the rains return and it cools down it is not wise to plant anything right now-even with consistent watering the plants will pretty much languish. But! Before we know it will be time to get in those transplants of cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower. Plant bulbs of garlic and lettuce seeds too! My lettuce is still growing but I am need of a new planting soon. I actually met my goal of picking lettuce with tomatoes but the lettuce was bitter and very tiny-not exactly what I had in mind....

in the garden...

Look for a post to come on the gourds. If you do not grow these vines then it might just be time if you want a great looking groundcover vine that stands up to the heat and drought and part shade and even produces cool fruit!


Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team,

In the Garden