Summer Rain (again)

The garden got 1 ½ “ of rain last night. It was sorely needed. That means of course that all the BT and sulfur was washed off of the plants. This makes a feast for the bugs. The plants will make a feast for us. Everybody wins for a little while. This afternoon the BT and sulfur will be restored to the foliage. A lot of the dead squash leaves and stems will go to the compost.

The infested plants that are put into the compost need to be the center of a hot sandwich. We put grass clippings on the top of the pile. The infested leaves are put on this and more grass clippings are put on the top. In some neighborhoods in Charlotte, people bag their grass clippings. In most neighborhoods they don’t. A lot of this bagged grass goes into the bed of my truck and eventually into the compost pile. Grass clippings are about as close as some city gardeners can get to manure. It is the main ingredient and first stage in most manures anyway.

The eggplants are producing again after a little lull. One plant produced a few eggplants then quit. Now all of the eggplants are producing. So are the watermelons and the cantaloupes. The tomatoes and cucumbers are still chugging along, but the squash is out of business. There are a few patty-pans on the late planted plants. The second crop of squash is growing well, but does not have blossoms yet.


David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/

Finally Figs

The first figs were picked yesterday finally. The production from the two trees was kept separate to see whether pruning or not pruning makes a difference. One picking, of course, will not be definitive. The un-pruned tree produced 1# 8 ounces of figs. The pruned tree produced 8 ounces. There are other considerations besides production. The un-pruned tree is much harder to pick. It also shades the garden more.

For the last 3 mornings the garden has been sprayed with sulfur spray. Unless it rains today, that should finish off the spotted cucumber beetles. I only saw 1 this morning. The plants will get a good examination this afternoon. Hopefully the beetles will be gone. The other pest is birds in the tomatoes. It is not fair to complain too much since they are planted by the birdbath. If the problem continues a bird net may be necessary.

We had a complete salad last night, but the mesclun is looking really scroungy. It may be time to go ahead and plant a fresh crop. The soil temperature is still pretty high, maybe we will have to plant bib lettuce or something more heat tolerant. It is almost time for the fall garden anyway. Labor day is supposed to be the day, but need can be an important influence.

David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/

Mystery Solved

The “mystery bugs” are spotted cucumber beetles. During the research phase, I found striped cucumber beetles. These are the same thing with a different pattern on their uniform. Mr. Blackley at Renfrow’s Hardware identified them. They can be defeated with neem oil, pyrethrums or sulfur. Pyrethrums are considered organic because they are made from daisies. They are still a poison. This limits a true organic solution to the sulfur or the neem oil. I already have sulfur.

When sulfur is used in a garden spray one must pay careful attention to the PH of the soil. Even a little bit of sulfur will acidify the soil. The best time to spray is early in the morning to avoid damage to the foliage. If watering is required as well, that should be done first.

The first cantaloupe and the first watermelon came off this weekend. The cantaloupe was very sweet. We haven’t eaten the watermelon yet. The tomatoes and okra are coming in well. The cucumbers are looking shabby. The summer squash is done, but new patty-pan squash and yellow squash have been planted and are doing well. Most of the butternut squash and all of the spaghetti squash has been picked.

David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/

Mystery Bugs

Yesterday’s blog mentioned a mysterious looking bug that was eating the squash leaves. All of the plants were treated with BT Tuesday afternoon. There was no immediate result, but this morning while watering, I did not see any of them. The watering took place at 5:50 to 6:15 AM so it is possible that they just had not gotten out of bed yet. I saw one or two when I was picking the garden yesterday; but they did not look like they were feeling too sporty.

The okra is still producing well. The ones that fell to the ground with the heavy rain are still growing and producing as well. They have to be moved to pick the pods. The ends of them are growing up but the stalks are not making any effort to stand up. Possibly I can pack some dirt around the stalks to support them. The yellow squash is totally gone. The spaghetti squash and the butternut squash are ready to pick.

The tomatoes are doing great. There are a lot of blemishes but the flavor is good. The cucumbers are still coming and the mesclun is still producing. We have a whole salad from the garden at one time.

David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/

Garden Cleanup Continues

There is a lot of old biological material in the garden right now. Some of it comes off everyday and goes to the compost. This old material harbors a lot of the garden’s enemies. There is some type of bug that is shaped and colored like a lady bug but bigger that is gobbling cucurbit leaves. It was sprayed with BT yesterday with little immediate effect. The little rascals have not been identified yet. If they are still there today they will get a dose of sulfur. I will also catch a few and take them to Renfrow’s.

The old squash plants and kale need to go. Likewise, the cornstalks will head for the compost bin. The three sisters experiment was a big failure. We got a few ears of corn, but when the corn got knocked down something ate the rest of the ears and all of the green beans. The only survivors are the butternut squash which is ready to pick. It and the spaghetti squash will come off today or tomorrow.

The greenhouse is coming along well. Some little cabbage and broccoli plants that were planted Sunday have already sprouted. They will be misted instead of bottom watered now that they have sprouted.

David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/

Out with the Old, In with the New

Not New Years, just a turning point in the garden season. The old squash is getting raggedy. Some of the new squash is blooming. Some of the new squash is just getting planted. The sunflowers are almost all on the ground now. When they hit the ground they are finished whether they are finished or not. They will be pulled off this weekend and the bed will be freshened up for something in the fall garden.

The greenhouse is torn all to pieces inside. It needs to get back together for the starting of cabbage and broccoli plants. The spaghetti squash is coming off this weekend. A lady I met in Renfrow’s said that winter squash planted later in the season would taste better. It is too late to try that this year. Next year not everything will go in the ground on good Friday. Some of the plantings will be staggered. Winter squash is one of those things.

Another lesson from this years garden. The beds will either have two inch plastic pipes embedded in the corners or they will have bamboo poles set very deep. This will be to anchor any trellis or other structures needed to support growing plants.

David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/

Planning the Winter Garden

It is mid-July and the garden is getting blah. Good rain for the last two day has helped a little to raise the garden’s spirits. A trip to Renfrow’s to buy greenhouse seeds raised mine. There is space for another bed of squash. The yellow crookneck is looking sad, so the new crop will be planted today or tomorrow. The broccoli and cabbage plants will go in pots as soon as the greenhouse comes back together.

What is good for the winter garden? Maybe some radish and mesclun would be nice. There may still be tomatoes and cucumbers to go with them. Kale, Mustard and Turnips are a must of course. The cabbage and broccoli plants should be ready to transplant by labor day. Labor day is the time to plant a winter garden around here.

Space in the existing beds is at a premium right now. There is almost enough compost to fill another bed in addition to the one that was filled on the weekend of the 4th. There is enough lumber to build 2 more beds, but there is only space for one right now. There will not be enough compost for more than that anyway. The black gold from the city is ok when there is no compost, but it is a sad substitute.

David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/

Clean Green(house) Again

This weekend started the annual clean-up of the greenhouse. Everything in there that might be rain-sensitive was put in the wheelbarrow and stored in the shed. Everything else was piled up in the yard. All the shelves and heat mats were taken out. Even the bricks on the floor were taken out.

The inside raised bed was something of a failure. The tomatoes were planted as upside down tomatoes last week and they can be brought inside of the greenhouse and hung from the rafters so the raised beds won’t be needed. They will be covered with plywood and more benches will be built along that wall with concrete blocks and boards. They will be very temporary in case it doesn’t work well. The floor will be smoothed and re-bricked. The shelves will be repainted and re-installed with more support on the long ones. The lights will be re-hung.

All of the pots and flats will be sterilized and brought back ready to plant. The heat mats will be on the window side of the greenhouse. The new benches will be used to mist the plants with water instead of bottom watering. The last two years the greenhouse has been a failure. I think the bottom watering is the problem.

David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/

Lessons from this Years Garden

There are things to do and things not to do. A big to do is to get the whole garden into raised beds. Another thing to do is be more diligent with the pepper spray. Both fig trees will definitely get a heavy pruning. The things not to do deal mostly with what not to plant.

There will be no potatoes and corn. The melons do well; but they all get ripe at the same time and we don’t eat them. The jury is still out on the melons. The three sisters will have sunflowers in the place of corn. There will be more varieties of tomatoes, peppers and squash and more eggplant plants. There will be lots of cucumbers, the same amount of okra and more pole beans. There will be green beans and speckled limas.

The spaces between the beds will be mulched much earlier next year to avoid grass. The mimosa tree that shades the garden will come down. It is possible the poplar tree will come down too.

David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/

Powdery Mildew

The powdery mildew has made its annual visit to the garden. It seems worse this year than it has ever been. A part to the sprayer was lost when spraying started Sunday. Today the spraying needs to be finished up. There are two good organic remedies for powdery mildew.

A sulfur spray works well and fast. Just put about 3 oz of powdered wettable sulfur in a gallon of water and go to it. A little dish soap helps it stay in solution and stick to the leaves. The good thing about the sulfur is that it does not seem to damage the leaves. It also stays visible on the plant until the next rain. The sulfur will increase the acidity of the soil.

A baking soda spray works equally well. About 4 tablespoons of baking soda in a gallon of water with a little dish soap does the trick. The baking soda spray does seem to kill the leaves on which it is sprayed. It increases the alkalinity of the soil. Because it is invisible in the solution, it is difficult to tell if it is still there. For this reason we normally use the sulfur. We add cayenne to the solution to deter the deer and rabbits at the same time.

David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/

Firecracker 4th

The promised rain did not materialize, watering was needed. The weekend of the 4th did show some progress in the garden however. The tomatoes are coming in fast enough to give a couple away. Not quite fast enough to can. There are several egg plants almost ready to pick. We are getting over 1 pound of cucumbers every day. The potatoes were pulled off. There was a net loss on the amount of seed potatoes and the harvested potatoes. I really mean it this time. No more potatoes!!!

One of the beds where the potatoes were planted was filled with compost and covered with dirt. Also the upside down tomatoes were planted. This year a rack was built to keep them high enough off of the ground that they will be hard for deer to browse. Last year just as the plant was loaded with tomatoes, a deer ate the whole thing. This year it is hoped that they will last long enough to come into the green house and produce some late tomatoes.

The corn is finished. Something ate the ones that were on the ground and knocked the rest of the corn down. In the three sisters bed, the beans hit the ground as well and got eaten by whatever ate the corn. The butternut squash grew into the yellow squash bed and all the way through it. There are loads of butternut squash. The powdery mildew is back and I tried to spray it, but the sulfur stopped up the nozzle on the sprayer. When it was being cleaned a part was lost so today I have to get a new sprayer.

David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/

Sweet Summer Rain

I love it!! It is too wet to get in the garden if the rain falling at my office is falling at home as well. This is the perfect rain. Hard enough to get stuff wet. Soft enough not to smash everything down. The vegetables will sink their roots into the blessed water and live. As soon as the sun pops out, it will suck all of that water up into the plants and swell up the fruits. This is all the rain that is called for until July 9. It might be enough. The weather man probably doesn’t know anyway.

The mustard greens are starting to go to seed. We are tired of them anyway. I think I will pull them off this weekend. The potatoes come off too. There are either potatoes down there or not. I am ready to fill the beds with compost and dirt and plant something else. It is hot and early for mesclun and spinach, but maybe, I’ll plant it anyway. Worst case, I lose my seed.

About ½ of the sunflowers are still standing. They look to be at least 10’ tall. The little flowers are turning to the sun. They are only about 4” across right now. If the rain doesn’t knock them down, the sun will make them grow. There is a little 2 year old boy in the house behind me. I can’t wait to give him one of those big sunflowers.

David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/

Yay! A Tomato

It must be admitted, the tomato has a little green on the top. It was too close to the ground to trust the small creatures. It had to go in the kitchen window. It will be ready to eat tonight or tomorrow. This of course will be a special ceremony. We will make some special bacon and get a loaf of Nova’s bread. There is lettuce (mesclun) and cucumber in the garden. My wife likes mayonnaise. I prefer aioli.

The okra is going to town. It has to be picked every day or else it turns giant. There is an abundance of squash. A friend says he dries it. We will check into that. Freezing is probably the easiest way to save food. Frozen squash sucks. The problem with squash is that it is mostly water. The water separates in the freezing or canning process.

We are getting a little rain this morning. I got up at 5:30 to water the garden and went outside. After slathering up with mosquito repellant and cutting the water on to the garden, I realized the rain was coming down. Hallelujah!! It doesn’t seem to be heavy enough to do much good, but if it lasts long enough it should help.

David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/