Fountain Does Work

Saturday morning the fountain was set back into the birdbath and hooked up. After a few minutes it started working. It was not shooting a great jet of water or anything, but it did work. It was put in the greenhouse before I went to the office because a freeze was projected for Sunday morning.

The greenhouse is almost ready for the bedding plants to be started. All that is missing is the seeds. An attempt was made to place an order with Park Seed, but their webpage did not seem to be working properly. The order was submitted several times but there was some type of endless loop that prevented the order going through. There has not been time to re-place the order.

Sunday morning a new planting of onions and radishes was set out. The weather will likely be too cold for them to grow as fast as the earlier plantings but the freezes don’t really hurt them and the sunny days will produce some growth. The radishes that were planted earlier are so big that they look like turnips.

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

Fountain Won’t Squirt

Michael was ordering a birdbath with a solar fountain for his wife Winter’s Christmas present. I asked him to order a birdbath fountain for me to fit in the birdbath at home. The thing did not have directions and I am not very mechanically inclined. I put it together wrong once for sure.

The second assembly appears to be correct, but there may just not have been enough sun. There is a pine tree that is blocking some of the sun and since it also could fall on the house or a power line, there is a good reason to remove it. There are quite a few pine trees that meet that same criteria, so when the 1st of the year comes maybe some of those trees and a Poplar and a Mimosa will be cut down.

The poor sunlight may not be the reason the fountain did not work. There is a phone # for the company that made the fountain in the box. Perhaps a phone call will get better instructions.

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

Garden Cleanup Proceeds

Putting the garden to sleep for winter is a seemingly never-ending task. Each bed needs to be renewed and mulched. The first step is pulling out all the old plants and weeds and taking down the structures that were built to support the plants. Anything that will be re-used has to be disinfected and stored. Anything that is being thrown away needs to be disposed of in such a manner as not to spread pests or disease.

The greenhouse needs to be prepared for starting the bedding plants too. That job is almost complete. 2 new 4’ shop lights were purchased to start a new shelf. 4-flat bottom heaters were not available locally so they had to be ordered. The old pads and shelves have been sanitized with chlorine bleach as have the containers and flats.

The old plants from the garden have been disposed of. The ties have been saved but not sanitized. The bamboo poles need to be sorted and cleaned and the ones that are no longer good will go on the street. The weeds will be the next project. There are not many because of the heavy mulch. The beds will then be reworked and the two rows that are not in raised beds will be tilled and re-mulched.

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

Salvaged Eggplants

The frost a week or so ago killed all the eggplant and pepper plants. The peppers that were on the plants were soggy. The eggplants were planted elsewhere and did not receive any attention. When the plants were pulled off Saturday, there were a lot of eggplants still on them. They appeared to be firm, so they were picked and taken inside. They wound up in eggplant parmesan Monday night and were delicious.

The eggplant parmesan was served on a bed of arugula, which was wonderful and accompanied by a side salad featuring mesclun, arugula, radishes and onions from the garden. Just because the winter comes does not mean the garden won’t feed the gardener.

Once again the perfect garden is being planted in my head. Learning the lessons from the summer, most of which are positive this year is important in planning the garden and the choice of plants to start in the greenhouse.

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

Sweet Greens

The freezing weather has really improved the taste of the greens from the garden. The leaves are limp in the early morning until things warm up, but in the afternoon they perk up. They are still a darker green and they are really tender. There does not seem to be a change at all in the collards, but they are not big enough to pick yet anyway.

The pansies seem to enjoy the cold weather. They are smiling all the time now and producing a riot of color. The camellias too are doing well. It is doubtful that the artichokes can take much more cold. It really doesn’t matter. They were planted in the front yard to provide interest while the other winter plantings were getting started. Hopefully their roots will survive and prosper and next spring new artichokes will come up.

The backyard artichokes in the garden produced 1 artichoke this year and then seemed to die back. Hopefully the front yard “chokes” will do better.

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

Maria Copies Me

I doubt very seriously that Maria Rodale even reads this blog, but she did repeat an Idea that I have mentioned for years. This time of year is when we have a perfect garden, because it is in our heads. On “Maria’s Page” in the Organic Gardening Magazine. She talked about learning from this year’s mistakes when planning next years garden.

There is one resolution that I make every year and this is the first year that I have kept it 100%. That is to keep a record of the varieties planted. This worked really well for everything, but especially for the tomatoes. The bulk of the tomatoes in our garden were from 3 varieties, but there were a couple of plants that were traded with friends and planted.

It has been several years since the garden was blessed with German Johnson or Rutgers tomatoes. The plants were given to me by Mick McNeely and they did very well. It was good that the package was kept from the cayennes as well, because although the package pictured regular cayennes, the variety turned out to be the cow horn cayenne. They were 6” to 8” long and as twisted as I am.

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

Cherry Trees

The cherry trees from Stark Bros. arrived Friday by UPS. The box was much larger than expected. Sunday they went into the ground. I had forgotten that the bare root trees needed to be soaked in cold water for 4-6 hours before being planted, so they did not get planted until just before the sun went down. All the preparations were made in the morning.

The 4 plants were placed in 2 5 gallon buckets of water and left to soak from 10:00 am until about 4:30. The holes were dug, three times as wide as needed, but only as deep as needed. The holes were filled with water. In the late afternoon when the trees were planted the holes with trees were filled about 2/3 full with compost and topped off with the original dirt from the planting holes. They were then soaked down really well with the garden hose.

Today the dirt will be topped up to the level below the graft on the trees and the trees will be mulched with leaf mulch. They will be watered well throughout the first winter and fertilized in the spring as soon as they start to bud.

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

Thankful

Thanksgiving is coming. What is there to be thankful for? There are a lot of things outside of the garden, but the garden has plenty too. The greens and radishes are unbelievable this year. There seem to be fewer bugs this year even though there has not been a hard freeze yet.

This was probably the best year since moving back into Charlotte for the garden. We had lots of tomatoes, peppers, patty-pan squash and eggplants. There were plenty of salads, mostly from the garden. The flowers are doing well. The compost bin is yielding 2 wheelbarrow loads per week. It is time to look forward to the next phase.

The greenhouse is going to need a major cleaning before it can be planted. The pots
were cleaned and disinfected when the planting was finished, but the windows and floor need cleaning as well as the heat pads and shelves. Quite a few plants were propagated and a place needs to be made for them. It would be nice to get 1 more heat pad and expand the planting.

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

Ugly Rock Wall

Today’s project was the rock wall around the mailbox. It consumed most of the morning and as I walked around it, it looked pretty good. As I drove out of the driveway it looked totally different. It will have to be torn down and rebuilt. It is a good thing it is dry stacked. One more attempt will be made and then I will admit that I am not much of a rock mason.

One row of peppers was pulled up yesterday. All of the ties were saved for next year as well as the sticks. The peppers on the vines filled 2 1/2 bags. Most were given away but the ugly peppers were saved for pepper-spray. This morning the plants were laid out on the yard and mulched with the lawn mower before going into the compost pile.

The mesclun is big enough to start cutting, so maybe we will have a salad tomorrow. A big bag of greens was picked for supper tonight. Somehow greens and a salad is just too much at one time.

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

Facing the Ghost

Finally the courage was found to eat a ghost pepper. I did not eat the whole thing of course. A friend sliced the pepper into almost miniscule pieces. One little piece on the end of the tongue was all that for which courage could be found. A little tingle…A rush of heat…Tongue on fire…Even my face was burning. After that things settled down a little. Believe it or not, the aftertaste was great. I had to do it again. The next taste was even hotter. The rush was phenomenal.

Aside from the act of great personal courage, there was some serious progress in other areas over the weekend. A little more mulch was put into the garden pathways and the leaves were gathered in most of the front yard. They were piled around some of the trees. There has been no comment from my wife yet. Two of her projects were accomplished so she may let me get away with putting the leaves around the trees.

There is enough compost now to fill the little rock wall that will be built around the mailbox. Now that school is in kids will probably get drunk and take their frustrations out on mailboxes. They may get a surprise.

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

Leaf it to Me

The leaves are falling. People are putting them in bags and putting them on the street. The ones from our yard get picked up with the bagging lawn mower and used for mulch or added to the compost pile. Some of the ones people put on the street wind up in my garden or my compost too. Some people even put pine needles out. Those are used to top the mulch in the front yard and make it look like we spent money.

Other leaves are coming out instead of coming down. Today’s lunch includes mixed greens. Last night’s supper was a garden salad made with arugula, onions and radishes from the garden. There were tomatoes too. They were small but tasty. The radish greens went into the mixed greens for lunch. Mesclun leaves will be in the next salad.

The bugs are not usually too bad in the fall. I hope the larger wild life will leaf me alone.

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

Happy Halloween

The ghost peppers are the Halloween stars of the garden. Something ate all of the leaves which I thought was impossible. They grew back. You just can’t keep a good ghost down on Halloween.

The temperature according, to the weather underground, supposedly dropped to 28 degrees Sunday. Nothing in the garden seemed to be affected. The greens don’t matter anyway. They get sweeter after a freeze. The okra, peppers, egg plants and tomatoes looked fine this morning.

The pumpkin, with which we were gifted, did not wind up as a jack-o-lantern. He wound up as a fantastic pumpkin soup. There is enough pumpkin “meat” left over to do it again.

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

Time for a Good Salad

The cucumbers will have to come from the store. The mesclun, arugula, onions, tomatoes and radishes will come from the garden. The cucumbers were pretty disappointing this year. Next year they will be taken out of the garden altogether. Maybe they will do better in the front yard. They are not really decorative plants, but having cucumbers or not having them offsets that.

The spinach was planted in the same spot for the 3rd time. Maybe the soil is cool enough now. There were one or two little spinach plants there, so the seeds were just planted around them. There was one nice cabbage plant. It was not in the cabbage row. It probably came from a dropped seed. That plant was replanted to its proper place and the cabbage was replanted as well.

Cool weather has been very slow coming this year. October 21st is supposed to be our average 1st killing frost date. The lowest night temperature we have had has been 39 degrees. It sure would be nice to keep the pleasant weather and have the soil cool down as well.

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

OH Deer Me

Coming to work this morning at 8:39 (Friday is a late day), a deer walked in front of the truck. She had followers so I stopped to let them cross. They spooked. There were a total of 2 does and 3 or maybe 4 fawns. They were headed straight toward my house.

The depredations from deer this year have not been bad. The 8’ fence and the human hair might have helped some. Something has been eating the ghost pepper leaves, but that is probably a possum. It did not eat the peppers and possums are a good thing because they eat poisonous snakes. They are more likely to eat the compost than the veggies in most cases.

Last year the deer ate the pansies. They like azaleas too, but the ones in our yard are well enough established that it doesn’t really hurt them. It just prunes them. My real fear is for the blueberries. The leaves are pretty in the fall and they might taste good.

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

Fall Harvest

Fall is traditionally harvest time. There is not much left to harvest. The tomatoes, egg plants and peppers are doing well. The winter squash was a flop. The okra is slowing down almost to a screeching halt. The greens are coming just coming in. There have been greens on the table about 3 times so far. One mess has been given away.

The kale is spotty. The cabbage, spinach and sugar peas will have to be replanted again. The collards and onions are a bright spot. The mesclun is also doing well. The first crop of ghost peppers was harvested after something ate all the leaves. I can’t imagine what would eat ghost pepper leaves.

I gave a couple of ghost peppers to friends. I hope we are still friends. After slicing them into tiny segments, one small bite turned their faces bright red. It would have been a blast to watch the faces of whatever ate the leaves in the garden.

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

Some Grows, Some Goes

The fall garden has been a spotty thing this year. Cucumbers came up great and died. Squash came up well and have small squash, that grow so slowly that the pickle worms find them. The sugar peas came up and went away. They were replanted and have not come back up. The 1st radishes are getting some size, but they have no radishes. The spinach came up and went away and had to be replanted. The cabbage was doing well, but has disappeared.

The arugula is doing well as is the mesclun. The mustard and turnips have been picked several times. The kale that was planted at the same time as the mustard and turnips is growing really slowly. The onions and collards planted a week ago have not even come up. The fig tree is loaded, but they are not getting ripe.

The bed in the center of the front yard has been completely reworked. All of the living plants were dug up. The bed was sided with a double row of landscaping timbers and filled with compost and dirt. Three artichokes were planted and the irises and cannas were replanted. The cannas will be moved to another bed, but they had to be replanted in that bed, because there is no place for them yet. That bed will get a lot more work through the week and next weekend.

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

Fall Garden in Full Growth Mode

Cool nights, warm afternoons and lots of rain makes the fall a great time for gardens. Turnip greens were on Sunday night’s supper table. The mesclun that was planted Sunday was out of the ground yesterday (Tuesday). The mustard and kale are almost ready to pick. The missing link is the onion sets. Renfrow’s hardware didn’t have the sets in last week. Hopefully they have them now.

The late cucumbers have not produced yet and they are already looking ratty. The late squash have squash on them already. The patty pan is still coming in. The spaghetti squash is a total failure this year, and the butternut produced only little squash.

Fortunately the tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and patty pan squash are still producing. The okra has not yielded a pod for two days, but they are covered with blossoms. The last ones picked were too big and tough even though they were only one day old.

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

Finally Fall Fell

Friday’s temperature dropped to a comfortable range. Everything in the fall garden has sprouted except for the spinach, carrots and beets. I thought the spinach had come up, but Saturday morning, it was nowhere to be found. It will have to be replanted next weekend. This weekend saw another bed renovated and planted with a follow up crop of radishes, beets and carrots.

Tomorrow there will be another trip to renfrow’s to purchase onion sets and mesclun seeds. That should round out the fall garden except for more follow ups on radishes and carrots. The beets will probably not have time to get a good start for first frost if they are planted any later.

The cucumbers and squash have some female blossoms now. There is a chance they will start producing before the tomatoes totally quit. The arugula is almost ready to pick, so we will have a complete garden salad with any luck at all. The lettuce may even be big enough to pick by then. Mesclun and spinach will probably not be.

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

A Plague of Possums (O’possums)

This must be possum season. My wife saw a whole line of little possums walking up the driveway. The next day there was a baby in the bucket where compost is accumulated before dumping it in the compost pile. It got a soft landing in the compost bin. Instead of running away, it just buried itself into the pile. Saturday morning when I went to the greenhouse, there was a horrible stench, like something dead. There were three baby possums in the potting soil barrel. One was dead.

I turned the barrel over and left the greenhouse to give them some privacy. After about 15 minutes the two live ones had left. The smell was gone too. Evidently possums smell better dead than alive. The dead one was discarded and the barrel turned back up. Sunday morning there was 1 baby possum in the barrel. I turned it down to let him go, which he quickly did.

Yesterday afternoon, there was a young raccoon under the fig tree watching me pick the garden. He does not seem to have done any damage, so I rewarded him with some overgrown okra. Maybe that will placate him so that he doesn’t destroy the garden.

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

The Ghost Lives

The first little ghost peppers appeared this weekend. The peppers do look like the ones in the pictures of ghost peppers. Maybe they are real!!

Lots of lima beans and string beans are coming on too. The second planting of cucumbers is climbing and blooming, but no cukes yet. The new squash plants are growing well, but no blossoms. The turnips, mustard, kale, spinach, arugula, cabbage, sugar peas and radish are up. The carrots and beets are not up but they usually take a while. The late crop of figs seemed to have made a false start. The trees produced a handful and then quit again. They are loaded with figs.

The old squash plants really look scroungy and they are not producing anything but a few patty-pans. Even those have pickle worms. They still have blossoms though and I am loathe to pull them up. Once they are gone, the beds they occupy can be reworked and put to sleep for the winter.

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

Fast Germination

The fall garden is amazing for the fast germination. Arugula was planted Sunday and came up on Monday. Turnips, mustard and kale were planted on Sunday of the week before and sprouted on Saturday. Cabbage and spinach were planted at the same time as the Arugula. They have not sprouted yet, but the soil may be too warm. They need temperatures of less than 70 degrees.

The next crop of figs seems to have started with a handful on Monday (Labor day). The previous crop was the largest we have ever had. This crop appears to be the sweetest ever. We make a lot of fig preserves because they are so good on biscuits or toast on cold mornings. The late cucumbers already have blossoms and runners so they were put onto a trellis this weekend. See the picture above.

A late harvest of cucumbers and squash is always iffy because there are so many bugs to eat them. The first plantings of cucumbers are dead already. The first plantings of squash are still alive, but they are producing almost nothing.

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

Dry Hurricane

The rain from Hurricane Irene may have drenched the coast, but it left Charlotte high and dry. The garden had to be watered on Sunday. Watching people fighting high water on the coast, while the soaker hoses are running seems so unfair. The dry weather seems to have slowed the tomatoes and ended the squash, but it does not seem to bother the okra.

Sunday was a good time to start the fall garden. The soil is still too warm for cabbage and things like that, but the turnips, mustard and kale do not seem to be as sensitive to soil temperature for germination. Carrots, beets, spinach, cabbage, onion sets, broccoli and Brussels sprouts will have to wait.

Several beds that were occupied by squash and squash family plants need to be renewed for fall or spring planting. The ones for fall planting can just be reworked and not mulched. The ones for spring will get a heavy layer of mulch to stimulate decomposition of compost and generation of earthworms.

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

Cool Soil for Fall Planting

Some of the things in your fall garden can be planted now. Most of the greens will be fine. Cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts need for the soil to be around 70 degrees or less to get reliable germination. If they are being planted, it should be plants instead of seeds. Onions should wait a couple more months.

Beans, okra, egg plants and peppers should bear well until the 1st frost. Tomatoes are probably slacking off a little. Lots of water and a liberal side dressing of compost and organic fertilizer will stretch the season on them until frost, but with a reduced yield. Squash and cucumbers from the 1st planting are on their last leg if they haven’t already given up. The later planting will take over. The problem with the later planting is that the pests that like the cucurbits are well established. They may wipe out the tender young plants unless they are controlled early.

The main pests to watch for are cucumber beetles, pickle worms, stink bugs and other bugs from these families. BT will control the pickle worms. Stink bugs and other members of this group need to be picked off by hand. Neem oil will help some, but not 100%.


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

Propagation

There are several methods of propagating plants. Using seeds is the most common. Planting bulbs is similar. Planting a bulb like an onion feels like there is little net gain. “Plant an onion to get an onion.” Cloning or taking cuttings is fun, because something that would normally be thrown away (pruning leftovers) is turned into a new plant. The advantage of this method is that the new plant has the exact same DNA as the old plant. If you have a plant that produces really great fruit or wonderful flowers, it will breed true.

The exception to this is grafted plants of course. Often this really fantastic plant is taken as a cutting and grafted onto a stronger rootstock. Taking a cutting may result in a weak plant. It is also important to sterilize the clippers or knife with bleach to avoid spreading disease.

Each cutting should have a node close to the place where the limb is cut. This is where the roots will come from when the cutting goes into the medium. The cuttings should ideally be about 6” long. The medium should be something that will hold moisture but still drain well and stay loose enough that the roots can grow. The cutting is stripped of branches and leaves except for a couple of leaves at the top end. These leaves are cut in half. The cutting is then dipped into rooting hormone and stuck in the dirt as deeply as possible, being careful to bury at least 1 node.

Pour some of the hormone into a cup to avoid contaminating the whole container.
Several cuttings can be placed in a single pot of medium. The whole thing is then capped off with a “private greenhouse”. Old soda or juice bottles with the bottom cut out make great “private greenhouses”. Be sure the medium is wet, but not soggy, at planting time. Check the medium every few days to make sure it doesn’t dry out.

When the cutting shows signs of new growth, it should be transplanted to an individual pot to avoid tangling of roots with other cuttings. The cover is not needed at this point. Keep the dirt moist until the plant is strong enough to transplant.


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

Garden Pests on Vacation

It is not definite whether they are on vacation or if they have gone back to school, but the garden pests are not much in evidence now. The garden has not been sprayed with sulfur or BT since the last several rains. Except for one squash plant there seems to be little deprivation. That one plant only has about 3 leaves that are damaged. The powdery mildew seems to have been put out of business by the hot weather.

There are a lot of writing spiders everywhere. They are fearsome looking beasts, but they eat a lot of bugs and they are big enough to knock back a stink bug or something like that. There seems to be a bumper crop of rabbits this year, but the only damage from them seems to be some of the cucumber sprouts. They were sprinkled with powdered cayenne pepper and that seems to have broken the rabbits from sucking eggs.

Production has dropped off too. The new tomatoes are small and defective. The squash has almost quit. The peppers and okra are doing great.

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

Using Stevia for Canning

The question posed in the last article was, “Can we use a sugar substitute in canning?” The answer turned out to be yes. Stevia was the substitute that I had in mind. All of the recipes I found were for “store-bought” stevia. We raise stevia in the garden and use it to make simple syrup. This will probably work well, but the strength could vary. We will try it soon.

One consideration in using a sugar substitute, and specifically stevia, is that the thickening that comes from sugar will not result. A little extra pectin will be needed. The recipes found suggested using a non-sugar pectin. Another issue using sugar substitutes other than stevia is that they lose their sweetness when subjected to high heat. Stevia does not.

To make the simple syrup from stevia, just throw a handful of leaves in boiling water and boil it for a while. Put a little bit in a glass of water to test the strength. Some experimentation will be required to get the proportions right. This syrup can also be used to sweeten tea or coffee. It can be mixed with milk to sweeten cereal.

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

Canning Peaches

Canning peaches or any fruit is pretty easy. Peaches can be skinned just like tomatoes. They don’t even have to be skinned, but they seem to be a little better if they are. Just get a pot of water boiling. Put the peaches in a wire basket and leave them in the boiling water for one to one and half minutes. Pull them out and dump them in a bowl of ice water. Our wire basket only held five or six peaches, so it took a while to do ½ bushel.

When the peaches are cool enough to handle just rub the skin off, cut the peaches in half and remove the pit. Cut the peach halves into crescents. If you were freezing them you could just put them in a freezer bag, with or without sugar, at this point. For canning, stuff them in the jars and pour hot simple syrup over them.

Process the jars in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes and “voila”. It may be possible to can peaches with a sugar substitute. I will research that and let you know.

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

Satisfaction Guaranteed

Anyone who thinks they are saving money by raising a garden, especially if there is a greenhouse involved, either keeps very poor records or values their time very low. Garden produce is probably the most expensive food you can eat. The important things about gardening are health, happiness and variety. Canning is similar to gardening in that it really is not a financially intelligent thing to do. Who cares? The process is fun and the food is delicious.

Yesterday, Michael Swol and I went to the “The Peach Shed” in Fort Mill, SC and bought peaches. Tonight my wife and I will can them. We enjoy canning as much as a movie. We can actually talk to each other when we are canning. That will get some unpleasant reactions in a theatre.

Peaches like most fruits can be canned by the water bath method. The pressure canner can be used, but the pressure cap is left off and the evacuation procedure is not necessary. Jars of canned fruits and vegetables make great decoration, but keep them out of sunlight.

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

Replanting

Technically there are only 3 months left before our 1st killing frost, but some years it doesn’t come until December. A few leftover squash and cucumber seeds are not much to risk in order to continue harvesting the bounty a little longer. Three hills of yellow crookneck squash were planted this weekend. The old ones are starting to look kind of ragged. We are still picking a few. The zucchini and the cucumbers have quit producing. The patty-pan has slowed down but we are getting a couple a day.
The cucumber was replanted sometime back and came up well. In fact, it came up so well that a lot of the plants were given away. Then Bugs Bunny found the tender shoots delectable, so they wound up too thin. The survivors were sprinkled with cayenne pepper powder and a few seeds were inter-planted in the gaps.
The green beans finally started making, so they found their way to the supper table last night. The tomatoes are heroes this year. There are plenty of them and they are delicious. The vines are looking a little ragged, but the rain perked them up some.

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

Fall Garden Time

It is time to start thinking about the Fall garden. We have already made a 2nd planting of cucumber that will hopefully produce right up till the 1st frost. Soon it will be time to plant onions, cabbages, greens of all kinds, carrots and radishes. Maybe even a few potatoes could go in the ground.

Supposedly almost any kind of greens can be used to make sauerkraut. The greens are really prolific enough that the only loss will be a little time and a handful of salt. How do you suppose kale kraut or mustard kraut will taste? There is one way to find out.

It is also a good time to take cuttings and start new plants. Fall planted perennials should be ordered for early September planting. Most of these plants need to get a good start before 1st frost so the roots will continue to grow and acclimate through the cold season. Our special fall planting project this year will be edible cherries.

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

Do You Believe in Ghosts? (pepper that is)

A couple of years ago people started talking about ghost peppers, that are 1000 times hotter than a habanero. They do exist, because a friend of mine ate one on live radio and cried for hours. The good thing about the heat from peppers is that it does not really damage tissue, it just feels like it does.

I would never eat anything that hot, but for a novelty some were started in the greenhouse. They did not do really well, so when time to plant came a plant was purchased at the farmer’s market. A friend also purchased a few at the farmer’s market. His plants were planted in pots at his condo, and have grown well, but not produced even a blossom.

Both the plants from the greenhouse and the plant from the farmer’s market have grown well in the garden, but of about 30 pepper plants, these are the only ones that are getting munched by critters. In India the ghost peppers are said to keep elephants out of the garden. I believe in ghosts. I just don’t think my garden is haunted. The guy at the farmer’s market probably bought his seed at the same place I did and got screwed.

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

Timely Rain

Watering the garden keeps it alive, but it just doesn’t seem to do the same thing as a good rain. The tomatoes especially seemed to look a little sad Saturday night. The plan was to get up really early Sunday morning and water the garden. Fortunately 1.4” of rain fell overnight. The garden was really happy and yielded a whole bunch of stuff.

Sunday, the ground was really too wet to do much outside. The morning was spent canning and preserving. We put up 10 jars of vegetable stew and dried a dryer full of patty pan squash and another dryer full of figs. Also about a quart of cherry peppers was initiated into the pickling process. Friday morning we put up 11 jars of tomatoes and 10 jars of fig preserves.

To pickle the cherry peppers, just cut the stems and seeds out and pack them in a jar with pickling salt and a solution of 1/3 water and 2/3 apple cider vinegar. They need a follower to hold them under the solution and they should hang out in the jar or crock for about 6 to 8 days.

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

Fig Preserves

The figs are really coming on hot and heavy. They are great just off the tree, but to make them last all year there are some things that can be done. Dried figs are wonderful. Fig preserves are wonderful too and maybe a little faster. They are also a little more expensive and not nearly as healthy.

Wash the figs well and cut the stems and any blemishes. Dump them in boiling water and remove from heat immediately. Let the figs sit for three minutes and drain them. Put them back on the stove and boil them in simple syrup for about two hours and 30 minutes. Can them in a hot water bath. The sources I’ve seen call for 10 minutes processing time. Longer doesn’t really hurt anything and probably more of the jars will make that little “pop” that every canner loves to hear. If the little pop doesn’t happen just reprocess.

Fig preserves with cat’s head biscuits makes an awesome breakfast. They are also wonderful on short cake, just like strawberry short cake. They can be stored the same as other canned goods but after opening they should be refrigerated.

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

Finally Figs

In spite of the recent rain, yesterday’s garden yield was poor. The okra was pretty good, but there were only about 7 or 8 tomatoes and 1 patty pan squash. The figs were fantastic though. A little grocery store bag got almost completely filled. The house is full of tomatoes already. They need to be canned again. The figs need to be made into fig preserves also. Tonight the kitchen and jars will be gotten ready. Tomorrow night we can.

Everyone who has eaten the sauerkraut says it is “kick-ass”. Our first jar was finished off last night. Cabbage will have to be planted really heavy this fall. Kraut can be made from other greens too. How would mustard or turnip kraut taste? It may get a trial. Maybe even kale kraut will be good.

It is time to start planning the fall garden. Except for things that will be harvested pretty early, row A will be left empty so that it can be reworked. It will be widened to 4” and the spaces between the beds will be eliminated; so there will just be one long bed.

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

Dead Cucumber Vines

None of the cucumbers are producing much of anything. One row finally died except for one plant. They were pulled off this weekend and disposed of in the trash can rather than the compost pile. A new row was planted in another bed. Cucumbers are a favorite vegetable from the garden. It is painful not to have any.

Every year new lessons are learned from experience. The raised beds were started several years ago. One of the mistakes that were made at that time was to make several beds in each row. The thirty inches between the beds is just wasted and things grow over the space so that it really is not good for navigation. Also some of the beds were 3’ wide and some are 4’. The 4’ wide beds hold more and will be more efficient. This winter’s project will be to start the reconstruction of the beds to make them the same length as the row and all of them will be 4’ wide.

The eggplants are finally producing. The potato bag was emptied. There were not a lot of potatoes, but for the space and effort invested the yield was acceptable. The dirt will be improved next year and hopefully the yield will increase.

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

Doing the Can Can

It is too hot to work outside in the garden. This is a good time to can. Tuesday 16 pints of sauerkraut and 11 pints of tomatoes were put up. It was fun because my wife and I did it together. Monday night we put the empty jars in the dishwasher before going to bed. Tuesday night I packed the sauerkraut into jars within a ½” of the rim and filled the jar to that level with kraut juice.

Ana wiped the tops and put the jars in the canner. The tomatoes cored and dropped into boiling water for a couple of minutes and then plopped into a bowl under a cold faucet. The skins were rubbed off and the tomatoes pushed into jars. The liquid from the tomatoes filled the jar to the level of the tomatoes. A tiny sprinkle of salt was added before the lids were placed.

Instructions said to cover the jars with about an inch and a half of water and boil for 8 minutes. Some of the kraut did not seal using this procedure. The time was increased to 12 minutes and every single jar sealed. 5 jars of kraut that were processed for only 8 minutes had to be redone.

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

Hornets

Despite a strong dislike of being stung, I normally welcome any pollinators to my environment. Sunday proved an exception. Rain has been promised almost every day for the last two weeks, but it has been rare and feeble. Sunday, it was necessary to water the garden and the blueberries. The blueberries are in the front yard. The water was turned on and off in the process.

Next the pansies beside the mailbox that are starting to get shabby and full of grass needed to be pulled. A claw was used to get almost everything out, but there were a few stubborn grass plants that had to be pulled by hand. Unnoticed by me, there were also fire ants. They got all over my hands. When the water was turned on to rinse them off and to get some water to wet the poison that would be put on the mound, something stung me in the back.

I also got stung on the arm as I ran like hell. The water was left on all day, secured by a good hose and a nozzle of course. The hornet’s nest was one of those big gray ones. The nest was in a bush beside the hose bib. They could easily have killed me. I easily killed them as the sun was going down.

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

100+ Sucks

When the temperature goes over 100, everything stops growing, even the powdery mildew. Okra seems to be the only exception. It is a member of the same family as cotton and the heat seems to favor it’s growth. The tomatoes continue to ripen, but the new pollen is deformed and cannot set fruit.

The high temperature is also hard on the gardener. Turning compost or pulling weeds is just asking for a stroke or heart attack. The activities in our garden yesterday were limited to picking it. Tonight if it is still that hot, and it probably will be, the backlog of patty-pan squash that needs drying will get sliced, parboiled and started in the dryer.

The sauerkraut is ready to can and there may be enough tomatoes to fill a jar or two. If so canning will get started in our house. The tomatoes and sauerkraut can both be canned in a hot water bath, so we won’t have to use the pressure canner.


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

Peppers Galore

The last post moaned the small number of peppers coming in. That is over now. The cayenne and jalapeno peppers filled a plastic grocery bag. There are loads of cherry peppers too, but they have not been picked. We need a good recipe for pickling them. There are sadly no bell peppers, but there are quite a few small ones on the plants.

The tomatoes are finally producing in greater numbers and Sunday yielded enough lima beans to cook in a soup with okra and sweet corn and a few green tomatoes.

The squash plants are infested with stink bugs this year instead of the spotted cucumber beetles. Neem oil is supposed to provide a solution. It will be tried. The sulfur seems to be doing a good job on the powdery mildew. It hasn’t gone away, but it doesn’t seem to be spreading. One tomato and one pepper have displayed a little blossom end rot. It will have to get worse than that before it creates a worrisome situation.


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

Ramblin’ Squash

It is almost impossible to walk between the beds of squash. The beds are 4’ wide, but by looking at the pictures it is almost impossible to tell that they are even in beds. The hills were planted in the center of the beds, but the squash has “roamed” to fill the spaces between beds and in some places they have actually jumped into bed with other squash.

The cayenne peppers are growing some huge wrinkled monsters. Some of the would be over 10” long straightened out. The cherry peppers are producing well, but none have started to turn red yet. When they do they will be pickled and stuffed with prosciutto and cheese. The jalapeno peppers are making a few peppers, but not like they did last year.

The tomatoes are coming in a little stronger now. There are plenty to eat, but nothing to give away or can yet. The basil was planted between the tomatoes and the tomatoes are making so much shade that the basil isn’t growing much.

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

It Worked

Yesterday the garden was sprayed with sulfur, water and soap. This morning there was a significant reduction in the white spots on the leaves. As a small side benefit, three ripe tomatoes and one cucumber were accidentally found while the garden was being sprayed. So far all of the tomatoes ripened are early girl.

As usually happens about this time of year, the grass growing between the beds and even in the beds is starting to become unmanageable. The leaves picked up by the road are being used for mulch. The fallow beds are being reworked and mulched. The bags are laid in the pathways and covered with mulch. The garden is about ½ done at this point. It is difficult to find bagged leaves this time of year.

Two days picking of okra yielded enough to furnish the okra for a large batch of jambalaya. Boy was it good. There should be enough to do something else tonight. The speckled limas are starting to fill out as well. They will probably start being ready in another week.

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

Powdery Mildew

This annual visitor has raised its ugly head in the garden. This is a problem in most intensely planted areas as it loves dense plant growth. If not treated, it will kill the infected plants. Powdery mildew starts as little white spots on the plants. While it enjoys high humidity, it does not particularly like rain. It is also fairly easy to treat with solutions of sulfur or baking soda. The baking soda solution tends to kill the leaves of the treated plant. The sulfur can affect the ph of the soil.

The soil in our garden has a relatively high PH. It is almost neutral in most places, so the sulfur is a more attractive alternative for us. 1 tablespoon of sulfur in a 1 gallon sprayer works well. Add the water after the sulfur and then put a squirt of dish soap. If the dish soap goes in first, it is hard to add the water. The water coming in from the garden hose helps to dissolve the sulfur. If the sulfur is not fully dissolved it will stop up the spray nozzle.

Spray the underside of the leaves as well as the top. The mildew is more visible on the top, but the spores like to hide on the bottom so that they won’t be washed off when it rains.

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

Okra & Tomatoes

Okra and tomatoes could have been served together last night, but there were only a few okra and these 1st few tomatoes need to be eaten raw with just a little salt or some cucumbers. There is nothing like a home grown tomato. Two tomatoes were picked Saturday. There was another ripe one yesterday, but it was rotten.

It hasn’t rained since Saturday night so BT was sprayed last night. That will probably guarantee rain today or tonight. Spraying the garden is kind of like washing the car. There are holes in some leaves, but there do not seem to be any larvae or eggs on the bottom of them. There have been quite a few fireflies observed. Maybe they are eating the harmful larvae. The spotted cucumber beetle has not shown up yet this year, but he will be here.

The blueberries that were planted a few months ago are producing already. These are the ones that came from the 4H club and from the Wing-haven sale. The one that was still alive after last year and that had blueberries last year has not even bloomed.

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

Tomato Envy

For male gardeners out of puberty and all female gardeners tomato envy is one of the greatest curses of gardening. Who will get the 1st tomato? Who will get the largest and the tastiest? Who has the coolest heirloom? What if the tomatoes get a disease or are disfigured? The list goes on and on and the anxiety builds until the crop starts coming in healthy and tasty.

The tomato fence in our garden had to have another rail installed. The vines are over my head, but the tomatoes (the vines are loaded) are mostly within a few inches of the ground. The fence seems to have kept the deer out this year, but there are still many critters that can get the low hanging fruit from the tomato vines. As the 4th of July (our normal 1st tomato day) approaches the anxiety hightens.

The okra is producing little pods and should be ready to pick by Sunday. Would it be wonderful to have okra and tomatoes together.? Maybe it will happen soon. This weekend will be devoted to making sauerkraut and drying squash. Of course the standard jobs of turning compost, mulching, weeding and tying tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants continues.

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

Okra Blooming

Finally the 1st blooms appeared on the Okra. Until last year the okra was pretty much left out of our garden because picking it is so itchy. It is worth it. A long sleeve shirt beats the itch and okra is so good in so many ways. Many people limit their okra to fried okra because of the slime. They are really limiting themselves, because frying okra destroys the best part of the experience.

Okra in stews and little mixes of vegetable is really great. It enhances the flavor of almost everything. Speckled limas, fresh sweet corn and onions are fantastic. Add stewed tomatoes and a little basil and the flavor goes through the roof. Stewed tomato and okra served cold is a summer delight. Green beans and new potatoes with a few pods of okra are excellent.

Some people leave the end of the okra where it is picked from the plant to keep the juice and seeds from running all over the place. This destroys the okra for me, because it does not blend with the other foods. As good as the okra is, it is not one of my favorites if it is not mixed with other vegetables.

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

Sauerkraut

The bugs are starting to take a serious interest in the cabbages. It is time to make sauerkraut. Here’s how:

The only things you absolutely need are cabbage, non-iodized salt, a container and a follower (more about that later). 5 pounds of cabbage will make a gallon of kraut. Each 5 pounds of cabbage requires about 3 tablespoons of salt. Chop the cabbage, put it in a bowl and mix the salt with the cabbage. You can mix in other vegetables and flavors to suit yourself. Put a few inches of kraut into the crock or other container and pack it really tight with your fist. Keep adding the mix a few inches at a time until your container is almost full.

When the container is almost full the follower needs to be place on top with a weight to hold the kraut down. A plate or saucer with a rock on it works well for this. A cloth can be tied around the top to keep out flies. For the first 24 hours the kraut should be checked and smashed occasionally until the juice has risen to cover the follower. At this point just put the container in a cool dark place and check it every few days. Make sure the kraut stays beneath the juice and skim off some of the crud that forms on top. The kraut is ready to eat in about a week. Some people scoop out some kraut and repack the container as they need until the container is empty.

We don’t have a nice cool space to store our kraut so we can it when it is “ripe”. A hot water bath is ok for this, but we usually pressure can it.


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

Pathway Mulching

The pathway mulching started a little late this year. Leaves are not easy to find on the curbside. Some progress is being made however. Saturday, I found a bunch of pine needles. There were more than I could safely carry in my pickup truck so I made another trip Sunday. Most of them went into the pathways, but a few were used to put a light covering on the leaf mulch in the flower beds to give them a nicer look.

We are finally picking cucumbers. They are really hard to find among all of the foliage. The bugs are coming back as well, but not as bad as yesterday. The garden needs to be sprayed again, but every day seems to threaten rain. It hurts to spray and then get it washed off. BT is being used again this year, but the application method is different. Some of the bottles that came with organic foliar fertilizer were saved. The BT is put in the bottle at ½ strength and sprayed with the hose. It seems to work pretty well.

The squash is coming in like crazy. We have given away and eaten bunches, but now it is time to start drying it for use in soups this winter. The tomato vines are loaded too, but don’t count your tomatoes before they are sliced.

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

Squash Time

The squash is here big time. All three types of summer squash: yellow crookneck, patty-pan and zucchini are producing like crazy. Of the winter squash, only the butternut has bloomed. The winter squash is in a corner that does not get as much sun as the rest of the garden. We have been eating squash and giving it away for over a week now.

Ana made a fantastic lasagna with zucchini and kale. Her lasagna is always wonderful, but this may be the best yet. She has also grilled a lot of marinated patty-pan and made a lot of stir fries. Michael Swol said that he was going to make stuffed patty-pan with the ones I gave him. We put his recipe in the blog last year and it is in “THE INCOMPLETE GARDEN BOOK”, but I will try to get the “new and improved” version and publish it here soon.

The okra is waist high. The tomatoes are shoulder high. They are loaded with small tomatoes. The early girl variety started putting on little tomatoes 1st this year. Usually they are last. The cucumber vines are huge, but the largest cucumber is about 3’ long. That won’t be worth the trouble to pick. Straight 8 was the variety planted, but with members of the cucurbit family, one never knows what will actually appear.

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

Stinking Compost

It was promised that the method for dealing with stinking compost would be discussed in this article. The best place to start is with the cause. The smell was coming only from the 1st 2 bins. A little bit of lime was applied to these bins, but that did not help. Finally it was determined that the smell was actually caused by grass that had been left in bags before being incorporated into the bins.

The solution turned out to be mulched leaves. In the first bin, the grass is being layered with mulched leaves with the leaves always providing a top cover. In the second bin the entire contents of the bin are being covered with mulched leaves. A leaf blower on reverse (vacuum) cycle is being used to mulch the leaves. The leaves from our yard are long used up so the leaves have to come from those that people put on the street. At this time of year that source is diminished, slowing the incorporation of grass into the compost pile.

Fortunately, the grass from our yard that is dumped directly into compost bin does not seem to be a problem. It can decompose aerobically. The leaves in bags have already begun anaerobic decomposition.

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

Hot Weekend

These 90 degree plus days are not really good for the garden. They cause the pollen on many plants to be deformed and cause the fruit not to set. They are also kind of hard on the gardener. In spite of the heat much of the backlog of projects was advanced. Mulching of the pathways has begun as well.

The squash is coming in well. We got the 1st 3 yellow squash on Friday. Yesterday a huge basket was half filled with yellow and patty-pan squash. The zucchinis are about 3” long but they still have blossoms so they were not picked. The cucumbers are loaded with blossoms but no cucumbers. The sugar peas are still producing well, but the vines are looking a little shabby. There are bunches of little tomatoes.

The stinky compost seems to have been defeated. It did not take rocket science. The smell was coming from the grass that had been collected from the road that was in bags. The method for defeating the smell will be addressed in the next post.

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

Last Day of May

A visit from my son who lives in Virginia reinforced the blessing of our climate. His summer garden will go into the ground this week. Our Charlotte garden is ready to start producing. There are small yellow and zucchini squash on the plants. We may pick squash by the weekend. There are two tiny tomatoes. The cucumbers and some of the peppers have blossoms. The okra is over a foot tall.

The holiday weekend provided an opportunity to catch up much of the backlog of garden and yard work. The grass still needs cutting as it always does. There are a few plants in the garden that still need to be side-dressed with compost, but there is no more compost until next weekend. There was a huge pile of compost on a tarp. It seemed an impossibility that it would all be used, but it was. Even the compost that was finished this weekend was used.

There is also a problem with odor from the compost pile that was not present last year. A plan is in place to correct the problem, but it will be revealed when it is shown to be effective.

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

Great Growth

Maybe the hot weather early in the garden cycle doesn’t hurt. It certainly isn’t inhibiting the vegetative growth in the garden. The tomatoes are growing like crazy and only a few of them have fallen over in spite of the fact that they have not been tied up. One plant even has a couple of little tomatoes and one of the yellow crookneck squash has a blossom.

The sugar peas miraculously started producing again and there was a spurt in broccoli growth. The cabbage which normally has poor success in our garden is doing well. One has been picked and there are two more ready to pick. Ana is making a marinated coleslaw with the one that was picked.

The garden has been sprayed twice with BT and the bug damage has been extremely minimal so far. Some of the broccoli leaves are getting pretty ragged. They may have been missed with the last BT spraying. Last night brought a half inch of rain, so the spraying will need to be renewed again tonight with special emphasis on the broccoli.

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

+90 Degrees not Good

Yesterday’s temperature was above 90 degrees. This causes the pollen that forms in some blossoms to deformed and prevents successful pollination. Tomatoes and corn are especially susceptible. Fortunately most of the corn is not yet blooming. There is no corn in our garden this year. It was too much of a temptation for the deer. The tomatoes are blooming. I think the high temperatures are the reason for last year’s poor tomato crop.

The sugar pea harvest has diminished to almost nothing. There are new blooms however so perhaps there will be more sugar peas. The vines still look healthy. They are almost 6’ tall. Usually by this time of year they are starting to get a little ratty. The squash are doing really well, but this morning one plant was laying on its side. The root system still seems to be well attached. Hopefully it will stand up by the afternoon.

The cucumbers have climbed about a foot on their fences. There are no blooms yet. Of the six grapevines only 1 has grapes. That is the same one that had grapes last year. The fig trees are loaded with little figs. Maybe we can make fig wine.

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

Blossoms on Tomatoes

Friends are telling me they have little tomatoes on their vines. Some of ours have blossoms. 1st tomato jealousy sucks, but so does paying $10 for a tomato plant. The squash and cucumbers don’t have blossoms, but the plants are large and healthy. The cucumbers and pole beans are climbing. The lima beans that I thought were bush beans are putting out runners. If I was wrong this is going to be a tangled mess. They could be half-runners.

The tomato fence has not been finished and tomatoes are lying on the ground. That is an invitation to all kinds of pests. Now that some of the tomatoes have blossoms, they can use some fertilizer and/or side dressing with compost. Fertilizing the tomatoes before blooms appear causes the plant to concentrate its growth in the vine instead of in the tomatoes. The vines usually get too big anyway.

The potatoes in the bag are blooming away. The potato bag makes for difficult gravelling. It may be necessary just to wait until the tops start to die and harvest everything at once. A few new potatoes sure would be good with the sugar peas.

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

It’s Growing

This week has brought a lot of rain and sunshine and the combination has made the garden really grow. The picture of zucchini was taken on 5/15/11 and the bed is 4’ wide. The cucumbers have trellises now and they are already climbing them. A small start has been made on the tomato fence.

2 5’ 3” schedule 40 plastic pipes were purchased and cut into 20” sections. 5 of these were planted in the tomato row about 15” deep. The large bamboo shafts are placed in the pipes. The laterals on the trellis are tied to these. Last year the bamboo shafts were too unstable when they were sunk into the dirt. It is hoped that the pipes will be more solid. It is hoped as well that they will carry a huge weight of tomatoes.

The broccoli, cabbage and herbs are doing really well this year. We have been eating broccoli about twice a week and the cabbages are forming firm heads. It has been raining for about a week, so all of the BT has probably washed off of the plants and will need to be re-applied as soon as the rain stops.

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

Productive Weekend

In spite of time out for Mother’s day this was a productive weekend. Little fences were built for the cucumbers to climb. One whole row of stakes were put in for the peppers. The garden was sprayed with BT to eliminate the cabbage loopers and other villains. The pole beans, okra and winter squash were all heavily side dressed with compost. Another step in completed the fence on the eastern side of the garden was completed.

There is still a lot to do. The remaining squash, cucumbers, lima beans, broccoli and cabbage still need to be side dressed. The irrigation system and the fence need to be finished. There is still a lot of stuff to plant in the front yard. The grass cutting and compost turning go on ad- infinitem.

The greenhouse is empty of plants and will need to be cleaned up before starting the propagation cycle. All of the cups and flats need to be washed and disinfected. The heat pads need to be cleaned and some of the shelves need renovation.

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

Good Crop of Baby Rabbits

The yards at home and at the office seem to be hopping with baby rabbits. Yesterday as I went to the shed something jumped from under my feet. It was so small, I thought it was a chipmunk at first. It was a baby rabbit. So far, there seems to be no depredation in the garden. There is plenty of chickweed, clover and grass in the yard. If they will be satisfied with that, I will be satisfied with them.

The sugar peas are really plentiful. Only half of the bag was planted, but the yield is probably the best ever. They would be good with new potatoes. One disadvantage of the potato bag is that it is almost impossible to grapple new potatoes. The bag is almost full of dirt anyway so maybe it will just get dumped next week.

Knock on wood, the deer have not invaded the garden this year. The fence is not quite finished, but that is the number 1 project for the weekend. It would be good to clean up some of the vegetation on the neighbor’s side. I think that house is vacant and I may be able to get away with it.

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

Irrigation

Every year the same issues come up with the redneck irrigation system. Several soaker hoses have bitten the dust. The 4-way manifold never lasts more than 1 season. The cheap hoses never last long. A trip to Lowes netted a new soaker hose; but the splitters were forgotten. Home Depot has them, but the splitters have moving parts, so they probably would not be any good if they came from Home Depot.

Last night the garden was watered moving a single hose between the soaker hoses. The un-hosed (is that a word?) rows were watered by hand. Today the clouds have threatened, but rain cannot be predicted until it happens, so watering will go forward unless the rain actually falls.

The potato bag is still growing like crazy. I did not have time to dirt it last night and the potato plants are 8” above the dirt. 1 of them looks as if it is ready to bloom. The sugar peas are making. I hope there will be new potatoes to cook with them.

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

Everything is Up

As of April 28, everything in the garden has come up. 1 hill of spaghetti squash seems to have been munched by something, and about 1 foot of lima beans have also provided a little creature’s lunch. All of that will need to be replanted. All the little plants are so cute, I just want to pet them. Instead they are getting soaker hose installed. They probably prefer that anyway.

Most of the summer squash has true leaves and so far except for a few tomato plants that were gobbled by roly pollies, the bugs have not been too bad. There are a few isolated holes in the cabbages and kale, but they are not bad enough to get out the sprayer. When the little white moths start flitting around the BT will have to come out.

There is a tiny little artichoke on one of the artichoke plants and there is head forming on one of the broccolis. The potato bag is growing like crazy. Dirt has to be added almost every day and the bag is 2/3 full now. The true test will be if there are any potatoes in there.

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

Easter Rising

The zucchini and yellow crookneck squash are one thing that is rising. The cucumbers came up on Good Friday. The squash came up on rotten Saturday and the nasturtiums bloomed. Some beautiful lilies of some type with pretty blue flowers bloomed this morning. (Easter Sunday).

The plants that have been set out over the last week are doing well. 3 cherry peppers had to be replaced. Two of the early girl tomatoes have bitten the dust (out of 14). Those are the only casualties so far. The early girls will have to be replaced with something else. All of the early girl plants have already been planted or given away. Mick McNeely has promised some Rutgers tomatoes. That will be a good replacement.

The grass in the backyard was definitely deep enough for a good Easter egg hunt. That has been taken care of now and the accumulation bin of the compost system is full. The blueberries are being dosed with coffee grounds. The 1st 2 were done today. More grounds will need to be accumulated before the other 4 plants can be dosed.

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

Good and Wet Friday

It is sad that the most important planting day of the year is marred by rain. Those of us who have raised beds can brave the intervals in the precipitation to plant a few little things. In our garden holes were dug on Wednesday to start the hills for the winter squash. These holes will be filled with compost and the loose dirt for 1.5’ in all directions will be raked up to form a hill for planting. 3 holes will be poked in the top of each hill and 3 seeds will go into each hole.

There are still a few butternut and spaghetti squash left from last year. They keep really well and are an important part of the plans one makes to have something from the garden at every meal. Of course food for the soul (and the eyes) is important too, so the flower beds that have already been prepared will be seeded today. The decision has been made not to buy flats of annuals for the deer to eat. The annuals are being seeded directly into the beds.

The first little sugar pea blooms appeared on the 20th. Last night (the 21st) the peas were in full bloom. There should be pea pods big enough for sautéing within a week to 10 days. That will be wonderful with spinach and onions.

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

Good Friday/Rotten Saturday

Good Friday is the traditional day for planting the summer garden in the Charlotte. It came so late this year that many people have already planted the bulk of their gardens. For those of you who haven’t here is a word of warning. The old wisdom says that anything planted on Good Friday will grow. A less remembered portion of that old wisdom is that any thing planted on Rotten Saturday (the day after Good Friday) will rot. This second part of this wisdom has not been personally tested.

Planting by the signs is really great if the weather and other factors co-operate. If they don’t the planting may just not get done. A young farmer asked an old farmer, “When is the best time to cut (castrate) pigs?” The old farmer answered, “When your knife is sharp.” Sometimes expediency outweighs astrological correctness.

If one believes the weather report, Good Friday is supposed to be rainy and Rotten Saturday is supposed to be sunny. Is that irony or what? Happy Easter

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

Dry Dirt

Finally the dirt in the garden that was not in beds was dry enough to till. I actually started tilling it last Friday, but did not finish and it rained Saturday night. Last night the dirt was just right. There is nothing like the smell of sweet dirt when it is being turned. Now the visions of delicious peppers and winter squash and okra can replace the visions of the pounding tiller.

Last year Florida speckled butter beans were planted. They grew beautifully, but the beans came on so late that they were not able to fill out before the first hard freeze. This year we reverted to the old standard speckled limas from the grocery store dried bean section. The only thing wrong with them is that they are bush beans, requiring the picker to bend over or kneel down to pick.

So far all of the plants except for 1 or 2 that were planted this weekend are still alive. Yeah it is only Wednesday, but it seems the first hours are the most critical. When the greenhouse was planted, there were some seeds that fell out of the packages and it was hard to tell what they were. They were just scattered in a fallow bed for the heck of it. They turned out to be either cabbage, broccoli or Brussels sprouts. They were too thickly planted to stay where they were so they were thinned and the plants that were removed were put into the garden. They wilted Saturday night, but Sunday afternoon they were fine. As of last night only one of them did not survive.

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

A Good Start

Easter comes late this year, so waiting for Good Friday was not an option. Planting on the summer garden began this weekend. The beauty of raised beds is that all the soil preparation necessary is raking off the mulch. The first thing in the ground was the cherry pepper plants. They were followed with seeds of yellow crookneck squash (3 hills) and ghost pepper and jalapeño plants. Next came 5 marglobe tomato plants and 4 basil plants with a row of straight 8 cucumbers all in the same bed.

The next bed got more jalapeño plants and some mammoth dill from seed. Early white bush squash (4 hills) was planted as the patty pan squash this year. There were 5 hills of zucchini followed by 2 more hills of yellow crookneck squash. A little tiny bed got a ghost pepper and a cayenne pepper plant. Speckled lima beans were planted from the seeds that came from a grocery store bag of dried beans. The stevia plant went into a bed with some mesclun that is already being picked. A bed was prepared for planting more squash, but I go tired and quit.

The Russian red kale was getting ready to bolt, so it was pulled off. A bushel of leaves yielded 4 freezer bags of cooked kale, that will grace summer soups, lasagna and quiches. 2 grocery bags of mixed greens barely thinned the mustard and turnips bed.

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

Hardening Begins

There are 20 flats of little plants to be taken out every morning and brought in every evening. This will last until Friday (tax day). The plants will be set out in the garden then except for the ones that will be transferred to larger pots for the Master Gardener’s® plant sale on the 30th of April at the Farmer’s Market. This is a pretty exciting event. Most of the plants are grown organically by Master Gardeners®, but without that label of course.

Today begins the Wing Haven plant sale. Today is for members only. One can join for $45 and get a discount and a first shot at the plants. Tomorrow the sale will be open to the general public. My shopping list includes a couple more blueberry plants. Someday there will be a blueberry hedge all the way across the front of the yard.

On Friday all of the potatoes in the potato bag had sprouted. Probably by the weekend, they will need to have a little dirt added. Yesterday a large shopping bag was filled with spinach to be frozen tonight. The spinach was getting very large and it is almost time for it to start bolting. Maybe the very heavy picking will keep it producing for a while.

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

Sunshine in Small Doses

We are getting some beautiful sunny weather. It just does not come in long enough intervals to dry the ground. On Monday the temperature in the potato bag was 56 degrees. On Tuesday the first little potato leaves popped out of the dirt. The volunteer potatoes are already over 2 feet tall. They have been mounded to over a foot. I can’t scrape much more dirt, they will have to be mulched with leaves now.

Everything green is still being very productive. There are even a few radishes to throw in the salads now. The greenhouse plants are doing ok as well. The heat pads were turned off Monday night and turned back on Tuesday night. They are off now. Benches will still be needed outside of the greenhouse for the hardening off process.

There was a good garden plan in place this fall, but it seems that changes are needed now. There will be a lot more plants to put into the garden, so a way needs to be found to accommodate them all. A lot of them will probably wind up in flower beds in the front yard. The “frontscape” plan is being re-evaluated as well.


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

Young & Tender and All Mine

That describes the first harvest of the spring mixed greens (turnips and mustard). They are totally delicious. The kale is almost ready to pick as well. The Russian red kale from last fall is growing like crazy. The onions are doing well also. The radishes are almost ready to pick and the mesclun is really enjoying the weather. The arugula bolted and had to be pulled off. It was replaced with a follow up planting of pak choy, broccoli and onions. The spinach is still rocking and rolling with the largest spinach leaves ever.

The bottom heat pads in the greenhouse were turned off yesterday as a precursor to hardening off the plants for transplanting to the garden. Most of them look like they are too small to take away from their mama, but they should grow some in two weeks.

There was a major thunderstorm and very high winds last night. Trees are down all over town. Hopefully there will be a windfall (no pun intended) of firewood in the aftermath of the cleanup. At any rate the water will help the planted part of the garden. The part that still has not been tilled will have to wait a while.


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

April Fools

Some of us do not need a special day to do foolish things. Gardeners are the ultimate optimists. The day is cool but sunny. Maybe we should all go out and plant tomatoes. There are a lot of tomato plants in the greenhouse, maybe at least one or two should go into the ground.

The winter spinach crop is the best we have ever had. The leaves are huge. Ana is making a spinach quiche for dinner tonight. It will have spinach and onions from the garden. It will be complemented with a fresh mesclun salad, also from the garden. The eggs, cheese and pie shell will have to come from the store.
There was another front yard garden article in a magazine I read this morning. The article stressed that front yard gardening is not just a matter of moving the garden from the back to the front. The visual effect of the plants need to be considered.

Russian red kale was getting ready to disappear from the vegetable garden anyway, for not being productive enough. Once that decision was made, the kale took off like a rocket and is producing a lot. It is a very pretty plant. It may wind up in the fall front yard garden. Parsley, beets and basil will go into the front yard this weekend. When the summer garden goes in on the 22nd of April, mammoth dill will be in the front yard planting. Asparagus are also a possibility. The front yard is really more appropriate for permanent plantings anyway. This is not an April fool’s joke.

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

The Smell of Wet Wool

Well, if March came in like a pussycat instead of a lion, it is going out like a very wet little lamb. It is raining, raining, raining. Everyone’s beautiful lawn is up to their knees. The gardens and flowering trees are soaking it up too. The wet weather has confined me to the greenhouse, which isn’t all bad.

The repotting and transplanting are almost completed. There is no more room to add more pots. It seems that almost every seed germinated and almost all of the plants survived, so as the plants are repotted they wind up in 2, 3 or even 4 pots instead of one. The greenhouse was being watered every night. The wet weather has caused this to be cut back to every other night for the time being.

Monday the warmer weather is supposed to return. That will be the time to start hardening off the plants that will go to the garden. Putting them on the ground will invite the rabbits to a feast. The table that is used for hardening off will never hold all of the plants, so a temporary bench will have to be set up.

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

And the Rains Came (written 3/28)

The day before yesterday brought 1.4” of rain and confined me to the greenhouse. Yesterday (the 26th) the ground was too wet for most things. It was ideal weed pulling weather. The greenhouse did get some attention because repotting is so back breaking, it is better to do a little at a time. Today the rain is coming down big time. There are no more cups or potting soil and very little space on the heated mats.

The rain barrel is in overflow mode. The grass needs cutting. At least it was easy digging the post holes for the fence on the unfenced side of the garden. It is too wet to put the posts in though. Most of the sugar pea trellis was installed. Renfrow’s had some string net that looks like it will work really well. 30’ was not enough and they don’t open again until Tuesday.

All of the greens are doing great except for the arugula. It has gone to seed. At least it will be easy to pull off with the ground so wet. The onions that were started last month are already appearing in green salads and being chopped for garnish on soups and mashed potatoes and things like that.

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

Master Gardener®

Yesterday was the end of training for the 2011 class of the Master Gardener® program. We were fed a really nice lunch and given gifts and assigned a sponsor to help us enter the world of Master Gardening® smoothly. At this point we are considered “interns”. When we have done our service work (40 hours) we will be Master Gardeners®.

The garden and greenhouse chores are becoming overwhelming now. Unless a fence is completed around the garden the deer will eat everything. The greenhouse plants need repotting, but my back will only co-operate for one or two flats at a time. Every flat turns into two or more as the repotting is done. There is only enough space on the heated mats for 3 more flats. The parts of the garden that are not in beds need to be tilled for the spring planting. There is some respite for a day or two on this chore because of last night’s rain.

The good part of the garden right now is the wonderful salads and greens that are being harvested. We have had salad almost every night. We had Russian Red Kale, Monday night and the turnip and mustard greens are ready to start harvesting.

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

Working Moon

The first day of spring brought with it the biggest moon in almost 20 years. The night was cloudy so it was not visible from our house. This is the time in the garden where the hardest physical work comes in. There are a lot of compostable materials. The compost needs turning. The ground that is not in beds has to have the mulch cleared so it will dry out. That is hard on the biceps. The fence needs to be finished to keep the deer out. Chopping through roots and digging postholes is hard work too.

The really back-breaking work though is the greenhouse. Almost everything has to be re-planted in larger pots. The new method is really paying off so far. It seems that every seed has germinated and most have survived. Some of the little 5 ounce cups had as many as 12 basil plants and as many as 5 tomato plants. The basil was just separated into separate 5 oz cups. The Tomatoes had to be transferred to larger cups. The peppers go in large cups as well.

All the leaves are finally up, but there was not enough mulch to do all of the beds. The leaves in the garden were not mulched, so they will have to be sucked up with the vacuum-mulcher and used in the beds. There are still quite a few of the early plants that have not been planted into the garden. They are mostly parsley and cilantro, so they can be put into the flower beds.

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

Spring Done Sprung

Is it gorgeous outside or what? Charlotte is a city of flowering trees. The daffodils, tulips and the little purple ground cover flowers are going crazy. Even one of the azalea bushes is blooming in my yard. Saturday morning at Renfrow’s hardware, people were buying tomato plants. I was sorely tempted to do so as well. The ones in the greenhouse are still a little too small to leave their mother.

Potatoes have been a major failure in our garden since we moved in from Waxhaw. Every year visions of new potatoes dance through my head and like old Charlie Brown trying to kick that football, I give it another try. This year a new approach is being used. It is a hybrid of a few methods that were mentioned in this month’s Organic Gardening magazine.

Mitchell Hales, a brick mason, was kind enough to donate a bag that came full of sand from Home Depot. He had used the sand of course. About three 4” slashes were made near the bottom to facilitate drainage. About 4” of garden soil and compost and play sand were put on the bottom. The ph tested at 7.2 which is way too high for potatoes. A little sprinkling of sulfur was put on this and another thin layer of soil was added. The seed potatoes were spaced about 10” apart all around the surface of the soil and another 3” of soil was added. This also was sprinkled lightly with sulfur. Pray for potatoes.

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