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/
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
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/
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/
Monday, November 21, 2011
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/
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/
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
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/
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/
Monday, November 7, 2011
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/
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/
Thursday, November 3, 2011
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/
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/
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