Christmas Vacation in the Yard

The time off during the holiday helped a lot of projects along. About 6 more flats got planted in the greenhouse and there are now 2 ½ flats that are sprouted. The camellias and the speckledy things have started sprouting new growth. The desire for a new greenhouse to replace the homemade thing is starting to grow. I found one I really like for about $1200, but it is in a kit and I am not very mechanical. Maybe I can pay someone to put it together. That would be better than paying the $3000 plus that the same greenhouse would cost.

All of the holes have been done and the posts put in for the bambi fence. Some of the posts have not been tamped in yet because it rained all night Christmas eve and the dirt is still too wet. The endless job of splitting firewood has started. The bulbs have been planted and the leaves were gotten up in the back yard and put into the compost bin. New year’s eve belongs to the grandchildren, so nothing will get done this weekend.

People with pets always have the care thing to worry about when they leave town. Those of us who have no pets don’t have to worry, but we need to remember to refresh bird feeders and bird baths before we go. It would not be nice to come home to a bunch of hungry dirty birds.



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/

News from the Greenhouse

There have just barely been enough rainy days to get the greenhouse ready for winter planting. It is probably too early anyway, but planting has begun. Some things started really early like starting plants from cuttings. Others started on the 12th. Before that almost all of the flats were filled with dirt-filled pots .

On the 12th two flats were planted. They mostly contained things that are really slow to germinate, like ghost peppers. There were also a few of some weird Yugoslavian tomatoes and a few marigolds. A bulb was found in the compost that was sprouting. I’m not sure what it is, but I have a fixation with volunteers so it was potted, and lives in the greenhouse.

Two more flats were planted on the 16th and another 2 on the 20th. One flat has been filled with sprouted plants. The newly planted cups (or pots) are placed in a flat that contains water and covered with a cloche. When they sprout they are moved to a flat that does not hold water and left uncovered. All of the plants (except for that bulb) are on heated mats.



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/

Indian Summer

It is hard to believe that it is over 70 degrees in December. The first killing frost was in late November. Is this an Indian summer, or is the winter not really here yet? The greens and peas are still growing like crazy. Usually they have slowed down by now. Is this a sign of permanent climate change or are we just getting off to a late start on the cold weather?

The planting time could have moved up by several weeks this spring. Fear was the only thing preventing it. This year the greenhouse plants will need to be started early as it would be wise to plant at least a few items early if spring is warm again this year.

Some people are still mowing grass. The grass seed that we put out in October has not germinated. Maybe these warm days will bring it along. If no grass comes up, at least the yard is flat enough now to use the good lawn mower on the grass we plant in the spring.



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/

First Hard Freeze

This year’s 1st hard freeze came on the night between November 24 and 25. Our Normal 1st killing frost date is October 21. We got an extra month of peppers. The frost damaged peppers will be blended with cooking oil and dish soap to make a deer and rabbit repellant. A few rotten eggs would be a good addition, but I don’t have any and I’m not sure I want to let perfectly good eggs rot to make a spray.

Don’t put the dish soap in the blender. You might be sorry. Blend the peppers and the oil, then add more oil and the dish soap. You can mix with water: 6 parts water to 1 part mixture. If you are mixing it in a pump sprayer put the water in 1st to prevent foaming. The best way to use the material is to put it in a hose end mixing sprayer. Set the sprayer at 22 and shoot.

I can’t guarantee that this will work for you, because last year a deer grazed on the ghost pepper plants. It is hoped that that was an aberration because it did not happen this year.



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/

First Hard Freeze

This year’s 1st hard freeze came on the night between November 24 and 25. Our Normal 1st killing frost date is October 21. We got an extra month of peppers. The frost damaged peppers will be blended with cooking oil and dish soap to make a deer and rabbit repellant. A few rotten eggs would be a good addition, but I don’t have any and I’m not sure I want to let perfectly good eggs rot to make a spray.

Don’t put the dish soap in the blender. You might be sorry. Blend the peppers and the oil, then add more oil and the dish soap. You can mix with water: 6 parts water to 1 part mixture. If you are mixing it in a pump sprayer put the water in 1st to prevent foaming. The best way to use the material is to put it in a hose end mixing sprayer. Set the sprayer at 22 and shoot.

I can’t guarantee that this will work for you, because last year a deer grazed on the ghost pepper plants. It is hoped that that was an aberration because it did not happen this year.



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 Color

The turning leaves are great until they start to color the yard instead of the sky. Fall can be a rather drab prospect without a few colorful additions. Camilla’s bloom all winter and the leaves stay green. Pansies and mums are the ubiquitous color addition for professional landscapers. It is good to have some for the color. A lot of the summer annuals will have color until the first frost.

There is a lot of edible color available as well. Red chard is great. Also, there are many ornamental cabbages. Unless they are started as seed, they are pretty expensive. They don’t germinate well until the soil is below 70 degrees. Tulips and many other bulbs can be “forced”. Each type of bulb is different so be sure to do the research. Just put the bulbs in the freezer for the required number of days, before it is planted.

There are other plants that bloom so early that they may still add some variety to the garden. One of my favorites are the Lenten roses. They are not really a rose, but they stay green all year and bloom very early.



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/

Winter Feasts from the Garden

It is amazing how much food is consumed from the garden in winter time. Frozen, canned, dried or pickled foods can add a lot to the winter diet. Frozen food except for some meats seems to lose most of it’s flavor. Some home-canned foods actually improve in flavor. Pickles are often much better than the vegetables they were made from.

Lettuce grows all year except for the very middle of summer when it bolts. Garden lettuce, carrots, radish, mesclun and arugula can be combined with chopped pickles, canned whole tomatoes pickled beets to make a great salad. Add some home-made oil & vinegar dressing with basil and you have a true delight. Dried beans when served with rice or bread make a complete protein. Add some fresh green onions from the garden and a little thyme or rosemary.

The favorite of course is greens. Turnips, mustard, kale, rape, chard, collards and spinach provide vitamin C and folic acid. Flavor it with pepper vinegar. That makes a fabulous addition to the dried beans and rice. Admittedly a lot of the winter diet in our modern world is still going to come from the grocery store. For that matter, the summer table is set with store-bought stuff 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/

Repellents that Work

The depredations of deer, rabbits and squirrels have afflicted the garden for years. Many remedies, including an 8’ fence have been tried. Finally a deer and rabbit repellant from Home Depot seems to be working. It has a smell like something dead and has to be sprayed every time it rains, but since its use was started there has only been one lost cabbage plant. Perhaps Bambi or Peter rabbit tried it and did not like it.

Something has been found to keep everything but o’possums out of the compost pile. The leaves and grass are not a problem, but the kitchen waste is just too tempting. A big dog is the main culprit. About a dozen ghost peppers were chopped and put into a jar in the fridge. Every time the compost goes to the pile a few pieces of ghost pepper goes into the mix. For the old dog, we have started putting out bones and meat scraps. He seems to be getting the idea.

The fence did help some. It was made of vinyl fence fabric, which is starting to get a little ratty. A new fence is going up, made from 2” X 4” steel fabric. Now if I can get a repellant that will keep AT&T people from starting unrequested service on my phones.



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 Projects

Fall should be a time to rest from summer’s labors and enjoy the easy things from the garden. Once they are planted the greens require nothing but a little water and picking. The cabbage isn’t ready for picking, but a few more plants were set out so there will be enough for sauerkraut. The sugar peas are only about 6” high. Most of the beds are full of dead stuff and need to be reworked. All the projects that should have been done in the summer are waiting to be done so they don’t clog up the calendar for next summer.

I had 25 trees taken out this spring and saved some money by cleaning up the debris myself. Bad idea. The garden was way behind getting planted, but it turned out well. The compost system was rotting down, so a new one was built surrounded with lattice to hide the ugliness. Now if the vines will only grow. 30 fig trees were started and are doing well. There is still a need to start some camellias, Blueberries and grapes. Maybe that just won’t happen.

The honey-do club wants a new porch, walkway and patio. The birds would like a waterfall and fish pond. The hawks especially would like to see fish in the pond. The garden needs a new fence and so does the yard. Fall is the time to relax and enjoy the fruits of the summer.









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/

Frankenstorm

Thank God he did his business elsewhere. All he brought to Charlotte was some cold weather. It didn’t even freeze. We weren’t taking any chances though. The new fig tree starts slept on a heat pad last night as did a pepper plant left over from spring. Practically all of the pepper plants have leaves now. They will get transplanted into individual pots this weekend.

The garden delivered a lot of lettuce and arugula for last night’s salad. Home canned tomatoes taste almost as good as the fresh ones and the juice from the jar went into bean soup. The spinach came up but it is really spotty and not big enough to pick yet.

3 more trees arrived from Willis Orchards on Friday. They were soaked all day Saturday and planted Sunday. They are much nicer than the ones from Stark Bros. There was nothing wrong with the ones from Stark Bros. These are taller and have more roots and some branches. Two of them even had remnants of leaves. They still look like sticks, but I see them with leaves, blossoms and cherries. Some imagination huh?









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 is Falling

The leaves are coming down and so is the nighttime temperature. That and the disappearance of sun-dresses are almost the only signs of seasonal change. The fall garden is producing lots of greens and the spinach and sugar peas have finally come up. The leaves on the fig trees are looking a little shabby, but the fig tree cuttings in the greenhouse are putting out leaves.

There are 36 cabbage seedlings in the greenhouse that are almost large enough to transplant. 3 plants were purchased to provide a few cabbages. The ones in the greenhouse will be mostly for sauerkraut. The red chard germinated very poorly. It may have been planted too early. If seeds can be found I will try again.

Some cherry trees were purchased from Willis Orchards. They are really nice trees. They are being sprayed with deer and rabbit repellant every time it rains in the hopes that these won’t be destroyed like the last batch. All of the Stark brothers’ trees of last year’s purchase except one lived and produced branches and leaves. Of the three living trees all but one were killed by deer.





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/

Grey Days

It is not grey today or I would not even be able to write this. The garden has that fall look. All the structures that were built to hold things up are falling down. Most of the vines are dead. Most of the basil has gone to seed. The marigolds have been moved to the front yard. There is nothing green except peppers, okra, fall greens and green beans. The sugar peas did not germinate well and need to be replanted. There is a lot of clean-up and renewing of beds to do, but other projects are taking precedence.

Thirty fig cuttings were taken about a week and a half ago. 7 of them have leaves already. Our traditional first frost date is October 21. We have had a couple of cold rainy days and some of the leaves are falling, but I don’t think we are anywhere close to a first frost. The fig trees will need to be repotted and moved into the greenhouse before that.

A new compost system is almost finished. It is essentially the same as the old one, but neater. That will be featured in the next post. The most immediate thing right now is replanting the sugar peas, planting a fresh row of radishes and onions and finishing up a honey-do project for my wife.





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/

Early Greenhouse

Usually Charlotte’s spring planting’s official starting day is Easter. This past spring 2 weeks earlier would have worked fine. The winter cold was almost negligible. The soil was warm early. This year instead of the calendar, starting date will be based on soil temperature. There will be enough stuff in the greenhouse that was started early to plant when the soil temperature is right. There will be plenty left over to replant if a late frost comes.

Some people like to plant early for bragging rights. They like to have the 1st of whatever. (Tomatoes are probably the main thing). A good reason for planting early is to avoid the bugs. This does not work for egg plants. They are subject to depredation by flea beetles. If planted after June 1, most of the flea beetles will have moved on.

Before planting in the greenhouse, all of the pots and other paraphernalia should be rinsed with a strong Clorox solution. This will kill most of the fungus and bacteria that might otherwise kill the tender plants.

Deer and Rabbits

Bugs and Bambi are making life miserable for the cabbage, broccoli and Brussels sprouts. They have been replanted twice. The last time they were anointed with deer and rabbit repellant. The critters thought that was a special sauce, just for them. A new fence will be going up this winter. It will be made with 8’ of 2X4 wire and will be buried 4” underground. This will not stop a determined deer or rabbit, but it may stop the ones who are not so serious. Green beans will be planted on the fence. The deer can eat the leaves that stick through.

Squirrels are some of my favorite creatures, but they do damage in the garden. Once the fence is up and tight enough to keep casual visitors out, the garden will be furnished with poison corn. The poison doesn't bother birds. It should only affect the creatures who visit the garden for dinner. The bird feeder in the front yard is squirrel proof, but another will be installed where the squirrels can get the food. We have pin oaks with millions of acorns, shagbark hickory with lots of nuts and a walnut tree. The squirrels should be happy.

Much of next year’s garden will be in the front yard, but that will have the things that nothing seems to eat, like ghost peppers, chard and squash.





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/

Propagating Figs

Normally cuttings are taken in the winter or spring to raise new fig trees. Our trees did not get pruned last winter. They are so overgrown that they were blocking access to the greenhouse. It is time to get the greenhouse ready for winter. Some branches needed to be cut, so why not try to root them?

The branches were cut into 8” to 10” pieces of new wood. The leaves were stripped off except for the top leaf. The sticks (scions) were dipped into rooting hormone and stuck into the dirt in a pot. There should be at least one leaf bud or growth bud under the dirt. These were put 3 to a pot and there were 10 pots. Only 5 trees are needed, but there may not even be that many that take root and survive. If more survive they will make nice presents.

The top leaves have already dried up and fallen off, but the little green shoot at the end of the branch is still green. The soil needs to be kept wet until the new leaves start coming out. They can be put into individual pots at that 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/

Fall Chores

Fall is here. The weather is great. The time to catch up on things that there was no time for and maybe no desire for in the summer is here. Pull up everything dead in the garden and put it in the trash can (not the compost). Clean up the green house and get it ready to use for the winter. Plant some fall flowers. Plant the fall garden. Take some cuttings from trees and vines before they go dormant. Over-seed the lawn Wow. I’m getting tired writing about it.

In our home there are a few extras. The compost system is getting raggedy and it is ugly and in the wrong place. A new one needs building. There were lots of junky trees in the back yard. They needed to come down. That means there is a lot of firewood to split. My wife wants a new front porch. She also wants a patio, where I wanted to put a garden. Her projects need to come before mine if I want to enjoy domestic tranquility.

Most of the first paragraph is finished. Some of the second paragraph is started. Prioritizing the tasks is almost impossible. They all need to be done before the weather gets cold. It is best to just do the hardest one first.



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/

Seasonal Changes

The summer garden is looking a little shabby, but the fall garden is rockin’. The shabby garden is still delivering a few tomatoes, green beans and okra. The peppers are the real stars. The ghost peppers are such a pretty plant that they will get a place in the front yard next year. The pale green foliage contrasts nicely with the orange and red fruits.

The figs have slowed down to just enough to eat. That is fine because the mustard is almost ready to pick. The arugula will soon grace a salad along with the spinach and romaine lettuce. The mesclun will be a few more weeks. Leftover spring seeds were used for the sugar peas, so they need to be replanted. Germination was spotty.

Every year new tricks are tried, new lessons are learned. On the dark side, planting green beans and okra together was a disaster. The green bean are dragging the okra down and making both crops hard to pick. On the bright side, The 8’ fence worked to keep the deer out pretty well. It was a vinyl fabric fence and it is not holding up too poorly, but in the winter season it will be replaced with and 8’ fence covered with 2” X 4” wire.







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 Tomatoes

The garden yielded another big bag of tomatoes last night and finally there was no option left but to can them. Canning itself is fun. The hard thing was enduring a trip to Walmart to get lids. Finally the second person I asked led me to the lids and jars.

The process is pretty simple. The ripest tomatoes are selected and rinsed. The jars are boiled and sanitized either in the canner or the dishwasher. The tomatoes are scalded to loosen the skin. We use a basket from a deep fat fryer to dip the tomatoes in water and then dump them in a bowl of ice. The stem area is cut out and the peel slips right off. 3 or 4 clean leaves of basil are placed in the bottom of each jar. The tomatoes are stuffed in and pressed down using a special funnel.

A little salt is added and hot water if necessary to bring the level of the liquid in the jar to the neck. A knife or a spoon is worked around in the jar to release the bubbles. The neck of the jar is carefully wiped clean and a lid and a ring are placed on the jar. The jars are then placed in a canner where the water is already boiling. The lid is put on and the jars are left for 5 to 10 minutes. Pressure is not necessary. At the end of the process the jars are lifted out and placed on a towel. The music of popping lids follows.

Count the pops. If a lid does not seal properly you can manipulate it and make a popping noise with your fingers. These jars can be re-canned or refrigerated. We only had one that did not seal last night, so it will go in the fridge and be used in the next dish where tomatoes fit.



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/

Weeds Suck

Pulling weeds has got to be the least fun thing in the garden except for maybe mosquitoes. They really do suck. Re-categorizing the process of weeding as making compost helps mitigate the pain. Doing the job often also makes it less odious. Try pulling 1 5 gallon pail full of weeds per day. That takes 5 to 10 minutes and eventually, unless you have a huge garden, there won’t be enough weeds to fill the bucket. Put them in the compost

In raised beds, the weeds between the beds are only an aesthetic problem. In many cases they can just be mowed with a lawn mower. We pick up bagged leaves on the side of the road for mulch. The bags are laid between the beds and the mulch is put on top of the bags. This makes a nice surface for walking, conserves moisture and makes a great habitat for earthworms.

The real puzzler about weeds is: “Why does such thick, luscious grass grow in the garden and not on the lawn?” Perhaps planting vegetables on the lawn will help.



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/

Yogurt

When using home raised or canned fruits or vegetables with yogurt, it only makes sense to use homemade yogurt. Making yogurt is easy as pie. The trick is to use the best yogurt possible as a starter, because it will have the best culture. We use the Greek yogurt from the Greek Wholesaler.

Any type of milk can be used. The quality of the yogurt will come from the milk, so it is worth the money to use a good organic. Organic Valley is the best we’ve found. Yogurt can be made from low-fat or even skimmed milk. Just heat whatever quantity of milk you want to use to just below boiling. Using a thermometer let the milk cool to below 115 degrees. Put one or two teaspoons of the starter yogurt in the warm milk and mix it up well. The quantity of milk does not really matter, the culture will grow.

The warm milk should be poured into warm jars and placed in a cooler full of 110 degree water. Close the cooler and let it sit. It will be yogurt in about 8 hours, but we usually leave it overnight. Refrigerate it when it is ready. Mix it with Jam or canned fruit, make Tajiki, or use it anyway you would use sour cream.



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/

Progress Report

Many parts of the garden were planted late this year. For late June the results so far are pretty good. The early garden is gone except for a few onions and a few cabbages. Sugar peas were harvested, but health problems caused an absence of gardeners footsteps and allowed the weeds and grass to overwhelm the peas. Everything else can only be seen as a huge success.

The late garden (part of which was later than usual) is doing well too. It has produced lots of tomatoes. The 1st usually comes around the 4th of July. This year the tomatoes started in late May. We did not have enough to can, but too many to eat so last night we cooked the spare tomatoes into a sauce that will be used to make a squash lasagna this weekend. A volunteer has provided a huge volume of patty pan squash. Two yellow squash have been picked and one zucchini, but the plants are loaded. The planted patty-pans are covered with baby squash as well. The spaghetti squash are starting to climb the fence. Two small bags of jalapeños have been picked. The other peppers except for the ghosts have little peppers. The ghosts have blossoms. The cucumbers are ready to be trellised and the okra has blossoms. There are 3 eggplants that are too small to pick.

Almost all of my gardening buddies are reporting the best garden ever this year. Mike Swol has gotten enough cucumbers that he can share with me as ours have not come in yet.



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

This was sauerkraut weekend. My friend Jane loaned me a huge crock. It looked like 7 gallons, but it turned out to be over 10. After being chopped a 20 gallon trash bag of cabbage only filled it half full. 7 more large heads brought it up to ¾ full. That was enough chopping.

The process is to wash the cabbage and cut off any damaged parts. Deer and rabbits munched on some of the heads. The places where they had bitten were sheared off. Then the heads were chopped until a large bowl was filled. ½ carrot and 1 spring onion were chopped fine and thrown in the bowl along with a single clove of garlic, also chopped small. About 2 or three tablespoons of salt were added and mixed in. A little bit of caraway seed was sprinkled on top and the whole bowl was dumped in the crock and tamped with my fist. This is done until the crock if full or the chopper gets too tired or until there is no more cabbage.

A follower of some sort needs to be put on the cabbage to keep everything down (we used a pot lid) A half gallon of water is put on this for weight. The crock should be checked every 2 or 3 hours to make sure that the kraut is still down. Within 24 hours if the water hasn’t risen enough to cover all of the cabbage, salt water should be added to bring the level above the follower.



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/

Late is Ok

The mystery tomato turned out to be a Rutgers Because of a combination of circumstances some parts of the garden were very late being planted this year. It was mid-May before the squash got planted. It is doing great now and there are little yellow crookneck and zucchini squash on the vines. One of the spaghetti squash is starting to run. Good fortune sent us a patty-pan volunteer that has provided squash and onions and squash casserole material sufficient for our needs so far. Thanks to the volunteer, our garden actually produced squash earlier than many of my friends gardens. The eggplants were late going in as well, but they have blooms and seem to have avoided the flea beetles this year. The cucumbers were not planted until late May and the plants are still pretty small. That is the only regret for late planting so far. 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/

What Kind of Tomato is This?

The answer’s are multiple guess. When the little tomatoes in the greenhouse were transplanted, two of them were transplanted without being labeled. The plants looked too healthy to be thrown away so they were planted in the garden and labeled “mystery”. One of them had its first tomato yesterday. The identity can safely narrowed down to 4 varieties. The varieties planted were Marglobe, German Johnson, Rutgers, Celebrity and Bloody Butcher. The Bloody Butchers have been producing for a couple of weeks. It is definitely not that. It is not red enough for a Marglobe so the other three choices will be it. Would you like to guess? The answer will be apparent in a few weeks when the other plants start producing. There are also 2 volunteer tomatoes in the garden. They are loaded with full-sized fruit. There variety may never be known. Because of where they are came up, Marglobe is my best guess. 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/

Early Tomatoes

This was the best greenhouse year ever. The plants were so healthy and abundant that there were more to give away than were needed for planting. 5 varieties of tomatoes were planted. Marglobe was planted from old seed and by planting time there was only one plant. Celebrity, German Johnson, and Rutgers were planted as well as a tomato we haven’t tried before. Bloody Butcher. The pictures of bloody picture looked like a blood red vine tomato. It turned out to be red, but not so red as the pictures. I also expected a larger tomato. They turned out to be only a little larger than a cherry tomato. They are very early though. The 1st was picked on the 20th of May. Normally our first tomato comes close to the 4th of July. They are also quite delicious, tasting like an old fashioned tomato. The really great thing is that the mesclun is still producing and a salad can be made with everything from the garden. No cucumbers yet, but they were late being planted. Bloody Butcher will stay on the planting list next year. 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 Been a While

I can’t believe 2012 is half gone and this is my 1st post. I apologize. I got so busy with the yard and garden that I spent my time doing rather than talking. This year’s garden is the best ever so far. We picked the 1st tomato on May 18th. It was a bloody butcher. The bloody butcher is a little larger than a cherry tomato, but much smaller than a “real” tomato. The flavor is that of an old fashioned high acid tomato. We are still getting mesclun, so a real garden salad is possible. The yard is looking horrible. We had 25 trees (mostly pines) cut down. To save money, I let the people take the logs and leave the debris. I have been piling debris on the street every weekend for 2 months. This weekend should finish it up. Then begins the task of getting the yard back in shape. There will be more landscaping and less grass. I am so far behind that the cucumbers and dill were just planted Sunday. That does finish the vegetable planting. Neither the figs nor the grapes got pruned this year. The weeds are a constant battle, the ones in the pathways are just being allowed to grow. Most of the pathways are covered with plastic, so the weeds are just growing in the mulch and should come up pretty easily. 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/