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/