A Game of Squash(es)

All of the squash plants have the ability to pollinate the other squash plants. For this reason volunteers can be a lot of fun. Saving seeds if more than one variety is planted is futile. Good gardening practice says that all volunteers should be pulled like a weed as they may harbor pests or disease. That would spoil the fun.

Last year there was a volunteer squash that turned out to be a patty-pan. It was the most productive squash plant in the garden. This year there are 4 volunteers. One of them could be from a dropped butternut seed. The other three are total mysteries. Only 1 plant has produced a female flower that looks like a squash. That one appears to be a spaghetti squash, but the truth will not be revealed until it is picked and cut open.

The little zucchinis are about 5” long now and 1 is getting ready to drop its blossom. Most summer squashes are better small so they are picked when the blossom drops unless it gets knocked off by accident. Winter squash should be left until they reach full maturity in order so that they will last well in storage.



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/

Teeny Weenie Zucchini

The first little zucchinis have formed on the plants, but one should not count their zucchinis before they hatch. The first of any squash plant frequently dies on the vine. The zucchinis aforementioned have huge blossoms still, which means they have not been pollinated. There are no male flowers on that plant, but the plant next to it has plenty. Hopefully the bees will do their job. Whenever there is a tiny squash, perfectly formed, that just dries up and falls off without maturing, it is because it was not pollinated.

The paragraph above was written Friday. Since then the little zucchinis have grown to about 4”. The still have the blooms. We do not care for monster zucchinis so they will be picked when the bloom falls off. Incidentally The spaghetti squash now has one female blossom that is beginning to swell. The rest of the blossoms seem to be male so there is hope.

Michael’s 2nd hive of bees was picked up on Saturday. The best part of picking up bees was talking to Wayne Hanson, who is and extremely talented beekeeper. The first hive of my bees was still being fed and had an extra super with a queen excluder. After talking to Wayne the queen excluder and the feeder were removed. The reasons for that will be discussed 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/

Bee-ing Disorganized

About a week ago a small super was added to the #1 beehive. It seemed like a good idea to check for activity. Saturday and Sunday had afternoon rain, so the venture had to wait until yesterday (Monday). The bees have drawn almost all of the comb, but have filled almost none of it. They did make some burr comb under the feeder and fill that.

Hive #2 only had 1 undrawn foundation. That was replaced with a plastic foundation to see what will happen. The undrawn foundation was on the extreme right side. The two frames next to it were moved over and the plastic foundation was placed between 2 almost full frames. That hive will need a super this weekend. If they draw the plastic, it will be plastic. If not the plastic will be returned to Mann Lake and wax will be used.

The first sugar peas were picked yesterday. They were stir fried with asparagus, spinach and onion from the garden and bell pepper from the store. MMM good. The original intent was to grapple some new potatoes to go with the meal, but the ground was too soggy for sticking a hand under the potatoes.







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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/

Sugar Peas

They are not quite ready to pick, but there are little pods on the pea vines. The vines are as tall as my shoulder. The potatoes have been blooming for over a week now so maybe a few new potatoes will also grace the plate. Stir fried sugar pea pods, spring onions and asparagus with a side dish of new potatoes sounds mighty tasty. We can have a salad and some mixed greens with it.

The rain gauge measured 4.1” of rain last night. That should get things growing. The garden and the flowers have been watered every other day, but that really just keeps them alive. A good soaking rain followed by lots of sunshine is like steroids for the garden. Now where is the sun?

This was the weekend for opening the #2 beehive. The rainy afternoons prevented that. Mann Lake sent frames with plastic foundations instead of wax. One or two of those need to go in the hive to see if the bees will draw the comb. Plastic would definitely be more convenient for me, but the bees will make the final decision.







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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/

Middles

This is a dead time in the garden season. Everything is planted. The spring stuff is getting boring. The summer stuff is not producing. Everything is growing pretty fast, including the weeds, but there is nothing to pick except the various greens, herbs and asparagus.

Maybe your tomatoes do not need support yet, but this is time to put the supports up. Our garden uses bamboo trellises. The tomatoes are already up to the 3rd rail. There are loads of little green tomatoes, but none for the salad. The tomatoes that were canned last year are good in a salad, but a good fresh one would be better.

The radishes were planted a few at a time, but even the last planting is getting ready to go to seed. The leaves are good in the mixed greens. Try some poke salad in the mixed greens. The poke salad needs to be cooked and drained and cooked again. The 2nd cooking can be mixed with the other greens. The stalks are good too. Cook them with the greens in the 1st cooking. Peel them and cut them into 6” pieces. They are great sautéed in butter and lemon.







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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/

Bee Box Buzzing

Sunday marked the 2nd opening of the 1st bee hive. A little smoke warned the bees of the coming invasion, but it also calmed them down some. They are still taking sugar water so there was syrup in the feeder. A mistake was to set the feeder out uncovered. When it went back on there were 2 bees that had drowned in it.

Everything was stuck together very tightly with propolis, and took some prying with the hive tool. All of the frames in the top box were drawn except for a plastic drone comb that was added for varroa mite control. Most of them were only partly filled with either brood or honey. There was enough filled comb that a super needed to be added. The only super available was a small one, so when the medium ones come in (hopefully today) if the super doesn’t have too much honey it will be pulled off and the medium box will replace it.

There is a fence covered with honey-suckle right beside the beehives but the bees ignore it and fly off into the distance to get their food. Up until last week the bees were coming back with full pollen sacs. Now it seems that they are going for nectar. They also seem to be harvesting some propolis as there were quite a few bees working on the joints of the restacked hive.







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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 Search for Cherry Trees

Almost every nursery in Charlotte was called looking for cherry trees with edible cherries. They are said not to grow well in this area, but there are a lot of ornamental cherries. Why shouldn’t the edible ones grow. This is the 3rd year of trying them in the space between the sidewalk and the street.

The 1st year they were purchased from Stark Bros. They were about 3’ high and looked like sticks when planted in the fall. When spring came they branched and leafed out well. At least the deer thought so. They ate all but 1. Last year’s trees came from Willis Orchards. They looked like sticks, but they were about 5’ tall. All but 1 leafed out at the beginning of the season. That 1 leafed out later and very sparsely. Dogs pissing on 1 have killed it already. The one from stark that was still alive did not leaf out.

This year the planting is going to be spring instead of fall. 2 trees for replacement were finally found at the Grower’s Outlet in Pineville. They are about 8’ tall and cost $25, which is less than the smaller trees from Stark Bros. and Willis Orchards. Wish me luck please. I desperately want cherry blossoms and cherries.







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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/

Too Early for Mulch

The pine needles and other mulches are piling up in the professional landscapes. This is to prevent weeds and enhance the appearance of the beds. At this time it may not be in the best interest of all of the plants. The soil is about 60 degrees in the Charlotte area. For many plants to do well the soil temperature should be higher. Mulch slows this warming.

In our garden, which is mostly in beds, the pathways are being mulched. The beds are not except for cool season plants like cabbage and onions. This weekend the plants in other beds will be side-dressed with compost. The compost is black and will help the soil warm up. It will also provide some feed to fast growing plants.

Compost is a slow release fertilizer and does not supply nutrients fast enough for many plants this time of year. A foliar spray can give fast results and if it is not too strong, will not burn the leaves. Manure or compost tea is great for this purpose. A little fish oil or blood meal could be added as a booster.





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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/

Little Dogs and Cherry Trees

6 cherry trees were planted last fall. They were carefully watered and cared for through the winter. All of the trees except 1 leafed out pretty early. That one was presumed to be dead, but it leafed out a little bit about a week later. All of the trees were alive and well.

About 2 weeks ago a lady was walking on the sidewalk with her little dog. The dog lifted his leg and dowsed one of the trees. That tree appears to be dying. I don’t know if the dog pee was the cause. There is a little scuffed spot on the trunk near the base. The real problem with the loss of the tree is not so much the cost and effort. The replacement tree will be a year behind the other trees. It will look funny for at least 2 years.

These trees were Bing, Brook and Black Tartarkian. My mind was filled with visions of the street in front of the house lined with beautiful cherry trees and bowls of cherries. The year before, trees were planted. When they started leafing out the deer ate them so strongly that they all died. This year deer and rabbit repellant has been applied every time it rains. Maybe we are not destined to have cherries.





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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/

They Have Risen

Both of my tillers are running and digging. Michael’s generator is working well. The repairman, who fixed the unfixable, is Johnathan Hartis. He makes house calls. His phone # is 980 721 1035. For $100 he revived and serviced all three items. It took less than 2 1/2 hours.

I had taken 1 of the tillers to two shops. One of them got two chances. This came at the peak of garden preparation season when I really needed the tiller. I finally broke down and bought a new one. I called Johnathan Thursday and made an appointment for yesterday (Wednesday) at 3:00. He came almost an hour early and had the tillers running quickly. The generator took a little longer. The good thing is that I did not have to take the tillers to a shop and wait several weeks for repair and then be told that they couldn’t be fixed.

So now I have two tillers, but when I got home someone had stolen my lawn mower. I never lock my shed, but I noticed the doors were closed the wrong way and I checked and the lawn mower and my sawzall were gone. Nothing else was missing. Now that the horse is out, I have locked the barn door.





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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/

Tiller Killer

I must be a tiller killer. Two years ago my 1 year old tiller would not start. I took it to my regular lawn mower repair guy. He got it to start but it wouldn’t dig. I took it to Faulk Brothers. They kept it over a month and I picked it up, paid almost $100 and took it home. It still cut off every time I engaged the clutch to dig. I really liked that tiller so I gave it away and went to Lowes and bought another just like it.

The new one lasted 2 years and wouldn’t start. After spending almost $200 with several repair people, I gave up and went back to Lowes. This was during the holiday season and they only had one tiller in the store and it cost about $1200. I broke one of my rules and went to Home Depot. Don’t get me wrong, I love Home Depot, but I never buy anything there with moving parts. I bought their last tiller, which was a floor model. It worked great for 4 months.

I went to till a friends garden last week and the tiller went about 6 feet and quit. It wouldn’t start for anything. I don’t know if I can take it back still or not. I found a repairman who makes house calls on the internet. He is coming today to hopefully fix both tillers. If they run, I will give you his name.



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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/