Showing posts with label Front yard garden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Front yard garden. Show all posts

Monday, April 11, 2011

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/

Monday, April 4, 2011

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/

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Front Yard Garden

There have been lots of article in various magazines lately about front yard gardens. My brother doesn’t really have much of a front yard; but he does plant vegetables in his flower beds. When I look at the lush growth in the vegetable garden, I can’t help but think it would look good in front of the house.

Squash is not so different from elephant ears. The herbs almost all have great flowers. Tomatoes and corn are not actually ugly; but maybe they should stay in the backyard. Broccoli is kind of ugly; but there are ornamental cabbages that still taste good. Eggplants and peppers are down right decorative. Bean vines on a trellis could make a nice privacy screen. We have started eating the flowers and planting some in the vegetable garden. Perhaps it is time to blur the lines between ornamentals and edibles.

Next years garden plan is already taking shape, influenced by this year’s mistakes. It is time for a thoughtful walk with a notebook through the front yard. The neighbors already think I’m crazy, what’s to lose?

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