Sweet Summer Rain

I love it!! It is too wet to get in the garden if the rain falling at my office is falling at home as well. This is the perfect rain. Hard enough to get stuff wet. Soft enough not to smash everything down. The vegetables will sink their roots into the blessed water and live. As soon as the sun pops out, it will suck all of that water up into the plants and swell up the fruits. This is all the rain that is called for until July 9. It might be enough. The weather man probably doesn’t know anyway.

The mustard greens are starting to go to seed. We are tired of them anyway. I think I will pull them off this weekend. The potatoes come off too. There are either potatoes down there or not. I am ready to fill the beds with compost and dirt and plant something else. It is hot and early for mesclun and spinach, but maybe, I’ll plant it anyway. Worst case, I lose my seed.

About ½ of the sunflowers are still standing. They look to be at least 10’ tall. The little flowers are turning to the sun. They are only about 4” across right now. If the rain doesn’t knock them down, the sun will make them grow. There is a little 2 year old boy in the house behind me. I can’t wait to give him one of those big sunflowers.

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/

Weather or Not

The ten day weather forecast for Charlotte calls for 90 degrees everyday and thunderstorms every two or three days. This is not great for people who enjoy being outdoors, but it is great for gardeners. It may not be that great for the corn and sunflowers. The tassels on the ears of corn are already starting to darken at the ends and the ears are not filled out. The rain has smashed the corn down several times and this has probably interfered with pollination. About 1/3 of the sunflowers are down too.

The little bitty tomato plants that were started around a week ago for the upside down tomato containers were transplanted to little pots on Sunday. They all seemed to survive. The basil seed that was planted to accompany them did not even germinate. The soil was probably too warm

The green beans and lima beans are the only things in the garden that have not bloomed except for the patty-pan squash that was planted Sunday. The beans are running strong though. When they do start producing at least they have healthy vines. The green beans are planted with corn and butternut squash. The smashed down corn may cause a problem there. Next year I may plant sunflowers with the three sisters and build a frame to support the whole mess.

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/

Cucumbers and Onions

My wife’s favorite way to eat cucumbers is to marinate them in oil, vinegar and salt water with just a bare touch of sugar. Leave them in the fridge for at least 4 hours. Overnight is better. I would add a few basil leaves. Michael Swol likes to add a jalapeño pepper. It is fantastic any way you do it.

We picked over 5 ½ pounds of produce yesterday (Sunday). Most of it was squash and cucumbers, but we did pick some mustard greens and salad stuff. I also replanted the patty-pan squash. I found a package of seeds at the Myers Park Garden center. They were “Renee’s” and they had 3 different varieties. The variance seemed to be mostly by color. They were planted in a 3’ wide bed, so they will probably run everywhere. There was a good thunderstorm yesterday that should get them off to a good start.

The thunder storm knocked down about 1/3 of the sunflowers. They were planted a little too close anyway. Today I will pull all of the downed ones and side dress the rest. They are just starting to make flowers.



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/

(Sun)Flower Power

The sunflowers are 8’ tall and they still do not have flowers yet. Only a few have fallen over so far. The variety is “Mammoth Russian”. We have planted them before, but not since moving into the city. When fully mature the flowers should be at least 12” across. When dried they will be stacked in a plastic bag with the top open. They can be given to the birds one flower at a time. The birds and squirrels go crazy. The seeds are, of course, great roasted; but we are too lazy to shell them.

The corn is about 6’ tall; but laying down it is only about 1’ tall. The rain finally got the corn that was in the three sister’s bed as well. The rain helped everything else so much it doesn’t really matter. The corn is tassleing already, will this affect the pollination?

The squash is blooming and making yellow squash. The zucchini is coming slowly and the patty-pan has flowers, but no fruit. There are a couple of spaghetti squash on the vine, but no butternut squash yet. Tomatoes and cucumbers are growing slowly and the mesclun is holding out. We may get a complete salad yet.


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/