Leaf it to Me

The leaves are falling. People are putting them in bags and putting them on the street. The ones from our yard get picked up with the bagging lawn mower and used for mulch or added to the compost pile. Some of the ones people put on the street wind up in my garden or my compost too. Some people even put pine needles out. Those are used to top the mulch in the front yard and make it look like we spent money.

Other leaves are coming out instead of coming down. Today’s lunch includes mixed greens. Last night’s supper was a garden salad made with arugula, onions and radishes from the garden. There were tomatoes too. They were small but tasty. The radish greens went into the mixed greens for lunch. Mesclun leaves will be in the next salad.

The bugs are not usually too bad in the fall. I hope the larger wild life will leaf me alone.

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 Harvest

Fall is traditionally harvest time. There is not much left to harvest. The tomatoes, egg plants and peppers are doing well. The winter squash was a flop. The okra is slowing down almost to a screeching halt. The greens are coming just coming in. There have been greens on the table about 3 times so far. One mess has been given away.

The kale is spotty. The cabbage, spinach and sugar peas will have to be replanted again. The collards and onions are a bright spot. The mesclun is also doing well. The first crop of ghost peppers was harvested after something ate all the leaves. I can’t imagine what would eat ghost pepper leaves.

I gave a couple of ghost peppers to friends. I hope we are still friends. After slicing them into tiny segments, one small bite turned their faces bright red. It would have been a blast to watch the faces of whatever ate the leaves in the garden.

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/

Some Grows, Some Goes

The fall garden has been a spotty thing this year. Cucumbers came up great and died. Squash came up well and have small squash, that grow so slowly that the pickle worms find them. The sugar peas came up and went away. They were replanted and have not come back up. The 1st radishes are getting some size, but they have no radishes. The spinach came up and went away and had to be replanted. The cabbage was doing well, but has disappeared.

The arugula is doing well as is the mesclun. The mustard and turnips have been picked several times. The kale that was planted at the same time as the mustard and turnips is growing really slowly. The onions and collards planted a week ago have not even come up. The fig tree is loaded, but they are not getting ripe.

The bed in the center of the front yard has been completely reworked. All of the living plants were dug up. The bed was sided with a double row of landscaping timbers and filled with compost and dirt. Three artichokes were planted and the irises and cannas were replanted. The cannas will be moved to another bed, but they had to be replanted in that bed, because there is no place for them yet. That bed will get a lot more work through the week and next weekend.

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 Garden in Full Growth Mode

Cool nights, warm afternoons and lots of rain makes the fall a great time for gardens. Turnip greens were on Sunday night’s supper table. The mesclun that was planted Sunday was out of the ground yesterday (Tuesday). The mustard and kale are almost ready to pick. The missing link is the onion sets. Renfrow’s hardware didn’t have the sets in last week. Hopefully they have them now.

The late cucumbers have not produced yet and they are already looking ratty. The late squash have squash on them already. The patty pan is still coming in. The spaghetti squash is a total failure this year, and the butternut produced only little squash.

Fortunately the tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and patty pan squash are still producing. The okra has not yielded a pod for two days, but they are covered with blossoms. The last ones picked were too big and tough even though they were only one day old.

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/

Finally Fall Fell

Friday’s temperature dropped to a comfortable range. Everything in the fall garden has sprouted except for the spinach, carrots and beets. I thought the spinach had come up, but Saturday morning, it was nowhere to be found. It will have to be replanted next weekend. This weekend saw another bed renovated and planted with a follow up crop of radishes, beets and carrots.

Tomorrow there will be another trip to renfrow’s to purchase onion sets and mesclun seeds. That should round out the fall garden except for more follow ups on radishes and carrots. The beets will probably not have time to get a good start for first frost if they are planted any later.

The cucumbers and squash have some female blossoms now. There is a chance they will start producing before the tomatoes totally quit. The arugula is almost ready to pick, so we will have a complete garden salad with any luck at all. The lettuce may even be big enough to pick by then. Mesclun and spinach will probably not be.

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 Ghost Lives

The first little ghost peppers appeared this weekend. The peppers do look like the ones in the pictures of ghost peppers. Maybe they are real!!

Lots of lima beans and string beans are coming on too. The second planting of cucumbers is climbing and blooming, but no cukes yet. The new squash plants are growing well, but no blossoms. The turnips, mustard, kale, spinach, arugula, cabbage, sugar peas and radish are up. The carrots and beets are not up but they usually take a while. The late crop of figs seemed to have made a false start. The trees produced a handful and then quit again. They are loaded with figs.

The old squash plants really look scroungy and they are not producing anything but a few patty-pans. Even those have pickle worms. They still have blossoms though and I am loathe to pull them up. Once they are gone, the beds they occupy can be reworked and put to sleep for the winter.

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/

Fast Germination

The fall garden is amazing for the fast germination. Arugula was planted Sunday and came up on Monday. Turnips, mustard and kale were planted on Sunday of the week before and sprouted on Saturday. Cabbage and spinach were planted at the same time as the Arugula. They have not sprouted yet, but the soil may be too warm. They need temperatures of less than 70 degrees.

The next crop of figs seems to have started with a handful on Monday (Labor day). The previous crop was the largest we have ever had. This crop appears to be the sweetest ever. We make a lot of fig preserves because they are so good on biscuits or toast on cold mornings. The late cucumbers already have blossoms and runners so they were put onto a trellis this weekend. See the picture above.

A late harvest of cucumbers and squash is always iffy because there are so many bugs to eat them. The first plantings of cucumbers are dead already. The first plantings of squash are still alive, but they are producing almost nothing.

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/

Dry Hurricane

The rain from Hurricane Irene may have drenched the coast, but it left Charlotte high and dry. The garden had to be watered on Sunday. Watching people fighting high water on the coast, while the soaker hoses are running seems so unfair. The dry weather seems to have slowed the tomatoes and ended the squash, but it does not seem to bother the okra.

Sunday was a good time to start the fall garden. The soil is still too warm for cabbage and things like that, but the turnips, mustard and kale do not seem to be as sensitive to soil temperature for germination. Carrots, beets, spinach, cabbage, onion sets, broccoli and Brussels sprouts will have to wait.

Several beds that were occupied by squash and squash family plants need to be renewed for fall or spring planting. The ones for fall planting can just be reworked and not mulched. The ones for spring will get a heavy layer of mulch to stimulate decomposition of compost and generation of earthworms.

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

Cool Soil for Fall Planting

Some of the things in your fall garden can be planted now. Most of the greens will be fine. Cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts need for the soil to be around 70 degrees or less to get reliable germination. If they are being planted, it should be plants instead of seeds. Onions should wait a couple more months.

Beans, okra, egg plants and peppers should bear well until the 1st frost. Tomatoes are probably slacking off a little. Lots of water and a liberal side dressing of compost and organic fertilizer will stretch the season on them until frost, but with a reduced yield. Squash and cucumbers from the 1st planting are on their last leg if they haven’t already given up. The later planting will take over. The problem with the later planting is that the pests that like the cucurbits are well established. They may wipe out the tender young plants unless they are controlled early.

The main pests to watch for are cucumber beetles, pickle worms, stink bugs and other bugs from these families. BT will control the pickle worms. Stink bugs and other members of this group need to be picked off by hand. Neem oil will help some, but not 100%.


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 Garden Time

It is time to start thinking about the Fall garden. We have already made a 2nd planting of cucumber that will hopefully produce right up till the 1st frost. Soon it will be time to plant onions, cabbages, greens of all kinds, carrots and radishes. Maybe even a few potatoes could go in the ground.

Supposedly almost any kind of greens can be used to make sauerkraut. The greens are really prolific enough that the only loss will be a little time and a handful of salt. How do you suppose kale kraut or mustard kraut will taste? There is one way to find out.

It is also a good time to take cuttings and start new plants. Fall planted perennials should be ordered for early September planting. Most of these plants need to get a good start before 1st frost so the roots will continue to grow and acclimate through the cold season. Our special fall planting project this year will be edible cherries.

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/

Finally Figs

In spite of the recent rain, yesterday’s garden yield was poor. The okra was pretty good, but there were only about 7 or 8 tomatoes and 1 patty pan squash. The figs were fantastic though. A little grocery store bag got almost completely filled. The house is full of tomatoes already. They need to be canned again. The figs need to be made into fig preserves also. Tonight the kitchen and jars will be gotten ready. Tomorrow night we can.

Everyone who has eaten the sauerkraut says it is “kick-ass”. Our first jar was finished off last night. Cabbage will have to be planted really heavy this fall. Kraut can be made from other greens too. How would mustard or turnip kraut taste? It may get a trial. Maybe even kale kraut will be good.

It is time to start planning the fall garden. Except for things that will be harvested pretty early, row A will be left empty so that it can be reworked. It will be widened to 4” and the spaces between the beds will be eliminated; so there will just be one long bed.

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/

Strange Weather

The forecasters have changed the 10 day forecast again. The thunderstorms predicted for Saturday have been downgraded to scattered showers. Friday the 17th thunderstorms have been predicted. One thing stranger than the weather is me. I like to pick up bagged grass and leaves on the side of the road for compost and mulch. This time of year it is mostly grass, but yesterday it was only leaves. Is the dry weather causing this, or is it just that time of year?

Figs and tomatoes are ripening at a rapid rate. The okra is still producing even though most of the plants are on the ground. The peppers are doing well too. The cabbage and broccoli plants that went into the ground Sunday will probably have to be replaced. Some of them look like little strings laying on the ground. They received a good misting last night. Maybe that will help.

The turnips, mustard, kale, collards, radish and carrots that were planted Sunday and Monday have not come up yet. When they do they will have to be watered like everything else. I can’t remember having to water the fall garden other than the transplants. This would normally be the time to over-seed the yard, but I think it is just too hot.

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/

Bone Dry

Yesterday was the traditional day (Labor Day) to plant the fall garden. The soil is so dry in the raised beds, that it is hard to work the dirt. Everything did manage to get in the ground, however. The broccoli and cabbage plants were first on Sunday, and they were well watered in. Then radish and carrots were planted together as filler between the plants, and collards and turnips went into another bed. On Sunday the mustard and kale went into the ground.

It is so dry that the compost had to be watered. Even the spotted cucumber beetles seem to have dried up and gone away. The watermelons and cantaloupes are finished and can be pulled up. The fence can be removed. The okra in the raised beds is still green and producing even though it has all fallen down. The okra planted in the dirt is mostly dead. The stalks on the raised bed okra are over an inch thick. The stalks on the dirt planted are about an inch thick.

The only thing planted in dirt, and still producing, that will stop the fall tilling are the peppers. They are really producing a lot of peppers. The lima beans are still green and growing, but they are so close to the fence that they won’t hamper the tilling.

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/

Is It Really September?

The ten day weather forecast calls for 95 degrees today (Sept. 1), 93 degrees tomorrow and 98 degrees on Friday. The weekend cools to the low 80’s and next week shoots back up to almost 90. There is no rain called for, despite the coming hurricane. This is going to bring problems for the garden. Pollen does not set well above 90 degrees and the soil will be too warm for most of the crucifers from the fall planting to germinate.

What should be done about the fall garden? The beds or rows are ready. The seeds have been bought. Everyone is excited. Maybe a mixed approach is best. Planting half of the seeds now and leaving the other half for another couple of weeks. It should be ok to put out the cabbage, broccoli and Brussels sprouts plants. They will need lots of water though. Spinach and lettuce will be a waste of time, space and seeds. It will be better to wait a week or two before planting them.

My dreams have been haunted with fresh spinach ever since the spring crop bolted. The mesclun did not die. It just disappeared. The complete salad will not have cucumbers, because the battle with the spotted cucumber beetles was lost. There are new plants coming up; but they are ragged. Extensive research on the internet has yielded quite a few organic remedies for these little buggers, but none of them are better than about 60% effective.

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/

Are You Ready for Labor Day?

Labor Day is the traditional day for planting fall gardens. The ground should be ready for planting. For gardens planted in the old standard way or rows and paths, everything that is not still producing something should be tilled under, and the rows should be laid out nice and straight. Usually 3” is a good width for the type of things that are planted in the fall. PH should be tested to see if lime or sulfur is needed. Three trenches should be dug with a garden hoe. These should be filled with finished compost and covered with the dirt from three intervening trenches dug with a garden hoe.

When planting these will be the rows for the seeds. What to plant in the fall? Virtually all of the crucifers (collards, turnips, mustard, radishes, etc.) can be planted now. Broccoli, cabbage and Brussels sprouts will do better if plants are used. Lettuce, arugula, mesclun, carrots and spinach will add variety to salads and should be ready to eat before the last tomatoes are picked. With any luck at all there will only be a few weeks all year, when there is nothing to eat in the garden.

Labor day is also a good time to plant things like asparagus, blueberries and artichokes. They will get established before the really cold weather comes and there seems to be less stress from drought in the fall. Just be sure that everything is well mulched before the first frost.

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/

Three Days is Not Enough

The spotted cucumber beetles in my yard are developing a resistance to BT and to Sulfur sprays. For three days in a row they have been sprayed. There are still a few there. They got sprayed again yesterday. Who knows if that will work? The only cucurbits left are some new cucumbers and some new yellow squash. They may make it. They may not.

Rain has been threatened all week, but the garden is dry enough that it will need watering tonight. The upside down tomatoes are the canaries in the coal mine. When they wilt, it is an indication that the soil is getting dry. Soil in pots dries fast. Soil in raised beds dries almost as fast.

The vacant raised beds are ready for the fall planting now. The official time to plant is Labor Day. Our garden may get planted this weekend. The weekend is supposed to be cool and dry. Good for the gardener.

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/

Adventures in the Jungle

Everything in the garden is so big that one has to walk over to the bed of interest to see what’s happening there. Visibility is limited. The birds are everywhere. They are feasting on the figs. My greatest fear is coming around a tall tomato bush and meeting a tiger or some other jungle creature that decided the garden would make a good home.

The struggle to get ready for the fall garden is intensifying. There are several beds with old non-producing stuff that can be pulled off. There are so many desirable items for the fall and so many items that can possibly be replanted for a second crop. It is a challenge to plan the layout. I think I will just spend the weekend reworking the space available and then come up with a planting scheme.

The garden needs another planting of cucumbers and mesclun and some spinach and sallet greens. The broccoli and cabbage plants in the greenhouse will be ready to transplant by labor day or maybe a little sooner. There are enough plants, but the soil was too warm for good germination.

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/

The Fall of Fall

The first day of fall has arrived. Leaves have magically arrived in bags on the side of the street. The trees are still green; so these must be from last year. At any rate they still make good mulch in the garden. So far they are only around the raised beds. Planning has begun for next years perfect garden and except for periodic replanting of some things, the fall garden is planted and coming up. The only things not up are the onions and the mesclun mix.

We had tacos last night with peppers, tomato, arugula and onion from the garden. The third crop of figs is coming on with a vengeance. It seems that they are afraid they won’t be ripe before the 1st freeze. Seeds have been planted for 6 tomato plants that will be put into the raised bed in the greenhouse. Only 3 are needed; but who knows how many will actually come up. Last year seeds for the greenhouse were hard to find in local stores in December. They will be purchased early this year.

The garden will grow by a few feet. More raised beds will be built. An 8’ fence will be constructed in the hopes of keeping the deer out. They can jump 18’; but maybe they will go for easier forage. Some stuff will be planted for them outside the fence. The motion detectors on the side of the house don’t phase them at all; but maybe a noisy motion detector would help.


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/

Fall Garden is Planted

Last weekend the Chard and Spinach went in. Everything else had to wait. This Saturday I built a new 12’ X 3’ raised bed. I was not double dug. The whole empty part of the garden was tilled deep. The box was built on top of the ground and about 6” of compost was put in. Then the surrounding loose dirt from the pathways was used to top out the bed.

The new raised bed was planted with Arugula and Mesclun mix. Tokyo cross turnips and curly mustard were planted in regular rows. The Brussels sprouts are still producing. I did not bother the replant them. The broccoli from spring is still healthy; but not producing broccoli. The yield was so low the broccoli may not be worth the trouble. It may produce some more.

The tomatoes are finally getting ripe and there are 5 spaghetti squash on the vine. We ate one early in the season and had one last night. These things really make a lot of spaghetti. Powdery mildew has raised it’s ugly head; so all of the cucurbits got a good dose of sulfur yesterday. I have the wood to make another raised bed; but the compost isn’t ready. Maybe later.

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/

The Glory of Dirt

After weeks the tiller finally came home with a new cable. It worked for about 5 minutes. Finally duct tape to the rescue and the dirt was flying. The soil was pretty dry. I did not apply the meter; because this was unplanted ground. Even where there was a cover of mulch the ground pulverized easily. If it is not too hot this afternoon, the new raised bed will be built.

A trip to Renfrow’s wonderful store yielded seeds for mesclun mix, arugula, spinach, Tokyo cross hybrid turnips, curly mustard, kale and chard. The spinach and the chard were planted Sunday morning. The late crop cucumbers are starting to run so they got a good dose of compost. Powdery mildew has raised it’s ugly head. The sulfur mix has done better than the baking soda did so this afternoon, everything gets a dose of sulfur.

The first tomato was subjected to the taste test last night. It is perfect. Nothing can beat a really good home grown tomato. This was a marglobe and had a very high acid content, rich red flesh and a nice firm texture.

Michael Swol took some of the peppers I have been giving him and made some Jalapeño poppers wrapped with bacon. Awesome!!!

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/