It is mid-July and the garden is getting blah. Good rain for the last two day has helped a little to raise the garden’s spirits. A trip to Renfrow’s to buy greenhouse seeds raised mine. There is space for another bed of squash. The yellow crookneck is looking sad, so the new crop will be planted today or tomorrow. The broccoli and cabbage plants will go in pots as soon as the greenhouse comes back together.
What is good for the winter garden? Maybe some radish and mesclun would be nice. There may still be tomatoes and cucumbers to go with them. Kale, Mustard and Turnips are a must of course. The cabbage and broccoli plants should be ready to transplant by labor day. Labor day is the time to plant a winter garden around here.
Space in the existing beds is at a premium right now. There is almost enough compost to fill another bed in addition to the one that was filled on the weekend of the 4th. There is enough lumber to build 2 more beds, but there is only space for one right now. There will not be enough compost for more than that anyway. The black gold from the city is ok when there is no compost, but it is a sad substitute.
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/
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Clean Green(house) Again
This weekend started the annual clean-up of the greenhouse. Everything in there that might be rain-sensitive was put in the wheelbarrow and stored in the shed. Everything else was piled up in the yard. All the shelves and heat mats were taken out. Even the bricks on the floor were taken out.
The inside raised bed was something of a failure. The tomatoes were planted as upside down tomatoes last week and they can be brought inside of the greenhouse and hung from the rafters so the raised beds won’t be needed. They will be covered with plywood and more benches will be built along that wall with concrete blocks and boards. They will be very temporary in case it doesn’t work well. The floor will be smoothed and re-bricked. The shelves will be repainted and re-installed with more support on the long ones. The lights will be re-hung.
All of the pots and flats will be sterilized and brought back ready to plant. The heat mats will be on the window side of the greenhouse. The new benches will be used to mist the plants with water instead of bottom watering. The last two years the greenhouse has been a failure. I think the bottom watering is the problem.
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 inside raised bed was something of a failure. The tomatoes were planted as upside down tomatoes last week and they can be brought inside of the greenhouse and hung from the rafters so the raised beds won’t be needed. They will be covered with plywood and more benches will be built along that wall with concrete blocks and boards. They will be very temporary in case it doesn’t work well. The floor will be smoothed and re-bricked. The shelves will be repainted and re-installed with more support on the long ones. The lights will be re-hung.
All of the pots and flats will be sterilized and brought back ready to plant. The heat mats will be on the window side of the greenhouse. The new benches will be used to mist the plants with water instead of bottom watering. The last two years the greenhouse has been a failure. I think the bottom watering is the problem.
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/
Monday, July 12, 2010
Lessons from this Years Garden
There are things to do and things not to do. A big to do is to get the whole garden into raised beds. Another thing to do is be more diligent with the pepper spray. Both fig trees will definitely get a heavy pruning. The things not to do deal mostly with what not to plant.
There will be no potatoes and corn. The melons do well; but they all get ripe at the same time and we don’t eat them. The jury is still out on the melons. The three sisters will have sunflowers in the place of corn. There will be more varieties of tomatoes, peppers and squash and more eggplant plants. There will be lots of cucumbers, the same amount of okra and more pole beans. There will be green beans and speckled limas.
The spaces between the beds will be mulched much earlier next year to avoid grass. The mimosa tree that shades the garden will come down. It is possible the poplar tree will come down too.
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/
There will be no potatoes and corn. The melons do well; but they all get ripe at the same time and we don’t eat them. The jury is still out on the melons. The three sisters will have sunflowers in the place of corn. There will be more varieties of tomatoes, peppers and squash and more eggplant plants. There will be lots of cucumbers, the same amount of okra and more pole beans. There will be green beans and speckled limas.
The spaces between the beds will be mulched much earlier next year to avoid grass. The mimosa tree that shades the garden will come down. It is possible the poplar tree will come down too.
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/
Friday, July 9, 2010
Powdery Mildew
The powdery mildew has made its annual visit to the garden. It seems worse this year than it has ever been. A part to the sprayer was lost when spraying started Sunday. Today the spraying needs to be finished up. There are two good organic remedies for powdery mildew.
A sulfur spray works well and fast. Just put about 3 oz of powdered wettable sulfur in a gallon of water and go to it. A little dish soap helps it stay in solution and stick to the leaves. The good thing about the sulfur is that it does not seem to damage the leaves. It also stays visible on the plant until the next rain. The sulfur will increase the acidity of the soil.
A baking soda spray works equally well. About 4 tablespoons of baking soda in a gallon of water with a little dish soap does the trick. The baking soda spray does seem to kill the leaves on which it is sprayed. It increases the alkalinity of the soil. Because it is invisible in the solution, it is difficult to tell if it is still there. For this reason we normally use the sulfur. We add cayenne to the solution to deter the deer and rabbits at the same time.
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/
A sulfur spray works well and fast. Just put about 3 oz of powdered wettable sulfur in a gallon of water and go to it. A little dish soap helps it stay in solution and stick to the leaves. The good thing about the sulfur is that it does not seem to damage the leaves. It also stays visible on the plant until the next rain. The sulfur will increase the acidity of the soil.
A baking soda spray works equally well. About 4 tablespoons of baking soda in a gallon of water with a little dish soap does the trick. The baking soda spray does seem to kill the leaves on which it is sprayed. It increases the alkalinity of the soil. Because it is invisible in the solution, it is difficult to tell if it is still there. For this reason we normally use the sulfur. We add cayenne to the solution to deter the deer and rabbits at the same time.
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/
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Firecracker 4th
The promised rain did not materialize, watering was needed. The weekend of the 4th did show some progress in the garden however. The tomatoes are coming in fast enough to give a couple away. Not quite fast enough to can. There are several egg plants almost ready to pick. We are getting over 1 pound of cucumbers every day. The potatoes were pulled off. There was a net loss on the amount of seed potatoes and the harvested potatoes. I really mean it this time. No more potatoes!!!
One of the beds where the potatoes were planted was filled with compost and covered with dirt. Also the upside down tomatoes were planted. This year a rack was built to keep them high enough off of the ground that they will be hard for deer to browse. Last year just as the plant was loaded with tomatoes, a deer ate the whole thing. This year it is hoped that they will last long enough to come into the green house and produce some late tomatoes.
The corn is finished. Something ate the ones that were on the ground and knocked the rest of the corn down. In the three sisters bed, the beans hit the ground as well and got eaten by whatever ate the corn. The butternut squash grew into the yellow squash bed and all the way through it. There are loads of butternut squash. The powdery mildew is back and I tried to spray it, but the sulfur stopped up the nozzle on the sprayer. When it was being cleaned a part was lost so today I have to get a new sprayer.
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/
One of the beds where the potatoes were planted was filled with compost and covered with dirt. Also the upside down tomatoes were planted. This year a rack was built to keep them high enough off of the ground that they will be hard for deer to browse. Last year just as the plant was loaded with tomatoes, a deer ate the whole thing. This year it is hoped that they will last long enough to come into the green house and produce some late tomatoes.
The corn is finished. Something ate the ones that were on the ground and knocked the rest of the corn down. In the three sisters bed, the beans hit the ground as well and got eaten by whatever ate the corn. The butternut squash grew into the yellow squash bed and all the way through it. There are loads of butternut squash. The powdery mildew is back and I tried to spray it, but the sulfur stopped up the nozzle on the sprayer. When it was being cleaned a part was lost so today I have to get a new sprayer.
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/
Friday, July 2, 2010
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/
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/
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Yay! A Tomato
It must be admitted, the tomato has a little green on the top. It was too close to the ground to trust the small creatures. It had to go in the kitchen window. It will be ready to eat tonight or tomorrow. This of course will be a special ceremony. We will make some special bacon and get a loaf of Nova’s bread. There is lettuce (mesclun) and cucumber in the garden. My wife likes mayonnaise. I prefer aioli.
The okra is going to town. It has to be picked every day or else it turns giant. There is an abundance of squash. A friend says he dries it. We will check into that. Freezing is probably the easiest way to save food. Frozen squash sucks. The problem with squash is that it is mostly water. The water separates in the freezing or canning process.
We are getting a little rain this morning. I got up at 5:30 to water the garden and went outside. After slathering up with mosquito repellant and cutting the water on to the garden, I realized the rain was coming down. Hallelujah!! It doesn’t seem to be heavy enough to do much good, but if it lasts long enough it should 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/
The okra is going to town. It has to be picked every day or else it turns giant. There is an abundance of squash. A friend says he dries it. We will check into that. Freezing is probably the easiest way to save food. Frozen squash sucks. The problem with squash is that it is mostly water. The water separates in the freezing or canning process.
We are getting a little rain this morning. I got up at 5:30 to water the garden and went outside. After slathering up with mosquito repellant and cutting the water on to the garden, I realized the rain was coming down. Hallelujah!! It doesn’t seem to be heavy enough to do much good, but if it lasts long enough it should 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/
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