Fall is Falling

The leaves are coming down and so is the nighttime temperature. That and the disappearance of sun-dresses are almost the only signs of seasonal change. The fall garden is producing lots of greens and the spinach and sugar peas have finally come up. The leaves on the fig trees are looking a little shabby, but the fig tree cuttings in the greenhouse are putting out leaves.

There are 36 cabbage seedlings in the greenhouse that are almost large enough to transplant. 3 plants were purchased to provide a few cabbages. The ones in the greenhouse will be mostly for sauerkraut. The red chard germinated very poorly. It may have been planted too early. If seeds can be found I will try again.

Some cherry trees were purchased from Willis Orchards. They are really nice trees. They are being sprayed with deer and rabbit repellant every time it rains in the hopes that these won’t be destroyed like the last batch. All of the Stark brothers’ trees of last year’s purchase except one lived and produced branches and leaves. Of the three living trees all but one were killed by deer.





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/

Grey Days

It is not grey today or I would not even be able to write this. The garden has that fall look. All the structures that were built to hold things up are falling down. Most of the vines are dead. Most of the basil has gone to seed. The marigolds have been moved to the front yard. There is nothing green except peppers, okra, fall greens and green beans. The sugar peas did not germinate well and need to be replanted. There is a lot of clean-up and renewing of beds to do, but other projects are taking precedence.

Thirty fig cuttings were taken about a week and a half ago. 7 of them have leaves already. Our traditional first frost date is October 21. We have had a couple of cold rainy days and some of the leaves are falling, but I don’t think we are anywhere close to a first frost. The fig trees will need to be repotted and moved into the greenhouse before that.

A new compost system is almost finished. It is essentially the same as the old one, but neater. That will be featured in the next post. The most immediate thing right now is replanting the sugar peas, planting a fresh row of radishes and onions and finishing up a honey-do project for my wife.





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/

Early Greenhouse

Usually Charlotte’s spring planting’s official starting day is Easter. This past spring 2 weeks earlier would have worked fine. The winter cold was almost negligible. The soil was warm early. This year instead of the calendar, starting date will be based on soil temperature. There will be enough stuff in the greenhouse that was started early to plant when the soil temperature is right. There will be plenty left over to replant if a late frost comes.

Some people like to plant early for bragging rights. They like to have the 1st of whatever. (Tomatoes are probably the main thing). A good reason for planting early is to avoid the bugs. This does not work for egg plants. They are subject to depredation by flea beetles. If planted after June 1, most of the flea beetles will have moved on.

Before planting in the greenhouse, all of the pots and other paraphernalia should be rinsed with a strong Clorox solution. This will kill most of the fungus and bacteria that might otherwise kill the tender plants.

Deer and Rabbits

Bugs and Bambi are making life miserable for the cabbage, broccoli and Brussels sprouts. They have been replanted twice. The last time they were anointed with deer and rabbit repellant. The critters thought that was a special sauce, just for them. A new fence will be going up this winter. It will be made with 8’ of 2X4 wire and will be buried 4” underground. This will not stop a determined deer or rabbit, but it may stop the ones who are not so serious. Green beans will be planted on the fence. The deer can eat the leaves that stick through.

Squirrels are some of my favorite creatures, but they do damage in the garden. Once the fence is up and tight enough to keep casual visitors out, the garden will be furnished with poison corn. The poison doesn't bother birds. It should only affect the creatures who visit the garden for dinner. The bird feeder in the front yard is squirrel proof, but another will be installed where the squirrels can get the food. We have pin oaks with millions of acorns, shagbark hickory with lots of nuts and a walnut tree. The squirrels should be happy.

Much of next year’s garden will be in the front yard, but that will have the things that nothing seems to eat, like ghost peppers, chard and squash.





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/

Propagating Figs

Normally cuttings are taken in the winter or spring to raise new fig trees. Our trees did not get pruned last winter. They are so overgrown that they were blocking access to the greenhouse. It is time to get the greenhouse ready for winter. Some branches needed to be cut, so why not try to root them?

The branches were cut into 8” to 10” pieces of new wood. The leaves were stripped off except for the top leaf. The sticks (scions) were dipped into rooting hormone and stuck into the dirt in a pot. There should be at least one leaf bud or growth bud under the dirt. These were put 3 to a pot and there were 10 pots. Only 5 trees are needed, but there may not even be that many that take root and survive. If more survive they will make nice presents.

The top leaves have already dried up and fallen off, but the little green shoot at the end of the branch is still green. The soil needs to be kept wet until the new leaves start coming out. They can be put into individual pots at that time.





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 Chores

Fall is here. The weather is great. The time to catch up on things that there was no time for and maybe no desire for in the summer is here. Pull up everything dead in the garden and put it in the trash can (not the compost). Clean up the green house and get it ready to use for the winter. Plant some fall flowers. Plant the fall garden. Take some cuttings from trees and vines before they go dormant. Over-seed the lawn Wow. I’m getting tired writing about it.

In our home there are a few extras. The compost system is getting raggedy and it is ugly and in the wrong place. A new one needs building. There were lots of junky trees in the back yard. They needed to come down. That means there is a lot of firewood to split. My wife wants a new front porch. She also wants a patio, where I wanted to put a garden. Her projects need to come before mine if I want to enjoy domestic tranquility.

Most of the first paragraph is finished. Some of the second paragraph is started. Prioritizing the tasks is almost impossible. They all need to be done before the weather gets cold. It is best to just do the hardest one first.



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/

Seasonal Changes

The summer garden is looking a little shabby, but the fall garden is rockin’. The shabby garden is still delivering a few tomatoes, green beans and okra. The peppers are the real stars. The ghost peppers are such a pretty plant that they will get a place in the front yard next year. The pale green foliage contrasts nicely with the orange and red fruits.

The figs have slowed down to just enough to eat. That is fine because the mustard is almost ready to pick. The arugula will soon grace a salad along with the spinach and romaine lettuce. The mesclun will be a few more weeks. Leftover spring seeds were used for the sugar peas, so they need to be replanted. Germination was spotty.

Every year new tricks are tried, new lessons are learned. On the dark side, planting green beans and okra together was a disaster. The green bean are dragging the okra down and making both crops hard to pick. On the bright side, The 8’ fence worked to keep the deer out pretty well. It was a vinyl fabric fence and it is not holding up too poorly, but in the winter season it will be replaced with and 8’ fence covered with 2” X 4” wire.







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/