The Family That Gardens Together...

This past weekend, June 21-22, I visited Brother David's garden. If you wonder how I look, I'd say pretty much like the guy in the white t-shirt, except I'm 10 inches shorter, same gray hair but slightly longer and noticeably thicker, my glasses are like Harry Potter's, about the same weight, and very similar good looks. We share a passion for gardening and reading. This garden looks and feels paradisaical: verdant greens, zinnias, banana trees, snail vines, Easter egg eggplants, single serving-size spaghetti squash, a dozen different peppers and tomatoes, cucumbers and a water garden. We're touring just before a raucous thunder storm so there's an extreme rain forest feel to the garden.


David's garden also has amenities.

If it were winter, Brother Marion would be warmed by the fire of the Irish Waterford cast iron stove. Instead, it being June 22, 2008, he holds a smoking firestick in his hand that emits a cherry aroma.











Now, this is an organically grown tomato plant. 8'+ and growing. An embarrassment of riches.

















Finally, we have Mama standing by the peach tree that she started from a pit a few years ago. In the spring, I'll show you a photo of the amazing flowers on this tree--some are white and some are pink.












Thanks for taking the time to look at my pictures.

You Say Potato...

This is my potato harvest spread on the cookiesheet. Last February, in the pantry, I discovered a bin filled with sprouting potatoes. Instead of dumping them straight into the compost, I scratched the earth below a blanket of leaf mulch in an unused part of my vegetable garden and laid them to rest. Potatoes at rest apparently offended Sissy, the calico, because she promptly dug them up. They grew anyway. They were determined in the pantry and not to be deterred in the good earth. When I saw green leafy matter poking up through the leaf mulch, I piled the mulch on even higher. My number one gardening adviser, Mama, said they'd be ready when they bloomed. Last weekend I noticed the first two plants in the row were brown. In certain defeat I pulled them up. Voila! Even the still green plants were fully potatoed. When next I spoke with Mama she was surprised by my news and checked her own plants. Same story in Wilmington as in Raleigh. Who knew?




After the daddy rabbit and his brood feasted on my okra plants the week of June 1, I covered them with this floating row cover on June 8. It lets in moisture and sun and keeps out those who have the munchies. Jubal says he knew about the rabbits, but did not know the okra were important to me. Between Jubal's alert vigilance and the row cover, the okra crop has recovered its growth.






This is Sissy putting the cat in catnip. That's oregano in the immediate foreground.










We had about an inch of rain yesterday evening that fell slowly and soaked nicely into the ground. So that's mud I was digging in with my all time favorite gardening tool--Wolf Garten hand held rake. The pile of rocks came out of the hole and the scrawny Jubilee tomato went in. This is a part of the garden not previously tilled. Believe me, the rest of the space was just like this when I tilled it the first through seventh times. I love the Jubilee because it's reliably large with balanced acidity and it's yellow. I note that Jubal, whom I love, shares similar traits.





Brandywine--heirloom with large potato-leaved foliage; bears large pink beefsteak-shaped fruit. The fruit weighs over a pound. Last year I had one 2 pounder.
To the right is my full row of tomatoes--Beefsteak, Brandywine and Jubilee. Started the seeds under the grow light in late February.






This is my overflow row of tomatoes consisting of the cherries, and the extra seedlings of the Jubilee, Brandywine and Beefsteak. At the end near the Adirondack chairs is the cheater tomato that I bought for $2.59 in Dobson (county seat of Surry County) when I was there in May. The cheater, aka Park's Whopper Improved CR, was in full bloom with several small fruit when I bought it. Some people I know brag about eating their tomatoes by the 4th of July. That doesn't happen for me and the plants I start from seed--more likely the end of July. Yes, I gave in to peer pressure.

Eat Sleep Garden

The projected temperature today was 102 degrees. It is 100 now at 4:47 p.m. Thought I'd post a few photos of my garden as it looks today. Here we have remnants of okra plants left for me by a small nuclear family of rabbits, plus their assorted cousins and friends. Getting them out of my garden at 6:30 this morning was like herding cats. As I watched them make their leisurely retreat, I saw the various breaches in my fencing. Good thing I planted enough for their family and mine.



I'm including this photo of passion flower for its unusual architecture and beauty. It smells like grape candy.







This is a slick glass birdbath with dead bees in it. It is tucked conveniently by the winterberry bush which is in full bloom. I learned the hard way that bees need water and a way to access it. Therefore, according to my wise friend Connie the beekeeper, Townbees.blogspot.com, put a stick or rock in your birdbath. The silver lining, and I almost always try to find one in these learning opportunities, is that this is a mistake that I will not be making from this day forward. My other birdbath now has a nicely bleached oyster shell in it for easy ingress and egress.



From this vantage point, in the foreground, we see asparagus fronds; echinacea (pink cone flower which reseeds like crazy); oregano to the left of birdbath with oyster shell; catnip (cat mint) to the right of birdbath; pretty blue wine bottle; pickling and burpless cucumbers; black beauty eggplant; zuchinni and crookneck squash; Jubilee, Brandywine and Beefmaster tomatoes; cubanelle, jalapeno, banana (hot and sweet) peppers; basil; onions; okra; and sunflowers. Promises of good things to come.