Sunday, 12/14/14

Veggie garden area with large sweetgum and smaller persimmon trees growing at the edge.  Were we totally hardcore gardeners, I suppose we'd cut down the trees growing so close to our garden so their roots would not grow into the garden beds, but we are "tree huggers" and just put up with the tree roots stealing nutrients from the beds.

High, thin clouds late morning and for most of the day.  South wind increasing.  A new cold front nearing.  Should arrive Monday.

A full schedule of fall shows; meant we did no fall garden housekeeping.  Jo took advantage of a nice winter afternoon to clean up the asparagus and corn beds.

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Sunday, 12/14/14

In The Garden: July 29, 2014

 Asparagus Bed

The garden bed I'm currently re-mulching.  We should keep a layer of mulch on the bed year round, but it's getting very thin and the red sorrel is invading the bed.

Tomatoes

Our tomato plants were looking really good earlier in the season.  Now, the leaves toward the bottoms of the plants are dying.  Also, some critter(s) is eating more than it's share of tomatoes before they ripen.  Most of that damage occurs relatively low on the plant, so we assume it's rabbits.

Surprise Lilies

Blooming for a week or so at various places in our yard.  Planted by previous owners, but now some clusters expanded and relocated by Jo

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In The Garden: July 29, 2014

Asparagus

Our asparagus is finally starting to yellow and die back for the winter.

Asparagus

Garden 2011: Mid-April Recap

Strawberries are in full bloom.  (4/13/11)


Datura (jimson weed) is coming up from roots.  It's surrounded by garlic chives shoots which have since been pulled -- for all the good that did.  Garlic chives is very invasive.  It spreads by multiplying bulbs underground and abundant seeds.  It's requires a constant effort to keep it from taking over the bed.  (4/16/11)


It's about time to remove the cloches covering the broccoli, cauliflower and Chinese cabbage, especially since the plants are trying to grow out the tops of the plastic jugs.  (4/16/11)


We've been enjoying fresh asparagus for a couple of weeks or so.  We totally replanted the asparagus bed last year.  This year's harvest is modest.  (4/16/11)


I'm beginning to mulch the broccoli bed while the plants are still protected by cloches.  (Note:  The plastic jugs have since been removed.)  (4/13/11)

It's about time to remove the wire covering our garlic before the plants grow up through the wire.  We plant garlic in the fall.  The plants come up and then go dormant over winter.  Once spring arrives, they take off growing again.  Neither deer nor rabbits eat the garlic, but we cover it with wire over winter to make certain an armadillo doesn't come through and till the bed for us.  (4/13/11)


Our potato plants are poking up through the mulch.  I cover them with a layer of fresh mulch when they do.  (4/16/11)

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Garden 2011: Mid-April Recap

Asparagus Bed

Our poor, neglected garden......

Getting things flanged up in the garden in the fall is always a problem for Jo and I.

• We've put in a lot of time out there over the spring, summer and early fall. When garden activities that must be done come to an end, we're ready for a break from the garden.
• The weather starts turning funky and there are more days that we cannot work outside.
• Cutting firewood (and all the associated splitting, hauling, stacking, etc.) is a more pressing priority on the days when we can do outside work.
• The days are getting shorter and there's less daylight for working outdoors.
• Late fall is one of our busiest times of the year for doing shows, maintaining inventory, etc.

Anyway, those are our excuses, excuses, excuses for not putting our garden to bed for the winter the way we really should, but on Sunday Jo finally made a start on our garden "To Do" list by cleaning up the asparagus bed. She removed all the freeze-killed fern tops and spread a layer of composted manure on the bed. The bed still needs to be mulched heavily. We should also go ahead and add a border to this bed while the asparagus is dormant.

My outdoor activity for the day was splitting a little firewood and loading the log hoop on the porch. I can't believe I was out splitting firewood in January wearing a t-shirt. Our temperature made it all the way up to 71º. Very strange. The skies fluctuated between partly and mostly cloudy with s strong and gusty south wind blowing.

We didn't even have a fire in the wood stove on Sunday, though we probably could have used just a little bit of heat during the evening. The problem is: It's difficult to get a wood stove to put out just a little bit of heat. I tried taking the chill off the damp air inside the house Saturday evening and ended up with the inside temperature up around 75º.

Asparagus Bed

Leopard Frog

A leopard frog hiding in the asparagus bed out in the garden.

Leopard Frog