Growth in the garden

It's official, seedlings were planted in the garden bed this afternoon!  I am exhausted from moving, lifting, dumping, squatting, standing, squatting, standing, raking, pushing, and pulling soil and mulch around the new tomato bed; but exhilarated that the garden is officially planted.

All of the vegetable and herb seedlings have been added to their respective beds.  Later this weekend the flower seedlings, as well as many packets of flower seeds, will be planted around the yard.  John purchased a wonderful selection of flowers from a local nursery that will be planted in pots, too.

Several direct-sow seeds will be sown later this weekend as well.  Carrot, bean, corn, lettuce, radish, and beet, to name a few.  I love this time of year!

The front flower beds are lush and vibrant.  The late spring bloomers (poppies, iris, and peonies) are growing like gangbusters.  In fact, a single iris bloomed today.  By this time next week, the front yard should be a riot of color.  We can hardly wait!

The red and black raspberry bushes are full of leaves and teeny tiny developing flower heads.  The strawberry bed is dotted heavily with cheery white flowers.  We are eager for berry overload!

"Revolution is based on land.  Land is the basis of all independence."

~Malcolm X, November 10, 1963

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All of the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today.

~Indian Proverb

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"In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt."

~Margaret Atwood

Having just finished reading Paradise Lot: Two Plant Geeks, One-tenth of an Acre and The Making of an Edible Garden Oasis in the City by Eric Toensmeier with contributions from Jonathan Bates, I'm looking forward to completing the task of cleaning up the yard and removing evidence of the harsh winter beating.  I look forward to this activity every spring but reading Paradise Lot has me more excited than usual.  The book has also inspired me to take our backyard garden to the next level of productivity and efficiency.

A quote from the book that resonated with me:

"I try to remember that water is a borrowed element.  It has been moving through our environment and our bodies for billions of years.  We can either ignore how humans are part of this cycle and flush water away, or we can slow it, spread it, and sink it--using it as it moves through our landscapes and lives."

The addition of at least two more water barrels will be made to our backyard this year.  The longer we have our present duo, the clearer it is how foolish and irresponsible it is not to catch rainwater and use it for watering plants and the garden beds when the season is dry.  Heck, I dream of having a 1000 gallon cistern in our yard.

The boys of Paradise Lot have their own blog!

Meanwhile, the color green is slowly returning to the Midwest and I could not be more delighted. Perennial flower bulbs are growing at a bionic rate and very soon the flower beds will explode with color. It finally looks and feels like spring.

August

We're finally beginning to harvest vegetables from the garden.  Our seedling's growth was definitely challenged by all the rain and cooler temps earlier this spring.  I was really concerned that many seedlings may not make it.  

The 'Bullnose' bell peppers are growing nicely.  Half a dozen tasty and crisp emerald peppers have been harvested and enjoyed.  Cucumbers are starting to come in daily and as they do they're either eaten or added to an herby brine to become pickles.

Tomatoes are beginning to steadily ripen, but not ready daily just yet.  Soon!  Soon we'll be able to make pico de gallo, salsa, and gravy with our own tomatoes.  Many will be canned, too.  Having home grown tomatoes available to eat during the winter months is a must.

Tomatillos are hanging heavy from the branches, melons and squash on the vines, Georgia Flame, jalapeno, pasilla, and serrano peppers, carrots, beets (golden and red), kale, beans for drying (Brockton Horticultural, Cherokee Trail of Tears, Good Mother Stallard Pole, and Hidatsa Red Indian) and onions.

Garden expansion plans for next year are being made.  More food, less grass!

'Cherry Glow' heirloom poppies that were successfully grown from seed!

Ganzania twins

Wright Gardens looking lush.

Pasilla peppers

'Carl's Glass Gem' corn. 

The silks of 'Carl's Glass Gem'.
A silk for every kernel of corn.

Pollen thighs.

The Brockton Horticulture beans are turning a brilliant pinkish-red color.
The beans within are really plumping up! 

A small butterfly enjoying cosmos nectar.
(Click the photo to enlarge and then zoom in to admire its striped antennae.)

Two beautiful muskmelons.  Hopefully animals don't devour them before they ripen.
A watermelon has already suffered this fate.

No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the Earth, 

and no culture comparable to that of the garden.  

~Thomas Jefferson

The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. 

To nurture a garden is to feed not just on the body, but the soul.
~Alfred Austin

All gardening is landscape painting.

~William Kent

Planting by the phases of the moon

This is an interesting concept.  I'm aware of the moon phases already, and always know when the full moon is, but I've never considered, or even heard of, planting according to its phases.

The basic concept is that above ground crops do best when planted during the waxing moon, and root crops do best when planted during the waning moon.

For more specifics on this planting concept, visit the Our Garden Gang website.

Much of what will be grown in Wright Gardens this year has been started indoors.  However, for remaining direct sow crops, I will attempt to plant them according to the appropriate moon phase.  Next year, I may plant the entire garden this way to see how the seedlings and plant growth compares to previous years.

The New Moon was 2 days ago, which means that the moon is currently in its waxing phase.  I'm certainly going to do more reading on this subject and will likely have book suggestions in a future post.

My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made 

while learning to see things from the plant's point of view.

~H. Fred Dale

The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses.

~Hanna Rion

On every stem, on every leaf... and at the root of everything that grew,

was a professional specialist in the shape of grub, caterpillar, aphids, or other expert,

whose business it was to devour that particular part.

~Oliver Wendell Holmes

Black raspberry trellis

The black raspberries finally have a suitable trellis to climb on.  Here's hoping that the canes take to their new support system and flourish.

After visiting the local botanic garden to check out their system for supporting berry canes, I tried to mimic their set-up.  Two U-Style fence posts were purchased along with hook & eye turnbuckle screws, galvanized cable, and galvanized cable thimbles.

In order to keep the fence posts straight, and in turn keep the support cables taut, the same hardware will be used to pull the fence posts in the opposite direction of the support cables.  Otherwise, I'm pretty pleased with the results.  The botanic garden employed a 5x5" square wood fence post, which is sturdier and more rigid than the steel fence posts that I used, but, heck, I wasn't up for drilling large holes in the posts to affix the hardware or digging holes to bury them.

New blooms!

This small 6" tall iris grows along the side of the garage,
evenly spaced between the 'Blue Spectacle' tulips.

Tulipa 'Blue Spectacle' (Double Late Tulip)

A garden is a grand teacher.

It teaches patience and careful watchfulness;

it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust.  

~Gertrude Jekyll

Gardens are not made by singing 'Oh, how beautiful,' and sitting in the shade.

~Rudyard Kipling

Spring and Seeds

Magic is surely happening in our basement presently.  The mystical combination of seed, soil, water and light have been brought together to create the seedlings that will make up this years garden.

The following seeds have been planted:

Poblano pepper
Pasilla pepper
Serrano pepper
Jalapeno pepper
Georgia Flame pepper
Fire Chief Petunia (x3)
Great Quaking Grass (x3)
Cardinal Climber (x3)
Basil (x2)
Dill (x2)
Cumin (x2)
Thyme
Marjoram
Tarragon
Helichrysum (x2)
Lunaria (x5)
Ranunculus
White Poppy
Heirloom Poppy
Cherry Glow Poppy
Sunlite Poppy
Celery (x3)
Cucumber
Tomatillo (x2)
Flat of Italy onion (x3)
Australian Brown onion (x3)
Bianca di Maggio onion (x3)
Bullnose bell pepper (x4)
Black Icicle tomato (x3)

Plenty of direct-sow seed varieties remain and will be put in the ground in the coming weeks.  Melons, squash, corn, beans, carrots, beets, radish, leeks, and a mix of flowers.  Some of the flowers include hollyhock, portulaca, bee's friend, globe amaranth, borage, zinnia, cosmos, blue flax, and penstemon.

It's nearly time to begin preparing the garden beds and I couldn't be more thrilled about this fact.  Evidence of life springs forth from the flower beds all over the yard; crocus blooms can't be too far behind.

"Gardening is the purest of human pleasures."  

Francis Bacon

"One of the healthiest ways to gamble is with a spade and a packet of seeds." 

Dan Bennett

"How dare you treat your soil like dirt!"

Joel Salatin

Fall 2012

A recent harvest from the garden included leeks, tomatoes, Georgia Flame peppers, a butternut squash and a Golden Midget watermelon.

Watermelons are round and therefore easily roll off surfaces that aren't level.  This is why the watermelon pictured below is practically split in half.  The sound the melon made when it hit the lawn was a wet thudchrrrusscch.  My mouth began to water as the sweet fragrance of warm, ripe watermelon filled the air.

It's delicious!

It's late in the season but the orange bell peppers are finally beginning to blush.

The Brussels sprouts and kale are loving this cooler weather.  I learned my lesson last year and won't up-root the sprouts stalk prematurely.  These mini cabbage-like veggies thrive in cooler weather.  Perhaps we will have fresh Brussels sprouts with our Thanksgiving dinner this year rather than just the greens as we did last year.

The strawberry bed is lush!  Next June, we should be knee deep in strawberries.  Next week straw will be added to the top of the bed to protect the strawberry crowns from the winter cold.

Beautiful zinnias.  Flowers will always have a place in Wright Gardens.  Aside from looking lovely, they brought so many bees, butterflies and dragonflies to the garden.

"Beauty is only a byproduct... The main business of gardens is sex and death."

-- Sam Llewellyn

The onions, although growing, don't seem to be growing quickly.  I dug one up that had tall greens but where the onion bulb should be, there was a white pea-sized nub.  It smelled fantastic but an onion bulb it was not.  I'll try digging up another tomorrow and if it looks the same as the first, I'll leave the rest in the ground to over-winter.  Hopefully, by doing so, come late spring, an armful of onions will be pulled up from the Earth.

Garlic!  It's nearly time for it to be planted.  Wright Gardens will be growing 50-60 bulbs of garlic again this year.  Next week the garlic beds will be prepped and the soil amended with fresh top soil, compost and peat moss.  Then, in three to four weeks the garlic will be planted.

In addition to Chet's Italian Red, Georgian Fire and Chesnok Red, a forth garlic variety will be planted this year - Spanish Roja.  Mmm-M.

"I appreciate the misunderstanding that I have had with Nature over my perennial border.  I think it is a flower garden; she thinks it is a meadow lacking grass , and tries to correct the error."  -- Sara Bonnett Stein

Friday afternoon, my beloved and I attended a bulb sale at the Chicago Botanic Garden.  We came home with a just a few bulbs to add to our flower beds.

Muscari armeniacum (Grape Hyacinth) - 15 bulbs

Tulipa 'Blue Spectacle' (Double Late Tulip) - 20 bulbs

Tulipa 'Sensual Touch' (Fringed Tulip) - 10 bulbs

Tulipa 'Sweetheart' (Fosteriana Tulip) - 10 bulbs

Nectaroscordum siculum (Sicilian Honey Garlic) - 10 bulbs

Fritillaria imperialis 'Aureomarginata' (Guinea Hen Fritillary) - 1 bulb

Fritillaria michailowsky (Guinea Hen Fritillary) - 5 bulbs

Allium 'Silver Spring' (Ornamental Onion) - 1 bulb

Allium 'Globemaster' (Ornamental Onion) - 2 bulbs

Allium 'Gladiator' (Ornamental Onion) - 1 bulb

Allium schubertii (Schubert Onion) - 1 bulb

Crocus flavus 'Yellow Mammoth' (Crocus) - 10 bulbs

Iris reticulata 'J.S. Dijt' (Dwarf Iris) - 25 bulbs

Chionodoxa forbesii 'Pink Giant' (Glory of the Snow) - 25 bulbs

Just a few... Our spring beds are going to look glorious!

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The Cool Down

The growing season is beginning to wind down and although this makes me a little sad, I've learned plenty that will make next year's garden even more successful.

Tomato plants need loads of room to grow.  Each year I've allowed more space between the plants than the year prior, but it never seems to be enough.  When the wee seedlings are transferred to the garden bed, the space between each plant seems so vast.  Yet, inevitably, a tomato jungle forms and surrounding plants are swallowed by the jungle or shaded to the point that their growth is stunted.

The plan for next year is to give the tomatoes their own beds.  This strategy worked out very well for the two melon and two squash varieties grown in Wright Gardens, so why not for the tomatoes?  Having their own bed will guarantee that the plants will get proper air circulation and sunlight.  It will be much easier to pick the tomatoes as well when there is one plant per bed.

Watermelon and butternut squash have been coming off the vine left and right.  Both will continue to be grown in Wright Gardens each year.

Our first pie pumpkin was picked on Monday.  It will soon be transformed into pie.  Pumpkin ice cream is a distinct possibility as well.

After picking the ripe pumpkin in the above photo, I checked on the other two pumpkins to see how they were doing.  When I neared the smallest pumpkin, this is what I found.  Imagine a wild creatures face all sticky with pumpkin.  I did and it makes losing this pumpkin less painful.

The butternut squash and pumpkin vines were infected with what appeared to be white mildew on the leaves.  In an attempt to prevent whatever it was from spreading, I cut off the affected leaves and discarded them.  This didn't work, however, as each leaf soon became infected.  Whatever the substance is, thankfully, it did not seem to affect the plants ability to produce fruit.

The watermelon vine, although a vigorous grower, struggled, too.  Perhaps the soil lacked, or contained too much of something, as the vine nearer to the main stem yellowed rather than remaining green.  This happened when the plant was still young, too, and only one tiny green egg-sized watermelon was present on the vine.

Research over the winter months will be to learn what caused these vines to react this way and, hopefully, prevent the same thing from happening during future growing seasons.

"To be a successful farmer one must first know the nature of the soil."  

-- Xenophon, Oeconomicus, (400 B.C.)

When I was deciding whether or not to grow okra, the selling point was the plants flowers.  They're gorgeous! As you can see, they resemble hibiscus flowers.  The Burgundy okra is delicious, too.

Two new flower beds have been added to the yard.  The first, technically, isn't new, but the bed is now more substantial.  Four tall bearded iris rhizomes have been planted in the bed.  Two named Tour de France, one Blueberry Bliss, and one named Hello Darkness.

With our order we received a free tall bearded bonus iris named All Night Long, which we planted in one of the flower beds in the front yard.

While clearing out the hostas originally growing where the iris' above are now planted, I discovered a praying mantis!  Seeing her head turn to look up at me as I took her picture made me grin.  Still does.

The second flower bed was added along the south side of the garage.  Planted there is a common purple variety of the tall bearded iris.  The contrast of the flowers soft organic shape against the brick wall should be striking.  The colors should be complimentary, too.

"Plowed ground smells of earthworms and empires."  --Justin Isherwood

 Chet relaxing.

Chet chomping on grass.  This picture cracks me up.

"Dirt is a lot more fun when you add water!"  -- Dennis the Menace

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