September 2008
2 posts
September 1-9, 2008 →
September 9
After five months of journaling I am closing out this first time experience. It seems mundane in some ways. It has still been a good time of learning and sharing. Because of our move in July and because I grew a bigger garden than ever, it has been more work than in previous years, especially the years when I used grow beds. If you have responses to the blog, send them to...
August 26-31, 2008 →
August 31
The only garden activity we had was to give some okra to a friend at church.
August 30
We measured 1.2 inches of rain in the gauge this morning. We got a big harvest since we missed yesterday. I picked the last two cantaloupes. I gathered a few more butternuts where the vines were dying and the stems turning. We have cut 26 or 27 and there are another dozen immature fruits coming if...
August 2008
22 posts
August 20-25, 2008 →
August 25
Still no rain, and yet we got a bumper harvest today from purple hull peas, limas, green beans and okra. I cut two more butternut squashes. Patty spent much of the afternoon processing Christmas pickles and shelling and freezing peas and limas. I cut our first butternut squash. It had been penetrated by a grub. I was able to cut out damaged part and use the other 90%. Patty...
August 13-18, 2008 →
August 18
We got the first lima beans today. Patty cooked some for supper and froze a pint. She also canned seven pints of okra and tomatoes. We got okra, tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. At our amazement, there was a very good harvest of beans. I cut the first 9 butternut squashes, choosing those that were darker, larger and had stems showing color change to brown instead of green. I also...
August 6-12, 2008 →
August 12
No visit to the garden today. Everything is slowed down by the lack of water. We have had no rain since July 30-31.
August 11
We had one more cutting of arugula and I dropped some off at Denise’s with some tomatoes and cucumbers. I stopped at Culpepper Place and found lots of tomatoes in heavy foliage. There I saw three cucumbers and took some pictures.
August 10
We did not visit...
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August 1-5, 2008 →
August 5
We had a modest harvest in 45 minutes. I pulled some weeds and got totally muddy. The dew is so heavy at 7:00 in the morning that my clothes get wet from the contact especially with the okra, tomatoes and squash. In spite of the wet clothes and the stuffiness of high humidity with no wind early in the day, we come away from the garden before the temps reach 80 just about every day. ...
July 29-31, 2008 →
July 31
We did no work in the garden today
July 30
William and I went alone to the garden this morning. We had a modest harvest and came home to shell the peas.
July 29
We took the grandkids to the garden at 8:30 and worked until 9:30. I took a camera and got a few pictures of the kids harvesting and playing. We did the usual 4-5 minute gathering of Japanese beetles and harvested the same...
July 2008
8 posts
July 28, 2008 →
July 28, 2008 →
July 22-28, 2008 →
July 28
I had an early appointment that delayed our garden visit until 9:30. The temperature was in the eighties and very humid. We had Hannah and William (10 year-olds) and John Blake (5 years old) with us. Everybody got a container. John liked picking tomatoes best - especially the grape tomatoes and early girls. William and Hannah had fun hunting for zucchini. Hannah found three nice bell...
July 18-21, 2008 →
July 21
Patty and I were in the garden for an hour from 7:45 this morning and brought in about 2/3 bushel of purple hulls, as well as green beans, several zucchinis, a few yellow squashes, a dozen cucumbers, three green onions, a few tomatoes and a beautiful bell pepper. We got our usual collection of Japanese beetles in the first five minutes. I also discovered a host of squash bugs on some of...
July 10-17, 2008 →
July 17
Patty picked green beans today. She had enough to can, but because of work in getting into our new house, she gave some of the beans to a cousin instead.
July 16
I picked the first harvest of purple hull peas. The two gallon dish pan was spilling over with peas. Patty spent half the afternoon shelling, blanching and freezing about six pints and cooking enough for the table for two or...
July 10-17, 2008 →
July 7-9, 2008 →
July 9
With no experience as a blogger, but years as a veggie grower, I began this blog April 5. It is part of my volunteer hours as a master gardener and after a truly slow start with cool temps and wet soil early on, now the garden is producing well. I have made some pictures, but have difficulty getting them into the website.
I have learned from the UK extension service, nursery catalogs,...
July 1-6, 2008 →
July 6, 2008
Still no rain. The hot climate is good for okra. The raised beds at Culpepper Place are bearing cucumbers and tomatoes. The vines look good. We didn’t establish a harvesting plan. Some veggies are being picked before they are fully ripe. Nephew David and his son D. J. have a great crop of pumpkins. The vines look healthy.
July 5
We got some zuchinni and 10 cucumbers. Hannah...
June 2008
16 posts
June 24-30, 2008
June 30, 2008
I harvested our first zuchinni, four cucumbers, lettuce, mesculun, Swiss chard and the last of the radishes (about ten). We enjoyed the mixed greens salad with oil and vinegar at lunch and we gave some to friends. I saw lady bugs, spiders and bees at work this morning. I pulled up one kind of lettuce that has gone to seed and the spinach. Normally lettuce and spinach are...
June 17-23, 2008 →
June 17-23, 2008
On the 17th I visited with nephew David in his big garden down the road. He has corn, beans, tomatoes and peppers. His son, D. J., has 36 hills of pumpkins. Half are “monster” pumpkins and the other half are smaller and will be good for jack-o-lanterns and pies. David bought a rear tine tiller and has the ground in great shape. The pumpkins need 120 days to mature. They...
June 16, 2008
June 16, 2008
With temperatures in the 70s this morning I thinned the okra to 8-12 inches between plants. I harvested lettuce, swiss chard, mesculun, radishes and green onions and chopped out some weeds. The birds gave a delightful symphony. After lunch I took some of the produce down the road to my aunt and to a sister-in-law.
June 14-15, 2008
June 14-15, 2008
Both days were hot and sunny. I had no garden activity, except to check the soil temperature at 5:30 pm. The reading was 87 degrees.
June 13, 2008
June 13, 2008
Two inches of rain came quickly late Friday afternoon. The winds were strong and blew young plants around a lot.
June 12, 2008 →
June 12, 2008
I planted lima beans where the radishes were, completing a 30 foot row. Between the peppers in the row next to the tomatoes I sowed marigold seeds. I also planted six hills of Sugar Baby watermelons and two hills of cantaloupes. I planted my first arugula where spinach did not germinate well earlier. I side dressed all but the flowers with a dusting of bone meal, urea and...
June 11, 2008 →
June 11, 2008
I tilled (except for the middle between the pole beans) this morning. The ground is in good condition and the weeds and grass are under control. I also harvested lettuce, Swiss chard, and the rest of the radishes from the first planting. We are having great salads every day now and are sharing salad greens with Morris and Edith.
RAISED BEDS - I forgot to record that...
June 10, 2008 →
June 10, 2008
During the night we got .2 of an inch of rain. That is just enough to set the newspapers I laid down last night.
Randall, my gardening neighbor, came over and looked at the garden today. He was gracious about how it looked. His is a couple weeks ahead of mine on most things.
In the evening I stuck the pole beans by making a teepee with three poles from each of the two rows. I...
June 7-8, 2008 →
June 7-8, 2008
I walked out to see the garden both days and could see plants emerging from the planting I did a week ago. Both days were hot reaching mid 80s. The afternoon soil temps get to high 70s and low 80s now. This is great growing weather for summer gardens.
June 1, 2008 →
June 1, 2008
The soil is drying and warming. Morning temps read high 60’s and low 70’s. The early evening temps are 75 to 80 degrees. Squashes are emerging and tomatoes are growing well.
June 6, 2008 →
June 6, 2008
Before dark the air was mild and I went out and chopped some grass and weeds. The plot is very clean for now.
June 5, 2008 →
June 5, 2008
I got a few more radishes today. The cilantro and basil are barely emerging in the midst of heavy weed growth, but I don’t see any mint in the three small spots and the north end of the garden.
June 4, 2008 →
June 4, 2008
Hearing weather forecasts for hot and humid weather, I went to the garden at 6:00 am and planted six more tomatoes (Jet Stars), two hills of cantalopes using transplants and filled our the bean and pea rows since the first planting four weeks ago was a weak stand due to poor germination. I am hoping that this will also extend the harvest days. I planted a twenty foot row on...
June 3, 2008 →
June 3, 2008
I harvested the first radishes this morning, about four weeks from the time of planting. I purchased 24 cane poles to use for the pole beans. After supper I re-planted the okra since there are less than a dozen plants from the early May planting. I sprinkled bone meal, muriate of sulphur and urea very lightly in the row. The soil test from last fall showed both phosphate and...
June 2, 2008 →
June 2, 2008
RAISED BEDS After supper Sharon, Audrey and I joined four residents to do some weeding and to create cages for the tomatoes using stakes and grass twine. We also replaced four tomatoes with new transplants. We discussed how, when and how much water to provide to the beds. I coached residents to allow wilting in the hot part of the day and water only once per week with a deep...
May 28-31, 2008 →
May 28-31, 2008
The HOME GARDEN was very wet the last days of May due to the heavy rains we had earlier. I got my shoes muddy just harvesting some onions and checking the soil temps which ran from 65-70 in the early mornings and 75-80 in the evenings.
RAISED BEDS at Culpepper Place are getting attention from residents who now see growth. Some tomatoes show stress that may have come from too...
Raised Garden Beds
Residents met with garden helpers, Sharon, Audrey and Norman after evening meal on Thursday to assess the raised beds at Culpepper Place, and found tomatoes in one bed looking weak with lighter green coloring. One plant has ping pong ball size tomatoes. The radishes need to be thinned. We set six cucumber transplants to replace the first failed ones. We got pictures of the gardening residents...
May 2008
29 posts
