We have Produce...

My vegetable garden has done pretty well so far. The tomatoes are producing like crazy. Both the little pear tomatoes and my heirloom red ones. I harvested the two cabbage heads for halushki a few days ago. I'm patiently waiting for my peppers to start their second round of production. My golden beets are delectable. I'll have one more bunch of them. I have two pumpkins... one already turning orange. The butternut squash will be good in the fall. And i've got to make more pesto because i have so much basil.

My melons started out well but have stopped growing to maturity... :-( One has already rotted on the vine. Dad mentioned that they can be very temperamental to grow. And I really want to try beans again next year.

Veggies!

The vegetable garden is doing really well. The peppers have been giving me a steady crop... not too many to overwhelm me. I'm patiently waiting for my second tomato and i did notice that my pear tomatoes are starting to yellow-up. I'll be harvesting beets in a day or two... special golden ones. I have been thrilled with my columnar basil... it's more like a shrub and it's compact growth is a really nice feature. The cabbage are growing nicely and my Mom's comment about placing mint near them seems to have helped deter any pests... i had to thin out my pineapple mint, so i placed it to dry around the cabbage. I noticed one pumpkin so far, a bunch of butternut squash and a couple melon.

Picked my first tomato today...

it is going to be so good with fresh basil and mozzarella cheese... and a little red onion.

It's the 4th of July... must be time to prune...

Time to prune the wild asters. I have found that if i trim them to "half as high on the 4th of july"... they get full and bushy rather than tall and leggy. So most of the asters have been pruned. The one exception is the asters behind the weeping atlas cedar. I haven't been able to get back to it (need to dig out some of the violas that are taking over the paths).

Perfect weather day today... so I spent the day doing shrub cutting... managed to cut down to stump level, seven shrubs that were about 5 feet tall. Five of the shrubs were on the front of the house, one on the back in my main flower garden and one down near the garden room. They were getting totally out of hand. And there is so much lush foliage that you barely realize that i had cut out so much.

Now that they have been cut, i need to prune the remaining foliage on the other plants. It's a never-ending process. But i managed to prune the shrubs when they were in the shade. My folks stopped by and took a load of shrub remains and i'll take the rest out to them tomorrow... Dad has a pile that he is gathering for bonfire purposes and i'm happy to make contributions.

Top-down view- June 27, 201

Top-down view- June 27, 201
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

Here's a view of my main garden taken from the 2nd floor window.

Vegetable garden is growing...

Garden is growing
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

Here's my nicely caged vegetable garden with sunflowers. The tomatoes have really gone through a growth spurt. The extra fending is going to come in handy to hold them up. The pumpkin, squash and melon plants took a beating with the heavy rains but they seem to be rebounding well. The beets are coming up slowly and i planted more seeds to fill in some of the space. The peppers are holding their own. And out of all the bean seeds that i put in, i have one plant!... so i reseeded. I don't know if a mouse found the seeds or what is going on.

Veggie Garden Notes

The tomato, cabbage and pepper plants seem to be doing pretty well. They have survived their earlier trauma and are starting to grow nicely. I mulched the tomato patch with newspaper and grass clippings. The pumpkin, squash and melon plants are progressing nicely as are the sunflowers on the outside of the fence. The beets are coming along very slowly and i'm disappointed that only one bean plant came up!... Last night i planted more beans and i didn't notice any of the older seeds, so i'm thinking that something ate them.

Daisies and Snaps...

4. The other view
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

hold each other up in a grand fashion... along with the california poppies and dianthus.

Recently there was a knock at the back door and my gardening protege Aubrianna stood there with a pot of sunflowers that she had planted just for me! How delightful to have a youngster who loves gardening... and those sunflowers are about three times the size of the ones i planted. Thank you Boo!

Garden- top down view 5-27-10

Garden- top down view 5-27-10
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

There is a certain exuberance in the garden... all the seeds giving birth to all these new little plants. The violas have gone crazy!

I've noticed in the vegetable garden that the melon, squash, pumpkin and sunflower seedlings are bursting forth. The beets seem to be taking a little longer... and the beans haven't shown anything yet.

A little more planting...

Here's my little vegetable garden... it measures 7 x 12 and is nicely fenced in to keep the critters at bay (more or less).

Yesterday I purchased two heirloom tomato plants (Costoluto Genovese), along with a red pepper plant (Sweet Pimento Lipstick Pepper). They have since been planted along with a new variegated sage, a chartreuse oregano and a columnar basil. My parsley plants survived the winter and are rather voluminous... we had parsley potatoes for dinner tonight.

It was pretty special to see the look on my Dad's face when they visited today. I will remember that smile for a long time.

In go the Veggies...

This evening i took some time to finish up the vegetable garden fence configuration. I then proceeded to plant. The peppers and tomatoes from Burpee were looking weary so i really felt it a good idea to get them into the ground. I also planted seeds of melon, squash, pumpkin, beets, and beans... and sunflowers on the outside of the fence. Once my basil grows a bit more, i'll transfer it to the garden. Let the growing begin!

Two perfect days in a row... on the weekend!

Sunday was an extension of Saturday with gorgeous weather... not too hot with passing clouds. I found myself finding places to work... following the shadows of the yard. I continued with my weeding and mulching routine. I've made a pretty good dent in the three cubic yards of much. I found myself extending the southern edge bed and transplanting a day lily from my main garden. One day lily = seven new plants. I still have more weeding and mulching to do in that corner... especially thinning out the lily-of-the-valley. And did i mention that the black cohosh has come back! I was so delighted to see it bursting through the lily-of-the-valley. The goat's beard is growing very quickly... it really likes it's new home. I did some trimming of branches on the quince and trimmed some dead branches off of the birches. I also trimmed up some of the dogwoods to look like trees, not shrubs.

I noticed when working outside for those two days that the frost we had a week ago did hit some of my plants. It seems that the front of the house was hard hit, especially the hosta, fern and hedges. We also noted crisp leaf edges on the sassafras, holly and heuchera. The temperature fluctuation from 80s to 30s was more than some of the tender shoots could handle.

Perfect Day for Gardening

Today the temperatures were in the high 60s with plenty of sun, clouds and cool breezes. I found myself on a mission of weeding/mulching beds around trees... birches (2), crab apple (2) and dog wood... and also a lengthy bed along the pine tree border in the south corner. I created more piles of weeds than joseph wants to deal with! End result is a yard that looks nicer than it has in years. I'm happy to say that my energy stayed up for a good portion of the day. I tried to pace myself... weed and much, then take a break to get some water... take a short nap, refuel and go back outside.


Currently in bloom:

• bearded iris
• heuchera
• columbine
• dianthus (pinks)
• clematis
• vinca
• violets
• allium
• lily-of-the-valley
  

We saw two hummingbirds over the past couple of days. I was happy that the female found the red huechera that i planted for hummers.

Hot swings cold...

Last week we had weather in the 70-80s... much warmer than usual. My flowers took a giant leap forward (like my iris that are a good two weeks ahead of schedule) with the temperatures that felt like July... and now we are back in March... early March.

Storms came through my area an Friday night bringing with it a cold front. Saturday was cold, windy and rainy, Sunday is still blustery and cold and tonight the frost warnings are in place. (currently it is 45 degrees and with the wind chill it feels like 39). We are forecast to go down to 28 degrees tonight.

My one savings grace is that my main garden is surrounded by a brick house and brick pavers... all of which hold the heat and the sun has been shining.

Think warm thoughts!

Weed, mulch, weed, mulch, mulch...

We purchased 3 yards of mulch. It sits in a pile at the end of the driveway. Last weekend, i mulched the main flower bed, the crescent bed neat the paper bark maple and the crab apple bed in the front yard. This past weekend, i mulched around the two bradford pears, the front sidewalk bed, the beds around the front of the house and around the patio. Still have so much to do... and my legs remind me of what all i've done so far.

In the midst of my weeding i found a heuchera that has seeded behind the tree near the front porch. I'll need to move it to a more suitable place. One spot that i thought i might move it to, i found (when removing the old-fashioned daisy) a tiny little bleeding heart. I had transplanted it last fall and was dismayed when i didn't see it this spring. But it did survive, it was just drowned out by the daisy. One plant that didn't survive the winter was the black cohosh. I'm really saddened that it didn't make it.

Ah Spring...

Bleeding Heart
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

The April showers this morning was welcome by this gardener. I've been doing a lot of bed reclamation. The weeds grow back into what i've created... so i go along, maddock in hand pulling the weeds, crabgrass, etc. back away from the edges. So many buckets full of weeds... but i am making progress and many of the beds that i didn't get to last year are being reclaimed this year. Still have much more to do.

In the veggie plot, we (joseph) tilled in the manure and we are just about ready to plant. I need to ask Dad what can go in at this time. I am starting some seeds indoors... basil for sure.

Past the Pagoda...

Past the Pagoda
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

...is where my newly expanded vegetable garden plot resides. The pelletized gypsum went in last night... and i have cow manure to add next.

Today i did some lawn improvement. I used an organic fertilizer that has corn gluten in it. the corn gluten is good for suppressing weed growth (which i have a whole lot of) I hope it helps!

Top Down View - April 4, 2010

Top Down View - April 4, 2010
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

The garden is starting on its blooming journey through spring. Daffodils and hyacinth followed by a profusion of freckles violas and grape hyacinth. And Dog Tooth Violets and Veronica. Tulips should be blooming soon... and i noticed a columbine that is in bud.

We have been working on extending our vegetable garden space. It is now approximately 8 x 18. We went through digging it up, breaking up the clay soil, running the tiller over it once... and then a second time. Tonight was the third time we tilled (joseph did) and we added in pelleted gypsum to assist in amending the clay. Then we will add in compost next time.

I'm very excited about the new garden space and i need to research what grows best where. Since the garden plot is next to the driveway, i need to figure out what vegetables like the extra warmth and plant them on that side. I need to go back and reference the Shaker Garden book that Jim got me :-)

Faded Jeans Blue

Faded Jeans Blue
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

Instant Summer

Orange Centers
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

Today we jumped into instant summer... 84F (27.77C). I'm not a fan of summer temperatures so i wasn't real thrilled with the heat and sun.

I managed to get a lot done in the morning before the heat took over. A couple buckets of weeds were pulled, a bunch of plants were dug up for Aubrianna's garden (my little gardening protege... i think she's about nine yrs. old).

Earlier in the week we doubled the size of our vegetable garden. It still needs to be tilled and the soil amended but the basic outline is in place. The little mantis tiller doesn't seem to be big enough to handle the job... so i might ask Dad to bring down his tiller.

Currently in bloom: daffodils, viola, veronica, hyacinth, grape hyacinth.

Transplant Day

This morning I moved two holly seedlings that were growing in the lawn area. And another holly that is much bigger than a seedling and growing up beside the house was also moved. I am going to have a wall of holly for the birds to enjoy. I also moved a Serbian Spruce seedling that hasn't liked the spot that i was. Hopefully it will thrive in it's new home.

I also dug up what was left of a lavender that didn't make it through the winter.

Almost Spring... clean-up

We've had a warm week and it has melted all of the snow... I thought it would take forever. I went about trimming all of the ornamental grasses. The pampas, fountain and oat grasses... i'm looking forward to watching them grow where i've divided and transplanted them. I'm especially looking forward to the fountain grass near the patio. I think it will make a nice wall. I'm also contemplating adding more ornamental grass between us and the neighbors basketball court. We are on the downside of the basketball and one of my beds is in the line of fire... it could use a barrier. In that bed is two crab apple trees... i trimmed back the smaller of the two trees to force it to fill in rather than get tall. I also found a small pine seedling near the house that i put in a pot... we'll see if i can get this little pine tree to grow. I also have a holly growing nearing the house that i might transplant tomorrow.

One shot of yellow

One shot of yellow
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

It has been a very long cold winter. On December 9th we dipped below the 50f (10c) mark and stayed below that mark for three months. February was brutal with a lot of snow ...(bringing the total accumulated snowfall up to 73 inches ( 1.8542 m) and my garden remained buried until last week. Surprisingly Spring is on its way and my garden is telling me so. The earliest bulbs are starting to bloom. the aconite and crocus a couple weeks later than last year but the mini daffodils are a week early. So i guess it will all balance out. I'm hoping that my emotional state will balance out with it as well. I'm winter weary and, it's been a long one.

There is plant life under all the snow...

Today the temperature heated up to 52 degrees... the first time since December 9th... three months of cold or frigid weather. We've had a total of a little over 70 inches of snow this season (Dec.-Feb.)... 30 inches over the norm. This winter has been extreme.

But today the breezes felt almost spring like and the glaciers are melting. When I got home from work, Joseph was anxious to point out buds on our winter aconite! Yes, there will be flowers. And even tho' i was dressed in a suit, i proceeded to start cleaning up the garden. Trimmed off some plants that had died, trimmed a russian sage, rose and a coreopsis. It felt so good to be doing something outside in the garden. I also pulled out a few pieces of chicken wire to protect some of my plants that the deer tend to like. I've not noticed any deer in the area, but i still wanted to protect some of my plants.

Last garden shot of 2009...

Last garden shot of 2009
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

Garden is tucked in for the winter. Seed catalogs are arriving... let the planning begin.