Garden Progress

My raised beds are done, filled, and planted. I kept my sandbox/herb planter. The parsley kinda took over though.

So I took some old flower pots and used them for the other herbs we like.

The first bed is going to have watermelon that we just planted this week. Crossing our fingers for juicy yummies this summer!

The second bed has 3 Roma tomato plants, 3 heirlooms, lots of garlic, basil, and marigold seeds. I planted the three marigolds you see from plants. All of these are good companions. The garlic repels bad bugs. Basil helps improve grown and flavor (may also help with pests). The marigolds attract garden friends like butterflies to help pollinate my tomatoes.

The third bed has snow peas, bush beans, and cantaloupe.

My broccoli is not doing so well. I've changed jobs so I haven't had the time to devote to pest control. I might let them go and try again this fall.

Raised Beds

I have been working really hard on my garden. My husband and I made these raised beds out of reclaimed pallet wood. The hardest part was taking the pallets apart without damaging the boards. Some of the pallets were in better condition.

I'm not quite sure how many raised beds I want. I might stop with the 5 above. I still have my bucket for my carrots and my sandbox herb bed.

I filled the two smaller boxes with a soil/compost blend. I'm growing broccoli. I wasn't successful with my broccoli last year, but I'm eager to try again.

Fall in My Backyard

I am in love with fall.

The smell of cinnamon and falling leaves.

The colors. OH the colors!

Cool breezes through open windows.

Out of Doors

Yesterday, we put together hobos and spent the rest of the evening outside.

If you've never made a hobo, here's the basics: meat, veggies (we used red potatoes, yams, carrots, and onions), seasoning, herbs, and a pat of butter all wrapped up in foil. I'm not a fan of foil. If I had a dutch oven, we would have used that instead.

You wrap the foil up tight and put it on the coals to cook. A couple of Boy Scouts made this fire, so it's too big for our little pit. We had to put our hobos right on the flames. This still works as long as you rotate the packages often and don't mind a little charbroil flavor.

While the boys kept an eye on dinner, I caught up on some gardening chores. 

My sweet pepper plants surprised me with a few last minute gifts. Up until now, my sweet peppers have not produced anything at all.

It was also time to finish harvesting the herb bed. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my "planter" next year. Maybe I'll just keep using it as an herb bed. It did quite well. It would also be pretty for flowers.

My final bounty.

The kids set the table for us and brewed some iced tea. They worked hard to make this meal come together. They make me so happy.

Dinner was delicious. It was a very peaceful evening..

August Gardening

June Garden Update

I've been working hard in the garden this year. Most of my plants are doing well. I lost all of my corn. I think we've just had too much rain for growing corn in buckets. Whatever the problem was, the corn all fell flat. 

Ishmael is trying to save a baby tree.

The cherry tomatoes on the left aren't growing as well as the row of heirlooms on the right.

Cucumbers

I'm very pleased with my cucumber plants this year.

Did you know cucumbers prefer to climb? They send out vines to grab onto anything they can find and pull themselves up.

Garden Visitors

I went out to visit my garden and found this guy hanging out in my carrots (he'll become a beautiful black swallowtail butterfly). Unfortunately for him, I am not willing to share this crop.

So I moved him to my cilantro. I have plenty of it, and don't mind sharing. He seemed to be okay with the compromise and made himself at home.

On further investigation of my cilantro, I found these guys working hard at something. I haven't decided if they are friend or foe. I did a Google search and only came up with mealybugs.

They look more spider-like to me...though I only counted 6 legs. It's really hard to see them clearly through all the fuzz. They aren't flat like all the pictures of mealybugs I've seen. I'm holding out for a better id on them before I eradicate them from the garden bed. We don't want another milkweed assassin conundrum.

If you or any of your friends can identify this bug for me, I'd sure appreciate it.

Strawberry Time

I love the South. So much green! I also love strawberry fields. They smell so good!

We learned the hard way that the end of the day isn't the best time to pick. Normally we go early-mid morning. The fields had already been mostly picked over. There were still a lot of great berries. It just took a lot longer to fill our baskets.

Strawberries have to be processed right away. Especially if you picked them under the hot southern sun. They retain heat and cook eachother in the basket. If you let them sit, you'll find a whole lot of mushy berries at the bottom.

So right away, as soon as we got home, I started hulling my berries and sorting them. The prettiest berries are going on the cookie sheet. I'll flash freeze them and then fill freezer bags. The not so pretty berries are going in the bowl to be made into jam.

Normally I just make easy freezer jam. This year I wanted to learn how to can preserves. I needed a few supplies. I picked up a canning pot and a utensil kit for around $27. These will come in handy when I tackle pickles and tomatoes this summer.

Confession: This is the first time I've canned preserves. My jam did not set and I had to recook them using these instructions: How to Fix (or Remake) Jam or Jelly. The process worked like a charm and my jam is nice and thick, albeit with less whole berries and a tad more sugar. Ah the joys of the learning process.

Rain Barrels Part 1

Here in "Mayberry" the water is extremely expensive. You see "Mayberry" buys their water from the next town over and then sells it to us. Watering the garden has raised my water bill by about $30 a month in season.

The rain barrel was so easy to make. It took us all of about 20 minutes to clean it out and put it together.

Cast of Characters: 2 3/4" metal conduit adapters, 3/4" hose bib, 1" drill bit, mosquito netting, and rain barrel.

I found my barrels on Craig's List for about $15 each. The guy at the hardware store said he used a large outdoor trash can.

At the bottom of the barrel, we drilled a 1" hole and threaded the female half of the conduit from the inside (Leon had to crawl inside), then screwed the male piece over top on the outside. Then we attached the hose bib to the conduit.

We did the same for the top of the barrel for our overflow. You could stop here and just have one barrel. You would need to cut a small piece of mosquito netting and screw the male side of the conduit over top. I plan to use a second barrel for overflow, to collect as much water as I can.

The last step was to drill holes into the top of the lid and lay on some of the mosquito netting.

I still need to get some cinder blocks to prop my rain barrel up against the house, and I need a few other supplies to connect the two barrels.