Giving the corn a much needed "pick me up"

Tim and Gina, Jill - welcome, and thanks for following my blog..

Photo below - a couple of the watermelon vines are growing up the wire mesh provided for them very well so far, but a person really has to help them  get their little tendrils attached to the wire. As you might imagine, each vine is monitored daily for any assistance needed, and I simply move the end of a vine here, and occasionally weave one there....You could say it's extreme garden pampering, I guess.....

Photo below - thanks to a couple of limbs that were removed from some of the surrounding woods, the corn was stood back up and supported so that the plants could stand on their own again. Some small rope was weaved throughout the plants too, because the stalks just kept falling down when stood back up again.I'm just glad that some more supports were within the same area, because they became a lifesaver, due to the close proximity.

Photo below - here's a few of the tomatoes growing in swc's, and continue to make their journey upward while setting fruit along the way. With 19 plants currently growing, this should be an excellent crop as long as the weather cooperates. A visit to the garden the other day by one of my friends at work really changed his outlook on gardening, and he plans to construct some swc's for himself in the upcoming days. Of course i'll help him with putting it all together, because his current gardening situation is really hampered by torrential rainfalls.

Photo below - due to some more pretty long sticks salvaged from the surrounding woods, the beans have grown significantly over the past couple of weeks. Although the little planting won't be suitable for putting some in the freezer later, we still should be able to harvest enough for fresh eating throughout the summer.

In other news, the rain barrels could become empty before it decides to rain again. I hope not, because the plants always respond to the rainwater much better than city water. It's times like these that makes me want more storage than the 220 gallons currently saved.

Also, the Japanese beetles have arrived for the year, and liberal spraying of the grape vines will have to take place on a weekly basis. Those things sure are a real pain, and really go for the tiny grapes as they form.

Take care, and happy gardening

EG

Another week, another harvest

Maricybele and rhea - welcome, and thanks for following the blog...

Even though squash is still the only vegetable being harvested from the garden, I keep telling myself that any harvest is better than nothing. Due to the way the zucchini plants are kept in tight quarters by the tomato cages, that large one in the picture snuck up on me. No biggie, it can still be grated and used for zucchini bread or something....

Photo below - while prepping the plums the other day for the jelly to be made, I snapped this picture of them. Count it as part of my fruit harvest, because i'm segregating vegetables and fruit this year.....

In other news, it's been a very hot (but still pleasant) weekend away from work, and me and the wife were able to get alot accomplished in the garden. Watering was one of the biggest chores, and i'd say that at least 25 gallons was hauled out to the garden so everything could be watered thoroughly. With no rain in the foreseeable future, it'll have to be performed at least every 4-5 days.With all of the flowerbeds added into the mix, watering is quite a chore these days..

Take care, and happy gardening,

EG

Plum jelly at last

charmcity balconygarden - welcome, and thanks for following the blog..

It's been a long wait for having the opportunity to can something from one of the plum trees on the property, but today at last - one of the trees provided about 13 lbs. of ripe (but damaged) orbs of juicy goodness which was used to make the first jelly of the season. Most were damaged by the larvae of the plum curculio, but tedious prepping and painstaking work paid off in the end with 4 jars of colorful plum jelly , as indicated in the picture...I can't wait to try it on toast in the morning. :)

*EDIT* - Since RandomGardener asked about what to use for dealing with the plum curculio, i'm proud to say that the Extension Service shared the information with me over a telephone conversation one day last week. Imidan is the product to use, and you can bet that i'll be using it next year. :)

EG

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Corn harvest in about 3 weeks

Delphyne, Germaine, and Cindy - welcome, and thanks for following my blog.

I'm sure most of you were affected by the storms that came thru my location on Wednesday night, and the wind speeds were unbelievably high around these parts...Lots of downed trees and such hampered everyday life for some, but we made it just fine for the most part. Of course Jude and the garden were constantly on my mind while it was the worst, but things turned out just fine with both.
While tending to the plants the following morning, I got a nice surprise in the corn section - silks protruding from the ears already. Photo below....

Photo below - however, the majority of the corn had been completely blown over - as it was an easy target for the straightline winds experienced throughout the night. No biggie, i'll just support them back into their original stance, and corn is very durable most of the time...

Photo below - Another nice harvest of squash will take place over the weekend, and I may regret planting 5 yellow crookneck and 2 zucchini before it's over. It's a good thing family is coming in on Saturday, because there's quite a bit in the refrigerator already and i'm hoping that the sisters will cook some up for everyone.

In other news, plenty of time will be spent cleaning up the yard over the long weekend, because leaves and small limbs are scattered all over the place....I'd say at least a wheelbarrow full. That's ok, the compost piles will appreciate the new addition, and i'm hoping to give them a good turning, too.

Also, a new page will probably get posted pretty soon that will have mostly pictures of vertically grown melons and such in it, because several readers have requested to see them. Although it'll take a little bit of time to sort through over 5,000 pictures of the garden saved to disc over the years, i'll be happy to do it...

Take care, and happy gardening

EG

Onion harvest

The gastronomic gardener, Cindy, raechill, and nikki - welcome, and thanks for following the blog...

It's been a long wait, but harvesting the onions finally became a reality over the weekend...I was really glad to get them out of the garden, because they were in the way of the vining plants against the trellises, and also looked kinda rough, too. The largest was about baseball size, I figure - and in all, weighed 10.5 lbs. Not bad for about $3 worth of sets purchased back in February...They're curing behind the house now, and will certainly provide flavoring for all kinds of things later - like salsa....A few more squash were harvested too....

Photo below - One of the yellow squash had a couple of squashbugs on it, and as you could guess - were dealt a quick death after taking this picture...I knew it was about time for them to show up, and in all - at least 10 were found on the plants before the day was finished. Yeehaw! I'm in business once again....I like killing squashbugs, and kept telling them "I'M RICK JAMES!" everytime I killed one. Hahahaha...

In other news, ripe plums are beginning to fall from the trees, and at least 1/3 have some form of pest damage...Man...i'm gonna consult with a commercial grower to see what their trick is, because this just won't do....I'm sure they have access to some kind of special insecticide not available to the public, but will just have to find out, when possible.
Also, the first spotted cucumber beetle was found on the corn, of all places - and all melon vines will be drenched with spectracide since there's no blooms on them yet. Even though most gardeners these days are afraid to use chemical insecticides for pest control due to peer pressure and health concerns, as long as there are no flowers present for bees to be attracted to - I use whatever is available. Besides, the only ones eating the veggies harvested later are the grownups in the family, because the children won't touch a vegetable for anything...
The UCG's bounty from the trip to Huntsville on Sunday weighed in at around 75 lbs. I figure, and we'll get them added to the compost piles hopefully over the Memorial Day weekend. A large bag of freshly cut grass clippings was picked up too, and along with the UCG's and a thorough turning of the contents in the bins, things should really get heated up sometime next week. (At least to 150 degrees or so)
Well, that's about it for today.

Take care, and happy gardening

EG

Current progress of the tomatoes

Lorie, Lynda, and Rorie - welcome, and thanks for following my blog...

Recent posts have mostly been about squash and corn, so I wanted to give a progress report on the tomato plants in the garden...In the picture below, you can see that things are coming along nicely with the 8 total plants in this particular picture. These are the Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Giant Oxheart, and Rutgers..

Photo below - here's the Red Siberian on the left, and two Stupice plants on the right. The Red Siberian is pretty strange to me so far, because i've never seen a plant have so many branches/stems at the very bottom of the plant. It's pretty freaky if you ask me....Oh well, I hope the tomatoes are decent-tasting...

Photo below - here's the Stupice tomato plant growing in the 7 gallon swp that was constructed a couple of weeks ago...It was a sucker that got rooted earlier in the season, and is now getting established in it's new home...BTW, why on earth did I decide to grow 3 Stupice plants? Beats the heck out of me......

Photo below - speaking of rooting suckers from plants - here's some in place right beside the Mother plants...I do it this way to keep up with the varieties much better, because I know exactly what's planted where in the garden....Anyway, these new plants will spend about 3 weeks in the soil, then be potted in individual containers for giving away to family and friends later....

Photo below - here's a few that were already segregated, then given out to my fellow co-workers last week. I enjoy giving them away, because it allows my friends to try varieties not available in stores...

In other news, me and the wife will be making a trip to Huntsville on Sunday for a class she has to take, and of course i'll visit every Starbuck's in town and hopefully end up with at least 100 lbs. of UCG's when finished. That would be pretty sweet, and certainly be a great addition to the compost bins later..

Also, I forgot to mention that a few more of the fragile sweet potato slips have taken root, and there's now at least 5 plants that will make it - it seems. Those are some tough little things, that's for sure.

Take care, and happy gardening

EG

Zuchinni has arrived

Ben and Lisa - welcome, and thanks for following my blog..

I was watering the garden yesterday, and realized that a picture of the garden opened up hadn't been taken in quite some time. So, if you're a pretty new follower of the blog, this is the way the largest raised bed with removable fencing looks while i'm tending to everything. The design is perhaps my favorite creation on the property, because it's very effective at keeping critters out, and also quite simple to open/close...

Photo below - here's what this post is all about - the first zuchinni of the season, and will be harvested this evening most likely....The picture also shows how the upside-down tomato cage is utilized to keep the plants from bushing out too much....very effective at keeping them in check, and I do it this way each and every year...

Photo below - while at it, I decided to take a shot of the yellow squash that's still producing squash like all-get-out....No squashbugs to be seen either, but that's gonna change in less than two weeks, I figure. No biggie, i'm ready for some action, and am quite eager to do battle with my ol' nemesis once again. Heh.

In other news, Jude caught her first mole in the yard the other day, and it was really funny watching her pounce on it like a wild predator. The yard is full of them, and she has tried countless times with no success at all, so it's good to actually have her get one finally.
Also, trellis extensions have been installed for the pole beans to run up, and the small 3ft x 4ft planting could actually produce a nice harvest later in the season. We'll see, I guess....

Take care, and happy gardening

EG

The corn is tasseling

The peaches and cream sweet corn growing in the swc's began tasseling on Saturday, May 14th - and I reckon it's the quickest i've ever had this to happen in the garden. This is great news, because i'll easily be able to get in a second crop before cold weather arrives in the fall. Here's a picture of it.....

Photo below - However, the current success isn't without it's problems, as usual....I happened to come across this "mass" growing on one stalk - and although i'd never seen it before in person, past reading done in various gardening books over the past few years allowed me to identify what it was within a matter of seconds. Corn Smut.....It's a fungus that decreases the yield of a plant, and usually shows up in the actual ear of corn...However, it can develop on any part of the actual plant, and is used in Mexican cuisine...Anyway, the growth was carefully removed by hand while holding my breath, and the residual left will be treated with one of the fungicides on hand...Maybe it won't spread.....

Photo below - the pepper plants continue to do well, but insects have certainly been snacking on the leaves of each. A good soaking of Spectracide was applied the other day, and since has gotten the situation under control, thankfully.

Photo below - see that bulge in the pale green part in the center of the plant? Well, that's gonna be the end of this current grow cycle - because it's about to flower.....Oh well, i'll pull the onions sometime this week to allow drying to take place, and that'll be the end of that.....

Photo below - here's the volunteer pumpkin plant that emerged from one of the compost bins a while back..It gets very little sunlight - so it's doubtful that anything will come from it later. However, it would be sweet if the squashbugs flock to it and stay away from the squash in the garden...A trap plant, if you will....

In other news, work has been very demanding lately, and this will be the second week in a row that working 6 days is required...However, the following week will mean a long weekend for me - because of Memorial Day, of course...
Also, i've got a small construction project currently in progress, and will most likely post about it in another couple of weeks. No big deal, but hey - it might be of use to somebody in the future....

Take care, and happy gardening

EG

Current status of the Orchard

epicureasian and GreenNurse - welcome, and thanks for following my blog.

It's been raining off and on for 3 days now, but thankfully that'll give way to some sunny days starting this morning. There's nothing new to speak of in the vegetable garden, so I decided to give an update on the fruit orchard. If the bugs can somehow be kept under control this year, it should be a very rewarding harvest from the various fruit trees, bushes, and vines on the property.
Photo below - here's some blueberries plumping up nicely, and we'll get at least a few for some muffins later.

Photo below - The pear harvest should surpass last year's bounty of 5 gallons, which should be more than enough to make pear preserves with. The only problem is fireblight in the top of one of the trees, but that'll be taken care of when hard pruning is performed next February. Doing so now would destroy about half of the pears currently formed, and I aim to get this harvest before any maintenance is done...

Photo below - blackberries are everywhere, and look to be about 2 weeks earlier than last year. Me and Jude will venture out into the patch when ripe, and pick a few gallons for the freezer later.

Photo below - Plums continue to do well, although the plum curculio bug has certainly made it's presence known again as usual...Those little devils are sure hard to eradicate - as i've been spraying the trees on a weekly basis with Spectracide with only fair results. How professional growers keep them at bay is completely beyond me, but i'll definitely pick a few brains later in the year. I want to completely anihilate them if possible, and surely there's a way to do it....

Photo below - upon inspection of the grape vines the other day, I noticed another bird nest in the orchard. No eggs were to be found, so it appears that they've already hatched out and left....

In other news, a volunteer pumpkin vine is growing in one of the compost bins....This is due to several post-halloween pumpkins that were thrown in last fall for their nitrogen content, and i'll just let it sprawl along the ground below. Volunteers are always welcomed, but I seriously doubt anything will come from it..

Also, tomato suckers have been rooted like crazy this year, and several plants are ready to be given out to friends. One was given to Ribbit last week during my visit, and I sure hope it's doing well so far for her....

Well, that's about it for today...Take care and happy gardening.

EG

First harvest from the 2011 warm weather garden

Lucas - welcome, and thanks for following my blog...

Lots of rain has fallen over the past couple of days, which certainly made things grow since the last time you've seen them. So much, in fact - that melon vines have even begun climbing trellises....Thankfully, no failures either - which means that i'm doing a pretty good job at tending to the plant's needs.
The 4 little baby birds in the plum tree have already left the nest for adventures into the wild, and I even got to see the last one make it's first flight. Needless to say, it's a good time for the garden.....

Anyway, here's a few pictures of the current progress - with some commentary about each one...The squash was beginning to get too big when I got back home from my trip, so about 6 were picked and others are surely to follow in upcoming days....It's great to finally have something to pick from the garden again.

Photo below - This picture is the current progress in the swc/swp area, and i'm sure my buddy Matt from Indiana can really appreciate it. Things are growing really well, and the tomato plants have started filling out nicely...

Photo below - watermelon vines are beginning to run also, so an organic fertilizer with low NPK values has been added, which will continue to make them thrive. Watering will need to be increased to at least twice per week also, because they need at least 1" of  water weekly at this stage.

Photo below - Onions continue to get larger, but I really feel that not much more growth will take place in the future. Oh well, it's been the most successful crop so far with onions in my garden...

That's about it for today, but be prepared to see lots of photos next week.....

EG

Okra and a few other things

Samantha - welcome, and thanks for following the blog.....

It's been quite a wait for the burgundy okra to come up, but finally the little seedlings began emerging from the soil a few days ago. Due to the prolonged waiting period, I'll try to remember to start them indoors next year - just to get a jump on things. Regular watering ensure that they'll survive the current sun and temperature exposures subjected to them - as all 20 plants must be successful to get a decent harvest for freezing later...here's a picture of one...

Photo below - here's one of my 13 melon plants currently being grown, and is just about ready to start vining out...once that happens, I'll help them make the initial ascent up the wire mesh on the trellis, then let the vines weave in and out of the rectangular openings...

Photo below - most of the sweet potato slips have seen better days, and I expect to lose all but a couple....that's ok though - future growth from those two plants can be rooted later, making things complete again. That's the thing about gardening - failures will always take place, and you just have to improvise.....

Photo below - although not nearly as big as Ribbit's squash plants, I'm quite happy that a nice harvest will take place most likely tomorrow evening after work....boy, I can already taste the battered - then fried yellow goodness...

In other news, a nice garbage bag filled with used coffee grounds from Starbucks was picked up while on the business trip for work, and couldn't have came at a better time. Getting the compost bins heated up good just as summer is about to begin makes it almost a sure thing that the currently working piles will be completely decomposed before cold weather arrives in the fall....

Take care, and happy gardening

EG

7 gallon self watering planter

Kris - welcome, and thanks for following the blog..

So i've had these 4 gallon swp's laying around that were not being used - you know, the ones previously utilized for growing broccoli and cauliflower in....Anyway, I was looking at the pile the other day, and decided to use 5 of them to help make a larger swp with the aid of a 5.3 gallon cat litter bucket...
Most of the 4 gallon buckets were used only to extend the height of the planter, so the bottom 2/3 were discarded.....

Photo below - the yellow one is the 5.3 gallon bucket used for the base, which also serves as the water holding reservoir, of course...Since an extended 4 gallon bucket was gonna be used as the base of the growing bucket, I needed a pretty tall wicking cup to reach the bottom of the bottom bucket. Anyway, I decided to use a 20 oz. plastic drink bottle for this purpose - as it's long, slender, and has a cap on the end that can meter the water into the soil if a small hole is drilled into it. As usual, a 7/64" hole was drilled....

Photo below - the large end of the bottle (bottom part) was cut off to allow filling with soil, but this presented a problem for keeping it from falling completely through the hole in the bottom of the growing bucket. So, some small holes were drilled through the cut sides, then scrap pieces of tomato cages skewered to bridge the gap and effectively keep the bottle from falling through....

Photo below - here's the whole thing assembled, and with a water reservoir that has a 2.75 gallon capacity with 7 gallons of soil to grow in, a tomato plant should work really well in it and not require much refilling of the water reservoir. Yeah, I know - it looks pretty funny....

Photo below - since no place was allocated for housing it, I decided to just put it in a section of the yard where some dirt had recently been hauled in by wheelbarrow when digging the new flowerbed out a while back....It gets plenty of direct sunlight each day, and isn't viewable from the road....

After much consideration, a Stupice tomato transplant was planted into it the day after this picture was made, then top-watered a bit to keep it satisfied until the roots can get to the moisture at the bottom of the planter...This has to be done every 2-3 days for the first couple of weeks, or you risk stressing the plant due to not enough water.


In other news, I paid a visit to The corner yard yesterday evening, and had a wonderful time with Ribbit and family. It's such a pleasure to hang out with fellow garden bloggers, and enjoy some great food and conversation, too. Thanks again for the hospitality, and it was a lot of fun!


EG

Corn and tomatoes in self watering containers

Things continue to grow well in the self watering containers situated on the slope of the backyard - especially the corn....Farmers in the area would probably be shocked if they knew mine was this big already, but of course i'm able to fool Mother Nature by at least 3-4 weeks each spring by my methods. A liberal side-dressing of bloodmeal was applied over last weekend, and future rainfalls should disperse the nitrogen content into the root zone at a controlled rate...The only problem is - Jude keeps licking it up from the soil surface....sheesh.

Photo below - the tomato plants are doing great also, and here's the Black from Tula, Cherokee Chocolate, and Paul Robeson growing in the 34 gallon swc......

And here's the entire swc/swp area....With 18 tomato plants and 63 corn stalks contained within, it's alot of stuff for no more space than it takes up...

In other news, me and the wife went fishing on Sunday morning, and the weather was just perfect. A nice catfish and 10 crappie were brought home to clean, and are now in the freezer. :-)

Take care, and happy gardening

EG

Contributions to the compost piles

Get Real Chris and Elizabeth - welcome, and thanks for following my blog....

Do you ever grow stuff just so they can be added to the compost pile? Apparently I do sometimes, such as the carrots and cauliflower that were harvested over the weekend. It was so ridiculous, that the harvest wasn't even added to the yearly weight total. Check out these pitiful looking carrots below....

Photo below - here's the cauliflower with the leaves pulled away from the head. In reality, it's beyond my logical undersatanding why it failed.......

Photo below - but, all is not about gloom and doom in the garden - in fact, everything else is doing spectacular at this point. See the little Stupice tomato in the photo below? It's highly possible that this little fella will be edible before June....

Also, the onion bulbs continue to get bigger, and no signs of premature bolting is evident so far....These onions will be a great addition to the homemade salsa later in the season...Fertilization is still being applied at least twice per week to make the bulbs get larger, and the rest is up to Mother Nature.

In other news the little baby birds are getting bigger by the day, and I expect a first flight might take place in less than 2 weeks. I'll really have to keep an eye on Jude during this time, because she'll wanna play with them probably....
Also, the blackberries are in full bloom now, and will be ready to pick in around 5 more weeks, hopefully. I'm ready for a new batch of jam, and a few cobblers too...

Lastly, a trip out of town will be necessary to do some training for work, and hopefully things will continue to thrive in my 4 day absence. I'm sure it'll be just fine, but can't help but worry about it....

Take care, and happy gardening

EG