Chickens & Cherry Blossoms

Somehow the chickens seem to know when I need a new picture of them doing something endearing because yesterday they were posing like pro’s.  These birds of a feather really do love to flock together.  Last week every one of my white Silkies were broody and our sweet Ameraucana Henrietta didn’t leave the coop, not even for a minute, to venture by her lonesome out in the grass which she loves so much.  Now that they’re back to their pecking, egg laying-gang status, they don’t leave each other’s sides.

The Minnie Royal Cherry tree has begun to bloom!  It’s pollinator sister, Royal Lee, is not quite blooming yet, but I’m hoping they’ll cross blooming schedules at some point to possibly produce some of my first cherries this spring.

Eva’s Pride baby peaches have appeared!

Sharpblue blueberries are on their way as well.

THE END!

A Find of the Blue Kind

A sweet surprise that brought me a smile, as well as my daughter. I was told they were very good.

April Garden Update

Here’s my great Lifetime Raised Garden Bed bursting with heirloom tomatoes, golden beets, lettuce and Cosmic Purple carrot seedlings along the left perimeter.

The other day I planted some marigolds in and around my veggie beds.  I’ve read that  annual marigolds can be used anywhere to deter Mexican bean beetles, squash bugs, thrips, tomato hornworms, aphids and whiteflies. They are also known to repel harmful root knot nematodes (soil dwelling microscopic white worms) that attack tomatoes, potatoes, roses, and strawberries. The root of the Marigold produces a chemical that kills nematodes as they enter the soil.  Plus they add a pop of color!

Now that Spring is in full swing and the soil is consistently above 50 degrees, I am direct sowing seeds into the garden.  In this bed I have various tomatoes, lettuce, Di Cicco broccoli, golden beets and some cabbage that is ready to harvest.  The other half of this bed is below:

The Sharpblue blueberry at the bottom of this photo is doing very well since I planted it in January.  Above it along the vertical trellis are lemon cucumbers and pole green beans.  In the middle of the bed are edamame and broccoli.

My Persimmon and Pineapple heirloom tomatoes that I purchased as seedlings are doing well in terms of growth, but are both experiencing blossom drop and early blight.  Damp, cool weather can create a fungus on tomatoes called early blight, which looks like small dark spots on the lower leaves.  I’ve never dealt with this issue before, but after some research, I have trimmed the most infected lower leaves and sprayed the entire plant with an organic copper solution.  I also sprayed a calcium spray on the flowers, which is supposed to help prevent blossom drop.  They could also be dropping due to damp conditions.  So much to know!  Once the weather corrects itself, so the speak, the tomatoes may pull out of it.

Here's one other tomato falling victim to early blight. You can see how I've trimmed out the lower effected leaves.

I’ve also been battling significant potato problems.  I had my heart set on growing sweet potatoes this summer, but we’ll just have to see on that.  Maybe next year!  I thought that a rodent of some kind was gnawing  the foliage due to the significant breaks on the stems, so we put chicken wire around the grow pot.  The no avail, it’s still worsening.  I went out last night to check out the situation, hoping to catch the varmint and only saw slugs.  Could they be doing all of this??  I will probably have to prematurely dig up my potatoes.  I’m not sure how they can survive this.  Hopefully it’ll at least be a small crop since they’re been growing since December.

All within the last week I’ve planted from seed:

• Moon and Stars Watermelon
• Charentais melon
• Red Warty Thing pumpkins
• Fairytale pumpkins
• Jarrahdale pumpkins
• Sunburst yellow / Peter Pan green pattypan scallop summer squash and ………drumroll please………..
• Alpine Strawberries!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’ve heard that growing strawberries from seed can be trying and difficult (they take 3-4 weeks to even sprout!), but when I saw their seed packet today at the nursery, I could not resist.  I asked the garden specialist what she knew about growing them from seed and she laughed, saying, “We don’t even carry them.  You may want to just but a six-pack.”  Then I showed her the packet in my hand and she was shocked!  It’s the first time I’ve ever seen them in any store.  They’re already out in the garden, working their magic.  I’ve got a good feeling!

Virtual Garden Tour

A Cherokee Purple Heirloom Tomato that is really taking off. Growing tomatoes from seed this year has been so rewarding and definitely worth it.

Sequoia strawberry is also stretching it's legs. That little white berry is my first ever home-grown strawberry!

Many heirloom tomato seedlings having graduated up to the next level and are now continuing their growth in larger recycled pots that I saved from some nursery purchases. These are destined to be Mother's Day gifts! They really start maturing just at the right time. 🙂

A rainbow cherry tomato. Remember that cherry tomato seed packet that I found with 5 different colored tomatoes all in one packet? Well this is one of those. It'll be exciting to see what color this one will be! White, red, orange, yellow or green. Cool!

Last year I tried seed saving for the first time and I guess I did something right because this seedling is from a seed I saved from my pole green beans! The longer you collect seed from any given plant season after season, the more acclimated the seeds/plants become to your particular conditions and the better it does.

There were about 6 shoots coming from this green seedless Thompson grapevine. I read that you should chose the two thickest, healthiest shoots and cut off the rest. The idea is that you train up one main shoot the first year grown from bare-root and the second is a backup just in case something happens to the first. Ever since I cut off the other shoots, the growth has greatly increased. The main shoot will then create it’s own shoots next year and those will be trained horizontally. By that time this baby will be out of it’s huge pot and in the ground.  I found a few helpful videos on youtube.

A future peach. I’ve seen a significant lack of bees this year and I wondered how many of the flowers would get pollinated to go on to form a peach.  A veggie garden blog that I follow (and would highly recommend) called My Tiny Plot in Bath, England recently made this post about how she hand pollinated her peach. It seems that somehow there are plenty of peaches for harvest this summer on my tree, perhaps around 50 for this one 5 year old tree.

The Diana fig seems happy. Just wish it would grow more! It's 3 years.

Can't wait! Figs are a unique favorite of mine and can be made into some elegant dishes.

A few of the Silkies poking around the new bed. The grass was dewy that morning, which slicks back the feathers around their faces and actually allows me to see their eyes! A rare treat!

A volunteer nasturtium cascading down the blueberry pot.

Here's what the Double Delight nectarine has been up to.

.....And the Burgundy plum.

Over the winter I took out some sad shrubs from this planter leading to my doorway and created a grouping of three brick colored pots which also match the front door. There’s a palm also in this planted and it’s roots have made planting almost anything in the ground here impossible.  I’ve planted some succulents around the pots, so hopefully they will manage.  In the  2 larger pots are tomatoes and the smallest some All Season Butterhead lettuce.

How could I overlook this beauty on my photo extravaganza?

California poppy I seeded last year.

I hope you all have enjoyed the tour.  I’ll be here all week.  Feel free to tip your waitress.

Blueberry Lovin’

One of my daughter’s favorite foods is blueberries.  She calls them “blue-blues” and would eat them everyday at every meal if she could.  Our bountiful backyard is home to one 4 year old potted blueberry bush.  When the berries are ripe, she visits the bush daily, looking for new ripe blue jewels to pick and eat on the spot.  The first few years this blueberry bush, which shall remain nameless (mainly because I don’t know which type it is!) didn’t do much by way of growth or fruit.  Over the past year I began giving it coffee ground supplements (who wouldn’t like that) after I read of their love for an acidic soil.  The thing has been growing like a weed ever since!  I’ve never seen so many future blueberry flowers.

This guy is one happy camper.

Future blue-blues.

So it would only make sense that after calling my favorite local nursery and finding out that they just got in 7 kinds of blueberries, that I’d go take a look.  After much deliberation and speaking with the garden guru there, I decided on Sharpblue.  Since its release in 1984, it has become the most widely planted and adaptable of the low-chill, southern highbush cultivars available, both domestic and internationally.  A mature Sharpblue produces 8-12 pounds of sweet berries, with higher yields reported when irrigation and soil fertility are at their best.

Sharpblue will grow vigorously to a mature height of 5-6 feet tall, with good structure and spreading habit.  A very full and robust shrub, Sharpblue looks great in the landscape as well.  In its most southern range, Sharpblue will remain evergreen, and bloom and fruit periodically through the year.  Yes, it fruits throughout the year!  It does best in locations that don’t receive spring frosts that are hard and late.  Hardy in USDA zones 7b-10.

I know, it's not the most impressive thing, but I have faith! Yesterday I cleared a section of a huge, climbing lemon scented geranium to make way for this beauty. This one is destined for the earth, not a pot. I'm going to mix in some peat moss, coffee grounds, soil amendment and organic fertilizer with the existing soil. My current blueberry gets part shade, which is the same destiny for this one. Hopefully I'll be taking gorgeous photos of this one in a year or two.