Neighbours talking over the garden gate has long been a tradition. They share gardening tips, complain about the weather and pests yet are ever eager to discuss their gardens. That is what I had in mind when creating this blog. So stop by my garden gate to find out the latest happenings in my garden.
Happy Gardening!
Garden Gnome
"All my life through, the new sights of Nature made me rejoice like a child." ~ Madame Marie Curie"
Honest to Betsy this has been one of the most frustrating growing seasons I've dealt with in the past few years. We had a wet, cool spring despite predictions. Then the weather turned hot and dry to the point the local farmers are begging for rain. We sure could use a few days of just a nice, gentle down pour! a couple of days ago I looked out to see a bit of yellow. Well in the heat of the dryness I figured it was a weed so didn't hurry out to investigate but when I did look what I found!
Peeping up through the slope that we haven't ripped out yet were two gorgeous Stella D'or lilies. I have not been watering this garden as it is slated for a rip-out so pretty much it is on its own. Except now that I seen these gorgeous blooms I'm going to water if need be and mark where the plants are that I want to transplant.
I've had Stella d'Or is two gardens now. They really are good performers almost thriving on neglect and yet still putting on a good show. Don't you think they are gorgeous? What a nice surprise in the heat of a dry summer!
Happy Gardening!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2010
Raccoons and Corn
August 19, 2010
Our neighbours to the north put in the most amazing raised bed system I've seen. It consists of 3 larger beds joined together forming a flattened Z shape. They are not growing using the square foot method. In one of the runs they planted corn and they even added a really neat support system that I will use if I decide to grow corn next year. I haven't grown corn mainly because of space limitation. It takes up a lot of room for what you get. However, this neighbour has grown corn and the neighbours two and three houses down both grow corn so perhaps I will try it but I will definitely be making some modifications.
I recently talked about our
garden visitor. He is being rather persistent but other than getting into our garbage once we don't have a real problem. I make sure the master bedroom and kitchen windows as well as the kitchen patio doors are closed enough that he can't get in. I also keep foods off the counter especially during the evening hours when this little guy is busy. Well he got into our neighbour's with the raised beds corn! I didn't realize that they were new gardeners because they had a smaller raised bed last year. Anyway apparently they left it a bit too long so the corn it too tough then to add insult to injury as pictured the raccoon has been helping himeself. What is rather interesting is he hauls the corn stalks from their garden ove into our yard to feast!
I've already decided that if I grow corn next year it is going to be protected by chicken wire to the point squirrels and raccoons can't get to it. It's a shame to have a crop that is over ripe or pilfered by garden pests. We are now exchanging a lot of gardening ideas :)
Happy Gardening!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2010
California Wonder Peppers
August 19, 2010
I am more than pleased with the performance of the California Wonder sweet peppers! This is an heirloom variety of sweet peppers. Most will be familiar with California Wonder sweet peppers as it is the most common variety sold in grocery stores. So why am I excited? In the past I have had major bad luck growing sweet peppers other than sweet banana peppers (another heirloom variety) and hot peppers. I don't know what the problem has been but any sweet bell pepper I've grown has got about the size of a small orange and that's it. The California Wonder sweet peppers are already larger than that so this is rather exciting! I can't wait until they are ready to pick and you can be sure I will be saving seeds from this great performer!
Happy Gardening!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2010
Overgrown Garden Bed
August 19, 2010
This morning I ended up watering the raised beds again. Rain is predicted this evening but I'm not taking any chances. We've had rain all around us but not actually hitting us for the past couple of weeks now. Despite the cooler weather the last couple of days the heat and humidity have shot right back up there today so watering was a must.
As I puttered in the garden this morning it dawned on me what a mess the raised beds were. The plants obviously have not read the square foot gardening book. This is the time of year my raised beds look unruly to say the least! I really need to get out there to do a bit of trimming and staking. For the most part the plants are looking quite healthy though.
Happy Gardening!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2010
Monday we got a much welcomed break in the high heat and humidity. Thunderstorms were all around us and we had a tornado warning yet got pretty much nothing as far as rainfall. Tuesday the weather radar looked down right ugly all day to the point we cancelled going out on the boat. We didn't get so much as a drop of rain! This morning we saw just enough rain to dampen if that a few leaves on the trees. It looked so promising and yet nothing. I have to admit I was quite disappointed. Our neighbour's lawn is completely brown. Our's is fairing a bit better because of the heavy shade. I've been watering the vegetable gardens every other day just to keep them healthy.
The problem with this type of weather is the storms are there but they skipping over us. It makes little sense to water if it is going to rain and by looking at the radar there is such a good chance for rain there is no point watering. Yet the storms skip over and the gardens need it. We could really do with a couple of ground soaking, all day but gentle rains!
Happy Gardening!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2010
Jalapeno Peppers
August 15, 2010
The Jalapeno pepper plants are also laden with peppers. They are almost ready for picking, just in time for salsa making! I'm surprised at how well all the pepper plants are doing this year. Even the sweet pepper plants are performing nicely! I'm already making plans for all the great ways I going to use the pepper abundance.
Happy Gardening!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2010
Habanero Peppers
August 15, 2010
The Habanero pepper plants are looking quite healthy and laden with peppers. I'm hoping they will be ready within the next day or two when I plan to start making tomato salsas. If not I will change my plans to start with roasted tomato sauce. Either way I'm looking forward to having a lot of Habanero peppers to work with this year!
Happy Gardening!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2010
I have been battling high temperatures and humidity in the garden through this last heat wave that is gripping our area. The result of this has been almost daily violent storms in the area all around us but not hitting us. I've had to resort to deep watering every other day. The tomatoes don't like the high heat so aren't ripening quite as quickly. I've lost a few of my container plants but will be repotting those as so as the heat wave breaks. I have a lot of fall plans for the garden but for now it seems I'm playing a waiting game for the weather to come around.
Happy Gardening!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2010
Mainly Tomatoes
August 12, 2010
Yesterday I noticed a few tomatoes were ready for picking. I like doing a clean pick each day to prevent any problems and spoilage. The larger two tomatoes to the top right are brandywines growing in the raised beds. To the left middle the largest tomato is also a brandywine grown in a container. There is a noticeable difference in size. Much of this is a result of the weather we have been having lately. I'm going to use an organic fertilizer on the containers to help boost their yield. The smaller orangish red tomatoes are Tiny Tim. This heirloom tomato is a good producer with tomatoes about the size of golf balls. They are a bit more on the tart side for flavour. The Thai basil is wonderful and as with the other basils is producing nicely. Two Hungarian wax peppers rounded off the basket.
Happy Gardening!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2010
Brandywine Tomatoes in Containers
August 12, 2010
Traditionally I have to work at growing tomatoes in containers. I think it is more luck in picking the right variety though. This year I have brandywines in two 5 gal containers. In comparison to the brandywine tomatoes planted in the raised beds the vines in the containers are considerably smaller but they still seem to be producing rather well. It has been an off year for tomatoes here due to extended periods of high heat that affect the ripening process.
The reality is unless growing indoors you can't control the weather. All my tomato vines are looking very healthy so I'm just now starting to take a few clippings for growing indoors. I'm still haven't identified what is eating some of my tomato vines although I suspect the tomato hornworm BUT there has been no other signs including the tell tale droppings. 'Tis a mystery for now.
Happy Gardening!
Garden Gnome ©2006-2010
The tomatoes appear to be doing quite well but the cucumbers are pretty much finished. If I am lucky I will get one or two more Monemarket cucumbers off the vine but the pickling cucumbers were a total dud this year. The herbs are all performing nicely and the peppers look very promising. The radishes did not perform well so I let them go to seed. I think they will be good in the fall garden or planted earlier next year. I'm looking forward to a fall garden for more greens so will be working towards that goal. At the moment I need to replant some of the planters that the high heat took out. I definitely will be working on self watering containers!
Happy Gardening!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2010
First Ripe Brandywine Tomato
August 8, 2010
I am so excited! I picked the first ripe brandywine tomato of 2010 yesterday. We have had an extended hot spell so the tomatoes are not ripening as quick as they normally would. Brandywine is a lovely heirloom tomato. The tomatoes are a good size with a firm, pinkish red flesh and nice tomato flavour. The vines are in raised beds and looking quite healthy. The only problem I have notices is something has been clean cutting a few of the stems. It's rather odd because the stem looks like it has be cut with scissors. I suspect the tomato hornworm but have seen no tell tale signs of them. Over the next few days I will be checking the garden at various times of the day to find out what is doing the damage. It could be that the problem has already resolved itself since the damage is quite minimal and appears to be old.
Happy Gardening!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2010
I planted 4 planters with pickling cucumbers. To date I have managed to get 2 pickle sized cucumbers off the vines. I'm not impressed! Tomorrow I will be replacing these vines with likely geraniums since the nursery has them at 50% off. If it were closer to fall I would be planting lettuces but good gosh the summer this year has been just too hot for lettuces. It has been a very frustrating gardening season to say the least. I'm already planning my fall garden so hopefully that will go a bit better!
Happy Gardening!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2010
Brandywine Tomatoes
August 3, 2010
The
brandywine tomato vines are healthy looking and laden with tomatoes. So far there have been no ripe ones to pick but that is to be expected with the recent weather. At temperatures of 85ºF of which we have had an extended period of time the ripening process for tomatoes stops. The lycopene and carotene that gives the beautiful red colouration isn't produced so the tomatoes take on a yellowish green colour. Unfortunately there isn't much I can do about this problem other than wait for the temperatures to come back down to normal where ripening will resume. This really has been a year of battling the weather. I'm hoping things will settle down for a good crop in the fall!
Happy Gardening!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2010
Chocolate Mint
July 31, 2010
An often overlooked part of gardening both indoors and outdoors is
pinching back. This is a very easy to do bit of plant maintenance that can give you healthier and bushier plants. Unlike cutting back very little plant material is removed by a simple pinching motion removing the shoot apex (arrow). This sends the growth hormone auxin to the axially buds located in the Y formation between stem and leaves. As these secondary branches grow the shoot apex at the end can also pinched back to create a nice full, bushy plant rather than a tall, leggy one. The method is used on soft stem plants like chrysanthemums, basil, mints, coleus and similar types of plants including tomatoes. The more pinching back you do the bushier the plant so don't forget to do a bit of pinching back!
Happy Gardening!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2010
Branch Trellises
July 28, 2010
One thing I love about visiting other gardeners is seeing how they do things. I always get a few ideas to try. There were a lot of plant stakes and trellises in use on the organic farm. A large number of them along with barrier fencing to keep rabbits out were made out of tree branches. What an excellent idea!
Every garden needs some type of plant stakes or support. Many gardeners turn to store bought metal or wooden trellises. However there are a lot of household items and garden scraps that can be used as plant supports. This organic farmer uses a lot of tree branches likely from pruning and spring storm cleanup to create very nice looking plant supports and trellises. I noticed they used gardening twine to secure the joints. This is just a really nice, low cost yet natural looking way to make plant supports and trellises.
Happy Gardening!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2010
Traditional Row Garden
July 28, 2010
It is interesting to see the organic farm using more than one method of growing. They are using raised beds with hard edges, raised beds without hard edges, square foot gardening, butterfly gardening, three sisters' method and traditional row gardening. When it comes to gardening it really is always a trial and error. What works for some doesn't work for others.
This portion of the organic farm's garden is planted in traditional rows with the exception of the three sisters taking up a corner. Along the evergreens is a nice row of sunflowers so they will really be lovely when in bloom. Sunflowers are great companion plants as they attract birds into the garden. Everything looks so nice and healthy too. Those still clinging to their non-organic methods would be impressed1
Happy Gardening!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2010
Tipi
July 28, 2010
Home gardeners know that gardening is not just the bare basics. Garden decorations enter the picture at some point. Some aren't even intended garden decorations but meant rather to serve practical purposes likes pest deterrents or critter protectors like toad home. The organic farm has a wonderful tipi constructed on a bit of open space. Despite adding character, the tipi could serve as a spot to harden young plants in the spring. The canvas would shield from sunburn and wind while proving a bit of warmth. I'm not sure if they are using it for this purpose so will be sure to ask the next time we visit.
Behind the row of evergreens which is a common windbreak in rural areas there is a larger traditional row garden (picture tomorrow) and a lovely pond that is just still in progress. It will be gorgeous when finished. They are planning on adding sitting areas for visitors to rest and ponder awhile. They also have horses and while they no longer offer riding lessons they may will offer a trail ride. They have free range chickens as well so I now have another source for buying eggs until I get chickens of my own.
Happy Gardening!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2010
Strawberry Beds
July 28, 2010
Imagine my delight when we pulled onto the organic farm to see 2 raised beds planted using the square foot gardening method and larger raised beds for the everbearing and June bearing strawberries. Pictured are 3 of the raised beds for strawberries. I didn't get a picture of the smaller (4' x 4' ) square foot raised beds. I will be sure to get a picture the next time as they do use the hard grid something I'm not quite fond of. The raised strawberry beds are constructed much the same way as I make mine. I noticed there were no corner or side supports and while some use the additional supports, I've never had a problem not using them.
Two things differ from my raised beds. I noticed they butted the beds fairly tight to the barn. In larger beds and even the smaller square foot garden beds this reduces accessibility defeating one of the purposed for the raised bed. Ideally with a square foot garden bed you should not have to reach more than 2 - feet in to be able to plant, tend or harvest. While the 4' x 4' raised bed is the traditional size any length as long as the bed is 4' wide will work nicely. A 2' x any length will work nicely as well. Pathways between each raised garden bed originally were designed to give good access all the way around the beds. When done properly the entire garden will be wheelchair accessible. The second thing I noticed is the beds are wider than 4 -feet again presenting accessibility issues. Other than that the beds all looked happy, healthy and well maintained!
Happy Gardening!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2010
Three Sisters Garden Bed
July 28, 2010
A few days ago a flyer arrived in our mailbox letting us know about a new organic farm operation in our area. I'm always watching for this type of thing for the fruits and vegetables I either don't grow enough of or don't grow at all. Yesterday we drove out to see the operation and oh my gosh it is fabulous! The next few posts will give a bit more on some of the things I found interesting.
The owners are absolutely wonderful, down to earth people interested in sustainable living. I immediately liked them so will be visiting often! I may even offer to volunteer on their farm just to be able to expand my gardening knowledge. He is a fourth generation farmer on a heritage farm so it is really encouraging to see this type of farming happening! It is a great way for those in the area to get to know about organic gardening. They are planning on having workshops as well.
Pictured is one of the two three sisters garden beds planted on the farm. Three sisters is an Aboriginal (Native Canadian) method of growing. The three sisters are beans, squash and corn. The beans provide nitrogen, while the corn provides shade. The beans climb the poles which gives a higher yield as well. I am now convinced I need to plant a three sisters bed. If you look closely this bed is also raised but in a less formal way. The support trellis like many on the farm is made from branches that likely would have ended up in the woodstove or firepit. Looking at the creativity of their trellises it reminded me that we should be using more of these methods when growing organically rather than relying on store bought trellises, supports and cages.
Happy Gardening!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2010
