First Frost

Last Sunday I checked on garden plot #1 and the vegetation showed signs of wilt. The temperature had dropped into the 20s overnight. As I uprooted and examined the root ball for eggplant (healthy and multi-branched) and green pepper (small and shallow) a question formed:

If there is no humidity in the air, can frost actually form? Can vegetation skip the frost on leaves stage and go straight to frozen? The plant cells are filled with water. Water freezes then bursts the cell walls, which is what you see. So think about my science question.

Transplanted Last Week. Rabbits Dining This Week

Sunday 09Sep12 Plot #1 now has aluminum foil strips to tremble in the slightest breeze. Let's see if rabbits avoid my new transplants. 

Saturday 08Sep12 Plot #1 shows rabbit visitors already found and dined on corner plot but they seemd to ignore the cauliflower leaves. Plant more cauliflower! In contrast, the neighbor plot's radishes, lettuces, kale undisturbed. The narrow gravel lanes between plots deter rabbits. After broccoli and cabbage transplants enjoyed the back seat for a week, they got into the home garden this morning. Now acclimated to outdoors, salvia offers one sapphire bloom.

2012 Autumn Planting

Attended Breeze Farm workshop on post-harvesting. Beautiful moonrise. Transplanted 3 cauliflower given by a plot neighbor and bought 2 brussels sprouts transplants for home garden. Have compost, will cover.

Deep Red Maple

Saw a sheaf, a low sword offered to the morning sun on the morning commute. Beautiful. Last Saturday visited Plot #1. Night meetings prevented any visits during the week. Brown crinkly leaves to trim and trash. Harvested 6 cayenne peppers and several small tomatoes.

First Sourwood Orange Leaf

Yesterday rain stopped me from walking. Last year, the tops of the sourwoods along the path glowed an orange welcome to the autumn sunrise. Today I found the first orange sourwood leaves at the top, only a half dozen or so, and a few on the ground. Brought in a tiny oval and pinned it to welcome the changing season.

Melon!

Visited Plot #1 and harvested one pickling cucumber last night. Noticed unofficial harvesting means 2 cayenne peppers satisfied another's bite. Neighbor plot's trellis was leaning, so closer inspection revealed hidden among beautiful 5-lobed leaves are small green melons suspended in the air. Probably honeydew but will know later.

Home plot says thanks to SB for the coffee grounds. Two blaze roses are thriving post Black Kow spreading. Mint trimmed back. More tomatoes harvest bound.

Cherokee Purple Harvest

Yesterday, home, from one plant, harvested 11 tomatoes; 3 had been colonized by ants, so they were shaken off and then drowned in a bowl of water. Unofficial harvesting from Plot #1, so that's To Do on my list. Various other tomatoes harvested, along with Japanese eggplant, a cayenne pepper, and salad onions.

Today harvested one more Cherokee Purple, so that's a dozen in 2 days. The home garden plot is the recipient of 6 years of composting. Bee balm was 6 feet high. A tomato plant, staked vertically, was 6 feet tall before it toppled over from the weight of tomatoes, and is no weighing down on the former tall bee balm. If it had fallen over, it would be 7 feet tall. Two more tomato plants have joined the 6 foot club. We use the triangular, foldable green trellis available at home supply stores. Consider them a great investment. They fold up and store well; in addition, cantaloupe plants love twirling and vining around the inside of the triangular cages.

Tomatoes!

Harvested first ones today from plot #1! Thought they would never turn red. Watered because the heat of the day is wilting the plants. Need to mulch tomorrow.

Harvested First Cucumber

last Thursday, 14Jun2012. Sliced it up for a sandwich, was perfect. Saw yellow jackets buzzing around, a good pollinator. Plan to harvest first Japanese eggplant today. Plot number #1.

Afternoon Update

Beginning of trip: sunny and humid. End of trip: sun gone, cloudy, cooler, and far less humid, in two hours. Visited Plot #1 as a EOD treat, before Hurricane Beryl arrives. Tied up and suckered tomatoes. Cucumber vine has grown an inch since yesterday. Neighbor has harvested the gigantic zucchini. Plot #2 has the largest nasturtium blossom I've ever seen. Plot neighbor has a regular cuke that has doubled in length since yesterday. Great results. It had rained slightly, so no watering. Forgot to mention the wild blackberry bushes on the north side. Harvested a plump one yesterday and another one today. Tart. Birds haven't seemed to bother yet.

Memorial Day Weekend

Plot #1: neighbor plot contains a green zucchini that grew from a yellow blossom to a 12+ giant in 5 days, then filled out on the 6th day. Hurrah for raised bed gardening. May be woody texture by now.  Our Plot #1 get intermittent sunlight only but a good experiment. Home: harvested first Early Girl Saturday, delicious, then second Sunday after seeing squirrels eyeing as a rolling round plaything. Bee Balm, planted where we've dug in compost for past years, is now almost 6 feet tall. The four yellow jackets swarm; one is so fat it bends the blossoms over. They love it; everthing else pollinates. AWOL from community garden in center of town!

Trellis installed

Double-square foot garden plot #3 now complete with trellis and netting.

30Apr2012 Blaze rose bloomed and Sunday Farm Tour

First bloom in previous years was around 05April2012, but weather warmer.

Sunday Farm Tour locations:
Whitted Bowers Farm, posted earlier.
Ever Laughter Farm. We helped transplant tomatoes, marigolds, and nasturtiums.
Breeze Farm. Arrived right at 5 pm close time. Beautiful tree with rose pink blossom, yellow center. Older, native rose bush growing in the parking circle, near the rusted mail box.

17th Annual Carolina Farm Stewards Tour

Yesterday on an unseasonably chilly April day we had 135 people visit Walters Unlimited Carls-Beth Farm.

Brochure:

http://www.carolinafarmstewards.org/docs/PiedmontFarmTourMap_2012.pdf

Walters Unlimited:
http://www.waltersunlimited.com

Today, first visit Whitted Bowers Farm:
http://www.whittedbowersfarm.com/Site/Welcome.html

Carolina Farm Tour

Today I'm greeter at one of the following; tomorrow I'm a visitor: enjoy
http://www.carolinafarmstewards.org/docs/PiedmontFarmTourMap_2012.pdf

In addition, it's cool weather here. At Plot #3, the marigold I deadheaded Wednesday has now been stripped of its leaves. More radishes have sprouted.

Chef Kabui

Last Saturday Chef Kabui toured garden plot #3 with us then held an organic cooking demo inside. He prepared millet and organic vegetables. If you look at the pictures, you understand the result tasted great beyond anyone's expectations of diced veggies and a digital hotplate.

http://organicsandsound.com/

Earth Day Update

Garden Plot #3. Saturday showed the sun moves higher in the sky and spotlights the two pepper plants!. Cukes holding their own; trellis coming soon. Deadheaded the marigolds. Walked to the other side of the frame and noticed the radish seeds sprouted! Cold spell but after the ground warms up again, will mulch with wheat straw.

Garden Plot #2. Sunday rain limited activity to harvesting lettuce. Great day for cool weather plants.

Garden Plot #3

Experimenting: against the moon sign, waning moon, I planted a cayenne pepper and an orange bell pepper on Sunday. I want to see if a raised bed garden is immune from moon phase.

Frost

Garden plot #3 missed the dread five letter April word. The visit Wednesday afternoon found maybe four  out of the dozen plots already under a blanket of thin plastic. A neighbor was there, wrestling her plastic from the breeze. She accepted the offer of duct tape. Three of us observed our fellow plots covered with plastic and weighted with the gravel that makes the garden path to hold the covers in place against the wind.

In Kentucky, spring cold snaps are known as dogwood winter and blackberry winter. No native North Carolinian has heard those terms.

Got Mulch?

Home garden received a Saturday cover of wheat straw for the dill, tomatoes, sage, purple basil, lavendar and Blaze rose. Midtown garden: didn't attend to harvet lettuce. Still have lettuce from last weekend, and it's still fresh. Garden plot #3 got onion sets; it's in the shade for now, but the sun will move higher in the sky; next step: mulch.

Waxing Moon 93% After Full Moon

If you want to plant above ground plants or transplants, hurry. I plant by moon signs: the secret's out. I've tried going against the moon sign with disastrous results. The garden bedspread needs to be tucked in around 2012 efforts. Make certain your mulch contains no seed heads. I cannot shop tonight but will soon line the back seat or trunk with a cotton sheet. When you remove the mulch from your vehicle, the stray bits are easy to shake off from the cotton.

Garden Plot #1 Pocket Garden

In the middle of the town I live in. Decided to check hail storm damage. Found a work clipboard turned upside down on the ground. Retrieved it and put it under the shed roof. Looked for the work clipboard but didn't find it. Plentiful lettuce, several varieties. Clipped several leaves from the bottom. Seed heads on the brussels sprouts, so removed them. Kale or collards have gone to seed but didn't touch them. Next work day: Tuesday morning. However, minimal hail damage.

Garden Plot #1 and #2

#1-didn't attend last Sunday to snip lettuce, plan to attend today. #2 Yesterday rain during the day but managed to plant dwarf marigold, white petunias, two dill transplants, one tomato. Sowed radish and lettuce. Traded a fellow plot neighbor white petunias for a bush tomato.

At midnight last night, a hail storm struck and I've never heard such noise, sounded like the end of the world. Violent hail for about 15-20 minutes. Of course I thought of the new plants. This morning, #2 plot had not received hail at all. Home plot did receive hail, but minimal damage.

Plot Acquired

No, not a novel, a garden! Second plot acquired and also rain, rain, all weekend. However, soil and compost are ready and will go in tonight, 5:30 pm EDT. The strategy will be square foot gardening. Long range plan is to garden with row covers over winter. Observing microclimates may be included.

Second garden plot

In the work! will update Sunday. The first garden is in mid-town, limited access, raised beds, and the only plants for now are those that grow above the ground. The second garden plot-may be belowground.

Farm Class

Ended with the decision that commuting 80 miles round trip during 2012 summer is not realistic, so farewell, farmer's path, for now. May be my family is one of the few who is somewhat indifferent to rising gasoline prices. We did sign up for a small garden plot in town. We're waiting to hear about a second opportunity.