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.