Labor Day

Who takes Labor Day off?  There's work to be done.

Garlic Chives

The garlic chives are in bloom.  Really they are.  Rather than chop the heads off the flowers, I'm letting them go to seed.  This will give me plenty of chives through the winter for baked potatoes and such.  Letting the chives go to seed attracts loads of pollinators.

Butterflies and honey bees love this stuff.  I can only imagine what the honey must taste like.  I wouldn't mind a garlic chive honey to baste over a barbecued ham.  BBQ ham?  Baked potatoes?  I must be hungry.  Hope I can remember how to cook.

Kitchen Update:

Cody's backside poses for the photo while his frontside continues to work.

The soapstone is in and the travertine floor is being grouted today.  Loads left to do:  mahogany butcher block counter top, electric plates, glass and lights for the hutch, cabinet hardware, trim molding,  appliances, plumbing, and counter stools.  But we're moving in the right direction.  I didn't think it would ever be possible but Farmer MacGregor is tired of painting. 

Garden Update

My screwed up back doesn't allow me to work in the garden as I would like.  I can't even get down and take photos.  I simply get down as low as I can, point the lens in the general direction, then snap a photo.  Most times it works.  If it doesn't, I simply delete.  Here's a sample of what's going on in the garden.

Garlic Chives are going to seed.

The vegetable garden is still producing.  In fact, the fall/winter vegetables have already germinated.  Seeds of broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower were sown on Labor Day, September 3, with the majority of germination occurring just 3 days later on September 6.

Waltham 29 Broccoli


Peppers of all varieties are improving with the cooler weather.  Some might not consider 95° cooler; but it is and there are fewer hours of the day dedicated to baking at those temperatures.

Bell Pepper

A couple of Better Boy Tomatoes were planted earlier this summer with the thought of having fresh, large tomatoes into the fall.  Looks like that plan is working out.

Better Boy Tomato

Pumpkins continue to produce well.  Daily squash bugs hunts continue as well.  The pumpkins rest on dried grape leaves in an attempt to avoid rotting portions on the squash.  So far, so good.

Jarrahdale Pumpkin

 





Fruit trees that have fruit are Granny Smith Apple, Robertson Orange, Rio Red Grapefruit, and Variegated Pink Lemon.  All the fruit trees are due for a haircut/pruning and a feeding.  I would like to wait for the weather to cool down further; but it doesn't look like that will happen anytime soon.

Granny Smith Apple

The Red Flame Grapes set a second crop of berries this summer.  The first issue was a bust.  All the berries split and were moldy.  These bunches aren't as tight and look pretty good.  The berries a larger too.  Don't know if they will be very sweet.

Red Flame Grapes

Some flowers in the veggie patch are appreciating the change in weather too.  All kinds of pollinators are attracted to the garden with the help of all kinds of flowering plants.

Calibrachoa Hybrid - Superbells Coralberry Punch

Petunias without bud worms!

There's tons that needs to be done before we're officially out of Swamp Pants Season:

• Turn the old tomato bed.
• Plant peas
• Plant sweet peas
• Clean up the overflowing boysenberry canes.
• Prune / feed roses.
• Clean out remaining tomato (Gold Currant) bed.
• Plant lettuce
• Plant onions
• Prune / feed all fruit trees.

Sometimes Junk Just Works Out

I did not trim the blooms off the chives this week.  On Wednesday the thermometer reached 111; and the rest of the week was similar.  Pee Youie!  I stayed inside for most of the week.  This weekend, the weather is perfect.  PERFECT!  The butterflies and bees are flocking to the chives.  They are welcome.  I don’t know what kind are partying in the chives but here they are:

     There was a peculiar cloud formation this afternoon that was giving my camera fits.  It was very, very difficult to focus on this because it was all smudgy.  It looks like something bigger is forming in the middle.  What kind of formation is this?  Does this type of formation accompany perfect weather?

 

DBE gals:  You can click on the photos to view an enlarged image in a separate window.  Let me know if you need help.

Garden Update

Lavender is clipped on a regular basis then dried for use in potpourris.  I did notice that lavender buds are being used to toss at weddings in place of rice or birdseed.  I like that choice.

Dove chickies have hatched up in the grape arbor.  Don’t they know that dove season starts on September 1?  Perhaps they’ll simply hang out in the garden for a while.

The tomatoes just will not stop producing.  My freezers are stuffed and I have loads of salsa.  There are little yellow blossoms on most of the plants.  In the background, the apricot is screaming for an espalier pruning.  This will probably be the sixth trim this summer.

Summer sweetness plumps up the peaches as they continue to ripen.  I enjoyed a peach this morning and thought it was great.  Farmer MacGregor didn’t think it was sweet enough yet so I won’t harvest just yet.

The chives are blooming and need to be snipped.  Most all the herbs in the garden are growing well – chives, parsley, basil, thyme,  and rosemary.  The summer savory I planted with the beans never germinated.  I planted twice.  It must have been a dud package of seeds.

I’m not sure how to best preserve the peppers since the favorite way to use them is in salsa or stuff them with cream cheese, wrap them in bacon and bake them.

Pumpkin looks forward with anticipation for the upcoming dove season.

Licorice continues to supervise all activity in the garden between naps.  Looks like she’s ready to take a dive.

Beans Beans the Magical Fruit

The Borlotto Solista beans planted on 05/18/10 germinated today.  The Summer Savory seeds have been ordered.  The savory will be planted along side the beans as companions.  According to Carrots Love Tomatoes,

in Germany savory is called the bean herb because it’s good to grow with beans and also to cook with them.  It goes with onions as well, improving growth and flavor.

Farmer MacGregor has plans to build a bean support for what should be very colorful beans.  I’ll feature more of his handy work soon. Also in garden news – The Black Hungarian Peppers have bloomed.  There are 5 plants sharing a bed with Serrano Peppers and Al Kuffa Tomatoes.  The garlic will make way for more Serranos. From left to right:  Al Kuffa tomatoes, garlic, Serrano peppers, Black Hungarian peppers. 

The beans are planted in the holes of the cinder block seen in the foreground.   Planted in the other holes are chives, thyme, marigolds, and lobelia.  There’s also lavender but you can’t see it in the photo above.

72 Seedlings?!

Insanity struck me yesterday.  I started 72 seedlings of mostly heirloom tomatoes and peppers.  All the seeds are mail ordered through Baker Creek except for the Serranos I picked up at Floyd’s (Where else?).  I’ve grown tomatoes from seed before with great heartbreak.  I’ve plucked up enough courage to give it another go.  Here’s the list:

Tomatoes (all heirloom):

 Carbon (purple)– Winner of the 2005 “Heirloom Garden Show” best-tasting tomato award. Henderson’s Pink Ponderosa – Huge size, some over 2 lbs.; a meaty pin-red beefsteak introduced by Peter Henderson & Co. in 1891.  Mule Team (red) – Medium sized plants produce perfect 8 0z. red globes that have very little cracking, making this a good choice for market growers.  The fruit have a sweet but acid flavor; a good all-around standard red variety.  Good resistance to heat and disease. Arkansas Traveler (pink) - A medium sized pink tomato that is smooth and a beautiful rose color.  Tolerant to heat and humidity, crack and disease resistant.  Good flavor, an excellent hillbilly favorite.Al Kuffa (red) – Early tomato produces 3-4 oz fruit on compact, dwarf vines that yield till frost.  Mild tasting from Iraq.

Peppers:

Black Hungarian – Heirloom, unique, black colored fruit that are the shape of jalapeños.  Mildly hot with delicious flavor.  Tall plants with purple flowers.  Rare & colorful.

Serrano – Hot peppers grown successfully in 2009.  Lake Valley seed purchased at Floyd’s.

I don’t have room for all of the plants IF the seeds successfully sprout.  I’ll be giving away healthy seedlings to relatives and neighbors.  Chives seeds will be sewn among the tomatoes when they are planted out in the garden to prevent pests and harvest as needed.  Nasturtiums will be planted at the base of the fruit trees to repel borers. These are some ides I want to try from a book I purchased at Baker Creek along with my seeds – Carrots Love Tomatoes.

In case anyone reading  this doesn’t know, Floyd’s is a local hardware store.  It’s great.  You can buy gardening stuff (seeds and seed starting kits), plumbing junk, canning supplies, crickets, and ammunition.  They have everything.  I wish they would consider bridal registries.  Very practical.

Note:  Pictures of the vegetables were lifted from the Baker Creek website.  Their service was great and quick; so go there and order something OR move next door and reap the benefits.