August 19, 2009 A LITTLE BACKGROUND I've been gardening for more than 40 years. I find it an amazing, even therapeutic, pastime. I am convinced that many of our problems would be solved if more people would garden. To grow a garden and eat the vegetables from it will go a long way toward solving the problems of obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol and, after putting in several hours of good, honest labor, insomnia! My father had a back-yard garden when I was a child. He used to tell about the first vacation we took -- to the Smokey Mountains. For poor folks like us, this was a BIG deal. The first thing I did upon returning hone was to run to the garden to see how much the plants had grown! A DESCRIPTION OF MY GARDEN Here's a description of my present garden: After I retired from the Miss. Forestry Comm. I bought a 2-1/2 acre lot in the town of Philadelphia, MS. It is a beautiful, secluded spot. It is part of an old dairy farm. It is just across the fence from the walking trail in the city park, yet my fence row is so grown up, one cannot easily see it from the park. To enter the old pasture where my lot is located, one must drive through for about 1/8 of a mile on a dim dirt road through a pine forest, with limbs completely overhanging the road. my lot is wedge shaped, narrow on the road frontage and wide on the back. It is very steep -- about a 20-30 food drop in elevation from the road to the back corner of the lot. According to the soil survey, it is not suitable for cultivation. It is best suited for woodland or pasture. After my first attempt to garden here, I was about able to agree with them! There are several broad, flat terraces running across the property, and it was on one of these that I established my garden. I built a 9' X 14" storage shed, with double doors on one end to facilitate parking my tiller, wheelbarrow, etc. My original garden plot was about 60' x 30.' I surrounded it with a net wire fence, not to keep varmints, but as a support for vines. I planted muscadines on one side and scuppernongs on the other (In cased you don't know, these are native think-skinned Mississippi grapes. On one end, just back from the fence, I planted thornless blackberries, and morning glory vines on the fence. On the (gate) end, I planted two kiwi vines -- a male and female. on one side of the gate and rose bushes on the other side. My male kiwi vine died, and I must replace it next spring. (BED 1) I established raised beds on either side of the front door of my shed and on the west side. I planted these with various herbs. Since then, I put in another plot about that same size (BED 2) After than, another plot about half that size. I put an electric fence around it, so I can grow broccoli, cabbage and other things that deer love. (BED 3) Last fall, I broke up about 2,000 sq ft. for a flower garden and planted it in rye grass. Rye grass is growing well (BED 4). I have community water at my lot, with a faucet at the orchard and another by the garden shed. The first year after I planted my trees was a drought year, and I had to haul water from my hours (about two miles) to keep them alive. I decided I MUST have water at the lot! I established a small orchard (about 20 trees -- everything from apples to pomegranates -- about 100 yards from the garden. Lines Composed in My Garden one Dewey Morning While Standing Amid the Purple Cannot the God Who created purple Ironweed, eggplants and stringbeans hear us when we pray? Cannot the God Who created green trees, stalks and peas love us above other created things? Cannot the God Who created storms and lightning bolts and walks amid the waves discipline us when we stray? Cannot the God Who created all and fills the void with power and holds the orbs in sway save us by his grace? . Why I am writing this blog This is my fourth year to have this garden. It was established on worn-out pasture land that had been limed or fertilized for years. The first year was a flop. Then I rebuilt the soil by plowing in leaves and chicken fertilizer and lime. I had a pretty decent fall garden. I saw a tremendous improvement next spring. The summer was hot and dry, so I irrigated using lawn sprinklers connected to a timer. That spring, summer and fall, I made all the vegetables I wanted. My fruit and grapes did not produce. 2011 (sixth year of garden) March 2 Planted part of early garden last week -- onions, carrots beets turnips mustard -- curly and flat leaf, kale, collards potatoes and lettuce. Mustard and turnips coming up well, some kale and collards up. A few onions up, no carrots or beets or potatoes. A few lettuce plants up. Rain predicted in a couple of days. Want to plant another row of greens before rain so I can stagger the harvest. Planted six more thornless blackberries and four more blueberries. Fruit trees blooming. Sprayed Sunday afternoon. Rather discouraged by fruit trees, just not growing as well as I think they should. Peach trees in bloom. One tree blooming well. Pear tree just making blooms on one branch. Small apple tree in full bloom, another is just now blooming -- looks like if might have a lot of blooms, others have yet to bud. My neighbor (Mrs. Hodges) gave me four peach seedlings someone gave her -- in full leaf. I want to plant them. She does not know what kind. I hope they are "Indian" peaches. They are hardy, and make good spiced peaches. Got all of garden tilled. Plan to plant broccoli in #3 patch, but will put in electric fence first to keep the deer out. Got to get busy -- getting late. Broke up 2,000 sq ft. last fall for flower bed. Planted it in rye grass. Got good stand and it is beginning to grow well. Will wait until late March/early April to turn under and plant flowers. March 14. Planted about 1/2 of BED 1 with early season stuff -- a wide bed on onions, a row of potatoes, a row of mustard (curly and flat-leaf), a row with several parts --turnips, collards, kale, carrots and collards; and a row of beets. Planted this about 10 days ago. last week, I put in another row of mustard to extend the harvest. Last week, had 5" rain. Have perfect stand of onions; potatoes are beginning to come up; beets coming up; first planting of greens up good; second planting just coming up, but part of bed flooded. Looks like a skippy stand might have to spot replant. Last week, got electric fence up on plot 2. Built five HIGH rows on plot and planted 48 broccoli, six head lettuce, six cabbages, six Brussel's sprouts and planted a row of spinach. In Plot 3, built 3 high rows and planted 20 strawberry plants and a radish bed I filled rows between all beds with pine straw to control erosion. In Plot 1, I built two high rows and mulched with pine straw to control erosion/flooding. Planted garlic in west front bed by shed and in west end of lower raised bet in Plot 1. Planted two peach trees between Plot 1 and Plot 4. Trees given by neighbor. Expenses: Did not keep close tally, but this is approximation: Electric fence $150 Plants/seeds $30 April 3, 2011 Have picked about 3 lbs of asparagus -- beautiful and enough green for wilted salad twice and green salad for the extended family twice. Today I picked enough baby greens for cooking, 1# asparagus and 1/2# salad greens Everything is looking good. I have up: Potatoes, asparagus, carrots, greens (mustard, turnip, kale), beets, lettuce, radishes all in bed #1. Bed #2 broccoli, collards, Brusell's sprouts looking well. Just planted six cauliflower. Replanted row of spinach -- not up yet. Today I planted 10 hydrangea bushes next to park fence. Transplanted three wild honeysuckles to entrance arbor Tulips and daffodils are blooming Red knockout and Lady Banks roses are blooming -- Knockout lots of buds and few flowers. L.B. in full bloom. Newly planted yellow Knockout has a few blooms. Newly planted David Austin has buds. Graham Thomas has one open flower. Monday, April 11 -- Saturday, I prepared flower bed (50x20 ft) and planted four rows -- one mixed annuals for hummingbirds, the rest various varities of Zinnias and sunflowers. I planted one-half of one row in glad bulbs (pink) salvaged from last year's flower bed. Van Zyverdan is having a sale next week. Hope to buy different bulbs for different color glads to plant remaining row and half. Prepared another 15 x 20 ft bed and planted to water melons and cantaloupes. Planted one-half of my corn patch with Merritt sweet corn. will wait until it is well established to plant rest of patch in Silver Queen -- don't want the two varieties blooming at same time and cross pollinating. Blackberries -- even new ones -- beginning to bloom. Apples, pears and plums have some fruit -- been spraying religiously. Might try to cover some with paper bags per "Mother Earth News." Good rain tonight. Good for newly planted stuff. Thinned and hand weeded greens, hoed everything else. Picked 2# greens, mixed lettuce and radishes. Had several salads, and a mess of asparagus about every three days. Got a good rain tonight should get newly planted seeds up in a hurry. Spent $13 on corn seed. Sunday, April 17. Got FLOOD Friday. Don't know how much, but inches. Tornado his Clinton and other areas of state. No damage to garden. Pine straw between rows doing the trick. Everything looking LUSH. Flower seeds coming up. Got a perfect stand of corn. Harvested Kale, mustard/turnips, radishes, asparagus -- Value $5.00 Bought pepper plants -- costs $8.00
April 23 -- An explosion of growth after rain and with warm weather. Bought two bell peppers and four-pack of Better Boy tomatoes. Planted. Cost about $10.
Salad greens growing rapidly. Harvested big bag.
Potatoes blooming.
Planted four more roses -- on sale at Lowes.
Silver Queen corn shows no sign of coming up. Too much rain?
May 9 -- Spot re-planted Silver Queen Corn, Replanted many flowers. Barretts popcorn not coming up. Will probably have to replant.
Dug potatoes. Got 21#, canned 12 Qt. Continuing to harvest lettuce, kale, collards and asparagus. Longest asparagus harvest ever.
First planting of yellow squash (four hills on end of tomato row) up. Planted another full row. Planted four hills of buttercup acorn squash.
Grape vines full of blooms. Scuppernongs, esp. are loaded! Need a wine recipe.
May 25. Harvested Beets and carrots last week. Made well. Enough beets for several messes, enough carrots for one meal for entire family. Only had 6 ft. bed. Got to plant much more beets and carrots next spring.
Have entire garden planted now. Everything in main garden under plastic and trickle irregation. Now have tomatoes, hot bananna pepper (making a few pods) and bell pepper. Have yellow squash -- full row up and running, and two hills of acorn squash up. Replanted two hills that did not come up. Today I planted: Butternut squash (3/40 row), cucumbers (1/4 row), zucchini (full row) and one-half row each of burgundy and cowhorn okra.
Melons up -- cantalopue and watermelons -- at least one plant per hill. Some blooming. Having a hard time getting flowers up. Spot planted for the third time and put sprinkler on them. Maybe that will do the trick. PICKED TWO RIPE BLACKBERRIES TODAY.
Spent $15 on irregation fitting and plastic sheeting.
June 4. Terrible conditions. No rain in three weeks and weather humid and in high 90's to 100. Got a good stand of yellow squash up. Blooming and a few small squash. Everything I planted through the plastic (mentioned above) did not come up. Ripped plastic up and replanted, being sure seeds were right under drip of hose. Out of Zucchini seeds. Planted string beans instead. I pray that we get a break in this weather soon.
July 13, 2011 -- Got behind on blog. Two TCW's, Mother's death, etc. Made big mistake by not getting irregation set up brfore PLT trip and TCW's. Dry weather, and got way behind.
Finally picked blackberries -- probably got abou two gallon. Grapes, both muscadines and scuppernongs loaded. Say a muscadine turning today. Yellow squash did well. Probably put up 20 or so bags. Declining now. Corn a flop. Did not get irregation line to corn. Made a few ears of Silver Queen. Put up six bags. Short row of pole beans and cukes in main garden. Beans blooming. Saw first baby cuke. Planted four short rows of bush beans for Barrett. Good stand up. Delicious corn! Acorn and Butternut running everywhere! Replanted broccoli patch with peas and one row of running beans. Peas up spotty, interplanted. Beans just planted. Put sprinkler on and saw a few newly planted peas coming up. Tomatoes not producing well. Rotting on vine. Need to make bed like Luke. Did not get a good stand of flowers, but they are making large, beautiful blooms. Probably good thing. Sparce stand helped. Roses continue to do well.
Melons are success story! Crows ruined first few, put scare crow out -- worked! Counted 23 watermelons from 3-12 lbs, and 32 cantalopes, baseball size to larger than grapefruit, some begining to turn.
Crows working on pears and apples. Persimmons just beginning to turn. Got to get up another scare crow and might "bag" best fruit.
August 12, 2011 -- More about the melons: The scarecrows only worked for a little while. I covered some with bird netting and some with chicken wire, as far as it would go, then I covered some with cardboard boxes. That worked. I lost count of the number of watermelons harvested, maybe a dozen or so, but all I wanted. They were delicious! Some quite large (20# or more), but some were just "knots", but all were very sweet and good. All the watermelons are gone. I plowed up the ground and planted sweet corn and flowers. The cantaloupes have been very successful, too. The problem is determining when they are ripe. I let many stay too long and they rotted. They are still making. I must have picked 15-20.
Planted pumpkins and gourds where corn was planted in the spring. Have a good stand, they are running and blooming.
Most of the stuff in the "main garden" is about through, except for okra, which is about eight feet tall and still not producing well. Maybe when the weather cools. Only planted a few cucumbers, but they are making well -- All I want for fresh eating, and enough to make a few pickles. Still got PLENTY of pickles left from last year. String beans were a "bust". "Pea patch looking good. Had to replant and transplant, but have a stand. They are blooming and have little peas.
The big news now is grapes! Muscadines are coming in. I have harvested about 35#, which I juced to make wine. I got almost two gallons of juice -- probably will reduce by about 1/3 when I strain the pulp out. I am probably about 1/4 to 1/3 through. Scuppernongs are loaded, even heavier than muscadines. They should be ripe in 2-3 weeks.
Sat. 13- Harvested 27# muscadines and ONE ripe scuppernong. I am probably a little more than 1/2 through with muscadines -- 62# so far! Am getting my supplies together now to make wine.
August 26 -- Got six gallons of wine fermenting. Still getting a few cantaloupes. Cucumbers almost gone. Okra producing well. Hot weather affecting pumpkins. some vines dying.
Picked 5# Muscadines today. This makes 90#. Should have 10# or so left. Picked 9# of Scuppernongs. Expect to get 150 lbs. "hulled" them and juiced pulp. Made "mock" cherry pie with some scuppernong hulls and cherry Koolade. Too tart, but tastes like cherries. Will try again with cherry Jello. Put 7 qts of hulls in freezer and saved about 1 1/2 qts of juice. Might make jelly with it.
