Not long ago, my better half decided that we needed a drying rack when she was inspired by Magnolia Holler’s Herb Drying Rack. It would come in handy for drying our garlic and our winter bulblets. Being frugal (read: cheap) we settled on a rather inexpensive design.
We started with an adjustable window screen.
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| Photo Credit Google |
We had planted 2 raspberry vines last year, but they never grew and died. They were a part of the shipment that got lost, came late, and were planted late. So back in February on a trip to Tractor Supply we bought 4 more bare root raspberry canes (2 Heritage Everbearing and 2 Latham).
We planted the raspberries just a few days later and said a little prayer.
For what seemed like the longest time there was again no sign of life. Then 2 months after planting we finally saw some green life to them.
Much of our garden has turned into a jungle. Between all of our excessive rain and just getting busy with harvesting and the rest of life the weeds have taken over! Many plants are coming to an end or dwindling down now. Our second planting of green beans, black eye peas, and crowder peas are doing well. But what has me anxiously waiting the most is our watermelon and pumpkin.
Last year we only planted 4 mini pumpkins. It was a little late in the season and we knew we would not have time for large pumpkins.Those started growing wonderfully, but over night (literally) they were destroyed by stink bugs! I was disappointed. And we did not even plant any watermelon. I’m not a big fan of watermelon. I’m surprised I’ve not been kicked out of the south! But the rest of our family likes it. So since we had neither last year we are anxious about this year’s crop.
Last year was our first time having a garden. We just bought some random seeds from random places and started planting. Since that time we have done a lot of researching, planning, discovering, and failing. I’m sure we have much more of all of that to come. We decided that next time we wanted to start right and that meant (among a million other things) using heirloom seeds.
First, we shopped around a bit for some reasonably priced heirloom seeds and bought most of what we needed. We also had a few random seeds left over from last year that were not heirloom that we were going to use up and get rid of. We had some seeds from Jon’s Mom from her garden. And lastly we harvested some of our crowder peas to attempt our hand at keeping and using our own seeds. We dried some of the crowder peas successfully. We had the second attempt mold. Because of the mold, the third time we thought we would not air dry them but try drying them in the oven on low like we read online. That worked for some and well I burnt some because I forgot about them and didn’t set a timer.
Here we are only on our second garden and had seeds in store bought packets, seeds in sandwich baggies, seeds in small mailing envelopes, and seeds in boxes from orders online. I could already see we needed to come up with a seed storage method.
There is nothing more disheartening than having your berries be almost ripe one day, and completely wiped out by birds the very next day. It is amazing how fast birds can pick an entire berry bush clean. The simple solution is to net your berry bushes to keep the birds from getting to your precious berries.
We recently purchased Bird Block Netting netting for our berry bushes and fruit trees. There are many types and brands of netting available, and I am not saying the other brands will not work as well. This is just the brand we purchased due to the price and the size (we are rather cheap).
In November we planted winter onions for the first time. Winter Onions are also referred to as “Egyptian Walking Onions”, “Egyptian Tree Onions”, “Tree Onions”, “Walking Onions”, “Top Onions”, and “Perennial Onions”.
The blue-green shoots/stalks/leaves are round and hollow and typically grow approximately 3 feet tall. As the plant matures a cluster of bulblets will begin to grow at the top of the stalk encapsulated in a protective papery casing referred to as a tunic.
Continue reading “Winter Onions – 6 Month Update”
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Contender Green Beans, Carrots, Tomato Blooms, Top-Pick Crowder Peas, Leaf Lettuce, Potatoes Plant, and Oregano
Hostas is a perennial plant with broad oval or lobed leaves that grows from rhizomes (root mass or cluster). They grow well in partial and full shade. The are very hardy and easy to grow. I struggled for years fighting crabgrass in my flower bed bordering the house in the front yard. I tried black plastic, landscaping fabric, various plants, and lots of weeding! Initially, I only had 2 hosta plants. Over the years I learned that hostas was very hardy and would actually beat the weeds. So, I started planting more hosta in this troublesome area and less of other plants. Most of them I received from my Mama or aunt when they divided theirs, but I did buy a very few small plants of different varieties.
Now, I have 33 hostas plants of various varieties. They are beautiful and I love them. However, my L-shaped flower bed that wraps around the corner of the house is over flowing in spots and starting to look like a jungle.
Continue reading “How to Divide Hostas”
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Then we realized there was another rabbit on the outside of the fence. They were trying to figure out how to get to each other.
We then saw a third rabbit come in from the left side of the yard. It was just too fast to get a picture of it. It was as if it was trying to lead the one trapped inside our yard to the escape route in our picket fence. Two sides of our fence are chain link and two sides are a white wooden picket fence. Sarah was amazed that the rabbits were able to get in the back yard through the fence. She admitted she now understood the need for a garden fence. Finally, the trapped rabbit found its way out and our entertaining visitors were gone. What kind of protection do you have around your garden?
