"It's Like A Heat Wave!"
                                                                         Martha & The Vandellas

Hello again!  Well, after a calm and mild spring, summer arrived last week ushering in an East Coast "heat wave". Daily temperatures have been in the high 80's and low 90's which is a significant change from just a few weeks ago.  The good news is that the humidity has remained relatively low making it a bit more bearable. That may not seem so bad to readers in the American southwest where temperatures are scorching hot. But, of course, the high temperatures here have put a good deal of stress on the garden as mid-day heat quickly dries out the soil.  Ideally, then, we put out the soaker hoses and sprinklers in the morning hours before the sun begins to reach it's peak. (The soaker hoses are particulary useful with the zucchini plants whose  large leaves tend to shed water away from the plant center.)  This allows the plants to soak up much of the water before the sun has a chance to cook it off. If morning watering isn't possible, a good alternative is late afternoon/early evening before the sun sets. Nightime watering is not recommended due to the possibility of fostering fungi and other problems.

  Mini Hollyhocks

 

All of our vegetables and flowers are doing well. We have been very fortunate not to have suffered any meaningful invasions of aphids, stink bugs, beetles or the like. We harvested our first cucumbers, zucchinis, raspberries, tomatoes, and green beans in the past week. The harvest of veggies will last much of the summer for the tomatoes, zukes and cukes, but not the raspberries which will soon be done for the year and green beans which will do well with a new planting when this batch is spent.

                                                         Cucumbers!

The cucumbers and butternut are coming along nicely, as is the corn.  We can probably pick corn end of July, but the butternut, a "winter" vegetable will not be ready until Fall.

                                                     A baby Spaghetti Squash!

I remember, from my long ago childhood, that Maryland folks used an expression to describe the progress that the corn crop was making. They often referred to corn being "knee high by the Fourth of July". Time and agricultural advances have made that reference a bit outdated. Our corn is a bit over four feet tall today (June 26). Corn on the cob by the end of July?

                                            A few feet of our corn "crop"

And, in case you're interested, our strawberry harvest yielded 13 pounds of berries while the sugar snap peas came to 4 pounds. 

Thanks for stopping by. I hope to see you again next week!

Chuck

 

                          Mother Nature's Got The Watering Can Out Again!

We've had a pretty wet week here in Lancaster, PA.  There have been off-and-on showers regularly with some sun in between. Yesterday (June 18) was the wildest, however. The rain came in torrents driven by high winds for well over an hour in the afternoon.  While we didn't suffer any garden or home damage, there were trees down in the neighborhood, some on top of cars, as well as some street flooding. But, we're not complaining!  We're saving money on our water bill and for that we're grateful.
                                 

Japanese Beetle

                                
Our roses are in full bloom, which can only mean that Japanese Beetles will arrive soon. In addition to roses, Japanese Beetles will also feast on the leaves of many garden plants. There are several things we do to try to thwart these pests.  We keep the bird feeders filled to attract as many birds as possible. After sampling the entree of seed, birds will often make beetles their dessert. We thanks the birds for their help!   You can try capturing as many as possible by hand and dump them into bucket of water containing dish detergent.  Or, you can also use a spray bottle of water, a mild dish detergent, and a nice dose of hot liquid (or dry, well ground) red pepper. Caution: wear rubber gloves if you do this and DON'T rub your eyes or skin until you remove the gloves! I'm sure there are other home beetle remedies, but these are the ones I've used. Finally, you can also purchase organic neem oil at local garden centers and other stores to control beetles.

                             Japanese Beetles Love These and Your Veggies!

One final caution on Japanese Beetles: Do not purchase commercial beetle lures/traps to control this problem in your home garden. The lures attract not only the current beetles you may have, but also will attract many more beetles from all of the properties around yours. And they do not all just rush into your traps. They stop for plenty of feeding before the may happen to be attracted directly to the trap.

Our garden is coming along well. The strawberries are just about finished and the peas are done. The green beans are in bloom with some small beans beginning to appear. A few stalks of our corn show in the picture, as well.

                                       Part of Rows of Green Beans & Corn

The cucumbers are full of blooms and the first few are ready to be picked.

                                           The First Cucumbers Are Ready!

And of course the zucchinis have grown immensely and we've picked a few of those in the past several days. As you can see, they are outgrowing the boxes already!

And, finally, I'd like to say "Hello!" to two of our new readers. Jaime is a Lancaster County friend just starting out in gardening and he has introduced his friend Lidiya to our blog. Lidiya is a resident of Bulgaria!  Lidiya's family has been gardening in their home town for many years. Welcome Jaime and Lidiya!

Thanks for stopping by. I hope to see you again next week.

Comments?  Contact me at chuckscards42@hotmail.com

                                              


                              Spring Has Ended But We Welcome Summer!

The spring season has ended with our harvest of sugar snap peas and, believe it or not, rose petals. That's right, rose petals!  We pretty much harvest anything we grow in our yard if it can be used. Last Wednesday, the roses had fully bloomed and had begun to fade. Rain was in the forecast for Thursday so we brought them inside. In a short time, we had separated the petals, which were just about to fall of, and laid them out on cookie sheets. We then put them into the oven at 250 degrees for about ten minutes. After they cooled, Lois applied a "fixer" from the craft store and has turned them into a scented potpourri. (Hey, I just grow stuff. She's the one who knows what to do with it all!)

                                                    Dried Rose Petals

The sugar snap peas were a wonderful success. We've been having them with meals and the overflow has been vacuum sealed and frozen for future use.  We've also begun freezing the overflow of strawberries. The last of them will be picked in the next week or so.  We've also picked some of the cherries, the first small zucchinis, and even an early cucumber!

                                                       Garden Goodies!

Our crops in containers are continuing to do well. The container shown below has calendula flowers and two herbs - basil and tarragon. Using containers really helps us maximize the vegetable garden area in our confined urban "backyard". Placing them in the main garden would condemn them to being swallowed up by large spreading plants like butternut squash and zucchini.

                                              Tarragon, Calendula, and Basil

Of course, with the coming of summer warmth, it's time to be vigilant, too. The first of the garden pests have made their debut. The slippery, slimy guys who slither out from under rocks, boards or any other ground level hiding places after dark are the slugs. In just an evening, a few of these creatures can decimate your young, tender plants. Organic controls, pellets with a high iron content, can be purchased at garden centers. Unfortunately for the slugs they have a big appetite for a thing that will kill them.

You may also want to try your own slug control utilizing small cans such as empty tuna or cat food containers and a six pack of the cheapest beer you can find. Simply fill the tins with beer and press it lightly into the soil of areas experiencing slug damage. The slugs will be attracted to the beer and the they will drink themselves to death. A caution: a container with dead slugs in it is not a pretty sight! I'll spare you by not posting a picture of that consequence!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope to see you here again next week.

 Comments?  email me at chuckscards42@hotmail.com

                                          Cold Snaps and Hot Flashes

It's been a bit of a strange spring. We had a cold snap with temperatures in the 30's when we covered the plants for several nights in late April and then a hot spell with temperatures in the low 90's in early June. That required extra watering. The weather in March and April appears to have had an effect on our perennials. In 2012, we picked our first asparagus on March 23. In 2013, our first picking came on April 11. The strawberries seem to have been affected as well. In 2012, first strawberries were picked on May 18. In 2013, the first strawberries were picked on May 29.  The cold in mid to late April also kept us from planting seed for green beans and other plants. Mother Nature has a great sense of humor and always keeps things interesting!

Everything seems to be doing well at this point. We've been picking approximately a pound of strawberries daily with June 1 being a banner day with two pounds picked.

Delicious!

 

 The sugar snap peas are just maturing. First small picking on June 3 came to just 3 ounces. As you might guess, it takes a LOT of sugar snaps to make a pound.

 

                                      Sugar snap peas - first 3 ounce picking

 

The green beans, various squash and the butternut, and the many more veggies are looking strong. Cherries are beginning to ripen and the raspberries and blackberries will be ready by the end of the month.

                                The doorway to our garden is 8 feet to the left

 

We also finished winter cleanup in the "courtyard", the area where we hang out on warm evenings.  As you can see by the structure, the area was once a two car garage that we mentioned in an earlier post. The amazing thing about this area, and our neighborhood in general, is the very peaceful quiet we enjoy in this spot. You would never know that we live in a city of 56,000 people. The only sound heard here in the evening is that of the birds singing one last song before heading back to their nests.

 

                                          Portion of the front of "courtyard"

 

And, yes MJWN, I have an ivy wall too! It's just not as creative as yours. But it's a good way to avoid 80 square feet of painting every few years!

 

Thanks for stopping by! I hope to see you again next week.

 

Comments?  Go to chuckscards42@hotmail.com

 

 

                              Hoping Everyone Had A Great Holiday Weekend!

Everything seems to be in bloom since I last posted an entry.  The peonies, and other flowers, are attracting some true (?) honeybees. I seem to be seeing a few more this spring than I have for the past several years. Perhaps some hives have become big enough to split. That would be a big step in their comeback here in central PA. Or maybe I'm being fooled by some mason bee/honeybee look-alikes.

                    Peonies attract pollinators. Too much sun in the pic. Oh, well...

 Because we have a very limited garden space in our urban backyard, we try to get the most out of the containers we use. The picture below shows a cherry tomato in a 6 gallon container on the sidewalk a few feet from our kitchen. Looks like strawberries on the left and tarragon on the right. We pretty much have to optimize all the sunny spaces we have!
                                      

                    
With the exception of the rainy days we've had, we spend some time in the garden every day, often several hours.  One of the more tedious chores to be done is often referred to as "deadheading". It is also one of the first chores I was taught by my garden  mentors, Margaret and Dorothy.  To keep pollinators coming to our garden, we need to keep the flowering plants productive.  Most flowering plants produce buds which mature and become flowers. After a time they drop their petals. If left alone, the plant will then produce a pod which contains seeds. This is the primary job of the flower...producing seeds so more flowers will produce more seeds. But the process also wears the plant out to the point of early death. To keep your flowers blooming, pinch off each wilting blossom at a point just below the first leaves. This forces the plant to rush into producing even more flowers which will give your garden a lush flower filled look! Just a few days ago we deadheaded 134 older, wilting blossoms - which gives you an idea of how many flowering plants we have attracting mason bees and butterflies into our yard.

                  We'll be deadheading the purple sage in another week or so!

And, finally, the last of our spring crops, the sugar snap peas, are in blossom. we have about twenty-five feet of sugar peas! Just a few more weeks before we really begin getting garden vegetables on a regular basis. The green beans will follow along with all the other summer crops.

                                                A few feet of sugar snaps!

                                                   And first strawberries!

Thanks for stopping by. I hope to see you again next week.

Comments or questions?  email me at http://chucksgardenspot.blogspot.com

 

 Hello again,everyone!  Just an extra post in case you wanted to know how I came to love gardening.  Published by GreenPrints "The Weeders' Digest", Summer 2009....it's a quick, short read.  I would normally have posted this story by directing you to the GreenPrints site, but they now require payment to buy the issue. I will, though, recommend GreenPrints to gardeners/readers. It's inexpensive, 4 issues a year, and just a pleasure to read.

 

 

 

Margaret & Dorothy - Thanks for all the joy you have given me over these many years !

 

Charles

 

 

May 19, 2013

                           Rain, Rain Go Away...At Least For Just A While!

The past few weeks have reminded me of a Ray Bradbury short story titled "All Summer in a Day". A young girl moves to a new home planet where the sun comes out only one day for an hour every seven years. It rains the rest of the time. When the day arrives for the sun to shine, the "bad" local girls, who don't like the new girl, lock her in a closet so she can't see the sun. I feel like I've been in that closet for weeks now!  And it appears our dreary, drippy days will continue in the near future....I hope not for seven years!

And speaking of long waits, 17 year locusts (cicadas) may pay us a visit as the weather warms up in the next month or so. They have red bodies and eyes, unlike the regular black and green cicadas we see every summer. Believe it or not, there are some scientists out there who would like to know when they visit and munch on the trees and the gardens in your area. If you are interested in helping, report sightings to http://project.wnyc.org/cicadas

                                                                 Cute!                             
                       
   While I usually keep growing vegetables the subject here, it's also very important to grow a mixture of flowers in your garden area. The flowers, especially showy ones like zinnias, petunias and sunflowers, attract mason bees, and maybe even some surviving honey bees, to your plot. Their presence will greatly enhance the pollination of the not terribly showy vegetable plants you've started.

                                                        Wall Flowers

The blackberries are in full flower. The raspberries are just starting to get their smaller white buds. Although the blackberries flowered before the raspberries, the raspberries will have ripe fruit before the much larger blackberry fruit.

                                                            Blackberry

Like many gardeners, I'm sure, I go out to our garden late in the evening just to take one last look before heading off to bed for the night. Just last week, I went out at about 11:00 p.m.. The night was cloudy and our solar lights hadn't been charged due to the sheer lack of sunshine during the day. It was calm and quiet. After just a few moments, I heard a soft padding sound...a light clicking behind me. I froze! All I could think was that I was being visited by an opossum, or even worse, a skunk. And I really didn't want to take a chance on the skunk possibility. Click, click, click. I was as immobile as a stone statue.  Click, click, then plop, plop. They came closer. Then PLOP on my head.  Raindrops! What a relief that was! I'm glad no one was with me because I really felt silly!

Hope to see you again soon. Have a great garden week!

Comments or questions? Contact me at chuckscards42@hotmail.com