What's Happening In The Garden

How's the weather in your neck of the woods?

Summer has definitely arrived here in the South. 

Don't know about you, but the humidity makes me melt and really takes all of my energy away. 

I thank God for air conditioning.

I am not sure how women made it through all those hot and humid summers before ac. 

I've mentioned before that I never really sweat before moving to Charlotte. 

Seriously...even after exercising.

 Even in Palm Springs when it was 100 degrees. 

 (the desert, by the way, was one of my favorite places to go, but it had to be 90 degrees or it was too cold)

The first summer we were here in Charlotte was the first time I really sweat...
I felt something on the top of my head and

thought something was wrong with me.

Would love to know how all you Southern ladies stay cool when you have to go outside. Please tell me because I have to go out every couple of days to tend my garden.

Guess Summer would be a great time to catch up on indoor projects... redecorate a bedroom, paint our master bath, organize something...


Back to the garden: 

Went out just a few days ago and picked about 5 pounds of turnips. Look at these beauties! 

I haven't ever tasted a turnip before and have no idea what to do with them...I'm leaving that up to Mr. Fanatic. If you have a tasty recipe, please let me know.

I only planted one 5 foot row of turnips and they did well. Not sure about the beets next to them, we'll see when I pull them up next week.

I wasn't sure how the turnips were growing, until we came back from vacation and some were popping up out of the soil. Just like radishes, turnips pop up when they're ready to be picked.

To store turnips, cut most of the tops off and put in a plastic bag in a cool place. I put mine in a Ziplock type plastic bag and don't "zip" it all the way.

The main heads of the broccoli were cut of a few weeks ago, but now the side shoots are producing little crowns. It's difficult to go back to store bought broccoli once you've grown your own.

I saved one of the broccoli plants planted  last fall and let it go to seed. The plant stopped producing crowns last February or March and the seeds are finally ready to pick. Since the plants were from heirloom, open pollinated seeds and not hybrid, I can use the seeds and plant them next fall or Spring. One plant produces thousands of seeds.

You remember my planter box project don't you? The beans I planted in them are all the way past the top of the poles now. It's the first year growing beans for us. Can't wait to see how they produce.

The tomato plants are having a tough time. We've had soooooooooooo much rain the past several days, lots of humidity, which is bad for tomatoes. Just ordered some organic fungicide to help them out. Hope it works because Mr. Fanatic wants lots of tomatoes so he can make and can salsa.

The garlic plants are starting to fall over, which means they are almost ready. Still not sure what to do with all that kale. The small leaves aren't bad in salads.

The zucchini plants are getting big and the cucumbers on the trellis are beginning to flower....cucumbers not too far behind. 

A few flowers are blooming in the garden, as well. Big echinacea  pink double delight are popping up near the basement patio.

The gardenias are blooming too and their fragrance wafts throughout the backyard close to the house.

So excited that one a few of my hydrangea bushes are blooming and one plant has actually doubled in size. I even have several flowers on two of the four plants! (for those of you who missed it: I planted these hydrangeas several years ago and they just never grew any larger. This year I transplanted them and they are doing better. )

I love the flowers on these blue/green Hosta. 

The first flower just bloomed on the Lantana.

Coreopsis are bright and cheerful. 

Crimson Pirate Day Lily are blooming profusely. 

 Now you are up to date as to our garden in June. 

Would love to know how you keep cool during the summer and what's blooming in your garden. 

Pam 
joining 
Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesday

Grow Tomatoes In 5 Gallon Buckets

I started seeds indoors several months ago, but they were really slow growing, so I went out and bought a few larger plants so we could have tomatoes sooner.  I put the small tomato plants outside in larger containers and they have grown up pretty well. 

Problem is....I ran out of space. I only have one 4 x 8 raised bed in our North garden set aside for tomatoes and 6 tomato plants are already planted in them . 

So, what to do...what to do.

Choice one is to give the extra plants away.

Uh, in my neighborhood, that's not going to happen. 

Seems vegetable gardens are, uh, not too popular.

Choice two is to just throw them away...but I just couldn't do that.

Choice three
Plant them in 5 gallon buckets.

To do this you just need to

1:  drill 4 holes in the bottom of each bucket.

2: add good soil. I used 1/3 compost and  2/3rds dirt

3: add some crushed egg shells and a little Epsom salt to the hole where you plant the tomato.

Plain plastic buckets are NOT going to cut it  if you live in a neighborhood with an HOA and I don't want to look like, well, that I'm growing tomatoes in buckets.

I just happen to have some burlap, so I cut a piece and wrapped it around the bucket and safety pinned the back. 

Optional: 

4: wrap your plastic bucket in burlap



Doesn't it look better than a plain white plastic bucket?

I think so!

Lastly: 

Add a stake or tomato cage to the plastic bucket to hold up the plant when it gets big.

If all goes well, we'll get a few juicy tomatoes out of this experiment. That is, if the squirrels, deer and other critters don't get them first.

Have you ever grown tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets?

Please share!

If you'd like to see how we built some great looking planter boxes, you can see them HERE.

Pam

Finished Planter Boxes and Garden Update

The planter boxes are finished and filled. 

If you missed how we made them, you can read about them HERE.

I stained the inside with some food safe stain and thought I had some oil based stain  for the outside of the boxes left over from when we stained the raised beds, but it must have been used up.

Darn. 

Of course I couldn't remember which stain I used on the raised beds.

So I guessed.

It only took me a week to make it to the store to go pick up some stain.

I planted 4 pole beans in each planter box and since beans grow so fast, they had to be transplanted into the planter boxes before I had a chance to stain the outside.

The planter boxes have their new home behind the raised beds since that's where the sun shines for most of the day. The boxes are on wheels and can be easily moved if we need to get to the other side of the bed.

Next, we bought some 6 foot bamboo and tied them up like a teepee. Each bean plant has it's own bamboo stake. Can't wait until the beans grow up that high.

This past weekend I was finally able to put a couple of coats of stain on the outside of the planter boxes.

It had just rained  before I took these pics, so the boxes look a little splotchy. Actually, we had about a 20 minute deluge. 

Did you get rain where you are?

Of course, Mr. Fanatic hooked me up with drip irrigation to each planter box. 

How cool is that?

And being the proud "mama" that I am, here's are pics of the 4 raised beds in our North garden.

 

There are 6 heirloom tomatoes planted  in the closest bed on the left.    

I planted/transplanted most of them this weekend. Can't wait to see those tomatoes grow!

We've already harvested a pound of broccoli and a 1/2 of pound of snap peas from this bed and we're just getting started. If you haven't tasted home grown broccoli, I highly suggest growing some. Be forewarned though, that if you do, it will be difficult for to eat broccoli from the grocery store again.

My kitties love to take cat naps nearby when I'm working in the garden.

Sam has to wear the "cone of shame" (from the movie Up) because he licks himself constantly. Buddy loves to hang around Sam outside.

The raised beds in the South garden are finally all planted. The lettuce bed is full of Romaine and head lettuce that was planted over a month ago. 

The turnips and beets are growing, but I'm not sure what's below the ground.

I get a kick out of growing radishes. They pop up out of the soil when they're done, so there isn't any question as to when to pick. Another added benefit is they take only 30 to 40 days start to finish.

Now you're all caught up.

Would love to know if you plant a veggie garden...and what you like to grow.
If you'd like to see how we built the planter boxes, you can read about them HERE.

Pam