FOOD

Quick entry tonight.  I will have more hopefully later this weekend








Finally starting to enjoy food from the garden.

Sugar Snap Pes

Swiss Chard, Beet Greens and the last of the spinach

While weeding at the demonstration garden, found some lacewing eggs.  If you ever see these, let them be. These are the good guys.

Love this part of the world where I live.  Grew up in  the Washington DC area.  Actually, I am a DC native.  Moved to the country in 1980.  Love it here.



Friends of ours got married last weekend.




Where else can you go to a wedding in an old barn?  I find outdoor weddings to be my favorite.

WEEDS AND OTHER GARDEN PESTS

Oh my!  Welcome to Australia and Ukraine .  That makes 18 countries.


These last couple of weeks have really brought on the weeds.  I hand pull or mow most of the weeds.  Poison ivy -  I will use Roundup for poison ivy.  We react terribly to this weed.

bindweed

I have taken pictures from around my yard the last several weeks to help you identify the most common ones.  When I have more time at the farm,  I'll photograph some more interesting ones.

wild stawberry

red sorrel

poison ivy

garlic mustard

canada thistle

pokeweed

violets

purslane

mallow

ground ivy

buttercup

lambs quarter

Also at the farm, the sugar snap peas are almost ready to harvest.  I have already started cooking chard and beet greens with what is left of the spinach.  Weeded the strawberry bed, and am looking closely for caterpillars on the broccoli. Tied up the tomato plants with twine.

weeded strawberries

sugar snap peas and broccoli

volunteer marigold from last year

The hay is incredible this year.  My husband tells me they got 200 round bales.  You cannot imagine how wonderful the fields smell right now.  Very Sweet,  nothing else like it.

The mountain laurel is blooming in the Catoctin Mountains.  Just beautiful.

Mr Bear

Biggest pest of all.  Digs holes, pees on my boxwood, half of it is dead.  Don't even ask about the dead bunnies and birds in the back yard.  But, we still love him.

MULCH

Welcome to Israel and India!  16 countries so far. I am bewildered and thrilled.





Time to mulch!  Actually had to water beds as the temp is  high and getting higher everyday.  Had a huge wind storm come through and drop some large branches into the tomato bed.  Knocked over 2 of the bamboo supports, but the plants are fine.

I am going to head up early tomorrow or the next day to harvest lettuce, chard, strawberries, parsley and possibly peek under the soil to see what the potatoes are up to.  Hoping for rain tonight.

Went into the barn and took a large wheelbarrow of loose straw and spread it around the tomatoes and potatoes.  Mulching helps keep the soil from drying out.  It also keeps the germination of weeds down.  If there is no light hitting the soil, a lot of weed seeds will stay weed seeds.  I use mulch that will decompose and actually help the soil in the future.   Untreated grass clippings are excellent.  They add nitrogen to the soil as they break down.  Straw is my favorite because it is free for me and easy to get to and very light weight.   The texture of the soil a year after it is laid down is beautiful - dark and crumbly.

Onions are ready to bloom.

I skipped last week's entry.  I took an weekend trip with the husband to Virginia.  Wanted to go to the beach but realized It may be senior week for some school districts.  Did senior week once when I was 17, don't need to be there in that environment again. ever.







So, we went to Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson.  Beautiful.  We skipped the house tour, saw it last year.  The gardens are an inspiration.  Of course they have a team of people to maintain the gardens now.  In Jefferson's time,  he had slaves to tend to the garden, but was known to spend a lot of time in the dirt ( when he was home.)  The garden did provide a lot of food for the plantation, but also it was a huge science experiment.  Jefferson kept detailed records of plantings and would plant several varieties of vegetables and flowers for testing purposes.

The native garden took a hit with the storm as well.  Lost my phlox.   Replaced it and added a little support for the next storm.  The new phlox is "Miss Lingard."  White with a nice fragrance.  Saw it at Brookside Gardens in Montgomery County last year.

 Coreopsis  is blooming, attracting bugs.

Today, spent the day with family.  What a blessing.

Had a hard winter, but we are starting to recover from a shocking loss.

everyone on the porch!

Vertical Planting

I have always staked tomatoes. I have tried the tomato cages and ALWAYS had them fall down halfway through the summer.  Tomatoes grow fast and heavy.  Last year I tied them to the trellis system my husband built.  That worked very well.  It has steel T- posts every 4 feet with deer fencing made of nylon mesh tied with wire.


This year I am trying a few different devices.  Regular hardwood stakes, bamboo stakes and a plastic cage I  bought at Wal Mart for 7 dollars called the "Ultimate tomato cage. "   I am going to experiment and see which one I like best.  I have decided to rotate my crops every year, so the bed I moved to is 5 x16 x 2.  No trellis,  as my husband is out of town for a while and didn't have time to install before he left.

Ultimate tomato cage?

bamboo in front, hardwood stakes in back

The good thing about  the large bed is that there will be lots of air circulation and sun reaching all the plants equally.  I will mulch with straw in a week or so.  There is good rain expected in the next few days, so I want the seedlings well watered.


To prevent blossom end rot, I added about 1/2 cup of lime to the area I am placing the seedlings.  This will add calcium to the soil, and the mulch will help stop the soil from drying out.  That is the cause of blossom end rot, inconsistent watering and calcium deficiency.

You want to plant the seedlings very deep.  Remove the bottom leaves first and dig deep.  Roots will form all along the stem.

bottom leaves removed

put some basil in front

I am going to try vertical gardening for cucumber, cantaloupes and possibly watermelons.  I have also planted scarlet runner beans and  gita beans.  Gita beans are around a foot long.  Sounded like fun.

will plant cucumbers here

I hilled up my potatoes.  In a few weeks, I will use a lot of straw to cover potatoes so no light gets through to the tubers.  In the valley near the trellis, I have planted my bean seeds to climb the trellis.

Broccoli also went in.  I have a volunteer lettuce plant that  I will leave.

The onion seeds I planted last year grew throughout the summer.  I would pull the young seedlings before the large bulb would form and use for cooking.  Looks like they are getting ready to bloom.

spittle bug underneath the foamy substance - no damage expected

I can feel the garden coming alive.  I know I will have to spend a little more time each week to keep it looking good.

dill

first red strawberry

Below is a native columbine plant that is almost finished blooming.  It will set seed and come back next year.  I have this in my shade garden at home.

Finally get to wear my new new garden shoes!  Like the dorky socks?