Garden Update: No Blight (So Far)

I absolutely LOVE home-grown tomatoes.

After 19 years of gardening at Shady Hollow and losing my tomato crop to blight every year, I finally got a little smarter and decided to use a fungicide this year.

I began spraying as soon as the plants were in the ground. So far it seems to be working. The plants have grown well beyond their cages and are producing beautiful tomatoes.

These are the first two picked:

This is the view of the plants from the deck:

I did go for a period without spraying and am keeping my fingers crossed that no blight spores were able to take hold during that time. Even if it does rear its ugly head again, we have already enjoyed more tomatoes than we ever have from our little garden. If blight returns, I’ll be more diligent in my spraying next year.

Another garden success this year is okra. I had tried several times to grow okra, only to fail miserably. Most of the time it didn’t even sprout. If it did manage to start growing it soon just sat there and did nothing but look miserable.

This year I must have done everything right for the okra; location, planting time, fertilizer, water, everything. The plants have gone wild and we are enjoying fried okra and fresh tomatoes. Yummy!

The final veggie success has been black-eyed peas. My mother used to grow black-eyed peas and cook them fresh from the garden. My hubby had never eaten them other than in dried form and was amazed at the difference in flavor when cooked fresh. He isn’t accusing me of wasting garden space on them anymore.

Veggie failures? Yes, and not what you would expect. My summer squash failed as did the cucumbers. Two plants that have never given me problems before. I have no idea what happened. But this year, no squash or cucumbers while last year was a bumper crop of both.

As we head toward the fall season my thoughts are on greens. I have turnip, mustard, and collard seed that will soon be replacing the peas, squash and cucumber. I’ve never tried growing greens at Shady Hollow. This could be interesting.

I’ll keep you posted.

Be Blessed.

Plant Brutality – Pruning Shears Style

Upon walking around Shady Hollow yesterday, I made a decision to do some massive pruning on my Burning Bushes. I already butchered (yes, I meant butchered) two that shaded too much of my vegetable garden. I could almost hear their screams of horror as my clippers and I set to work. Almost. The begging of beans, squash, tomatoes, and cucumbers  for sunlight drowned out the burning bush’s complaints.

Burning Bushes are almost weeds at Shady Hollow, thanks to a massive “granddaddy-of-them-all” down the street. Hungry birds feasting on their fall berries have spread them far and wide.

I like them, and early on transplanted them all over my infant garden. Now they are out of control.  So, one day this weekend I will grab a saw and my trusty pruners and make the circuit of the gardens and trim them way back. I plan on being heartless and cruel and prune them without mercy. I’m sure the hydrangea, butterfly bush, and other small shrubs will leap for joy once the onslaught of pruning provides them with more sun and room to grow.

A couple of years ago I dug a burning bush out of the front flower bed. Last week I pulled out and repotted 45 small off-spring from the location it once occupied. Burning Bush babies were springing up everywhere around where the original bush had grown. I potted them up for my granddaughter, who has not started her garden and needs some pass-along plants from grandma.

That’s just 1 of my long list of gardening chores to do. I’ll fill you in on the others as I tackle or prepared to tackle them as well.

Until then, brightest blessings.

Harvest Update

The little veggie patch I planted has surpassed my wildest dreams. We have given away vegetables and I am now freezing some for our future use. I planted in the pottager style and included vegetable plants in among my flowers this year. The result has been fantastic as far as yield, but has had some unexpected results as well.

For instance, the tomato plants next to my garden shed have outgrown their cages and spilled into the path leading up to the shed. It is going to be nearly impossible to get the lawnmower out without damaging the tomato plants. This last weekend it made a perfect excuse not to cut grass, but sooner or later I will have to get that mower out.

The yellow squash I planted in the front bed are completely surrounded by flowers, making it difficult to find the little squash. Its like an adult Easter Egg hunt among the flowers when I go harvesting.

The only real "failure" I've had so far is with okra. A few plants came up, but they have never done well. I'll try again next year, but will have to visit our local farmers for okra this year.

The flowers are fantastic. The cannas on the deck and by the shed are healthy and happy. At this point about half are blooming with the rest to bloom within the week. These are all new to me, some purchased, others given to be by a dear friend, after mine failed to survive the winter. This picture is of one called "Princess Di." I'll take better measures to protect them this winter.