Gardening in the Deep South

March 21, 2010

2010-03-21T15:22:00.005-05:00

A cold front moved through last night and everything got a good soaking.
It was chilly today but that didn't stop me.

The herbs have perked up now they have been transplanted.

The sweet pepper is starting off well.

The cucumber I seeded last weekend.

I discovered these tulip bulbs while organizing gardening stuff. I bought some flowering tulips, (Don't remember when. Last year? The year before?) and when they were done, cut the dead leaves off and stuck them in our shed. Found them and the bulbs had sprouted. They've doubled in size since last weekend.

A gardening experiment: grapes!

Tomatoes are doing fine.

Bell peppers. I put the mini gnomes in the bed to discourage cats from sleeping in it.

I also seeded more tomatoes, cucumbers, chives and lettuce.

March 14, 2010

2010-03-15T16:51:00.006-05:00

It was a very long, cold winter this year. But finally it's safe to plant the spring garden. This year I get to use the great planters my husband built last year. There will still be plants in pots of course.

Gerber daisies for color.

Seeded some basil.

Herbs: thyme, oregano, mint and cilantro.

Our Meyer lemon tree is bursting with buds and flowers!

I bought these from students from a jr. high charter school that has an "edible classroom" - a garden the children plant and maintain.

These are all new varieties for me: Garden Peach, Prue and Yellow Plum.

Bell peppers (bought transplants)
Pepper were in a four pack so the extra goes in a pot.

Hops. Very challenging to grow. My husband is a home brewer and this is his experiment.

June 8, 2009

2009-06-28T16:21:00.001-05:00

Second wave of cucumbers

Lots of yummy tomatoes.

June 5, 2009

2009-06-14T12:50:00.008-05:00

The hops is growing like crazy.

Cucumbers needed additional support.

Basil has sprouted. But not marigolds or tomatoes. Those were from my own seeds so they might not.

I cut the lettuce all the way back a week or so ago and it started coming back. So I'll see what happens. I caught Twin sleeping in this planter! She likes sleeping in dirt-weird cat.

A new smaller planter with some decorative grass that has been become very popular lately.

Gonzo watches me through the window.

Cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers seedlings. Hope I didn't start them too early. Live and learn.

May 28, 2009

2009-06-14T12:34:00.005-05:00

The finished planter!

Tomatoes have been producing steadily. About a handful a day.

Hops bud or "cone"

Greg took out the 3 other containers with hops. They never grew and the roots rotted. Not sure why. I did discover Twin cat sleeping on top of one of them, which probably didn't help.

New growth and blooms on the cucumbers.

Coriander seeds.

The aloe plant has off shoots. So I dug them up and transplanted them.

Starting from seed: sunflowers, zinnias, cherry tomatoes and marigolds.

May 15, 2009

2009-06-14T12:32:00.000-05:00

More progress on the planter.

May 13, 2009

2009-05-30T14:59:00.005-05:00

The one hops plant is growing great.

Cherry tomatoes are the way to go. Every day you pick a handful. I've always had trouble with critters eating my regular tomatoes before they are ready to be picked. Not a problem here.

A new ornamental grass. I've been seeing them all over lately.

The planter in progress.

Lots of roots and stuff to be dug up.

May 9, 2009

2009-05-30T14:46:00.004-05:00

Twin napping behind the plants. I've let the cilantro bolt so I can harvest the (coriander) seeds. The white flowers are pretty as well.

The tomatoes are setting and a few are starting to turn red.

The lettuce is doing great. I keep harvesting and it keeps growing.

The spinach has bolted, which I was not aware it would do.

One of the hops plants is doing great. The others keep getting eaten as soon as they sprout. Here, part of a cardboard tube from TP protects a sprout from caterpillars.

The cucumbers need no comment. A few are strangely shaped. The thick part taste fine but the skinny parts are bitter.

May 5, 2009

2009-05-30T14:45:00.001-05:00

I harvested 3 more cucumbers. They are coming fast and furious. I really don't mean for them to get so big, but they grow very fast.

April 30, 2009

2009-05-04T21:36:00.005-05:00

Time to harvest some cucumbers who are overdue.

After H. Gustav, we had a tree leaning towards our house.
G cut down and removed as much as he could.
We finally had the stump ground.

He got started on a planter that will run along the fence.
Nice.

April 27, 2009

2009-05-04T21:09:00.006-05:00

The cilantro has bolted. I'll let it go so I can get the seeds.

Ah ha! Figured out who was munching on the leaves.

April 18, 2009

2009-04-18T16:10:00.006-05:00

Last weekend I fertilized everything so it's all been growing like mad.

A new addition to the container garden... my husband is trying to grow hops. He's a home brewer so he wants to use them in his beers.
Our poor lemon tree has been stripped by caterpillars. I never see them but you can see the damage.

My future cuc has tripled in size!

Look at all the flowers! If all goes well I should have a bumper crop.

Spinach looks much better after being fertilized. I finally have enough to harvest.
I was reading in Dan Gill's column today that container plants need to be fertilized every 2 weeks.

I harvested a bunch of lettuce last week and now there's more.

A shy little lizard

I didn't think you needed to stake patio tomatoes but my were listing. It might have been from the strong winds we had. It's been a very blustery spring.

Baby tomato.

April 9, 2009

2009-04-16T18:32:00.004-05:00

Future cucumber

April 3, 2009

2009-04-10T14:33:00.003-05:00

Cilantro. I never know if it's going to live.
I used to try and grow it in the summer but I think just gets too hot. I think it likes the cooler weather.

Parsley's limping along.

Extreme tomato close-up!

Spinach isn't doing great. I think it's time to fertilize soon.

Cucumbers doing great.

Lettuce coming back.

March 28, 2009

2009-03-28T16:37:00.005-05:00

Thursday night a very powerful thunderstorm came through. It was raining so hard and winds were high, I was very concerned about my tender plants. But they did fine. The lettuce got beaten up a little.

Cucumbers, doing good.

First bloom on this cuc - see the yellow flower?

The tomatoes have doubled in size I swear!

Close-ups; the oregano and basil are growing vigoriously.

Spinich is kind of scraggly. I haven't picked any yet.

Parlsey

Cilantro

Bibb lettuce - I harvested a bunch this week - enough for two salads. So much more flavor than store bought.

March 21, 2009

2009-03-22T18:43:00.006-05:00

I decided to give up my plot in the community garden. I just couldn't find the time I needed to keep the garden up the past two years. Even though the garden is only half a block from my house, I still would have to lug my tools and what-not down the street. So this year I'm growing vegitables in pots.

Cherry tomatos. From transplant.

These stairs no longer lead any where, but they are great for holding plants.
Top step, next to Gnome - garlic chives, I've had the plant for years.
Next step down (l-r): Aloe Vera, basil (a new transplant), rosemary
Next: rosemary, parsley, thyme, oregano
The bottom two steps have various peppers. The marker wore off ages ago so I don't know what kind they are until they start producing again. Greg grew them from seeds a couple of years ago.
And a little Vera that came off the big plant.

(L-R) First three are burpless cucumbers I just bought. The fourth is another cucumber I bought a few weeks ago. I had more plants but they died. And another cherry tomato plant. All from transplants.

This is a Meyer lemon tree we've had for a number of years. It's been budding for the last few weeks and they all exploded open this weekend. It smells so good and the bees love it.

Parsley from seeds (Feb). My second attempt. And only half the seed sprouted the second time. Bad seeds? I think I'll try sowing a few more seeds on the left.

Cilatro from seeds (Feb).
This is the second time seeding these as well. I was not sure they were going to make it. The first thing to come up was tomatoes - we compost and tomato sprouts always pop up.

The wall next to our house where many of the plants live. There was a tree (see the stump lower right hand corner?) that got blown towards our house in Katrina, and then Gustav blew it so it wasa resting on our roof so Greg cut it down.

Bibb Lettuce from seeds (Jan 10). Time to start harvesting!

Spinach from Seeds (Jan 10).

April 6, 2008

2008-04-12T11:18:00.002-05:00

March 30, 2008

2008-04-10T20:05:00.003-05:00

Here's the beginning of my Spring 08 garden. There are some leftover plants from my fall/winter 07 garden still in there.

May 1, 2007

2007-05-26T16:22:00.000-05:00

This might be the only photos for a while... my camera got wet and died. :-( So until I get a new one this will have to do.

Close up of Okra and Cucumbers.

Tomato plants

April 21, 2007

2007-04-21T16:41:00.000-05:00

A lot happens in a garden when you don't go for 3 weeks.

Everything is markedly bigger!

The cilando (lower right) has really taken off and has started to bolt. The parsley (lower left) is starting to do well.

It's getting too warm for lettuce and spinach so today I pulled it up and thinned the herbs a lot...

and planted 4 bell pepper plants.

Future okra - see the three small buds? (It's a little blurry)

March 30, 2007

2007-03-30T14:39:00.000-05:00

The cucumbers have started sprouting and the parsley is finally doing something. We've been eating a lot of spinach and lettuce and it just keep growing!

March 24 2007

2007-03-25T11:34:00.000-05:00

The spinach and lettuce have exploded! My office mates will be getting fresh greens Monday. I'm not sure Greg and I can eat all of this before it goes bad but maybe we can. I'll know for next time to seed in phases.

I picked up some herbs and okra plants at the local nursery. They only had one very sad looking cucumber plant left, that I passed on. I have 4 tomatoes in the upper left corner, 5 okra plants right center and decided to try and grow cucs from seeds. According to my gardening "bible" Dan Gill's Month-by-month Gardening In Louisiana it may be too early for okra but what the heck. I found a nifty black metal trellis for the cucumbers to climb. It's hard to see in the photos, but you can click on the photo below to see a bigger photo.

I finished off with wood edging and pine straw mulch. The wood beams used to make the plot are all falling apart. The edging helps keep the mulch and everything in. I'm thinking about replacing the wood beams with cinder blocks. Next year...

March 18 2007

2007-03-25T11:23:00.000-05:00

Even I am surprised I made it out to the garden the day after St. Patty's Day. But I had tomato plants I needed to get into the ground. The weekend before me and 4 others gardeners came in and cleaned up the garden of all the overgrown, weed choked plots and trimmed back trees and shrubs. Someone had left over FEMA blue tarp we used to cover the empty plots.

In the photo above you can see my wheelbarrel full of compost and my tomato plants. Composting is ridiculously easy here since it so hot and wet.

You can see my seeded stuff is coming along nicely except for the parsley (front left). It's odd that the cilantro is doing well (front right) because it never does well. Here you see my freshly tilled and composted plot. I forgot take a photo after I planted the tomatoes. I was probably so tired I just wanted to go home and shower and forgot.

March 3 2007

2007-03-24T18:14:00.000-05:00

I learned my lesson last year - you must start your garden before Mardi Gras. So that's what I did. I took over a different plot in the community garden. I cleared the weeds, tilled the soil and worked compost into half the garden. I planted spinich, lettuce, parsley and cilatro seeds in that half, and covered the other half in plastic to keep the weeds at bay. This may not sound like it was a lot of work, but trust me, it was. This picture was taken after Mardi Gras on March 3rd and my seeds have sprouted.