Glossy Basil

The basil is taking off in the garden.  I will never grow just one plant ever again (I've got 4 so far with 2 seedlings in the works).

Stay sweet,

Christine

Pretty Pretty Parsley

Just stopping by to say that I have more parsley than I know what to do with and I understand why so many restaurants throw it on the sides of plates for garnish.  It grows like mad!

To happy herbs,

Christine

Meet the Tomatoes

It doesn't really matter what Burpee brand decided to name these tomatoes.  Essentially, the plants on the left and right are beefsteak tomatoes and the one in the center is an heirloom tomato.  I decided to stake the tomatoes this time because last year they took over the entire garden, flopping down on the rest of the plants every time it rained or we got minor wind.  The stakes are only 50 inches tall, so I'll still use the railing behind the garden for support if/when they surpass the 50 inch stake. These pictures were taken May 21st.  As of that date, the heirloom tomatoes were winning in the height department at 16 inches. First to 50 inches wins absolutely nothing!

Stay sunny,

Christine

Strawberries

This was my strawberry plant before Unidentified Animal ate all of the strawberries and flowers the plant was growing. Unidentified Animal (my guess is rabbit) also dug all about the garden bed over the course of 3 days, presumably looking for bulbs, carrots, or whatever Unidentified Animal eats.

Since our fence is apparently not Unidentified Animal-proofed (is any fence?) and since we're trying to teach our dogs not to hunt Unidentified (or identified) Animals, we decided to use a harmless animal repellant.  We chose Havahart Deer Off based on price, application, reviews, and toxicity to animals.  It basically smells nasty to squirrels, deer, and rabbits.  The stuff apparently dries on sprayed surfaces and stays for a while.  While you're not supposed to spray it on edibles, I sprayed all over the mulch and raised bed walls, as well as all over the grass surrounding my garden and at the base of our fence where a rabbit could easily squeeze under.  So far--- so good.  No more flowers have gone missing and no more holes have been dug in the mulch.  Sorry, Unidentified Animal. I would have shared my strawberries, but you got greedy and ate them all.

Bye bye bunny,

Christine

June Garden Update

Good evening blogspot,

I have been off enjoying life (i.e. working a new job, decorating the house, walking the dogs, and exploring the local area with my husband) so much that I have neglected my poor blog, despite all of the gardening I've been doing.  Here's a photo update to be followed with at least a few more regular posts.

I've had a few successful beginnings this growing season.  First off, my yellow bell peppers have begun to flower.

If you look carefully inside of the flower you can see the beginnings of  a greenish bell pepper.

Fleurs Fleurs Fleurs

From the top left, clockwise: lilacs, petunias, knockout roses, impatiens, and azaleas.

Things I have learned in growing these plants in zone 7:

• Knockout roses don't get their first blossoms until mid-May.
• White azaleas take longer to blossom than pink and purple varieties.  My neighbors have had blooming azaleas for 3 weeks now.
• Impatiens require more water than petunias.
• You have to remove the dead impatient flowers yourself or else the plant looks crummy.

Stay sunny!

Christine

Transplant Pots

I took these pictures back in March when it was actually useful to transplant.  Now that it's May, it's a little late but maybe you can tuck this away for next year.

Biodegradable Transplant Containers

You will need:

• Scissors
• Newspaper
• A bottle
• Tape or liquid glue
• Soil
• Seeds

Soil pictured far right. I'm pretty sure I was sitting on the seed packets.

Instructions:

1. Wrap the newspaper tightly around the bottle. 
2. Glue or tape the paper to itself to form a cylinder. If you use tape, you'll want to remove the tape later when you transplant into the garden.
3. Slide the bottle out of the paper tube carefully
4. Fold one end of the paper cylinder closed and tape or glue shut.  
5. Cut of the excess tube. You want your pot to be about 6-8 inches tall.
6. Fill with soil.* 
7. Plant seeds according to seed packet instructions. Water, etc. You're done!

*Note: With some plants, like tomatoes, burying the plant stem partially helps the plant develop a strong root system. To aid this, don't fill up your pot all the way to the top with soil.  Leave 1-2 inches free so that when your plants grow past the top of the pot, you can add more soil to the pot to bury the stem.

Finished tube for tomatoes. 

Window sprouting line-up. The ghost peppers belong to my husband. They never did sprout.

Stay sunny,

Christine

Garden 2013!

Back row: hybrid beefsteak tomato, heirloom tomato, hybrid beefsteak tomato
Second to back: sweet yellow bell pepper, sweet yellow bell pepper, cayenne pepper
Second to front: basil, basil, basil, basil, strawberry, rosemary
Front row: garden bean, garden bean, garden bean, garden bean, parsley


I am so excited at the addition of strawberries to the garden. My only regret in the layout of the garden is that I'm not sure if "garden bean" means pole or bush variety.  They could easily grow as tall as the tomato plants can... which would mean I'd have to tear them out.  If they're bush variety, they'll be fine. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

Since I was a slacker in May when I should have been transplanting my plants, the only plants that I grew from sees are the garden beans and the parsley.  I have tomatoes, cayenne peppers, and basil in transplant pots in the house still, so maybe I'll be able to shove them in the garden if I kill any of the plants in the coming months.

Stay sunny,

Christine

Garden Beans

Beans always win in the category "Most Fun to Watch Sprout."

Go green,

Christine

Lilacs- Then and Now

You may remember the sad little lilac bush that I bought from a farmer's market last year on clearance for $29.99.  It was somewhat scrappy looking, so I bought it on an impulse.  I grew up with a giant lilac bush in the back yard and loved smelling lilacs wafting through the house on summer afternoons.  

This lilac didn't exactly look like the blossoming type.

BEFORE

Cicadas

So the cicadas are coming this year in Maryland.  I was planting petunias in the front garden this evening and uncovered about a dozen of these suckers a mere 2 inches under the soil.  Gross.  On the bright side, cicadas are harmless.  If anything, they aerate the soil on their way up.  Also, our dogs will loooooove eating them.  And yet, I still don't look forward to picking them out of my hair.

Win some, lose some.

Christine

Hardy Har Har

It's good to know
That when it snows
I will have lots
Of parsley.

Crushed Red Peppers

Peppery Deliciousness

Months ago I strung up my cayenne peppers to dry in the kitchen window.  I added more and more peppers all summer into the fall as they ripened.  I tried crushing up the dried peppers a variety of ways.  Every knife I used just seemed to spray the peppers everywhere as I chopped them.  I tried putting them in a plastic bag and smashing them, but they just smashed in to very large pieces. 

Then I remembered this beauty:

It's the Microplane Herb Mill.  You can get it here or here or even here for about $20.  I think I even saw it once at Ross for $10.  Basically it has a compartment you can put herbs in and the handle presses the herbs into two very small sets of blades. 

Just watch!

Cut off the stems

Insert 3-4 cayenne peppers

Rotate the handle to grind grind grind.

Store in a totally cute container.

I bought a set of shakers for red pepper and parmesan cheese months ago here. I made the label using my beloved Brother Label Maker. 

Helpful Hints:
- Wear gloves when working with hot peppers.  I scrubbed my hands after working with the peppers and I still burned myself when I touched my eye later.
- The herb mill works best with dried herbs.  It says it works with fresh herbs that have been patted dry, but I find that they just gunk up the blades.


Happy Gardening,

Christine 

Back to Basics

Although January 7th is about 3-4 months before zone 6-7's last frost date, some plants can be started whenever you'd like. I've decided to start a crop of basil indoors now. I can transplant it all to the garden in May or continue to grow it indoors.

I'll be tracking the growth of the basil from planting to germination to centimeters high. Hopefully other container gardeners will find this information helpful.

So here we are: Jan 7th, 2013 at 1 pm. Approximately 8-10 basil seeds have been planted in a 9 cm tall, 12 cm wide pott with Miracle grow potting soil and about 4 tbsp of water.

Winter Gardening

I am too embarrassed to show a picture of what my garden looked like after the first blight.  Basically, the tomato plants turned brown, the basil turned black, and all the peppers shriveled up.  Zone 7 winters just aren't conducive to most leafy plants.

So what can you grow?

Trimming up a sad plant.

Start small, grow tall.. not DOWN!

This is a tag-along post with my entry about things I learned while gardening.  One very good lesson is to always stake your tomatoes. I put those metal cages around both of the plants but the cages only went about 3 ft tall and the tomato plants grew to about 8 ft tall. Next year I will use gardening twine and keep training the tomato plants up the railings.  

So, how to deal with this problem....

What I Learned

I've learned a great deal from my first year of gardening. Some of these lessons are specific to gardening in Maryland, others are universal.

Lesson 1: Furry Leaves make for Furry Fungus

The biggest gardening foe I faced was fungus. My pumpkins, zucchini, and cucumber all suffered moldy fungal growths that halted growth and shriveled produce. Maryland gets irregular and sometimes heavy rains and high humidity- the perfect growing conditions for fungus on the backs of leaves. I doubt I'll grow any more furry leaf veggies.

Lesson 2: Some Plants Need Lots of Space

I really should have done a bit more research on pumpkins before growing them. If I had, I would have learned that pumpkin vines will take over your entire yard and make it really hard to mow the grass. My tomato plants also grew far too big. Next year I will only be planting one tomato plant instead of two.

Lesson 3: Don't Let Plants Outgrow Pots

This no-brainer is brought to you by my bell peppers. I bought several plants mid-May . The gardener recommended they hit the soil within a week. It took me a while to build the raised bed garden, so the plants didn't hit the ground until mid-June. As a result, only the super hardy cayenne pepper flourished.

Hopefully these tips help. I'm planning out next year's garden now with some exciting new plants as well as some garden staples. I'll start sprouting the first seeds in March, though there will be a few posts before then regarding garden prep and a surprising herb that is currently toughing it out in the garden.

Keep on growing,

Christine

Caprese Salad!

This caprese salad brought to you by:

• 1 garden-fresh tomato, 
• 1 handful of sweet basil leaves, 
• 1 wedge of fresh mozzarella from Giant Food, 
• 1 sprinkle of sea salt, 
• 1 drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Instructions:

1. Cut up and combine.
2. Try not to eat the entire plate in 3 bites.

If you've got balsamic vinegar it can be nice to add a little to the mozzarella for a kick.  I love how fresh tomatoes are so rich inside that they're practically purple.  If I get a few more tomatoes I'll post a goat cheese bruchetta recipe.  

Happy October!

Christine

When will they stop growing?

The tomato plant on the left got a bit blighty and decided to become a vine and grow in a more downward direction.  It is somehow still producing fruit and still photosynthesizing, despite the fact that it is headed right for the basement door. 

The tomato plant on the right has about 6 tomatoes and stands at about 8 ft tall.  Tomato plants die off after the frosts roll through, so who knows how much longer it will last.  It's 70-80 degrees these days in Maryland, but any day we could have a frost overnight. Or snow.  You never really know in Maryland.  All that said, I think I'll be able to make bruchetta at least a few more times.  Recipe and pictures as soon as the next tomatoes ripen!

Stay sunny,

Christine

RIP Aconcagua Pepper

Oh well.

I came back from our honeymoon and all the peppers on the plant were dead and the leaves were droopy and falling off/nibbled to bits.  I'm thinking bugs, based on all the nibbles.  Aconcagua peppers are not really common in Maryland- I doubt I'd try them again. 

See you all in 2 days,

Christine