Andrea Meyers» Gardening

Weekend Gardening: Zebra Tomatoes

Andrea — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 13:22:01 +0000

There’s something about striped tomatoes and the gorgeous splash of color they add to a garden. Michael’s favorite which we have always planted is the heirloom Mr. Stripey, and this year we added varieties of zebra tomatoes. In the basket are red zebra (the orange tomatoes with red stripes), black zebra (the darkish tomatoes with green stripes), green zebra (self explanatory), and Copia, (yellow and red striped tomato named for COPIA: The American Center for Wine, Food, and the Arts).

The red, black, and green zebras are doing quite well, and the flavor and texture are excellent. The Copia plant has only produced one tomato so far, so I’m not entirely sold on it, but we’ll see if it produces more before season’s end.

Weekend Gardening: Squash Bug Control

Andrea — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 18:33:15 +0000

Sometimes you have to take drastic action to get rid of garden pests, like squash bugs. Every year we lose plants due to this persistent insect, which feeds on our squash, pumpkins, and cucumber plants. They lay their eggs on the bottom side of plant leaves, which hatch in about 10 days, and though one generation is typical each year, sometimes a partial second generation overlaps. The adults often survive freezing and will overwinter under garden debris, so it’s best to take care of them in warm weather to prevent them from hanging around in the garden all winter, waiting for your precious squash and pumpkins in June.

So a couple weeks ago after our butternut squash plants suddenly began to yellow and fail, I went out to the patch that evening and spotted dozens of the nymphs and adult squash bugs running around the plants, scurrying away as I carefully poked around, trying to calculate the damage.

There were simply too many to pick off by hand, so I checked out other options on the Mother Earth News website—we subscribe to the magazine—and found an interesting article and discussion thread about squash bug management. One reader claimed to have sucked up all the squash bugs with a Shop-Vac about 1/4 full of water. We just happen to have a Wet/Dry Shop-Vac, so Michael couldn’t resist.

He sucked up as many squash bugs as he could find that evening, and we continue to check for more and monitor our little zucchini plants that we seeded just a couple weeks ago, hoping to avoid the early summer squash bug rush.

And what did Michael think of this method? He pumped his arms and fists and said it was “very satisfying.”

References

University of Minnesota Extension – Squash Bugs in Home Gardens

Mother Earth News – Homemade Squisher for Squash Bug Control

Weekend Gardening: Okra in a Pot

Andrea — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Sometimes we plan our garden experiments months, or even a year, in advance, and then sometimes we just wing it at the last minute or even a little late. The latter is the case with this pot of okra. I didn’t even think about it until I saw okra in the grocery store in late May and thought, “We should make some smothered okra!” After Builder Guy and I made it together, I thought, “We should plant some okra!” And of course by then I couldn’t find any seeds or a single plant in any nearby nursery or garden center. Technically by mid-June it’s pretty late for starting okra from seed.

Then while visiting my parents in South Carolina, we ran across some okra plants at Wal-Mart. Sold! And of course since we didn’t have a space set aside for them in the garden, we decided to put them in a pot and see what would happen. They looked a little unhappy for the first couple days, but now they are big and healthy and producing okra.

Okra is actually a relative of hibiscus and hollyhocks, and they produce beautiful whitish blossoms with deep red at the base, which only last for a day. Then they droop and produce fruit if pollenated. Our okra plants are apparently blooming in secret because I’ve tried for days to get photos of okra blossoms and haven’t seen a single one. But there’s still okra coming, so maybe I’ll get lucky and get a photo at some point this summer.

The variety we have is Clemson Spineless, a favorite for its flavor as well as being a prolific producer. Harvest can generally begin 56 days from seeding, and fruits should be picked when they are about 3 inches long, otherwise they will become tough. Plants will continue to produce all the way to frost if you keep them picked.

Where to Buy Okra Seeds

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange

Local Harvest

Burpee

Seeds of Change

Resources

Mother Earth News – Okra: The Hibiscus You Can Eat

University of Illinois Extension – Okra

Weekend Gardening: Blueberry Harvest

Andrea — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 01:52:22 +0000

Last year was the first for our blueberry bushes to produce, and we were thrilled when the first bush blossomed and even more so when the blueberries started to ripen.

Apparently the birds were just as excited, and they got more of our blueberries than we did; not the desired outcome for our garden. We tried draping a net over the bushes and holding the bottom edges down with rocks, but somehow the birds figured out that maze and got inside. We ended up with just two handfuls of blueberries and decided that we needed to come up with a better blueberry cage.

As soon as the blueberries blossomed this year, Michael set out to animal-proof our blueberries with a cage design he created. We can’t say it’s pretty to look at, but it’s very effective at keeping the wildlife out of our precious berries, and we can easily take it down after the blueberries are done this summer.

He used pvc pipe and chicken wire, overlapping the chicken wire and securing it to the pipe with zip fasteners. The two back pipes are secured to the rail behind it to keep the cage steady. He also curved the bottom edge of the chicken wire and placed rocks on top to hold them down. In the middle of the cage is a point of entry. The chicken wire overlaps in that section and Michael wove pieces of 9-gauge wire through it and drove it into the ground. To enter the cage, we just slide out the two pieces of holding wire and lift back the chicken wire.

Michael’s cage did a great job of protecting our plants, and we harvested our first pound of fresh blueberries this weekend. The boys were delighted and dove right in, and the birds just sat on top of the cage, staring at the sweet berries below. I have a feeling they are plotting against us.

Name That…

Andrea — Wed, 11 May 2011 21:42:36 +0000

One of the many things growing in our garden. Can you name that flower?

My Mother’s Garden

Andrea — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 12:00:00 +0000

A few years ago my mother took her love of gardening to a whole new level. She successfully completed the Master Gardening course through the Clemson University Extension and now volunteers as a Master Gardener. To say that I’m proud of her doesn’t even begin to cover it, and I find myself calling her frequently with gardening questions. It’s good to have a Master Gardener in the family.

In the last few years my father has helped her more and more, and they’ve done some amazing things. Whenever we go for a visit I find myself wandering around look at her flowers and enjoying the beauty she has created.

Weekend Gardening: Starting an Asparagus Bed

Andrea — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 23:26:00 +0000

For me, spring means asparagus and I anticipate asparagus season as much as I look forward to strawberry, cherry, and blueberry season. Michael actually tried growing asparagus early in our courtship, but the crowns never took and we ended up with an empty raised bed and dashed hopes. We finally decided to give it another try this year using Jersey Knight hybrid plants we purchased from Debaggio’s Herb Farm & Nursery.

We selected a spot on the north side of the backyard, which gets full sunlight. Michael dug up the sod and moved it to some of the bare spots in the yard, then he filled the space with a mix of topsoil, manure, peat moss, and compost.

I arranged the asparagus plants about 8 to 12 inches apart, according to the instructions from Debaggio’s. We started with six plants, then depending on how these do we may add more next year.

Michael put each plant in the ground, making sure the root system was covered but not too deep. Once we start mowing the yard in a couple weeks we’ll mulch the bed with grass clippings to discourage weeds.

Asparagus needs time to develop roots and produce enough shoots to eat, so they should stay in the ground for two years before the first harvest. That seems like a long time off, but we’ve planted many things that require similar patience, such as rhubarb and the fruit trees and bushes. When it comes to asparagus, we don’t mind waiting.

Resources

Mother Earth News – Growing Asparagus

Wikipedia – Asparagus

Early Spring Blossoms

Andrea — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 19:29:01 +0000

I think the ground hog’s crystal ball has a crack in it, because spring did not come early in our area. Overnight freezing temperatures persisted through the end of March, plus cold rainy weekends kept us indoors, so we are finally getting out to the garden this week. Instead of being in the kitchen, I’m outdoors every day planting in the beds that Michael has prepared, updating the garden journal, and making plans for future growing areas. Yes, we are expanding the garden again. So instead of a recipe today, here are some photos of the early fruit blossoms in our garden. Hurray for spring!

Plum blossoms.

First cherry blossoms.

Peach blossoms.

Renee’s Garden Giveaway

Andrea — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 18:10:27 +0000

A couple years ago I spotted seeds from Renee’s Garden in a local nursery. I was drawn to the herbs, particularly the slow-bolt cilantro, a variety that holds its leaves longer when the heat of summer sets in. As I’ve tried more of their seeds—haricot verts, dwarf cucumbers, Thai Queenette basil—I’ve been very pleased with their performance in the garden. This year I plan to try their Cinderella pumpkins, Easter egg radishes, Super Bush tomatoes, and padron peppers, and probably a few others that have caught my eye.

The seed performance is important, but it’s only part of why we like Renee’s Garden. Owner Renee Shepherd has been a leader in sustainable organic gardening for over 25 years and her company does not sell chemically treated or GMO seeds. Shepherd has contributed to a number of publications and speaks at national and regional garden shows and conferences, and her company donates seeds to educational programs and organizations around the world. They also offer a fundraiser program for schools and non-profits. In 2010 they began offering a new line of seeds, Cornucopia Seeds, which are value-priced packets of the same high quality seeds.

Giveaway

Renee’s Garden has become one of our favorite companies, and we would like to share a little of the Renee’s Garden love with you. We’re offering $25.00 gift certificates from Renee’s Garden to two lucky readers, which will help you purchase seeds to get your garden started. And if you are growing your own food (or farming, hunting, foraging), we hope you will join us for Grow Your Own! To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment below telling us what you want to plant in your garden. Any kind of garden is fine, whether indoor, outdoor, containers, hydroponic, etc.

Rules

Renee’s Garden only ships to the 50 United States and Canada. Apologies to my readers in other countries.
You must leave a correct email address in the email field so I can contact you if you win. Please don’t put your email address in the comment field unless you want a bunch of spammers to find you.
You can earn extra entries by sharing this giveaway on Facebook or Twitter. Please leave a comment for each Facebook post or tweet.
The giveaway closes at 8:00 pm EST on Friday April 8, 2011. Random.org will select the winners and I will contact both winners immediately. Each winner must respond with 48 hours and provide a mailing address for shipping purposes. If a winner does not respond within that timeframe another winner will be selected.
I will announce the winners in this post once it’s official.

Thanks for reading and have fun planning your gardens!

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/reneesgarden

Twitter: http://twitter.com/reneesgarden

[DISCLOSURE: This giveaway is not sponsored by Renee’s Garden or affiliated with Renee’s Garden in any way.]

UPDATE: Congratulations to Erika and Natalie (the Sweets Life), winners of the Renee’s Garden gift certificates!

Weekend Gardening: Starting a Worm Farm

Andrea — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 17:02:46 +0000

We started talking about worms about a month ago, thinking about adding them to our compost to help it along. Michael did the research and we talked it up with the boys, describing how they are beneficial in the garden. The boys started showing an interest, picking up every worm they found on the driveway and sidewalks and asking questions about how they eat, and Builder Guy borrowed Diary of a Worm from the school library to read to his brothers. We were ready.

We ordered our worms from Worms Etc. and received them in just a few days. A pound of worms will compost food scraps from two people, so we started with two pounds and will add more as necessary. The worms are shipped in a white cotton bag with peat moss inside, and the bag is on a bed of shredded corrugated cardboard, which can be used in the worm farm. These particular worms are red wigglers, known for their voracious appetites and ability to thrive in compost. Their castings make excellent fertilizer, which will feed our garden well.

To make our worm farm, Michael bought a black 18-gallon plastic container, drilled a few holes in the sides, and then lined the bottom with pieces of corrugated cardboard.

He added about 4 inches of peat moss, moistened it well, and made a bed of shredded corrugated cardboard in one end and crushed eggshells in the other. The shredded cardboard becomes a bed of sorts and the eggshells feed the worms.

Once the bed was prepped, he added the worms.

The worm farm is safely tucked away under the stairs of our deck, out of direct sunlight. As the worms adjust to their new home, they will eat and propagate, and if fed correctly they’ll double their numbers in about 90 days. As the population grows we’ll transfer some to each compost bin and possibly add another worm bin. Feeding worms properly is important. Just about any kind of kitchen scrap will do, though as with composting we avoid meat and dairy products. We also chop up the scraps and are considering purchasing a cheap blender for really chopping up the scraps, which helps speed the process along, as does drying out and crushing egg shells.

And the boys, our sons that we thought would be interested in the worms since they pick up every worm they find on the sidewalk after a good rain? They didn’t want to get within ten feet of all those wriggly worms. I think it may take a while for them to warm up to our newest garden helpers.