Early Spring in Georgia

BY SKEETER

March 14, 2015

 Winter kind of skipped us this year here in my GEORGIA GARDENS.  The Forsythia photo above was taken on March of 2015 which is a normal time of year for Forsythia to be blooming.

February 20, 2017

This is the same Forsythia today! Yes almost a month early. Well, it would be a month early had I snapped a photo sooner than yesterday.

 As you can see, the Bush has already gone to green. A month or so ago, I dug up lots of saplings from this bush and planted them in two primary areas of my gardens. And it looks as though, they are going to be happy in their new spots. I still have some more to dig up but talking about it and doing it are two different things. Ha.

 Hyacinth are ahead of schedule as well.  My records show it should be at this stage at March 9 or thereabout.

November 20, 2017

This photo was snapped back in November. Take note of the newly planted hardy Banana Tree. I saw no need to snap a photo of it after the first frost.

January 5, 2017

Jump forward about 6 weeks and the banana tree was waking up from a not so long winters nap!

February 30, 2017

And of course another frost put it to sleep for a second nap. I do not recall that frost date but look at her waking up for a second time! Accompanied by Daffodils and Bridal Wreath Spirea. I do believe I have a Hardy Banana Tree!

The weatherman just announced that we have had 25 days since Dec with temperatures of 75 degrees or more. Here is the 7-Day forecast. At this rate, this will be the warmest Winter on Record in our area! No wonder we are having an EARLY SPRING, In the Garden... 

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Trick or Treat?

BY SKEETER

Well Folks, it was once again time for the Humane Society of Clarksville, Tennessee's annual Fundraiser. "Wags to Witches Fur Ball Bash" is their largest fundraiser of the year. The goal is to get a facility for Low Cost Spay and Neuter up and running. They are well on the way with building and other supplies needed to complete this goal. Such Benefits get them one step closer to fulfilling their Dream! Click HERE to learn more about my hometown's Humane Society...

 

The theme of this years Fur Ball was "Carnival Creeps" I spent several days running from one Goodwill store to the next looking for items that would assist me in creating a Lion Tamers outfit. I came home with a suit jacket, blouse, slacks and an Elvis type gold costume all for a few dollars. I tore out the sleeves of the jacket, cut out a low neck on the blouse (The girls come out at Halloween hee hee), rip the gold sparkles off the Elvis costume and got to sewing. A few feathers on a small headband hat and a crop complete with fun feathers. I came up with the perfect, for me and most importantly, a comfortable Lion Tamer's Costume... 

 The Saint, my Scrooge, wore a cute Tee-Shirt. I must admit, he did try for a costume but it backfired on him. I think he learned his lesson to not order a costume from the internet... The event did not bring out as many fun Costumed Folks as in the past events. But with the Gov't Shutdown, Furloughs, other events going on at the same time, etc. to be expected I reckon. They did have success at raising almost $14,000.00 towards the opening of the Clinic! So not to bad. We had a great time eating, drinking, dancing and visiting with old friends and making new ones until the wee hours of the morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the big draws (money makers) to the Fur Ball is the Pet Photo Contest. Our Cheetah won 2011 and Sheba won 2012 so their Reign as Queen's are over.  Although, we voted on the two beautiful fur babies you see above which won the titles of King and Queen! Mr.Wags; King Richie the recently rescued Dachshund and Miss Wags; Queen Shadow, also a rescue, both belong to some dear friends of ours. We are so happy these two babies will be donning the cover of the next benefit. Being the yearly Calendar. These two are the lucky ones that have their Fur-ever home. Unfortunately, not all cats and dogs are as lucky, Sigh...

The party is over and back to our GEROGIA GARDENS where work continues. We live in the country so we can burn from October-May each year. We had a large pile of debris collected from fallen limbs, pruned trees, etc to make the first of many fires to come until May. Our woods are full of "stuff" that needs to be picked up. That will come once the temps fall a bit more so we know there are no snakes to accidently grab. Yikes! 

While clearing debris off the ground, which has sat for some time, I found two small turtles. Not sure if they are related but the same size. We have never found any this size before have seen plenty smaller and larger ones each year. I failed to snap a photo of the one as I was so upset when I found it that I quickly put it in a safe place to continue resting. 

The second one I came across was awake and wanted to pose for the camera so I rushed into the house and grabbed it. The Saint had formed a bond with the little guy by the time I returned with the camera. 

Aren't they just the cutest things? After snapping a few pix, I put this one near the other turtle and we left them alone. A nice Treat to find!

I also spotted another Treat near where I found the turtles. An egg of some type. As soon as I picked it up I knew it was a dead egg as it was too light with no yolk inside. Strange thing though, I did not see a hole in the egg. I sat it aside and kept raking debris to toss into the fire. My brain never shuts off so the wheels were turning in my head. Too round for a Snake Egg, not round enough for a Turtle Egg plus large for any turtle that would be in our yard. I was thinking, I knew that egg but no way it could be one of those eggs. 

Once the fire was roaring and I had no need to add more debris, I picked up the egg for a closer examination. Yep, I know that egg! It is a Fake Egg that I put into my Fake Bird Nest's in hanging plants on the front porch to deter Finches from nesting in them! Click HERE to see that if you like. I had noticed last year that a few eggs were missing. I was thinking that a Crow was going to have a belly ache. So the question, how did a fake egg get from the front porch all the way to the back of the yard and so far away from the porch? Not a Treat but a Trick, ha...

Back to a wonderful Treat of my beloved Banana Tree!

A day later, Jack Frost dropped by and played a bad Trick on me! We normally do not see frost until after Thanksgiving but this year is different. Oh well, she will only return stronger next year!

My Cheetah kitty

Happy Halloween

Be Safe and have fun playing TRICK OR TREAT, In the Garden...

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

REACHING TOWARDS THE SKY

BY SKEETER

 Today, I shall show you the Good from all the rains we have received this Summer here in my GEORGIA GARDENS.

 

Elephant Ears have grown like crazy! This is year 2 for this clump of Ears by the front porch on the West side of the house. I stand 5.7 and the Ears are way above my head! We hope these do not decide to harm our house foundation. This clump also receives run off from our Air Conditioner. So plenty of water has been in this area and I have only had to hose water them once back in early June.

 Year 2 for this clump and hose watered twice I believe this year. They are starting to mingle with the Bald Cypress Tree so this clump shall be removed and located somewhere else by next spring...

The clumps along this pathway were planted last fall. They were once on the other side of the Cypress Tree and became too crowded. Good thing for the rains, as I had not planned to water in this area. This is far from the house and I don't care to tend anything this far away even though the hose will reach. Just never planned to create gardens in this area. But now that the Saint and I see these beauties, we shall maintain them during drought times. Love the way they hide the tool and wood sheds.

 Now to pull the weeds below them. Yes, rain has brought the weeds as well.

 Year 2 for these clumps of Ears which are located behind the Swing Arbor.

 Love the look from this view but the Ears are overtaking the Tropical Red Canna's. I have the Canna planted behind the swing to the right, left and middle for filling in over time. But I must admit, the green of the Ears shows up and may look better then the Canna. What do you all think?

 Zooming in, you can see the Canna is now under the Ears. Hum, to move the Canna or to move the Ears? Also, in time the small Angel Trumpet you see in the lower middle of pic, will be larger. This was a rouge root I pulled and thought was dead but planted it anyway. It appears, it is far from dead and by next year, should be much larger and blooming.

The way the Elephant Ears are growing, you would think the Banana Tree Clumps would be growing as quickly but no so. They seem to be taking their time about REACHING TOWARDS THE SKY, In the Garden...

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Taking Down the Banana Trees-For Good

I spoke of removing my banana trees in last month's Vegetable Garden Update post, but here is the process, problems and lessons learned post.

First of all let me say, I simply adore banana trees in my garden. I even really really liked the spot I had the bananas growing in. It was the perfect spot-for them, but not for all the other plants growing in that garden. I really have no other spot that would work for these banana trees in my garden so I decided to remove them from Tiger Gardens permanently.

It began one very nice spring day with a shovel and lots of energy. By the early afternoon the shovel was barely holding up, and the gardener lost all of her energy but the banana roots were all gone-hopefully never to return (Update: a few weeks later a few bananas have showed themselves to be very 'Survivor' worthy and came up in the bed. They've since been removed and are destined for Dave from the Home Garden blog at this week's Plant Swap. Dave, be sure to pay close attention to my warnings:) Banana roots are very fibrous, thick and sinewy. They stretch a good 10-12 feet from the plants. The extensive root system is one reason the banana trees are able to sustain themselves so well during the summers even when the weather is dry. I tried to show the fat thick roots in the above picture. They are really very prominent if you look closely at the bottom of the tuber. The roots make for difficult digging but the rhizomes were really the issue for my energy and shovel. Imagine gigantic canna and/or iris rhizomatous roots that grew three feet down and were more than one foot around. Then imagine there are 20 of these tubers with gigantic rhizomes coming off from them in every direction and criss crossing one another. If you can imagine this mess you can imagine the huge job I had digging out these roots.
The shovel had issue with the big tubers because the tubers were really tough and stringy. Look in the above photo. I am holding a part of the tuber away the other part in order to show you the strings and fibers in the tuber. The tubers were quite starchy like and I wonder if they are edible? I can imagine one tuber would sustain a whole family for one week. It was pretty difficult getting all of the tubers out of the ground but I think I finally did-Not. In the process I found several new banana sprouts. I potted them up for sale at the MG plant sale or plant swap. All banana trees will go with a warning:

Site Musa bajoo carefully because you never ever want to have to dig them out. They need full or partial sun in good soil with an area about 10 feet around where they can spread to their heart's content. Be forewarned, they will spread.

in the garden....

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team,

In the Garden

Veggie Garden Update-April 2010

From In the Garden

I have a lot to cover in this month's vegetable garden update. But first, the picture above shows my other tree peony. It is a highly fragrant tree peony that has been growing here two years (the pink one has been here one year). The yellow one did not bloom last year but that's okay, I'll give it time. I am most happy with this one bloom this year because I can see things to come. Now on the the vegetable garden...

I think I'll start with planting the hay bales. I mentioned in last month's post I would be planting in hay bales. This is a technique I have heard of and wanted to try. My vegetable garden is finite in space and even more finite in space that gets full sun. I thought a couple of hay bales in the sunniest spot of the garden would be just the ticket for some pepper plants. As it so happened I had two hay bales left over from last fall. The first thing I had to do was remove hay in order to form a 'pot' in the hay for the plant and soil. Removing the hay was not an easy thing to do. I finally resorted to using my clippers to literally pull the hay out of the holes, kind of like extracting teeth. I pulled quite a bit of hay out too. I wanted the holes to be about the size of a quart sized pot or larger. I expect the roots of the vegetables will grow into the hay but also wanted a good sized soil area for the roots.
Once the hay was removed (two holes per bale) I added some 10-10-10 fertilizer, a layer of compost and some good garden soil. Into this went two 'Ichiban' eggplants, one sweet banana pepper and one green pepper plant. No one but me likes eggplant here but I just happen to love it so had to fit one or two plants into the garden. The cages are all in place and my little plants have nothing better to do than to grow. We'll see how it goes. The hay maintains a ton of water as anyone who has ever tried to pick up a wet hay bales knows. This moisture should help the plants sustain themselves this summer. I think it is going to work great!
Now on to the veggies. The peas all came up and are doing fairly well. I planted lettuce seedlings on the outside of the two rows of peas. We love lettuce and fresh peas in the Ramsey household.
Here is even more lettuce, along with green onions. There is more lettuce and mesclun in the coldframe that is also located in this bed. We have plenty of lettuce. Lettuce is one of the most rewarding veggies you can grow. You can pick a big bowl of lettuce in just a few minutes, then pick another big bowl of lettuce from the same plants a few days later. It is known as the 'pick and come again' vegetable in my garden. I just love it. My beds are multi purpose so please excuse the coldframe. I am leaving it in place this summer as it will not harm my plans for this bed. The A-frames are in place as you can see from the above picture. On these I will grow bushel gourds and perhaps some cantaloupe. My hope is the vines will shade the lettuce and I'll have greens for a while. We shall see. Not too optimistic with this plan because it gets so hot so fast that I don't even think shade will keep the lettuce from bolting. In the top left corner you can just barely see the hay bales. They are the ones the eggplant and peppers are planted in. The shade cast by these will not slow down the gourd seeds once I have planted them; which I'll do sometime toward the end of the month. Gourds, cucumbers and beans like it somewhat hot with a good warm soil in order to get off to a good start.
The tomato plants are planted. I may have over planted this year but after last year's dismal showing of the tomatoes you can't blame me for over compensating this year. I planted seven plants total and the varieties are: Celebrity, Early Girl, Better Boy, and Big Boy. I am not much on starting my own tomato seeds so I settle for what is available in the big box stores. I think these should do fine for us. The tomato bed is just past the round banana bed and I also planted a few in the triangular bed above.

Now to the circular bed. This is my banana bed. You may recall the 20' tall banana 'trees' growing in this bed last summer. You can see the dried stalks above in the half of the bed closest to the camera. On the other side of this bed are red cabbage that are growing fine. Well, I had issues with the bananas and contemplated moving them to another spot last summer. I could not find a good spot and so enjoyed the bananas that I left them in place. The problem with the bananas is that they shade my vegetable garden in a really big way. I left well enough alone last summer simply because I liked the bananas and they made a wonderful focal point for this large garden in the middle of my yard. There has been a change this year. Drumroll please...I have decided to remove all of the bananas from my garden.

I have decided to remove them from the vegetable garden not only because of the shade they give to the vegetables (not good for vegetables) but also I want to reduce maintenance and I want the valuable bed space for more vegetables. I will be preparing a post on removing the banana trees but just so you'll know, it is NOT an easy job. I have potted up the baby bananas and will be selling them at the MG plant sale. This bed will be graced with a handmade cedar arbor that I made from trees cut down on this lot of land. I will add annuals to the outside of the circle and either grow vines such as watermelon or cantaloupe, or beans on the arbor. At any rate I'll think of something and won't have to deal with the intense shade the bananas caused in the vegetable garden. Nor will I have to limb them up or cut them down anymore. I can't say I won't miss the bananas because I will, but it was time for a change in my garden. More editing for me I guess. It seems to be the motto for this spring at Tiger Gardens. Edit, edit, edit! Reduce maintenance!

So, that is a lot to cover with the hay, veggies and bananas. What's going on in your vegetable gardens this spring?

in the garden....

My daughter is being married to her Prince Charming this week. As such, I'll be in and out of the net with wedding festivities. I'll visit with everyone when I can. Thanks for understanding.

Please let us know how your vegetables are doing. Even if I am not here to respond, there are many interested readers who would like to hear about your vegetable gardens.

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team,

In the Garden

Sleeping Banana Tree

By Skeeter
Have I mentioned it is cold in my Georgia Garden? Well it is therefore, everything is sleeping for the winter. Just look at the banana tree snoozing away for me. Hum, I hope it is snoozing away and not dead from the extreme cold we have had in recent weeks. We failed to Cut the Banana Tree or mulch it like Tina and Mr. Fixit do to their plant.
Time got away from us with all the rain we have had so the dead foliage remains in the planter. The plant is located right by the exhaust of the gas heat so I am hoping that maybe the warmth from the Unit has kept her feet warm and happy during these cold weeks of winter. We will know come spring if she is dead or a SLEEPING BANANA TREE, In the Garden....
Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team,

In the Garden

Some Concrete Leaf Castings Using Banana and Other Leaves

From In the Garden

Soon the banana 'trees' will be gone due to the impending hard freezes we are sure to get as we draw closer to winter. The tropical look of the awesome bananas will be but a memory, so in an effort to enjoy the banana leaves in the garden all year round I made some banana leaf concrete castings. This is a craft I had planned to do last year but like all crafts and good intentions time got in the way and by the time I got around to making some castings I realized all the banana leaves were in the compost bin:( I promised myself it would not happen again this year so let's look at what I did. This is my first attempt at making any leaf castings and I must say I was very worried I would not be successful so I was most meticulous in preparing for the casting and choosing my steps carefully. Steps one saw me carefully choosing my banana leaf. Most of the large banana leaves are beyond my reach and are about 5 feet long. The few that are low enough I can reach are new leaves and they are a bit smaller. I chose a leaf that is about 2 1/2-3 feet long. The small size was key because I was afraid the great weight of the concrete would break the casting. I placed the leaf face down on a mounded pile of sand. I then placed Saran wrap over the leaf and sprayed the Saran wrap with non-stick spray. I am now ready for my next step.
I had some leftover hardware cloth from another project so I made use of it for this project. I used tin snips to cut a metal form that was about 2" smaller than the banana leaf. This mesh will be inserted into the center of the concrete when I am piling on the concrete. This is a key step in my opinion as it gives the concrete stability (just a wee bit). You can see the hardware cloth above. This was the most painful part of the whole process because raw edges of metal can be mighty sharp. It took a bit of cutting to get it right and was not fun.
I mixed my preferred concrete mix in another wheelbarrow. I used one part of Portland cement (no sand/rock mix please-only cement) with three parts of fine sand. I added a bit of concrete reinforcer to the mixture then added some water. I mixed enough of the concrete mix that I thought would be adequate for a banana leaf about 2" thick. I estimated on the amount but came out just fine. I used a cake pan to estimate the amount of concrete mix I would need for my leaf. The cake pan I used was two inches deep and half as long as the leaf, so I planned to double the cake pan in concrete mix. I then added one complete pan full of sand to my wheelbarrow, filled the cake pan up 1/2 way with more sand then topped it off with the Portland cement. An easy way to get the one part cement to three parts sand. When mixing the concrete I added only enough water to make the mixture resemble the consistency of frosting. It must be wet enough to stick together, yet not so wet as to fall in sloppy piles or so dry as to crumble. This is an important part and if you take your time it will be simple. Remember it is always easier to add more water than to take it away.
Now the fun part begins. I began adding the concrete mixture to the leaf trying to keep the concrete in the bounds of the leaf. Initially I added about one inch of concrete covering the entire leaf then I placed the mesh on top of the wet concrete and added more concrete. I was careful to round out the sides and molded a somewhat flat area on the back so the leaf would not rock when it is set in the garden. I covered the whole casting with a plastic garbage bag and waited exactly 2.5 days (about 60 hours). I checked the leaf casting and to my surprise it came up extremely easily and was as solid as could be. I then removed the casting from the plastic wrap and leaf and rested it on the ground to let it cure for a few more days. Be very gentle moving leaves at this point because it is when castings are most fragile. This is also a good time to smooth the edges if you did not get them exactly right when molding them. It is easy to smooth the edges with an old butter knife or putty knife. Do it gently. The new leaf will continue to cure for weeks but after a few days of resting it should be solid enough that you can work with it to decorate it if you so desire.
Here are the two completed banana leaf castings. After so much success with the first single banana leaf casting I made another one using the same leaf as a mold. I also had enough concrete to make up a few castings of brugmansia leaves. Brugmansia leaves are large and have great veining so they work well. Some large leaves like cannas will not work well for leaf castings because they do not have good veining. The two brugmansia leaves joined the two banana leaf castings on my work table in the garage.The last step in the process was painting or staining the leaf castings. For this I used a concrete stain and concrete primer. I first primed the leaves well on both sides then applied a dark blue/green stain to both sides of the castings. I let the stain soak in for a bit then wiped off excess stain with a rag. This process ensured the leaf veins would stand out prominently.

And here are the completed castings. One will grace my garden and the other will be a Christmas gift to one of my daughters. Shhh, don't tell her. The brugmansia leaves will also become Christmas gifts for my family and friends. I have also made some hosta leaves and am having great fun experimenting with leaf castings lately. I must say though that this project is not so easy as some other concrete projects I've taken on. They can be done successfully the first time around but expect some failures too.

The large banana leaves can be used as birdbaths outside because they do hold water. You could also make a butterfly drinking station out of them by adding some mud and gravel. I think this is what I'll do with mine. The smaller brugmansia leaves can be strategically placed around a garden for decorations or hung on fences or even interior walls. They can also be used for bird feeders or anything else you'd like to do with them....

in the garden....

P.S. I've never been a fan of ABC's Extreme Home Edition but I can say I am most excited when they come to town. This is the second time this area has been the subject of the show. The last time was in 2004 in Clarksville, and this time they are remaking a house in my very own town of Woodlawn. What a way to shake up a small town and create excitement! Huge buses, trucks and contractors are all over the place and pass by daily. We hope to be there when they say "Move that bus!" on Friday. I think it will be an experience for Jimmy so he'll be front and center if we can make it. I might even watch the show when it airs too:)

Banana Trees Grow Very Happily in Tennessee

From In the Garden

It is time for an update on the banana 'trees' here in my garden. I thought it time because every single time someone comes over they remark how nice the garden is then their eyes for some reason get glued to these banana trees in the center of the vegetable garden and that is all they think about. It doesn't matter how nice the Angel Trumpets (shown above right next to the banana trees), or the Sunny Perennial Border or all the other flowers and ornamentals look in the garden, no, the one thing that all folks come back to looking at and talking about are the banana trees.

The banana trees have become quite a focal point for my landscape. It is probably all my fault. I planted one single plant three years ago in a prominent location in the center of the vegetable garden. I even made the banana tree its own bed found here. The soil was all native soil heavily amended with home made compost. The pH is a near perfect 7.0 and the area of the banana bed gets the most sun I can find in my garden-about 3-6 hours a day during the growing season depending on the angle of the sun. This bed gets the most sun when the sun is directly overhead in June and July; less hours in the spring, late summer and fall. I have added no fertilizer to this bed and give the bananas no special attention at all, though they probably need a compost boost as it has been a few years since I've added any compost. Put that on the fall chore list for the vegetable garden-check.

To give you some idea of the scale of the banana trees I measured the PVC arbor at the front of the vegetable garden. The height of the PVC arbor is 12 feet at its highest. You can see the banana trees are about 6-8 feet taller than that so I estimate the banana trees to be close to 20 feet tall. They are simply incredible and do make a gigantic focal point in my landscape. They can be seen from out front and everywhere you go in the backyard.

As long as the temperatures stay moderate these hardy Japanese bananas will continue to grow new leaves. The new leaves are huge and very fresh and new when compared to the old leaves. The old leaves usually get shredded by the western winds coming in this time of the year but that is okay. Other than placing the bananas next to my home on the eastern side of the house I can do nothing to stop the winds.

These 'trees' have no woody fiber in them at all. They are mostly all water and long bits of tissue that is closely knit together. The base of the trunks are about 12' in diameter and up. They are simply works of wonder. To see a good pictures of what is inside the banana trunk do look at this post found here. Once the first hard freeze comes these 20 foot tall banana trees will be laying on the ground in a big mass. We usually try to cut them down prior to that happening but if not, it is fine. After the debris is disposed of I sometimes mulch the bed with hay, sometimes not but I do not dig them up and bring them in the house. Can you imagine how hard that would be?? These bananas have wintered over for three winters now with no problems. I place all debris from the current season's growth into the nearby compost bin. The bananas will have completely composted by next summer and will go back....

in the garden....to help provide for next year's banana trees.

Veggie Garden Update-September 09

Skeeter's Veggie Garden Update:

Since we had a late start with our Georgia Veggie Garden planting, we are still plucking goodies such as Sweet Peppers, Tomatoes and Jalapeno Peppers.

Unless a Cucumber is hiding amongst the viney mess I have in the garden, the last of the Cucumbers were taken to Virginia for the Saints parents to enjoy.

I am happy to say we finally picked our first Cherokee Purple Tomato! I am still finding it difficult to believe that I actually grew this tomato from a small seed passed along from Dan. The tomato was not as purple in color as I thought it would be as you can see in the above picture. The purple tomato is side by side to the Red Roma's. The taste was so yummy on our sandwich being juicy and mild in flavor just as we like our tomatoes. Thanks again Dan for the wonderful experience from your little gift to me!
Hopefully we will have more Purple Tomatoes soon as they continue to grow on the plant.
Another thing taking off in the Garden is the 2 Gourd plants. I have one Viney Mess in the veggie garden. As you can see, those two plants have taken over the entire garden and even trailed over the fence and in the open being vulnerable to the Rabbits and Deer.
I don't know if rabbit and deer like gourds but so far they have not touched them. I have many inside the secured fenced-in area so I know I will be making more birdhouses next spring. Yippee, as that was an awesome experience!
That Banana Tree continues to grow taller each day! It is amazing what a plant can do when placed in the correct spot.
I counted 7 baby Banana Plants popping up from the main stalk. Wow, that is one happy Nanner!

I am still plucking Basil in the Herb bed but the Parsley, Chives and Cilantro will not germinate for me. I have tried two plantings and am guessing, I have some old dud seeds... I will talk more about the Basil a bit later...

Now lets jump up to Tennessee and see what's happening at Tiger Gardens...

Tina's Veggie Garden Update:

I am not going to say this year's vegetable garden was a failure, but it was not the success it usually is either. I waited too long to plant my cucumbers and zucchini, the garden is shaded by the bananas, and I just did not keep good records on what I planted and have grown so I've been a very bad vegetable gardener. I need to fix it next year or just take it all out.

Nonetheless, we've been harvesting cucumbers. There are enough to eat fresh but I won't be making any pickles this year. I planted these on the first of July.
Here is long shot of one two of the A-frames. I am growing squash, gourds and watermelons (already harvested) on these A-frames. The other A-frame has the cucumbers growing on it. I made three A-frames and move them around as needed based on my bed sizes and how I rotate the crops. The A-frames are all sized differently and made in such a way that using them is flexible.
Here is one of the squash (possibly a gourd?) growing on the A-frames. I also have some cool white egg-shaped gourds growing here in this location. More on them later.
Here is another long shot of the bean bed. I purchased the nylon trellises and attached them between fence poles. These trellises have lifetime guarantees and are quite user friendly. I really like them for the beans. We've harvested many beans even with planting them half way through the season they are doing great. They look kind of short and that is most likely due to some shade in this garden-blame the bananas and trees. I'm not sure what I will wind up doing about this situation. Something has to give.
And finally, the first zucchini of the season. During the summer I usually eat zucchini daily and I've missed them this summer since I planted these so late. I dice these and fry them with onions in butter, then add an egg, fry it all up, and eat for lunch. It is a simple nutritious meal that my mother used to make for us kids.

I can't see any benefit in planting a late summer crop. The same diseases and the same pests still affect the plants. Next year I plan to organize the garden better so that I can get maximum benefit from just a select few crops. Either that or I am going to have find another spot for the vegetables. My trees are growing in faster than I would have ever thought they could. It will be just a few years before the entire garden is covered by a canopy.

We are still harvesting yellow tomatoes, some pear tomatoes, and tons of cherry tomatoes. The green peppers have gone crazy. We have plenty of them to freeze but not of the tomatoes. That is a strange thing. I will miss the fresh frozen tomatoes this winter but I'll adjust.

It is time to begin planting some fall crops. I intend to seed some carrots, radishes, beets, and lettuce. I've already planted starts of lettuce. I love fresh lettuce and can't seem to get enough of it during the winter, but I endeavor to work on that issue....

in the garden....