Growing Up...Cardinal - Wordless Wednesday

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©Michelle A. Potter

Another Use For...A Strawberry Jar

Besides strawberries, impatiens work well in a strawberry jar. As the impatiens fill out, the jar may no longer be noticeable.

©Michelle A. Potter

Made in China??? - Wordless Wednesday

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©Michelle A. Potter

Hope for Harvest

Each year I look forward to the harvesting of vegetables--seeing the full yellow squash, picking firm blushing tomatoes, and checking for green beans. As I peek under the leaves for peppers and wait for those okra blossoms, I know it will not be long until I am picking harvest. It is one of the many joys of gardening, and I am giddy at the prospect of making salads and cooking dishes with my vegetables.

Every season has its challenges depending on the weather, the variety of vegetable plant, or the abundance of pests. Trying to keep the vegetables healthy using only organic methods is not always easy. Sometimes I must relinquish a hope because a particular plant or bed has been ravaged by a rabbit, raccoon, an insect pest, or some disease. I usually do not take it lightly because my hopes were high, and I had already planned meals and relished the thought of not only the taste of that vegetable but the odor of it after I picked it from its stalk or vine.

Over the years, I have learned to do a few things that help keep my harvest healthy, so I can experience the full gamut of joy at a garden well-served and well-tended.

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Green Bean Rust

To prevent it, I keep the beds clean prior to planting. Once in a while, I sprinkle sulphur or copper fungicide on the leaves. If it shows up, I remove those leaves or the entire plant so it does not spread--burying the foliage or plant. Afterwards, I wash my garden gloves to prevent the spread of the spores.

Blossom End Rot

The blemish of the blossom end rot is not as bad as having to cut most of the tomato off before eating it which seems like such a waste. Blossom end rot is caused by an imbalance of calcium which prevents the plant from balancing moisture levels. I put eggshells around the base of the plant and dig it in a bit. This works very well.

Bell Peppers Failing to Yield

I get my hopes up high when I see the blooms on the pepper plants--looking forward to stuffed peppers, fresh bell peppers in my salads, and peppers with beef and onions over rice. The smell of fresh bell peppers is intoxicating. I cannot resist taking one up to my nose and breathing in that delicate pepper odor each time I pick one. However, my hopes are dashed when soon I see small buds of peppers on the ground, fruit buds that formed but dropped. Peppers can be very sensitive to temperature and moisture levels and will not fruit if there is too much nitrogen. To help set fruit, I add Epsom salt to the soil around the base of the plants. This method seems to help the plant stay balanced to fruit.

Japanese Beetles

For several years, this insect had a feast on my flowers, trees, and vegetable plants. I tried several different methods to control it. This is the first year in about six or seven years that I do not need to vigorously keep after them. There are not that many this year, and I am hopeful that all of my work has paid off. I used the Japanese Beetle traps for many years, but this year I do not need them. I have heard the critical view of these traps--that they attract more from further away than would normally be present in my yard. All I know is each year I had fewer and fewer in the traps. I had so few last year it is not worth putting them up this year.

I also plant four o'clocks around those plants that seem to attract them the most, and they reseed themselves year after year. Four o'clocks contain a poison that is toxic to Japanese Beetles.

Each spring I sprinkle Milky Spore powder around those areas that were full of Japanese Beetles the year before. This takes a few years to work, and perhaps that is why things have improved by now.

By attracting birds to my yard with tree berries and lots of plants that offer a bug meal, as well as birdbaths, they have contributed to the control effort. I see them landing in a tree or in the garden and eating Japanese Beetle bugs.

Squash Vine Borer

Hopes can easily be dashed once this pest takes over. I often see the moth flying around the plants. One thing I have noticed is when I have used the bird netting on my plants, I have fewer of these pests. I know they are small enough to get through the netting, but they may not always try. I sprinkle Dipel (bacteria thuringiensis) on the stems every few days. If we have a heavy rain, I sprinkle again. This leaves me with loads of squash and zucchini for casseroles, sauteing, making bread, and even enough to give away to friends.

Squash Bugs

This is a tough one. I have not found the ultimate secret to controlling this pest. Every organic spray or powder or method I have tried has not really done very much. The best way I have found to control them is to alternate beds each year and get rid of them once I see them. This means scraping the eggs off the bottoms of the leaves. When I have an infestation, I take a bucket of soapy water and knock as many as I can into the bucket. If anyone has a better way of controlling them, please share. As of now, I have not seen any, but I know sometimes they show up later.

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This year seems to be a good harvest year. I am picking beans twice a week. Some tomatoes are ready for picking every day. The first okra pod reared its head yesterday. Elsewhere things seem to be doing well. I hope the harvest will be a good one--juicy, flavorful, and abundant!

I am joining Daphne's Dandelions for Harvest Monday and Sweet Bean Gardening for Hope Grows Day.

©Michelle A. Potter

Garden Love

A garden is meant to be treasured and enjoyed--meandered and gazed upon. Many gardens are designed for contemplation and diversion. My garden was designed for these purposes as well and as a place to learn, to experiment, and to have sanctuary from the outside world. Each day my quest is to bring more beauty and more elements of harboring the soul into my garden. I often get lost in that quest, thinking and planning what the next step may be and how to achieve it. I become lost in all the tasks that still need to be done. I see what is missing and what needs to be repaired or redone. And I forget to enjoy it...

But...today, I want to take a moment to stop and behold my garden, smell the fragrant bouquet of the roses, touch the velvety softness of the lamb's ears, and reflect on the serenity of the wind as it wanders through the trees. I want to visit each nook and corner and savor the beauty, the aroma, the textures, and the views.

First, the cottage garden with endless smiling daisies and a bee favorite, mountain mint, is always a satisfying find.

Each year, I find myself favoring a particular plant. One year it was veronica with its endless and straight spikes reaching up to the trees. Another year it was the willowy gold blooms of coreopsis. For the last two years, it has been hydrangea with its full billowy blooms that exude color in various hues.

There are a few places to contemplate, read, or simply be...

Without the wildlife--the birds singing, the hummingbirds lording over feeders, the bees flying and buzzing, and the dance of the butterflies--, the garden would feel lost and empty like the ocean without the sound of seagulls and boat horns. To me, there is nothing more beautiful than witnessing nature live and breathe.

And nature provides in various unexpected ways. A wild blackberry bush provides us with delicious blackberries, and a volunteer pumpkin or gourd cropped up to offer a surprise.

Having a vegetable garden is one of the greatest joys I can imagine. The aroma, the fruiting, and the biting into flavorful homegrown vegetables is heavenly.

Sometimes the camera catches a view I have not seen. The butterfly bush is a treasure as it attracts many butterflies.

It is so satisfying to see the plants fill in all the gaps.

A new sound that adds so much serenity to the front yard is the fountain.

What areas of your garden deserve some garden love?

I am joining Tootsie Time for Fertilizer Friday Flaunt Your Flowers.

©Michelle A. Potter

Quest for Pineapple - Wordless Wednesday

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©Michelle A. Potter

Broken Clay Pot Redux

I use clay pots often for my outdoor potted plants because they are attractive and inexpensive. They come in various sizes and shapes. However, sometimes they chip, crack, or break.

For years, I have been using the chips to cover the drainage holes in the bottom of pots. When I run out of chips, I break the broken pots into smaller pieces. At that rate, it will take a long while to use up the chips. So, for a long while the broken pots sit in the clay pot graveyard.

However, I recently toured a garden that used these broken pots in a unique way. The broken pot is placed slightly in the ground or under mulch with the pot opening facing a leafy plant. This gives the impression that a whole pot is part way in the ground and has been there for quite a while. I decided to try the same in my garden.

Sometimes I start with a small leftover piece...

And then place it below the mulch.

This green pot broke in half, and I used one half here...

...and the other half here.

This pot piece had a large chip out of the side...

Sometimes the rim breaks off the top of the pot...

Other pot pieces...

The benefits of using broken pots and pieces in this way are that I have some additional decorative features in my garden, the pots are reused, and the pots add a bit more shade in the garden beds.

I am linking up with Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest.
©Michelle A. Potter