Value of harvest as of 7/20/10: $563

A kitchen gardener's blog

Making Use of Every Inch

August 27, 2010 - One of my gardening goals this year (and I had many), was to make good use of every inch of space in the vegetable garden. To accomplish this I used techniques like intercropping and succession planting. When I did not have a food crop to fill an empty space, I planted flowers to attract beneficials or cover crops to improve the soil. Some combinations were more successful than others.

This bed, where walking onions recently sprouted, worked very well. In March... MORE

Shady Kale

August 23, 2010 - This year, I am experimenting with a new technique for planting fall greens. Looking for something less time consuming than starting transplants in the cooler-than-outside-house, I direct seeded kale and collards under a shade tunnel.



Half inch PVC pipe holds up green mesh shade cloth. Since the shade cloth also keeps flying insects out, I closed the ends of the tunnel with row covers, to make a totally pest proof enclosure. Now I don't have to fight off cabbage butterflies and their larvae, which can devour a small transplant in no ... MORE

Indulge me while I show off...

August 08, 2010 - Look at the melons I grew. The huge muskmelon, called Old Time Tennessee, is very tasty. And I think the little Emerald Gem is just the prettiest melon I have ever seen. I assume the name refers to it's unripe state.





While most things in my garden either failed to germinate, died or were eaten by pest this summer, the melons have thrived. Usually they do poorly for me, however, to date, I have harvested ten. The biggest problem I've had, is cracking, due to long dry spells followed by gully washer rains. I lo... MORE

Protecting Melons from Critters

July 17, 2010 - Recently I sent a morning wrapping my melons and pumpkins. No, I don't plan on giving them as gifts; I want to protect them from the critters. I used old pieces of floating row covers. These are the covers I occasionally spread over plants to protect them from insect damage. I loosely fold pieces of the covers around the fruit, so there is plenty of room to grow. Not only will it keep the cucumber beetles from chewing on the fruit, but I hope it will keep the raccoons and opossums from finding the melons. Last year they always munched on my melons a day of two before I planned on picking... MORE

Critters are Eating my Garden

July 08, 2010 - Cardinals are eating our grapes, mockingbirds the blackberries and tomatoes.
Squirrels ate all the apples and plums and are now working on the peaches.
Chipmunks are eating the cherry tomatoes.
Black swallowtail larve are munching on dill.
Skunks visit the compost pile nightly, sometimes dragging watermelon rhines out and leaving them in the lawn.
I have finally created a deer and rabbit proof barrier around the vegetable garden, so now they both happily dine on my ornamentals.

When I first started gardening, one of my goals was to attract wildlife the yard. I was thrill... MORE

If You Build it, They will Nest

July 02, 2010 - These three posts, hold up wires that support grape vines in my vineyard. If four grape plants qualify as a vineyard. Maybe it is more accurately described as a grape fence. Anyway the deer don't jump it. This spring, the bird house on the first post housed a family of bluebirds. In the third box was a family of wrens, and a foot below the wren house was a cardinal nest.

On the south border of the garden is a second family of blue birds. Mocking birds are building a nest in a honeysuckle and rose covered arbor. There is a robin nesting in a tree near by and a family of bluebirds i... MORE

Flowering Onions

June 09, 2010 - Many yeas ago, captivated by a pretty picture in a bulb catalogue, I ordered one Allium bulb. Money was tight at the time and alliums were expensive. So I hovered over this plant as it emerged and began to grow tall. Finally one day it sent up a single bloom, only to have the stem bent in half by my young son as he played in the garden. I was disappointed that I would not get to enjoy my one and only allium flower. Since the flower was still partially attached to the stem, and figuring I had nothing to lose, I taped the stem back together with medical tape. And to my surprise, it worked,... MORE

Do Grapes Need Thinning?

May 31, 2010 - For the past five summers, I have been anticipating the day the grape vines would cover their support and provide much needed
shade to our deck. Well, this is the year. Not only is the deck cool and shady, but the vines are loaded with grapes for the first time. As we sat there in the shade, my husband said, "shouldn't you remove some of the grapes from each cluster?" "I saw Captain Picard do that on a star trek episode." I remember that episode (or was is a movie), but Picard was not thinning the grapes, he was tying the vines to their support.

But I digress. This conversati... MORE

A Very Toady Day

April 24, 2010 - I had very few slug problems last summer because the chickens loved eating them. Now that I am chicken-less, I have been pondering how I would keep the slugs at bay. Well, problem solved! Yesterday I discovered 2 toads while planting tomatoes. They were partially buried in the loose soil. I wondered if they might be a couple.

Later that evening, I took a flashlight out to the pond to see if I could find the source of the croaking we have been hearing for weeks. There they were, and it was very obvious that they were a couple. In a few week... MORE

Eat your Violets

April 07, 2010 - If I sprayed my lawn for weeds, I would not get to enjoy this lovely scene. Purple/green is my favorite color combo. And violet flowers and leaves are eatable. Not only are they loaded with vitamin C, but they make pretty additions to salads and desserts.
... MORE

Planting Asparagus, Again

April 03, 2010 - I recently planted Asparagus for the fourth time. No one should put in four asparagus patches in one lifetime: it's too much work. While this is only my third house and garden it will be my second asparagus planting in this yard. In my haste to have garden fresh asparagus when we first moved here, I selected the worst spot in my yard to grow asparagus, so I am starting over.

The new spot is protected from strong wind, right outside my potting shed, and close to a water source. I started preparing the soil last summer. I located the chicken tractor there until the girls removed al... MORE

Goats and Cheese

March 12, 2010 - Meet Jasmine the goat. The kids think she's adorable.

Goat's milk makes great cheese. And I was surprised to discover just how easy cheese making is. My best cheeses have been made from unpasteurized milk. Unfortunately in Tennessee, and many other states, it is illegal to sell raw milk for human consumption. So many connoisseurs of homemade, raw milk cheese, end up getting a goat or two.

I buy the Chevre culture here and follow the simple instructions on the pack.... MORE

Chickens: Livestock or Pets?

March 09, 2010 -
I have been pondering this question for days now. Are chickens, like Sunflower (pictured here), livestock or pets? Until recently, I had not given it much thought. But when suddenly, I had to give my four hens away, I realized just how attached I was too them. This got me to thinking... most governing bodies consider chickens livestock, but I have a hunch that most chicken keepers, with small flocks, think of them as pets.



When I first acquired the girls, as one day old chicks, I did not really think of th... MORE

Death, Decay, Dinner

March 04, 2010 -
Our maple tree is dead.

The maple who's flaming red leaves,
against the blue autumn sky,
looked so beautiful from the kitchen window.

The maple over who's roots,
I've patiently cultivated a moss garden.

The maple who's canopy
my son played in.

The maple who's branches
my daughter adorned with trinkets.

We loved that tree.
We'll miss that tree.

But from decay comes new life.

I don't want just any life.
I want fungi, Shiitake mushroom fungi.

So I order spawn.
I drill holes in stump and felled logs.
I... MORE

First Flower of 2010

February 19, 2010 -
It was 56 and sunny today.

After three snow events that resulted in seven snow days from school, this was a welcome change. So I headed out to prune my fruit trees. On the way I noticed this hellebore blooming.


... MORE