EatSeasonally.com

Swinging and Sipping with Morning Glories and Moonflowers

2010-09-09

Every spring I set gardening goals for the year. For many years, I only had one goal: food first. I know, it sounds more like a Mantra. Anyway, this year, after many years of "food first", the rest of the garden was looking neglected, so I set three goals:

Stay ahead of the weeds
Don't forget the ornamentals
Enjoy the garden

I now have weeder's elbow, same as tennis elbow. My flower beds are'nt as gorgeous as I imagined, and I still cannot sit and enjoy the garden without jumping up to pull a weed or deadhead a plant. However, I am really am working hard on goal three. Most mornings I find time to take a cup of tea (made with fresh, garden herbs of course) out to the garden. I force myself to sit still and drink the whole cup before jumping up to water something.

This morning I jumped up for my camera. My, "don't forget the ornamentals" goal that had prompted me to cover the swing frame with vines, had finally payed off. The swing looked just like I imagined in the spring, as I seeded morning glories and moonflowers at the base. Actually, I think I imagined more flowers and less leaves...

A Chipmunk Under the China Cabinet

2010-09-04

Sharing my Sungold tomatoes with chipmunks is bad enough, but I draw the line at sharing my dining room with them. For the past 24 hours we have had a chipmunk living under the china cabinet.

I have been doing a lot of moaning this summer about all the garden damage done by these rodents. Seems everyone in Nashville has an abundance of the little creatures this year. Usually they only damage a few strawberries, but this year they have sampled everything. They seem to especially love the Sungold cherry tomatoes, which happen to be my favorite. I thought the three foot tall chicken wire fence that keeps the rabbits out would also keep the chipmunks out, but these little devils can squeeze through the holes. So, I have been grudgingly sharing my produce all summer.

Yesterday, I heard an unusually loud ruckus, as my adolescent son's, adolescent cat, came through the cat door. Upon investigation I discovered Snickers with a chipmunk dangling from his mouth. Since Snickers had him by the tail, the chipmunk was unharmed, and quickly sought refuge under the china cabinet as soon as the cat let go. All attempts to scare the chipmunk from under the cabinet and out the door failed. So last night we went to bed with a chipmunk in our dining room.

Note: We finally scared him out a window the next morning.

Making Use of Every Inch

2010-08-27

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 I filled it with brassicas like cabbage and broccoli. In late May I transplanted okra between the brassicas. A few weeks later, when the broccoli and cabbage were removed, I planted melons between the okra. Now that the melons are finished, I have seeded lettuce in the cool shade of the tall okra and edged the bed with walking onions. By time the okra is removed, it will be cooler and the lettuce will do fine in full sun. I can harvest the onions soon as scallions, or later as small onions. I will leave a few growing until next summer, to produce tiny bulls for planting next fall.

Shady Kale

2010-08-23

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 time.

So far, I am happy with this set up. And when it gets really cold outside, I can drape thick row covers or plastic over the hoops. I have started this experiment with two 13 foot long tunnels, if all goes well, I will add more next year. I know a lot of my plants would have done better during this hot summer with some shade.

Okra Masala

2010-08-15

I don't fry many things, but I love fried okra. Most of the okra we eat is fried. However this dish may change things.

Indulge me while I show off...

2010-08-08

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 lost six melons that cracked and rotted on the vines. So I have started picking them as soon as I see cracks, even if they're not ripe. Under-ripe, they're still better than anything you could buy at the supermarket.