Vacation Time in Tennessee

Spent one of our mornings at the historic Carnton Plantation.  Although the outside has seen some wear and tear, the insides have been restored back to the original time period - sans carpeting in most rooms, so as to display the blood stains of the wounded Confederate Soldiers.  Alas, they don't allow indoor photography, so you will have to visit to see it; however, there are no such restrictions on the outside or in the garden. 

And, of course, being of the homo sapiens jardinis species, a brief hour in the gardens was just a tease. (Don't forget to click on the photo to view the full sized picture).

I was somewhate disappointed by the gardens, thinking they would be well tended; however, there were weeds in the beds and cherry tomatoes seemed to have been allowed to sprout and grow randomly.  And, of course, I was visiting at the end of the season, so the bearded irises were sporting berries and most of the flowers were beginning to put out seed heads.  Still, there were many delightly little vingets to be had.  For example, bees that were as big as the first joint of my thumb and darn near as fat.  Their favorite food? Some purple runner beans.

And, the little copper colored butterflies that I chased in my youth, hundreds of them enjoying the late summer bounty.

I love my little garden in the desert; but sometimes, I really miss living in Dixie.

Early June

I am happy to report that there were no posts for June 2010 because my husband is home from Afghanistan, I am enjoying having him back home, and I was out in the garden actually gardening! Goodness and blessings all around me!

Early June is the time of mouthwatering peas! None of them actually made it into the house this year. Granddaughter and I grazed them in the garden and fed the shells and vines to the chickens. At the end of the season, over the course of a week, the vines were cut and tossed into the chicken run for chickie entertainment and nutrition.

Early June also foreshadows the bounty of Deep Summer and Autumn. The sunflowers in bed two that looked lonely and far apart are a dark green and foot tall in Early June. The promise of giant, golden globes in a few more months.

I have successfully murdered 4 raspberry bushes to date. Young, Innocent things, bought as bare root plants ready to leap forth and take over the world. But alas, dogs, searing heat, and early neglect and other abuse led to all of their demise. But this year, it appears, that I may finally be successful. A Walmart plant, supposedly of "thornless black raspberry" parentage, thrives and began flowering in June. My keys to finally having some success? Plant early - before the searing heat of summer. Water daily this first year. Mulch heavily. Feed lightly.

Spring is Tentatively Here

The Desert Mallow is tentatively blooming. Most of the buds are still tightly furled, but a few brave buds have burst open in all their orange glory. This is a wild flower here in Northern Nevada, although this one has decided to become a permanent resident of my herb bed. I thought they re-seeded every year, but, apparently, given water and food, they can become a perennial. I wish they smelled as pretty as their little one inch blooms look, but, alas, they pretty much stink. But the bugs love them, and when the winds are calm, bees, flies, and wasps of all kinds flock to these flowers in droves. If there are any volunteers this year, I should plant them where I would like to grow squash. So far, to get any fruit set, I've had to hand pollinate both zukes and yellow squash.Hand pollinating can be relaxing and enjoyable, but sometimes, I'd just rather have Mother Nature take care of it.

This second photo depicts some of the still tightly curled Desert Mallow buds. In a few more weeks, there could be hundreds of bright orange flowers - but for the moment, there are less than a dozen of them.

Other plants that are growing and even blooming, in spite of a long, cold, dreary spring include my upright rosemary and the tough as nails bearded irises. Herbs are also doing well - especially the oregano, its cousin, sweet marjoram, and the lemon balm. The lemon balm enjoys this weather so much that many seeds from last year have germinated and are working on their first and second set of leaves.

Garden Update

What chickens don't eat, they will trample or tear up just for fun. So, between hail in June and ever growing chicken feet and beaks, not many of the dozen tomato plants have survived. I am convinced, however, that nothing short of pulling the plant out will kill Yellow Pear. This hardy soul only has one tomato on it right now, but it is turning that lovely yellow color, and if I get to it before the chickens, I could have a sweet bit of tomato heaven in the next day or two.

Male flower buds on the Eight Ball Zucchini plant. The one that is coloring up is ready to use for pollination. I rarely wait until they are actually open these days.
This is a Mexico Midget tomato. The seed is several years old and I was surprised it was so viable. I set out several, but this plant is the lone survivor of this type. There are a few thumbnail sized green tomatoes on it. Unlike Yellow Pear, it does not seem to set fruit when the temps are in the mid to high 90s.

I know, I know, I'm not supposed to let basil flower. Still, I had some basil in my (still store-bought) eggs this morning along with some of the rosemary that you can almost see in this photo. Also added a pinch of fresh oregano. Yum!

Came home to find...

The scapes were barely reaching for the sun and the buds just beginning to fill out when I left my little plot of sand to spend the weekend in California. What a lovely site to return to. Bearded Irises are among my favorite flowers. They are heat and drought resistant, can take sub-freezing winters and have silky, delicate looking flowers in a rainbow of colors.

Blustery Spring Day & Early April Photos

Nectarine blossom, April 6th, 2008...

The nectarine tree officially burst into bloom on April 6th! First of the orchard trees to bloom this year. The two more mature apple trees were only 13 days behind the nectarine, though - opening their first buds today. (Unfortunately, there were 40 MPH winds, so I was not able to photograph them, although I spend a goodly amount of time standing in the sand-blasting wind just gazing at them.) The two younger trees do not look like they have flower buds on them - only leaf buds. Ditto for the sweet cherry. All the trees in the orchard look happy, though, with bright green leaves and/or leaf buds.

More nectarine bud photos from April 6th...

In spite of 40 MPH winds and sand-blasting, I hung out in the garden for several hours during the late morning. Had a peaceful, therapeutic time. Even got some garden "chores" done.

Lemon Balm in Bed No. 1

Raised Bed No. 1

• Watered
  
• Transplanted some oregano from the original patch to another location in the same bed - pulled it away from some bearded irises that it was trying to invade - and couldn't just "throw it away!"
  
• Speaking of bearded irises, they survived the winter just fine and most have leaves more than 6 inches high now.
  
• A dozen sugar snap peas have broken ground
  
• Earlier in the week I discovered 2 more lemon balm clumps hiding in the tomato debris from last year - bringing the total to 3 clumps! They don't really have a pleasant lemon smell or flavor - kind of have turpentine undertones - but anything that will survive the desert and our winters is totally welcomed!
  
• Earlier in the week also discovered a small patch of sweet marjoram. Looks and smells very similar to the oregano, but the leaves are not fuzzy and the smell is not nearly so pungent. Another survivor from last year - that's 3 herbs I've found that will over winter here (Sweet Marjoram, Lemon Balm, Oregano)
  
• Desert Mallow has 3 very tiny leaves at the base of last year's dead wood - so I shall say it is officially awake
  

Closeup of new strawberry growth, 4 April 2008...

Raised Bed No. 2

• Watered
  
• Strawberries look healthy and undaunted by whirling winds
  
• A few stray garlic are up - not as robust as the main crops - these were small cloves planted more for decoration and because I cannot stand to throw any plant away that might possibly grow
  
• Crocus leaves are still up and healthy looking, although the few crocus that bloomed in this bed are long gone
  
• more than 25 sugar snap peas are up and have their first true leave - planted some more to fill in the gaps where nothing seems to have germinated
  

Happy Garlic, 6 April 2008...

Raised Bed No. 3 & In Ground Garlic Bed

• Watered both
  
• Both are devoted just to garlic - mostly hard necks
  
• The garlic in the south west corner of the in-ground garlic has "split" and has two stems - I don't think it will form a good bulb - I heard that water stress or cold stress can cause this. The others appear to be fine.
  

Obviously, I should probably be posting more regularly as a lot is going on right now - like the weeds are very happy and such...sunflower seeds planted a little over a week ago have germinated... I planted more sunflower seeds this afternoon... and, well, I'd rather BE in the garden than write about it...

Ok, a few more weed photos and that's it for tonight...

The flowers for this one are particularly difficult for me to get in focus... not sure why, but this is the best one so far...(4/6/08)

It comes in yellow, too...(4/6/08)

Ok, that's it for tonight. Good night.

Spring is Sprung

Nectarine bud ready to unfurl. This is it's first Spring in our tiny orchard and I did not expect it to actually bloom. Of course, it is only the beginning of April, so I suspect we will have several light frosts and at least one more hard frost before the cold has left us for good - meaning that any fruits formed of these flowers will probably be frost blasted and killed sometime between now and the middle of May. Since the tree is not yet really established, even if it did set fruit that survived, I suppose that I should take them off, any way, so that the tree can spend its energy getting better situated.

The weeds are starting to bloom, also. This one has delicate lavender flowers. The color shows up a little washed out in this photo.

More weed flowers.

Something new that is now germinating.

And finally, some action in the garden area. This is a close up of a sugar snap "edible pod" pea seedling. I've planted about 200 of these babies, so far, but only about 20 have germinated as of today. Hopefully more will soon follow their lead.

Other action in the garden are includes: Bearded Irises have broken dormancy and are about 6 inches tall, Garlic is growing like a weed, Cherry tree leaf buds fattening up, Apple trees have little leaves, daffodils are blooming, crocus flowers are all gone.