Our son Jimmie gave us some flowers to plant when we saw him in early August. Jimmie worked for Hines Nursery and knows his stuff. He said it wasn’t too late to plant the Dahlias and that we would be impressed with the flowers. They grow to be as big as dinner plates. Well, they sure did. Nancy picked 4 or 5 huge blooms yesterday. They were, as you can see, lovely. Jimmie said not … [Read more...]
Sedum Autumn Joy
“Come look at all the bees!” my wife had called. “What kind of bees?” I asked, wanting to make sure this backyard visit was worth missing part of the football game I was watching. “Honeybees?” she exclaimed. And they were! Real live honeybees, by the dozens, flitting their way between blooms on what was for us at that time an unidentified flowering plant. Our son Jimmie had given us these … [Read more...]
Anaheim Peppers
This year I devoted a small row in my garden to peppers – and I really don’t like peppers, but Nancy likes to can some hot peppers for our kids and some stuffed door-knob peppers which I actually do like. So, I planted a couple of jalapeno pepper plants and 4 doorknob pepper plants, but one of them died. On a subsequent trip to the Corner Store Nursery in Ruckersvillle to pick up some seeds, I … [Read more...]
Uncle Bud’s Garden
Every summer, Mom shipped me off to Clemmons, NC to spend a week with my Brewer relatives. Several times, they put me on a Greyhound bus and shoved me off solo, sometimes seated next to a soldier on leave. I’d spend a couple nights with Aunt Lena, a night or two with my cousin, Bob, and several nights with my cousin Steve. Steve’s dad, Uncle Bud, had married my father’s sister, Aunt Mary. Mary and … [Read more...]
Early Girl Hybrid: Remember That Name
Early this spring, my wife Nancy bought a little seed planting kit from Ferry- Morse. It was a Smart Start kit with 8 tomato seeds in capsule form. “Water and grow” were the instructions. Of the 8 capsules, 4 managed to sprout and two finally made it to plant hood. One that did has been keeping us in fresh tomatoes. We get two or three each day and have been for a couple weeks. It is doing so … [Read more...]
Heirlooms are “Heirlooms”
Heirloom Tomatoes are truly “heirlooms”. Farmers Almanac confirmed that this unique tomato plant has come from seeds that have been handed down from generation to generation. Families and farmers saved the seeds from the tomatoes that tasted best and over the years, perhaps the most flavorful, juiciest tomato of all emerged. The Heirloom is a purebred tomato, not a hybrid variety. Yet you … [Read more...]
Corn Rows
I now have corn rows – not in my hair, in my garden. I planted 4 very short rows and am hoping for the best. I needed something to replace my early harvest of sweet peas. Green beans would have been a more sensible choice, but I gambled with bi-color corn. Corn does better when it’s planted with lots of other corn, side by side, so I planted my 4 baby rows about a foot apart. Hopefully … [Read more...]
Pea Picking
Tennessee Ernie Ford had a catchphrase: “Bless your pea-picking heart.” This week I was a genuine pea picker. I started not to sow peas in my garden this year. They seem like a lot of work and garden space for not very much return, but peas are one of just a few vegetables you can plant in March and when rotated, that space can yield two crops in a small garden. I also … [Read more...]
Sewing Seeds
One of my (many) weaknesses as a wanna-be farmer is the actual sewing of the seeds. My garden is not smooth and loamy. It’s more the consistency of a rock pile as the clods of red clay dominate. Therefore, it’s difficult to create that fine soil for planting that young seeds prefer. But I’ve found a way, a better way for me, anyway. I have been hoeing and chopping the garden as … [Read more...]
An Unspoiled Garden
In the Garden of Eden, I am confident there were no squirrels, deer, rabbits or groundhogs – otherwise Adam and Eve wouldn’t have had a garden to tend – only stubble. Or maybe the Lord arranged for a large cage surrounding the garden – like I have now. I am pleased to say that every pea I planted has sprouted and is still in place. Every stalk of lettuce, every squash leaf, every baby … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- …
- 13
- Next Page »