Garden Expo And Garden Graph

This last week started with a great visit to the Garden Expo, continued in an upward direction with warmer temperatures and melting snow, and has ended with.... FREEZING RAIN!  Ugh!  Well at least there was one bright spot in this thing we call winter.  The freezing rain is expected to turn into snow over night and everything outside already has a nice coating of ice on it making for some sparkling twigs!  But we mustn't focus on such chilly things, so let's see what is happening in the land of gardening!

I finally got a graph made.  You can click on the photo at left to see a bigger version of the finished product.  I can't say it is 100% "the" finally layout that will be in my garden, but it should be pretty close.  Upon viewing the graph, Tom's first comment was, 'what are you going to put in the big space on the right?'.  Well, that is technically for the vines that will eventually want to take over the garden, but I may put in some beets in the beginning so that there isn't a giant empty spot.  No one likes wasted space in a garden!  And since the vines will take a while to grow, there should be plenty of time for some beets to mature.  You may also notice that the garden looks much more rectangular than last year.  With the new fence that we installed, the garden is finally more normal in shape, and I was able to safely make a rectangular graph!

As I mentioned, we did make it to the Garden Expo. It was my first time going, and I definitely will plan to go again.  My main focus for the trip was to see if there were any interesting seeds I may want.  Of course there were TONS of seeds, and I did want most of them.  However, I had to focus and only get a few, since most of the garden was already spoken for.  I zeroed in on hot peppers and heirloom tomatoes for possible treasures.  I was not disappointed!

There were several different choices and the difficult part was not grabbing every seed packet that looked interesting.  Since I already had some of the standard hot peppers, I decided to get something that I haven't tried before.  After going back and forth between Thai peppers and a variety called Rooster Spur, I decided on the Rooster, because it has purple leaves which will add a fun color to the garden even before any fruits form.  The peppers themselves are only two inches in length and turn red when they are ripe.  I expect they will have a bit of a bite, as the seed packet describes them as HOT.  Should be good for adding to chili and possibly salsa and hot sauce!

Next stop was the tomatoes.  After looking at several different kinds I picked out an heirloom variety called Tigerella.  As the name implies, the fruits are red with orange stripes.  It neglects to say how big the fruits get on the seed packet, but upon investigating the world wide web, my suspicions were confirmed that it produces a medium sized fruit.  So not a beef steak size like the Mr. Stripey tomato.  Apparently the two are very similar, especially in taste, and with a predicted plant height of 8-10 feet, I can see the relation!  I can always trim it down though, so we will see.  Nothing like using a step ladder to harvest your tomato plant!

Satisfied with my Tigerella choice, I turned to leave the tomato section when something caught my eye.  "Italian Heirloom"  I had to check it out as my dad is Italian and anything Italian and food related makes me think of my dad's side of the family.  My Italian grandmother did not have a garden, but she was quite the cook, and I think she would have liked these tomatoes!  The seed packet reads like a salesman after my own heart.  "Outstanding heirloom from Italy"; "Fruits weighing over a pound!"; "Ideal for canning" with "very little waste and easy to peel".  Had I not been in a public place with several strangers within earshot, I would have said, 'Sold!' out loud.  I then decided I had better leave the tomato section before more packets made their way home with me!

I did pick up two more vegetable items before ending the seed search.  Giant Musselburgh leeks and Climbing French beans.  I needed to get some green beans as it was, and the Climbing French variety looked good.  I also decided getting leeks again would be fun, but this time I got big ones as is indicated in the title.  And not to be outdone by their edible cousins, I got a few flower choices as well.  I am still pretty determined to turn our steep hill into a prairie.  We will see how that goes in year two of the mission!

And finally in this never ending post I get to some plantings!  I planted some green onions which can be seen at right (there are more, but I decided to crop the photo).  You may be wondering what all the pictures in the rest of this post are of, as I just sort of threw them in there with no explanation.  Starting at the top after the graph photo we have what I like to call, 'preparation'.  You can see the plastic seed trays I have purchased so far, as well as seed packets, my garden notebook, and some measuring devices.  The next photo down is of the long table I purchased to put my seedlings on.  Four trays will fit comfortably, and as you can see, they will get some good sun light!

Next we have the 'planting room', aka the laundry room, where I planted the onions and will do the rest of my indoor plantings.  The pot in the photo is an old pot I use to mix the soil with water, so that it is moist when I put it in the trays.  And yes, I do keep my seed packets in a box in alphabetical order, with an index card (baring the correct letter of the alphabet) separating each section.  If only I was that organized in all areas of my life!

And that last photo before the plantings is more fir fun than anything else.  I was just overcome with joy when I saw GRASS!!! that I had to take a picture.  I will be referencing that photo often in the coming days as I wait for the grass to re-appear.  Before it got dark tonight, that spot in the photo was already freshly covered with a thin, but most likely persistent, layer of snow.  Repeat after me: Spring is coming!  Spring is coming!

Planting Time!!!

After neglecting my blog for months (oops!), I am back!  Now we'll see how much time I leave in between this post and my next post to determine if I really am "back".  :-)  And since mostly nothing in the way of 'gardening' has occurred since my September post, I feel just fine moving on to the here and now!  So here goes...

I can tell it is 'that' time of year by the commercials on TV advertising commercial grade herbicides and other similar products.  And by 'that' time of year, I of course mean planting time!  But Sara, have you looked out your windows lately?  Particularly after the HUGE snow storm that hit and is now pummeling the East Coast?  Yes, yes I have.  And as I stare out over the 4 foot snow drift that sits on my back porch, I imagine green grass and vegetable plants heavy with ripe fruit.  And I know that some day, months from now, I will no longer have to imagine it, because it will be real!  But not without some careful planning, and that begins now!

So far I have collected several seeds, mainly from joining a seeds of the month club.  The club has been providing me with four packets of seeds a month! (Seed Club which I highly recommend!)  I have also purchased Jiffy 5063 Seed Starting Mix - 16 Quart Bag, some plastic trays, and a long skinny table that will sit behind our couch in the sun with the seed trays on top.  In addition to these items I picked up some hot pepper seeds (they do not send hot pepper seeds from the seeds of the month club), and plan to get some more items next weekend at the Garden Expo!  (http://www.wigardenexpo.com/)  And last, but probably the most important for the planning process, I have made three graphs of my garden plot.  I have yet to fill them in, but at least I started the process!  I made three graphs so that I can change my mind and not have to cross things out.  The graph making process involved going to the store to get a yard stick, because my 12 inch ruler wasn't quite long enough.  And that was making each foot of my garden only half an inch!  I wanted to make each foot a whole inch, but it turns out my paper isn't long enough for that.

I hope to have pictures up as soon as I plant my first seedlings.  That should be within the next couple of weeks!  Until then, happy gardening!

Autumn Approaches

Although autumn has not officially started here in the Northern Hemisphere, the signs that it is just around the corner are everywhere.  The weather is cooler, trees are starting to turn colors, and hibernating critters are frantically collecting as much food as possible for the coming winter.  The plants in my garden are showing signs that they are wrapping up for the winter as well.  Some dieing, others ripening the remaining fruit on their branches, and still others kicking into high production gear.  Everyday I head out to the garden now is a bit of an adventure, albeit in a different way from Springtime.

Once again, I neglected to post on here in a speedy fashion, and have actually been thinking about posting for quite some time.  I told Tom that it is almost like delaying a homework assignment, only there is no due date!  I guess my procrastination is showing.  How embarrassing!  Good thing I don't apply the same tactics to my garden work!  After the trimming of pumpkin leaves in my last post, it came to my attention that I should probably do a LOT more trimming.  So all of the pumpkin vines and both remaining zucchini plants got a major leaf cut.  After I was done, my garden looked naked.  Tom asked if everything was going to die because of all the trimming, and I assured him that things would be O.K.  He gave me the, 'I'm not so sure' look.  Everything has survived since the event though, so I think I am safe!

I did have to remove one of my zucchini plants today, but it was due to wilting leaves, not lack of leaves.  Basically it had the look of, "I'm done!", so I listened.  There is still one zucchini plant left in the garden, and it still has fruits growing.  I'll leave it there until it too tells me it's time.  I really hate pulling plants out, but I know it is for the best.  When they are done, they are done, and if they have diseases on them that is all the more reason to get them out of there.  With that in mind I also removed the Tumbling Tom Tomato plant that was out in the garden.  That poor little plant not only seemed to have stunted growth, but it also had a terrible case of septoria leaf spot.  All of the fruit it had produced ripened and was picked and it wasn't making any more, so I figured it would be best to remove it.  Especially since I still have healthy tomato plants out there with green fruits.  And my Tumbling Tom plant on our porch is doing great, so it wasn't really a loss.  I also trimmed a bunch of branches from the giant Mr. Stripey plant.  Basically I was hoping that by trimming some of the branches, it would force Mr. Stripey to focus on ripen his fruits, not continuing to get bigger.  No word on the success of said experiment yet, but I will keep you posted!

A funny thing happened when the temperature starting consistently being below 80 degrees Fahrenheit; the pumpkin flowers opened wide and stayed open, all day.  It was somewhat shocking to me, since I was only out in the garden at a time of day when it was hot out, but it does make sense.  Of course I expected to see many new pumpkins starting, but that hasn't happened.  There are a few more watermelons in the making, and many new flowers on both vining plants.  I am hoping that the pollinators stay around long enough, and the temperatures stay high enough for both plants to bring more fruits to maturity.  Pumpkins are a fall crop, so there is still plenty of time for them.

With lower temps, I figured the hot peppers would start winding down.  However, they are still producing new flowers!  That happened last year too, but I planted late last year, so it was expected.  This year, I guess I am just lucky.  I was very impressed by the Habañero pepper that started ripening just as the temperatures decided to dropped into the low 40's at night, and continued to ripen fully.  I have read that Habañero plants ONLY ripen in hot, hot weather with full sun.  Turns out they can ripen in 'cold', cloudy weather.  Of course I have only had one ripen so far, so we'll see if my theory holds out for the rest of the peppers.

My cayenne plants, which have had green peppers hanging on them for quite some time now, have decided to express-ripen.  Everyday I go out, there are more cayennes ready to be picked.  I am a little disappointed by this behavior, because my mom and I could have used these late bloomers a little earlier!  We made a batch of hot sauce that called for hot red peppers.  Well, I didn't have enough cayennes at the time for even a half batch, so we ended up making whatever-hot-pepper-was-around hot sauce.  And although we only used enough ingredients for six half-pints worth, we somehow ended up with ten!  Oops!  It was a fun experience though, and I am thinking this recipe will turn out better then the one we used last year.  We also got to use my great grandmother's sieve that she used to use to make apple sauce.  I hope she doesn't mind that we made hot sauce instead!

All of the other pepper plants, the jalapeños, Hungarian wax, Tabasco, Nu Mexico Big Jim, Peter pepper, pimento, and green bell, are still making flowers and new peppers.  One of the jalapeño plants and two of the Hungarian wax, seem to be done, but who knows.  A couple of the Tabasco peppers finally ripened as well, so I am just waiting for the rest of the 200 or so remaining Tabasco peppers to follow suit!  My two bell pepper plants on our porch are doing great as well.  The tequila pepper plant is still producing peppers, though I have picked quite a few.  The other plant has finally revealed its true identity.  I knew its mature color was not supposed to be green, so I have been waiting and waiting for at least one of the peppers to change color.  Turns out they are Hershey bells!  It only took them all summer to work that out.  I figure it is worth the wait though, and there are several peppers on the plant at the moment.  Soon I will have a bunch of purpley-brown bell peppers and nothing to do with them!  :-D

If you are still reading, I would like to say thank you.  Delaying blog updates is a bad idea when you like to elaborate as much as I do.  This would be an excellent time to get some popcorn or other snack if you have not done so yet.  A good snack might be peanuts; boiled or roasted.  To be more specific, Spanish peanuts.  In fact I may be able to help you in that regard.  Two of the three peanut plants I have in the garden appear to be doing what my little information card tells me is the signal of harvest time.  The leaves are turning brownish-yellow and upon digging with my fingers a short distance, I saw what appeared to be a mature seed pod.  Since I have never grown peanuts before, I want to be as sure as possible that they are in fact ready before digging them up.  However, I also don't want to leave them in the ground too long.  I have seen pictures of other people's harvested plants, and they have green leaves still.  This causes me more confusion and doubting.  I guess I should probably just dig one of them up and see what happens.  That way I will know for sure and can either harvest the other two plants right away, or let them stay out a bit longer.  I hate to harvest the 'tester' plant, and have it be not ready though.  Oh the dilemmas of new plants!

As far as interesting garden news goes, that just about covers it.  I did have the unfortunate experience of finding some sort of flying ant like insect swarming around one of my Chinese cabbage plants today.  I immediately stopped what I was doing and went to get my organic insecticide.  There was no way I was going to let those bugs have my cabbage!  Especially since the zucchini plants prevented all of my cabbage plants from growing earlier in the season, and they sat in limbo until I trimmed everything.  Now that they are growing correctly, I would like to be able to harvest them!  Still not sure it that is going to work out, but I can hope.  At least I know what not to do next year, and that is always useful.  And now I leave you to the pictures that I spent a great deal of time trying to par down, so that you didn't have an album of 300 or so to go through!  It may be my favorite part though!

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I'm Not Dead! ... And Neither is That Pumpkin Plant

I said to myself, "I will post to my blog tomorrow, I promise!"  Well I said that several days in a row and then I got sick!  That further delayed the posting.  But the good news is, I am not dead!

After reviewing my last post, I realize that much has happened in the way of the pumpkins since August 18th.  The harvested Sweet Sugar Pie pumpkin that sat patiently on my kitchen table, finally got used.  My parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary on the 22nd and got treated to a homemade pumpkin pie!  For this being my first time making a pumpkin pie from an actually pumpkin, I was trying to keep my expectations low.  Well, it turned out to be the best pumpkin pie I have ever eaten!  And to my surprise, the small pumpkin yielded one and a half cups pumpkin "gulp" (technically puree) in excess!  I essentially had enough for one and a half pies from that one small pumpkin.  Good to know, because the next pumpkin that will be harvested is slightly bigger.  Most likely a two pie pumpkin!  I may need to plan a dinner or dessert party.  Hmmm....

In addition to a possible event in my home centering around pie, I may have to find a bake sale or charity event (or all three!), because I keep finding more pumpkins that have gotten pollinated!  It is almost as if the plant knows that fall is just around the corner, and it has finally decided to start cranking out the pumpkins like there is no tomorrow.  And of course the Mega vine is still continuing its pursuit of garden domination, and has not only reached the fence opposite its starting mound, but it also continues to send out perpendicular mini vines!  I would not be surprised if it ends up using the entire garden space once the other plants have met their end.  The mystery remains as to how all these new pumpkin upstarts are getting pollinated, but I know it is not bumble bees.  I watched a bumble bee dance in front of two separate closed pumpkin flowers; smelling the nectar, but not being able to get to it.  Not to worry Mr. Bee, there are plenty of other flowers that are open and in need of pollinating in the garden still.  Though none quite so big and tempting.

There is one thing that may stop my Mega vine in its tracks and end its reign; powdery mildew.  The area around the pumpkin mound is well shaded and seems to be blocked off from most of the breezes that make their way through the rest of the garden.  This, combined with the wet and humid weather we have had all summer, has lead to what I call 'mosquito corner' and great conditions for powdery mildew.  In an effort to curb the spread and effects of the fungus, I trimmed a large number of leaves off of all three vines in mosquito corner, and sprayed all the other leaves with Bonide Copper Fungicide.  The rather short Batwing plant got the most dramatic make over, with almost all of its leaves gone.  When I was sick, my mom came up to help out.  One of the things she did was water the garden.  Although I was rather out of it, I was lucid enough to warn her that when she got up there, she would notice a TON of leaves were missing.  FYI, I did that, not an animal.  And not to worry, that pumpkin plant in the middle is not dead, it is just a little naked.  No plant resuscitation required!

And how about everyone else in the garden?  Well I have picked two of the three watermelons that were growing, and they are/were very delicious!  I highly recommend Sugar Baby watermelons, especially if there are a small number of people who will be consuming the fruits.  Since there are only two at my house, a large watermelon is just a bit too much.  In addition, my refrigerator can only hold so much produce, and we like to chill our watermelon before eating it.  They weren't joking when they said the Sugar Baby watermelons are 'icebox' size!  I think they would even fit well in a dorm fridge!  I am also happy to report that I have spotted two more watermelon fruit upstarts on the vines and flowers continue to pop up.  I am hoping they grow quickly and are able to beat the first frosts!

I also picked my first Nu Mexico Big Jim pepper, but have not tasted it just yet.  The rest of the pepper plants are pumping out more fruits on a daily basis, and are on my list of things to can next.  I also have several green tomatoes that are slowing ripening, and my zucchini plants just won't quit!  I await the yellowing of my peanut plants' leaves, which supposedly is the indicator of ripe peanuts, and suspect the color change will come with cooler days.  And despite what I have been told, my bean plants that were planted in May are still producing beans.  Apparently they are supposed to stop at some point before the end of summer and new plants are to be planted.  Well, two years in a row with two different species, I have gotten the same result.  Never ending beans!

And for those of you who are visual like me, Pictures!
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Gunner, Borers, and Mice?

Before I even went outside today, I was greeted by the neighbor's dog, who came on our porch and looked at me with his sad eyes through the sliding glass door.  This has never occurred before, so I was a little confused.  I started to wonder if any one was home next door.  I even went out and gave Gunner some water, because he looked thirsty.  It turns out that the neighbor was 'home' (well one of the two anyway), he just happened to be socializing with yet another neighbor, outside the fenced-in portion of our duplex lawn.  So basically, Gunner was simply looking for someone who could let him inside and he noticed that I was visible from the glass door.  This was the first time that the cats got a close up view of Gunner, and Gunner of them.  Zephyr was curious, but somewhat apathetic, and Simon was curious and defensive, though not as bad as when there is another cat out there.  Gunner didn't seem to notice there was anything alive in the house other than me.  I guess he probably figured the cats couldn't let him in.  Well Gunner, I really can't let you in either, but I would at least be better at finding someone who could!

After I figured out that Gunner was not alone and would be O.K., I went about checking on what needed to be harvested.  I picked one zucchini and a few peppers, and decided to let everything else keep growing/ripening.  The pumpkin that is out there is showing a tiny bit of orange, and appears to be bigger than the other pumpkin pie pumpkin I harvested.  I guess that is a good thing, though there are no other pumpkins that have started.  I have seen many more shriveled remnants, but that is it. :-/  Even with the addition of more pollinators via my flowering oregano, there doesn't seem to be an increase in pollination.  I am not even sure how I would hand pollinate either, because the flowers don't really open.  I guess the ants aren't doing their job!

The other thing I am up against with the pumpkins are squash vine borers.  I read something that said they should be done by now, but I think the article lied.  When I was out Monday, I brought up my insecticide to use on the zucchini vine.  It was at that time when I noticed an adult vine borer in the pumpkin area.  I immediately sprayed it in the face!  I then went along the entire length of all three pumpkin vines (including the Mega vine which is most likely 40 ft long), and sprayed.  There does appear to be some damage on parts of all three vines, though not like on the zucchini plant that died on me.  I can't really tell if the damage is due to age or something else, so that confuses the matter as well.  And all three pumpkin plants continue to gain length as well as hold their leaves up, so I am thinking I may have prevented any major damage.  I sure hope so!  There is an added bonus too that the Batwing pumpkin plant I have planted off the porch has NO damage what-so-ever, so if all else fails, I will at least have Batwings for Halloween!

And in other critter news, I put out more coffee after seeing some slug damage.  The rain we got last week washed what coffee was there away, so there was a need to re-apply.  I also got treated to the nice aroma of coffee when I went out in the garden today, two days after application!  Mmmmm, coffee!  I then went inside and drank tea as I am not much of a coffee drinker.  It smells nice though!

My update on the broken air conditioner, is that it is no longer broken!  The A/C repair guys came out Monday and got us back up and running.  When they were finished, one of the guys came and told me that the reason the A/C broke was due to the mice who had moved into our outdoor A/C unit and made a nest.  They also chewed several cords and caused refrigerant to leak out (the mice, not the A/C guys).  In my moment of surprise, I didn't think to ask what they did with the mice.  I realized later, that that was probably best, because I don't think I wanted to know.  I am hoping that when they went and got our hose, that they were using it to 'scare' the mice out and then seal any holes.  I did not go out and look at the unit after they left.  That was on purpose.  We will stick with the mice alive and scared theory.

And the obligatory photos, because I habitually take them!
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Mosquito Buffet

So our air conditioning decided to stop working this weekend.  And on Saturday morning no less!  So that meant it was the prefect day to go outside, since it was about the same temperature inside as it was outside.  Yuck!  And after two days of heat advisories, followed by a day of rain, I needed to go out and harvest things anyway!

I started my garden activities checking for ripe fruits and I found quite a few.  Jalapeños, poblanos, Hungarian wax, green bell peppers, zucchinis (yet more!), tomatoes (including one Big Boy!), and some more green beans.  I also decided it would be a good idea to spray the tomatoes again with my Copper fungicide, and to spray the squash plants, since they have some mildew on the leaves.  I wanted to get more insecticide on my cabbage, since they have actually been growing now too!  Because of the spraying, I harvested a few tomatoes that were orange-ish instead of red.  You need to wait seven days after spraying to harvest.  It is supposed to rain again by Friday, but that could always change.  Better get it done while there is sunshine.

Another interesting tid-bit is the strange dance I saw in my backyard.  It was evening, and so the sun was starting to get low in the sky providing plenty of shade.  This meant the mosquitoes were coming out in droves.  There is a steep hill between the house and the garden, so there is quite a bit of grass that is mostly undisturbed on a daily basis.  There, on the hill, I saw a swarm on dragonflies dancing around, mostly right above the grass.  I was in awe!  I have never seen so many dragonflies in one place!  I had to look up their diet to confirm what I thought was happening; mosquito hunting.  Because I have a movie function on my camera, I sat down in the grass and filmed it.  The dragonflies went buzzing past my head as though I wasn't even there.  It was crazy!  I can only hope they make a dent in our mosquito population.  I might have to make a sign that says, "Dragonflies Welcome!  Come get your free mosquitoes!"  Here is a link to the video for your viewing pleasure.  I wasn't really sure what to say, so I said, "Dragonfly swarm".  I feel a bit silly about it.  Oh well! Link--> Dragonflies!

And some photos too!
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Canning, Pumpkins and a Frog

On Tuesday, my mom came up for more canning.  We decided to do more Zany Zucchini Pickles, as well as zucchini bread (baked, not canned).  The plan was to double the Zany and bread recipes in order to eliminate as many zucchinis from my fridge as possible.  Somehow we still managed to have some left over!  My mom had to leave early, so she was not around for the actual 'canning' part.  Which is unfortunate, because it was quite the experience!  

First, I did something a little different than normal.  Instead of warming the canning jars in water, I ran the dishwasher.  The instructions for canning say that that is a viable option, so I figured it would work out.  I also timed it so that the dish washer would be finished about the time I would need the jars.  So I got a couple jars out, filled them accordingly, and then went to put them in the water-bath canner (the huge pot in the picture above).  First jar went in fine.  Second jar made a sound like gun fire two seconds after I placed it on the rack inside.  I jumped, and swore, and then went to remove the jar.  That is when I started swearing more.  The bottom of the jar had blown off, so when I was lifting it out, the contents of the jar emptied into the water-bath!  I didn't know what to do.  Should I empty the water out and start over?  Or leave the icky water in, and just remove the chunks?  Since I wasn't sure if there were glass shards or not, I decided to empty the entire canner and start over.  To my surprise, the colander only caught one piece of glass.  It was almost as if a laser had been used to cut off the bottom of the jar; it was that exact!  And yes, I thought about that in the middle of all the insanity.  Must be the scientist in me!   

I guess the good news is I was finally able to finish the canning.  The bad news is, I had to wait for the water-bath to heat back up before I could process anything.  All in all an hour was added on to my project.  Not very happy about that.  Hopefully the pickles still taste ok, especially since there are 13 jars worth!  Cross your fingers!

And while all the canning drama was taking place, the zucchini bread was happily baking away in the oven.  It was a bright spot when the oven timer went off, and out came four perfect loaves of bread!  Tom and I ended up digging into one of the loaves right after he got home, because I was still finishing up with the processing, and we were both hungry!   I decided not to include that loaf in the above picture.  But there really were four!  I am happy to report the zucchini bread tastes fabulous.  Extra thanks to Aunt Sandy for providing the recipe.  Yum!

Because Tom and I were extra hungry and the kitchen was a mess, we decided to head out for dinner.  We went to Culver's (fast food burger place), and found a seat near one of the windows facing the drive thru lane.  As we were waiting for our food, I noticed something odd on the outside windowsill.  It was a frog!  First of all, the Culver's is right next to a busy highway that runs through the city.  Second, there is asphalt and pavement for at least a half mile in every direction surrounding the restaurant. And third, there is a pet shop in the shopping center directly behind the Culver's, so I was starting to think that someone did something cruel.  It was obvious that that frog was coming home with us.  Tom knows that look!  I wasn't going to leave that amphibian in the urban jungle!  (Zephyr, seen above enjoyed watching the frog.)

So we grabbed a cup and lid (with straw hole for air) and we rescued the frog!  I decided to do an internet search before releasing it in our backyard, because I wanted to make sure it was native and NOT from the pet shop.  Turns out it is most likely a Cope's Gray Tree-frog.  You may notice that the frog is green and not gray in the photo.  I was confused as well.  They can change colors from green to gray and back rather rapidly, and are normally green at night.  And they are native to Wisconsin!  Since it was pitch black out when I released the frog, I snapped this picture in the dark hoping that I would get the frog.  Success!  Tiny little thing!  Hope it eats some of the mosquitoes in our backyard!

And last but not least, I picked my first Pumpkin Pie pumpkin!  I am thinking one will be enough for a pie, but I have no idea.  Only one way to find out.  Will let you know!

Fence Complete! (And a weather update)

Well Gary lied.  And by Gary, I mean Chief Meteorologist Gary of our local news .  Though he really cannot be blamed for what I assume was an accurate interpretation of the computer's weather data, so maybe I should say the computer lied.  Most likely it was just Mother Nature changing her mind that caused both the computer and Gary to come to the conclusion that it was going to rain every day this week, only to have it be sunny every day instead.  (Well, there was a light sprinkle for about 20 mins one evening, but I don't really count that.)  Regardless the lack of rain meant that, GASP, I actually had to water things!  And it was the first week all summer where conditions were actually less than ideal for the growth of fungus and other diseases.  Yay!!!  But guess what?  Gary and the computer are currently predicting rain Monday through Friday of next week, so we might be back to 'ideal' conditions soon. :-(  We'll see.

I made it to my local garden store earlier this week and had both my zucchini and Peter pepper plants diagnosed.  The lady told me that my zucchini was probably the victim of a squash vine borer, and that I should get that plant out of there before the others are affected.  She also said that my mildew prevention was a good decision, and to keep it up! With the high probability that a borer caused the death of my zucchini, I decided to spray all my other squash vines with the insecticide I have.  When I checked today though, it looks like one of the remaining zucchini plants may have fallen victim to a borer as well.  (The leaves are fine, but the main stem looks damaged.)  I will keep my eyes peeled, and for now, both zucchini plants have a good dose of insecticide on their base vines!

I also noticed earlier this week that the leaves on my Batwing pumpkin plant in the garden were starting to droop in a similar fashion to the zucchini that bit the dust.  The pumpkin plants were already on my "to spray" list, but I definitely got concerned.  I sprayed all three pumpkin plants and then decided to wait a few days to see if the Batwing plant improved.  Well it looked better today, so I am not entirely sure what is going on with it.  It is not 100%, but better enough that I have decided to leave it in there for now.  I would hate to have to pull it out!

My Peter pepper plants have a much happier ending then their zucchini friend.  It turns out that, yes, there is some type of bacterial disease on the leaves, but the fungicide I have should help with the problem.  It is also good to know that the fruits do not get affected, and so far the plants are still doing their thing, so let's hope it stays that way!  As I have mentioned before, there has been SO much rain this summer that diseases have been thriving.  I feel for the people who decided this year would be their first adventure in gardening.  They may decide not to try again next year!

I am happy to report that if it does rain all next week, my beet seedlings will be in heaven on earth!  I have seen new ones pop up everyday this week and they have definitely appreciated their daily waterings.  I am hoping this batch will thrive since the last one didn't make it.  I have been wanting to plant some more carrots and maybe some spinach or cabbage, but it may be too late.  I might just give it a try since I have extra seeds, and perhaps I will be successful.  Only one way to find out!

And where might I plant all these Fall crops?  Well I could rip up more grass if I really wanted too, because the fence is finally finished!  Tom was able to get out there today and he went to town.  The garden is now approximately 32 feet x 20 feet, give or take a foot.  Most likely give since we ended up widening it at the last minute.  We had 100 feet worth of fence that we planned on using to encompass the garden.  This does not take into consideration the 5 foot door that we left in place or the fact that Tom thinks there may have been a little more than 50 feet of fence on each of the two spools we had.  He did overlap the ends somewhat, but that still left some extra.  Since the measuring tape we were using only goes to 25 feet, we can't be certain at this time the exact measurements.  So like I said, 32 x 20 feet, give or take.  It is very exciting regardless!  And since there was some extra space, I had Tom bring up the oregano/basil bin to put inside the fence.  I wanted it up there because it is a super magnet for pollinators, and it seems that the reason a lot of my pumpkin potentials shrivel up and fall off, is because they are not getting pollinated.  Have no fear!  Oregano flower power is here!  Tom was NOT amused by the bees.  He wanted to wait for them to fly away before bringing the bin up.  I told him he'd be waiting forever.  He came trudging up the hill, bin awkwardly in hand, saying "The bees are following me!!!"  I thought to myself, "Well good!  That's what we want!"  But as I said, he was NOT amused.  Lol  No one got hurt.  We walked away sting free, and the bees didn't seem to mind the move one bit.  It was a win win!

And what would a post of mine be without pictures?  Enjoy!
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Bugs, Disease, Rain, and a Late Blight Alert!

Well we had a short break in the rain over the weekend, but of course it's back.  I was able to get a some things done while the sun was out for a few days.  Saturday I reapplied Bonide Copper Fungicide to my tomato plants since it rained on Friday, and I also sprayed my cabbage and beans again with Bonide Rotenone-Pyrethrins, to prevent flea beetle and Japanese beetle damage.  It's a good thing I decided to re-spray the insecticide, because when I sprayed the cabbage, flea beetles came out from the base of the leaves. Sorry fellas, dinner is NOT served!  :)  I also got to witness the lovely sound of Japanese Beetles hitting the plastic in the garden, as they fell after being sprayed.  I remember thinking, 'Yikes!  That was fast!'.  And since I was in a spraying mood, I reapplied Cutter Bug Spray to the lawn as well.  The neighbors were out of town on a camping trip, so I figured it was an excellent time to get out there a spray while they and their dog were gone.  That way the Cutter spray would have a chance to dry before Gunner, the dog, went in the yard again.  And I know the human neighbors will appreciate the reduction in mosquitoes!  So far there has been a reduction, but there are still quite a few out there.  No where near as bad as other places I have been to in Wisconsin though!

And speaking of destructive critters, I have two plant pathogens of some sort reeking havoc this year.  One is affecting my Peter Pepper plants.  It looks like some kind of bacterial infection, from what I have seen online, but I will be bringing some of the leaves into my local garden center to confirm.  I am crossing my fingers that it is something treatable!  The other peppers in the garden still look fine, but they probably have more resistance because they are not a novelty species.  The other problem is pictured above.  Something seems to have destroyed my zucchini plant!  The other two plants look fine at the moment, so I am at a bit of a loss.  I think it may be Powery Mildew, which is a group of fungi that can affect many plants. However, I had mildew on my zucchini leaves last year, and they didn't die.  In fact, they seemed to be completely immune!  And the fact that the other two plants are still doing fine is a bit puzzling.  If anyone has an suggestions, let me know!  (I did spray some fungicide on the zucchinis in case it is Mildew.  I think the plant in the picture is no more though.)

And while we are on a disease kick, let me bring to your attention the latest on Late Blight in Wisconsin.  As of July 23rd (the latest report to date), five counties have reported Late Blight on both potato and tomato crops.  Here are two links for more information! http://www.uwex.edu/ces/admin/2010_tomato_late_blight.html  http://www.plantpath.wisc.edu/wivegdis/

While there have been a few incidents of bad news recently, it hasn't all been bad.  Everything is still producing.  Even the 'dead' zucchini plant has a few fruits on it somehow!  Another good thing is the Pumpkin Pie mega vine has a couple new pumpkins on it that are actually getting bigger!  This is exciting news since most new growths would appear one day and be yellow and fall off a couple days later.  The current contenders have been on there for days and are increasing in size.  That is a sure sign that they are on their way to being full grown pumpkins!  

Another thing that I did that should help the pumpkin plants, including the two that are 'normal' size, is cover the "compost" section with black plastic.  This will provide the smaller vines with a better surface to expand onto, as well as protect any fruits from the sticks, hay and other random organics in the "compost" section.  There is an off shoot from the mega vine that was already in the "compost" section, so I guess it will benefit as well.  I tell you, that vine is INSANE!  Tom went out to check out the garden with me today and when I showed him where the end of the mega vine is currently, he said, "Wait, is this vine from ALL the way back there!?"  Yeah, it is.

In other news, the fence remains in limbo, but is trying to make progress.  I put markers out for the remaining fence posts, and started getting the ground ready so that the fence will lay flat.  I can't remove anymore old fence at this point, because if I do the garden will be a free access location.  Unfortunately I just don't have the strength to put the posts in, so I  can't put up the rest of the new fence without Tom.  After the rain ends, he said he'll be out there; with a massive coating of bug spray all over his body.  The mosquitoes REALLY love him!

I have a very limited photo gallery this time around, but it does show the pumpkin vine and a couple of the new pumpkins that are on their way.  Feel free to check it out!

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Canning and more Fence Removal!

Well the canning on Tuesday was a success!  My mom and I made Zany Zucchini Pickles and Pickled Beets.  The beet recipe came from the Farmer's Almanac and is supposedly a "State Fair Winner".  We shall see!  Even though we used 14 cups worth of zucchini, there are still several zucchinis left in my refrigerator.  I even gave some to my mom to take home with her, and some others to our neighbors!  And just today, I picked two more.  I hope to make some zucchini bread, but that won't make much of a dent in the supply.  I may have to do more canning!

In addition to the canning, I also did some work out in the garden this week.  I planted another round of beets after weeding and re-tilling the ground.  I had done a second planting earlier this summer, but it didn't turn out.  I am not entirely sure what happened (it may have been rabbits), but I am hoping that the extra tilling will help this time around.

I also did some work on the fence.  Mainly, I was just attempting to remove the old fence from the back part of the garden.  Since we are expanding in addition to putting in new fencing, there is a bit of a buffer between the old fence and the new fence by the watermelon and zucchini.  The new fence is still only halfway around, as we have not added more of the new stuff yet, but not all of the old fence has been removed.   It has been extremely difficult getting the old fence out, since it became buried over the years and is being held in place by grass roots.  That means that when Tom and I last worked on the project together, we just decided to leave the 'back wall' section of the old fence in the ground and put the new fence around it.  With the new perimeters it works out fine.  I would like to get that fence out of there though, because the zucchini plants could use more space.  Or more accurately, the plants that are being overrun by the zucchini could use more space.  Slowly but surely it will happen!

I will leave the rest of the update sharing to the pictures.  Enjoy!
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