Enjoying the August Blooms

Enjoy these beautiful summer evenings.  Each month of summer is unique with its own blooms and beauty.  I love sitting outside at the end of day after working hard and just relaxing.  I believe that is another perfectly acceptable way to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Tonight I'm enjoying some very beautiful flowers in my yard who are also very delighted with the weather.

Dahlia

This one is not quit in full bloom but still gorgeous.

Petunias

This is a new shade landscape I'm working on.

More of the shade garden.

Lobelia, a small beauty

Found my cat lounging inside these.  She wasn't very happy when I watered her.

Tips for Controlling Slugs

Slugs come out at night and slither through your garden feasting on your fruits and vegetables.  My daughter called very upset that something was eating her tomatoes.  Her first garden and first harvests were being ravaged by slugs. Maybe not ravaged but who wants to share a tomato with a slug? This is photo of slug damage on tomatoes.

Slugs are a snail without the shell.  They rasp small holes in vegetables, fruits, and leaves of cabbage and greens.

There are several options to get rid of these pests.  You can go out at night and pick them off with chop sticks or tongs. Then put them in bucket of salt water.  If you are not that adventurous then set a trap.  Here are some options for bait.

1.  Make a cornmeal trap. Put a tablespoon or two of cornmeal in a jar and lay it on its side.  The slugs will be attracted to the cornmeal, but the texture of the meal is too harsh and will kill them. Leave the jar out overnight and dispose of the slugs in the morning and rebait the trap.

2.   Use a fruit trap. Slugs are naturally attracted to fruits. Place a board or jar on its side out near where the slugs have been eating your plants, and put half of an orange or a few slices of cabbage (slug's favorite) or a sliced potato in the center. Leave the board or jar out overnight, and in the morning the slugs should be feasting on the food you left on the board.  Dispose of the slugs. 

3.  Try a honey and yeast trap. This is the same concept as the beer trap which slugs love.  Slugs are highly attracted to the combination of honey and yeast. Boil a cup of water with equal parts of honey and yeast and then allow the mixture to cool. Dig a hole in your garden near where the slugs are and bury a plastic sour cream or yogurt container up to the rim. Fill the container about an inch from the top.  In the morning you should have drowned slugs.

They also have natural predators of birds, toads, and ground beetles.  

Purchased Deterrents

1. Diatomaceous earth. This is often used to ward off various pests. It is made from crushed up fossilized sea shells. Follow the  directions on the product.  Pour the sharp dust around your garden beds. Keep in mind that this will only work when dry, and must be replaced if gotten wet.  This is not my recommended option because it is harmful if inhaled into your lungs.  But if you already have this then use it.



A better option in my opinion is iron phosphate pellets.

2.  Use iron phosphate pellets. These small slug-killing pellets can be found in garden centers; the slugs are attracted to them, but once consumed they  will cause death within a week.
  You can sprinkle these around your garden.  These also get rid of sowbugs and pillbugs. I used this in my strawberry beds for roly polys which where helping themselves to my berries.  I may have had some slugs in there also. Less than a week and no problems. 

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The Summer Bounty

This August has been so beautiful.  It feels more like early fall than late summer.  My tomatoes aren't to thrilled about the cool evenings and are taking their time ripening but I'm sure enjoying it. My fall garden is enjoying also.

 These are today's harvest.  I'll be very busy canning and finding a few neighbors who would enjoy fresh produce.  If you're one of those neighbors give me a call.

 These are my harvests from Friday and Saturday.  I'll have plenty to do today.  Who said you can't grow anything organically?

These are my earliest apples. They are a Gala apple.  So my biggest problem is with birds.  I have talk radio playing during the day (I'm raising conservative apples) and I hung T-shirts in my apple trees hoping to  deter the birds. Last year I tried hanging CD's in the trees.  Does anyone have any other ideas?

 Yes, more summer squash.  I'm going to make candied zucchini this week.  It tastes like gummy worms.  I'll post the recipe later this week plus some of my favorite summer squash recipes.

 A few more beets. 

 I wrote a poem for those of you who have only had store bought strawberries.

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

Strawberries are red,

ALL the way through!

When did we settle for white strawberries airbrushed red on the outside?    Homegrown strawberries are so much sweeter.  I like Ozark and Tristar.  Both are ever bearing.  In late summer the berries are very large and these keep on producing through the fall.  You also get an early spring crop but they are smaller.

 Concord grapes.  The birds have helped themselves to a few a these but did leave me some.  I will be making jelly.

 The white powder on the apples is kaolin clay which is sold as Surround Crop Protectant.  I use that with Spinosad and Neem Oil to control colding moth and other pests.  I plan on posting more about the organic orchard later this fall.  It can be done.

 These are Cosmic Purple and Red Cored Chutney carrots.  Both are heirlooms.  When you peel the purple carrots they are orange. 

This is Merlin.  He enjoys gardening with me.  I love these inexpensive baskets to clean root crops.  While outside I cut the tops off leaving 2" on the carrot.  The carrot goes in this basket and the tops in a compost container.  You can then easily rinse and drain these carrots with the hose or by submerging in a bigger bucket. Your carrots will store for months in the refrigerator if you place them in a ziploc bag and periodically rinse and drain them.

Elderberries.  I'm going to try that delicious recipe I posted on my FB page. 

Growing Organic

I have two Elderberry bushes.  They are large, beautiful and extremely productive.  These birds love these over anything else and there will be plenty to share.  Elderberries are a great homestead crop because they can be used medicinally and to make juice, jelly, and syrups.  They can also be canned.  I will be doing post on elderberries soon.

 

 This is a new variety I tried.  It's Dark Red Norland.  The Red Norland were a lot more productive.

Freezing Corn on the Cob

Summer wouldn't be the same without fresh sweet corn.  I plant two varieties with different maturity dates so there is no cross pollination. My two favorites are Jubilee which is a yellow corn and Silver Queen which is a white corn.  Both are SU varieties.

 The first task is to shuck the corn  and remove the silks.  I do this outside saving the husks for the compost pile.  I have corn silk brush that works pretty good at removing the silks.  As you rub it over the corn it balls up the silks.

Blanch the corn to stop enzyme action.  I blanch it for 2 minutes in boiling water. Place in a bowl of ice water immediately to stop the cooking process.

 Lay the corn on paper towels or a rack to dry completely and cool down completely. A this point you can freeze it on the cob or cut it off and put the kernels in freezer containers.  It's nice to have some available through the winter both ways.

I place two cobs on freezer paper, shiny side up, and roll them up and tuck under the edges.

The corn wrapped in freezer paper ready to freeze.

I put wrapped corn in a plastic bag, label the bags, and put it in the freezer.

This is my favorite, Silver Queen, unless of course I'm eating the Jubilee then I think I like that one better which is why I plant both every year.

This year I also planted popcorn and Floriani Polenta Corn.  If you plant different varieties you have to stagger the plantings so they do not tassel at the same time or else you'll end of cross pollinating your sweet corn with field corn.

I have a link to my blog on growing corn so you can understand the different varieties, when to plant, how to fertilize, and how to prevent worms. Now is the time you could prepare an area for corn.  Remember you need at least a 5x5 block of corn to have good pollination because it is wind pollinated.  The more area you devote to corn the better your results.  I do not recommend the 3 sisters planting .  This corn grows seven feet high and shades the beans too much.  You can plant squash on the outside; however, then it will be difficult to get down your corn rows. By using lots of compost and side dressing corn you will have much better results.

Neighbors love getting sweet corn and you can also can it, I live it with red peppers and thyme, and make corn relish which is tomorrows project.

http://gardentalkandtips.blogspot.com/2014/05/sweet-corn.html

My lab loves fresh sweet corn.  I have to watch her when I'm outside shucking corn because she will sneak a cob or two when I turn my back

My beagle figures she's suppose to like this stuff because her lab friend does but she not a sweet corn fan. 

Praying Mantis Friend

As I went to get the wagon to haul corn, I discovered this hitch hikers on the handle-  a Praying Mantis.  With their huge eyes and head that can do a 180, they are a little bit creepy but a gardeners friend. 

These ambush hunters will eat any insect including beneficial insects but I like them in my yard and garden because they will also eat their share of caterpillars, squash bugs, beetles, and grasshoppers.  My sons used to stick one in an aquarium for a few weeks and feed them grasshoppers.  They thoroughly enjoyed watching them catch and consumer their prey.

Watch for spongy brown egg cases attached to solid surfaces of plant stems.  The small nymphs hatch in the spring and will even eat each other. The adults will live the entire season. You can purchase egg cases to put in your garden but they are not cold hardy.  Our natural species seem to do just fine.  I'm always running these big eyed bugs everywhere in the yard. 

Blessings of a Good Harvest

A good harvest brings a sense of gratitude and appreciation for the Lord's creations.  There is  satisfaction and peace in growing, harvesting, eating, sharing, and preserving your own food. Whether it's fresh produce or a canned jars lining your shelf, nothing is more satisfying.  I hope somehow our efforts will inspire you and your family to dig in and garden.

Today I was harvesting Silver Queen Sweet Corn.

These are dried beans which are so easy to grow and so many varieties are available. They will stay on the bush until the pods are dry and brittle and the beans a fully mature.  They are a great storage item and if you planted open pollinated varieties you have you seeds for the next year

Giant Golden Amaranth

Healthy pumpkin vines

View down the corn row.

More dried beans.  You can also eat these as green beans.

Banana peppers and Anehiem chili peppers

Everbearing berries are very large and sweet this time of year.

Dahlia

Fresh sweet corn is so good.

I did not have a large peach harvest.  Most of them froze, but I sure enjoyed what I did have.

Grapes

How do you get rid of a skunk? Help!

HSeriously how do you get rid of a skunk?  My husband says shoot it.  But I think that would be a stinky mess and then what do you do with the dead skunk?  And where would my husband sleep after his close encounter with the skunk?

Every night we have a skunk dig into our chicken coop and then the duck pen stealing eggs.  The poor ducks are so traumatized I don't think they are laying much and the skunk gets their eggs before I do. Since  the chickens lay during the day we are getting those eggs. We thought of leaving a skunk offering of two eggs outside the pen but I think he would not be content with that.

So help get us out of this stinky mess before my ducks go quackers!

Enjoying the Season

Enjoying the beauty of the garden today while working outside.  Thought I'd share some pics of how things are progressing.  The rest of the day I will be canning. The weather has been so beautiful with cool mornings, no wind, and fantastic evenings.  I'm so blessed to live in a beautiful area.

Zinnia

Everbearing strawberries produce very large berries this time of year.

Dahlia

Summer squash and zucchini.

Blackberries.

No squash bugs!  Check out my post on controlling squash bugs.  It works.

Chard.  I love the dark red veins in this variety and tender leaves.

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Patiently waiting for these to ripen.  I think the birds are too.

Elderberries

Harvesting sweet corn this week.

Trying something new- Giant Golden Amaranth.

So good and no worms.  I use neem and Spinosad to have worm free corn.

I'll be freezing on the cob, cut corn, and canning corn relish.

Cosmos