Look!!!!  The cucumber plants are latching onto their fence.  Those tendrils are really strong, and hairy.  They catch the wire and stick, then pull the vines up tight.  
 

I love seeing this.  I planted about 40 seeds.  (seeds from last year's cucumbers.)   I plant that many just in case they don't ALL germinate.  Well, they did!!!  I hope you like cucumbers.  Because...

 

Along about July, I'll be dropping them on your front porch, ringing the doorbell, and running.  Hahaha!!!  
 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Our beautiful view.  Looks so good all cleaned up, thanks to Lopez tree service.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!!

 

We had some tree work done this week, and these guys are great!!!  I took some videos, but I still can't load them.  

 

It was so amazing to watch Lopez climb the tree to cut off limbs, and the other two guys dragging off the cuttings.  It started to rain while he was up the tree, but when we heard thunder, he came down.  They came back early the next day.
 

We learned about him from Fidel, the Five Forks lawn maintenance crew.  Nice guys.  When you need tree work done, you can reach him through Fidel, or use the phone number on his truck.  It works for texting too.  I tried it to say, "see you tomorrow."

 

Here's an amazing picture that Jon took of Lopez up one of our trees:  at 8 am.  

 

 

 

 

He trimmed up 7 trees, and now our view is fabulous!!!  Highly recommend.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

It's a never ending battle:  squirrels and food.  My friend Nick understands it this way:  that's all they have to do all day, figure out ways to get food.
 

I watched last week, as a squirrel jumped from the ground to a horizontal limb about 4 feet up.  I stomped and yelled and made a bunch of noise, sending it right up into the apple tree!! AAK!!!!  Nope, that didn't work out too well.  

 

So, off to Home Depot for a roll of flashing.  Hey, it works to keep them out of the bird feeders.  So here's how we hope to get some apples this year.  We've got our fingers crossed.  Hahaha!!

 

I'll let you know if it works.  
 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

This is another species of Asclepias. It is Asclepias variegata, also known as Redring or White Milkweed.  It is native to eastern North America, and can be found in Canada and the US.  We've seen it a lot in our travels on the Skyline Drive in Virginia, and right here in western North Carolina.  They're easy to spot on roadways and in the meadows, especially when they're blooming.  Just like other milkweeds, it is also food for Monarch butterflies.  
 

This one stands about 2 feet tall, and lives at Meeks Park.  We go there a lot.  There is a 2 mile walking path with gentle hills, (not like our neighborhood walk with its 600 foot vertical climb.)  And there is always something interesting to see.  
 

The genus was formally described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, who named it after Asclepius, the Greek god of healing.  I just looked this up, and found that I've been spelling the plant genus name incorrectly.  The Greek god's name is Asclepius, and the plant genus name is Asclepias.  I'll go back and revise my writings, because it matters to me that if I'm teaching you something, I should have my facts straight.  
 

I hope you see some milkweed blooming;  it means there will be food for the Monarch butterflies.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

We have been noticing this ground cover for years, but didn't know what to call it.  
 

Now we know what to call it:  fan clubmoss, groundcedar, or crowsfoot.  You could call it by its scientific name:  Diphasiastrum digitatum, but I wouldn't know where to start to pronounce that, so I'm running with fan clubmoss.  
 

I have this cool app on my phone that identifies plants, fungi, fish, reptiles, amphibians, arachnids, birds, mollusks, mammals, and insects with common and scientific names.  I take it with me on our walks in case we see something new or unfamiliar.  Today I found out that this app doesn't JUST identify species, it also gives some interesting information about them.  And it was FREE!!!

 

So, about this plant:  fan clubmoss is native to eastern North America, and grows in mostly shaded areas.  It is a moss, so it reproduces by spores, rather than seeds.  The fruiting bodies should be visible soon, July through December.  I'll get back to you on this.  I'm excited to learn more about it.  
 

Be on the lookout, it's in our neighborhood too.  
 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

This is garlic growing in the garden.  They look a lot like spring onions, but this is just the above ground part.  In July we'll harvest the underground part, the garlic bulbs.  I'll show them to you then.

 

Garlic is in the Liliaceae family.  Yep, along with onions, daffodils, and those beautiful oriental lilies.  We plant garlic in the fall, at least by Thanksgiving.   We bury the individual cloves about 6 inches deep, then pile on leaves and straw to protect them through the winter.  This year I planted 40 cloves from last year's harvest.  That will give us garlic for the year, plus enough to plant this November. 
 

I cut the scapes (flower heads) a few days ago.  Then I saw a farmer pull the scapes from the center of the plant;  she got a little more of the delicious stem.  I'll do that next year.  Last year I learned that by removing the flowering part, more energy goes to the bulb, making it grow bigger.  I also learned that garlic scapes are very tasty.  Unfortunately, you only get one harvest of scapes per year.

 

This picture also shows some gorgeous red and green lettuce.  We grew those from seeds too!  Seeds that I collected from last year's lettuce.  I love the process!!!
 

This fall, try planting a few garlic cloves in your garden, and see for yourself how easy it is to grow good garlic.  Best to buy organically grown bulbs, that haven't been treated to not sprout.  I've seen it in Ingles and sometimes at the Union Co farmers market.  
 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I took a walk in the garden this morning and it looks SO good!!!  Check out the Swiss chard.  
 

I planted the seeds in March, and this is what they're doing now.  The variety I planted is Bright Lights.  It is a rainbow blend of Swiss chards.  As each seedling gets big enough to handle, I transplant them individually into plastic six packs.  Then when they fill up that root cup, I transplant them into 4 inch pots.  After that they go into the garden.  Pots are much easier to keep watered.  Once they're in the garden, they're pretty much on their own for water.  
 

Swiss chard is related to beets and spinach.  If you look at the seeds you can see the family resemblance.  You can also see the similarity in their deep roots.  I've not really noticed a difference in taste in the different color stems, I just love the way they glow in the garden.   
 

We use Swiss chard like spinach or beet greens:  we eat the young leaves raw, and bigger leaves get cooked just like spinach.  I cut the stems into 1 inch pieces and sauté them along with onion and celery, then add the chopped leaves and steam for about 5 minutes.  Yummy AND beautiful!!!

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

This is Asclepias tuberosa in my wild garden.  We planted it about 5 years ago.  That was before we extended the deer fence.  They ate it all, I thought.  But it has come back.  And it's spreading!  Yay!!!!

 

Also called butterfly weed, it attracts Monarch butterflies.  They lay their eggs on the undersides of the leaves, and the caterpillars eat the leaves until they're ready to cocoon.  Then we get a whole new generation of Monarchs.  You can see butterfly weed down in the meadow too, orange flowers this time of year.  Look for patches of orange in your travels.  It might just be butterfly weed, waiting for Monarchs.
 

Glad to support all the butterfly populations.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

This is bronze fennel in the flower bed.  There, because nobody (the other plants) in the garden likes fennel.  Not sure why, but everything I've read says that.  I'll tell you who does like fennel:  black swallowtail butterflies.  That's why we grow it.

 

The butterflies use the fennel as a host plant for their caterpillars.  Sometimes we collect the caterpillars when they are big, and put them in an aquarium to cocoon and emerge as adult butterflies.  Then we release them into our flower garden to feed on nectar plants.  It's very exciting.  My preschoolers loved watching the whole process.  We love watching it still.  
 

This fennel isn't the kind that grows nice bulbs for salads, but the fronds are quite tasty, and the seeds are great in lots of dishes.  
 

So much fun in the garden this time of year.  Talk soon.  
 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!