Here is another “noxious weed.”  Noxious to some, beloved to others.  It is Passiflora, Passion flower.

 

I keep this weed pulled out all spring, but when the tomatoes are finished, I let them climb the cages.  And look at these gorgeous flowers.  The vines and leaves aren’t big enough to choke out the butternuts;  they share the space pretty well.  

 

I have to let them grow some, because they are host plants for Fritillary butterflies.  The caterpillars eat the leaves down to nothing, and then without food they overwinter in the larval stage.  They start feeding again when the passiflora comes back.  I always look for the caterpillars before I weed out the passiflora.

 

But the truth is:  if we don’t keep them under control, they will take over the garden, and probably the world.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

Now here is a real love/hate story.  

 

Aren’t these flowers glorious?  Yes they are, growing out of the way on a trellis outside the garden.  I love seeing them in bloom like this (especially in somebody else’s garden.)

 

Last year I let the morning glories grow up over our tomato cages, and they dropped thousands of seeds.  We have been weeding out morning glories from the garden since March!!!  Can’t let them take over again.

 

But I do love seeing this fabulous display.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Normally we don’t grow pickling cucumbers, but my friend does, and she is swimming in cucumbers right now.  So I offered to pick and take home some cucumbers.  I traded her for dill seeds.

 

This is about three days worth of cucumbers, meaning that it took those vines about three days to grow cukes this big.  It probably takes longer, but they only get picked about every three days, so that’s my gauge.  

 

We made 17 pints of dill spears with this bucket of cucumbers.  We started picking at 9:00, got busy washing, cutting and canning and were finished by 1:30.  And now we have a new skill, and a bunch of great pickles.  

 

What a fun way to spend a summer day.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Our friends have about a bazillion raspberries this year, and we offered to help pick them.  WOW!!!  What a treat!!  A treat for us because we get to bring home the ones we pick, and a treat for them, to not to have to pick them (that day.)

 

I never knew that I liked raspberries until I got to pick them myself.  That was last year.  I think I ate more raspberries in one day than I had eaten in the whole of my life.

 

Well, this year when we offered to pick, Nancy threatened to weigh us before we went in and again when we came out.  That was Momma’s joke about me picking strawberries when I was little:  After they weighed our buckets, they weighed ME before, and then again after “picking.”  I have always loved picking strawberries.

 

But picking raspberries is different:  you don’t have to bend over and look under the leaves, you get to stand up and pluck the berries off their hulls.  They separate from the hulls easily when they are ripe, and when they are too ripe they turn to mush in your fingers and you have to eat them.  

 

We picked about 2 quarts, not counting the ones we ate.  And as you can see from the picture, there are another zillion that will ripen over the next month.  A whole month of raspberries!!!!  We now call August “the month of Raspberry.”

 

 

HAPPY GARDENERS!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Have you seen all the Joe Pye weed growing?  It is all up and down Mocassin Creek Rd, 19/129, and the 4-lane into Murphy.  We love seeing it all along the roadsides.

 

It grows about 6-8 feet tall, and has the most beautiful flower heads.  They are huge and pink.  And you can spot them at 45 miles per hour.  

 

Another common name for Joe Pye weed is Queen of the Meadow.  Now that paints a pretty picture.

 

I hope you see some in your travels. 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

If you are thinking about your garden for next year, whether it’s your first or your 14th garden, you need this catalog.

 

It is way more than a vehicle for this company to sell seeds;  it is a great source for all kinds of gardening information.  This catalog tells you how to start your seeds indoors, how to avoid insect and disease problems, how to harvest, and tips for success in the garden.  And it tells you all this for every type of vegetable you are growing.  Oh yeah, it’s also a good source for seeds at reasonable prices.  Here is their contact information:  www.superseeds.com  (207) 926-3400.  Order your catalog today, so you will be ready when it’s time to plant next year.  

 

I have learned so much from this catalog about the vegetables in my garden, making me a better gardener.  

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Sumac is beautiful right now.  It was pretty when it was blooming yellow, but now those flowers have turned to seeds, and are somewhere between red and purple.  

 

This tree is on Clifford’s hill, but you can see them in the neighborhood, and all along the highway.  

 

I have seen sumac used in recipes, and I know some people who make a kind of lemonade (sumac ade) drink with the berries, but we know that there are some species of wildlife that depend on the fruits to get them through the winter, so we leave the berries for them.

 

I hope you notice the Sumac the next time you are out for a walk or a drive.  It is really pretty all times of the year.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Look how beautiful the kale is, still!!!  

 

We have managed to keep it gorgeous since I planted it in March.  We do that by keeping it picked from the bottom, removing  dead leaves, and using Dipel dust to keep the cabbage white caterpillars off the leaves.  Dipel dust is a biological insecticide that is used in organic farming, (meaning that it isn’t a poison, but a living bacteria that kills the caterpillars when they ingest it.)  I don’t want to poison the cabbage white butterflies, I just don’t want the caterpillars to eat holes in my kale leaves.  

 

There are about 12 plants of kale that I planted this year, and three that overwintered from last year.  Last year’s kale is making seeds, and we will plant those seeds inside in the winter to grow microgreens.  We can eat kale year round.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

Look who I saw in the eggplants.  It wasn’t eating the leaves;  it was eating whoever was eating the leaves.

 

We like seeing Praying Mantids in the garden.  They are “ambush predators,” and they eat bugs, the bugs that eat my plants. This particular praying mantis couldn’t get away from me fast enough.  All I wanted was to take its picture, but it kept moving.

 

I hope you can see how pretty it is.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!! 

 

Look what we saw when we walked the loop on Friday.  This one was at the top of Clifford’s hill.  What a pleasant surprise after that climb.  I took its picture, then looked it up in my books when we got home.  Isn’t it just the sweetest color of purple?  

 

They are native to the United States, and grow on dry, rocky hillsides from Maine to Florida and west to Arizona and New Mexico.  I hope you get to see some in your travels.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!