The three raised beds have produced more this year than I hoped! I harvested many beans, peppers, and herbs. I will give descriptions & details, with links, for all plants soon. Here are a few photo galleries & brief info for each month from June through August, 2018.
June
July
August
I planted new fall & winter seeds the week of Sept 19. See my previous post for detailed information about the raised bed building process, seed starting, and garden harvests from earlier this year. Also, my next post will feature some of the gorgeous, Georgia native plants that finally bloomed in my garden this year!
Tomatoes-Yellow Pear, Okra, Baby Sugar Pie Pumpkins,
Peppers- better pictures of later harvests to follow in my next post which will cover the progress from June-Aug.
1. Jalapeno 2.Habanero 3. Sweet Italian 4.Tabasco
Herbs-
Basil- 3 varieties 1.Thai 2. Cinnamon 3. Genovese
1st Basil Harvest. Many more to follow!
Borage, Dill, Fennel, Caraway, Cucumbers. Details to follow in next post.
I moved the Rosemary, Lemon Balm, Peppermint, Oregano from Raised Bed #1 to in ground locations very early in the spring, because I wanted to make room for more veggies in the bed, and those herbs are perennials which survive the winter here.
February
The garden area in early August! So much growth this year.
March
April-May
I really needed a new third bed, given how many seeds I started this year. I finally got it built in mid April-, but then didn’t get it filled and planted, until first week of May.
I’ve been needing a large Strawberry Pot, and I finally found the perfect one at
Cofer’s – my absolute favorite garden center of all time!
Below is a link to my transcription of my handwritten, in a hurry seed starting notes. Not very interesting, but I’m trying to record my data to improve my yields and timing for the future.
I will post the details of the garden progress from the months of June, July & August very soon. I have already harvested many beans, herbs and peppers! The garden work finally slowed down enough, and the weather is too hot to be outside working much anyway, so I am finally catching up posting.
I planted pea seeds of several different types this year- Snow Peas, Oregon Sugar Pod, Sugar Daddy, and Super Sugar Snap Peas, in Raised Organic Garden Bed #2, on March 2nd, 2018-
The Snow Peas produced the best this time. I harvested the 1st peas on May 10th. It was 69 days till harvest, and the packages said 68. Even with the weather being so dry and warmer than usual, they still produced a gallon size freezer bag full so far. The snow peas produced a few more pods over the last weeks of May, but very few compared to earlier in the season.
I harvested Snow Peas that I planted from seeds sold by Lake Valley Seed Company. Every other day or so over a couple weeks I harvested pods, and added them to a freezer bag in the fridge crisper, lying on a paper towel. Then, I blanched them for about 2 minutes, drained, and put in the freezer.
Then, I ate them a few weeks later, because I could’t resist. They stayed so vibrantly green, and sweet and tasty! Love them!
I had a huge slug infestation this year; I spent a great deal of time cursing & pulling slugs off my plants-mostly the peppers and peas, but there were still plenty left for us to enjoy. It was extremely wet the last few months, and the slugs seemed to have moved on now because of the drier, warmer conditions.
I knew nothing of the history of peas. Turns out they are the longest cultivated crop in history! I found some very useful info about the history of peas at
My husband & I pruned heavily with the new polesaw, in Spring 2017. The Crabapple has filled out beautifully since the great pruning, and the smaller size and shaping fits the front of the house much better.
Prune twice per year. First prune heavily in early Spring & then again in late Summer if necessary to shape prune. They smell so good, probably due to being related to honeysuckle. I love, love this shrub. Blooms from May til frost!
Dave’s Garden gives more details about this gorgeous plant.
Gardenia-
Only bloom on Old Wood, so I usually prune lightly in the Spring before blooms emerge in May. I don’t have the heart to cut the beautiful, fragrant flowers while they are open. I prune after it blooms, if not before.
Gardenia
I pruned the huge gardenia last week finally -early May 2018. See pic below. No blooms yet, and lots of fill in growing to do this season. It will help stimulate new growth and make a healthier shrub in the future.
After the great pruning. Looks a little sparse, but will fill in.
Loropetalum-
I prune every few years as needed in the early Spring. I pruned heavily in early March of 2018, but it is still very big, and has crossing branches. This shrub needs a major cut back again either later this year or next spring, maybe both.
Loropetalum March 2018 Before pruning, currently blooming
This post by Walter Reeves on pruning Loropetalum makes me laugh about the “needs little pruning” statement. Mine always has a natural look, especially now immediately after pruning, but I would like a more rounded appearance eventually.
Tools used: Long Pole Saw, Long Handled Loppers, Hedge Trimmers, Greenworks Chainsaw- this is new, and awesome. Quiet & No Gas & Powerful.
2018 Delaware Valley White Azalea. Not a native azalea, but beautiful!
I didn’t prune this azalea this year, but included it because it was spectacular this Spring. I will posts pics and details soon about all the great Native Plants I have planted in my landscape the last few years, like the Native Azaleas & Oakleaf Hydrangea. I love the Georgia Native Plant Society’s website for information on Georgia Native Plants. Also Raised Beds, Seeds, and 2018 Garden post to follow soon!
I will update info and add links on all plants grown this year soon. Here are some pics, and a few details, on the garden happenings the last few months. Whew! Too busy to write much now, but check back soon. I welcome any southeastern gardener’s input, or anyone’s thoughts at all. Thanks!
3rd amazing Basil harvest this year, at least! My husband & I made this & some other herbs & ingredients into my first homegrown, homemade pesto later that week.
But wait … there’s more!
We used almonds instead of pine nuts in the pesto, and it was incredible. I gave it away as a gift, but had some left over. It was one of the most flavorful and delightful mixtures I have ever tasted. Using many fresh herbs from my garden including Basil, Rosemary, Parsley, and Oregano makes me happy. Yay!
I will post details on all 2017 plants soon. I am so busy with the gardening work, I haven’t had time to write much. What an exciting garden year!
August brought lots of harvests, and I planted a bunch of new seeds. I will post details about each very soon. I even canned some cucumber and jalapeno pickles for the first time this year.
I am working on a cool season garden for the first time this year with cabbages, lettuces, radishes, pumpkins, mustard greens, peas, and various herbs. I will post soon about those endeavors.
My husband Hal and I chose an amazing day to go on the 7 mile round-trip hike to Panther Creek Falls. We hiked the moderately difficult trail at the mid/end of May 2017. It was 90 degrees that day, but deep in the woods by Panther Creek, the air was significantly cooler and mostly shady. I took pictures of the many azaleas, mountain laurels, and unidentified wildflowers along the path.
Mountain Laurel
I found many flowers blooming- too numerous to go into detail about each one, in this post. Below is a photo gallery of some of the flowers I identified with a brief description for now. I will talk more about each of these incredible native plants in later posts.
Pink native Azalea
Panther Creek Falls
I went to Panther Creek Falls once about twenty years ago, but this time was truly an unforgettable experience. The first time I visited, I was just getting started on my nature observation and writing journey. I had no idea then how much I would learn about the ecology, native plants, and ecosystems of this beautiful state. I am thankful to be able to enjoy the natural beauty here. My pictures don’t quite capture the scale or grandeur of the awe inspiring scene. Seeing the falls in person again was special, and worth the hike.
I planted a multitude of seeds this year. I am amazed how many herbs and veggies fit in the two 3′ x 8′ raised, organic garden beds. We will see what survives & thrives in 2017.
April 2- the first round of seeds, in shade for a week to acclimate to outside
Veggies:
Peppers-Jalapeno, Tabasco grown from seed. I bought a Poblano (which the deer immediately destroyed), a Green Bell, & an Orange Baby Bell pepper.
Tomatoes: Cherry, Yellow Pear, Early Girl-from seed
Cucumbers-Pickling & Bush Beans- from seed
I started the 1st round of seeds indoors in early March- a few weeks later than usual. Those seeds became the plants above- pic taken before planting in the raised beds in mid April!
April 20th– (a little later than I like) I transplanted the first round, after prepping the beds. I also added a second round of new seeds directly to the soil. The Rosemary, Oregano, Lemon Balm, Peppermint, and Parsley survived the winter.
I added a second round of transplants and seeds in early May. Directly sowed more cucumber, bush beans & more tomato seeds. I added my organic, homemade compost from the Earth Machine, mushroom compost, organic pine bark mulch, and native clay soil to both beds.
This year, I have an infestation of what we call tater or pill bugs, (but they have many names). So far, they’ve only munched my cucumber leaves a little. I will leave them alone, as they don’t seem to be doing much harm. They are very interesting creatures, notable for their ability to clean heavy metals from soil.
Like their namesake in Greek Mythology, Iris- “the messenger goddess”, or “the rainbow goddess,” these beautiful flowers deliver the message that Spring has arrived, in all the colors of the rainbow. I only got a few bloom colors this year, and I am thrilled to have them!
My friend generously dug them from her garden two years ago, and I transplanted them here. One purple bloomed the first year- from over a dozen transplants. Then, this year three purples bloomed, and an absolutely gorgeous pinky, mauve beauty. I’ve not looked up the varieties yet, but wanted to post this while they are blooming (except the Dutch iris- bloomed earlier this month).
I enriched the heavy clay soil with my organic, homemade compost and fallen leaf mulch. I followed directions from The American Iris Society’s website on planting the rhizomes. They take a little time getting settled in, but are worth the wait for the spectacular flowers.
