Tuesday July 14, 2009
While I’ve been bemoaning the constant rain in my area this summer, I want you to know I realize some of you and your gardens are frying in sizzling heat. I think we’d all rather put up with rain than suffer through weeks of high temperatures. Few of us enjoy working in the garden in 100 degree weather any more than our plants enjoy being there. Let’s hope the weather moderates for all of us soon.
I mentioned how well my lettuce was still doing. I usually grow lettuce throughout the summer, but this year I haven’t had to make any special efforts to keep it from bolting. If you’ve always heard that lettuce is only a cool weather crop, you might want to give summer lettuce another try. It grows a lot faster and it’s not very forgiving of heat combined with a lack of water, but it’s a great filler for spots in your garden that are shaded by taller plants, like tomatoes and beans. Here are my tricks for coaxing lettuce into sticking around for the summer.
Photo: © Marie Iannotti
Monday July 13, 2009
One of the nicest surprises for me this summer was seeing all of my ornamental gourd birdhouses being occupied. When I first grew the gourds and then dried and dolled them up, I was skeptical that a bird would be enticed to set up home in my bold colored garden ornaments, but I built them and they came. I'm thrilled.
Ornamental gourds grow as easily as zucchini. But unlike zucchini, there is no limit to what you can do with gourds. By drying ornamental gourds, you can keep them intact indefinitely. You can use them to make bird houses, containers, pots and silly, whimsical decorations that belie the ugly process they go through as they harden. Drying gourds is an easy process, but it takes time and it's not always pretty. But what a treat to see your efforts go to good use!
Sunday July 12, 2009
It’s kind of a shame that just as your garden gets to its ultimate glory, it starts to go downhill. It's important to step back now and then and take a look at how well your plants work together, especially as they begin to reach their mature size. Have things become so crowded you’ve lost a few plants under the crush? Did everything peak a month ago, leaving little to look at now? Have you spent the whole summer deadheading and primping, just to keep some color in the garden? These are the things you’ll want to make note of now, so you can correct them while your dreaming up next year’s garden over the winter.
If the problem is too many similar plants fighting for attention, the solution could be to base your garden around one drama queen plant and let your other plants complement her. It’s amazing how a single eye-catching plant, used as a focal point, can pull a garden together. This tip is especially good if you’re trying to down-size your garden maintenance. Most drama queens spend the whole season growing, requiring little to no maintenance. Some could easily be confused for shrubs, but unlike shrubs, they’ll keep their size in check.
Photo: © Marie Iannotti
Saturday July 11, 2009
Last night I had a dream that the problem with my vegetable garden was that I had planted it in the basement and it wasn’t getting enough sun. I had the brilliant idea to move the plants to a walled garden in a part of the yard I wasn’t using. I’m glad the first part of my dream was totally wrong, but I do wish I had a walled garden for growing vegetables. Today might be the first day we hit 80 degrees this month. I won’t be seeing a red tomato any time soon and, as you can see, it’s giving me nightmares.
On the positive side, my leafy vegetables are still going strong. That includes my herb garden. Some of the Mediterranean herbs wouldn’t mind a little heat, but the annuals, like cilantro, parsley and dill, are thriving. So I’m going to try to stop worrying about my tomatoes and peppers and treat myself to a Mexican Barbeque this weekend. Our Guide to Herb Gardens, Amy Jeanroy, gets the ball rolling with the 6 Best Herbs for Mexican Cooking. Then I turned to our Barbeque Guide, Derrick Riches, for a lesson in the Mexican Grill. I have my mesquite ready to burn, all I need now are some recipes. Derrick starts me off with a Mexican Marinade that can go on just about any type of meat or vegetables. To keep things simple and summery, I also turned to Cooking for Kids Guide, (hey, we’re all kids in the summer), and came away with Stephanie’s easy recipes for Mexican Salsa and Taco Salad. Now I’m good to go. If only I could say the same for my hot peppers.
Photo: © Marie Iannotti
