Sanctuary Gardener Update ~ 1/12/15

This past week, Charleston got a little taste of the winter the rest of the country usually gets. Of course, our temperatures weren’t near as low as many of you had to deal with. But the night of January 7, we got down to 18 degrees. In fact, we spent close to 48 hours below freezing! Needless to say, my hoop tunnels and key lime trees stayed covered for 4 days. The day time highs weren’t sufficient to uncover them and then have to recover them for the freezing temperatures at night. A couple days ago, the post-freeze garden inspection began.

Sanctuary Gardener Update ~ 1/5/15

Happy new year, everyone! Welcome to my first update of 2015. It’s a new year, a new opportunity to expand our horizons, and a new chance to grow more and harvest more. This past week, I looked at seed catalogs, weeded, harvested, and planted peas and spinach and lettuce. The weather has been rather warm, but a cold winter blast is on its way. Next Wednesday night will go down to 20 degrees. Big difference from yesterday’s high of 74. Ah, the joys of living on the coast of South Carolina. Regardless, it IS nice to still be gardening in the winter.

Sanctuary Gardener Update ~ 12/29/14

Welcome to my last garden update of 2014. I can hardly believe the year is just about over, and a new one is about to begin. The new seed catalogs are arriving, and I’m working on garden planning – determining crop rotation/planting placements, deciding on seeds to order, making a garden shopping list for spring. Even when there’s not much going on in the garden, there’s still a lot going on with the gardener. 🙂

Sanctuary Gardener Update ~ 12/22/14

The weather has been fairly mild the past week, and I’ve been able to leave the plastic off my hoop tunnels at night. That’s been great as my plants need some direct sunlight – and the rain we’re now getting. I harvested a few things, and I noticed some seedlings finally germinated. A typical quiet week in my December garden.

Sanctuary Gardener Update ~ 10/6/14

Autumn has finally arrived here in the Charleston, SC area. The temperatures are now in the upper 70s or low 80s during the day and in the low 60s at night. We had a cold front come through this past weekend, and yesterday’s low temperature was 46! Thankfully, it warmed up quickly, and I was able to spend the day in the garden, planting some more fall crops – more lettuce and kale, turnips, radishes, and cilantro. I also planted peas, though we’re not supposed to plant them again until January, but why not give it a whirl? Elsewhere in the garden, things are growing and looking a little more robust.

Sanctuary Gardener Update ~ 9/8/14

I can happily report that it finally rained this past weekend! First rain in over three weeks. We got 1.5 inches, and even that has made a difference in the garden. You’ll see in today’s pictures how heat and drought stressed my plants have been. At least now, the soil is not so dry. We’re supposed to get more rain today, and I hope the weatherman is right. Meanwhile, my garden is holding on in the continuing heat of summer temperatures, and I’m still unable to plant my fall garden. I’ve been putting off planting indoors under grow lights, hoping for cooler weather; but I don’t think I can put it off any longer if I want a fall crop before frost. At least, I still have plants striving to live and give me what they can.

Sanctuary Gardener Update ~ 8/11/14

I’m now back from a great vacation with family up in Rhode Island. It was a long drive (954 miles and two days each way), but I had a great time enjoying family, cooler weather, Italian cooking, the best fish & chips, and the prettiest rocky shoreline in the world! Before I left, I prepared all my articles for the week and a half I was gone, and they all posted on time. However, there was a glitch for one article post, and notification emails weren’t sent out. If you didn’t get an email on August 6, please check out my post “Gardening in Outer Space.”

That said, I’m sure you’re wondering about my how my garden fared while I was gone. Trust me, that was the first thing on my mind when I pulled into my driveway! I got back from vacation this past Saturday; and the second I finished unloading the car, I ran out to my garden. Overall, everything is fine. However, bugs did attack while grass and plants grew like triffids! And, alas, I did lose some things.

Sanctuary Gardener Update ~ 6/2/14

We finally got some rain this past weekend! It wasn’t as much as I would’ve liked, but it gave my garden a decent watering. The temperature will be down in the 80s until midweek, too. That will be a welcome respite from the 90+ degree heat we can’t seem to shake. The garden is producing more fruit, and my bulb-flowers are now blooming.

Sanctuary Gardener Update ~ 12/9/13

What an interesting week this has been! Hanukkah’s last night was Wednesday – so no more holiday cooking for me for a while! The temperatures reached the upper 70s most of the week, and actually hit 80 degrees on Friday! Yesterday’s high temperature? 48 degrees. Welcome to Charleston. I did take advantage of the warm weather on Friday and worked in the garden some. I also planned my winter and spring gardens while surrounded by new seed catalogs and drinking coffee on the dreary Saturday we had. Thinking of new plantings and seeds always brings sunshine on a winter day.

Sanctuary Gardener Update ~ 11/11/13

It’s definitely cooled off in my garden this week. We had one night that the temperature got down to 36 degrees. Thankfully, my garden did well. However, this week the forecast calls for two nights below freezing. It’s time to pull out the drop cloths to see if I can keep my peppers ripening for a little while longer. This weekend I harvested so much that I’m going to share my harvest pictures with you in my next post.