The sun finally came out earlier in the week, and my seedlings are lapping up the rays. I’ve had to water a few times this week (as the seedling roots are still shallow), and all are doing well. Yesterday, I did my first complete walk-through of the garden, and I was surprised at some of the things I found! This week’s garden photos!
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. This week’s garden photos!
Just when I thought we wouldn’t have any more nights below freezing, we got a little surprise. Friday morning’s low was 31 degrees, and several of my plants showed it. However, I think NOW I can say spring is arriving. At least, we’re finally seeing all the signs around. Signs of Spring on my homestead!
It’s winter planting season, and the weather has changed like a roller coaster this week in the Charleston, SC area. From a low of 17 during the Polar Vortex (which dipped this far south) to a high of 73 only three days later! Walking through my garden this weekend, I felt like Goldilocks. This week’s garden pictures!
It’s hard to believe it’s already December, the last month of the year! My 2013 garden log is almost complete, the seed catalogs are soon to arrive, and it’s time to start planning my seed germinating and my winter and spring gardens. There’s not much rest for southern gardeners as we can grow something almost year round. December and January are the slow months, then things kick back up again! Although this is my slowest season in the garden, I do have some pictures to share with you. This week in the garden!
I harvested so much this past weekend that I couldn’t include all the pictures in my weekly Sanctuary Gardener Update on Monday! Some of the harvest is expected this time of year – root vegetables and greens -but I’m amazed that I’m still harvesting figs and peppers. This displaced New England girl is beyond excited about harvests like this in November! Mid-November harvests!
Last week, I posted the first article in this two-part series, “Herbal Allies in the Garden ~ A through M.” Today, I’m sharing with you the herbal (and floral) allies list N through Z. Again, although this list is not exhaustive, it represents many of the common herbs and flowers gardeners plant. Consider growing these among your vegetables and fruit trees to help repel garden pests and disease as well as draw beneficial insects to your garden. And the added beauty is always a plus! Learn about herbal allies!
This past weekend, I realized I needed to seriously clip my oregano and thyme. Although I use them fresh in much of my cooking, the plants are growing faster than I can use them. So, I gave both plants a major hair cut! The picture above is what I harvested from the oregano and thyme. What did I do with the harvest? Dry it, of course. Learn how!
With my fiscal year-end work schedule and Charleston’s summer storm schedule, I am woefully behind in my gardening chores! I’m either working until dark, or it’s raining or too wet to do what I need to do if I get home before sunset. Last night, I was in the garden until I couldn’t see anymore – harvesting cucumbers, tomatoes, raspberries, and close to 100 pepperoncini! I also topped my paste tomato plants because they were so long, they were bending over each other! Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time to do any more than that. So, today being my weekly day off, I have quite the list of chores to accomplish. What’s happening at the homestead!
I think we need an ark for my sanctuary garden! Rain, rain, cloudy days, mist, more rain…. Today is the first day the sun has come out in a week. I’m not worried about ground water as my raised beds drain well. However, all the rain and humidity is the perfect environment for fungus and disease on many plants. I pulled a couple of lima beans that looked troublesome (didn’t want it to spread to the other plants), and I’m investigating some black spots on one of my pepper plants. (Mold??) Yet, my garden IS growing. Come take a look!
Sanctuary Gardener 