Garden season is ON!

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Great weekend working outdoors. I love it! Yesterday was insane weather; we started out with severe thunderstorms in the morning, which blew through by early afternoon and were followed by sun and crazy wind gusts to 30+ knots.

The apiary (thankfully still empty at this time) blew over, which sent John and I out in search of wind break plants to put nearby, and straps to strap down the apiary until the plants grow in. We get some really incredible wind here in the New River Valley.

As a result, we installed two white False Spirea, intended to be a wind break for the apiary, hopefully in the very near future. Their leaves are gorgeous! While at Lowe's I saw that they had azaleas on sale for $2.50 each, so I picked up three Hershey Red to put in the front bed, which we installed today.

My friend Laurie asked me about a recipe for garlic spray, and I noticed a great recipe in one of my favorite books that I thought I'd share.

Garlic Spray
Excerpt from Carrots Love Tomatoes by Louise Riotte:

"Take 3-4 ounces of chopped garlic bulbs and soak in 2 tablespoons of mineral oil for a day. Add one pint of water in which one teaspoon of fish emulsion has been dissolved. Stir well. Strain the liquid and store in a glass or china container, as it reacts with metals. Dilute this, starting with one part to 20 parts of water, and use as a spray against your worst insect pests."

I've used a simpler form of garlic spray (garlic olive oil + a small amount of dish soap + water) to treat late blight with good success (unfortunately, that year we were getting unheard of amounts of rainfall, and you have to reapply the mix each time to control the blight as it will get washed off).

And now, for pictures!

Here we go... Here are the two False Spirea out by the apiary (taken down for the moment due to continued high winds):


One of the Josee Lilacs (I'll spare you the other photo, I don't think the other one is going to make it):


A shot of the tiny azalea bushes, barely visible in the shade in the mulched tree area to the right - a tiny shot of pink between the tree in the foreground and the tree by the driveway further up:


A better shot of the azaleas:


John's got some hop rhizomes going in the mulched area going down the side of the house in this picture:


The three Siberian Irises I planted (did I forget to mention those?) that I got free from a kind Master Gardener who was dividing hers and shared with the class (Azaleas in the background):


Does anybody know what this plant is? It's another freebie from the kind Master Gardener Mickey. It is super fragrant and supposedly shade loving and spreading.


We also have a BUNCH of these coming up from seed all over my garden beds. I've been trying like crazy to get them out. What are they?!


I spy, with my little eye, a few Ga Southern & Southern Giant Curled Mustard I direct seeded--along with a few of those PESKY WEEDS (see above):


Indoors, still growing, the tomatoes are getting big! And I've got another month or so to go before they get planted out.


I'm about to plant some of these in a ceramic pot together, which is why I was looking at Carrots Love Tomatoes earlier. I have no idea which to combine that would grow well and look nice together! Oh well, I guess I'll look up info online and wing it. H- are Herbs for culinary use and T- are Herbs for teamaking. I can't wait to start harvesting some of these and making my own teas!


I suppose I'll close with this shot of my garden, waiting for the warmth to come, and the last frost date to pass. You can see the potato box in this shot, one of the reasons I'm throwing it in to close out my post.


Thanks for sticking with me!! Happy Spring!