This is what happens when you can't finish a garden project before a 24 hour long rain storm.

 I now have a moat around my patio. No big deal. It really is a bit of a blessing. Now I can see where I need to make a few small adjustments to ensure water is going to flow away from the house. I will also get to see how well the new drainage pipe is working.

It's Time For A Change

Well we have been in our house for a little over a year now and it's given me time to figure out what changes I want to make in the backyard. At some point I would love to update and extend the patio but that will have to wait. So in the meantime I'm going to add flower beds around the patio and try to create a sense of privacy. Now that the much needed drainage is in place... I can get started

Can You Grow Four Melon Varieties In One 4'X8' Bed?

The answer: Yes you can

I planted the following four varieties in a 4'x8' raised bed. They are spaced about 20 inches apart in two rows. Two seed to each mound. Not all the plants made it but I do have at least one plant of each variety. I started the seeds in the bed in mid May. Next year I will start in April, weather permitting.

Varieties (all organic)

• Sun Jewel
• Crimson Sweet Watermelon
• Cantaloupe Hale's Best
• Muskmelon Honey Dew

So far the Sun Jewel is doing the best with about 8 melons.

2 Watermelons

2 Cantaloupe

1 Honey Dew

I don't have any honey bees in my area for some reason. It's very sad. But I do have lots of carpenter bees and wasps. They worked hard in the melon patch for me.

Melon bed on the left.

As of today July 5,2017

Watermelon July 5, 2017

Sun Jewel July 5, 2017

Two watermelons and a cantaloupe July 5, 2017

Cantaloupe July 5, 2017

Honey Dew July 5, 2017

Cantaloupe July 5, 2017

Corn

This is my first year trying to grow corn. I only planted a 4x4 bed. I have been met with some challenges. I did not get full pollination on the ears that are ripe. This I'm sure is due to the small planting. I seem to have a pest problem but not on all of the crop. I will need to find an organic way to treat this issue. The rewards, now I know I can grow corn and I was able to harvested three ears of corn this morning and they were delish!

The Best Time To Plant A Tree

I started this blog post on March 25th and I'm just getting back to it.

You know... Life.

And plant a tree I did.

March 19th 2017

The apple tree is safely in her new home and is the centerpiece of the yard. The rest of the garden will be designed around her. Yes my apple tree is a her. No I didn't give her a name. 

That would be silly. (giggle)

We did get some blooms but the timing was off and they did not get pollinated.

We were not expecting any apples this year.

April 2017

I planted some nasturtium seeds around the tree for some spring color. 

They did much better than I thought they would in our heat. 

May 2017

The apple tree is looking very healthy.

The nasturtiums are starting to show some heat stress.

There you go! You are all caught up on the apple tree.

Putting Down Roots

Now that we are in our own home I feel we can put down some roots and when I say roots I mean an apple tree and some blueberries.

It's that time of year to get the bareroots planted. I picked up 4 blueberry plants from a local nursery called Farmers Supply and ordered a low chill apple tree from Peaceful Valley. It's a 4 on 1 multiple grafted apple tree (semi-dwarf). Since I don't have room to plant two apple trees in my yard this was the best answer for variety and pollination.

The blueberries have been planted and seem to be adjusting their new home.

Blueberries 

The apple tree arrived yesterday and will be planted this weekend if all goes according to plan. We are going to build a raised planter box for the apple tree. The yard is slow to drain when it rains and I'm concerned the roots may stay too wet. I'm hoping by raising the tree a bit the drainage will no be an issue.

Apple Tree
Gordon, Fuji, Anna and Morsett Golden

Apple bud

Snow Day!

Well I was not expecting this when I woke up this morning. 

We heard that it might snow but didn't think too much about it since we don't get much snow here in the Southeast. I looked up the last time it really snowed here and that was back in 2011.


I'm glad I brought in all my front porch plants and covered my Hosta's last night. 


Here are some random photos from today of the front and back yard.












































Blueberries 



Blueberries that were planned last week.







Mint growing out the side of the bed.



Mint