Conquering Cabbage Consternation

Conquering Cabbage Consternation

vegetable garden

I'll admit that it has been years, if not decades, since I planted cabbage and broccoli in my vegetable garden.

When I tried to grow them back in the day, it never failed that within weeks of planting, the pretty white cabbage butterflies would find my plants, lay their eggs and then their larvae, little green worms, commenced to consume my crops.

Oh the unsightly mess. I do not use

A new season begins in The Vegetable Garden Cathedral

A new season begins in The Vegetable Garden Cathedral

vegetable garden

I had to make an emergency run to the garden center today because I realized I didn't have any 'Green Arrow' peas to plant.

I plant peas on St. Patrick's Day, always. Well, always for the past ten years or so. And always 'Green Arrow'.

And then they didn't have 'Green Arrow' at the garden center I went to.  So I bought 'Wando' and 'Provision #9'.  Then I remembered I had a small packet of '

How I order seeds for my garden

How I order seeds for my garden

Seeds vegetable garden

Vegetables to enjoy in season

I try to order most of my vegetable garden seeds in the middle of January.

I've been ordering seeds for one garden or another since I was a teenager and took over ordering seeds for my dad. Back then, I spent hours studying the seeds catalogs, reading all the descriptions and making suggestions on the seeds we should order.  My dad, as I recall, usually agreed

Garlic! And the garden is looking good.

Garlic! And the garden is looking good.

vegetable garden

Part of my garlic harvest

We are now safe from vampires here at May Dreams Gardens, with plenty of garlic to keep them far, far away from here.

And what a fine day it was for digging the garlic and otherwise tending the vegetable garden. Clear blue skies, moderate temperatures... a day made for gardening.

I spent most of this fine day weeding in the vegetable garden, channeling Charles

The Pea Family Showed Up This Week

The Pea Family Showed Up This Week

perennials vegetable garden

I was standing out in the garden and noticed I was surrounded by blooms from the pea family of plants.

My initial thought was, "oh good, the Leguminosae family has arrived. Oh wait, not Leguminosae like I learned in college, now it's Fabaceae. Leguminosae, Fabaceae, does it really matter-a?

Maybe not.

What matters is their blooms have shown up in my garden.

The common peas, Pisum sativum,

If it isn't producing, it's reducing

If it isn't producing, it's reducing

vegetable garden

I have a new saying for my vegetable garden.

If it isn't producing, it's reducing.

In years gone by, I planted out my vegetable garden starting in early spring with peas, lettuce, and other cool season crops. Then after I felt pretty sure we wouldn't have another frost, I planted the rest of the garden with tomatoes, peppers, squash, corn, and other warm season crops.

Then I'd pick and

The pleasure of growing vegetables

The pleasure of growing vegetables

vegetable garden

Life is good in my vegetable garden, duly named The Vegetable Garden Cathedral.

In a few days, I'll be picking shelling peas and there are snow peas ready to pick now.

Long-time readers, I mean from way back in the early days of my blog, in the "aughts", know for shelling peas, I swear by the variety 'Green Arrow'.

Check that. I shouldn't swear in a place I call a cathedral, should I?

I'll

How to plant a tomato plant

How to plant a tomato plant

tomatoes vegetable garden

How do you plant a tomato plant?

You start off with a lovely tomato plant, maybe one you grew yourself from seed or one you bought at a local greenhouse where they grew it from seed.

You pick a variety that reminds you of the tomato plants your dad bought, when 'Big Boy' and 'Beefsteak' and 'Supersteak' grew in many backyard gardens.

Or perhaps you buy a variety called 'Old German' because

An Update on The Vegetable Garden Cathedral

An Update on The Vegetable Garden Cathedral

vegetable garden

Radishes, 'Cherry Belle' and 'French Breakfast'

Ah, yes, those radishes were quite good, and thank you for asking.  They were crunchy in a crisp sort of way and had just the right amount of kick for a Sunday morning snack.

You should really grow some yourself. You know you should.  Radishes are oh-so-easy to grow, too. Just scratch up a little garden, then plant a few seeds in a row and about

Cover those seedlings, or else!

Cover those seedlings, or else!

Humor vegetable garden

Rainy Sundays.  I suppose if we must have rain on a weekend, it is better for the rain to fall on Sunday rather than Saturday.

I ran out to take a few pictures and check on the Vegetable Garden Cathedral when it was sprinkling just a  little bit.  A lull between rain clouds.

I passed by the lovely 'Lady Jane' tulips, all closed up, doing their best to protect their pollen until a sunny day.

An Update from the Vegetable Garden Cathedral

An Update from the Vegetable Garden Cathedral

vegetable garden

Vegetable Garden Cathedral

I spent some much needed time in the Vegetable Garden Cathedral this weekend.  Both the garden and I needed it.

The garden needed it because it was quite a weedy mess, with henbit (probably Lamium amplexicaule) growing in nearly every bed.

Henbit is a winter annual which generally shows up in early spring.  The trick to controlling it is to pull it out before it

Dear Friend and Gardener: Late Veg Garden Update

Dear Friend and Gardener: Late Veg Garden Update

Dear Friend and Gardener vegetable garden

Aster 'Alma Potschke', which has nothing to do with the veg garden

Dear Dee and Mary Ann,

I have been quite lax in providing updates for the Dear Friend and Gardening virtual garden club.

Let me catch you up on the vegetable garden.

I spent the better part of yesterday morning cleaning up weeds in the garden.  I pulled out nutsedge and foxtail and grubbed out prostrate spurge and purslane.

Glass Gem Corn

Glass Gem Corn

Seeds vegetable garden

... And every evening after she had finished her chores,

 if she had been good all day,

meaning no whining or fussing,

no being mean or unkind to others,

no temper tantrums.

If she ate all her vegetables without complaining,

did enough steps to keep her FitBit happy,

and didn't forget to change out of her regular clothes into her gardening clothes before heading out to the garden...

And after she picked green beans

And after she picked green beans

fairies vegetable garden

Left to Right...Contender, Gold Rush, Roma II, all seeds from Botanical Interests.
And after she picked green beans, she accepted the garden fairies' invitation to sit in the garden with them and dine on golden raspberries and cherry tomatoes.

Their conversation was pleasant and enlightening, even uplifting.

After eating and talking, she walked around the garden with the garden fairies,

Minding my peas

Minding my peas

vegetable garden

There's a tiny bit of work involved in growing peas, but the reward of fresh peas is well worth the effort.

You have to start by having the faith and maybe a little bit of courage to go out to the garden on a cold day in mid-March, or whenever it seems like there is just a glimmer of spring in your garden, and sow the seeds.  You think it is just too cold and the seeds are going to freeze and

I forked my beans to keep the rabbits away

I forked my beans to keep the rabbits away

rabbits vegetable garden

I forked my beans to keep the rabbits away from them. 

Some may look at this fortress of forks and think it looks ridiculous, but it really does help protect the tender bean shoots from being mowed down by a bunch of marauding, toothy, ravenous rabbits.

I also forked my pepper plants, but not before the rabbits bit off three of them.   

Overall, I am pleased with how the garden is growing so

40 Degrees Fahrenheit

40 Degrees Fahrenheit

vegetable garden

Just  before the two little snowdrops were buried in our first snow of March, I hurried out the front door and took a picture of them. Then I hurried back inside because it is cold out there.

 An hour later, the snowdrops were buried under a new blank of snow.

It's not a deep snow, so far, but it's enough snow that when I tell people that I will be out in the veg garden sowing peas in about

Surprise Lilies and Surprise Announcements

Surprise Lilies and Surprise Announcements

fairies Humor perennials vegetable garden

Garden fairies here.

We are garden fairies and we have taken it upon ourselves to wipe out everything Carol just wrote about the surprise lilies, Lycoris squamigera, because it was all so boringggggg.

We garden fairies do not like boring posts whatsoever. In fact, we gave what Carol wrote six G's out of a scale of five G's because it was beyond anything we could imagine when it comes to

Corn Pollination: A One Act Play

Corn Pollination: A One Act Play

one act plays vegetable garden

Corn Pollination

A One Act Play

By

Carol M.


Cast of Characters

Corn…………………………....….A sweet corn stalk
Tassel……………………………….A simple tassel at the top of a corn stalk
Silk………………………………… The silk on an ear of corn
Bee………………………………… A simple honeybee
Wind………………………………..A gentle summer breeze

TIME: Summer
SETTING: A garden


ACT ONE

SCENE1


(We see a patch of sweet corn growing in a garden)

Best Green Bean Year Ever

Best Green Bean Year Ever

vegetable garden

Do you know what we call a whole lot of green beans?

We call it a "mess of beans" around here, as in "I just picked a mess of green beans, nearly five pounds worth".

I also picked green beans last Sunday, and though I didn't weigh them, I would guess I picked maybe three pounds worth.

These are the very best green beans I have ever grown in all the years - and there are many years - that I