Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Watermelon, Watermelon, Watermelon Rye...









Some interesting fact about watermelons:
1) each plant has male and female flowers, and every 7th flower is a female. Males flowers produce the pollen and female flowers produce the fruit
2) The bees pollinate the watermelon in the morning and then the flowers close up in the afternoon. So, rainy or windy weather in the mornings can hamper yield
3)  Misshaped watermelons mostly occur from pollination problems. ie. If bees pollinate only one of the 3 lobes of the flower a irregular shaped melon will form or weather problems disturb pollination
4) Once a melon is forming the rest of the flowers will drop, so it is important to prune off bad watermelons


I have been growing watermelons for years now. I can count on one hand the times they actually produced an edible watermelon. Here are some problems that I have encountered.

Too small watermelon with dead vine
Too large watermelon and spongy inside
Black rotten hole on the outside
Uneven shaped watermelon
No watermelon yet healthy vine

Each year I encounter a problem, I research it and the next year I change that one thing. So, instead of boring you over the details of my finding and why. I will just share with you the tricks I do to "try" to grow an edible watermelon. 

I plant in full sun always! I try to find a spot with great drainage like sandy soil or for me over an old drain field of a septic tank. The key is the soil can't have too good of drainage and not retain water and/or too poor drainage and lead to rot. I place the watermelon with lots of room to wander through other flowering plants. I use it almost as a ground cover. This year, I planted it in a huge pot filled with moisture control potting mix and placed the pot among my roses. Once I see a watermelon forming, I hand pick all the rest of the flowers off the vine and sometimes even trim the vine and leave only about 2 ft or less after the watermelon. I WATER evenly and consistently.  Watering is my biggest problem. Too little water during fruit formation will cause spongy, small or misshaped watermelons. Too much water will cause fungus, blight and rot. For my region, 8b, I water as much as I can since it is usually hot and dry during fruit production. Ideal watering would be one inch a week. I place a board under the watermelon and try to shade it under a plant (see pic above).

After all is said and done, I feel lucky every time I get to actually eat a watermelon I grow. This year was the best year I have ever had. The funny thing was I did all the tricks above, but still thought it would be bad inside. I waited and watched expected everyday to find it split, rotten or turning yellow. It grew so big it peaked my curiosity to what the inside must look like. So, I asked my gardener neighbor, "How do I know if it is ripe?" He told me that it is easy to tell because there will be 2 light  green tendrils at the next joint past the watermelon and when they turn brown and die...the watermelon is ripe. I was skeptical, however, Charlie has never been wrong (amazing right?).  So, I brought it in a couple of weeks ago, carrying it with 2 hands under it like a fragile child. I placed it on the kitchen counter and marveled at its size and weight. I told the kids to get ready, it maybe really bad when I cut it. I stuck a large knife right in the middle...the watermelon split open with a large CRACK and juice starting pouring out! It was as if the watermelon cried out, "It is about time! Ughhhhhh!!!"


Sarah, my 12 year old


Nathan, my 13 year old (that wants me to tell you that he has a swim suit on! Teenagers!*$#*^?

To say the least, which as you can tell is hard for the long winded. It was delicious! So, next spring buy that 4 pack of watermelon (I will be buying Jubilee variety above) and attempt to glory at the possibility of eating your own homegrown watermelon.


Happy Gardening!

Nicki

Saturday, August 17, 2013

The Monarchs are coming!





 pic taken from the early spring migration

 
It is that time again. The milkweed is blooming and there is half eaten leaves hanging on by a small stem...




you can see the half eaten leaf on the top

The Monarch butterflies are doing their late summer migrations. For those who know me, the milkweed (asclepia) is one of my favorite plants.  This popular food of the monarch caterpillar has many stages that rival the metamorphosis that occurs with it's brilliant host, the monarch.  The plant grows beautiful and tall (about 4 ft) from spring to late summer where it sends it's dainty orange and red flowers on the tips of it's bamboo like stems. 


 


The Monarchs are attracted to the flowers where they meet to mate. They lay their eggs under the leaves and the stages of the caterpillar begin. 



The caterpillar eat ALL the leaves one at a time on the entire stem. The first year this occurred, I just knew it could not come back from this decimation. However, a few weeks later a green leaf sprouted from the stem and within a month the entire plant looked as if it had never been bothered. I like to plant these stemy long plants in the back of my border right next to my screen porch. The monarchs crawl from the plant to the wood and cocoon along the railing of the porch. The plants metamorphosis is not complete come fall and winter where it produces the softest little seed pod.  These pods blow like wishing flowers all over the garden where you will find many many volunteers in the most strange places. 

  


The only con to these amazing plants is the insects that love to eat them.  I never noticed these "oleander aphids" until my flower bed filled in the entire back row with old and new volunteers. The aphid love to suck the sap of the young tender new leaves that coincide with the caterpillars voracious appetite.


 This makes the plant "look" bad and they turn a pale color. This can also happen because the aphids suck the juices out which makes the plant weak and more susceptible to virus.  In the past few years,  I use a well renowned very expensive remedy. This remedy is highly under-rated in the commercial insecticide business. I send my 3 kids out with a spray bottle filled with soap, water and a bit of neem oil. I use this method frequently and then spray the leftover off with a hose. 


So, my recommendation this fall is to find a gardener that has milkweed in the garden and ask for some of their volunteers come fall and winter. If you are in the South Alabama region..give me a note in the comment section below and I maybe able to help you out. Until next time...





Happy Gardening!

Nicki




Thursday, August 15, 2013

The habit of daily chores

How do you get your kids to do chores daily?

The way I get my kids to automatically do chores is to reinforce that helping around the house is a "Daily" activity, whether it be summer or school.  I figure I have to do chores everyday to keep the family running smoothly and so they are viable members of this group and should contribute even at a very young age. They are required to do one thing of my choosing daily before they can do anything else (including homework, computer, checking emails, watching tv, etc). Typical chores during the school year:
  • fold and put away their laundry on their day (each kid has a day to bring me their laundry. I wash during the day when they are at school).
  • put away dishes in dishwasher
  • clean room and/or bathroom
  • clean up entry way (putting away shoes, coats, etc)
  • sweep or vaccum floor
Anything that will only take a few minutes, but the key is CONSISTENT! You have to start out consistent before you can reward them with "days off". So, what ends up happening is that they come home from school and are anxious to sit, snack and relax, so they say, "what is my one thing today?"

Also, on the same token, if they come home and you catch them playing the computer or watching TV, they have to be disciplined.  I usually just double a chore. The great thing about this technique is that I have found that it can be useful for rewarding and punishing. If they were kind, generous or obedient, I will tell them they can have no chore that day. This is also great for YOU! You don't have to waste your time folding or taking out dishes when you know that they can do it after school, and then YOU can fit in some gardening or other deep cleaning.

Tested Parenting Trick: Getting your kids to VOLUNTEER to help you

How to get your kids to volunteer to help?
     Like most moms, I am constantly needing a helping hand. I ask my kids (9, 12,13) for help with the dishwasher, laundry, running errands, put away stuff, etc.  I have developed this trick to help me get instant attention when I say, "Can someone give me a hand?" I reinforce whoever ask the quickest! It sounds so simple, I know.  The child who says he will do it first or even second does not have to do it. The child who didn't volunteer has to do the chore. This trick has my children screaming, "I'll do it, Pick me!" and even fighting over who asked first.

 



















If you have a question about tips or tricks or would like me to post your answer to this question? Post a question or answer in the comment section below.

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Why am I growing a "Bramble Garden"?

Most gardeners spend long arduous hours eliminating stickers and vines from their beds. So, why in the world would anybody plant them on purpose? I ask myself this question every late summer when I begin the long, painful process of pruning. 


Lesson 1 of the gardener: Nothing delicious ever grows without some kind of nurturing. The sooner you understand that the "miracle" plant that boasts hi yields of that delicious fruit (that everyone in the house will be running out to pick early in the morning to put on their breakfast cereals) and requires no spraying, pruning or fertilizer...does not exist.  I know that the hard way. I attempted to do nothing to my peaches, plums, blueberry's, pomegranates and BRAMBLES, and I never could get that great big fruit that looks like the grocery store. I got peaches with rotten pits. Oranges that rot on the tree. Plums that fell to the ground green. Pomegranates the size of a cutie orange and raspberries that looked like shriveled grapes. So, I have been forced to prune and like a rebellious teenager, I grit my teeth the whole time. You may even hear me mumbling curse words at those vines as they scrape my arm and send little splinters through my gloves. Then I have a flash like a little cloud over my head, I am running out on that temperate spring morning in my pajamas, walking across the lawn to pick a handful of those delicious plump red raspberries to put in my yogurt, (of course, always in slow motion with perfect hair and makeup! ha ha). This thought always keeps me sticking around. No pun intended.

Therefore, I tackle this job of pruning like a baseball player in spring training. What is a "bramble garden"? According to the good ol' Webster, A bramble is a plant, usually prickly shrubs of the rose family, including the raspberries and blackberries. Bramble bushes have a distinctive growth form. They send up long, arching canes that do not flower or set fruit until the second year of growth.  The canes of raspberries are biennial -- they grow for one year and then produce flowers and fruits during the early summer of the second year. The second year canes die shortly after harvest.  I use the term "Bramble garden" loosely. I call it my "bramble garden" because like most of the phases of my 2 acre garden, I had this awesome idea that I could make a little cozy nook inside a horseshoe shaped trellis of raspberry canes. Have I achieved this idea yet? no.

this is the horseshoe nook I tried to create

before picture with all the weeds and last years growth


For the past 8 years, I have done search after search on the internet on how to prune raspberries. I get really confused. In fact, last year I think I even cut down the fruiting branches which would make sense when I only picked a handful of  raspberries the whole harvest. I would read about primocanes, floricanes and different trellissing methods usually the information was put out by some extension in Minnesota and was using terms I could not pronounce. However, this year something just clicked for me. I think I finally got it. So I am going to attempt to explain with no big scary words like I would explain it to my 9 year old.
my 9 year old
I wish someone would have explained it to me 8 years ago. Let's stick with one type today: Spring Fruiting trailing raspberries in Zone 8b.


Variety: Dorman Red Raspberries

Spring:

Raspberries and Blackberries fruit on canes(branches). Those branches are going to die and need to be cut down to the ground after fruiting.



Late Summer: 

Cut down fruiting branches to the ground when you can see the leftover fruiting buds. Now, you will notice these long green running vines trying to overtake your lawn. 

These are good! These are next years fruiting branches. So being very careful, You take these vines and trellis them. Gardening info sights will give you about 20 ways to do this.
this year I just tied them up and spaced them out
Again, adding to the confusion. So, just get them off the ground and tie them to something so they can continue to grow without getting hit with the mower or rooting in the grass! Fertilize with 10-10-10.



this is what it looks like with old and new canes before pruning


this is a great pic of old and new canes

Fall:
Make sure the long runners are trellising good and place more ties if needed.

Winter:

Early winter: provide any winter protection you may need...mulch, frost blanket, etc. Then do nothing and recover from the beating your hands and arms took from pruning in late summer.
Late winter. (Dec- Feb) Cut back branches you tied up to a good length for you or your trellis. My trellis is 5 feet high and I cut it so they are straight up or some I trellis up and to the side (like and upside down L)...so I just pick a good length. I also try to keep the nice big canes, they say around a pencil size. 


Now what happens is that runner vine from last summer that you so diligently tied up is going to produce little branches on it. These are going to grow the raspberries on them. So, look at your tied up cane, find the lateral branches and cut these to about 15-18 inches or I usually count 6-8 leaf buds. This will send all the nutrition to the berries. Around March, fertilize with 10-10-10. The plants will need consistent watering at least 1 inch a week. I use a drip system at the base of the plant because as you can see fungus is always a problem in this humidity.

Spring 2: 

Your back now enjoying your delicious plump raspberries in your cereal or yogurt, but just don't expect your kids to run out and voluntarily pick the fresh berries. I end up begging the kids to go out and eat them off the vine so that they either beat the birds to them or I don't have to go out and pick them. 
Post pruned raspberries. After 3 long days...

I would like to keep these turorials as short as possible. So, I will tackle everbearing Raspberries and Blackberries another blog as well as spraying schedule for disease. 

This year I did find a great article that really helped me. I put a link below for it.

http://www.caes.uga.edu/applications/publications/files/pdf/C%20766_2.PDF

Happy Gardening!
Nicki



 









Saturday, August 3, 2013

Battling the Mealybug!!


In my greenhouse, I have a battle going on with Mealybug. Mealy bugs are small insects about 1/16″ to 1/8″ long that have soft and well-developed legs.  They bodies are covered by a powdery white wax coating that my also surround their egg masses.  They attack leaves, twigs and roots.  The Signs of a mealy bug include white wax deposits, sooty mold on foliage and lots of ants.


 

I have been doing alot of research this summer on the best organic ways to kill them. Since they are on my little lemon tree, I was concerned about using a systemic killer.

So, my method has been to spray a combination of neem oil and dishwashing soap on them once a week when I handwater my plants. I found this GREAT sprayer at Walmart that allows me to spray upside down, under and higher than I can reach. Also, I don't have to make a huge gallon at once. I just make enough to use at that time.


 
I have noticed a few days after spraying, I see a decline and it has eradicated them on my coleus completely. However, I am waiting to see if more frequent spraying is necessary since this last week I have seen an explosion of them. I will take pictures with an update after spraying today.

Thursday, August 1, 2013

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

After much consideration and advice, I have decided to pick up my newsletter from my previous website "NickiAdkins.com". I have been on a little emotional hiatus since I lost a piece of my heart, my sister Jami, to melanoma cancer a year ago last May. I still have all my inventory of  metal garden markers and garden tools. Feel free to contact me if your interested in the comment section below.

So, let's blog!

THE GOOD

August 1, 2013:  Bloomers:

 Hosta and white begonia's: beautiful mix for shade


 
                purple wandering jew : love his next to lantana         pink begonia



     

 
             Zinnia: from seed in my vegetable garden
                          

 
                                         Papa's Hibiscus                                 agapanthus



                          evergreen wisteria: fyi does not smell as good as the chinese variety

                      butterfly ginger: my personal favorite- smells amazing like sweet honeysuckle

THE BAD


My 9 year old pinterested this project for the mosquitos outside our back door:

 

The first picture is the finished project. Black is supposed to attract the mosquitoes. I won't go into too much detail because obviously it didn't work. I cut a 2 liter bottle and placed the top part inside the bottom part. In the liquid is yeast, water and brown sugar. The carbon dioxide from the yeast is supposed to attract the mosquitos as well. Top right pic is 2 days into it sitting. We caught a fly and a couple of unidentified bugs. Bottom right pic is within a couple of hours of making the solution.


ON THE OTHER HAND!

We also saw this trick on a youtube video this week and also tried it:

Ant killer:
1) the set up: grind popcorn to little pieces. 




2) Then the ants find it and you get to see where they are coming from


3) The ants were crazy for 2 days. Then they got slow and slower and then few and fewer. We started seeing them die.
Today 3 days later, only a few ants left on the plate. So i would say...successful!


THE UGLY

This is an interesting problem that I have been watching all summer. I have 2 Hydrangeas in my walkway. One is beautiful and the other...not so much (see below). I thought, "fungus? disease?"  Then I noticed that the bottom leaves had gotten buried. They were rooting. My hypothesis: the new roots are taking all the nutrients from the top of the hydrangea and it is not allowing new growth on the old stems.
 I plan to dig up the new growth and see if it works. Check back later...


Happy Gardening! 
Nicki Adkins