Wah. Weeds, why must you grow so well?

Yup, that’s a whine. The weeds are getting out of control (at the garden, at the house, everywhere), and unfortunately, I can’t do anything about them just yet due to restrictions from the doc. Maybe in another 2 weeks. At least my husband promised to tackle the entire property with me once I’m feeling better, and once we de-weed, we need to apply MULCH, MULCH, MULCH, so this stops happening. I haven’t really wanted to take pics showcasing large sections of the yard /garden because it is so overgrown. Ugh.

OK, I’m done complaining now.

June 3, 2012 · Sheryl · No Comments
Tags:  Â· Posted in: Great Outdoors

Aphids be gone…

The aphid problem seems to have been resolved! Sort of. I sprayed with a Dawn/H2O mix, but really, there was already a reduction in gross bugs before I even sprayed. I’m not sure if the rain a few days before was heavy enough to wash most of them away? It still looks like there are a few left, and I’m going to spray again, but the petunias are thriving anyway (see image below), and they don’t seem to be doing as much damage as I thought they would. The basket finally looks like flowers instead of just green cabbage or something.

Also, I know we have lady bugs around, which are deadly to aphids, so maybe they enjoyed a nice aphid meal, and are helping me out? As of now, they don’t seem to have moved anywhere else, thank goodness!

June 2, 2012 · Sheryl · No Comments
Tags:  Â· Posted in: Great Outdoors

Herb of the Week – Oregano

Oregano is SO easy to grow, its a perennial, it seems to be anti-critter, and it’s fabulous in foods — dried or fresh. I read that sometimes oregano doesn’t survive winter months in cold climates, but our oregano has survived during ‘rough’ winters like in 2009/2010/2011 in NJ.

I grow oregano in a large pot on my back deck, but I actually planted it before I realized it was already planted in the garden in a huge patch. Oh well, I have LOTS of oregano now!

A good way to dry it is to gather some stems / leaves into a bundle, tie with string and hang upside down.  Once dry, you can rub the bundle between your hands and flakes of deliciousness will fall into your food!

 

 

June 1, 2012 · Sheryl · No Comments
Tags:  Â· Posted in: Herbs

May Garden Humor

Did you seriously think I’d give up on this? Never! In honor of my home state of NJ, inspiration to The Sopranos, I share with you the following joke:

An old Italian man lived alone in the country. It was Spring and he wanted to dig his tomato garden, as he had done every year, but it was very hard work for the aging man as the ground was hard. His only son, Vincent, who used to help him, was currently in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament:

Dear Vincent,
I am feeling pretty bad because it looks like I won’t be able to plant my tomato garden this year. I’m just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. If only you were here my troubles would be over. I know you would dig the plot for me.

Love, Dad

A few days later he received a letter from his son:

Dear Dad,
Not for nothing, but don’t dig up that garden. That’s where I buried the BODIES.
Love, Vinnie

At 4 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived at the old man’s house and dug up the entire area. However, they didn’t find any bodies, so they apologized to the old man and left.

That same day the old man received another letter from his son.

Dear Dad,
Go ahead and plant the tomatoes now. That’s the best I could do under the circumstances.
Love, Vinnie

Hahahah! Happy June!

May 31, 2012 · Sheryl · No Comments
Tags:  Â· Posted in: Garden Humor, Produce

Know Your Enemy: Deer

Growing up in the suburbs of Middlesex County, I only came across deer occasionally while venturing out to the more rural parts of NJ, and, back then, they were exciting to see. Now, as a resident of the more rural parts of NJ, I see them near daily, and they’ve caused so much destruction and are so overpopulated (in the past year, 2 have been hit by a car directly in front of our house), and I’m definitely no longer a huge fan.

I found a list of 10 sure-fire deer repellents (From a Max is Back brochure, I cannot claim to have thought of these on my own). I will demonstrate the ones I have found most useful.

Implemented (sort of) at our yard/garden:

*A pack of wolves – Well, we have our 100lb dog, Eddie. He likes to patrol and chase deer off our property.

Patrolling in very early spring

Sniffing for intruders

Checking for intruders

*A very HIGH fence – 8FT will keep them out. We were able to do this at the community garden, but can’t really do this around our entire yard.

*Round-the-Clock Go Cart racing – We live on a 40 MPH road, and as mentioned above, 2 have already been taken out, but its sad and dangerous, and I’m not sure how the neighbors would feel about making it a sport.

*Sporatic Machine Gun Fire – Not exactly possible with NJ gun laws, but local hunters are allowed to hunt in larger yards with owners’ permission.

*A deep moat / Live on an island (in the middle of the ocean) – We live near the Rockaway River, and during Hurricane Irene, we got to test this one out. But it doesn’t help if you trap the deer in with you!

Not helpful at all:

*Live in a biosphere – As much as I’d love to make this happen, I’m a few billion (trillion?) dollars short.

*Secretly plant tasty plants at the neighbor’s house – NOPE, that will allow them to eat more, create more, and it will still come back to hurt my yard!

*Landmines – Sorry, my limbs are required to, you know, do anything. I’m not sure where you can buy landmines these days, either.

*Motion activated sprinkler system – it rains in NJ, so I’m not sure this would work after the initial spray.

 

May 27, 2012 · Sheryl · No Comments
Tags:  Â· Posted in: Gardening Supplies, Great Outdoors

Herb of the Week – Sage

I shared a pic of the flowering Sage last week, but I really think its just gorgeous and rustic when its flowering. Here is another:

Regular Sage, or Salvia, is actually in the mint family. It is a perennial herb that I started from seed last year, and it has just grown fabulously on my back deck. With such a mild NJ winter, there was only about a month or two we couldn’t harvest from the plant. If it wasn’t such a mild winter, you shouldn’t have to trim it back either. I will have to test this one out after next winter (and if you do cut it back, only to shape, and in the spring!)

The only problem with sage is that most of the things I love to eat it with will tend to be wintery foods like turkey stuffing or pasta (with butter), but prosciutto, feta & a sage leaf wrapped up and drizzled with olive oil is a great little fancy appetizer I made once on a whim. Really, really yummy.

May 25, 2012 · Sheryl · No Comments
Tags:  Â· Posted in: Herbs

Garden Map 2012

I’m a nerd. I love graph paper. Plus, I’m a planner. So, there are few things in life that make me more happy than planning AND graph paper together.

Introducing: Community Garden Map 2012!

I’ve already had to deviate slightly, but in general, the plan is still in tact.

May 23, 2012 · Sheryl · No Comments
Tags:  Â· Posted in: Community Garden

What I did on Sat & Sun…

FINALLY got to the garden, and turned this:

Into this:

Year 3 at the Community Garden has officially begun. There is still a lot more to do (there is a 13′x13′ block of land behind where I took the picture that I’m not even going to show you yet). I got the squash (1 Greyzini, 2 Sure things, 1 Largo, and 1 Golden), tomatoes (3 Romas, 5 Cherries), and peppers (jalapeno, green bell, sweet yellow) in the ground. My dear husband will be picking it up from here for the next few weeks! I will still post pics of his progress.

May 22, 2012 · Sheryl · No Comments
Tags: ,  Â· Posted in: Community Garden, Produce

What I did on Friday…

So closer to the summer solstice, there is LOTS of daylight left after work, so I was able to clean up the deck a bit, and get all my herbs out.

I found the New Guinea Impatiens (on the ends), which I think are really neat and give a nice pop of color with all the green herbs. Regular Impatiens are delicious for deer, so I’m hoping they will be OK on the ledge.

May 21, 2012 · Sheryl · No Comments
Tags: ,  Â· Posted in: Flowers, Herbs

Gaillardia

The gaillardia aristata is a really bright summery flower that we have in our front yard. This was another cool surprise our first year in the house, especially because I really thought the early plant was just a bunch of weeds. I’m really glad I didn’t pull them because the first flower popped up (it’s actually the picture that is at the top in the herbthis banner) in the late spring, and it continued to bloom well into the summer.

This year is no different and we already have several bloomed flowers in the bunch. You can even see the baby flowers that will be coming soon (I guess they are technically buds, but ‘baby flowers’ is cuter).

If you look at them, its really not too much of a surprise that these perennial flowers are in the sunflower family.

 

May 19, 2012 · Sheryl · No Comments
Tags:  Â· Posted in: Flowers