So I went to the farm Saturday before the graduation ceremony to check on things after the storms of last week. Here is a picture of the garden.
The first thing I wanted to check was the weed block fabric, did it stay down in the windy storms? Yep! Perfect! We love the stuff! No weeds and it's still down and tight. Secondly, I wanted to check the straw that was put down last weekend in the raised beds. Didn't lose any of it (nothing noticeable anyway). It has a special all natural "tack" to keep it from blowing or washing away any and it worked exactly like it was supposed to! I'll be picking up some more "bales in a bag".
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| Tomatoes in raised bed |
The tomatoes are growing like crazy. Look at this, they are almost double in size since last week! Regular rain kept them growing well.
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| Raised bed with herbs |
The herb bed is doing great and I decided to add two more. I added Thai Basil and Lemon Thyme. It was easy to just pull the straw out of the way, dig a hole, put the plants in, and cover them back up.
Not sure if I had mentioned it, but we lost our Rosemary plant last year. Not sure why, but it died and it was so big and wiry, I figured it was time to just start fresh. So I planted one in this large clay pot on the porch. It's called "Barbecue Rosemary", supposed to be very hardy and easy to grow.
We'll soon see!
And best of all, all the Texas Lilac Vitex along the driveway are in full bloom. Slow growing, but hey, they are still growing and blooming out, we'll take it!
As I was leaving though, the clouds got darker and darker and sure enough, we had another downpour...about an inch of rain.
OH, WOW! your garden looks wonderful and good to hear that everything has stayed in place.
ReplyDeleteHere's something you might consider in planting by your porch area.
Consider mosquito-repelling plants
Several types of plants act as a natural mosquito repellent. For example, the citronella smell used in mosquito-repelling candles is derived from the citronella plant, a grass that can be grown in climates where it doesn’t freeze or raised in a pot in colder climates.
Mosquitoes also avoid catnip, lavender, marigolds, basil and peppermint
I just planted a couple weeks ago; creeping Rosemary.
Tips of caring for your Rosemary:
Care
After the plant flowers, remember to trim the plant.
For fresh rosemary in the winter, grow the plant indoors in a pot. ...
Prune regularly so that the plant won't get lanky.
Water the plants evenly throughout the growing season.
Be sure to get cuttings or divide the plant for next season.
Here is a link with more information about Rosemary
http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/herbs/rosemary/growing-rosemary-plants-rosemary-plant-care.htm
Enjoy your week.
(Oh, I'm just about ready to pick my first tomato) :-}
Thank you so much! I like the idea of mosquito repelling plants. Thanks for this info. You always find great links to share, thanks!
DeleteAnd your first tomato will be heaven! I saw the pic you sent, it's gonna be a beauty!!
The gardens look great, we love our Texas Lilac too, it blooms a long time!
ReplyDeleteThanks! We LOVE the Texas Lilac, ours have bene in the ground a couple years but haven't gotten as big as I had hoped, though I'm not sure how to prune them, I'll have to look into that.
Deletethings are growing in TX!
ReplyDeleteYep, fingers crossed it keeps doing that, ha
DeleteEverything is growing so well - and looking great!
ReplyDeleteThank you, small but manageable so far.
DeleteLooking good.
ReplyDeleteOpal Basil (which is how the purple basil is sold here) goes sooooo well with tomatoes.
Love to hear that, we're new to trying this but we love basil in all forms.
DeleteIt all looks fabulous; hard to believe you're only there on weekends!
ReplyDeleteHa, thanks, I make the most of my time, that's for sure. :-)
Deletecan you come and visit me? i need your tidiness!
ReplyDeleteAww, thanks! I'll be right up....as soon as I'm done here, LOL!!
Delete1st Man,
ReplyDeleteYour tomato plants are very healthy looking, I'm sure you'll have a nice stash of tomatoes to harvest.
I hope so! They are good so far, hoping it keeps up.
DeleteYour garden is looking amazing!! Wish you would send some of that rain my way...we have been dry, dry, dry with only a couple of days of scattered rain. My grass is actually starting to get crunchy - something that usually doesn't happen around here until July.
ReplyDeleteI'll send some if I can. We have had plenty. I'm glad the aquifers are all filled and lakes and ponds, and deep watering for trees, so I'm ok with dry for a week anyway.
DeleteQuick question- how deep are your garden beds? I have one that doesn't look any deeper and I can't get anything to grow. I want to blame it on the depth but now I am thinking the issue stands on opposite side of the garden bed! I think I am the only person who can't grow herbs! looks great! laura
DeleteHello Laura!!! They are 12" deep. When I built them, I didn't cover the bottom in any way, other than putting down some cardboard before I filled them with soil. My hardest problem in the beginning was getting the soil to drain. I used some delivered soil that was too dense. I've been adding compost and occasional cardboard layers and some bags of premixed 'raised bed' mix. So far so good!!! Let me know if you have any questions!!
DeleteThanks for posting the pictures of the straw. I am getting some for the beds at the lake place now that I see how they hold up to weather.
ReplyDeleteI love the name bbq rosemary. As an aside, when grilling chicken with a sauce other than a traditional red bbq sauce, use a stem of the rosemary as the basting brush. It adds a lovely flavor of rosemary to the chicken
They, SO FAR, have held up WONDERFULLY. We had several days of heavy rain and some winds. None washed away and if any blew away it wasn't noticeable. I'll post updates as it warrants but so far, I think we'll always use this stuff. Yeah, it was interesting it was called barbecue rosemary....now the use as a basting brush is awesome! Thanks!!!
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