"Five Apple Farm: Growing It Larrapin"
Geek adventures with honey bees, gardens & more on a Blue Ridge homestead
THE 2012 SQUASH STRATEGY: A Manifesto
I wish the bees would chase the squash-bugs away...
Anyway, butternuts and most winter squash are pretty resistant to borers, but only somewhat resistant to squash bugs. So I’m going to use vertical high trellis combined with a bug-unfriendly* ground cover with the irrigation lines run underneath. I’m planning on weed fabric but my friend richard uses sheet of old tin with great results. (*Squash bugs like to hide in mulch, especially straw. Since finding the squash bugs is critical to eliminating them, deep mulch has become a no-no for this crop.)
Oh how me and the bees love squash...but for different reasons!
Squash on cattle-panel trellis (Online photo: Source Unknown)
Posts most wednesdays & weekends; exceptions, sometimes long ones, or like today’s post on a amonday, do occur. Don’t miss any—you can subscribe by Email here. You can also get bonus links and recipes by “liking” our Facebook fan page atwww.facebook.com/larrapin.garden. We’re even on Twitter athttp://twitter.com/LarrapinGarden. Thanks for stopping by!
Ricky the Roadrunner: Welcome Home!
For six years now we’ve had a couple of roadrunners (or several, hard to tell them apart) that live around Larrapin. We call him Ricky. Actually we call them all Ricky. Ricky brings little gifts of lizards, small snakes or the occasional field mouse to the front windows on a daily basis. If hunting is poor, a leaf will do as in these pics. The gift is accompanied by a tail wagging dance. Some say it’s for his reflection. But what he likes best is when the weiner dogs bark and yip and generally go nuts on the other side of the glass. He also seems to like us shouting “Hey Ricky!” at him. He wags a lot then.
He’s a handsome bird, and quite the predator. Most years in the middle of summer he goes missing for a couple of months. I assume he’s out there courting and sparking…but one year he stayed around and made this odd “mewing” sound at us from nests sloppily built out of twigs in several trees. We couldn’t figure if they were really nests or just hunting blinds!
This year he was gone from mid-April to late July. His disappearance was shortly after he lost several tail feathers in the driveway during an apparent roadrunner & hawk? coyote? encounter. We’d seen him after that (with one tailfeather remaining) but only once or twice. Then his usual summer absence stretched much longer than usual and we got worried.
So it is great to see him back around the yard! Welcome home Ricky. Without him, we don’t get to see yard scenes like this video from a few years back (if you can ignore the incessant barking on the video…mute your volume) when Ricky decides to torture the weiner dogs face to face instead of through the front window:
Roadrunner Courting Dachshunds – Go Figure!
Who is the wildlife friend you look forward to seeing in your garden?
—A Larrapin Garden www.larrapin.us
Posts most wednesdays & weekends. Don’t miss any—you can subscribe by Email here. You can also get bonus links and recipes by “liking” our Facebook fan page atwww.facebook.com/larrapin.garden. We’re even on Twitter athttp://twitter.com/LarrapinGarden. Thanks for stopping by!
There are things that are going well…
There are many things going well at Larrapin Garden. Keeping up-to-date with blog posting is not on that list! But I thought I’d do a series of posts on things that are working well —as well as as things that aren’t—and what I’d like to do better or different next time.
We could start with the weather. After an entire summer’s worth of rain in one week in late spring that nearly washed away a lot of the state, we’ve hardly seen a drop since the first of June until we were gifted with a lovely forty minute rain day before yesterday. Who cares that the wind blew just hard enough to blow over the corn and beat down the cowpeas, it was rain. Those bone dry fifty days in-between were what was tough, especially with the knowledge that it covered the month and half *before* the month and a half of late-July and August that are more traditionally bone-dry and hot as hell here. And nobody, including myself, seems to think it just ‘came early’….no, more like we may be in for what feels like a hundred dog days of August.
And while I obviously can’t change what the weather is going to do, it did become clear to me that I can be more prepared next time with more mulch, more land forms that hold rainwater so it can sink deep, and soil with a higher organic matter content. All of those things can make a huge difference in how your land holds rain.
This is one of the things I love about learning the principles of permaculture—how the goal is to build a system, a human-made landscape, with a similar intelligence, diversity and resilience as a nature-designed landscape. Nature designs landscapes that are self-sustaining and tend to grow in abundance with time…all without additional inputs or help. Now *that’s* a garden design! And this is for another post! Back on topic:
'Art' & Arp Rosemary under Apple Tree...
So what are some things going well at Larrapin? For one, garden art. Now let me say I have a low-bar definition of garden art: stuff I build that makes me feel happy somehow to look at it! (Fine artists are cringing about now, but I know even you guys know what I mean!) This year one of my garden resolutions was to make more garden art and to my surprise, it was a resolution I actually kept. So in the pic above, a wonderful metal stepping stone is instead placed on an overturned pot by a giant rosemary plant. It’s nobody’s picasso, but I love looking at the beautiful disk floating there in a fragrant mound of herb…all providing some company for a young Arkansas Black apple tree.
Logs as garden art...
Meanwhile, down on the bottom edge of the veggie garden, a piece of would-be firewood got interesting with a dash of blue glass and a stack of rocks. Like I said, it doesn’t take much to entertain me.
The garden, meanwhile, creates the finest of art every day in the form of beautiful flowers dancing with bees, vines covered with tomatoes, making soil become darker, deeper and more alive. But in case I miss it, sometimes the garden sends little messages that all the love and attention I give her is noticed, and the feeling is mutual. These often arrive in the form of heart-shaped rocks. The latest valentine however, was with the red potato harvest:
What kind of art are you finding in your garden?
—A Larrapin Garden www.larrapin.us
Posts most wednesdays & weekends; exceptions, sometimes long ones, or like today’s post on a amonday, do occur. Don’t miss any—you can subscribe by Email here. You can also get bonus links and recipes by “liking” our Facebook fan page atwww.facebook.com/larrapin.garden. We’re even on Twitter athttp://twitter.com/LarrapinGarden. Thanks for stopping by!
Friends in green places…Just add water!
Plants ready for potting...
Wait a minute...who is this?
Gorgeous leopard frog!
No doubt taking a rest from the heat, the dry dry wind and the longest day of the year! We’re having to fill bird baths, frog watering dishes, the bee-beach*, and other watering holes daily. So many birds, butterflies and creatures need water bad about now around here as we’ve had no rain here at Larrapin for a long while.
Be sure to keep your waterers full and fresh and make sure some are on the ground for frogs like this one and those cute toads that are your garden’s friends. For ideas and tips on watering, here’s a previous post on easy ways to water: http://ozarksalive.org/larrapin/?p=910
—A Larrapin Garden www.larrapin.us
*will explain the “bee beach” soon… Posts most wednesdays & weekends. Don’t miss any—you can subscribe by Email here. You can also get bonus links and recipes by “liking” our Facebook fan page atwww.facebook.com/larrapin.garden. We’re even on Twitter athttp://twitter.com/LarrapinGarden. Thanks for stopping by—leave a comment and share what’s at your water source this week!
Blog vs Garden…Garden Won (& Onion Harvest!)
It happens regularly, I drift away from blogging about the garden because I’m OUT in the garden all the time I’m not working! (Note: gardening, even chain-gang style busting up rocks to plant trees around here never counts as “work” to me. Family and friends have gently let me know this feeling is not universally shared…)
OK, so I’m not really in the garden “all” the time because it’s so hot mid-day to mid-afternoon that there’s a long retreat time that would be perfect for blogging…but ahhh, what can compete with a summer nap? Not much.
Meanwhile the onions are in. And I must say, an onion harvest like the one above, makes me feel RICH.
It took me a long time to figure out that onion love rich soil and never being too dry or too wet. They look tougher than that to me so for years, my onions were pretty small. But get the soil and the watering down and onions really plump up well.
While “too wet” was the theme of May, the raised bed must have saved them because they look pretty good. The pics above are from June 5th. I planted these quite early — the last of Feb I think — in a heavily mulched bed because I had to plant *something* or go winter crazy! Turns out they seem to like that and I’ll try it again next year.
I let them cure in the sun for a day since rain was expected the next. Normally you would let them cure a few days in the sun, with the green tops somewhat over the bulbs to protect them from sunburn. I had to hurry, so after their day in the sun, they were moved to a dry & shady open porch to finish curing. Still, because of all that rain in May, I wouldn’t expect these guys to keep as long as usual, so we’ll be using LOTS of onions this summer and fall. If they don’t store well, I will chop them and freeze in typical recipe portions to be easily grabbed when needed for any cooked dish or soup.
—A Larrapin Garden www.larrapin.us
Posts most wednesdays & weekends —except during garden season and then I just don’t know! But you can subscribe by Email here. You can also get bonus links and recipes by “liking” our Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/larrapin.garden. Geesh, we’re even on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LarrapinGarden. If you have good onion growing tips, please leave a comment and tell me about it!
Weekend Holiday!
Garden's growing like mad with all the rain just past...
Mulching paths with wood chips over newspaper...love those beets too!
Garlic still growing...LOTS of kale, collards, sugar snaps to eat...
West & East Queendoms...Beekeeping IS addictive...
Gift of this little vase: the way to a new beekeepers heart! (Thank you Mendy!)
Random May Garden Pics…
Peonies: High Life and Fairy's Petticoat
Bumble Bee on White Sage Bloom
Guard bees saying, "Everything allright in there?"
First Apples of 2011: Liberty
Love it: Assembling & Painting bee boxes...
Peony: Moon River
Larrapin Honeybee on Blackberry Blossom
—A Larrapin Garden www.larrapin.us
Posts most wednesdays & weekends —you can subscribe by Email here. You can also get bonus links and recipes by “liking” our Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/larrapin.garden. Geesh, we’re even on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LarrapinGarden.
We have a winner!
Congratulations to Teresa (gardenergal), she’s the winner of The Edible Front Yard by Ivette Soler! It’s really fun to give away books and hope to do more soon.
—A Larrapin Garden www.larrapin.us
Posts most wednesdays & weekends —you can subscribe by Email here. You can also get bonus links and recipes by “liking” our Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/larrapin.garden. Geesh, we’re even on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LarrapinGarden. That pic above is one of my girls loving an arrowwood viburnum bloom…looks like a glamour shot to me!
Book Review: The Edible Front Yard: The Mow-Less, Grow-More Plan for a Beautiful, Bountiful Garden by Ivette Soler
Our first garden book giveaway starts today and it is The Edible Front Yard: The Mow-Less, Grow-More Plan for a Beautiful, Bountiful Garden by Ivette Soler. (How to win this book is at the end of this post.)
For those who have been snoozing since 2007: Edible is In. Whether it’s food prices, the appalling state of commercial food systems, or some deep instinctive turn toward self-sufficiency skills that we may need soon given the state of the world and the climate, lots of folks are starting to grow their own food. More urban dwellers in particular are venturing into growing edibles and there’s a bunch of new books on the particular challenges of growing food in the city, often in a very small space.
Usually, the next challenge is sunlight. Now why is it that more front yards are in full sun than backyards? Go figure. Since I compulsively assess the garden potential of any neighborhood I happen to be driving through, I can tell you it’s true. Home buyers take note: If you want to garden in your back yard, you are looking for a house with a front door facing North…and no neighbors who love shade trees. For everyone else, Ivette Soler is going to show you what your front yard could be!
Front yard gardens do face additional challenges beyond the usual soil, critter and plant-based varieties. These may include neighbors, neighborhood associations, and the opinions of your family on having your dinner out there for everyone to see. The usual delight of harvesting your produce may also produce a big blank spot in your yard. What about passing children, dogs, or someone with boundary issues who feels free to harvest when you aren’t home? All this and more is covered quite handily in The Edible Front Yard, published by Timber Press.
Now let me say that many garden books by California authors are not that useful to those of us everywhere else. The plants and garden techniques that work great in the climate-of-paradise-to-most-fruits-and-vegetables are often a no-go if you deal with humidity, abundant/erratic rainfall, particular plant diseases & pests, high/low temp extremes, etc that pretty much the rest of the country faces. I’m delighted to report that I found many ideas and tips in Soler’s book that are transferrable to most every gardening situation, even my own large, backyard and countryside spread in the Ozark hills. Actually, the “removing concrete” how-to box rang some bells regarding bed prep on this rocky ground of mine!
I immediately loved the luscious photography and book design. The colors and textures make the book seem nearly edible. Luckily, the content is great too. I was pleased with how many she lists that will also grow in most regions. Soler brought my attention to several plants that I’ve neglected to explore, like passionflower and mints. Passionflowers grow wild in portions of the Ozarks, is beautiful, edible and beneficial to butterflies and I haven’t planted one yet! This is soon to be remedied. I already fixed the mint shortage at the Fayetteville Farmers Market last weekend…
Soler is generous with suggested plants and their profiles. I particularly like the ‘how to use’ sections on herbs. Some plants I have for wildlife-gardening reasons but hadn’t really thought of as edible to me—like juniper—were pleasant surprises. There are also many how-to boxes, handy techniques for hardscaping & hellstrips, advice on dealing with neighbors and neighborhood associations (Really, just show them the pics in this book…), transforming a yard to garden, and maintaining your now productive and edible plot. I think new gardeners will find good advice and more advanced gardeners will find some very clever tips and ideas.
Finally, like Rosalind Creasy and several other edible pioneers, Soler goes a step further in breaking down the myth that edible gardens and beautiful gardens can’t be one and the same. The photographs are the proof. Readers of this blog will know I believe if you combine edibles with beauty, add some permaculture ideas, then cross it with generous wildlife & pollinator pantings then you have created one truly LARRAPIN Garden! Soler’s book is going to help more front yards get bountiful. And I like that a lot.
So, wanna win this gorgeous book? First, check out some of the wonderful titles at Timber Press. Then tell me why you would like to win “The Edible Front Yard” in a comment below or on the Larrapin Garden Facebook Page. (Ok, ok, you can do it via twitter too. Just mention @LarrapinGarden in your tweet so I can find your entry. Follows are great, ‘natch, but not required.) You can enter once by each method if you want to triple your chances to win this book! I’ll compile the entries then do the random.org-choosy-thing and announce the winner in the blog post next Wed, 5/11/11. Winner will have a week to claim the book or I’ll pick another lucky gardener.
P.S. About Larrapin Garden book reviews & giveaways: I love to read garden books—particularly on edible landscapes, local food, cooking from the garden, permaculture, homesteading, chickens & backyard barnyards and other organic topics. I welcome titles to review. If I love it, I’ll write about it here on the garden blog. Disclaimer for readers: I receive no compensation for any endorsement I give in the posts on this blog, just so ya know if you read it here then I think it’s fab.
Read MoreEnjoyed the brief sunshine!
After days of rain, when the sun cames out briefly last week, even rain soaked blooms look really good to my eyes! The irises were a gift from our friend Merrill in Tennessee.
This is an heirloom cottage rose we bought several years ago in Austin, Texas. It’s growing and blooming even though it’s planted in only half day sun. Lost the tag long ago. Bad gardener!
Those sweet blooms are delightful too when viewed out the bedroom window. For once, I planned it that way!
Meanwhile, the girls were all ears (and eyes) regarding the rumor of sunshine. There was some furious foraging activity during that brief bout of golden sun….alas, we’re back to more rain now… Hey to cheer myself up I think I’ll sign up for the Chicken Tractor workshop at Chicken Moon Farm coming up on May 21st! If you are in Fayetteville, you can join me and sign up for this hands-on workshop by two of my very favorite farmers, Charity and Cheri.
—A Larrapin Garden www.larrapin.us
Posts most wednesdays & weekends —you can subscribe by Email here. You can also get bonus links and recipes by “liking” our Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/larrapin.garden. (Still hoping to get to 250 “likes” so I can start giving gardening books away!) Larrapin’s on Twitter too at http://twitter.com/LarrapinGarden.
Update 5/2/2011: Here are pictures over at FayettevilleFlyer.com that show what was going on in town during the recent flooding…from the city update and from community photos. (There are some good things about living on a rocky hill!) My thoughts go out to who dealt with floods in Arkansas that week, and to those in Alabama and other parts of the South dealing with mass tornado destruction last week. To donate to help with tornado and storm relief, go towww.redcross.org or text the word “REDCROSS” to 90999 to make a $10 donation.
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