Re-Growing Vegetables, Late June

Regrowing romaine, week 3

The little experiment on resprouting vegetables from scraps is continuing to interest me. The lettuce I started regrowing indoors in soil has continued to thrive. The one I started in water went bad and had to be thrown out. The one I put in soil in a shaded spot outdoors a week or so ago has begun to sprout.

Thunderstorm Aftermath

After last night's storm, there was a lot of minor clean-up to do.  It takes a long time to pick up all the sticks and bits of debris left behind.  I did get the tree limbs all cut up and into the trash bin so they can be hauled away. Fortunately, none of them were very large, and it all fits in.

While driving around town today, I saw lots of tree damage, and electrical crews working from cherry-pickers to fix stuff.  There were a couple of traffic lights still out this evening, which slowed rush hour traffic. 

Thursday Thunderstorm

Earlier this evening strong thunderstorms moved into the area.  We had 70 mile per hour winds, with gusts reported to nearly 90.  Lots of tree limbs are down, and around town four tents set up for selling fireworks were blown over.  The last I heard, about 20,000 folks are without power now.  It went out briefly at my house, but is back on now.  When things calmed down, I went outside and moved broken limbs out to the front curb.  Tomorrow evening I'll get them broken down to haul away.

New Rain Barrel

After the City Council recently discussed setting up a rebate on purchases of rain barrels, I started looking around at local stores to see which ones sell them. There aren't a lot of options around here, but on Sunday I did spot a few at one home improvement store. The one I liked best is the same style as the ones I have in the front yard, but in a darker color. They only had a couple of them left. In years past, once they sell their stock of rain barrels in early summer, they don't get any more in until the next year.  Plus, once the rebates are actively available, there will probably be at least a local minor rush on buying rain barrels. They'd already reduced the price on it, so that did it.  I decided to go ahead and get one while I still could.

Chiggers

I was trimming back bushes over the weekend, and by bedtime last night was beginning to itch in multiple places. I have had very few biting insects in my yard so far this year, and hadn't put on insect repellent before starting. Big mistake! Now I have about a dozen chigger bites to deal with.

Actually, chiggers are not insects, but the larval stage of a mite. They lurk in tall grasses and weeds, and wait for a person or animal to brush against them. They are so small that you can't see them with the naked eye, or feel them walking on you.

Sunflowers

First sunflower of the year

The sunflower is the official state flower of Kansas.  It certainly is a good choice for a tall border here, as it thrives in our hot, humid summer weather.  I have a row of sunflowers planted across the middle area of the back fence, between the coneflowers and the asparagus.

Regrowing Veggies, update

Regrowing lettuce

Earlier I wrote about regrowing vegetables from kitchen scraps. Here is what the romaine lettuce looks like after another week.

As you can see, the new little leaves have grown quite a bit over the last week, and are a nice dark green.

Shades of the Old West

Wichita was once a cow-town, about 150 years ago.  It's changed a lot since then, and now the focus is more on things that fly than things that moo.  But this morning I got to watch a cattle round-up from my own back yard.

Rain Barrels

Over the last several years, I have managed to buy four rain barrels.  They're pretty expensive, so my plan has been to get one every couple of years.  Rain barrels really do save a lot on water for the garden.  Even a quarter inch of rain generally fills them back up.  Most of mine hold 50 gallons, and one holds 75.  That's a lot of water for a thirsty garden.

So far this year, I haven't had to use city water once for watering. Of course, it's been the rainiest time of year, and we've only started on the hot season.  Every year when my garden needs water most, the rain barrels are dry. Still, every little bit of rain we get usually fills them back up enough for several days.

Edible Garden, mid-June

Tonight I picked some more peas.  I really love fresh, tender little peas. It's too bad they're such a cool-weather crop, and die off as summer heat sets in.  They're already starting to dry out, so I won't be getting them for much longer.  Every year I plant one or two of my raised garden beds with peas.  Once the season for them is over, I can plant other things in those beds.

Starting a New Batch of Compost

Over the weekend I emptied my second compost tumbler, and spread the contents over a flower bed and two raised veggie beds.  The flower bed is already planted, so there it will serve as a layer of mulch to help retain soil moisture, as it slowly breaks on down and is incorporated into the soil.  The raised beds in the vegetable garden are those where spring crops are finishing up, and I will soon be replanting. As I pull out the spent plants, I'll dig the compost into the top several inches of soil, to re-energize it for the next crop I plant.

Leaf Miners

Columbine leaf with leaf miner damage

This morning as I was watering my flowers, I found the leaf pictured at right, with the tell-tale pale scribbly line of a leaf-miner. Leaf miners are the larval stage of many different types of insects, which burrow and feed between the outer layers of the leaf. They eat the green interior tissue, leaving trails covered by a papery lighter-colored outer layer. These insects may be beetles, flies, or moths. Depending on the variety of insect, the tunnels may be meandering ones, such as those I find on my columbines, or large blotches. Such insects specialize in the plant they use as host during their larval stage; whether specific types of trees, shrubs, vegetables, or flowers.

First Firefly Sighting

Last evening as I was walking my dog, I was delighted to see the first firefly for this year. I remember as a child how much we enjoyed watching and chasing the fireflies, which we generally called lightning bugs.  We loved to catch some of them, and put them in a jar with holes in the lid.  In recent years, I have seen fewer of them than in years past.

Re-Growing Vegetables

Romaine lettuce re-sprouting

Right now I have two pots in my kitchen where I am re-sprouting the root stub from a bunch of romaine lettuce. Once I'd pulled off the leaves to eat, I put the root end into a small pot of soil, and watered it.  Be sure you don't cover the whole thing with soil, just the lower part. I put the pots near a window where they get good light, and check every morning to make sure the soil stays moist.  It is especially important not to let the soil dry out that first week. The photo shows what happens after about a week.  Small leaves are sprouting again.

War on Weeds: Bindweed

Bindweed, like the dandelion, is a deceptively pretty plant. The leaves are shaped like arrowheads, and are larger near the base than near the ends of the stems. Flowers are trumpet shaped, and are white or pink in color.

Helpful Garden Companions: Ladybug

Ladybug on clover

Many of the insects we find in the garden seem intent on eating, drilling holes in, sucking the sap from, or otherwise destroying our cherished plants, so it is a welcome relief to meet those that are actually beneficial to the garden.  Some pollinate flowers, without which service we would not have many of the fruits and vegetables we eat; and others protect our plants from the destructive insects.

Most Essential Garden Tools

My garden basics

What are your most essential garden tools--the things you use nearly every time you work in your garden?  Which ones would you most recommend to someone just starting out?

For those who have a lawn, a lawn mower might seem most basic.  But let's just think about the garden; whether it's a flower or veggie garden, in the ground, raised beds, or confined to containers on a patio or balcony.

Planting the Last Bed

Aglaia daisy

Over the last couple of evenings, I've been working on my final flower bed--the one in the far corner of the yard, that somehow always ends up being the last place I tackle every spring.  It's back behind the garage, the area I see the least.  It's on the west side, right out in the blazing hot afternoon and evening sun, yet farthest from a water source. This bed always gets invaded from the neighbor's yard with a variety of weeds that try to smother any lower-growing or less assertive plants I've put in. So I try to plant it with tough, low-water plants that don't need a lot of pampering.  Some of the things I'd originally planted there a number of years ago are no longer coming back, so I've been pondering over what to plant there this year.

Goldfish Pond

Putting a little pond in my back yard has added a lot to my garden.  The sound of splashing water attracts many birds to come visit. I find it relaxing when I sit out on the patio, to watch and listen to the fountain in the pond as well as to those feathered visitors who come around.

Rainy Forecast

Rain gauge after last week's storm

The forecast for the next several days here is for rain, which will be great for all the things I've been planting over the last month.  This spring I've planted four shrubs, to replace some that died last summer.  While planting them, I dug in lots of compost, and used mycorrhiza, to help encourage their root systems to get off to a good start. It's also important to give them a good watering regularly, and it sounds like they'll sure be getting that over the next few days!

Favorite Flowers: Sweet Peas

Annual sweet peas

Allergy Index Scale:  3
Annual
Full sun or light shade, 4-6' tall

The annual sweet pea is a fragrant flower available in many colors and varieties.  Some are cascading, and fit well in hanging containers; others are climbers that cover a fence.  Some of the newer varieties are less fragrant than the traditional ones.

Reblooming Lilac

Reblooming lilac "Josee"

Earlier today I finished deadheading my reblooming lilac bush.  My first lilac bush is an old-fashioned one, which every spring bears loads of those lovely, fragrant flowers.  When a few years ago I saw ads for a reblooming lilac, a variety named Josee, I was thrilled at the thought of enjoying them more than once a year.