Tomato Still Life

There is just nothing like a nice basket of fresh tomatoes from the garden.

Tomatoes

I planted Better Bush, Better Boy, Cherrie Sweetie, and some unknown variety that I bought at a garden store. It was sold to me as a Better Boy set, but the fruit sure is not a Better Boy tomato.  I wonder if this has happened to other people.

Wasps and Peas

I do not have many honey bees showing up these days, but carpenter bees and a wide assortment of wasps makes up for it.  The wasps love my crowder peas!

Mississippi Silver Crowder Peas Going Crazy

Gardenias - The Aroma of Magic

Scarlet Runner Beans Beautiful and Tasty

May 8th. My Mother's Birthday

Spicebush SwallowTail - Papilio troilus

Great crop of Yellow summer squash

Dragon Fly on Pineapple Guava

April Garden Video

Clck here

Thursday Night's Storm Damage

The wind took down a big oak tree. Fortunately there was no injury to us, the main part of the house or the garden.  In fact the tree falling opened up a new sunny area for vegetables and flowers to grow.

Pictures of the tree damage - click here

Springtime in My Lake Helen Garden

 Snapdragons, Dianthus, Gallardia

 Cabbage from the winter

 Lettuce in the strawberry pot

 Spinach, Red Majesty and Butter Crunch Lettuce

Late February

 Mississippi Silver Crowder Peas in foreground

Late March

Late February

 Blue Lake Pole Beans

Late March

 Nothing more hea

venly than orange blossoms

 orange blossom time

 the fragrance of The LORD

 Fairytale Eggplants in pots this year

Late February





Late March

 L to R: Moctezuma cucumbers, Cherrie Sweetie tomatoes still in pots, Better Boys up and going

 Imperator Carrots

Late February

Late March

carrots with Yellow Crookneck Squash in the back 

Bumper Crop of Turnips!!!!

White Hakure Turnips did great for us this year.  Taste is superb.  Dug the final ones yesterday. All these you see and more were grown in a 4' x 4' area of a raised bed.  Planted in September.  Been munching on them all winter.

Camellia in February

In some ways it looks like not much is happening in the garden in February.  Most things are happening behind the scenes.  Seedlings are growing, soil is being prepared, and brown stuff dead is being cleaned up little by little.  But we have one bright spot early in the month.  Our Camellia by the back door endures all of the January cold and shows off all by itself.

Charcoal making

A year ago I became interested in making charcoal at home; partly because I read an article about the Amazon and how the Indians had enriched the soil with charcoal, and partly because I prefer cooking on a charcoal grill and am tired of paying $7 a bag for real lump charcoal (not briquettes) at the store.  Charcoal is made by baking wood in an oxygen deprived environment.  One crude way of doing it is to take a 55 gal. drum and place a trashcan full of wood in it with the lid on the can.  Poke holes in the bottom of the can so that gases from the wood can escape and light a fire in the 55 gal. drum.  For the first 3 hours just keep the heat going.  Not much happens. somewhere around the 3 to 4 hour mark all hell breaks loose.  The gases from the wood are forced out the holes in the bottom of the can and they ignite.  Wow do they ignite!  After all of it burns away and you let it all cool off you have charcoal in the can.  It was a big success.  The charcoal cooks down to about 40% or 50% of the original volume.  2 videos are below, one in this post and one in the previous post.  Also some still pictures can be seen at: http://picasaweb.google.com/lowell.a.moore/CharcoalMaking?authkey=Gv1sRgCLX10JTYz4H6Bg&feat=directlink

If you want to know more about enriching your garden with charcoal then use the search term: Terra Preta. You won't be sorry.

I also want to thank Michael at http://centralfloridagarden.blogspot.com/

for getting me inspired to take action.

Lowell

Charcoal making videos

Seed Ordering Time for spring

Yesterday I ordered:
Better Boy and Cherry Sweetie tomatoes
Yellow summer squash
Mississippi Silver Crowder peas
Imperator Carrots
Renegade Spinach
Butter Crunch and Majestic Lettuce
Blue Lake Pole beans
Fairytale Hybrid Eggplant

Datura Magic

When I bought this Datura, otherwise known as Devil's Trumpet, it was a small seedling about 6 inches high.  It has now, a year later, taken over a large pot and stands about 4 feet high.  It keeps blooming like mad as long as I cut the seed pods off.  I have been able to share cuttings with several friends.

100 onion sets are out

Granex Yellow onion sets - about a hundred