A little Garden Journal  

August 20, 2006
Wow... something else that thrives in this southern heat is perennial hibiscus. The plants have gotten huge and the blooms are so big it's amazing. I've got two colors - a deep pink and a vividly dark red. The flowers are the size of large dinner plates. Gorgeous!



August 4, 2006
LOTS of watering going on now... it's hot, dry, and we've had a lot of wind. I'm still finding a few tomato horn worms, but they're easy to spot so I've been able to stay ahead of the nasty things. The peppers are really beginning to put on... they love this hot weather. And the more I pick, the faster they'll produce. I've already been able to put up a couple of bottles of tobasco sauce, and hope there'll be more to come!



July 12, 2006
Mmmmmm.... the tomatoes are as delicious as they look -- I picked the first 2 this week, plus 2 green ones to batter and fry. This is one of my favorite times of year... lol! I don't think I'd ever - ever - get tired or warm ripe tomatoes fresh from the garden. *sigh*



July 3, 2006
It's been very dry - no rain in 3 weeks now. And the pests are appearing. I've been watching my tomatoes very closely for the annual visit by hornworms. Already have that nifty aluminum foil wrapped around the stem bottoms... it better work!



June 8, 2006
Wow, we had a big storm come through this week! Lots of high wind, and some of my tomato plants were laying down... even though they were staked and tied. And the dill may - or may not - stand back up again. I spent last weekend adding some more herbs to my herb bed. It's kind of late, but the plants are hardy and I think they'll be fine. I cut them back a bit and threw them in a pot of homemade soup... :)



May 24, 2006
Our days down here in the south are already getting very hot and humid. Thank goodness we've had some good showers on a regular basis... it always gets very dry here around the end of June or first of July. I'm not having to water regularly yet, but know it won't be long. I'm enjoying every raindrop that falls for now.



May 10, 2006
Tobasco peppers joined my tomatoes in the garden this week. I also set out some cucumber plants and dill. Got a nice little salad going on out there. And of course, I surrounded the entire tomato bed with those wonderful zinnias. ;)



April 23, 2006
I've been loving the unexpected "heat" spell... temps - even at night - have been higher than usual for this time of year and the soil is warming up quickly. I set out my tomato plants this weekend. Not warm enough for seeds yet, but I'm thinking the little plants will be just fine. Now I'm looking forward to some early ripe tomatoes. I can taste them now... :)



April 9, 2006
Wow, it's been a long time since I've updated and I apologize if there's anyone out there actually keeping up! I didn't die, I've just been dormant..... :) Our winter sure seemed long, and although it wasn't excessively cold down here in the south, it was a messy wet one. The past few weeks have been glorious, though! Louisiana is GREEN! Everything is budding, blooming, and blossoming. I saw the first hummingbirds about two weeks ago (they're BACK!) and nearly broke my neck rushing around filling the feeders. I have some baby tomato plants potted in the greenhouse and if this weather continues, I can set them out in no time. Nothing like playing in the mud! Happy Spring!



October 1, 2005
I love the hint of fall that's been in the air! Even though it offically began over a week ago, it's sometimes quite a while before we feel it down here on the Gulf coast. About the only action going on in my garden right now is peppers, gourds, peppers, and more gourds... :) I've been bottling pepper sauce and peeling loofahs almost every day. I have a great place to store the hardshell gourds while they dry over the next few months -- an old quail pen that's up off the ground with a wire floor. It hasn't seen a quail in years, but it's ideal for gourds. We've also been doing major cleanup out there, after Hurricane Rita passed through. A big mess, with tree limbs and branches scattered everywhere. The hummers are still here, though it seems there are less this weekend than before. I think they may be taking off now for more southern winter hangouts.



September 13, 2005
The year of the hummingbirds. I think that may be how I'll refer to this late summer of '05 in the future. I am in complete awe at how many hummers are here.... more than ever before, more than I've ever seen at one time before in my life. They are absolutely all over the place, and it's just happened over the past couple of weeks. I have two feeders hanging from the eaves of my front porch and a third on a garden shed off to the side of the house. From dawn until dusk they have been whizzing and buzzing... around the feeders, through the porch, all around in the yard. There is no way to count those little babies, but I know there are literally dozens! We've always had several, but this is truly amazing. I'm filling one or more of the feeders daily. Someone joked that the hurricane may have blown them up here to north Louisiana.... I don't know, is that so far-fetched? They could be on their way to their winter grounds and stopped in here for a visit. I really have no idea, but I am enjoying them to the max as long as they want to stay. :)



September 7, 2005
Wow, we've had some very pleasant - much cooler - days and nights. I can't believe how refreshing it is to open my door in the morning and find the temp has fallen into the low 60's! I actually think I'm feeling that first taste of fall. I pulled up all of the tomato plants last weekend. That's always kind of a sad chore for me, because I hate when they're done for the year. Very happy to get that bed all cleaned out, though. My pepper plants are still going strong, as are the gourds and even a few eggplants. We've been harvesting some gourds almost daily... once the stem turns brown, we pick them. I wait to pick the loofahs until they are completely brown and dry. I've already got a pile of them ready to soak and peel.... :)



August 30, 2005
Hurricane Katrina.   She came, she unleashed her wicked fury.... and she went. Yesterday was a nightmare, and my heart goes out to those who will be dealing with the aftermath of this devastating storm. I am in northeast Louisiana, and we were spared - we were so very lucky, compared to our friends and loved ones located along the coast. My heart goes out to all who were - and will be for a long time - affected by this. We in Louisiana love our N'Orleans, our Grand Isle, our Venice and Ponchatoula -- ALL of our beautiful coastal areas. Words simply can't express the horror and shock we are feeling right now. And we have the welfare of our neighbors to the east in Mississipi and Alabama on our minds and in our hearts, also. Everyone will be in my thoughts and prayers.




August 22, 2005
The heat, the HEAT. That seems to be the only thing on everybody's mind -- how can we help it when it's this HOT? *sigh* Yesterday the actual temperature down here in Louisiana reached 101. "They" reported that the heat index (I call it the misery index) was around 108, due to the high humidity. Everything in the garden is drooping. I go out there and immediately wilt right alongside my flowers.



August 14, 2005
Summer in the garden! This is that beautiful bountiful time when we are enjoying the fruits of our labor. It sure has been a long, dry and hot one here in the South. Lots of watering! It's all been worth it though, and as August begins to wan, I'm looking forward to those first cool evenings. They're coming, they're coming ... I just know it! I'll make pepper sauce while I wait. The pepper plants never seem to be affected by the hotter, dryer conditions. I think they actually like the heat ... :)



August 10, 2005
I've had some gorgeous tomatoes this year (only found a couple more of the dreaded hornworms, thank goodnesss!!) I can't figure out why, but they've been producing a lot longer than usual. Usually by the time August arrives they've just about played out. The two varieties that seem to be hanging in there are "Celebrity" and "Better Boy". Could they be more heat tolerant? I'm not sure, but we're enjoying the extra time we've got 'em. They're delicious! Of everything that comes from the garden, I miss fresh tomatoes most when they're gone.



August 1, 2005
The gourds are going wild! I was afraid we may have over-fertilized and wouldn't get anything but leaves for a while, but they're blooming like crazy. And I'm happy to say that the bees are out there in abundance going about their work! I've got loofahs this year ... I haven't grown them in years, so I'm looking forward to what I get. They bloom yellow, like an ornamental - as opposed to white, like a hardshell.



July 26, 2005
I found out something today that I'm happy about. I learned this from one of the very smart members of the email group Gourds for Art and Utility. It seems that, on a gourd vine, the original vine always produces male blooms, while the offshoots put on the female blooms (this is the one that the gourd will develop on). You know, I always knew that the first blossoms were male, and that it seemed to take a while for those beautiful females to appear bearing the little "gourdlets". But I never realized why! Go figure! I bet everyone in the world knew this but me ... :)



July 20, 2005
I found a nasty surprise in my tomato patch this morning. The first thing I saw was a bare branch - leaves stripped, sad-looking little twigs sticking out there. Aigggg! Yep - tomato hornworm. I found him after a few minutes - he was as big as my index finger, uggg - and then spent another 45 looking for others. Where there's one, I know he's got family members in there somewhere! I HATE these things with a passion. Can't even bring myself to pluck them off.... I take my shears and cut them in half. If you've never seen one of these wicked monsters (lucky, lucky you!), there's a good photo and more info here -- Tomato Hornworm. I'm going to wrap the bottom of my plants with aluminum foil; I've heard that helps keep them off. Then I'll keep my fingers crossed. If you have other suggestions, I'd love to hear them! Contact Shelley. Just another little quicky note about these things - sometimes they get parasites. Not too pleasant too look at, but it's a good thing. The one I found didn't - he was a big ripe healthy specimen - but I've seen them before. As the article I linked above says, when you see something eating on the worm, it's best to leave it so that the parasites will spread to other worms. Pleasant subject, huh? :)