Comments on: Garden Blogging: Progress Report

By: Kathy

Kathy — Mon, 05 May 2008 02:36:27 +0000

misswildthing, that is so cool! I bet your mother loves her tulips. And we’re glad you’ve found us here in the south.

I hope the tomatoes aren’t too far in the future. Lots of blooms on the plants now. The butterfly bush goes in the ground as soon as it dries a bit after the weekend thunderstorm.

By: Don

Don — Sun, 04 May 2008 20:08:33 +0000

For misswildthing:

Your location is interesting because I have relatives south of you in Bakersfield.

Your family may or may not have heard of Poke, which is a wild native bush that thrives in the south. It is actually poisonous, but many southerners eat it, which may account for our disagreeable attitude. Some eat what is called Poke Salat (or salad). I recently canned a pint of “Pickled Poke”.

Would you like to take a bite??

By: misswildthing

misswildthing — Sun, 04 May 2008 19:13:35 +0000

Since I am in a different part of the country, I can’t tell you how much I enjoy get a taste of the south through this blog. My family used to pick a lot of the stuff that used to be grown here so my mom doesn’t like to get her hands dirty. so I just got a chance to landscape her yard. She has always loved tulips and this is the first time since she has lived there, 51 years, that she had tulips in her yard.

Thank you all for sharing all of your southern charm with me and Kathy, I look forward to seeing the pictures of your tomatoes.

I didn;t know butterflies were so hungry down there!

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Fri, 02 May 2008 14:12:25 +0000

Hey Earth Girl!! Why don’t you come and do something with my garden!!! I have a Black Thumb!

By: Loretta Nall

Loretta Nall — Thu, 01 May 2008 17:28:27 +0000

Here are some pics of my garden thus far
http://nallforgovernor.blogspot.com/2008/05/garden-expansion.html

By: Loretta Nall

Loretta Nall — Thu, 01 May 2008 13:45:36 +0000

Hey Kathy,

You’re welcome at my house for dinner anytime!

I tried growing Romaine lettuce this year. I doesn’t make a head ….just leaves. The first harvest was sweet and delicious. I try and pick the leaves when they are young. The older they get the more bitter they tend to be.

I always hated gardening when I was a kid and swore that when I was a grown up I would never of my own accord work in a garden again. I remember shelling so many purple hull peas that my thumbnails were stained and so sore I thought they would fall off.

Now, however, I cannot wait to shell my first mess of peas and eat them til I get sick.

We decided to go back to our agrarian roots because of the rising cost of food and because we are sick to death of cardboard flavored and textured tomatoes.

By: Kathy

Kathy — Thu, 01 May 2008 13:39:39 +0000

I’m coming to your house for dinner, Loretta.

What kind of lettuce do you grow? I want to try it, but my mother says all the lettuce they ever planted turned out bitter.

We now have two blooms on one of our tomatoes. I can’t wait!

By: Loretta Nall

Loretta Nall — Thu, 01 May 2008 12:36:47 +0000

We bought a tiller this year and have set to work on a serious garden like the ones from my childhood. Right now I have tomatoes of the following variety; Brandywine (my favorite), cherry, BHN 444, Parks Whopper and Beefsteak. We also have corn (white and sweet varieties) pole and bush green beans, lima beans, purple hull peas, eggplant, lettuce, squash, collards, onions, turnip greens, okra, cucumbers, zucchini and peppers in the following varieties, green bell, jalapeño, Anaheim, Giant Marconi, cayenne and red chili. I am sprouting watermelon, cantaloupe and sweet banana peppers in cups. We also have some blackberries and a grape vine.

So far we have harvested lettuce, one mess of turnip greens (they were divine) and one little jalapeño pepper.

Me personally….I’m ready for some maters.

By: Kathy

Kathy — Thu, 01 May 2008 00:35:00 +0000

KathyF, I had to think hard to remember when I planted those herbs, and it’s hard to believe we’re coming up on 14 years in this house. It’s gone so quickly.

MWT, my one hibiscus didn’t make it through the winter, so it’s time to replace it. Hmmm, passionflowers/vines…

*goes off to check out catalogs and websites*

By: Del

Del — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:47:48 +0000

Misswildthing, I bought a passionvine 2 years ago for the butterflies and they responded so enthusiastically that I think they killed it. Both years they ate every leaf right to the nub before the first bud could even think about forming. I didn’t mind because we had the reward of a yard teeming with fritillaries, and I’d deliberately planted it in an out-of-the way spot…but this spring the poor vine just didn’t come up. The scrap of root seems to still be living, but ain’t nothing happening. I finally broke down and mail-ordered two more, got them in the ground last week (mailordernatives.com, nice site for natives if you’re interested) and we’ll see. I’m not interested in passionfruit jelly or even in seeing the beautiful flowers, but I would at least like it to live from year to year.