Severe Storms Generate Useful Mulch

We've had some violent winds and thunderstorms lately. It brought a lot of trees down, some useful for firewood, others not. But our interest is in the leaves, pine cones, pine needles, and small branches. We have borrowed a chipper shredder and intend to chip everything that we can to use for mulch. Mulch gotten this way should not be used near buildings, but can be spread among trees to keep the weeds down.
If you are patient it can also be used for compost, but will not be decomposed enough for another year. All we are doing by chipping it all up is just speeding nature along in the decomposition process.

Garden Envy

It seems that everyone we know has a vegetable garden this year. Perhaps out of economics, health reasons, or trying to be more "green", vegetable gardens are everywhere. It also seems that everyone has lots of vegetables already, while our zucchini is just flowering and our tomatoes still green. We are guilty of garden envy, and will try to learn from the sucess of others and apply what we learn to next years plan. Some beginners we know are doing better than some old-timers. Maybe it's beginner's luck, or better soil, or setting plants out instead of seeds, whatever reason, it's encouraging to see so many beginners doing well growing their own food.

Sykesville Farmers Market Starting July 23

Yes, it's time to get your locally grown produce at the local farmers markets. The Sykesville Farmers Market begins this Thursday, July 23 at 3:00.
Complete information is posted on Facebook:

A Great Weekend for July

It's hot here, like it is every July, but the humidity is low, so it feels great outside this weekend. We have harvested cucumbers, lettuce, turnips, beets, swiss chard, radishes and small onions.
The lettuce has started going to seed, so we start to shade it, which keeps it cooler and slows down the process of going to seed. This gives us about 2 extra weeks of lettuce production. Late in August, we will plant more lettuce for fall harvesting.
Lots of tomatoes are starting to form, but no red ones yet.
The yellow squash and zucchini are beginning to produce.

Compost Tea

It is time again to empty the composter. Before doing that, we made some "Compost Tea". Our composter is raised off the ground so we can push a wheelbarrow under it for emptying. It also has drainage holes in the bottom. What we did was place a plastic bin under it and spray a couple of gallons of water in and let drain. This makes a smelly "tea" full of nutrients, that can be used to fertilize the vegetables. Use about 1/4 of the "tea" and 3/4 water. We used it on the tomatoes, it should give them a nice growth jolt.

Teaching Others to Enjoy Gardening

Our friend, Judy called today to see If we had received the bag that she hung on our front door yesterday, which we had. Inside was her first cucumber, her first string bean and her first crop of cilantro, which was her way of thanking us for getting her started with her first garden. Judy, like most of us, is struggling with the high cost of food, and wanted to grow some of her own. She is now hooked on gardening after witnessing the miracle of the power of seeds.
Really, here she is, barely more than 29 years old and never had a vegetable garden? She says she is now a gardener for life! Perhaps she will add a comment here about her experience as a first time gardener.

Summer Farmers Markets

With Summer comes an abundance of vegetables, and an effort to sell them at local markets. We attend the Sykesville Apple Butter Market to sell plants, and it always has several farmers selling fresh goods. There is no better flavor than the food that can be bought fresh at markets and roadside stands this time of year. Please support them, you will be healthier for it.

It's Finally Summer!

Summer has finally arrived, and with it arrives hot weather and frequent thunderstorms. Most vegetable plants will not perform well until the hot weather arrives. Since we've had such a cold and wet Spring, they have a lot of lost time to make up for. The plants will perform well if they receive enough water, but go easy of the fertilizer, as they do not need it as much during the Summer.

Don't forget to stake or cage the tomatoes, and any other plants that need something to grow on such as pole beans, cucumbers and other climbing plants.