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Here we offer gardening tips and ideas. We also welcome any gardening news, ideas, tips or photos from your garden. email them to us and upon review we will publish them here if we think the content will interest our readers. We may even create a whole new gardening page just for you! Send to askarlene@scrtc.com As you scroll below you will be able to click onto the different years diary that I have kept for Home Farm. You will also be able to check out my two latest gardening books and we have made them both available for downloading should you not want to invest in a hard copy. Please sign my guest book
 
Arlene’s Gardening Diary for 2004 with tons of gardening articles. Below is a sample of some of the articles. Growing Raspberries and Blackberries? Here is an article I wrote. , also Caring for Crape Myrtle, Deer Resistant plants and trees. “Drying Flowers” , Here’s how to make a wildlife garden., How to Make Your own Liquid Potpourri and other good stuff! ,Growing Roses ,Dividing Daffodils ,Planting bulbs. Arlene’s Gardening Diary for 2005 with tons of info, photos and informational gardening articles. Arlene’s Gardening Diary for 2006 with tons of info, photos and informational gardening articles.
Arlene’s Gardening Diary for 2007 with tons of info, photos and informational gardening articles.
Growing Raspberries and Blackberries? Here is an article I wrote. , also Caring for Crape Myrtle, Deer Resistant plants and trees. “Drying Flowers” , Here’s how to make a wildlife garden., How to Make Your own Liquid Potpourri and other good stuff! ,Growing Roses ,Dividing Daffodils ,Planting bulbs. January 20, 2008. 10 degrees and the gardens are a mess as usual. Our part of Kentucky does not offer a lot of snow and winters are short here. Our garden ponds are frozen most mornings and we are dealing with last year’s after affects of Global warming visiting our part of the world. As our 2007 gardening diary will verify it was a terrible year here. We are looking forward to see whether or not our ordchard that was fruitless after the April 2007 5 days of freeze will have buds this spring. I am surpressing my winter gardening urges by limited myself to a few seed packets and not opening any nursery catalogs. I will be 73 this February and it has been horribly hard to hire any help in the gardens for the past 2 or 3 years. Especially 2007 even at $9.00 per hr.! So we start the new year with a glad heart whether or not we are able to go “crazy” in the gardens. This last fall I decided I was not going to put in a couple of hundred bulbs like I do each fall because the underground critters dine on 95% of them all winter. February the whole month Not much to do here but watch the rain. We have had tons of it and hopefully it will bring our water tables back up and replenish a lot of farmers ponds. We even had a couple of blue sky days, but cold. March 1, 2008 March came in like a lamb and we can bet that it will go out like a lion. March 2, 2008 Blue skies and upwards of 70 here. Crazy. March 3, 2008 Still blue skies, but windy. However warm enough to open the french doors and let some of the winter inside air out. I noticed the first crocus and the first daffodil open today. We are still hanging back here as the prediction for the coming days weather is cold, cold and even rain and possible snow here in zone 6.
I have a new article How to Force Bulbs Part I on GreenThumbArticles and it continues in How to Force Bulbs Part II
March 4, 2008 Too windy and cold again today with tons of rain through the long night and up until about 1 pm today. I look out a the desolate gardens and wonder what will have to be done this spring. I can see we will have to do a whole lot of rose bush rose bush trimming, pond cleaning and dragging out the last of the annuals that did not biodegrade themselves. I got to thinking today about the Victory Gardens that I remember from WW II and thought about the high cost of fresh produce in the market places today. It made me think that one might be able to combat some of those costs with today’s type of Victory Garden. Read more. March 5, 2008 Should this year be the year you are going to start your first garden then perhaps you may want to consider starting a biodynamic garden. Read more.
March 7, 2008 Should you seriously think about gardening this year then seriously consider creating something grand along the lines of a simple botanical garden in your own back yard. Read More March 8, 2008 Friday mid morning we lost our water and Carl said,”Oh No not a broken pipe”. because there is about 2000 ft of pipe coming into here. I called George and they were out. So I called the water department and they were repairing a pipe somewhere and had turned everyone’s water off and that was a relief. About an hour later we had water. It started to snow a little bit late Friday afternoon and about 8:15 p.m. we lost the power. Out came the cards and Carl and I played by candlelight until time for bed. On March 8, we woke up to electricity and snow which meant canceling out haircut appointment that afternoon and no trip to Louisville on Sunday to the Annual Arts and Crafts Market place at the Louisville Fair Grounds. When Chocolate came in from being outside she was covered with snow. There is a prettiness to gardens with a little snow.
March 13, 2008 For those of you who are considering enriching their garden salads and cooking with sprouts here are some good hints on How to Grow Sprouts. The weather is in the 60’s by noon each day now and the Cleveland and Bradford Pears along the driveway look like they will be popping out any day now. In the village the crocus are blooming all around the courthouse area. Soon gardeners, at least in this zone, will be thinking of transplanting. In the event you are here is an article I wrote called How to Correctly Transplant Trees and Shrubs. March 16, 2008 We have had some cloudy but warm days here now. Up in the high 60’s and all the spring bulbs are opening up. March is the time that most of us in the warmer zones can start thinking about scratching the ground and hoping that by the end of March, at least in zone 6, we will be having our last frost. In 2007 we got a big surprise after all of our orchards and many of our grapevines and other flowers and early vegetables received 6 nights of killing frost. This ruined many a vineyard in Kentucky and for us it meant no peaches, pears, apples, cherries or grapes at all. We hope that we will recover and see fruit come forth this season. This is also a good time to start planning your Foundation Garden read more.
March 18, 2008
It is getting close to the time that I will be going out to clear all the remains of the annuals that did not biodegrade themselves. Our city cousins will be getting ready to do their Urban Gardening. Many of my favorite places in the world are in the <st1:place>Mediterranean</st1:place> and since most of these places are so old many of the towns have become big cities. Those that have not are mostly stone, concrete, narrow streets and very few have large plots of land with the buildings unless they are out in the country. read more March 27, 2008 Today was the first day to finally get outside and work in the gardens. I was able to trim a lot of roses. All the climbing roses that were planted last year suffered greatly from the 2007 drought and I had to yank out about 50% of them and trim back the remaining 50%. Hopefully, they will get some good spring rain and survive. The daffodils and lots of other bulbs are showing off now. I got to clean out a lot of containers. Though overcast the temperature was in the low 60’s and it really felt good to be out there. Even Chocolate enjoyed it. March 28, 2008 Today we awoke to rain and now it is slightly windy with overcast skies. The forecast is to drop down to 35 tonight. Today I noticed that some of the Cleveland and Bradford pears are ready to blossom. The plum trees are ready to pop also and in the back patio garden the weeping Japanese cherry trees are about to make their grand entrance. It is time to start thinking about planting the annuals. Here is a humorous story about The Time Carl Planted Sun Flower Seeds. March 29, 2008 The Redbuds are just started to give a hint of breaking forth with their glorious magenta flowers and we are getting ready to go on a working holiday at the 2008 Glass and Bead Expo in Las Vegas. I hope we do not miss a lot of spring blossoms. There are lots of reasons to plant and grow Redbud trees, but for me they are a living memorial to our late son, Fred, who loved to see the Redbud trees each spring. Read more March 31, 2008
The woods surrounding our property are becoming alive with dogwood trees and as I drive into the village in early April I can just see their blossoms starting to break open on the lower layers. Quickly the village inhabitantís yards will burst forth with those creamy white or pink bracts that have their distinct layering of blossoms. Read more April 8, 2008 We arrived back just in time to see the Forsythias in their glory and armies of grape hyacthins marching all over the place.
The Bradford and Cleveland Pear trees are showing off our long driveway.
On the shade side of the house the Bleeding Hearts are just beginning to peek out.
And the Grape Hyacthins are up all over the place.
Grand showings of ground covering violets.
I donít know where they came from. I donít think I ever planted them and at first I spent a great deal of time pulling them out like weeds. However, over the past 8 or 9 years I have let these little “nuisances” have their own way and I have discovered that these Common Violets make a wonder ground cover. Read more April 9, 2008 The weeds are growing fast now because of the April showers. I soon will need to find some teenagers that want to help with garden work. The containers I can do by myself, but the bending etc has now gotten beyond me if I go more than 10 to 15 minutes. I was thinking about the sweet peas all ready and when I do my mind conjures up cottages with sweet peas growing up the sides of the front door and trellises and arbors in full bloom with the multicolored little beauties filling the air with their wonderful fragrances. Read More April 11, 2008 While we enjoy April showers we get a chance to see the blue sky and sun shine on the glory of the Flowering Crab Apple tree and that is what I was able to enjoy on my way to my Thursday night art lesson. As a passenger in a car one can really enjoy the landscape as it flies by. Read more April 13, 2008 I was able to find a lovely variety of seed geraniums at one of my favorite garden centers for only $1.00 each. Good and healthy looking so I bought 36 of them for my containers. I was also able to get some lovely pansies for only $1.12 at the same center and 24 of them went into the cart. I will keep them on the back patio for about a week. We have been having grand April showers with days in the low 70’s and nights in the low 50’s. However, it turned cold again today with 42 degrees at 6 am and Carl says the forecast is even for some frost this week. I hope we do not get what we got last April about this time when every living, blooming thing was wiped out after 5 nights of frost. I see these trees by mid March in our area of Kentucky and they are truly magnificent. For years I called them the Tulip Tree simply because they blooms looked like tulips. Some folks referred to them as Saucer Magnolia, Black Tulip tree or Japanese Magnolia. However, the correct name is the Soulangeana Magnolia and you pronounce Soulangeana as soo-lan-jee-AY-nah. Read more April 16, 2008 I am able to get some really lovely seed geraniums in all sorts of colors today and a nice flat of penny lane pansies. I planted the pansies today in the front containers. The tulips are starting to give us a grand show. April 18, 2008 The weather is magnificent here and I get all the rest of the really red geraniums purchased today, plus the potting soil, humus etc. Naturally it starts pouring just as we get back from the gardening center and continues all night. The tulips and other bulbs enjoyed it.
It was just enough to pop out all the lilac bushes. Here is one of them.
Planting Pussy Willows read more April 19, 2008 It is calmed down now and I am able to get out at 7 am and start filling the front planters. By 8 am my new little 13 year old helper arrives and she is a good worker. Takes direction well and she cleans up the greenhouse in an hour. Then she and I start pruning all the fruit trees and some of the other bushes that need pruning. She then starts cleaning up one of the big beds that has gone to rack and ruin while I plant all the back containers with all those glorious geraniums. Here are some of the containers in front of our home.
And Chocolate helped me plant all the containers down the path to Glynis’ house.
By noon we have completed a ton of work and I am delighted with the help and her with the good pay. Just as we finish it starts to rain. I have put in 5 hours in the garden and am practically cripple. I will feel it tomorrow. The Bleeding Hearts are out in full force and the lilacs are beginning to blossom out.
It looks like we lost a 9 year old crepe myrtle, a 9 year old plum tree and a couple of small bushes and trees to last year’s devastating April 5 days of frost. April 21, 2008 Now that the greenhouse is cleaned up and workable, though 2 months late I started some lavender seeds in 3″ pots and some Rosemary in the same size pots. If I keep my eye on them and keep the rear window open and the front door they should start. Rummaging around I found a half pack of tomato seed so I started 12 pots of them and I found a full pack of lettuce seed and I started a flat of them. I finished planting the last container of geraniums and I emptied about 5 or 6 hanging planters and refilled and reseeded with wave petunias. I discovered that another 15 ft. tall, nine year old crepe myrtle did not make it after that last April 5 day frost. These will be hard to get out. After 2 hours I was tired, so even though the day was great, I was alone working and it was tiring. The temperature will go to 75 degrees today and it is supposed to be 51 degrees tonight. We were able to dine out on the screened-in patio tonight and enjoy the garden, sounds, sights. April 22, 2008 55 degrees this morning and bright and sunny. Went out and watered everything in the greenhouse then weeded out a 10 ft. by 3 ft. part of the garden next to the patio. I planted some Moonflowers and then planted some Double Giant, mixed colored Zinnas, State Fair giant mixed Zinnas and some Thumbelina, mixed colors zinnas. Worked for about an hour and a half. Put Some Moonflowers in your garden, read more April 23, 2008 I did not get into the garden today until about 9 a.m. because I had errands to run and the sun was up quite high thus only allowing me about 45 minutes of work out there. I trimmed one of my climbing rose bushes and planted a new section of Delphiniuim/Larkspur (Read More) and some Butterfly Flowers. (Read More) April 24, 2008 Another beautiful day today with the morning temperature about 60 and moving up quickly. The sky has an overcast that suggests we may have rain either tonight or tomorrow. The first of the iris are out. Lovely yellow ones between the pond and the path. I got a big space weeded out this morning by the upper pond and found some carnations are ready to come out. I planted a packet of Sunspot dwarf sunflowers in that area. They should only grow to 18 inches in height. Tomorrow, if no rain, I will clear out the space in the back for the giant sunflowers. Today I discovered the remaining 9 year old crepe myrtle is also dead. So I will have to get someone in to cut them all down as they have really large trunks at the ground level. April 27, 2008 Got in about 2 hours of weeding, clearing and planting of the rest of the giant sunflower seeds and the giant zinnias before the rain came. Then it rained all afternoon. April 28, 2008 I need to get out into the studio and create some fused glass, but I took the time today to water in the greenhouse and to trim and prune about 7 big trees. May 2, 2008 I finally was able to get back into the garden and tackle another area of weeds. The yellow Iris are blooming.
Also the red azela’s in the arbor.
I planted some more zinnias today (California Giant and Lilliput Mixed Color), also some mixed holly hocks, some more giant sunflowers and Calendula (mixed Colors). I got it done just before the rains came. We had some wind and it has been raining all day since noon. I was able to track down some more of that one wisteria I planted years ago and I was able to prune out a bunch of it in many unusual place. It is impossible to kill. Wisteria is pretty, but not near any buildings or arbors as it will totally wreck them. May 5, 2008 Today I had help in the garden and we got a lot done for 2 hours and then my helper came in and helped me for another 2 hours in the house. The white iris are coming along now. I was able to clear out a whole part of the cottage garden that was loaded up with weeds again and I got the Dragonfly Hybrid Mixture of Columbine seeds sown and the Foxglove (mixed colors Digitalis) sown. I finaly was able to plant Russel’s Hybrid mixed colors of Lupine and hopefully they will take and come back year after year. I planted some more Clendula, Zinnia and Shasta Alaska Daisy. I pruned some more rose bushes and other things that needed pruning. I can do all this stuff, still, but hauling it around is not easy for me any longer, so my little helper does that kind of stuff. I was also able to get the waist high raised planters refilled after a winter of settling and soon I will fill them with something.
May 5, 2008 It was 44 degrees at 6 am today. Even Chocolate did not like to stay out long. We had moved the 5 jumbo containers up from the driveway so our mower man would not have to weed-whack around them. They are now up on the pathway along the southside of the Studio. Today I was able to sow the following seeds in them. Dianthus, Nasturium and Alaska Shasta Daisy. May 6, 2008 6 am temperature was 49 degrees but it went into the mid 70’s by noon. I was able to get an early run over to one of the Amish nurseries to pick up some tomato plants. I got 4 Pineapple tomatoes, 4 Mountain Spring, 4 Romas (my favorite for eating and cooking) and 4 of something else that I managed to lose the label for between their nursery and my garden. I think it is called something like Big Mac or Big Red, so again this year we have another mystery veggie. I was able to get all these into the raised planters upon arriving home. I picked up 4 Big Bertha Pepper Plants. Plus some Ambrosia Cantaloupe, 4 watermelon plants, plus a lot of herbs and I will get them all where they belong tomorrow morning. I treated myself to 2 lovely hanging baskets.
On the way home I stopped at the Tuesday Farmer’s Market in the village and spent my last $3.00 on two lovely large pots of cushion marigold to set in with the tomato plants. May 7, 2008 Temperature was 62 degrees at 6 am and a good time to work in the garden. I cleaned out a whole section and planted the cucumber plants, Ambrosia cantaloupe, repotted two rosemary plants, purple sage and curley parsley. I was able to finally find two replacement fruit trees at one of our local garden centers today and hopefully will get them into the ground within the next two days. About 4 p.m. we got some nice rain which is always welcomed when new plants go into the ground. Please read my latest article on melons. May 10, 2008 Carl planted the two new apple trees plus he got a lot of pruning done on the climbing roses and trees that I could not reach. My helper did not show up today. She is a good worker, but unreliable as heck when it comes to showing up. I got the rose garden weeded out and our roses are starting to pop out here and there. Some more Iris are blooming. We had 2.5 days of heavy rain and everything got watered well. The roses are starting to show and even though the Lilacs way out front in the full sun have lost their lovely flowers, the big bush at the end of the rose arbor between the bunkhouse and the garden cottage are just starting to burst into bloom. I think it is because that bush gets a good deal of shade. Here are some of the things that are just starting to bloom.
May 13, 2008 Today is my brother George’s birthday. The day is bright with a brisk light wind and was about 65 degrees when I went into the garden this morning. I cleared out about a 10 by 3 ft area of weeds and put in 4 cucumber plants, and 4 watermelon plants. This year I guess I can call most of my gardens my “experimental” Garden. I also planted some cosmo seeds which are easy growers and I love the way all those tall pastel flowers sway in the gentle wind. I was able to get some more zinnas in and by that time I was pooped. George stopped by for something and I told him Happy Birthday you old 70 yr. old guy and I also told him that this may well be my last year for gardening. I am older than him and I am starting to feel it. I’m weeding as fast as I can, but when helpers do not show up I fall behind and the perennials are popping up amongst the weeds. The white and red poppies are just showing their heads, the Siberian Iris is doing the same thing. The various colored Iris have similar positions and the batchlor buttons are looking extremely striking this year. The primroses which have become a real invasive flower in my cottage garden get a reprieve as they start to burst forth with their showy pink blooms. The Batchlor Buttons are stately and grand again this year. The tomatoes and peppers look healthy in the waist high planters.
May 22, 2008 Being gone for 5 days did not help the small pots I left out to catch any rain that might come, but everything else managed without us. The roses in the arbor are showing off and the big lilac bush at the end of the arbor has finally bloomed. I staked the tomato plants today and we have a few yellow blossoms on some of them. The peppers have little pepper pods starting and the gardens all over are a riot of colors as the following pictures will show.
We have just had 10 more organic gardening articlespublished and we have added copies of them to our site. Click here May 23, 2008 Lovely day today with an overcast. Hopefully we will get some showers later on today. Lots to do outside, but had to work in the fused glass studio most of the morning. I think I may have a helper for tomorrow providing she does not change her mind or whatever helpers do when they do not want to show up. Perhaps I will be able to play catchup. Some pictures of what is happening in Arlene’s Garden at Home Farm today.
May 24. 2008 My little helper, though a great worker, is totally unreliable and called up at the last minute to say she did not feel up to coming to work today. Carl helped me today by planting the two new butterfly bushes and tying up all the climbing roses that needed it and that was wonderful.
May 25, 2008 I was able to go out and do a ton of weeding and watering early this morning before the sun got too hot. I also found a couple of packages of small cushion marigolds, so I cleaned out all the window boxes on the south side of the Bunk House and planted them there. Who knows what will happen. I usually fill them with about $100.00 worth of multi-colored geraniums. However, today that is one tank of gas so the geraniums were cut out of my gardening budget. I found some wisteria growing where I did not want it so I hacked that out as best I could. The Albertine roses that I bought from Antique Rose Emporium 9 years ago is doing it’s majestic thing right now. If you walk within 15 feet of that rose bush you can be enveloped in the most wonderful fragrance.
The Lamb’s Ears are lovely and tall and ready to pop out with their purple flowers. Not quite there yet! May 26, 2008 Memorial Day and overcast with a 60% chance of rain and I hope we get some of it. At 8:35 a.m. it is hot out in the garden and we are going to take a break from it today unless we have to water towards early evening. Here are Carl and Chocolate enjoying the Cottage Garden.
May 30, 2008 Sad day here for us. Chocolate has been ill lately and today she lost the use of both hind quarters. We rushed her to the vet dragging her out of the house on a blanket because she ways 90 pounds and we could hardly lift her into the back of the Jeep. Vet said he could give her only temporary relief and since she was over 9 years old we had her put to sleep. We miss her. June 4, 2008 Been hot and humid past two days. I was able to pick up about 18 lovely big colorful Geraniums at the local Farmer’s Market from an Amish lady for only $1.50 each yesterday and I got them all planted in pots early this morning. I managed to step in poison ivy wearing only sandles about a week ago and my feet look like the feet of a leper. I finally had to go and get a steroid shot yesterday and it had me so wired that I never got to sleep until 5 a.m. this morning. I saw a beautiful sun rise. My garden is really perking up. The first sweetpeas popped out today and the lambs ears are starting to pop out. The are nice and tall.
The rose bed on the side yard by the car port are very lovely and the ones going through the rose arbor down the pergola side of the house are going strong. Everything will need a good watering tonight. The tomato plants have lots of blossoms.
Last year I planted 4 lilies that each had 1 lily on each stem. This is the second year for them and the 4 lilies have become about 8 or 10 of them and each has at least 10 blossoms on them and here they are just starting to open up today.
June 12, 2008 No rain in days and we are watering every evening. Hot in the very high 90’s each day. Hard to work in the gardens. The lilies are bursting forth and the yucca is out. Our landscaping guy has a couple of new weed whacker users and you can see where they weed whacked everything in site including lilies, batchlor buttons, calla lilies and we only know what else.
June 14, 2008 Yesterday it started to rain about 4 p.m. CT and when I went to bed about 2:30 a.m. this morning it was still raining a good steady, much needed rain. When I awoke at 7 a.m. today it was a nice cool 66 degrees so I opened up all the French doors and windows until I check that the inside temperatures and outside temperature is equal and then I will close up again and put the a/c on if needed. The garden got what it desperately needed and we got a break from watering with county water and gave the plants what it really needed which was Nature’s good rain water or a good as rain water probably is or isn’t nowadays. It helped some of our other lilies open up.
June15, 2008 Carl and I took a whole bunch of M.A. Hadley pottery cassarole lids we had and put them down on one side of our entry fence. They are really colorful.
Whoever said birds don’t nest in painted birdhouses has never seen our birdhouses which are basically all painted except for about 10% of them and birds love them as this one picture shows.
June 18, 2008 Birds and Bloom magazine called today and said they are going to publish a picture of Carl and his stained glass birdhouse he made in their next issue.
One of my latest articles. I Love Bok Choy June19, 2008 I have done a couple of paintings lately and have been doing one of my most favorite things which is reading. I am still watering either early a.m. or about 7 p.m., but only the plants that are in the containers. We need rain again. I got our first peppers today. Lovely! June 20, 2008 It was a good night for sleeping. Cool and waking up to find the temperature 68 degrees. It is overcast today, though only 30% chance of showers. One of the crepe myrtles is in bloom and some of the Hollyhocks. A couple of Zinnas have popped out and lots of Shasta Daisies and Coreopopsis. It looks like some of the Gladioli are going to be making an appearance. I had lunch out on the screened-in patio today overlooking the Cottage Garden which has really become quite woozey which is my other word for saying a mess, but a pretty mess. There is a bunch of weeding that needs to be done again. At lunch time the temperature was 78 degrees with a gentle breeze that made some of the trees in the back sway easily and prettily. June 22,2008 On Saturday p.m. when I was watering, I discovered all the tops of the 3 and 4 ft. high sunflowers were gone. On Sunday at 6 a.m. I looked out in the Cottage Garden and there was a big doe dining on our flowers. Now that all the dogs are gone from urinating on the lawns behind the Cottage Garden they deer have become braver. June 24, 2008 We have a perfect lily outside our dining room window. We also have no rain which we really need. The garden has become a jungle from the weeds thriving on the hot weather.
The Queen Anne’s Lace is opening up all over the place.
June 25, 2008 The hot weather has brought out a lot of our roses again. I need to deadhead many of them. Weeding is hard right now and I do not have much ambition to deal with it in this dry heat. We got two more peppers today from one of our 4 plants I put in a big container. I used one for lunch today and sauted it and a chopped onion in olive oil, added 6 beaten eggs and grated 4 different kinds of cheese into it and we enjoyed a really smashing omelet.
Aren’t these roses lovely?
July 3, 2008 We got lots of much needed rain and it rained on through until about noon on July 4. The Queen Anne’s Lace is now really out all over the place and the Hollyhocks are popping open as are the gladioli, blackeye susans and Rudeckia. July 7, 2008 We are starting to get a few tomatoes and more peppers from those 4 plants. The weeds are all over the place again from all the rain we were treated to. July 11, 2008
The Rose of Sharon bushes are really lovely this year. The Cottage Garden has basically gone to total weed and the paths have to be weedwhacked. We went to the Munfordville Farmer’s Market appreciation day early this morning and it was really quite festive. Prices are up there also. I have a new article published titled, “Maple Sugaring, Then and Now”. July 13, 2008 The other evening Carl and I were walking through our orchard and we could see this year was going to be a bumper crop of apples, plums and especially pears. At this stage of the game which is mid July, I start making a list of all the friends to call and have them come for a free “U pick” afternoon. However, during that walk I got to thinking about the pears and the fact that one could probably develop a small cash crop from pears if you lived in or near an area where wine was made or if you wanted to make some unique pear wine as really amazing gifts at Christmas time. I have read that there is a market place for pears grown in wine bottles. Check out my new article “Growing Pears in a Wine Bottle”. July 22, 2008 Yesterday it got to 102 degrees by 11 am and though we had blue skies, outside was not a place to be. Finally about 2 or 3 o’clock we started to get overcast, rumbling, then thunder and lightening and a big rain for about an hour. Very nice and much needed to cool everything down. Carl is out cutting the paths through the Cottage Garden “jungle” this morning. I walked through the orchard and the many trees are still looking good. I took a few pictures. The gal who wants all the grapes was here this morning checking them out. Still not ready.
The dinner plate Hibiscus are doing their thing today.
We have a sunflower here and there left over after the deer came in and ate them. The grapes in the arbor are not coming across the Little School building. The rose of Sharon is lovely this year.
Carl unearthed some zinnias that were buried by the tall weeds and these small lilies that I do not remember planting or even what their names are.
July 27,2008 Its been in the mid to high 90’s here and it is almost too hot to have any ambition. The two plum trees are loaded and I have to find someone who wants the fruit. Too much for us.
August 8, 2008 The heat is starting to break and it does not seem to be so hot each day. We are still very dry here and the neighboring ponds are drying up. Our apples and pears are looking good. The birds are getting fat on the large plum trees and we are glad they are enjoying them because no one seems to want the fruit. August 17, 2008 We are back from Chicago and MO and the apples and pears are looking better each day. I have had two apples. In 1999 my late son, Fred and I planted an orchard which included many apple trees and each year since his passing in August 2000 the trees bearing fruit help to keep his memory alive. In August 2008 the pears, plums, peaches and apple trees are loaded and this painting is of one of the apples from the apple orchard.
August 19, 2008 Here is one of my latest paintings. “Arlene’s Apple I ©” an original gouache watercolor painted on 5″ x 7″ hand made cotten rag watercolor acid free paper for her “Still Life Series” by award winning Kentucky artist Arlene Wright-Correll. This small miniature is then float mounted on a 7.75″ x 11″ dark green matting and ready for a top matting and frame.
Giclee prints are available here. Make an offer on the original here. Post cards, note cards etc. here. August 20, 2008 I am glad I keep this pictorial diary as the heat is back and everything is drying up. I cannot keep up with the watering or the weeding which seem to thrive on this heat again. At least I can look back and see how pretty things have been this year. I notice the tobacco in many farmers fields are showing signs of an emminent harvest. September 18,2008 We picked the last of the Bosc pears and brought them over to Kate to do wonderful Kate things with them. We have about 15 left on the tree and we will keep those for ourselves. September 22, 2008 We are finally getting some cool mornings and I was able to get this morning and scrape and repaint our post box. When it dried about noon I went out about 1:30 pm and painted the sun flowers. Hot as hades! The star I got at a yard sale for $2.00 and Carl put it up for me and he put a dish I fired in the kiln in the center.
September 27, 2008 The week has flown by and the days are starting to get shorter. Nothing exciting or new has been happening here. We have been hitting the yard sales and flea markets looking for replacement birdhouses and we found some great bargains from as low as 25 cents to $1.00. Here is one I rehabed from a 99 cent picture frame and a large vitamin container I had.
We now have 77 bird houses on fence posts coming up our long driveway and more scattered all over the gardens making 102 bird houses. Here is a bird habitat we created.
It is starting to cool down around here and I will eventually be able to get out for longer periods of time and do whatever I can in the gardens. I’m in Love With Lavender is another new article. October 1, 2008 We finally got a big rain storm complete with thunder and lightening during the night. The ponds are almost dried up. Here is a new article Planting Pussy Willows© October 3, 2008 41 degrees at 6 am today, but it will warm up. The last of the summer roses are giving us joy right now and here and there some of the maple trees are turning. They are always the first to turn. We have to get out and pick the last of the Bosc Pears. October 6, 2008 I am finally able to get outside in the morning without having a sun stroke and Carl and I trimmed a lot of trees on Sunday morning and on Monday I went out and started the gigantic task of weeding out the Mediterranean herbs beds that ran amok with weeds this dry summer. I cleaned one whole 4 by 5 ft. section this morning and then cleaned out a whole thyme section and it was wonderful working among the thyme as I removed a few dry weeds and lots of dead thyme that needs to be removed each fall. There are about 30 sections of the Mediterranean Herb beds and my goal is to do one each morning and then they shall be done by mid November. We got the last of the Bosc pears picked. October 7, 2008 Another good morning to get out into the Herb section of our gardens. I was able to get another whole section totally cleaned out. The temperature was perfect for working out and at noon today we started to get some much needed rain. I checked out the grape vines on the pergola and they look like they have not survived this summer’s intense heat and drought so I will prune them out tomorrow. We got about 5 hours of rain from noon on today. October 8, 2008 About 2 a.m. it started raining again and rained all day until about 3 p.m. and it was most welcomed. No outside work today but I did get to write a couple of gardening articles and get off to be published. How to Do More Gardening With Less and Christmas Gifts for Your Favorite Gardener October 9, 2008 The weather broke and today is a good clear fall day in the high 60’s and I was able to get outside and clear out another 4 ft. x 5 ft. herb bed. The beds I have been clearing out are the annual beds so they were not replanted this past season and had two seasons of weeds in them. This one particular bed was really loaded. October 10, 2008 Cool, clear morning today and most of the fruit trees have lost about 90 percent of their leaves. The good rain we had a couple of days ago has cause all the geraniums to re-bloom and I love their Mediterranean look in the containers. I was able to clean out 2 more 4 ft x 5 ft herb beds this morning. One was totally chocked with weeds and had been an annual bed. The other was one third filled with lavender and 2/3s full of tall weeds. Here is a good article titled, “Know Your Seed Starters.” Plus another one titled, “Consider Mulch Blocks” October 11, 2008 Just another morning in the Mediterranean Herb beds. October 12, 2008 Recycling my 10 and 25 cent flea market finds have found a way to save things from the landfill, add color to my gardens, especially in the winter and perhaps give a bird a place to nest. Here are 3 colorful ceramic houses that I put together on a scrap piece of wood. The center house was the only one with a hole in the back so I salvaged a popcicle stick and glued it into the hole, resalvaged a metal hanger from a plastic hanging planter that was no longer of any use and here is what you see, the front and back of my little bird village.
I also was able to clear out two more herb beds this morning. Some More Good Reasons to Add Coneflowers to Your Garden© Now available
The Impractical Gardener by Arlene Wright-Correll 14 great chapters on easy gardening. Click here for a preview.
Take That Old Car Out of Your Front Yard and Plant a Garden by Arlene Wright-Correll Another great book on easy gardening. Click here for a preview
For floral postcards and greeting cardsof my original art please click here
For the best herbs go to Mountain Rose Herbs Come and stop in for a visit or email us at askarlene@scrtc.com to share gardening stories or tips. Do you live and garden in zone 6? Then check out our tips on things to do this month.
Back to Home Farm Herbery Newsletter. Buy & Sell Art at the Yessy.com Art Gallery We sold our large composter on ebay and the buyer drove over from another state to pick it up. Get a FREE PayPal account now! Got some gardening gear to sell or looking for some garden gear? USFreeads has produced good results for us. Try it. Free Classifieds from USfreeads! |
Welcome to my garden. We are in Zone 6. This pictorial garden diary will be added to from time to time, so for those of you who are interested, just scroll down to see the latest of what is happening in and at Home Farm Herbery in Munfordville, KY. Also as you scroll down, you will discover links to gardening articles I have written that may help you as a gardener.
