Jamie Danford

The Garden of Weedin'...

Holy dear Amazon rainforest! The Dhuland garden is officially OUT OF CONTROL!  

While I can keep the larger part of the garden fairly maintained, the area that used to be occupied by the chicken coop has gone Jack and the Beanstalk on me.

And I can't hack it all down with the weedeater because it holds too many treasures.  For example, the other morning I started attacking the long grasses that have taken over the area in an attempt to give the rogue tomato plants in there some breathing room, but after I started hacking, I found this...

Well hi there Mr. Cantaloupe!  And as I followed it's nice green vine  through the knee high weeds, I found another one...

...and this one's actually growing on top of what I like to call Snake Alley... the leftover debris from the chicken coop demolition.  It's horrible looking!

I swear when this growing season's over, if I'm not dead of a snake bite, I'm lighting a match to the whole friggin' mess. 

But in the meantime, I'll just hold my breath and pray for a fang-free harvest as I creep through and pick my blessed beautiful tomatoes...

National Geographic?

And I'm wondering about the possibility of hybridization (sp?) because I've got two tomato plants producing fruit that are unlike any I've seen.  They're both volunteer plants that sprouted out of the chicken poop-rich soil.  The one above is sort of a mix between a grape tomato and cherry tomato, while there's another plant that's more like a lemon boy and cherry tomato hybrid (it's sort of orange, very dense and small.)  Is it possible that their seeds were scrambled together inside the chicken's bellies?  I know, probably not, but it's just weird that I've never seen ones like these.  

And then to top it all off, our compost pile pumpkins are ready to be harvested!  So, it looks like we've got our very own 'Merica pumpkin...

 

 

Here's a family portrait of mommy & daddy pumpkins with baby cantaloupe...

Sadly Mr. Cantaloupe was a little too green when we opened him up, but we didn't know how to tell if he was ready yet.  He was a very noble cantaloupe and proudly gave his life to {redneck} science.

Normally the Dhuland garden peters out pretty quickly after the first of July, but so far we're still getting some fun surprises.  So I'll keep the weedeater at bay, and keep hunting through the weeds in search of treats and treasures. (Sounds like some sorta metaphor for life doesn't it?)  

Pumpkin pie anyone?

 

It's Gettin' Crispy Out There...

Despite the regular evening thunderstorms and my supplemental watering, the Dhuland garden is beginning it's predictable decline as our summer temperatures soar into the nineties.  Through the last five years, I've resigned myself to the fact that my precious tomatoes will be burnt to nubs by the time we get back from our annual July 4th vacay.  

Look at this poor little fella...

Some are holding up better than others, and at the moment I happen to have tomatoes coming out of my ears.

 

 

Precious Celebrities, Big Boys, cherries, and Early Girls, along with a fun little yellow variety that self-seeded where our chicken coop used to be.  They're growing like gangbusters thanks to the aged poultry poopie.

Needless to say, there's been a surplus of tomato-centric dishes in the Dhu.  (Guacamole, caprese, cottage cheese and tomatoes with peppers, and BLT's... starting to sound like  Bubba Gump here aren't I?)

I'm overrun by peppers too... and our pumpkins are freakin' GORGEOUS, and I'm getting a couple squash here and there.  The whole thing needs to be weeded and mowed, but now I'm so obsessed with the camper makeover that I'm just pretending not to see that it looks like the Amazonian rainforest inside my garden gate.  

I'd love so much to try to get a second planting season out of the garden, but I'm just not sure how to beat the stifling late summer heat.  Does anybody have a good resource that I can investigate?  Like a good gardening blog/website that features our south-coastal climate?  If so please share!

 

Transformation Tuesday. The Dhuland Garden Edition~

 

 

 

Okay I'm sorry... this is the time of year when I get all giddy about my Dhuland garden.  Don't worry, by mid-July when the sun has crispy-fried my cucurbits and fizzled my 'maters, I'll be done yackin' about it.

So, all that being said, check out the growth of our mystery plant (probably a pumpkin?) in the compost pile...

 

May 22nd

 

 

 

May 26th

 

 

Seriously?  FOUR days?  I can't wait to see what this baby looks like in a couple weeks!  He needs a name... right now I'm leaning toward Porky, but that doesn't sound very respectful.  Maybe Mr. Studly? Fat Daddy? 

And while we're at it, check out Mr. Zucc...

 

May 22nd

 

 

 

May 26th

 

 

Unfortunately, three of my tomato plants are struggling.  I have NO idea what the problem is!  I've got four that are thriving, a bunch of rogue plants that are bearing fruit, and then these three little runts that are acting like cranky toddlers.

This peasy little cherry tomato plant has given up two beauties, but now it's withering by the hour.  At least I got a snack...

 

Related articles

It's grOWING! (A Dhuland Garden Update)

Time to Resurrect the Dhuland Garden...

Garden Time!

The Season of the BROWN Thumb...

It's grOWING! (A Dhuland Garden Update)

Well, other than the fact that we've had two days of 90 degree temps BEFORE MOTHER'S DAY, the weather has been super friendly to our Dhuland garden.  We've had some rain, some sunshine, and some happy temps.  So the 'maters are full of fruit, the peppers are blooming, and the squashies are spreading their legs.

I am definitely learning a great lesson about the necessity and bountiful benefits of our compost pile.  

Since we are chickenless for the first time in four years, the compost pile isn't being ravaged by hungry poultry looking for wormies and bits of yummy rotten treats.  In turn, we've got all kinds of stuff growing in it, especially bunches of little volunteer tomatoes sprouting all over the place.  But the creme dela creme has to be this big beauty...

And NO I am not tinkling! I just wanted to provide a reference for its size... 150 pound female versus a random cucurbita rooted in decomposed kitchen scraps.  Mr. Squash is indeed a studmuffin...

Impressive.  

Clearly, the compost is magical with all of its nutrients.  And how much did it cost?  Zilch.  So... WHY aren't you composting???   Get a pile going!  Your veggies and flowers will adore you for it.  

In comparison, here are some summer squashies that I planted in the regular bagged garden soil (ala Pinterest)...

... Lookin' good little fellas, but you're no match for your Godzilla cousin in the pile over there (sorry.)  I went ahead and top dressed them with some compost and a shovel full of aged chicken poop.  That should give 'em a boost!  

So far, I haven't seen any of the dreaded squash vine borers that have annihilated my precious cucurbits in the past... I'm crossing my fingers, toes, and pantyhoes!  

I waited too late to plant my radishes, and ended up with only a couple handfuls of these spicy beauties.  Both my Grandma Edith, and my mom used to LOVE eating them with soft white bread and butter.  Yummmm...

 

And speaking of grandmas, this ol' girl (sporting her new Summer hairdo) found a nice cool spot to watch me toil...

Happy pup, happy mama, happy garden.  Have you started planting?  How are things growing in your neck o' the woods?

Time to Resurrect the Dhuland Garden...

Wiff wiff, is that Spring in the air? 

Oh yes.  Yes it is.  

And with the longer days comes the familiar tug at my semi-green thumb to stalk the garden aisles at Home Depot.  

Last year's Dhuland garden pretty much sucked the big hairy hornworm.  I think I got a bad batch of tomato plants, because they all crapped out, turning brown and shriveling in their buckets before the end of June.  That's the first time I've lost the entire tomato harvest.  It can NOT happen again!

So I only bought four tomato plants this go 'round, and I'll pick up a few more in a couple weeks, so they're not all from the same batch.  And I found four 'volunteer' tomato plants in the compost pile, so I dug them up and plopped them in the buckets.  Can't beat the price of those sweeties, and I love the mystery of what kind of tomato they'll turn out to be.  (With two households dumping in the compost pile, there's no telling how many varieties of tomatoes we've bought this winter.)  I'm hoping for some grape tomatoes, because Home Depot didn't have any.  

With seedlings in hand, and a bag full of seed packets, I braved the swarms of gnats and 'broke ground.'  Well, sort of.   See,  like last year, I'm using buckets for my 'maters and peppers.  But this year, I've decided to try something fun and different that I saw on Facebook and Pinterest.  

I sowed radish, zucc, yellow squash and cantelope seeds directly into the bags of Miracle Gro soil.  This is a TOTAL experiment, so we'll see how it goes. 

So, here's the Dhuland garden so far...

May the lords of Sevin Dust and Miracle Gro protect us!

 

Reason #9870 I love living in Savannah...

THE WEATHER!!!!

It's sorta crazy because you can never pack away your Summer duds, but I absolutely LOVE that we can have a 20 degree Tuesday and be back up in the 70's by the weekend.

It was SO freakin' cold the other day.   Freakin.  Cold.  Yes.  Of course, nowhere near the psycho polar vortex temps of our friends up north, but dammit, this is Savannah, and I need WARMTH.

After I dropped Lizzy off at school, came home and napped under my purring calico blanket (Lottie ROCKS when it comes to napping), I bundled up in my warmest winter attire and headed outside to capture the big freeze. 

We didn't have snow, but the ice in the fountains was so dang pretty...

Big Dave brought up the very valid point that we would have been up the creek if we'd had these temps on January 1st for our Poolar Bear Plunge.  {EEEEK!}  Oh hell no.  My titties would've frozen off and sunk to the bottom of the pool for sure.  (And goodness knows the dudes would've come out weinerless.) 

Even though it was bitterly cold, the sky was gloriously blue... absolutely beautiful.

Unfortunately, things weren't quite as lovely in the Dhuland garden...

I'd run out and picked most of the remaining bell and banana peppers the day before, and it's a good thing.  These little fellas didn't make it.

But Mr. Pineapple was safe and sound under his blankie...

And now we're back up to a rainy 71 today, with a projected high of 77 for tomorrow (Saturday 1/11).  CRAY CRAY.

But I love it!

The Season of the BROWN Thumb...

Holy crappy gardenfest! This year's Dhuland garden has been an epic fail, with the exception of the bell, banana, and jalapeno peppers. 

I thought I'd finally figured out the perfect garden.  I narrowed down my plants to just those that I really love (no more okra, peas, beans... they drive me crazy for some reason) and went with a ton of tomatoes, the perky peppers, cukes and summer squashies.  I put them all in buckets, with the exception of a handful of squash.  I loaded the buckets with yummy compost and Miracle Gro with Moisture control potting soil.  And voila!

Gorgeous, right?!?!?

I have NO idea of what happened or why it happened, but 6 out of my 8 tomato plants began shriveling up for no reason I could figure.  And come on, I've been growing 'maters for YEARS.  So what the hellllll????  The only logical thing that I can reason is that there was something wrong with them from the beginning, like a disease they contracted in the Bonnie nursery, or perhaps I had a bad batch of Miracle Gro soil.  Strange.

And then if that wasn't enough of a kick in the ass, I got a little trigger happy with the Roundup that I was using to kill the grass around the veggies, and ended up getting overspray on the squash.  Eeek!

Poor little fella didn't stand a chance. :(

So now, I've disassembled the garden.  The cages are gone, the buckets stacked by the fence, the whole thing mowed down (except for the peppers) until next year when I hope to rediscover the green thumb I've apparently misplaced.

And who knows... maybe I'll get a wild hair and plant a Fall/Winter garden.  Goodness knows a girl likes to get her hands dirty every once in a while! ;)

Garden Time!

Yayayayayay!!  Our Dhuland garden is freshly planted.  I decided to employ a different strategy this year for the following reasons:

1.) It gets SO freakin' hot mid summer that without a full irrigation system, I cannot keep the soil cool and moist enough for optimal results.

2.) Contrary to popular belief, I really REALLY don't like spending time pulling weeds and 'tending' the garden.  I prefer to lay by the pool or the ocean and sneak out to the garden before it gets too hot, or late in the afternoon to pluck the fruits of my (non)labor.

3.) WEEDS.  WEEDS.  WEEDS. 

We spent a lot of time a couple of years ago building and filling our raised planters, thinking this would give me the low maintenance, soil/weed control I was hoping for.  But after two years of only mediocre results, I asked Big Dave to disassemble them (they were all about rotten anyway) and spread out the soil so I could have a nice level playing surface on which to lay out my new and improved container garden.

BEFORE: (Trashed, neglected over winter, dead ass raised beds.)

IN PROGRESS:  (A fresh new playing field.)

READY TO ROLL! (Tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, cantelopes, cucumbers, squash and zucchinis all tucked nicely into buckets and a few very contained hills.)

It looks mighty naked at the moment, but I know we'll be wall to wall with lush green yumminess in a few weeks.  And hopefully this strategy will help with weed prevention, as I can just hit the intruders with some Roundup and not worry about damaging my veggie friends.  Yay!

 

Feathering the Nest...

It's no secret, we've definitely had some chicken drama around the DHU lately. 

We started with three hens, nearly four years ago.  One died.  One quit  laying.  We went from having a refrigerator loaded with gorgeous home-farm fresh eggs to supplementing our omelettes with stanky ol' Walmart eggs. 

Then we brought in two more chicks... a couple of laying hens, we were told.  Well, as soon as we introduced them to the coop, Geraldine fell off her roost and died.  I guess she wasn't feelin' the love for her new flockmates. 

A couple months went by and we began to realize that one of our hens, was quickly turning into a real live, crowing, strutting, female chicken humping, ROOSTER.   Ugh.

Well then here we are... two weeks ago, our dear Edith bit the dust, courtesy of a persistant possum who must've come around to check the door to the coop every single night and finally got lucky. 

And four days later, after crowing hourly in his hopes of calling Edith back to the coop, our dazzling, but disturbing Theodore flew the coop.  We're guessing his last words were, 'cock~a~doodle~HAWK!'

This left us with one lone hen... Eloise.

My hottie neighbor thinks Eloise is ugly.  And sure, she's not your normal looking barnyard Henny Penny, but I like her...

She looks fierce doesn't she?  But she's really the low man on the totem pole... a poor little submissive.  And she looked so scared out there in her coop all by herself.

So I told Big Dave we needed to find some more hens, pronto. 

Our friend Danny gave us one from his flock...

Hi there Verdonia!  She's an Araucana like Eloise.  They lay small light blue eggs... pretty cute...

And then today we received two Rhode Island Reds from my friend Pam...

Their original names were Bacon and Eggs, but since those didn't mesh with my 'vintage' name theme, I renamed them Myrtle and Daffodil. 

Hey there Daffodil!  (She's kinda shy, so we gave her a proper wallflower name.) 

Everyone's getting along swimmingly...

And I'm gonna be ROLLING in eggs in a quick minute!

Brang on dem omelettes~

Farewell sweet Edith~

She was a good girl.

Sort of nerdy and misunderstood by the other chickens, but she was my favorite.

I named her after my grandma (the kooky one). haha~

She would follow me around the garden, greet me at the gate and fly up onto the sink to 'help' me fill her water bowl.  Such a sweetie!

But we forgot to lock her pen last night, and a sneaky sharp-toothed possum took her from us.

Asshole. :(

Mr. Possum became very familiar with Big Dave's Louisville Slugger when he found him still lurking in the garden this morning.

RIP my beautiful Edith...

... and Mr. Possum.