Sea Island GardenThe best fertilizer is the gardener's shadow. ~Author Unknown

BOUNTIFUL HARVEST PRINT FROM SEAISLANDPRINTS.COM

This will be a quick posting to share the visual beauty of the fruits of our labor.  An attractive garden with everything growing and looking as if the gardeners know what they are doing is a wonderful site but a garden that actually produces a rich harvest is a joy I can’t put into words.   However a picture may do.

I will post another entry soon as I have much to report about the bees and the berries (mmm so good!) as well as an update on the garden in general.

I’d like to remind all of the garden participants that this is one of the times that we work so hard for so you need to come harvest on a daily basis.

TODAY'S HARVES

This represents less than 10% of what was available for harvesting yesterday and more appears every day.

GORDON

SEA ISLAND GARDEN - SPRING 2012

This morning, as I sit in my daughter’s kitchen in Columbia, South Carolina, I can see her small but impressive garden.  But what I think about is 150 miles away on Lady’s Island.  I will enjoy my weekend but my joy is the Sea Island garden along the coast.  We, my fellow gardeners and I, have spent many hours weeding, mulching, planting, digging, planning, netting and waiting for the evidence of our spring garden to materialize.  And that it has done.  Each day another row of our plantings appears while other crops reach for the sky.  Spring is a green world with the promise of many new colors on ripening fruit and vegetables.

OUR BEAUTIFUL WISTERIA WITHOUT ITS BLOOMS

We have accomplished more than we anticipated.  Our garden is splendid.  But first let me tell you about our bees.

HONEY BEES

We were very disappointed when our bees left the top bar hive last year.  We would occasionally see a member of this swarm in the garden but as the summer passed, so did the sightings.  We have no wild bees so any we saw had to come from our escaped package.  We ordered another 3 pound package.  This time from Bee Weaver Apiary in Austin, Texas.  Unlike those ordered last year, these are genetically selected for their resistance to the Varroa mites which have become a major pest to honey bee colonies as has the hive beetle and wax moth (this situation is brought about by the transportation of pollinating hives across the United States along with the pest).  Our new bees have been chemically free for over 10 years and as survivors of pest attacks have become resistant to many of them.  I am discovering that they are also very docile – a trait I very much appreciate.

Our package arrived and I discovered that the feeding jar intended to keep them from starving was clogged and that 3/4 of the package were dead upon arrival.

STARVED BEES IN PACKAGE UPON ARRIVAL

This was another disappointment as it meant that the hive would be very weak and would be susceptible to attack from the hive beetle and would not be able to take advantage of the nectar flow.  I placed the remaining bees in the top bar hive and verified that the queen was still alive (although not very healthy after the 6 day trip without food).  I sprayed them with and  feed them sugar water at the front of the hive which they began to take immediately.  To my surprise,  three days later, they swarmed and left the top bar hive.  Surprised because the queen was supposed to be marked and clipped to keep her from flying.  Apparently, she was not clipped radically enough to keep her from flying a short distance.  Dr. Crosley, Chris, saw them leave and settle to the ground in front of the hive.  Later, Davis and Kathy saw them in a swarm flight over the garden leaving for the woods.  I was here in Columbia that weekend so I saw nothing.

I had ordered a replacement package from Bee Weaver Apiary and it arrived the following Tuesday via overnight UPS.  I had decided to place them in a standard Langstroth hive as my confidence in my top bar hive has dwindled.  I resurrected an old hive body from my beekeeping past and was preparing to place them into it when I heard a swarm over the garden.  It landed inside the fence (on the ground).  It was small but obviously had the queen as they proceeded to form a bundle around her.  Incredible,  over a week out of a hive and still alive.  I ran and got another hive body and placed it over the swarm with 3 frames of wax hoping the queen would be driven to it and begin a hive.  I then went back to the apiary and placed the replacement hive into the Langstroth box with five frames of wax.  Wednesday morning I checked both hives and found them occupied with viable queens.  I feed them both with sugar water.  Yesterday, April 29, I checked again and re-fed them.  The replacement hive had already drawn out 2 1/2 frames and the queen was laying eggs.  I did not disturb the weaker hive other than to make sure they were still active.  I have ordered a complete new Langstroth hive with waxed plastic frames for the replacement package and a 5 frame NUC hive for the weak swarm hoping that I can nurture it into a strong self contained hive by Summer’s end.  The odds of having one, yet alone, two hives in October are slim but it is worth a try.  If successful, the garden will produce more than double what it will do without the bees.

MAKE-DO HIVE FOR WEAK SWARM

STRONG HIVE AWAITING NEW LANGSTROTH HIVE

GARDEN PHOTOGRAPH UPDATE

A small sampling of what is happening in the garden.

BEETS

ARTICHOKE

EDIBLE DAYLILY

CARROTS

KOHLRABI

EGGPLANT

SWEET POTATO SLIPS

ASPARAGUS

SWISH CHARD AND GARLIC

GREEN BLUE BERRIES

WINTER SQUASH

BLACKBERRIES BEHIND BIRD NETTING

CUCUMBERS AND RADISH

MUSCADINE GRAPE

NEW RAISED BED FOR GARDEN OF EDEN POLE BEANS

RAISED BED FOR TOMATOES AND 2010 DAYLILY SEEDLINGS

RAISED BEDS FOR STRAWBERRIES WITH BIRD NETTING

MORE TO COME LATER.

GORDON

And that is an understatement.  We all had a great time.  The food was wonderful.  The gathering of friends exciting and the weather perfect here in PARADISE.  What a perfect day under the wisteria arbor with the mixed scent of wisteria and citrus blossoms.  What’s more…the garden looked wonderful as it starts to evolve into our Spring and Summer Garden.

This event is our way to usher in Spring amongst our garden partners and friends.  Every member is asked to invite a couple to share the evening with us.  Our second goal is to enlist a few new garden members.  We are now looking for up to four new faces that show a look of passion when they see our garden.  It takes passion to commit to a garden because it can mean real work – especially in the heat of summer.  But for the true gardener, it is a pleasure that is enjoyed all year.  I want to extend an invitation to all of our garden blog readers that if you are in the area around the first day of spring and are interested in joining us at our Wisteria Soiree, please email me at – seaislandman@islc.net – and let me know and I will give you the details.

Wisteria from www.SeaIslandPrints.com.

We have four Wisteria vines, one at each corner of an arbor which we built in our garden about 12 years ago.  They have grown to cover it and occasionally make an attempt to escape to other regions of the garden which we frown upon.  The grouping makes a spectacular display each Spring and becomes the focal point of the garden with the wisteria scent mingling with the citrus blooms.  It is the closest thing to a serial experience that I have encountered.  As we sit beneath the arbor enjoying our wine, fruit and cheese, the falling blossoms cover our plates and dance in our wine.

THE BEGINNING

JOHN, CORRINE, ELLEN AND CARL

KATHY AND PEGGY WARD

MY SON, CAM, AND FRIEND BOB

BOB (BEHIND CHRIS) AND DAVIS

MY GRANDSON, KEEGAN, SHOWING OFF THE STRAWBERRIES

A STRAWBERRY FEAST IN THE FIG TREE

GLENDA AND I AT THE SOIREE

THE GARDEN

We have been busy planting seedlings and seeds.  The artichokes, peas, spring mix, peppers, tomatoes, egg plant, onion, winter squash, carrots, beets, kohlrabi, radish, cucumbers, collards, broccoli, spring onion, sugar cane, beans and Jerusalem artichoke are but some of what our garden is to grow this season.  We have basil, dill, fennel, saffron and many flowering plants to brighten our rows.  The blackberries and boysenberries are in full boom and the blue berries have set huge clumps of future berries.  The pear have bloomed and the 7 varieties of citrus are in full bloom.  Strawberries are starting to turn red and the figs and grapes are not far behind. 

Things to do are to make supports for the bird netting to go over the fruits and vegetables that are attractive to birds and to finish weeding the areas where mulch has not been placed before we place the mulch.  We have the final two raised beds to construct for the bean crops – both pole (my favorite, Garden of Eden from Johnny’s Selected Seeds) and a good hot weather crowder or black-eyed pea.  Once the weather gets really hot, we will put in the okra.

The good news is that the honey bees will be shipped on April 11th so they should be here to catch some of the wild honey flow as well as work our garden.

Stay tuned.

Gordon

REDBUD BLOOM

… it is time to put in the Spring garden.  Everything seems to want to start at once.  I was hoping that we would have our bees by now so that they could take full advantage of the coming nectar flow but getting bees is proving to be a very difficult thing.  I have ordered our special Varroa mite resistant verity early so as to get them early but I have heard nothing.  I will track them down Monday.  Our initial pollen flow should run through April so we still have time for a strong start if we get them soon.  I spoke with a friend who has two hives a couple miles from here and he reports strong hives with few hive beetles (Aethina tumida).  That is very encouraging as last spring the word was that the beetle was everywhere and taking over hives.  I believe that our top bar hive is the only one in the area as opposed to the standard Langsford hive which most bee keepers use.  The top bar hive is supposed to be more “bee friendly.”

I received an email from an old friend who found this blog while searching the web.  He sent me a couple photographs of the greenhouse he designed and built which rotates with the passage of the sun.  I have not seen it but I am intrigued.

Skeeter's greenhouse

Skeeter Gardner built this greenhouse for Annie Williamson and himself out of reclaimed material. It is unique in that it is built on a contraption he invented called a SPASM. This allows the building to rotate on an axis to follow the sun.

He also sent a photo of his garden.

Another healthy Lady's Island garden.

I have invited him and Annie to visit our garden and will visit him also.

OUR GARDEN PROGRESS

We have had a very successful winter garden.  those vegetables we decided to plant did well and produced abundant crops.  In fact, we have unharvested food that will probably go to the chickens soon.  The sugar peas have a good picking on the vines and would continue to produce into the Spring if the peas were picked.  I have planted a new crop beside the existing vines as I expect to have to cut the old ones down if not kept harvested.

SUGAR PEAS

Our broccoli has continued to produce small florets since the main crop came in.  We have picked them continuously and I have two gallon zip lock bags in the frig.  they have erupted in the last four days and burst into yellow flowers.  there are still many unopened buds on the plants so if anyone would like to gather them before they open – please do.  I will pull the plants once they are all in bloom.

BROCCOLI IN BLOOM

I planted a row of artichoke earlier this week.  This is a vegetable that will produce for 4 years and give 10 to 20 artichokes per plant.  They should do well here and I spent several hours preparing the soil before I planted to insure a good crop.  You will find them next to the chicken fence.

NEWLY PLANTED ARTICHOKES BEHIND A ROW OF ONION AND RADISH

I also planted the rest of the strawberries which are looking very good as they are starting to bloom.  I have mulched half the bed but the rest needs to be covered.  IT IS TIME TO PLANT THE TOMATOES!  I have the plants and they are ready to go in.  ofter we plant them we need to water them deeply and mulch.  I put in 3 rows of carrots in one of the double dug beds and have beets to seed in another.  You will also find nine winter squash vines under the blue berries which are in full bloom.  I have peppers and swiss chard that I have sprouted that can go into the garden as I have hardened them off.  All this needs to be done this weekend.

UN-MULCHED STRAWBERRIES

WINTER SQUASH VINE

A COUPLE OF TOMATOES I MANAGED TO PLANT BEFORE MY KNEES TOLD ME TO NOT BEND AGAIN - OR ELSE!

HERE COMES THE WISTERIA

IT IS TIME FOR THE SECOND ANNUAL  WISTERIA  SOIREE!

Looks like the bloom schedule will demand that we do it Wednesday or Thursday or no later than a week from Monday.  I will be out of town next weekend so we can’t do it then.  For those co-op members who did not attend the first soiree, it was a delightful gathering with shrimp and wine and cheeses and fruit under the wisteria arbor in the garden.  Please plan to attend and bring a couple that you would like to have join us in our garden activities.  We really need one more couple to join us and help us eat what we produce.  You can also bring a friend if you don’t know of a future co-op couple.  Let’s try to all get together this weekend (Sunday is really good for me as I am doing several Fannie Mae broker price opinions tomorrow).

BLUEBERRY BLOOM

GRAPEFRUIT BUDDING

KEEFER PEAR

OUR SPRING MIX MATURED INTO COOKING GREENS NOTE THE TWO LITER BOTTLES

GORDON FRITZ

WINTER FINALLY ARRIVES!

Except for a two night spell in December where the temperature fell close to 32 degrees we have been enjoying a winter with fall weather.  In fact, the last week has been like Spring with the full bloom of the red maple in the forest and sightings of azaleas starting to show color as well as the blooms opening on the blueberry bushes.   Tonight I am listening to a steady 20 knot wind howl across the salt marsh bringing with it a low of 25 degrees which will feel like 14 degrees at six am.  This may last only a couple days and then again I have witnessed snow in March so anything is possible.  As it is, I am planning on placing the tomato seedlings in the garden at the end of March.  They are now at the 2 inch first leaf stage under the house.  I will transplant them to individual cell packs once they get their first true leaves.   I have 12 egg plant seedlings that I have carried through from last Fall.  They are a foot tall and I am hoping that I can get a head start with them this Spring.

TOMATO SEEDLINGS

GARDEN STATUS

I have planted the strawberry plants in their new raised beds as well as marked the wire supports for the grape and fig hedges so as to warn our young visitors that the wires are there.  We are harvesting the sugar peas and if we keep them from making seed, we will extend their production into Spring so I encourage everyone to pick daily.   Broccoli seems to have no intention of slowing down.  Our continued harvest of the florets before they open has extended this crop through most of the winter.  They remain tender and abundant.  I pulled a good handful of turnips and greens last week and mixed them in with the mustard and a few collard leaves which made a great cooked vegetable.   Most of the spring mix greens (mostly arugula)  have been picked and we should plan to plant another bed for a Spring crop.  The garlic in the center bed are ready to take when needed.  They are deep and will require a spade to remove.  I have planted 4 new table grape vines and another 24 asparagus roots to thicken our plantings.

SUGAR PEA BLOOMS

SUGAR PEAS

NEW STRAWBERRY PLANTING

WARNING TAPE AT GRAPE AND FIG WIRES

TANGERINE MARMALADE

My favorite citrus is the tangerine.  We have several trees of the sweet variety but we have an additional group of trees that have volunteered from the root stocks.  These fruit start out sour but sweeten as the season progresses.  We start to pick and eat these in the garden once the larger sweeter fruit are gone but there are so many of them that I had to find another use for them so they don’t end up on the ground later in the Spring.  Enter marmalade.  And what fantastic marmalade it is.

SMALL TANGERINE TREE WITH FRUIT

PICKED TANGERINES

After harvesting a bucket of fruit, I peeled and sliced the plugs into halves to remove the many seeds.  The plugs were cooked down and the juice removed with a small amount of pulp.  I then cut one cup of skin into small pieces to add back to the juice and pulp.  This 2 liters of liquid was heated to a rolling boil with 7 cups of sugar and a 6 ounce packet of pectin.  The instructions said to boil for 1 minute and place marmalade into prepared jars.  I had to boil for almost an hour before the liquid started to jell so don’t get discouraged if you try this and it seems to never get to the marmalade stage.  It will.  I placed the marmalade into 12 half pint jars and had just enough left to lather two pieces of toast as a treat.  This marmalade is not bitter like a lot of others are.  It has a tang but  is milder and still has a sweet tangerine flavor.  This can be made with store bought tangerines or any other citrus.

PEELED TANGERINES

CHOPPED TANGERINES (WITH SEEDS)

DICED PEEL

TANGERINE MARMALADE

I am including a print of the east half of the garden.  This is the area that is not being used as a vegetable garden but is the original “English Garden” design.

Our blog is taking about 45 seconds to fully load because the photos everyone likes are big files.  I have asked John Ward, our web master, to see if there is anything we can do besides deleting all the old photos and reloading them as smaller files.  I know that will work but it will be very time consuming.  I have started using smaller files.

Several of us were very impressed with the crop of Jerusalem Artichokes (sun chokes) {http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_artichoke}  we grew from 8  ounces of chokes we purchased from the Publix Supermarket.  We got about 20 +/- pounds.  I planted most back in the garden to get a really good crop again next year.  It is said that once you get them established that you will not get rid of them so we planted them in the larger garden next to the deer fence (still protected from the deer).  These are large sunflower plants (small flower) that grow well here and are native to the US.  I did take several pounds to eat.  Terry also tried them.  They are delicious and can be eaten raw in salads, roasted or baked.  Raw they remind me of a crispy water chestnuts     or carrot as they have a mild sweet flavor.  Cooked, they remind me of a potato but sweeter like a sweet potato.  They contain a starch,  inulin, that does not raise the blood sugar level as other carbohydrates so they are great for diabetics.  I have fried them sliced in a pan in butter (or olive oil) with salt or another favorite seasoning like thick potato chips and they are excellent.  I am including a couple recipes here and encourage everyone to try this new vegetable.  You will not be disappointing. but you will have to wait until next fall to harvest from the garden.  Also check out -  http://www.vegparadise.com/highestperch26.html.

Jerusalem Artichoke flower

Jerusalem Artichoke cream soup  – PALESTINE SOUP.
Chop and fry one large onion with butter or olive oil

Peel and chop 3 pounds of Jerusalem Artichokes and add to onion.  Cook in pot for 5 to 10 minutes but do not discolor the onions.

Add one quart of stock (any kind but preferably chicken or turkey).  I save the drippings from a baked turkey and remove the fat which leaves a jelled stock which works well in this recipe.

Simmer for 20 minutes

Mix in a food processor to break up the artichokes..

Add a little cream.  Not a lot, just enough to give it a cream flavor.

You might sprinkle crushed roasted hazel or almond nuts across the top as it is served.

To really set it off, drizzle a little truffle oil onto the surface.

You will be at the garden most days in the fall and winter to select your daily chokes.

Jerusalem Artichoke casserole

2 cups boiled and mashed Jerusalem Artichokes

One cup bread crumbs

1/4 cup oil or butter

1 beaten egg

black pepper to taste

bake for 30 minutes in a 375 degree oven

sprinkle top with diced shallots or spring onions.

I AM DELIGHTED TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE SUGAR PEAS ARE STARTING TO PRODUCE PODS IN AMOUNTS THAT WILL ALLOW AN OCCASIONAL MEAL.  We will have to continue  harvesting them before they make peas so that they continue to bloom into the spring to give us a truly bountiful crop.  There is enough on the vines today to cook for tomorrow’s dinner.  Someone get them.  I also want to remind everyone that the mustard greens (to the left as you enter the garden) as well as the turnip greens are both ready to harvest and use as a cooked vegetable.  We are doing the spring greens justice but they will still provide many more salads.  I had to harvest the broccoli florets today because they were starting to open.  Keep an eye on them as they continue to produce.  We also have lemons and small tangerines on the trees.  We need to pick the citrus and make some marmalade (especially the tangerines).  The Myers Lemons can be picked and squeezed and the juice frozen for use as lemon aid next summer.

Sugar Peas

I have started the tomato and pepper plants along with several other vegetables under the house (light tray) so that they will be ready to plant in the garden by mid to late March depending on the weather.  The blackberries and boysenberries have been retied to the supports and are ready for the bird netting once they begin to bloom.  The blue berry plants have been mulched and should do well this year especially with the bird netting placed over them.

I am still trying to determine where to plant the pole beans, green beans and field peas this year.  One can go where the sugar peas are (probably the field peas) but the Kentucky Wonder Pole Bean is too tall and will require more space.  They are usually planted in the old corn stalks with summer squash but we don’t grow corn as the raccoons destroy it before we can get to it.  Give it some thought as we all want pole beans.  The green beans can be bush type and will fit in anywhere in the garden.  I need to order another packet of Malabar Spinach as we accidentally pulled this perennial up by the roots and I doubt if it will come back (may have dropped seed and come back without our help).

I anticipate a stellar garden this Spring and Summer.  Empty your refrigerators and get ready to load them up.  By the way, there are 4 dozen fresh eggs in the small refrigerator ready to be taken home.  Spring is approaching and the chickens know it.

That is it for now.

Gordon

As our garden grows, so does the demand for strong backs and enthusiastic gardeners.  We have found both in Matt and Dragana Zappia, our newest members.  They bring their youth and their 3 year old daughter, Lucciana (Lucci) with them.  Both Lucci and my granddaughter, Katie, enjoy nibbling on everything green in the garden, especially the ends of the pea vines.

We have survived our second cold front of the winter (this time it went to 30 degrees).  The peas made it and I found a few peas starting to form under the blooms yesterday.  It is a slow process in this temperature and without the added assistance of pollinators but things are still on track for a great crop once the weather warms.  I am always encourage in the early Spring when I see the Red Maple blooms open in the forest as happened last week.

Red Maple bloom

This photo is actually of the new seeds that form after the bloom and was taken Spring of 2011.

GARDEN UPDATE:

Long Bed

2012 Tomato Bed

Fig Hedges

Brown Turkey Fig rooting