Quote of the Day: L.M. Montgomery

“If I wasn’t a human girl I think I’d like to be a bee and live among the flowers.”

Anne of Green Gables, L. M. Montgomery, 1908

I thought about this quote yesterday as I worked out in the gardens. I think if I were an insect I would choose to be a bee, flitting around the gardens all day gathering pollen and nectar.

What about you, what kind of insect would you choose to be?

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Harvesting the 3 Sisters Garden

It was a beautiful day yesterday so I decided to go to my mom’s yesterday to harvest my 3 sisters garden. The corn has been drying on the stalks for a few weeks now and I figured I’d better pick it before the next rain storm comes.

I picked all the corn and some of the beans that were growing up the corn stalks. I haven’t weighed or counted the corn yet, so I can’t tell you how much I got. I think I’ll wait and weigh it when it’s dry.

I also harvested some of the squash that was growing through the corn, the pumpkins I picked last week were also growing around the corn.

Lucy had a great time, she loves “Goin’ to Gramma’s”. She got to bask in the sun while I was harvesting and she got to stick her head out the window on the car ride! You just can’t get any better than sunny with a high of 63 for gardening, I would rate it as the perfect gardening day!

What’s your favorite kind of gardening weather?

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Green with Envy

I’ve declared my love for all flowers green here before. There’s just something about them that attracts me, perhaps it’s because they’re different. Someday I dream of having an all green garden filled with all flowers green and maybe a few white ones thrown in for good measure.

This year I bought some seeds for ‘Green Envy’ zinnias. I planted a few at my mom’s at the edge of my 3 sisters garden and I planted some out on our front hillside. I love how they glow in the shadows! The zinnias growing on my front hillside are mostly colorful ones: pink, orange, and yellow. I have a few green ones but they’re not as pretty as the ones growing at my mom’s. Must be the soil.

I do love zinnias, they’re wonderful flowers. Mine start to get pretty tall and a little tired looking this time of year. I always think about cutting them back, but I leave them for the bees & butterflies.

Have you ever thought about having a garden in all one color?

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Stretching their Wings

It’s been raining a lot here lately and our poor bees get a little restless when they can’t leave the hive. When we have a warm sunny day we see them all over the gardens. It’s kind of funny because we usually don’t see our bees in the garden, I see a lot of solitary bees, and on occasion a honey bee. But now that it’s getting colder I’ve seen a lot of our bees in the gardens.

I especially see them around water sources getting drinks. They love Lucy’s bowl in the front lawn. I put some leaves in it so they don’t drown.

If you don’t have water sources for beneficial insects, consider added a small basin filled with sand or straw to you garden. Make sure you replace the water frequently so as not to breed mosquitos. You’ll be rewarded with lots of beneficials flitting around your gardens.

Have you noticed more bees as fall is coming or fewer?

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Castor Bean Plant

This year I planted a few castor beans seeds. 3 of them germinated and one or two of them were eaten by chipmunks, which I presume died shortly after eating them since they’re very poisonous. Castor bean plants and beans/seeds are poisonous, so you may wonder why I’m growing them. I’ve read that they’re a great way to deter moles and gophers from invading your gardens, and since I had a mole problem in the back garden I decided I’d try a castor plant to see how it worked.

It seemed to do a decent job, I noticed moles in the spring and early summer, but when the castor bean got large I haven’t noticed as many. I’d say it a great way to combat moles, not only do you not have little moles tunneling through your garden, you get a very large striking plant in the garden.

My castor plant is probably 8-9 feet tall and the leaves are huge, I decided this was the bean stalk that Jack must have climbed in the nursery rhyme. It’s starting to bloom, I’m not sure if it will produce any beans since it’s getting pretty close to the end of the season.

I’ll definitely be planting castor plants again next year. I’ve seen a few purple castor beans in some other local gardens and they bloomed much earlier than mine and are much shorter, I may try to find those next year since they must have a shorter growing season.

Do you have any poisonous plants in your gardens? Or any plants that are supposed to help with rodent control?

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