SUGA 2017

• He was going to toss the wood and I said, "No Way, let's put it in the back of my truck"!
  

• Fresh wood has a lot of moisture, I guess I should have cracked the windows in the truck.
  

• Started the vertical support lines on the hugelkultur beds. For the vertical supports I'm using wire leaders and Jute twine. This is my first year using this system but have had success with vertical supports using EMT. My main concern is the weight of the plants spanned across 36' of cable. My back up plan is a center support if the cable sags too much.
  
  

• At the end of the season, the twine will be cut and composted, then the fishing line leader will be slid to one end.
  

• After work today I picked up my Lights and some other supplies. I removed the hose from the pond area and had Stephen help me reroute it to the back of the playhouse, installed a hose hanger, hose and spray nozzle.
  

• Now onto the fun stuff, today I Installed the lights by the back fence, I'm still playing with different patterns and will need to readjust when the plants grow in. I ordered another set of 4 and will accent the pond, the tree of life, and the front gardens.
  

• Installed the backyard pond lights, I may look into a lower wattage flood light for the wall but will most likely keep the 40 watt on the waterfall.
  

• Replaced all the incandescent Low Voltage bulbs on the deck with LED's
  

• Installed some underdecking but still needs tweaks, this is definitely a case of "Functionality vs. Aesthetics in Design".
  

• Started transplanting Chocolate mint to the curbside. The mint was doing well till the neighbors grandson ran it over with the lawnmower, but thats fine its just for a ground-cover, because crap grows here all the time.
  
  

• Lavender, Calla Lilies, Oregano, Thyme, Stevia, Marigolds, Parsley, Dill, Gaillardia Goblin, Rogue Tiger Lily that I will dig out, I also planted some Swamp Milkweed and Butterfly Milkweed, but they didn't make it.
  
  

• Herb Garden, Chocolate mint, Spearmint, Chives, Sage, Horseradish, Phlox, Tiger Lily, Day Lilies, Rosemary, Marigolds and some Rogue squash type plant I may let go for fun.
  

• Sunpatients, Crocus, Lilies, Japanese Andromeda Pieris Japonica "Bonfire", Jack Frost Heartleaf Brunnera, Marigolds.
  

• Irrigation for the front lower garden, I still need to do a few tweaks, mulch the rest of the gardens and hide the irrigation lines, replace the Y with my new Ball Valve Y, possibly run a line to the pond for Auto Fill?
  

• Leeks, Vinca Minor Periwinkle, Japanese Stewartia that replaced my Beautiful Red Maple, and a three a 3 year old Rogue maple plant in there that I have been keeping for my neighbor.
  
  

• Sprite Tomato, Basil, Parsley, Marigold?
  

• Tiger lilies from the lower garden and a Dwarf Azalea that needs a new home.
  

• Patio Princess Tomato, Strawberries, Parsley?, Basil, Marigold, Sunpatients. Leeks in the white planter in the back.
  
  

• The pond - Yellow Iris Pseudacorus, Black Gamecock Iris.
  

• Top - Sunpatients
  

• Lower - California Wonder, Ruby King, Poblano, Poblano, Corno Di Toro Giallo, Corno Di Toro Giallo. The Phlox is in the soil not the veggie filter.
  
  

• Side patio - Celebrity Tomato, Basil, Parsley, Marigold, Lilly's
  

• Side yard Hugelkultur Bed - Matts Wild Cherry by fence, Ruby King, Corno Di Toro Giallo, Anaheim, Poblano, Black Beauty, Sunflower, Basil, Parsley, Marigold, Swenson Snow Peas.
  
  

• Asparagus
  

• Raspberry
  

• Raised Beds, 
  
  

• Fence in the back, I don't think any of the Milkweed Plants made it.
  

• Trellis - Swenson Swedish Snow Pea, Marigold
  

• Back Pond
  

• Shasta Daisy and Marigolds on the deck.
  

AtlantaMarie wrote:What a gorgeous set-up!  And I like the smoker exhaust too....

• I wonder what this is?
  
  
  

• Woohoo! my sun came in.
  
  

• I'm just worried that it will blend too much with the fence once I stain the fence, I may have to throw some light at it if it blends in too much.
  
  

• Swapped out the 40 watt flood light with a 20 watt spotlight.
  
  
  

• Wired in the new Hugelkultur bed lights, they're not secured yet, I will secure them after the bed is stained.
  
  
• Installed New Y valve
  
  
• Ran some vertical support lines for the maters on the hill.
  
  
• Mulched the front garden and in front of the new Hugelkultur Bed
  
  
• Fixed some leaks on the under-decking still nee to fix a few more leaks
  
  
• Installed a light for the cooking area.
  
  
  
• Took off the storm door and reinstalled, it was hitting the bottom concrete pad and wouldn't close properly or latch properly.
  
  
• Laura painted the back wall.
  
  
• Scrubbed the patio, coolers and bench seat
  
  
• Repainted the patio table.
  
  
• Added composted manure to the Aquaponic peppers.
  
  
• Lifted a bunch of pavers and added paver base to level the pavers better.
  
  
• Fed all the flowers and shrubs.
  
  
• Installed the new Ceiling Fan
  
  

• And look who's munching on my dill, a few Eastern Black Swallowtail caterpillars. Eat up guys there's plenty for everyone!
  
  

• So I decided to make some slug traps but first I needed a little bit of beer.
  
  

• First I sprayed all the plants with Neem Oil, then laid out my Slug Traps.
  
  

• I put four slug traps in the 10' bed. After I set up the slug traps I sprayed all the plants with Neem Oil.
  
  

• Trimmed the tomato plants to one stem.
  
  

• Maybe as a treat I'll feed the Beer soaked slugs to reds.
  
  

• Installed the new ceiling fan.
  
  

• Walkthrough
  

• Every year I let the tomato plants on the hill get out of control. Next year I'm going to purchase some Texas Tomato Cages.
  

• Getting plenty of "Buzz Pollinators"
  

• Walkthrough
  

• Loving my new Hori Hori Garden Knife.
  

• "Birdproofing" the Bar Roof.
  

• Last week I repainted the bar stools, today my better half and I reupholstered the outdoor bar stools adding some additional foam. 
  
  

• I installed some RGB lights a few weeks ago, a few more tweaks and the bar area is done then I need to re-stain the deck and do some minor repairs.
  

• Laura picked up some new seat cushions, a new patio umbrella and was gifted the blue hurricane lamp. All the deck lights were swapped out with new LED bulbs.
  
  

• Not much going on in the garden, picked another zucchini, a few Box Car willies and a couple Corno Di Toro Gallo peppers for some skewers and tossed some Blood Meal in the gardens.
  
  

• The frog in the Back pond is getting bigger, must be all those skeeters.
  

• The back pond plants are doing well, I just planted some Queen Anne's Lace in the back corner to fill in a void, I get this weird type grass that grows there. The QAL is struggling a bit from transplant shock, hopefully it will come back next year.
  

• Indigo Blueberries Tomato, the two on the left are ripe the other one is not ripe but was picked for comparison. These are OK but was more of a novelty for me, the flavor is OK, however with my limited space I am sure I can find something more to my liking to fit this area. The plant appears to be struggling but still producing. If it continue to struggle it will be terminated. 
  
  

• Box Car Willie in the first year hugelkultur bed. I really like these tomatoes, they are a good looking tomato, they ripen to a bright red, very hardy and prolific, great flavor, fairly thin skin, perfect for slicing for sandwiches. 
  
  

• This is the same cluster of tomatoes as above 12 days earlier.
  

• Black Beauty Eggplants, these plants are doing well again this year, especially in the raised beds on the hill the one in the 2 year Hugelkultur bed has a few fruits also, the 2 in the 1 year Hugelkultur bed has blossoms but no fruit yet. Its hard to believe that I struggled with these plants quite a few years ago. The fruit to the right will be left for seeds and picked at the end of the season.
  

• These are the same two as above a week earlier.
  

• Corno Di Toro Giallo, this one is in the 2nd year Hugelkultur bed and is doing fairly well.
  

• Here is another plant in my Aquaponics veggie garden, they seem to like it here.
  

• This is my 2nd time growing Poblanos in the veggie filter and they seem to like it here as well. I usually stick a tomato spike in the planter early in the season and drop a small handful of 10-10-10 or Osmocote on top of the soil three times in the season. I am very careful about the fertilizers due to the Koi, Frogs and Mosquito fish in the pond
  
  

• The California Wonder in the Raised bed is producing.
  

• Patio Princess.
  

• Sprite
  

• Celebrities.
  

• Sunflowers are happy
  

• Vertical gardens are doing well.
  

• The marigolds have exploded everywhere.
  

• this is a few days earlier
  

• Brandywine Reds.
  

• Black Vernissage
  

• Brandywine red.
  

countrynaturals wrote:Omigosh, Sqwib, you are such an inspiration!   Thanks for posting such a detailed account of your fabulous success. I love your deck and bar. Remodeling mine will be my next project thanks to your example.

• Enjoying a break in the heat wave.
  

• My leek garden is doing well
  

• I also can not get over the flowers, I guess they really like the drip irrigation I installed.
  

• I stopped at the trailer to do some maintenance and battle some ants For dinner I enjoyed some stuffed peppers, fried eggplant, sausage, some happy juice a few beers and banana bread for dessert.
  

• Well, I found out why my Zucchini wasn't producing, nasty little B@STARDS!
  

• Started a fresh batch of Sun-Dried tomatoes
  

• This is a rogue Matts Wild Cherry, the one I grew from seed died, I think. It's kinda hard to tell because it is growing like a weed. Tasty Little buggers, I think these and sweet 100's are my wife's favorites.
  

• And something for dinner!
  

• Our company moved, we done the move in a three days.
  

• We went on vacation to OC MD. for a week.
  

• Nature always finds a way.
  

• Harvested a bunch of maters and eggplant to take with us, ended up roasting most of the maters and we really enjoyed the eggplant and stuffed Poblanos.
  

• When we got home I unpacked and headed out to the garden to see what was going on, my neighbor had stopped in and picked some maters to head to Wildwood for a few days while we were on vacation. I marked what not to take.
  

• I picked mostly tomatoes I have some Poblanos and bells to pick but needed to get the maters picked right away, I ended up tossing a dozen or so. I had my better half run a bunch to the neighbors.
  

• Spot the critter
  

• Many moons ago, I had a butterfly bush planted next to the Butterfly House. The bush got very leggy and Gnarly so I removed it, this has to be 10 years ago. Anyhow I found this growing in the same spot, I'm pretty sure it is a Butterfly Bush. I wonder if there were some dormant seeds or something that got kicked up when I redid this garden?
  

• The Rosemary is doing great.
  

• Harvesting some Dill Seed, once all the heads start browning I'll cut back the dill.
  

• Leek garden is doing great, hopefully I'll have plenty for some Leek Soup in September.
  

• The other day I came home and noticed this plant in the center nearly died, I just thought it was done for the season, later I realized I turned off the water after I used the hose, how long ago? Who knows. Anyhow I remedied the problem.
  

• The garden towers are doing as well as can be expected.
  

• The pond plants are doing well, so are the Ghost peppers and Tabasco peppers, the Bee Balm has been shaded out of existence.
  

• This year  I have been roasting a lot of tomatoes to freeze.
  

• Dinner
  

sanderson wrote:How would you describe the taste of roasted/frozen verses fresh canning?

• I thinned out the Hugelkultur beds and planted some Bush Beans, Broccoli and Lettuce. Thinned out the Zucchini Air pots and replanted some more Zukes, I'm going to order some BTK to try to keep the SVB off the plant.
  

• The Marigolds were taking over, I thinned them out and just let a few hang over the sides.
  

• Removed the Patio Princess and Sprite from the front planters and planted some Bush Beans, the Patio Princess was done producing and the sprite wasn't looking good and wasn't worth keeping.
  

• Corno Di Toro Giallo
  

• Ruby Red Bell Pepper
  

• Some Black Beauty Eggplants
  

• Harvested most of my seeds for next year.
  

• Made 10 pounds of Chili, one sweet and one sweet and spicy. Roasted some tomatoes for the chili, they were mostly Black Vernisssage.
  

• Harvested some Dill Seed
  

• Hooked up a pond pump to my rain barrel to water my fall plants.
  

August 22, 2017

• Tonight was an exciting night for my daughter at the Phillies Game, no she didn't catch a 'Foul Ball', something much more exciting, she rescued a Peregrine Falcon at Citizens bank Park.
  

August 23rd, 2017

• Rosemary Exploded
  

• Got home early so started dinner.
  

• Today Amanda rescues yet another critter, a Great Egret. I have to laugh, every time I sit down to dinner, go on the deck, in the basement or in the yard, I am being stared down by Screech Owls, Morning Doves, Snakes, Gray Squirrels, Flying Squirrels, Raccoons, Canadian geese, Pheasants, Rabbits, Turtles or some type of critter. She gets calls from the police, environmental centers and wildlife officers all the time. She works at the Pennypack Environmental Center and some animals are brought there because they know she is a Volunteer at the AARK Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center and will take them there when she can.
  
• The dogs don't know what to think when she brings these rescues home.
  

• This morning was a little cold for this guy, just below 60°, I gave him a little pat to see if he was alive, yep still alive but moving very slowly.
  

• I added a fridge to my smoking area, love it. My beer would always get warm while I was doing my yard work now it is ice cold.
  

• I planted some Garlic cloves.
  

• My Jalapenos in the Vertical Tower are really producing rather well.
  

• Moving day for my daughter, we stopped at Uno's to grab a bite after we got her moved in.
  

• Trimmed the Black Vernissage tomato plant, its way out of control. I 'll make some Roasted tomatoes out of this, I may smoke them too.
  

• Welcomed Guest
  

• Been adding to my Tabasco sauce again this year.
  

• Found this Hornworm in the garden, my daughter took it as a little to do project.
  

• Tore out my Black Vernissage and put in some Bio-char, rabbit manure and old potting mix from one of my Air Pruning Pots.
  

• Another critter found
  

• Planted some Crimson Clover and Oats. I plan on doing a section at a time as the Bio-Char and Rabbit manure come available.
  

• Picked some peppers from the pond and Hugelkultur beds.
  

• Roasted some Tomatoes and peppers
  

• Picked up some more compost and topped off Moms Hugelkultur bed and some of my beds.
  

• Grabbed some wood too!
  

• Picked up 20 bags of mulch and cleaned up my pathway in front of the Hugelkultur beds.
  

• Transplanted the Calla Lilies, they were taking over the Herb Garden..
  

• And got some smoking and cooking done.
  

• Leopard slug.
  

• Started staining the Retaining wall and top pieces for the wall and fence.
  

• The irises took over the pond and were really messing with the filters so I had no alternative but to tear them out, I'm still debating on what to do with the pond.
  

• Replaced most of the rubber hoses with silicone hoses, the rubber ones always end up splitting on me.
  

• I still need to thin out the irises in the back pond and pull the ivy as well as a bit of weeding. The Tabasco and Ghost Chili peppers are kicking butt.
  

• Sam laying cardboard for a weed barrier.
  

• The family helping lay out the cardboard and mulch.
  

• Sam and Laura staining the new Hugelkultur bed.
  

• Since everyone is helping, I can take a break.
  

• Mulch is finished.
  

• Two more turtle rescues, these will be let go in a week or two. (Hey what are you two doing?)
  

• Some stuff from the Garden. Eggplant, Chives, Jalapenos, Cherokee purple. (Grilled Sirloin with Tomato and feta, Sweet potato and brown sugar, Fried Eggplant, Buffalo Wing ABT, Potato pancake).
  

• One hungry family.
  

sanderson wrote:Your food looks absolutely delicious.  And, the staining and red colored wood chips are stunning.

• More from the garden
  

• Some of my eggplants are struggling but some have set fruit and are still flowering.
  
  

• Moms eggplants wont quit, this is a first year Hugelkultur bed I have no idea why these things have exploded, they have been supplying the neighbors with eggplant off of these two plants, I started these seedlings the same time I done mine and my plants look pathetic.
  

• Tore out the Laurel behind the pond and planted Calla Lilies. Hopefully the Flowers will take hold and grow in nice next year, it looks so bare! I also need to get something to cover the top of the Wendy Filter...the blue foam isn't cutting it!
  
  

• Mom wanted to find a new home for her Koi, it was getting too big for her pond.
  

• The Corno Di Toro Giallo in the side Hugelkultur bed (2nd season Hugelkultur) is so loaded with peppers that I had to secure it to the trellis.
  

• The flowers out front look healthy, I never did get the "sunpatient" in the center to recover completely. The marigolds are doing great.
  

• I don't know what I did to this Eggplant Plant but I couldn't bear to watch it suffer anymore so I tore it out and composted it, There were about 5 eggplants on it but only one was salvageable. I cut back the other two a few days ago and will let it go another week.
  

• The Eggplant Plants in the Hugelkultur beds still look OK and have plenty of flowers but I don't see any new fruit yet. This one looks a little bit nutrient deficient than the on in the Side Hugelkultur bed.
  

• Side Hugelkultur bed
  
  

• Rosemary is looking great.
  

• The asparagus is going nuts, this is my 2nd year of not harvesting, next year I will harvest it a lot more.
  

• The sunpatients in the upper veggie filter still look great.
  

• I had a few eggplants that I dehydrated and made some flour to try in some flatbread recipes.
  

• Pulled the leeks for a buddy, they were puny but he didn't care. Gave him a bunch of Cherokee purples, celebrities, Box Car Willies, some basil, and some rosemary. I kept a few leeks for dinner. I had given a few of the CP's earlier to a neighbor
  

• The Leeks in the Air Pruning Pot will be pulled next, Ill leave the leeks in the ground go till late October early November. I still have another pot of leeks that will be harvested sooner.
  

• Cut back the Raspberry and planted some more Garlic.
  

• Time to play in the dirt, it is really nice being able to garden and not need a jackhammer. The Hori Hori wasn't even needed. Tore out most of the Oregano and left a little in each corner for next years pollinators.
  

• I pulled about 4 bucket loads and top dressed the top of the upper retaining wall, I'm concentrating on building the soil up there especially the ends because I plan to plant Asparagus beans and Spaghetti squash next year on either side.
  

• Thickened with Eggplant Flour
  
  

• Since I had the smoker going, I Roasted, Smoked and dried some Poblanos
  

Since I removed the Laurel, the Koi pond area is now so bare, I wanted to dress it up a bit so I ordered some fake flowers and topped my Wendy filter. I think it looks good, better than the blue anyway, and most importantly, Laura likes it.

• I had to get away from the garden for a few days, I was starting to obsess over everything. Saturday we walked at Challenge Grove Park in NJ for "Energy For Life Walkathon" to benefit United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation.
  
  

Nice Park.

• Stopped at my Daughters Fall festival at the PennyPack Environmental center and Celebrated my SIL's birthday as well as mine with the family. It was actually nice to get away from the gardening.