Hi Everyone!
June is such a great time in the garden. Things are coming up well, hot weather veggies are in, and all those gorgeous annuals you love so much have been planted.
We have lots of new friends to our garden community. Welcome!
In this issue I'll give you a radish update ... remember last time when I disclosed the identity of my favorite thinning tool? ... so you can see how everything is doing, you'll learn about two new plants I've put in this summer's window box, and we have some great advice on the best way to remove ticks.
Let's hop to it!
Last month I divulged one of my darkest secrets: I thin radishes with a nail scissors!
I've taken some photos of the radish patch and wanted you to see how they were doing:
The plants in the foreground are the radishes I thinned in last month's video. They're growing really tall and they'll be ready to harvest soon.
Here's an update on radish progress:
This year I decided to plant some new plants in the kitchen window box and wanted to tell you about them.
My biggest issue with this window box is that it gets about 8-9 hours of direct hot sun in the summertime. Because of that, I had to get some pretty hardy plants that would stand up to that heat and also look nice.
I like to have foliage together with some blooming varieties so I picked up my favorite trailing plant, sweet potato vine. In the photo at right, the sweet potato vine is bright green. You can also get it in a dark burgundy as well.
PLANTS:
Far right and left sides: Nemesia opal innocence
Next to Nemesia: Sweet potato vine
Middle: Dichondra
Here's a close up of the Nemesia -- the flower is really delicate but so far can take the heat of a hot muggy Virginia day. They're self-cleaning like impatiens so all I have to do is water.
The sweet potato vine is built to be tough and drought resistant so it works well in a landscape where you're trying to do some xeriscaping to save on water.
Speaking of saving on water, do yourself a favor and click on the link below to order a rain barrel for the summer so you don't have to worry about using well or city water to irrigate your garden:
The plant I'm most intrigued by is the Dichondra. It's a vining plant that has beautiful small flowers and so far is trailing over the window box with ease. Here's a closer look at the flower:
Summertime is wonderful but is also the start of tick season. We have two Golden retrievers who are always bringing wood ticks in with them and they fall off the trees and onto us all the time.
We remove ticks with a forceps which keeps them off of our hands. But here's another way. A School Nurse shared this with my friend Hennie and she thought it would be great to share it with the TFG crew:
"I had a pediatrician tell me what she believes is the best way to remove a tick. This is great, because it works in those places where it's some times difficult to get to with tweezers: between toes, in the middle of a head full of dark hair, etc. Apply a glob of liquid soap to a cotton ball. Cover the tick with the soap-soaked cotton ball and swab it for a few seconds (15-20), the tick will come out on its own and be stuck to the cotton ball when you lift it away. This technique has worked every time I've used it (and that was frequently), and it's much less traumatic for the patient and easier for me. Unless someone is allergic to soap, I can't see that this would be damaging in any way. I even had my doctor's wife call me for advice because she had one stuck to her back and she couldn't reach it with tweezers. She used this method and immediately called me back to say, `It worked!'"
This past month we had a great question from a new gardener, Tom S., who needed some help with growing herbs:
"I am just in process of planting an herb garden in the Garden Rack and Trellis that I built from your plans. It looks great! I need some help on how to plant and care for the herbs especially things like how do you take the herbs off the plants without harming the plants."
Hey Tom! Great question. Herbs are pretty hardy creatures, especially when you plant perennial herbs like rosemary, oregano and thyme. Basil is a tender annual that you'll want to plant year after year.
Always wash and rinse herbs before using. It's the herb leaves we're after so you'll need to strip the leaves from the stalks most times. And you'll want a good chef's knife to chop them up.
Planting herbs is like planting any other plant: make sure the roots are covered in soil. After planting, give it some water. You'll cut the herbs with a scissors when you want some.
Rosemary grows on a woody stalk and you'll cut the entire stalk, rinse under water to remove any dust or dirt, dry with a paper towel and then strip the leaves. To strip the leaves, hold the stalk with the leaves pointing upward and run your hand down the stalk. The leaves will fall off. Then mince them with a good chef's knife to release the flavor. You don't need much with rosemary; it's a strong herb.
For basil, just cut the leaves off the plant like you would with lettuce. You can even use it in place of lettuce on sandwiches for a great flavor. Try it on a tomato sandwich this summer.
Oregano can be cut and stripped the same way as rosemary. Thyme -- my favorite is lemon thyme, is also cut and stripped the same way but the leaves are so small you don't need to worry about chopping up.
Do you have a question or suggestion for The Frugal Gardener? If so, just drop us an email and we'll answer ASAP!
Well, that's about all from the garden this month. Have a great time in your garden and I'll see you back here in July.
Yours for a more bountiful garden,
Victoria
The Frugal Gardener
