Challenges

Charamon Garden is suffering in the heat! We are having very high temperatures the last few weeks and the more tender vegetables are threatening to burn up. I have recently returned from 8 weeks absence (been Down Under where it is winter) and, in spite of my caretaker’s best efforts, most things were looking dreadful.

Nevertheless, we are harvesting very nice eggplant, figs, okra, some green beans, some squash, and absolutely delicious cucumbers. The heirloom tomatoes look to be on their last legs…pity! They may recover if the weather cools off some. In the meantime, we are purchasing Celebrity tomato plants as a backup. We have also planted another bed of sweet corn…the previous attempt failed for reasons unknown.

I put down some dry molasses around some of the vegetables and sprayed all of them with diluted molasses and followed that about four days later with a spraying of homemade Garret Juice. This consists of compost tea, molasses, liquid seaweed and a little vinegar mixed with water. This has been a good “tonic” for the vegetables in the past…so we’ll see if it works this time.

It’s about time to think about fall plantings. In the meantime, eat your veggies…Nonnie and Pop said so!

Back to Summer

I still haven’t actually seen the Charamon Garden yet, but I am back in Texas Summer after nearly two months of winter down under. Hopefully, I’ll get back to Charamon by the end of the week.

It gets pretty cold in Australia and New Zealand…even snows in some mountain areas and on the South Island of New Zealand…but, unlike our brown Texas winters, it is green and lush. In most areas the temperature seldom falls below 40 degrees so one can grow all the cool weather crops without worrying about freezes. You can cut a head of cabbage and pick a few oranges in the same backyard garden!

As I drove through the countryside in New Zealand between Auckland and Tauranga, I passed farm after farm growing Kiwi Fruit and Avocados. Down around Napier they grow nearly every fruit you can think of and some you probably never heard of. The apples actually tasted like apples! Then there are the sheep, deer and dairy farms (more sheep than people in the sparsely settled countryside).

After all the beauty, it is good to be back in Texas and the welcoming arms of family and friends…even if it is hot! More about the Charamon Garden when I actually get back to it but I am told we are harvesting potatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, okra, tomatoes, chard and onions. As they say in Australia, it’s hard yakka but it produces great tucker! Hooroo mates…until next time…eat your veggies…Nonnie and Pop said so!