Those pesky garden pests

Okay, so I spoke too soon about how well Max Steed, "Security Cat," is doing with keeping the wild bunnies out of the garden!  Well, let me back up a bit.  He is apparently keeping the bunnies out, but Something is climbing into one of the container beds and snacking on my cantaloupes!  The container is too high for a rabbit to get into, I think, so it must be either a raccoon, fox, or 'possum.  I know that coyotes love watermelon, so maybe it is one of the foxes from the woods behind my back pasture. Something has also dined on one of the zucchinis this past week!

The zucchini was the first thing I noticed with some teeth marks!

Then I discovered my cantaloupe!  

So far these two "mystery melons" have escaped detection, but for how long?!

Still, I had a pretty good harvest this weekend ... lots of variety, with acorn squashes, frying peppers, okra,

lemon cucumbers, and tomatoes!

This is one of the red frying peppers.  They resemble a flattened bell pepper, and from the bottom side they look like a red shamrock!  How cool is that?!  These guys will be awesome in some stir fry dishes!

This summer I have been doing some studying on bugs in my garden. I wanted to make sure I was being kind to the good ones, and making life miserable for the bad ones.  I have discovered that the phrase, "the good, the bad, and the ugly," doesn't necessarily make sense in the insect world!

So, for you, a bit of a primer.  

GOOD BUGS

Assassin bug nymph

Young assassin bug

Full grown assassin bug.  These can look similar to stink bugs 

sometimes, but the antennae on the assassin bug is much shorter.

I used to think that assassin bugs were bad guys ...  must have been the name?!  But they are on the gardener's side, so leave them alone and let them do their work!

Lady bugs come in shades of red, yellow, orange and with varying

numbers of spots or even no spots.  You definitely want them in 
your gardens!

Praying Mantis.  He may look ominous, like a creature from outer

space, but remember that he or she is your friend!

Just look at that adorable face!  I LOVE these guys and gals!

This bug is a variety of Anchor Bug.

The Anchor Bugs are a type of stink bug, but they are a good one!  You can easily identify them by the pretty red design on its back in the shape of an anchor.  Let it be and it will be a good garden friend.  I have never seen one of these. Have you?

There are places online where you can order lady bugs, praying mantis, and other good insects.  I have never done this before, but am thinking of doing it in the future.  Also, I have read that some good local plant nurseries have them available in the spring of each year, so you might check that out also.  Here are a couple of interesting websites I have found to order online (click on the name to go to the site):  

Gardeners Supply

BugLogical

And now, I present to you:

BAD BUGS

This is a common type of Stink Bug.

I found one just like this one on one of my cucumber leaves this week.  It's body was 1-1/4" long and looked pretty ferocious!  I covered it with a piece of paper towel and smushed it.  I just hope it didn't make any babies before I took care of it!

Another common Stink Bug, often called a Shield Bug.

I am finding these shield bugs on my asparagus beans and squashes. I smush them as soon as I spot them!
They have a sickly sweet smell that lingers on your fingers, so smushing with paper towel is my preferred method.

Aphids on the stem of a plant, highly magnified.

Aphids have been really active on the asparagus beans, squash and okra, and they seem to appear overnight en masse! They are also known as "ant cows" because ants herd them on the plants and then stroke them to harvest the milky-like substance that the aphids produce from sucking the juices out of your precious plants. Ants and aphids are symbiotic.  So, if you see ants on your plants, you almost certainly have aphids. Grab your spray and go to work, Gardener!

I recommend that you use an organic way to rid yourself of these bad guys, and here is one I use with a good deal of success:

ORGANIC ALL-PURPOSE INSECT SPRAY

1 T liquid dish washing soap such as Ivory Liquid or Dawn
2 T vegetable oil
1 T cayenne pepper
1 qt lukewarm water

Stir to mix, then slowly pour into a quart-sized spray bottle.  It will make soap bubbles, so you may have to let it set for a bit in order to get it all into the spray bottle.

You can add salt, tobacco, and vinegar to the solution also.  The soap and oil make it stick to the insects and plants nicely.  After a rain, you will need to make another application in order to keep your plants protected. This is a really nice, simple, and organic pest control solution.  It can also double as a powdery mildew inhibitor.

Another recommended homemade insect spray:

2 parts rubbing alcohol
5 parts water
1 Tbsp of Dawn or Ivory Liquid dish soap

You can add salt, tobacco and/or cayenne to this one also.  I have not used this one yet, because the other one is working well for me this year.

Now, if only I could find a really good homemade organic weed killer!  Oh, I have heard and read about the one with vinegar, but then I read the fine print on several reputable sites.  Vinegar WILL kill weeds fairly effectively, BUT it will also kill your grass, your petunias, and any other plant it comes in contact with, AND once it is in your soil, you will not be able to plant anything in that spot for several years and have it live!  So, be forewarned about using vinegar as a weed killer, and use it carefully.  Also, it works best at a higher concentration than is on your grocery shelf, according to what I have recently read.  I think I will only use it on the grass and weeds coming up in cracks in my driveway and walkway.

Now, here is a great book on the subject of companion planting, just as the name suggests!  I have downloaded quite a number of books to my Kindle trying to find some comprehensive information on this subject.  I have gotten all them as a "free book of the day,' so I haven't wasted any thing but time with the others.  I was disappointed in them all until I found this one, which I highly recommend to you, and it is available from Amazon.com.  Don't let the use of the word "crop" in the title fool you into thinking it is for huge gardens only!

I am fascinated with the idea of planting certain plants next to each other for the benefit of one or both. Some plants are good for putting certain nutrition into the soil, and some attract bugs away from other plants, and some actually repel the bad bugs from surrounding plants.  This book gives an extensive list of what goes with what, and for what reason. It also tells what should not be planted next to each other, and why.  I always like to know why!

Last weekend, my fig trees were ready for harvesting to begin!  This is the best year I have had so far for my two fig trees.  I think that the cool June temps along with the abundant rains at the same time made them very happy to produce!  They are about 10 years old, I think.  I have done little to really cultivate them, and yet they have always given me something to enjoy despite my neglect.

The first day's harvest yielded almost a bushel of the sweet things.  I LOVE the various shades of browns, yellows, greens, purples and reds!

I found this little cutie on one of the fig tree branches.  It is a walking stick (female, I think, from the size of

its abdomen), and it really is not so little!  But it is cute, if you ask me ...  I put it back right where I found

her/him.  They are a Good Bug!

I traded some of my figs to Judy for some purple hull peas!

Found this little guy all worn out from trying to get out of a rain bucket.

I lifted him out and placed him on solid ground. Soon he was on his way to doing whatever toads do.

I hope it is eating flies and bugs for me!

In my back yard, near the gate that goes out to the vegetable garden, is an old

arbor of crepe myrtles.  I love how the bark peels back on the old trunks, 

creating designs in gray-green and brown.

And look what I found on one of the lower branches!  Another cicada shell!

Oh! I have recently added to MY HAIKU page to help me make some sort of sense of things after the dog attack.


Well, that's about if for now from HeartSong Farm.  Hope you are staying cool!

The veggies are in the ground!

This post took a bit longer than usual because I have been out and about in my garden and yard instead of at my keyboard.  I am feeling so fulfilled this week, and also mighty tired!  My Spring Garden is looking pretty fabulous if you ask me.  It is not quite finished, and I still have some winter crops in the ground (fava beans and Swiss Chard), but my beds have been refurbished with new soil, compost, and llama "beans", and I have expanded my growing space quite nicely with comparatively little effort.

Llama "beans"

Llama "beans", you say!?!  Yes, llama "beans."  Also called llama poop, but we llama aficionados prefer to call them "beans" because that is what they look like... blackish brown and about the size of a large bean.... and these "beans" make really excellent fertilizer!  Unlike cow manure or chicken manure, llama "beans" do not smell nor do they need to be aged, and they will not burn your seedlings or plants.  They can be used almost immediately on your flower and vegetable gardens as you would dry fertilizer (it is best to wait 24 hours after "manufacture."). Or put some in a container, add some water, and you have "Llama Bean Tea" for watering your plants!  Pretty awesome.  If you have llamas in your pasture, they just keep making more, so you always have a nice supply. But if you don't have llamas (or alpacas), see if you can locate one nearby and ask for some to try on your veggies, fruit, lawn and flowers.  You will be pleasantly surprised, I think!

One thing that I find myself dealing with once again, but this time in my gardening, is my inability to make decisions readily. What to plant?!  Where to plant it?!  When to plant it?!  What should I plant it next to and how many should I plant?!  ARGHH!  Sometimes I think I am getting better at making decisions, but then I find myself outside among my garden beds just staring at them and wondering what, which and when!

But decisions have been made at last, and what have I planted in my Spring Veggie Garden, you ask?!  Well, ...... there's:

   SLICING TOMATOES and  CHERRY TOMATOES

I have decided that next year I need to plant the tomatoes in larger peat pots than the ones I used this year. They really need to be able to get to be larger plants before I set them out, and I need to start them in my little greenhouses much sooner, also.  I have lost a few to cutworms already, before I remembered to dust them with some Sevin dust and surround them with tin cans.  Cutworms really like tiny tomato seedlings!

   PIMENTO PEPPERS (from seeds I saved from last year's crop) and FRYING PEPPERS (small red and yellow and orange peppers good for sauteing)

   YELLOW STRAIGHT NECK SQUASH, ZUCCHINI, * ACORN SQUASH, * PATTY PAN SQUASH, * SPAGHETTI SQUASH+, and * DELICATA SQUASH+.

Patty Pan or Button Squash

Spaghetti Squash

I have been finding some really interesting recipes for spaghetti squash.  I have always been a bit intimidated by this vegetable.  I found it too expensive in the grocery store for experimentation (what if I didn't like it?), and I figured that it probably took a lot of preparation that I was not sure I wanted to invest time in.  So I have ignored it until now, when a good friend gave me some seeds this Spring and told me how wonderful it is.  I am really looking forward to trying it!  Have any of you tried it?

Delicata Squash

* MUSKMELON (aka cantaloupe)

* MYSTERY MELON+ (Yes, that is what it is named! A sort of cross between a cantaloupe and honey-dew melon with a bit of watermelon thrown in for good measure?!)

* MALABAR SPINACH+ (a vining plant that has leaves that are like spinach and can grow in the heat, unlike spinach)

Malabar Spinach

   RADISHES (White Icicle)

* "CORN SALAD" (a mixture of lettuces that my friend shared with me)

* SALSIFY+ (a root vegetable with a taste like mushrooms and oysters?!  I am so totally intrigued!)

Salsify

* PARSNIPS+

Parsnips

* ASPARAGUS BEANS+ (really, really long beans with a unique flavor)

Asparagus Beans

   CUCUMBERS (slicing)

* LEMON CUCUMBERS+ (tennis ball size cukes that you can eat like a fruit ...  seeds given to me by a friend who says they are "yummy")

Lemon Cucumbers

* WATERMELON (Moon and Stars)

Moon and Stars Watermelon

I got the seeds for this special watermelon in the "goody bag" given to us at the final Wildflower Retreat....sigh! I can't wait to have a chance to remember that retreat with a slice of ice cold watermelon this summer!  I will save some seeds to plant each year from now on.  The memories of that final retreat will live on and on!  Only one seed sprouted, tho .... so I am keeping my green thumbs crossed that it will survive and produce.

* ONIONS (ones that I have grown from store-bought onion bottoms)

   GARLIC (planted last fall from cloves of store-bought garlic)

   EGGPLANT (Ichiban, my favorite for stir frying or roasting)

   SWISS CHARD ("Lucullus," which is one that can withstand heat better than the winter one that I planted and enjoyed, but chard is really a cool weather crop.

   OKRA (Clemson Spineless, from seeds I saved from my 2013 crop)

   HERBS:  Rosemary, Oregano, Cilantro and the all important Basil. I couldn't live without basil, for the fragrance and the taste!  This year I planted 4 types:  Basil, Purple Basil, Thai Basil, and Greek Basil.  The Thai Basil smells peppery!  I will take photos of all four kinds for a later post.  Promise!

AND

the * Fava beans+, *Swiss chard, and *Brussel sprouts (left over from my Winter Garden)

The * indicates those I have never grown before, and + beside them means I have never even eaten them, but I want to try them!

Fava Beans

The fava beans finally started making some bean pods this week.  I hope to be enjoying them soon, but it is like waiting for chickens to grow teeth!  I think the strange weather has really upset their normal growth pattern. Meanwhile, I still see my little green lizard friend enjoying his/her guard duty against bugs high up in the bean stalks!

My Brussel Sprouts plant in the garden

I love Brussel sprouts and I bought this plant last Spring as a seedling at the feed store.  I am not sure when it will be ready to harvest, but it has made leaves and stalks and I can see what looks to be tiny sprouts along the stem of one stalk.  No wonder the darn things are so expensive in the grocery .... seems they take forever to be ready to eat!

Teensy tiny Brussel Sprouts on the stem!

So, a pretty ambitious garden, wouldn't you say?!  Well, I am hoping to save substantially on my grocery bills, and maybe even my medical bills with this year's crop.  I will be eating healthier this way, and working in a garden is a great way to be active, fuel your soul, and cut down on stress in your life.  But I have never had this large of a garden, or this many types of vegetables.  I am excited about new tastes and textures, and I am already finding some interesting recipes online that will put my produce to good use.  Got any recipes for me?  Please share! I plan to start a recipe page on my blog to feature them and those I find myself.

Speaking of being ambitious with a vegetable garden, my Daddy is probably the King of Garden Ambition.  When he retired from corporate work in Corpus Christi and Houston, where he had spent the last ten or so years living in apartments, he couldn't wait to move rural and have a "Big Garden."  So my parents moved to a small town in East Texas on about 2 acres, and Daddy planted a HUGE garden the very first year... including 70 tomato plants!  For two people!  There were also cucumbers, peppers, yellow squash and zucchini, and to this day I can still hear my mother say to him: "Edwin, if you bring one more zucchini or cucumber into this house I am going to beat you with it!" Strangely, the weather was unusual that first summer in the country. Seems Daddy's huge garden was the only one whose tomato plants produced in that area so he had no trouble giving away a large percentage of his proudly produced produce!

Now, back to the present.  Some of my winter crops didn't suit my fancy, after all.  At least not as far as how the ones I grew turned out when I cooked them.  I was quite disappointed with my turnips and beets as they did not taste like I wanted them to taste.  The greens were delicious for both, but not the tubers themselves.

Kolrabi bulb harvested in April

I was also not impressed with the taste or development of the kohlrabi, a vegetable popular in Europe and a food reportedly full of great benefits to our health.  I think that most likely I need to do some research on the cultivation of these three vegetables.  Maybe my soil was too heavy or not the right pH, or maybe I planted them too close to each other, or didn't keep the soil moist enough during the developmental stage of the roots.  Right now, I am not leaning toward planting them again anytime soon.  I have decided that when I want beets, I will grab me a can off the grocery store shelf, or check out the price of the ones in the produce aisle.  I just love Harvard Beets and Pickled Beets!

Now ... remember the Lady Banks roses that grow on an arbor over my driveway side door? I had shared a photo of them taken back in late March and they looked like this:

And then two weeks ago, it turned into this almost overnight!  We have already had to trim it back a bit so we could get into the house without ducking our heads!  It is what inspired one of my early haiku poems.

Rose boughs ‘bove my door

What makes you so boisterous?

Have you had your say?

Rose boughs 'bove my door

Explode with dainty yellow.

Clearly you do speak!

We sure do enjoy writing haiku and digging in the dirt on HeartSong Farm!

Lifestyle Changes

Instead of Resolutions, I made Lifestyle Change decisions this year.  I have toyed with this path before and have succeeded with some to the point that I don’t even remember what they entailed because they have now become so ingrained in me.  I am pretty sure, though, that some of them had to do with living less expensively, allowing myself to be more creative, counting all my blessings, and trying not to stress over the little things. 

Because I am approaching the ripe old age of 65 this year and am in fairly good health as always (just slowing down a bit!), I want to make sure that I stay healthy.  My plan includes eating more consciously, getting enough rest and sleep, keeping my mind active, finding an exercise routine that really works for me, and growing even more of my own food.  None of these should be difficult to achieve (well, except maybe the exercise!), and some will be easier than others.  What is really at stake here is making them part of my lifestyle from now on, so much so that I no longer have to think about any of them.

By saying I want to eat more consciously, I mean that I want to slow down and really enjoy what I eat.   I want to taste all the flavors and experience the textures and aromas.  I plan on chewing my food longer and taking more time to eat even when I am on the go.  I will eat many more fresh vegetables, fruit, and experiment with cooking tofu and whole grains and eggs.  

Beautiful brown yard eggs

I have already begun eating much less beef, pork and even chicken as they have become less affordable, as well as much less processed food which contains way too much sodium and some very questionable and unpronounceable ingredients.  What I need and want to be able to do by the time I retire in the summer of 2016 is to live as much off of my own gardens and land as possible and yet not feel like I am doing without. 

Also, I have already begun growing more of my own food, including my first ever winter garden.  I started out growing things I was already familiar with growing and eating:  tomatoes, peppers, okra, eggplant, squash, basil, oregano and rosemary.  That was last summer.  This past fall, as I have mentioned before, I added a third bed, and planted some cold weather crops:  mustard greens, Swiss chard, beets, turnips, spinach, garlic, fava beans, and kohlrabi.  I have never grown any of these, and have never even eaten fava beans, Swiss chard, or kohlrabi.  

Lovely and very edible, kohlrabi leaves

First turnip harvest!

Several weeks ago I received my spring seed catalog and immediately began making notes as to what I will add this year.  I already know that more beds will need to be created even if I don’t plant everything I want to try this year. 

My beautiful and exciting seed catalog!  Order yours at
http://www.southernexposure.com

Keeping my mind active and getting enough sleep are going to be the easiest to work on, of course. Reading, spinning, knitting, sewing, writing, playing word and number games, and doing jigsaw puzzles are already in the list of activities I love to do regularly.  And, already I have begun to listen to my body and take a break or even a nap when it tells me I am running out of energy and need to be refreshed.  But going to bed a bit earlier would help, too. Falling asleep quickly is also something I would love to figure out this year.  Sometimes it will take me an hour or more to be asleep once I slide under the covers.  My mind begins to race as soon as my head hits the pillow.  Do you know how maddening this is?!  Maybe some nightly meditation is in order, with a lavender candle for ambiance.  Or a relaxing bath right before bed instead of the usual quick shower in the morning before work.

Now.... I absolutely hate the word "exercise".... as much as the word "diet."  Is it because I tend to be somewhat of a free spirit and these two words seem to go against all I embrace?!  These two words seem to reek with structure and discipline, and one is associated with a definite amount of sweat....another word that I do not care for much in the literal sense.  However I do admit that I very much need to be more "active" now and into the future, and that word I can more easily co-exist with than that other one.  So I will strive to be much more active this year so that my poor knees will be more flexible and to lessen the burden I have gradually placed on them over the past decade or two. I prefer not to have to go through any kind of joint replacement!  Gardening will a be a great way to add more activity to my schedule.  Two birds with one stone....Yes!  I like it!  And maybe I will finally take up yoga....

So all of these things are very doable.  They are not so specific that I will feel guilty for not achieving them, and, in fact, they are generic enough that I can easily praise myself for even the smallest headway I make along the weeks and months ahead!  I need more praise in my life, and much less guilt.  How about you?!

There are more life changes I intend to make in the years to come, but for now this is plenty to keep me busy.

If we go slowly and steadily, and go where our hearts' desire, we find ways to get back to the places we love and do the things we love. Slowly and steadily, magic happens. ~ Martha Beck 

Slow and steady is the way to go at HeartSong Farm!

On a winter Sunday morning

I am at my computer at the dining room table, with a second cup of my delicious Dark Roast Community Coffee that I save for weekends and holidays....sun is shining brightly through the dining room window and birds busy eating at the feeders....Godfrey, the kitten, is stretched out between the computer screen and the keyboard....I have had to move the screen further back to allow him enough space and so that I can type....he started out draped completely over the keyboard!

Godfrey at the computer

Yesterday I worked in my garden...I can see baby turnips!  Exciting...to me, at least.  Can't wait to see baby beets.  I picked a huge container of greens to enjoy this week with pinto beans and scrambled eggs.

A harvest of  homegrown greens

I hand-washed a whole bunch of dishes and washed a load of heavy miscellaneous items, not clothes which are always done on Sunday afternoons.  Then I came in and watched football and sorted through some things that were piling up.

I have decided that instead of making "to do" lists that it would probably be better for me to make a list of what I accomplished for the day or weekend.  That would be less overwhelming and disappointing in the long run.  I find that sometimes I make a list of things to do for a weekend or vacation and it has so many things on it that I end up doing only some of them and doing other things instead.  Yes, the "other things" needed to be done, but not necessarily at that time.  And then what I didn't do, but should have done, ends up on The List again!  It is a very vicious circle sometimes.  Maybe it is my way of being Rebellious?!  I never was as a teenager.  Or maybe it is just that I am easily distracted.

I have also decided I want to either knit or spin something during the Olympics.  Now I have to decide which and what!  I am not really good at making decisions.  I am getting better, but still have a long way to go.  Having a mother who insists on making all your decisions with no input from you as a child or teenager does not teach you how to make decisions easily.   It is good to give children some choices to make.

I spent some time last night looking at some fiber to spin and writing down all my ideas about spinning it, as in what colors to blend together and ply together and also what I wanted to knit with it when it was done.  I really agonized over it!  I was determined I would not go to bed without making a decision.  I think that I must have a bit of Perfectionist in me which is another part of my problem.  I am so afraid of making the wrong choice sometimes.

This is the fiber combination I decided to work with during the Olympics!

I did make a decision and I did get to bed at a decent hour and now it is another beautiful day to do a bit of playing outside in the garden and about the farm.  It is still pretty muddy here from all the recent rains so I will need to wear my rubber clogs.  Football again this afternoon and some more sorting through "stuff" and possibly the baking of some bran muffins and gingerbread!  Oh, and I think that there is one more Guinness in the fridge left over from New Years!  WooHoo!  Hey, I might even have a chance to knit or spin or, if Godfrey or Jessy will stay out of my lap, process some of my llama fiber or card some of my homegrown cotton into rolags.

Jessy, my sweet pea

I have decided that I want to know what it feels like to be proud of myself.  That is what I want for 2014.

The sun is shining on HeartSong Farm!

I love dirt!

I am a farmer at heart. I know this. I have known this for many, many years…as a child even, before I knew what I was feeling.  An attachment to the land and its elements….its beauty, sounds, fragrances and textures. As a four year old, I enjoyed digging in the dirt in my Daddy’s vegetable garden, letting it sift through my tiny
fingers, enjoying the smell and feel, and marveling at how you could drop a tiny seed into a hole made with your finger, add a bit of water and in a matter of days there would be something green sticking its head up through the brown earth, seeking the warmth of the sun. My Daddy told me it was all part of the Magic of the Universe, part of God’s Plan. That he and I were witness to it together made it all the more magical to me.

I remember beans, peas, asparagus, squash, eggplants, cucumbers and tomatoes growing in those garden plots, and the summer supper table being set with the wonderful fresh bounty. There is nothing like a sandwich made with a freshly sliced homegrown tomato!

We also had a few chickens scratching around, providing us with eggs and sometimes meat. I didn’t care much for the smell of wet, burnt chicken feathers or the plucking, but the resulting crispy fried chicken pieces cooked to a perfect reddish-brown from the Crisco and cast iron skillet on the Sunday dinner table was certainly worth the price of the unsavory preparation. Chickens from the grocery stores these days do not taste like those free rangers did, and it is not just nostalgia telling me this.

And so, throughout the decades from then until now, I have longed to be settled on a farm and have a vegetable garden that would ultimately provide me with what I needed to live a healthy life. I moved around quite a bit during those years, but here and there I was able to work a garden of some sort into my life as well as chickens, guineas, ducks and geese. Those experiences served to reinforce my connection to the land and my desire for rural life and self-reliance grew to where it was becoming hard to contain it.

In 1998, I moved to my present home here in East Texas due to circumstances in my life that I had little control over, and I knew when the choice was made to move, it had to be to a spot where I could fulfill that desire that I had nourished all those years. I would put down roots at last and so I did, but still a full time job to pay the bills and taking care of my elderly parents, as well building a barn and fences and hand shearing upwards of 25 llamas some years, got in the way of any serious gardening until a few years ago when my son
and I built two 4’ x 16’ raised beds and tried out square foot gardening.

That was a great learning experience, but once again circumstances necessitated that I concentrate on other aspects of my life and it was not until this past spring (2013) that I was able to return to those two raised beds, pull a magnitude of weeds, turn over the soil with some llama “beans”, and plant a vegetable crop.

My veggies included crookneck squash, okra, cucumbers, Ichiban eggplant, bell peppers (red, green, purple and chocolate), Cherokee Purple slicing tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, and a several types of cherry tomatoes. I planted two basil plants, a little rosemary “bush”, and some oregano.   And I planted white, green, and two shades of brown cotton. Yes!  I might have been a bit more excited about my cotton plants, to tell the truth, but I can tell you that I ate a lot of fresh, grilled, roasted and sautéed produce over the summer months and into early fall!

Cotton plant seedlings in front, okra in rear

So why plant cotton? Well, I am a spinner and this year at our annual Wildflower Fiber Retreat we learned about growing and spinning cotton and were given seeds for white cotton and Sea Island Brown cotton to plant if we wanted to try our hand at growing our own spinning fiber. Many of those that attend the Retreat each year raise fiber animals like angora goats and rabbits, llamas, alpacas, and various breeds of sheep, but less than a handful had ever planted a cotton seed to harvest. And so, for me, the year of learning to spin cotton began in March, 2013, and included planting cotton along with my vegetables. If I was going to do it “right”, I wanted green cotton, too, and online I found Earline’s Green Cotton, and also some Nankeen Brown seeds to order, which I did without hesitation.

I planted about 5 or 6 white, 15 green, 10 Sea Island Brown, and 12 Nankeen. The latter did not do as well as the others because I planted them too late, I think, in a new bed quite a way from the others. Still I got a nice bag of lint from those 12 seeds. With the others, however, I got a bumper crop and I will never have to purchase cotton seeds again! I discovered that each individual boll produced about 20 seeds and each plant produced at least 12 bolls (all from 1 seed!). If you would like some, contact me and I will share!

Early bloom

Old bloom

Bees love the blooms

The plants and blooms are lovely. Cotton is related to okra, hibiscus and marsh mallow plants. The blooms start off white and end up pink, yellow or red before dropping. The bees love them, and the natural colors of the cotton lint are gorgeous! Cotton plants are frequently grown in pots as ornamentals and in the far, far South can even be perennials, but mine were victims of the first serious frost in early November this year.

Cotton boll forming

Cotton lint

Harvested bolls

Currently, I am spending the majority of my evenings during the week hand-ginning my cotton bolls and looking forward to spinning the lint...maybe even dying some of the white.  Next year I plan to expand my cotton planting to several new beds in various places around the farm. I need more practice with spinning cotton!