Tag: pineapple sage

Happenings Around the Homestead

Posted by Steve On November 3, 2014

This has been a much slower week around the homestead, the big news being the arrival of frost at our house. It has already frosted in the area, but today was the first time it has hit our soil this season. I was kind of sad to see this big, flourishing, late squash die off today, especially since it is just now producing fruit. At least I can say the squash bugs didn’t get this one!

Before this cold snap hit, I was able to dig up our eucalyptus tree and pot it, as well as one of the Pineapple Sage plants. Here’s to hoping they both make it through the winter in the house in pots. The big problem being my remembering to water them. 🙂

Happenings on the Homestead

Posted by Steve On October 27, 2014

Whew! This has been a busy weekend around the homestead, though that doesn’t mean much at all when comparing it to the busyness of the spring, summer, and early fall.

The number one task I had for the weekend was to get the Carolina Reapers potted for the winter, and that is done. I also had hoped to pot the Pineapple Sage, but I didn’t have enough room on the drying trays to dry it all yet, so I will pot it later this week.

Speaking of the Pineapple Sage, this little beauty is still in full bloom! It is such a refreshing jolt of summer red in a world of fall-like colors right now. Look at this shot taken yesterday:

Pineapple Sage in Full Bloom

In addition to Pineapple Sage, I needed to dry some Horehound as well. As soon as I get a little more room, I’ll trim back the Pineapple Sage some more, dehydrate the rest, and then pot it up for the winter. Speaking of that, I am still trying to determine if I will pot the Horehound or not. I don’t know if it can survive the winter or not outside. Okay, I just checked. The Horehound seems to be hardy, so I will hope it survives the winter.

I do have at least one other plant I need to pot up for the winter – a small Eucalyptus tree. This thing is kind of amazing. The leaves smell just like Vick’s Vapor Rub. 😀 It won’t survive the winter here unless it is older and more established, so I will pot it, I think, for the winter so it can live another year.

I almost always write these posts over the weekend, and this post is no different. After I wrote it though, I ended up shelling some of my flour corn. I shelled all the Cherokee Gourdseed Corn that I grew this year (about 2 gallons shelled) and about half or a little less of the Cherokee White Flour Corn (about a gallon shelled so far). I was shocked at how easy it was to shell the gourdseed corn – more to come on that later.

The other big task of the weekend was knocking down corn stalks, which my oldest son took care of for me. He also worked on burning a big pile of brush and weeds that has needed to be taken care of for quite some time. I am not sure he knows this fully, but I really appreciated his help. He wasn’t alone though. My middle son also was out there with a machete whacking away at weeds and brush, trying to clean up this corner of the yard. Good boys, they are.

I am so ready to start spreading these woodchips I have been collecting for next year’s garden, but I am still at least two loads short of what I need. I am not sure where the wood cutters are working this week, but they only dropped off one load. I might try to catch them again Monday morning at the gas station to encourge them to drop off some more. It’s too bad this isn’t the same priority for them that it is for me. 🙂

Happenings Around the Homestead

Posted by Steve On October 13, 2014

This travel schedule I have been maintaining for work is really putting a damper on what I am getting done around the homestead lately, but thankfully the plants haven’t all give out yet. We should be getting our first frost any time now, but the extended forecast seems to indicate we have at least another week.

Speaking of plants not giving out, check out the blooms on the Pineapple Sage! This is really a late blooming plant, and it is said that if I were to pot this and bring it indoors, it would continue to bloom until Christmas. If you know me very well, you know I am strongly considering that.

Pineapple Sage Flower

Next look at this lettuce. One of the things I love about the cooler weather is the ability to grow good lettuce again. Unfortunately, I got this one started a little late. Even so, we should still be able to enjoy some of it before the cold kills it off for the winter.

Lettuce

Finally, I have an unidentified green. What that basically means is that I am too lazy to walk upstairs and read the seed packets. 🙂 It is some lettuce-like plant that is supposed to be good in salads though, and wow, it is growing like gangbusters!

Fresh Greens

The one thing I am a little regretful about is that I didn’t get the mini-greenhouse built over the lettuce garden for the winter. There may still be time, but it won’t happen this weekend, but perhaps next weekend I can get to it. The one year I did this, I had lettuce all winter, even when the temperatures outside were down in the teens. LOVED IT.

Happenings Around the Homestead

Posted by Steve On October 8, 2014

The last few weeks have been busy ones, and thankfully things around the homestead haven’t demanded too much attention from me.

Most of the summer crops are exerting their last energy for the season, and in fact, we expected frost on early Sunday morning, though we didn’t get any at our house. Even so, I covered the Sweet Basil, the Carolina Reaper Peppers, and the Pineapple Sage so they could all live another day. It seems we won’t have danger for another frost this week, but next weekend I might cut the basil and the Pineapple Sage back and dry the leaves.

The Pineapple Sage may live all winter. It can survive some cold, but the leaves would all die in a frost, which is why I covered it. It sure is nice seeing it right now though, as this is the first time I have seen it bloom – nice red flowers that the butterflies seems to love. I’ll cut it back to about four inches above the ground, and I’ll try to remember to cover it if it gets bitter cold this winter.

The basil, however, will die once the temperature goes below freezing. I am trying to decide yet if I will take a cutting to bring inside in an attempt to keep a plant alive all winter, hoping to kickstart the season next year.

The Carolina Reapers are a pet project of mine. This is the world’s hottest pepper right now, and no, I don’t plan on eating one. They do, however, make an interesting pesticide that keeps most animals away from the garden. They are REEEEEEEEEEALLY a long season pepper though, so I plan to prune them, dig them up, and bring them in for the winter. Yes, peppers will survive all winter, and they will even flourish the next year. It will be nice to get a kick start on the season with these bad boys.

Speaking of flourishing next year – I hope that is what I say about my garden next year. I have finally taken the plunge and officially taken delivery of my first truckloads of woodchips. Last year I began Back to Eden gardening, which is basically covering your garden with a biodegradable covering such as leaves or wood chips. This past year I used dry oak leaves, and let me tell you, it made a difference. The soil was much more moist underneath the leaves all year, and presumably they began to decompose during the year feeding the plants. The more proper way to do this is with wood chips though, which is why I have taken delivery of them. THREE LOADS!

Woodchips

The next step is to begin to spread these over the garden. I also plan to expand the garden this year, so I will spread them there as well, with a thick layer of newspaper underneath in order to keep the grass from growing through. More to come on this …

It won’t be long until the soil begins to rest and replenish, and while the soil rests, I will begin dreaming of next year’s garden.

365 Days of Me