A Glimpse at a Graceful and Valuable Garden Treasure, the Bumblebee

“In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.” – Aristotle

The humble bumblebee delights in an adventurous garden. It will dance its way from one flower to another. It doesn’t matter if it’s a flower on a vegetable plant or just an ordinary flower. Each flower is majestic in its own blooms, so no two flowers are just ordinary. Bumblebees rely on flowers for their nutritional needs. Just as farmers rely on bumblebees to pollinate their crops.

Many vegetable plants do better with nature’s assistance in pollination by the bumblebee spreading pollen more efficiently to the specific parts of the flower. The vegetables I grow that need or benefit from this assistance are tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, and peppers. Whereas beans, lettuce, and peas are self-pollinating.

I tend to grow just as many flowers in my vegetable garden than I do actual vegetable plants! I try to make sure I have flowers blooming from spring into fall. Bumblebees also like fruit tree blooms, which is a bonus in my yard with cherry blossoms and crabapple trees. Last year I had marigolds, zinnias, nasturtiums, basil, chives, and cosmos growing in sections of my garden and interspersed with the vegetables. This year I am planting those and adding calendulas, dahlias, and a wildflower bee friendly mix. I can’t wait to see the garden in blooms of extraordinary colors.

Did you know bumblebees are gentle and none threatening? They just like to do their own thing of gathering nectar and pollen. Watch them fly from bloom to bloom without bothering them. If you get the chance to see them sleeping in a flower, consider yourself fortunate. I did last year (see the big pink flower picture)! Most of the time they do this when the temperature drops quickly. It is warmer next to the pollen, who knew? Some scientists who study them and then write about it for the rest of us to research. Bumblebees can fly in cooler weather but may sleep in a flower overnight or during the day, if their home is too far.

In life, we should follow the ‘teddy bear bee’ example. Be kind to everyone around us. Be helpful to those we can. Rest in comfort when we need. Rely on God for our needs. Look for the beauty God has given us here on earth.

Appreciation for Helpful Tomato Plants and Small Changes Making Big Differences

“A garden is a friend you can visit any time.” -Author Unknown

Small tomato varieties, like pear, grape, or cherry varieties, generally don’t need a big space to grow in. So I plant them close together in a row. However, sometimes they sprout up quickly and their branches spread into each other’s spaces. When this occurs, you may notice the branches ‘holding hands’ with neighboring plants. They will even latch onto their cages (if I had enough small ones to stager among the small plants) or the garden fence next to them. Once I have observed this happening, I try to use string to make a Florida weave trellis. This way I can utilize the existing cages in the row to help hold up the smaller tomato plants. It supports the plants by alternating which side the string goes on the stem.

I have tried growing squash and cucumbers in my vegetable garden before. But they don’t seem to do well. So, I started planting them in grow bags a few years ago. Squash grow alright but the cucumbers still struggled. Since starting them in grow bags, I have to be very careful as to the amount of watering to get them to sprout. I have to add fertilizer in the potting soil every few years to replenish what nutrients were used up the year before. This year, the spring was sporadic in weather which made it hard to start them. Also, my go to fertilizer for the grow bags were on back order. So I waited. During that wait, my favorite farm stand started selling their potting soil and wouldn’t’ you know it, the same varieties of squash and cucumbers as plants! Thus, I decide to start the grow bags off differently this year and put in new potting soil and actual plants instead of seeds. I also changed where I had them located to a more sunny spot. Remarkably, they are thriving and producing a ton of vegetables!!

Ergo, small changes make big differences. Even the plants have to hold on each other until more help comes along. Your plans may be good intentions but God may say wait, wait, I have something better in mind.

Unique Tomato Varieties of Color and Size

Gardening is cheaper than therapy and you get tomatoes.
Unknown Author

Is a tomato a vegetable or a fruit? It is a berry which is a fruit. But you can find the seeds in the vegetable section. No wonder kids (and some adults) are confused. Tomato plants that are small and the fruit ripens at the same time are called determinate ones. These are a favorite to use in small places and limited growing season. Tomato plants that are large and sprawling tend to be called indeterminate ones. These fruit ripen at different, continual timing through out the growing season. These need larger spaces vertically and soil space to get all the nutrients needed.

In my garden, I like to stay with indeterminate ones. The margin of error in watering and nutrients needed is larger. I also like to grow an assortment of sizes and colors. I love the less acidic yellow and orange varieties. The purple and pink variations bring a robust richer flavor. It makes sauces so tasty to have a diversity of meatiness, tang, and acidity. It is also nice to have a few tomatoes in a basket at any time for adding in salads or other dishes.

Here are some collection names that I like to grow. Some are known as heirloom varieties (been around for a long time) and some are hybrid varieties (newer one made from mixing other varieties). Small tomatoes Red and Yellow Pear, Djena Lee, Principe Borghese, Sun Gold, and Sun Peach. Medium and large tomatoes Grandma’s Pick, Black Prince, VA Sweets, and Granny Cantrell’s. I have tried other popular varieties like Rutger, Druzba, Brandywine, Jersey Devil, and beefsteak ones. However, they don’t grow as well within my garden.

Each year try a few new ones to add to the tomato plants that work the best for your garden. It is lovely to see a rainbow of fruits growing.

Peculiar Yield on Garden Vegetables Amidst Problems

“A garden is always a series of losses set against a few triumphs, like life itself.” –May Sarton

As I look back at this year’s garden, it seemed to be growing at slow pace. Even though, my seedlings started out real strong. I even learned that my seedling process works too well. I have made a note to only put one seed in each cell of my trays. Almost all of my seeds sprouted! That was way more than I had actual garden space for!

I have always been later, than most of those around me, with putting the plants in the ground. The spring rains and cool temperatures delayed the preparing of the garden plot. I had gotten real sick during the prime time to introduce the plants to the ground. So, I had to take care of myself and the plants waited until I could move them to their permanent locations.

As the summer went along, the more I have had to rely on my sprinkler. We had a lot of heat with little relief. The tomato plants and bean plants had a lot of blossoms drop and blossom end rot when fruit finally did produce. I was fighting with powdery mildew on my squash & cucumbers cause of my having to water with a sprinkler. I was also fighting with aphids and squash bugs. If I wasn’t watering, I was bug spraying and pulling weeds.

Despite the obstacles my garden and I have faced this season, I have harvested some nice tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, black eyed peas, basil, oregano, and hot peppers. I still have a lot of bell peppers and sweet peppers growing nicely. In fact, this is the first year the bell peppers are the size of what they are suppose to be!

So have faith that God will take care of you and his gardens. Not everything can be perfect all the time. Take notice of the tiny details.

Bounty of Continual Love

“Of all the wonderful things in the wonderful universe of God, nothing seems to me more surprising than the planting of a seed in the blank earth and the result thereof.” – Julie Moir Messervy

I was ultimately surprised when I looked through my pictures and found so many of my harvesting basket. I had taken 30 pictures of produce my garden provided from August into November! It was wonderful to have fresh veggies to cook with. Now, some of those veggies are preserved in the freezer and on the shelf, available for cooking at any time.

This past gardening season, I tried to be more focused on being in the moment. Enjoying being outside when the weather allowed. Enjoying being able to walk around without extra supports. Enjoying being able to play catch with my boys or watching them when I got tired of picking up the ball (they are better at it than I am). Enjoying watching butterflies flutter from one flower to the next. Enjoying watching the growth of the garden plants. Even enjoying having to untangle tomato plants and restring or provide extra supports after a few days of rain.

God provides us the simple enjoyments in life. All we need to do is to open our senses to be able to recognize them. Thank you God for a gracious bounty of love in my garden delights this past year.

Say “YES” to Other’s Surplus

“No two gardens are the same. No two days are the same in one garden.” –Hugh Johnson

As a gardener, I am not a picky one. I try new varieties of plants each year. However, I stick with vegetables my family will eat. I am not one that will use up valuable space for ones that we don’t like. We have had problems in the past with moles in the yard and our soil is also rather rocky with layers of slate not too far under the ground. I would think that it would not be conducive to making any decent amount of carrots or potatoes, so I don’t plant any root vegetables.

My own garden has encountered difficulties this season. Started out cold and wet, then turned into extreme heat and dry. My health didn’t allow me to tend to it as much as it needed. My sprinkler broke. My schedule just got busy. However, not everyone had these difficulties. Just 15 to 20 minutes down the road either direction, the weather was much more garden friendly.

As a mom of two growing boys and me with food allergies, I am not one to say no to friends when they offer free food from their gardens. Fresh vegetables not from the store is trustworthy, more flavorful, and last longer. I am able to freeze items and can items up for a later time. So when I am offered a bag of peppers, box of tomatoes, or even corn from a farmer’s auction, I say YES!! Bring it to me or I can come get it! It may take me a day or so to prepare, cook, and preserve the bounty but it is so worth it weeks and months to come.

God will always provide food for you to eat. Tell him of your worries and trust him. Matthew 6:25.  “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?”

Plants Change to Adapt to the Weather

“Unlike your favorite painting or sentimental vase, a landscape is alive and constantly changing.” –Author Unknown

As it has become autumn on the calendar and in the weather, the garden has changed in production and appearance. The cool days and even cooler nights has made it difficult for the plants to absorb enough nutrients to stay healthy. Add wet weather or excessive dew that doesn’t dry up quickly cause of lack of sunshine, mold and other disease can settle into the plants.

Tomato plants are heat loving plants. Mine has stopped putting out new fruit and the leaves have turned brown and dropped off. The same has happened with the purple hull peas. My pole beans and peppers are confused though. A lot of the pole bean vine has turned brown and dropped leaves. But then we had a week of hot weather again. Guess what – new flowers appeared and even new sprouts came up from the ground. Did you know that pole beans can produce right up to the frost date? The pepper plants reacted similarly, new flowers and veggies growing.

To extend your vegetable garden, one could plant crops suited for cooler climates. Some of those would include broccoli, greens, cabbage, radishes, beets, pumpkins, and numerous others. I personally do not plant for a fall garden. I can’t have the roughage (that most of those vegetables have) due to my Crohn’s Disease. So as the fall season begins so does the ending of my vegetable garden for the year.

The Bible verse says in Ecclesiastes 3:1, ‘To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.’ Now that the garden isn’t needing a lot of attention, look around and see where you are needed next. Just because the visible growing season may be coming to an end, doesn’t mean life isn’t still growing. Rely on God through all your seasons.