if it's fall it must be music and molasses time

it's fall...i'm sad to see summer go and i am not looking forward to colder and wetter weather. haven't we had enough already? we haven't been spending as much time in the demo garden. between the weather and the fact that there isn't much going on in the garden, we have been spending time on other things. we did get out there on the 18th and did a little cleaning up in the beds and around the garden.

the trees around the garden are starting to show some fall colors, and it should be quite a sight real soon!

the mexican sage is still going strong, it is covered with the purple spikes and it still attracts nectar lovers.

one of the sure signs that fall has arrived, the music and molasses festival which is held in the ag center near the demo garden.
we found the chuck wagon to be the most interesting part of the festival.

they were actually cooking the food in cauldrons over a fire and it looked pretty good.

here's the chuck wagon lady dishing up a scramble dog-hot dog with chili over it

the menu

this sheep did not seem to mind the shearing-he just laid there like a lump

many call it molasses but sorghum is a whole different product. it may taste like molasses but it is actually the syrup from sorghum canes that is cooked down. this menonite family comes out every year and they bring horses or mules to press the canes. the syrup is collected in a bucket and poured into an open kettle to be cooked.
the syrup cooking, 5 gallons of juice makes 2 quarts of sorghum.

it's not very pretty-rather green when it starts out but it takes on a deep amber color when it's done.

i don't care what you say, mules have very pretty faces!

they even had goat milking for the brave. somehow, i don't think she was enjoying this...

we seem to be getting out to the garden about every two weeks. catch us next time if you like, there may even be cake to enjoy!

it's october, already???

rain rain go away come again another day...how about you just stay away!!! we have had so much rain in the last month that it has made working in the garden tough. we did manage to get out there this sunday. all things considered, it was in surprisingly good shape. there weren't as many weeds as i expected and most the plants look to be faring well for the season.

looking around the garden you can see fall creeping into the landscape. trees are beginning to show color and lose leaves. plants are dying back and fall flowers are screaming for your attention.

every time i look at the herb beds, the basil is bigger and more spectacular. it is beginning to look as if it could take over the whole garden.

one of falls show stoppers, the asters in the rain garden.

the burning bushes are showing a hint of red, the colors should be good this year. we have had a fairly cool and very wet year which is something we have not had for a while.

sunday, 10/4's breakfast was a blueberry muffin cake. sorry, no picture and no cake either. it didn't last long at home! see you next week, join us sometime!

september came and went

its that time of year when things slow down in the garden, except the weeds. plants are responding to the lower temperatures and shorter days by going to seed and dying off. lately, we have just been working to maintain the beds, in other words, remove weeds. the increased rainfall for the month has made this a challenge. can you believe its already fall?

the raingarden still looks great despite the reappearance of southern blight. the asters have come into full bloom and are spectacular, so is the beauty berry.

a close up of the asters in the rain garden

another plant succumbed to the dreaded southern blight

a close up shows the formation of the blight-it looks like little seeds around the base of the stalks causing the plant to die off.

i just can't get over the basil, it has been spectacular this year!

the marigolds are still putting on a show

the junior beds look great but some of the plants are beginning to wind down for the season.

if you take a walk around and look at the various beds, you will come across the bee nectar garden. at first it just looks like an unruly patch of plants. upon closer inspection, you will find an unusual collection of plants that were selected by jim miles to attract and supply bees.

the basil plants in the bee nectar garden were teeming with bees of all kinds. in this photo are some carpenter bees.

coneflowers and plumbago look nice together.

if you come on out on a sunday morning, you will find us working and you may even get to share the cake with us. each week i try to bring a treat for all who come on out to visit or work. this weeks offering, a sourdough gingerbread cake made from my grape starter. you may recall from an earlier post that i gathered some of the grapes from the demo garden and made a starter with them. well, it has been very successful and we have been enjoying homemade sourdough bread by using the starter. you never know what i will bring to the garden for breakfast so you will have to come on out and join us sometime!

the last state fair

each year when the state fair comes to nashville, the master gardeners maintain a booth. this year was no different except that it will be the last time we do it in nashville. the mayor announced last week that the city of nashville will no longer host the fair. talk around town is that the land will be sold for development, the city needs the revenue and the fair and auto racing as well as other events held there do not produce enough revenue so the land must go. too bad, it will be missed by many. although we had stopped attending because the quality had suffered in recent years and the prices had skyrocketed as well, we walked around this year and saw a definite improvement that made this a decision a slightly bitter one to swallow.

the booth for the master gardeners was well done, thanks to mike lannom and sue mcginnis. there was also a friendly competition between members to see who could make the best container garden with 4 catagories to choose from and everyone who visited the booth was invited to fill out a ballot.

the front of the booth

a large container that was actually a wheel barrow

one of my favorites

this one was placed by the entrance to the booth and it was very well done

another cute arrangement in a miniature wheel barrow

this one was very unique

how can you not like gnomes?

clever use of old shoes

the big draw for the booth, a display of carniverous plants. we had a lot of traffic due to this display, many came in just to see them and ended up seeing a whole lot more!

across from our booth was the nashville area beekeepers association. here you see fellow master gardener jim miles, who is also a naba member, encouraging this group to taste some different honey samples. jim is one of our faithful demo garden volunteers and he maintains the bee nectar garden all by himself.

transitioning to fall, 9/6 update

i hate to admit it but it is beginning to look like fall. (insert big sigh here) as much as i hate the extreme heat and humidity of summer, i do not look forward to winter. however, the garden in transition to fall can be quite interesting. flowers producing seeds, leaves changing colors and insects laying eggs can be very exciting finds for someone with a camera.

i did not keep the hummingbird feeder full this summer and as soon as i finally filled it, they found it. literally within minutes of it being hung out the little ladies came out to investigate and sample the syrup.

our lady friend in the perennial garden is growing large in the abdomen. she will lay her eggs soon and then she will die. if we are lucky, there will be lots of little babies next summer.

the carpenter bees are loving the vitex in the bee nectar garden.

a beautiful monarch in the yellow butterfly bush in the butterfly garden

eastern tailed blue butterfly on the east friesland salvia in the lasagna garden

florence fennel in the herb garden. i remember my grandmother serving fennel at family dinners when i was young. she would cut it into strips and it resembled celery sticks but it sure didn't taste like celery!

soldier beetles in the autumn joy sedum

a tomato horn worm that has been attacked by a parasitic wasp. the white ricelike stalks are actually cocoons for the wasps and they are feeding on the caterpillar. natural insect control at it's finest!

another view of the caterpillar and company

one more view of the little bugger

it was a good day for viewing caterpillars, we also found this little wooly yellow guy

beautiful weather for gardening, 8/30

the weather was perfect for gardening today. no heat, no humidity and very little sunshine. we couldn't have asked for a better morning to work on the beds. my thanks to katrina and nancy for coming out today, but katrina will have to hang out a little later to help us with breakfast!

we enjoyed fresh baked cheese and chive scones today.

while working in the perennial garden, darry found this beauty. a black and yellow garden spider (argiope aurantia), she was hanging out in her web enjoying a little breakfast! don't you just love the zig-zag running through the web. her mate made that design for her and then she most likely killed him! you go girl!!!

another shot of the lady and her web.

the main garden and some of the herb beds. it still looks great even though the summer is drawing to a close.

i love the color of this celosia, the little yellow soldier beetles add a nice contrast...

another plant(black eyed susans-rudbeckia) in the rain garden succumbed to the dreaded southern blight! nancy and i dug it out, removed some of the soil around it and tossed it into the trash. it is spread by water and we did have some rain this week so i hope we can stop the spread but it is likely to show up again.

not much else to report, come on out for a visit and see what we have done this year.

time flies, 8/23 update

where have the days gone? i must have fallen asleep like rip van winkle; i've opened my eyes to see that summer is almost over. as much as i hate the heat and humidity, i am not looking forward to the impending changes. winter is not my favorite time. with the exception of the holiday season, i dread the winter months. considering it is late summer, the garden still looks pretty good. we have had a wonderful crew showing up to lend a hand and to all of them, i say thanks!

can you stand one more picture of the rain garden? here is the basin in late summer. still plenty of blooms to keep it colorful.

the junior beds are a riot of color thanks to all of the annuals.

i just love the zinnias in the junior beds, they are such happy colors. the skippers like them too!

skippers aren't picky, they like cosmos too.

a pollen packed green bee on a coneflower in the rain garden.

not sure what these buggers are but they are all over the hibiscus. send them packing please!

i apologize for the poor photo, my camera doesn't do well with close up shots.

august 16, garden update

the garden looks pretty good considering the lack of rain and the fact that it is late in the season for some of the plants. a little weeding, dead heading and removal will spruce things up but a good soaking will work wonders too-anyone know a good rain dance?

we were confronted with the fact that deer apparently like okra leaves. they ate the leaves off every okra plant in the garden and we have them in various locations; the vegetable garden, the junior master garden and in the edible flower bed.

at least they left the flowers alone, they are so pretty

the hibiscus in one of the plant trial beds are dropping seeds. last week i gathered a few plantlets and put them in a pot. they are actually growing now and hopefully, i will get a plant or two out of them.

mexican petunias are also very pretty

the zinnias in the junior master garden beds are so colorful

the beauty berry bush in the rain garden is covered in berries

a close up of the berries

back on line!!!

after enduring a week of no phone/internet because of storm damage, i am happy to say that i am once again on line! the garden looks great and this week we were joined by nancy; we pigged out on warm from the oven zucchini cake as we worked in the garden.

the crown jewel in the edible flower bed, our lemon queen sunflower plant which is part of the great sunflower project.

when i sat down to do the count this week, there were at least 30 flowers in bloom and all kinds of bees flying around the plant.

a close up of one of the blooms with a pollen packed honeybee gathering nectar.

this junior master garden bed is chock full of flowers, herbs and egg plants.

all of the junior beds look great this year

beautiful sages in the herb wheel garden

echinacea, white swan, in the rock garden

the angel trumpet vine is planning to take over the garden. if you listen carefully you'd swear it was saying FEED ME SEYMORE, FEEEEED MEEE!!! (think little shop of horrors...)

chive blossoms are beautiful

spectacular grasses in the grass garden are ready to send out their plumes.

liriope, so pretty, so invasive. a true double edged sword...

lagging behind, garden update for 7/26 and 8/2

it has been a busy week for us and i never did get a chance to update the everyone with all of the photos i have taken. we were joined in the garden on 7/26 by cherri and the three of us made some headway with weeds. these are some of the photos of what was going on in the garden, the second section of photos is all mushrooms! the rain has brought all kinds of things out in the garden!

i am a participant in the great sunflower project and this is one of the plants i use to count bees. when i took this photo on 7/26, it was getting ready to bloom and i was excited to see how tall it had gotten, about 8 feet. unfortunately, some inconsiderate jerk cut off the top and most likely the largest bloom and i never got to see it after it opened!

the remaining blooms that have opened, today it took me only 10 minutes to count the 5 bees visiting the flowers.

so pretty and when it is done, the goldfinches will have seeds to eat

beautiful sage

mmm...basil

zinnias

perennial garden

jim miles bee nectar garden-it is so full of bees and butterflies that you almost think we stock it like a fish pond

another view of the bee nectar garden

cosmos

cosmos

more cosmos

the last photo i took on 7/26, our main attraction-the rain garden, isn't it beautiful?

the fungus among us in the garden...

they will grow anywhere

in the junior master gardeners bed with the basil

the day lilies had some in the bed and some on the bed

these were in the bed of day lilies, they are a pretty lavender color

along the banks of the stream bed in the rain garden

come on out and join us some time, who knows what we will find next.