Pink Okra! (Plus no water and too much heat)

So, my green beans are all dead except for the Henderson's Black Valentines which are struggling to hang in there.  Why?  Because despite watering every day, my beans just couldn't handle 21 days of 100+ degree days and when the temps hit 112 degrees, they all just died.  I was extremely disappointed.  I was growing some really great heirloom varieties that I've lost now.

On to other happy stuff.  My dwarf pink okra has finally bloomed!  These seeds were obtained through Seed Savers Exchange Yearbook (members only).  I have pictures of the blossoms!  I'm going to take pictures of the actual pods too when they come around.  Check them out!

So, they look like hibiscus flowers to me.  But the source for these seeds swears that the pods are edible.  Here's hoping!

That's it for now.  Tonight, I will be making home-made shaving cream.  I'll post pics about that when I am done.

Happy Gardening!
-The Heiress

Going Plastic-Free...

Well, I'm on a huge no plastic kick.  A few weeks ago, my husband and I watched Bag It.  It absolutely astonished us!  We had no idea the real impact that plastic has had on our world.  I mean, you hear about plastic being bad for the environment, but it never really seemed personal or 'real' to our lives until we watched that documentary and saw the huge issue that plastics have become in our world and our health.

So, in response to this, my husband and I am trying to recycle what we have and go as plastic-free in our daily lives as possible.  A great resource for us has become Beth Terry's Plastic-free Life.  This woman's blog is like a Godsend for us.  She has helpful, feasible ideas and resources for living with minimal plastic usage.  also, I've found many recipes for plastic free personal hygiene products and household cleaning products.  Deodorant, shampoo, shaving cream (and safety razors which have recyclable steel blades), laundry detergent, dish soap, toothpaste (which ends up essentially being baking soda with peppermint extract or oil).  It has taken me a while, but I've finally compiled some recipes that I can actually use.  I will post these in detail as I try them. 

The only real exposure to plastic I can't avoid is plastic lids for glass jars and plastic lining on jar lids sometimes...and prescription drug bottles! xD

Anyway, I'm making reusable produce bags from old t-shirts and pondering a way to use hankies that is less gross than old school versions.  I've got some canvas shopping bags and even have some old take out plastic pieces that I can use at the butcher's to keep from having plastic wrap and styrofoam meat packaging.

In the garden, my plants are coming along nicely.  It's been SO dry here.  And the temps have been 103+ degrees for four days straight!  I can't wait to live somewhere with more rainfall some day.  I will be making a new video this weekend to share with you all!

Happy Growing!
(And please consider cutting down drastically on your plastic use)
~The Heiress

UPDATE:  Here's a link to my latest garden video!  (Google bought out YouTube, so my old account isn't accessible no matter how many times I try to convince YouTube that it is...)  Video 4

But I Just Got the Summer Seedlings Planted!!!

Hey there!

Now, we all know it's definitely past time to have those seedlings in the ground and going for the summer vegetable crop.  But it's also coming up on time to start your seedlings for the fall crop as well!  Broccoli, mustard, greens, even some onions that will grow through the winter need a good head start!

I've made some of my newspaper seed starting pots.  I love these pots because they are more secure than those ones where folks just cram the ends into a hollow can and smoosh the bottom down with the other end to make the bottom hold together.  They don't.  Hold together, that is.  My  boxes have an actual bottom of a few layers of newspaper and they're folded to keep their sides closed and secure.  Plus they're a bit roomier than those peat pots! 

Well, I'm going to get four types of broccoli going: Green Sprouting, Purple Sprouting, Purple Peacock, and Waltham.  The two sprouting types will grow well and pop up in the spring just when most everything else isn't available.  The Waltham will be ready in fall and last into early winter along with the Purple Peacock.  I'll start a few more Peacocks in the spring for some later broccoli.  The greens and tatsoi and whatnot will have to wait a while longer because they don't do so well in the heat for me.

Other than that, the beans are well on their way and the sunflowers are just topping 12 inches.  the tomatoes are well on their way at about 10 inches and the peppers are hanging in there.  This is gonna be one really hot summer (we're in the worst drought in 100 years here!) and I think I'm going to put my screen cages over the peppers to help them have some shade and produce better.  Their pollen doesn't work well if the temps get too high.  My dwarf okra is taking for EVER to grow.  It's not dead, but they're not taking off either.  Maybe some fertilizer, but I hesitate to add anything but organic and I haven't had a chance to get any from the store.

That's it for now y'all!  Happy Planting!
-The Heiress