Butterflies are nature’s tragic heroes. They live most of their lives being completely ordinary. And then, one day, the unexpected happens. They burst from their cocoons in a blaze of colors and become utterly extraordinary. It is the shortest phase of their lives, but it holds the greatest importance. It shows us how empowering change can be.” ― Kelseyleigh Reber, If I Resist “I welcome all butterflies into my heart because that feeling is a constant reminder of how alive and full of love I truly am.” ― Karen A. Baquiran How beautiful it is to drive up to our Derwood Demo gardens. The agricultural park is such a peaceful place- corn fields, quiet except for birds and our enthusiastic volunteers. We were entertained by humming bird wars and beautiful butterflies today and of course our beautiful frogs and toads! We had a few visitors as well. Their enthusiasm is contagious, even when we’re disillusioned with our garden production and growth. Looking forward to cooler temperatures and more rain! Garden Reports: Conservation Garden: Maria Wortman Most of our time was spent weeding and watering. The Conservation Garden requires, “minimum input” of water. But when there is no rain for prolonged periods, the plants do appreciate a little drink! The winterberries are just starting starting to color up. They are at their most beautiful in the winter, I think. Somehow, these shrubs seem to keep their red berries through the winter, while mine at home are quickly eaten by passing birds. A lone lobelia brightened up a corner of the garden with its bright red flowers. The swath of Autumn Joy sedum is starting to blush pinkishly. We’ve thought of thinning it out recently, but this lovely display makes us thinks twice about that. The cheerful bright yellow Helianthus Microcephalus or Small Wood Sunflower is putting on quite a show right now. It is a native perennial which will bloom profusely from late summer through mid-autumn and is quite easy to grow. Winter berries Photos: Maria Wortman Children's Garden: Susan Kirby As you can see from the picture, Peter Rabbit is either standing guard or contemplating the possibility of a lunch of radicchio and Brussels sprouts. We hope that he keeps critters at bay. We continue to trim the cardinal vine and the hyacinth bean (they seem to do well in dry weather). Meanwhile, we look forward to cooler autumn weather. Photo: Susan Kirby Butterfly Garden: Peggy Stanford and Julie Mangin We were blessed with another beautiful day in the garden. We took advantage by trimming back even more of the Viburnum. There were spottings of more Monarch caterpillars, a mystery caterpillar(a Sulphur or Cabbage White), and a Monarch that did not want to leave. There was time for relaxation and feeding the frogs.The fall blooming plants are beautiful. We checked the milkweed where last week we had seen a butterfly laying eggs. We found three tiny caterpillars. Here is a Flickr set of photos I took the year I raised a couple of monarchs from egg to butterfly. I tried to take a photo everyday. You can mouse over the photos for a brief description, and click on the image for more detailed information. For the three little caterpillars we found on Tuesday, Day 1 was August 29. This will give us an idea of what to expect in the days to come. I hope all three survive! https://www.flickr.com/photos/tackyjulie/sets/72157619908649437 Bill removed the old wood bench and we are planning for a replacement. Photos: Julie Mangin Therapeutic Horticulture Beds: Bob Loesche I planted two large mums in the former home of the Shasta Daisies, one white and one red. They're bursting with buds and should be ready for use in a week or so. --The Marigolds, especially the smaller variety whose name I can't remember, look terrific. --The Garlic Chives are flowering their little hearts out. Please pick them soon, because once the seed heads form I will have to cut the stalks down or else we'll be overrun with them next Spring. Old news: All the stuff that was in great bloom last week continues to be in fine fettle this week. Our flowers are holding up amazingly well. Photos: Bob Loesche Small Fruit: Patty Oseroff This week Barbara and I weeded and came up with a design for the path behind by the fence along the kiwi's and figs that incorporates edible flowers so we can show using edibles in a landscape. Next week we have a field trip to Waters Orchard and if there is time plan to install some edging and broadcast some white clover seeds among the paw paws. Edibles: Erica Smith Summer is winding down, but we were still able to harvest some tomatoes, peppers, squash, okra, a few beans, and bunches of perilla (shiso). Beets and peas have still not emerged, making the chance of producing crops this fall pretty small. We're hoping for another break in the hot weather soon to help those fall greens keep growing - but they are mostly alive! Next week we'll make some decisions about using any empty spaces, and continue tidying up in advance of the Harvest Festival. Several tomatoes that were done producing were pulled out, and radishes planted in their place. For the watering request: Vegetable garden waterers - if you're short of time, the highest priority areas are the 100 SFG, the sections labeled for peas along the bottom of the trellises closest to the hose, the greens under the floating row cover and hoops, the raised bed with row cover laid directly on the soil (this will help the beet seeds underneath stay moist for germination, but only if they are watered!), and the salad tables. Photo: Robin Ritterhoff- Thai hibiscus bloom Photo: Robin Ritterhoff- Mouse Melon 100 Square Foot Garden:Linda Taveira-dasilva The party is almost over. Despite the heat of summer the girls (plants) are responding to the last dance ( shortening light of summer). The tomatoes and cucumbers have been inching toward the exit for a while. The ratty beets who can't dance (grow) already left the party (got dug up). The bush and pole beans are still swaying to the slow dance but produced a small amount of produce. Despite the late hour the basil, herbs and chives are still looking charming. The young lettuce which was sequestered under the shade cloth, was hoping for someone to ask for a dance, but the row cover boys ( broccoli, chard, kale and collards) weren't permitted to ask ( still being chaperoned by the bugs). The jalapenos and tomatillo plant (being Latin and can salsa all night) are still productive and going strong. Everyone was given a "last round" (water) . Tomato Beds: Darlene Nicholson Young Tobacco Hornworm eating his way through a tomato. In the spring I took a class on tomato grafting. I ended up having three tomato plants that survived the process. One is out my house, successfully grafted and producing, one is at Maria's house, also successfully grafted and producing, and one was planted at the demo garden. As the one at the garden kept growing and growing and growing, I was excited until I noticed that the tomatoes it was producing were cherry type and not at all like the top graft I "thought" I attached to it. Upon checking with the class instructor we determined that I somehow mixed up cut tops and bottoms on this one and ended up apparently grafting a root stock back to a root stock. If you think you're confused, image what the tomato was thinking! In spite of the error (by now the tomato plant was about 4 feet high and extremely robust) we decided to let it go and see what it would do. I think it is safe to say the plant outgrew most everything in the tomato patch, EXCEPT that it produced small hardish, cherry tomatoes that never fully ripened. Bummer. Dan pulled the plant this week. And pulled. And pulled. See the comparison below of a regular tomato and the grafted tomato roots. Now we know exactly why we use that rootstock, which by the way is named Arnold. Next spring, I'm gonna get them all right! Comparison of normal tomato and grafted tomato! MANNA: Robin Ritterhoff We delivered 66 pounds to Manna for YTD total of 1098 pounds. KEYHOLE & BALES: Robin Ritterhoff We are thinking about how to transition the keyhole bed to fall crops. Building on the success of the strongly flavored plants, hot peppers and basil, we should seek out strident flavors on cool weather crops, like arugula? We would welcome others’ ideas! Sweet potato vines are going strong as well though we wonder whether the sweet potatoes themselves will emerge intact. (As for tomatoes, while the keyhole’s Roma Striped tomato plant is still producing well, ripe tomatoes are showing animal damage, and branches of the plant have been broken off. Maybe focus even more on dwarf tomatoes next time?). In the bales, tomatoes continue strongly, particularly cherry-sized tomatoes, which seem not to be preferred by our animal pests. Our difficult experiences this season will guide us to seek ways to achieve a better balance with the fauna who share our beautiful garden for coming seasons!! Bug Report : Darlene Nicholson I almost always report only on bugs found at DDG. Once in a while I come across something so cool in my own garden that is worthy of sharing here. I saw what looked like a tiny piece of sparkly jewelry sitting atop one of my row covers. Naturally, everything came to a stop, and I went to get the camera and started taking pictures. I researched the images and found them to be that of a Variegated Fritillary chrysalis. This first image was taken in the bright sunlight and showed the image a little whiter than when taken in a less sunny area. At first I thought it was that of a Baltimore Checkerspot, and I got very excited. But after comparing all the other images of the same chrysalis in different views the evidence definitely leaned more conclusively to it being the Variegated Fritillary. We see a lot of them at Derwood and in this area in general. So take a moment and look at the various views of this amazing creature of nature. I have the chrysalis hanging in a terrarium in my house currently and with a lot of luck I will get to see it turn into a butterfly within the next week. Actual size: less than 1/2 inch Closing Comments: Bill and Lily
Some adjustments to the irrigation system were done today, as well as trimming around fence line ( Thanks Tom!) and weeding around the garden, inside and out. Next week is the trip the Water’s Orchard. We need to be there at 9:30 for those who are interested in going.Waters Orchard 22529 Wildcat Rd. Germantown, MD 20876 Harvest lunch will be in the multi purpose room ( where you had your mg lessons) on September 27th at 11:30.. You can plan to harvest from the garden the week before or bring whatever you want to share! Please also bring your peppers to share for our pepper tasting, and tomato seeds to share and exchange! Bill and I have been working hard at making sure we continue to have excellent garden leadership in each of the areas of the garden. Some of you have been called out to the corn fields. Thank you all for being so supportive in our requests. Please also start thinking if you will be back next year, and how we can improve your experience in the garden. Its almost the end of the season. Our last work day will be October 25. End of year party at Maria’s on November 1. Please make sure you give me your receipts for reimbursement and let us know if you will have extra expenses so we can finalize our budgets. As I write this, so happy to hear the rain outside...our gardens are being watered! Please sign up to water the garden and make sure you water seedlings in edibles and plants under row covers! See you all next week, Lily and Bill
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