Castor Bean Plant
This year I planted a few castor beans seeds. 3 of them germinated and one or two of them were eaten by chipmunks, which I presume died shortly after eating them since they’re very poisonous. Castor bean plants and beans/seeds are poisonous, so you may wonder why I’m growing them. I’ve read that they’re a great way to deter moles and gophers from invading your gardens, and since I had a mole problem in the back garden I decided I’d try a castor plant to see how it worked.
It seemed to do a decent job, I noticed moles in the spring and early summer, but when the castor bean got large I haven’t noticed as many. I’d say it a great way to combat moles, not only do you not have little moles tunneling through your garden, you get a very large striking plant in the garden.
My castor plant is probably 8-9 feet tall and the leaves are huge, I decided this was the bean stalk that Jack must have climbed in the nursery rhyme. It’s starting to bloom, I’m not sure if it will produce any beans since it’s getting pretty close to the end of the season.
I’ll definitely be planting castor plants again next year. I’ve seen a few purple castor beans in some other local gardens and they bloomed much earlier than mine and are much shorter, I may try to find those next year since they must have a shorter growing season.
Do you have any poisonous plants in your gardens? Or any plants that are supposed to help with rodent control?
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The Great Pumpkins
When I was at my mom’s on Tuesday we harvest the two pumpkins that were on the Cinderella vine. There were two pumpkins growing right next to each other on the vine, and I think these are the only two that set.
One weighed 23 pounds and the other 16, now those are some numbers that will help bump up my harvest total! These pumpkins are going to grace my mom’s porch on Halloween for decoration and then they’ll be made into pumpkin pies, which is of course my favorite way to eat pumpkin!
What’s your favorite way to enjoy pumpkin?
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Harvesting Fall Beans
I’m starting to harvest those beans that I started back in August.
It seems that I’ve protected them well enough from the groundhogs & deer (knock on wood of course, my luck I’ll go out later today and they’ll all be gone). I’m hoping with some protection from the cold and perhaps some cooperation from mother nature I’ll be eating fresh green beans for a month or so. Although since we had our first frost advisory last night, which is 2 weeks earlier than usual, I may not be eating fresh beans all that long.
Last year I didn’t have many veggies besides lettuce at this time. This year I didn’t get my lettuce started until last week, so I’m really happy to have these beans!
What fresh veggies are you enjoying from your garden right now?
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Candles, Cookies, and Presents
I was busy all day yesterday getting ready for the my oldest niece’s birthday party, which she decided was going to be a princess tea party. I was in charge of making the cake, which I decided would be fun to make small individual cakes that looked like petit fours (my sister still made a regular cake to put candles on). I decorated them with lavender from the garden, perfectly elegant for a ladies’ tea (the icing was colored with wild blackberries, nothing artificial about that)!
I spent the weekend making her gift, which was a colorful tutu. Since she’s getting interested in ballet she thought it was great, along with the ballet slippers complete with laces.
I picked some flowers from the garden to decorate the table, and my sister got out her best china for all the little girls to use. All the little girls arrived in their frilliest dresses ready for an evening of fun. After several princess themed crafts, they enjoyed eating all the tea snacks which my niece picked out. The menu consisted of: cookie press cookies, little smokies in a blanket, mini muffins, mini tea sandwiches, pumpkin rolls, cake and peppermint tea. Now that’s a menu!!!
It was a fun evening for all involved. The little girls really enjoyed having a tea and the crafts were a big hit.
I have many fond memories of birthday parties when I was growing up. I think this is a party she will remember for a lifetime, have you ever seen such happy little girl?
Any fun, non-garden related events you’ve enjoyed attending recently?
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It’s Coming….Fall
I was out working in the garden the day before yesterday planting some lettuce and I noticed that it feels like fall. There’s that chill in the air, you know the one that makes the sun feel good on your back and your fingertips get cold when they get wet. The breeze has been constant and you can hear leaves falling all around.
The fall colors are starting to appear, red, yellow and orange. Around here the first leaves to change are the dogwood trees.
I love this time of year, it’s so relaxing to work outside. I love the colors, the cooler weather, the falling leaves and the brightness of the sky.
What’s your favorite thing about fall?
