Seeds  are  started  in  soil  blocks, which reduce the use of plastic pots and minimize transplant shock.

Seedlings move into the greenhouse where they grow and become accustomed to outdoor temperatures.

Frost on the asparagus is beautiful in the early morning.

Garden in the spring.  In a few weeks it will be full of green

Puppy Zoe likes to help dig holes around the garden…not always where I want them!

The chives have beautiful purple blooms in the spring.

Little tomatoes and peppers have already been transplanted from their soil cubes to small pots.  Transplanting at least once before going out to the garden helps build strong roots.

Pattypan squash and blossoms ready for the picking.  These squash are firmer than zucchini and are great marinated with Italian dressing and grilled.

There’s nothing like a fresh picked strawberry. They melt in your mouth

Yard long beans are tasty and fun.

Bees are a necessary part of growing and growing organically helps keep them healthy.  In the peak of summer the plants hum with them.

Borage  and  Nasturtium  are  only  two  types  of  companion  plants  that  help  attract  beneficial  insects  to  the  garden.

The swallowtail butterfly caterpillar is beautiful, but can eat a dill or parsley plant down to a nub.

The  resulting  butterflies  love  Monarda  and  help  pollinate  plants  in  the garden.

It’s exciting to see the first tomato blossoms.  We grow several different varieties from tiny yellow Blondkopfchen cherry tomatoes to huge red Mortgage Lifters.

Tomato hornworms are difficult to see due to their camouflage, but this one has been parasitized by the braconid wasp so I leave it alone.  It will no longer eat, but will serve as a host to these tiny 1/8th inch beneficial (non stinging) wasps.

Growing multiple varieties of colorful lettuce provides a flavorful salad.

Chioggia  beets  are  both colorful and  tasty.

Lemon cucumbers don’t taste like a lemon, but are crisp and sweet with a tender skin.

Kajari melons are a tasty and beautiful heirloom from India.

Kenzi helps out on the ATV.

Any shelter from the hot Carolina sun is appreciated.

The garlic is ready for harvest.  We are growing multiple varieties to determine what tastes best and what grows best in our climate.  Now they need to cure for a few weeks and then they’re ready for market.

Sasha is our official watermelon sampler.  She loves munching on the melons that have split.

Sweet Marconi Red and yellow banana peppers are great for fresh eating or frying up for dinner

Tiny Aji Dulce peppers look like and taste like a Habanero but without the heat.

Black Vernissage tomatoes are beautiful when ripe and quite delicious.

Potato bugs can quickly eat through an eggplant bush.  We pick these and other pests off by hand.

Corn, melons and squash freshly picked.  Yum!

When the watermelons ripen, the ATV sure comes in handy for hauling them to the truck.

Orange fleshed watermelon are a hit at Clemson tailgates!

Now is this a big sweet potato or what???

Crimson clover and tillage radishes are just two cover crops we use.  They help prevent soil erosion, add nutrients when turned over, and the tillage radish grow quite deep to help loosen compacted soil.

Aren’t these blooms just fabulous?

  

Now’s the time to plan next year’s crops.  I just love going through seed catalogs to see what unique heirloom varieties are waiting for us.