Summer Solstice Update
We celebrated the passing of spring into summer and a much-needed rain by planting more tomatoes (transplants of Golden King Siberian and Potato Leaf Hillbilly), cukes (long green), and calendula flowers. There’s nothing like a good rain to welcome newly installed plantings. It also gave the garden in general a growth spurt. Check out the vines covering our large arch.
Hummingbird Feeders
One more feature we placed in the garden this year is a hummingbird feeder. We chose a nice red glass model. By now, most folks know the red dye is to be avoided for hummers, but the red glass helps to attract the birds without the toxic food coloring.
The glass hummingbird feeders also avoids the potential of BPA plastic contamination. For sugar water, we’re using organic white sugar syrup (1 to 4 ratio to water, boil the mixture, let cool).
You can store leftover in the fridge for about a week. Hang the feeder in the shade about 4 feet off the ground. Completely change out syrup every 5 days or so. Do not add new to old.
Hummingbird Food — What do Hummingbirds Eat?
Attract Hummingbirds to Your Garden
Hummingbird Feeders – Red glass is best — Humming Bird Food – No Dyes
- MIX: 2 oz organic cane sugar + 8 oz water
- BOIL mixture; let cool
- HANG hummingbird feeder in the shade ~4′ off ground
- CHANGE syrup completely in ~5 days
Do Hummingbirds Eat Bugs and Insects
Yes! Hummingbirds aren’t just sugar junkies! Hummingbirds eat arthropods: bugs, insects and spiders!
The tiny birds are not mere nectar junkies. They subsist on a wide variety of insects as well. Spiders too. I once observed a hummingbird flying through a swarm of gnats like an airborne shark feasting on a bait ball of fish. For a deeper dive into the nature of hummingbirds, you may enjoy this article.
I saw a hummingbird fly through a swarm of gnats like an airborne shark feasting on a bait ball of fish.
~Coleman Alderson, GardensAll.com
One last little bit and we’re off to garden. We planted Chinese Red Noodle Beans (from Baker Creek) as a fun and perhaps, tasty alternative to the typical pole bean. Not only are the beans unusual, the flower itself is rather amazing too. Have a look.
OK Folks. That’s a wrap! We’re off to play in our little Eden!
How about letting us know what’s happening in your little acre, or big acre as the case may be? You can post comments and/or photos up on our Facebook page, or send us an email. In particular, let us know how you’re handling issues with squash bugs and or borers.
May your garden flourish and your harvests be bountiful!
~ Coleman for GardensAll.com
P.S. Be sure to scroll down for any community member tips we may have added.
Comments from Community Members:
“I don’t have a vegetable garden currently, but when I gardened in Louisiana squash vine borers were horrible. The best way I had to combat them was after planting I used floating row covers with the edges buried and plenty of slack in the middle. (I had 3′-wide raised beds.)
As the zucchini and acorn squash plants grew I made sure the slack was pulled to the most advantageous spots. When the plants got to the point they really outgrew the covers I took them off and left them to the mercy of the moths. By the time the borers got so bad the plants were shot, we and all available neighbors who wanted any were tired of squash. Worked like a charm! ”
~Keith Snyder, Houghton, MI
Let’s Keep on Growing!
G. Coleman Alderson is an entrepreneur, land manager, investor, gardener, and author of the novel, Mountain Whispers: Days Without Sun. Coleman holds an MS from Penn State where his thesis centered on horticulture, park planning, design, and maintenance. He’s a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society and a licensed building contractor for 27 years. “But nothing surpasses my 40 years of lessons from the field and garden. And in the garden, as in life, it’s always interesting because those lessons never end!” Coleman Alderson