Garden Growing

The garden is growing here at Grants Pass Real Estate. We have gotten lots of melons--watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew! Yum. Also lots of cucumbers, tomatoes, and now peppers.

It is a great time of year for a gardener. Great fresh tasty stuff free for the picking from your own real estate.

As you can see I also need to look at the sweet corn as it is looking like it will be ready soon if not now.

The picture here of a pepper also has a little bit of the orange cherry tomatoes in the bottom right hand corner. They are sweet and beautiful as well.

Gotta go check the garden. Later from Grants Pass Real Estate.

chuck

Watermelon!

Wow! Watermelon fresh from the garden. We have had some unseasonable hot weather this summer in Grants Pass Real Estate so melons have ripened early this year. I actually got our melons planted late and they still got ripe early. This is a picture of a sugar baby watermelon and two varieties of cantaloupe, namely fast break and ambrosia. Both are exceedingly sweet. Cantaloupe is easy to pick--simply watch and when it turns tan or brown check the stem and when it pulls off easily the melon is ripe.

Watermelons are a different matter. There are several things to check for with watermelons. One is a yellow patch on the bottom where it touches the ground. Next is a low pitched thump when you pat the melon. And the third is the curly tip that goes off to the side of the stem end. When it is still green so is the melon. When that curly cue is brown, the melon has a yellow patch on the bottom and the melon thumps when patted, then the melon is ripe and sweet. Nothing like a fresh melon right out of the garden. Cost effective too. So far we have gotten three watermelons off of one plant with at least one more to go. The plant cost me $1.50. Try to buy four watermelons in the grocery store for $1.50. No luck. Plant your own.

Put down black plastic, cut a hole for the plant, put in the plant, water regularly and wait for God to grow your melon. Very easy.

This is a picture of the watermelon pictured whole above, here cut with what was left of it. Within a half hour it was all gone as our family loves melon and this one was really good.

What a great way to use your Grants Pass Real Estate.

Bye for now from Grants Pass Real Estate.

chuck

Ahh Summer!

As you can see the garden in Grants Pass Real Estate is growing greatly. My dad used to say about the corn, "Knee high by the Fourth of July." Our corn was a bit above knee high on the Fourth, but now two weeks later it is shoulder high. A couple of weeks ago I put some compost around the bottom of the corn stalks. That may have something to do with the great growth. The melons are setting. Squash and pumpkins are setting on the vine and blooming. We have started picking cucumbers. Tomatoes are on the vine and growing. Peppers are on the plants and growing.

It is a great time to sit back and watch God grow the garden. Although I did have to take a run through the garden with the tiller again. And my wife pulled some weeds as well. But all in all we watch. The grapes are growing and getting bigger. The blackberries (these are o

nes that I planted and want) have set fruit and are ripening. The plums are growing.

Here in Grants Pass Real Estate, plums, apples and pears are usually consistent producers. Other fruit trees bloom early when the weather gets warm in the spring and then have their blooms frosted off with a late frost. If you can protect the blooms on other fruit you can get beautiful crops as well. I have tried turning on a sprinkler when frost comes with some success. The sprinkler will coat the blooms with a layer of ice. The ice will melt slowly when the sun comes up and this slow warming will protect the bloom. Whereas if the bloom is coated with frost, the frost will melt quickly and the cells in the bloom will burst and kill the bloom. I have a friend who says that he has put a light bulb in the center of the tree and turned it on when frost comes and the heat from the bulb has warmed up the tree and prevented frost damage.

This is a picture of the sunset over the mountains here in Grants Pass Real Estate. As is very evident here only God can make a mountain like that and a sunset like that. We are blessed to live here.

Bye from Grants Pass Real Estate for now.

chuck

Summer is coming

Summer is on the way here in Grants Pass Real Estate. The longest day of the year is June 21st and that is officially summer. The garden is starting to take off. As are the weeds. But then, if weeds won't grow nothing else will either. By the way, do you know how to tell the difference between a flower or vegetable you want and a weed? Pull it out by the roots and if it grows back then you know it is a weed.

Over the years, our garden soil has gotten better. We started with decomposed granite and a few inches of topsoil. I added a few yards of topsoil. Then I added leaves in the fall and grass clippings, and compost during the summer. Now when I till the soil in the spring it breaks up easily and is lovely loose topsoil that gets deeper every year. I rarely use any other fertilizer and the soil stays loose, the plants grow well, and the bugs stay at a minimum. Occasionally I get a tomato hornworm, but those big ugly things are easy to see and pick off the tomatoes and squash. Splat!

Great days at Grants Pass Real Estate.

Bye for now.

chuck

Lettuce begin again.

Hello again. Sorry for the pun. I couldn't resist. Grants Pass real estate has been favored this year with relatively cool weather in a spring that has allowed cool weather crops like lettuce to last longer. I actually put these plants in late and they have done well without bolting. Spring has been delightful here. Makes me glad all over again that I live in Grants Pass and in Southern Oregon. The sign in Grants Pass says "It's the Climate" and this it true most of the time. Lovely spring and fall. Sunny summer. And an easy winter. I grew up in Iowa which had awful, cold winters that went on too long. Spring and fall were nice, but spring was on a Tuesday and then sultry summer came on with a vengence. Fall was on a Thursday and then the long winter began.

As a kid I didn't know any different. I thought all places had the same weather. When I grew up and went to a different climate I was amazed. Grants Pass real estate has the best climate I have lived in (I have lived in the Midwest, East Coast, South and now the West Coast).

Even roses grow easier here in Grants Pass real estate. The dry climate for the summer makes it hard for mildew and black spot to start or take hold on my roses. They just grow and bloom and look beautiful. Though I do have to put them behind a fence or the deer will eat them (thorns and all, ouch!).

So long for now from Grants Pass Real Estate.

chuck

Garden Time

Plant a garden. work in the dirt. Good for the soul. Put hot weather plants (melons, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers) on black plastic because Grants Pass Real Estate is in an area where the climate is warm during the day and cools off during the night. Those cool nights are not good for the hot weather plants. They will grow better and ripen sooner with the black plastic to hold the heat overnight. When I first came to Grants Pass, I planted a garden and planted melons. My first mistake was to think, 'Well, it's not raining today, maybe it will tomorrow.' I got up the next day and the sun was shining, a nice day. That happened the whole summer. Eventually I gave the plants some water. Now I have a sprinkler system on a timer. Much easier.

There are benefits of using the black plastic: you till the soil and put the plastic down, cut a hole in the plastic and plant your plant, turn on the sprinkler system and wait. The plastic not only keeps the plants warm it smoothers the weeds. No weeding. Lazy gardeners unite! Enjoy your Grants Pass Real Estate while you watch it grow and wait for God to finish His work for you to have garden produce.

Another treat this time of year for Grants Pass Real Estate is Foxglove (which is the source of digitalis used for heart medicine). The original old fashioned flower color is purple, but now there are white and red and yellow and pink colors as well. The leaves are very poisonous to humans, cattle and horses. The leaves contain a heart stimulant. Plant away from livestock.

Enjoy your Grants Pass Real Estate.

So long for now.

chuck

Evergreen Park is Grants Pass Newest Park

Evergreen Park is great!

Evergreen Bank bought the property from the Riverside Inn and shaped it into a lovely series of walkways, waterfalls, ponds, paintings and sculptures. The park is on private land, but is open to the public.

Brady Adams of Evergreen invites everyone in. Brady Adams calls the park a community asset.

Quality workmanship abounds. The quality of workmanship and attention to detail astound the eye with the attractiveness of the waterfalls, the many plantings, the paintings, and the view of nearby Caveman Bridge. The waterfalls are a delight to the ear and a refreshing coolness on a hot day.

Thank you Brady Adams & Evergreen Bank.

Providing this treasure for our community makes us all feel happy to live in our beautiful city where people step out to benefit us all.

So long from Grants Pass Real Estate.

chuck