Today in Myrtle Beach, S.C. it is 39 degrees F and raining.
A typical winter day for us on the coast. It has been a bit rainier than normal, but not by much. Even with the cold and rain, it doesn’t mean that gardening has stopped here. In our zone 8b, gardening is year-round.
Right now, I have lettuces, onions, peas, broccoli, mustard greens, 3 types of kale, cilantro, kohlrabi, pak choy, calendula, swiss chard, carrots, parsley, oregano, fennel, dill, collard greens, and garlic.
Carrots fresh out of the dirt
Under a cover, I have started radishes and spinach. In the seed starting area, I have tomatoes, peppers, marigolds, zinnias, eggplant, cabbage, broccoli and mustard greens. These, as they grow with heat mats and are moved in and out of the sun, will be ready for spring when the ground has warmed.
It was just last year that I bought the heat mats to start seeds earlier than March. It has helped get a jump start on the season. It also extended my season because the plants are ready to go and then new ones can be put in their place when they’re finished.
Collard greens with frost
Winter garden crops also need less attention. There aren’t as many bugs, it rains so you don’t have to water as much and the plants are hardier than delicate square or tomatoes.
However, that doesn’t mean they don’t need to be checked and fertilized. Because of the extra rain, nutrients in the soil can be washed away faster – so you’ve got to feed your plants. As Martha Stewart says, you have to eat and your plants have to eat.
So what can you do if you don’t live on the coast like me? Well, you can have a green house. You can have a cold frame or you can plant some herbs or smaller items on a sunny window sill. You can also enjoy a break from digging in the frozen, cold dirt and dream of spring and summer.
Camellia
Winter is a great time to plan and many gardeners also order their seeds during this time of year. If you’re craving winter vegetables and you’re not growing them – contact your local farmer. See what they’ve got in the fields right now. Because there are not many farmers markets in the fall and winter, buying some of their produce will likely help them out a lot.
Got questions about winter gardening? Send me a note or comment below.
Also, stay tuned this week for some exciting news!
Let me set the scene for you for most gardeners in the northern hemisphere in January.
Me, trying to figure out how to get all the plants I want into my space.
If you live anywhere not in zone 9 or 10, January is quiet time in the garden. You, of course, can plant kale, collards, cabbage, carrots and other crops under a cover that don’t mind the cold weather, frost and snow, but most gardeners take the winter to regroup and plan.
That planning process, for me, consists of as many seed catalogues as I can get my hands on, a comfy robe and blanket on the couch, my garden notebook and a pencil with a good eraser.
Seed starting dates
I try to keep good notes every season on where I plant things so that I can practice crop rotation. This practice helps keep the soil healthy by not using all of one type of nutrient. It also helps keep plants healthy as diseases can build up in the soil if you plant the same thing in the same spot all the time.
Because of this, and the excitement of trying new varieties, planning out where things will go is quite a process. I consider the date of the last frost, seed germination time, when to start the seeds indoors or when the soil will be warm enough to direct sow, the time it takes the plant to reach maturity and soil nutrition.
Garden 2021 goals and wish list
These things are all very important because the last thing you want to do is buy heirloom seeds, plant them and the seed never germinates. That is a waste of time, space and money. I have done that before and it is quite disappointing.
Once I’ve read every page of the catalogues, drawn out what space I have available and referenced what I grew last season, I try to set goals for the season and create a wish list. This helps me fix problems I had before and plan the space, if I want to get a trellis or plant a specific vegetable, herb or flower.
Spring 2021 garden
Now, I’ve been gardening since 2009 – as referenced in the post. But, I only started making a detailed plan for the garden in the last few years, not only because I want to garden to succeed, but I really love the planning process.
So, what can you do as a beginner or someone who has a year or two under your belt? Here is my list of things to do:
consider your growing zone. In Horry County, we are in zone 8b. This zone has quite a long season compared to others. I can grow tomatoes into November and start things as early as late January/early February. Don’t waste your time starting a warm season crop if your last frost isn’t until the end of April.
consider your frost dates. This is really important. As I said above, starting a seed too early leads to wasted money and time.
get free seed catalogs. I particularly love Park Seed, Southern Seed Exchange, Burpee, Seed Exchange and Gurneys. The catalogs will expose you to new seed varieties and options you can explore in your own space.
get a notebook. This can be a simple one or one that is more like an artist book. This will be where you keep your notes, ideas, and designs.
buy seeds or started plants. If you’re just starting out, you may want started plants from a local nursery. This takes the guess work out of starting seeds or buying seed starting mix, containers and heat mats. If you’re wanting an adventure, get some seeds and read up on what you can do to help the plant succeed.
get a ruler. I can’t draw a straight line by myself.
find a link to your local agriculture extension. Here is South Carolina, the Clemson Extension is the go to website. There are articles and plans to take some of the guesswork out of when to plant something.
So what questions do you have? Let me know in the comments below or email me at pigdogfarms@gmail.com. I’m here for ya!
My first memory of gardens goes way, way back. My great-grandma had a beautiful flower garden in her backyard. I remember running through, stopping to smell the flowers, and then heading over to my friend’s house for some red hot candies.
My second memory of gardens is also a long-ago memory. My grandma in Wyoming had an amazing garden in her front yard – and raspberry bushes in her backyard. I loved playing near the flowers and pretending I was in a secret garden. Even now, every time I see daisies, I think of her beautiful yard.
My very first garden photo – cilantro and basil in 2009.
Now, fast forward a few decades. I first got the inkling to play in the dirt in 2009. This was the first time I bought a pot, some dirt and a “plant baby” from Lowes. We had moved to Myrtle Beach the year before – we’d gotten Piggy – and now, it was time to start. Little did I know gardening would become a big passion of mine.
Snow in Feb. 2010.
That first year, I don’t think I did much more than plant some basil and cilantro in pots. And, as you can see in the picture, I made a few mistakes by leaving flowers outside…when we were expecting SNOW! Yes, snow…at the beach.
April 2010 front porch garden
But, in the spring of 2010, I got a few more pots and things started to take off. That first year, I planted cucumbers, basil, squash, lettuce, cilantro, strawberries and a few other things that I can’t tell what they are from that picture.
As you can see, I learned that cucumbers need supports to grow – so I made a makeshift trellis.
Beans in the ground
The next year, in 2011, we moved to our new house. The following spring, I started working in the ground to build our garden. That’s when I learned that pine tree roots are very hard to dig through. Some of the vegetables survived, but many did not.
Baby tomato seedlings
It took another season of unsuccessful in-ground gardening for me to take the next step and get raised beds. This is when things clicked. If you have poor soil – full of roots – like I do, raised beds are a blessing…if you prepare them properly.
Collards from 2018
That first year, I got a little TOO excited to get plant and could have done a better job putting down a weed blocker and enhancing the soil. But, you live and you learn.
In 2019, I got a few more raised beds and after reading a book on companion planting flowers with vegetables, everything really took off.
Zinnias and cosmos in 2019.
I started growing zinnias, cosmos, sweet peas, black-eyed susans and marigolds. I couldn’t believe how many pollinators came to the garden to help the vegetables grow. That season, I really learned a lot about attracting the right kind of bugs to the garden.
Lettuce and cabbage from 2019
This year, 2020, has been a major learning year. If you’ve been following along on Facebook or Instagram, I had to move four of the raised beds because they were infested with roots and grubs. In their new location, I properly prepared the soil and now the plants are healthy and successful. I also had major issues with a mulch that stunted the plants’ growth.
I also learned to feed your plants. As Martha Stewart says, “you eat, so your plants have to eat, too!” I never really used fertilizer because I am cheap, excuse me…frugal, but now I am using organic fertilizer to give the plants what they need and now they’re are growing so much better.
Below are some photos from my 2020 garden.
I’d love to hear about your garden journey, so send me a note! I might just feature you right here on the blog.
…And, if you get the movie reference for the title of this piece, leave me a note in the comments below.
When I started this blog, the Facebook page and the @pigdogfarm Instagram account, I knew I’d be sharing with people I know. My mom, sister, best friend, husband and mother-in-law are my biggest fans and I love that.
I also hoped to find some new friends along the way.
But, I never expected to walk into such a beautiful gardening community on social media – and here in Myrtle Beach.
People who love to dig around in the dirt, cultivate seedlings and watch things grow just have this way about them. They’re innately caring – and that care shows in how they treat others along with their plants.
In just the last few weeks, I’ve turned to that gardening community for support, for help and for praise.
It is so wonderful to post a picture of an evil monster (bug) eating my plants and immediately getting comments from people all over the world on how to defeat them. And, because of their advice, my potatoes that were ravaged by army worms are growing back nicely.
Another new friend told me to check inside my grow bag, even though I’d covered it, because a different bug eating my plants might still be there. Sure enough! It was still there and it had eaten my kale seedlings.
Eggplant, okra and poblano harvest
It is also wonderful to post a picture of your harvest or of a beautiful flower you grew and then hear from others who have had the same success.
People think social media posting is just about getting “likes” or “new followers,” but, for me, it is a way to connect with people who love things that I love like books, dogs (especially English Bulldogs), gardening, dirt, flowers, being outside, learning new growing tips, and funny, wholesome memes or dad jokes.
Zinnia flower
I have found that community on social media – and I’m thankful for it. It is nice to know you’re not the only one in the world who likes the things you like.
So, on that note, I’d love to hear from you. I’m here on this blog, I’m on Facebook at Pig Dog Farm and I’m on Instagram at PigDogFarm.
So connect with me! Send me your photos. Send me your garden victories or fails. I can’t wait to see them.
As I have written before, I do like most bugs. I love butterflies, bees, assassin bugs, spiders, dragonflies and other pollinators.
However, I hate bad bugs who eat my plants and ruin things.
This year has been really bad for some bugs. Thanks 2020…
Specifically, as I have said before, the squash vine borer was HORRIBLE. I lost all my squash, zucchini and pumpkins to them. I also really hate grubs. Grubs are kind of my fault because they thrive in soil that isn’t the healthiest. They eat the roots of plants and then the plants slowly die.
Eggplant killed by a bug…I think.
If you’ve watched my journey of moving four beds that were troublemakers from one side of the “farm” to the other, you’ll know just how many grubs I had. Yuck yuck.
Some other evil bugs are squash bugs, aphids, leaf-footed bugs, cabbage worms, caterpillars, stink bugs, tomato hornworms, cucumber beetles and pickle worms. Each one has been an issue this year in some way.
Today, I also found ants farming aphids. Yes, you read that right. Apparently the aphids secrete a sweet liquid (ew!) and the ants love it. So, they literally take care of the aphids as the aphids eat the plant. #nothankyou.
Pumpkin vines killed by squash vine borer.
For the ants, I put DE on the plants when I know the bees aren’t out. For the squash bugs, grubs, cabbage worms, caterpillars and stink bugs, I just try to be diligent in finding them and squishing them. For the vine borer, I tried everything. This coming year I have some new traps to try and will also try to plant earlier before their season.
What kind of bugs are you dealing with this year? And how are you fixing the problem? Let me know in the comments below.
Tomatoes, beans, peas, peppers, eggplant, okra, cucumbers, squash, potatoes, watermelon… if you have plants, and you try your best to take care of them, you’ll have a harvest.
So now what? What can you do with all those goodies?
Below are just some of the meals that we’ve (by we, I mean my husband) created this past spring and summer to enjoy the bounty from the garden. What are you cooking? Just leave a comment below or send me an email at pigdogfarms@gmail.com.
Tomatoes: salsa, gumbo, fresh pasta sauce, bruschetta,
Okra: gumbo, Chai Pani-style okra (sliced thin, cooked in a cast iron skillet and sprinkled with spices), fried okra
Jalapenos: add to nearly anything!
Corn: corn salad, add to pasta, stir fry or any salad
Eggplant: roasted eggplant and bean dip (my favorite), La Tienda-style fried eggplant with thyme and honey, Peter Chang-style dry-fried eggplant
VERY rough sketch of how I’d like to plan the fall garden.
Fall is coming!!! Spread the word. The summer heat is almost over for us here in South Carolina – or it will be in about a month in a half…hopefully.
Since I usually start planning the Spring and Summer garden when January and February roll around – it is only natural for me to plan the fall garden when it is still 90+ degrees every day. (right??)
For the fall, I have quite a few plant babies starting on the porch (my own little protective spot to start seeds) and some broccoli, kale, cabbage and brussel sprouts already out under covers. Unfortunately, while my spring cabbages were beautiful and grew well, I think it is just a bit too hot for the fall ones. Two or three have also already been munched on by the cabbage worm – even though they’re under a cover… sneaky buggers.
More of the fall garden plan for 2020.
I have started a fall crop of tomatoes outside in a garden bed and have more seedlings growing nicely on the porch. This time, I plan on properly staking the tomatoes and fertilizing in the hopes of a great harvest.
I also plan to grow: peas, pumpkins, arugula, mustard greens, dill, lettuce, parsnips, turnips, marigolds, carrots, spinach, endive, swiss chard, garlic, leeks, cilantro and try again for zucchini.
As I said in the summer garden post, I’ve decided not to be so cheap – I mean frugal – in buying plant food. As Martha Stewart says, “you eat, so your plants have to eat!”
I’d love to hear any tips or tricks that you have for growing any of the items I’ve listed – just leave a comment or email me at pigdogfarms@gmail.com.
Green anole lizard sitting on Black Eyed Susan flowers
As a gardener, you’re never alone. Not only are there millions of gardeners and farmers worldwide from whom to learn, there are also the friends in the garden…all around you.
These are the pollinators and the garden helpers that make vegetables, fruits and flowers grow.
In our garden, we have many “friends” who help me out every day.
They include: jumping spiders, garden spiders, green anole lizards, snakes, dragonflies, green tree frogs, bullfrogs, honeybees, butterflies, bumble bees, wasps, assassin bugs, ants, skinks and many others.
We also have birds, squirrels and at least two bunnies (my husband named them Hazel and Holly.)
I love when the dragonflies follow you around when you’re watering. I love how the male anole always show off their throat fan. I love watching an assassin bug carry off its dinner – or a spider eat a pesky caterpillar in its web. I also love knowing they’re there – and that they’re happy living in the garden and helping me make it successful.
What garden friends do you have? Leave a comment below.
Spring and Summer 2020 has been a whirlwind – not only for me, but for the world. Coronavirus left all of us with more time at home and for me – that means a ton more time in the garden.
I started the spring with high hopes. I started tomatoes, swiss chard, zucchini, peppers, tomatillos, okra, marigolds, watermelon, beans (pole and bush), cucumbers, zinnia, cosmos and many other things from seed.
The transplants grew well to start – and then I made a fatal decision for a lot of my plants…the wrong mulch. Instead of a mulch that helped feed the plants and keep the moisture in, I chose one that sucked the nutrients out of the soil and stunted growth.
Cabbage grown under cover to stop cabbage worms.
Thankfully, there are so many farmers who are willing to share their knowledge and help a gal out. I reached out to Nat Bradford of Bradford Watermelons for help. He is the one who opened my eyes about the mulch – and helped me fix it.
He, other great farmers I know and Martha Stewart (yes, that Martha) also helped me realize that…plants need food. You eat, so the plants need to eat, as Martha said. So! I realized I needed to stop being cheap and thinking that nature will do all the work to produce a large harvest. I need to buy organic fertilizer, other soil amendments and make compost that the plants will use as food and then thrive.
After coming to those realizations – and deciding not to be cheap anymore – things started to grow bigger than I could have ever imagined. I am still waiting for the edible parts to be ready, but the plants themselves are bigger, stronger and happier.
Another issue I’ve had this year is SQUASH VINE BORERS!!! They are horrible, horrible creatures. I hate them. They ate ALL of my zucchini, all of my yellow squash and then moved on to the pumpkins I planted… I have noticed a lot of my gardener friends have dealt with them a lot this year, too, so I don’t feel so bad. They just suck – literally…they suck the life out of your plant.
Eggplant was the latest plant to do well – and then suddenly droop for seemingly no reason…
I’ve also had to deal with grubs, roots, roots and more roots in four of my raised beds (which I have since moved to a new location and prepared them properly) and some kind of fungus or mold that caused an entire section of plants to wilt. (still working to figure that one out… see photo below)
I have had some successes this year. I successfully grew multiple ears of corn, 6 watermelons (others still growing), jalapenos, tomatoes, potatoes, a few cucumbers, radishes, eggplant, marigolds, zinnias, okra, tomatillo, cabbages, greens, lettuces, oregano, thyme, basil, poblano, key limes, meyer lemons, sunflowers, green peppers and…probably some I am forgetting.
There once was a dog named Pig. He was what is known as a Valley Bulldog, which is an English Bulldog/Boxer mix.
He was a very happy boy, who went on many adventures during his 11 and a half years.
But, he also had many obstacles to overcome. You see, he had hemophilia – a blood disorder that made him very delicate.
Piggy in the car on a trip.
HOWEVER, none of that stopped him from loving life and loving adventures.
He loved walks, hikes, breweries, car rides, couches, grass, towels, Milk-Bones, cheese, chips, snacks, gravy and cuddles (sometimes.) He was very loved by everyone and, especially, his mama and daddy. Everything they did included him and that’s why he got to go on so many adventures.
Piggy was born in April 2008 in North Charleston, S.C. He came to live with his mommy and daddy in June 2008. They drove down to Charleston to get him. On the way home, he sat in his daddy’s lap and bit his fingers the entire way home.
Piggy was a special boy right from the beginning – even before his parents knew of his health issues. He loved to sleep under the bed and under tables and run around outside while chewing a stick. He was a very happy boy who loved to be comfortable…no matter what.
Piggy also had about a million names. They included: “Pig Dog Gole,” “monkey-monster- dog-Pig-bear-goat-camel-cow -hippopotamus,” “Bertha,” “Marge,” “Margorie,” “Bubbles,” “Bubbie,” and “Baby.” The name “Pig Dog Gole” came after a pharmacy got our last name wrong on a prescription for him, and it stuck. We called him that for years.
During the first few years of his life, he went on many walks, ate lots of sticks, saw his grandma, who lived in Forestbrook, and went to “camp” to see his other grandma in Anderson. Everyone loved to see him because of his smile and his beautiful personality.
In 2011, Piggy got his own yard! His mommy and daddy moved into a house with a big yard that was all his. There is even a video that shows just how happy he is to have his own space. From then on, Piggy was the king of his domain. He would explore, sniff and snaff, pee, eat dirt, lay in the sun, and roll in the grass.
Piggy rolling in the grass.
The yard was all his. He also had a great porch where he could lay, on a towel of course, and catch the breeze to sniff. He loved the breeze. If he wasn’t on the porch, he would sit on the back of the couch with the window open and sniff the air. His cute little nose was always sniffing.
For many years, most of Piggy’s adventures were just around town. But after Pig’s mom got a new job, there was more time to explore and to go on adventures further away from home.
Piggy’s first trip was to Banner Elk, N.C. His daddy found a pet-friendly hotel and planned things for him to do. Piggy went hiking on many trails, walking on many greenways and to more breweries and wineries than most people. He loved every minute because he was on an adventure and he was with his mom and dad. Once he was tuckered out, his mom and dad put him to bed in the hotel. He was such a good boy – they never once got a call that he was causing a ruckus. He just slept and slept.
Piggy as a baby.
That first trip was an eye-opener. Piggy was such a good boy that his mom and dad started planning more fun places to go. He went to many places including: Charleston (multiple times), Banner Elk (multiple times), Asheville (multiple times), Charlottesville, Pittsburgh, Richmond (multiple times), Williamsburg (multiple times), Norfolk, Alexandria, Charlotte (multiple times) and many other small towns along the way. As long as he had his crate to sleep in and food, he was a happy boy.
In his life, Piggy did have many health problems because of the hemophilia. He underwent multiple fresh frozen plasma transfusions to stop the bleeding if he hurt himself. His mom was always ready to go and get him any help he needed. After he got help, everything went back to normal. One day, however, the doctors couldn’t help him and he went on to heaven. He died on Oct. 19, 2019. His mom and dad were devastated, but know that he will continue to live on in their memories and hearts.
Piggy and mommy on an adventure.
Piglet Bully Gale, his official full name, was so very loved by everyone he met and led such a fun life – in spite of his medical problems. He could be a beacon of hope for anyone facing obstacles because he never let anything get him down. Even at the very end, when he couldn’t walk anymore because of the blood clot stuck in his leg, he didn’t let what was happening get him down.
There is not one moment going forward that his mom and dad won’t miss him, think about him or wonder what he is doing. He will always be missed and will always be loved.
Pig Dog Farms & Bakery 