Photo a Day…

Night Creepers

Water Lily…

Suncreek Garden Chronicles…Invaded by Herbivores!

We have new visitors to the herb garden…These little herbbies are my favorite kind…future Monarch butterfly’s!  The Monarch Butterfly became the Texas State insect in 1995.  The Monarch butterfly is unique among butterfly’s.  It is the only species of butterfly that does not hibernate, but migrates in changing seasons. The Monarch’s metamorphosis from egg to butterfly takes about a month. 

A-Z Archive Challenge: “T”

Suncreek Garden 2011 Tomato Crop…This weeks entry into the A-Z Archive Photo Challenge: “T” hosted by Frizztext!

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Suncreek Garden Chronicles…Conflict

Conflict is described as a disagreement through which the parties involved perceive a threat to their needs, interests or concerns. Within this simple definition there are several important understandings that emerge:

 

Conflict is often best understood by examining the consequences of various behaviors at moments in time. These behaviors are usefully categorized according to conflict styles. Each style is a way to meet one’s needs in a dispute but may impact other people in different ways.

• Competing
• Accommodating
• Avoiding
• Compromising
• Collaborating

 

 

 

There is a bit of a conflict going on here at Suncreek Garden. We have a patty pan squash that has decided it would rather grow among the tomatoes.  At first glance there seems to be a confilict…but what kind of conflict do we have on our hands? 

 

At first glance we have a conflict based on competition…the plants are competing for the same space, the same water, the same sunshine. 

 

Competing is a style in which one’s own needs are advocated over the needs of others. It relies on an aggressive style of communication, low regard for future relationships, and the exercise of coercive power. Those using a competitive style tend to seek control over a discussion, in both substance and ground rules. They fear that loss of such control will result in solutions that fail to meet their needs. Competing tends to result in responses that increase the level of threat.

 

 On second glance we have a conflict of collaboration.  The squash and the tomato have the same needs…

 

Collaborating is the pooling of individual needs and goals toward a common goal. Often called “win-win problem-solving”.  This collaboration requires assertive communication and cooperation in order to achieve a better solution than either individual could have achieved alone. It offers the chance for consensus, the integration of needs, and the potential to exceed the “budget of possibilities” that previously limited our views of the conflict. It brings new time, energy, and ideas to resolve the dispute meaningfully.

 

 

 

 

Sometimes conflicts create an opportunity for the parties involved to rise above the opposition and reach new heights and learn to appreciate one another and offer support.

 

Which is exactly what is happening in our garden.  The squash plant has decided that it would prefer to grow above the tomato plants.  The tomato plants are offering support for the squash’s new path.  We are unsure of the outcome of this conflict between the two plants, but we are keeping a watchful eye on the situation.

 

 

 

 

Sometimes gardening imitates life…and this past week I have had my share of conflict.  I have pondered my contribution to the conflict and I have decided I would rather be the supportive tomato instead of the aggressive squash. 

 

 Philippians 2:4 “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

 

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Suncreek Garden Chronicles…Garden Quotes

Suncreek Garden is a 30 X 40, 6 row garden.  Gardening is cheaper than therapy…it’s good for the soul…it’s good exercise…it’s good for your health and it’s a practice in patience. 

This first row from left to right…Yellow Squash, Tomatillo, English Cucumber and Regular Cucumber. The second row is two varieties of heirloom tomato.Gardens… should be like lovely, well-shaped girls: all curves, secret corners, unexpected deviations, seductive surprises and then still more curves. ~H.E. Bates, A Love of Flowers

My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant’s point of view. ~H. Fred Dale

There can be no other occupation like gardening in which, if you were to creep up behind someone at their work, you would find them smiling. ~Mirabel Osler

Weather means more when you have a garden. There’s nothing like listening to a shower and thinking how it is soaking in around your green beans. ~Marcelene Cox

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Wordless Wednesday…A n t i c i p a t i o n

 

Anticipation…realization in advance, foretaste, expectation of the flavor that can only come from a home-grown tomato!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Together!

Together…squash blossom and patty pan squash…the existence of one is totally dependent on the other.

Genesis 1: 11 ‑ 12

Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed‑bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Suncreek Garden Chronicles…Appearances can be deceiving

By all appearances…Suncreek Garden is going to provide a bountiful harvest this summer.

Farmer Hubs and I have been extremely excited by the overall appearance of this years plantings.  The tomatoes have grown by leaps and bounds and are heavy with fruit.  The cucumber and squash plants are covered with an abundance of flowers and the veggies are beginning to mature.  The bell pepper and hot pepper plants are the show offs and are almost ready for harvest.  I would say that overall things are looking very promising. 

However, upon closer inspection…Our garden is in the midst of a family crisis.

A few challenges that have popped up almost overnight…The cucumber plants are like unruly teenagers.  They have a mind of their own are wandering here and there with no regard for rules or boundaries.  Our beautiful over zealous tomato plants have come down with some sort of childhood disease…spots…Stemphylium Grey Leaf Spot!  The tomato version of  the measles.

Grey leaf spot is a fungal disease found in crops all over the world.  The spores flourish in warm environments, where there is alternation between wet and dry periods.  I have read that once the disease has set in it cannot be reversed.  The main harm that the disease causes to the Tomato plant is it impedes the maturation of seedling plants.  The expanding brown, grey yellow lesions on the affected plants slowly dry and leave holes in the leaves.  In particularly severe cases it can cause the whole leaf to fall off.  The loss of the leaves can result in the sunburn of the fruits.  The disease in itself does not affect the fruit.

Our leaf spots only recently showed up…after our plants were fully matured.  We believe the onset of our problem was caused by watering using a sprinkler instead of hand watering the plants at the roots.  I have read that we should remove the affected leaves…but that would mean our plants would be left bare and naked…with no protection for the fruit. 

We did not experience this with last years tomato crop.  However, this year we chose to only plant heirloom varieties.  I would have thought the older seed varieties would be less susceptible to disease.  Only time will tell if we can overcome this gardening challenge.

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Suncreek Garden Chronicles: Tall Tall Trees…

Tall tall trees…wait those aren’t trees they’re tomatoes!!!  It looks like Farmer Hubs is going to have a stellar tomato crop.  The plants are quite impressive.  They seem to be growing at least 2″ a week…the stems are as thick as my thumb…the leaves are large and dark green…and the plants are heavy with fruit…some plants have as many as 10 tomatoes clustered together.

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This post is part of the Blogging Challenge: A to Z April Challenge. This post is brought to you by the letter “T”!