The Mother Hen

Stakin' Yo' Stuff

There comes a time in every gardener's life when their seeds and starts start to grow up and get a little wild. They want to test their independence and spread their wings but in gardening, as in parenting, you need to reign them in a little bit. The best way to do this is through stakes and supports (this is starting to sound like a post about bras).

Some vegetables and fruit are climbers by nature and staking and supporting them will help keep them off the ground which not only gives you room in small gardening spaces but it also helps protect them from disease and mold/mildew.

Vegetables that need support:

• pole beans
• runner beans
• pea
• tomato

Vegetables that can benefit from support:

• asparagus
• broccoli
• brussels sprouts (but seriously, who plants that crap?)
• cucumber
• eggplant
• fava beans
• melon
• pepper
  

My peas are getting all happy and viney so I made teepees for them this afternoon during the sun breaks. They are pretty farmy looking but I think they look cute. No doubt Hot Jeff will get home this afternoon and be mortified by their farminess and re-do them. And that's ok because his will no doubt be sturdier and less farmy looking. Sometimes farmy is kind of good though.

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Housekeeping

1) Congratulations to Emily H, who won the title contest with her entry. Wahoo!

2) Praying for Your Kids Monday starts back up THIS COMING MONDAY!! Thanks for praying for me while I was on PYKM sabbatical! I'm excited to start it back up.