Emory's Gardeners

Cool spaces, tucked into hidden places.












I have vague memories of being hot, not being able to get cool and whining about it all the time. Like, the entire months of June, July, August and September of 2010. Despite the heat I braved the outdoors and struck up a good, old fashioned, conversation with the gardeners of Emory University, Decatur, GA. What a pair of pure genius, good ole boy, garden designers. They love their job and the two are responsible, turns out, for the beauty of main campus. I spent days wandering around campus taking pictures while Katie attended classes. Their design makes a case for the understated beauty of a green, green space. And here on the cusp of the shortest day of the year, wishing for warmth, I look forward looking back.

stink patch-not

If you've ever been near a collard planting on a hot day you understand why old timers called it the stink patch. There's just this high, ever-present, odor of sulfur all around that makes you wonder what made humans eat them in the first place. Starvation, maybe? Mustard greens don't stink, are milder in flavor and are mighty purdie to look at, especially the curly variety.
Scott broadcast some leftover seed from a few years ago and each and every one came up. What do they need to grow? Not much. Water and part shade will work. We've been eating from them weekly for about a month now. Not bad sauteed with garlic and onion and a touch of water (or a glug of beer) if needed. The beauty of the curly type is the stems aren't tough so you just pick, rinse and cook.

Scout The Seriously Cute Dog

Scout has become a faithful companion hanging around when we garden and sit outside enjoying what has become a very nice Fall. Since this picture was taken she's grown and shown us her amazing talent for digging in soft dirt ie. the garden. I couldn't get mad because I knew it was going to happen so we now have fencing around areas that appeal to her. In this way we continue to reap the rewards of our work and still love the dog who barks when she should. Dude, she's a good watchdog.

The Last Rose of Summer

Menologically speaking it's Fall. But here in the Land Down Under USA it's still summer and what a beautiful fummer it is-cool mornings and warm afternoons with Carolina blue skies. Take that for all that heat, humidity and frizzy hair of August (and this year September). Thanks for the break Mother Nature, we were really getting frantic this year. The heat was seriously cuttin' into our outdoor party time and that's just sad. So now we're back to eating dinner outdoors and walking before the sun goes down. AND gardening is fun again. I do something garden every day when I get home from work and actually enjoy it.

We've added salad to the menu the past two weeks. There is enough for three of us this weekend. All other plantings are chugging along. Hopefully we'll have broccoli for Thanksgiving. Wouldn't that be nice with roasted butternut squash? I think so.

Zinnias are the garden star this month. They are so much prettier in person. I reckon you'll just have to come by and see them for the full effect.

2010 Fall Garden

Carrots are up! Broccoli and lettuce plants are perkin' right along and more are in seed pots. Pea and turnip seeds were planted today. Rain failed to make so we were out first thing watering one and all. I am proudest of my new parsley plants that I grew from the seeds I harvested from last years' plant. Wow. They were a major success in germination! I transplanted the seedlings today into the garden knowing that they love heat and sunshine something we have plenty of these days. Still in the 90s here in mid-September.

Two New Things

There are two firsts in the garden right now. The first was the tomato hornworm caterpillar. It completely ate one tomato, moved on to a second but ha-ha-ha-ha-ha the garden wasps had laid eggs on it! I left it to die slowly, being eaten alive from the inside out, checking daily on the progress of the parasitic wasp larvae. They did their job masterfully and all hatched within days. The caterpillar carcass remains as a warning to all. Medieval, right?


Number two in the new category are the butternut squashes. They are almost ready and wow are they beautiful. They've taken over one whole corner of the yard vining beyond the garden. Scott has respectfully left them alone not moving them to mow the grass which is going to be hell to cut. Behold.

Cornell Plantations

I guess I was in shock because I did not take a single picture of the tomatoes growing at Cornell Plantations. Really, there were at least twenty varieties of tomatoes all loaded with fruit. Brandeywine, Black Krim, and great big Jersey Giants were thriving and the Swiss Chard was huge! There were beets and turnips, and lettuce and beans, and peas and cabbages, and carrots, and all of it was coming off at once and there was no one there to stop me from picking things, but I didn't, which seemed stupid and so civilized. Maybe it was the sun and the heat. It wasn't a complete wash, I did have the presence of mind to take pictures while in the flower gardens.
Here's the deal with America's world class universities. They have it all. Museums, gardens, beautiful buildings and landscaping, librarians who are happy to help, and it's all free or nearly free. This was the summer of colleges: Duke, Emory and Cornell. Below are photos from Nasher Museum at Duke and Johnson Art Museum at Cornell.