Yes, this is my garden journal for the Garden of Weedin for August, 2010. But, it is much more than simply a planting journal or gardening record. For the Hillbilly Gardener, it is a gardener resource, to use to help in planning my garden, track my low budget gardening efforts, help me keep track of what worked and what did not. This is a garden history journal to remind the Hillbilly Gardener of the many things he saw, experienced and enjoyed in his Ozarks plateau world. It is a gardener resource to be a help planning a garden and as a reminder of all of the good reasons why the Hillbilly Gardener loves his Garden of Weedin and as a tool to help me remember that everything does not always go well. In fact, sometimes in the Garden of Weedin, some things are a downright disaster. My garden journal helps me to avoid experiencing the same disaster more than once. This IS the garden history journal of the Garden of Weedin and the Hillbilly Gardener here on the Ozarks plateau of Missouri. Perhaps my efforts here will help inspire you or help you to avoid some of my mistakes. If this can be accomplished then this garden history journal will have been successful and the Hillbilly Gardener will be happy. the "Hillbilly Gardener"
Saturday / August / 07 / 2010 - Ok, it's August now. I haven't made an entry in this journal in several days because there hasn't been a lot to tell. Hot, hot, hot weather with temperatures generally in the mid to upper 90's and relatively high humidity. We went over 100 degrees about 3 days and those were killers. Nothing is going on in the garden and everything is pretty much just in survival mode. I've mulched everything pretty heavily, which helps. But with being unable to provide much supplemental water, it only slows down the effects of hot weather. The tomatoes are still producing a few tomatoes, but they are slow. I've noticed that the Cherokee Purple tomatoes ripen slowly over a long period of time compared to the Arkansas Traveler . But then, they are a much larger tomato. The Cherokee Purple are taking roughly a week to ten days to fully ripen once they start to turn color, where the Arkansas Traveler will ripen in about three days once they start. The others haven't started yet.
The cucumbers aren't really doing much right now. But I'm hoping that if I can keep them alive for another week or two, the weather will break and they will take off. At least they are still alive. All but one of the Basil have expired from the heat. I knew it would be a gamble trying to start them in the bed this time of year. I was hoping for a little cooler summer and a little more rain. But, we didn't get it - life goes on. This is something I can grow indoors this fall and winter though.
It's been roughly a month now and the shingle work is finally done on the roof, but the work on the roof is not yet done. There is still fascia and drip-edge work to be done. Some old guttering is still hanging that must be taken down (it is not yet decided if it will be replaced), etc., etc. So the growing beds are not out of the woods yet. I would love to warn others about a great many things when hiring a roofer. Hiring a roofer can make or break a gardener in many ways. It's not just the pocketbook that one must consider. Right now, there is a little work being done outside in the morning and then work being done inside after it gets hot. It's so frustrating that gardening is about as far from a persons mind as you can get right now as we shuttle our possessions from room to room and pick our way through the stacks of boxes and furniture. We're all tired, cranky and rather ill-tempered right now. Right now, a frugal gardener should be thinking of and planning their fall gardening efforts and fall perennials. But, right now I really hate to admit it, but gardening has taken a back seat to everything else going on right now. We did have a very brief respite form the heat with a couple of days where it was only in the upper eighties. So I got out yesterday and pulled some of the weeds that had sprouted in the patio where I didn't get it sprayed this year. Although, given a choice, I would rather burn them out rather than a spray of some kind. Because of the heat and lack of consistent rain, we haven't mowed in a while, so my son trimmed close around everything and started mowing last night. I had him set the mower pretty high to protect the grass during the heat and the only thing I was really interested in was clipping off the seed heads of the weeds for right now. Friday / August / 13 / 2010 - After nearly two weeks at or above the century mark and no rain, we got 3/4 inch of rain last night and some very pleasant, cooling breezes during the night. A much needed break in temperatures is being called for this weekend. We're definitely looking forward to it. As it stands right now, we're roughly 4 inches behind for the month alone on rain and on track for being one of the top four hottest summers recorded. Saturday / August / 14 / 2010 - We got just shy of 1/4 inch of rain last night and some cooler weather moved in. IT FELT SO GOOD! Back To Top Sunday / August / 15 / 2010 - With the temperature only reaching 89 degrees today, it felt kind of like a breath of fresh air even though the temperature was seasonally normal. While I was out and about today, I was looking at the garden and the bush beans that had been doing so well have just about all of them dropped their blooms despite the heavy mulch and additional water. Even the tomato leaves were burned and curled around the edges. These things I find to be somewhat odd though. Hot weather is not that unusual for them. I'm not sure if it is the heat alone or the combination of heat and the humidity that has been running in the 70-80% range for several weeks along with the heat. I'll need to look into this further, but I'm leaning toward the heat. It only takes 2 or 3 degrees of continuous heat above a certain point to cause a collapse of the entire system. The dividing line is generally around 95 degrees F. Our seasonal normal high temperatures for this time of year is only around 90 degrees F. At that temperature all of the above crops should do all right with mulching and additional watering. But, when the temperatures rise above 95 degrees F. for more than a day or two, most crops will stop producing altogether. This is a normal survival process unless the plant has been specifically bred to tolerate higher temperatures. This is not a condition that is normally a big factor here in the Ozarks and we do not normally garden for extreme heat as in other parts of the country. However, I like so many others around here having to learn new ways of raising gardens as the weather continues to change. All of these things are good reasons to make it a point to keep a good garden history journal and refer to it each year as I plan for the new year. I've said it many times in the past, and I'll keep on saying it, a good gardener must constantly be in a state of learning, adapting and changing. Tuesday / August / 17 / 2010 - Ok, it's been a couple of days now with temperatures at seasonal norms and it felt so very nice. In fact, last night was cool enough to need a cover! In the garden, a lot of things have quit growing or blooming and some have gone dormant from the heat, but the grass-weeds have kept growing. Luckily, I had done a pretty good job at cleaning the beds this spring, so the weeds aren't to bad. I just need to get out and get them eradicated. The last several weeks, when I wasn't sweltering and seeking shelter from the heat (we don't have air conditioning) I have been lending a hand to the workman doing construction inside our house after the roofing disaster. Now, without going into a long-winded oratory that is better left to a different forum, this work is not going very fast, nerves are frayed and gardening hasn't been a high priority. But, the inside work is nearing a point where it is starting to wind down and we can see that perhaps there is a light at the end of the tunnel. So perhaps I can start to think about the garden again. I most certainly hope so. I look forward to it in many ways. The last two years have been rather frustrating in many ways as far as the garden goes. There have been so many roadblocks and interferences to getting anywhere. Last year it was hip surgery, this year the roof and inside work because of it. In the next few weeks, I plan on possibly moving both of the raised beds to the south side of the house where they will get more sun. One of these will be turned into a herb bed next spring I think. Thursday / August / 19 / 2010 - The first day of school! Ahhhh! Almost like a breath of fresh air for parents - or in my case, grandparents. It's normal for grandparents to want to see their grandkids, but somehow we became more like parents (again) than grandparents. From one extreme to another we've gone! I love having them around and it has allowed me a lot of opportunities to teach them a great number of things about the outdoors. But the oldest girl, through her mothers influence has gone the exact opposite direction and the youngest is being influenced by her. I'll keep on teaching and see how they turn out. In any case, until this morning there has been a lot of singing that line from the Christmas song - "and mom and dad can hardly wait for school to start again" sung around this ole shack of ours. Anyway, outside of a few tomatoes, the vegetable garden is done for this year. Everything else has succumbed to the heat, with the exception of the cucumbers. Somehow, they have hung on to life and if the weather will cool off soon, they might just make a fall crop of cucumbers. But, if they don't, well the ole Hillbilly is up to his neck in setting up house again and he never even changed residences. Yippee, the construction man is finally done repairing the inside of the house from our "internal rains"! For anyone who doesn't quite grasp what I'm saying here and why I seem to be whining so much about not getting anything done in the garden for the last month and a half, think of it this way. Move your residence from one place to another and remember how much work went into packing and unpacking. Then the arranging, rearranging and getting stuff where you want them. The furniture to move, the pictures to hang, etc., etc. Add to that, moving all of that from one room to another and back again and sorting through everything to sort out what is damaged beyond repair, what must be cleaned, etc., etc. and you have the picture. It's not that much unlike moving residences a couple, two or three times in a row, without residing in any of them. Yet, residing in them at the same time. Yah - fun. My little bit of gardening has been as an escape to save my sanity. I was heading out to the clothes line this evening and scurrying across the raised beds was a squirrel. I didn't think to much of it and hardly paid it any attention because they are a common sight, except that this one seemed to be having some difficulty jumping up onto the beds even though they are only a foot tall. Hardly a hop for those little acrobats. Then I noticed something red in its mouth. It was one of my tomatoes that weighed more than it did. THAT LITTLE FURY THIEF WAS STEALING MY TOMATO! I hurried up to go investigate the others and found a large Cherokee Purple tomato laying on the ground half eaten by squirrels. They've never been a problem in the past, but I guess they are starting to get into the healthy, low-fat diet thing too. So, I guess I'll need to look at some squirrel-proofing now as well. Back To Top Saturday / August / 21 / 2010 - Well, we got a little bit of rain last night (about 1/4 inch) and it cooled off a little bit. At least it got cool enough to sleep a little bit. Tuesday / August / 24 / 2010 - It got cool last night, down to the low 60's and finally felt bearable. In fact, I was actually cold last night. It's been so long since we had any significant rains that the grass is pretty well all brown, Nothing growing anywhere except the weeds. Specifically, the "Goose Grass" and "Crows Foot". Even the Ground Mint and Plantains are curling up and drying out. The garden is pretty well all gone now since I can't irrigate like it needs this year. Even the trees have begun shedding leaves because it's so dry. There is little use in planting a fall garden this year. There is no rain in the forecast for the next week or more and 90 degree weather is in the forecast for the first part of September. It is frustrating, this year watching the rains come into the area and before they get here, the storms all split and go north and south of us leaving us with little more than an occasional sprinkle. Drive 100 miles to the north, south, east or west and everything is pretty and green. In fact, to the north about 150 miles, they've been soaking wet most of the summer and parts of Iowa have seen so much rain that farmers have had trouble getting crops in or hay harvested. It must be some kind of conspiracy I tell ya! Thursday / August / 27 / 2010 - While it's been actually only seasonally normal in temperature (highs in the mid to upper 80's) the last few days, it has felt actually cool. The tomatoes are the last remaining crop in the garden, but they are withering now and few tomatoes are left on the plants. We have not had any significant rain now for almost 2 months here at the Garden of Weedin and many gardeners have already stripped off their gardens. The water bill has has gotten steadily higher each month and I can no longer afford to water anything planted in the ground. If rains do not come soon, I'll see first-hand which plants are the most drought tolerant. The container plants are the only plants I will continue to water. The last few days have been good for getting caught up things like the few weeds that have grown up here and there. They seem to be the only things still showing any active growth. Inside, things are starting to come back to some sense of normal, so perhaps I can turn my attention back to the gardens in the next few days. I want to get back on the edging project I started last year. After I installed what I did last year, I have seen a couple of changes that should be made to make the edging more stable. But overall, I like the look and it works pretty well. The bricks were installed on edge to form a free-standing edge about 4 1/2 inches high. Unfortunately, this arrangement is not very stable and easily dislodged if hit by the lawn mower or walked on by small children. Ideally, I would like to lay one brick flat and then place the brick on edge on this in such a way as to straddle the seams. If the bottom brick was bedded in cement and the edge brick mortared or glued to the bottom row, it would be much more stable to most activity except for children walking on them. Anyway, I've got a few more plants that I would like to dig and plant in containers and a few more to give away in the one bed where I want to move one of the raised beds to. This is the most sunny place I have and where I would like to have my herb garden for next year. I think I'll work toward that end over the next few weeks. Before next years growing season, I want to have a central drip irrigation system installed for the container plants. This will greatly help with watering and save a lot of time I believe, especially if I hook it up to a programmable watering timer. Back To Top Conclusion Ok, for a second year in a row August has been a bust. The month started with a disastrous, but much needed re-roofing project that extended into much of the house with extensive damage from rains that poured inside. Not just once, but twice it rained hard in July with the roof uncovered. Rains that might have been welcome at other times if it weren't for the roof project and the fact that both times they came so fast and hard that they pretty much just ran off. Furniture and belongings were packed, repacked, moved and sorted time and time again. This largely kept the Hillbilly Gardener out of the garden for most of the month. The weather for the first half of August was pretty much as I remember Augusts from my childhood - very hot and very dry. We hit the century mark several days and the mercury stayed above 95 degrees F. much of the month. As would be expected with temperatures that high, I saw the garden quit producing and then slowly burn up. This situation was exasperated by the fact that we were unable to pour the copious amounts of water into the gardens that would have been necessary to keep them alive. August really took a lot of wind out of this gardeners sails. The latter half of the month saw the temperature getting back somewhat into the normal range, but still hot and no rain. This saw the yard turn brown and everything stop growing and the trees start shedding leaves. In some areas and ways, the leaf shed took on the look of fall. It was a really exasperating month as we watched rain after rain pass through the area to the north and south of us with not a drop falling here. In many areas just to the north of us, they had so much rain that they were loosing gardens due to to much rain. But, at least the month ended somewhat cooler. We made the decision during the month to move the 2 raised beds to a small area on the south side where it stays sunny most of the day. The drainage isn't a lot better, but not quite as bad. But, at least they will have nearly full-day sun. This is going to be our big fall project. That is how the month of August ended. The work around here by the landlords handy-man goes on still. But, at least he is out of the house and it is still much to dry to consider a fall garden this year under the present circumstances. Perhaps September will be better? Let's hope so. the "Hillbilly Gardener" Back To Top | 
