June is a pivotal month. It's the transition period between the fair weather of spring and hot, dry days of summer. Gardening this month can still be good, but as the month nears it's end, planting starts becoming more and more problematic. This month finds me being able to do more and more physically and I find myself wanting to do more. I feel a sense of urgency about things I want to get done because I know that the heat of summer is just around the corner. As I survey the tangled mess of weeds and flowers in the beds around the house, I tend to get discouraged because I had worked so hard last year to get then weed-free and looking good. But, I know this will have to wait until perhaps fall and I'll start over again the "Hillbilly Gardener"
Monday, June 1, 2009 -
Got out and picked lettuce and onions for a salad today. Pulled all of the radishes because the weren't producing bulbs any more. Probably because of the hot weather. Pulled a mess of onions for both ourselves and Joy next door. Need to pull a lot more lettuce and radishes though. They're much too thick. The weather has been quite warm with highs around 90 degrees F. and sunny.
Lynn got drain holes drilled in all of the barrel planters today. We'll glue pieces of screen wire over the drain holes with silicone adhesive and paint the outside of the planters with Krylon fusion paint to make them more attractive. I am anxious to work on them and start planting in them.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009 -
Lynn got the edges of the barrel planters ground down and ready to hand sand. Right now I am only able to stay outside for a short while before I start sweating like a race horse. I'm guessing that it's the medicines and the aftermath of surgery. I find it quite aggravating, but I guess it's good in a way. It keeps me from overdoing it and start hurting.
I actually got my hoe out and did a little weedin' while I was out. I couldn't help but notice that the weeds and volunteer grass are sprouting rampantly in the beds. Not much I can do about it now. I guess I'll have to practice a little "Renew The View" this fall and next spring. Lynn got the pots and tubs dumped up and the soil cleaned up to re-use. I'll mix some compost and maybe a little fresh soil with the old potting mix to re-use. The soil is not bad, it's just used and depleted of nutrients. Outside of possibly the tomatoes, there was no disease present last year, so there should be no problems other than some weed seeds. But then, this is the "Garden of Weedin".
I had another "Brain Fart" (Hillbilly for idea that usually gets me in trouble) the other day (actually a couple). I want to repot the Redbud tree into one of the larger barrel planters and plant some Moss Rose around it. This should be quite attractive on the patio. The second brain fart was to create stages for some of the garden statues I've been collecting. I'll create these by casting concrete in aluminum pie pans and reinforcing the concrete with a disc of chicken wire. Once dry. I can paint these with brown or green paint. If the edges show enough texture, I might even try to paint them to look like slabs of wood. When I cast the "stages", I'll create a hole in the center for those statues that have a spike.
The temps got into the low 90's today and it rained this evening and off and on throughout the night. A cold front is moving in and they say it will be quite cool for the next couple of days.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009 -
The weather was quite cool today with temps only in the low to mid 60's. It was rainy this morning. I didn't get out at all today because of the wet ground. Crutches and wet ground don't get along very well at all! Back To Top Thursday, June 4, 2009 - The weather is a little warmer today than yesterday with temperatures in the low 70's, but sunny. I wandered outside today and found several English Daisies missing to squirrels and starlings. I also noticed one tomato plant dead from damping off disease. The most likely cause - the fresh grass clippings placed to tightly around the stems. The fresh clippings are prime real estate for fungal growth and with the damp weather, the fungus would have flourished. Additionally, with the clippings placed so close, air movement was impeded. I pulled the mulch back, away from the stems of the remaining plants. As for the other flowers in the planter, I need to get out and place a few scarecrows. The marigolds are safe because the squirrels and starlings don't like the smell. Saturday, June 6, 2009 - Got first barrel planter finished and painted. This will be planted with the redbud tree I have had growing in the bushel nursery pot for the past four years. I will plant Portulaca (Moss Rose) in the top of the planter. Along with the moss rose, I will create two or three concrete "stages" to place in the top of the planter. Just for fun, I will display a couple of the small statues I have been collecting on these stages. I took my first trip to a store today. Momma and me went to Wal-Mart together (very cheap date - LOL). It pushed the limits of my endurance, but while there I spotted kerosene lanterns (farmers lanterns). These will look and work great hung from hooks on the posts around the patio. I'll fill them with Tikki Torch citronella oil for both light and insect repellency. On the other side - NO TOMATO CAGES! Imagine that! Well at least Wal-Mart is living up to their reputation of "buy it when you see it, because tomorrow we'll be out and won't get any more". No problem. I've got other ideas that will work as well or better. I was only going to purchase cages for convenience sake anyway. Sunday, June 7, 2009 - Planted the redbud tree in the first planter. Moss Rose seed is no longer available in stores, so Momma ordered some for me online. Back To Top Monday, June 8, 2009 - Got out and picked up trash and sticks from the yard for the first time since the surgery. For most, this is a small matter not worth mentioning. For me, on crutches, it was somewhat of an ordeal - but it felt great! I can't stand having trash (especially cigarette butts) in my yard. The same goes for sticks, no matter how small. I may not try to grow good grass and most of the time a lot of the yard looks a mess from lack of organizational space right now, but you will not find trash and sticks in my yard. I found kerosene lanterns (farm lanterns) at our local Wal-Mart this weekend. Yes they are pretty light in construction, but they are working lanterns and they will work great hung around the patio and filled with citronella Tikki Torch oil. The lanterns will provide light and insect repellency at the same time. Momma went and bought me six of them today. I will hang them from the posts we installed around the patio last year. Tuesday, June 9, 2009 - With the help of our son, I installed three, eight-foot, plastic coated garden stakes along the indeterminate tomato's. I will tie string (preferably green dyed jute twine) from post to post about every four to six inches as the tomato's grow and thread them through it as they grow. This will give them flexible support and keep the plants in a flat shape for better sun penetration and air circulation. Additionally, the plants look attractive this way and the tomato's are easy to pick. The only problem I had last time was keeping up with the pruning and I didn't top them because I wanted to see how tall they would get. Unfortunately, the plants quickly outgrew the six-foot trellis I had constructed, but the principal worked great. Those plants would have covered a twelve-foot trellis if I had had one. The weather has been quite warm the last few days with temperatures in the upper 80's to low 90's. But today we have storms moving in and the temperatures are dropping quite nicely. Thursday, June 11, 2009 -
I took a serious look at the flower beds today. Actually, I took time to take a serious look at myself, my attitude and my efforts. In my quest to cram as much as possible into small spaces, I created a nightmare when it comes to "low-maintenance" gardening. I didn't realize, or think about, until now, just how much "maintenance" I had been creating in my gardening efforts. Hand weeding is just something I've always done, without thinking about how much time I actually spent at it. Hence - "the Garden of Weedin". The name is applicable because that's the attitude I've been employing. Everything is planted so close that cultivators and hoes cannot be used. Standing upright to do everyday gardening tasks is not a part of my plan or efforts. I never fully considered that things could, or would change. I have created garden beds that require hand weeding. Something I cannot do now (at least not for some time to come). I have since realized that it should be the practice of every gardener seeking to work smarter, not harder, to plant no closer than 18 inches apart on anything when it comes to the perennial beds in general. And then, only for plants that have very little spread.
For most plants that have even moderate spreading habits, 24 to 36 inches would be preferable and even then, only if it was for sure that a thick mulch could be applied and judicious lifting and division could and would be employed. I've really screwed the pooch on this one. I guess I'll practice a lot of "Renew The View" this fall and next spring. This will be a great time to see how many of my plants can be successfully grown in large planters. My new barrel planters may be just the thing for this endeavor, or at leas a major part of it. Perhaps, I'll divide many plants and plant some in planters and the rest back into the beds. This way if the planters do not work out I'll still have the ones in the beds. My biggest concerns right now regarding this idea are:
1) Plants grown in containers need regular feeding since they cannot "forage" for food and are confined to the container. I have a very hard time keeping enough plant food around now for what I already have. What happens when I double or triple that number?
2) Plants in containers must be divided and repotted regularly. This is a practice that must be done regularly, but I have difficulty doing when needed. I get to many things going at once. Time management and good judgment on projects will be extremely important or I will create another nightmare when it comes to things that need to be done at a particular time. Another thing, when it comes to container gardening, is that it requires little in the way of equipment and facilities to do
such, but what it does require is really quite necessary. Will I be able to acquire and incorporate these things BEFORE I start such an endeavor? 3) Winter storage and protection will be key factors in the overall success of such a project. Will I have the necessary support mechanisms in place before I start such a project? What good will it do to start such a project, only to loose them when winter hits? Simply grouping the planters and covering with leaves will not do. I must create a formal system and/or enclosure where I can protect the planters, inspect them periodically and care for them throughout the winter before I start such a project. On this note, what are my plans to protect the large planters that are to heavy to be moving? I've come to realize just now, that I've started planting in them and have no plan as of yet for protecting them through winter. Hum - guess I better get busy!
Another thing I've realized from this experience that I have failed miserably on is not having any support items in place BEFORE I start a new gardening project. Consider well the things that will be needed to make a project work that have little to do with the day-to-day growing aspect and get these things done before you start on the growing aspect. That way, the support will indeed be there before you need it. It is so easy to do the planting and growing things, leaving the support items till later, then get so wrapped up in other things that all of a sudden you need the support item and it isn't there.
A good case in point - the propagation bed I built to start seed in. The success of this bed relies on having a formal nursery bed and a convenient means of potting plants when they are ready. Neither of which I have because I was GOING TO DO IT LATER. Later never came and now the propagation bed is an overgrown mess and basically needs to dug out, cleaned out and started over. The primary purpose of this project was to have a place where I could start seeds of perennials outdoors. I would plant some of them for my own use and sell the rest either in the fall or the following spring for some extra cash to fund my other projects. This, in my opinion, is still a worthy and worthwhile endeavor as it would create new plants at a fraction of the cost of nursery bought plants and would create some much needed cash for my other projects and to support my present efforts. But my own lack of discipline has caused it to be a failure thus far. The idea is great, but the execution is left lacking.
Another area where I failed was in not completing the propagation bed. I originally was to have some form of film cover for it, along with a screen cover. An experimental, temporary screen cover was created up front to keep birds and squirrels out and worked well, but a permanent structure was never built. The film cover was never started. The nursery bed was to have both a shade cover and film cover and be constructed as a timber frame (similar to a raised bed), lined with a weed barrier and a couple of inches of sand placed in the bottom. The entire thing was to be covered with PVC (or other material) hoops, over which the film or screening was to be placed. At some point, it was hoped that I could incorporate some form of mist and/or automatic watering system.
All of these things should have been done before I ever planted a seed. But I had convinced myself that I would come back and get them done later and that I had plenty of time. I was not honest with myself and failed to consider the fact that I have a bad habit of bouncing from project to project, without ever fully completing many. Back To Top Friday, June 12, 2009 -
The moss rose (Portulaca) seed arrived today in the mail. The seed came from a place called Seeds4change, out of Schenectady, NY. Never heard of them. But then it was Momma buying the seed and all that mattered to her was that it was moss rose seed and she knew I wanted it. Bless her heart. I mixed approximately 1/2 of the seed with approximately 1 pint of seed-starting mix and mixed well. I chose the seed-starting media over sand because I wanted the fine soil for the seed to start in. I have intentions of using the growing containers as stages for some of the garden statues that I have been collecting.
A couple of them are going into the barrel planter that the redbud is planted in, but they need some form of base I think. I'm going to cast "stages" for these statues out of cement and place them on the soil around the tree to display the statues on. I'm going to use aluminum pie pans for the forms for these statues, so I placed them upside down where I wanted the statues to be and sowed the soil/seed mix around the remaining open soil.
I cast three display stages in aluminum pie pans today. I used some mortar mix I had left from other projects. I was going to use it for some small projects, but at the rate I'm going, it'll be hard as a rock before I can get it used. So I might as well use it up on other things, rather than letting it go bad. After the castings are thoroughly dry, I'll paint them, possibly to look like slabs of wood because the side texture of the pans should cause the castings to look like they have bark around the edges.
Taking a walk today through the yard, I saw so many plants that need to be staked. The Joe-Pye-Weed needs staked every year, but added to it are meadowsweet, Shasta daisy, valerian (garden heliotrope) and evening primrose. The rue and Artemisia (wormwood) look pretty bad after the storms earlier this spring. I probably should have gotten out and stake and tied them up afterward. I'll prune them back severely this fall to encourage bushier growth next year. In the raised beds, it's a good thing that I didn't get a lot planted. At least not in the manner in which I was starting. Virtually everything is much to close for optimum growth. Yes things can be planted closer than the seed packets say, but not at one-half to one-fourth the distance. In the future, I will plant at approximately one-quarter to one-third less spacing. This should work well, but only as long as I can provide the fertility, water and mulch needed for this intensive rate of production. Some specific things I have noted are: The cabbages are doing well, but will do better if only planted three across a four-foot bed, not four across. Plant Mesclun mixes in blocks, not rows. This will allow more of the varieties of plants to grow. Mix the seed with copious amounts of sand or seed starting mix prior to planting. Even with fancy seeding gadgets, you can't get the seed sow thin enough to prevent having to pull out to many of the many varieties. It is this variety of plant species that makes Mesclun so unique. Be more realistic about your usage before ordering any plants. In this case onions. One bunch of onions would have been more than enough because I am the only one who enjoys and eats scallions. The beets and kohlrabi rows are to closely spaced. While they are developing pretty good, a one-foot spacing would have been better. In fact, most plantings will do better on a one-foot spacing. In the future, this will be my standard for most plantings. Actually, this was going to be my target originally, but I thought I would see how well a closer spacing would work. It is as I suspected. I just was not sure how close I could space things before there was noticeable negative impact. Peas planted after the first of May, here in the Ozarks, just do not do well at all. I will reserve the remainder of the seed I have for a fall planting, provided I have a place prepared for them to climb. If not, I'll forego the peas this year.
Saturday, June 13, 2009 - Got the second large barrel planter finished and painted today. Looking forward to planting the lilac into the planter. As I fill the planter, I'm going to insert six smaller pots around the perimeter to plant annuals in. I have the begonias that Momma bought me to plant yet, so these should do nicely. I've been deliberating much over what to plant in the three small planters. I only have three right now and so many things I could (or should) plant in them. I'm torn as to what should be my first plantings. These would be great for the lemon grass, but these planters would be very heavy to move indoors. At this time, I'm really leaning toward planting Habeck, chocolate and lime mints. The Habeck is far to invasive to leave in the garden and is becoming a problem and the chocolate and lime mints are in danger of dying out if I don't do something. Of course, it is a long-term goal to also use them for flowers and vegetables, but right now I only have three. I'm also torn as to what to plant in the third large barrel planter. Right now, I'm leaning toward a miniature rose, but I don't have one to plant right now and not sure if I will be able to buy one yet this year. I'm really leaning toward one each of three different kinds of peppers for this year. The rose, pretty as it would be, might be better to wait till next year (or whenever). Perhaps by then, I will have more barrels also. Ultimately, I would like to have enough barrels to plant all of my tomatoes, peppers, corn and the like in. Basically, I want enough barrels to plant all of my large plants in (a barrel farm). Sunday, June 14, 2009 - Cut new plant supports stakes for the determinate tomatoes today. These are being made as reusable supports that have holes drilled at a four inch spacing. I will thoroughly paint these and make them so they are adaptable to many different plant support uses. I already had the stakes and was going to install them around the determinate tomato, but I decided I was not going to be content with stakes that had to be replaced or remade every year, so I held off installing them until I could create reusable stakes. It may take a little time up front for each stake or set of stakes, but after it is all said and done, it will be worth it in the long run. After making them originally, all that will need to be done is a little periodic repainting. My problem right now - I've ran out of paint and will have to wait to get some more. In looking at the remaining plants that I started, I have determined that the only things worth saving are one pepper plant and the celery plants. My problem right now, every time the soil dries enough to plant anything, it rains again. It rained the day before yesterday and they're calling for rain tonight and tomorrow. It may not be the right way to do things, but given the options, I'll try to "mud them in" anyway. This is the practice of planting in the mud because the soil won't dry at a proper time to plant. Yes it can cause soil compaction and clods, but it is normally only done when the option is to loose the plants. The plants recover alright, but the soil will be hard to work for a while. Normally I would simply cover the bed, or a portion of it with plastic to let it dry (that's part of the reason for the raised beds), but this year has turned out anything but normal. I "mudded" the pepper into the planter where one of the tomato's died. The celery will probably get mudded in a remaining area of the first bed that wasn't planted and hope they weren't left in small pots so long that they are stunted. I'm really looking forward to some increased mobility and fewer restrictions on what I can and can't do this fall. Back To Top Monday, June 15, 2009 - I went ahead and planted the ten celery plants that were left. Some were pretty small, but we'll see how they do. I personally have never tried growing celery before. Some say it gets too hot here and others say it is a bother having to tie the plants. The hot I can't do anything about. The tying, if I can get to it, I don't mind. We'll see what comes of it. The peas are setting pods, but the quantity that will be produced on a few plants make it questionable whether or not to pursue such endeavors with such short rows. It might be fine for adding to a salad, but even then right now it would only be two or three pea pods per salad. We must re-evaluate this crop with this method. I'm wondering about “double-rowing”. This method of placing the rows of peas roughly 4 to 6 inches apart and letting them support themselves might work to increase production. In this case, I would have the trellis between the rows for added support. Peas are one crop that you can plant very thickly and still produce well. After rain last night and a cloudy morning, this afternoon has turned off hot and humid with temperatures near 90 degrees F. It's bad enough that right now I can't stay outside and do anything without starting to sweat like a race horse, even when the temperature is cool, but with it a tad bit hot I start to drown in my own sweat as soon as I walk out the door. I look forward to rebuilding my tolerance. Tuesday, June 19, 2009 - Awoke this morning at 6 AM to the sound of the tornado sirens and a tornadic cell headed for us. What a way to start the day. We had severe storms last night as well around midnight. Through both storms, we ended up with about 3 inches of rain and a lot of high winds. Rains, storms and high winds have been the norm so far this year. The back yard was a lake again. What plants have remained upright are now laying on the ground. I would have had to have stakes for virtually everything on the place this year. Wednesday, June 17, 2009 - It's sunny, bright and HOTTT today, with highs in the low nineties, humidity is 51% @1400 and a rising barometer. It was 75 degrees F @ 0530 this morning as I went for an early doctor appointment. So we knew it was not going to be conducive to getting out much today. What a way to celebrate momma's birthday! To hot to get very enthused to do anything outdoors right now. We'll take another look this evening. But the tomato's are blooming and looking very robust. We're hoping to get more paint in a day or two to work on more plant stakes. If we can get more paint and plant stakes made, we'll make an attempt to pull up some of the jungle I've got laying in the paths around the house. Normally, this time of year I would be keeping bugs off of the garden with insecticidal soap because the rains would have stopped and I'd be watering every day. But this year has been so rainy, I would have to spray almost every day. This one year I wish I did have some floating row cover. Oh well, the water bill is lower this year. Back To Top Saturday, June 20, 2009 - Added a couple more strings to tomatoes and did some pruning. I cut out a few side sprouts and trimmed a few of the leaves at the bottom back that were interfering with the marigold's. All of the tomatoes are starting to bloom now. I got out and started cleaning some soil and compost to mix for the second barrel planter. I went ahead and mixed one wheelbarrow full of soil and got it put in the planter with the help of a two wheeler to carry the buckets full of material. I don't have any more of the used potting soil to add to it or any Perlite. I'll use just soil and compost. This will be much like ordinary growing soil that the Lilac would be growing in anyway. The soil will settle more than if I had other amendments, so I'll need to make allowances. Additionally, the soil will not drain as well, so I'll have to remember not to water as much. This planter will incorporate individual planting containers around the perimeter to plant annuals in. This way I can under plant the large planter without disturbing the roots of the Lilac later. I went ahead and purchased a Glycophosphate weed killer today to use on the patio. Normally, I would not use such for general weed control, but in this case, it would be appropriate for the following reasons: Time was a consideration. I needed something that was quick with a total kill in one pass. Right now the weather is right for getting the brick patio sealed and I would like to try to get a second seal on it before winter. The sealer I have (as with most masonry sealers) calls for several weeks before applying a second coat. The bricks in which the weeds are sprouting are installed on a sand bed, which is on top of a weed barrier and then on a bed of gravel. This will allow a good buffer between the soil and weed killer to prevent possible translocation. Any weed killer residue will be sharply isolated from the weather by the sealer to minimize any runoff issues.
Sunday, June 21, 2009 - With the help of my son, I planted the Lilac in the second barrel planter along with six planting containers around the outside edge of the planter. I planted some begonias in each of the small containers. I started spraying the weeds that were coming up in the patio bricks. I will finish tomorrow and then spot-spray any I missed in a day or two. My hope is to have all of the weeds killed and removed in order to clean off the patio, add some more sand and seal the patio in a week or so. This should allow enough dry time to be able to seal it again in late August. I seriously misjudged how much the soil in the planter would settle. With some light tamping as I filled the planter, I was expecting maybe a couple of inches, which would have been expectable. But the soil settled 3 or more inches along with the small containers. I will need to let the soil dry for a few days and then reset the Lilac and planters. I think I'll use straight compost for this task as it will settle less and I have a lot of it that is going bad and needs to be used up. While I was at it, I planted the wooden planter with the rain-gauge post and a send trough planter that I placed near the back door. Tuesday, June 23, 2009 - Picked a mess of lettuce today for salads. It's getting quite large, but not bitter yet. It's large enough that it needs to be hoiked and something new planted. I also picked a few of the beets for the salad. Tasty leaves, but I wouldn't want a lot of them. Picked a mess of snap peas. It was a small picking and not enough the prepare by themselves. Perhaps, if they were properly fertilized and a soaker irrigation system installed, a 4 foot row might produce enough at one time for a mess of snap peas for two at once. A 4 foot row won't produce enough for 2 people of shell peas. Gardening in such a small space is becoming quite a learning experience in small numbers. I've never been quite this restricted before. But I welcome the challenge and I will learn how to make it work. I sprayed the cabbages and kohlrabi today with insecticidal soap. I haven't been able to get out and do this sort of thing for the last several weeks. The cabbages are just about completely ate up by cabbage looper's. If I can keep them sprayed, I can still get some usable cabbages this year. It's time to get some cabbage seeds started for a fall garden as well as broccoli and cauliflower. Any time in the next two weeks should work. I need to develop a hoop system for at least one bed so that I could could plant nothing but lettuce, greens and brassica's and put them under cover to keep worms out and at least greatly limit spraying. In the past, I've always kept things sprayed, but all of the rain this year along with physical limitations, is making this difficult at best. I figured out that things planted in the raised beds need to have rows of not less than one foot or in blocks of a foot wide, separated by a foot for the next row. One foot row spacing should work for most things if you properly fertilize and install an automatic irrigation system. Trying to water by hand, in the heat we've been having (consistently in the nineties for the past two weeks) is making keeping enough water on the beds nearly impossible. I also found that I have everything so close that getting in to mulch, now that I need it, is impossible and this is driving me crazy. I love mulch around everything, but it was so cool and wet earlier, that mulch might have been a bad thing. I finished spraying the weeds coming up in the patio this morning. The plan is to spot spray what was missed over the next week then employ my granddaughters to pull out the dead plants. Yes, I said employ. I will pay them to pull out the weeds so that they can start learning that you can't just be given everything. You must earn what you get in life. After the dead plants are pulled, I will clean off the patio and sweep in more sand. After sweeping, I will settle this in with a light soaking from the hose. This will be allowed to dry a couple of days and then seal the patio with a water sealer. Hopefully, I will be able to seal It again before fall. Back To Top Wednesday, June 24, 2009 - I worked at getting the plant stakes and statue bases painted this morning. I'm determined to get these finished. Between the heat that keeps driving me indoors early every day and everything else, It's been a labor to get these finished. What a shock this afternoon (approximately 1530 hrs [3:30 pm] )! Woke up from a little nap to very loud thunder and heavy rain. When I looked at the forecast this morning, they were calling for highs in the upper nineties and a slight chance of an isolated thundershower. Looking at the forecast now, they are calling for a 90% chance of isolated strong thunderstorms. Welcome to Missouri! If you don't like the weather now, wait a few hours – it will change! We received right at 1 7/8 inch of rain and the temperature cooled from 96 F (at 1330 hrs [1:30 pm] the last time I looked) to the upper 70's by 1700 hrs (5:00 pm). Not complaining at all – just surprised! Thursday, June 25, 2009 - I sprayed the cabbages and kohlrabi again after the rain yesterday. It is important to keep on top of this if we are to have any cabbage at all. The forecast is for the possibility of more thunderstorms this afternoon with highs in the lower nineties. Lynn helped me finish painting the plant stakes today while I was cleaning out and re-organizing my tool bucket. Finally, tomorrow I should be able to put them and the statue platforms to use. Friday, June 26, 2009 - Another hot, sultry day! They're calling for temps in the mid 90's again today. I got out at 0730 and the temperature was already 82 degrees F. I did get the new tomato stakes in around the determinate tomato and got it caged. I made a threading needle out of a piece of coat hanger (imagine that???) 98thread the twine through the holes quicker. The preliminary results are very good. Right now, I think I'll cut all of the remaining Oak lumber into these stakes. I think they'll work out fine. I placed the statue platforms in place and placed the statues on them. They look cute, but the birds don't appreciate my "fishing frog" in their birdbath! Oh well, they'll just have to get over it. Back To Top Saturday, June 27, 2009 - Another, even hotter day today! At 0800 it was already 89 degrees F. with a predicted temp. of 98 degrees F. today and a heat index of 108 degrees F. To hot for this fat ole Hillbilly. The forecast is for a cool front to move through tonight with the possibility of thunderstorms. Of course! We don't seem to be able to get just plain ole rain anymore. The weather service is calling for temps only in the low 80's tomorrow. With what we've been having, that will seem quite cool. If it doesn't rain, it will be a good time to get out and get some work done. I did get out and pull the lettuce from the bed so I could get something else planted later. I've decided that I'm going to finish digging the second bed (Bed #1) and plant it with sweet corn and turnips. It gets a lot more shade than I would like, but it's what I've got to work with right now. I still have time for corn to make, but I have to get some seed. I already have the turnip seed. The compost pile really needs to be turned, but right now I still am not able to such. I'll probably get out and do it anyway. Lynn is good help when he's here, but he has his own life to live. I'll just work at it a little at a time. I also need to get some beans planted - both pole and bush. The peas were a disappointment and there isn't enough of a crop to make it worthwhile to keep them. I'll pull them to make room for pole beans. Sunday, June 28, 2009 - It got much cooler last night and we got 1/4 inch of rain. I woke up this morning with the temperature only 70 degrees F. After what we've been having, that's almost jacket weather. With the rain last night, my plans on planting beans went out the window. Besides, after the heat we've been having - I'm beat! I think I'll just clean up the yard and enjoy this weather. Tuesday, June 30, 2009 - I ended June on a good note by getting a lot of weeding and cultivating done in the first bed (bed #2). Things seemed unusually clear today for some reason and I don't, for the life of me, understand why I planted so many things so closely together and with no supplemental fertilizer. I had the general purpose fertilizer already but did not (and still don't) have the blood meal or other nitrogen fertilizer. I knew up front that a closely planted bed would need supplemental fertilizer and quite a bit of it. I pulled up the peas and stripped the pods off of them. All there was left on the plants was a large hand-full of pods. They didn't produce like I had hoped and I'm not sure at this time if I'll plant them again with only 4 feet of row. But then, it was awfully good to have the fresh pods to snack on while I worked. I had pulled up the lettuce the other day. I added more compost (pretty old) and some organic fertilizer to the soil and mixed them in. Bush Blue Lake 47 beans were planted in its place. I planted two rows spaced 12 inches apart, but 1 foot away from the Kohlrabi row. This extra spacing should do much better than the extremely close spacing of the rows before. A double row (2, 4 foot rows should give me enough beans at a picking to make it worth the effort. Where the peas were, I added compost and planted Helda SG, Romano pole beans. I side-dressed the row with organic fertilizer. I'm not sure how good the harvest will be on pole beans with only a 4 foot row, but we're going to find out. The extra fertilizer should help with greater harvests. The heat we've had the last few weeks has killed all but 5 of the celery plants. I side-dressed them with fertilizer and watered them well. I think I'll lift these and place them in a single row alongside of the pole beans, but space the row 1 foot from the beans. This will give me room to plant a row or two something else next to them. In looking through my seed to find the beans, I couldn't help but notice that I had a lot of seed, such as more Kohlrabi, beats, both carrots (purple and orange), and many others that could be planted in the next few weeks. I had also forgotten that I had purchased extra basil, thyme, parsley and a host of others that I never got in the ground. I think these need to be started right away. They would do well to start in nursery rows in a bed and transplanted after they come up. I must take time to mulch these beds right now. The blasted plantain keeps going to seed before I can get the yard mowed, which could be bad in the garden, but any seedling from these will be easy to pull and any problems from the weeds will be much better than not having the mulch. Lynn has been doing the mowing, but with his hand injury, he doesn't need to be doing it right now. I am improved to the point that I can do a lot of the mowing. But I will need to do it a little at a time and it might (probably will) take a couple of days to accomplish. But at least it will get done. If I know Lynn, he will throw a fit if I get out and do this and I may need to plan this effort around his work, but the risk of injury is greater for him than to me, if I use good judgment and am careful. I have extra squash seed and enough time for them to make yet this year. I'm going to dig the second bed (bed #1) myself and plant it with squash and sweet corn if I can find some. I'll probably order the seed from a mail-order nursery or on-line. I sprayed the cabbages and kohlrabi again this morning. We keep getting just enough of a shower here and there, to wash off the insecticidal soap. But if I'm going to have any of these crops at all, I'll need to keep on top of this. Even if I must spray every day. I really, really need to install row covering over at least one bed next year. This is nuts trying to keep the worms at bay this way. For non-blooming crops that don't need pollination, there's no reason not to have the row covering. The cabbage moths are doing double-duty, laying eggs that seem to hatch overnight. I enjoy writing and have written quite a bit. I'm kicking around the idea of submitting some of my stuff for publication. What the heck. What's the worst that could happen, get rejected? Overall, it was a very good morning this morning and I seemed to be thinking more clearly than usual. The weather was much cooler than it's been the last several mornings and it was feeling good to be working in the garden again. Well this is the last day of June and It hasn't been a stellar month. But I suppose it's been better than it could have been. I look forward to what July has to offer. July is the start of the fall-planting season. Let's hope that this fall goes much better than this spring has gone. Back To Top the "Hillbilly Gardener" |
