What Did You Do In The Garden?

[Prairie Rose]

I went out and weeded again this morning, my mother went out and watered last night. Took the dog to the vet, got called in to work in a different store than mine in a few hours, have fresh sugar syrup cooling to put out for the bees in the morning. They're not taking it fast, but they're still taking it. And I want to give them every chance of surviving this winter that I can.

 

[Trish Stretton]

Yep, its a bought lemon with a noticable graft.
I decided to try to espalier it just so I wouldnt have to reach through the thorny bits to get to the fruit. They are lovely and juicy.

Jack doesnt bark much so I pay attention when he does. and he doesnt bark or go at cats or birds- thats just not okay. I trained him from a puppy to leave them. (Its my job to chase off the cats).
I did think one of those solar light things that attach to the gutter might be a good idea too, it should help break up any shadowing on the window.

Today, I was out in the rain with my raincoat on, laying pavers out around the edge of the lawn and the paths that are already done so I could be completely sure I have enough to do everything....then they had to get stacked up again out of the way.

If I use some old (real) bricks as accent points around the lawn, I will have enough to finish all the paths around those last four vegie beds and do the mowing strip as well.
I'm quietly thrilled at how it looked with them just laying on the ground. Everything ties in real nice.

I've found that there isnt much point making the paths over winter cos when a hard frost hits, it cracks everything. But I can put the timber edging in place in readiness. I could lay the pavers end to end so any weeds dont have room to grow....much and I guess I could still lay the paths out but they will have to get covered with weedmat til the chances of frosts are over.

 

[flowerbug]

took a few pictures first as i wanted to try out some morning light. i think there is some potential for good shots so it will be fun if i can look at those tonight.

then watered the veggie gardens inside the fenced gardens to make sure everything had enough juice to keep going through the sunshine and lack of rain. it takes about an hour and a half to water everything well enough (the tomato patch is a half hour alone because i do it several times and it has to have some time to soak in) and then i also had to get the beans outside the fence at least moistened to keep them on the road towards sprouting. i'm starting to see the cracks from the seeds starting to push up so things are going fine there. will hit them again later when there is just a few hours of light left so they are warm and moist enough through the night.

then i weeded until i started getting overheated (no breeze at all) came in grabbed a drink and turned on the AC to get some of the humidity out of the house and to cool down. then took some water for Mom and a bit of plant that i transplanted and took them outside...

came back in to take a break until i could get a few worm buckets going again. i need to do a few each day in the morning when it is early enough for me to get out and scavenge humus and break up dirt clods. those are done so i can digest brunch and poke at something else for a while.

will have to pick strawberries tomorrow or at least check them over to see what is ready. if not ready to pick then wait another day. that was another reason i had to water today to make sure it all had enough time to soak in and dry out well enough before i start tromping through there...

when weeding i might be the only person who is glad to see a bird poop on the ground and say thank you to the birdies for their continued support. haha...

 

[flowerbug]

Yep, its a bought lemon with a noticable graft.
I decided to try to espalier it just so I wouldnt have to reach through the thorny bits to get to the fruit. They are lovely and juicy.
...

so jealous of those who can grow citrus of their own!

 

[digitS']

Ran tiller on the paths. But first, I had to deal with a visiting marmot!

He hid under the neighbor's stack of railroad ties. This has happened before and since the corner of the garage foundation, about 20' away, hasn't been dug under - these ties are the nearest place to the garden for him to hide. (Oh yeah, I need to go up to the garden's SW corner to see if anything larger than a mouse has been digging up there in 2020 😳 .)

I set out to move the ties after blocking a freshly dug hole, also, in its usual place. One tie, oof, two, ugh, 3, groan, 4, pleeease ... 5 ties. That has been enuf in the past there is still one more against the ground but it's really narrow for a marmot to completely hide under. So, where is he??

A 3' piece of rebar is near the railroad ties. I push it under the tie from the back anticipating seeing something at the open end of the burrow. Nothing. Am I sure? Go around to the back, push the rebar thru again. It's just lying there in the dirt. I look over my shoulder to the east.

There he is! Marty the Marmot is high-tailing it towards the plum tree and rockpile behind it! He's already about 50' away. I never saw his escape out from under the ties!

It's okay. My experience with these critters is that they will eat absolutely anything green - they don't need garden vegetables and I noticed no damage. Marmots are shortlegged - I can't catch them but they DO NOT like to learn that their hiding places are unsafe.

He may run past or thru the garden but he won't be comfortable for quite some time. After Marmots fattens up (on pasture grass, clover and alfalfa as likely as anything) - they descend into their burrows and take 4 to 6 weeks off during midsummer. If I see any more sign of him, I will ask the neighbor about investigating the rockpile. I've done that before and just harassing them has driven them further from the garden .

Then, I see my first Mountain Cottontail bunny of 2020 while I'm eating lunch. Bounced a rock right over the top of him and he froze, looking at where the rock went into weeds. I gave up and went back to my sandwich ... where has my friend Wile E Coyote gotten himself off to?

Steve

 

[seedcorn]

Got the beans, okra and part of the peppers weeded and bedded with straw.

 

[Prairie Rose]

Went out last night and pruned my tiny tree experiment. Ended up taking more than I had originally planned on, but it is all opened up for air and light to get through to the center, and appropriately champagne-flute shaped. This is the third year on it, hopefully next year I will have peaches!

 

[Zeedman]

The rural garden is in, everything planned has been planted!!! It was downsized (due to persistent drainage problems on the low end) so the fencing had to be re-done. Divided into sections, it is now six 30' X 25' plots, with walkways between them, and along the fence perimeter. The fence was open on two sides to allow tilling, so the remaining two sides needed to be erected to protect all of the transplants from deer. This was done as the garden was being planted! DD & her grown daughter helped DW & I until it was done. I drove the fence poles for the missing sides, then marked all planting locations, and Granddaughter followed to began planting. DW & DD worked together on the fencing, then joined in to help plant... 47 varieties total.

The home gardens are progressing. I put up the trellis frames Wednesday, and DW has been tying the string trellis while I was at work. The trellising is nearly done; weather permitting, we will finish that tomorrow. Hopefully I will be able to put the covers over the pepper cages as well.

After 3 straight years of frustration - including not even planting the rural garden in 2018 & 2019 - I am overjoyed to finally get all gardens planted. In total, the gardens include:

• 7 tomato varieties (46 plants)
• 13 pepper varieties (73 plants)
• 1 eggplant (8 plants)
• 11 common beans
• 2 limas
• 2 runner beans
• 6 cowpeas / yardlongs
• 1 pea (will plant one more late)
• 3 misc. legumes (mung, adzuki, hyacinth bean)
• 14 soybeans
• 1 cucumber
• 2 bitter melons
• 2 squashes
• 1 watermelon
• 1 gherkin
• 1 misc. cucurbit (exploding gourd)
• 1 okra
• 2 sweet corn varieties
• Water spinach
• Swiss chard
• Moringa oleifera

Nearly all of these will be seed crops, to replace older seed (including three varieties sent to me by @aftermidnight ). We will be planting several lettuces & radishes in spaces between.

The only downside to this endeavor is that in the rush to get all of this done, I strained by back. It will no doubt heal, but it cost me a sleepless night & a day off of work. That inconvenience is overshadowed by all of the tireless help received by DD & Granddaughter, which was the best Fathers Day present I could ask for.

Photos to follow soon.

 

[flowerbug]

The rural garden is in, everything planned has been planted!!! It was downsized (due to persistent drainage problems on the low end) so the fencing had to be re-done. Divided into sections, it is now six 30' X 25' plots, with walkways between them, and along the fence perimeter. The fence was open on two sides to allow tilling, so the remaining two sides needed to be erected to protect all of the transplants from deer. This was done as the garden was being planted! DD & her grown daughter helped DW & I until it was done. I drove the fence poles for the missing sides, then marked all planting locations, and Granddaughter followed to began planting. DW & DD worked together on the fencing, then joined in to help plant... 47 varieties total.

The home gardens are progressing. I put up the trellis frames Wednesday, and DW has been tying the string trellis while I was at work. The trellising is nearly done; weather permitting, we will finish that tomorrow. Hopefully I will be able to put the covers over the pepper cages as well.

After 3 straight years of frustration - including not even planting the rural garden in 2018 & 2019 - I am overjoyed to finally get all gardens planted. In total, the gardens include:

• 7 tomato varieties (46 plants)
• 13 pepper varieties (73 plants)
• 1 eggplant (8 plants)
• 11 common beans
• 2 limas
• 2 runner beans
• 6 cowpeas / yardlongs
• 1 pea (will plant one more late)
• 3 misc. legumes (mung, adzuki, hyacinth bean)
• 14 soybeans
• 1 cucumber
• 2 bitter melons
• 2 squashes
• 1 watermelon
• 1 gherkin
• 1 misc. cucurbit (exploding gourd)
• 1 okra
• 2 sweet corn varieties
• Water spinach
• Swiss chard
• Moringa oleifera

Nearly all of these will be seed crops, to replace older seed (including three varieties sent to me by @aftermidnight . We will be planting several lettuces & radishes in spaces between.

The only downside to this endeavor is that in the rush to get all of this done, I strained by back. It will no doubt heal, but it cost me a sleepless night & a day off of work. That inconvenience is overshadowed by all of the tireless help received by DD & Granddaughter, which was the best Fathers Day present I could ask for.

Photos to follow soon.

what beans?

yeah, getting older where the body takes less punishment can be hard to accept and to take into consideration.

mornings are the toughest time for certain back issues. go slow and make sure to stretch and move around so the discs can soften up before doing any heavy lifting and bending...

 

[digitS']

Some fertilizer went into the big garden, yesterday. A 7% Nitrogen organic fertilizer has been hoarded for years and there isn't much of it left. I don't know where to buy something comparable, these days.

Mostly, I think some of the plants are just hung up from the cool growing conditions and transplanting shock. Early transplanted cabbage, for example, now look to be growing just fine. More recent cabbage set out there look the same as when they went in. Oh well, with some fertilizer side-dressing, they have a little more N to build proteins for growth.

@Zeedman @flowerbug , I worked at a concrete block company when I was 19. Probably a foolish choice for someone with preexisting joint problems but, at least, I hadn't been diagnosed with RA, yet. Some of the blocks that I was handling weighed over 50#.

I sprained my back one Friday morning. I remember thinking that I hoped no superior noticed how I was just cruising through the afternoon, waiting to go home. Ya know, that 19 year-old felt fine by Monday morning. Just one of several work related back injuries over many years.

Steve