Holy moly. Time flies.
Well, the garden has seriously been a bust..I keep saying that. With all the rain we are having, courtesy of the hurricanes down south, I have no problem with moisture, and my plants are bigger than EVER before. Could that be the compost? What's weird is that my plants are HUGE, but the fruit yield is relatively low. not enough nitrogen, perhaps? Or maybe no pollinators, as I've mused before.
What is actually happening is that now that it's a bit cooler, they are starting to set on fruit. Maybe it's true that they can't pollinate over 100 degrees. But now that it's so insanely MOIST around here, everything is getting fungus. Delightful. I have had a total of TWO--TWO--tomatoes off my Brandy Boy plant. Which really stinks, because that is the one I was most hoping for. The plant is like 9 feet tall, and there are a lot of green fruits on it...so we will see. The two I did have were like heaven, though.
My little juliet plant is really rocking; it's been producing well all summer. The fruit is almost hot, like it's already salsa. I'll definitely try that one again next summer. And it's in a container! Go figure.
My squash seem big and healthy, despite the fungus (the plants, anyway). However, since early July the fruit has been totally mutated. I had some pictures which I will post later. They are multicolored and twisted and look like they have tumors. Real appetizing, let me tell you. I've cut a few open to see what is up; my mom says not to eat them. I didn't, but they look normal inside. Just on the outside it's like some kind of radioactive growth.
And as my mom and dad say about this whole thing, "It's only a hobby." I'll try to keep that in mind.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Sunday, July 20, 2008
I typically don't do infomercials, but....
....I have tried a product that I like a lot. Thought I would share it with you.
As you may know, I do not do high-maintenance or expensive skin care stuff. Just ask my sister! I do the bare minimum, I like low-maintenance. Yes, I'm sure I'll be a wrinkly, spotted, disgusting old woman because of it, but, oh, well.
Anyway, I wash my hands a LOT because I'm always either a) messing with or cleaning up after animals, or b) playing in the garden. So my hands get very dry, even in the summer.
A friend gave me this lotion called Regeneration Extreme Repair. it's made by a company called Beauticontrol. It's a seriously heavy-duty lotion, but it's not greasy--I hate that. It actually feels great. It is also fragrance free. My skin breaks out at just about anything, and this has not irritated my skin.
Anyway, if you have dry skin or are looking for a new hand lotion, you should check it out. You can see it at www.beautybyvicki.com.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
CREATURES FROM BEYOND
Okay, I have noticed these guys milling around in my compost bin. This is the second batch of compost, and I never saw these in the first one. I didn't really get too concerned, but now there are like a ZILLION of them. So many that they are crawling out of the compost bin and out into the yard. I am afraid they are going to come get me in my sleep.
WHAT ARE THEY???
Please let me know if you have any idea. I have never seen these before. They move like millipedes or centipedes, they sort of undulate across a surface to move. They don't appear to have any eyes, that I can see. I don't think they're grubs, because they're not juicy (looking), and they don't have a "head." For scale, they are about 1 inch long.
I guess I just want to know if they are good guys or bad guys!
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Some Photos
General long shot of the garden. I went with the cinder blocks; the jury is still out, but I think I like them. The whole garden is skinny enough that I can do everything from either side; I never have to climb in.
One of my slow-growing tomatoes. I know I probably need to mulch the soil. Hay, maybe?
This one actually has some green fruit on it. Hopefully it will ripen someday! this is a beefsteak. See that leaf curl, though? Hmm.
Not just tomatoes
I seem to only be mentioning my tomatoes. Well, my squash is doing okay, at least the zucchini is. Slow, as everything else, but I didn't plant anything until the end of May, so what do I expect?
We ate some of the zucchini a few days ago. it's good.
I planted a crook necked yellow squash plant, one that I actually started from seed (yes, my one success!!). I didn't do such a great job of labeling my seedlings, so this is one that I thought was a cucumber, but it's not. Something WEIRD is happening to its fruit. There are tons of little baby yellow squash on it, but when they get about 3 inches long, they shrivel up and stop growing and start to kind of disintegrate on the end. It's not a rotting, I don't think...but they are certainly not growing to adulthood. Here is a picture.
We ate some of the zucchini a few days ago. it's good.
I planted a crook necked yellow squash plant, one that I actually started from seed (yes, my one success!!). I didn't do such a great job of labeling my seedlings, so this is one that I thought was a cucumber, but it's not. Something WEIRD is happening to its fruit. There are tons of little baby yellow squash on it, but when they get about 3 inches long, they shrivel up and stop growing and start to kind of disintegrate on the end. It's not a rotting, I don't think...but they are certainly not growing to adulthood. Here is a picture.
Now I am mad
I know for a FACT that I made two posts in June. Where ARE they, blogger?!!! Lost in the blogosphere, I guess.
Well, it was just more of the same. Me talking about dirt and slow growth!
Well, it was just more of the same. Me talking about dirt and slow growth!
Well, so much for frequent posting!
This has not been the best year for me, gardening-wise. I bought new dirt, it wasn't good dirt. So it's very clay-ey and the water sits down there around the roots....it doesn't drain well. I know for tomatoes I need well draining soil.
Apparently leaf curl is caused by too-wet roots? That is what I've read, and what Neil told me (gardening expert at work). My mom and dad said it may just be the heat, though. Who knows why a tomato plant does what it does? Even though I go outside in the evenings, when it's nice, and talk to them...they never tell me their secrets. Maybe after many years of gardening, I will be able to decipher their secrets myself.
The days have been really hot here, but the evenings are fairly pleasant. I slather on the bug spray and head out to make my rounds. Sometimes I do this in the morning, before I shower. If I can drag myself out of bed! It's really one of the most pleasing things about my day. I love looking at the plants, talking to them, moving them around. I get in really closely and examine the blossoms, turn over the leaves, feel them, smell them. I love the way tomato plants smell.
Anyway, enough poetics! What I seem to have here this year are plants that seem fairly healthy (although most are growing pretty slowly; not nearly the big bushes I had last year), but not much fruit at all! I have tons of blossoms, but they don't set on fruit. I wonder if our toxic environment is killing all the pollinators? Perhaps. Maybe it's too hot? Maybe I'm not patient enough. I did plant my tomatoes so much earlier last year, so by this time in 2007 I had tons of fruit already. So maybe it will happen...I just need to be patient.
I seem to recall someone told me I need to shake the plants to help them pollinate? I don't remember where I read that. Maybe I'll try it. Shake things up a bit. Heh, heh.
This has not been the best year for me, gardening-wise. I bought new dirt, it wasn't good dirt. So it's very clay-ey and the water sits down there around the roots....it doesn't drain well. I know for tomatoes I need well draining soil.
Apparently leaf curl is caused by too-wet roots? That is what I've read, and what Neil told me (gardening expert at work). My mom and dad said it may just be the heat, though. Who knows why a tomato plant does what it does? Even though I go outside in the evenings, when it's nice, and talk to them...they never tell me their secrets. Maybe after many years of gardening, I will be able to decipher their secrets myself.
The days have been really hot here, but the evenings are fairly pleasant. I slather on the bug spray and head out to make my rounds. Sometimes I do this in the morning, before I shower. If I can drag myself out of bed! It's really one of the most pleasing things about my day. I love looking at the plants, talking to them, moving them around. I get in really closely and examine the blossoms, turn over the leaves, feel them, smell them. I love the way tomato plants smell.
Anyway, enough poetics! What I seem to have here this year are plants that seem fairly healthy (although most are growing pretty slowly; not nearly the big bushes I had last year), but not much fruit at all! I have tons of blossoms, but they don't set on fruit. I wonder if our toxic environment is killing all the pollinators? Perhaps. Maybe it's too hot? Maybe I'm not patient enough. I did plant my tomatoes so much earlier last year, so by this time in 2007 I had tons of fruit already. So maybe it will happen...I just need to be patient.
I seem to recall someone told me I need to shake the plants to help them pollinate? I don't remember where I read that. Maybe I'll try it. Shake things up a bit. Heh, heh.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
DIRT
Since this is my first garden in this house (last year we moved in spring, so I just did some container gardening, which was pretty successful), we had to actually build a garden this year. Always a chore.
I was inspired by a book I found at the Friends of the Library booksale about raised bed gardening. I knew I wanted to do a raised bed because of my back problems, and because I don't want to till my yard. At our old house I did a raised bed with railroad ties, but decided not to do that again because they are a) insanely heavy and b) full of creosote. My book extolled the virtues of cinder block gardening, so that is what I decided to do.
Well, cinder blocks are ALSO very heavy!! And I used about 110 of them in total.
Mike was very helpful the first few trips. After that, he gave up... "I didn't think the garden was going to be this big a freaking deal!" he muttered bitterly. (This makes me think of the Little Red Hen...I'm sure he'll be eager to eat the bounty of my garden once I'm growing vegetables....but he doesn't want to help build it!!)
So my parents and my sister, who are looking forward to helping reap the rewards of my sowing, as they don't have a garden of their own, came over and we knocked out those cinder blocks in an afternoon.
So great--I've got a garden....or an above ground pool, depending on what I want to fill it with! Mom advises me to line the whole thing with weed fabric to hold the dirt in, so we do that and hold it down with bricks.
My cinder block book said you shouldn't plant crops in actual "Dirt," and buying potting soil to fill your garden is pretty expensive. The author suggested an even mixture of compost, sand, manure and peat. So that is what I decided to do.
Well, the problem is that the only way I could find to obtain those items is to buy them in 40 lbs bags from Lowe's. My garden is about 30 feet long and 4 feet wide, so that is a LOT of bags. To buy and to haul. I bought 10 bags of each, and with my family's help moved them to the backyard....and I thought I was going to keel over, plus it didn't appear that it would even make a drop in the bucket in this huge garden.
My dad suggested buying a load of dirt to fill the majority of the bed, and just use good potting soil around where the plants would actually be planted. This sounded like a good idea. I called around and found that I could get a load of pretty decent dirt delivered for about $150 (four "yards" of dirt, however much that is).
So a few days a later, a giant pile of dirt was in our front lawn. All we had to do was get it into the backyard and in the garden!
Our wheelbarrow and our backs are weak at best, so we hired our lawn guy to do it. He moved all the dirt and, surprisingly, that gigantic pile did not completely fill my garden hole! So I took those 30 bags of expensive, rich stuff that I bought and decided to work it in and make it the top 6 inches or so--that would be good to plant the plants in.
I had good peat, mushroom compost (smells GROSS) and manure. I started emptying bags. I thought I could take a flat rake or a hoe and just mix everything together nicely; I didn't count on it being very wet and chunky and thick. I had to chop at the big chunks just to separate them. it was so wet that no mixing was going on. So I left it to dry out for a night.
When I came out the next evening to do my mixing and stirring, there was an impenetrable, hard crust over the garden. That stuff had dried out, all right: just like concrete. I was taking chunks of it in my hands and breaking it up; I was astonished at the amount of gravel and just plain ol' ROCKS that was mixed in with the manure and peat. What are they feeding the cows, gravel? I looked at and felt that dirt, and I knew no plant could grow in it--it's too hard. The roots could never move around.
Nevertheless, I was desperate to get some plants in the ground, as it was already early May. I planted a couple of my pitiful tomatoes and some squash...just as I had feared. Nothing was able to grow. Everything died.
I was going to have to figure out something else....fast.
I was inspired by a book I found at the Friends of the Library booksale about raised bed gardening. I knew I wanted to do a raised bed because of my back problems, and because I don't want to till my yard. At our old house I did a raised bed with railroad ties, but decided not to do that again because they are a) insanely heavy and b) full of creosote. My book extolled the virtues of cinder block gardening, so that is what I decided to do.
Well, cinder blocks are ALSO very heavy!! And I used about 110 of them in total.
Mike was very helpful the first few trips. After that, he gave up... "I didn't think the garden was going to be this big a freaking deal!" he muttered bitterly. (This makes me think of the Little Red Hen...I'm sure he'll be eager to eat the bounty of my garden once I'm growing vegetables....but he doesn't want to help build it!!)
So my parents and my sister, who are looking forward to helping reap the rewards of my sowing, as they don't have a garden of their own, came over and we knocked out those cinder blocks in an afternoon.
So great--I've got a garden....or an above ground pool, depending on what I want to fill it with! Mom advises me to line the whole thing with weed fabric to hold the dirt in, so we do that and hold it down with bricks.
My cinder block book said you shouldn't plant crops in actual "Dirt," and buying potting soil to fill your garden is pretty expensive. The author suggested an even mixture of compost, sand, manure and peat. So that is what I decided to do.
Well, the problem is that the only way I could find to obtain those items is to buy them in 40 lbs bags from Lowe's. My garden is about 30 feet long and 4 feet wide, so that is a LOT of bags. To buy and to haul. I bought 10 bags of each, and with my family's help moved them to the backyard....and I thought I was going to keel over, plus it didn't appear that it would even make a drop in the bucket in this huge garden.
My dad suggested buying a load of dirt to fill the majority of the bed, and just use good potting soil around where the plants would actually be planted. This sounded like a good idea. I called around and found that I could get a load of pretty decent dirt delivered for about $150 (four "yards" of dirt, however much that is).
So a few days a later, a giant pile of dirt was in our front lawn. All we had to do was get it into the backyard and in the garden!
Our wheelbarrow and our backs are weak at best, so we hired our lawn guy to do it. He moved all the dirt and, surprisingly, that gigantic pile did not completely fill my garden hole! So I took those 30 bags of expensive, rich stuff that I bought and decided to work it in and make it the top 6 inches or so--that would be good to plant the plants in.
I had good peat, mushroom compost (smells GROSS) and manure. I started emptying bags. I thought I could take a flat rake or a hoe and just mix everything together nicely; I didn't count on it being very wet and chunky and thick. I had to chop at the big chunks just to separate them. it was so wet that no mixing was going on. So I left it to dry out for a night.
When I came out the next evening to do my mixing and stirring, there was an impenetrable, hard crust over the garden. That stuff had dried out, all right: just like concrete. I was taking chunks of it in my hands and breaking it up; I was astonished at the amount of gravel and just plain ol' ROCKS that was mixed in with the manure and peat. What are they feeding the cows, gravel? I looked at and felt that dirt, and I knew no plant could grow in it--it's too hard. The roots could never move around.
Nevertheless, I was desperate to get some plants in the ground, as it was already early May. I planted a couple of my pitiful tomatoes and some squash...just as I had feared. Nothing was able to grow. Everything died.
I was going to have to figure out something else....fast.
It's Been Awhile....And Things Are Not Going Well
Well, I guess I started off this year with a bit of an inflated sense of my own gardening abilities.
I've been greatly humbled trying to start plants from seed. I bought a grow lamp, made sure they were in a good south-facing window, I got peat pots and started them at the right time, I watered them as instructed. Still, all my plants became very "leggy." Long and spindly with no way to support themselves, they just flop over. I transplanted into larger peat pots, with more dirt, but this didn't seem to help.
The ones that did the best were the squash and cucumber plants. The tomatoes are weak and sickly looking (could this be the dread "damping off" I read so much about?), the nicandra didn't even come up at all, the broccoli died quickly.
So once some of those squash plants were looking good, I put them outside to "harden off." I did this just as my instructions said, too. Increasing hours of sun exposure, less water, etc. I actually had ONE that was looking good enough to put in the ground! So I planted it in the garden a few days ago (yes, I'm getting a late start which is just another sucky thing about this year's garden). It was actually doing pretty well and growing! Then yesterday I went outside, and all the leaves were GONE! All that was left was a scrawny little base stalk. I looked at my other plants, and they looked the same. Some voracious critter or bug had chewed off my leaves!! I have never witnessed this problem before (I realize I've only been gardening for four years, but I have seen a lot of bugs and diseases). So I am on a mission to figure out what the heck is eating my babies.
I've been greatly humbled trying to start plants from seed. I bought a grow lamp, made sure they were in a good south-facing window, I got peat pots and started them at the right time, I watered them as instructed. Still, all my plants became very "leggy." Long and spindly with no way to support themselves, they just flop over. I transplanted into larger peat pots, with more dirt, but this didn't seem to help.
The ones that did the best were the squash and cucumber plants. The tomatoes are weak and sickly looking (could this be the dread "damping off" I read so much about?), the nicandra didn't even come up at all, the broccoli died quickly.
So once some of those squash plants were looking good, I put them outside to "harden off." I did this just as my instructions said, too. Increasing hours of sun exposure, less water, etc. I actually had ONE that was looking good enough to put in the ground! So I planted it in the garden a few days ago (yes, I'm getting a late start which is just another sucky thing about this year's garden). It was actually doing pretty well and growing! Then yesterday I went outside, and all the leaves were GONE! All that was left was a scrawny little base stalk. I looked at my other plants, and they looked the same. Some voracious critter or bug had chewed off my leaves!! I have never witnessed this problem before (I realize I've only been gardening for four years, but I have seen a lot of bugs and diseases). So I am on a mission to figure out what the heck is eating my babies.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Signs of Life
I started some seeds on 3/19. Already two are sprouting!! This one is cucumber. I've never started from seeds before, so this will be fun to watch. Every day I find myself eagerly checking to see if something new is happening. I think this is such a better way to teach kids biology and botany than reading from textbooks. I wish I had gotten to do more stuff like this in school.
Anyway, I'm like a little kid with my science experiments! Here is a photo of my first little sprout.
Composting
Well, I have to tell you about my composter!
This is the first year I am composting. I've only been at it a few days and already I am astonished at how much organic material we generate that can go in there. Lots of food trash from the kitchen (no meat, dairy, dog poop, etc. though). This composter is really cool. It came in three huge boxes and I followed the instructions (with some help from Mike) to put it together. It was like assembling a small rocket ship!
It has two chambers. You fill one chamber right off the bat, and let it "cook." then you fill the other chamber a little at a time, with daily garbage. Ideally, when that side is full, your "cooking" side is ready to go. It says it can produce ready compost in as little as 2 weeks; we'll see if that's true. I'm sure I'll make mistakes the first few times: not enough of this or that, too much or not enough water. It's sort of an experiment.
I started on March 22 with a bunch of rotten old leaves that had already begun to decompose. I read that you should have 30:1 carbon to nitrogen (the leaves being a source of carbon), so I put in some green weeds I pulled from the yard. Yes, it says weeds are okay, too, because temperatures inside that thing reach 170 degrees, so it kills any weed seeds that are in there. The metal absorbs heat from the sun, but the microorganisms that are decomposing the material also generate heat in the process. That is pretty darn hot!
I also put in some kitchen food waste--asparagus spears, banana peels, apple cores, etc. I threw in some wood chips for ballast, but mostly it is the dead leaves. I don't have any grass clippings yet; they said that is the best thing to add.
So we will see how it goes....
Sunday, March 23, 2008
what I've planted so far
Seeds started on 3/19:
Seeds started on 3/22:
I am doing a lot more from seed this year. In the past I went to Lowes or a garden center and purchased plants. They have always done well, but I found that sometimes I didn't get what I thought I was getting, especially with tomatoes. I'd get a different variety than I wanted. Or squash, sometimes it's crookneck when I wanted straight, or I got pickling cucumbers 2 years ago instead of slicers. So I thought if I go from seeds, it will be more certain what I'm getting.
However, I fear that the plants won't be strong or hardy enough. I will have to really make sure to harden them off properly; I have read about how to do that, but haven't ever actually done it. So that will be a challenge. I'm starting a lot more baby plants from seed than I need, in case something doesn't do well once I transplant it. And if I have extras, well, we'll just have plant abortions I guess.
- cucumber
- broccoli
- yellow squash
- zucchini
Seeds started on 3/22:
- Nicandra (flower that exudes an oil on its leaves that supposedly sterilizes flies!)
- lemon cucumber
I am doing a lot more from seed this year. In the past I went to Lowes or a garden center and purchased plants. They have always done well, but I found that sometimes I didn't get what I thought I was getting, especially with tomatoes. I'd get a different variety than I wanted. Or squash, sometimes it's crookneck when I wanted straight, or I got pickling cucumbers 2 years ago instead of slicers. So I thought if I go from seeds, it will be more certain what I'm getting.
However, I fear that the plants won't be strong or hardy enough. I will have to really make sure to harden them off properly; I have read about how to do that, but haven't ever actually done it. So that will be a challenge. I'm starting a lot more baby plants from seed than I need, in case something doesn't do well once I transplant it. And if I have extras, well, we'll just have plant abortions I guess.
glad it's spring
I have always threatened to keep a gardening journal so I can remember what I do from year to year. This time I am going to do it, because I can keep it on the computer rather than on paper!
It is already March 23, and I've done a bit to start the process this year. At my old house, I had a raised bed garden for two years with topsoil that I purchased and brought in, and I used railroad ties to keep it closed in. Now we have moved. Last summer we had just moved, so it was too late to put in a new garden, so I grew tomatoes in pots, which was actually very successful. I didn't think it would work too well, but it did!
This summer I plan to grow tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, lettuce and squash. I am going to use raised beds again, only this time I am going to use cinder blocks instead of railroad ties. I can lift cinder blocks, and they don't leach creosote into the soil. I haven't bought the blocks yet; have to wait on a cash influx. Anyway, there's nothing ready to plant yet, so I'm okay.
As for the dirt, I am going to try a new mixture. Before I got a load of dirt, basic topsoil. I mixed that with some manure and fertilized it through the summer. I am now of the opinion that if you feed your soil, you will have good plants. I am not going to spend money on chemical fertilizers. I am going to try a mixture of sand (I need better drainage), compost and peat moss. Yep--no actual dirt. The topsoil I bought last time had so many weed seeds in there, I was getting weeds I'd never even seen before! (and no, they weren't plants!)
I'm also going to try planting some complimentary plants that will hopefully reduce or eliminated the need for pesticides. Agastanthe (I think it's called) will attract wasps and bees, and marigolds will ward of some bad insects....can't remember which one. I also believe that if the plants are really healthy (because of good soil) they will resist disease better.
I also need to make SURE that this year I know the difference between mites and aphids...that keeps tripping me up!!
So anyway, I'm going to try to avoid pesticides this year. Not promising an organic garden, but I'll try for it.
It is already March 23, and I've done a bit to start the process this year. At my old house, I had a raised bed garden for two years with topsoil that I purchased and brought in, and I used railroad ties to keep it closed in. Now we have moved. Last summer we had just moved, so it was too late to put in a new garden, so I grew tomatoes in pots, which was actually very successful. I didn't think it would work too well, but it did!
This summer I plan to grow tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, lettuce and squash. I am going to use raised beds again, only this time I am going to use cinder blocks instead of railroad ties. I can lift cinder blocks, and they don't leach creosote into the soil. I haven't bought the blocks yet; have to wait on a cash influx. Anyway, there's nothing ready to plant yet, so I'm okay.
As for the dirt, I am going to try a new mixture. Before I got a load of dirt, basic topsoil. I mixed that with some manure and fertilized it through the summer. I am now of the opinion that if you feed your soil, you will have good plants. I am not going to spend money on chemical fertilizers. I am going to try a mixture of sand (I need better drainage), compost and peat moss. Yep--no actual dirt. The topsoil I bought last time had so many weed seeds in there, I was getting weeds I'd never even seen before! (and no, they weren't plants!)
I'm also going to try planting some complimentary plants that will hopefully reduce or eliminated the need for pesticides. Agastanthe (I think it's called) will attract wasps and bees, and marigolds will ward of some bad insects....can't remember which one. I also believe that if the plants are really healthy (because of good soil) they will resist disease better.
I also need to make SURE that this year I know the difference between mites and aphids...that keeps tripping me up!!
So anyway, I'm going to try to avoid pesticides this year. Not promising an organic garden, but I'll try for it.
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