What have you done today in the Garden?

Oh dear you poor Texans are getting rain rain & more rain! I hope the weather will start cooperating with you soon.

I spent a good 3 hours at the community garden plot today, planting bok choi, Brussels sprouts & re-seeding the peas, beets, carrots & lettuce. For some reason my germination rates have been spotty. This time I sowed thickly! I have row covers on the cukes, melons, Brussels sprouts, kale, & bok choi. The tomatoes, swiss chard, asparagus, rhubarb, carrots, garlic, leeks and lettuce have been left to fend for themselves.

 

Today I have sown some seeds so I have plants to put in as my spuds come out. I always leave the spud bed empty after harvesting but I have so many old seeds I thought i would just sow them in big trays and see what comes up. Some of the seed is years old so I am only going to bin it anyhow.

 

I hesitate to pray for rain, although we are beginning to need it. With Texans under water, I dare not complain.
Cayuga, our asparagus is also pencil thin, tall and swaying, some near the ground. I will water / drench the crowns tomorrow. All I did today was pull Bindweed. I only go out to view the sitting duck and end up pulling weeds.

 

Had a market first then I planted more peppers this afternoon. one row of hot peppers and and one row of sweet bells. I need to get another two rows of tomatoes in yet, but finally, it is giving up some liquid from the sky... which we really needed.

 

??? Sitting duck?

GP: Glad to hear your asparagus seedlings are just swaying and not flopping. Hopefully you will have a bumper crop in years ahead.

 

LOL The sitting duck is a mama duck who sits on her eggs in a nest just back of one of our flower gardens. The creek flows just below the garden. Mama duck built on the creek bank.

Today we caged / staked tomatoes. Also put Epsom salt around tomato plants and pepper plants. I spent a lot of the day weeding an area of the flower beds, a chore I had delayed due to heat. This day was perfect for getting it done.

 

too tired last night to post.... All day Monday trees were cut and chipped around where the new building is to be put up. along with two huge cottonwoods in the back yard.... the back yard is a disaster... kevin ripped out one stump... not the one i wanted out then. we had a tree we cut down several years ago that should be rotted enough to not mess up so much of the yard... but noooo, he thought I wanted the stump from the big newly cut down tree out... now I have a 20' crater mess in the back... sigh.

Tuesday I started the day rototilling. The last patch where I am putting the last of the potatoes.. even though it is a bit late, then on through the rest of the garden up one row and down the next.... to the end of the garden. Then I planted up a row of celery and while I was doing that I found something that I don't know what it is... tool, tooth, I know not what it is...I think it is made of stone. Planted up another tow of tomatoes.. another 34 of them, mostly cherries. a few "fried green tomatoes", two "kenai mondo green", a few blue cherries and a "pink berkley tie dye"... then I weeded one row of beans... 1 down 4 to go. soon I wills tart tossing tomatoes and peppers into the compost. I can't keep watering them. I have to let them go at some point and it makes me sad.

it is time to start a new day and I am off to the garden... again. weeding, planting and hopefully a few customers to take a few more tomatoes and peppers home to their gardens... BOGO from now on...

 

Carolyn, it makes me tired just thinking of all the work you do. You're a real trooper, for sure.

Mama duck stayed quietly on her unborn babies all the while I set out Sunflowers and pulled weeds nearby. I chat with her about how great she is, but she never answers.
A young Cottontail flounced away as I began my work.

 

what i do every day early in my growing season.........try to prevent my small plants from getting tooo much sun and burning up. Lots of moving one baby start plant from one location to another due to crazy sun excesses and limitations.
I make the best of it though...

 

Mainly a bit of watering. Spreading grass clippings among the flower beds as mulch.

Our Great heron is back. I saw her / him fly over as we rested on the porch. also a lovely, sleek Catbird came to feed on jelly meant for the Baltimore oriole. A humming bird stopped to sip sugar water, much to our delight. Oh yes, Mama duck sits faithfully on her unborn babies.

 

Picked more strawbs. Gave water to many veg and flowers. Stayed late to inspect the spuds for slugs. A bit of cleaning-up. Tomorrow more cleaning up...I shall begin with the fence-row--always a lovely chore.

 

Here is the "cut flower garden" I have been working on since early May. Now a few pops of color are coming. weeds are growing faster than I can get to them and it is dry so I can't quite pull them. Everything has to be hoed... and thankfully I have a tiny sharp bladed hoe. just not the time to work on it.. we pulled weeds in the green beans last night
and turning around... the next "garden" is herbs. celery, parsley, basil and dill so far. or maybe that is all I will plant there and finish it out with snaps and zinnias... maybe some more statice. I have much of all of that yet.

That was my project yesterday in between customers and beans and just life in general...

 

Planting Astonomy Domini sweet corn. Well, mulching the rows of fresh planted seed, actually.

 

Finally got out to the community garden after almost a week hiatus! I have been busy busy busy with life & work. The good news is the tomatoes look good, fair like they've jumped themselves out of the ground! Third sowing of lettuce took well and I might, just might have succeeded in germinating the Good King Henry. The jury is actually still out on that, but I am hoping. Peas are tall & blooming, first crop of lettuce is ready for harvest. The row cover had blown off the cukes & melons but I didn't see any evidence of those dratted squash beetles. Here is hoping the bugs did not discover them in their undressed state.

That's all folks!