What have you done today in the Garden?

I finished weeding the cucumber bed and picked a nice sized cucumber. I fertilized the tomatoes and peppers, and took a look at the onions (soon to harvest!).
Harvested a lot of basil and hung it to dry. I freeze what I'll use, but friends seem to prefer dried basil, perhaps because that is what recipes call for.
The hens got an early start this morning, and I brought in six eggs around 10 a.m. Sometimes the girls just need to get a good start on their day!

 

I planted snap beans, weeded cucumbers, squash and watermelons. I have, for the first time ever, small watermelons! But they are trellised! I have to come up with a sling....

 

panty hose make excellent slings. use one leg to make a sling by tying it to the trellis on each side of the melon. go to goodwill and buy them. unless you have someone who wears them daily and ruins each and every pair putting them on or taking them off....eyeroll here! who will donate them you the cause.

 

yesterday I used up all the tomato cages finishing up tomatoes. I kept planting until I had used all the cages. I am almost afraid to count them. I have 4 rows. two are in the high tunnel and its is 96 ' long the other two are in the garden one is full at 150'ish and the other at least 1/2 full. this is a lot of tomatoes.

 

Evidently queen size is the right choice? Slit open to make a hammock?

 

I went with the florida weave using a natural twine this year. These are celebrity so not as viney as they can get. Still, I like it so far, and it is very custom for the plants. I have been using more and more rebar and cattle panel, but had to go back to the wood stakes on this one. I heard as they age the wood harbors pathogens more easily.

 

Planted out more pot marigolds until it started to rain. At least i won't have to water the polyanthus.

 

Weeding and watering and harvesting.

 

well, I suppose you could try but I don't think the nylon will hold up well enough. just attach it to the trellis with knot on one side of the melon and cradle it under the melon tying it to the other side of the trellis.

 

I have too many varieties to try the weave. and I already have the cages. like 250 of them.

 

Now that you mention it, one reason I was able to keep cages was that for a long time I owned a brazing torch. I donated it to the workers at my muni muni golf course years ago. Last week I got a new wire feed electric welder suitable for smaller projects. Cages and melon swings come to mind!

 

We use concrete reenforcing wire for making cages. a 100' roll makes about 30 cages. cut the wire with bolt cutters and ziptie them together.

 

Yes If you go to lowes or home depot, they sell it as "remesh" in smaller lengths. Re-enforcement mesh is I guess the formal name. The rebar is measure in 1\8 diameter. Steel being strong you do not need much and the number 3, or #3, or 3\8" rebar is very inexpensive re plant stakes and easier to cut with a bolt cutter or even the do it yourself at the store.

 

I tried a new method of planting potatoes. I had an extra row of plastic mulch layed and not needed so I planted up all my sprouted spuds left over from last year..... I cut a slit int eh plastic and popped in each sprout. I did about 100' row and I have another 50' left in it maybe I will do the sweet potato slips I have on the bench/ I haven't had a successful experience with those yet so maybe this will be the year.

 

We schoffeled a bit more in Nettie's garden. We have had to re-think our potato-strawberry situation. Weeded the Swiss chard. Noticed two more bird houses were occupied. We keep harvesting strawbs. The spinach is finished, so we made the patch ready for the planting of green manure (phacelia this time). We made another bed ready for the parsnips. It is raining today, so we will try and go tomorrow to work and do more planting. Noticed that the moles are back in the greenhouse again and clawing at the tom roots. Gurrrrrr. We continue to spray the blackfly colonies on the broad beans. We nipped-off the tops as well.