Notes for September 29, 2008

We had a damp weekend and so, not much was done outside except to empty the rain gauge. Sunday afternoon I emptied 0.5 " and this morning I emptied 0.8" from the rain gauge. We had light showers on and off all weekend but it was more like a heavy mist. Sunday morning we woke up to showers and Sunday evening around dinner time we had some heavy showers. All in all, I was happy with the rain we got. Its been too infrequent the last two months.

Notes for September 26, 2008

Its been a few weeks but we got some rain last night and today. I emptied 0.6" from the rain gauge this afternoon.

I noticed that most if not all of the radish I planted last weekend has sprouted.

I heard an owl the other morning (while I was getting ready for work). I seem to remember hearing them every fall.

Notes for September 24, 2008

Last night I picked tomatoes and cherry tomatoes and peppers.

I then watered my Lima Beans, Green Beans, radishes and carrots.

The radishes I planted on Saturday have not germinated yet.

Did I mention that some of my cosmos are nearly 7 feet tall?

The sunflowers in my garden are starting to get eaten, there are sunflower shells all over my veggie garden.

Notes for September 21, 2008

I forgot to mention in yesterday's entry that after I cleaned off the back patio, I used the mower to grind up the leaves that I swept up off the patio. No big deal? It became a bigger deal (just to run the mower for one minute) when the pull cord came off the mower in my hand. Luckily it started on that pull. I finished mulching the leaves and then repaired the pull cord (the knot at the end broke).

Notes for September 20, 2008

Look at that... I got done today more than I thought I would. I picked tomatoes, planted more radishes (to replace what didn't sprout; seeds were marked for 2004), did some weeding, cleaned off the back patio to get it ready for fall and then I removed to stumps. Granted the stumps were 8 years old and the last few years I had been breaking up whats above ground. These two stumps, I just dug around them and hammered them with a sledge hammer and they eventually broke up. Now I have two less obstacles for when I cut the grass. Yippee!

Notes for September 19, 2008

Tuesday evening I picked tomatoes and peppers and the last of the cucumbers. Then I watered the lima beans, green beans, radishes (which have sprouted) and the carrots.

On Thursday I watered everything in the veggie garden and realized why about 2/3rds of the radishes sprouted. One-third was one particular packet of seeds.

Tonight I cut the grass, thinned the radishes and pulled the cucumbers and their support fences. Tomorrow I plan on planting some more radishes, picking veggies, pull some weeds in the front flower beds and put the picnic table up against the house. And when I water the radish seeds, I will probably re-water the beans and carrots.

Notes for September 15, 2008

Silly me, I forgot to mention that it rained on Friday and I emptied 0.4" from the rain gauge on Saturday. It is one of the reasons I started this blog to keep track of rainfall during the growing season so I know how much and when I need to water my gardens. It looks like we're going into another dry period which is strange with the temperatures dropping to near seasonal today/tonight and no precipitation.

Notes for September 14, 2008

I finally got outside on Saturday. It was hot and humid like it was August. Today we are close to breaking high temp records. Anyway yesterday I picked tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers and pulled out the wax beans and then planted two rows of radishes. I also thinned the carrots.

Notes for September 10, 2008

When I got home from work I emptied 0.25" from the rain gauge.

I never did get into the garden the other night. Our home computer is giving us problems.

Notes for September 8, 2008

The opportunity presented it self and so I cut the grass (or lowered the crab grass) yesterday in the late afternoon. As I was pushing the mower I noticed some more storm damage to the garden. Several of my cosmos and nearly all of my peppers had fallen over so after I finished with the mower I tied them up. I had placed stakes with the peppers when I planted them and I tied the cosmos to the fence. I also lost a sunflower which now makes two broken over and leaving about ten still standing.

Tonight I plan on pulling the remaining wax beans and maybe plant radish or spinach or both.

My Sedum is in bloom and they look great.

Notes for september 7, 2008

Well so much for Tropical Storm Hanna, I've seen plenty of common garden variety Thunderstorms worse than what we got yesterday. Yes it was windy but I don't it was anything near what was forecasted. There were just a few small limbs on the ground and few small bunches of leaves still on their twigs. The best part was that I emptied 1.5" from the rain gauge this morning. Very nice, although I will have to lower the crab grass one night this week.

Yesterday I went to check the rain gauge in the morning and their was only a trace from the sprinkles we got late Friday night. As I checked the rain gauge I noticed that my carrots have started to sprout.

Notes for September 5, 2008

Last night I picked a pepper, a couple of cucumbers, a bunch of tomatoes and a heaping of cherry tomatoes. After picking I watered the veggie garden.

I noticed last night...

... that the cosmos which most are in bloom are getting unruly (they are getting wider at the top and blocking my path.

...am I the only one who has to reach UP to pick cherry tomatoes?

...I wonder how well the sunflowers will fair tomorrow in the wind and the rain expected from Tropical Storm Hanna?

Notes for September 1, 2008

What a jam packed weekend (situation normal here). Always too short and tomorrow its back to work and my son goes back to college (he's commuting this year). My daughter goes back to High School on Wednesday.

Saturday I picked vegetables (tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, couple of cucumbers and one green pepper). I also planted carrot seeds and I had to water them five times before the water started to soak in instead of just run off (we haven't had rain for 17 days). I think next year I will plant the carrots as soon as I clean out my onions.

Also on Saturday I went through the onions I had drying in the shed. I threw away (into the compost pile) about one-third of them because they were getting soft and rotting. I wonder if I left them in the ground too long, or on the picnic table too long or in the shed too long? Is it too hot for them in the shed?

I also tried to transplant a 30" tall dogwood I had growing up against the house but the roots were entangled with a nearby bush and were about an inch from the house so it was hard to isolate the roots. So I ended up just digging it up. I think I found another one but its much smaller. Next time I am working outside I may dig that up and give it to a friend.

I also found some garlic chives growing on their own next to the flower pot I have the chives in. I did dig them up and placed them in another pot and I will pass them on to one of my flowering friends.

Sunday was another picnic day but later in the day I watered everything in the veggie patch.
Today I picked tomatoes and cucumbers and wax beans. We had some of the wax beans with dinner and again I swear they are sweeter tasting than green beans. I also watered the carrots.