Notes for Tuesday September 1, 2009

September already? Can't believe it.

We got back from our vacation (a week at the Jersey shore) on Saturday. There ought to be a law that all vacations need to be a minimum of two weeks. Yesterday was a difficult day to get back into the rhythm (didn't really want to either).

Friday before we left I emptied 0.9" from the rain gauge and hoped that we would get some rain while we were gone. Upon return I emptied 1.5", not sure when we got it though. Then again on Sunday morning I emptied 0.6" from a thunderstorm that rumbled through at bed time Saturday night.

Before we left for vacation I told my neighbors and emailed my friends to please come by and pick some veggies while we were gone. When I got home it didn't look like anyone did. I picked about a bushel of juliet tomatoes, a half a bushel of regular tomatoes, a bushel of cucumbers and about a half a dozen peppers. Still no hornworms!??

On Sunday afternoon I pulled the third string beans (picking about two gallons) and planted a row of radishes alongside where the beans were leaving room for another row in a couple of weeks. There were only about 6 spinach seedlings in the row I planted a couple of weeks ago so I pulled them and planted another row. I also tied several of my cosmos plants to the fence since they were falling over. Some of my cosmos are over 6 foot tall and haven't flowered yet.

I need to take some pictures. Some of my zinnias are about 3 foot tall and in bloom and my five pots of chives are in full bloom and were buzzing with small what looked to be small carpenter bees. The tithonia I planted have really taken over and are alot more bushier than I expected and are full of blooms.

Then later on Sunday afternoon, I cut the grass. I wish I had a combine instead of just my push mower. We had two weeks of wet weather since I last cut it (wet at least for August, the news said that it was the third wettest August on record). I had to keep the deck of the mower raised again and still had to cut it at half width and half speed. While pushing the mower I avoided three toads.

There was no sign of the groundhog the whole week before we left and when we got back his hole had reopened. So on Sunday I threw another handful of moth balls in his hole and filled it the best I could packing the soil in using a 3 foot 2x4. Yesterday morning there was no indication that he had returned but when I got home from work he had started to dig his hole again but didn't get very far so I filled the hole again.

Notes for August 19, 2009

Last night I picked tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. With the abundance of Juliet tomatoes, I even brought some into work today. I think I might change the number of plants next year. Instead of 12 plants of small tomatoes (cherry/grape or juliet again), I may decrease it to 9 and increase the medium sized tomato plant. I may even try a earlier variety to see how that works. As I was picking last night I was thinking that I should water the carrot seeds but never did. Mother Nature took care of that for me. I emptied 0.5" from the rain gauge this morning.

Notes for August 17, 2009

Well on Friday I finally was able to cut the grass. It had been a couple of weeks but at first it didn't need it. Then we started getting rain at regular intervals and my calendar wasn't letting me out there to cut it. Soooo when I finally got to it Friday night, I had to go half speed at half width and raise the deck a notch in order to get it done before nightfall. While I was cutting the grass I avoided, not one, not two, not three but FOUR toads. That's a new record for me. Each were small, about as big as my thumb. It baffled me why so many until I realized they were out there chasing some of the hundreds of crickets I also saw in the thick grass. Saturday the calendar opened up again and I was able to get a nice chunk of time in the yard. I first harvested some green beans (first picking of third green beans), peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers and the last batch of onions. Then I tended the tomatoes (trimming suckers and tying). There isn't much tying anymore, most of my plants are six foot or taller and have out grown my 8 foot stakes (each stake is in the ground at least a foot). So I trimmed the suckers I could reach and tied the lower/slower growing tomatoes. I am surprised I don't have any hornworms yet. Now that I said that, I will probably pull of several tonight (I plan on watering tonight). I pulled out all the remaining onions and really didn't get many more. I noticed that the onions that went to flower never really formed an onion. So I think that starting next year I won't let them flower and I will snip the bud off when it starts forming. I added some wood ashes and then turned the onion patch and planted two rows of carrots. Earlier this week I received two German bearded irises (that I ordered in the Spring, but didn't realize at the time that they wouldn't be delivered until August). So I planted them in the front of the house. I pulled out a low lying evergreen first and planted them there. The evergreen was bare in the middle and the outer edges needed trimmed back which wouldn't have left very much. It needed trimmed, part of it was a trip hazard for my front steps and another part was growing into the driveway and so I wasn't liking it. After planting the irises, I finished cleaning up the tree debris from the tree I had cut down about a month ago, (my friend came by this week and picked up the cut wood for his wood burning stoves). I also had to fill in the depressions that the falling pieces left. And finally I weeded and mulched the front gardens and the other driveway garden. The other driveway garden is kind of bare. I lost a bunch of perennials there this year. So I will enjoy thinking of what I can plant next year.

Who needs a fig leaf, I'll use cucumber?

Someone else likes the garden.

Tithonia.

Last Saturday's harvest. Yesterday's was the same.

The cosmos were getting big enough that I had to tie them to the fence.

Friday I emptied 0.25".

Yesterday I picked and pulled the second green beans and then planted spinach in its place. then I picked some peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes (plums and regular). I also picked a few more onions. Next week I am planning to pull all the onions and plant carrots.

This morning we had some heavy rain and I emptied 1.2" after I got home from church.

Now what I want to know is who wished the ground hog on me? We have a juvenile ground hog who has taken up residence under the concrete slab under my shed. We have a box trap set with apple nearby but he doesn't seem interested (there's enough grass all around). Today I put a bunch of moth balls into the hole and filled it in the best I could. Maybe he'll get the message and move on?

Veggies

It's a jungle out there. Here is the path between the cukes on the right and the tomatoes on the left.

This is something new for me, I have peppers in August! This variety is called New Ace.

Here are my tomatoes getting ripe (Juliet). I thought they were a grape but they are more like a plum and very meaty.

On the left are two rows of green beans next to a row of lima beans, next to a row of peppers.

Here are the tomato plants. The stakes are 8 ft 1 x 2's, each driven into the ground about a foot and a half. Yes my plants are 6.5 ft tall. Saturday I picked the second picking of the second green beans, I picked 5 peppers, 10 cukes and 6 plum tomatoes. Sunday we had another round of storms. This time we got 1.7".

Staked and tied!

I finally did get some time in the garden yesterday afternoon but it wasn't until 2 PM.

I picked another handful of radishes and then pulled out the remaining plants since they were all bolting into flowers.

I lost a couple of cucumber plants and so I transplanted one to where I had lost three right next to each other. The plants are now just under a foot tall. In the next week or so I will be moving the vine so it can find the fence.

I planted the remaining volunteer yellow marigolds that I dug up when I planted my tomatoes and peppers. I still have some I started from seed but they are still kind of small. I planted the marigolds in between some of the cucumbers and then in between some of the tomatoes. The rest of the yellow marigolds will go between the rest of the tomatoes and then the peppers.

Something has eaten all but two of my sunflowers and luckily I had another packet of seeds. If these get eaten, I don't think I am going to try to plant them again this year. The rabbits can't get into my veggie garden where I have the sunflowers so my next suspect is the chipmunk. They seem to be abundant this year, or it may be just one. but in any case I am seeing him/her more often this year than in years past.

My second green beans have nicely sprouted. They are all about three inches tall. The first green beans are about a foot tall and have about three to four sets of full leaves.

I lost a tomato plant so I transplanted a volunteer in its place. Then of course I found two more that were bigger and better looking than the one I transplanted. I have a pepper plant that is looking suspect so I might replace it with another volunteer.

Then I staked all of my tomato and pepper plants using 8 ft 1x2's for my tomatoes and shorter pieces for my peppers. I purchased a couple of old bedsheets from the thrift store last winter and cut one up to use for making strips for tying. I first cut into fourths and then made small cuts on the edge about 3/4" apart to rip off a strip as I need them to tie the tomatoes and peppers. Then I tied almost all of the tomatoes and will wait for the peppers to get bigger before I tie them.

Next job: mulching!

Notes from May 28, 2009

This Hosta was saved from a friend's house where their Hostas were deer food. Of all the ones they gave me, this one is doing the best. To the right is Agastache.

I bought a white Rhododendron two years ago and this year it bloomed.

This is a painted Daisy (in the chrysanthemum family). It doesn't look impressive because its become rabbit food. Five other nearby have also been eaten. Not surpised because the leaves are similar to carrot leaves.

Can't remember the name of this perennial. I started it from seed a couple of years ago and its been steadily growing in size. I think it was called Centaurea?

Here is a painted Daisy that the rabbit didn't get to. And for a bonus there is some sort of bug on the flower.

Stayed home from work today but didn't get to work in the yard until the afternoon.

Today I planted the remaining cukes, replacing several cukes that had died and picked a handful of radishes.

I fertilized the cukes, tomatoes and peppers with a drink of fish emulsion.

I planted tithonia along the fence of the veggie garden along with 6 of the transplanted marigolds that I dug up last week.

I trimmed several trees of lower branches (two holly trees, a dogwood and several oak trees).

I watered what I didn't fertilize (radishes, beans, onions and two patches of young grass in the lawn).

Then I started mulching the paths of the veggie garden. I didn't mulch around the plants yet, I'd like them to get a little bigger.

Some of the sunflowers have started to sprout and all of the annuals I started two weeks ago appear to have sprouted.

I am planning on planting another row of green beans on Saturday. I hope to start a row every three weeks.

PLANTING!

Well I got done what I hoped to get done and today I am paying for it as expected.

I started off by transplanting freelancing marigolds and tomatoes (growing on their own in the veggie garden) into six packs to be planted or given away later. I also dug up a couple of baby oak trees and potted them, someone at work wants one.

Next I put up the cucumber fence (5 ft high PVC coated fence).

The I planted tomatoes plants (30: celebrity, whopper and Juliet), pepper plants (14, Fat N Sassy and New Ace) and cucumber plants (24, Hybrid Sweet Success). I started all of these from seed indoors. I didn't have time this year to get manure from the horse farm and so this year I tried something different. All of the pepper plants and all but two of the rows of tomatoes I planted with a handful of finely ground up leaves. I did this to help my sandy soil retain moisture.

Then I planted a row of sunflower seeds.

I wish my marigold/zinnia/cosmos seedlings were about ready to plant, I would be planting them next week. Unfortunately they are just starting to sprout, so I guess next year I will be starting them earlier.

I am still not over my cold so I ended up taking frequent breaks and drinking a water bottle each time. During one of my breaks I did notice a chipmunk running through the backyard.

Notes for May 3, 2009

The Azaleas are starting to bloom.

Emptied 0.55" from the rain gauge.

Next year I think I need to start my peppers two weeks earlier and my tomatoes two weeks later.

Started cukes and tihonia seeds indoors.

Notes for March 31, 2009

It rained Sunday evening and I emptied 0.2" from the rain gauge on Monday.

I started my tomato and pepper seeds last night. I put the pepper starters on top of the electric grow mat I got for Christmas. It says on the mat that it is only designed to be about 10 degrees warmer than the ambient temperature. So it should work nicely.

I need a couple of nice days off to get caught up. I have piles of leaves to clean up and a garden to till to plant radish and spinach. Saturday looks to be a nice day but Sunday looks to be a full schedule with no time to the garden or the yard.

Notes for October 26, 2008

Hey we finally got some rain too! I emptied about an inch from the rain gauge. I should probably put the rain gauge away soon. Last Monday morning it was 28 degrees and Friday morning it was 26 degrees. It was Friday morning that burnt my tomatoes and peppers. Today I picked the last bunch of tomatoes and a few small peppers. All of the tomatoes were green or starting to turn orange. In any case the tomatoes will sit on the windowsill to ripen.

Yesterday the wind blew pretty good and I had a few branches to clean up in the yard. It only sprinkled or showered all day and it wasn't until the evening that we finally got some heavier stuff. Which was exceptionally nice since there were forest fires not too far away and the fire fighters needed the rain. Friday morning the fog get the smoke next to the ground and it was kind of spooky.

Today I finally was able to mulch the leaves in my yard and start piling up the mulched leaves in my compost pile for next years mulch. I use a leaf blower to get the leaves out of the driveway and into the grass and then mow them over with my mulching mower with the bag on. It took me about three hours to finish. The leaves were a little heavier since yesterday's rain. There was also some grass clippings in with the leaves which was a bonus. The next mulching I will lower the deck of the mower to its lowest setting (now that the crabgrass has been frosted).

I also picked a handful of radishes.

Notes for October 19, 2008

I'm still picking and yesterday I picked tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and a few small peppers. I will probably be picking radishes next week. My radishes and carrots are looking nicely and I did water them too.

I had every intention of mulching the leaves that have fallen either today or yesterday but I cut my thumb pretty good yesterday so that's out of the question until next week.

The weather has gotten seasonal again and we turned the heat back on yesterday.

Notes for October 15, 2008

Its now officially mid October and I'm still picking. Last night I picked tomatoes (cherry and regular) and a couple of peppers. Then I watered my radishes (which are starting to form) and my carrots (which are getting bushier).

What kind of made my day yesterday was when as I entered my veggie garden, I waited for the monarch butterfly to finish as he was on the cosmos drooping over the gate into my garden.

Notes for October 11, 2008

Yes its October and I am still picking. Today I picked tomatoes and a pepper and then watered the tomatoes, peppers, radishes and carrots.

I didn't cut the grass or mulch leaves. This morning I had to go to my mothers place and do some work for her, so pushing a mower will have to wait until next week.

I still have flowers in bloom, but its any of my perennials. I have marigolds all over the place (kind of nice that I started them from seed and planted them all over) and my cosmos are in bloom (red, pink and white). Did I mention that they are 7 feet tall. I swear to you that I did nothing to them but water them every few days as I did my veggies. The stems are an inch thick at the bottom.

Notes for October 8, 2008

This morning and yesterday the temperature started at 36 degrees F but I'm still picking veggies. I picked tomatoes and peppers yesterday and then I watered the carrots and radishes.

Last night we did turn the heat on for the first time this season (it was chilly when I got out of the shower).

Notes for October 6,2008

Saturday afternoon I was able to work in the yard. I first used the leaf blower and cleared the leaves out of the driveway into the grass and then cut the grass throughout the yard (mulching the leaves along with it). There weren't that many leaves yet, not enough to bag really for mulch. I had a scare with the lawn mower. I ran over something (a stick I think) that bent the inner mulching housing. I was able to fix it by using a hammer and bending the housing back away from the blade which was hitting it. I had to do this one more time after I bumped into a stump. So I kept the hammer close by for the rest of the day.

I picked tomatoes and cherry tomatoes and peppers. I pulled the Lima beans and the string beans. The Lima Beans weren't really worth it (what I picked wasn't enough for a serving). So I may have learned that I need to plant them earlier. I then thinned the radishes and carrots and weeded the carrots as well. Then I watered the carrots and radishes.

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 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 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 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?