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 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.

Notes For Sunday July 26, 2009

Yesterday the family schedule allowed me to work in the yard and I was able to take advantage of it and still catch up to the family. And at bedtime I was feeling it.

First, I picked two gallons of green beans. I probably should have picked last week because I realized I really need to spread the planting from three weeks apart to four weeks apart. The row of Lima Beans I planted last week is sprouting now. Then I tied and trimmed the tomato plants. I found two cherry tomatoes that were ripe. Actually they were more like a grape tomato. This year I am trying Juliet (an elongated grape tomato) because I was tired of losing so many cherry tomatoes because they have a tendency to split. And of course they never made it out of the garden and I ate them right there. They aren't as sweet or as juicy as a cherry tomato but they were surprisingly very meaty and very good. I also picked 6 cukes.

Then I finally finished mulching my flower beds and transplanted a few marigolds and cosmos left. I still would like to mulch the front of the house and will probably will do that next.

After mulching, I cut the grass. With the dry weather we've had, I grass didn't need cutting. While cutting the grass I avoided running over a toad. This must have father or mother toad. He was a good size one.

Notes for June 27, 2009

Yes I have Lymes and I had a real anxiety about working outside today. My doctor told me to wear a high sunblock and my brother who recently had Lymes said that he couldn't go outside because the medicine gave him a headache in sunlight. Yesterday on my way home from work I did get a headache (it was bright). After working outside for several hours (and putting on a sunblock before I went outside) I never did get a headache. I wear glasses and my glasses automatically turn dark when exposed to the sun's ultraviolet light. Anyone who has this type of glasses also knows that they don't work in the car since auto glass has been UV treated for years. The headache I got on Friday on my drive home was close to one of those headaches I get instantly when I get beamed with a red laser pointer. So I think I need to find my old clip ons for driving during the day. I started the day by Tying the tomato plants and trimming off the tomato suckers. About 1/3 of my plants top leaves are curling and seem to smaller. Wonder if its from the wet weather. It does seem to be affecting more than one variety. Then I transplanted two gloriosa daisies from the veggie garden into the flower bed next to the chimney. Actually its not a flower bed now and it was last year. Everything that was in that flower bed last year died over the winter. This particular flower bed was under a pile of leaves one foot thick (the winter winds pile them there). And we also had temperatures in the negative numbers this past winter. While planting I found a couple of volunteer daisies, so all is not lost. After I transplanted the daisies, I turned the garden using a spade where the radish bed was and then removed the sunflower twine and their supports. This made me think that I should mulch the 2nd green beans next before planting the third and so I did. Then I planted 3rd green beans and noticed that the 1st green beans could be picked next weekend. Then I mulched the remainder of veggie garden and all thats left to mulch in the veggie garden is alongside 3rd green beans after they sprout. Last night we had three dry thunderstorms. Each storm dumped a bunch to our west and then faded as it got close. My son cut the grass in the front yard for me this afternoon and I cut the back yard after dinner. My son mentioned that he chased a toad with the mower for a moment. Good to know there are still some around. During one of my breaks I was watching the Red Tailed Hawk circle around and was listening to the Blue Jays give the warning squawk. When I took my cool down break after cutting the grass, all I saw were robins looking for bugs/worms.

Notes for June 1, 2009

Cut the grass but didn't have to cut all of it. Some spots weren't tall enough to cut due to the lack of rain. That made me think of watering and so after cutting the grass I watered the veggie garden and the patches of young grass.

I noticed last night that I have poor germination of sunflowers on one side of the garden. looks like I will be doing some transplanting when the seedlings get there first true leaves.

I started 32 cucumber plants. Lost one in transporting them outside. Planted 28 to begin with. Planted the remaining five a few days later after I noticed I lost a few. Last night I noticed I had lost five more (not all in the same spots as before).

Friday Night Memorial Day weekend -5/22/2009

Lots on the list to do this weekend and I was able to get a start on it tonight. I even had help.

The first thing on the list was to cut the grass. I am feeling better and my college aged son even helped me cut the grass. I think he was feeling guilty since I asked him to cut the grass if he got a chance this week. We happen to have two mowers so it took half the time. When my mom downsized, she gave me her mower. I was even more surprised that it started since I used it a couple of times last year just to run it.

After cutting the grass I used my string trimmer that I got for Christmas and had better luck with it this time. I had to fix the string only once this time. I also missed fewer spots.

As I was taking my usual rest (sitting on my back patio and watching the wildlife come back into the yard) and downing a water bottle or one of my kids sports drinks, I noticed my daughter had got in the shower so it was no use going into the house to get mine, so I did some weeding. While weeding I noticed that my yellow Stella D'Oro daylilly is starting to bud as well as some of my common orange daylillies.

Tomorrow - PLANTING VEGGIES!!!

Notes for May 8, 2009

Emptied 0.3" from the rain gauge.

The cucumber and Tithonia seeds I started have sprouted.

I have very poor spinach germination this year. I have about four plants out of four rows. Two of the rows were old seeds but I think it just wasn't the right weather for them this year. Every year the weather conditions are usually good for some, great for one and bad for another.

I cut the grass Friday evening and I changed the mower blade earlier this week and it made a big difference. The grass was thick from the rain and I didn't have too much trouble mowing.

I noticed a baby rabbit in the flower bed in the front yard under my daughter's bedroom window while I was cutting the grass.

Notes for April 27, 2009

Busy weekend with beautiful weather. Its been in the 80s and near 90 since Friday and will be again today and tomorrow. And yes we broke down last night and turned on the AC (IN APRIL!).

Friday night I cut the grass to get a head start on Saturday. Saturday, after the usual running around (dropping off and picking up my daughter and picking up hoagies from the local church hoagie sale), I finally did get to work in the yard. First thing I did was to plant the flower bulbs we got for Easter (hyacinths and tulips). I planted them with a handful of ground up leaves and a tablespoon of bone meal.

Then I mulched up the six bags of leaves that my neighbor gave me. I dumped them out of the bags and ran them over with the mower.

Next I played with a toy I got for Christmas and finally took out the new weed wacker out of the box and started that learning process.

Then I put some block edging in a circle around my mailbox post where the Joe Pye Weed is. I put the rest of the edging around some tiger lillies in the back yard but I didn't dig them in yet. Next I straightened out the pile of remaining edging and old bricks (to be placed in the trash a few at a time; just after the used mortar pieces are gone).

I water the radish and spinach (which are starting to sprout) and the onions. I then mulched the onions.

I then sifted the bag and a half of potting mix (using a dollar store wastebasket). There were just too many large pieces in the mix. I put the large pieces in the flower bed as mulch.

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 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 August 25, 2008

Well we returned from vacation on Saturday after a week at the Jersey shore. We had great weather and had a great time (at until the alarm went off this morning).

And what equaled great weather on vacation meant that the garden didn't get any rain while we were gone. So in addition to picking, I had to water. The tomatoes and peppers didn't look bad but the cucumbers were really wilting so I watered them and the beans again on Sunday.

On Saturday I picked about 60 tomatoes and about 150 cherry tomatoes and about 8 cucumbers. We took a bunch of the tomatoes to church on Sunday and I took the rest to work this morning. My wax beans are ready to pick and I plan to pick them either tonight or tomorrow.

Sometime this week or this weekend, I plan on planting carrots.

Sunday afternoon I cut the grass, or at this time of year... I lowered the crabgrass.

Notes for August 14, 2008

Here is a picture of my Hosta I bought at a roadside stand. This is the one I split when I planted it and the smaller split died. This one seems to be doing better.

I cut my grass last night (or maybe I should say I shortened my crabgrass, but at least my yard is green). Since we haven't been getting enough rain when the yard needs it, there were some areas that I didn't cut last night (just really didn't need it). And to my surprise, my 19 year old son came out and helped me (I have two mowers. My mom gave me hers when she downsized to an over 55 community and has a service do her lawn). Well we got the other mower started (I like to start it up several times a year to keep it running so I have it as a back up, its a smaller one so I don't use it that often) and we plowed through the thick crabgrass.

I did notice something last night in the veggie garden. I have mentioned before that I have a problem with growing peppers in that I don't pick any until September. I am pretty sure it is because they only get about 3 to 4 hours of good sunlight and since they are a tropical plant they need more. But come September the plants decide that they aren't going to get more sunlight so they decide to start making peppers. In September I pick a bunch of small to medium peppers (the size of one is good to cut up for two salads). So anyway, last night I noticed that I had a medium sized pepper growing on one of my plants and its only mid August! Then I remembered that I had planted two varieties of peppers this year to experiment. I grew Parks Seeds "Whopper" and Totally Tomatoes "Fat and Sassy". The "Fat and Sassy" had a shorter maturation time. And guess what, the plant with the pepper was the "Fat and Sassy". I also noticed that the F&S plants had little peppers in the blossoms where the Whopper only had blossoms. So it looks like next year I will continue with the F&S. But I am thinking of moving them into the area where I grow my beans (I think it gets more sun there).

Notes for July 26, 2008

Had a busy day today. Picked cucumbers and a few cherry tomatoes and green beans. Trimmed tomato plants and tied the new growth to the stakes. Picked the last of the onions and now I have three trays of onions on the picnic table. Pushed the mulch back so that its now up against the Lima beans. Finished mulching the yellow beans. Then I cut the grass. The grass wasn't tall but it was thick in spots so it took me longer. I stopped about every half hour for a drink break. I plan on watering tomorrow if we don't get any rain tonight.

Notes for June 30, 2008

Here is a picture of Salvia I purchased a few weeks ago and planted in a garden I just started this year.

It rained last night. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to wet the ground under the trees.

Saturday afternoon, after working at the office for 7 hours, I got a chance to cut my grass, tie up and trim my tomato plants and pick some green beans. Nearly ran over a toad with the mower but I saw him just in time. After I finished, I took my customary 10 minute rest sitting on the back patio to enjoy my backyard. I have about 12 Bee Balm flowers in bloom and it was just buzzing with hummingbirds (ok it was just one at a time, but it was there quite often).

Notes for June 9, 2008

I was able to cut the grass Thursday night albeit later than when I wanted to start. But if I was going to get any other yard work done this past weekend, I had to cut the grass Thursday night and with the current heat wave (we've been in the 90's the past two day and is forecasted today and tomorrow) it was better sooner than later. I wanted to bag the clippings but since I got started late I didn't (one of my compost piles is completely empty and I wanted to start filling it again in order to bury kitchen scraps this summer).

Saturday in the heat I did work outside but I took a gallon of water with me and drank it all during frequent breaks. I got all of my tomatoes and peppers staked (but not tied). I will need more stakes next spring due to the amount that broke during installation (I start with 8 ft 1x2's for my tomatoes and as they break I use them for the peppers and other posts). I planted the remaining perennials I started from seed (Cupid's Dart, Dames Rocket, Yarrow, Pyrethrum and some Columbine). Then I continued mulching. I mulched one and a half flower beds. Wanted to do more but I was starting to get a headache (which is my body signal to stop working in the heat) and the flower beds I was going to do next, I had just planted the perennial seedlings, so I wanted to wait for them to establish themselves a little bit.

I did notice on Sunday the cucumber and cosmos seedlings were starting to come up in the six packs I started them in last week. However, the germination is still not that great, about 10 have not sprouted yet. I think next year and every year after, I am going to start them in six packs and not in the ground and start them in early May.

Before I mulched, I used up my fish emulsion fertilizer and gave all of my tomatoes and peppers a drink and I noticed the bottle starting to leak and so I used it up and gave a bunch of my new perennials a drink as well.

Notes for May 8, 2008

It's raining this morning and that's good. We never really got the "April Showers" so we are a bit dryer than we should be at this time of year. Hopefully we'll get the one to two inches forecasted for tomorrow.

My Iris are starting to bloom as well as some of the columbine I planted this year. I got a clump of Joe Pye Weed from some one and split it up into four pieces. Two of those pieces have sprouted. I bought two Yarrow plants and they have started to grow.

My tomato and pepper plants that I started indoors under the lights are looking great and I am going to move them outside soon and hopefully have them planted before Memorial Day. I figured out the secret quite by accident last year. The grow light must be as close as possible to the seedlings or they grow long and spindly and its ok for the light to touch the plants.

The daffodils I transplanted along my fence lines last year did look great this spring when the were in bloom. The stalks are still there, I haven't mowed them down yet. When they start to die off I will cut them down. I planted this years Easter flower bulbs each with a couple of teaspoons of bulb tone and hopefully they will respond by lasting longer. I have been giving my holly trees some Holly Tone in the spring and fall and the smallest looks most appreciative.

The grass seed I put down in February looks nice but looks like its needs some rain to survive. The grass seed I put down at the end of March is struggling (lack of "April showers").

Notes for May 6, 2008

Sorry that I have not written as often as I did in the past. I recently lost my job and found another and so life has been an adjustment.

I have onions, radish, spinach and green beans planted.

I have started another perennial flower bed.

I have had seven trees cut down in my back yard (all were dead from the gypsy moth damage).

I bought a red rhododendron (now I have to figure out where I am going to plant it.

I have transplanted a dogwood tree (3 ft high) and found two other small ones to possibly transplant.

About half of the perennials I bought last year lived through the winter. The Bee Balm has taken over its spot.

The grass seed I put down in late March is still waiting for the April showers (April was dryer than normal and so far so has May).

Notes for March 25, 2008

Yesterday I did notice some of the grass seed I put down in February is starting to sprout. But not nearly as much as I hoped.

The male goldfinches are starting to get their summer (bright) plumage. The bluebirds are a daily visitor at the moment.

I started some seeds indoors over the weekend: tomatoes, peppers and several perennials.

The daffodils are in full bloom and the forsythia are starting to bloom.

Notes for March 19, 2008

Last Friday I took the day off and by the afternoon it was around 60 degrees and nice enough to work outside. I emptied two five gallon buckets of horse manure (which I had saved from last fall) into my onion bed (second year). Then I turned it under by hand (shovel). Then I emptied four 40 pound bags of composted cow manure into the onion bed (2.5' x 15') and turned it under. I leveled it off and then planted about 100 onions (four rows), leaving room on the end to plant some parsley.

Saturday was again nice in the afternoon and I worked on the big veggie garden. I raked the leaves piled along the fence away from the fence into the middle of the garden and then mulched them with the lawn mower. I then spread a 30 pound bag of bone meal over the whole garden (using a trowel and not remembering that I had a lawn spreader in the shed that some one had given me that I have yet to use). I then spread a thin layer of finely mulched leaves over the whole garden (the mulched leaves were from my compost piles of ground up leaves gathered by the mower from the rest of the yard last fall) and turned it under using my tiller. My veggie garden is approximately 20' x 36'. I tilled in one direction and then I tilled it a second time at 90 degrees.

I spread some grass seed on President's Day back in February but it hasn't sprouted yet. Maybe I put it down too soon and its been too cold for germination. But I know we've had good moisture since and some warm days but I guess it hasn't been warm enough in a long enough string of days for germination. So it seems to be a lesson learned, don't put spring grass seed down until late March or until April (at least in my zone)