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.

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.

Notes for May 18, 2009

Watered the radishes, onions, green beans and the patches of grass I put down earlier this year (grass looks nice so far). While I was putting away the garden hose, I apparently disturbed Mr. chipmunk as he dashed past the back of the house.

The green beans have sprouted.

Notes for April 29, 2009

Thinned the radishes last night and today we are having some light rain. The dogwoods and the wisteria are in bloom and we turned off the AC.

Notes for December 5, 2008

I still need to clean up the dead tomato and pepper plant stalks (they are still tied to the stakes). I need to pull out the dead annuals (marigolds and cosmos) and trim the other perennials. I need to move the flower pots of browned mums off of the front porch. I finished clearing my leaves for the moment (until the wind blows more over the fences or from across the street). I still haven't drained my garden hoses and we have had some freezing weather, so I may end up buying new hoses next spring. I would like to get some grass seed now and if I got a chance I would throw some in the bare spots. There is this one area that I would like to dig up and then plant grass to see if that will work in that area.

I picked the last of my radishes two weeks ago and I picked my carrots on Thanksgiving morning for the snack tray later that day and they were good. I had two different types of carrots (one was a short variety and the other was a normal or long variety, and the long variety seemed to do better. I am definitely going to try to plant them earlier next year. I will probably again wait to pick them on Thanksgiving morning and probably make that my tradition. The idea of fresh garden veggies on Thanksgiving is so awesome. I also noticed that where I thinned more heavily, the carrots did better. I have nothing else growing now. I've already started to get seed catalogs and glanced through one while in the reading room. I was thinking of trying celery next year until I checked up on celery and it takes alot of care and takes very long, so I think that's out. I do like to try to grow something new every year. I usually take an inventory of my seeds in early January.

I am busy filling my birdfeeders every two weeks (sunflower in one and thistle in the other). The weather has gotten cool enough to put out some suet feeder blocks and I have noticed the Red Belly woodpecker has returned but still waiting on the Downy (actually I have heard the Red Belly all summer so he wasn't very far). The squirrels are busy planting acorns throughout my yard and I did get some squirrel mix to put in their glass jar feeder. The Bluebirds have returned this past week. Haven't seen them since late Spring. They like the berries on the Dogwood and the hedge as well as the suet feeders. I am thinking of getting a wiremesh screen silo feeder for the woodpeckers to put in whole corn and or peanuts. Had a wooden one with plexiglass that the the squirrels chewed up pretty good to get at the corn.

Notes for November 24, 2008

This past weekend was fairly productive. I got all the leaves done. I worked 3 hours on Saturday and 2 hours on Sunday and finished what I needed to get done. During the winter there will be a couple of times where I will blow and mulch the leaves that get blown in and piled by the wind.

I finally installed the storm door windows and put the screens in storage.

On Saturday I also picked the last of the radishes. On Thanksgiving morning I plan on picking my carrots for baby carrots. Next year I will definitely plant them earlier and maybe they won't be babies.

I've started getting seed catalogs already.

Now that I have finished with the leaves, I can get back to my garden and remove the dead tomato and pepper plants and sunflower stumps.

Notes for November 3, 2008

Saturday I mulched and bagged all the leaves in my yard and this week it only took me two hours (last week it was three). There weren't as many leaves as there was last week and I even debated doing them but I did them anyway. Afterwards I picked a half dozen or so radishes and then watered the remaining radishes and the carrots. I had thought of cleaning up the rest of the garden (pulling out the stakes and throwing the plants in the compost and maybe even tilling) but I decided there was a higher priority of inside housework to do. The temperatures are forecasted to be in the 60's all week and so the leaves will be slow to fall.

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 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 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 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 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 May 26, 2008

What a beautiful weekend!

Saturday...

I went and got some manure, didn't have use of any family owned trucks, so I ended up using my car and five gallon buckets. Cleaned out my trunk (been wanting to do that for three years) and fit seven buckets in the truck and 8 inside my car. I made two trips.

Picked some radishes and spinach. Had cooked spinach with dinner, delicious!

Dug a trench under the cucumber fences and filled it with manure and placed soil back over top and planted cucumber seeds.

Transplanted marigolds. I started mixed marigold seeds in my veggie garden to transplant throughout the yard and transplanted about six. I have a fair amount of freelancing marigolds coming up in my veggie garden and since I have planted only yellow in my veggie garden, I suspect they are yellow.

Planted two rows of tomato plants (about 14 total plants). For each tomato plant, I dug a hole and filled it with the aged manure along with a pinch of Epsom salts and a sprinkle of wood ashes and then added in half of the excavated soil and mixed it all by hand. The rest of the soil I used to build a bowl around the plant to channel water to the plant when I water (since my soil is sand).

This morning (Monday, Memorial Day) I was awakened by a Robin attacking our front window and my wife's car at 7 AM this morning and so I got up. I continued planting my tomato plants and then my pepper plants. I have room to plant about a dozen more tomato plants and the are more than enough freelancing volunteers to transplant. I hope to transplant them during the week or by the weekend. Then I cut the grass and after a shower it was off to the family picnic.

During this weekend, I noticed that my tiger lillies are starting to bud, the rhododendrons are in full bloom, my yard has chipmunks and today I saw a toad in my yard.

Next week I hope to plant some more green beans (the next wave) and mulch, mulch, mulch.

Notes for May 18, 2008

Wanted to get a quick entry before going off to church...

Emptied 0.9" from the rain gauge yesterday. Planted sunflower seeds and cosmos. Transplanted marigolds and planted my red Rhododendron. And I picked some radishes. I also moved my tomato and pepper seedlings from indoors to outside so I can plant them next week (hopefully).

Never did pick up the manure for planting my tomatoes and peppers (I have a good chance of using a pick up truck late in the week).

Its a beautiful sunny morning today but its supposed to be gray and thunder storming this afternoon.

Notes for May 13, 2008

I emptied the rain gauge this morning with 0.5 inches. This morning was also cold for a May morning, it was 38 degrees F and was awakened to the crop duster spraying the township for gypsy moths.

I was really annoyed to see a sprinkler system on one of neighbors homes after we just got some rain on my way to work this morning. Every sprinkler system ought to have a moisture sensor!

I did pick a few radishes on Sunday and with this cool weather I will be picking more.

I have not been having good luck getting my green beans to germinate. Its been too cold or we have had several days of warmer weather together to get them to germinate. I guess I should have used black plastic mulch to warm up the soil. I take a black plastic trash bags and cut it into strips. But I was lazy this year and I have planted the beans twice now and hardly any has germinated (so far).

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 November 20, 2007

No snow here, but they got a good shot about two hours north of here. We have been getting rain rather regular lately and my carrots are enjoying it. I put away the rain gage because some mornings have been down in the 20's. But tomorrow and Thanksgiving its forecasted to be in the 60's.

I cleaned up the veggie garden on Saturday. I pulled out all the tomato and pepper plants, shook off the dirt and tossed the plants on the lawn and mulched them up with the mower. Put all the clipping in the compost pile.

I picked the last of the radishes and I picked a few of the carrots. They were more like appetizers. They were only as big as a pinky finger to the first or second knuckle. I may still get a few spinach leaves.

I mulched and bagged all the leaves in my yard again and two of my compost piles are over flowing. My third pile can still take more. I call them compost piles but they are more like just ground up leaf piles that I will use for mulch next year. Although I do put other biodegradeables in one of the piles (such as the jack-o-lantern that was getting soft, and the water melon rinds back in late summer).

I did forget to do one thing this past weekend and that was to drain the garden hoses for winter. Maybe this weekend.

Happy and safe Thanksgiving to all.