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 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 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 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).

Finally Fall?

It appears and feels like it is finally fall.

Sunday morning I emptied the rain gage with 1.5" (which was from Thursday, Friday and Saturday). It cleared up Saturday afternoon and the sun came out. The wife sent me to the nearby convenience store for some rolls for dinner and I went in shorts, a Tee shirt and flip flops. It was still that warm. Saturday night it went down into the 50's and stayed in the 60's on Sunday. On Monday morning when I got up it was 31. Luckily I had heard the day before of a frost warning and I picked the remainder of my tomatoes.

I also picked some radishes, a little bit of spinach and about a dozen small to medium sized peppers and those were my only peppers this season. Still I had a salad last night with some peppers and it was good.

Sunday afternoon after church I mulched all the leaves in my yard and bagged them up and filled my compost piles. I will use this for mulch next year. My piles are filled but will settle and every week I will add more as will fit and as my yards needs cleaning from leaves.

While I mulching, I did notice that I was getting a fair amount of grass clippings in with the leaves. We've had some warm temperatures and some rain so I shouldn't be surprised, but it is the end of October. I also noticed the areas where I put down grass seed this past spring was doing fine.

Notes for September 22, 2007

I picked the beans finally although I am still not feeling back to 100 percent. I am still coughing which is making me hoarse. I really should have picked the beans about 2 weeks ago. I pulled out the green bean plants and cleaned off the beans and put the plants in the compost pile. I also picked some Lima beans. They were an experiment (about a 6 foot long row). I haven't been watering as much as I should the last few weeks and it has been dry so with the amount of Lima beans I picked looks to be about two servings.

I am still picking tomatoes and I think I picked my last cucumber. I even saw a pepper to be picked. I will pick again tomorrow.

It looks like I lost the beets and most of the spinach I planted most recently, I didn't water as much as I should have. However, the radishes look fine. The carrots are still coming along and every time I walk by them I thin them a little more. I thinned them pretty good today and probably won't have to thin them any more.

Notes for September 2, 2007

Yesterday was a fairly productive day. Since I cut the grass on Thursday, I had the required chores out of the way.

The first thing I did was to move both of my compost piles. The one was too close to the veggie patch and was getting in the way of picking cucumbers. I moved this one one block length further away. The other I moved from behind the shed to the backside of the first one. Now I still need more cinder blocks for it. I use cinder blocks for holding my compost piles.

After moving the piles, I got out a new toy. My neighbor gave me a used string trimmer a couple of weeks ago and I made my rounds around the whole yard (1st time completely). I'm still learning how to work it.

After trimming the yard, I finally was able to put the concrete edging in the ground that I had sitting in place for about two months. Now I can prepare the soil inside for another perennial bed. I still have enough edging for another bed and I had to start it yesterday but the big boss had other things on her honey-do list. I then cleaned up the grill and cleaned off the back patio for possible picnic/barbecue on Monday.

While picking tomatoes and cucumbers yesterday, I found two tomato hornworms. One was covered in egg sacks, so I left him alone and the other I pulled off and buried him under some mulch before stepping on him. I also picked green beans and will pick more next week. Next week I will pull the plants and plant some more radish and spinach.

I also thinned the radishes that are coming and did some pre-thinning on the spinach and beets that are coming up. The carrots that I planted are now coming up too.

Notes for August 31, 2007

I watered my seedlings last night and did notice that some of the spinach and beets are coming up but not the carrots.

While cutting the grass I pulled off a tomato hornworm and threw him in front of the mower. He is now fertilizer!

Notes for August 24, 2007

If all goes well to plan, which its rarely does, I will have planted this weekend: carrots, beets and spinach. I have some empty space where my onions and green beans were.

I have two sunflowers in bloom. They are only 5 feet tall this year. The past couple of years they were 8 to 9 feet tall by now but they are stunted from the rabbit I had in my yard earlier this year. Then the plants were small when they were attacked by the carpenter (or large black) ants. Usually when they get attacked by the ants, they are already 4 feet tall and can survive nicely. But this year they were smaller due to the rabbit. I almost pulled out the plants when they were 18" tall and looking ghastly.

And guess what, I have more green beans to pick.

Carrots or Spinach?

I did dig up my onion bed and I will probably try carrots and spinach.