Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Walt Disney eat your heart out

Might be hard to see here, but that's a yellow Monarch on the Evening Sunflower in the garden. All the better since it's 8pm. :)



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Friday, July 15, 2011

Hopeful disapointment

I pulled one of the potato plants yesterday that looked ready (droopy and wilted leaves). Its mid-july and those spuds have been in since March. What did I get? Spuds barely bigger than the seed potatoes I put in. Grrrr. Also, I have come to the conclusion that the 3 sisters does NOT work with sweet corn. The stems are so weak that the beans just pull the stalks over where they snap and get ravaged by the local wildlife. I have pulled the beans that were growing in the other batch, maybe I can get some corn by September. I will have to further segregate the crop next season, maybe putting a chicken-wire fence between the corn rows and letting the beans/squash grow on that. Could also be too much nitrogen and the plants are growing so the roots aren't as deep (called logging). Also considering growing things in pots in front of the house (by the street) since that spot get the most sun. Also may let me focus more, I need to concentrate my efforts I think. Too many plants with different needs and not enough experience on my part.

There is another watermelon growing so its not just the 'lone melon' which is good. The evening sun's have flowers on them now and are tracking the sun quite well. Tomatoes just about ripe. Amaranth is at least 10 feet high. :)

That reminds me, do NOT plant Amaranth on the east side of the Main Bed, they shade everything. The peppers are having a hard time competing. Ah, but I think the potatoes have been too hot since they really sit in the sun from 10am till 3. So grow the potatoes on the west side of the Amaranth so they will get shaded.

Pictures this weekend.

Yeah, I know I try not to swing political, but this is about helping people eat. Great idea, and she is a better gardener than me.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/07/14/cnnheroes.hirshberg.seeds/index.html?hpt=hp_t2#

Friday, July 8, 2011

Knee high by the 4th of July

Yep, I don't know where that expression started but it always seems to be wrong for me. As of the 4th my maize was as tall as me (the tallest stalk anyway) and it already has many developing ears. I didn't get a chance to take photos as the Higher Mind of New England has me in its clutches again, really hard this time. I will try to take some this weekend. Here is some info though:

Potatoes: Seem to be ready. A stalk broke on one of the plants the other day and I suppose it died. A few days later I pulled the spud but it was literally crawling with bugs. Even for someone as non squeamish as me, it was pretty gross.

Eggplant: Well, there are plants, but nothing else. This is the 2nd season in a different spot and still nothing. I'm suspecting something is missing.

Peanuts: Got the plants, they look good. I haven't reached under to see if there are actually peanuts yet.

4 sisters doing well, well at least 3 of the 4, I just planted the pumpkins on the 4th so they haven't sprouted yet. But the beans, maize, and sunflowers (evening sun better than the Mammoths since they were late) are all doing well, only the maize has fruited yet. That reminds me to switch to bloodmeal for fertilizer since there is no need for more nitrogen at this point.

Amaranth: Taller than me seed heads beginning to form. The Wife keeps asking me "what do I do with these?" Having eaten Amaranth before I know you cook the seeds like oatmeal, but I still have yet to actually shake them out. That's basically all I know. :)

Watermelon: Have my first baby melon, and its getting bigger by the day. The Littlest Giant loves to "check out the melon". No honeydews yet, but there is such a tangle in the melon patch that I might just not be seeing it yet. The parsnips are in the patch and I think they might be getting smothered. Hopefully they will make it to the winter.

Tomatoes: Have a few babies right now and the plants are healthy so far *crosses fingers* The carrots under them are similarly shaded like the parsnips, so we will see if they make it to winter.

Blueberries: Yeah, birds took 'em all. Even though they were not mature yet. Gonna need a net (and I don't mean Funicello) next season.

Apple trees: There is a baby apple on the Fuji tree. "when it grows up, I eat it!" says The Littlest Giant. I had to spray both trees with neem oil as they were getting Cedar-Apple Rust. They seem to be improving, or at least not getting worse.

That's it for now, found this great article on cnn about gardening. I don't normally post this stuff, but I thought it was a good piece.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/07/08/why.gardening.good/index.html