This is the annoying thing. The weather forecasters say "Oh, it's going to rain!" So I wait...and wait...and wait...nope. No rain. Now it's dark and late and I'm tired and don't want to haul the hose around.
I'm not one of those who jumps on forecasters for every erroneous forecast. If people were honest, they'd realize that they are fairly accurate. And I'm pretty sure it rained somewhere in the viewing area even if it wasn't over my back 40 feet. Either way, there was no watering from me today, and I hope there's rain tonight or tomorrow. I have this sneaking suspicion that if I water, it will rain. I don't think that's a bad thing. The beds seem to be draining well, so I am not worried about flooding.
There is of course some larger lesson here, about doing what one should do regardless of the promise of a gift from the heavens. People who pray for work but don't put in applications would seem to be an analogy. So in the gardening-as-life-lesson realm, point taken. Procrastinating because something might happen to make the task unnecessary or easier, when in actually it's just getting harder by waiting is a long standing failing of mine. Now I get it from the garden too. One day, that lesson will take. But not today obvious. Maybe tomorrow.
I was gifted with some new tomato plants to replace the dying ones, and then also some cabbage and muskmelon. I will need to probably finish the pallets, throw some dirt in them and see what happens. Everything that isn't the tomatoes seems to be doing well, and I've gotten about four to eight raspberries every morning, although the promise of more to come. Herbs are drying; the mint seems to have gone faster, so I can take that off, store it somehow, and then hang more.
And water tomorrow....
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Better Late Than Never
Happy Summer Solstice! I spent the day out in the actual sun, trying to get the back yard into some semblance of order before our "really informal, not quite last minute but might as well be" solstice party on Saturday. Still the larger things should be done.
It's much later than it should be, and as usual, later than I intended. I wanted to have started and finished the week of our frost free date, however we just didn't have the time. I have to rely on my spouse for some of the heavier lifting, and the construction projects, and it was just now we got to it. He ordered two cubic yards of dirt which is maybe enough for what we intend to do...but maybe not. We shall see. I think 1.2 cubic yards of it are still in the driveway, which will make parking interesting for our party.
Now that things are all built (except the pallets, that's still a work in progress), next year we can probably get started 'on time.'
Stepping back a bit.... I was torn on what to do with the caterpillars in the herb garden, and finally decided to get new parsley plants. I also got some dill, being told they would like that too, and planted those in some small pots, one for each caterpillar. You know, so they can have their own rooms. Well, I couldn't find one of them, and then the other was sort of hit and miss. Finally I found him and after several tries to pick him up so he'd stay put but I wouldn't squish him, I moved him to his new home. The other one, I never found. I put the pots near the large herb pot (so perhaps the missing caterpillar would find its way to one of them), and just decided from that point on to let nature take its course. But with some amount of checking every day to see where they are.
I've spent an inordinate amount of time worrying about caterpillars.
That was last week, I think ,a few days after my first post. This week my spouse had the day off on Thursday (today) so we had plans to work in the backyard. I had work obligations in the morning, and while I was gone he built me another vegetable bed, and filled it, and also cleaned up around the raspberry bushes. Yesterday I began planting strawberries in one of the pallets, after attaching the landscape fabric to it, and I finished that up today. The strawberries feel like they are happy. I actually got them at Lowe's not my favorite greenhouse, since Dill's tends to follow the seasons rather than what late-to-get-to-things suburbanites want. I seriously think I would be able to go there in fall and get spring stuff. Dill's also was confused by my request for diatomaceous earth. They did bring me some super poisonous stuff for the ants, despite me explaining it was for a VEGETABLE garden. You know, for things I'd be eating. They got it eventually, but were out of the product.
The potatoes appear to have gotten beaten down during a storm early this week but have come back, and the onions may be ready to bulb. Peppers are alive but just kind of there and the tomatoes...well, I should not buy plants because they are 'little' and need to be taken care of. I think those will need to be replaced.
Now I have an empty bed, but never fear, back to Lowe's I go. (also did have the diatomaceous earth as well.) Two cucumber plants (for MominLaw), a zucchini, a squash, and a few string beans. I will plant those tomorrow.
Lettuce and spinach will have to wait until next year, and who knows if I'll find a place for broccoli and cauliflower again.
Some early (for me) harvest: I've already frozen some basil, and I'll probably cut more and hang them to dry. And it looks like the raspberries are starting to come in! I need to reinforce my deal with the birds, to enable us to share the wealth as it were, especially now that I've added strawberries to the mix. The apples need to be thinned, I've read. Anyone know what to do with early not even close to ripe apples?
I've also discovered that the 'here's what I did' is really not exciting blogging. But hopefully that will change as things get planted and it's just 'wait and see.'
I did get an opportunity to sit on my deck with a glass of water and watch the birds at the feeder. Just kind of nice. We also have our first squirrel sighting, which makes me very happy.
It's much later than it should be, and as usual, later than I intended. I wanted to have started and finished the week of our frost free date, however we just didn't have the time. I have to rely on my spouse for some of the heavier lifting, and the construction projects, and it was just now we got to it. He ordered two cubic yards of dirt which is maybe enough for what we intend to do...but maybe not. We shall see. I think 1.2 cubic yards of it are still in the driveway, which will make parking interesting for our party.
Now that things are all built (except the pallets, that's still a work in progress), next year we can probably get started 'on time.'
Stepping back a bit.... I was torn on what to do with the caterpillars in the herb garden, and finally decided to get new parsley plants. I also got some dill, being told they would like that too, and planted those in some small pots, one for each caterpillar. You know, so they can have their own rooms. Well, I couldn't find one of them, and then the other was sort of hit and miss. Finally I found him and after several tries to pick him up so he'd stay put but I wouldn't squish him, I moved him to his new home. The other one, I never found. I put the pots near the large herb pot (so perhaps the missing caterpillar would find its way to one of them), and just decided from that point on to let nature take its course. But with some amount of checking every day to see where they are.
I've spent an inordinate amount of time worrying about caterpillars.
That was last week, I think ,a few days after my first post. This week my spouse had the day off on Thursday (today) so we had plans to work in the backyard. I had work obligations in the morning, and while I was gone he built me another vegetable bed, and filled it, and also cleaned up around the raspberry bushes. Yesterday I began planting strawberries in one of the pallets, after attaching the landscape fabric to it, and I finished that up today. The strawberries feel like they are happy. I actually got them at Lowe's not my favorite greenhouse, since Dill's tends to follow the seasons rather than what late-to-get-to-things suburbanites want. I seriously think I would be able to go there in fall and get spring stuff. Dill's also was confused by my request for diatomaceous earth. They did bring me some super poisonous stuff for the ants, despite me explaining it was for a VEGETABLE garden. You know, for things I'd be eating. They got it eventually, but were out of the product.
The potatoes appear to have gotten beaten down during a storm early this week but have come back, and the onions may be ready to bulb. Peppers are alive but just kind of there and the tomatoes...well, I should not buy plants because they are 'little' and need to be taken care of. I think those will need to be replaced.
Now I have an empty bed, but never fear, back to Lowe's I go. (also did have the diatomaceous earth as well.) Two cucumber plants (for MominLaw), a zucchini, a squash, and a few string beans. I will plant those tomorrow.
Lettuce and spinach will have to wait until next year, and who knows if I'll find a place for broccoli and cauliflower again.
Some early (for me) harvest: I've already frozen some basil, and I'll probably cut more and hang them to dry. And it looks like the raspberries are starting to come in! I need to reinforce my deal with the birds, to enable us to share the wealth as it were, especially now that I've added strawberries to the mix. The apples need to be thinned, I've read. Anyone know what to do with early not even close to ripe apples?
I've also discovered that the 'here's what I did' is really not exciting blogging. But hopefully that will change as things get planted and it's just 'wait and see.'
I did get an opportunity to sit on my deck with a glass of water and watch the birds at the feeder. Just kind of nice. We also have our first squirrel sighting, which makes me very happy.
Friday, June 14, 2013
Welcome to My Garden!
Hello there!
The purpose of this blog is two fold. First, I want to document the things I do in my garden, what works, what didn't, when I plant things, when I harvest them, that sort of thing. Second, I have about a million questions that I've been posting on Facebook and figured I could post them here too.
Also, I like blogging.
I should probably talk a little bit about myself and my garden and yard. I live in the southeaster suburbs of Columbus, Ohio, and so I have a bit of yard in which to plant stuff. The question has been for a while "What stuff?" and it's been an ongoing process in the five-six years we have lived there. We have done a few things, but it's just been in the last year or so that a firm plan has developed.
I had planned to start this blog when I started this year's garden, however, much like this year's garden, I'm getting kind of a late start. This introductory post will thus serve also as a summary to date of what's been done.
The yard itself faces south, and is about 1600-1800 square feet. It slopes a bit downward, especially in the southwestern corner. That is the location of our future pond. So far I have:
The purpose of this blog is two fold. First, I want to document the things I do in my garden, what works, what didn't, when I plant things, when I harvest them, that sort of thing. Second, I have about a million questions that I've been posting on Facebook and figured I could post them here too.
Also, I like blogging.
I should probably talk a little bit about myself and my garden and yard. I live in the southeaster suburbs of Columbus, Ohio, and so I have a bit of yard in which to plant stuff. The question has been for a while "What stuff?" and it's been an ongoing process in the five-six years we have lived there. We have done a few things, but it's just been in the last year or so that a firm plan has developed.
I had planned to start this blog when I started this year's garden, however, much like this year's garden, I'm getting kind of a late start. This introductory post will thus serve also as a summary to date of what's been done.
The yard itself faces south, and is about 1600-1800 square feet. It slopes a bit downward, especially in the southwestern corner. That is the location of our future pond. So far I have:
- One 4' x 6' bed of onions and potatoes (6) planted in early May
- One 4' x 6' bed of tomatoes (3) and peppers (3) just planted this week
- Raspberry bushes planted I think our second year there
- One dwarf Fuji apple tree that produces teeny-tiny apples and I believe has been mislabeled, planted our second year
- A pot on the deck with basil, oregano, thyme, sweet woodruff, lavender, rosemary, and parsley, planted around May 15.
Future plans include:
- A third 4' x 6' bed for beans, zucchini, squash, broccoli or whatever else
- Two pots for radishes and carrots
- 4 pallets to turn in to lettuce and spinach tepee kind of things
- One pallet for strawberries
- Space for a grape arbor
Current "challenges"
- Ants, ants, ANTS everywhere. The entire subdivision is built on what might be the world's largest ant colony. I will be picking up diatomaceous earth as soon as my local place gets some in.
- Swallowtail butterfly caterpillars have eaten my parsley
- The usual...time, money, etc.
We do also have plans for more decorative flower beds and such, but we have decided that food gardens are first. While I am hoping to get a great deal of our food during the summer and into the fall (I have successfully canned tomatoes in the past), I think it will be a while on our learning curve before we can rely on that. As we are only a family of three adults (me, my spouse, and his mother), it might be barely enough. Eventually I would love to live out on many acres so I can have goats and chickens. We can have three chickens however once we get all the other things set up, I don't know that we will have room for them. We cannot have goats in the city limits.
I digress. I would love to be fairly sustainable, and maybe we will get that way, but I'm not going to obsess over it. We also have had rabbits off and on, and while I don't really want them to have all my crops, I'm not going to obsess about that either. Kroger and Giant Eagle are right down the street, so we aren't going to starve.
The point of all this, really, is to get more in touch with the rhythm of the land that has allowed me to live on it for a time. My husband and I are pagans, Druids, specifically; paying attention to the land and the cycles of the seasons is more than a hobby for us. Being in touch with the Earth is our sacrament, and there's nothing I like better than digging my hands into the beds when I plant (no gloves), or sitting on my back deck or around our fire ring, with a glass of wine or horn of mead, with my spouse and my dog, and just feeling the energies.
That's what this little experiment is really all about. I hope you join us for the ride and enjoy!
(Also big props to my friends Kim, Irisa, and Val for name suggestions. One of Val's won!)
(Also big props to my friends Kim, Irisa, and Val for name suggestions. One of Val's won!)
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