Derald wrote:
songbird wrote:

Thanks; I needed that. Several newsgroups I frequent are objects of a major
sporge flood. Although, the newsreading service my ISP uses is filtering it,
traffic is reduced to a virtual standstill. Messages in this NG have been so
sparse I feared that it, too, had been affected. But Lo! My test trawled up a
living person; hope remains ;-)

children... my newsfeed does a good job of
filtering gunk out too.


redoing a large garden. eek!

I can relate, although, not on a very large scale. This spring, I reclaimed
the last two of nine raised beds that had been fallow since '98, '99, or
thereabouts. This morning, they host "Delinel" filet beans and baby Lima beans,
respectively. I started the reclamation in winter '07 for '08 planting.

it's nice to see a garden redone and
planted.

we have almost a full acre of gardens
of various kinds. there is always something
that needs to be done or redone. i like
that i can pick a project based upon how
much energy i have and how long i want to be
out. usually one thing leads to another
anyways.

we are finally getting some rain now
after three weeks of not much at all.
whew! the gardens in clay are tough to
do any deep weed removal when it's cracked
and like a brick. by saturday the ground
should be perfect for getting some of
the deeper rooted weeds pulled.


doesn't look like i will get to redoing
the grape trellis this season.

Maybe this fall, huh? When do they shed their leaves?

i might be able to squeak it in, at least the part
that involves moving the posts. i probably won't be
able to cement them in until spring if the temps get
too cold. usually the leaves are gone by mid-october.


I am de facto
custodian of a muscadine trellis that has needed to be rebuilt for years. The
vines aren't actually on the ground yet so it isn't exactly a pressing need;
LOL! Nothing much except the bluejays has much interest in them, anyway,
although I do grudgingly water them from time to time.

actually it is probably better to ease off
watering them if you are only giving them a
little. instead the next time you get some
rain would be the better time to water them
(and to do so deeply). otherwise you are
encouraging the roots near the surface and
those will be more drought susceptible...
kinda contrary to common sense. for arid
regions they keep the top of the plant
pruned to keep it within the amount of
rainfall and that improves the taste and
quality of the fruit (for winemaking).


not much rain so having to water. almost
all flowers are cycling fast with the
heat and dry weather.

Don't I know it. We had an exceptionally rainy March but since then,
essentially no rain. June is typically one of the three wettest months down here
but this month only slightly more than one inch so far.

i think we've gotten about an inch today
so far, and that would make our June total
about an inch and a quarter). i'm glad to
not have to be out this morning watering.

....
Down here, the gardening seasons are very much out of phase with yours. The
cool weather greens are long gone; I've been picking English peas since late
February but the heat now just about has them whipped.

i'm hoping to get more peas the next few weeks
before the real high temperatures return. all the
greens that have bolted i'll let flower and go to
seed so i can see what the blooms look like.


Tomatoes, too, are
hurting from the hot weather; will try to extend their season a tad more with
shade cloth but am not optimistic, based on past experience.

huh, we have tomatoes growing all summer. they
don't set as much fruit when it gets really hot
but they don't wilt either. we have heavy clay
soil. when we water them we have buckets with
tiny holes in the bottom set down in the ground
that we fill up.


Been eating on the
yellow squash, cucumbers, peppers and eggplant (aubergine) for a while.

we don't do much with cucumbers or eggplant
and we grow the peppers for inlaws more than
for us.


Pickle
worms have become a bit of a problem this past couple of weeks but a night-time
barrier seems to be helping quite a bit.

i don't even know what a pickle worm
looks like.


Bt is somewhat effective but as a
general rule the little buggers already have bored into the pepo before the Bt
does its thing. At least, though, they don't just keep gnawing away.

we don't have much sod/grass around and i think
that keeps a lot of the grubs and worms from
getting going. the tomato worms we pick off by
hand.

i don't think i've seen more than one
japanese beetle so far.


Getting a
few okra, although, the second planting is not yet mature enough to begin
bearing; probably another week away. "Provider" green beans are just coming in;
first picking probably late today or tomorrow. Next, I expect the blackeye peas
to be ready, followed by the "Delinel" green beans and the baby Lima beans.
Kitchen herbs -- all container grown -- are doing well, although last year's
parsley is blooming and the sun is getting to the thyme.

i like okra, but haven't tried it here
yet. i keep thinking it needs more heat
than we get. does it do ok in soil with
a lot of clay? i should put it on the
list for trying sometime.


Won't be doing any more "relay" or succession planting for this season.
Just sort of in hover and maintain mode and planning for late summer and autumn
planting.

are there any cover crops you plant
in the bare spots? i plant beans or
buckwheat for any spots i want to
plant again next season. any spots i
can leave go for a few years i plant
with alfalfa or birdsfoot trefoil.


songbird