The garden this year
It's been an odd year so far.
It's my second year of container gardening on my deck. I reduced my plantings by half after last year. No cabbages or brussel sprouts because the cabbage worms ate them to the bone. Fewer tomato and pepper plants just because they got out of hand last year. I plant carrots and onions in mortar tubs. Last year I planted the seeds in rows and found it a pain in the ass to thin them so this year I scattered the seeds across the tub. I must've sowed more seeds than I realized, because the tubs are wall to wall seedlings and thinning is even worse than last year. Onion sets simply died, no reason. Likewise Swiss chard. I don't use insecticides and I fertilize with Miracle-Gro every two weeks. No idea why things died. I'm beginning to suspect the city water. Tried some Bak Choi and found out the cabbage bugs love that too, so that went on the compost pile. I have a wren nesting in one of the tomato containers, so I have to be careful to not flood the nest when I water. I had a couple of nice sunflowers, about five feet tall, staked and held with wire ties. One of the ties cut into a growing stalk until the stalk just broke. No more wire ties. I'm doing cucumbers in whiskey barrels. So far, so good. Saw my first cucumber today. Once again, I planted lettuce too late and it went to seed when the heat hit it. Gotta get it in earlier next year. I have one egg plant. Not that I like egg plant, but it was something different. Lots of foliage and flowers, but so far no egg plants. I'm curious as to how the plant will support the fruit when they appear. My one artichoke that made it through the winter is again putting out lush foliage, but still no sign of artichokes. I have strawberries in a 4' plastic wading pool. They didn't amount to much last year, so I pulled up all the plants and composted them. I was ready to plant something else there this year, when all the plants came back from the roots. We got a half dozen strawberries before the squirrels discovered them. |
The garden this year
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The garden this year
Woodchucks in the triangle?
"kddaniel" wrote in message ... I finally planted green beans the first weekend of June. This has led to an immediate battle of wits with the local woodchuck. A bag of hair from the barbershop appears to have discouraged a return for now. Other things of interest... 3 varieties of greenbeans and one variety of wax bean. Of note, woodchucks do not seem to like the plants of Festina bush green beans. |
The garden this year
We are harvesting the first tomatoes, eggplants, and squash of the
season. Last year our garden was hit hard by Late Blight, so we are keeping our fingers crossed for this year. Cucumber vines look healthy but no cukes are large enough to pick. Basil looks lovely. Heard an item on NPR about downy mildew, a fast-spreading blight which kills basil. Frightening. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...ryId=128061773 Sweet peppers coming along but no harvest yet. The weeds are doing especially well this year. Daniel B. Martin |
The garden this year
On Fri, 25 Jun 2010 16:47:09 -0400 in Sandie Hudson wrote:
Woodchucks in the triangle? I've seen them in Hillsborough and Wake Forest. A co-worker is having a hell of a time with one around Falls Lake. |
The garden this year
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The garden this year
On Fri, 25 Jun 2010 16:47:09 -0400, "Sandie Hudson"
wrote: Woodchucks in the triangle? I used to see one in the woods around my house. Haven't seen him in years, though. |
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