Gardening Notes 2006

The Zinnias took a while but finally filled up the bed and started blooming profusely. At first Randy cut the prettiest blooms and brought in bouquets but the butterflies and hummingbirds loved them so much that we left most in the garden for all to enjoy. 

CLICK HERE to see the very best Zinnias.

When the green beans played out, we planted blackeye peas and they are producing oh so well. We're getting a big meal of them every other day and is is great. The plants are getting big and trying to make tendrils that want to attach themselves to anything close by. But the pea pods are delicious young and tender. 

The main beds of Homestead and Whopper tomatoes are still making small fruits but they have a pithy growth that might be partly sun scald. Some are completely white on the upper side. Not good to eat at all. 

The cucumbers were NOT a bush variety. The problem was that they were planted to grow as a bush and no space for those vines. They were so dense that we could not find the fruit to pick. They grew too big and caused the vines to go to making seed. The quit producing and the vines died. I picked a small one on this past Friday to have in our salad. It was the very last.

I do have some pickling cucumbers growing in the old garden. They are suffering in the heat but could make it to grow as the days cool a bit. The vines are lush and the blooms are plenty. We shall see. Also in the old garden is another row of cherry tomatoes. The grass growing in the area is loving the soaker line and is protecting the tomatoes from the mean old heat. There was also a row of okra where none sprouted at all. Not one.

Randy claims the gardens as his and he has done most of the work. The tomatoes are producing so many fruit we are looking at ways to have them for breakfast as well. The devil bushes and sticker plants have really taken over the garden to enjoy the fertile soil and regular watering. The cukes though not many are more than we can eat. Plenty for salads and side dishes. 

The greenhouse tomato plants count as container gardening and are just now starting to have nice red cherry tomatoes. None very big at all so Randy is disappointed with those. There are three containers outside the greenhouse and so far, their fruits have had blossom end rot. 

My old garden is growing slowly and producing nothing. I still have hopes of getting in a few squash plants. I did manage to plant the unwanted mums and with them on the soaker line, I don't have to worry about watering them now. Same with the last of the cherry tomatoes that probably won't make and fruit. We will see.

Time to worry about the garden again. We survived the hail storms of last week with little loss but this next cold front threatens a low of 45 one night and 50 the next. Not good for the tomatoes. There some little fruits about an inch in diameter. It is too cold for the warm weather plants to be sprouting but that will give me time to sort through the seeds and get out what I do want to plant this year. I am slowly working on last year's garden to get some bigger beds ready for more seeds. I have some of the cherry tomatoes and the Homestead tomatoes that yet need to be planted. I like having some to plant the way I like to tend them. Randy saves the how to water the bed as an afterthought. I am putting in the time to create new soaker hose beds. I worked this evening on getting the first length into the ground. It is ready to plant. 

The honeysuckle are blooming. Such a beautiful combination of white and yellow. Not a lot this year because of the long spell with no rain but I also did not get in with the clippers to cut back the briar that loves to grow with the vines. Same goes with the Trumpet Vine. It needs pruning but the stems needing work are way out of reach. Now, if we could back up the truck far enough, it would still take Randy's height to reach them with the long handle clippers. Guess not. 

The yellow iris blooms were a delightful surprise. 6 in all on 2 stems. I have a few photos which I will include next week.

We've gone back to spring time weather and it is oh so nice. Hot enough in the afternoons to need the air conditioner running. 

Randy finally let me know that he was needing the entire garden space for "his" tomatoes. That's fine. I will go back to last year's gardens and plant what I can. I planted the strawberry plants as soon as the beds were finished and they are all doing great. Growing and new leaves that look very healthy. 

I was out today with the rake and clippers to clean last year's bed. It will be a matter of putting everything in a very small space. Since the okra wouldn't grow there last year, I won't even try this year. Randy bought a new variety of green beans so I won't try to grow the blackeye peas that I like. It will be quite the challenge to make a trellis for the cucumbers. He went with an unknown variety of a climbing type and a more unknown variety of a bush variety. This should be interesting. Won't try to grow any melons or cantaloupe. Forget the corn. I will sure miss the Zinnias but I don't know how they can possibly fit in the small spaces we will have.

I just finished the second strawberry bed yesterday and will go ahead and plant them tomorrow. The forecast is favorable for a few days of clouds and chances of rain and that is good for the plants. Randy has finished the first tomato bed but I don't think he will make many more raised beds. We are quickly running out of space in the new garden. It is time to clear the old garden from last year. Some good space but the briar has grown back nice and thick and needs to be cut and the soil turned.

I had looked out the other day and noticed green. Sure enough, all the onions that the grasshoppers ate last year had come back. Now that we have the water running again, I'll get the sprinkler going and fertilize the onions well. 

The baby sized Homestead tomato plants need to be moved up into cups but the time has been short lately. I will make it priority. The cherry tomato plants are all coming along very nicely and will soon be big enough to go out into the garden. I doubt I will need all that will be ready but their spot is under oaks and they might not make it very well. All that acidic sap.

The strawberry plants did arrive but while Randy was home on vacation. We'd called and asked they be held since they'd not shipped out yet. But they sat in a conference room for who knows how long just waiting. Glad Randy found them when he did. UPS won't deliver out here in the sand dunes.

We had so many days of heat and staying above normal but this week has been way below normal. We did get the rain, then we got the dust storm that dried us out again. Then we went to freezing every night and highs not above 50. Today topped out at 44. But Friday is to be 60, Saturday 70 and Sunday 77. That sounds so very good.

The tomatoes plants are over a foot tall now. They go inside the light house at night to stay in a tight place with a good heater. They are sure looking fine. I have a great collection of recipes for using all the extra tomatoes now. 

The gardens and plants are well started now but my notes have all been in the Homesteading Section. After the disaster of last year in the garden, I had gone to making notes on a yearly page. After lots of asking questions, it was agreed that the problems came from the oak trees. Randy has now build a wonderful little greenhouse for giving the baby tomato plants plenty of sunshine and keeping the oak sap well away from them. We can put lime and other goodies into the soil to neutralize it for the roots but the sap will kill the baby plants. The only tomatoes we got last year came from plants that Randy bought at the store after all the others died and I had over 100.

We ordered strawberry plants back in January. The rest of the order was received months ago but still no strawberry plants. They keep saying next week, next week. 

We picked a spot where we made a garden when we first started here. It now is complete with a fence and 3 raised beds. Randy made these beds from landscaping timbers and my chore now is to dig down about 8 inches and start adding the enrichment. He bought manure and cotton bur compost so the organic material will help them grow well. They will be out in hot all day sunshine so they will need dense foliage to protect the fruits. About 1/4 of the garden space is being saved for next year's asparagus bed. It will take a lot of work so I plan to start on it as soon as I catch up on the rest of the planting.

For now, there are some upcoming days with temps down in the mid 30s. We have the "wall of water" rings to help protect the baby tomatoes. The biggest tomatoes are the Whopper from Parks and will probably need some protecting. I had ordered some cherry type and they are getting big as well. I had found a packet of Homestead tomatoes from last year and they have just sprouted. With so very many things to do, I try to plant a packet or two everyday, until I get finished with the ones needing an early start. I still have plenty of space since the first tomatoes are out in the greenhouse. The batch of cherry tomatoes are almost ready to go on out.

One of the hanging geraniums has already gone out to the greenhouse. Randy made a nice hanging basket for it and I am hoping the rest will be able to follow along soon. I had moved them into nice big new pots but not all have taken well but are looking better. I think I will take the least two and put them into better soil. What I had at the time was last year's and very dry and old. As in poor quality with large splinters of wood pieces. These are all last year's plants that spent last summer in the old greenhouse and the light room all winter. Most had died down to nothing and one of them didn't make it at all while 2 could be split and each made into two plants. Excellent.