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Post by emmsmommy on Jun 28, 2024 6:04:52 GMT -5
Out early yesterday and discovered that we received 5/8" of rain the previous night. For the first time in over a week I didn't have to water anything except a few greenhouse plants. The beans in the garlic bed have already popped up and I covered them with some mesh trays as the birds seem to be stalking seedlings again. Thought about tackling the rest of the weeds along the fence that needs moved and decided to just sit down and enjoy the solitude.
Hubby had a delivery and the thrift store was overloaded with electronics again so we took a trip to town. Only other stop was to pick up a gallon of orange juice for kiddo and a loaf of bread. Got lucky as they had overstock gallons of OJ marked down to $3.60 so I grabbed two. Also spied a cartload of boxes near the deli and grabbed them too.
Today kiddo has a playdate at a friend's house and I'll probably slip off long enough to see if I can find some more cardboard.
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Post by Mumsey on Jun 28, 2024 6:27:22 GMT -5
Got in an early walk and treadmill before leaving to take Dad and step mom to cardiologist. Now we have another appt added to the list, stress test for Dad. Then I noticed that he had neurology scheduled for today!!!! It's on the list we got during checkout at cardio. Yearly checkup apparently. Told Dad I would change that because I can't be taking him to doctors 8 days a week. He agreed, said he doesn't want to go 8 days a week either. Then I wonder, why did I not know about this? Usually things are written on their calendar........Appt has been changed.
Came home with a headache, went out and trimmed and mowed the back yard. Picked first sizable bunch of Big Kahuna bush beans. Found 5 stray scapes on garlic. Gave all onions and shallots a dose of compost tea. Those Red Globe onions are a huge disappointment, in same bed as Patterson but just haven't done much.
No walk this morning, raining and will be most of the morning. Chilly, feels cold! 60*.
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Post by gardendmpls on Jun 28, 2024 6:38:34 GMT -5
Mowed another bed on the lowest and then added chicken compost and mulch. Was supposed to be planted with onions, but the plants have gone missing from my room where they had been temporarily stored. Poor babies. Wanted to clear along the fence for the beans and cukes, but there were vines of several types that had come over the fence from the neighbors and overwhelmed the trellis. Found it easiest to rip out the trellis than disentangle the vines. Mowed the weeds to the dirt and just need to add the compost and a light mulch and plant the beans. Went inside and ordered new trellis netting.
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Post by datgirl on Jun 28, 2024 8:15:58 GMT -5
Yesterday evening we went to the concert in the park and it was downright cold. Phone said it dropped to 63 +* at 7:30pm. It was worth it though. The McHenry City band was playing and it was Veterans/Patriotic night. Lots of red white and blue, patriotic music and honoring the veterans. Woke up to rain this morning. Just a light frizzle, just enough to keep us inside today.
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Post by Mumsey on Jun 28, 2024 14:10:06 GMT -5
2.5" rain since midnight. Went to the garden after lunch. Got to looking at garlic, 3 leaves are dead enough. Tried pulling one plant and it came out EASY!! Way easier than moving all the mulch and digging. So I pulled every single one of the 200+, propped them on the fence, will let tonight's promised rain rinse them off a bit. Then Sunday I'll knock off the dried dirt and bundle them. At least 10 days earlier than last year. Trimmed back the oregano, taking over cabbage and coneflowers!! Trimmed sage, it too had taken over the Lupines. Put fence between the 2 pepper rows for when they get heavy and need tying up. Flies started biting so came in, rain must be on the way again. Was considering afternoon walk, but too humid for The Princess and I'm not interested in getting caught in a down pour. No signs of JB's, knock on wood......last year they were here in early June. Maybe the drought slowed them down. One can only hope....... I'll be making basil pesto in the next week or so with the hydroponic basil. It's growing fast. Got the call to help with Judging at the fair this year, I declined since my plate is already over flowing. I will have a couple entries though, one quilt and a seed sack bag.  |
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Post by desertwoman on Jun 28, 2024 22:54:30 GMT -5
I'm getting really discouraged. This may pretty much turn into a bust year for most of the veggie garden. The weather has been so erratic that tomatoes and chiles are struggling. Just not growing much. I haven't given up completely. Yet. I''ll give them another 3 or 4 weeks. I have hopes for the chiles but I may not get any tomatoes this year. No BLTs No sauce. No caprese.  I might just be pulling both out . Garlic is doing great, however. Will probably harvest in the next day or two. Collards are beautiful. Beans are looking good, so they might succeed. Lettuce bolted way too early and was done weeks ago. Never got enough to make a nice big dinner salad for 2, without supplementing with store bought lettuce. I have 2 pumpkin starts I've yet to put into the ground, but they are looking good, so will get them in this weekend. Might start another round of lettuce indoors, where it is cooler. |
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Post by emmsmommy on Jun 29, 2024 6:19:34 GMT -5
Doctor's appointment early yesterday and really like the new doctor. She said I likely have some minor nerve damage in my foot but we're going to just keep an eye on it for now. Have to go in for a shingles vaccine and labs next week. Afterwards kiddo went to a friend's house to play in the pool and I had a few errands to do. Walmart had torn bags of organic garden soil marked down for $2 and I bought the three best quality ones. Went back to our friend's house and stayed for an hour or so longer. Kiddo has almost got swimming mastered and we couldn't get her out of the pool, so in I went fully clothed and it took two of us to get her out. Thankfully I had a change of clothes in the car and even more thankful that I only had to stop at the gas station before going home. Back home kiddo played in her pool while I tackled a water hose. It has served us for at least twenty years of brutal use and needed to be retired. Of course being the product of generations of "better save that for later" ancestors, I cut out all the damaged parts and saved the ones that were salvageable.  I do have a plan in my head for setting up the rain barrels and that hose will likely be part of the configuration. Hubby called and left a message that he was stranded but by the time I got it and got kiddo in the car he was heading up the driveway. Think we've made the decision to officially retire his car as it's been limping along for a few months now and the cost and time involved to fix it outweighs the value. So we're back to a one car family again. |
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Post by datgirl on Jun 29, 2024 7:25:40 GMT -5
desertwoman,I know what you mean. Even though my tomatoes and peppers are huge and producing, my cucumbers, beans, cabbage and beets are not. Between rabbits and bugs/slugs, the plants are so far behind. Will probably pull out cabbage today. They are all chewed up and they are under row cover. I tried the beer traps, but with all the rain they didn't work that well.
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Post by madamezil on Jun 29, 2024 7:55:53 GMT -5
Agreed! Worst gardening year so far. Although it's the cold and rain here. Great for the fire situation but not so much for the garden. Have a bumper crop of Chinese veggies and Swiss Chard. Peppers and cukes a write-off, some tomatoes are OK.
Have flats of cabbage,cauliflower seedlings started. As soon as the garlic is harvested, they are going in with a cover over them. Also have a small greenhouse that I will set up in the backyard filled with fabric bags of collards, kale and whatever other cool weather veggies I can find. Will also start a bed of Sugar snap peas. We are re-configuring the front yard so the garlic will be moved to a new home and I will use their former beds for something else.
Today we will go out into the backyard and buzz down some of the clover field. It has turned into a rat playground as the City is demolishing many old homes in our neighbourhood to make way for increased housing density. Our city is very old and very small, so I'm not looking forward to seeing how our aging infrastructure is going to cope with this.
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Post by emmsmommy on Jun 30, 2024 2:43:50 GMT -5
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Post by desertwoman on Jun 30, 2024 8:04:08 GMT -5
You read my mind emmsmommy, Ive been wanting to see photos of your gardens. It looks great! What's going in the octagon shaped bed? |
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Post by datgirl on Jun 30, 2024 8:45:52 GMT -5
emmsmommy,It looks great. Lots of hard work paying off. Thanks for posting the pictures.
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Post by binnylou on Jun 30, 2024 10:40:02 GMT -5
emmsmommy, my goodness, you have been busy!! Your layout is so much more interesting than the row garden that I once planted.
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Post by emmsmommy on Jun 30, 2024 12:28:43 GMT -5
Thanks for the great comments! desertwoman, strawberries will go in the octagon bed. Still debating on whether to put June bearing or everbearing ones in it. binnylou, my plans constantly change. Octagon bed was originally going to be in the middle and cattle panel arches were going to run the other direction until I saw what that windstorm did to my peas in the old garden. So just going with the flow |
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Post by breezygardener on Jun 30, 2024 15:34:17 GMT -5
All I did was water today. Ninety minutes in the 106-degree humidity heat index heat. Geesh.
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I might just be pulling both out . Garlic is doing great, however. Will probably harvest in the next day or two. Collards are beautiful. Beans are looking good, so they might succeed. Lettuce bolted way too early and was done weeks ago. Never got enough to make a nice big dinner salad for 2, without supplementing with store bought lettuce. I have 2 pumpkin starts I've yet to put into the ground, but they are looking good, so will get them in this weekend. Might start another round of lettuce indoors, where it is cooler. 
I do have a plan in my head for setting up the rain barrels and that hose will likely be part of the configuration. Hubby called and left a message that he was stranded but by the time I got it and got kiddo in the car he was heading up the driveway. Think we've made the decision to officially retire his car as it's been limping along for a few months now and the cost and time involved to fix it outweighs the value. So we're back to a one car family again. 
