Sunday, June 8, 2008

Garden Update

Here's a nice picture of the garden taken yesterday. Not taken close up, it's a little deceptive. You can't really see how much work needs to be done. The beans look nice, you can see the onions look nice too, & the beets are just now coming up (we planted them late). The tomatoes are starting to grow, now that the weather has heated up. But we've also had a ton of rain. A TON! Gully washer after gully washer in the last week or so.
Here' s the result of the first one. It made some gullies between the end of the tomatoes & the corn. Fortunately it wasn't going through a row. It actually only disturbed a couple of corn plants. Notice how small the tomato plant looks. This picture was taken one week ago.We've had such a cool spring, which we've really enjoyed, but the plants haven't cared for that much. We were in the high 80's & low 90's this last week. Look at the tomato plants now! Wow, that's in ONE WEEK! (you can see the dates on the pictures)

Back to the gully...
Here's the same shot taken a week later, after two more gully washers & some big storms.
We've had a lot of stormy weather. The news said our county recorded 80 mph winds the night before this picture was taken. We had quite a few of the branches from the neighbor's poplar trees in the garden. Here's one, it looks like it's trying to block the gully. LOL
The HEAT and the RAIN has also brought on the weeds. It's just been too doggoned muddy to get in the garden & weed. Here you can see the corn coming up nicely amongst the weeds & gullies & the branches.
We took two bails of straw that we had and put them at the low spot on the garden to keep the dirt from washing away. It was washing away down that gully & filling up the fence! The problem happened because we didn't get in there & rake in the first gully. It was just way too muddy to get in there. Then we had another gully washer rain...then another, & then another!
Here you can see where our dirt was going to the fence.

Here's the broccoli & cauliflower row. We lost a broccoli plant. Something walked through our garden in the night & broke it. Makes me sad to lose a broccoli plant.


I think the cabbage looks good. Hope we can eat it before the bugs do!

And lastly, here's my poor herb garden. It has weeds & branches! The cilantro, thyme, & dill weed is doing great. The camomile is doing really good too. The basil if finally starting to come up, & sloooooowly so is the flat leaf parsley. Oh, the weeds...they're really thriving too.
As soon as I can get in there & weed I'll take those funny looking sticks out.
Here's a close up of the dill. It is really coming along. Back before the gully washers, when I would weed, I'd pick up rocks & put them between the sections. That's the basil next to the dill, & then the camomile, but you can't see the camomile because of the poplar branches.
So all in all it's coming along nicely. We have enjoyed our radishes & still have some more to pick & then we'll plant some more. We've also been enjoying green onions.
This week should be filled with evenings in the garden weeding.
Boy, do we have some work to do!

2 comments:

Dawn said...

Your garden always looks so beautiful. Do YOU do the rototilling? And how do you keep the weeds out? HELP!!

Jane said...

Hi Dawn!
No, I don't do the tilling. My dh still does it & it makes me SO nervous. Last year I told his neurologist that he was tilling, thinking maybe he'd tell him he shouldn't do that. But no, he asked him what kind of tiller we have. Dh told him it is a Troy-Bilt & it turns out that the neuro has the exact same model & they stated talking about tillers (like two guys standing in the hardware store). I asked the neuro if dh should be doing that & he said, "Well, it is self-propelled, & if he does get in a bind, all he has to do is let go of the lever & the tines stop right away." David sat there grinning because this is EXACTLY what he always tells me! LOL You can actually walk next to the tiller holding it with one hand. And I HAVE actaully seen my dh walking in the garden with his cane in one hand & the tiller handle in the other! It does make me nervous, even though his neuro said it was ok.

As for the weeds? My tools are a pair of gloves, a hand shovel, & my weed bucket. My weed bucket used to hold a gallon (or more maybe) of ice cream. Those ice cream containers are perfect for outside work because they have a handle, but the bucket isn't too big. It's just right. Anytime I'm in the garden, my weed bucket is usually nearby. It's also what I use to pick strawberries.
We spent 3 1/2 hours in the garden weeding last evening. And we aren't close to being done! We'll be doing more this evening. All the rain we've had & the heat that turned up last week, it's like our weeds are on steroids! It's a lot of work, but I have to be honest, sometimes weeding is a real pain in the neck. But sometimes (like last evening) it can be stress relieving too. I really enjoyed being in the garden last evening. And the end result (all the food!) is so worth all the work. :)