Now up to four shelters built. Latest one doesn't have legs yet. Need to cut up some pallets for materials and also need to pick up more pallets on Friday. Ones I have left differ in size, are ugly and/or have broken parts.
Transplanted out 5 more tomato plants into the newly covered mound for a total of 14 plants now in the ground. Still have a few more about ready to transplant out and dozens of seedlings a couple of inches tall now.
Moved the hutch over and collected, collected the bunny droppings and spread them around the garden. Mixed liberally into the newest mound.
Nicotine spray seems to have done some good. Not much sign of aphids or ants (which herd and "farm" aphids) and not much new damage evident. Still, mixed up some nicotine with onion, garlic and tomato leaf and sprayed the whole garden this evening. Just sprayed around the edges of the tomato mounds. If that works, I'll spray the whole yard. Further I drive the aphids out, the better. Most of the ants will likely follow. I don't mind the ants, themselves. Just their habit of aiding and abetting the aphids.
Still waiting for the lettuce to flower. Sure taking it's time. Should be able to collect lots and lots of seeds from them. Separated out the spinach seeds and wound up with at least a couple hundred. Have to separate out the cabbage seeds tomorrow.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Pollination, wind and nicotine spray
Tried something new today. Made some nicotine spray from used cigarette butts. Sprayed it all over the garden, except for the tomato plants. I did spray around the edges of the tomato mounds. Nicotine is supposed to kill aphids on contact. The toxicity only lasts for a few hours. Onion, garlic, tomato leaf and even marigold solutions act as aphid repellents but don't kill them. The nicotine dissipates after a few hours, while the others may last until the next rain. So in any case, treatment will have to be repeated. Thought today was try to kill off as many as possible, then use repellent sprays to keep them out.
Pollinated the corn plants by hand today. (Doubtful you can come up with any plant sex jokes I haven't already thought of!) Have to pull the tassels from the top and rub them on the silk strands. Really interesting because in a few moments, the red silk begins turning brown as each strand is pollinated. Each strand leads to an individual kernel on the cob, so you have to pollinate as many strands as possible. If you miss too many, the corn will have gaps of undeveloped kernels. Few hours after that, the pollinated red strands turn completely brown, so it's easy to see which ones are not pollinated.
Wind kicked up hard again this evening. Too hard to work on much outside. Have to get more shelters built this week. Decided to keep with the basic A-frame design. Inexpensive, easy and fast to build, rather stable. Been thinking ahead to colder weather an think the A-frames should be easy to adapt to cold covers. I can cover west and south sides with glass (preferable) or plastic and the east and north sides with plywood painted white on the inside to concentrate heat. I'll have to put hinges on the end pieces for access.
I think this design and larger adaptations hold a lot of promise for arid environments. Even if pallets aren't available, a similar design of construction is affordable and realistic.
Pollinated the corn plants by hand today. (Doubtful you can come up with any plant sex jokes I haven't already thought of!) Have to pull the tassels from the top and rub them on the silk strands. Really interesting because in a few moments, the red silk begins turning brown as each strand is pollinated. Each strand leads to an individual kernel on the cob, so you have to pollinate as many strands as possible. If you miss too many, the corn will have gaps of undeveloped kernels. Few hours after that, the pollinated red strands turn completely brown, so it's easy to see which ones are not pollinated.
Wind kicked up hard again this evening. Too hard to work on much outside. Have to get more shelters built this week. Decided to keep with the basic A-frame design. Inexpensive, easy and fast to build, rather stable. Been thinking ahead to colder weather an think the A-frames should be easy to adapt to cold covers. I can cover west and south sides with glass (preferable) or plastic and the east and north sides with plywood painted white on the inside to concentrate heat. I'll have to put hinges on the end pieces for access.
I think this design and larger adaptations hold a lot of promise for arid environments. Even if pallets aren't available, a similar design of construction is affordable and realistic.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Rain and corn
It actually rained real rain today! Yay! Like, rained enough to not have to water the garden or the lawn for once. Cooled things down a bit this afternoon. All the plants, animals and people were happy. That I know of, of course. Happened with good timing, too. Had just treated the garden with ammonia yesterday. The corn was needing it.
Went out to plant some more corn in the spaces which were lacking. Turned out there were few spaces lacking, after all. Lots of small corn stalks coming up which are still so small they're hidden by the lettuce and cabbage. But they look healthy, still developing a root system.
Some of the larger corn plants are silking and developing ears now. I'm excited! Never been close enough for any period of time to see this process. Was just reading on how to hand pollinate corn plants, which I need to do tomorrow, before it's too late.
The two sun shelters are still doing a great job. Allowing enough light in for the plants to grow but preventing the soil from being overheated. Picked up six more pallets yesterday, have to get busy and construct more shelters soon. Some tomato plants are outgrowing their containers and I have many more plants beginning to sprout.
Planted out some more flowers last night, keeping them currently under pallets and they are doing well.
I'm really happy to see all the elements are in place for growth. After fertilizing, composting, weeding, digging, building and watering, I just could not figure out what was wrong. This was the final element, it seems. All the other aspects remain necessary but were going to do no good if the heat problem was not addressed.
Now I can put more energy into the aphid battle. Arrgghh! I have noted that aphids don't care for onions as well as garlic. I have a solution of garlic and tomato leaf in the fridge, so today added some onion peel to the mixture. Smells like it would make a good Italian dinner. Tomorrow, I'll try spraying a watered down solution of this mixture over the garden and see how it helps.
Went out to plant some more corn in the spaces which were lacking. Turned out there were few spaces lacking, after all. Lots of small corn stalks coming up which are still so small they're hidden by the lettuce and cabbage. But they look healthy, still developing a root system.
Some of the larger corn plants are silking and developing ears now. I'm excited! Never been close enough for any period of time to see this process. Was just reading on how to hand pollinate corn plants, which I need to do tomorrow, before it's too late.
The two sun shelters are still doing a great job. Allowing enough light in for the plants to grow but preventing the soil from being overheated. Picked up six more pallets yesterday, have to get busy and construct more shelters soon. Some tomato plants are outgrowing their containers and I have many more plants beginning to sprout.
Planted out some more flowers last night, keeping them currently under pallets and they are doing well.
I'm really happy to see all the elements are in place for growth. After fertilizing, composting, weeding, digging, building and watering, I just could not figure out what was wrong. This was the final element, it seems. All the other aspects remain necessary but were going to do no good if the heat problem was not addressed.
Now I can put more energy into the aphid battle. Arrgghh! I have noted that aphids don't care for onions as well as garlic. I have a solution of garlic and tomato leaf in the fridge, so today added some onion peel to the mixture. Smells like it would make a good Italian dinner. Tomorrow, I'll try spraying a watered down solution of this mixture over the garden and see how it helps.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Raining sand
Forecast for tonight has been rain for the last few days. Yeah. If you count the sand raining on my head, we have rain. Yee haw. Other than that, the wind is gusting up to 50+ mph, threatening to rip up the awnings and tear plants right out of the ground. Glad I have shelter for all the animals.
Sun shelters are doing a great job! Even giving some partial protection from the wind now. Last tomato plant transplanted still looks healthy, so moved another one in the same mound tonight. After the experiences of last year, I'm thinking of making half shelters for a number of rows in the garden. If the corn doesn't serve that purpose, of course.
We now have flowers blooming in the garden! Yay! Not many so far but some. Hope to see more before daughter comes over on Friday. Have more flower seeds sprouting inside in improvised seed greenhouses, made from clear plastic candy and donut trays. Means the dime seeds from Dollar Tree are very viable.Just started them on Sunday, I think.
This past weekend, I potted about 100 various seeds, aside from the flower seeds.
Some of the melon and pumpkin plants are getting rather large now. Hoping to have better luck than last year on those.
Okay, need to get to bed. Long day tomorrow.
Sun shelters are doing a great job! Even giving some partial protection from the wind now. Last tomato plant transplanted still looks healthy, so moved another one in the same mound tonight. After the experiences of last year, I'm thinking of making half shelters for a number of rows in the garden. If the corn doesn't serve that purpose, of course.
We now have flowers blooming in the garden! Yay! Not many so far but some. Hope to see more before daughter comes over on Friday. Have more flower seeds sprouting inside in improvised seed greenhouses, made from clear plastic candy and donut trays. Means the dime seeds from Dollar Tree are very viable.Just started them on Sunday, I think.
This past weekend, I potted about 100 various seeds, aside from the flower seeds.
Some of the melon and pumpkin plants are getting rather large now. Hoping to have better luck than last year on those.
Okay, need to get to bed. Long day tomorrow.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
A-frame shelter
I decided the best design for the sun shelters was to build A-frames. Takes fewer materials and they're easy to build with pallets. I built the first one this evening using two fairly large pallets and some 2x4 pieces salvaged from some other pallets I had previously cut apart for other uses. Just a simple A shape with legs on it and nailed some crossbeams in place. Whole thing stands over 5 ft tall, so a decent height for tomato plants. Placed over one of the mounds. Transplanted a smaller tomato plant into the mound. See how things look tomorrow. I don't think there's a need to anchor it between the weight and the air flow through the structure meaning low resistance.
In the first sheltered mound, I had transplanted a weak looking tomato plant and it seems to be recovering and doing better. The other two plants there are doing well and growing quickly now. I had been apprehensive that something was wrong with the soil in that area but this is bearing out that the soil is good. (At least with all the amendments and organic materials I've added.) The strawberries with the pallet over them are also doing much better than they were and growing quickly. That gave me some hope, so I planted all the strawberry seeds I harvested not long ago to try planting in the planters with shelters. Hope I let those seeds dry long enough.
So, I'll be building more shelters, mostly A-frames in different configurations to figure out the best design. May take an effort to convert to cold covers later in the year but at least rain and snow will run right off them.
The Ironite has shown some serious value in only a few days. Lots of things look larger and healthier than before. This has to be one of the more valuable additives I have used so far.
In the main (south) garden, all the rows now have growth nearly all the way down. Except for the far west end, which is where the soil turns from sand to clay. The vermiculite appears to be helping but a lot more compost and mulch will probably help more. At some point, I'll probably just tear down those mounds, mix the sand and clay from the two areas and add lots of compost and mulch to normalize it all. As it is, it's now looking like I should have melons, green beans and cucumbers in a few weeks and pumpkins before Halloween. Larger than 4" across, that is.
In the first sheltered mound, I had transplanted a weak looking tomato plant and it seems to be recovering and doing better. The other two plants there are doing well and growing quickly now. I had been apprehensive that something was wrong with the soil in that area but this is bearing out that the soil is good. (At least with all the amendments and organic materials I've added.) The strawberries with the pallet over them are also doing much better than they were and growing quickly. That gave me some hope, so I planted all the strawberry seeds I harvested not long ago to try planting in the planters with shelters. Hope I let those seeds dry long enough.
So, I'll be building more shelters, mostly A-frames in different configurations to figure out the best design. May take an effort to convert to cold covers later in the year but at least rain and snow will run right off them.
The Ironite has shown some serious value in only a few days. Lots of things look larger and healthier than before. This has to be one of the more valuable additives I have used so far.
In the main (south) garden, all the rows now have growth nearly all the way down. Except for the far west end, which is where the soil turns from sand to clay. The vermiculite appears to be helping but a lot more compost and mulch will probably help more. At some point, I'll probably just tear down those mounds, mix the sand and clay from the two areas and add lots of compost and mulch to normalize it all. As it is, it's now looking like I should have melons, green beans and cucumbers in a few weeks and pumpkins before Halloween. Larger than 4" across, that is.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Ironite and shade
Well, it did not look at first like the Ironite had done much good when I got home from work today. However, once the sun started going behind the trees and the plants started recovering from another day of 95 degree heat, the picture kind of changed. No miracles but nearly everything looked much perkier than it had before. Maybe it will have more effect with more time and as watering brings more of it to the roots.
The experiment with the shade structure for the tomato plants worked! When I got home in the heat of the day, the plants in the covered mound showed no signs of heat stress. The small, kind of stunted one was even a bit taller.
I had also placed one pallet over the strawberry planter last night. The soil is well below the top. The remaining plants looked much healthier than they had been looking!
So, guess I need to start scouting pallets again. I had a decent pile by the shed and had stopped looking for a while. I can probably build some shelters from 2x4's and pallets for the hottest part of the day. By the time the sun passes far enough west to go beyond the shelters, it's only a short time until it goes behind the trees. Partial and indirect sunlight should work well here. Only problem is how to anchor the structures cheaply, not unattractively and not permanently but still able to withstand the occasional winds here.
The experiment with the shade structure for the tomato plants worked! When I got home in the heat of the day, the plants in the covered mound showed no signs of heat stress. The small, kind of stunted one was even a bit taller.
I had also placed one pallet over the strawberry planter last night. The soil is well below the top. The remaining plants looked much healthier than they had been looking!
So, guess I need to start scouting pallets again. I had a decent pile by the shed and had stopped looking for a while. I can probably build some shelters from 2x4's and pallets for the hottest part of the day. By the time the sun passes far enough west to go beyond the shelters, it's only a short time until it goes behind the trees. Partial and indirect sunlight should work well here. Only problem is how to anchor the structures cheaply, not unattractively and not permanently but still able to withstand the occasional winds here.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Bad math
I've previously stated the size of my garden as being 120 sq ft. I've had a feeling I needed to measure again or at least do the math over. Seemed like it took up a lot of space and required a lot of work for only 120 sq ft. I didn't have to remeasure, just do the math. (In my defense, I'll say I've stated the measurements in many cases and nobody has corrected my calculations to date.) So, being 30 ft x 40 ft, it's not 120 sq ft, it's 1200 sq ft! Guess that explains a lot of why it takes so much work and it takes up almost 1/4 of my back yard, which is 6000 sq ft.
Still been struggling with getting tomatoes to grow. I get them started just fine, then when I try to harden them off, they die off. I finally figured it out. The containers heat up too fast in the sun. While to foliage loves sunlight, the roots have been getting too hot. Containers and raised beds heat up faster than the surrounding soil and don't cool down from air circulation, so the heat just builds up inside. I even transplanted some this evening, after the sun went down. The soil in the center (right around the roots) was still hot to touch. Not warm but hot. So, it would be best if I placed them in larger containers. And I need to forget the structured mounds and raised beds or construct shelters for them. Right now, testing with a small partial shelter over one mound, made of three pallets. Not nailed together or anything, so I hope the wind doesn't get crazy tonight or tomorrow. Want to see how the plants do in that mound.
Added vermiculite to part of the yard and garden this evening. Plus Ironite to much of the area. Part of the garden is rather hard clay soil and not doing well. I've read that desert soil tends to lack iron. I'll see how it all does soon, I guess.
My daughter helped me harvest the few remaining peas yesterday. Saving them for later planting. Then I pulled the vines, breaking them off at ground level, leaving the root nodules in place. Roots are where the bacteria colonize which help anchor N in the soil. As I pulled, I handed the vines to my daughter and she fed them to the bunnies. She had fun watching them eat entire vines and the bunnies enjoyed the meal. Happy kid, happy bunnies. Can't ask for much more than that!
Now I have more space clear for planting summer crops. Things have been picking up and I have several pumpkin and melon vines growing rather well, as well as some green bean and cucumber plants. Several corn plants have crowned. Hope that's good, since they're as tall as my waist at most.
Still been struggling with getting tomatoes to grow. I get them started just fine, then when I try to harden them off, they die off. I finally figured it out. The containers heat up too fast in the sun. While to foliage loves sunlight, the roots have been getting too hot. Containers and raised beds heat up faster than the surrounding soil and don't cool down from air circulation, so the heat just builds up inside. I even transplanted some this evening, after the sun went down. The soil in the center (right around the roots) was still hot to touch. Not warm but hot. So, it would be best if I placed them in larger containers. And I need to forget the structured mounds and raised beds or construct shelters for them. Right now, testing with a small partial shelter over one mound, made of three pallets. Not nailed together or anything, so I hope the wind doesn't get crazy tonight or tomorrow. Want to see how the plants do in that mound.
Added vermiculite to part of the yard and garden this evening. Plus Ironite to much of the area. Part of the garden is rather hard clay soil and not doing well. I've read that desert soil tends to lack iron. I'll see how it all does soon, I guess.
My daughter helped me harvest the few remaining peas yesterday. Saving them for later planting. Then I pulled the vines, breaking them off at ground level, leaving the root nodules in place. Roots are where the bacteria colonize which help anchor N in the soil. As I pulled, I handed the vines to my daughter and she fed them to the bunnies. She had fun watching them eat entire vines and the bunnies enjoyed the meal. Happy kid, happy bunnies. Can't ask for much more than that!
Now I have more space clear for planting summer crops. Things have been picking up and I have several pumpkin and melon vines growing rather well, as well as some green bean and cucumber plants. Several corn plants have crowned. Hope that's good, since they're as tall as my waist at most.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Getting back on track
My daughter helped me and we caught the missing bunny. I had seen it in the yard one day but it ran through a hole under the fence back into the neighbor's yard, too fast for me. Then my daughter saw it in the yard again and went out to catch it. I followed and, knowing what to expect, blocked the hole in the fence. Took a bit of running and chasing but we finally caught it. It's back in the hutch, no injuries to anyone. It's not too happy about it but it's still alive. I'm happy it evaded cats, dogs, hawks and rodent poisons to return safely.
Had to treat the garden with ammonia again this week. Sometimes it makes things look slightly damaged for one day, then they all bounce back. Some of the corn is up to my hip and I have more stalks coming up, so there are at least 58 corn stalks at this time. Not sure all of those will make it but I still have more planted which isn't showing yet.
Temps have gone down and forecasted to be lower for at least the next week. Hoping they remain down but not counting on it. If they do stay down for a while, I can probably get some portion of the solarium built before fall.
Little by little, having some success with the tomatoes. Some have taken a beating from the heat but the ones still potted are doing well. Getting them acclimated to the sun again, now that it's not a blast furnace.
Most of the peas have died back but I have green beans and cucumber plants to replace them, starting this evening. Spinach is either growing taller or going to seed, not sure which. I'll be happy either way.
Had to treat the garden with ammonia again this week. Sometimes it makes things look slightly damaged for one day, then they all bounce back. Some of the corn is up to my hip and I have more stalks coming up, so there are at least 58 corn stalks at this time. Not sure all of those will make it but I still have more planted which isn't showing yet.
Temps have gone down and forecasted to be lower for at least the next week. Hoping they remain down but not counting on it. If they do stay down for a while, I can probably get some portion of the solarium built before fall.
Little by little, having some success with the tomatoes. Some have taken a beating from the heat but the ones still potted are doing well. Getting them acclimated to the sun again, now that it's not a blast furnace.
Most of the peas have died back but I have green beans and cucumber plants to replace them, starting this evening. Spinach is either growing taller or going to seed, not sure which. I'll be happy either way.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Some success, some sorrow
The baby bunny died yesterday. Not sure why. It was energetic but not very hungry in the morning before I went to work. When I got home it was dead. Maybe infection to the leg wound. I had kept it in the box lined with cloth in the house, so it didn't get too hot. From what I've read, abandoned bunnies don't usually survive, though.
The missing bunny is holing up in the neighbor's storage tent in his back yard. Tried coaxing it out but it's skittish, as rabbits tend to be. Just have to keep trying.
Having some success with soil condition. Even in the extreme temps we're having, the soil is now retaining some moisture. Enough that I don't have to water every day as I had to for a while. Hence, I could skip watering today. Things are still coming up in the garden, though the heat is having a bad effect on some plants.
After harvesting the Romaine, I noted lots of holes in other plants. Seems I displaced a large aphid infestation. Haven't wanted to drive off the butterflies and ladybugs but something had to be done. Garlic apparently drives them away, while tomato leaf spray only affects aphids. Not enough tomato leaves to treat the whole garden. So, I mixed up a batch of combined tomato leaf and liquid garlic extract in the sprayer and treated the whole garden. I could see the aphids scattering as I sprayed. I was sure to treat the trenches, cardboard and underside of leaves as I went. Left out soap from the solution, not wanting to burn plants. Did that yesterday and today the plants seem to be recovering nicely. The butterflies don't seem to mind the mixture much, after all. They're still fluttering around.
Got on the roof yesterday and built the shelter for the swamp cooler. Covers three sides and the top. Made it from wood pallets. Tried to paint it white but had bought spray paint and it didn't work so well. So I'll have to get up there sometime and paint it by hand. Works well, shades much of the cooler but allows air flow to get through. Think I will add a piece of plywood to the top to limit more sun. Whole thing can just be tilted for access to the cooler.
I also put up some makeshift awnings over the two largest back windows. Just blue tarps attached to the roof at one end and roped and staked at the other end. Keeps the afternoon sun out of the windows but still lets light through.
Okay. Off to bed at a decent time for when I have to get up.
The missing bunny is holing up in the neighbor's storage tent in his back yard. Tried coaxing it out but it's skittish, as rabbits tend to be. Just have to keep trying.
Having some success with soil condition. Even in the extreme temps we're having, the soil is now retaining some moisture. Enough that I don't have to water every day as I had to for a while. Hence, I could skip watering today. Things are still coming up in the garden, though the heat is having a bad effect on some plants.
After harvesting the Romaine, I noted lots of holes in other plants. Seems I displaced a large aphid infestation. Haven't wanted to drive off the butterflies and ladybugs but something had to be done. Garlic apparently drives them away, while tomato leaf spray only affects aphids. Not enough tomato leaves to treat the whole garden. So, I mixed up a batch of combined tomato leaf and liquid garlic extract in the sprayer and treated the whole garden. I could see the aphids scattering as I sprayed. I was sure to treat the trenches, cardboard and underside of leaves as I went. Left out soap from the solution, not wanting to burn plants. Did that yesterday and today the plants seem to be recovering nicely. The butterflies don't seem to mind the mixture much, after all. They're still fluttering around.
Got on the roof yesterday and built the shelter for the swamp cooler. Covers three sides and the top. Made it from wood pallets. Tried to paint it white but had bought spray paint and it didn't work so well. So I'll have to get up there sometime and paint it by hand. Works well, shades much of the cooler but allows air flow to get through. Think I will add a piece of plywood to the top to limit more sun. Whole thing can just be tilted for access to the cooler.
I also put up some makeshift awnings over the two largest back windows. Just blue tarps attached to the roof at one end and roped and staked at the other end. Keeps the afternoon sun out of the windows but still lets light through.
Okay. Off to bed at a decent time for when I have to get up.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Missing bunny and triple digits
One of the bunnies got out of the hutch. Got between the hutch and wire, worked the wire loose (big bunny) and got out. Then daughter and I found a baby bunny under the hutch and reasoned out that the missing bunny was the mother. Baby had an injured leg but not crippled. Brought it in, got some goat milk and been feeding it with a syringe twice a day or as the bunny tolerates, which isn't much. Can't open it's eyes yet but it's feisty!
Hit triple digits here today. Had to harvest the Romaine this morning for fear it would become bitter and run to seed by afternoon if I didn't. Have lots of lettuce on hand. Gave some to the ex, some to the bunnies, saving some for the guy who gave us the bunnies (some for humans and some for his rabbits) and still have a huge covered bowl left for me and the bunnies left over. Guess I'll be eating a lot of salads for a week or so. Iceberg hadn't formed yet, so left it out. It'll either form or run to seed. Leaving some of each out to let it seed, any way. Collect the seeds for later planting when it does.
Had to run the drip irrigation during the day today because all the plants were suffering. Happy to say it helped. Good to know, since temps are supposed to be just as high tomorrow.
Hit triple digits here today. Had to harvest the Romaine this morning for fear it would become bitter and run to seed by afternoon if I didn't. Have lots of lettuce on hand. Gave some to the ex, some to the bunnies, saving some for the guy who gave us the bunnies (some for humans and some for his rabbits) and still have a huge covered bowl left for me and the bunnies left over. Guess I'll be eating a lot of salads for a week or so. Iceberg hadn't formed yet, so left it out. It'll either form or run to seed. Leaving some of each out to let it seed, any way. Collect the seeds for later planting when it does.
Had to run the drip irrigation during the day today because all the plants were suffering. Happy to say it helped. Good to know, since temps are supposed to be just as high tomorrow.
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