Got the shipment of beneficial nematodes today. There are harmful nematodes which will destroy your garden. (Entirely possible I have had those, for all I know.) Beneficial nematodes are microscopic, carnivorous worms which feed on harmful nematodes and other herbivorous insects including aphids, whiteflies, snails, etc.

What is surprising about them is that they are so small that a one pint container holds as many as 7 million of them, along with carrier material which is largely comprised of food for them. You can't see them with the naked eye. They are so small that one method of spreading them is to mix them with water and use a hose sprayer! That's how I spread them this evening, to cover the whole garden.

Also got another shipment of ladybugs. Scattered them at sunset and after watering. Last I looked they were swarming particular plants. Guessing those plants had lots of aphids to feed on.

Those things came in none too soon. Lost several pumpkin plants this week because of insect attacks. Only a few green bean vines surviving, none yet large enough to produce. They've all been killed off by heat and insects.

I may supplement the beneficial insects with some tomato leaf spray. Tomato plants have gotten large enough to trim leaves and some actually could use some pruning. Tomato leaf spray isn't harmful to beneficial insects, so my best bet at the moment.

Weather is reportedly going to cool down a few degrees in the next few days. Not a precipitous drop but down to the 80's during the day and 60's at night. That should help a few things. Cool enough to give another shot at planting more spinach and lettuce. By the time it sprouts and begins to grow to a decent size, it will be cool enough to keep it from bolting.

Wait to do that planting until next week, after the tiller comes in and I get a chance to till some areas.

Still some chances for a productive end to the growing season and looking better now than all spring or summer!Got the shipment of beneficial nematodes today. There are harmful nematodes which will destroy your garden. (Entirely possible I have had those, for all I know.) Beneficial nematodes are microscopic, carnivorous worms which feed on harmful nematodes and other herbivorous insects including aphids, whiteflies, snails, etc.

What is surprising about them is that they are so small that a one pint container holds as many as 7 million of them, along with carrier material which is largely comprised of food for them. You can't see them with the naked eye. They are so small that one method of spreading them is to mix them with water and use a hose sprayer! That's how I spread them this evening, to cover the whole garden.

Also got another shipment of ladybugs. Scattered them at sunset and after watering. Last I looked they were swarming particular plants. Guessing those plants had lots of aphids to feed on.

Those things came in none too soon. Lost several pumpkin plants this week because of insect attacks. Only a few green bean vines surviving, none yet large enough to produce. They've all been killed off by heat and insects.

I may supplement the beneficial insects with some tomato leaf spray. Tomato plants have gotten large enough to trim leaves and some actually could use some pruning. Tomato leaf spray isn't harmful to beneficial insects, so my best bet at the moment.

Weather is reportedly going to cool down a few degrees in the next few days. Not a precipitous drop but down to the 80's during the day and 60's at night. That should help a few things. Cool enough to give another shot at planting more spinach and lettuce. By the time it sprouts and begins to grow to a decent size, it will be cool enough to keep it from bolting.

Wait to do that planting until next week, after the tiller comes in and I get a chance to till some areas.

Still some chances for a productive end to the growing season and looking better now than all spring or summer!

One more female pumpkin flower this morning. That makes three so far, I think. Coming along slowly. However, these are all larger varieties and the smaller ones take less time to grow and mature.

Still more tomato flowers this morning and can see small fruit beginning to form where flowers set not long ago. So it's actually beginning to look like a decent crop:)

May have made a little mistake in sequencing. Some sources say sulphur may be toxic to ladybugs. Though they're toxic to aphids, as well. In each case, only toxic on the soil surface, not once it dissolves and mixes in. Still seeing some ladies but not a whole lot. Glad I have two more shipments coming in. For now, watering heavily and trying to dissolve all the sulphur into the soil. Rain has helped. No more sulphur until tilling time! Of course, I hope it doesn't kill off the ladybugs. However, for the reults and lessons learned, not sorry for spreading it. Making a huge difference.One more female pumpkin flower this morning. That makes three so far, I think. Coming along slowly. However, these are all larger varieties and the smaller ones take less time to grow and mature.

Still more tomato flowers this morning and can see small fruit beginning to form where flowers set not long ago. So it's actually beginning to look like a decent crop:)

May have made a little mistake in sequencing. Some sources say sulphur may be toxic to ladybugs. Though they're toxic to aphids, as well. In each case, only toxic on the soil surface, not once it dissolves and mixes in. Still seeing some ladies but not a whole lot. Glad I have two more shipments coming in. For now, watering heavily and trying to dissolve all the sulphur into the soil. Rain has helped. No more sulphur until tilling time! Of course, I hope it doesn't kill off the ladybugs. However, for the reults and lessons learned, not sorry for spreading it. Making a huge difference.

Only released the ladybugs night before last but already appear to be seeing positive results from them being here. Some plants which had seemed to be suffering are looking slightly better.

They're most active in the morning, when it's still cool. At least they're most visible then. Walked through the garden yesterday afternoon and barely saw any at all. This morning, seeing a lot more. Was worried that maybe all of them had flown off! I expect some to fly off but not all. At this point, I still have two more shipments coming in. So, even if some take up residence nearby, the whole neighborhood will be well infested with ladybugs next spring. Sad part is timing. Won't be able to keep all of the other shipments until daughter gets back, as they could die by then. But there will be plenty in the garden from now on and she enjoys hunting and catching insects.

No female pumpkin flowers this morning. Lots of new tomatoes visible! The two tomato plants which I had thought may die from transplant shock are recovering. Not sure they'll recover enough to grow fruit before frost but I'll bring all the potted ones inside when it starts getting too cold for them. May just convert the whole office to a winter sun room, trim and dig up all the tomato plants and bring them inside. Not sure yet.

I know I will dig up the tomatoes and pot them. Not sure what after that with them. Going to till the whole garden down deeper. Mix the organic material down deep, loosen the soil, make it easier to leach the salt downward. Help get rid of the weeds, too. Once the soil is in decent condition, I may not till the tomato section again.

Never did make grape jelly. Seems daughter doesn't really like it. And I can't eat bread. Since these are too small to be table grapes and I lacked the right yeast for wine, not much to do with them. So they make a good addition to the compost.

Okay. Need to stop writing and do something constructive.

Things are up and down with the garden. Mostly seem to be up, though.

Finally got the replacement shipment of ladybugs. Alive this time! Daughter and I released them last night and it was largely how I pictured the event in my head. She was laughing, giggling at how much they tickled and fawning over how cute they are. We each had ladybugs all over our shirts, arms and in our hair. They were everywhere and a lot seemed to take a big liking to the green picnic table.

Now counting 52 pumpkin plants in the garden. There are actually more but some are dead or nearly so. Doubting all the ones out there now will survive but most seem to be doing better daily. Biggest is about 6 ft long now.

Had the second female pumpkin flower this morning. More seem set to follow soon. Not taking chances. I walk the garden each morning and manually pollinate new female flowers.

Found a secondary benefit to sulphur. It deters the neighbor dog from crapping in my front yard! That alone is enough to make me spread more sulphur! (Since using a gun would be illegal.)

Been making it a habit to fertilize each Sunday after ex picks my daughter up. Works out well that way. Also spread more sulphur this evening.

Scores of new tomato flowers. If only half form tomatoes, I'll have a huge crop in a few weeks!

Went ahead and ordered the tiller with the four installment payment plan. Not sure how long until it arrives. Just ordered it Fri night. On Sat got order confirmation but no shipping info as yet. Ordered the four cycle engine. Stronger, quieter and probably last longer. If it comes within the next couple of weeks, I'll try tilling the area along the fence where nothing is growing. Plant short, cool weather crops like lettuce, spinach and broccoli. Wouldn't hurt to try.

Other than that, going to try and pick up all the OT I can while daughter is gone. Clean house extensively when not working.

Came home from work this morning to find the first female pumpkin flower os the season! Yay! Not one to leave things to chance, I pollinated it by hand with a male flower from the same plant.

Have several other females getting ready to bloom and think they should within the next 2-3 days.

Have around 20 tomatoes now growing on various bushes and lots of flowers which I went through and shook or tapped to pollinate. Some are finally looking like they'll reach a decent size. Tomato plants are finally looking really good now.

I'm really irate about the insect deliveries. Garden is looking good overall but have a bad insect problem which has killed off several good size pumpkin plants and seem to be attacking the green beans. Yet I'm still waiting for beneficial insects ordered three weeks ago. From the UPS tracking, the mantises and lacewings arrived (finally) in Abq at 1:45 this morning. But not on the truck for delivery. If they don't arrive today, they'll sit in the local warehouse until Monday. They were supposed to arrive on the 23rd. Next time I order insects, have to go ahead and pay the fee to have them delivered USPS.

Should go ahead and order more ladies now, so they can colonize and hibernate.

There have been many times in my life I've wished I could place myself in suspended animation. Indeed, I have tried by various means. To little avail.

Right now is one of those times. Broke, it's too hot and I won't be able to afford gas for the genny for the whole week. So I wish I could suspend my consciousness when not at work this week. Oh,well.

Some more reading about calcium showed some errors in my thoughts. I had worried about using too much. Had nothing to worry about. Turns out that many people refer to applying tons of calcium to their land to bind up sodium. Really, tons. Literally. So I have a long, long, long way to go before considering my applications too much.

Couple of good things here. One is that adding calcium helps with soil permeability and crusting. So moisture can penetrate deeper and easier. I can say I have noticed much less crusting of the soil. In fact, virtually none. Even less since applying sulphur.

Another good thing is that calcium can be applied in the form of old sheetrock (gypsum board). That's because it is made from calcium sulfate. From what I've read, because it contains sulphur, it won't affect the soil pH, either. Any paint would have to be removed, of course. In my case, I would also keep applying sulphur. If sheetrock is pH neutral, I would still need to be doing something about my alkaline soil.

Still, what I've done so far is showing good results. Tonight, applied more calcium and then some regular fertilizer, separately. Growth across the garden has accelerated. Everything looks greener. Leaves which had spots are losing the spots. Daughter and I had some tomatoes from the garden this weekend and they were great! Small but wonderful flavor. Plants are getting larger and flowering more. See a few new tomatoes growing.

Have to keep checking after each type of fertilizer and figure out which helps production most. Don't need to add K just yet because my soil tests high for K, like most desert soil. (Though it can become depleted by successive planting of crops. Not there yet.)

i know the calcium helps tomatoes avoid blossom end rot and grow larger fruit. So I lay it on them well. The sulphur has helped them to an extreme. I've read calcium helps pumpkins grow larger, as well.

Once I get a truck, I'll keep and eye out for housing remodeling jobs to pick up old sheetrock. Also on free lists for an old metal drum and a manual push mower. Build a leaf shredder/sheetrock grinder.

The vinegar still has a place in the garden, so haven't tossed it. It's still gaining acidity. The acidity of the vinegar depletes rapidly, over a few weeks in the soil. However, in that time, it will help break down calcium. Once that's done, it has served it's purpose. Can apply it in winter and it will be gone by spring. That would mean I just need less sulphur.

Gotta get to bed.There have been many times in my life I've wished I could place myself in suspended animation. Indeed, I have tried by various means. To little avail.

Right now is one of those times. Broke, it's too hot and I won't be able to afford gas for the genny for the whole week. So I wish I could suspend my consciousness when not at work this week. Oh,well.

Some more reading about calcium showed some errors in my thoughts. I had worried about using too much. Had nothing to worry about. Turns out that many people refer to applying tons of calcium to their land to bind up sodium. Really, tons. Literally. So I have a long, long, long way to go before considering my applications too much.

Couple of good things here. One is that adding calcium helps with soil permeability and crusting. So moisture can penetrate deeper and easier. I can say I have noticed much less crusting of the soil. In fact, virtually none. Even less since applying sulphur.

Another good thing is that calcium can be applied in the form of old sheetrock (gypsum board). That's because it is made from calcium sulfate. From what I've read, because it contains sulphur, it won't affect the soil pH, either. Any paint would have to be removed, of course. In my case, I would also keep applying sulphur. If sheetrock is pH neutral, I would still need to be doing something about my alkaline soil.

Still, what I've done so far is showing good results. Tonight, applied more calcium and then some regular fertilizer, separately. Growth across the garden has accelerated. Everything looks greener. Leaves which had spots are losing the spots. Daughter and I had some tomatoes from the garden this weekend and they were great! Small but wonderful flavor. Plants are getting larger and flowering more. See a few new tomatoes growing.

Have to keep checking after each type of fertilizer and figure out which helps production most. Don't need to add K just yet because my soil tests high for K, like most desert soil. (Though it can become depleted by successive planting of crops. Not there yet.)

i know the calcium helps tomatoes avoid blossom end rot and grow larger fruit. So I lay it on them well. The sulphur has helped them to an extreme. I've read calcium helps pumpkins grow larger, as well.

Once I get a truck, I'll keep and eye out for housing remodeling jobs to pick up old sheetrock. Also on free lists for an old metal drum and a manual push mower. Build a leaf shredder/sheetrock grinder.

The vinegar still has a place in the garden, so haven't tossed it. It's still gaining acidity. The acidity of the vinegar depletes rapidly, over a few weeks in the soil. However, in that time, it will help break down calcium. Once that's done, it has served it's purpose. Can apply it in winter and it will be gone by spring. That would mean I just need less sulphur.

Gotta get to bed.

Well, since things seem to be growing now, decided to give it one last go.

This morning, I planted more of things previously planted with varying success. Corn (80 day variety), green beans, carrots, broccoli and spinach. May try more lettuce later because it's a very short crop. Still too hot for it right now.

Tomato plants are looking amazingly good, compared to how they did look. Cucumber vines are climbing like crazy. Still no cucumbers yet. Pumpkins are flowering daily but no female flowers yet. Should be soon. Melon vines also have lots of flowers but no fruit.

Time for some sleep. Really tired and daughter will be here tonight. So I need to get up early and clean house a bit. Living room smells like bunny poop and kitchen smells like old dishwater. Have to correct that. But not this minute.Well, since things seem to be growing now, decided to give it one last go.

This morning, I planted more of things previously planted with varying success. Corn (80 day variety), green beans, carrots, broccoli and spinach. May try more lettuce later because it's a very short crop. Still too hot for it right now.

Tomato plants are looking amazingly good, compared to how they did look. Cucumber vines are climbing like crazy. Still no cucumbers yet. Pumpkins are flowering daily but no female flowers yet. Should be soon. Melon vines also have lots of flowers but no fruit.

Time for some sleep. Really tired and daughter will be here tonight. So I need to get up early and clean house a bit. Living room smells like bunny poop and kitchen smells like old dishwater. Have to correct that. But not this minute.

Been less than 48 hours since I added sulphur to the garden. Will not go as far as saying it was the last thing needed. (Though I've added just about anything else you can name. Except zinc.) I will say this was a major missing piece of the puzzle.

I have not yet experienced the whole thing of plants "leaping out of the soil" some people describe. Been mostly more of a creeping sluggishly from the ground. Talking with other people here, I largely accepted it as a fact of gardening in NM. Still knew that this soil could do better and without using hormones or some garbage like that.

Maybe not leaping from the soil but two days have brought some amazing changes. Accelerated growth. Most everything has grown larger by several inches. Less yellow, more green to all existing plants. More flowers on every flowering plant, by the dozens in many cases. New tomatoes forming and cucumber vines climbing while melon vines are creeping.

Even if a small one, a corn crop by the holidays is looking like an actual possibility now. Not nearly as many pumpkin plants as there were a couple weeks ago but there will be pumpkins by Halloween. It really is too late to plant more pumpkins, I guess. But in a few more weeks I can plant more lettuce and spinach. Plant the rest of the seed green beans this weekend, after I can better identify the more bare areas.

I'm really excited to see things changing for the better!

Of course, there are no magic bullets. However, I can already say I finally found a key missing ingredient for my own garden!

After just one night, this morning a lot of things look decidedly different. Several plants (most notably tomato and pumpkin) are several inches larger than they were just yesterday afternoon. Some plants had yellowing spots nearest the stems and some had spots on the leaves. Those are gone or resolving, except the worst ones. I see new sprouts coming up but admit that could be attributed to many factors. However, sulphur has an important role in seed germination. Some tomato leaves were slightly curled and look much less so. Of course, full heat of the day hasn't arrived yet.

As controls, I placed some sulphur in with some potted plants which looked a little weak. Too soon to tell with them yet.

I know the full effect of the sulphur is not being seen yet. The gradual release pellets are not even fully dissolved. They're meant to release small amounts each time you water. And the whole microbe digestion thing.

While many fertilizers have some amount of sulphur in them, it is not enough to correct a deficiency in sulphur weak soil. Has to be added separately.

So plans for this winter will be to add lots of things deep into the soil. More organic material (do that leaf collection thing again plus all the wood chips I can manage), lots of calcium, magnesium, nitrogen (ammonia) and sulphur. Have my hopes up again for some results this year but now considerably higher for next year!

Daughter and I released the living ladybugs this evening. She had fun as they ran on her arms and tickled her. There were only about 500 or 600 still living from what I could tell. Still waiting for the second shipment to arrive.

Yesterday we went to Itz Pizza. That was after the ex had taken her to Golfernoggins in the morning. So she had a good final weekend of her summer vacation. Starts school on Tue.

The last strawberry plant is dead. Nursed it for months and it was finally reaching a decent size. I had it in a pot on top of the doghouse until a couple of days ago. Then I placed the pot on the ground near the potted tomatoes so it would get more sun. Today, the dog tore the plant apart. Dug it out of the pot.

I've tolerated her crapping all over the yard, digging holes 2-3 feet deep, running over the tops of small plants. Several good size pumpkin plants have been trampled to death by her, even when bracketed by PVC stakes. Now she's tied up again and will remain so until fall. Possibly winter. As it is, I'm rethinking my attitude on dog runs.

Back to the ladybugs. Been doing the math on beneficial insects. I've read that one ladybug can eat up to 50 aphids a day. If we managed to release 1000 total, they may eat up to 50,000 aphids a day. Being optimistic that the second shipment arrives alive (translation- UPS doesn manage to kill them all), the grand total will be 10,000 released. They could eat as many as 1/2 million aphids a day!

Toss in mantises and lacewings and most of the damaging insects should be gone in a couple of weeks. Except maybe slugs and snails. May need some nematodes to control those. Nematodes are small, aggressive, carnivorous snails which attack larger snails and slugs that eat plants (like pumpkins). Though I may look up what list of pests mantises and lacewings will control.

Garden is still suffering from the weather. Not so much heat but dryness. It actually gets much hotter in Texas and things still grow much better there than here. However, central and south Texas isn't this dry. Between weather, bugs and the dog, the garden has been a near complete failure so far this year. Of course, the year and even the growing season isn't over yet.

Treated with more calcium and fertilizer this evening. Though I won't mix them together again. The mixture foamed up because of the contrast of acidity. Calcium is quite alkaline. The good part of this is that the acidity of the fertilizer probably made the calcium more available for immediate plant uptake. Hopefully. May know tomorrow.Daughter and I released the living ladybugs this evening. She had fun as they ran on her arms and tickled her. There were only about 500 or 600 still living from what I could tell. Still waiting for the second shipment to arrive.

Yesterday we went to Itz Pizza. That was after the ex had taken her to Golfernoggins in the morning. So she had a good final weekend of her summer vacation. Starts school on Tue.

The last strawberry plant is dead. Nursed it for months and it was finally reaching a decent size. I had it in a pot on top of the doghouse until a couple of days ago. Then I placed the pot on the ground near the potted tomatoes so it would get more sun. Today, the dog tore the plant apart. Dug it out of the pot.

I've tolerated her crapping all over the yard, digging holes 2-3 feet deep, running over the tops of small plants. Several good size pumpkin plants have been trampled to death by her, even when bracketed by PVC stakes. Now she's tied up again and will remain so until fall. Possibly winter. As it is, I'm rethinking my attitude on dog runs.

Back to the ladybugs. Been doing the math on beneficial insects. I've read that one ladybug can eat up to 50 aphids a day. If we managed to release 1000 total, they may eat up to 50,000 aphids a day. Being optimistic that the second shipment arrives alive (translation- UPS doesn manage to kill them all), the grand total will be 10,000 released. They could eat as many as 1/2 million aphids a day!

Toss in mantises and lacewings and most of the damaging insects should be gone in a couple of weeks. Except maybe slugs and snails. May need some nematodes to control those. Nematodes are small, aggressive, carnivorous snails which attack larger snails and slugs that eat plants (like pumpkins). Though I may look up what list of pests mantises and lacewings will control.

Garden is still suffering from the weather. Not so much heat but dryness. It actually gets much hotter in Texas and things still grow much better there than here. However, central and south Texas isn't this dry. Between weather, bugs and the dog, the garden has been a near complete failure so far this year. Of course, the year and even the growing season isn't over yet.

Treated with more calcium and fertilizer this evening. Though I won't mix them together again. The mixture foamed up because of the contrast of acidity. Calcium is quite alkaline. The good part of this is that the acidity of the fertilizer probably made the calcium more available for immediate plant uptake. Hopefully. May know tomorrow.

More calcium.

Did some more research on more scholarly sites about calcium and magnesium in the soil. Going to hold back on the magnesium for now but not the calcium.

I was worried I was using too much calcium or it would become too much in the near future. Turns out that it can take tons of calcium to bind up the sodium in really sodic (sodium saturated) soil. So I guess I'm okay and will keep using it.

Couple of things, though. The form of calcium I'm using is slow acting (but most affordable and will remain in the soil longer, for a more sustained level). At least some of the calcium I apply now won't be of benefit until at least next year. It has to be digested by microbes before it is available for plant digestion. You can get forms of calcium which are more immediately available but it costs much more. (When a university says the cost may be prohibitive, believe it!)

I also need to add sulfur. Sulfur helps dissolve the calcium in the soil. Note that calcium has to be present for this to work, while NM soil is noted extremely low in calcium.

Then I need to till deeply, below the root zone. Water and calcium leech sodium down as far as the hard clay level. Have to add organic material as I till. And water to saturation during winter months to wash the sodium downward.

Meanwhile, maybe it would be good to look for sodium tolerant varieties of seeds. Seeds saved from crops which have survived well here is a good tactic. Should be more tolerant over generations.More calcium.

Did some more research on more scholarly sites about calcium and magnesium in the soil. Going to hold back on the magnesium for now but not the calcium.

I was worried I was using too much calcium or it would become too much in the near future. Turns out that it can take tons of calcium to bind up the sodium in really sodic (sodium saturated) soil. So I guess I'm okay and will keep using it.

Couple of things, though. The form of calcium I'm using is slow acting (but most affordable and will remain in the soil longer, for a more sustained level). At least some of the calcium I apply now won't be of benefit until at least next year. It has to be digested by microbes before it is available for plant digestion. You can get forms of calcium which are more immediately available but it costs much more. (When a university says the cost may be prohibitive, believe it!)

I also need to add sulfur. Sulfur helps dissolve the calcium in the soil. Note that calcium has to be present for this to work, while NM soil is noted extremely low in calcium.

Then I need to till deeply, below the root zone. Water and calcium leech sodium down as far as the hard clay level. Have to add organic material as I till. And water to saturation during winter months to wash the sodium downward.

Meanwhile, maybe it would be good to look for sodium tolerant varieties of seeds. Seeds saved from crops which have survived well here is a good tactic. Should be more tolerant over generations.

Transplanted a couple of medium potted tomato plants to larger pots last night. This morning they seem to have transfer shock. Not sure they'll survive. Bummer but the reason I moved them was that they looked sickly and I thought maybe the pots were too small for them.

If they don't make it, I'm down to 20 tomato plants. Happily, most of those are now flowering. Saw quite a few flowers the other day. Not seeing any new fruit yet but haven't examined closely.

Did one more treatment to counteract the sodium last night. Now I think I'll hold off on any more for a little while. When I go to till before winter, I'll treat and fertilize heavily. Appears to have done some good but with the late heat wave it's hard to assess.

Pumpkins are beginning to flower again. Heat really affects them badly. No female flowers yet.

Ladybugs came in yesterday. However, of the 9000 ordered, at least 8000 were dead. Requested replacement from Amazon. I think it was a UPS thing. I saw the driver pull up and met him at the truck. Still, when I took the box from him, it felt hot. I even remarked on it. Opened the box a few minutes later to find most of them dead. UPS sucks. Ladies were packaged well and while the box was not labeled for special care, it was obvious there was something living in there from the four large air holes cut in the box.

Still waiting on the Dill's Giant pumpkin seeds. May be too late but I'll go ahead and plant a couple just for kicks. Couldn't hurt anything, right?

Weather forecast again calls for temps going into the 80's next week. Not holding my breath. Humidity is again hovering around 6%. We're like 5" below the normal 6" normal for the year on rainfall. Even desert lovers are complaining now. I have not had to mow the grass a single time this year.

Not sure I'm going to do a fall/winter planting at all this year. Guess it depends on if I get a tiller at a date which makes it reasonable and how happy I am with the soil. In any case, going to till the entire yard, front and back. Take it as deep as the tiller will go and mix the mulch into the soil. Seem to be having good results where I did that manually. Plant new grass in early spring. And get the soil professionally tested.Transplanted a couple of medium potted tomato plants to larger pots last night. This morning they seem to have transfer shock. Not sure they'll survive. Bummer but the reason I moved them was that they looked sickly and I thought maybe the pots were too small for them.

If they don't make it, I'm down to 20 tomato plants. Happily, most of those are now flowering. Saw quite a few flowers the other day. Not seeing any new fruit yet but haven't examined closely.

Did one more treatment to counteract the sodium last night. Now I think I'll hold off on any more for a little while. When I go to till before winter, I'll treat and fertilize heavily. Appears to have done some good but with the late heat wave it's hard to assess.

Pumpkins are beginning to flower again. Heat really affects them badly. No female flowers yet.

Ladybugs came in yesterday. However, of the 9000 ordered, at least 8000 were dead. Requested replacement from Amazon. I think it was a UPS thing. I saw the driver pull up and met him at the truck. Still, when I took the box from him, it felt hot. I even remarked on it. Opened the box a few minutes later to find most of them dead. UPS sucks. Ladies were packaged well and while the box was not labeled for special care, it was obvious there was something living in there from the four large air holes cut in the box.

Still waiting on the Dill's Giant pumpkin seeds. May be too late but I'll go ahead and plant a couple just for kicks. Couldn't hurt anything, right?

Weather forecast again calls for temps going into the 80's next week. Not holding my breath. Humidity is again hovering around 6%. We're like 5" below the normal 6" normal for the year on rainfall. Even desert lovers are complaining now. I have not had to mow the grass a single time this year.

Not sure I'm going to do a fall/winter planting at all this year. Guess it depends on if I get a tiller at a date which makes it reasonable and how happy I am with the soil. In any case, going to till the entire yard, front and back. Take it as deep as the tiller will go and mix the mulch into the soil. Seem to be having good results where I did that manually. Plant new grass in early spring. And get the soil professionally tested.

The weather has been erratic, mostly hot. However, if weather forecast is correct, will be even more erratic in the next few weeks. One day the high is forecast at 98 degrees, the following day high is 86. At least some respite from the heat is possible.

Found out what happened to one pumpkin plant which suddenly had looked weak. Wasn't insects or soil condition. The dog trampled it. Same with a number of other smaller plants.

While headed to a movie with my daughter on Sat, made a detour and picked up more seed green beans. Planted those last night. Including some rows where I had taken down the trellises. But trellises are in one piece, rolled up. Take only a couple of minutes each to put them back up.

Some things are looking better and better. Others have lots of leaves but no fruit. Others remain static. But overall the whole garden looks better than it has all summer.

Saw that the ladybugs are on the truck for delivery a day early. With the attitude of the driver on Fri, if he knows he's delivering a day early today, he should be real cheerful today (sic). I don't care, long as he doesn't leave them out in the sun. Sucks they're coming the day after daughter went back to the ex's. Hope I can keep them cool enough until Sat.

So, just when it had begun getting cooler, we got hit with a record setting heat wave for this time of year. May see triple digits again.

Oh, well. Depending on how fast it cools down again, may not be all that bad. Hot weather crops may live longer. So I may yet have some melons, cucumbers and more tomatoes, after all.

Too hot for lettuce. Only have 3 or 4 carrots and that may be all I get this year. Kind of a bummer. Daughter loves carrots from the garden. But carrots are cheap and I would rather have a large tomato and green bean crop with a couple of melons tossed in.

Treated the garden with a strong mixture of Epsom salt and Calcium yesterday morning because it was cloudy. Then treated with insecticidal soap last evening. Combination seems to be doing a lot of good. A couple of pumpkin plants were looking good, then yellowed and wilted. No sign of vine boring insects, so it must have been aphids or whiteflies. This morning, they seem to be recovering.

More green bean vines coming up slowly. Not climbing yet but should be soon. The seed green beans somehow did not make it home from the store with me the other day. So I still have to buy more. Grr!

Got the portable swamp cooler yesterday. Only enough for one room but it feels great and only uses as much power as a box fan! So far, I just used tap water in it but can put ice in the reservoir and in a special tray on the top.

Woke up really early. Could have slept for two more hours. Laid there and couldn't get back to sleep. Glad I have an energy shot in my bag for 3 or 4 AM at work!

Got more rain last night. Yay! Though it's hard to see positive effects in the heat of the day. Everything looks like it's dying in the heat.

Still, have a couple of tomatoes turning red now. After the wave of flowers last few days, should see a lot of fruit forming soon. Had one red one this weekend. Daughter and I split it and it tasted great! (Had a tomato plant couple years ago which grew huge but the tomatoes were too bitter to eat.)

in addition to the Phos, I dug in rabbit droppings around the tomato plants a few days ago. Not too close and not too deeply.

Next wave of Epsom salt and Calcium I'll apply tomorrow evening, when I'm off. Too hot right now. The effects so far are surprising, in a very good way. Probably add in one more dose of insecticidal soap. Rain accelerates aphids and whiteflies. I'm sure there will be plenty for the ladybugs when they arrive.

Not very much to do before work, finances and bus schedules being what they are.

Looking forward to several packages arriving. Mostly the portable swamp cooler. A dog whistle. However, the neighborhood dogs have been quieter since the departure of two certain dogs. Some neighbors moved and took their ghetto dogs with them. Still, some conditioning for the rest won't hurt. Giant pumpkin seeds. And, of course, the ladybugs!

Have to make dinner for work.Woke up really early. Could have slept for two more hours. Laid there and couldn't get back to sleep. Glad I have an energy shot in my bag for 3 or 4 AM at work!

Got more rain last night. Yay! Though it's hard to see positive effects in the heat of the day. Everything looks like it's dying in the heat.

Still, have a couple of tomatoes turning red now. After the wave of flowers last few days, should see a lot of fruit forming soon. Had one red one this weekend. Daughter and I split it and it tasted great! (Had a tomato plant couple years ago which grew huge but the tomatoes were too bitter to eat.)

in addition to the Phos, I dug in rabbit droppings around the tomato plants a few days ago. Not too close and not too deeply.

Next wave of Epsom salt and Calcium I'll apply tomorrow evening, when I'm off. Too hot right now. The effects so far are surprising, in a very good way. Probably add in one more dose of insecticidal soap. Rain accelerates aphids and whiteflies. I'm sure there will be plenty for the ladybugs when they arrive.

Not very much to do before work, finances and bus schedules being what they are.

Looking forward to several packages arriving. Mostly the portable swamp cooler. A dog whistle. However, the neighborhood dogs have been quieter since the departure of two certain dogs. Some neighbors moved and took their ghetto dogs with them. Still, some conditioning for the rest won't hurt. Giant pumpkin seeds. And, of course, the ladybugs!

Have to make dinner for work.

The more research I've done on the issue, the more definite it seems sodium is a major, major problem with my soil. Plus, some things I have done have made it worse.

Salinity is listed as one of the biggest crop killers worldwide. So I'm not exactly alone.

Some things which have made it worse are:
Using wood ashes. High in salt content.
Insecticidal soap. High in salt.
Using municipal water. Has chlorine (sodium chloride), which adds more sodium to the soil.
Poor construction of mounds.
Using cooked vegetables in the compost. Typically has salt added in.

Combined with heavy clay soil and low calcium content, the soil retains salt at the surface and root zone.

I do have a plan of action. Some elements are actions already planned but this makes them more important to utilize.

For one, I definitely need a good well pump. Aquifer water will be lower in sodium than municipal water.

Need to get a tiller. Till deeply and mix in lots of organic material. This will break up the clay and make the soil drain better. Need to till and form rows well before next spring, then hypersaturate the soil several times before planting season next year.

Of course, avoid using cooked, canned or frozen vegetables in the compost.

Once the ladybugs arrive, stop using soap for insect control. Order mantises and lacewings.

Nothing will remove the sodium from the soil. Some amendments will help by binding the salts and making them inert. Magnesium is one I've read about. Somewhat questionable chemically but does appear to be helping. Sulfur. More Phos. Most importantly Calcium. Need to load the soil down heavily with that.

Problem with Calcium is that it reduces acidity. (Think Tums.) So have to compensate for that.

It will still take some work to reach the right balance. But I know I'm on the right track. This soil and these conditions are complex, so it is a process of identifying and correcting successive issues. On a highly restrained budget until now and still trying to keep costs down after this. Wouldn't make sense to spend more on the garden than groceries would cost.

One good thing to report. As I treat the garden, I have been treating different sections of grass. That gives me a faster assessment of effectiveness. Since using the Epsom salt and Calcium, treated areas of grass have turned several shades greener. Plus some corn stalks have accelerated rapidly.

Okay. Have stuff to do.The more research I've done on the issue, the more definite it seems sodium is a major, major problem with my soil. Plus, some things I have done have made it worse.

Salinity is listed as one of the biggest crop killers worldwide. So I'm not exactly alone.

Some things which have made it worse are:
Using wood ashes. High in salt content.
Insecticidal soap. High in salt.
Using municipal water. Has chlorine (sodium chloride), which adds more sodium to the soil.
Poor construction of mounds.
Using cooked vegetables in the compost. Typically has salt added in.

Combined with heavy clay soil and low calcium content, the soil retains salt at the surface and root zone.

I do have a plan of action. Some elements are actions already planned but this makes them more important to utilize.

For one, I definitely need a good well pump. Aquifer water will be lower in sodium than municipal water.

Need to get a tiller. Till deeply and mix in lots of organic material. This will break up the clay and make the soil drain better. Need to till and form rows well before next spring, then hypersaturate the soil several times before planting season next year.

Of course, avoid using cooked, canned or frozen vegetables in the compost.

Once the ladybugs arrive, stop using soap for insect control. Order mantises and lacewings.

Nothing will remove the sodium from the soil. Some amendments will help by binding the salts and making them inert. Magnesium is one I've read about. Somewhat questionable chemically but does appear to be helping. Sulfur. More Phos. Most importantly Calcium. Need to load the soil down heavily with that.

Problem with Calcium is that it reduces acidity. (Think Tums.) So have to compensate for that.

It will still take some work to reach the right balance. But I know I'm on the right track. This soil and these conditions are complex, so it is a process of identifying and correcting successive issues. On a highly restrained budget until now and still trying to keep costs down after this. Wouldn't make sense to spend more on the garden than groceries would cost.

One good thing to report. As I treat the garden, I have been treating different sections of grass. That gives me a faster assessment of effectiveness. Since using the Epsom salt and Calcium, treated areas of grass have turned several shades greener. Plus some corn stalks have accelerated rapidly.

Okay. Have stuff to do.

Weather seemed like it was cooling down. Now the forecast is back to high 90's some days. At least it's low 90's and below 70 at night.

I was wrong. Didn't order the Phos from Amazon. Had looked at it but chose something cheaper. Dill's Giant pumpkin seeds. Go ahead and plant a couple of them but save the rest for next year. If I get one pumpkin this year large enough to form seeds, it will provide lots of seeds for next year. Though I'll probably go for four giants next year. One at each corner of the garden.

Got the Phos while shopping today. Just a 3 lb bag. Sometime after getting a vehicle, need to go to a chemical company and get a really large bag.

Got more seed green beans.

Gotta go. Bus is here.Weather seemed like it was cooling down. Now the forecast is back to high 90's some days. At least it's low 90's and below 70 at night.

I was wrong. Didn't order the Phos from Amazon. Had looked at it but chose something cheaper. Dill's Giant pumpkin seeds. Go ahead and plant a couple of them but save the rest for next year. If I get one pumpkin this year large enough to form seeds, it will provide lots of seeds for next year. Though I'll probably go for four giants next year. One at each corner of the garden.

Got the Phos while shopping today. Just a 3 lb bag. Sometime after getting a vehicle, need to go to a chemical company and get a really large bag.

Got more seed green beans.

Gotta go. Bus is here.