So, daughter and I went to Disney World and had a wonderful time! Just not long enough. Maybe we'll go back again someday. If I can afford it.
While we were gone, the garden went a bit wild, even though we were only gone for under a week. Not such a bad thing.
Some parts of the irrigation system came a apart but not too badly. The timers and everything worked fine and continue to do so.
The front yard is overgrown right now. Honestly, I'm not complaining. Lots of weeds but it's all green! And an overgrown green yard is something you just do not see in Albuquerque! Even most of the weeds here aren't truly green. More dusty olive drab.
First thing daughter did after we walked in the door was to go raid the tomato plants. Then ate every ripe tomato there was! That's okay, it has now reached the point where the tomato plants are producing a couple of lbs of tomatoes each week and accelerating, since the worst heat has passed. Yesterday, I had to extend the cages out and up from the small metal cages. Several plants outgrew them. So I built trellises around them with 1x2's, wire and twine to take them up to 7 ft tall. I think they will eventually reach the tops.
Also built some trellises for the green beans. Harvested a bunch of corn, took down the stalks and wound the vines onto the trellises. Been too hot up to now, so vines have grown fairly long but only two beans. Lots of flowers and expect to start seeing lots of beans in the coming weeks as things cool down and as the bees have easier access to the flowers. I still need to go buy more poultry netting. The plastic stuff from last year disintegrated. Learned my lesson and will stick with steel.
For the corn, have now had several small harvests, this past week as many as 40 ears. Cooked most of it and froze it. Some on the cob but most off. Tastes awesome! Still have at least one more crop of standard corn maturing. Then will still have two crops of giant corn after that.
Had no choice, had to resort to pesticide for the squash bugs. Looked like I had an invasion while out of town. Had thousands of them and they killed off several vines. Kind of late for planting but going to try planting some small varieties and hope for a good crop of small pie pumpkins. Have some pumpkins growing now. Had to pick a couple because either the vines died off or they were showing signs of damp rot in spots. Have to start putting padding under them.
Finally have melons growing! At least 4-5 cantaloupe and 5-6 watermelons so far!
The weeds are a problem but one I can handle. The varieties of weeds now growing are actually a good indicator of soil health. The dominant weeds before now were types that grow in alkaline and sodic soil. The ones growing now grow in healthier, more fertile soil. In the fall, after pulling large stems and stalks, I'm planning on applying sulfuric acid very, very heavily. Wait a day or two, till and repeat the process. The acid should kill off any seeds on the surface each time. By next spring, the soil should have a decent pH, the dead material should compost well into the soil and I should have fewer weeds. Besides, the small flowers appear to be attracting more pollinators. Looks wild but not ugly (unless you're a New Mexican who enjoys looking at bare dirt).
We've had a lot more rain this year than last. Still, not enough for the compost pile to compost very well. So I'm going to run a small extension from the irrigation line to the compost pile. Let that get moistened each time the nearest irrigation zone runs. Then the compost will also receive any ammonia, fertilizer or acid I run through the lines, only in small amounts.
Things have greatly improved!
While we were gone, the garden went a bit wild, even though we were only gone for under a week. Not such a bad thing.
Some parts of the irrigation system came a apart but not too badly. The timers and everything worked fine and continue to do so.
The front yard is overgrown right now. Honestly, I'm not complaining. Lots of weeds but it's all green! And an overgrown green yard is something you just do not see in Albuquerque! Even most of the weeds here aren't truly green. More dusty olive drab.
First thing daughter did after we walked in the door was to go raid the tomato plants. Then ate every ripe tomato there was! That's okay, it has now reached the point where the tomato plants are producing a couple of lbs of tomatoes each week and accelerating, since the worst heat has passed. Yesterday, I had to extend the cages out and up from the small metal cages. Several plants outgrew them. So I built trellises around them with 1x2's, wire and twine to take them up to 7 ft tall. I think they will eventually reach the tops.
Also built some trellises for the green beans. Harvested a bunch of corn, took down the stalks and wound the vines onto the trellises. Been too hot up to now, so vines have grown fairly long but only two beans. Lots of flowers and expect to start seeing lots of beans in the coming weeks as things cool down and as the bees have easier access to the flowers. I still need to go buy more poultry netting. The plastic stuff from last year disintegrated. Learned my lesson and will stick with steel.
For the corn, have now had several small harvests, this past week as many as 40 ears. Cooked most of it and froze it. Some on the cob but most off. Tastes awesome! Still have at least one more crop of standard corn maturing. Then will still have two crops of giant corn after that.
Had no choice, had to resort to pesticide for the squash bugs. Looked like I had an invasion while out of town. Had thousands of them and they killed off several vines. Kind of late for planting but going to try planting some small varieties and hope for a good crop of small pie pumpkins. Have some pumpkins growing now. Had to pick a couple because either the vines died off or they were showing signs of damp rot in spots. Have to start putting padding under them.
Finally have melons growing! At least 4-5 cantaloupe and 5-6 watermelons so far!
The weeds are a problem but one I can handle. The varieties of weeds now growing are actually a good indicator of soil health. The dominant weeds before now were types that grow in alkaline and sodic soil. The ones growing now grow in healthier, more fertile soil. In the fall, after pulling large stems and stalks, I'm planning on applying sulfuric acid very, very heavily. Wait a day or two, till and repeat the process. The acid should kill off any seeds on the surface each time. By next spring, the soil should have a decent pH, the dead material should compost well into the soil and I should have fewer weeds. Besides, the small flowers appear to be attracting more pollinators. Looks wild but not ugly (unless you're a New Mexican who enjoys looking at bare dirt).
We've had a lot more rain this year than last. Still, not enough for the compost pile to compost very well. So I'm going to run a small extension from the irrigation line to the compost pile. Let that get moistened each time the nearest irrigation zone runs. Then the compost will also receive any ammonia, fertilizer or acid I run through the lines, only in small amounts.
Things have greatly improved!
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