Lonely evening

There are days I get lonely. It's rare. Even more rare it lasts more than a few minutes. Even more rare I admit it to myself. Though if it happens, it happens most often in Autumn.

Combine that with fighting off some infection and a bad day for work and it becomes the perfect storm for me.

Seemed like almost nobody I talked to today had a clear thought in their head.

When I do get lonely, I don't get lonely for just someone. I get lonely for someone I can trust. Which means someone not intensely dependent. Honest. That will not make me pay a really high price for having moments of weakness. 

Guess what? I don't like being strong all the time. It gets old. Not interested in someone to take care of me. Just someone I don't always have to take care of. 

Any way, it will pass. Going to have a couple of beers and get some sleep.

Winding down

I'm winding the garden down for the summer season. Haven't planted any fall/winter crops but may get some spinach and carrots planted. Maybe some garlic. Haven't prepared the soil for them yet.

For now, irrigation is turned off. Allowing the remaining tomatoes to ripen. Late season tomatoes can be the best ones. They grow a bit larger and ripen more slowly, not rushed by the summer heat. Sugars and nutrients have more chance to concentrate in the fruit as leaves begin to die off and all energy is directed toward the fruit. 

I'm finally getting past most of the tomatoes that took damage from the dogs' antics while I was out of town. Many tomatoes split once the irrigation was turned back on. So they have ugly spots around the tops where they split and healed. 

Pantry is far from full. I do have a decent amount but not what I would have hoped for. Just too much damage from being out of town and subsequent schedule. Too much damage occurred. Too many bugs, too many weeds. 

Not that I regret the time out of town. I enjoyed it. Gave me some of my energy and perspective back.

Not very productive

I'm very happy for my job now. No questions on that. Getting better at it. Supervisor told me yesterday I'm doing well.

However, aside from the job, I'm not being very productive. House and yard are a mess. I'm not getting any exercise at all. Gained a few lbs. Not a bad thing in my case, just don't want it getting out of control.

Part of it is just adjusting. This is an odd schedule, 10:30 to 7. 

Sun is going down too early to get much done outside. Was going to get some weeds trimmed this morning but it's raining. Not a lot but rained during the night, also. Things are too wet to trim.

Have to discipline myself to get more housework done. Start doing that tonight.

Wish there was a fitness center closer to my house to get more exercise. Instead, have to set up a place where I can get some exercise in the house and start walking. Think I'll go back to placing weights in a backpack and walking. May start running again. 

The house is getting all teched out. Two computers, a tablet computer, PC is hooked to the TV and just got a trackball with a 30 ft range, so can control games and video in the living room, while it's being streamed from the PC to the TV. Last night, was watching Hulu, streamed from the PC to the TV while posting on FB from the tablet. 

Still a lot of work to do on the house. Next two months I need to insulate and finish patching holes, once and for all. Along the way, finish daughter's room and build a new doghouse. Though the list of required work is getting shorter.

Lots of tomatoes

Been out of town for a couple of weeks, got back Fri night. 

Now I have lots of tomatoes that have to be processed into tomato paste. This pic is about 15 lbs of tomatoes. Still a whole lot more on the vines. 

Giant pumpkins are still growing. One vine took some damage from bugs while I was gone but the vines have tapped auxiliary roots, so they're still going strong. I also haven't had time to weed since I got back.

Not nearly as much time to work the garden now. Working 40 hours a week and sun going down earlier. Still, should have a good rest of the season.

Canning

Corn and bush beans are down now. Have tons of corn to freeze. Cooked and in the fridge because it was too hot to work with until morning.

Canning about 15 lbs of green beans this weekend. Should get 2-3 qts of pickles from the cucumbers so far. I suspect the dogs have chewed a couple of the cucumber vines. Luckily, they didn't care for them much. 

Tomatoes hit a lull because the heat a few weeks ago made them stop flowering for a while. Had a huge run of ripe tomatoes. Now hundreds of green fruit hanging. So, I should see another cycle of ripe tomatoes in a few more weeks. 

Because of circumstances, not going all out for much greater numbers of tomato plants this year. Some more vines are maturing and putting out more fruit. I also had to do some major tying off for support today. Some vines had so much fruit they sank to the ground. Awesome! So, we will have a continuing large crop in the future. Just slowed down right now. 

I very nervously changed the position of the largest pumpkin a couple days ago. Trying to make it grow in a more normal shape, rather than flattened sideways. Think I did some minor damage to the vine in the process but it's recovering. My guess is current weight is about 40 lbs. There's another on the same vine just behind it, at about 30 lbs. I know, one vine supporting two giants limits the size on both. However, I'm not shooting for over 1000 lbs. This year. 

 Melons still aren't doing so great this year. Not sure what the problem is. Then again, I don't recall when they really ramped up last year. They weren't flowering very well during the heat a few weeks ago, now forming more flowers again. Could be what flowers there were during that time were sterile. Daughter and I have spotted a few small melons here and there. 

So, the garden is producing really well this year. Just a different balance than last year. 

Downsizing

A few influences have come together at the same time, making it necessary to downsize the garden a bit. Or at least thin it out.

For one, I was hired for a job which will require me to go out of town for two weeks of training. (I have no shortage of security measures in place.) The same job, after training, is at home but will require me to work 40 hours a week. That means less time and flexibility in working the garden.

So, started taking down the bush beans yesterday. Most of them were done for the year, any way. Going to cut the pole beans down near the ground before leaving town. I also planted new seeds. Not sure they'll have time to grow but worth a try. All depends on how early first frost is. 

Going to take down some of the corn, just to thin things out. Temps are cooling and lower crops need more sunshine. 

All that makes it easier to clear weeds in some places. 

Had to give in and apply some insecticide to the pumpkin plants again. Squash bugs made a return. Also got some herbicide to kill weeds on some traffic areas. Rain and improved soil conditions brought dormant weed seeds to life in huge numbers. 

I have a couple of contenders for giant pumpkins now. I'm excited to see just how big they get!

 

Canning

Started canning green beans tonight. Pic below is from one bag of green beans. I have two more the same size. 

I also canned two jars of tomatoes the other night, so the large bowl of tomatoes is a different bowl than the last picture. Just rotating them out. 

Cucumbers and peppers are coming in. I'll teach daughter how to make pickles this weekend.

Cooked and froze about a dozen ears of corn tonight. Plus cooked and froze the carrots which remained. 

So, now able to start taking down some of the corn stalks. Stacking them up to dry for later shredding. 

Now, something I have to figure out how to handle. I may have to go out of town for two weeks in the future. Most things will be okay. However, pole green beans won't. It only takes a few days for a pod to go to seed. Once a single pod goes to seed, the whole vine stops producing. I'm going to plant some new seeds tomorrow, so they have a chance to grow while these vines are still producing. Though I'm considering cutting these vines down a few inches from the ground. Maybe if I do that and leave just one or two sets of leaves, these will grow back in more quickly than new seeds would. I'll try both, just for insurance.

Harvest is picking up!

Harvest is picking up speed now. Not spotting any watermelons yet and only one cantaloupe so far. However, many of those came in late last year. 

Green beans are booming! This is the kitchen sink and what I picked just this evening:

This is tomatoes. On the left is what remains that daughter did not eat this weekend. On the right is what I picked just this evening:

Tomorrow I need to Place some boards under the pumpkins that are growing. 

It's a little late in the season but also going to plant a few more green bean seeds just to decrease the chance I miss a pod and a vine goes dormant. 

Possible giant

Daughter and I didn't make it to the growers market this morning. It flooded over here last night. Seemed unlikely there would be anybody at the market, so we skipped it. 

Maybe next weekend will be different and we'll give it a try.

More tomato plants are producing now. Finally got more of them staked. A couple had gotten much larger than I thought they were and already have fruit maturing. Last few days I've been picking a cumulative total of 2-3 lbs per day and that rate seems to be growing. 

I have my possible giant pumpkin. A giant variety pumpkin vine has several pumpkins on it now. One of those is now about 5 lbs. Last weekend it was about 1 lb, so it quadrupled in size in a week or less! With three months left before Halloween, it has lots of potential!

Plus another giant vine has at least one pumpkin growing. That one is next to the compost bin. That's good and bad. Lots of nutrients but also lots of sow bugs. If I can find something to keep it elevated and safe, that one should grow quite large, also. 

Thanks to all the rain, the weeds have caught up to me. Hoping next year my finances will be better, so I can use weed fabric and mulch extensively. 

Right now, the garden has turned into an unintentional maze in some spots. Not such a bad thing in some ways because of the wildlife it has attracted. 

Got some small envelopes the other day. Today I used those to bag seeds to sell. I'll keep saving seeds for later use and to sell this year and next. If they don't sell, I'll have a larger stock on hand for future years. Or I can offer them for free to people who buy from me at the growers market. 

Daughter likes the idea of selling flower bouquets there, also. 

The storm last night did some damage to some of the sunflowers and corn. Both the tallest plants I've got. Still lots of them standing, though. Learned my lesson last year and planted densely enough this year. Plus the sunflowers are mostly against fences. Still have one sunflower about 14 ft tall in the front yard. That one is surprising for how thin the stalk is. 

Some Cosmos have now grown as tall as I am. So, they're taller than last year. 

Got a lot of weed and grass trimming to do this week. Before we attract some wildlife we don't want. Like snakes. 

Cucumbers!

Checked the garden this morning and found I have cucumbers! Lots of tiny cucumbers and three large enough to pick on the spot.

I was quite surprised when I spotted so many of them growing. Though there were flowers all over the place a few days ago, I did not expect to see actual cucumbers so soon. Most are small pickling cucumbers, though I planted a variety. 

For esthetics, I had been planning on using only wood 1x2's for tomatoes on one side of the garden and PVC on the other side. However, low on money and some of the vines currently on small bamboo stakes are getting too big for the bamboo. So, looks like I'll have to mix things up after all. 

Lots of tomatoes ripening now. Should have a large number to sell at the grower's market this weekend. The challenge will be getting daughter up early enough, since I'm picking her up on Fri this week. Next weekend I'll have to ask her mother to drop her off at the grower's market. Have to do one more harvest tomorrow evening and package some seeds. Need to look for a scale, also. Take the kitchen table and a couple of chairs. Probably pack an ice chest along. If nothing else, daughter and I may have fun.

Tomato cuttings

Daughter and I did the tomato cuttings today. If they all survive, that will mean 45 new tomato plants. Hopefully with time to produce this growing season. Did them around noon and most still look good right now. 

Most of the tomato plants in the garden which have been behind the curve are now maturing and should fruit soon. Means I need more 1x2's or get the PVC set up to stake them. Think I'll use the PVC. 

Did more tying of larger tomato plants. Fruit had become so heavy it had dragged some branches to the ground. (That is definitely not a complaint.) While doing so and since thinning flowers, found I have what appears to be hundreds of tomatoes now. All different sizes, so it promises an ongoing crop for the next few months. 

Getting some small pickling cucumbers finally. Tons of flowers and vines are climbing. Hope those flowers soon turn to cucumbers!

Several new pumpkins growing now. The vines are ones that produce giants, so I'm still hoping!

Planted the second round of spinach seeds today. May still be too warm for them just yet but can always plant one more round if I have to. Have seeds left. 

Harvesting dill seeds as the seeds themselves mature. I actually think I'll plant more dill for selling. Fresh dill goes for a good price. Besides, it helps drive off some pests. 

Saw the first cantaloupe today. Lots more flowers and several vines have stretched out and ready to grow more. 

Lavender is blooming. I do not grow the variety popular here. While that variety has been blooming for weeks, it also grows huge and is hard to control. I prefer the short variety. Very aromatic and attractive but not as invasive. 

All in all, we now have a wonderful variety of flowers growing together! Lots of hummingbirds, increasing numbers of butterflies and ladybugs. Bees are gathering and increasing in numbers in multiple varieties. Marigolds are growing everywhere, rather randomly. I may have to control many flowers next year but for now, letting them go. 

 
 

Preparing for market

So, it definitely looks like I will have things to sell at the grower's market next weekend. Daughter is asking if she can help me.

It's not a lot yet but enough to get going. More tomatoes ripening. Picked green beans today and lots more will be ready to pick before Saturday. Sunflower seeds. Couple of pumpkins. Various other seeds. 

Going to get things ready to sell this week. Started separating sunflower seeds from their bases tonight. Cut more flowers and do the same this week. Let them dry and filter them from waste. Do the same with some other flower seeds. Get some small bags for seeds. Probably give away some marigold seeds. 

If enough flowers are growing, I may make some flower arrangements to sell. 

Too bad watermelon and cantaloupe aren't ready yet. One of my first watermelons split open because of all the rain. Vines are maturing, though and should see more melons soon. 

Got more spinach seeds today. Plant those tomorrow. Also take some tomato cuttings and set them. Have daughter help me, so she can learn how to do it. I want her to learn more of these things. Even if she never needs it, they're good survival skills. If she doesn't need it, she may enjoy it and do her own gardening later in life. Or she may help me more here. Good sense of accomplishment. 

More patience

I think I've followed a fairly normal progression about gardening. When I first started the garden, I would check the seedlings every day and be excited about nearly every sprout that peeked above the ground. I started seeds indoors and rushed too much to plant them outside. 

I have learned a bit more patience since then. I admit I am still excited to see new sprouts coming up. I do tend to overplant now but that's not being too zealous. I've followed advice from gardeners who live in very different areas and seen the damage which resulted in this environment. In other areas, it may be bad to overcrowd your garden. In this arid weather, what would be crowding simply helps to retain moisture and moderate soil temperature. It does make weed and insect control more difficult but that's where companion planting comes in. 

Being more patient causes me less stress and decreases trying too hard in many cases. Though it can mean damage in other cases, like not seeing insect damage until it's severe. However, I have learned to spot insect damage earlier than I once did.

Though my soil is much better now than it once was, I do still see seedlings sprout and then die off from salt damage. Another reason to overplant. I have seen entire sections of garden remain bare most or all season because one crop didn't survive. By planting multiple crops, at least some sections do not remain bare. A couple of sections could use more intense watering to leach more sodium out of the soil but some crops do survive. It has actually been raining enough here that I don't have to worry about it much for now. 

I've learned a lot more about what to plant, where and when. Still learning. 

Been stupid this year about some things. Still enough growing season left that I can start more tomato plants from cuttings. Going to do that in the next few days. 

The cuttings I took last week are now all developing new leaves. Grape, plum and apple. New leaves indicates they are developing new roots. I may take more cuttings soon and keep expanding on that. Probably a good way to expand the tomato crop next year without having to start 600 vines indoors in December. Start only a few (protect them from the dogs) and take cuttings as they mature. Worth a try.

Short entry

Not sure why but seems like the N concentration in the well water has decreased in the past few weeks. So, supplementing with ammonia. Probably once a week or two should do it. Did that yesterday and saw a difference today. 

It may be all the recent rain. While rain contains N, no way to tell what effect it has on subterranean water. Then again, the city has been using ground water for the water supply. Maybe that has something to do with it. No matter. Ammonia is cheap and it doesn't take much. 

My sunflowers are definitely getting attention. Next door neighbor's adult son came over to ask if he could have one to take home to his wife. (He and his father offered to pay me but I wouldn't allow that. Just let them have it.) 

Though tomatoes have accelerated ripening, not enough to sell any this weekend. Still waiting for other plants to mature. 

After only a week, the grape vines I cut for propagation have started forming new leaves. That's a really good sign. The fruit tree cuttings aren't forming leaves but still look really green. So, also a good sign. 

If the grape vines continue showing signs of growth, I'll be taking more cuttings soon. Since that vine doesn't look like it will fruit this year, it's really just controlling overgrowth. May as well gain some benefit from it and get lots more vines started this year. If I get enough started, I can plant some and sell others next year. 

More planting

Took down many of the Cosmos today. Couldn't see many of the tomatoes and definitely couldn't reach them. 

Tomato plants are flowering again. Guess it was just the heat. Lots of fruit ripening. 

Planted more seeds. Carrot, lettuce and dill. Started broccoli in small containers. 

Extended to pole bean trellis upward. Tons of flowers, so looks like there should be quite a green bean crop this year! Bush beans are now coming up in numbers. Had pretty much thought they would mature before the pole beans but they didn't deal with the heat very well.

 Spread more compost. I'm really impressed with how well the compost has been doing this year. Very dark, very rich. Large part is because I've learned things over time and I'm being a lot more patient. I am still going to compost weeds with seeds but separately from the main compost. I may obtain or build a special container to absorb and maximize heat to deactivate the seeds. Otherwise, just compost them much longer. 

Still battling weeds but ever more successfully. 

Main garden still looks relatively bare since harvesting onions, lettuce and carrots. It is changing, slowly. Watermelon, cantaloupe, pumpkin, bush beans are all coming up but still small. Cucumbers are climbing much better. Still no fruit but looking more hopeful. 
 

More pumpkin seeds

It may be a bit late but decided to plant a few more pumpkin seeds. Have a number of pumpkin plants coming up but figured it would be best to plant a few more. Better to thin than grieve. 

Planted the second round of cilantro. 

Going to start more broccoli this week. Have to start them in containers. Still battling bindweed but finally winning!

Daughter picked one small pumpkin this weekend. I picked two larger ones today. With all the rain, they were going to fall victim to sow bugs if I didn't pick them now. Besides, they're really decorative.

Daughter and I counted the blooms and buds on this sunflower this morning. We counted 13. The plant is about 12 ft tall. Definitely saving the seeds from this one for next year! May sell the seeds if the seeds replicate the multiple blooms. 

 

Pride

There is one aspect of the garden I have not mentioned before. Pride, self esteem. Not in the way many people think of it, though.

The first few years I tried growing the garden (especially flowers), my daughter was excited. Then I met with failure after failure. She became rather disenchanted. While she didn't say anything, it showed. Each year we planted tons of flower seeds, each year we were met with weeds and bare soil. That pretty much happened for three years. 

Then there was a breakthrough one year. Marigolds. That was really the only flower that grew in the garden that year. In the meantime, I had started wrestling some pumpkins, lettuce and a few small tomatoes out of the garden. 

Then I was finally able to afford several things which made a major difference. The tiller, a drip system and a new well and well pump. 

Along the way, I kept experimenting with different things to plant, see what would work. Kept reading to learn the right times to plant here. Kept studying to understand what I needed to do to my soil. Upping the ante, adding gypsum and finally acid. 

Last year made a difference. Found sunflowers would grow in this soil. Happened across Cosmos. Marigolds continued to grow. 

This year, I expanded the drip system further and keep refining it. Planted sunflowers in the back as well as the front. Cosmos have exploded into lots of colors. Various other flowers have finally taken hold. Nasturtium are blooming here and there through the garden. Zinnias are finally blooming.

Daughter is happy and proud of me. I don't feel like a failure in front of her. We have a sunflower which stand 12 ft tall and has 13 blooms and buds on it (which I have never seen before). With giant pumpkins, giant corn, sunflowers taller than the house and tomato plants taller than myself, we are growing things which she does not see anywhere else.

Maybe this worked out for the best. She has seen my efforts and seen that I did not give up. Instead, I kept trying different things, kept learning. Finally saw that effort pay off. Each year, we harvest more from the garden, in crops and flowers. We all want our children to be proud of us, to be good examples for them. Though the best example does not come from how we react when things are going as planned. The best example comes from how you react when things go wrong. 

Seed collection

Started collecting old blooms today to harvest seeds for next year and for sale. Mostly Cosmos seeds so far. 

Next few days and coming weeks, going to also harvest marigold, dill, zinnia and nasturtium seeds. 

As expected, daughter ate pretty much every single tomato that has ripened so far. That's okay. As stated, it was expected. She really loves tomatoes fresh from the garden. 

Cucumbers are finally climbing higher. Still not seeing any cucumbers yet but maybe I'm not looking close enough. 

Going to take down the Cosmos growing immediately by the tomato plants this week. Lots more in the surrounding areas. These are just crowding the tomatoes quite a bit and making access nearly impossible from one side. 

Strange thing. Until this year, I never knew bees loved corn so much! Every evening, there is a whole swarm of bees around the corn. 

We had corn from the garden for dinner tonight. Some was a bit tough, picked just a little too soon. That was mostly stray short corn, next to tomato plants. As I harvest the corn, taking down the stalks and stacking them to dry by the compost bin. Shred them for compost in a few weeks.

Weather is forecasted to be cooling down by at least 10 more degrees in the next 2-3 weeks. Should remain comfortable for a while after that. That means I can start late summer planting really soon. (And probably be a good thing because it likely means an early and harsh winter.) 

Some things I planted have come up rather sparsely relative to how much I planted. Not gonna complain much. Leaves more room for successive plantings. Need to be on the lookout for cheap carrot, spinach and lettuce seeds. Give broccoli (green) another shot. 

The tobacco plants finally took off lately. Need to plant those out. I think it was too hot and/or dry for them until recently. Been getting lots of rain. I'll keep that in mind in the future and keep tobacco seedlings in a humid environment until they're a good size. 

A guy online had said he would send me some sorghum seeds. Haven't received them. Bummer. Guess I'll order some this week. Won't have the resources to do much with a crop but if I can grow it to seed, can expand to a larger crop in the spring. They apparently grow tall rapidly and would help other crops along.

Lots of advice and directions tell you how different crops are "sun-loving". Especially tomatoes. My experience now is that these "sun-loving" crops are growing best in areas of my garden which receive large amounts of shade. While I believe they thrive on sunlight, they also grow best with higher ambient humidity than is typical here. 

Have to extend the pole bean trellis upward this week. Vines are reaching 4 ft tall. Current netting only reaches 3 ft tall. Best get that done soon. 

First try

Making my first attempt at propagating grape vines, plum trees and apple trees by cuttings today. Give them a couple of weeks and see how they do.

I did some reading on the subject last night. A lot of sources say cuttings should only be taken in late fall or early spring. Other sources say you can take them in the summer but have to strip off all the leaves. That latter sounded reasonable, so that's what I did. 

Took some cuttings which were really green. Figured they are already in very active growth process, so would be most likely to form roots. Just for comparison, took some other cuttings which were slightly older. The fruit trees I took cuttings from are young, themselves, so there were no truly mature branches to take cuttings from. 

If these succeed, I'll balance things out to take more cuttings later and get lots of saplings going for next year. Very possible I could start a rotation of selling them. Wouldn't want too many apple trees because they grow large. Could potentially grow a row of plum trees, though. 

Who knows? One of these days I may own enough land to have an entire orchard. 

More flowers!

Just posting pics of more flowers now blooming.

First is the front yard, second is more Cosmos in the north main garden, third is SW side of the back yard.

 

Giving in

I gave in today. Too many squash bugs, doing too much damage. With lots more pumpkin plants coming in, if I don;t get them under control now, they may destroy all of them too much to have a decent crop. So, I used poison this evening. Only on the pumpkin plants. It is a fairly short lived poison which will wear off long before major harvest. Though it will last long enough to kill off bugs for a few weeks. 

Hated to use it. Don't want to affect a lot of other insects. Tried to concentrate most of the spray toward the crown and away from the flowers. I think the best time to apply it is in the evening, when flowers have closed up and before new blooms open in the morning. That minimizes exposure to pollinators. 

Going to try propagating grape vines tomorrow. Maybe plum trees, too. Have to read up on that one. 

They're baaack!

Last couple of days, between work and rain, seemed like the squash bugs had pretty much disappeared. Yeah, not so much. They were back in extreme force this evening. Just handled them manually. Don't think my spray is going to do much good with any rain. Luckily, got to them before they did any major apparent damage. 

In spite of the drip irrigation, seems like the rain made things accelerate. Maybe that means I should add more nitrogen to the irrigation water once in a while, after all. Well water has nitrates but maybe not enough. 

Tomato flowers have slowed down a lot. Maybe because of the heat, maybe because so much fruit already hanging. Picked 4 tomatoes tonight. They look really good! I'll save them. Daughter will go nuts! 

Weed control

After many, many hours on hands and knees plus tilling and acid treatments, the weeds are getting under control. At this point, pulling weeds for 30-60 minutes makes a really noticeable difference. Been times it seemed like I would never even get to this point. 

Right now, we're having the first real rain we have had in I honestly cannot remember how long! I have the doors open, letting the air flow through the house.

Humidity today has been around 40%, which is a healthy humidity. However, I know the locals have been dying from it. They start complaining about humidity if it goes over 10%. 

Any way, I trimmed the grape vines a bit. The red grape vine had yards of excess foliage. On the green vine, I cut a lot less but saved a couple of cuttings. Going to try propagating them. Though I would much rather have seedless grapes in numbers, haven't had the greatest luck with those. Maybe this would be good practice. 

Improvement

Seeing improvement from the spray I made. Fewer squash bugs found today. May have been more effective but it rained last night. 

Made a new batch today and included a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil and small amount of natural body wash. Found one group of nymphs and sprayed them directly and watched. It worked, killing them off in under a minute. 

So, it looks like I may have found a concoction that works! Best part is that it's nearly free. Bad part is that it has to be applied virtually every day. Mostly organic sprays break down really fast. Though that does mean they will not remain toxic to beneficial insects for a long time. Since bees and such scatter while I'm applying this, not many are likely to be accidentally affected. 

Definitely more tomatoes ripening. Should have a decent number by this weekend. 

Waiting until sunset to trim back the grape vine and pull a few weeds.

Rest of the week I have reviews scheduled. I'm doubting they'll take very long, so may have time to mess around the garden but have to wait and see. 

More squash bugs

The spray I made isn't working very well, it seems. Found about a dozen adult squash bugs this evening, nearly all on one vine. Killed all of them and sprayed more heavily. Now with tomato leaves and nicotine added. 

Several things about it. One is that these were adult squash bugs. Since I have been killing off all squash bugs I have seen plus all eggs for weeks, these had to have flown in from somewhere else. I caught them soon after their arrival because there was a limited number of new eggs. 

Second is that they could survive somewhere else in the garden because I am limiting spraying to just the pumpkin plants right now. Because of the nicotine. I do not want to kill off beneficial insects as collateral damage. 

So, my only real choice here is to keep using the spray and manually killing off any bugs I find. If I keep them under control that way now, I should still have a good crop. 

References say they lay their eggs in late fall in garden debris. Not much chance these survived in my own garden that way over winter. Between tilling, burning and acid treatments, that should have eradicated almost any eggs that may have existed. 

Hopefully I'll be in better financial shape by next year and have some portions of the solarium built. Or at least make netting covers for the vines. (Since pumpkin vines can stretch 30 ft, that's a lot of netting.) 

Cultivated the trenches in the south garden again today. May be the last time this season, since lots of vine plants are coming in and the risk of damage to them will increase later on. Have to work on keeping weeds on top of the mounds under control. Doing better on that this year than previous years. Still a lot of grass present but that's not doing great damage. May actually help retain moisture and moderate soil temp. I am pulling any bermuda grass I find and only leaving the short grass. 

Daughter and I had our first ripe grapes tonight. They're still small. Green grapes don't look like they'll come in at all. Going to do some studying on how to grow grapes, so maybe I can do it better. 

First ripe tomato 2013

Picked our first ripe tomato of the year today. Finally! Others look like they're starting to ripen, so should have a good cycle going soon. We had it for dinner and it was really good! I love indeterminate tomatoes! These are growing to a great size. 

 Finally have Zinnias growing for the first time. Been trying since I moved in here and they've never bloomed until now. Not a lot of blooms so far but better than none. Few more than pictured below.

Pulled down the transient green bean vines today. They were becoming a problem for other plants and providing cover for squash bugs in one case. Still have lots of bush green beans coming up and several pole vines climbing. 

Stopped by the growers market this morning. Things were looking rather sparse. That was solid confirmation that I'm not the only one suffering the late crop issue. The market rep present said it's a statewide problem. Some growers have it worse than myself, just now getting their first tomato flowers. I have lots of fruit, just not yet ripe. Should be picking our first pie pumpkins shortly. Green beans are picking up speed. Couple of watermelon forming. No cucumbers yet. Grr.

The spray had less effect because it actually rained on and off all night last night. Not complaining about the rain. However, I am adding tomato leaves and cigarette butts to the mixture. Letting it steep overnight and apply again tomorrow. The current mixture has been fairly effective, just not enough. Then again, the only good squash bug is a dead squash bug!

Otherwise, things are perking up! Lots of assorted crops gaining size and should be producing soon. 

Rain

Got a little bit of rain. Not nearly enough but any amount is welcome. Still hoping for it to continue all evening and night. 

Went ahead and applied soluble fertilizer and acid. The acid actually helps dissolve the fertilizer. The mixture was something I was seriously cautious about the first time I used it. 

The spray I made yesterday seems to have helped a bit against squash bugs. Only found one adult, 3-4 nymphs and a fraction of the eggs I've been finding. I'll try adding tomato leaves and continue spraying. Vines are looking healthy. Ones that seemed to be suffering a bit perked up more. Too late for at least one pumpkin, which I had hoped would be quite large. Oh, well. Still plenty of time before the holidays. 

Tomato plants I had transplanted last week had a bit of transplant shock. They're recovering and looking better. 

Break time

Taking a short break. Trimmed the back yard, which can be a chore in some spots. 

We have Zinnias!! I have been trying to grow them every year since moving in here. This is the first year they have actually grown! I'm guessing sodium has been an issue before now. Only a few so far but a good sign.

Hoping this is a good omen for strawberries next year.  

Weeds keep rotating. Get one kind under control and another takes hold. However, the good thing is that the secondary weeds are easier to control than the primary ones. The primary weeds largely assist in their own demise. They wind up first acting as mulch in irrigated areas. I pull them before they seed and either compost or till them straight in. That improves soil composition and increases acidity, which helps kill them off. Secondary weeds can follow the same pattern in some ways, especially where I want grass. Compost or till the weeds in, add grass seed. Weeds improve soil, helping grass to grow, crowding weeds out. Others just have to be pulled or cut often enough to wrestle them under control by brute force.

The heat for the last few weeks has bleached the plants a paler shade of green. Not good to apply fertilizer when it's that hot, so just have to deal with it. Temperatures are largely cooling down to 90's or even 80's. Low crops are suffering the most. Original plan was having tomatoes in place to help moderate soil temperature, alternating rows of high and low crops. That didn't happen as planned. Maybe next year. With the weather change, hoping to see the low crops improving. 

South garden looks rather bare with lettuce, spinach, carrots, onions and cilantro gone. Green beans, melons and pumpkins are coming in gradually. While they are mostly heat loving plants, there is a limit to that. 

Few tomato plants on that side are gaining size slowly. However, the ones in the north garden started slowly and then suddenly exploded out and up. That's what I'm hoping for in the south garden. If true to weather patterns, I have about 4 months left to the growing season, so plenty of chance for it. We were picking watermelons in Oct last year. 

Probably time to take down the short corn this weekend. Have to check it later. Giant blue corn is still only half height so far.

Survival garden

Been thinking of crops which I should include in a survival garden. Already including sorghum and corn. Medicinal herbs. Potatoes. Wide variety of other crops.

After some research, turns out that sugar cane would be much more productive as an energy source than sorghum. Both produce juice which is reduced by cooking into syrup. However, I don't see a lot of evidence of sorghum being reduced to sugar. Plus, sugar cane produces a lot more sugar than sorghum. So, evidently for volume cane is better. Sorghum is healthier and can be grown for flour, as well. Both have a place. 

I do think sugar cane would be valuable in a survival scenario. Planting it in the front yard desnely would provide reduced visibility, shade and even act as a physical deterrent against intrusion. 

In a survival situation, sugar would be an important commodity. It can be fermented and distilled for alcohol for many different purposes, from medicinal to fuel. The spent stalks would produce rich compost and lots of it. 

I know of a grocery store that sells raw sugar cane, at least at some times of year. Been reading up on hot to grow it, so buying the cane is the first step. May be good to buy a few, get them started and get a cycle going for increased production. If nothing else, I could end up producing my own sugar, which keeps increasing in price. That's only going to get worse, since cane is now being used as a fuel source. 

Thinning

Before this year, I have hated the idea of thinning anything from the garden. Mostly because it has been so hard getting things to grow in the first place. Then insect attacks and various things have been known to kill off large sections of crops. 

That sentiment has not included weeding.

This year I have had to give in and start thinning some things. That's a definite positive. Means the garden is finally in a condition where things grow well enough without dying off to make it required. 

I had to thin the Cosmos around the tomato plants more. A lot more. I mostly just trimmed them yesterday. Today, I relented and pulled up entire plants. There is no shortage of additional Cosmos growing. When I did that, I found another wild tomato plant which was well developed. Plus a marigold plant already blooming. Neither could be seen before thinning. I transplanted the tomato vine to a better location. Apparently, Cosmos is a good plant for the garden because it both attracts pollinators and repels bad insects. Still lots left next to tomatoes but had so many they obstructed view and access, hence the thinning. Have to save lots of seeds from them this year. 

Took down most of the cilantro to save seeds, which are in the thousands. Seeds are also known as coriander but I don't use that for cooking, so it's just seeds. Wait for them to dry as weather cools, then plant a second crop. They're also beneficial for many same reasons. Plus daughter loves it, it's high in various vitamins and low in calories. 

One pumpkin vine was looking distressed. I ran a dedicated irrigation line to it yesterday. It looked better today but still not quite right. Checked leaves for squash bugs. Nothing. No adults, no eggs. Got to the main trunk. There is was. A male squash bug feeding on the main trunk. Got him and didn't see any others. Check how the vine is doing tomorrow. 

Rest of the garden is picking up steam. Need to harvest onions tomorrow. Make way for bush green beans. I don't think they grew very large but can always use the small ones to make a garden spray, along with other ingredients. Just cutting the green onions and scattering them did wonders last year. 

Few green beans

Picked a few green beans today. Not even enough for a side dish for more than one person. However, had to pick them to keep the vines producing for now. Mostly waiting for more bush beans and the pole beans to mature enough to produce. Then I should have a rotation going. Currently on my last jar of green beans from last year, so they lasted really well. 

I also still have a couple of jars of tomato sauce left over from last year. Have not purchased any tomato sauce/paste or green beans from the store since early last summer. 

I still need to get a pressure canner to process some foods. Had hoped to have gotten one by now but with my employment situation, hasn't happened. 

Still waiting for tomatoes to start ripening this year. Taking some time because I planted almost all large variety tomatoes. However, from the looks of things, I should have some beginning to ripen soon. 

Whenever I actually build the solarium, I want to establish various environments within the solarium. Most will be warm but with cooler subsections, mostly closer to the house. That would allow for growing crops like potatoes, lettuce and spinach for extended periods, if not all year. 

Restless

Little restless tonight. Figured I'd write a little more.

Last year, sunflowers pretty much all came in at once. Not entirely sure why but they're coming in more gradually this year. No complaints. Some are dying off while others have yet to bloom. That means a more constant display. I can start cutting and harvesting some and still have hundreds left. In some cases, it's probably a good idea or they'll displace other things next year. 

I've planted lots of flower seed mixtures each year. Figure it's best because if one species doesn't grow, another one may. Hence I wound up with Cosmos. They have proven to be quite a showy display. Now, going to have to thin them out. They're growing thickly in one spot and shading tomato plants a lot. Up to now, I've kept them to attract pollinators with great success. I don't want to completely remove them but allow for more sunlight and space. They're growing quite thick in some places. Especially around tomatoes. Can't even access tomato plants in some spots because of them.

Cucumber vines are finally getting ready to climb. Happy about that! It was beginning to seem like they never would!

Okay, getting tired. Get some sleep.
 

Squash bugs

The battle of the squash bugs has begun for the year. Been battling them back. Found a lot of bugs and eggs this morning. I had killed off the few I found earlier in the week and had none for days. So these are coming in from somewhere else. Having a lot more success fighting them this year than previous years but better practiced at finding them. At least I'm finding them so far before they do any major damage, so every vine has recovered from any minor damage suffered. Also managing to destroy their eggs.

Really happy to say there are a number of pumpkins already forming. At least one is a giant variety, growing next to the compost pit, so I have high hopes for having at least true giant this year. The placement seems like karma because this vine grew up there wild, not planned. The down side to placement is lots of roly-polys in that area, which have destroyed several pumpkins in the past. So, have to protect any pumpkins on that vine from them. 

I need to thin out the flowers around the tomato plants. It appears as though there are more than a hundred tomatoes now forming. 

Found some wild tomato plants and transplanted them to rows with other tomatoes. At current count, looking like 32 vines or varying sizes. Most are beefsteak and quite a few tomatoes are getting to be a really good size. 

I need to start thinning flowers in some areas. They've gotten extremely dense in some places.

 

Sorghum take 2

Decided to give sorghum a second shot. Planted all the rest of the seeds I had. If it grows, I'll figure out some way to extract the syrup. This is sweet sorghum seed. Seems there are several different varieties of sorghum. Some is good for syrup, some is good for flour. Apparently no one variety is good for both. Darn.

Oh yeah. I forgot. At least one variety is also supposed to be good for popcorn! Supposed to be sweeter than regular popcorn, no hulls and allegedly healthier. Worth a try!

Some things I have heard of that I'd like to try with sorghum are making wine (may be questionable), liquor, ethanol (those will require distilling and may have to wait), molasses and sugar. I also saw a reference to sorghum butter. Might look into that. 

All in all, sorghum sounds like a really useful crop. If you can get it to grow.

The amazing thing is how much seed costs. For something that produces so many seeds, they are much more expensive than they should be. So, unless I can find a good price, looks like it will take one crop to expand my seed cache. 

It seems plausible that I could raise two crops of sorghum per year here. (Maybe three if I ever get the solarium built.) 

More vines

Hmm. I posted that last entry on the wrong blog. The other one is new, so it was an honest mistake. Oh, well.

I see more watermelon and cantaloupe vines finally coming up. (Some may have been there for a short while but couldn't see them for grass and weeds, since they were so small until now.) 

Looks like I'm going to have to trim back some of the flowers. They're getting a bit invasive. They've served the purpose of drawing more pollinators and there are lots of flowers coming up and blooming in other places.

I'm fairly successfuly winning the race against most of the weeds this year. The effort continues but it's so much better than the last two years. 

I do admit some sections of the garden are becoming impassible because I have things so densely planted. However, that is a benefit for younger plants that need more consistent moisture and shade until developed. The areas less densely planted are where seedlings are struggling. In the densely planted areas, I have deliberately planted tall, medium and low growing crops. Each helps the other along. Especially in the triple digit heat. 

By the time the weather starts cooling down, most of the taller crops and even some medium crops will be ready to harvest. Take those down, which will allow more sun for the lowest crops. Then plant more fast growing low crops in their place, which will help regulate soil temperature. 

I spoke with the rep from the grower's market and she says everyone is having the same problems. Set back by frost. Then cool crops remaining small and then bolting. Even heat loving crops maturing slowly because of temperature extremes. She said her tomato plants haven't even started producing yet. Mine are producing wildly but nothing ripe yet. Her carrots are all tiny, also. (Note to self- maintain more regulated soil temps for carrots.) 

I really need to get out and spread my mature compost plus more gypsum. Maybe this evening. Mixing them is not a bad option. 

Sadly, it's looking more and more like I pruned the green grape vine too much. Doesn't appear like it will have any grapes this year. No sign of any yet. Bummer. Those were the best grapes in the garden.   

I just read back over old blog entries. I have encountered many of the same problems year upon year, with the same progression. However, I can honestly say it has been with progress. Each year sees some improvement over the previous year. I love the fact that I have wild tomatoes, pumpkin and corn coming up in surprising places. It gives me a greater chance to assess companion planting of various crops. Besides, I think it makes the garden more interesting. If I start seeing damage because of a mixture, I can always transplant one of the wild bunch. So far, haven't seen any obvious damage. Even with the corn and tomatoes being so close together. The advice against that is apparently due to common invaders. However, the corn next to the tomatoes is a short crop, so I will be taking those down in a few weeks. For now, some of them make good trellises for the wild green beans, which will come out at the same time. 

I'm not all that trusting that all the bush bean seeds I got are bush beans. Many of them seem to be trying to climb. With nothing to climb nearby. They'll have to go with their first crop. Going to keep rotating bush beans, saving some for planting. Let them dry and put them back in the ground. 

Reviews begin

Finally got to the point where I can begin actually completing some reviews. Which means an income. Not really sure how much just yet. Depends on how many reviews I can complete in one week. Haven't been able to get anything scheduled for Friday yet, so I only have two reviews set for this week. Been playing phone tag too much. Even got through most of the list, then was informed that many had to be reset because Pres and Abq Health partners each have their reviews centralized. That will be beneficial in the long term but a setback at the outset. I may be able to complete 4-5 reviews per day in that situation, at about $63 per review. Not gonna get rich at that rate but better than I've been doing. 

Anyone expecting me to wear a jacket to those reviews is going to be disappointed. The forecast is predicting a temperature of up to 102 degrees tomorrow. The highest ever recorded in Abq was 107. Plus I will be riding the bike with a helmet on. Can't see myself wearing multiple layers of clothing. Maybe I'll pack it in the trunk and put it on just before walking in. 

Planted more pumpkin, green bean and watermelon seeds this evening.Planted on the east main garden yesterday, the west main garden today. Technically overplanted. 

None of the sorghum I planted ever grew. Still seems like a really useful crop, so I'll look into more seed from a different supplier.

Did some more weed control in the garden with the trimmer. Going to try and get some weeds under control by frequent trimming until they deplete their energy stores and die off. I finally have things to the point I can use acid for weed control. It's been working to a point on many weeds. Pulling and tilling are doing well for others. I need to transplant some marigolds which are growing in inconvenient places. 

Killed a couple more squash bugs this evening but they seemed to be new arrivals. There were only two of them and only one patch of eggs, all on one plant. Again, I smelled them before I saw them. 

Get to sleep soon. I actually have to wake up on a schedule tomorrow.

I hate weeds

I hate pulling weeds. Definitely a fact of life when you grow things without herbicides. Definitely a necessity if you want decent crops and flower beds. For one thing, it keeps damaging insects under more control. 

That said, I cultivated much of the areas now cleared with lettuce and carrots all harvested. Cultivating only takes care of the trenches. The mounds still have to be dealt with manually in some form. Carefully, since many of those mounds have bush beans, watermelon and pumpkin plants sprouting. Some mounds I used a hoe, others I still had to do by hand. 

Got much of that done this evening. Getting the garden in better shape by brute force this year. Working well so far, with everything looking better than previous years. Really hoping getting weeds under control this year will mean less of a problem in future years. 

More tomato plants are getting to a size where they should produce fruit soon. Some have started growing fruit at surprisingly small plant sizes. Then continue to grow larger. Considering my finances, I may wind up having to use old PVC for supports soon if the plants keep growing rapidly enough. Not going to complain. I'll just balance things out for esthetics by using all 1x2's in the north section and PVC on the south. 

Cucumbers and green beans have started climbing the trellises! I was surprised that the cucumbers are climbing (so far) without training. I've always read how they have to be trained. I've only had one cucumber vine grow by a trellis and I had to train that one. It still didn't do extremely well. Looking for better this time around. 

End of carrots

Today was the end of the first carrot crop this year. Daughter and I harvested all of them this evening. Many were rather small because of clay, dogs scattering the seeds and weeds. Still, this was the best carrot crop we've had yet. I already got seeds to plant a second carrot crop in late August. May still buy more seeds later, if I find inexpensive seeds.

Now that carrots and lettuce are gone, it clears the way to get weeds under much better control. Haven't been able to do so great at that this year before now but still better than last year. 

This evening, daughter learned we have not one but three toads living in the garden. She was thrilled! Considering we live in the desert, that's no small thing. To make it here, these toads had to make it across at least 1/4 acre of arid land, past many dogs, streets, cars, people, horses, donkeys and cats. I'm sure the cricket population is what drew them. The crickets have been drawn by the garden and are present in force. 

This really is turning slowly into an oasis totally separate from the surrounding desert.