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. 

Tactical mowing

A few weeks ago, my front yard looked almost abandoned to an extent. I had some bare patches here and there. The grass that was there I intentionally allowed to grow very high, until it went to seed. Only then did I mow the grass without the collector bag attached. 

This accomplished several things. It allowed the taller grass to grow deeper and stronger root systems. It also helped spread the seed to bare spots. That seed is already sprouting. (I had also pulled some of the seeds off and tossed them directly onto the bare spots.) This all helps make the grass more dense, crowding out weeds more effectively.

Note that I did pull individual weeds and spray large patches of weeds before they went to seed. 

Of course, I live in an area where I can do this. In many areas, neighborhood organizations would not allow you to let your grass grow that tall. 

It does strike me that neighborhood organizations are the best friends of the grass seed industry. When you continually keep your grass short, it doesn't seed itself. If it does not produce its own seed, you are forced to purchase seed for any bare spots to get a decent lawn. You're also more likely to develop bare spots if the existing grass only develops shallow root systems. Short grass has more shallow roots, making it more prone to heat stress in summer and freeze damage in winter. 

Short grass also requires more fertilizer. Shallow roots do not reach the nutrients held in deeper soil but competes for and depletes nutrients in shallow soil. If you apply too much fertilizer, you can burn the grass and wind up with browning of the grass. 

In places like I live, with heavy clay soil, deeper roots help break up the clay. Shallow roots allow the clay to be more easily compacted by any traffic. In places with more sandy soil, deeper roots help anchor the grass better. In that case, traffic or even winds can uproot grass with shallow roots. Back to the seed store!

All that said, I'm sure my neighbors hated me for a while. Plus I am still battling one small area with weeds so dense the grass is having problems taking root. However, I have the only actual lawn on the block. All the other houses have bare dirt, rocks, concrete or, in one case, an actual asphalt parking lot as a front yard. Not that they look bad but it really sucks when the wind picks up. My yard isn't fantastic but has grass, three rose bushes and hundreds of sunflowers. Kinda looks like what it is. Poor but cared for. 

Squash bug battle 2013

So, squash bug battle 2013 began today. I only have a few pumpkin plants so far, so it was easy to thoroughly look over each leaf, kill the adults and squash all the eggs I found. Not going to assume I found all of them. Last year I found squash bug eggs on corn plants. Off to a good start, though. I thought they were here somewhere the other day. I've found I can smell squash bugs before I see them. They have a sickening sweet odor. If you've ever squashed one, you know what I mean.

Already have about 5 pumpkins growing. Still hoping for at least one huge one this year.

The dozens of tomatoes look like they are turning into hundreds! Went out a little while ago to add more cross beams and did some more support tying. Really rapid growth happening now! I need more 1x2's.

By this weekend, lots more flowers should be in full bloom. Turning into the display I have worked toward for several years now! 

Pole beans along the trellis should be climbing by tomorrow morning. They finally developed beginning of tendrils. The wild pole beans have been climbing for a few weeks. No beans yet that I've seen. I'll let them grow some beans but not going to try and keep them picked so they keep producing. They're wrapping around anything and everything they can reach. 

Watermelon plants are finally coming up. If I recall, they came up about this late last year and I didn't see a melon until August. 

Not sure. I may have over pruned one of the grape vines. One source I encountered said grapes only grow from second year wood. However, I cut away all the second year wood. On the other hand, I cut away the second year wood from the other vine and it has lots of grapes growing. Maybe it depends on the type of grape. Have to wait and see. Again, the vine with no grapes yet produced later last year than the one which has grapes now. If that's the case, even better because it means a more extended grape crop! Going to get serious and try making some wine this year. 

Cooling down?

The current weather forecast says that we are done with triple digits! I'll believe it when the day temps drop into the 80's and stay there. For now, I'm happy!

Tomato plant count is now 34. Spotted another random plant in the flower bed. 

It has been so hot it has severely stressed the seedlings to the point they have just remained the same size. Few have died off. Even in shade, the potting soil dehydrates in the heat of the day. Think I'm going to have to extend the seed starting area and start tomato and pepper seedlings in waves starting about November.

Largest tomato plants are filling out and I have to keep tying more branches for support. Getting more flowers now. Tallest sunflower so far is over 9 ft tall. Here's a picture of daughter next to it. (She's not that heavy, something about the way she's standing plus horizontal stripes.)

The garden is a little wild but not as wild as it appears in this picture. I do need more trimmer line, though.

Can add another deterrent to bad bugs. We found a toad in the garden this weekend! Not a highly commonplace thing around here. Maybe closer to the river but we have only seen one wild toad even there in over 4 years. Since I spotted this toad last week in the front yard. the most amazing thing is that the toad made it past the dogs and the electric fence into the garden. 

Our resident hummingbird has taken a liking to me. I was spraying water one day and the hummingbird hovered, then flew right through the stream several times. A few days later, was puling weeds and it came within 2 ft of me, hovered in front of me for nearly a minute, then flew off. Hope to see more of them as the flowers open up. Daughter is really good at spotting them from a distance. 

Okay. Things to do.

Back up to 30

Planted out a few more tomato plants. Found one which I had thought killed off by frost and dogs has revived. Many of the plants only have about 1" above the soil but should develop strong root systems. 

That brings me back somewhere over 30 plants. Not really sure at the moment because I keep finding random plants here and there. Should actually be a little entertaining in a few weeks. Need to stake the random plants soon. 

Have a few random pole green beans coming up, also. Leftovers from last year. May wind up pulling some of those. However, managed to train one around a tomato support and another around a corn stalk. 

Lots of bush beans peeking through the soil now. Pole beans and cucumbers are getting ready to climb.

I can actually decrease watering in the main garden a bit. In spite of the heat, soil is getting a bit boggy. That's a good sign because it's no longer so much clay. I'll decrease gradually, to try and strike a balance.

Some of the tobacco is finally gaining some height, still slowly. Hope to be able to plant it out in a couple of weeks. 

Cilantro has gone to seed. Daughter loves it, so think I'll plant some inside or in a container in a cooler spot. Can plant more out in late summer, around August. 

Too hot

Not feeling like doing a whole lot this week. We're in the midst of a heat wave, triple digits. 

Not completely sure all the tomato seedlings are going to survive it. I have them outside and placed a translucent plastic shade over them but they're still suffering a bit. 

I will get outside later and get some things done, once the tree shade starts creeping over the garden. Right now, it's 97 degrees out. Humidity is higher than usual for this time of year. Right now, 11%. Probably higher for my property. 

Hoping that if the heat came in this early, it will fade early, as well. If it doesn't, July is going to be horrible. 

Flowers!

Flowers are getting ready to bloom! Not enough showing for decent photos yet but I see hundreds of buds ready to open. This is definitely going to be the best year for flowers we've had. Which means it's most likely there will be more flowers on this land than at any time in the history of the planet!

I'm hoping many of them bloom before this weekend, when daughter will be here. 

The sulfuric acid treatment cleared most of the clogged drip lines. I replaced one line, which was the old, drilled type. Once they clog, there's not much to do about it. 

Found another use for the sulfuric acid today. Descaling the swamp cooler! I poured acid in the reservoir, ran just the pump for about 30 minutes. Then flushed with the bleed-off wide open before turning on the blower. Worked rather well! Seems to be much cooler in here. I would not advise using sulfuric acid if you use aspen pads, only synthetic. 

Saw some big differences in a lot of plants today. Seem to have accelerated growth. This is after applying acid last night and compost yesterday afternoon. Not sure which helped most or if they had a cumulative effect. Doesn't matter too much, as both are necessary. 

Been rather sick all day today. Had really bad insomnia last night. Hopefully feel better tomorrow. 

Beneficial insects

Seeing an expanding variety and number of beneficial insects this year! Looks like they hung up a sign for each other, "Eat at Rusty's!"

Between daughter and I, we have seen ladybugs in increasing numbers. Happy to see them! Means we finally managed to establish a resident colony!

We have also spotted lacewings, bees, hornets, butterflies and predatory wasps. 

I have finally managed to establish that there are earthworms in every single irrigated area of the yard and garden. Which is a strong indication the sodium is getting under control at last. Before this, the soil was too dry, too hard and too sodic for them.

A moderate number of crickets is evident. In shady areas, they even sing in the daytime! I find them very relaxing to listen to. 

Green beetles haven't emerged yet but are an annual helper. Still hoping to see more mantids in the garden this year. 

We have a hummingbird which has apparently taken up residence in the corner of the shed. Rather hope that develops into a family of them!

The net effect of all of this is that the garden is growing quite well, with little evidence of insect damage so far. Even the ant population is down, indicating a lower aphid population for them to "farm". 

I have lots and lots of sunflowers planted, which attracts the aphids away from the rest of the garden. That, in turn, attracts more ladybugs and predators. 

Some Nasturtium have bloomed and more getting ready to flower. Couple of sunflowers ready to open up. Other flowers forming buds. Roses in the front. So, I expect to see quite a display within the next couple of weeks. With that, I should experience a beneficial insect invasion! Pollinators, Unite! lol!

The garden this year has also become quite a microcosm for beneficial insects. I have fairly consistent water sources, dry areas, somewhat damp areas, sunny areas, shady areas and a good size compost heap. 

My daughter has been quite a valuable resource for me. She's my little insect encyclopedia! Some insects I have questioned the value of and she has known about them and been very informative! Love that kid! 

Heat wave

Having a heat wave this week. Temps hitting 100 a month earlier than usual. That was expected with the warm winter and early spring conditions this year.

With the crops I have planted, they're not suffering so far. Long as I keep the irrigation regular. 

I have a few dozen tomato seedlings which I'll have to protect a bit. Some are ready to go in the ground this week. They'll fare better there than in their current containers, which heat up faster in the sun, down to root level. 

Seeing more tomatoes forming on the plants in the garden. Lots of foliage helps shade the soil and keep the roots healthy.

One pumpkin plant has gained a good size and has had lots of flowers. So far, all male. Should see some female flowers soon. 

A number of other pumpkin plants are coming up, along with watermelon and cantaloupe. Saw a couple of bush green beans forming. Pole beans are starting to climb. Cilantro is flowering. Now have a whole row of cucumber vines growing, still small and not climbing yet. At least one pepper plant has flowered, others gaining size. 

Spent the last portion of a gift card today for 1x2's for tomato supports. 

Still looking like it will be a good season.

Done weeding for now

I'm done weeding for a few days. Knees and hands won't take any more.

Spent all day yesterday tilling, cutting and pulling weeds. Most of the bindweed is now dealt with for the moment. I know I will still be dealing with it the rest of the summer but the primary growth is gone. 

There are some spots which have a concentration of bindweed in between carrots. I'll till that under when I harvest the carrots, which will be soon.

Still an ongoing battle with dandelion and goatheads but catching all of them before they seed, so far. 

I planted a total of six flower beds this year. Four are doing great. Lots of sprouts and stalks but few flowers yet. Two beds aren't doing much. They are the newest ones, though. Going to toss more compost out on top of those spots this afternoon, see if it helps. Even if it doesn't help now, it should help in the future. I suspect an extremely high sodium level in that soil which is taking time to dissipate and neutralize. 

Hot today and abnormally humid. Rain forecast for this afternoon. Hoping it does! I have no problem working in the garden in the rain!

End of lettuce season

Lettuce finally began bolting. Harvested all of it today. Most still edible. Saved one large grocery bag for myself. Gave five bags to a friend that has lots of rabbits plus wife and friends that would enjoy it. 

Carrots are gaining decent size. Can harvest most of them in a week or two. Picked one this weekend and it was good. 

Going to cultivate any areas without carrots tomorrow. The remaining small lettuce will be tilled under or composted. That will make it much easier to control weeds.

Pulled a lot of weeds today. Trimmed grass. Cut the front yard the other day after allowing grass to grow until it seeded. Ran the mulching mower without the bag, so the seed and mulch were spread. 

Getting some flowers now. The rose bush which was here when I moved in is producing more roses than it ever has since we moved in. Strange thing is that it used to produce small red roses but is now producing pink roses twice the size they were. Nasturtium is blooming little by little. Have lots of small white flowers here and there. Think most are Alyssum. 

Saw the first pumpkin flower this weekend. 

Lots of tomato flowers for last couple of weeks but just saw the first tomato yesterday. 

Had to tie tomato vines up for more support because they're gaining size quickly. One row is going to turn into a solid wall of tomatoes! 

Dogs are still a problem. I moved lots of tomato seedlings out to harden them off. The dogs managed to pull an entire rack down and chew the plants up, killing 15 plants. I previously had hoped for 200 tomato plants. Then dropped it to 100. Now it looks like I won't reach that, either. Current count is 18 in the garden and I'm guessing somewhere between 50 and 70 will be the max I achieve this year. Oh, well. Guess it still leaves me a goal for future years. 

Cilantro, dill, green beans, watermelon, pumpkin and cucumbers are all coming up nicely. Still not what I had hoped for but getting closer and closer.