Cucumber vines

Checked the cucumber vines I planted the other day (less than a week ago). They have all sprouted and growing fast! So fast that I will have to transplant them this weekend. Slow as they grew last year, I wasn't expecting them to take off like little rockets this year. 

However, they are currently in potting soil. So that is a big illustration of the difference in soil. Definitely a sodium problem in the native soil still. It improves year upon year but not quite fixed yet by any means. 

I'm going to go check a local compost company not far from my house this weekend. They probably sell compost by the bag because I know their products are or used to be carried in major chain stores. 

One of the good things for the garden plan this year is that it will leave more room to do intensive treatments with acid this year. From experience one the last couple of years, I'm not worried about burning crops because the acid is almost instantaneously neutralized in the soil. I can apply huge amounts of acid, enough to help control weeds and not fear doing damage to food crops or flowers only inches away. (Long as I don't over-spray.) 

Tomato plants I transplanted the other day are mostly doing well. I think only one failed. Have to transplant more soon.

 

More spring prep

More spring planning.

Have the sprinkler running during lunch right now to till the north garden this evening and to see if the tomatoes from last year come back. I can always hope!

Bought some peat pellets last night. First time using them but worth a shot for some items. Going to buy more trays tonight to start seeds.

Ordered new micro sprinkler inserts, which cost about 1/4 the whole sprinklers. Can replace the tops on these, which is nice. Especially since I keep tearing them up with the weed whacker. 

Also have more seeds on order for various things. 

I think the garden is going to look nice this year, with broader rows. Less cluttered and a lot less weeds. However, lots of flowers. Have lots of seeds saved from last year. 

Going to add Cosmos to the front yard this year, in addition to the sunflowers. 

Got another rose bush. Haven't decided on placement but it isn't waiting to be planted out. Still in the bag and has leaves forming!

Okay, back to work.

Lettuce

Right now it's looking like lettuce and spinach are a low chance this year. Temps are going directly from freezing to above 70. Seeds may not germinate unless I start them inside and transplant them out. Guess I'll give that a try and see how it goes. Once they're started, they'll keep going until temps go over 90. 

Definitely going to build a lot of raised beds this year. Mostly for strawberries but maybe a few more for other things. Then build some form of partial shade structure for them because raised beds heat up faster than surrounding soil.

Still considering buying some compost. Finances may allow it in a few weeks. Wait and see.

Seed starting 2014

So, growing season is fast approaching. Thanks to schedule and heath issues, got off to a later start than intended this year for a few things. Mostly tomato seeds. However, they are started and many are growing. So are various pepper seeds and strawberry plants. 

Of strawberries, I have 8 plants actively growing and planted 10 more this weekend. Going to keep planting more of them each week until I reach at least 50, maybe 100. This year, strawberries are remaining in containers. I think I still have too much salt in the soil for them and they're too sensitive to it. 

So far, I have started tomato, strawberry, jalapeno, cayenne, garlic, cucumber and mint. Ordered seeds for tobacco, purple carrots and scorpion peppers. (Scorpion peppers are to sell and for various things like insecticide, dog repellant and pepper spray. No urge to try and eat them. May give some to the ex's new husband, who likes really hot foods. He'd probably like them.)

Going to stick with a lot of container plants this year to try and beat the weeds back. With me being absent so much last year, they really gained control and I have to take steps this year to regain control. Lots of tilling and burning until at least early summer this year.

I'm also keeping a much wider spacing between rows and in between larger plants. More working space to pull and cultivate. 

I had planned on buying several tons of wood chips this year and mulching really deep. However, they doubled the price of delivery for the wood chips this year and I have other financial concerns more pressing. 

I have done several limited burns to the garden so far and have several more planned. Getting those done before actual growing season gets here. It has to be done in seriously limited sections because it is so dry and I have so much overgrowth left over that a fire spreads out of control in seconds. (Not kidding on that!) Nearly trapped myself once this week when a fire spread behind me too quickly. If I had not been paying enough attention, it would have been really ugly. Still, not convinced the burns went deep enough to do that much good. Other steps will definitely be required.

Good thing is that I am now working from home and my schedule will be changing, so I will have time to work on things and get it in shape. 

I also bought an invisible dog fence, which has so far proven quite effective to keep the dogs in the yard and out of the garden. So, when I start planting things out, they won't be dug up or scattered like last year. 

Most of the garden won't be planted out as early as previous years. Going to give it time to till and burn several times before planting out. Maybe by the time I do plant out, I can afford the wood chips as planned. I will plant a limited run of lettuce but very limited. I think it will get too hot for lettuce very early this year. Not even trying broccoli. May not be the best option for me with current health issues, any way. 

Over the fall and winter, I did get some portion of the solarium built up. If I can continue with that, it may wind up being cool enough for some cooler weather crops well into the summer. Dogs and wind have done some damage to what I have in place but it's more stable than ever before. Still a lot more to do with it. Even with the damage, this winter was fairly cold and the solarium did definitely help keep the place more comfortable than previous winters, especially combined with previous efforts of sealing off the crawl space vents and insulating part of the bathroom ceiling.

I believe this year I may finally be able to get some solar and wind elements built into the house. First elements in that vein will be solar heating, solar cooling and ceiling vents. Maybe install a skylight or two. I will also make a shot at a solar water pre-heating system. However, a bigger priority is insulating the ceiling of the main house. 

On consideration, I have decided to also add a smaller solarium structure to the front of the house at some point. That one will take a while and will have to be much more decorative than the one in back. It should help insulate the house in winter and, if designed properly, help cool it further in summer. However, want to complete the one in back first and take a few lessons from it. I do still consider this project an experiment in progress. So, it is a bit rough for now. No finishing touches until I find out how it performs in all seasons. Besides, I am still limited by finances. 
 

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!