Spray Crazy

Harvest Two...

This morning before I went out with my mom I went out to water, apply compost tea to the veggies/herbs/fruits that needed it, and harvest what needed harvesting. I applied compost tea to the spinach, basil, onions, strawberries, cucumbers and green beans. The onions needed 1 cup per square foot and the cucumbers needed 1 cup per plant. The rest didn't say what was needed so applied a watering; enough liquid to sufficiently water the plant for the day. Then I watered what needed watering and took a good look at the lettuce and radishes in Patch Market. The lettuce had boomed since my last harvest. It had grown in height by about 5 inches and had grown in width by 6 or 8 full sized leaves. I harvested 6 leaves from 1 head by pinching then off, being sure to leave an inch or so at the base, and 5 from the other. Both heads still looked extremely full afterwards. I put all the lettuce in my basket then moved on to the radishes. Three were ready for harvest the rest weren't because half haven't even 'bulbed' yet and the others had small bulbs about a 1/4 of an inch wide. I don't know if the ones that don't have any bulb will ever bulb but either way the ones harvested were beautiful. I harvested the lettuce and radishes to give to my mom. I knew I'd be heading over to pick her up for lunch a few minutes later so it was the perfect time to harvest them for her. I was about to go inside but decided that since the rain that was supposed to come, wasn't, I'd spray with my new organic Captain Jack's spray. I sprayed the remaining radishes, the strawberry containers, the lettuce, and the carrots. Then I went inside to get dressed for lunch. On my way out I grabbed the unwashed veggies still in the basket and took the whole thing with me.

When I got to my Mom's I gave her the harvest. She was excited to receive them, especially the lettuce, because she didn't have any lettuce or radishes for tonight's salad. She took them out of the basket and put the lettuce in a saved produce bag then put that in the fridge. The lettuce filled the entire bag. She cropped the greens off of the radishes and stuck them in the fridge on a shelf, no plate, nothing. Strange for her but it worked. She said she'd be making a salad with the veggies for dinner and she did. She texted me after dinner and said that she made a salad with the lettuce but didn't add the radishes. She just ate a radish plain; " it was good because it was sweet and crisp but not peppery." I don't know if that means it was better than the store ones or that it was worse because it didn't develop the peppery flavor. I 'll have to ask her if the other 2 had a peppery flavor once she eats them. She liked them, either way, and now I'll try them. What I don't like about radishes is the peppery flavor, these ones are really grown by me. 

       Before second harvest.

       Before.

    Harvested lettuce. 

     Harvested radishes. 

After Lunch...

After lunch my Mom and I came back here and I gave her a tour of Potagar Schoultz and Patch Market, she was thoroughly impressed. We didn't garden because she wasn't feeling well and it was the hottest part of the day; too hot to garden. I pulled off a lemon balm leaf, during our tour, for her to smell and she absolutely loved it. I'd never heard of it before my foray into gardening so I was sure she hadn't before either and I was right about her not knowing  of its mosquito repelling qualities, delicious fragrance, and its existence. On our way out I grabbed the 3 beautiful lemon balm seedlings I germinated in a paper cup and gave them to her for the kitchen. She'll replant them this weekend in a nice large pot, as I instructed her to do. I'm positive she'll use the herb as a natural repellent and fragrance in her kitchen once it's ready to harvest.

Back...

When I got back from dropping her off and running a few errands I changed into gardening clothes and went out to spray the weeds/grass in the far right beds in Potagar Schoultz. At first I didn't know how to attach the nozzle to the EcoSmart bottle but I figured it out and started spraying. I was shocked to smell the contents. The liquid was strong and suffocating. It said it was safe for children and pets so I wasn't worried about my health but my throat felt raw after spraying the first bed. I pushed through, anyway, sprayed the second bed and the weeds growing in the sidewalk cracks in Patch Market and in front of the sun room. I went spray crazy actually. I sprayed the sidewalks, all the dandelion, the grass growing up against all the Potagar beds and all the plants growing through the mulch on the ground in Patch. I only stopped because my throat was extremely raw and I couldn't stand the smell any longer. 

I went out to check a few hours later and so far nothing looks like its dying but it said it would take hours and I sprayed around 5:30 so its only been 3.5 hours. Tomorrow I'll mulch what needs mulching, spray what needs re-spraying and thin what needs thinning, if it doesn't thunder storm as predicted. UGH, the saying isn't MAY showers bring JUNE flowers. It's April showers bring May flowers and veggies?