Six Trellises

Dollar Tree...

This afternoon I maintained the garden mostly. Pulled a few weeds and watered. Nothing too crazy. Then around 5ish I went out to run some Potagar related errands. I stopped at the Dollar Tree up the street to get some cheap, large, plastic containers. I thought they sold assorted neon color 2 ft tall circular bins with rope handles. They didn't, I asked the clerk and he said that since I'd asked he'd order them but in the mean time I picked up three, 2ft wide and 1ft deep, containers. They weren't a dollar but they were much cheaper than the plastic planters they sell at Home Depot. After I went to The Dollar Tree I went to Home Depot for a few things and made a point of comparing prices. The same size containers at Home Depot were $13.95, more than double the price.

Home Depot...

At Home Depot I grabbed 6 wooden trellis all about 4ft high and 2ft wide. They look a lot better than the ones I made and are much sturdier. I'll use the bamboo to make container trellises. I got a bag of mulch and then went looking for preemptive weed killer made if corn gluten and organic weed & grass killer. The corn gluten doesn't allow seeds to germinate but doesn't kill existing weeds. The organic spray kills existing weeds but doesn't stop them from coming back. So I needed both. I looked all over the garden center and to be honest didn't see but 3 super toxic versions of weed killer. Finally, I asked an employee and they told me that they kept that stuff inside. Duh! He walked me in and I found the EcoSmart Weed and Grass killer. It wasn't the exact one I was looking for but it worked the same way. Then I looked for the Corn Gluten. They didn't have it. They were supposed to have it but they didn't. Online it said they carried it in stores. In the same aisle they stocked weed killers they stocked pesticides an I found a spray bottle of Captain Jack's organic pesticide. I was so psyched to see it. I like the dust but it washes off in a heavy rain and you cannot reapply for 2 whole weeks. I grabbed a bottle and headed to check out. 

Tomorrow ill work on setting up the trellises, poking drainage holes in the containers, planting the plants that don't have bed space assigned to them, spraying Captain Jack, and most of all doing it with La mama. She has the day off, so we'll lunch then work! I'm excited to work in the garden with anyone but especially her. Usually I garden alone. 

Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day...

I'm glad I wrote two entries yesterday because I didn't have the time to garden today. I spent the better part of my day with my mother. We spoke about the garden and why I hadn't brought her the radishes I'd harvested. She didn't realize that only 2 were ready to harvest and harvested. My older sister, Angela, apparently loves to snack on radishes so the Cortes family will definitely be getting the full harvest. I knew my mom liked them but I had no idea my sister did. Good to know because the two I harvested and put in the crisper here are still just sitting there along with the lettuce. I probably should have taken them over just so that they wouldn't go to waste. It may have been a tease, one radish each, but at least they would have been enjoyed. 

               My mom (L) and Tia (R).

Windy...

It was windy all day but around 6pm when I got home from celebrating with "la mama" the wind picked up even more. I was sitting in the basement reading when I heard a "thwack." For some reason, I immediately thought of my Topsy Turvy. I looked out the window in, which happens to look out onto Patch at ground level, and didn't see the TT bobbing in the wind. I looked down and saw it sitting on the sidewalk. I grabbed my coat and ran outside, it was a cold wind, to find the Topsy Turvy sitting on the sidewalk unharmed. The shephard hook had buckled but because of the weight it slowly lowered the TT. Thank GOD! It seems that all that rain had weighed even heavier on the TT and caused the earth to soften significantly, so the hook didn't hold in the wind. I took the Topsy off the hook and re-positioned it. Then I tried getting the Topsy back on the hook, no luck. I ran inside to grab pliers and another type of hook. No go. Finally, I asked Mike to come out and help me get it on. He was able to help me but the earth was too soft and the hook didn't hold. In the midst of trying to get it on the hook I broke a few stems, I'd feared that exact scenario. I had to resign to taking it off the hook and leaving it on a chair. I could have left it on the sidewalk but I figured I can avoid some pests if I leave it up a little higher. Oh, and when I went to look at the hook it was basically bent in half, I'd loosened the rusted adjuster with the pliers but I didn't think it'd done anything because I couldn't adjust, at all, it had weakened the hold though allowing it to bend. That hook is done for... I'm going to have to figure something else out for the Topsy before I break every stem on the darn thing and never get a berry. Topsy Turvy's should only be used if you have a solid place to hang it, in a sunny place, like a support beam.

Georgia's Don't Jet...

Sadly, when I was running back and forth, to Patch, dealing with the Topsy I noticed that the sweet potatoes haven't made any progress. They look just as limp and dead as they did when I planted them, maybe even more so. I planted them on a good day but at a bad point, weather-wise. I had no idea it was supposed to be so cold today. I mean, technically, it was 73 and sunny but the wind chill was serious. It didn't feel any warmer than 55 degrees and sweet potatoes like warm/hot days, leaning towards the HOT. We have a few extras and can buy some plants with "shoes" at Home Depot if we need to replace them. It won't be a waste either because Burpee will reimburse us if they all die. That's why I take the chance ordering from them.

                 Still not looking so hot. 

            

Madness Depot

Home Depot...

Today, I didn't do that much garden work period. The bulk of what I did was for Potagar Schoultz. I watered everything that needed watering in Patch Market. At around one this afternoon Mr. S. and I went to Home Depot to get the plants we needed for the garden. We got there and it was madness. There were tons of people buying up all the plants. Most of the vegetables were gone and it was hard to maneuver our way through the garden center. We ended up getting a lot of what we needed by luck. We found vegetables and fruits people and picked up and put back down in different places. Luckily, we were able to do self check-out because everything we were getting was small and had a bar code. Mr. S. pushed the cart ahead to self check out while I got 2 more bags of Perlite. I tried to catch up with him but this horrendous old lady thought I was trying to cut in front of her on the way to the line and kept blocking me off. Finally, I was able to step in front of her and she tried to smash into me on my way passed with her cart. Sunday is a horrible day to go to Home Depot but we got cantaloupe, lemon balm, summer squash, spinach, mesclun mix, zucchini, and a few others I can't remember. Mike's dad picked up some tomato cages because he couldn't find bamboo and of course the Perlite. 

Once we got home and unloaded I went to Ayers (the local hardware store) to pick up a few more plants. I got there and could immediately see that things were pretty sparse there too. Even though things were sparse I got a tomatoberry plant, patty pan squash, Chili peppers, and cucumbers in the plant section. I ended up grabbing a packet of bamboo for the trellis and a plant spray bottle. When I got home I unloaded and let Mr. S. know what I'd picked up. I told him that we should return all 6 of the cages he'd bought at Home Depot and use the bamboo. The bamboo was $4 a pack and each cage was $8.00. The savings is worth the return trip. 

Later...

I planted the remaining strawberry plants in another container and put them in Patch and built two tomato stakes out of bamboo and rubber bands. I entered the plants we'd gotten into Smart Gardener and made the actual final plan and noticed that the lemon balm seeds I'd planted had germinated. It took them eleven days. I guess I was able to get some seeds in and they germinated faster because they were soaked. Even though they were hard to handle and I wasn't completely sure I had gotten the seeds into the cups it was worth it. 

Tiny Lemon Balm seedling. (top right)

DIY bamboo stakes for the peas and tomatoes. 

Seascape strawberry container.

Sugar Baby!

Watermelon...

Today was not much of a gardening day for me. It rained this morning so the outdoor bed in Patch, the Topsy Turvy, the spinach and the 5G strawberries was watered sufficiently. By the time the rain had stopped the heat had broken. It did warm up quite a bit from last night's chill but it wasn't even close to the 90's. The cooler weather isn't meant to last which is okay with me because the watermelon seedlings like the heat. The rest of my plants can tolerate the kind of heat we're looking towards; high 70's and low 80's. As I was putting out the greenhouses and checking on things I noticed that there were 4 watermelon plants. Three in one neat row and 1 in another newspaper pot. It was interesting to me that they sprouted where they did. They sprouted in 1 row to the far left of the pot.I'd originally planted 4 seeds in each corner but my guess is that the first watering washed them around. I take care to water gently when planting and otherwise so that I don't over-water but it seems that didn't matter much in this case. Like I mentioned before, the watermelon seeds actually germinating were my "reach." I told my mom this and she said that, that was weird because "in Honduras people spit [the seeds] out all over the backjard and they grow, with a lot of melons." I replied saying that was probably due to the heat and of course her reply was "well I used to see them growing all over the mountains where it was cooler and they were so big the men had to carry them on the shoulder." I'm still excited though and feel like the seeds germinating proves my green thumb but disappointed about the fact that they've germinated lined up in one tight row because that means that I won't be able to separate them to give the extra's away. I'll have to transplant all 3 and thin the weakest. The 4th germinating seed, in a separate pot, unluckily isn't looking very strong, which makes sense, I planted four seeds in that pot and only one has shown its little face or large face, if you're thinking comparatively. I forgot to check if one pot was primed and the other wasn't if so I'll let you know the results in tomorrows blog. 

Topsy Turvy...
Everything else seems to be doing really great except for the Topsy Turvy. One plant died and the other I was able to revive but the ones that are in there and not dead aren't looking too good. I feel like all the roots were dragged down out of position when I added the layers of soil and watered. I am so happy that I got extra's. I knew that the strawberry was the one thing I wanted results from because they're my favorite fruit and because of last years death. So the extras were a must and I am so glad I did buy them. If the Topsy Turvy doesn't end up working out (predicting that will be the case) I'll get at least (hopefully) 5 pints from the 5G bucket and 2 from the other container I plan to fill with the remaining plants. That should be enough to satisfy me, this year anyway. 

Home Depot...

Hours after tending to my gardening at home I made a trip to Home Depot for Mike's dad. He wanted to get the other 4 raised beds that he needs for his garden, Potagar Schoultz. I offered to do it so I did. I went to Home Depot asked someone where they were and once directed headed out to the Garden Center to get them. I thought they would be much heavier so as I looked for the right size I was plotting how I would get them on my cart and into the car. They turned out to be extremely light. So light I was able to carry two at a time up the hilled driveway when I got home but we're not there yet. I found the right size in 2 places and picked the spot where they were on the ground to choose from. I picked one and noticed that the grooves weren't cut out all the way so I put that one back and carefully looked through each one, picking the 4 best I saw. Once I had them on my cart I went over to the vegetable plants just to have a look. It turns out that Home Depot has recently switched from cool weather to warm weather veggies. The last trip they didn't have squash, cucumbers, zucchini, or cantaloupe. This time they had all of that and a million tomato varieties. I wanted so badly to pick up a squash or zucchini plant and maybe even a melon plant but I resisted. I knew that I didn't have space in my garden and Mr. S didn't say I could pick up anything for there garden. After taking a look at everything and really just admiring the plants I headed inside to take a look at the seeds. I figured if I couldn't grow any of those seedlings because I don't have the space I could at least test growing them from seeds. I've had such a great time testing everything. So I picked up a packet of zucchini seeds and kept looking. I realized that zucchini needed 36" so I put them back and grabbed a packet of crookneck summer squash (only needs 18') I figured maybe I could find a space for one 18 inch plant if it did germinate. I just couldn't resist. So I grabbed the packet and forced myself to leave because if I'd stayed I would have ended up picking out 7 more seed packets to "test." 

I headed over to the indoor garden space at the front of the store where they keep the Perlite. I know, I know I said that if the Bulk-man said that Mr. S. didn't need to add Perlite then he shouldn't waste the money. The thing is I tested some of the compost and it didn't have a drainage problem, not at all, but I could see it happening. So if Perlite can only help and not hurt then I figured it was better to be safe and add/buy the Perlite. For all of that compost he would only need 5 bags at $4.00/bag. I think the $20 is well spent considering that the beds were like $300.00 and the compost was $118.00. Why potentially waste all that money plus all the money on the 72 individual plants needed to fill Potagar Schoultz when $20 on Perlite could eliminate any potential problem with drainage. Plus, I think the Perlite makes the compost look more aesthetically pleasing, again worth it for $20. You put all this work and money into making something produce well and look nice so why not? 

I paid loaded the car and got everything into the backyard, or like my mom would say the backjjjard, all on my own. I was happy to do it and happy to be given the task. I've been getting so used to having a lot to do outside that today would have been a little dull without it.  

Bush Sugar Baby, planted in 4 corners, germinated at 7 days in a row.

Single Bush Baby in 2nd pot.

Revived strawberry plant from near death in Topsy.

March 29 - April 10, 2013

Seascape, died in root dragging dry-out during Topsy transfer.

Greenes Fence cedar raised beds, 4ft. x 4ft. x 7in.

Alone on a Home De-top

First Trip...

On my first trip to Home Depot for supplies I went with a friend, Chris. He made it possible for me to get all the stuff I needed and then helped me shop for everything. It was amazing! I was so excited to be getting all of the supplies I needed (minus the plants, too early). Chris helped me load the cinder blocks and choose the best top soil and humus for the job. Once we'd purchased everything a kindly work helped us load the vehicle. He asked us questions like how far we were going and etc. I replied "Arlington" and that set him off on the fact that he had gone to the local high school in Arlington as well. So he chatted and complained and chatted some more. Finally, we were done, thanked him, and drove off.

Chris helped me load the wheelbarrow to drop the supplies in the garden. Our house is on a hill so that's kind of a big task. We had to push all of the supplies to Patch up the hill on one side of the house, across the back of the house and around to the other side where my garden resides twice. We cannot go the easy way because for 1) it's way to narrow and 2) stairs. Even with the both of us loading and unloading it was a bit trying but went quickly. I wanted to address this because I said I had done all the heavy lifting in my last blog. What I meant was that I had gotten the bricks, 1/2 the mulch, topsoil and 3 cinder blocks to the garden on my own and completed the building 100% on my own. Chris helped me get all the rest to the garden. So grateful to him because I made a second trip to Home Depot two days later...

Second Trip...

On my second trip to Home Depot I was alone. I went to the one by our house and spent an hour trying to find things that they just didn't carry. Things I had bought with Chris at the Home Depot a few miles further down the road. (I did get the type of seeds for carrots and spinach that grow well in my area but nothing more.) When I arrived at the 2nd location I parked in the first covered garage and was greeted by a familiar employee with a much weirder demeanor. When he recognized me from my first trip with Chris he began quoting Napoleon Dynamite and following me around the store quoting and asking if I'd need help loading. Finally, I'd gotten so scared and annoyed I asked a young guy to show me around to the things I needed. I picked up six more bags of top soil, 3 concrete blocks, and a Shepard or Forged hook to hang my strawberry topsy turvy. The young man helped me ring everything up and as we were finishing the weird-o guy approached the young man and myself and asked "you got this man? Or do you want me to load?" The other guy answered in an irritated manner "NO DUDE I GOT IT!" Then as the guy left said (to me) "that guy creeps out most of our female clients and does not get that not everyone wants help." He helped me load up my car and I left.

When I got home I grabbed the wheelbarrow and loaded 4 of six bags. It took me 3x as long and my shoulders began hurting half way up the hill. I got it all the way up and to the Gate unloaded and went back for the rest. At this point I'm sweating profusely and my muscles are strained. I loaded the 2nd bunch then tried pushing it up the driveway. I began rolling backwards because the weight superseded my own. I pushed through it and made it to the garden without too much damage but vowed to take someone with me the next time around.

I only need plants now but if I ever do need more I'm taking someone with me 1) because of creepy Napoleon and 2) because I lack the strength.

I'm still really excited and I get to start the container part (decorate area around the bed) tomorrow but at this point I have a much greater respect for farmers landscapers and major home gardeners. It's hard work especially alone on a hilltop.