Yellow Cherry

Its been raining here so I haven't really been able to tend to the garden the way I've wanted to but I did get to spray everything with Sea Magic yesterday and do some thinning.  

Here is a quick overview of things by plant type;

Strawberry Plants-
1) I finished planting the strawberries in the recycled bed. I'd said earlier that I didn't know what to do because the berries that were present were touching the soil and would rot. That's why I held off on planting them all. Well I figured it out. I cut a black plastic trash bag, making it into a sheet, and laid it over the soil. It was difficult to cut the bag in the exact right spot for the strawberry plants that had already been planted but I figured it out. Then I cut X's, appropriately spaced into the black sheeting and planted the rest. It was actually very fortuitous that I'd chosen that bed for those plants because the bricks hold the sheeting in place, firmly. Very firmly! Rain is a bit of an issue but after it rains I just make sure to pinch at the sheeting so that the extra water slides into the holes watering the berries. The sheet warms the soil immensely and keeps the berries from touching it. The plants, except the one Loran (rest are Ozark), have shot up about an inch each, have grown flowers or started berrying out. All I need to do now is keep the birds away. They've already started pecking at the green berries.

2) The Loran strawberries I planted around the edge of a round container have not grown, almost, at all. Sadly, I don't think they're going to make it. When I say 'make it' I mean produce fruit. The plants may grow and be green but I don't know that they'll do what their supposed to.

3) The two Eversweets planted in the taller 4x4 bed haven't seemed to have grown at all. I don't know about those 2 varieties. The Lorans came in a six-pack for a pittance compared to each of the Ozarks and the Eversweet plants looked red funny when I picked them out but they advertised the easiest growth and sweetest fruit so I thought, why not?  I only grabbed 2. Anyway, let's hope we get something out of 1 of the 3 varieties, that don't go to the birds.

4) My darling survivor! The single strawberry plant, in the 5 gallon bucket, that made it over the winter has a gorgeous white flower on it. Its thriving. I will not be surprised, at all, to see a couple of berries from that little guy. It's amazing how both that plant and the lemon balm made it through the winter without any care, at all, and are doing better than some of the freshly bought/planted seedlings.

5) Finally, the extra. One of the Ozark Beauty containers had a little extra plant attached to it that I removed, on the day I purchased it, and replanted in a terracotta pot. It is thriving as well. It has 3 berries of varying sizes and has shot up a few inches, at least. I only put a few inches of soil in the pot because I'd planned on replanting it but now I'm worried that if I do move it again, Ill lose it. The amount of soil in the pot is double the Bonnie size and triple in width but I don't think it'll be enough. I wish I'd thought ahead and planted it as if that was going to be its perma-location when I did. It may have to do.

Lettuce-
1) The Romaine seedlings I bought from home depot are green, firm, and growing. They were wilted and looking like they were on their last legs for a few days there after I transferred them but the rain has done them well. I'm hoping I'll start to see some twisting and turning. That'll indicate that they are going to "head up."

2) The Romaine seeds I planted have poked their little heads out and then some but are grouped together so tightly its been hard to thin without pulling out too many. Lettuce seeds are so small it was hard to plant them without grouping them tightly, especially since I primed them in warm water prior to transplantation. Each seed had a single, fairly long, root when I finally put them in the soil. I don't know that we'll get even a single lettuce leaf from those because the roots aren't holding tight and they do not have the space they need if they go un-thinned.

3) Not lettuce but spinach is used as such so I'll add it in this category. It is ready for picking. Something has been nibbling on it and I've had to pull off and toss a few leaves but the plants look like they should; dark green and crinkly. Nothing like last years. Can't wait to give my Mom some.

Tomatoes-
1) The Yellow Cherry variety, planted next to 2 cucumbers, is doing the best. It has a few little yellow flowers and 2 tiny green rounds. I was so excited to see those today. I didn't know if we'd get anything from this years garden because of the late start and the depleted soil. Seeing those two tiny green rounds gave me an enormous amount of hope.

2) The other plants seem to have gotten their color back and have a flower or two but they haven't shot up in height like the ones last year did shortly after transplantation. I'm hoping its just a delay but if we only get Yellow Cherries that will be OK with me; as long as we get something.

Cucumbers-
1) I planted 2 cucumbers in the far left bed with the Yellow Cherry tomato plant and installed the trellises right away. Those two don't seem to have grown much but I'm not worried about it because at planting-time they were looking like they were an inch from death. Now, they look like lively, small, seedlings. They needed time to heal. I'm sure now that their color and strength is back they'll start to shoot up like weeds?

2) The round container cucumbers have shot up about an inch each. It was a single seedling pot with a double plant. They are doing just great! Its the same container that grew last years beauties so I'm not worried about them, at all! Well I'm not worried about their growth. I am worried about the container placement. I've seen some funny soil movement that I don't like. I think an animal has been digging into them. I may have to move them behind the fence, which would be fine because the backyard is so beautifully clean. I could use the patio for containers this year. Keep the animals at bay.

3) The recycling bin cucumber hasn't grown much but it was  in the same condition as cucumbers #1. Now the plant is green, straight, and firm. I may have to move it to the patio as well. Im just waiting for the mama bird and her chicks to get a little older and move on. I wouldn't doubt that she'd attack my plants if I put them on the patio right now. She goes nuts when we even get close because her nest is right there.

Herbs-
1) I planted the parsley and basil in the back far left bed with the spinach and lettuce seeds. The parsley hasn't grown much but it looks really nice, green, supple, and fresh. I'm sure it'll make its way up.

2) Last years Lemon Balm. My baby! It's enormous. It made it through the winter without any tending. I ripped off all the old brown leaves and twigs in March and it has blossomed. Its twice the size it was and has grown at least 4 inches taller. It is amazing!!!! I cannot get over how the plant that claimed it needed the warmest weather made it through the winter and is thriving more than any other! Its crazy. I love it!

3) The new lemon balm plan went in the bed with the Parsley. Its grown a bit, looks fresh. That's all there is to say about that.

4) The basil was yellow when I put it in. Now its green and has grown. We can start using it on pizza or whatever else we'd like. It smells amazing and looks wonderful. HUGE! Last years Basil didn't do too well. I think this years is doing better because I bought the larger size. It was more established to begin with.

Radishes-
1) The French radishes are thriving. It took them one day to sprout up out of the ground. It looks like every seed made it and they have already grown their second set. Ive been thinning like crazy because I primed them and wet seeds are hard to separate. So they grew in tight groups like the lettuce seeds. Luckily these have strong roots and are easier to thin, it takes time but it's worth it. We'll have the best French radishes this side of Wilson Blvd. Haha!

I forgot to bring my phone out with me so I don't have any updated pictures to include with this post but I'll add some when I take them first thing tomorrow.

Switched at Potagar

I spent the better part of yesterday afternoon tilling, filling, and planting. 

My boyfriends dad helped be wheel the wheelbarrow around the other side of the house so that we didn't have to carry each of the four bags of soil individually through the house. His idea and a good one. Really good one! 

Once the soil was placed I started tilling the soil with a shovel. It made me really tired and got me way to close to the bugs. So I went looking for a hoe. Found one! That made it do much easier and made it possible for me to till the soil much better. 

Once that was handled I started out with planting the tomatoes. I miscalculated what space I needed. Since the tomatoes were our best crop I made sure to get all of those in before anything else. 

Then I worked on the cucumbers and strawberries. I had planned on using the recycled bed for the strawberries and planted 4 Ozark Beauties before I realized that I would either need to cover the soil with landscaping cloth so that the berries don't touch the soil and rot when they come in or plant them somewhere else. I stopped my planting right there because I wanted to come up with a solid plan. 

(R) Sungold Cherry Tomato. (L) Burpless cucumber plants and trellises to grow up. 

(Front Row from L to R) Bradley Tomato, French Radishes, Romaine Lettuce. (Mid L) Eversweet Strawberries. (Mid R) Lemon Boy. (Back L) Beefstake Tomato. (Back R) Lemon Boy. 

Container cucumber of the Burpless variety with trellis. 

Ozark Beauties in side garden. See how all the starter berries are touching the soil? That will rot them, 100%. 

AHHHHHHH! More Rain

Tropical Storm expected...

So for the last two days its been dark cloudy sunny and raining. The weather changes every 15 minutes so getting out to check on the garden is a game of chance. I got out today for 5 minutes before the sky turned so dark it looked it it would fall but I did pull a handful of strawberries and check on everything. The radishes have repaired themselves. A few weeks ago I noticed that all the roots of the second round were twisted and exposed. I covered them with soil and waited to see what would happen. Well they've started to bulb. One has been eaten to almost nothing by a very well camouflaged worm. I almost touched it. Gross. But other than that they are doing well. 

Once I was done checking on everything I took my berries inside and rinsed them off except for the too that were completely molded by, what seems like, the rain. I cut them open to check if some insect was inside, I was praying there wasn't, and thank God there wasn't. So it must have been the excess moisture. Just like when you wash all the berries at once and put them back in the fridge, they mold twice as fast as if you wash what your going to eat only. Anyway, once rinsed and ready to try I did just that most were tender and juicy but only one was truly sweet and delicious. The smallest one. I guess I'm plucking them off too soon and I thought I might but I rather eat semi-tart berries than throw out moldy ones. 

What I plucked off the 3 separate containers. 

Inside of the berries mostly looked like this. 

One of the molded berries. 

Cucurbit Family

Patch Market...

I watered everything in PM when I first went out because the weather was hot, in the high 80's. I checked on the radishes and they are about 1/2 an inch tall and then moved into Potagar. 

Potagar Schoultz...

I watered everything with the new hose gun which I absolutely love and then I took the wheelbarrow to fill it up. When I looked inside it was filled with water and algae of some sort so I switched the gun to the power wash setting dump the wheel barrow over and started washing it out. The gun made quick work of it and then I wheeled over to the compost pile to fill. Filling was a lot harder than I thought because of the heat. I was sweating actually bullets that kept attempting to run into my eyes. I filled it about 1/3 of the way then added Perlite and wheel over to the front far right bed and dumped. When I'd finished I went inside to cool off. I was going to stay inside but I decided I wanted to plant the cucurbits; squashes. 

Cucurbit Family...

I went back out after cooling off for a few minutes and filling my Brita water bottle with ice and water. I grabbed the yard stick and 4 foot dowel. I measured out four equal plots of 4x4 square feet. I grabbed the the trellises, the crookneck squash, patty-pan squash, & shovel. I put a square trellis in the middle of the top and bottom two plots. I figured that each plant could climb one side of the trellis. I planted the patty-pan first in the front left plot and the 3 crooknecks around it. I was going to water with the hose gun but I wanted to give them a good start with some sea magic. So I went inside grabbed the concentrate and 1/2 measure cup. I poured in 1/4 a cup of sea magic and filled the watering can with 1 gallon of water. I watered with the sea magic close to the roots then watered the remaining dry compost surrounding the plants with just water. I had to fill the watering can again but it was worth it to keep water off the leaves; prevent burn. 

I was going to go inside and did but while I was in the sun room getting ready to head downstairs I saw the big containers I got from the Dollar Tree and decided to plant another cucurbit, the cucumbers, in the container. I carried the container to the compost pile filled it and added compost. I grabbed the shovel, cucumber in the small 4pk cell and the 2 cucumbers in the clay pot. I thought it would be easier to transfer the clay pot plants but there roots had really grown deep. I basically had to turn the entire pot over and re-plant it in the large plastic container. I then squeezed the small plant out and planted that. I watered with a gallon of sea magic water mix and moved it next to the watermelon recycling bin. It was too heavy to move anywhere else. Then, I finally went inside. I was hot sweaty and getting dehydrated. I needed to cool off but was glad to endure the heat to get all I got done, done.

3 cucumber plants. 

Patty-pan (long stem front) and crooknecks. 

Rain Infinity

Rain, Rain, Rain, Rain & More Rain...

Apparently, its going to rain for the next 5 days straight. If my garden doesn't die I'll be shocked. Today was one of the mild rain days predicted and it was dark and drizzling and humid and gross. Even though it was drizzling I went out to plant radish seeds. Sea Magic was scheduled to be applied today but with all the rain watering with it would have been extremely dumb and spray it on the plants foliage would have been as good as not doing it at all because the rain would have washed it all off. 

So I planted the left over seed tape an seeds right from the package. I ended up using the large plot that I was thinking of using for the other peanut plant, for radishes, because my Mom loved the first harvest so much. The small plots only grew 9 radishes between the 3 so I figured why not and if I thin them out early they should be done by mid-June and then I an use the bigger plot for something else or just plant more if we find a place for the second peanut plant. 

On another not I watched some videos of green beans on YouTube and it turns out the type we are growing don't need trellises. They aren't going to get that tall. So when I rain stops, if it ever does, I'll be moving the trellis out and sticking some kabob sticks in to tie the beans off a bit. That's all the green arrow variety really requires. It sucks because the teepee looks so nice but now I have the trellises to make a tepee I the squash or melon bed, instead of between them. I'll probably teepee the cantaloupes since they only need 1x1 sq foot of space if grown vertically. 

I probably won't be doing much gardening for the next few days and the rain will squelch any picture taking but I will try to run out and check on everything quickly to keep you updated on, hopefully, good or bad progress. 

First strawberry flowers I've seen that are placed on one stem divided into 2 shoots with a flower on each end. Just for your viewing pleasure, not relevant to today. 

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? 

First Harvest

Spinach Bolting...

I went out this morning to check on everything after the rain. I was scared to head out because of the caterpillars but I put my large rimmed straw hat on so that if anything did fall out of the trees it wasn't directly on me. That gave me the confidence to go out and even head under the tree to Parch but before I did that I checked on the spinach container. One of the plants bolted. What that means is that it, basically, didn't have enough space so it flowered to go to seed. I have two options now concerning that particular plant, 1) I thin it out so that I don't chance the other plants bolting or 2) I leave it let it flower and collect the seeds to plant another rotation. I'm leaning towards thinning because the other plants probably need the space. 

 Spinach plant bolted, flowering. 

Radishes & Lettuce...

I moved into Patch quickly to avoid spending too much time under any given tree. I checked on the radishes first and noticed that my biggest plant had about 2 cm of an inch wide bulb sticking out and so did one other, much shorter, plant. I took a look at the strawberries and then the lettuce and realized that on of the heads of lettuce was starting to curl; making a head. So that means that it needed to be harvested or the outer leaves did. I went inside to check the size of Cherry belle radishes on Smart Gardener and when I saw that the average size bulb was .5 inches I grabbed a basket and headed out with my pink gloves to harvest a couple radishes and lettuce leaves. I pulled the two radishes with the most bulb sticking out and pinch a few lettuce leaves off the exterior of the forming head. I left enough of the plant, about 2 inches, so that those leaves would grow back. 

I took my harvest inside, washed it up, and set it out to dry. We'll be making a salad tonight. I'm not going to give my mom or AFAC 2 radishes and six leaves of lettuce so Mr. S, he likes radishes, said he'd eat them. Leaf veggies should be harvested for same day use. 

Georgia Jet Wilt...

I will be planting the sweet potatoes around dusk if it isn't rainy and windy like it was last night because they are looking really sad. The leaves are drying up and the water doesn't seem to be holding them over. I'm just going to have to suck it up and plant them even if I ant see caterpillars coming my way at that time of day. 

Bulbs poking out after a few days. Took them 2 days to double or triple in size.

Lettuce starting to head. 

My first harvest May 11th, 2013. 

Monsoon Patch

Rain and Hail...

Today was a hell of a weather day. It was sunny and beautiful out all morning and early afternoon then all of a sudden around 3pm a monsoon hit us. We had rain pellets the size of dimes coming down along with hail the size of gum balls. It seemed like the rain was going to last forever... I stood at the sun room door watching and by the time I got downstairs I saw the sun shining like crazy but it was still raining. Fifteen minutes after that the rain had stopped. 

Sadly, I didn't get to enjoy the beautiful part of the day because I had a pounding headache. I've never had such a bad headache in my life, it truly felt as if my head was palpitating. Between the monsoon weather and the headache I got absolutely no gardening done because after the headache and rain had stopped and I headed out it started raining again. I was lucky to get the pictures I did. The rain has done the garden well. I think it's the type of rain we've gotten. It'll be sunny for hours then pour in the afternoon. Natures done all the work for me the last few days and well. Everything has really started to shoot up, especially the spinach. 

Burpee...

Finally the sweet potato slips were delivered. They never sent me an Email that they were coming, like with the strawberries, so I wasn't checking for deliveries. Mike came down with a package and said "hey you got something but its all soggy and wet." I knew instantly what it was and that it'd been sitting out in the rain for awhile. I opened the strange box that said "live plants" on the side and inside were roots wrapped in damp paper, I'm not sure if they came that way or if that was from the rain, and a rubber band. They look funny, it's hard to explain so I've included a picture below. All I can say is that they don't look anything like the slips I'm growing on my sweet potato in the glass. If I'd know those would work out so well I would never have ordered these. Not because they look bad or dead, they do look weird, but because I would have like to save the money and I'd rather use what I started from scratch. Since Potagar calls for 7 sweet plants we would have needed them anyway but I'll only be using the ones I've grown from a potato in Patch. If you can grow plants from a seed or scraps due so... You know they won't infect your garden. You know how they've been treated and you feel a much greater sense of accomplishment. I can't wait to pull the growing slips off the sweet potato, put them in water, and watch them grow roots. Once, that happens I'll be able to plant them. It'll be a little later than recommended but according to the upcoming weather reports the temperature is going to get down below freezing, at night, for a couple of nights. After that, we should be all warm weather sun and blue skies for awhile. That is the type of weather sweet potatoes need to grow big tubers. 

Planting Georgia Jets...

In the direction pamphlet that came with the Georgia Jet sweet potatoes it says to wait until the evening to plant the slips and that it shouldn't be windy or rainy. Since it is both of those things currently, I won't be planting tonight. In part, I can't plant tonight because I didn't know they were coming and I need to add compost and hill the plots that will hold the tubers. At the moment the plots meant for the GJ's is shallow and will not produce a good size potato. So tomorrow during the day I'll amend both the Potagar and Patch plots meant for sweet potatoes. I'll be amending Patch not because it is a shallow bed but because it was recommended on Smart Gardener. It said that I should amend the top 8 inches with compost. I also want to make the bed even deeper than it is so I give the tubers even more space to grow. Rather than completely mixing in a few scoops of compost I'll add 8 inches and then mix a bit so the plants are planted in hills. Since I can't plant them in Potagar until tomorrow night I've but them in a cup of water with the moss they came wrapped in... it said in the pamphlet that this would keep them for a few days.

Green beans that I've thinned and kept in a cup with water. They've actually grown.

Cucumber plants in a container. Planted on May 7, 2013.

My prized radishes. These are the tallest in Patch so far. You can see the fuller root at the soil line, that's the radish.

First real flower in the 5G bucket. Surprisingly it is on the "grindylow," the plant that isn't supposed to make it.

Georgia Jet's delivered like this. Looking pretty dead but it said that should be the case and they were still healthy.

Sweet potato roots covered in the moss they were shipped in... I'm fairly concerned that there aren't more roots.

Captain Jack's

DeadBug Garden Dust...

It was a really cloudy and dark day so for most of the morning I thought it was raining, I didn't think to actually check because I was being lazy but around 2pm I went out and it was dry but dark. I went out to check on everything and when I got to Patch I noticed that the radishes had more holes. A lot more. So I went inside to grab the powder, organic pesticide that Mr. S. had gotten along with the Diatom-Earth. It's called Captain Jack's. At first I thought you mixed the powder with water and sprayed it on because the label had liquid conversions on it. For what reason I still don't know, but you don't mix it with water you just dust the plants with it. Makes sense, considering its called Garden Dust. Once I figured that out I went back outside with the dust and started applying it to the radishes. It was difficult because a bunch was pouring out of the salt shaker-like holes and all I needed to do was dust the foliage, bottom and top, but I was dusting the leaves and the soil and myself. So I closed the shaker top and started squeezing. That worked really well. The powder still came out in thin burst with the cap completely closed. I used my fingers to get all the extra powder all over the radish leaves then used the squeeze method to lightly dust the lettuce and the strawberry leaves. It stated very specifically that it was safe for berries and since the bugs eating the radish leaves wouldn't be able to anymore I figured they'd try moving over to my prized berries. While I was dusting the berry leaves I noticed that the 5G bucket plants had shot up about 4 inches but they still don't have any berries growing. They are by far the largest and greenest of the plants but no berries. It's really weird. They don't have any runners yet so that shouldn't be the issue but they just aren't producing berries. I think I may have over planted the container. Online it said that you could fill the bucket and at Home Depot they have tiny containers with 4-5 plants that have berries but I don't know that's the only reason I can think of to explain the lack of berries. Anyway, I'll try some fertilizer (more) and see what happens. Otherwise I might just let the bucket produce runners and new plants for next year. After dusting Patch I dusted the lettuce in Potagar and the green beans. I saw some large pests today, for the first time. I very large bunny and I realized that they always bolt up the hill so I deduced that there must be a hole in the fence by the neighbors house. They aren't getting in through any other fence because we've kept them closed and check everywhere but back there. It's a little creepy dark and overgrown back there. I'll have to check tomorrow. 

After I dusted the green beans I decided to thin them out a little more. I don't want everything to be slow so I am really trying to thin everything down. Now there is about 11 plants in each plot, 2 more and we'll be good. I've been putting all the bean plants I thin in a plastic cup with a little water and the ones i thinned days ago are still green and strong. I might try planting them in a container. I also thinned the spinach. After that I filled a container with plans to plant the thinned beans but I decided to plant a cucumber plant instead. The cucumbers are the only plant that we didn't have an assigned plot for so I figured even if they don't grown fruit it'll be a nice experiment and the foliage will look great. 

Finally, I brought the greenhouse inside and watered the plants in there and the lemon balm. The rain was sure to come and it did just a few minutes after bringing the house in...

Dusted lettuce. It's finally gaining some height and is almost ready to harvest the first leaves. I'm going to go with the continuous harvest method for these and the spinach. Beautiful, I love that green color!

5G strawberry bucket. They've grown about 4 inches taller, but no berries. Dusted.

Dusted 5G bucket from the top.

Lemon Balm seeds on a paper towel. I hadn't looked at this test in awhile and did today and noticed that the lemon balm seeds germinated extremely well on the paper towel. It took them about 3 weeks to get to this stage with "grown up" leaves. 

Dusted radishes. You can see that I didn't know what I was doing here compared to the berries and lettuce. The bugs immediately moved so it works and its organic. The rain doesn't wash it right off but do use the squeeze method. It lightly dusts the entire plant, top and bottom, and looks much nicer. Saves too.

My Mistake- Picture Insert

Something a little different...

I wanted to do something a little different. So instead of adding these images to today's entry I am giving you a picture insert entry. A bonus, if you may... Below are a few pictures I snapped and zoomed in on to show you a close up of things I've been talking about lately and I'll be adding some tips on how not to do what I've done.

Real "grown up" carrots leaves. The straight leaves are the originals from the seed. Once you've hit the second step of germinating a seed you'll see "true leaves" that means you can start thinning out some of the extra's that haven't made it to that point. Don't wait too long or your plants won't grow at the proper rate. Remember my "slow thumb".

What happens when the newspaper moves? When setting up raised beds on a grassy or organic piece of land you should put down newspaper or cardboard to stifle what will be considered weeds. Be careful not to move that paper when filling you beds or you'll get this... grass growing up through 6 inches of compost to invade your bed. It's impossible to get rid of and a hell of a task to redo the whole thing. Oh and we have a major infestation of earwig babies in there. I guess since it was left untouched the mommies found it to be a perfect place to lay. If you fill your boxes early make sure to cover them with tarp so as to deter pests from making homes and nests. 

Patch Market- as you can see the topsy turvy is on a 7 foot hook. It was impossible to get it there because of the weight. Make sure you have a fresh adjustable hook when hanging containers but if you are hanging strawberries (even in a smaller basket) do hang them high. Mine started to flourish once the sun was hitting them at a higher level.

Holes in the Cherry Belle radish leaves. Some type of insect was eating the leaves. I sprayed with detergent and baking soda and haven't seen any new holes so hopefully these plants will make it through the small chomping.

The small white square on the lantern is the Predalure. It smells like mint and blends right in. I haven't and didn't see any ladybugs today but I'm hoping that by tomorrow it'll have attracted some pest eaters. Great deal, two for $7.

One a Penny

Baking soda...

I went out today and made sure that everything was still moist and didn't water. I've been trying to control myself when it comes to watering. Part of the reason my strawberry plant died last year was that I over watered it, burned it with garlic water "insecticide", and lacked drainage. So I am trying to control my impulse to water more and more. 

I went into Patch after checking on everything in Potagar and noticing that a bundle of weeds have grown in the empty bed. I checked on everything in Patch and then noticed that there were little holes in the radish leaves. Not all of them but some of them. Something tiny, like an insect, is eating my radish leaves. I don't know that, that means that my radishes are unhealthy but that will definitely make them unhealthy if they aren't already. All of the references have said that healthy plants mean less bugs but I don't see any unhealthy signs except for the holes caused by the bugs. So I went inside and made one of the sprays I read about. I mixed half a tsp of detergent and 3/4 a tablespoon of baking soda with a gallon of water. I mixed it up and then put it into a spray bottle. Since the radishes were getting eaten before I could test I diluted the spray with a little extra water and sprayed all over the radishes. I'm hoping that a diluted version will rid the radishes of the few bugs there are now and won't burn my plants. 

Pennies and Vinegar...

After I finished doing that I went inside and mixed up a batch of 1 tablespoon of vinegar and 1 tablespoon of detergent with a gallon of water. I grabbed the bag of pennies and mosaic glue. I put the mixture into another spray bottle and took all of the things I'd grabbed outside. I sprayed the weeds in the empty bed with the vinegar spray. I spray them liberally, hoping, that would take care of them for awhile. Then I went into Patch sat down opened the bag of pennies and glue and started gluing pennies to the side of the 8G container. I was putting glue on the back of each penny, at first, but that was taking too long so I spread the glue out in a straight line around the entire bucket and started sticking the pennies on. Before I did any of that I sanded the bucket a bit so they would stick on better. When I was done it looked festive and it'll keep the slugs/snails off my strawberries. I've read, in several places, that copper and snail/slug slime cause an electric shock for the bug, so they avoid it. I initially looked for copper tape but the hardware store and Home Depot didn't carry it, in stores or online. I looked online to buy some but I couldn't find it. I'll have to look again and more thoroughly for the Potagar beds but for my buckets pennies were just fine, better than fine, they go with my low cost theme. I moved on and completed the 5G bucket. I was going to glue a couple around the base of the Shephard hook holding the Topsy but I thought again. I'm going to wait until I find the tap for that. I don't want to add even a gram of weight to that thing. 

I gathered everything up and went inside. 

Gluing pennies on to the 8G bucket. 

Completed 8G bucket. The glue will dry clear.

Both buckets finished. I think they look decorative.

Beanstalk of an Update

Rain, rain, and more rain...

It has been raining all day. It's just totally soggy outside but I did promise a picture update of everything. I am so happy that today is the today I chose and promised to post because the beans have gone crazy, FINALLY!

Green Arrow beans planted April 6th are now about 3 inches tall. The rain has been really good for everything and especially the beans which have boomed.

Bloomsdale, thinned down to three. Growing 4th set of leaves.

Texas Sweet Onions, planted April 18th, have grown about 6".

Iceberg type lettuce planted April 12ish. Hasn't grown taller but is double the size in bushiness.

Cherry Belle radishes thinned to 3" apart and have grown about an inch since.

Topsy strawberries have gotten bushier and have about 4 flowers so far.

Sweet potatoes, grown about 6 slips in 8 weeks.

First strawberry started, April 28, in the 8G bucket. 

Video Patch

Video Update 3...

I promised you guys a video update of everything so here it is. How everything from the spinach container, to the radishes, to the melons in the greenhouse are doing! And how long they've been doing it! 

Slow Thumb

Today was a boring gardening day... I basically just watered and checked on everything. I hate this whole waiting to do stuff part. In a few weeks I know I'll have weeding, fertilizing, and side dressing to do but at the moment all I have to do is water and sometimes the rain takes care of that for me. To be honest, although all of my tests and seedlings have worked out, it seems like I have a slow growing garden.

My radishes are definitely not going to be ready to harvest in "22 days." My spinach is not going to be ready "30 days" after planting for baby spinach. I may have a green thumb but its also the anti growth hormone green thumb. I don't know if that makes sense but when I post my video update with the current length of time everything has been growing you'll see that things are about 2 weeks behind. Not the warm/hot stuff either. That would make sense because it hasn't been very warm, it's been cool, but things like the spinach that are COOL even cold crops are taking forever too.

Didn't do much more than that today. If anyone knows why veggies would take longer to grow than they are supposed to please let me know. An I missing something? Nutrient? Mineral? Water? Too much water? Anything I might have missed in my reading? And in turn ill of course let you all know if I find something.

Seedling and Test Updates

Update...

Sorry, I've been sick since my birthday so I haven't been able to catch you guys up on the goings on of Patch or Potagar Schoultz. So I decided to do a real test update as my first entry back. The last time I wrote I talked about the weird occurrence in the green bean and spinach patches. Nothing has happened like that since. I have since planted the tomatoes, basil, and lemon balm. A few of my tests and crops have come to life too.

Mesclun Mix: Planted on April 16 and germinated April 17. Half of the seeds were soaked and half came straight from the packet. The primed half germinated after 15 hours and the control group after about 36 hours. They'll need a lot of thinning but have been growing healthfully since planting. The roots appeared mid-prime. I planted the primed seeds just by making sure the roots were finally covered with compost.

Planted April 9 and now about 4 inches tall and ready to transplant when the weather cooperates. This pot had 4 primed seeds only one germinated but it is the tallest and best looking so far.

Primed lemon balm seeds planted on April 9 and germinated about 6 days later. Now we know they made it into the cup. 

Planted, uprooted, and replanted from April 16-17. The uprooting has not slowed there germination and priming the seeds has sped it by a few days since they have started to sprout as of today April 21.

Control and scarified watermelon seeds planted on April 9 have started to germinate 12 days later. Scarifying the seed seems to have made no difference in time and they took longer than the primed seeds to sprout. Although they did not move out of place like the first bunch. Priming may make seeds a bit lighter.

Seascapes have doubled in size in the last 10 days and are starting to show signs of blossoms.