Cats and Dogs!

I know this sounds extremely familiar and I am so hoping that this summer is not a repeat of last because it has rained, almost literally, cats and dogs. Pouring, nonstop, for 4 full days. Not one stream or beam of sunlight in just as many days. It's been unbelievably gloomy, dark, wet, and humid. Luckily, those days occurred in April and I am attributing them to April Showers. That's all it better be because last summer was rain, rain, and more rain. The most rain in the DMV area in 20 years or something along those lines. Quite possibly it was the most rain in the history of the DMV because they ran an article on it in the Washington Post, it may have been 20 days straight of rain (I don't I'll have to look into it.) 

Good news, the rain made everything flourish. I thought it would drown my tender seedlings but it didn't. There were 4 inch deep puddles surrounding every raised bed. It was unbelievable when I woke up this morning to sunlight and warmth. I ran outside breathed in the warm air and headed straight for my boxes. Everything looked amazing! There were even red berries on the strawberry plants I've yet to install in their permanent spots! 

The radishes grew in groups and the lettuce seeds have popped through. The romaine seedlings are a vibrant green and the strawberries that are planted look, just, OK but that's good enough for me! 

Radish seedlings (L). Grew in tight groups. I'll have to do a fair amount of thinning. Romaine lettuce green as ever (R)! Lemon Boy tomato plant (Bg). 

Lettuce seedlings (L) popping through. Sweet basil (R) greener then the day I bought it. 

Weak Spots

Fencing Weak Spots...

When I was out in the garden yesterday I shuffled through the raised bed with melons in it because I wanted to see if we had any signs of watermelon growth and we did. Sadly, they had been bitten into so I decided to find the weak spots in the fence allowing something small in to bite them. I think I found it. It was the start of the fence where I used a insertion poll rather than staples and the wooden polls Mr. S installed. That was the weak spot I found and seems like the only weak spot. When I came out today none of the tomatoes close to the ground had bites taken out of them nor did anything else. Either the animals weren't out last night, not likely because the items on the ground have had bites everyday since ripening started, or the weak spot I chose to reinforce was the "weak spot." I hope by picking the bad melons the plant will put energy into growing new ones and do it soon because watermelons need long hot days and we only have 6 weeks left of summer. 

Harvesting...

I harvested a couple of onions, yellow tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, tomato-berries, and a cantaloupe. The cantaloupe wasn't so much a harvest as a picked from the ground. The larger of the two container cantaloupes finally made its plunge to the ground. I haven't cut it open to see what it looks like yet but my guess is it fell because it was too big and/or as big as it was going to get. I transferred the container melon into the Patch raised bed. Transferred both trellises as well. I forgot to get a picture but ill get one after the rain. Things were wilting and since it was going to rain or was supposed to rain, and did, I didn't want to water or over water. So glad to get some rain, funny how things change. I'm hoping the extra space keeps e container loupe alive. It may not produce but it was so pretty and all of the sudden it wasn't. I'd like to keep it pretty at least for another 6 weeks. 

Today's harvest. B-E-A-utiful!

Salad Lunch

Tomato Salad Lunch...

This afternoon was overcast due to the expected rain but I went out to check on everything anyway. There was a cucumber that promised to be ready soon and I wanted to check on the ripening tomatoes. It seems like the only tomatoes that have shown any color, minus the ones in the container in Patch, are the ones touching the ground in some way and those have been getting ripped open, eaten in parts, or rotted from touching the ground. So I wanted to make sure I got any ripe ones out of there before that happened. It turns out I was too late for all except one. It was perfectly red and ripe with not a rip or bite to be seen. I grabbed it and two more that weren't ripe enough yet but would get torn to shreds if I didn't pick them and I grabbed to onions that were poking out of the ground. They were the perfect pearls. Then I went over to the cucumber container to find two beautiful cucumbers. One was still a little spiked so I left it to grow for another day or two. The other was the longest cucumber we've had yet and ready to eat. I took my soon to be salad inside and washed everything off. Then I grabbed a cutting board and started chopping. I took pictures along the way... When I was done with my salad I was so psyched. I had such a sense of accomplishment. With all the disappointment from the rainy summer I never thought I would get to make lunch from the veggies I'd worked so hard to grow and picked a few minutes before. The salad was amazing and even mo amazing was the way I felt about it. I really am proud of what I've done. I hope they'll be more salads in my future but if there aren't this ONE was worth it all. 

Veggies and fruits before there swift chopping. All the ingredients I used in the salad minus spices.

Cross section of the tomato and pearl onion. 

Ingredients chopped and ready to mix in a bowl with olive oil and red wine vinegar. 

After lunch...

I not back out and took a few pictures of the other goodies growing steadily...

First sizable watermelon in the container. It's almost doubled in size since I first noticed it a few days ago. 

Large ripe strawberry in the 8G container. I'll pick it tomorrow. 

Red super hot peppers starting to get bigger in container. Still light enough to grow straight up. No color on any yet. 

Thriving in Excess

Success in Excess... rain

Larger cantaloupe in the container. The skin of the cantaloupe is changing to resemble a full size melon. It has wrinkle and line in beige, all over.

Smaller container melon has started to change but its skin is changing in patches rather than producing lines all over. I don't know if the skin changing means they will stop growing. That may be the case. 

Cantaloupe plants in raised bed. Have climbed the 4 foot trellis to the top and spread out over 4 feet wide and 2 feet deep. Blossoms and small melons starting to grow. Planted weeks after the container. 

Pearl onion from PS and the biggest berry I've gotten overall and only berry I've gotten in over a week. Plucked from the 5G container. The Topsy turvy is basically dead. I wish I hadn't wasted so many plants on it.

I'll post a video update of everything thriving and not so thriving tomorrow. The excess rain has affected the garden, my hopes not so high anymore. 

Watermelon

Bush Sugar Babies...

The recycling bin watermelon container is overflowing with branches and leaves but it has only had very few fruits and the few fruits that have made it from flower to stage one fruiting all shriveled and died until now. We finally have a small plum sized watermelon that seems to be strong and continues to grow. It's very exciting to see the melons move forward in there containers. 

Cantaloupes...

The cantaloupes skin are starting to turn that beige color and have that rough texture. I'll post a picture tomorrow. I didn't have my phone with me as I gardened in Patch.

Hot Chili Peppers...

The pepper plant have tiny green chilies that are standing straight up. They are so cute. It's obvious that everything was dying for a few straight sunny days but sadly the rain is coming back. If we don't start to get sunny days more often and for stretches of time we'll loose the melons, peppers, and anything that required long hot days. I'm still hoping this summer will turn around.

Boyfriends Birthday

Twenty Six and Counting...

Today was Mike's twenty sixth birthday so we did what he wanted to do which did not include much gardening. He likes checking the garden out but doesn't like to work it which is fine with me because I love it so much it was also okay because it happened to be another rainy on and off again day. UGH! Apparently, this June was the rainiest June in DMV history. Unbelievable! The first year we plan a huge scale garden we get the rainiest summer in history. I say summer and not June because the rain has steadily continued into July. We've had at least 26 days of rain and we're still counting. Weird. 

While Mike slept in I did get out for a few minutes and picked a few more ripe cherry tomatoes. They were amazing! I cannot wait until we get a full serving, like with everything else. I don't know if we will because of all the rain but I'm hoping things will turn around. The berries are officially, hardly, producing. Its such a damn shame. I gave them so much love and attention. I really pampered them but it didn't and doesn't matter berries are much more sensitive than any other crop and they were bound to feel the rainy sting. 

ENORMOUS SIGH! I'll post a real update on things tomorrow if the rain doesn't get in the way again. 

Raincheck

Check it out...

I went outside to check on everything after the hail and major storm. It wasn't a total rain break but I did get a few minutes outside without water coming down on me. So I picked a few strawberries that I knew would mold and I checked on everything else. Nothing had been poorly affected by the first storm, the hardest. I was happy about that. Then I went over to check on my cantaloupe container again. Since I saw the baby watermelons I've been meaning to check for baby cantaloupes. I didn't check for them in the raised bed because they were planted a few weeks after the the container melons. So I started at the bottom and worked my way up. I didn't see anything at all but noticed that the plant had finally attached itself to the trellis properly using its vines. As I was searching to take a picture of the connection between trellis and plant I saw it hanging there, perfectly, a baby cantaloupe. Much bigger than the baby watermelons and hanging just like it was meant to from its connection. I really didn't think I'd get even a baby melon out of that container because it was so small. I'd planted it there because it was an extra and I knew it would be pretty just leaves and flowers. I was excited to see that my green thumb prevailed again I ran inside to tell Mikes dad and get my cellphone to snap a shot. He put his shoes on and came outside to see as I took the pictures. I immediately sent the picture to my mom and Mike. Mike was so psyched for me, we'd just spoken about my lack of confidence in fruiting the night before. I don't know how I missed it. Considering its size its been there at least a few days. Good raincheck, no, GREAT! 

Baby container cantaloupe hanging from its vine connected to the trellis. About 2 inches in length.

Strawberries I picked so they wouldn't mold. These are the biggest I've gotten in awhile. The rain has affected size, most have been the size of the smallest pictured, for the last week or so. 

FlashFlood Warning

NWS...

I got a weird banner notification on my phone. It wants from an application I'd downloaded or anything it was a National emergency warning. One that comes in on its own when something is serious enough. The warning was for flash floods in my area until 6pm. What ridiculous is that right before the rain went crazy I was getting dressed to go out in the garden ad it was SUNNY. I am truly the rainmaker. I'll post pictures of any damage to the garden. Hopefully there won't be any but I doubt that'll be the case co spidering the state of things. I may even bring the berry containers indoors. I don't know what to do yet... Help! 

Rainmaker

I woke up and the sky was as dark as the early evening sky so I didn't go out to garden. I waited then when it didn't rain after a few hours I went out and got ready to put the rest of the fencing up. I was out for about 3 minutes when I felt a drop of moisture. I thought I was imagining it because I've built up this "rainmaker" paranoia in my head. I found out it wasn't paranoia. It was raining well drizzling. It was crazy, is crazy. Every time I go out it starts to rain or gets dark and seems like rain so I go back in. I should charge states in drought for my rainmaker services because apparently all I have to do is step out for the clouds to form and the wter to fall. Ugh! I am so over this rainy weather. Lucky nothing has suffered tremendously because of it but I will tell you the strawberries started off one size (a much bigger size) and aren't getting past the size of a large pea, now, before they ripen. So things are being affected just not tremendously. Why did it have to be the berries. I've been taking extra good care of them. It sucks. Virgina gets these weird ultra rainy summers every few years but I wish it wasn't the year I decided to start a garden. I would have liked to see what the yields would have been with proper sun and watering. Double UGH! 

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. 

Eating Ripe

Strawberries...

I picked and ate my first ripe and tasty strawberry today. I got to check on everything before it started raining, again. It's unbelievable how much rain we're getting but you know all of that. Back to the berries... I check on the buckets and the Topsy Turvy. All the berries that were present yesterday were still accounted for today so my precautions work. The TT is covered in ripening strawberries but there aren't any ready to pick just yet. If we get a day of sun I'll probably be able to pick a full pint just from the Topsy in a couple of days. The 8G bucket sadly has strawberries growing but none big enough to ripen or pick. The 5G bucket had the one strawberry I picked and ate and has a few more that should be ready around the same time as the Turvy. There are also tons of blossoms turning into berries. It's going to be a strawberry summer if the sun can stay out for more than a few hours at a time. 

Everything else is doing okay for now but like I've said before and we'll say again if the rain continues there wellness will not be lasting very long. 

Picture Entry

Rain again...

I'm pretty sure most of our crops are going to get rained out but for right now they're doing okay. It keeps raining on and off in major downpours of water. As far as I know this is the way this summer is going to be on the East Coast. Baltimore has flooded streets. Virginia isn't flooding but I contribute that to good drainage not to the fact that we've gotten less rain. I'm considering pulling the containers inside the sunroom during storms from now on unless we suddenly start to drought. Ugh! Of course the first year we plant two gardens we get a wet as heck summer. Sucks! 

Yellow Crookneck squash

Biggest Tomatoes in the bunch, Lemon Boys.

Peanut plant flowered.

First trellises plant climbing the trellis, cantaloupe. 

Too Much Water?

Waterlogged... 

The tropical storm finally hit us. It's been raining cats and dogs since last night with brief pauses. I was able to go out an check on things but really nothing else. 

All I saw was droopy plants from eyes view to eyes view. It's horrible. I said something about it to Mr S but he thinks once the sun comes out that the plants will perk back up. I on the other hand am worried because of all of the years past crop reports. I remember one year, 2006 maybe, the strawberry crop was ruined due to excessive rain. I also remember one year when Wendy's, yes the fast food place, had signs on there drive-thru windows saying "we'll only add tomatoes if asked" another example of crop shortage due to rain, excessive amounts. I'm worried our gardens are going to be rained out. There was puddling next to the beds and like I said before each and every plant was on droop mode. We've had a lot of rain. That is evident from how many entries I've written in the last few months talking about how I couldn't garden due to the rain. 

Ugh! I hope we have a dry and sunny spell soon. Veggies and fruits rather be dry than over watered my strawberry plant from last year was proof of that. My Mom's Mother's Day hibiscus is more proof, she put it in a glass planter with no drainage holes (with the plastic bucket) and it was dying. Once we removed the glass container and let it get some sun and drain it grew leaves and the most beautiful enormous flowers. It grew then all summer and even a few this past winter, inside. Water equals good in proper doses but trust me your plants will come back from under water where they may not from a waterlogging.

Rain & Storms

It's been raining for the last two days that's why I haven't updated on the progress of the garden but tomorrow is supposed to be in the low-80's and sunny. I'll be doing quite a bit outside for the first part of the day and then going out tomorrow night to celebrate my 8 year anniversary with the love of my life. I'll make sure to take a video and really let you know how the past week of high heat and rain has affected the garden. So far well...

Ladies Present

Runners... 

There hasn't been much to do in the garden not even watering because we've been getting light rain and sun. The one thing I did do was pull off a few runners from the most beautiful strawberry plants ever. I pulled off about 6 runners. The rest of the plants didn't have any yet. I'm sure they will be growing some soon. A runner is a strawberry stem that grows horizontally to the soil and "runs" across. The part of the stem closest to the crown is usually reddish in color but does not have to be. 

Ladybugs...

I finally saw a few lace wings and ladybugs. The one ladybug I noticed first was happily ass deep in a tomato plant eating up all the aphids it could get. I am so glad that we finally have some ladybugs in the garden. The tomato plants were becoming aphid infested. The dark spots on the branches in the picture. Are clumps but the ladies and laces have been doing there job well because the whole plant used to be a dark spot. Yay!! We might need to buy some ladybugs but I'm not sure yet. The Predalure doesn't seem to have work as expected. We do have some lacewings and ladybugs but I don't know that there are more then usual. It actually seem Ike there may be less ladybugs. So a Predalure may be a waste of money, I'll keep you posted.

First tomato in Potagar. A mortgage lifter.

Patty-pan squash blossom, edible. 

Crookneck squash blossom, open then closed. Attached to a 2 inch squash. Ready to harvest at 6 inches.

Largest strawberry on Topsy Turvy.

Danver126, carrot greens, largest and tallest yet. 

Freezing Cold

So much for...

I don't know that I think global warming just makes the earth warmer I think it could just cause drastic changes but that's not really what this entry is about. It's about the fact that I woke up freezing my tush off, when I went to sleep burning it of because it was so warm. 

The weather has been absolutely nuts. It was freezing, rainy, and windy today. I did get one moment outside to check on things, make sure that the freeze wasn't killing everything but I didn't get to do anything else because the weather was not conducive to gardening. While I was out there I noticed that all of my plants must really love the heat because the last few days of boiling weather has caused almost everything to grow like crazy, almost overnight. One of the crooknecks ha an open bloom on it. It's absolutely beautiful. I'll post a pic tomorrow. The cantaloupe has started growing up the trellis which means in height it's grown at least 3 inches  and its grown a whole new stem and leaf set. Amazing. The carrots have gotten taller in the last 3 days then they have in the last 3 weeks and carrots are a "cool/warm" crop. It's amazing to see what soil temperature really does to plants. How much it causes them to grow when it warmer and stunts them when it's cooler. 

I'll most likely be able to get out and garden tomorrow so I'll take a video or a lot of pictures for a visual update. 

The flower that blossomed over the last 2 days. 

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. 

Wawa-melon: Second Shift

Shift Work...

Because I wrote my entry so early today it didn't include all of my gardening, so I decided to write a second entry. I haven't been able to do much work outside because of the crazy weather but I was able to sneak in some gardening in two shifts today. For the last few days the rain will pour down for 15 minutes then the sun will come out for an hour. I took advantage for the hours of sun we got before the 7pm downpour that's last until this point, 12am. I'll be picking up where I left off in my last entry.

Amending...

I amended the beds during the second break in the rain. I filled the wheelbarrow with compost and added perlite, just like before then created hills for the 7 square foot plots assigned to the sweet potatoes. I had to scoop the compost mix into the bed, rather than pouring, because it happened to be the one bed with completed fencing. It probably ended up helping me out because pouring would have been a mess and could have crushed the tomato-berry plant taking up the rest of the bed. It's interesting that the smallest fruit, tomatoes, take up the most space. The tomato-berry plant needs a 4x4 space compared to the 2x2 space the Parks Whopper and Atkinson needs. Once I completed the hills I grabbed the recycling bin and added the rest of the compost mix from the wheelbarrow into it. It really looked like I'd have enough to fill the bin but it didn't even fill a fourth of it. I went back for a second filling and Perlite addition. Instead of topping off the recycling bin I went straight to Patch because I didn't want to fill the barrow a third time to amend my plots. I had to scoop into the four plots allotted for sweet potatoes in my bed because it wouldn't have worked any other way. I added a scoop to each square foot then mixed it into the existing soil and scooped another 3-4 inches of compost mix on top. Smart Gardener recommended that I amend the top 8 inches of soil with compost so I mixed one large scoop at least four inches deep then added another 3-4 on top. I think this will give my sweet potatoes a great start. Once I'd added the extra few inches of compost to the plots the twine dividers were covered so I pulled them up and pushed the sticks holding them down just about an inch or two so that they would show but not look out of place compared to the other dividers. When that was done I smoothed everything out and cleaned up all the stray compost I'd spilled. I was careful not to make too much of a mess so clean-up was quick. Since I was already clean I decided to get rid of all the weeds I'd pulled and left collecting insects about a week ago. I wasn't able to get rid of them early because of the weather but I've wanted to so I gathered my pile and tossed it. When I cleared everything I noticed that the spot on the path that housed the weeds was covered in worms and potato bugs or rolly-pollies. The worms instantly started inching their way to the nearest soil and the "rollies" began to scurry. I quickly ran to grab anything to smash the RP's with, I found an old tree stake and started to smash away. I think I got most of them and it was kind of fun. I'm starting to think that RP's are much more dangerous and reproduction-happy than I originally thought. They are everywhere, everywhere. 

Georgia...

I finished smashing grabbed my wheelbarrow with some remaining compost and my shovel and headed back to the Georgia Jet bed. I wheeled the barrow past the gate into the drive way then went inside to grab my trowel, planting gloves, and the slips. I poured the excess water out of the Slip cup and headed back out to plant those babies. We ordered 12 plants but only had enough room for 7 in that bed, and I'm using my home grown slips in the 4 plots in Patch, so I rifled through the lot to find the best looking ones. I set them aside and started marking off 12 inches for each plot. Once I'd done that I planted them as high on the compost hill a I could and as centered as possible. I watered them very lightly because I knew the rain was coming and time was running out on my second shift. 

Seven Georgia Jet slips planted on hills. They look bad but the pamphlet said they would and that they'd survive & thrive.

Wawa-melons...

With the remaining compost mix I topped off the recycling bin and decided between peanut plants and watermelon plants. Since peanuts are a root legume I went with the watermelons. I used the 2 plants, planted from seeds on April 3, that were together in 1 newspaper pot because the recycling bin could only hold two, max. I noticed that a mushroom was growing in the pot. So I pulled it out, took the newspaper off (didn't have too), and planted them in the center. I can't wait for them to produce fruit. I love tiny things and seeing the first mini watermelons will be a thrill for me, haha. I finished planting and getting everything I needed inside right in time for the rain. 

Mushroom in my watermelon seedling pot. 

Two watermelon seedlings planted, May 11, 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.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Come again another day...

When I went outside to finish all of my renovations to Patch it was raining. It wasn't supposed to rain today. It was supposed to be cloudy and rain for the next 3 days. So naturally I was disgruntled and frustrated. I'd spent yesterday working outside and getting things settled or planning on it because I knew it was supposed to rain all week. When that went all wrong I swore that today I would get things into order and then my plants could absorb all the nice rain for the next 3 days and end in a climate revision. Usually the rain brings cold, breaks the heat, but around this time in NOVA it brings the heat. So I was hoping that would happen. I didn't even have to water today because of the rain. All I did was pout and take a look at the Topsy Turvy, raised beds in Patch and Potagar, and brought the greenhouse in out of the rain. Luckily, I headed up and out right when the rain started to hit so it wasn't soaked, water logged. 

Green but Slow...

I remember writing about my green but slow thumb and wondering what was causing the plants to slow grow, to the point that they were taking almost double the time. Well I figured it out. It was thinning they needed. They needed it badly. I finally sucked it up and thinned out the radishes (3" apart) and the spinach (down to 3) and the radishes, a much faster crop, has boomed. It looks like they grew an inch overnight. I even thinned the tiny carrot germs. and now they have REAL carrot leaves. Not just the seed leaves. I am so excited. I was being so careful with the thinning just in case plants died that I didn't realize I was stunting their growth. Now all I have to worry about is what I assume are carrot flies. When the carrots popped out so did the flies and thats why I assume thats what they are... I of course can't be sure because all of the pictures online are close-ups so that I can't compare but I think I'll need to invest in some row covers, otherwise, I'll be left with larvae filled carrots and completely disappointed. 

I only viewed these things very quickly so I didn't get to take the pictures I promised but I will go out and get them, rain or shine, tomorrow. If your growing carrots and the bed isn't higher than two feet get row covers because the carrot flies will appear, even if you've never seen them in the area in your life and you've lived there for 20+ years. Trust me they don't just bug the carrots. They are all over the place and to be honest I don't know that they haven't already killed most of them and that's why I only have a few of the real leaves in what 3 weeks. I may actually replant if I hit 1/3 of the way to my second rotation and not much has happened. The second carrot rotation should be around mid-June, so if nothing much happens to the carrot plants after I thin, more, and cover them. They are OUT and new ones are going in with immediate covers. 

I still need to steady my topsy but it seemed to be out and it was rainy and windy out so I guess I shouldn't have been so upset after all.