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. 

Strawberry Boom

Hanging the Topsy...

Today was another chilly and windy day. It was sunny, though I just wasn't up for much gardening, I didn't sleep well. What I did have to do was set up the Topsy Turvy on the shorter shepherd hook, again. So I took the large hook out went into Potagar grabbed the small hook and put the chimes and lure hanging on it on the ground and trucked back over to Patch. I dug the small hook into the ground, on a level spot, as deep as I possibly could then I grabbed the Topsy, off the chair, and hung it using the new hanging hook so that it was able to turn and put the painted rocks back on top. It's funny because this time even though the Topsy seems to weigh more the shepherd hook didn't lean forward as much. It seems like the issue was more the hanging hook than the S. hook. I rearranged the lantern so that it filled in the spot that used to be filled by the large hook and the Topsy Turvy. 

5 Gallon Boom...

When I was done I took a look into my 5G bucket and noticed that I had the most beautiful strawberry flower, yet. It even looked like a strawberry because it had that big green stem and leaf part that top strawberries from the store. After I saw that I noticed that the there were at least 15 other big buds that look exactly like the flower did when it started. It's amazing because the 5G bucket took, at least, 3 weeks longer to produce any buds than the Topsy and the 8G bucket so I thought it either wouldn't produce at all or that it was setting up a stronger base and would produce better. I sure it'll be my second thought, now. It's producing what I believe will be my first berries. The other two containers have produced several flowers and buds but none that look like the ones in the 5G bucket and none of which have that leaf and stem formed; largely or properly. The flowers that seemed like they'd turn into strawberries have shriveled and aren't growing. I'm hoping that the flowers that die now aren't going to continue to die as more are produced. I hope that they're setting up a stronger base and will start producing flowers that look more like the 5G bucket flowers. 

Tonight is supposed to get down into the high 30's. I thought about bringing the 5G and 8G bucket inside but seascapes can handle as low as 55 degree soil temperatures, with ease, and I don't think one cold night will bring the soil temp. down that far. If it does I hope they are resilient enough to take it and perk back up during the sunny 80+ degree weather we're going to get the rest of the week.

5G flower and buds. Notice the large green leaves behind it. Looks just like a store bought strawberry's top. 

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. 

            

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.

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. 

Caterpillars

I went out this morning to check on the garden and water things if the sun had dried everything out. It hadn't so I moved into Patch. I sat on the sidewalk and had a good look at my radishes and noticed that almost every single one except for the smallest had a visible red bulb coming up out of the soil. I then noticed that the biggest bulb belonged to one of the shortest plants. I don't think that their ready to harvest just yet but a few more days and I think we'll be having radishes at the Cortes house or they will, not me. I only planted them because I am a beginner and wanted something that was quick and easy to start with... I'll be giving this crop to my mom and the next rotation of radishes to AFAC. I figure that's a great way to do it since I promised them to my mom but also want to give to the hungry of Arlington. 

While I was looking at the radishes, admiring the bulbs, I noticed that there were tiny bright orange-red bugs all over the brick and all over the radish leaves. They look like a version of tic that sucks plant blood. I think these tiny insects are the cause of the enormous holes in the radish leaves. Luckily, they aren't affecting the root development and they are easily killed. When I saw them all over I went inside to make a spray bottle full of soap and baking soda to spray on the leaves. I sprayed on the radish leaf covered with red "tics" first and it killed them. The mix didn't just wash them off or cause them to scurry, it killed them. After seeing that the mix actually demolished them I sprayed the mixture all over the brick walls and strawberry buckets. To be honest I think the brick wall is what attracted them to my bed to begin with, I used to see them all over the brick ledge of my window as a child but never saw them otherwise. So maybe a brick bed isn't such a good idea. 

I've been googling all day and finally found them they are red spider mites and I did the exact right thing by spraying them with dish soap but unlike my initial thought it won't keep them away. The soap only kills this type of bug on contact. I'll put out some diatom-earth tomorrow, if I'm not too scared.

After spraying with the mixture I went inside to make a vinegar, soap, & water mixture for the weeds. I started spraying the weeds when I saw it... yes, the first caterpillar of the year. A gypsy moth larvae. Yuck! It's the insect/worm I fear the absolute most. I fear it so much I based my decision on wether or not to start a garden on the fact that I didn't see 1 caterpillar last spring. So, I figured they had kind of died out of this area. I hope I wasn't wrong in assuming that because if they start popping up all over I won't be gardening until they turn into moths. That's probably weeks. I didn't amend the beds or plant the sweet potatoes because every time I tried to go outside I felt a caterpillar crawling on me. Yeah, they drive me extremely crazy. I hate them. Here's hoping I won't see anymore. They did cut down the tree where they used to nest so hopefully that was a rare straggler. 

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.