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Garden Update
May. 19th, 2011 11:27 pmStuff is growing!
I put in a row of lavender in the front yard last weekend. I hope it liked the rain. I also put in purple sage, basil, and thyme in the veggie beds.
The veggies are looking vigorous for the most part. The tomatoes are 3' tall, the onions are looking happy, the cukes and zuke are doing their thing, the lettuce is quite perky. The first set of peas and beans are growing vigorously. The second set of beans is doing well, but the second set of peas has only sent up 2 sprouts. The corn has also sent up two sprouts. And, since two is the number of Nature having a laugh, I got two carrot seedlings from the first planting. The second planting looks like I have eleventy seedlings, so I'll be thinning them in a couple of weeks. The second planting of sunflowers is doing great, but I may need to replant a few, since I have some too close together and some big gaps.
The potato towers are exploding with growth. The blog I got the idea from was shy a few details, so I'm making some of this up. I'm using 4' wide bamboo window shades (on clearance at Lowe's!) as the body of the towers. I've found that the blog was right about needing more reinforcement. Instead of a tomato cage, I used more of the metal screen I put up for the peas and beans. Two are about 3' circumference, the other is about 4'. Another detail the blog doesn't mention is that the straw snags on the tower, so I have to shake them to to get the straw below the level of the top leaves. The blog also says that you should use three stakes to hold up the tower. This is true. Using two just makes it lean in the wind. It's a good thing I had extra bamboo poles.
The broccoli has a serious bug problem. I bought some ladybugs Saturday, but they've been slow in the cold and rain. If things don't look better after the weekend, I'm going chemical. Well, I'll use whatever "organic" spray I have in the garage.
The chard has had better days. For whatever reason, some of the plants have just failed. I'm hoping a few pull through.
Since it's rained, I need to spray the roses and nectarine with an antifungal again. Ideally, that would happen tonight. It won't.
I put in a row of lavender in the front yard last weekend. I hope it liked the rain. I also put in purple sage, basil, and thyme in the veggie beds.
The veggies are looking vigorous for the most part. The tomatoes are 3' tall, the onions are looking happy, the cukes and zuke are doing their thing, the lettuce is quite perky. The first set of peas and beans are growing vigorously. The second set of beans is doing well, but the second set of peas has only sent up 2 sprouts. The corn has also sent up two sprouts. And, since two is the number of Nature having a laugh, I got two carrot seedlings from the first planting. The second planting looks like I have eleventy seedlings, so I'll be thinning them in a couple of weeks. The second planting of sunflowers is doing great, but I may need to replant a few, since I have some too close together and some big gaps.
The potato towers are exploding with growth. The blog I got the idea from was shy a few details, so I'm making some of this up. I'm using 4' wide bamboo window shades (on clearance at Lowe's!) as the body of the towers. I've found that the blog was right about needing more reinforcement. Instead of a tomato cage, I used more of the metal screen I put up for the peas and beans. Two are about 3' circumference, the other is about 4'. Another detail the blog doesn't mention is that the straw snags on the tower, so I have to shake them to to get the straw below the level of the top leaves. The blog also says that you should use three stakes to hold up the tower. This is true. Using two just makes it lean in the wind. It's a good thing I had extra bamboo poles.
The broccoli has a serious bug problem. I bought some ladybugs Saturday, but they've been slow in the cold and rain. If things don't look better after the weekend, I'm going chemical. Well, I'll use whatever "organic" spray I have in the garage.
The chard has had better days. For whatever reason, some of the plants have just failed. I'm hoping a few pull through.
Since it's rained, I need to spray the roses and nectarine with an antifungal again. Ideally, that would happen tonight. It won't.