March 18, 1998
We have had 6 1/4 inches of rain in the past 3 days. I put edging around the rows to keep from losing any dirt in the heavy rains. The plants have survived last week's freeze and this weeks rains - so far.
The garden is doing great! The corn is just poking through the ground, now. I finally talked myself into getting a ComposTumbler. Am hoping it will be at my door soon.
April 7, 1998
It stormed last night. We got an inch of rain by midnight. All plants looking good. I planted some tomato seeds yesterday. And some butterbean seeds. The green beans are coming up.
April 8, 1998
We got another 3/8 inches of rain last night. This is great on the water bill when it comes to watering the garden. I have a tomato plant started already. The temperature last night was 48 degrees F. I picked and replanted a few lettuce plants last night, as they were super crowded. We have seen a few lady bugs so far this year.
April 11, 1998
High temperature today was 77 degrees F. Gene and I put up fences for the green peas to climb, and I put a fence down the middle of the tomato row to make putting up cages easier later on. One row of corn is coming up nicely, but the other row only has one plant growing so far.
April 12, 1998
Low temp this morning was 55. Hi today was 75. Winds were strong, with gusts up to 50 or 70 mph. The garden dried up rapidly, so I had to turn on the soaker hoses. More of my green beans are poking through the ground today.
April 13, 1998
High temp today was in the 80's and winds were much calmer. No precipitation again. I planted some white geraniums in the cucumber/radish/carrot bed, and in one of the corn rows. Gene planted a few petunias, rose moss, and other stuff in his flower bed today. I planted some of the pansies in one of my flower beds. See how Gene's toads are doing on this page.
April 15, 1998
What a great day!!! The ComposTumbler arrived and we put it right to work. We found some very health potato plants growing in the compost pile and transplanted them into the garden.
The green peas are blooming. The butterbeans and green beans are popping up everywhere! In the flower beds, the flowers are magnificent and thick.
It hasn't rained for the past few days, so we've been watering regularly. Last night's low was 68 degrees, and today it got back up over 80 again. The ground temp is 62 degrees, F.
April 19, 1998
The temperature got up to about 70 degrees, fahrenheit today, and the ComposTumbler temperature was up to 100. Night temps lately have been in the 40's.
The potato plants have taken well to their new home in the corn row. The wind a few days ago clobbered my new tomato plants, so I planted more, and they came up yesterday. Today, I planted more foot long green bean seeds, and more green pea seeds.
Don't forget to check on Gene's toadpoles.
April 21, 1998
We dug up another row of the garden today. We will plant the okra there soon. We also planted more beets, carrots, New Zealand spinach, radishes, and marigolds.
Some of the previous planting of corn never came up, so before I planted more, I decided to investigate. I found the problem - wireworms were eating the kernels before they could even sprout. At first I thought they were the red centipedes, but then noticed they had no legs. They are quick-moving little rascals. I have heard there are predatory nematodes that will help control wireworms. If you have ever used them or have another idea you have had good luck with, please e-mail me to let me know. Thanks. (BTW, I did go ahead and plant more corn)
April 24, 1998
The ComposTumbler is on the second load now and heating up again. Of course, we are composting the stacks we had already started before, so it isn't taking very long.
We tilled up a skinny row today (last row to till). That little tiller is great! It just busted into that rock hard surface and broke it all up into tiny little bits. We mixed about 80 pounds of sand in the row as we tilled it. The row is about 8 inches wide.
Daytime temp today was about 80, and night time temp was around 50. Ground temp is still averaging around 58-60. Still no rain, but we are expecting some this weekend.
April 25, 1998
I am writing today's update a bit early, as I am rather excited! We have ladybugs everywhere, and ladybug larvae crawling all over the ground and plants. I hope we see as many praying mantises as we have ladybugs this year.
A lot of my recently planted peas and beans are coming up. I planted coleus in the front flower bed a couple of days ago, and they are doing great.
The weather man must be pretty much on target about us getting rain this weekend, because Gene's toads are tuning up for a major chorus tonight or tomorrow. Most likely, we will have another litter of toadpoles in the pond in a day or two. Check on Gene's toads here.
April 26, 1998
At midnight tonight, we have had 2 and 3/4 inches of rain. The temperature is 53 degrees.
April 27, 1998
Wow, what a lot of rain! By 5 am, we had already received another 4 inches of rain, and it was still falling. The skies look like they might still have some more up there right now, but so far, only 5 and 1/8 inches for the day, by 3 pm here.
My garden rows were all under water - about 4 inches of rushing water - during the rain, but most of it has drained off, now. We still have lots of water between the rows, and I had to stand some of the plants back up. Everything looks like it survived pretty well, though. Hope that's all the rain for at least a couple of days, but according to the forecast........
May 1, 1998
Guess what I saw on my morning garden inspection route this morning?! Most of the corn I planted a few days ago is poking out of the ground! I was beginning to wonder if any corn was going to grow in that row. What a wonderful way to start the day!
May 3, 1998
My corn is growing like crazy. It looks like this planting is going to make it. Keep your fingers crossed. The recently planted beets are coming up, too.
We have lots of ladybugs and ladybug larvae this year. Gene saw a bunch of the larvae chasing aphids on one of the plants in one of his flower beds the other day.
May 6, 1998
We had a few storms pass through here this evening. We only got a half an inch of rain, and the garden is doing great. Our latest plantings of beets and radishes and corn are growing rapidly.
May 8, 1998
It looks like rain is again not far away.
I have picked some green peas, and we can't seem to get that leaf lettuce eaten as fast as it is growing. The tomatoes are growing slowly. Most of my kale and mustard greens decided to start seeding, so they have been pulled. They grew all winter long.
May 10, 1998
Boy is it hot! The garden is doing great. The new beets are coming up fast, and the carrots are not far behind. The corn is growing rapidly. I have been picking a lot of green peas and lettuce, and occasionally some beet greens.
I am still on the second round of the ComposTumbler, because this time I got silly and decided to keep adding stuff daily. It has been working nicely, but is not quite ready yet. I wanted to see how long it takes to make a load when you are continuously adding stuff. Well, it does take a bit longer. (Remember - I am not using their accellerator product, this is completely natural heat)
Last week, we had lots of ladybug larvae eating the aphids, and today I woke up and found lots of ladybugs. I think they have decided to settle down here. I am glad.
May 16, 1998
It has been very hot lately. The daytime temps have been around the upper 80's to lower 90's here. I have had to water the garden every day, almost.
I have been picking a lot of peas and lettuce. The corn is growing about 2 inches taller every day. I have begun to find ladybug eggs throughout the garden. I will try to put up a pic of what a ladybug larva looks like in the next few days. Hopefully you won't kill any of them in the meantime. They look pretty vicious.
May 18, 1998
Same old heat, no rain, some of the smoke from Mexico's fires still blowing through here.
Gene's pond sprung a leak yesterday, and we had to put in a new one this evening. He watered my garden with the pond water as he emptied it. I have not fertilized the garden this year, and don't plan to. I have either used plain water or pond water only on it. It doesn't seem to have made any difference from when I fed or fertilized the garden in years past.
I measured the corn stalks tonight. The first planting is up to around 30 inches tall, and the replacement planting is now around a foot tall. I measured them from the ground to the height of the top leaf when held up. The tomatoes are doing well, growing faster in this heat, as are the beets and the lettuce. I should be planting my okra very soon.
By the way, thanks for checking in on my garden journal. I hope it helps someone in some way with their garden (other than just myself).
May 20, 1998
I finally got around to planting the okra and putting the edging around the row today. Now all the rows have edging.
I pulled all the radishes, as they decided not to make. When I first made that garden area, I dug out all the gravel and put in new dirt. I have only put a little compost in before now, so I put in a lot today. There are no worms in that area, so I'm going to make a trip to the bait store tomorrow to get some.
I'm still picking green peas and giving away lettuce. The spinach was a lost cause - AGAIN! The 90 degree weather came too soon this spring. I think I will try the New Zealand variety this time.
Oh! The second batch of compost is done. It took a bit longer (about a month), due to our continually adding things.
May 21, 1998
Early morning report, because I am excited. I picked a few beets this morning, and some lettuce.
As I was walking through the yard, I decided to see how Gene's toadpoles were doing. Guess what I saw! Looking very closely, I saw hind legs beginning to form on some of the babies! I can't wait until Gene gets home to see them!
May 25, 1998
The past few days have been really busy for me. I have loosened the soil in the garden, spread compost in the garden, picked weeds, etc. Yesterday, I planted some purple hull peas and Gene and I started a new compost load. I also put out some worms in some of the rows that don't have any/many. I have given away lots of leaf lettuce lately. The green peas are about give out. I think the 90 degree weather has been too much for them. I am just waiting on the last pods to fill out before I pull up the plants and plant more butterbeans and purple hull peas. My green bean plants have been blooming and starting to make me some food. 8-)
We had a nasty wind/thunderstorm early this morning, which knocked over many of my replacement corn plants, but I think they're going to be okay, as we stood them back up again, as usual. It didn't seem to bother the larger corn plants at all. We got about 2 3/4 inches of rain. It was about time we got some more rain! 8-)
May 26, 1998
I forgot to mention yesterday that the okra plants are coming up already.
May 27, 1998
I finally managed to put up the fences for the green beans to climb. Gene and I also put up a fence in one of the tomato rows yesterday. Now, I only have to put up fences for the butterbeans and the purple hull peas to climb.
The temps for the past couple of days have been cooler, thanks to the recent rains, but today was quite humid, and we have a fog tonight. The ground temp was running an average of about 75 degrees until the rain, and now it is staying down around 70 degrees F. The cooler weather has given the green peas an extended life span, which is good, since we will be able to pick more peas still yet, but bad, since I am yet unable to plant my extra purple hull peas and green beans where the green peas are now at. I won't complain, though. 8-)
I still have to spread more compost from the last batch. I stopped when Gene noticed some little critters riding on a roly poly (one had managed to get into the finished batch after we put it in a separate container) which look like they could be some kind of pest control bug, but we want to be sure. So, he put them all in a jar to see what we could learn from them. If I remember, I will update you on that later.
May 29, 1998
I have so much to say today! The okra is growing fast. The corn is now up to about 4 feet high. The green peas are doing great for being the end of their time, and I have already been picking green beans galore! I have begun to see a few bean beetles, though. I see them mostly on my foot-long green bean plants. I have picked "loads" of lettuce, and the tomato plants are beginning to speed up their growth. I have purple hull peas coming up, and have pulled lots of beets the past couple of days. I guess I'm going to have to plant more this weekend. I believe the carrots and cucumbers seem to be the only things growing slowly, and since I added the compost to their area, they are beginning to grow much faster. The new load of compost is heating up quite well, also. Everything is doing so much better than ever before this year! I am so happy about the garden this year! I hope yours is doing great, too!
June 3, 1998
I have been watering the garden only an hour or two before daylight, to keep from giving it enough time to create a mildew problem, but to allow it to have a couple of hours of cool moisture before the sun comes up to steal what's left of it from the ground. I had a small problem with mildew last year and don't want to have it again this year.
I have been picking lots of green beans every day and lots of beets and beet greens, too. The tomatoes have very thick stalks and have begun putting on blooms. The corn is starting to show its tassles. I also have blooms on the cucumbers. The petunias scattered throughout the garden are bushier and showier than last year. Each plant looks much like a very large bouquet. My marigold plants are also beginning to bush out and "bouquet."
The temps have been in the upper nineties, but yesterday it hit 100 degrees, F. The heat index was around 107. The ground temp is around 78 - 82 degrees. We have had no rain since I posted it last.
I have seen quite a few bean beetles, but not as many as last year.
June 4, 1998
Yesterday, after I wrote in the journal, I pulled up all my green pea plants and planted more green bean and butterbean plants. I also pulled up some of the lettuce. Some of the purple hull peas haven't come up, so I planted more.
The temperature was close to 100 again yesterday. I only got to see the temp in the late morning, and it was 96 then, but it got a lot hotter by evening. Sometime in the evening, it got cold. The overnight low here was 64 degrees, and today's high reached 74. It is 11:30 pm now, and the temp is at 58 degrees with lightning not too far away. We had a few sprinkles today, but not much.
I have still been picking lots of green beans and beets, and the beefsteak tomato plants have large blossoms on them. The carrots seem to be growing rapidly lately. I planted more, just in case they will grow in the heat wave we've had.
The Compost isn't making as fast this time in the ComposTumbler.
June 6, 1998
Yesterday, the temperatures got up to the mid to upper 60's for a couple of hours, but was down to 46 degrees last night. The ground temperature has dropped to 70 degrees. We have had no rain lately.
The temperature got up to 80 degrees today, and is down to 46 again tonight.
I pulled the lettuce out of the garden today, transplanted a marigold, planted more petunias in the bean rows, and put a fence up for the butterbeans to climb. The butterbeans have been searching for something to climb on for a few days, now.
I noticed I have a lot of critters living in the tassle areas of my corn. Gene discovered some caterpillars in one of the purple with white edging, ruffled petunias.
June 7, 1998
It got up to a whopping 80 degrees today.
I cut down some of the extra tomato plants to make room for the more developed ones to grow. This is the first year I have let more than one tomato plant grow in the same spot, other than cherry tomatoes, which often do better if there is more than one. I picked some green beans and watered the garden once again, due to no rain. But, they say rain is on the way. I put up some fence poles for the purple hull peas. Soon, they will have a fence to climb on. And I transplanted about 5 or 6 marigold plants to the garden area. These are the variety that are supposed to get up to about 18 inches, but they have been growing to about 4 feet the past couple of years.
I also put up one tomato cage today. I have a fence running down the middle of the tomato rows, which I am connecting a circular portion of fence to. The middle fence line gives the circular frames better support. I use the 2x4 welded fence for my tomato cages. I cut out a 6x8 section in varied places to allow easy removal of the tomatoes from within the cages. I grow mostly beefsteak and betterboy tomatoes, but love having some cherry tomatoes, also.
Yesterday, I put down some black plastic over an (approximately 10 ft. by 11 ft.) area to kill off the grass, etc. for next year's garden.
The blueberry bushes are doing great. They aren't all that big just yet, since this is the second year for each of the two, but there are plenty of blueberries compared to the size of the bushes, which are only about a foot or so tall.
June 8, 1998
Two storms came through today. We got 2 inches of rain and a lot of wind.
June 9, 1998
The newly planted green beans, butterbeans, and purple hull peas are coming up. I pulled a lot of beets up tonight.
We have caterpillars eating the centers of the flowers out of the petunias.
June 10, 1998
I pulled more beets today. This evening, we had a storm just miss us, but we got 70+ mile per hour winds and a few sprinkles. The corn was leaning hard in the wind, but all are standing on their own still, tonight. Strong roots? *G*
June 17, 1998
Okay, so I disappeared for a few days, but Gene took care of the garden for me while I was away.
There are quite a few tomatoes and bell peppers growing since I left. And they have grown rather quickly! Some are quite large already! I pulled almost all the beets today, and a lot of carrots. The corn is healthy-looking and producing, though not quite as much as past years, just yet. I am hoping more ears will form soon. The okra plants are being eaten by some invisible critter, as we can never catch it - day or night. The green beans,butterbeans, and purple hull peas are growing rapidly. It won't be long before I am having trouble keeping up with them all. I like that! The cucumbers also decided to "take off" while I was away. So did the weeds. Gene did a terrific job of trying to keep the weeds all cut back and picked while I was away. Maybe I should take another trip? *G*
