August notes

August 8th, 2010

The house is still this morning, except for the increasing drone and fade away of a car passing; The dogs nails are tic-tick-ticking on the kitchen floor and I hear them crumbling food on the back porch. The coffee maker is grumbling like a sleepy child and dripping the dark elixir of early morning life. As I sit here and think about it, it is not the quiet that is so peaceful, but the noise: Even the crickets are humming a waking tune that will turn into a drone by days end. Its funny how a person’s attitude can change during the day. The same noise we hear in the morning that can be so peaceful, can also be so annoying by the end of the day...is it fatigue or simply mental issues? Most of us are not paying enough attention to ever know but it is perhaps because most of us dont take the time to give-a-damn.

Daniel and I have discussed the green-bean production at length: Trying to figure out why the beans are produced on the east side of the trellis and not the west. We have watched the sun during the day at length as well and perhaps the light has something to do with it but we think it is a combination of several factors. The trellis is lying lengthwise from south to north. In hindsight, we should have laid it east to west and braced it vertically rather than horizontally. I had to add some tripods (camera) to the growing beans because they kept stretching towards the sun ever taller and seemed to be happiest with height. Perhaps next year we will change the climbing structure. Anyway, as they are this year, they are producing beans with abandon on the east side but rarely one bean on the west where the sun is located for most of the day. The only thing we can figure out is that insects prefer to pollinate in the shade. The bees hum around the plants in the shade for hours and leave the rest alone if they are in the sun. In addition to this fact, the beans seem to enjoy growing in the shade of other things. Note: We harvested some truly large beans yesterday on the bush beans in the north garden and those plants are in the shade of the squash plants.

Note: I would like to change the climbing structure to a trellis cross-patch with 1x3 boards so that the side that holds the beans faces east. Something like this:

E



N S In this way we should be able to get a more substantial harvest. Although we are a little behind. The 1X3 boards are great cause they are cheap and hard compared to the 2x4’s that you would get for construction. Perhaps we will build a few of them for all the gardens. It would be nice to have several around the herb gardens.



The Little Gem squash plants seem to be the flying saucer type. They will be orange and round on top and perhaps a lighter shade of orange on the bottom with a circle at the base of the bowl. I have to look these up online to determine the best way to store them since that is all we have. We did not get any butternut squash this year and that is a mistake from the seed company. All we have is this saucer type. This is very discouraging. We planted a ton of seeds for that.

Daniel was noticing that due to the crowded conditions of the garden that there are not very many weeds and the soil tends to retain any moisture it gets by hose or rain: Very good observation on his part. He said that he would like everything to be uniform in the garden but that he can see why the mish-mash of plants we have out there in the north, works for the plants. I reminded him that in nature, all plants grow where they are most comfortable for the further development of the species. This is true in nature but if you can replicate it in the home garden, then you will have and abundance of any one crop or possibly two. Due to the nature of the heirloom, seeds that we planted some of them have cross-pollinated and formed a new type of plant and fruit. We have some summer squash that is simply not forming like squash. The color is off; a lime green instead of a yellow. Moreover, the shape is not what it should be: a teardrop instead of a long neck. I think this is because other plants that have those characteristics are blooming very close and the bees are pollinating the sum. Squash with pollinators from the vine zucchini and the pumpkin. We have several zucchini in the area (north) that simply have not developed fruit until now. Now that they have started, they will take over for the ones that have been developing fruit all spring and summer.

Perhaps next year we will cover the garden with clear plastic to warm up the soil prior to planting so that the plants can feel at home right-off: if we have the plastic and if there is some time to do it without snow on the ground (like this spring, we had five feet the last spring snowstorm)

There are some pumpkins out there (north) that have developed and are now growing as an orange ball. They first grew as yellow fruit and I thought they were a vine zucchini. Then they gradually turned to yellow orange and developed ridges vertically from stem to floor. As the ridges became more prominent, the orange color increased and now they are bright orange.



August 7 th, 2010

Went tagging with Samantha today allllllllllll day-What fun. Then we, Dan and I, pulled out 9 lbs. of veggies from the garden tonight at 6:30 p.m. after Sam left. Zucchini and summer squash mostly but we also got a suitable amount of green beans from the bush bean plants in the north garden, enough for two servings, maybe three. We pulled three small carrots out of the ground just for a taste and they were the sweetest things we have tasted since blueberries.

August 6, 2010

Oh, we went to visit the goat farm a 6 johnnycake hill rd today (sandy’s place) and there is this cute little goat all covered with patches of black and white: So-o-o-o cute. I always wanted a goat or two for milk and cheese and soap but Daniel doesn’t like the way they taste so sheep is what he wants. I think he didn’t cook the goat in the freezer right so it didn’t taste that good. I suppose when things are real tough, you wouldn’t mind tough meat but I wouldn’t want the goats to eat anyway. I would want them for milk, soap and cheese. That would be the best thing to have them for and two would do it. Daniel always thinks of meat. I think of other protein sources. That way you can have both. One flake of hay per day per goat is two into one bale is 5 days which is five-6 bales per month of the cheap hay = 15.00-20.00. One bag of grain for three months for two goats unless pregnant or breast-feeding. So that is about 25.00 per month it would cost to feed them through the winter and during the summer it would be less due to the fresh grass they would get in the field. Goats need copper to have health so feed them out of a copper bowl for water and of course keep grain on hand for vitamins etc. Grain is especially for nutrients that the hay cannot provide. Of course we would have to find a source of cheap hay. We do not have that now but it would be easy to find since goats like the chafe of hay rather than the alfalfa stuff. The hooves have to be trimmed though. Not a tough job but it has to be done every six weeks or so. In addition, of course, the shots that have to be done in spring and fall. Too much work.

All the information I have written in the last three days has disappeared in the Netherlands of this computer. Perhaps it just didn’t get saved but if you find it anywhere here, just add it to the mix. I will rewrite it all again here. ..I hope.



The chickens are fighting over laying space this morning. I swear that at times there seems to be a bee in their tail feathers because they seem to run around unexpectedly and rush to the south end of the yard. It is funny to watch. In November they will be moved to the inside and then there wont be so much to laugh at.

In the last three days I have noted that the cucumbers have been growing exponentially. It has been a real treasure to look up all the different methods of growing cukes but the method that provided the most response was burying a hard boiled egg under the plants at the center of the triangle. I will have to remember that for next year.

Remember for next year:

Hardboiled egg with cukes

Tea = nitrogen for corn and peas.

Beans:pole

In the south garden we have been watching the beans: pole beans. The beans seem to be profilically producing beans on the east side of the trellises but not on the west side. We have a couple of theories as to why this is happening. It is possible that the insect are pollinating on the shaded side of the plant more often than the non-shaded part. The beans are planted south to north and the east side is in the shade most of the day. This offered more time for the plants to get pollinated on the east side than the west. The west side of the plant is in the sun most of the day and we get one bean a week from that side. We have watched the insect situations around the gardens and have noticed that the bees especially prefer to eat in the shade. On the sunflower plants, they always pick a shaded flower to do their business so this theory may not be too far out of the realm of the cause.

Another theory is that the bean plants themselves seem to like growing towards the east, much like a sunflower. There are a few flower buds on the west side but most of the flowers are on the east side. This in combination with the insect preference may be the combination theory that is the most likely.

The bush beans in the south garden are not producing much at all. Perhaps the shade is the cause but based on the above information, that seems unlikely. The flower buds are healthy enough as are the plants but perhaps they were delayed by the lack of water just enough to develop later than others.

Soaker Hoses:

The soakers are placed in the north garden in amongst the plants and curled around the base of the tomatoes in the north edge.

August 2, 2010 picking today

Get Daniel to bring out two sets of glasses to pic beans: Wouldn't do it, But did find the peas.

Tended compost tea: put in two bottles of left over tea bags and left over pot of coffee and grounds. PUT COFFEE GROUNDS AND LEFT OVER COFFEE IN BLUEBERRIES.

North-garden:

Pick:

Three zucchini: 5

peas: north garden snap and south garden whole

pole beans: four servings

summer squash near arbor seat: two

Check:

tomatoes: RE: # of tom's and status: trimmed and tied up more

Check potatoes: poured somemolasses on the leaves to deter pests.

Chores:

thin tomatos by cutting excess leaves: trim tops: Y

Use poles to divert tom's away from squash: nope

use poles to divert squash away from pole beans: nope

Find all basil, sage, rosemary and mark with pole: nope 1/2

tie up grapes: garbage bag ties? Y



status of corn: Y:nothing coming up yet



Spray fungicide on potatoes: put molasses on it



Rhubarb Pull: # of stalks: pulled forty stems; some broke but many came out easily.: Rhubarb needs to be divided



South-Garden:



Pick:

pole beans: some: 3-5

cherry tomatoes: tied and trimmed

peas: 3 good sixed at north end of south garden

tomato's: plenty of plums and large



Check:

soy beans: some are producing pods now.

cukes: many cukes being developed from the hard boiled egg that was planted with them two weeks ago: molasses added to the soil today.

yellow beans: five today on two plants



Chores:

tie up cukes: tied and found a large cuke in the bottom of the plant on the north side of tire.

molasses to cukes in #1 bed and #5 tire. NEED TO PLANT A HARDBOILED EGG WITH THE CUE AND THE SUM. SQUASH.

Fertilize with homemade fertilizer: research and create: do today. Aug 3.



August 2, 2010

We tried to use the Journal program for this journal but it didn’t workout so the journal is here in MS office. We hope that it will be better managed over time.

We didn’t write a journal for most of the summer or planting days. We have been so busy keeping up with all the planting, transplanting, growing, watering and general garden chores that there is rarely a time to write about it. We have learned so much this summer though, so we are going to write about it here. We hope that thiswill remain a record of our triumphs and failures as a reminder of what to do next year and the year after that.

The north garden this year is stupendous. Daniel decided to rototill the hay under and turn it all over so that the fresh dirt would be on top. This provided us with weeds for a while but we went out, weeded the entire area and layered more hay to prevent the seed seeds from germinating. Now that the plants are growing leaps and bounds, there is no sun touching the ground and the weeds are not growing much at all, except here and there.

The south garden is equally terrific with all the harvest we are getting out of there. Summer squash, tomatoes (are coming) and of course the peas and poles beans are continually putting out most days. We are looking forward to the brussell sprouts after the hard freezes of winter setting in and the cabbage will make wonderful sauerkraut for the winter (oo-oo-h, and galumpki’s:) Here’s South Garden setup as it stands now. We have learned a bit from this setup and there are things we will do differently next year.







































Pb = pole beans:

p = Peas= p

sp = Snow peas:

bp = Bell peppers:

cp = Chili Peppers:

Po = potatoes:

Ck = cukes:

T= toms:

SQ= squash:

Z = zucchini:

Cb= cabbage:

BS = brussel sprouts:

Bc= Bok Choy:

sb =Soy Beans:

Bl = broccoli:

L = lettuce:

R = radish:

S = spinach:

Cl = celery:

V= volunteers

Herbs:

B= basil:

Cm = comfrey:

PT = peppermint:

ST = stinging nettles:

What we grew this summer:

The south-garden was formed in raised beds made out of old 2 x 6’s and tires. The best source of growing conditions are the tires of course because they are deeper. There are only a few vegetables out there but they are terrific so far.

We set it up like this. The rectangles are the raised beds made out of boards and the circles are the tires. The sun is a designation for time of day that the sun hits the raised bed. This is necessary information if you need to determine what plant or seed to place for the right amount of sun. Some plants require more sun than others. We were fairly successful this year. Now that we have a more acurate record we will be able to plan more efficiently for next year.

A summer squash that I didn’t plant has been producing a great amount of squash. We pick a beautiful one about every four-five days.

The cukes growing in tires have been doing really well. We get about two per week from the three long plants. We have trellised them well but they still lie to grow to the ground so the plant is hanging in some places and the cukes continue to grow on it.

August 2, 2010 picking today

Tended compost tea: put in two bottles of left over tea bags and left over pot of coffee and grounds. PUT COFFEE GROUNDS AND LEFT OVER COFFEE IN BLUEBERRIES.

North-garden:

Pick:

Three zucchini: 5

peas: north garden snap and south garden whole

pole beans: four servings

summer squash near arbor seat: two

Check:

tomatoes: RE: # of tom's and status: trimmed and tied up more

Check potatoes: poured some molasses on the leaves to deter pests.



Chores:

thin tomatos by cutting excess leaves: trim tops: Y

Use poles to divert tom's away from squash: nope

use poles to divert squash away from pole beans: nope

Find all basil, sage, rosemary and mark with pole: nope 1/2

tie up grapes: garbage bag ties? Y

status of corn: Y:nothing coming up yet

Spray fungicide on potatoes: put molasses on it

Rhubarb Pull: # of stalks: pulled forty stems; some broke but many came out easily.: Rhubarb needs to be divided

South-Garden:

Pick:

pole beans: some: 3-5

cherry tomatoes: tied and trimmed

peas: 3 good sixed at north end of south garden

tomato's: plenty of plums and large



Check:

soy beans: some are producing pods now.

cukes: many cukes being developed from the hard boiled egg that was planted with them two weeks ago: molasses added to the soil today.

yellow beans: five today on two plants



Chores:

tie up cukes: tied and found a large cuke in the bottom of the plant on the north side of tire.

molasses to cukes in #1 bed and #5 tire. NEED TO PLANT A HARDBOILED EGG WITH THE CUKEs AND THE SUM. SQUASH. For the best and most prolific production: Incredible. In addition, molasses helps with the cukes.

Fertilize with homemade fertilizer: research and create: do today. Aug 3.



August 1, 2010

August Garden Jobs

Compost needs watering during dry periods so that it remains active. Even microbes need water in this heat: Water with left over tea water and watery vegetables leavings from canning projects. Keep a bucket for left over nutrient filled water on the back porch and haul it to the compost daily.

Don’t let your compost get too hot during this time of year. The microbes can’t survive this type of heat and if you cover your compost there are many organisms that can’t survive it. Keep your compost open and only cover it with leaves and water weekly to maintain the wetness it needs to decompose the refuse you put into the pile.

Rhodes:

If you prune your shrubs, keep in mind that rhododendrons and azaleas bloom on last year’s growth. Those little buds you see on the plant will not bloom this year, but they will develop over winter, ripen during the warming temperatures of spring, and then burst into bloom. Keep your Rhodes and azaleas protected during winter and only prune them the week after they have all their blooms go by. This will ensure a flowering plant next year and keep your spring garden beautiful. If you must prune at all, prune to retain their shape. If you prune right back to the ground (or close to it) so that the front of the house can be seen, wait a while for any new leaves to come back onto the plant. It might take a year, but new leaves will come back and the bushes will be beautiful again in a couple of years. Give them the time, fertilize spring/mid-summer, and patience they require to overcome such a severe pruning. These resilient plants will reward you for your patience.

Mid-August through September is a good time to transplant any shrubs that you've purchased with root balls wrapped in burlap. Make sure you get them in the ground two to three days after purchase. Do not fertilize until the second year, after the feeder roots have become established.

Lawns:

If you have bare spots in your lawn, give it a does of coca cola and sugar and water it in. You can also reseed with this mixture, then cover with hay or sawdust and water daily until you see new sprouts.: Water at night for a half hour, instead of during the daylight sun hours. This will save you water and you will get the most out of the watering you do. The water won’t evaporate as soon as it hits the ground if you water at night. This type of watering can also be done in the garden if you use the soaker hose method. It is important to keep the leaves of plants dry during the night to prevent mildew and disease but watering at night can help the garden keep the moisture for a long period rather than letting it evaporate immediately during sunlight hours.

Lawns or bare spots reseeded with grass now will have a chance to get established before winter sets in: Water for short periods while waiting for the seeds to sprout and mulch with hay to help retain the water on the soil surface. Then when the grass is growing, you can water ore deeply less often as the grass grows.

Plant for indoor enjoyment:

You can still enjoy garden flowers indoors. Sow these annuals inside: sweet alyssum, dwarf marigold, ageratum, and nasturtium. Grow them in a moderately cool (60 degrees F), sunny window. In colder regions, houseplants that have been outside for the summer should be brought in at the end of this month. A sudden cold spell will be too much of a shock for them to survive. This is also a good time to take cuttings.

Bulbs:

Plant fall-flowering bulbs now through september. Add a wire cage and some chili powder if you have moles in your yard. The squirrels and moles do not appreciatte the smell or the taste of chili powder. This works for newly transplanted shrubs as well..

Gladiolas:

Cut gladiolas in the garden for indoor appreciation but leave two or three leaves on the bulb so the bulb can mature and get nutrition for winter storage. This is called ripening and is what is done for daffocils and tulips in spring as well.

Oriental Poppies:

Transplant any Oriental poppies you have to another spot now. This month is when the Poppies are ready for a move and will have time to develop sufficient root systems to survive the winter months and cold.

Growing rocks?:

If you have a Rock-garden now is the time to check the plants to determine if any need to be moved around. Thinning the plants in a rock garden is paramount to having a healthy looking garden next spring. This will also help the plants be active come spring and flourish during the summer.

Sow, Sow, Sow:

Certain perennials and annuals can be sown now for spring growth and summer bloom. Some seeds require a winters worth of cold in order to germinate. Sow: aquilegia, Phlox paniculata, digitalis, centaurea, echinacea, nasturtium, heirloom tomatoes, cosmos, beebalm, rudbeckia, sedums, liatris, loostestrife, sunflowers, kale, and primrose.



Delphiniums have the talent of providing a second bloom, albeit smaller, if you cut the decaying flower stalk off at the ground. The flowers of the delphinium can survive cooler nights than most flowers and will give the garden an autumn boost of color when everything else is turning brown from the cold.

Irises:

Siberian and Japanese iries love to have their feet wet but them dont like standing water up to their knees. Transplant you irises after they bloom straight-away. This will give them time to produce roots to survive the winter cold. Being delicate as they are is difficult but worthy of transplanting them during this oppressive heat.

Garden:

Check your vegetable garden daily. There will always be something to harvest. The zucchini seem to grow over night and those small un-pickable green gems that were not ready yesterday may be ready today. The green beans seem to be more prolific after a cooler night so even if the rest of the garden is taking a break, check your peas and beans after some cooler nights and you may find a second harvest coming in when you least expect it. Harvesting daily will provide growth of new vegetables due to the nutrition replacement after picking. The small beans that are waiting to get their share will suddenly burst in growth after the larger beans are picked. This is true for the zucchini and the summer squash too.



The flowers on your herb plants should be active. If you want to harvest from that flowering herb, cut off the flowers and wait two weeks to harvest. The plant will return its valuable nutrients and oils to the leaves and try to produce more blooms. If you see any blooms cut them off at the pass and the herb will be ready to harvest when the leaves are deep green and moist. Wash, Dry and tie them before hanging in a breezy shaded spot. When dry, crunch the herbs into a zip lock container or a canister for winter use. This can be done every couple of weeks if you feel the need to supply yourself with peppermint tea for the winter. Remember that the maximum flavor of the herbs is just before flowering so keeping them fro flowering or on the verge of flowering offers you the best taste.



Potatoes often climb to the surface of the soil. If you find any of those delectable dirt lovers above the soil, mulch or cover with soil without disturbing the soil around the tuber. The roots of the tuber will thank you and develop more potatoes as the summer pass by.



Asparagus:

Asparagus is grown in a trench for the best flavor, just like green peppers. This is the month that Asparagus gets its last filling in the trench...compost and leavings from grass cuttings are the best source of nutrition for the new growth in the spring. Nitrogen is the best for the green sprouts that come in spring. Let them sit in decaying matter over the winter and they will produce well in the spring.



Peas are a terrific cool weather vegetable but the peas you planted in the spring are now, or should be, dry and decaying and turning brownish-white due to age and powdery mildew. This is normal and it is tie to remove the dead vines and re-nutrient the soil. At this point, they have taken nitrogen out of the air and set it into the soil but new peas will need more as well. You can add tea water from left over tea bags, compost tea and compost for a new bed of peas or plant pole beans in their place for more cool season harvest of that luscious green starch. If the peas show signs of powdery mildew, don’t put them in the compost pile, burn them instead and use the ashes in the compost pile.



Melons in the garden should be fairly-large at this time of year. Squash as well. Wireworms can infiltrate the healthiest of melons and destroy a perfectly wonderful looking melon in days. Separate the melons and heavy squash from the soil by placing boards or aluminum foil (too expensive) on the ground under the melons. This will prevent most of those insidious worms from gaining access to your prize worthy melons and round squash.



Raspberries are spent by August. The old canes need to be trimmed off the plant so that the new canes can continue their growth in preparation for fruit production next year. Tip the tall growth of your new canes now and let them branch out. The more branches the more flowers and fruit. Cutting off the old canes will allow all the nutrition that your compost and grass leavings are providing to focus on the new growth. By spring, you will have an abundance of flowers, which will fruit in July.



If you enjoy container gardening, keep in mind that perennials in containers need repotting. Most experts report that repotting needs to be done every two to three years but in this humble gardener’s experience, repotting should be done prior to every fall for the best performance the following summer. This is especially true if you are growing blueberries in a container. The fresh soil, which houses important microbes and nutrients, can only help the perennials be as healthy as possible.



If flowers in your gardens are lacking this time of year, visiting a nursery and checking out what blooms is not always the best answer. Many nursery and garden centers have plants that have been forced to blooming early spring when sales for gardening are at the peak of the season. These plants may be bloomers all year in the ground but in a container, they may use up all the fertility of the soil and not show their beauty until next year, after they have settled into the ground. Check online for autumn to September flowering plants. Caryopteris, perennial helianthus, coleus, bee balm, phlox paniculata, liatris, rudbeckia, cleome (annual) loosestrife, Echinacea and portulaca (annual) are all terrific fillers in the garden when the heat is oppressive.