one month of sunshine; garden update

Super coincidentally, today is exactly one month since I took the 2nd monitoring shots of my garden plots. So, 1st shot is June 30, 2nd shot is July 8, third is August 4th.

Let's see what one month of sunshine will do in my Tardy Garden:

Plot 1

 June 30

4 tomato plants in front, nothing yet in back

July 8

tomatoes front, FRESHLY planted Three Sisters (squash, corn, beans) in back

August 4

Uh... can you say hot weather crops?

That corn and squash grow CRAZY fast, and the beans are climbing the corn, per the ever-so-clever Three Sisters plan. Don't think I've seen squash blooms yet, but the squash are expanding and it's a deep, green jungle in there!

Plot 2

Formerly plot of head-hanging shame...

June 30

July 8

 

now...

It's a potential arch site!

August 4

Therefore nothing's happened since my shovel hit the arrowhead, and I stepped away from the shovel. I still have to fill out and send in the paperwork to the state to let them know. In the meantime, this is how Plot 2 it will stay for now. Waiting.

Plot 3

June 30: framing up, filled with soil from under an oak...

July 8

1/2 planted: baby sunburst squash and cosmos

August 4

(urf) still half planted, but now sporting stylish squashes and happy cosmos!

I'm THIS close to harvesting my first squash...

Maybe I should be realistic and plant some fall/winter crops in the back half of the plot?

Plot 4

June 30

uh... can we talk about something else?

July 8

ooh, a plot is taking shape, complete with fresh aviary wire (anti-gopher screen)

August 4

!!

I'd say most improved...

closest = black zucchini, center is yellow crookneck (tallest stuff),

back is sugar baby watermelon (tiny and barely visible)

Plus cosmos to draw bees.

It's mulched (I NEVER mulch, so very proud) and although there are no serious fruits happening, they are growing nicely. One item of concern, though, is the last TINY watermelon plant: here it is August 4th before it got chewed in abundance by merciless grasshoppers.

Not sure you can even see it, but upper left corner, to right of squash leaf, just to the left of the vertical shadow. 2 TINY cotyledon-stage watermelon plants. Not sure they'll make it. =( As is often the case in gardening: we shall see!

Plot 5

June 30

brand new plot with fresh aviary wire, steer manure, etc.

July 8

tomatoes and peppers planted

Check out the cracking soil where I don't directly water.

August 4

bigger tomatoes dwarfing peppers in the back,

little startup (volunteer) tomatillo in front left,

and everybody's mulched!

harvested 1st peppers (baby belles) a few days ago

Pretty, but tiny. That's fine, though--I'm just glad they're alive. =)

Streamlined bug on white cosmos plant. Very upright posture with wings angled back like an F-16.

Any guesses????

Pitty flowers with string ceiling.

Anyone know why the string is there??
(hint: this garden was a chicken run for 2 years...)

=)

biobabbler

10 garden days...

     
Let's see what progress has been made in the biobabbler (exceedingly tardy) garden in the last 10 days. Granted, she's not been gardening every day, and had a big deadline AND had been battling ants, but 'nuf said:

Plot 1 10 days ago, and yesterday:

The tomatoes maybe look a TINY bit bigger, but the reason the upper left one has a cage around it is 'cause the neighboring volunteer tomatillo plant has grown REALLY FAST and it'll drown my tomato if I'm not careful. It's the tallest thing there, by far.

In the back of plot 1, THREE SISTERS HAS BEEN PLANTED!  3 sisters = squash + corn + beans. Planted that Tuesday. Then slung dry grass cuttings (from weed whacking) and scattered it with bamboo sticks 'cause, although I know I just added a bunch of non-native grass seed, if I don't do this, the birds will eat ALL my beans, and that's what I had available THAT DAY.

Onto (head hanging) Plot 2:

Yeah, not much progress there... =)

Plot 3:

Half the plot is planted, with the Phriday-photo-quiz-starring squash and cosmos, and yes, as folks gathered, the cosmos are to lure bees, 'cause squash need a lot of pollination help. Plus, they're cute. =)

Plot 4:

Although it may not LOOK that different, it's HUGELY different. I dug the WHOLE thing out (looked like a grave for a giant), took out the old chicken wire, dug around and sawed through GIANT roots (exhausting for the spindly-armed), then laid out the aviary wire (2 swaths), staked the seams together, put all the soil back and added 2 bags-o-steer poop, turned it over, chopped the big lumps, raked, and watered.

phew!

Here's it mid-conversion (from gopher friendly to gopher unfriendly);

All because of a little, hungry gopher (or 12). =) Well, it could be argued that it's because biobabbler is greedy and doesn't want to share her plants...

 ANYhow, plot 5:

Tomatoes and peppers are in, the resurrected basil (3) have FINALLY decided not to give up the ghost; one is blooming pretty lavender flowers. The first shot is the victorious "after" shot when I'd finished doing to it what I just explained more recently got done at plot 4.

And has NOT been done on plot 2, yet...

Oh, and the bee-monitoring-to-be plot:

There is no "before" shot. It was just a mess of aviary wire and weeds. I dug it out, added steer poop, chucked in a log for style and soil gathering (it's on a bit of a slope), then planted the sunflowers, then adjusted the aviary wire to keep birds out, as the sunflower seed packet advises.

SOME day, when the sunflowers grow up and are attracting bees, I can go out between 9 and 10 a.m. and monitor bees for 15 minutes a day. COOL! Hoping to also take pics of the different bee species.

So, 'der ya go, happy garden-making progress. And, on the days that I do garden, I get to eat more, so that's all good. =)


biobabbler

P.S. By the way, esp. for all you GARDENING SMARTIES: what should I use as mulch? I am the WORST compost maker ever (utter failure), and don't want to use things like bark (contain icky substances I don't want in my garden). It's SO DRY here, I really need to use something, but am not super psyched about using cut weeds (for obvious reasons). IDEAS?!? (grovel, grovel) If you use newspaper, does it always look tacky?