Mid-June ('09) Garden Update

I got up on my step-ladder for this shot:

Except for the items in the "salad box," and the potatoes, I was very late getting most of the garden planted this year.  I think, however, that most of my plants will catch up with those planted earlier by others.  A late last frost and unseasonably cool nights have slowed a lot of plants down.  It is starting to warm up now, and we have had some good rains.  Actually, I am a little frustrated because the garden is so wet that I can't do much in there right now.  There are weeds and bugs that need to be dealt with!

Some may have noticed that I use a lot of structures in my garden -- the salad box, tomato fences (and stakes), pole bean supports, and cucumber trellises.  This is to encourage vertical growth and save room for stuff like corn, potatoes, and cabbage, which take up a lot of real estate.  It is little too early to draw conclusions, but the tomato fence looks promising:

I am not as confident about the cuke trellises, though.  Cukes seem to have a mind of their own and in the past I have had trouble training them to a trellis.  I keep trying, though.

The potato plants are really getting big.  Makes you wonder what is happening down below.

Note that there is an apparent gap in the row on the left.  Actually, there are plants there, but they seem stunted.  I have no idea why.  They don't seem diseased, just small.  Weird.  Well, this is my first experience with growing potatoes.  It should be a learning experience.

Precious Memories . . .

The last couple of weekends gave Mrs. Defogger and I some good photo ops, mostly with our grandson.  He turned 18 months old just a few days ago, and he has CUTE down to a science.

He loves this little slide we picked up for him at a recent
yard sale.

Later, he helped himself to Grandpa's hat, so Grandma
made him pose.

Here he is checking out Grandma's hanging basket of flowers.

As I said, most of the photo ops were of the grandson, but not all of them:

As you know, I love to play in the dirt, and I am fascinated by the composting process.  This is this spring's batch, after the first turning.  It began as leaves, weeds, lawn thatch, grass clippings, kitchen vegetable waste, and a lot of straw, and almost filled the first bin to the top.  It has already reduced to about 60% of its original volume, and contains a lot of black humus.  Although the straw is breaking down nicely, the stuff is still fibrous enough that it requires a fork to work it.

Last summer's batch is now safely stored in the little black plastic compost bin on the right.  It is easily dug with a shovel.  The bin on the left is now empty, ready to receive new material.  I have some shrub clippings, grass clippings, weeds, black-and-white newspaper, and wood shavings ready to dump in there.  Maybe some sphagnum peat moss, too. 

Okay, I'm weird, but I think compost is awesome . . .

Trying something new in the veggie garden

It has been raining for a couple of days -- just when I wanted to finish my planting (Grrrrrr!) -- so it was too wet this morning to do much in the garden.  But I did take a few photos, to show how things are progressing.  Below is a new experiment.  I have constructed what could be called a 'tomato fence,' for lack of a better term.  Actually, there are two of them.

They are made from a heavy wire fencing called cattle panels.  Each panel is 16 ft. long and 4 ft. high.  I bought one, cut it into two halves, and fastened each half panel to two eight-foot fence posts, driven 3 ft. into the ground.   I added a four-foot post in the middle to add greater stability.  Tomato plants will be set in front of the fence about 18'' apart, and trained up the fence. 

I saw this in a book (can't remember which one) and was attracted to the idea, because good tomato supports are hard to find, especially at a price I can afford.  The wire supports found at most stores around here are almost useless, especially when the vines grow taller than four feet or so.  A good, stiff wind will blow them over, and sometimes the wind isn't even necessary.  A healthy tomato vine laden with fruit can be very heavy.  A good, stout stake made of rot-resistant wood works just fine, but good ones can be expensive.  These cattle panels, however, are very sturdy, and one half-panel, firmly anchored, will accomodate 6 or more plants.

BTW, I had to saw the full panel in half in the parking lot of Lowe's, and tie the halves onto my van's luggage rack.  I had no other way to get the monster home!

Behind the tomato fences you can see some sweet onions, and two rows of potatoes.

In other developments, here is what the "salad box" looks like, presently:

Those are just weeds at the base of the box.  Just ignore them.  That's what I have been doing (obviously).

Finally, take a look at my final compost setup:  

This is just before I turned the almost-done stuff in the middle bin into the right "storage" bin, and the newer stuff from the left bin into the middle bin for more cooking.  You can't tell from the outside, but the inside of that pile was fermenting nicely. 

Have you planted a garden this year? What are you growing?

So far:  Potatoes, onions, lettuce, carrots, and cabbage.  I also planted peas, but they never came up - don't know why.

Yet to plant: Tomatoes, peppers, muskmelon, cucumbers, corn, dill, snap beans (pole), marigolds, zinnias, and nasturtiums.  Maybe some perennial wild flowers - I haven't decided yet.

Some photos and details can be seen here.  More to come.  

I just answered this Featured Question; you can answer it too!

Scene while on a stroll . . .

. . . pun intended.

Mrs. Defogger and I were taking a short walk, and brought the camera along.  Across the street from our home is a portion of the Tuscarawas River.  You can't see much of the river from the house, because it is obscured by a thick stand of trees along the bank.  But just a couple hundred yards down the street, the river bends closer.

This made a terrific "wallpaper" for my computer desktop!