things accomplished...

Just thought I'd keep tabs on what has been done since the weekend...

- WEEDing: baby weeds are starting to sprout, so I am going to keep on top of that.

- Use home-made compost: I top-dressed most of my fruit trees with what I had.

- Harvest: strawberries. I wanted to harvest the two almonds that I have been watching for the past month, but some dirtbag varmints beat me to it! (#*#(!*@)#($!@#$&%*!!!)) sorry, I digress...

- Sluggo: sluggo the suckas!!! *composure* (hey, this stuff works!!)

- Water: well, I usually water seeds every day or every other day and the rest of the veggie plants every 3 - 4 days. I also decided to deeply water my trees.

- Seeds: Since a lot of my bean seeds are old (2 yrs old), I've been only getting about 50% germination. and on top of that, snails have been mowing down a few that I've missed lining with sluggo. ugh! it is so frustrating to put so much love and effort into the germination of seed, and to see all that hard work swiped down by mean snails and slugs! WAH! So, I've been germinating a lot more bean plants. For beans, I usually wrap the seeds in a very damp paper towel, put seeds and paper towel in a shallow container and put it on a slightly sunny windowsill. Roots usually appear in 1 - 2 days, after which I transplant in pots. Beans I am growing - Tendergreen, slenderette, blue lake bush, dragon langerie, royal burgundy, garbanzo, black jet soy bean, shironomai soy bean, and envy soy bean.

- transplant: my corn seedlings were getting too big for the pots that they were in and i also planted 5 corns in one small pot, so I had to separate them out.

- trim: plum tree and almond tree have been getting way out of hand with new growth. I am trying to keep them around 6 feet tall so I can easily handle them and harvest as well. So far so good.

- watch: most of the garden has been planted. so right now its all about enjoying the growth of the garden and waiting for the day of harvesting. i will eventually have to find homes for my seedlings, but Im not worried about that now.

- turn the compost pile: next time will be about 3 weeks or so.

What I need to do in the upcoming week/weekend:

- harvest: garlic. leaves are starting to turn yellow.

- weed: this is a never-ending job of the gardener.

- placement: tomato cages need to be put in place.

- fertilize: everything! last time i fertilized was back in March.

i was finally able to spend some time in the backyard yesterday after work. here are some updates:

1) soybeans: on the oldest plants, i already see soybean pods developing! how exciting! i could actually get some to harvest before fall really comes upon us.

2) green beans: with my schedule, i haven't been able to pick beans as often as a should, which leaves large beans on my plants...meaning they are a bit over mature. when that happens, the plants think that its time to slow down with bean production. so some of my plants have produced less over this past week. i have some new plants planted so hopefully i get some green beans all the way into october/november.

last night we ate green beans and spam (yum!) flavored with pepper, salt, garlic cloves, shoyu and a touch of tabasco.

3) watermelon: i have one really growing strong (but slow) and i now also see 3 others getting bigger. we'll see if i will be able to harvest those before the cooler weather does the plants in.

4) sugar snap and snow peas: still growing strong. nowhere near big enough to show any flowers, but i see some tendrils reaching out for the trellis. these guys like cool weather, so i might actually be able to plant these all through winter. i may just start planting new seedlings around the heirloom tomatoes. so when the tomatoes are ready to be dug up, it will become a pea bed.

5) broccoli/swiss chard/michihili/pac choi/spinach/lettuce/beets: some are growing strong, some have died. i have more seedlings growing to over-plant what has died. i will probably continue to plant seeds for these for at least another month or so.

6) onions: it looks like all have taken well. most, if not all, have started growing a second set of "leaves". we'll see what time brings (they are still small so they are still very fragile plants).

7) fava beans: a little less than 2 weeks for germination, and i have about 4 fava bean plants sprouting. these guys can grow up to 6 feet tall! not only do they produce edible pods, but, like all bean plants, help condition the soil and add nitrogen. they also add a lot of green "food" to the compost pile.

8) garlic: i am still waiting for my garlic heads to come. i got an email 2 weeks ago saying that their crop will be about 2 weeks late. i hope to get them very soon. im trying to save the last cultivated plot for those garlic cloves, but i may just be tempted to use it for other things...

9) new seeds/plants: i bout some new flowering plants for the front of the house (i haven't done anything, planting-wise, to the front area) so i plan to plant them this weekend. i also received more seeds that i will start growing - radish, a heading lettuce variety, a cover crop to help with soil development and i think 2 new carrot varieties best for clay soil.

what my tasks are for this weekend:

- turn the compost pile
- plant the new flowers in front of the house
- pull weeds
- plant new seeds in peat pots
- plant seedlings into the ground
- pull up some dying tomato plants
- fertilize
- harvest (i hope!)

and if i feel up to it, i was thinking about building one of the raised beds, just to see what the process is like - if its doable/a hassle, how it actually looks, how much soil/mulch is needed, etc.

i also want to really think about what i want to do with that right strip of front lawn and how im going to do it. i want to convert it to a flower/veggie bed. it will be an ornamental garden (not meant to be eaten) but some of the plants will be edible. i want to try to do it myself, but i really dont know if its plausible. (its a 9ft x 22ft area).

can you tell gardening is a outlet for stress-reducing for me? ;-) it has to be. i wouldn't do this if it added more stress to my life!! that's for sure!