The new garden area we created this year is really doing well. But it has added a lot of manual watering to our days. In the new garden area, we have about twenty grow bags of pumpkins and winter squash, 25 bags of summer squash, 4 tomato plants, a 4 foot by 8 foot raised bed of corn, a 2 foot by 8 foot raised bed of sweet potatoes, and in the greenhouse there are 5 watermelon plants, 8 cantaloupes a zucchini, and a couple of tomatoes.
Corn, squash, and pumpkins by the greenhouse
This has made life a lot easier, a little more complicated sometimes, and overall an investment worth making.
I’ve never had great success growing melons. Sam was the first person to grow an actual watermelon here. From a seed that was in a piece of melon from the grocery store. He was excited about it and asked if he could plant it. Bill and I said sure and he plopped it in the ground right in front of the house. As the summer wore on that little seed just kept growing into a beautiful plant and then formed an actual melon which we enjoyed that fall. Not in a million years did I expect that. I have attempted to grow them every year. I have carefully tended to them, I’ve started them directly in the ground, I’ve started them in the house, I’ve put them in tilled gardens, I’ve put them in low raised beds, I’ve put them in low raised beds and then stapled wire over them to keep critters out, I’ve put them in tall raised beds, I’ve tried them in multiple different locations and I’ve tried many different kinds of seeds. From time to time I’ve gotten small melons with little taste but nothing has even been as good as that random seed that Sam planted. So what have I learned?
I am a pro at putting things in safe places. So safe in fact that they will never be found again. I am also a pro at putting things that do not make sense being grouped together, together. I also have an advanced degree in the quick clean where you shove things out of sight because someone is coming over and you don’t want them to see just how out of control life has become. Of course I will remember where everything that moved out of eye sight in the frantic grab and shove went, not. Enter organization software Odoo Inventory and Totescan.
Bill built two of these doors for our original garden after the store bought ones fell apart. They are heavy duty and are holding up really well. Continue reading
Tomorrow will either be week 2 or week 3 I’ve lost track of time. The greenhouse is starting to empty out. All of the squash, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, corn, potatoes, most of the celery, most of the peppers, all but 2 tomatoes, and some of the peas have been planted and seem to be happy. Oh and there are flowers glorious flowers to plant.
The landscape fabric came on Friday! Bill had already chopped, mowed, and cleaned up the area to prepare it for putting fabric down. We found 3 tposts and a holiday weekend was in front of us. Thankfully the rain had stopped.
My mom used to say, “Your ears are so dirty you could grow corn in them.” Telling you that I’m growing corn in our basement seems like an admission that I am a terrible housekeeper. Let’s not talk about that, stay focused on the actual corn.
One of the first things that needs to be done each spring is getting the drip irrigation systems set back up. This involves a bit of maintenance. We currently have 4 drip timers, divided up into multiple zones each. Continue reading
Cell phone after the battery started on fire while it was sitting on a desk in the house.
Why do bad things happen to good people? Have you ever asked that question? Have you ever heard someone else ask that question? Maybe the answer is, to stop worse things from happening.
