Friday, July 31, 2009

Garden Update


I haven't given a good update of the garden's progress of late so here are some crap photos off my cell phone.

First: The Stolen Raspberry Patch














Note the excellent use of scrap lumber as edging. It's gotten a bit roughed up but I'll put it back.

And the bad news from the little square foot garden. The Pest Damage:













Those bastards ate CHARD and carrot tops. The photo is of what SHOULD be leafy chard and bushy carrot tops but instead there is holey leaves and some spindly tops. Oh well. No carrots underground either. They are spending all their energy growing new tops.



But the good news is there are baby tomatoes.
This one is some heirloom type supposedly.
















And there are green beans showing up that the grasshoppers haven't eaten yet













Those are onions in the next square over. They appear to be doing well. I planted 32 sets and have about 26 or 27 onions still going.

Here's an overview shot of the garden:













Across the front we have: bolted mangled chard, white onions, empty square (spinach or something that never materialized) and a tomatillo.
Next row back we have mangled carrots, a lone pepper that is still blooming and miss the season all together, some beans under a 1/4inch mesh cage since something totally ate them the first time. And a single bunch of red lettuce that was supposed to be 4 bunches of lettuce.
Third row back is the green beans shown above. Actually, they will grow up to be black or white beans, they're just "green" in color. A lone mangled marigold that the pests ate and it never bloomed (it was there to keep pests out of the garden...oh well). Then red onions, and a few more mangled sad carrots.
In the back row it's 4 tomato plants that are doing well so far (I ask each of my readers to please knock on wood at this point).

So, IF the peppers come out, they are hot hungarian wax peppers, and IF I had grown some cilantro, I could make some salsa out of the garden produce.

Never the less, I'm having fun with it and I'm sure next year will be better.

On another gardening note...the new lawn boy needs to be reigned in a bit. I'm going to talk to his mother. He and a friend mowed the lawn again. Now it's going to die because there is no more rain predicted. I don't water the lawn. It's a waste to put drinking water on grass when about 1/3 of the world's population doesn't have ANY drinking water access. Anyway, I don't like it that short when it's going to be dry. I'll have to catch him one of these days or try to get his number. I thought I was clear about no more mowing until fall but I also think they wanted money for something. Next time, there won't be pay. I realize that I have different lawn standards than others but the 2nd lawn boy's father is out there now desperately watering a lawn that would not have needed water if they hadn't mown it. Some people...

OK, I've got to dog proof the house. Babygirl is coming over later.

1 comment:

Fly Right said...

Sorry about all your hard work getting wrecked by pests. That sucks. Looks like you still have some stuff to look forward to. Wish you were here, we're at the giving away tomato phase already and there are sooooo many more to come! Guess I'll just take them to work and give them out to my customers.