Gardening Update

In Sunday's Parade magazine there was an article about how to take care of simple vegetable garden issues. One of them was tomato plant flowers turning brown and falling off. I'd never heard of such a thing. The article said to put eggshells in the dirt because the tomatoes needed calcium. I asked my fav gardener if i could use bone meal instead. Bone = calcium. I had more it than eggshells, so i thought, maybe it would work. She said yes and that in fact it probably would work better.

Only one problem with it i discovered today. My dogs, emphasis on DOG, like bones and by association, bone meal. The dogs were in the backyard today when i brought the bone meal out and Esther was all over me. Jumping up and down and trying to get the bag out of my hands. She didn't succeed. But once i'd put it around the tomatoes and worked it in a little, i saw this head go through fencing and then the nose came out and a paw went in, scratching at the ground, then the nose again. Finally Buddy's curiosity was aroused and he went after it too. sigh.

I thinned the corn today too. I took the corn plants that i'd pulled up and transplanted them. I think i'm up to about 24 plants in a sort of square configuration.

I might have "weeded" my carrots and parsnips. sigh. I planted them, then was told to make sure to pull all the weeds, especially in the first 4-6 weeks. Weeds use up water and nutrients so you don't want them competing with your vegies. Well, i went to town weeding around the two grape tomatoes. Then suddenly realized that what i was pulling up might just be the carrot and parsnip sprouts. I stopped immediately and am watching them for the next week or so.

The adventure continues!

Summer Gardening

A week ago i went to Home Depot and purchased most of my vegetable garden. I actually planted it the day after i purchased it. I was so proud of myself. I haven't had a vegetable garden for the last two summers. The summer before i ignored my garden and it failed miserably. Those of you who like gardening are probably sitting their aghast at these admissions of failure, especially if you know how well my Dad grew his garden.

Three summers ago i adopted my first dog. Esther, the wonder dog, loved to pick tomatoes and play with them like a ball. She loves to eat vegetables too, but not fresh tomatoes. Well, not that year. I gave up on the garden and focused on Esther and learning about dogs and dog ownership.

This past winter i decided i'd have a vegetable garden again. Well. I'd try again. This has taken quite a bit of thought. I had to decide how i was going to protect my tiny little vegetable plot. All of nine feet by nine feet. Once that was completed, i had to decide if i wanted to improve the quality of the dirt before i planted the vegetables. I decided to add llama beans (aka droppings) to the garden and some more dirt. The llama beans are supposed to be one of the best fertilizers ever. You can use it straight from the llama. k, it might be just a hair messy that fresh, but not much at all. It doesn't burn the plants, has very little scent and lots of nutrients. The scent reminded me of a freshly cleaned barn - mostly smelled like hay.

Oh and of course, the perennial question - to start from seed or buy starter plants. I was working out a method to start from seed. However, as most of you probably know, not only do i have dogs, i have cats. Therefore, i pretty much have no indoor plants. The cats like playing with the plants' leaves and in the dirt. I decided I'd purchase the starter plants. Maybe next year i can devise a plan for starting seeds inside, in spite of the cats.

However, a neighbor graciously gave me two beautiful tomato plants that she started from seed. They are heirloom tomatoes to boot. This was actually a great motivator to me to complete the garden. I decided I couldn't let the tomato plants fail and they'd look so sad all by themselves.

By now i suspect some of you are wondering what i planted... zucchini, cukes, string beans, watermelon, leeks, kohlrabi, green peppers, grape tomatoes (in a container), pear tomatoes, and corn (seeds). I also have some peas, carrots, parsnips, and beets in some containers. My peas aren't do so well this year. Maybe they will do better next year. I have found that a tomato cage works well to support the peas in the container. I also want to plant lettuce and swiss chard in some containers. But i need to get the seeds and i need more dirt.

Feel free to comment on the utter ridiculousness of growing watermelon and corn. It's too late in the season. I don't have enough room. etc. etc. etc. True on all points, but it'll be fun to see if anything develops. By the way, my corn has already popped and is about 3 inches high. I suspect it won't be "knee high by the 4th of July", but you never know. If the llama beans do their part, the corn and watermelon just might surprise me.