Like any gardener, I spent a fair portion of my morning in the garden. Yesterday was absolutely hot and humid. I tried to endure the heat but when I checked the weather on my phone and it was 90 degrees with a feel like 98. Now, I like to garden, but it just seemed pretty illogical to continue to fight the elements. So I stopped even trying to get stuff done in the garden. And for me, that's a very hard task to do. I don't like missing a day in the garden, especially a weekend day. So, I just resolved to get up early today and knock some things out.
First priority was to pick some veggies. And, as shown in my earlier post today, it was a very productive day. One thing I notice is that no matter how much I pick, I never really seem to have enough . A lot of what I picked today has either been eaten at dinner tonight or allocated out. The main reason for that is family. Seems everyone wants my produce and I really don't mind sharing if it brings them satisfaction. Its a nice indirect compliment that people like my tomatoes and such.
My wife made me a cucumber/tomato mixed salad for dinner tonight. I can say this, there is absolutely nothing as great tasting than fresh garden tomatoes and cucumbers with my favorite dressing. No store bought - even local sourced tomatoes and cucumbers - can even come close.
On another note, as I mentioned in my last post, I have decided to renovate my garden to give it more structure and better production. Well, that process has now begun. As seen below, I have removed the first set of bricks at the back of my one bed. I measured the area to make sure I wasn't reducing my beds and when all was measured, turns out the area will be a bit larger. Seems I will have an extra 4 square feet per bed. All good news.
So, there you have a day in the life of my garden. Hope you enjoyed your day as much as I did. Until next time, Happy Gardening everyone.
I watered my garden last night in hopes of getting a few items harvested in the early morning hours of today. I always water my veggies before I pick them. They just seem firmer when I do that. Well, it was a good day of gardening this morning as you can see from the picture below.
Needless to say, we have some good eating ahead of us.
I am going to enjoy eating the Cherokee Purple tomato and the stuffed Peppers early this week. We're going to cut the watermelon tonight. Hope it's good!
Our family just finished a great vacation cruising on the Carnival Pride out of the Port of Baltimore. I cannot say enough good things about our experience as it was fun and the crew was fantastic to say the least.
While I was on vacation, I had some time every morning to think before getting busy with the activities onboard and the ports of calls. And it became clear to me that it is time to begin renovations to my garden. I want to get more production and make it easier to maintain. I have two uneven beds that are producing but I've had a feeling that I am not getting the maximum utility out the space I have available.
The first order of business will be to even out the beds. As seen below, the right bed is shorter than the left bed.
This is from a different perspective.
I will shorten the left bed and stretch the right bed so they won't go beyond the fence post. I think it will give the beds symmetry and make working them easier. I have hopes that it will allow me to use soaker hoses connected to my rain barrels next year.
I know this appears to give me less space for my plants but there is another area I can use that I presently am not. Behind each bed is a walk way along the neighbors fence.
I plan, at this time, to pull the pavers up behind each bed and run the bricks directly to the fence. My initial calculations show that this will be a small net gain in space.
Another idea I have is to widen the beds to perhaps 5 to 6 feet each. I still have to do some calculations to see if that is both plausible and necessary. After all, I can expand the garden to the whole area but the question remains, do I need that much space? I am not totally convinced as of yet. But that is down the road a bit and there are other necessities to address first.
I'd certainly appreciate any input from anyone with experience in this area. Happy gardening everyone!
No matter how many gardeners I run across in my travels, they always seem to have a few tools that I have not seen before. Whether that would be a generational hand me down like an antique weathered trowel one of their parents used or a random item they picked up at a yard sale, they always have seemed to peak my interest. If pursued, most of the gardeners can relate a story or memory that made the tools more than just that - a tool. No, these have a connection that goes far beyond the utilitarian purpose the item serves.
So, that got me to thinking about some of the tools that I have accumulated throughout my years of gardening. I don't have any that I would say are generational hand me downs from my side of the family as my parents were not enthusiasts of gardening. But, I do have some beyond the ordinary tools that I have acquired or bought.
For instance, I have a hoe that was given to me by my father in law that his dad used many years ago.
As you can see, it isn't something you are going to find in any store, flea market or yard sale. It is kind of rough looking but has a very menacing look to it. I cant remember ever seeing tines that big and thick on a hoe. I have used this untold times in my garden and I can tell you, it is very effective at loosening the soil and removing deep rooted weeds with little effort. But beyond that, I have memories of my wife's grandfather and I can envision him taking this hoe and swinging it with authority. I am sure this piece is the result of him taking the head piece and fastening a new handle to it. He was just that kind of man. And therein lies the connection.
Another piece I have is what I call a root killer.
Much like the hoe, it also came from my wife's grandfather. It doesn't look like it, but it too is a heavy piece. Seems that he had several pieces that were of this ilk. I know this is because these were probably made during the 40's or 50's when almost everything made, was made to last. And, attesting to this fact is that they are still around and I have continued to use them. I did in fact use this to remove a stump last year. Sure, there probably was an easier way but I do get a kick using these. I can attest to this pieces' heft and it's strength. It is a fitting testimony to both that generations grit and the pride they put into their work.
And yet another piece from Grandpa's collection - I didn't realize I had so many until I started this blog entry - is an old wooden handled potato fork. At least I think that's what is called.
I haven't grown potatoes but maybe this will give me the motivation to do that.
Next, is a pitch fork that probably is for bailing hay. I can attest to it's ability to reach way down into my garden soil in the spring. I don't have any hay so I had to re-purpose it.
Next is a sifter that I use on my compost. And, yes, I pulled this out of grandpa's garage.
You can see the aging and I was told that he built it himself.
The next piece may bring back good or bad memories of when you were young, depending on your age naturally. I actually do remember using one of these and I have used it here in my yards. See, before there was the invention of the weed whackers, we had to use this.
Oh man, I spent countless hours in my parents front yard pushing and pulling one of these contraptions. It did the job alright but it was and still is kind of a back breaker. I bought this at an antique store in Annville Pa. called The First Floor Attic. I have used it since then but generally only in the Spring to cut a definitive edge. Then I use my weed whacker to maintain the edge.
And finally, I bought this piece at the same store.
I wasn't sure what it was actually but I later found out from my wife that it was a chicken feed spreader. Who knew there was such a thing? Well, besides my wife that is. I saw it and figured it would be a good compost spreader. I actually use it to spread almost any soil amendment I use such as vermiculite, sand or peat moss. It works really well and doesn't overload me.
So there you have it. My collection of old tools still in use in my gardening endeavors shared for the whole world to see what my family and friends have known for many years. That I am a bit fanatical about my gardening and the tools I use. Hopefully, this has been a bit of a walk back into your past or an enlightenment of what people have used over the years. I get a sense of when I am using these, that I am reconnecting to the past in some way myself. I hope you have enjoyed it! Until next time, Happy Gardening!
So far, I am pretty pleased the state of my vegetable gardens' progress. The tomatoes are coming along fine even though they were delayed in being transplanted due to our wet Spring weather. Here is a picture of them at this time.
They are full of little tomatoes so at this time, I have to be sure to continue to supply them with periodic nutrients and water. I plan on giving the garden a dose of compost tea this weekend to start them on their way to maturity.
Here is my first watermelon of the year and a volunteer tomato that decided behind my garage was a great place to reside in. I just put a pole by it to see what I am getting. Not quite sure yet but it appears to be a cherry tomato.
And finally, my cascading crop of cucumbers after a month. They have taken over my trellis.
The vines are full of cucumbers so we will be picking them for the next couple weeks.
