Finally, a garden update
May. 15th, 2014 00:20![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
torquillIn case you were wondering: yes, I did plant a garden this year. I even put two new raised beds in, in the back where the veggie garden traditionally lives.
The beds, like the front ones, are filled with horse bedding mixed with an accelerator; this year it was brewer's yeast, buckets of sludge straight from Black Diamond. I mixed that in and composted it in place, and now it's dense black muck that holds perhaps a little too much water. That will come in handy when big plants are transpiring hard in the heat of September.
I've added more water delivery, including misters in the back which will hopefully discourage the mites. The little buggers are already moving over from the dying lily-of-the-valley vine, but if I can keep things relatively humid around the plants, it should help. Let's take advantage of a reliable non-potable well, shall we?
The downside to the moist rich compost is that the pillbug population exploded. I had to delay planting any cucurbits or beans because they kept getting munched... I think we're finally past that point now, with the heat and reduced levels of uncomposted stuff, but it was bad for a while. The back beds didn't have as much of a problem, which is why you can see a healthy crop of bush beans (French flat) in one of those pictures.
I'm waiting on a shipment of sweet potato slips, and I hope I can protect them from the June heat long enough to let them take hold. I failed to sprout my own multiple times this year, so getting slips from Virginia was a last resort. It's a pity no one produces them in SoCal or Texas. *grumble*
I'm hoping the high compost content will take care of some soil nasties I've got... I picked up tomato Fusarium wilt a few years ago back there, and I've had charcoal rot for years -- it persists a long time, and attacks common beans and the occasional cucumber. The French beans are a test to see whether I can grow common beans in these beds, which would be a huge relief. I mean, I like Chinese yard-long beans, but there's far more Phaseolus varieties than the handful of edible ones in Vigna.
Anyway, so far so good on the diseases front, just a little bacterial speck during the late rainstorms in April. I'm trying more peppers, which I have dismal luck with, and eggplant, which I gave up on years ago (we'll see whether it still spontaneously generates flea beetles). The okra is off to a slow start, but I have hope. The summer squash took its cue from our last heat wave and exploded; I do believe I saw the first flower this morning. A female, oddly enough.
Out in the front, the potatoes have already tried to take over the city, nearly smothering the tomatillo (and isn't that saying something right there?) I finally got some nasturtiums going, which is fabulous in this climate. And the tomatoes are almost as happy as the ones in the back; only the two Dwarf Stone plants and one Legend aren't duplicates of the back (I have one in back, Podarok Fei, which isn't duplicated out front. Plus my cherry, which is Dr. Carolyn Pink this year.)
I have about three apples on my young apple tree, the nectarine got hit with brown rot despite my efforts but seems to be shaking it off, the blueberries are producing a few very nice berries while they wait to be planted in the fall, and the currants are thriving with the new thrice-weekly watering regimen. Did I mention I finally trenched the driveway and got the front and sidestrip on the irrigation controller? It's making a huge difference. Now if only I could get the weeds under control out there...
Anyway, it looks like a good season. Let's hope it continues.
The beds, like the front ones, are filled with horse bedding mixed with an accelerator; this year it was brewer's yeast, buckets of sludge straight from Black Diamond. I mixed that in and composted it in place, and now it's dense black muck that holds perhaps a little too much water. That will come in handy when big plants are transpiring hard in the heat of September.
I've added more water delivery, including misters in the back which will hopefully discourage the mites. The little buggers are already moving over from the dying lily-of-the-valley vine, but if I can keep things relatively humid around the plants, it should help. Let's take advantage of a reliable non-potable well, shall we?
The downside to the moist rich compost is that the pillbug population exploded. I had to delay planting any cucurbits or beans because they kept getting munched... I think we're finally past that point now, with the heat and reduced levels of uncomposted stuff, but it was bad for a while. The back beds didn't have as much of a problem, which is why you can see a healthy crop of bush beans (French flat) in one of those pictures.
I'm waiting on a shipment of sweet potato slips, and I hope I can protect them from the June heat long enough to let them take hold. I failed to sprout my own multiple times this year, so getting slips from Virginia was a last resort. It's a pity no one produces them in SoCal or Texas. *grumble*
I'm hoping the high compost content will take care of some soil nasties I've got... I picked up tomato Fusarium wilt a few years ago back there, and I've had charcoal rot for years -- it persists a long time, and attacks common beans and the occasional cucumber. The French beans are a test to see whether I can grow common beans in these beds, which would be a huge relief. I mean, I like Chinese yard-long beans, but there's far more Phaseolus varieties than the handful of edible ones in Vigna.
Anyway, so far so good on the diseases front, just a little bacterial speck during the late rainstorms in April. I'm trying more peppers, which I have dismal luck with, and eggplant, which I gave up on years ago (we'll see whether it still spontaneously generates flea beetles). The okra is off to a slow start, but I have hope. The summer squash took its cue from our last heat wave and exploded; I do believe I saw the first flower this morning. A female, oddly enough.
Out in the front, the potatoes have already tried to take over the city, nearly smothering the tomatillo (and isn't that saying something right there?) I finally got some nasturtiums going, which is fabulous in this climate. And the tomatoes are almost as happy as the ones in the back; only the two Dwarf Stone plants and one Legend aren't duplicates of the back (I have one in back, Podarok Fei, which isn't duplicated out front. Plus my cherry, which is Dr. Carolyn Pink this year.)
I have about three apples on my young apple tree, the nectarine got hit with brown rot despite my efforts but seems to be shaking it off, the blueberries are producing a few very nice berries while they wait to be planted in the fall, and the currants are thriving with the new thrice-weekly watering regimen. Did I mention I finally trenched the driveway and got the front and sidestrip on the irrigation controller? It's making a huge difference. Now if only I could get the weeds under control out there...
Anyway, it looks like a good season. Let's hope it continues.
