Vegetable Garden Blues

I pulled into the driveway at my parent's home today and noticed that the veggies in the 8'x4'x12" raised bed (built on their concrete drive) had grown dramatically in the three days since I had last seen them. The tomato plants did not get confined to cages, so they are lazily drooped over the sides of the box, their bright yellow flowers weighing them down. At the opposite end of the rectangle the two cucumber plants have engulfed the garden and have started climbing up the wall of the trailer. Green onions are ready to be enjoyed, as are the leaves of the three sage plants. In short, my mom and dad's veggie garden looks spectacular.

I schlumped my way through the shaggy lawn to my garden as soon as I got home, eager to admire the future bounty. What the HELL???? My tomatoes look just as scrawny as the day I planted them! Onions, which were planted at least a week before I planted at mom's, have tops that are already on the ground while the white part is still puny and tasteless. One zucchini plant has a bloom, but the plant is only about 2" tall so I have no idea if it will actually produce or not. All of my plants look stunted and pathetic.

I have to own up it my garden failure. Last fall I didn't till....didn't this spring, either. I haven't added organic matter, fertilizer, or mulch. Due to the extreme rain we have had this spring, I didn't water. I have never had the soil tested. In other words, I'm a failure as a Master Gardener! I didn't do anything right!!!! (Excuses are abundant...too much rain, was out of state, mom had eye surgery, took care of grandkids, and on and on.)

My plight is my own fault. The garden gets too much shade, so I will try to trim back branches that I can reach. I will add fertilizer and compost to the soil to try to get nutrients to the hungry plants, and top with mulch to help control moisture and temperature swings of the soil. It may be too late to do much for a summer crop, but I hope to clear out the failed plants and plant cold weather crops for the fall when the time is right.

The veggie garden is in the low part of the yard, and we had too much rain this year, so I will get wood to build a raised bed for next year. By doing that, I will be forced to add new soil, compost, sand and manure. The soil will be able to sit all winter long and "cook". Maybe in the summer of 2010 my garden will provide a plethora of vegetables!!
shel

Sticky, Sticky Weather

MAN, it's miserable outside. I've been inside with the kids most days. The flower and veggie gardens are doing well enough as we have had an incredible amount of rain in the last few weeks, but the people are wilting as soon as they step out their doors. What did we do before air conditioning?

Tonight I went out to put water in my 250 gallon horse trough holding tank for two of my koi, watered a few of my hanging baskets that tend to dry quickly, and pull a few weeds. Within 10 minutes I was a soaking mess. I certainally hope that it dries up and cools off before Saturday as it is the garden walk for DOVE in Clinton.

Tomorrow I'll babysit for little Gabe again, so mowing will have to wait until evening. I hope it cools down by then!

shel

DOVE Garden Walk in Clinton, IL

My best friend and neighbor, Becky, has one of the gardens that are featured in this year's garden tour. DOVE hosts the tour as its fund raiser every-other year. What a wonderful way to spend $10...you get an entire day of touring spectacular gardens (you can always steal ideas from the talented gardeners!), have a tasty free lunch, and give to a worthy cause.

I've spent a day or two helping Becky with some of the usual garden chores. The poor girl has two bulging discs in her neck and is limited in her activities. My gardens are overflowing with interesting hosta, so I've dug up clumps to replant down there.

Tomorrow morning I'll be dropping my resume off at a local business, then going to the movie theater with my niece and her three children. After that, I plan on spending the day helping Becky again. She is very talented with "extras" for the gardens. For example, she has a life-size wire frame dress form that we will stuff with moss and plant with pink impatiens. It will be a unique touch to her paradise.

In the meantime, money has gotten really REALLY tight around here, so I'm trying to sell clumps of daylilies and hosta. I've spent thousands of dollars and have hundreds of varieties of each, most of them named. (I have wonderful plant labels that I always put out.) No bites yet, but maybe once people see the flowers blooming they'll change their minds.

I'm tired, and need to rest up for my big day tomorrow. Sweet garden dreams, everyone.

shel

Missing It

I haven't been out in my gardens for quite a few days now, and man, am I missing it. Weeding can be quite therapeutic. We have had a wet, wet spring so the weeds are having a great time taking over the gardens. I'm hoping that it holds off on Wednesday, as I won't have either grandson and I will be able to get some mulch spread.

The hosta are fabulous as are the lupines. Sadly, the oriental lilies are being eaten by deer before they have a chance to show off. Same with some of the daylilies.

shel

Attack of the Mint

I could not back the riding mower, a Sears Craftsman Limited Edition, out of the shed today so I had to let the jungle of grass grow. Instead, I tackled the mint mess in the pineapple garden in front.

Five or six years ago I heard that if you place a five gallon bucket in the ground, leaving four inches of bucket above the soil line, you could plant mint and not worry about it invading the garden. WRONG!!! The invision is slower, but it is indeed a mess if you let things go for just one short season. I pulled mint for two hours. If I would have been dipped into a vat of hot water, there would have been enough mint tea to serve all of the folks in England!

The moral of the story is that you should never, EVER invite mint into a garden unless you plan on growing ONLY mint. The stuff will haunt you forever!

shel

Hosta, Hosta and More Hosta

After watching beautiful Gabriel all day, I decided that, instead of going to the Garden Club meeting, I needed to work in my gardens. I pulled at least ten pounds of chickweed from the Weeping Cherry Garden, as well as odds and ends of other undesirables. The lupin is blooming beautifully, as are a few daylilies. The clematis that is trained to climb up the weeping cherry is teasing me with buds, but is unwilling to fully open. Maybe tomorrow. (This garden is in front on the west side of the drive.

The Pee Gee Garden (that's a hydrangea that is trained into tree form) is full of poison ivy, poke weed, and chickweed. I pulled up most of the weeds but steered clear of the leaves of three. I intend to go out with Round Up and spray the heck out of all of the little starts that seem to reach out and grab me. (You'll find this garden in the front, on the east side of the drive.)

On the east side of the house I started weeding the Wedding Garden which is only about 2' wide but 60' long, but I once again touched poison ivy and had to run into the house. I thought that I was pushing my luck as the evening shadows made plant identification in a shady area almost impossible. (This garden is on the west side of the house, following the line of the woods.)

After a quick shower, I decided to check on the veggie garden. The tomato plants, cucumber and zucchini plants, green peppers, and a few cabbages are doing well. The radishes are gone (eaten by humans) and the peas are gone (eaten by deer and bunnies, curse them.) Green onions will be ready to eat in a week or so, and leeks are doing what leeks do best. I can't wait to cook with them. (This garden is on the east side of the house.)

My Randy Garden, named after my deceased brother, is stunning right now. There must be 40 different varieties of hosta in there. Not all of them are named, but most are labeled. The garden is 10' wide and 30' long, and surrounds oak trees. The hosta have been there for four years and they have filled in beautifully. I have a 'Candy Strip' mini rose that needs transplanted as it gets too much shade here. the 'Lady in Red' hydrangea is covered with buds, soon to be a mound of bright red. I have a flat of red impatiens to plant in clumps where the hosta fails to meet the rock border, and to put in the hanging baskets. My Randy Garden is the only garden that is mature enough so that it doesn't need mulch.

I didn't look at the other gardens tonight, but I sure did enjoy the ones I was able to work in. Hopefully I can get the mulch spread soon in the weed-free gardens, and can get the rest of the intruders pulled out from the other gardens within the next week or so.

Hope you have enjoyed my garden stroll. I'll try to get pics to put on here.

shel