The Latest On The Garden

Apparently water is very important.

I am once again amazed at the transformation of the garden by one small act. Once we got the soaker hoses put out and figured out the best configuration for them the growth that has taken place in the garden has been amazing. Some of the plants shot up six inches or more almost over night. In just a week the corn has gone from being about a foot high to being over waist high. The tomatoes have been tied up three times now and really need it again.

I spent about 4 hours in the garden on Wednesday hoeing to take out the weeds. After looking around yesterday I could see that my success was only moderate. So I'll have to go back again this week and get the stubborn survivors. If I have to I'll get down there and pull them up by hand. I'm not going to have a bunch of nasty old weeds mucking up my pretty garden. We also put down some fertilizer.

I need to let things dry out for a couple of days before I venture back in though. I discovered that when the ground is pretty wet you will mire up past your ankles in a heartbeat. I think that I would prefer to be on more solid ground this time around. I also need to bite the bullet and get some rocks up. They definitely got in the way when I was trying to hoe. It is like trying to dig up a parking lot!

Yesterday I got most of the garden sprayed. The bugs had availed themselves of my fresh produce and were beginning to take a toll. The tomato plants were looking rough. I got done with the spraying just in time for the rain shower that they had been promising all week (and putting off because they were wrong all week.) That means that I will have to spray again, but that's OK. I'll take the rain anytime I can get it. I did a couple things that probably ensured that it would rain though. I sprayed the garden, and I left the windows in the truck down when I went out for the evening. The only thing that would have made the rain more sure is if I had washed the truck too! (If I had, it might have rained all night!) Like I said, I don't mind. The Lord can send a shower any time He likes, and I'm grateful for this one.

Dad sprayed most of the poison ivy and it is looking a little peaked. We have to get that knocked out before the cantaloupe begins to run. It is putting on blossoms now, so I expect the runners to start any time now. The squash is also blooming as are the pepper plants. Some of our tomatoes are about golf ball size now.

So, this week's garden projects are to:

1. Get up the rocks.
2. Put some Calcinit Tropicote around the tomatoes.
3. Weed.
4. Put out Ammonia (or is it ammonium?) Nitrate around the corn.

I'm sure we can find something else to do too. As always, I'll make sure to keep you up to date.

Apparently, water is very important.