An apt title for three reasons:
1. On a positive note, this week brought one of those annual milestones every gardener anticipates: the tomatoes needed staking. Well, technically, they needed tied up to their stakes, since the stakes are already in place.
2. The beans are continuing to get a nightly haircut thanks to my resident rabbit. I’m quickly depleting my surplus of blood meal and ground pepper (good excuse to buy more, I guess.) Next week, I’m going to try a homemade spray with egg and pepper to see if I can’t deter the pest long enough to get the beans to a tougher and less-tempting stage.
3. You’ll have to close your eyes and imagine pictures this week. I *had* pictures I snapped yesterday afternoon before we headed out the door (I’m writing this en route to Oklahoma.) I downloaded them to Picasa, and instructed it to delete everything off the photo card once the download was complete. Picasa warned me that it couldn’t be undone – was I sure? Sure I was sure. I thought. The download finished, and I had 25 new pics, but not the ones I snapped yesterday. Sigh.
Anyhoo, the tomatoes are nice, sturdy plants and growing well. The next few weeks will find me adjusting their ties ever upward. Now to see some blooms and then fruit should start to appear. It’s a race against the thermometer and calendar at this point: how quickly can we get blooms pollinated and fruit setting before the nighttime temps start to drift high enough to halt the production process? I was grateful for the cooler evening temps we experienced earlier this week – a cool breeze is great for sleeping and for the ‘maters. But temps this weekend are supposed to climb close to the century mark and overnight temperatures won’t get as cool, either.
The potatoes are continuing to shoot up daily – I’m hoping they’re making lots of little tubers (tater tots?) beneath that blanket of straw and dirt.
One little row of radishes is growing fine while the other is struggling – my guess is it’s a nutrient deficiency and possibly a low pH issue going on in this raised bed. I’ve added some wood ash and alfalfa tea in an effort to introduce some gentle nitrogen and raise the pH but so far, the affected plants aren’t responding to my overtures.
The okra are continuing to grow up and out, and the chard and fennel are putting out new growth and settling into their new homes.
My bird netting is probably not pinned down tightly enough to keep the truly persistent birds out of the berries, so note to self is to get some landscape fabric pins to secure it.
And that’s this week’s crop report. Next week, pictures. And soon, there WILL be actual crops to discuss!
Happy gardening,
Terry
Ooh…those bad bunnies! Have a safe trip!
Thanks! I will try to avoid sounding like Elmer Fudd but they are definitely rascally.
One of my gardening friends says walking around in your garden barefoot helps keep bunnies away (human scent is strong in the feet). She ascribes to a lot of the old gardening lore (some which is true, some just tales) and I’ve never tried it, but she swears by it!
It’s worth a try. Worst case? I’ll have an excuse to go get a pedicure!