Some questions & tips

Feel free to answer any of these questions, if you know the answer.  I have a feeling on what to do, for some of them, but who knows - I've definitely been wrong before!

1)  It would be nice if everything sprouted on the same day, grew & bloomed at the same rate, and was ready to harvest on the same day.  Unfortunately that is not the case, at all.  I have some potato plants that are barely peeking through the mulch (~0.5") and some which are over 6" tall and HUGE.  According to my Gardening Guide (the best vegetable book ever written for Texans), I need to "dirt" the plants once they reach 5-6", with 3-4" of dirt thrown on the base of the plant.  Like I said above, though, I may have one plant at 6" tall next to a tiny sprout.  I've just started dirting the ones that are growing strong, and go back later over the ones which are lagging behind.  It will be interesting, because there's only so much dirt to be thrown on top, lol.

2) The question that I seem to never get a straight answer on: If I'm planting in a ridge-and-furrow style, which I am for cucumbers, corn, beans, strawberries, and potatoes, where would you put the soaker-hose for watering?  I've heard to lay it in the furrow, because it encourages the roots to grow down, and become stronger.  I've questioned these people, as to how the seedling would get water to sprout, and how the roots would reach down (about 4-6") to even reach the water?  I never can get a straight answer.

3) Here's a tip - potatoes can be grown in rows 2 feet apart, but that is probably about the limit if you plan on dirting the plants. 

4) Hey, let's throw a random one in here...does anyone know how to keep chicken from drying out when cooking stir-fry, or in a crock-pot? 

5) Though I don't have any pictures yet, I'll be sure to get some.  I'm using 4 (or 6 if I can find another) T-posts and some binding wire, to make a growing trellis for my beans.  Simply put a post at each end of the row (and more in-between if you have very long rows), and tie the binding wire between them.  Add a turnbuckle on one end if the wires start to sag...I don't really know if the binding wire will sag or not, but I imagine (like most things) it will a little.  That will just have to be a trial & error deal.

Other than that, the garden is growing VERY well so far!  Almost all the beans sprouted yesterday, the potatoes are still huge, and the strawberries are taking off.  The peppers have been planted, with some more to plant later.  Corn still hasn't sprouted, but it's been so dry, I don't really expect them to until the middle of this week.

Thanks for stopping by.

What's been planted

Corn was planted on Saturday.  I planted three 15-foot rows, and I'll do three more rows in a couple weeks.  I planted several varieties of cucumbers (bush and trellising), hoping to have better luck than last year.  I also planted my beans & southern peas last Thursday.  The garden is just waiting to explode with green!

The potatoes are doing pretty well - odd though.  Some are HUGE and some are very tiny.  They'll come up, eventually.  Patience is a heck of a virtue when gardening.  So is weeding, lol.

The strawberries are doing well, also, but I was hoping they'd be a little further along than they are.  Part of that is likely due to lack of rain.  It hasn't rained here in over a month and a half.  I'm hoping to pick up some soaker hose on Friday, and rig up a watering system.

Last Saturday I was at Home Depot, strolling through the pepper/tomato plants, and I got to thinking "isn't it too early to plant?"  After looking at the weather, I now realize that we had a very early last-freeze-date this year, which is great.  Hopefully that doesn't mean we're going to smash heat records this summer, though.

As I mentioned in my previous post, things have been a blur of insanity lately.  I wish I could get back to reading some books, that I've started and haven't finished.  Seems like every time I get going, something comes up at work, or home, or elsewhere.  :-\

Either way, I'm glad to be able to have the time I do to spend in the garden.  So peaceful and eases a lot of stress.

Clearly a conspiracy

It's funny how when I claim I will post more, I post less.  I think the government is behind it...lol.

So, why the long absence?  A variety of reasons, but most notably, the hospital.  I've been at the hospital for about a week straight, because my sister had severe abdominal pain.  I won't go into all the details, but let's just say that there are some EXTREMELY incompetent people working here in town, and at the third hospital, they ended up removing a cyst the size of a baseball, and her appendix.

So honestly, the garden hasn't been at the top of my list, in the season which it should be.  Luckily I was able to take a few "sanity" days off from work and get it back on track.  The potatoes were plated, as well as strawberries, and now the beans & peas have been planted.  I slightly altered the layout when I figured I could add another row by merely knocking 6" off the pepper row-spacing.  Big deal - the minute crowdedness that will come about shouldn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

The blackberry plants are flowering well, and the onions at the north side of the garden are growing strong.  The south side doesn't get as much sun (yet) so they're not fully-growing.  So far, 27 out of ~80 potatoes have bloomed, and that's likely due to the other half being the Yukon Gold (or was it Red?) that bloom later.  The carrots have finally begun to sprout, but are still very very tiny.

It is a very warm Spring here, so far, so I'll probably plant the corn early next week, followed by Tomatoes and Peppers.  I am beginning to think our last freeze already occured (pretty early).

So, back to work.  Thanks for checking in!

Marching into the garden

If you've read this far, I appreciate you not leaving after that terrible pun of a title.

So, I ended up going to Ace Hardware and renting a front tine (urgh, the rear tine was still broken so they are selling it) tiller.  I brought it home, cleverly unloaded it by myself with a big board, and then started tilling away.  What a great tiller!  Very simple, no crazy knobs, buttons, etc.  And it made quick work of the garden.  I finished tilling all of the garden in less than an hour, so that was nice, because I only had to pay $8 :-)

Here's how the garden stands now.  I'll try to get pics of the actual garden tomorrow when it's light out again.  Needless to say, it's finally coming along.

(Click on the image to enlarge)

Well that is all for now, because I'm running late for church.  Thanks for stopping by.