I think I've torn my right rotator cuff, but only a little bit
Tomato season is officially over in Seattle. Yesterday I ripped out all 4 wildly vining bushes. To show for it, I have a few pounds of ripe or semi-ripe cherry tomatoes, a few pounds of green brandywines, and maybe, oh, 15 pounds of green cherry tomatoes. Thank goodness I have a recipe to pickle them! (Thanks
swooop!) After cleaning out the tomato bed, and piling it with washed dairy manure, it looks almost ready to sleep in.
I turned the mammoth crimson clover under, and hopefully the 6 inch pile of still-warm manure will kill the stuff. I went and picked a cover crop that spreads via its roots. Not a great idea in a small city veggie garden.
Other notes:
The first planting of kale is white with powdery mildew. That's not supposed to happen, but there it is. The second planting looks fresh as a daisy. I'm still considering my options for planting number 1.
The beets. Why, beets, why? Why are you so tiny? You and the corn salad. No interest whatsoever in growing up. Actually corn salad, you're worse. 1 1/2 months in the ground, and 2 itsy bitsy cotyledons are all you have to show for it?
The broccoli. So huge, so delicious! Must remember to cut the heads at a 45 degree angle, or else the water sits on the cut and rots the stems out.
Collards and chard. Huge and sweet. Unfazed by torrential rains. Love ya, greens. Spinach has been much less impressive. Will try other cultivars.
Peppers: Blooming away under a cloche. I feel like it is thumbing it's nose at me. So close! All I wanted was one tiny pepper. Really, it's loaded with blooms, just champing at the bit to set some peppers. But. It is October. I'm tempted to pot the things up and bring them inside. But I'm guessing I'll only get more frustration for my trouble.
Carrots: I'm afraid to look. Their tops look good.
Parsnips: More afraid to look, since there only about 15 of them. Tops look really good. When do I harvest these things, anyways?
Potatoes: Remains to be seen. I'm not hopeful.
Last but not least: I have moved about 20 yards of compost and manure yesterday and today. I can't remember the last time I was so tired! (About 2 yards of it had to be wheeled, one wheelbarrow at a time, uphill. I have the blisters to prove it. Well, those, and the big steaming piles at the top of the slope...) Now I need to finish shaping my berms, and then let it all sit in the rain for a couple of weeks to settle. Then: planting time! I cannot wait.
swooop!) After cleaning out the tomato bed, and piling it with washed dairy manure, it looks almost ready to sleep in.
I turned the mammoth crimson clover under, and hopefully the 6 inch pile of still-warm manure will kill the stuff. I went and picked a cover crop that spreads via its roots. Not a great idea in a small city veggie garden.
Other notes:
The first planting of kale is white with powdery mildew. That's not supposed to happen, but there it is. The second planting looks fresh as a daisy. I'm still considering my options for planting number 1.
The beets. Why, beets, why? Why are you so tiny? You and the corn salad. No interest whatsoever in growing up. Actually corn salad, you're worse. 1 1/2 months in the ground, and 2 itsy bitsy cotyledons are all you have to show for it?
The broccoli. So huge, so delicious! Must remember to cut the heads at a 45 degree angle, or else the water sits on the cut and rots the stems out.
Collards and chard. Huge and sweet. Unfazed by torrential rains. Love ya, greens. Spinach has been much less impressive. Will try other cultivars.
Peppers: Blooming away under a cloche. I feel like it is thumbing it's nose at me. So close! All I wanted was one tiny pepper. Really, it's loaded with blooms, just champing at the bit to set some peppers. But. It is October. I'm tempted to pot the things up and bring them inside. But I'm guessing I'll only get more frustration for my trouble.
Carrots: I'm afraid to look. Their tops look good.
Parsnips: More afraid to look, since there only about 15 of them. Tops look really good. When do I harvest these things, anyways?
Potatoes: Remains to be seen. I'm not hopeful.
Last but not least: I have moved about 20 yards of compost and manure yesterday and today. I can't remember the last time I was so tired! (About 2 yards of it had to be wheeled, one wheelbarrow at a time, uphill. I have the blisters to prove it. Well, those, and the big steaming piles at the top of the slope...) Now I need to finish shaping my berms, and then let it all sit in the rain for a couple of weeks to settle. Then: planting time! I cannot wait.