Planting notes! Homesteading stuff too!
Updates:
Corn: Way tall and producing pollen like crazy! So far only three corn silks have appeared but more are coming in I can see them on the stalks. All 18 plants put in circles around the ollas are doing good. Next year they will in the other raised bed which gets way more sun in the morning.
Beans: The flowers are coming in faster now that it is actually hotter at night too. I can imagine how fast the pods are ripening on the french green but the Kentucky is catching up. Providing plenty of nitrogen to the hungry corn is probably helping as well to the pumpkin which lets me..
Pumpkins: The older pumpkin vine is close to ten feet long on one and seven feet on the other. The bigger vine has produced two pumpkins which I had to hand fertilize due to lack of Bees or any kind of pollinating insect. I blame this on overuse of flying insect spray. :( Anyway, the first pumpkin is getting fatter each day with a new friend slowly catching up. The second vine took a while longer to put out its first pumpkin but once fertilized it is growing fast as well. It will be more round unlike the first one which looks kind of oval. I plan on cooking these guys up and making pumpkin bread or occasional pumpkin pancakes (mmmm nice fall treat). If I get my canning kit before they are ready (late sept/oct), I'll jar some too for later treats. Second pumpkin vine has another pumpkin flowering on its tip. I am thinking by sunday I should see the flower top ready to open. Yay.
Lettuce n stuff: 4th bed is doing ok though the afternoon heat is killing it even with a cover. The plastic bottles are helping keep the ground cool further down so long as it is covered up. Once more things are growing out I will heavily mulch that bed then cut the too big floating row cover in half. I forgot what else I planted but I think it was chives, cilantro which will probably immediately bolt upon getting real leaves; extra lettuce and some other stuff.
Tomatoes, Peppers, Radishes, Lima, Okra: Tomatoes are finally starting to catch up with the additional heat during the day and at night. Tonight it is about 80 degrees outside. So hot the air is on now. Heat waves predicted for the next few days so I am really going to have to be diligent with watering. Okra is really coming up fast now unlike its previous friends who didn't do so well. Only three are coming up of the 10 or so seeds I planted a few weeks ago. I'm not surprised as the first bit was colded out mostly. Maybe some others will come up as the season stretches on. Peppers are doing good though again the first round of hot peppers and sweet bell I have given up on. Will try to plant some sweet bell this weekend so we get SOMETHING before late Fall freezes all out. Radishes are forming full size real leaves and I saw some red under the dirt. Yay! I planted Lima beans late but boy did they catch up quick! Beans are like that though-saw some beginning flowers so by August some full size pots for canning/freezing!
Flowers: Marigolds are doing great and look nice in addition to all the green. Will definitely get more seeds for next year-all edibles to be planted everywhere I can put them. I will also order some real rose hip roses or Dog roses which produce the big ones. I miss having roses and rose water is easy to make but adding lavender would be most excellent. Also wanna make some rose syrup, rose vinegar mixed with lavender. Scented geranium (rose) is doing very well as is the other one that came back from being attacked by the chickens last year. I think it is a lemon geranium but I haven't smelled it lately so I am not sure. I will try to get more geraniums in. They need pots because they are not staying here when I retire and move. Plus they like to spread A LOT.
Strawberries: Two of the six plants are dying but surprise the seeds I thought wouldn't come up on the alpine are very happy and popping up everywhere. So maybe no strawberries this year but alpine can grow in the early spring. :d
Blackberries: Do not get, I repeat do not get thornless satin blackberries. No flavor at all! Even sitting on the vine way after being ready to pick does not improve the flavor. What a disappointment considering how well they grow. I am sticking with regular blackberries!
Apples: Green apple tree is doing good despite having no apples. Next year for sure ok tree? The ONE gala apple is really getting big. I check it to make sure nothing has invited itself in otherwise it is smack down time!
Bush Zucchini: The first female flowering zucchini showed up a few days ago. Now its flower is ready for pollinating which if the male flower is ready on the other side I can do tomorrow morning.
Grapes: Gonna have sooooooooo many grapes it is crazy! I wanna make grape jelly but mostly I wanna eat them. The red did fantastic this year. Also whatever is left the chickens will have a field day eating the dropped grapes.
Herbs: I think a lavender plant I pulled up to move is pretty gone as are the dwarf lavender I planted. :( I have seeds left so I will put them in the flowering bed near the fence because that is the best area for it to grow and thrive. I still have one Rosemary plant I think will survive me transplanting it to something bigger. Catnip, Lemon balm and secondary Lavender are coming up peachy as is the Peppermint plant that gets mostly shade. I do have a Spearmint plant but it is not loving the excessive heat and lack of water. I will have to rearrange the drip hose so it gets water during the timed waterings 3x a week.
Fruit trees:
Lemon doing good. Grapefruit offensively doing well. Pecan needing more watering as it gets hot. Plum tree pretty much done. First apricots almost all fallen off the tree. Too many to eat so some went into compost some in the trash (wormy ones). Plums are GOOD this year and BIG! Will be making some more jam this weekend but to use not to freeze and forget mom. :p
Next year plans to add, peach (2), pear(2), mexican lime (1), pink grapefruit (1) and GOOD orange tree(1). I don't like blood oranges. Blargh. Will get a box this year and put them all out for someone. Hmmm, Tangerines I didn't look at closely but I will guess it is doing the same as always.
Neighbor's pomegranates will get jacked this year. Not just for the chickens who LOVE their seeds but because the juice is too expensive in the store.
That's it! Looks like a lot but only so because I wanted something more organized. There are plans in my head not just to upgrade the shed but to put in a water feature to attract dragonflies, maybe a frog or two and plant some edible water plants. Fish? Not sure I want that even though their poo is good composting material. That is done the road but easy to learn about as we have a "famous" pond place up the street that gives seminaries.
For now it is soon to be all about the shed and cleaning out the garage again. Maybe this time I will rent the container but the goal this time is break up the shed. Might have to take the week off so I can do so w/o rushing.
Corn: Way tall and producing pollen like crazy! So far only three corn silks have appeared but more are coming in I can see them on the stalks. All 18 plants put in circles around the ollas are doing good. Next year they will in the other raised bed which gets way more sun in the morning.
Beans: The flowers are coming in faster now that it is actually hotter at night too. I can imagine how fast the pods are ripening on the french green but the Kentucky is catching up. Providing plenty of nitrogen to the hungry corn is probably helping as well to the pumpkin which lets me..
Pumpkins: The older pumpkin vine is close to ten feet long on one and seven feet on the other. The bigger vine has produced two pumpkins which I had to hand fertilize due to lack of Bees or any kind of pollinating insect. I blame this on overuse of flying insect spray. :( Anyway, the first pumpkin is getting fatter each day with a new friend slowly catching up. The second vine took a while longer to put out its first pumpkin but once fertilized it is growing fast as well. It will be more round unlike the first one which looks kind of oval. I plan on cooking these guys up and making pumpkin bread or occasional pumpkin pancakes (mmmm nice fall treat). If I get my canning kit before they are ready (late sept/oct), I'll jar some too for later treats. Second pumpkin vine has another pumpkin flowering on its tip. I am thinking by sunday I should see the flower top ready to open. Yay.
Lettuce n stuff: 4th bed is doing ok though the afternoon heat is killing it even with a cover. The plastic bottles are helping keep the ground cool further down so long as it is covered up. Once more things are growing out I will heavily mulch that bed then cut the too big floating row cover in half. I forgot what else I planted but I think it was chives, cilantro which will probably immediately bolt upon getting real leaves; extra lettuce and some other stuff.
Tomatoes, Peppers, Radishes, Lima, Okra: Tomatoes are finally starting to catch up with the additional heat during the day and at night. Tonight it is about 80 degrees outside. So hot the air is on now. Heat waves predicted for the next few days so I am really going to have to be diligent with watering. Okra is really coming up fast now unlike its previous friends who didn't do so well. Only three are coming up of the 10 or so seeds I planted a few weeks ago. I'm not surprised as the first bit was colded out mostly. Maybe some others will come up as the season stretches on. Peppers are doing good though again the first round of hot peppers and sweet bell I have given up on. Will try to plant some sweet bell this weekend so we get SOMETHING before late Fall freezes all out. Radishes are forming full size real leaves and I saw some red under the dirt. Yay! I planted Lima beans late but boy did they catch up quick! Beans are like that though-saw some beginning flowers so by August some full size pots for canning/freezing!
Flowers: Marigolds are doing great and look nice in addition to all the green. Will definitely get more seeds for next year-all edibles to be planted everywhere I can put them. I will also order some real rose hip roses or Dog roses which produce the big ones. I miss having roses and rose water is easy to make but adding lavender would be most excellent. Also wanna make some rose syrup, rose vinegar mixed with lavender. Scented geranium (rose) is doing very well as is the other one that came back from being attacked by the chickens last year. I think it is a lemon geranium but I haven't smelled it lately so I am not sure. I will try to get more geraniums in. They need pots because they are not staying here when I retire and move. Plus they like to spread A LOT.
Strawberries: Two of the six plants are dying but surprise the seeds I thought wouldn't come up on the alpine are very happy and popping up everywhere. So maybe no strawberries this year but alpine can grow in the early spring. :d
Blackberries: Do not get, I repeat do not get thornless satin blackberries. No flavor at all! Even sitting on the vine way after being ready to pick does not improve the flavor. What a disappointment considering how well they grow. I am sticking with regular blackberries!
Apples: Green apple tree is doing good despite having no apples. Next year for sure ok tree? The ONE gala apple is really getting big. I check it to make sure nothing has invited itself in otherwise it is smack down time!
Bush Zucchini: The first female flowering zucchini showed up a few days ago. Now its flower is ready for pollinating which if the male flower is ready on the other side I can do tomorrow morning.
Grapes: Gonna have sooooooooo many grapes it is crazy! I wanna make grape jelly but mostly I wanna eat them. The red did fantastic this year. Also whatever is left the chickens will have a field day eating the dropped grapes.
Herbs: I think a lavender plant I pulled up to move is pretty gone as are the dwarf lavender I planted. :( I have seeds left so I will put them in the flowering bed near the fence because that is the best area for it to grow and thrive. I still have one Rosemary plant I think will survive me transplanting it to something bigger. Catnip, Lemon balm and secondary Lavender are coming up peachy as is the Peppermint plant that gets mostly shade. I do have a Spearmint plant but it is not loving the excessive heat and lack of water. I will have to rearrange the drip hose so it gets water during the timed waterings 3x a week.
Fruit trees:
Lemon doing good. Grapefruit offensively doing well. Pecan needing more watering as it gets hot. Plum tree pretty much done. First apricots almost all fallen off the tree. Too many to eat so some went into compost some in the trash (wormy ones). Plums are GOOD this year and BIG! Will be making some more jam this weekend but to use not to freeze and forget mom. :p
Next year plans to add, peach (2), pear(2), mexican lime (1), pink grapefruit (1) and GOOD orange tree(1). I don't like blood oranges. Blargh. Will get a box this year and put them all out for someone. Hmmm, Tangerines I didn't look at closely but I will guess it is doing the same as always.
Neighbor's pomegranates will get jacked this year. Not just for the chickens who LOVE their seeds but because the juice is too expensive in the store.
That's it! Looks like a lot but only so because I wanted something more organized. There are plans in my head not just to upgrade the shed but to put in a water feature to attract dragonflies, maybe a frog or two and plant some edible water plants. Fish? Not sure I want that even though their poo is good composting material. That is done the road but easy to learn about as we have a "famous" pond place up the street that gives seminaries.
For now it is soon to be all about the shed and cleaning out the garage again. Maybe this time I will rent the container but the goal this time is break up the shed. Might have to take the week off so I can do so w/o rushing.