The fun ended at 10pm, and here I am catching up on the world while Ted sleeps. So, you get a blog post. The GrowDammit weekend:
Flowers & Herbs ( a professional would probably cringe, but you should've seen the mess I inherited with this garden). *Note to Brookberry Garden Club, we have a rain barrel and are therefore green...how do you water?
Parsley, Basil & Rosemary ( a bastardized Simon & Garfunkle Garden).
Again, note the rain barrel.
We needed some shade plants, so I let Ted pick some non-flowering varieties with interesting leaves. He was really into it.
The azaleas are starting to pop.
Garden 1: lettuce, peppers, tomatoes, peas & onion.
Garden 2: collards, mustard greens, brussel sprouts, okra, turnips, bok choi.
Interesting azalea blooming in the front bed. It's a peach/nectarine color. I have one about to pop that is more yellow/peach like an apricot. And one that is more of an orange/tangerine hue.
Next...hopefully more musings from the deck. It's my favorite time of day.
We sat out on the deck for about four hours just shooting the shit, downing some cocktails; It's pretty nice just sitting around doing jack shit after a hard day's work. I was out in it all day with the lawn mower. (All day with the lawn mower?!) Yeah..... You read it right. I'll cut the yard 5 or 6 times in one shot. I like giving the yard that "Baseball field(y) type look. Sometimes it's diamond patterns, sometimes it diagonals, sometimes it's horizontals, sometimes it's in a square pattern.... never the same thing twice. (It gives me something to do...) So while I was trying my hand at lawnscape greatness.... I hit a big ass root and bent the blade all to fuck; yet ANOTHER trip to the hardware store. It's a good thing that we're the richest Motherfuckers in the world, otherwise... we'd be broke. Okay.... So we're not the richest Motherfuckers in the world; but it sounds pretty good when I say it.
ReplyDeleteJ'aime beaucoup la façon dont vous me chienne sur le téléphone chaque fois que j'appelle pour dire "Salut ..." Et vous vous demandez pourquoi je vous éviter comme la peste putain. (Just sayin ') XXXOOO Ted.
Now that THAT'S out of the way.
Who knew about Marigolds? I didn't. I hope that cutworms like Marigolds because they sure like the collards that we planted. Farmer Chele planted some marigolds in both of the beds to deter the pests so we'll see what happens. if that doesn't work? (I'm busting out the big guns.) I'll Napalm the little fuckers, then we'll see what's what. I'm all about the organic but I can easily turn into a nasty little bitch when I hafta.
What else? What else? OH! I know. $4.17 for a gallon of petrol. Our friend Brian drives an 18 wheeler so I can just imagine the shit that comes out of his mouth whenever he has to fill THAT big bitch up. People raise hell about the price of groceries but you hafta consider....the shit just doesn't magically appear at Wegman's... The United states plugs bin Laden in the fuckin melon and the folks at BP rejoice.
And THAT... My friends is why we started a garden.... 36 bucks for four pounds of fresh tomatoes? It still makes my head spin...
(The French part is for all of the "Pickle Chokers" out there...)
ReplyDeleteI love the steps from the deck with all the pots! Looks great! I did an organic garden last year and got some tips for pest because the cutworms got my tomoato plants over night! Try planting some fennel around the garden. They hate the smell. I'm not sure if what ya'll have up there is the same as here but it doesn't hurt to try if you are really wanting organic. I don't have a garden this year since my brother's new room is sitting on the only place in the yard that got enough sun to support a garden. I have garden envy :)
ReplyDeleteThe tip on fennel is good to know. I hate that smell too... It smells like Black Licorice. We'll get some. I do know this about fennel.... If you braise it in some heavy cream... it's GREAT over a nice white fish; (Like Dover Sole.) Once you braise it.... that funky smell goes away and what you're left with is a sweet taste.
ReplyDeleteThe Water Barrel: Most water barrels these days have a hose connection @ the bottom, but unless you have a great grade, gravity often isn't enough to gravity feed the water. (It looks like you do;-) That being said, we built a little stand to put our water barrel on, elevating it off the ground to increase water pressure (much like the municipal water towers except we just raise 2' or so) If you choose to do this, I suggest 4'x'4' legs...it's holding a lot of weight!
ReplyDeleteThat's actually an EXCELLENT idea! Ours is on a couple of cinder blocks. I need to get my ass up on a ladder and clean out the gutters. (I also need to pressure wash the house.) I'm really not too "Gung-ho" about it because they both involve ladders and I scared of heights! Great idea on elevating the water barrel. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteCutworms: have you tried diatomaceous earth or something sharp and pointy that they would not want to crawl over to get to your plants (crushed eggshells work)? Also when the plants are young, you can use a tin can to collar it - sink the can a little into the ground. The worms can't climb up to get the plant. I can't remember any other remedies. It's been a while since I had a veggie garden.
ReplyDelete*~*~*
How do you keep mosquitos from laying eggs in a water barrel? That has been the only thing stopping me from doing that. I even have the damn barrel but keep emptying it cause the water moves.
ReplyDeleteAll good ideas on the cutworms. I think the plants are big enough now that they won't bother too much with them. So far, the collards have faired the worst.
ReplyDelete@Maintzie...is your rain barrel open? Ours is completely enclosed with a small vent at the top and two taps (top and bottom). We don't have a big mosquito problem around here, but they don't bother with the barrel. BTW, Ted showed me the thank you note your brother wrote to him for the SO...too sweet.
I hook up a soaker hose to the bottom vent and run it through the flower garden, there is enough of a slope that is usually enough gravity to empty it. We've had so much rain this Spring, I haven't hooked it up yet.
Skeeters?
ReplyDeleteThere are little round tabs available at your local garden store (or H.Depot=Supported and successful due to GrowDammit!;-) They are inexpensive.
I've also heard that a few drops of mineral oil will work. Apparently the oil sits on the water surface and disrupts the Mosquito life cycle~
You can do the same thing with vegetable oil; it creates a sheen on the surface and they can't get from underneath it.
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