Another beautiful cloudy, low‑humidity morning, the kind that actually feels good to work in. The low was 71°F and the forecast high is 88°F, though with the cloud cover it may not reach that. There’s a chance of rain overnight with about .35″ predicted, and another .5″ Saturday morning. As usual, we might get nothing at all or we might get three inches instead of .85. What is certain is that by Monday and Tuesday the temperatures will be near 100°F.
With that heat coming, I’ve been thinking about a plan for my young tomatoes. A couple years ago I cut landscape fabric to use as temporary shade, and I’m going to put it to use again. For next year’s garden, I want to research proper garden shade cloth so I have something more durable. For now, I’ll use clothespins to attach the fabric to the cages already in place, focusing on the southwest side where the sun hits hardest.
I counted today and I’ve lost 7 tomato plants out of 22. The shade setup is something I’ll work on Sunday as temperatures start climbing toward 96°F. There’s still plenty of hot weather ahead, and August hasn’t even started.
Today was a very productive day at my plots. I tilled the old cucumber bed that I prepped yesterday. It is the 11‑foot long trellis, and the bed is 6′ x 11′. On the north 11‑foot side is a whole row of basil that is two‑fold for pesto and beneficial for the garden. The 12‑inch tiller worked great, as my Sears Craftsman that is 2 feet wide might have gotten too close to the basil roots. Yesterday I wasn’t sure if I was going to plant, but I decided to take a chance on the weather. If I didn’t plant now I would have to wait a few more days, but I already know I want to plant flower seeds on Monday, and those if planted now could easily wash away, but not beans that are planted on their little speed bump at a 1/2″ depth. Plus I added the water bars (diversions). Here are some photos of tilling and my planted Chinese bean bed.
Now that I was done with that, I started on the raised bed. I wasn’t sure how much I could get done today, but it was so cool that I was just a gardening bot and kept on working. Of course I took a few little breaks to eat and drink. Because my garden is 15 minutes away if I take the highway, I have to make sure I have all I need — snacks, water, my seeds, etc. Most of my gardening paraphernalia is stored in the shed. I thought having a shed meant my truck wouldn’t be loaded, but it is, and it’s a nice organized mess where I know exactly where everything is located.
The soil is loose and the weeds came out easy. I found one small basil plant and transplanted it. I think I moved about 12 zinnias and remembered to give them a good drink. I was surprised to find two small tomato plants growing, and I transplanted those too — not in the tomato holes, just with the zinnias for now.
I brought the A‑frame from the Learning Plot since I totally redesigned and planted the half that had the A‑frame on it. Hopefully the Blue Lake Pole Beans will like the new raised bed. I planted the pole beans 1/2″ deep every 6 inches on the north sides of each panel. Since the weeds came in fast, I am repurposing the landscape fabric that was at the bottom of this raised bed. It’s temporary until I have some more boxes.
I was at Sam’s today and was itching to take some of the pallet cardboard, because I could see that if I moved the item off, I could take the brown pallet cardboard already clean and ready to lay in my garden — no tape, no staples, nothing to remove. It is simply perfect! I didn’t, as the car is too small for all those pallet sheets — maybe next time when I am in Pretty Blue.
I thought it was the rain that wilted my zucchini, but it is the squash vine borers. It completely collapsed even with a zucchini on it, and when I pulled it out and looked at the inside of the stem I found these little guys.
Then I decided to remove this one summer squash plant as it just wasn’t thriving. It looked sickly — and it had the same thing going on with squash vine borers, but it wasn’t as far along. I didn’t replant yet, but my window to replant is up to August 15th to get another harvest.
I did a few other things like put another Amish compost layer and pick and make Rudy’s produce box. Besides the last of Gerald’s tomatoes, I put in my eggplant, cucumbers, yellow squash, and okra. After that I locked up and started heading to the Learning Plot, when I saw a black plume of smoke that looked like it was coming from inside the gardens — and Nancy Dru, board member, was on this case because it is a rule that nobody can have a fire in the gardens.
I drove over to where I thought the fire was on Road 3 and walked quickly to the area. I didn’t drive all the way to the end because I would have needed to back out. I discovered it wasn’t a fire in the garden at all — across the street was a vehicle on fire. Not a car, but a large golf‑type vehicle. I shouted, “Did you call 911?” I think they said no. So I called 911 and the fire department was on their way. I could hear another gardener also calling 911.
Once I knew they were coming and everyone was safe, I continued on to the Learning Plot and took a few minutes to sprinkle my mounds — they better germinate because third time is the charm, right?
Nancy Dru was officially off duty and out of the gardens once I knew the fire was under control and my garden work was done for the day.