By the grace of God, or Mother Nature, the predicted frost for last night didn't materialise . . . which was really good, since I hadn't found anything to cover up all my plants with!
Yes, I still have bean plants with no beans on them - flowers, yes, but no beans as yet - I have pea plants with only the tiniest, flat pea pods on them, and the weatherman was predicting frost. In August. This has been a truly terrible summer, horticulturally speaking. Snow in June, rain throughout July, and then frost before the end of August. Man, I hope next year is better!
On the positive side . . . I pulled up 2 potato plants the other day, and the spuds are awesome! So delicious. I also pulled half a row of carrots, most of which I'm going to freeze for the winter, but I have some of them in the fridge, scrubbed, leaves removed and ready for peeling. Yummy. Oh yeah, these are the Nantes Scarlet Core carrots. I haven't picked any of the Imperators yet.
The Diva cucumber I had growing in the greenhouse is done, in spite of watering etc., its leaves are turning pale green and there's no more cukes on it, so I'll have to remove it in short order. The other cukes are still growing well, regardless of the lower nighttime temperatures.
But the peppers have still not been harvested. They're not very big, I'm not sure if they're ready . . . and now, they're infested with Aphids. Just the peppers, both green and red. And one broccoli plant, but the broccoli is about done now too, I think.
All in all, I think it's been a fairly successful summer in the garden, in spite of the crappy weather. Clearly, there are some things that I need to change for next year - but that's okay. It's a learning experience, and I learned what not to do in the greenhouse! Number one - bigger pots for the tomatoes right from the beginning; and two - set up the irrigation system as soon as the plants are in their bigger pots. Watering them automatically, twice a day seems to work far better than at high noon. More fertilizer would be good too.
Next year, I will have a bigger garden - my husband is going to build a proper fence (no more corral panels) for me, enclosing the greenhouse in the garden, and giving me a fresh new large spot for planting. It should be fabulous! I'm already plotting what veges to plant!
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Monday, August 8, 2011
The Ultimate Deer Repellent
Last night, I was digging through boxes in our garage, looking for my binders of clippings for a job interview I have this morning. Discovered a whole pile of other treasures in the process -- like my university transcript (I was wondering where that was!), all the essays I wrote at university, letters from my mother, every day-timer I'd ever had since becoming a reporter in 1994 . . . the list goes on.
As I was putting some of the boxes away, my children, who were lurking in garage, wanting to dig through my boxes of stuff themselves (I think not, kiddos!) happened to look out the window in door, which faces the front yard.
"MUM!!" our son yells, "There's deer in your garden!"
I've been fighting the deer of late, after leaving my flower gardens alone all summer, they have now decided that I must've put up a salad bar for them, because they're in there every night. I've been forced to put "hats" on all my flowers - up-ended plant pots - to protect them, which seems to be working.
But since I hadn't put the hats on my plants yet - it was barely 9 p.m., I had to take other, more drastic measures, immediately. I gave our daughter the papers I had found, and sprinted for the door, grabbing our son's hockey stick on the way.
Out the door and across the lawn, I ran, in my slippers, brandishing the hockey stick and hollering at the top of my lungs - ARRRGH!!!! Get OUT of MY garden!!!!!
Those three deer didn't even stop to look at me, they took off as though the hounds of hell were after them! Probably wondering exactly what the hell kind of dog we'd gotten! Of course, the neighbours are probably still wondering what we were up to!
The kids brought me the hats for the plants and together we covered them up, while my husband went looking in the bush, to make sure the deer weren't trying to sneak back into the yard. They were long gone.
Did I find my box with all the clippings? Nope, it's still in the seacan, I guess. It's certainly not in the house, so I guess I'll just have to wing it. And make up one of those deer repellent potions after my interview. I can't spend every night running around in the yard, in my slippers, screaming and waving a hockey stick!
As I was putting some of the boxes away, my children, who were lurking in garage, wanting to dig through my boxes of stuff themselves (I think not, kiddos!) happened to look out the window in door, which faces the front yard.
"MUM!!" our son yells, "There's deer in your garden!"
I've been fighting the deer of late, after leaving my flower gardens alone all summer, they have now decided that I must've put up a salad bar for them, because they're in there every night. I've been forced to put "hats" on all my flowers - up-ended plant pots - to protect them, which seems to be working.
But since I hadn't put the hats on my plants yet - it was barely 9 p.m., I had to take other, more drastic measures, immediately. I gave our daughter the papers I had found, and sprinted for the door, grabbing our son's hockey stick on the way.
Out the door and across the lawn, I ran, in my slippers, brandishing the hockey stick and hollering at the top of my lungs - ARRRGH!!!! Get OUT of MY garden!!!!!
Those three deer didn't even stop to look at me, they took off as though the hounds of hell were after them! Probably wondering exactly what the hell kind of dog we'd gotten! Of course, the neighbours are probably still wondering what we were up to!
The kids brought me the hats for the plants and together we covered them up, while my husband went looking in the bush, to make sure the deer weren't trying to sneak back into the yard. They were long gone.
Did I find my box with all the clippings? Nope, it's still in the seacan, I guess. It's certainly not in the house, so I guess I'll just have to wing it. And make up one of those deer repellent potions after my interview. I can't spend every night running around in the yard, in my slippers, screaming and waving a hockey stick!
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