May Garden Notes & the Unabomber

Not a whole lot accomplished this week. Blistering hot midweek, and the camp-out cool set in on Saturday. Lovely weather for transplanting. Volunteer tomatoes and marigolds are up, so I guess it is time. Mom said 1/2 the Hawthorn was blooming, and Dad said it was time to plant the bottom half of his tomatoes. A. Roni and Sis. Betty came out this week and picked up some cabbage. I've still got some left, it will co in the compost heap later this week.

I did plant cukes and beans yesterday. I also got my cutting garden weeded and ready for plants. Maybe I'll get some of that done this morning. Marty dumped a pile of goat compost over the fence when he moved. (He was so worried about cleaning the place up, took the most valueable stuff on the place.) So I asked if they were going to use it. "have at it." So I did get that moved and put on the beds. I'm being a little bit lazy with my mound building. I say lazy, but that is not quite accurate, what I mean is "poor people have poor ways." Lazy would be to order 60 yards of topsoil, and move it around with a tractor.

My mounds are built of dirt I dugout to build my garden paths. They are also built of sod, which will rot, and heavy clods, which will soften with water and organic material. I expect them to settle some. They are very difficult to fine grade, because I don't have good clean top soil. So I have done my best, and then added compost to the surface to smooth them out. I think it will work fine, but I do have a couple of vicious weeds that are cropping up, dandelions, which are mostly just annoying, and Quack grass. Dandelions are a biennial or short lived perennial, but each root that is broken will develop leaves and grow. I think this happens in my heavier soil which keeps the developing roots moist, more than in sandy soils. The Quack grass is a sleeper, that I've been hitting with spray. It doesn't come up until it gets warm, so it is just now appearing. The stolons of quack grass can be 12" in the ground, and will find their way to the surface. Unlike common lawn grass, which can be lifted and turned over and will die.

I planted my summer squash in the central mound of my main garden, Mount Summer Squash". I wanted to put a little height in the center of the mound, and though what a great place for a scarecrow. Well, I might have to change the guys get-up, because he completely freaks me out. Every time I turn around the Unabomber is standing in my garden. "You mess wit my cabbages, I will blow you up!" Too creepy! I might have to find a western shirt and an old hat.

Got company coming for lunch, so I better get out to the greenhouse.

My scary scarecrow

landscape beds starting to take form


the peppers loved the heat this last week

tomatoes gone wild
Potatoes ready for mulch

carrots pushing second leaves

oooo....eggplant. love the plant, not so fond of the egg



first dividends of cole week. Kerri used some kale in her potatoe sausage soup.
Mnt. Summer Squash, and new cuke fencing

cottage garden tuned up
slow progress, basically everything outside the frame is untouched.
still more work to do with the potatoes this morning