Third time isn't always a charm...

Year three with my garden is turning out to be a frustrating one. Spring was long and cold. May and June were very very dry. July is bringing some rain and hot days but with that also comes the risk of hail. Here's our little hailstorm July 4th... It came with over an inch of rain and we didn't get the big bad hail that some others nearby got, so I guess I won't complain.

These milk jugs didn't really appreciate that hailstorm though they were likely brittle from the sun exposure though. They are on season 2 of use.

This bed probably bothers me the most. This should be full of zucchini, pattypan and pole beans by now. The indoor started zucchini didn't survive a strong windstorm early on. The direct sown seeds either didn't sprout or were immediately eaten by the bugs. The indoor sprouted zucchini seeds were eaten. I just planted out some indoor starts yesterday. They were still there today so I guess there's hope. At least 2 of the new ones already have their first true leaves so hopefully they're big enough to survive. I've planted the pole beans I think 3 times. These should be Rattlesnake and Zi 28 Long beans. Today when I looked, I do see a few new sprouts so maybe...

Same story with the other pole beans (I think Kentucky Blue and Blue Lake maybe?). I tried to presprout some in the house like I've done with peas but it didn't work so well. I've replanted AGAIN and fairly heavily. Hopefully something will survive and be able to produce before frost.

Even the bush beans are having some trouble. This year, instead of my normal spacing of about 9/sf, I thought I'd try out wider spacing. I planted them about 6" apart or 4/sf this year. Unless the surviving plants produce like crazy, I think I'll go back to my previous method. At least that way, when a couple didn't make it, there wasn't a huge gaping hole where a plant should be. I'm going to replant the empty spaces sometime this week.

The tomatoes were doing well until something came along and chewed the stems. I lost 2 this way last week. The others seem to be doing well though a few of them are very small still. The Galinas Gold Cherry and I think the Thessaloniki are growing well at this point.

This half bed should be full of broccoli and cauliflower. Sadly, right after I gave away my extra starts, I started losing plants. I'm not expecting to see any broccoli though I may get cauliflower.

Finally, my carrots did not do well at all. With the dry windy weather, I guess I just didn't keep them wet enough to sprout. I have about 3 carrots from 4 squares that sprouted. So sad. I sprouted some indoors (wet coffee filters) and put them out today. Perhaps they'll survive...

I guess, on the plus side, the onions are doing well this year, much better than the past 2. Of course, I mainly use onions when I cook zucchini...

Umbrella Trellis

Ever wonder what to do with a broken patio umbrella?? How about a bean trellis?

While out walking the dogs one afternoon a while back, I came across an apparently unwanted patio umbrella that just looked like it needed a second chance at life, so I brought it home. I took the fabric cover off and removed the crank handle. It's been on my porch for a while waiting for me to figure out how to do the rest of what I wanted to do. I wanted to use it to grow pole beans in one of the "rings" so I needed to reign in the size a little bit. I tried bending/pulling the ends in and holding them in place with a strip of plumbing strap but I couldn't get that whole scenario to work out for me. I was telling a friend about it the other day and he asked why I didn't just cut it. Today, I thought, hmmm, why DON'T I just cut it?? So I did.

It would have been much quicker if I had some bolt cutters but I don't (and neither does the neighbor). I cut the first one with a hacksaw but that was going to take forever. I decided to be bold and pull out the reciprocating saw. I cut about halfway through with the saw (and I still have all my fingers and toes) then I snapped the ends off.

I had some shelf caps (that cover the cut ends of white wire closet shelving) that I glued onto the ends so I didn't end up hurting myself. Since the locking mechanism that keeps the umbrella up didn't work anymore, I put a screw into an existing hole to keep the top in place. It works well since I wanted a smaller diameter trellis anyway.

I took my new UFO-looking trellis to the garden. I dug down until the ground got hard and set the lower pole. It's wedged in there with some leftover concrete block and brick pieces. I added the upper portion and tied it to the nearby t-post to keep it in place. I then ran string from the ends to the ground holding them in place with some makeshift pins I made by bending some of the "call-before-you-dig" flags I had hanging around. I planted some beans and now I hope they'll actually grow well this year and get to the top!

It's a good thing the neighbors like me :-)

Trellis Progress

I've made some progress with my trellis situation this week. I stayed with essentially the same plan but I changed how it's put together. My original plan was to build 4 individual rectangles to go over the bed. Once I built the first one, I felt it was not going to be sufficient once the beans & tomatoes started getting tall.

Here's what I ended up building...

While it looks very similar to what I had planned, I made some real changes to how I built it. This one is built in sections that run down the sides, not over the bed, which makes it much less dangerous (for the plants) during installation. The 4 uprights have a loop of pipe strap at the top which is how they're attached to the top horizontal piece. Having the uprights loosely attached made it easier to adjust placement (read: lots of wiggle room!). I marked where I wanted them on the side of the bed, attached with one screw to hold the height, straightened them out and added a second screw in the bottom. I then put up the other side the same way. I put the overhead cross pieces on last. There are 2 at the tomato end to run string from. There's one at the pole bean end just for visual balance and a little extra support. I'm going to run horizontal lines for the beans similar to the peas but a little more heavy duty (and neater) as they'll be there much longer than the peas.

I also decided to use my scavenged ladder for the Small Wonder spaghetti squash and Small Sugar pumpkins. The ladder is not safe for use anymore so it's got a new purpose. I picked this up free on Craigslist this spring. I also added a few cross pieces to it. These were also scavenged. They were attached to the stairs we re-purposed so I wouldn't have to jump off the retaining wall anymore (or go the long way around) to get to the garden. All last summer, I used a bale of straw as a step (still had to jump down, just not as far). By fall, my step was getting lower and lower...

Anyway, I have a little pile of these 2x2's from the stairs and I was happy to finally find a use for at least a few of them. This poor ladder will look like a jungle by fall I suspect. I did put a couple screws in each side to attach it to the bed so (hopefully) it won't come crashing down in a storm.

I still have to add something for the cukes, patty pan squash and watermelon (if they ever sprout - I had one weak start but it died shortly after transplanting) .

Speaking of spaghetti squash, here's why I was getting anxious about a trellis here...

I know, it's not huge, but it's growing pretty quick. It's sending out tendrils and if you look to the right of the photo, there's a female bloom about to open. Luckily, the bloom on the left appears to be male. I'm surprised how quickly this one bloomed. The spaghetti squash and pumpkin are the farthest along of my vining plants. The cukes & patty pan are hanging in but are smaller. The watermelon is non-existent. The zucchini seem to be starting to show some growth now as well.

The potatoes in the bin didn't put on a huge amount of height this week but they are filling out more. I'll add another board soon. I've added some straw to nearly all the potatoes this week. . Some are growing faster than others, but most seem to be in good shape. The only variety that seems to be doing poorly is Viking.

These are Red Pontiac, a late season variety.

When reading about growing strawberries, I read conflicting information about what to do with Junebearing strawberries. Some sources say pluck the blooms the first year, others say leave them. I even read that they won't produce the first year. Unless that last bit refers to runners that are sprouted in the summer, I'd call it false information.

This is one of the Honeoye I planted this spring. I decided to learn for myself what the best way to handle the blooms was. I plucked blooms off half the plants and let the other half go. I have 4-6 berries started on the ones I let the flowers grow. I'm planning to allow limited runners this summer. I want the bed to fill in but I want to (try to) avoid total chaos. We'll see how that goes...