July 24, Saturday

We had 1/2 inch of rain overnight. Some wild thunderstorms. I found a green tomato broken off it's branch. Could be an animal but I'm betting on the wind.

Chased some Japanese beetles away this afternoon. 6-8 of them. Just swatted at them with my palms while trying to decide what to do about them. To my surprise, they took off.

Watering due Tuesday.

July 20, Monday

Removed the insect barrier yesterday. The tomato plants were not thriving beneath it, and it was certainly in my way. I'm checking for Japanese beetles a couple of times per day. So far, found one. No apparent beetle damage. They kill the plant when there are hordes of them chomping down on the leaves.

As for the "not thriving", the newer growth has yellowed and the blossoms died off. In case the insect barrier is not the cause, today I spread 4 powdered egg shells around the 2 plants to provide calcium. It should get rained in tomorrow; if not, I'll water it in. I want happy, healthy plants!

July 13, Monday

Looks like I missed a week again. Today was eventful so I could wait no longer. But first:

Over the last week I pulled up all the lettuce and watered as needed. On Saturday I applied a little blossom set spray to the many blossoms that didn't seem to be setting fruit. This spray is a natural plant hormone that encourages the fruit to get going. It also comes with all sorts of poison warnings, which means that in it's concentrated form it must be handled carefully. But it's not supposed to get into the fruit. We'll see. If the fruit was held back by the recent cool weather, it may help.

As for today. I noticed a beetle of some sort on one of my nasturtiums. Took a good look at it and flicked it away. It, or one of it's friends, came right back and landed on my tomato plant. Could these be Japanese beetles, I wondered? Did a google search and found some good Japanese beetle pics. Looked similar, but I couldn't be sure. Back to the garden, but no beetles found. A bit later there was one, on my tomato plant, and definitely a Japanese beetle. I went into action.

Time to install my insect barrier cloth. It's meant to let 95% of light and rain in but keep insects out. Problem is, when I bought it I didn't count on covering tomatoes staked 6 feet high. No matter which way I wrapped it around, I couldn't cover the whole bed. I decided to focus on the tomato plants and hope for the best with my other veg. Still, it ain't pretty. I'll get a picture tomorrow.

Hope it works. Beetles were landing on the cloth as I installed it. Checked the plants pretty carefully, but I'll have to check again tomorrow. These guys can kill entire trees, and they seemed awfully interested in my tomato crop.

July 5, Sunday

We actually got about 1/8 inch rain yesterday and a bit less today, so no watering. Picked some green leaf lettuce which, like the red leaf, has become quite bitter. I like some bitter greens in my salads, but not these. Instead of adding a little zest, they add only yuk. I'll probably pull it all out.

July 4, Saturday

Raining a bit this afternoon. I don't foresee much accumulation. No gardening today.

July 3, Friday

Watered all but the tomatoes today. I'm putting the tomatoes on a 4-day watering schedule, the rest on 2-day. Harvested a red leaf lettuce plant. Looks normal, but tastes bitter. None of the lettuce has grown beyond the baby greens stage. It went in late.

July 1, Wednesday

Watered heavily today after 2 days of no water on the tomatoes and 1 without water on the entire bed. Found a possible explanation for the black edges on some of my tomato leaves: bacterial canker. If that's what it is, there's no option but to pull out both plants and not plant tomatoes in the bed for 3 years. Since I'm no worse off for waiting and keeping an eye on it (as far as I can tell) I'm going to do just that. There are no spots on the fruit, and only one plant shows damage to the leaves. I'm hoping less watering will clear it all up like a bad dream.

June 28, Sunday

Soaked the bed again today. Tied up the newest growth on my tomatoes. While doing so I noticed a few leaves with black, dead tips or edges:

[Click for larger view]

It's only a few leaves and only minor damage to those leaves so far. I'd be happy to ignore it, but if it's a problem I want to address it ASAP. I posted this photo on an excellent garden site in hopes of some good advice. My googling turned up nothing that looks exactly like this.

It may just be overwatering. I want to water my lettuce every day, but I wouldn't have to soak the tomatoes at the same time. I'll back off on that while I hope for some expert advice.

June 27, Saturday

Watered the bed, plucked a few weeds. My new transplants look fine. That's it.

June 26, Friday

Watered the bed and picked some greens for my salad. Near dusk decided to plant the little bell pepper and eggplant seedlings I've been haphazardly nurturing.

Originally I started 3 little peat pods of pepper and 3 of eggplant. After some poor care and a vicious attack by a cat, whose identity is known to me, I ended up with 2 viable pepper seedlings and one eggplant. For several weeks they've been outdoors, near the garden but out of direct sunlight and on a shelf away from pests. They're really pretty small, maybe 3 pairs of leaves per tiny plant.

Tonight I pulled up 3 of my smaller lettuce plants, in the row furthest from the tomatoes, and replaced them with the seedlings. We'll see how they do. If they're not looking mighty vigorous in a week or two I may pull them up and replace them with nursery plants. I'm rootin' for 'em.

Counted 18 tomatoes on one plant and 3 on the other. There may be more. They're green and hard to spot among the thick foliage. Woohoo!

Notes for 2010

1. More beets. For the greens, natch.
2. More carrots. I'm not going to get that many.
3. Plant lettuce and mesclun elevated waist high. They don't need the depth and the bunnies won't git'm.
4. Get peppers and eggplant in along with the tomatoes, around April 30. Start indoors or buy pots. Harvest earlier and extend season.

June 25, Thursday

Bed bone dry. Predicted overnight rains did not arrive. I'd hate to be a farmer. Gave the bed a good soak, found nothing amiss. That's it for today.

June 24, Wednesday

Got maybe 1/4 inch of rain overnight, but the top of the bed was crusty by late afternoon so I gave it a soak. The lettuce loves water, and I don't mind pampering the tomatoes. There are new little fruits on each plant each day, with plenty more on the way.

After mowing the front lawn and taking some well-deserved hammock time I decided to talk to my tomato plants and let them know how much I appreciate their efforts. While squatting over my carrots and wasting my time yapping to the tomatoes I noticed that the carrots still needed some serious thinning. I thinned them to clumps about 2 inches apart a couple of weeks ago, but today I saw that each clump comprised 2, 3, or more individual plants. Hated to do it, but I carefully eased out the extras and now have but one plant per clump. Brought the thinnings inside, rinsed them, and popped 'm in the fridge for use in my salads. The roots are still quite small and white-to-pale-yellow, but I tasted one and it did in fact taste carroty.

Before I mowed I raised the mower a notch to leave the grass a bit higher. The result was not good. The mower missed a lot of spots. Which made no sense to me until I realized that my mower adjustment raises only the back end of the mower body. I'm guessing this places the blades at an angle and makes them less efficient at buzzing all the grass. I may explore the geometry a bit more and make sure I can't raise the front as well. But for now I lowered the blade back to where it was doing a good job.

June 23, Tuesday

Very hot and humid in my back yard today. Watered the bed and picked some greens for dinner. Now here's the good news. I counted at least 12 little tomatoes on one plant and finally spied the first tomato on the other. With many, many more blossoms on both plants. Whaddya think? July sometime?

Finished mowing the back and finally hit the back with the string trimmer. Also discovered one possible reason why my basement has been taking on water. This is the status of some of my gutters:

[Click for larger view]

Saw the gutter full of samaras (maple seeds) when I was on the roof last month trimming branches. There's no soil to speak of, maybe just some blown-in dust and shingle grit. Yet the little buggers grow. I'll get them out when the weather's a little more temperate.

June 22, Monday

Well it appears to have been nearly 2 weeks since my last garden post. I haven't kept up. But I stand ready today to thoroughly summarize the events of that lost era. Let's start with a current photo:

[Click for larger view]

In this pic I've just finished staking the tomatoes higher. I've also pulled all the mesclun from beneath the tomatoes. It had mostly gone to seed and in any case wasn't getting much light. I left the one radish plant that survived, not for radishes but for the leaves.

There are nasturtium and marigold blossoms, and in general all seems well. I decided to pick enough lettuce to complete my evening salad, along with a few stems of parsley and a few radish leaves, and here was the result:

[Click for larger view]

You don't really get a sense of how high it's piled on the plate. I have to say, it made for a delicious salad. The parsley and radish added bursts of strong flavor to the lettuce and mesclun  mix.

As for other goings on, we've had more than enough rain (4.5 inches over Thursday and Friday nights). Imagine a pool 4.5 inches deep across the whole lawn! That's a lot of rain, and some of it did end up in my basement. Nothing a mop and a dehumidifier can't handle. Happens at least once each Spring.

The rabbits continue to feast on my garden, and they continue not to do much damage overall. One marigold seems to be missing all it's blossoms, but the others are in fine fettle. Here's one of my nasturtiums:

[Click for larger view]

I've saved the biggest news for last. I have tomatoes!

[Click for larger view]

One plant has a half dozen or so little green tomatoes, along with plenty more blossoms. The other plant still has only blossoms, but quite a lot of them. Now, for the first time, I'm starting to be a nervous parent. The loss of a little lettuce is not tragic, and I wouldn't be terribly disappointed if my entire crop of leeks failed, but I really want to be eating these tomatoes! ASAP. So far, it looks like putting them in early may pay off. Mmmmmm.

June 9, Tuesday

Rain predicted for tonight, so no watering. Pulled some weeds, harvested some greens for lunch, and also harvested a couple of entire lettuce plants that were impinging on my carrots.

Realized I could put a simple screen around my garden bed to keep the rabbits out. The frame is already about 9 inches high; another foot or two should do it. Need to build something sturdy enough to withstand wind and rabbits but easy to remove each day. Must think.

Mowed half the back yard. Got in a little hammock time. Trimmed the dead iris stalks in front and pulled out last year's dead foliage on same (a little late). Harvested all the daisies that were volunteering in one of my front flower beds, then pulled up the daisy plants. The cut daisies look nice by my TV.

June 8, Monday

Went to Chicago to see the White Sox lose. They didn't disappoint. Rain gauge has about 8/10 inch. I'm told it mostly fell early morning, but the bed was still damp at 7 PM. Did nuttin'.

June 7, Sunday

Finally got to staking my shaggy tomatoes. Here's the result:

                [Click photo for better view.]

I used 3 stakes for 2 plants because the plant on the left has two vigorous main stems. Went 6 feet above the bed, as I've seen tomatoes that tall on TV. Taller even. With more fruit because of the height. So we'll see. After this was taken I went back and tied up some more of the branches shading the bed. Trying to show my greens some love.

The plan I'm following shows tomato plants after the greens are done for the Spring. I thought I'd put them in early to extend the growing season if possible. The bed's too small and crowded anyway. Next year I'll build one or two more beds this size.

Got some rain this morning but the topsoil was dry so I gave it a soak. Pulled some weeds and harvested greens for my salad. Took the largest leaf from each lettuce and mustard plant. Noticed some apparent rabbit damage (some chewed leaves) but not much. Later my neighbor told me she saw the family of 4 that lives beneath her deck feasting at my table. I haven't worked out how to use my pest cloth with the tomato stakes, so I poured urine on the outside of the frame and I'll hope for the best.

It's a 6-week birthday for my greens, so here's a current pic:

                        [Click photo for better view.]

From the front we have:

• Nasturtium and some scattered basil plants
• A row of tiny parsley
• 3 rows of lettuce
• Tomatoes, spinach, and mesclun (mustard and beet)

You can see some carrots on the left.

So far I could not be more pleased. Let's hope I can deal with the rabbits without having to stir up a stew.

June 6, Saturday

Rainy afternoon. Left garden alone. Tomatoes are all over the place.

Managed to get the front lawn mowed after dinner. That's it!

June 5, Friday

Lettuce was looking limp so I gave the bed a good soak. Pulled a few weeds.

June 4, Thursday

Gorgeous day, but I was working and ignored my garden and lawn again. Did thrust my finger into the bed and concluded it was moist below an inch or so. Let it go without watering one more day to encourage deeper roots. This may be good for the vegetables, but the lettuce may stop growing until I water. I'm not sure how deep lettuce roots go.

My front lawn is going to seed. FREE SEEDS!

June 3, Wednesday

Got tied up and forgot to do any gardening today. A late check of the rain gauge shows we had another 1-1/3 inches rain since Monday. The top of the bed is dry and cracked, but if there's no moisture at the roots we have a bigger problem than I know how to manage. In short, no watering needed.

Tomatoes still flopped over on the bed. I tied back the worst offender to a bracket on the frame with twine. That should be good until I get the stakes installed. The other is a little over-friendly with it's bedmates but is not lying on top of them, so we're good for a day or two.

It's been cool for June. High around 64 yesterday and today, low of brrrrrrrr 41 tonight. Tomorrow's high slated for 73 with nuthin' but sunshine, so remind me not to forget my gardening. Or mowing the front lawn.

June 2, Tuesday

Rain overnight and more on the way. I'll check the gauge tomorrow. Again, I ain't doin' nuttin'.

On closer inspection the tomato plants are both leaning over. Must stake them tomorrow.

June 1, Monday

Got about 3/4 inch rain overnight with more likely. I ain't doin' nuttin'.

May 31, Sunday

The top inch or so of the bed was dry, but not bone dry. The soil 2-3 inches down was moist, or moistish. I didn't water. A few of the greens have wilted and collapsed, which I fear may be due to overwatering. As I am a rank amateur, I don't know for sure. But I decided to try a deeper soaking every couple of days and see how that goes. Pulled a few weeds and otherwise left it alone. It's very near time to stake the tomatoes.

Gorgeous day again. The front lawn needs mowing, but I went with napping instead. Mañana. Or maybe not mañana. I see we have thunderstorms predicted tonight, scattered storms tomorrow, showers tomorrow night. A man can't mow in that kind of weather!

May 30, Saturday

Gorgeous day! Possible rain did not come so I gave the bed a good soak. Did a little weeding. The few beet sprouts in the mesclun aren't doing well. May be getting crowded out by the vigorous mustard. I thinned the mustard around the beets in hopes this improves the environment for the little red ones.

Saw rabbits this evening so I tried a little urine therapy on the outside of the frame.

Finished mowing the back yard. I'm thinking the mower does an all around better job when I collect the clippings. Don't know why.

May 29, Friday

My gauge says we got another 1/8 inch of rain overnight, so I did not water. Pulled a few weeds, and picked some larger leaves for my salad. The little rabbit I saw hopping thru my front yard yesterday doesn't seem to have found my lettuce patch yet. I need to get my netting up and maybe implement some other anti-rabbit measures. I've read that dried cattle blood or urine from a male meat-eater will work. I may try some of my own urine (around the bed, not in it!), altho my diet is a little skimpy on the meat products.

Mowed half the back yard, which was very tall and going to seed after several rainy days. Collected the clippings instead of mulching. My Black and Decker battery mower did a very nice job on the long turf. Retired to hammock anon. Afternoon weather was around 72 and gorgeous.

May 28, Thursday

My gauge tells me we've had 1-1/2 inches of rain over the past 2 days. I wouldn't be surprised if the real figure were higher. Pulled a few weeds and called it quits.

May 27, Wednesday

Got a lot of rain overnight in two or more heavy storms. Garden looks fine. The little lettuces survive the storms better than my watering. Picked a little mesclun and green leaf lettuce for my salad as my store-bought supply was short. Had to wash off a lot of mud.

Couldn't play outside, so I played with Photoshop instead. Here is a shot of Mom's purple iris I took yesterday:

And here are her pink peonies:

Isn't Spring nice? [Click the pics for bigger copies.]

May 26, Tuesday

My rain gauge registered zip overnight, so I gave the bed a good soak. Rain is possible today and tomorrow, but iffy.

Before watering and weeding, I took a 4-week birthday photo:

[Click photo for larger view]

The herbs and the leeks (wispy sprouts, barely visible) are a bit slow, but in general I'm very pleased.

Finally read the packet from my mesclun seeds, only to see that it includes 3 items I've planted separately: green leaf lettuce, red leaf lettuce, and spinach. I've pulled all the lettuce from the mesclun patch (and eaten it), but I may leave the spinach as I did  not plant enough of that. The tomatoes, which are barely visible against the lawn, appear to be healthy and happy. It'll be time to stake them soon. The one on the right has some blossoms.

You see all the maple samaras, along with some weeds. I get grass, clover, and vast amounts of something that must have been in my organic soil mix. Most of the latter do seem to be gone. Even got a maple sprout, which are endemic on my lot. My insect barrier cloth should do a good job of excluding any future weed seeds.

May 25, Monday

Rain predicted, so I didn't water. Lettuce is getting big. I'm so proud!

Started building a frame to hold my Super-Light Insect Barrier cloth. Nearly done, but I cut one of my $0.89 pieces of framing wrong so I have to go get another. Wimped out on mowing for the 2nd day in a row. Can I make it 3?

May 24, Sunday

Decided my red leaf lettuce plantings look strong enough, so I thinned all the same from my mesclun patch. Plus, I wanted them for my lunch.

Mystery Tree

I'm trying to identify a tree in the back corner of my lot. Here are the leaves and the flowers, which are currently in bloom:

[Click for larger view]

Here's the bark:

[Click for larger view]

And here's the entire tree, along with my neighbor's junk:

[Click photo for larger view]

The tree ID routines on the web suggest maybe a flowering cherry or other fruit tree, but I don't recall any fruit in the 2 years I've been here. It was partly overshadowed by a maple until I cut the maple back last summer. Maybe it's just been unhealthy? It gets plenty of sun now.

Any ideas?

May 23, Saturday

Did a lot of thinning. Thinned Sweet Treat carrots and leeks to about 2 inches apart. Was wondering how to thin my very crowded mesclun when I realized that much of it is simple green leaf lettuce, of which I have a bumper crop (I've been calling it butter lettuce wrongly). So I pulled all the green leaf lettuce from my mesclun plantings and had it for lunch. Also thinned my green leaf lettuce rows to what looked like a decent spacing for heads of lettuce. That too became lunch.

The red leaf lettuce sprouted much more slowly and sparsely; there are even bald spots in the rows. I won't thin it until the plants are a bit larger. I did carefully transplant a couple of inopportunely sited plants into bald spots, then gave the bed a good soak. The 2 transplants basically lay down and died for a couple of hours, but by evening were standing up and soaking in the water like the others. When I'm sure of this crop I may pull the red leaf sprouts out of my mesclun plantings too.

Last summer I grew mesclun in very crowded pots on my front step. I know it will produce baby greens when crowded, which is how I ate it then. But I'm shooting for bigger leaves this year from at least some of my plants. It would be hard, if not impossible, to harvest enough baby greens for a salad each day from my little garden, whereas 2 or 3 big lettuce leaves are plenty.

                         [Click for larger view]

Mowed the front lawn. Raked samaras (maple seeds) from my front-yard planting beds, then swept them from the drive and sidewalks. They've nearly all fallen from the silver maples. The crimson Norways won't fruit until later. The lawn is crowded with samaras pointed nose down toward the soil, tails held aloft by the grass. They can't be raked out efficiently, so I'm leaving them. You'd think a lawn full of maple saplings would be a huge problem, and hundreds of them do sprout. But the mower hacks them down as soon as they're tall enough and that's that. Pulling them all from planting beds, out of the gutters, etc is a different matter.

Hung my finch feeder next to the bird mix and suet feeders. Then took some much deserved rest on the hammock while the cat amused himself with the rope I pull to keep the hammock a-rockin'.

May 22, Friday

Watered with new "rain shower" nozzle. Much easier to create a fairly gentle spray, yet floods bed quickly (which is fine with me). Did extensive weeding. Googled parsley and basil sprouts and now know what's a weed and what's not in the herb section.

May 21, Harvest!

The unknown green leaves above went straight from my garden to my evening salad ! Much earlier than I had expected to be harvesting edibles. Fact is, I had to take these out. They're part of my mesclun crop, and they're growing much more quickly than the other mesclun greens and hogging all the sunlight and nutrients. So I pinched off all the big leaves and tried to cut these plants down to the size of the others. I left at least one healthy leaf on each plant. No idea what particular species these are. They taste "green". Big help.

Very hot today but not humid. Gave the bed a moderate soaking. Then went to the front of the house and tied back my vigorous irises which were sprawling onto my driveway. Cut several stems that had been bent by the wind and put them in vases. One I brought in last night is continuing to bloom, so I hope to have them around for some time.

May 20, Wednesday

Very warm and sunny today but not humid. Gave the bed a light soak. Walked the lawn and saw no new dandelions. Their big bloom-and-seed cycle seems to be over for now. It's amazing that they all go to seed the same day.

May 19, Tuesday

It's a gorgeous warm day here after some cold mid-May temps. Sunny, clear, upper 70s. Gave the bed a decent soak, and that's all there is to do. I'll have to break the bike out for some exercise.

My irises (planted by former owners) are in bloom:

[Click for larger view] 

May 18, Monday

Gave the bed a light soaking. All looks well.

Mowed remainder of back yard. Saw no new dandelions. Ended with some hammock time, listening to jazz and playing with the cat.

May 17, Sunday

My plantings appear to have survived the cold night in fine fettle. I suppose seeing how they look tomorrow would be a better test. Soaked the bed moderately.

Mowed half the back yard. Sprayed just a few dandelions in the no-man's-land way at the back where 3 properties meet. Saw a second dandelion gone to seed. This has got to stop! Reinstalled a bird feeder whose hanging cord had been chewed thru by unknown assailants (i.e., squirrels). I used steel-reinforced clothesline.

Then swayed in my hammock for about 45 minutes, gazing at the brilliant blue sky thru the leaves of my silver maple. At first I heard bird calls all around me, but after maybe 30 minutes they began to come from the maple branches directly overhead. I saw a pair of robins in the highest canopy, and smaller birds lower down. A bunny rabbit hopped across my lawn to get at the dandelion seeds waving boldly in my neighbor's yard. It was a busy afternoon.

May 16, Saturday

Some rain overnight, maybe 1/10 inch. The bed is moist enough. Tonight's low predicted at 36 degrees F. I could cover the bed with a tarp, but I'm going to risk it and see what happens. I think only the tomatoes are in any danger at all.

Mowed the front yard. Sprayed fewer than a dozen dandelions. To my knowledge, precisely one dandelion has gone to seed in my yard. Aside from being one too many, that's not bad.

May 15, Friday

More rain overnight, about 1/4 inch. Still damp with rain possible, and heavy thunderstorms due tonight. Not much for me to do today.

May 14, Thursday

Nearly another inch of rain overnight. The farmers can't get their corn planted, but my garden, lawn, and I love it.

The mysterious shoots where I knew I planted spinach finally have the makings of some crinkly-looking spinach leaves:

And my mesclun is invitingly juicy:

But both are still very small.

I awoke this morning to this gorgeous display in my front yard (click for a larger view):

That's a silver maple in the upper left and another two in the background, across the street. The two red ones are Crimson King Norway maples, or so I believe. My city lot has a total of 6 mature silver maples and the 2 Norways, along with 2 huge Colorado blue spruce and what appears to be a fruit-type tree that never fruits. I'm still trying to identify that one. I cut down a dead apple tree 2 years ago. All said, very little direct sunlight gets thru to my lawn, and my garden is in one of the few places it could possibly be, which happens to be right outside my back door.

The silvers are all about 50 feet high and may be indigenous. The red Norways were planted by the city when the street was developed in the late 60s. The spruce may have been planted by the developers. They don't belong in northern Illinois (the winters are too harsh) and they all have a disfuguring fungal disease called Rhizosphaera needle cast which causes the branches to brown and die off, starting at the bottom and working its way relentlessly toward the top. Trimming the dead branches at the bottom leaves you with a strange top-heavy topiary, not at all attractive.

My brother the realtor keeps telling me that silver maples are considered junk trees by my fellow homeowners because they rain a neverending plague of junk onto the lawn. There's no doubt about the deluge of sticks and branches, helicopters, and leaves. But I love my big gorgeous old trees. They're beautiful in all seasons, and their tiny buds are my first sign that the soul-crushing northern winter is finally coming to an end. My hammock is under one of them, and rocking quietly under it's huge canopy of green is one of life's most sublime pleasures. So I'll continue to rake up the fallen wood, mulch the leaves, and muck out the seedlings that take root in my gutters. I need the exercise. And I can always rest under my maples when I'm done.

May 13, Wednesday

Raining today, not much to do. Got 2/3 inch by late afternoon. Pulled some tiny weeds.

May 12, Tuesday

Watered and weeded the bed. Also pruned my tomato plants, which I just now learned to do from this excellent gardening site. The gardening guides make this out to be an onerous weekly chore, but in my little garden it's nice to have something useful to do. Seeking out the little suckers and pinching them off is nearly as fun as roasting fruit flies.

Also pruned some silver maple branches that shade parts of the bed in the morning. This included climbing onto the roof of my house. Got most of them for now, but this may change as the sun gets higher in June. The branches I couldn't reach are some of the highest on the 40-50 foot tree. They may have to stay, or I might be able to throw a rope over them from atop the roof and pull them within reach. Not sure that's worth the obvious risk to life and limb. Seems to me that everything I plant here grows pretty well, a little morning shade notwithstanding.

Noticed that this maple has maple bladder galls all over some of it's leaves. A little googling tells me a microscopic mite lays its eggs inside the galls. Apparently they don't hurt the tree at all, and pesticides are not terribly effective in any case. They're actually kind of pretty. A vibrant red, sort of a cranberry or fuchsia.

My mesclun is starting to look scrumptious, tho still tiny. It's going to need a lot of thinning, so fresh-cut baby greens will be on my salad plate someday soon.

Sprayed a half dozen dandelions, all in the back, and finished mowing the back yard. Rain due overnight.

May 11, Monday

Nearly 2 weeks after my final planting, here's what we have:

[Click photo for better view.]

My labels are hard to read in either view. Clockwise from top left they read:

• Butter lettuce
• Spinach
• Mesclun
• Nasturtium
• Red leaf lettuce
• Italian parsley and basil
• Sweet Treat carrots
• Marigolds

Crops that aren't very impressive yet include the red leaf lettuce, herbs, and Petite 'n Sweet carrots (to the left of the Sweet Treats). And then there are the sprouts where I don't believe I planted any.

Here my carrots (the spikey ones) and lettuce meet at a crossroad:

After shooting the above, I removed the grid. I can tell what's where now that everything is sprouting. Even did some weeding of sprouts in areas where I know I didn't plant anything, or where something I did plant is in something else's territory. The bed is crowded enough as it is, and I'm going to be doing a lot of thinning. Watered moderately from the hose.

Sprayed quite a number of dandelions. Across the street they've all gone to seed, but not on my side of the street. My yard will be producing few seeds if any. Mowed half the back. 

Taking a break from dethatching and seeding the front. I want to see what grows in. I'm afraid I'm not seeding heavily enough, and might want to go over what I've done.

Yesterday a certain cat, whose identity is known to me, decided that the peat pods in which I'm starting bell peppers and eggplants were playthings. I woke to find them scattered about the floor of my screened porch. Two of the pods were completely demolished, but I scouted around and managed to find most of the seeds and the one or two sprouts, with associated peat. I've set them outdoors to limit feline access. Don't have a good sunny warm spot to start them indoors, but I won't be transplanting them until I've made space by eating some lettuce, which is weeks away. We'll see if I've saved them.

May 10, Sunday

Watered bed with hose. After all the rain, nearly everything appears to have sprouted. Neat rows of Sweet Treat carrots and leeks. Not much red leaf lettuce, and few Petite 'n Sweet carrots. Not sure I see any nasturtiums either. But I'll have plenty of carrots and leeks to thin.

Mowed front lawn. Dethatched 2 more rows. Seeded and watered dethatched area plus bare curbside spots under maple near driveway.

May 9, Saturday

Bed soaked by rain. No yard work today.

May 8, Friday

Watered the bed deeply with garden hose. Managed to get a gentle enough spray from the nozzle. Much easier than my watering can. That's it for lawn and garden work today. No sign of pests on tomatoes, lots of promising little lettuce sprouts.

Thunderstorm right now (10 pm).

Just sent for a super-lightweight row cover fabric to keep bugs and birds out. May discourage rabbits and housepets as well. Designed to transmit rain and 95% of sunlight with minimal heat buildup. $8.95, plus a painful $7.95 shipping: $16.90 total from gardensalive.com. Searched hard for one this light. More fragile, but I want maximum light penetration. Need to get a couple of PVC or metal hoops to hold it up.

May 7, Thursday

'Nuther 1/4 inch of rain overnight. Bed looks fine. Checked the tomato leaves for pests or damage, found none. The bottom leaves of the Goliath Hybrid are browning; don't know why. I'll check gain tomorrow. No water today.

Sprayed some dandelions, but that's it for yard work. Mom had her knee replaced this morning. She looks great so far. The front lawn, which I mowed Saturday, and even the part of the back yard I mowed Sunday could stand to be mowed again. Really shoots up in the Spring. Guess I'll start again tomorrow.

May 6, Wednesday

Huge thunderstorm this afternoon. Rained about 3/4 inch by evening. More rain later.

Bed looks fine. No gardening.

May 5, Tuesday

Bed got 2 gallons. Lots of lettuce sprouts. Maybe the marigolds? Still looking for carrots and leeks. Not much spinach or red leaf lettuce yet either.

Raked and mowed remainder of back yard. Sprayed maybe a dozen dandelions. Dethatched and seeded another 2 rows in the front yard. Watered the whole seeded area as always. Thunderstorms due tomorrow PM, maybe Thursday.

May 4, Monday

Very busy today. Just time to give the bed 3 gallons and a quick once-over. No rain due until Wednesday. Hope to have time to finish mowing tomorrow, and to water my grass seeds.

May 3, Sunday

Gave the bed about 2.5 gallons. Lots of teeny little lettuce sprouts. Mostly the butter and mesclun. Maybe a couple of carrots.

Raked and mowed half the back yard. Sprayed 6 or 8 dandelions in the back. Dethatched, seeded, and watered another couple of rows in the front yard. I hate using so much water, even though I do use vastly less than the average American, but the grass seed needs it. Otherwise I never water my lawn. I'm hoping for rain soon; forecast for Tuesday night and Wednesday.

Moved hooks for my bird feeders from the overhang above my kitchen window to a branch on my nearest silver maple. I'm hoping they'll get used more with my giant orange cat not quite so near on the screened porch. Threw the feeders in the dishwasher last night so they're nice and sanitary. Birds had been eating months'-old leftovers from the filthy feeders. Should still get a nice view from my window, and now I won't scare the birds away as I make my morning coffee. Hope to get some decent photos, but I'll have to clean the window first.

All told that's something more than 2-1/2 hours of continuous, voluntary labor this afternoon. For one of the world's laziest people, not under threat of a deadline, that's a lot. Probably haven't stood upright for 2-1/2 hours in several years. Settled down to some well-deserved hammock time with the New Yorker.

May 2, Saturday

Gave the bed 2 gallons. It was dry.

Mowed the front lawn. Dethached another couple of rows. Less than 250 sq ft so far. Used my drop spreader to overlay the dethatched area with seed. Set very low (9 of 10) but still seems to drop plenty of seed. Watered it in a bit.

Turns out a cat, whose identity is known to me, had torn and punched many holes into my bag of lawn seed, which I purchased last year.  Losses were low.

Now I must wash up for Saturday night dinner with Ma and Pa at Applebee's. "Applebee's," you ask, "How can you afford such luxury?" It is extravagant, I admit, but simple frugality throughout the week is what makes it possible. Also, they often pay.

May 1, Friday

The rain gauge tells me we got just under an inch Wednesday night and Thursday, so I'm not watering today. Possibly a mistake with seeds sprouting. We'll see. Maybe a dozen sprouts coming up, mostly in places where my map says I seeded. And mostly around the salad greens, which went in Monday. Some may be weeds of course. No way to no until they grow a bit. And in the mesclun area, probably no way to know at all. If I end up with weeds in my salad, let's hope they're clover.

Sprayed a few dandelions that were dumb enough to stick their yellow heads up in my back yard. Some looked kind of sickly, so I had probably sprayed them Wednesday. Not one in the front yard. Meant to spread corn gluten to stop new weeds from germinating this Spring, but I never managed to buy it and I wasn't sure quite when to do it. Supposed to be when the forsythias bloom. As I don't have a clue what a forsythia is, that's not very helpful. Memo to self: plant some forsythias for next Spring. Last night the very hearty-looking lady on Wisconsin Gardener said the 2-week window for spreading corn gluten passed in April. And if it's too late in Wisconsin, it's certainly too late here.

Raked a fair pile of tree branches out of the front yard. In addition to masses of helicopters and masses upon masses of leaves, my lovely maples also shed a great deal of wood when the wind blows. Also tried my new thatch rake on maybe a 5-foot strip of the front yard. Not super hard work, but makes my back howl enough that I'll probably do it in little bits. Seems worth doing. My lawn has heavy thatch. An awful lot comes up (tho not nearly all of it), and I can definitely see more soil thru the grass. Need to figure out why my thatch rake has two sides with slightly different teeth. And I guess I should spread some grass seed where I've raked.

Then decided to finally cut back prior years' growth on some perennials in the bed in front of my house. Last owners put them in. Aside from some ornamental grass and spring bulbs, I have no idea what these plants are. And I didn't pay enough attention last Spring to see which ones need to be cut back and which definitely should not be. This year it's more clear. Some of them are quite pretty. I could take better care of them if I knew what they were. Altho they survived a year with the house sitting vacant and another two years of me pretty well ignoring them, so I guess they don't need much from me.

Finally, soaked some peat pellets and started my pepper and eggplant seeds. Plan to plant 2 of each, so I started 3 peats with 2 seeds each for both vegetables. Hope I'll have plenty of healthy seedlings to select from. I've got them in the oven with the door ajar and the light on for warmth to spur them on. Also remembered to label my containers so I'll know just what those little seedlings are. 

April 29, Wednesday

Checked my bed for weeds, found none. No apparent animal damage to the tomatoes. Gave it 2 gallons of water.

Walked the yard spraying dandelions. Found many more than I expected. Only 2 in bloom, vs quite a few at Neighbor Mack's and many more at the other neighbors. Need to keep an eye on it. Possible some of the ones I sprayed were sick or dead holdovers from the crew spraying last summer? Some looked pretty old and sickly, but not brown.

Bed complete!

Headed to Lowe's for more seeds this afternoon:

• Carrots: Sweet Treat Hybrid, Burpee
• Carrots: Petite 'n Sweet, Burpee
• Leeks: American Flag, Ferry-Morse
• Basil: Summerlong, Burpee
• Parsley: Single Italian Plain-Leafed, Burpee
• Nasturtium: Vesuvius, Burpee
• Eggplant: Black Beauty, Burpee
• Bell pepper: Chinese Giant, Burpee

Total cost: $12.86.

I'll start the eggplant and peppers indoors and put them out in place of some harvested spinach or lettuce. (I'm counting my greens before they grow.)

Also picked up a couple of tomato plants at $3.48 each:

• Tomato: Red Beefsteak
• Tomato: Goliath Hybrid

And a rain gauge for $1.98.  Total with tax, $23.86.

Got the 2 tomatoes and all the seeds in, and the rain gauge installed.  Here's the result, with a couple of unhappy-looking tomatoes:

I watered them in a bit better after this was taken in hopes they'll perk up. Neighbor Mack warned me in no uncertain terms that it's too early to put tomatoes out, but the 10-day forecast looks fine, and I'll eat the $7 if I can't eat the tomatoes. The mud patch on the lower right is where I left my overturned sod on my concrete porch to dry out and die. After a rainy couple of weeks, there still seems to be plenty of life in it. Need plan B.

I marked up a copy of my plan so I'll have some idea what went where:

For now, at least, I know what it means.

Now lets hope the wildlife doesn't chow down on the tomatoes before I get them protected. Looked for semitransparent garden cloth at Lowe's, but they have none. Might try bird netting, but the garden cloth keeps out bugs too, and still lets in plenty of light and rainfall. Need to give this some thought.

Also calculated how much water I need to give my bed an inch of rain. 11 gallons (thanks Google).

April 27, Monday

After generally unpleasant weekend weather, finally got some seeds in. Spinach, mesclun, 2 kinds of lettuce, and marigolds.

First laid out a 1'x1' grid of twine across the bed and drew same on my plan. Very helpful siting my seeds, as I'm planting a crowded bed. I think I'll keep the grid on until I see enough sprouts to know what's where.

And while I'm at it...

Here's the plan for my Spring garden, cribbed from The Vegetable Gardener's Bible by Edward C Smith.

I'm changing up his crops a bit. Dropping the beets and radishes. 1-4 will be spinach and various salad greens. 5 is eggplant, 6 carrots, 7 leeks, and 8 parsley and other herbs. 9 and 10 are marigolds and nasturtiums, which scare off various pests.

And because I'm getting a late start, I'm going to go ahead and stick a couple of tomato seedings among my greens. All the rest will start from seeds, I think. Mr Smith has a whole scheme for replacing one crop with another as they are harvested. Cool, huh?

OK. I've been lazy.

And the weather's been variable. And I've been working quite a lot. So nothing's been planted. But I wanted to post a photo of my box o' dirt. Doesn't look like nearly as much work as it felt like.

April 15, Wednesday

It's done!

Got the rest of the sod pulled up. It's lying face-down on my porch to dry out and expire.

Used my edger to turn the soil about 6 inches deep. Raked it out and, because it had been turned, it completely filled the hole where it and the sod had been. Lots of worms. Some shallow roots from my huge silver maple maybe 30 feet away.

Added what soil I could from the small bed I had dug up. Many roots from my single eggplant. I used all but the most densely matted roots.

Backed my pickup up to the bed and dumped the first bag of Miracle Grow organic soil in. And immediately saw why the bags were so heavy. The soil was soaked! It glistened! Like if you soaked a potted plant until the water ran out the bottom. Well almost like that. Much wetter than the soil I had been working after a day of rain (my plastic tarp blew partly off). In any case, the 40-pound net weight bags were much heavier and I am not quite the physical wreck I had seemed. Which was confirmed later when I had no trouble moving two 75-pound sand bags.

So all six bags went in and filled the bed right to the top of the 2x10 sides. After which I read the instructions and saw that I was supposed to mix the new soil 50/50 with my dug-up soil. Too late. Also finally read what's in the new soil. Compost, peat, composted manure, chicken droppings. The worms should be happy. Altogether I now have about 16 inches of well-turned soil. My roots should be happy too.

Too tired and back-achey to put my seeds in. Need to let the soil dry out a bit so I can break up the clumps. Tomorrow.

In closing, I wish to express my deepest regret to the families of any earthworms who were inadvertently bisected during my onslaught. I can only hope there's some comfort in knowing that they gave their lives so that other worms could have the best soil on the block.

April 14, Tuesday

Not so rainy and not so cold. Stayed in to complete taxes.

April 13, Monday

Rainy and cold. Stayed in.

April 12, Sunday

Redrilled the screw holes and finished the frame. Removed my old very small garden bed (2'x2'), which covered part of the site for the new bed. Went inside to rest my aching back. Got caught up in the Masters final and watched thru the end.

Back outside to dig. Pulled up some sod to plant where my old bed was. Dug up about 1/3 of the sod total before my back needed more rest. My back muscles, if indeed there are any, spent the winter in front of the PC and the TV. They ache when I change the cat box. I have to hope all this moderate effort starts to strengthen them up. The ache is gone with 30 minutes rest, but it's really quite debilitating when it's there. Next outing I'll pretreat with some Tylenol. 

I'm delighted by what I saw beneath the sod. Black, healthy-looking Illinois soil. Not packed hard, digs and crumbles pretty easily. Plenty of worms about, which means there's enough microscopic life in there to keep them happy. Whatever trouble I may end up having with pests, varmints, or disease, it should be no problem getting a garden started in this soil. The topsoil I bought is probably overkill. But I did need soil to fill the frame.

Rain due tomorrow, so I covered my site with plastic and an old painter's tarp. I hate digging mud. Weather today and yesterday was gorgeous for working outdoors. Sunny in the upper 50s. I'd say I hope to finish the digging and get some seeds in on Tuesday, but it's really up to my old back. I'd love to get the topsoil out of my truck. It's costing me, and our environment, gas mileage.

April 11, Saturday

Got to work on my garden frame. Built the ends up with 2x4s, and they do look kinda cool. Borrowed a 2x4 from the Mack the Neighbor. Bought one later to replace it after dinner with Ma and Pa. With tax, $1.72.

Finished one end, ran into trouble on the other. Screws wouldn't go all the way into my predrilled holes. Eventually my screw driver ran out of power. Tried driving the screws with my ancient electric drill. It's not built for it, but it worked better than expected. Still some screws wouldn't go. I think I need to drill the holes larger. Probably only a problem where I'm hitting knots in the wood. Had to dash off to dinner. Hope to finish tomorrow and get the garden dug.

My Garden Begins

Hit Lowe's on the way home from having my truck serviced in Belvidere. Spur of the moment, efficient use of gasoline, etc. Bad idea.

My one bed will be 3'x6', enclosed by 2x10s. I estimated I'll need 12 cubic feet of garden soil, i.e., 18 sq ft x 8 inches deep. Bought six 2 cu ft bags of Miracle Grow Organic Choice garden soil at $7.92 each. Managed to get 3 of them onto a cart before getting help. They seemed to weigh at least 100 lbs. Later found they're marked at only 40 lbs. Can't believe I couldn't lift 40 lbs. Need to sort that out later. For now, they're still on my truck.

Bought seeds to start now. Didn't have my list, but I know spinach and lettuce can start in April. If the marigolds get frosted, I can always replant.

1. Spinach: Bloomsdale Long-Standing (Burpee). 
2. Lettuce: Simpson Elite (Burpee).
3. Lettuce: Ruby (NK).
4. Mesclun: Sweet Salad Mix (Burpee).
5. Marigold: Petite Yellow (Ferry-Morse).

Total cost: $7.46

Then went for building supplies. Talked into drywall screws by Lowe's guy. Course thread, 3 in. One lb for $2.48.

And two 8-ft 2x10s at $4.80 each. This was dumb. For some reason at that moment I thought I was building a 2'x6' frame , so two 8-footers seemed right. In fact I am building a 3'x6' frame. Could exchange them for 10-footers, but...

Checked the basement for leftover 2x10 scraps. None found. Found plenty of 2x4s though. I'll measure for sure, but if I have enough 3-ft lengths I'll stack 2x4s to build up the ends. Might look cool. Or, probably, won't. But that's the plan. Need to get it done tomorrow so I can get the six bags of soil off my truck. Don't like driving around with an extra 240 lbs or, as I suspect, 600 lbs in the bed. Wouldn't be prudent.

Total cost (with tax): $72.60.