For those of you who don't know what "Galloping Girdy" was, there used to be a bridge across the Tacoma Narrows, which is a narrow area of water that flows between the city of Tacoma, and the Key/Longbranch Peninsula. The water flows fast and hard, and the wind whips through the narrows at breakneck speed during a storm. Well, my uncle was one of the engineers who designed the original bridge that was called Galloping Girdy. All the engineers on the project did not take into account the uplift of the wind whipping under the bridge. One stormy day the wind was blowing hard, and the cement roadway running across the bridge couldn't take the stress and the whole bridge collapsed. The new bridge had vents between the lanes so that would never happen again. How is this related to me you ask? I think I must have inherited some of those engineering genes.
I have been anxiously awaiting for my sugar snap peas to ripen. There are lots of small peas out there on the vine, and I have been checking them every day. Well when I went out there, there they were.....the stakes and string toppled over and the peas lying on the ground. We had a galloping girdy force wind here yesterday, and I guess I didn't calculate the weight of the peas and the potential force of the wind properly. We are going to go out today and put up bigger stakes and wire instead of twine. Live and learn. And by the way...I am going to pick the peas today after the support is fixed. A lot of them are ready..but I can't get to them when they are all tangled up on the ground.
The green tops of the potatoes look great! I just can't see underground to know if we will get potatoes or not. The lettuce of the salad bowl variety is fabulous, and the head lettuce...not so much. The popcorn has not grown a stitch since it shot up about 4 inches in the first couple of weeks after I planted the seeds. The peppers are thriving-it just figures since I don't like peppers. I have no more tomatoes on the hanging tomato plant that the raccoons ravaged. There are lots of flowers so I am holding out hope. There are some tomatoes on the cherry tomato plants out back in the garden. WOO HOO!!!!!
It has been so cold here the last couple of months. We have had a couple of days of good weather, but things are slow growing because it has been so cold and rainy. I am not complaining, mind you. I feel incredibly fortunate to be here when I look at the heat wave the rest of the country is experiencing. I only wish we could share some of the moisture with everyone. I would happily give away some of this water that is pooling everywhere if we could figure out how to do it.
I have learned 2 things my first year of planting. First, I am NEVER EVER going to start anything from seed again. All the thriving plants are the ones that I began in the greenhouse, and planted the starts outside. Second, the books are only a vague, general guideline. When I first started researching this whole gardening thing, I took copious notes, read about each crop I wanted to plant, and became more and more confused about how to garden. There are as many opinions as there are books. The best way to do it is to just do it, and see what happens. The books were invaluable in helping me decide what would grow well in this area, but that's it. The rest of it I learned from hit and miss.
I will plant the cold crops earlier next year, because I have figured out that "warm" soil means it isn't frozen and isn't likely to freeze again. Geez. I will start everything in the greenhouse, even the lettuce. I will start the popcorn in February so it is "knee high by the 4th of July"...a cute little saying I heard from someone recently. I will not grow as many peppers. I will put at least 3 seeds in each peat pot so that each pot will have a sprout. All of these things I learned this year. I didn't read it in any book. So books are good guidance, but there ain't nothin like good ole experience.
This next tidbit I am going to share may make me look like a real dummy, but I planted basil and corriander in the greenhouse about a month ago. It is doing fabulously well. Both of the crops are growing nicely and I have lots of it. Guess what I discovered after my partner asked me about corriander and cilantro? Cilantro is the leaf part of the corriander seed. Who knew??? Probably almost everyone out there except me. I went out to examine the corriander, and there are cilantro leaves sticking out of the pot. This is going to work very well because now I can make fresh salsa when all the tomatoes and onions come on.....and I love cilantro in my salsa. It is going to be a good year!!!
Karen
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