Evidently heat is required for most of the crops that are not blooming like I would like them to. Mainly the popcorn. Something is sorely wrong with the bunching onions also. I have been doing more research and reading stuff online. I read that raised beds keeps the heat in the ground. I am going to consider raised beds for some of the crops next year. Of course I am considering.....I will need to enlist the help of my glorious, handy partner to build the boxes for the raised beds. That may be asking a bit much. He worked so hard building the fence for Fort Knox this year, and so I am reluctant to ask him to do more work for next year. I may just try some different food to grow.
At the end of August I am going to begin the winter experiment. I will begin to plant lettuce and herbs and maybe some garlic ...see what happens. I am wondering if I can grow some of the cool weather crops thru the winter in the greenhouse. I would like to make the greenhouse into a big giant salad bowl. I would like to grow lettuce, garlic, cucumbers, radishes, green onions, and maybe some herbs like rosemary, more basil, tarragon, oregano, mint, parsley, blah, blah, blah. I would love to have fresh produce all year. Of course I am not quite sure why I think I should be able to do this, given I don't know people who have done this, and I know I am not the first one to think of it. I guess I am a lot like a kid in that regard. I just need to figure it out for myself.
The composting is not going very well. There is a huge operator malfunction occurring. Composting requires some leftover green material. Well, to get that, it has to be saved, and then transported to the composting bin. This is where the malfunction occurs. I have a limited amount of time during the day between my work and play. I am terrible at actually stopping what I may be doing and hauling that green material out to the bin. If I do manage to get it there, then I have to walk out to the empty woodshed area, and get some straw to put on top of it. Then, I have to go get some dirt from somewhere to put on top of that. It just seems like a huge interruption for such a tiny amount of worm poo. I have a hard time forcing myself to make the treks. It is the same to me as stopping to gas up the car, or taking a potty break. Seems like such a blasted unnecessary interruption of my stream of activities. As we speak, I have a bowl of slimy, green, bubbling, "stuff" in a bowl in my kitchen. When I am not home, I tell myself as soon as I get home, I will empty it. Well, I get home, and get to talking and doing vitally important stuff like petting the cat, drinking coffee, catching up on my reading...and I just never think of it again. Sad sad sad state of affairs. So, I just accept I may not get much worm poo any time soon.
I am very excited about the yellow crook neck squash. It is doing beautifully and I may make a lot of enemies this year by passing out my extra squash. I can only eat so much squash each meal. I hear it is prolific, so I am making plans for saving and sharing. So all my friends...look out.
I have a couple of good recipes for cooking squash that I plan to share with you. So, when fall gets here, get out your cook pots. I have some good stuff in store.
I have picked tons of peas so far. They are doing fantastic. Some of the vines got pulled up out of the ground during weeding. I just left them hanging off the strings and those blasted vines are turning yellow, but they are still full of snow peas. I had no idea those little suckers were so hardy. I haven't had to store any yet, because I eat them and share them, almost as fast as they can grown. I am going to blanch a batch this weekend and see how they freeze. My boyscout boyfriend is always prepared for anything. He does all the shopping so we never run out of anything, and he has more handy dandy kitchen gadgets than the local kitchen store. He of course had food dryers, food processors, and the tried and true ...wait for it.......SEAL A MEAL!!!!!!! Wooo Hoooo..we are set. So I can blanch the peas and put them in that dandy seal a meal...and put them in the fridge...easy peasy.
Next week, I am going to sneak a book review in between garden talk. I am a voracious reader, and I have a lot to say about some of the books I read, so for anyone who may not be too crazy about reading about gardening, I am going to provide some literary fodder.
I have been throwing rocks at the raccoons so they won't eat my geraniums. I throw small rocks because I don't want to hurt them. I think it has done the trick. I have a front deck full of beautiful big stinky geraniums. It is a good thing they are so gorgeous, because they stink to high heaven.
I also have some blooming "sweat peas". Now they smell divine. They are blooming in a variety of colors. They have climbed the trellis and are taller than I am, and are releasing a heavenly scent. I think next year I am covering the deck with sweat peas.
Until next time,
Karen
At the end of August I am going to begin the winter experiment. I will begin to plant lettuce and herbs and maybe some garlic ...see what happens. I am wondering if I can grow some of the cool weather crops thru the winter in the greenhouse. I would like to make the greenhouse into a big giant salad bowl. I would like to grow lettuce, garlic, cucumbers, radishes, green onions, and maybe some herbs like rosemary, more basil, tarragon, oregano, mint, parsley, blah, blah, blah. I would love to have fresh produce all year. Of course I am not quite sure why I think I should be able to do this, given I don't know people who have done this, and I know I am not the first one to think of it. I guess I am a lot like a kid in that regard. I just need to figure it out for myself.
The composting is not going very well. There is a huge operator malfunction occurring. Composting requires some leftover green material. Well, to get that, it has to be saved, and then transported to the composting bin. This is where the malfunction occurs. I have a limited amount of time during the day between my work and play. I am terrible at actually stopping what I may be doing and hauling that green material out to the bin. If I do manage to get it there, then I have to walk out to the empty woodshed area, and get some straw to put on top of it. Then, I have to go get some dirt from somewhere to put on top of that. It just seems like a huge interruption for such a tiny amount of worm poo. I have a hard time forcing myself to make the treks. It is the same to me as stopping to gas up the car, or taking a potty break. Seems like such a blasted unnecessary interruption of my stream of activities. As we speak, I have a bowl of slimy, green, bubbling, "stuff" in a bowl in my kitchen. When I am not home, I tell myself as soon as I get home, I will empty it. Well, I get home, and get to talking and doing vitally important stuff like petting the cat, drinking coffee, catching up on my reading...and I just never think of it again. Sad sad sad state of affairs. So, I just accept I may not get much worm poo any time soon.
I am very excited about the yellow crook neck squash. It is doing beautifully and I may make a lot of enemies this year by passing out my extra squash. I can only eat so much squash each meal. I hear it is prolific, so I am making plans for saving and sharing. So all my friends...look out.
I have a couple of good recipes for cooking squash that I plan to share with you. So, when fall gets here, get out your cook pots. I have some good stuff in store.
I have picked tons of peas so far. They are doing fantastic. Some of the vines got pulled up out of the ground during weeding. I just left them hanging off the strings and those blasted vines are turning yellow, but they are still full of snow peas. I had no idea those little suckers were so hardy. I haven't had to store any yet, because I eat them and share them, almost as fast as they can grown. I am going to blanch a batch this weekend and see how they freeze. My boyscout boyfriend is always prepared for anything. He does all the shopping so we never run out of anything, and he has more handy dandy kitchen gadgets than the local kitchen store. He of course had food dryers, food processors, and the tried and true ...wait for it.......SEAL A MEAL!!!!!!! Wooo Hoooo..we are set. So I can blanch the peas and put them in that dandy seal a meal...and put them in the fridge...easy peasy.
Next week, I am going to sneak a book review in between garden talk. I am a voracious reader, and I have a lot to say about some of the books I read, so for anyone who may not be too crazy about reading about gardening, I am going to provide some literary fodder.
I have been throwing rocks at the raccoons so they won't eat my geraniums. I throw small rocks because I don't want to hurt them. I think it has done the trick. I have a front deck full of beautiful big stinky geraniums. It is a good thing they are so gorgeous, because they stink to high heaven.
I also have some blooming "sweat peas". Now they smell divine. They are blooming in a variety of colors. They have climbed the trellis and are taller than I am, and are releasing a heavenly scent. I think next year I am covering the deck with sweat peas.
Until next time,
Karen
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