our first for 2009...and it's only May...
because I don't have the time or energy to do yard work on Sunday...
and because Sundays' forecast was for higher temps...
and I'd waited as long as I could get away with...
I "bit the bullet", put on my gardening clothes...
and went outside around 10 AM...
I knew this was waiting....
[oh, my aching everything...]
and these were "setting" & wouldn't withstand the extreme heat...
unless they were planted, in the ground, properly...
and soon !
but, first...
the "wilderness area" in front of my house needed mowing...
so... I got it done...
feeling encouraged, I went on to fill bird feeders...
[anything to put off the inevitable pain...]
I had needed to move my pole feeder from the soon to be squash bed...
and found a nice soft spot to drive it into...
in a flower bed just south of the garden...
seen here via "zoom" lens from the patio...
accompanied by hollyhocks* from Moms'...
& a spinner I relocated...
[*the hollyhocks were originally red, then dark pink and now, pale pink...]
this bird feeder is in an old plum tree near my bedroom...
it allows Mz Fluff to lounge in her "summer nest"indoors...
but still keep a sharp eye on the birdies outside...
[especially the foul-mouthed bluejay who calls Herself...
all manner of unkind & unpleasant names...]
there is a matching one in the cherry tree...
the sparrows seem to enjoy this one...
after cleaning out the old bird seed, filling the feeders,etc...
I resigned myself to the task at hand...
and started by clearing off the weeds & debris...
then pulling up the hoses from the 3 tomato plots...
one was OK to re-use...
one needed the end cut-off...
as it leaked big time...
and one needed to be completely replaced...
as I had cut it with a shovel...
and been unsuccessful in repairing it...
so after a sweaty 20 minutes burrowing in a corner of the garage...
I found my 50 ft roll of 1/2 inch replacement soaker hose tubing...
and pulled out the storage box of my "drip irrigation" parts...
took apart the old hose ends....[the end clip & the faucet connection...]
and installed them on either end of what I had carefully calculated...
as about half of the 50 feet replacement tubing...
et voila ! a mended hose [from parts on hand...]
unfortunately, this triumph would turn out to be the easy part of the day...
at this point...
I noticed that the beans had already climbed higher...
than my first ball of twine had reached...
and so I ventured into the sun...
to finish the "twining" of the beans...
accomplishing it in about 20 minutes...
then to the dirty, awful job I'd been dreading...
after several hours of sweaty, dirty work...
I had turned over the soil in all 3 beds...
mixed in fertilizer & a heavy 3 cub.foot bag of compost mix ...
[that contained chicken manure & smelled in the hot sun...]
replaced the now mended & tested hoses...
buried them under more planting mix...
and laid new "weedblock" plastic over it all...
by now, it was after 4 PM and most of the direct sun was gone...
so I then cut openings into the weedblock...
and set out the tomato plants...
[according to my master chart...
see below...]
here, looking towards the house...
you see the larger bed that continues into a newer, smaller one...
and here, the smaller one just west of the beans...
here you see the same tomatoes...
looking back towards the back fence...
with the now, completely twined beans beside them...
and how long did all this take ?
I started about 10 AM...
and was done just before 8 PM, Saturday evening...
[you do the math...]
I did take rests and drank about 3 liters of water...
but all in all, it was a l-o-n-g day...
so while the cherry tomatoes show off their new growth...
in front of the last objective in the veggie garden...
the soon to be squash box...
here's my crossed-off planting list [well, almost all done...]
next to my grid of the garden plan*
here's the next project on the grid...
[after I'm recovered from this one...]
the squashes & cukes can't wait much longer...
wish me luck...
5 comments:
What a worker bee you are. I got very tired just reading this post! But what wonderful rewards you will get! I am quite green with envy at the thought of those delicious tomatoes you will reap!
Does this post mean that you are "up and running again?" I sure hope so because I really miss your daily pics and posts!
Blessings!
...hi M&CM...
unfortunately, I'm still doing my blogging at the church... I can read e-mail on my smart phone, but it won't let me blog[stupid blogger...]
I did, however do 2 blogs today...
so look for one tomorrow...at which time I'll probably be knee deep in my last planting ventures, now that I'm done with p.t....
That is a very ambitious gardening project - loved your hand-written planting chart.
Have you recovered from the heat? While you were getting burnt to a crisp, we had 42 degree nights and 68 degree days. Very atypical. My tomatoes look a little confused. But hopefully it will get warmer soon.
Bird feeder filling is a daily task around here. I joke that my back yard is a bird sanctuary. I do seem to have more nests and more fledglings this year than any other. I have watched a pair of Mockingbird sibs for the past week as they matured. The nest was in a bush in the side yard, and the parents took exception to my wrking on that side of the house. Now that they are out of the nest, the babies have decided that my paio table is the perfect place to wait for their meals, and scream their little heads off!
My last yard project for the spring is installation of a drip irrigation system for the azalea border around the patio, but I can't do it this week because I am preparing for housequests. Not looking forward to the job in any case. I don't know if better watering will save these tatty bushes anyway. They are 40 years old and while they bloom profusely in the spring, the bushes themselves are looking terrible. I think they probably should be replaced, but there's 12 of them - cost and labor may be prohibitive.
Nancy, you are amazing and truly indefatigable!!! Your plants certainly hear the music of your love & faithfulness as you work (hard!) and tend them so well.
...hi Calico & DD[imagine my surprise at finding you HERE...]
my only ISP remains the one at the church...I can't figure out what's wrong with Juno...but I imagine it would be so with any DSL as they all require the same things...
Calico...I assume that you've fed the azaleas...yellowing means a need for iron...also, if they're drying out, a little mulch goes a long ways...
DD... I have just "finished" the edible garden [post to follow] and I am tired & sore...my garden seems to like classical music or if the Giants are winning, the best...
good to hear from you both...
maybe I'll actually find work & be able to afford to reinstate the broadband...I know that works, but it costs twice as much... :P
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