Pics Not Available

It is the beginning of August and an update is due, however I seem to have reached my limit for photos so I will have to remedy that this weekend.  I can say, at least, that we have been getting some rain now for the last two weeks or so.  Finally.  The lawn has mostly come back and the plants in the garden should be out of danger.  We are still expecting some hot temperatures, still two digits only and hopefully no more 100F degree days.
Not much else to say except I'll post pics as soon as I'm able.

No Rain Yet...

After only getting .31 inches of rain in June, we have received only a trace so far this month. Any thoughts of planting anything else this year have been long laughed off. What we have left may or may not survive well. The squirrels have been getting the tomatoes and peppers -even the jalepenos- before they have a chance to get to full size. Besides having to find water, their food supply is probably drying up as well.

The strawberry bed is a wasteland.

I don't think they can survive the cooking they have had the last two months.  We'll have to have a new plan next year, and hope for a seasonable summer - for a change.








I am on vacation this week and have gotten some small yard projects done so far.  You can see the pics here.

Very Dry Going Into July

The month of June recorded less that a half inch of rainfall in our area to go along with very high temperatures.

In the west garden we have been watering every evening and still can't keep up.  The peas were looking to start a second bloom, in fact we do have a few growing, but the plants are drying up.  The tomato plants have been cooked by the sun and would surely be a dry shell if we haven't done the watering we have.  I think they'll still make it, but we have to have some rain and milder weather soon.  The peppers and the herbs are doing well enough with our watering.

In the strawberry bed, well, we don't even water it anymore.  Now the question is if they're just dormant or dead.  Dead is fine, actually, we could stand to add some more dirt and nutrients on this side.

We continue to water the thyme and sage, in pots in the upper right, and they seem to be okay.





My lawn, on the other hand, is drying out more and more.  *Sigh*  We need rain!  Somebody do a rain dance!  Anything!

Garlic Harvest

Last Sunday, after my last post, Kate did indeed harvest the garlic.  So, before a regular update is due again, here's a pic of the garlic that was planted last Fall and endured a mild Winter and up and down Spring.  The bulbs are small, but may last us a season hopefully....  Well, maybe not, but there are still a few odd bulbs that were planted this Spring that we'll get in the Fall.

The weather here has been very warm to hot and very, very dry.  We have been watering the garden at least every other day with the hose but the lawn is turning brown.

Mid June Update

Atop the west garden, the peas are almost done.  They haven't climbed the trellis as well as we had hoped so next time I may have to figure out a way to keep it more upright rather than leaning against the garage as it is now.  The plants below are coming along nicely.  There are two pepper plants below the peas toward the left, the two tomato plants in front of them, with basil on the right.  Then parsley, cilantro and oregano.  Chives are above thyme in the lower right.  And the garlic at the bottom which was planted last fall has started to lay over so Kate will probably harvest it today.

The strawberries were a disappointment this year, after about 7 quarts last year we got less than 1 this year of mostly small berries.  It's not just us, the odd, mild Spring this year made it bad for strawberries throughout the region.  The netting is no longer needed and will be removed when we get around to it.

Garden and Yard Picture Update

I've been a little lazy posting lately.  These pics are actually from yesterday afternoon.

All the new plants are coming along nicely in the west garden.  The peas have flowered and even have pods growing already.  We continue to let the garlic that was planted last fall grow, and the new ones planted a few weeks ago started coming up a while ago.  There is a side view after the break.

The east strawberry bed is confused, I think.  The very warm March, then cool and rainy April has it looking spotty and producing small amount of mostly small berries so far.  We put the net on a couple days after the last post.  There is still time and berries to grow yet, but time is running out.

More pics of the garden and yard after the break.

New Plants and Strawberries

Strawberry's are coming!  We've had 2 or three strawberries out of the garden so far, most are still a ways off, though.  We'll be keeping an eye on them so we can get the net over them before they get raided by the birds and squirrels.

In the east garden, Kate's pre-ordered plants arrived and she planted them yesterday. Starting on the top left of this pic is Parsley, Salsa Tomato and a Jalapeno plant.  Middle row is Cilantro, Plum Tomato and a Sweet Cherry Pepper plant.  And the two in the bottom of the pic are Oregano and Basil.  Also, we put in a small chickenwire fence that I used last year in front of the peas to help keep them contained and encourage them to grow up instead of out.

Trellis Makeover and Wild Chives

The small pea plants were grabbing for, but not really attaching to, the trellis.  So I had to rethink the design.  I wound up getting some cheap 1x2's to frame it out and some chicken wire to attach to the front.  If they can't climb it now then they can't climb!

We used to have chives at the top of the garden, and this year some just sprang up at the top of the path (which you can see if you look closely at earlier posted pics).  Kate replanted them in the lower right of the west garden, above the thyme plant.  She also planted a few more garlic bulbs in a row above the existing garlic, not pictured here.  There wasn't much as some of the garlic bulbs we had for planting had gone bad.  We should receive the preordered plants this week to start filling out the garden.

I Hate Ants

Only 8 days later than the last post (9, actually, but I took these pics last night) and you can see how the recent daily rainshowers have helped the peas grow.  I'm still concerned about them attaching to the trellis.  I may have to add some chicken wire to the front so they have something easier to grab.
The garlic that we thought was ready is not, so it will be left in for the time being.  I think the very mild winter and oddly warm March may have messed up their growth pattern a bit.  Oh well, we'll leave them be for the time being and maybe check them again in a few weeks or so.

The strawberry plants are looking well with many flowers and teeny, tiny, going-to-be berries.  Last year we had an anthill in the upper left of this garden and they have been back even stronger this year.  I try and try but getting rid of them has not been easy.  I did get some to move, but only over to the other garden, it seems.  I will need to get something stronger that won't hurt the soil or plants, if possible.  I'm open to any suggestions in the comments!

May Day-After Pics

The west garden has not changed yet, except for a little growth.  The peas are growing at the top, reaching for and almost getting the trellis.  The garlic, along the bottom, is almost ready for harvest,  Kate says the dirt just has to be able to dry out some.  And in the lower right, by the garlic, the thyme plant is coming back nicely.

In the east garden, the strawberry plants have plenty of flowers, even a few very small berries-in-the-making.  There is still the bare area at top right.  We're hoping it fills out more with a regular summer and not the baking we got last year.  With the trees and bushes in the area and the angles of the summer sun that corner gets the most sunlight of the whole garden.