Thursday, June 14, 2012

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  Yesterday, another lovely hot and sunny day!   Spent some time spreading out some rock weed to dry on some lattice frames.   Perfect for soaking tired hands & feet later on.  Seaweed is perfect for soothing tired muscles, sore from lots of gardening.

So very much to do in the garden .. that’s what happens when chores aren’t organized, I find. However, it’s never too late, I tell myself .. as I wandered around . .. sorting out where to start first.

I’m quite surprised when I visit the area of the garden where I have organized my propagating and seeding area.  Uh, oh, all those packets of seeds that I left out on the table, with all the best intentions of putting them in seeding flats … and then I’d gone on to other things.  Well, most of them have sprouted.

I’d purchased a lot of them at a Seedy Saturday, months ago.  Then stored them neatly in a clear acrylic box, for future use.   After that, I’d taken them outside and so .. now .. after periods of rain .. some of them have actually sprouted in their envelopes.  Strong plant roots have broken through the paper barriers and grown and grown.

Opening some of the envelopes, I’m surprised to see strong and vigorous green growth!  The Pea seeds (a rare German variety) were well rooted.  I soaked the envelope in a little bucket of water, so that I could easily separate these treasures, without harming the root structure.   And I installed one of my wonderful pvc sections, joined in the middle, to form an arch and placed on long rebar stakes, held firmly in the ground.

Next, I hung plastic netting to the sections (last year I’d placed screws along the sides of the pvc, so that the netting could be held firmly in place) and fastened it snugly.   Then, busy gardening, I dug a long trench, planted the pea seeds, watered with EM and placed seaweed carefully around the seeds.  This keeps away the slugs.  No “slug bait” needed here.  Nature rules.

Soon, these strong little peas sprouts will be rapidly climbing the netting.   I foresee a heavy yield of these peas .. and will save some for seeding next year.

Once that was done, I returned to the table to check on the next packet of sprouted seeds.  These turn out to be Kentucky Wonder Beans .. and wow .. do they live up to their name!  Again I placed the seeds in water to loosen up the roots and pot them up, temporarily, in pots, to plant today.  I’m running out of garden space .. so spend some time, planning another temporary garden section.

I notice that the basil and flax seeds have been thoroughly drenched and so I soak them and place them, temporarily in pots, ready for planting.

Procrastination just doesn’t always work in the garden.

I mix up another batch of EM (effective microorganisms) .. the magic elixir that enriches the soil with a mix of bacteria, fungi, et al, that makes the soil come alive and encourages splendid new growth.   And I water some of the veggies with the EM ….. healthy soil, healthy plants.

And I tuck seaweed around the base of some blueberries, to deter the slugs which have been munching away on the leaves.  They aren’t doing that anymore, thanks to the seaweed!!

I love the new temporary raised bed, by the wild and crazy tree.  A wonderful mix of spoiled hay, leaf mulch, alpaca & goat manure, plus compost.   I had one remaining board left from the original raised beds of years ago.  That formed the front edge of the new bed.  Next I collected bricks from around the yard and made a facing, so it appears as if the bed is solidly established.

Then I placed sections of boards on top of the facing board, placed flower planters on top and interspaced them with beach rocks .. so now it appears as if this bed has been here for a long time!   (photos tomorrow!)

So .. today .. lots to do … setting up more little temporary beds and will plant those Kentucky beans there.

Basil & tomato plants to place in sunny areas.

Tidying up.

Bird watching.

Lots to do .. and looking forward to this day!

🙂