Well, I've learned an important lesson about vegetable gardening. Namely, it sucks.
The alternating cold and hot dry winds killed the pumpkins. I've pulled out almost all the ones I planted; this is the healthiest one that remains. I do have some better ones at home, because there was no room for them and they were the least healthy on the day I planted out. I left the trays in the car for a week with no water, because I figured I could let them die, then I brought them back inside and watered them thinking I might have to replace the ones in the garden, and now I have four pumpkins at home that after all that, are healthier than the ones in the garden. I guess I can put them outside with a cloche and see what happens. Or I could get more seeds, but this late in the season, it's rather pointless. There are 90 days left till first frost, so counting the time spent in the mail and the time from seed to five leafs, I need approximately a 50-day pumpkin. And the fastest pumpkins are 65 days, I think, plus they're carving pumpkins, not eating pumpkins. The fastest eating pumpkins at Stokes are Trickster, which is 75 days. Well, at least I'll know for next year: plant Trickster, not Baby Pam.
Something is eating the cabbages. And yes, my camera failed to focus on the right thing yet again. Actually, I used macro in my garden and missed almost all the shots, then I used regular shooting in the other plot I'm looking after and all the shots were in focus. Darn you, Canon. Darn you to heck. Anyway, something is eating the cabbages, that is, the Brussels sprouts and cauliflowers. One of my clients at work, who is 84 years old and has spent most of her life in agricultural pursuits (besides attending the founding convention of the NDP - she's THAT cool), suspects it might be cabbage moths, although, she said, it's a bit early for them. But then, it's been a really warm spring, so they could well be early. And, she adds, "it's new ground, so there could be anything in it."
Zut alors. I really wanted to eat the Brussels sprouts myself. Still, I have some seedlings left at home, and some of the ones in the garden have put out true leaves despite the wind, the drought, the lack of sun, and the cabbage moths. Everybody else seeded their cabbages straight to the garden at the beginning of June and they have long, densely packed rows of huge baby leaves, but they'll have to thin them anyway, and mine are ahead of theirs developmentally. Neener neener.
And I'm pretty sure this is a weed. I haven't pulled out every last weed, because some of them could be zombies from whatever was growing there last year, but I'm pretty sure this is a weed.
Well, at least the peas are healthy. So far.
Also, there are some seeds on the shelf in the shed, which we're encouraged to apply to our gardens, though of course most of us have way too much stuff as it is. So I found some turnip seeds in there and sowed them, but as they're very small and the same colour as the dirt, I have no idea where they are now. Also there were some very pretty beans, so I made a row of those this morning.
Another problem with this vegetable-gardening schtick is, the soil is not good. There are big clumps of clay here and there, but mostly, it seems to be just black dust. It was bone-dry as far as my hands could reach when I weeded, and despite frequent watering, I don't find it much improved. It hasn't rained any significant amount in two months, the wind is dry, and on top of all that, it's been mostly cloudy for a week, which means the solar-powered water pump hasn't worked very much. I managed to get out there in moments of sun the last two days and water with the hose, but the rest of the time I've been using watering cans, which naturally dampens my ambition. But even when the pump is working, I water, and I think I've given it a good soaking, and then for all that it's still barely wet. I suppose I could just leave the hose lying there for an hour, but the other gardeners might object.
Sigh.
Vegetable gardening sucks.
The alternating cold and hot dry winds killed the pumpkins. I've pulled out almost all the ones I planted; this is the healthiest one that remains. I do have some better ones at home, because there was no room for them and they were the least healthy on the day I planted out. I left the trays in the car for a week with no water, because I figured I could let them die, then I brought them back inside and watered them thinking I might have to replace the ones in the garden, and now I have four pumpkins at home that after all that, are healthier than the ones in the garden. I guess I can put them outside with a cloche and see what happens. Or I could get more seeds, but this late in the season, it's rather pointless. There are 90 days left till first frost, so counting the time spent in the mail and the time from seed to five leafs, I need approximately a 50-day pumpkin. And the fastest pumpkins are 65 days, I think, plus they're carving pumpkins, not eating pumpkins. The fastest eating pumpkins at Stokes are Trickster, which is 75 days. Well, at least I'll know for next year: plant Trickster, not Baby Pam.
Something is eating the cabbages. And yes, my camera failed to focus on the right thing yet again. Actually, I used macro in my garden and missed almost all the shots, then I used regular shooting in the other plot I'm looking after and all the shots were in focus. Darn you, Canon. Darn you to heck. Anyway, something is eating the cabbages, that is, the Brussels sprouts and cauliflowers. One of my clients at work, who is 84 years old and has spent most of her life in agricultural pursuits (besides attending the founding convention of the NDP - she's THAT cool), suspects it might be cabbage moths, although, she said, it's a bit early for them. But then, it's been a really warm spring, so they could well be early. And, she adds, "it's new ground, so there could be anything in it."
Zut alors. I really wanted to eat the Brussels sprouts myself. Still, I have some seedlings left at home, and some of the ones in the garden have put out true leaves despite the wind, the drought, the lack of sun, and the cabbage moths. Everybody else seeded their cabbages straight to the garden at the beginning of June and they have long, densely packed rows of huge baby leaves, but they'll have to thin them anyway, and mine are ahead of theirs developmentally. Neener neener.
And I'm pretty sure this is a weed. I haven't pulled out every last weed, because some of them could be zombies from whatever was growing there last year, but I'm pretty sure this is a weed.
Well, at least the peas are healthy. So far.
Also, there are some seeds on the shelf in the shed, which we're encouraged to apply to our gardens, though of course most of us have way too much stuff as it is. So I found some turnip seeds in there and sowed them, but as they're very small and the same colour as the dirt, I have no idea where they are now. Also there were some very pretty beans, so I made a row of those this morning.
Another problem with this vegetable-gardening schtick is, the soil is not good. There are big clumps of clay here and there, but mostly, it seems to be just black dust. It was bone-dry as far as my hands could reach when I weeded, and despite frequent watering, I don't find it much improved. It hasn't rained any significant amount in two months, the wind is dry, and on top of all that, it's been mostly cloudy for a week, which means the solar-powered water pump hasn't worked very much. I managed to get out there in moments of sun the last two days and water with the hose, but the rest of the time I've been using watering cans, which naturally dampens my ambition. But even when the pump is working, I water, and I think I've given it a good soaking, and then for all that it's still barely wet. I suppose I could just leave the hose lying there for an hour, but the other gardeners might object.
Sigh.
Vegetable gardening sucks.
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