More Work in the Garden

A storm blew through and led us to redo some things in the garden. Strong winds whipped the bed covers around and mercilessly beat our little plants, so we made hoops with PVC pipe to support the fabric. I think they will survive any future storms. We also put up a temporary wind break on the fence. Wind and fog and salty air and sandy, gravelly soil are some of our gardening challenges here. It's always something.

Bob is working on a frame around the entry gate for climbing plants (I planted a purple honeysuckle there today) and I spread straw around the veggie area to slow evaporation and discourage weeds. It will be a good addition to the soil as it breaks down. I think the plan is to put chunky bark on the walkways over it. The squash starts went outside in their mounds today, too, so things are moving along. I pinched off most of the strawberry flowers earlier to give them a chance to put all their energy into growing roots, but I found a deliciously sweet ripe strawberry when I lifted the cover. Of course it's gone now.

Tag explored the garden while we worked. Some days are better than others. I need to write about him but am finding it too difficult now. Soon, maybe.

Row cover

Red currants

Garden entry

Herbs

Squash mounds

Fruit in the Garden

President Roosevelt Rhodie

Our work continues. We stopped at Sunny Farms Nursery to buy blueberry plants. The nursery worker tried unsuccessfully to discourage us from growing blueberries, then gave explicit planting instructions for best chance to succeed. This included lots of peat moss and acid food, mounding the plants, mulching, watering heavily then not at all and finally, using a drip system for further watering. We spent a small fortune to buy mature plants so we can harvest berries this year. We got two early varieties and two mid-late varieties. We also planted two small red currants. There is plenty of room for more blueberries next year if these work out well. We bought the components for the drip system too, and will install it this week. I hope we'll be able to sit down and enjoy all this stuff someday.

Blueberries

Veggie and strawberry beds 

Bob is getting creative with the fence. He's weaving old raspberry canes into the fence material to create a bit of a windbreak. I want to grow a big rambling rose along it for something pretty.

Cane fence start

Here is a long shot of the garden. It's composed of the greenhouse, the fruit area (raspberries and strawberries in addition to the blueberries and currants) and the veggie area, all using water from the irrigation ditch or the well. We're hoping the water doesn't run out this summer because of the drought.

The garden

Bedroom Floors

Cork floors in the spare bedrooms. Done. In less than a day. Dalton knows what he's doing and does great work. The cork works well with the hickory floors and fir trim.

If we'd done it ourselves it would have taken a week with lots of back aches and maybe a trip to ER. Now to finish painting the walls and move in the furniture.

The rhodies I put in last fall are starting to bloom. This is the beautiful pink and cream Unique.

The Garden

We had some area cleared around the greenhouse and raspberry patch, and had topsoil mix brought in. Now Bob is building it out. Deer fencing is up and a few beds have been built. It's still a work in progress but I couldn't resist starting the strawberries. Peas and beans will grow along the fence. Next year we'll probably put in another bed or two.

This part will be planted with blueberries or honeyberries or maybe both, and a couple of grape vines.

I picked up some heirloom starts (yes, organic! Something I would never find in the desert). The seeds I started are still tiny, except for the beans. I started them in the little soil plugs and already had to put them into bigger pots. They are staying in the greenhouse until it's time to go outside. It's still pretty cold at night so I'm giving it another couple weeks for the beans at least. Everything else can go out when the irrigation water gets turned on and I have some row cover to protect them from cold and birds and insects.

In the greenhouse I'm trying a deep root watering system for the tomatoes. I put holes at the bottom of the bucket adjacent the plants, and a row of holes just above the soil line. Water fills the bucket and is distributed at the surface and about 10 inches down. I plan to throw a bunch of terra cotta ollas to insert in the garden beds next year which will work similarly.

Dog Diaries to come when I get some time. Here are pics of them taken today.