Rusty's Desert Garden

Fall planting

2015-08-01T11:45:00.000-07:00

Temperatures are starting to come down a bit, on average around 10 degrees per day. So, daughter and I went out and did our fall planting yesterday.

I removed the plastic sheeting from the rows which have been covered the longest with black plastic and tilled those rows before we planted. Hopefully most of the grass and weeds are dead now. Find out soon enough. (I did save the plastic for next year.)

We planted pumpkin (three kinds), carrots, lettuce (two kinds) and spinach (also two kinds). I also gave in and planted pole green beans by the fence, since the additional cucumbers I planted there died off. I think cucumber beetles got them.

Something I forgot was to plant dill. Have to do that today.

Tomatoes have started a nice rotation of ripening and we picked about 10 lbs a couple days ago. To that, I ordered a pressure canner finally. A decent one which is anodized and 20 quart size. It can also be used as a pressure cooker and comes with the can rack and three weights.

Getting the most cucumbers ever now. Still doesn't amount to a whole lot. Oh, well. Lots of flowers, so maybe we'll wind up with a decent crop in the long term. As of now, not enough to start pickling more than one jar at a time.

No green grapes this year, thanks to the late frost. Same with apples. Plums seem to have been carried off by birds. I mean all of them. Not even one plum pit left behind. I will have to cover the tree with netting next year.

I knew and planned for this to be mostly a sparse year for the garden. More important to get weeds and grass under control. For which it looks like I'll have to go buy even more herbicide. Last few weeks rain and weather changes have sparked an explosion of weeds. I think if I get them controlled now it will be an immense advantage next year. In this case, I will use herbicide one day and then acid the next day to desiccate any seeds.

Even if the variety of crops is low this year, it's still the best year yet for tomatoes. I am expecting several hundred lbs of tomatoes this year. I think daughter has already eaten like 3 lbs of them.

Solarizing

2015-07-16T09:19:00.001-07:00

So, I came to the realization that solarizing (at least in my garden) is not going to build up enough heat to kill seeds. That would have to reach 160 degrees down to about a foot depth. Instead, it has a different method of working.

What it actually does is build enough heat and moisture for seeds to germinate. Then deprives them of energy, so the plants that sprout die off as their roots become exhausted. Plus microbes feed on material in the deeper soil.

What I have seen is a huge spike in snail and sow bug population as they feed on the debris.

Understanding the process lets me know why it takes as long as it does. It also tells me it may be safe to remove most of the plastic in the next few weeks because that process will be mostly or entirely complete. The exception is the two most recently covered sections. Those will remain covered the rest of the season.

However, in general I have found extensive value in this and some areas of the ground will be routinely covered every year from now on. It helped the tomatoes so much I'll keep this practice. Helps with weeds, grass, insects and moisture stability. Lower branches don't get yellowed even if they hang on the ground because irrigation is under the plastic. I was worried about soil oxygen but the plants absorb enough through the leaves.

I am hoping it will also help the pumpkins. I may keep some additional areas covered where longer crops grow which were started in pots. Only uncovering where I want to direct plant carrots and such.

Amazed

2015-07-10T19:46:00.002-07:00

The tomato plants are amazing me this year. Last couple of weeks I have had to tie the branches up twice a week to keep them from dragging the ground. Several of the plants (first ones planted out) are 4-5 ft across.

Aside from that, there are more tomatoes than any previous year and they are seriously gaining some size! None are turning red just yet. Maybe in another week or two but I'm not in a rush. I'm more anxious to see how large they may get! In previous years I could sometimes go through the garden and count how many tomatoes were growing. At least early in the season. This year there's no chance of that. For the ones of any size I estimate at least 200-300 tomatoes hanging this minutes, with more flowers and very tiny tomatoes forming.

The plants are not growing as tall as they have before. That may be the varieties I'm growing or that they are forming more fruit.

Few cucumber vines are looking good. Waiting to see if others planted recently will come up. I need to put up a trellis for them to climb. The wooden fence doesn't have anything that cucumbers will hold onto, since they're not true climbers like green beans or grapes. Even pumpkins and watermelons climb better by nature. I have some metal fencing that would work for the purpose quite well.

Speaking of which, one watermelon vine is looking good. Couple more are still small and I planted more seeds earlier this week. I think they should have time to produce if they germinate soon.

I also planted pumpkin seeds, both giant and pie this week. Those should definitely have time to produce as long as there's no early frost this year.

That one is questionable. The weather is uncommonly cool right now. An average of 9 degrees cooler than normal for this time of year. Reports say there is a continued El Nino in the Pacific, which is increasing precipitation, resulting in cooler temperatures and a lot more rain than normal here. I'm surprised I have not yet heard the right wing idiots talking about how this indicates global warming isn't real. They never grasp the fact that the whole reason for the weather pattern is because of ocean warming. Their minds aren't big enough to understand it. The end result could be an early (and very cold) winter.

Finally

2015-07-03T21:37:00.002-07:00

Since I had today off, I woke up early and finally got to the dispensary while they had cannabis cuttings in stock. I was the first in line when they set the tray of cuttings out this morning. Got one pure Indica and one Indica dominant.

I also tried starting a couple more seeds. The instructions they gave me with the cuttings stressed something which I had maybe not paid enough attention to. Cannabis seedlings need a lot of humidity. So, I microwaved the potting soil, then microwaved the planting containers. All to kill off any dormant white fly eggs. Then planted the seeds. Placed a ring of translucent plastic around the seeds and taped cheesecloth to the top. Then sprayed the cheesecloth with insecticide. (I did cheesecloth thing with the cuttings, also.)

I've been sick all this week due to the worst allergies in decades. Mostly cottonwood. Feeling a bit better today because we've had some rain which washed some of the pollen away. Still pretty tired all day, though. Body had to recover.

Tomorrow I plan on getting the grass trimmed and lay down more black plastic. I had removed one small section a few days ago to see if it had been in place long enough. Within two days I saw new grass sprouting. So, have to cover that spot and other areas.

Tomatoes are still all green but some are getting really big now. Very happy with that!

Next stage

2015-06-27T18:30:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I have had the black plastic in place on some rows for a number of weeks now. This evening, I took one small section off and moved it to another area where weeds have gone insane. Low weeds. Had a battle with them last year but can't recall what their name.

The section I removed plastic from is all brown and appears dead. However, that could change with light and more air. I'm going to give it at least a week before planting anything there. At first sign of anything green, the plastic goes back down.

The tomato plants have seriously bushed out in just about the last week. I now have dozens of tomatoes forming rapidly and hundreds of flowers where many more fruit will be. I am honestly expecting at least 300-400 lbs of tomatoes this year. This is truly the best the tomatoes have ever looked.

On the other hand, not much else is growing. I left lettuce out of the picture this year to get the weeds controlled. Looking at the areas which I did not cover, I am really happy with that decision. The carrots I planted in the uncovered areas never came up. I think they would have, if not for the weeds.

I am still keeping the clear plastic down in the tomato patch. I think that has a lot to do with how well tomatoes are doing. It retains moisture, removes hiding paces for damaging insects and at least limits how much any weeds under the plastic can steal nutrients. If the weeds die off, they will actually compost under the plastic and release nutrients back into the soil.

I planted the watermelon and pumpkin plants out which I started inside. However, moved them out too quickly because daughter and I were leaving for vacation. Now only one watermelon vine survived.

All my cucumber vines started inside died off. I planted more seeds and have some vines coming up now. I'll probably have cucumbers but not for a while. Just going to have to do some work to keep the weeds under control manually around them.

I'm actually not pushing for a lot from the garden this year besides tomatoes. I may focus more on the fall garden if things are finally controlled by then. I have been spraying more weed killer this year than ever. Just trying to catch the weeds early, so they have no chance to spread more seeds. I will continue with using that through the whole season and hope to need a lot less next year.

Displacement

2015-06-16T19:54:00.001-07:00

Here is something which may seem odd. As I plant things in the garden, I am removing soil, grass and weeds and piling it up in the compost pile. Though I did just realize I need to place some black plastic over it, so the grass and weeds don't sprout. Over time, I will rotate contents into the compost tumbler, which reaches higher temperatures. The combination of composting and heat should deactivate the seeds.

Got out and set up another sprinkler during lunch for the Cosmos and the Wisteria. Also set up a water line for the dog, so it will automatically fill his bowl, like I do each summer. I think it will be more successful this year because the younger dog is gone, who would chew up the water line, leaving it to drain on the ground and leave the dogs thirsty. This dog is smarter than that. I hope.

Still no luck on the cannabis plants. they seriously attract white flies. I finally gave in and sprayed the hell out of them with poison. See if that helps.

Change of layout

2015-06-14T19:58:00.001-07:00

I have decided to make a change of layout in the garden. Today I set the new seedless grape vine in the ground. In the main garden, instead of along the fence. What I want to do is establish an actual (small) orchard. Laying things out in a straight line in the main garden would make it easier to propagate new vines. I'll trim most of the vine runners up higher but leave one or two at the bottom, let them gain some length, bury them in soil until they form roots, then cut the connection to the "mother". No question it will take several years to establish a whole line of vines that way but that's okay.

Hmm. Okay, I just figured out I did something wrong. I set the vine in the ground at the end of the row. Should have done that in the middle. Then I could form two new vines at once instead of one. I'll have to move it. That way I can start with one vine and by the end of the year I'll have at least three. Next year that would increase to five, the following year seven. etc. Then I can keep them well trimmed and the grapes will grow to a good size.

That doesn't mean I will ignore the grapes along the fences. I'll still extend them. I have kind of an emotional attachment to them now.

Have to get the watermelon and pumpkin plants in the ground this week.

White flies

2015-06-09T19:56:00.000-07:00

Still having a problem with white flies on indoor plants. They're a huge problem here every year, both inside and out. I'm keeping the office windows closed and have taken to spraying flying insect poison several times a day in there. Tried insecticidal soap but with limited effect.

Problem is that they kill off seedlings until they are large enough to deal with the damage. Of course, they lay eggs and hatch in the soil, so they do damage at least from soil level up. Even those that survive take much longer to mature.

I've had lots of flowers and several cannabis seedlings die off from this. Cannabis seeds are not cheap, at up to $5 per seed. Just trying to get a few plants to maturity, so I can produce more seeds.

Outdoor tomato plants keep looking better. Most of the varieties I'm growing right now don't tend to grow that tall, maybe 4 ft maximum but they bush out a lot, which they are doing. They have not yet gained enough size that I need to trim them back. I do have a few small tomatoes forming. They'll take a while because all these varieties are large tomatoes. No cherry or grape tomatoes this year. I only grew those for daughter and she has more liking for large tomatoes now and not small ones. That's good because it concurs with my own preference. That is, good if she doesn't eat all of them! Lol!

Watermelon vines are coming up. I'll get them in the ground as soon as they form some true leaves. I have them outside already, in partial shade so they will adjust more quickly to sunlight.

Not seeing any carrots in the garden which I planted. Though they can remain hidden for a while. Still a chance for the, since weather has been warm but lots of cloudy days. If seeds had a chance to germinate, they will come up.

Strange thing. The potatoes in the solarium had stopped growing while the cilantro was growing. Now that the cilantro went dormant, the potatoes started growing again! Any way, I removed the cilantro and planted more red potatoes in containers a few minutes ago.

I had been holding off on tying the tomato plants too much but checked closer this evening and wound up having to tie some of them quite a bit.

I do have to do some more revisions of the irrigation and put down more black plastic. The weeds are going wild under the translucent plastic. So, translucent plastic is a definite failure.It has kept the weeds contained so they don't spread but not much else.

Computer updates

2015-06-06T12:59:00.000-07:00

Today so far I am kind of stuck doing computer updates. For a long time the video card channel in my motherboard wasn't working. Computer was function on the native Windows driver, so it was okay for most things. Could not send video to the TV or play computer games. Would overheat the processor with some videos, then I learned even that was only on one browser, so I switched browsers.

Ordered and installed a new motherboard. Not only did the motherboard not work but it fried my 8 core processor.

So I ordered another motherboard and 6 core processor from a different vendor. Installed that last night but had to install drivers and updates this morning, along with tweaking the system so it works how I want.

Once I get that done, going to get outside and get some things done. Kind of tired because I woke up sick at 4:30 AM. Mostly passed but slept late and not so energetic today thus far.

Tomato plants are taking off like rockets now! Hundreds of flowers and I saw the first baby tomato of the season yesterday.

Been testing the soil and it became very alkaline again. Started doing frequent acid treatments at much higher levels than ever before. It's doing some good.

Cucumbers are still suffering. This is second attempt and several have died off. Maybe I need to get them in the ground instead of containers. Do that today and see how they do.

This year I am growing cannabis. Mostly in containers but may move some out to the garden once they reach a large enough size to transplant. Then compare how they do. Down side to planting outdoors is that there will be no harvest until fall. Yes, I am licensed on the medical program here. Trying to grow my own because it has the potential to save me thousands of dollars. I'm a really light user and if I get one plant to harvest it would last me several years.

The blueberry bushes are looking decent. No berries, though. Either need larger containers or get them in the ground. Before I can do that I have to intensely treat and acidify the soil where I'm going to plant them.

Finally got a living pomegranate bush and a wisteria bush and both are looking good so far. Need to harden them off and get them moved outside, also.

Finished the garden fence two weekends ago to keep the dog out and provide a trellis for some plants. It looks rather decent! Yay! The footers are each set in concrete, so it should be stable.

My plan is to build an arbor down at least part of the center of the garden and have grapes and wisteria growing on it.

All my Gladiolus bulbs seem to be doing well, even after transplanting them out to the garden.

I now have four red grape vines. Seems when the neighbors installed their privacy fence they buried part of the vine, which formed roots and then turned into new vines. That's funny because these are the same neighbors who killed a green seedless vine while building that fence. Now the four vines are growing across and through the fence! I'm keeping the vine cut back a lot more this year, trying to increase the size of the grapes. But what they did also taught me a method of propagating the vines, since every attempt at growing from cuttings was not working for me. Not sure what I was doing wrong. Doesn't matter. That method will work for a lot of vines and bushes, maybe even trees in some cases. Going to give it a try. Already started an attempt with the green seedless grape vine.

I have been successfully propagating tomato plants by cuttings. I added 4-5 plants by that method and took four more cuttings this week. They seem to be doing okay so far. Give it a bit more time.

Got watermelon seeds started this week and they're coming up. Need to get more potting soil and get pumpkin seeds started. I just waited this year. Maybe between starting later plus the plastic on the mounds I can avoid most of the squash bugs this year.

Increasing plant population

2015-05-08T21:35:00.002-07:00

The plant population is increasing.

Gladiolus are coming up, in the garden and in pots. So are carnations and asters. I was surprised to find the nasturtium pretty much leaped out of the soil (okay, 3 of them) and are already about 4" tall. Since I just planted them Mon or Tue night, that wasn't expected.

I am on the medical cannabis program and had bought some seeds a few weeks ago. Four of the seeds germinated out of five. They're growing taller. Little slowly but I have not yet had them in complete full sunlight. They are outside now.

Taking a slight chance financially. Ordered some seeds from a company in Amsterdam. The company has been around a while and they have a seriously extensive website including translations of language and currency into a number of languages and currencies. The only company I've seen that offers guaranteed delivery. Doesn't mean they are the only ones, just the only ones I've seen. Long as all works as planned, it winds up much cheaper than buying from the local dispensary, who charges $4 per seed. The seeds I ordered come to less than $2 per seed after shipping to include guaranteed delivery. These are also supposed to be the most prolific producers, up to 1.5 lbs per plant. (I don't use much at all. One lb would last me several years, long as it doesn't go stale.) Down side is a low CBD content. But if the purchase goes well I'll order some more expensive strains from them later.

A couple of the tomato plants are beginning to flower, Surprising because they're not very tall yet. Though I have seen plants flower and then rapidly gain size while the fruit is small, in a rush to gain strength to support the fruit.

Glad I got the last tomato plants in the ground a couple days ago. Wind picked up today and probably would have knocked containers over.

Few days later than planned but got the lavender seeds started today. That's okay, gave them more time to stratify.

Wow! I have to get more dish tubs. I have like 15-20 of them but turns out they're all in use already. Found out when I went to get seeds for watermelon and pumpkins started. Guess I'll get some more this weekend.

Rainy night

2015-05-04T20:45:00.001-07:00

Rainy night tonight. No complaints from me!

Since last posting, the cucumber seeds came up.

Strawberries look better but did suffer some sun scald because they were greenhouse plants. They seem to be okay, though.

Got plastic sheeting on most of the mounds in the garden a couple weeks ago. Then this weekend I got most of the tomato plants in the ground with tops sticking out of the plastic. Give it a couple more weeks and maybe start pulling the plastic off. I'll wait as long as I can, depending on how the plants look.

Planted carrot seeds. Not completely sure they'll germinate. I think there are just enough nights below 50 degrees for them to do so. Meanwhile, the container carrots are getting close to being ready to harvest.

Got milkweed seeds in the mail. Had to stratify them for a couple of weeks. Got them started tonight. Hoping they flower this year. Be really good to attract lots of Monarch butterflies!

I have a couple dozen Gladiolus of various colors coming up. If I get them hardened off and in the ground they should flower in a few weeks.

Wrapping the trees saved the plum and apple crops. Still hoping for blueberries this year. Not sure because the two different types bloomed at different times.

Got the sunflower seeds planted this evening. Slightly late but not much. The seeds already in the ground in the back yard are just starting to come up. Not seeing Cosmos yet but they start late and then make up for it.

Need to get watermelon, cantaloupe and pumpkin seeds going this week.

The irrigation system is completely up and running. No timer for the front zone at the moment. I have my vacation set up as two separate weeks, so I figure if I seriously soak the ground before leaving town for a couple of days, shouldn't be a big problem. But maybe I'll get a timer for that zone any way. I ran the two back zones for as long as 4 hours (with drip irrigation) at a time a few times to flush surface sodium as deep as possible. I actually hope that if I keep doing that, over time the salt will be flushed too deep for roots to reach. Maybe washed completely away, since the water table is so close to the surface.

I'm working toward the future configuration of the garden. Tried to order some wisteria. Then Bank of America got their heads up their asses. The order was canceled. Have to reorder when I get a new debit card. Not worth going into all of it on my garden blog. In time, I'd like to have an arbor the length of the garden covered with wisteria. I had ordered seeds for Chinese wisteria before I knew it takes 15 years to flower! Instead, I'll buy Amethyst Falls wisteria, which allegedly flowers the same year and grows very quickly. I also want rows of tomatoes and a small vineyard. Plus a row of blueberry bushes, more apple and plum trees and one pomegranate tree.

Tomatoes back outside

2015-04-21T20:06:00.001-07:00

Moved the tomato plants back outside this evening. Most seem like they'll bounce back in a few days. One or two are gone. Cucumber vine is completely dead.

So, need to get more cucmber seeds going tonight.

Zone 1 still needs some revision for the tomato plants. Was going to get that done tonight but ran out of daylight.

Still waiting for the shade fabric and garden staples to arrive.

Had good luck with plastic buckets this evening. (Guess it doesn't take much to make me happy, eh?) Got 7 buckets from the grocery store, varying sizes. Those will come in handy!

Since starting this post I got the cucumber seeds started. Six containers, three varieties, two seeds each container.

Seeing more things coming up inside. Strawberries aren't looking so hot. I may have planted them too deeply. If the crowns are covered even slightly they die off. I removed some soil from them today. If not looking better tomorrow, may have to pull them up and replant.

Zone 2

2015-04-17T20:33:00.000-07:00

Zone 2 of the irrigation system is up and running now. May have to replace one sprinkler. I think there's not enough pressure in this zone because the zone is too big. Either that or there's a pressure leak somewhere. I'm letting the system run for a few hours tonight, so hoping any leaks may be more visible tomorrow.

Letting it run to flush the system and the soil to leach off any surface salt. Also to get any remaining grass and weed seeds or roots to start growing so I can deal with them. It also wakes up earthworms and microbes for the spring, bringing them closer to the surface.

Installed the metal straps on the compost tumbler, so the door will stop warping in the sun. It's showing good results, composting much, much faster than the compost pile. In 2-3 weeks I think this batch will be useable. I do need to tumble it every day or two, now that the door will stay closed. I do have air holes drilled in the sides but if I don't turn it, the stuff on the bottom goes into anearobic decomposition, which smells pretty bad. More air mixed in speeds up composting, too.

They referred to frost last night. In my area, it came closer to a hard freeze. The grape vines lost all their green leaves. Glad they hadn't flowered yet. I managed to avert damage to the apple and most of the plum tree with wrapping them.

Lots of stuff

2015-04-11T16:09:00.000-07:00

I think I'm just going to keep this saved as a draft and add to it during the course of the day. Gives me something to do when I take a break.

Last night I applied glyphosate to the garden. This morning I followed up with sulfuric acid.

I have gone full toxic this year to wrestle the weeds and unwanted grass under control.

I'm using full strength acid with no added water. The one thing I am adding is pure household ammonia. I applied pure acid one day and an acid/ammonia mix another day. It seems the mixture is much more effective. And then that effect is compounded if applied in direct sunlight. I applied acid one evening and had some effect but not quite enough the next day. This morning I applied the mixture in direct sunlight and was seeing the effects on the first section before I was done with the last section, so about half an hour. I'm hoping the whole garden is black by late afternoon.

Right now it's 10 AM.

My plan is to get the irrigation system partially running this weekend. Water the soil and apply clear plastic sheeting to the tomato section, then put tomato plants in containers out to weigh the plastic down and install irrigation to them. In 2-3 weeks the glyphosate should be dissipated/inactivated, so I can cut holes in the plastic, plant the tomatoes in the ground and anchor the plastic around them for a few more weeks.

Right now I need to go drill holes in more stumps and apply Epsom Salt and acid. From what I can tell so far, it seems to be working. I am re-applying the acid every couple of days, to fill the holes I drilled. No signs of growth on the two stumps I've treated so far. I may just maintain that procedure through the summer, until I'm convinced I have killed off the roots.

However, I also need to trim smaller invasive trees and go get more glyphosate. Ran out.

I had been letting the dog run around without the invisible fence collar. However, couple nights ago he turned over several tomato plants in containers. I think I managed to save all of them this time. He was eating the potting soil. So I powdered to op of the soil with cayenne pepper. Not good enough. This morning I went out to feed him and he had gotten out of the yard. He came back but I have a new cable run and put the collar back on him. He's laying around, looking guilty. He knows he did wrong and he knew it before he did it. Dogs know when they're doing something wrong but do it anyway. I am in no way sold on the whole poor short term memory for dogs theory. If they are getting into something and walk away from it and/or look guilty as soon as they see you, they understand completely but it doesn't stop them. In addition, eating the potting soil gave him diarrhea. Good! Hope it gave him stomach cramps, too!

A big problem with the apple tree last year was ants. I tried treating the ant piles but to no avail. Today I applied fly paper strips to the trunk. If I have to replace it that shouldn't be a problem. I get them at Dollar Tree, so they're 4/$1. One strip will treat up to 2 trees but if the problem is too severe I can use a full strip for each tree. I didn't see as many ants on the plum tree but I still treated that one as well, just in case. Think I lost most of the plums last year just because the tree was too young to deal with the winds. Still not quite developed enough but maybe have a few more plums than last year. The apple tree put out a few apples last year but most fell prey to insect damage.

Now 2 hours after acid application and seeing a big difference. If not enough to my liking by late afternoon (while still in full sun), I'll do one more application.

3:30 PM. Seeing a lot more effect that I wanted to see. It even has something of a burned odor, which I wasn't really expecting for some reason. Just because there's no actual combustion. However, I am going to do one more application.

I'm dragging butt. However, I went to Walmart and got more glyphosate. Cut down the nuisance trees behind and next to the shed and sprayed what was left liberally with the glyphosate, including the trunks but especially at the spots where I cut because that absorbs fastest, from what I understand.

Like I said, dragging butt. I think it has to do with gastric problems. Took something for it and going to take some creatine in a little bit.

Okay, I did the last acid treatment. It is seriously looking like this is going to work! One of the best things about this is that it only takes a few hours to see where you need to apply more. It took 3 gals to bring things under control right now. I think all it should take the rest of the year will be spot treating. I hope it soaked down to the roots, as it appears to have done.

I can part of the irrigation system running tomorrow. Need to order some new parts because Home Depot stopped carrying my preferred micro-sprinklers and never did carry replacement parts. Going to try out some new sprinklers that have a wider range. They cost more but with a wider range I would need fewer of them.

Done with the garden for today. Need to get a few things done inside the house.

Long road

2015-04-09T21:21:00.001-07:00

This year it's a long road to planting in the garden. Getting problems under control before planting anything outside. I am getting closer, though.

Got the unwanted trees cut down to size, drilled some holes and applied some Epsom Salt and sulfuric acid. Have to wait a while to see how effective it is.

Transplanted most of the tomato plants into large containers this evening. Only one which I have doubts will survive. Let them get a bit larger before I take any cuttings.

Got two more blueberry plants, small ones for now. Plus a seedless green grape vine. All three are looking good so far.

Cuttings from blueberry bushes and plums seem to be taking. If they form roots, I'll be up to as many as 11 blueberry bushes. I'm actually more hopeful that the apple cuttings will take than the plum cuttings. They look hopeful but not certain just yet.

After several days of strong winds, it finally died down today. I was able to get out and spread acid in the main garden. Diluted acid has not been strong enough to bring weeds and grass under control, so this time I used straight acid. Risky process and can even feel the fumes on my skin but no actual direct exposure or burns. Spots where I had applied acid to the tree stumps a few days ago turned black, so hoping to see the same in the garden now. The strong but still diluted solution I used a few days ago worked on some random weeds. I also sprayed some of the full strength acid during lunch and could see some effect by this evening. I'm applying this before tilling or planting anything this year. Going to try and avoid turning over surface soil as much as possible this year. Acid on the surface should kill seeds while foliage application should kill weeds and grass to the roots.

So, just used the last of the 5 gals of acid I bought last year. I'm expecting to go through more than that this year because I'm going to apply it very heavily this year to wrestle control of the garden. Once things are under control, just keep applying with irrigation water to help soil acidity.

The plum and apple trees have had lots of flowers this year! Hoping that means lots of fruit!

Finally got something which fits to plug the hole left by the broken gauge in the well pump. Could not find a replacement gauge or a bolt, so found a pipe nipple and cap, used pipe tape and it worked fine. The pump still works well, the only problem was the gauge. None of that means the irrigation system is up and running yet. That's going to take a lot of work, thanks to the dogs who chewed up a lot of parts.

Winds have stretched out the solarium film. I have to get on the ladder and stretch the film tight again. I also need to order some shade fabric to control the temperature, now that weather is warming up.

Break time

2015-03-29T10:41:00.001-07:00

Taking a break. Looks like the rest of the tree branches will have to wait. The chain on the chain saw is too dull. I have another one ordered but it hasn't arrived yet. Oh, well. It should be here this week.

I did get a lot of it cut down to size. I have to wait for the smaller branches to lose their seed pods before I run them through the chipper. Otherwise it clogs like every other minute.

I still need to cut the trunks down lower before it will do much good to apply herbicide in any form. I'm trying multiple things on different trees. Epsom Salt on one, glyphosate on another and a strong ammonia/acid mixture on another.

Speaking of which, apparently the mixture I made yesterday was not strong enough. I do not see any visible burn where I sprayed. Guess I'll make another batch, stronger and apply it again today.

Moving ahead

2015-03-29T08:42:00.001-07:00

Moving ahead from last post.

The dogs ran away one day. I was able to pick one up from the shelter. The better behaved one. He is now snipped and chipped. Having a lot fewer problems with garden invasion but will still complete the fence for multiple reasons. For one, the old fence is falling down, victim of the dogs and the wind. New fence is considerably stronger. If dogs or wind knock this one down, the fence will be the least of my problems. Besides, it will continue to act as a trellis, as well. Plus I have part of it already built, including the gate. It would look ridiculous to have only part of a fence there.

Now up to at least 18 tomato plants, all looking good!

I have one cucumber vine inside the house which is gaining size and very healthy.

Got the sides of the solarium opened up. Still need to open one side, which will take more work.

Cut down the row of trees along the back fence. Again. Still in the process of cutting them down to smaller pieces, which will let me stack some for firewood, other for burning but most shredded for compost. They had to go because their roots will strangle the fruit trees and they were contacting the power lines.

Going to build the compost tumbler today.

Sprayed the main garden with a strong acid and ammonia solution yesterday. If I made it strong enough, today I'll be able to see the places I missed. I haven't tilled yet, so I am hoping it will desiccate any seeds left on the surface. One advantage of this is that I can repeat it as often as every day because it will just help increase the acidity and nitrogen in the soil. It's warm enough to plant a lot of things out right now but I'm going to wait and put more work into bringing the weeds under control.

Going to stick with a lot of containers again this year for the same purpose. If I have crops in containers, I can spray around the containers with weed killer or acid and not damage the plants. I may just lay down plastic sheeting under the containers and leave it there all summer in some spots.

Hmm. Solarizing would be a good idea for other areas once I get the trees out of the way. If I do it now, I could plant those areas by early May and they would be in good shape. Of course, that's if I start seedlings in containers.

I have come up with a design which will let me build long planters for around 15 dollars each for 5 ft long planters. Of course, that's not counting what it takes to fill them up. However, if I put unfinished compost in the bottom and a layer of potting soil on top that may work. Maybe compost garden soil so the heat kills off weed seeds that would also do it. Even if weeds are present in them, it's much easier to pull them and get them under control.

I'm wandering. Just brainstorming.

The down side to the early heat is that the broccoli is already beginning to flower. I need to order shade fabric for the solarium to reduce the temperature there.

Getting started

2015-03-11T21:52:00.000-07:00

Beginning to get things ramped up for spring 2015.

One first step is rebuilding the fence. The dogs keep getting past the invisible electric fence, tearing things apart, crapping everywhere they shouldn't. I got the frame for one section of fence up but ran out of slats. I have a temporary fix in place which seems to be keeping them out for now.

The solarium is doing really well. I've clocked temperatures as high as 121 degrees above plant level. Going to have to make the required alterations to open the sides up.

Cilantro and broccoli are doing really well. Carrots are picking up speed slowly.

Inside the house, tomato plants and a couple of cucumber vines are picking up speed. Apparently they've developed decent root systems. I have to transplant a few tomato plants which are in containers too small to get much larger and survive.

Got a plastic barrel to build a compost tumbler. I think that should help a lot. Big problem here is how dry it is. Compost dries out too fast. So, the tumbler will help keep compost moist, elevate the heat enough to kill weed seeds and just look much nicer than the compost bin. Haven't gotten anything done with the barrel just yet but think I should be able to complete it in an hour or so of work.

Analogies

2015-02-27T22:42:00.002-08:00

I have come to see an analogy between the way people garden and their approach to life.

Some people never plant anything. They expect others to do all the work and they just eat the rewards.

Of course, there are those who are willing to pay for what they consume. So, they do plant but in different forms of fields.

Some people plant only decorative plants. Which is fine when it's for enjoyment. Though some plant decorative plants because that is their only true concern- appearance.

Some people plant crops only for the purpose of recognition. Think of competitive gardeners, which can be crops or decorative plants. Once again, appearance is their biggest concern and very little genuine enjoyment derives from their planting.

Still others plant for subsistence. Many of these are hoarders in some way. Or they are fearful. Either one in and of itself indicates fear or greed.

Then there are those like me. People who plant a combination of crops and decorative plants. I admit the decorative plants are beneficial because they help attract pollinating insects. Not going to say I have not been proud of some past accomplishments but the main issue for all of it is subsistence plus enjoyment. It's something I can put intense thought into when planning and intense work into when doing.

It is balance, thought, environment, teaching, learning, work, exercise, recycling, food, pride and beauty all rolled into one for me.

It's a reflection of life. Balance and enjoying the effort are most important. I may fail at times but still plant next year. Possibly a different crop but crops I really enjoy I keep planting. May have eventual success but even if not I enjoy the attempt.

Getting ready 2015

2015-02-15T19:12:00.000-08:00

Getting ready for spring 2015!

Right now is when the solarium is beginning to really come in handy. Ambient temperatures are still often dropping below freezing. However, I have things now growing in the solarium. Carrots, broccoli, spinach, lettuce and lots of cilantro are now growing in the solarium. I planted some garlic but so far only see one bulb sprouting. Cucumber seeds are questionable. Planted some but not seeing anything yet. It does have to remain warm for them to even sprout.

Inside the house, I have a number of tomato seeds started and an increasing number and variety over time. I'm going with a lower number of seeds started but in larger containers this year to prevent transplant shock later. Some I started weeks ago and they're gaining size. Others I started later which are just sprouting. A few more I just started tonight.

Got a new pair of loppers yesterday. Need to start getting out this week and trimming trees. Plus use some nearly pure acid to spray the surface soil. Then start getting some gypsum and spreading that around. Taking the no till approach this year, try to kill off the seeds and existing weeds and grass this year before planting anything out.

Finally!

2014-11-29T07:43:00.001-08:00

So, it appears that the system I came up with for attaching the solarium sheeting is working. Finally!

In previous years, when the winds picked up, I would wind up with at least small sections developing holes which had to be repaired. This time there has been a few days of fairly strong winds and no holes have appeared.

However, this year did involve more planning, work, time and money. Tried to put such into it in previous years but it never quite worked as planned. Then I wound up throwing plastic sheeting up and attaching it however I could.

Not complaining. I learned from previous attempts, which led to the current configuration.

I haven't quite figured out what to do with the well pump. Only thing I can think of is building a small extension out to cover it, bringing it into the solarium so it doesn't freeze. And so the dogs have less access to it. It would also make it more attractive. I'll have to get that done in spring, though. It's going to take a lot of work to build access points for water lines and maintenance. Probably have multiple doors but still need to be insulated. Plus I still have the pump sitting on an old picnic table bench, so need to build a dedicated support. Before I can do that I have to fill in the cave the dogs dug around the pipe. And yes, I mean cave, not just a hole. I was considering putting concrete down but if I build the housing the concrete won't be necessary. I just want to be able to use the pump in early spring and have it in winter as an emergency water supply.

I may start planting tomato seeds this month in the house. Use the old office, where I have shelves by one window. By late Jan to early Feb it will be just warm enough to move the seedlings out to the solarium. Small containers at first and moving to increasingly larger ones. By April or May, they should be quite large enough to move into the garden and have a decent year. If I do things that way, I may be able to coax out tomatoes by late May or early June and a bumper crop by July and onward.

Improvement

2014-11-27T21:25:00.000-08:00

Got the gas space heater up and running in the solarium. That means the night temps have remained above freezing. Unfortunately, not warm enough for the tomato plants. However, warm enough for cool weather plants.

The dogs are not helping the situation. They were pulling at the wire on the outside of the main door to open it. I eventually had to put a hook and eye latch on the inside. So, they started jumping against the door until the latch came loose. Some people would call this smart. Really? No. It's just destructive. Right next to the main door is a very generous size dog door which they only have to push with their noses to enter. They won;t use the dog door. In their minds, they are not opening the latch or the door, they are breaking it. When I latch it again, to them I am fixing it. So they would prefer to try and destroy the door rather than enter through a swinging door which offers little chance for destruction. If they but their heads against it, it just swings open. So I had to add a piece of duct tape to the latch.

Of course, the problem is that the heat is released when they do this.

These are also the same dogs that will not stay in the solarium in front of the heater. It's probably about 70 degrees right in front of the heater. Instead, they stay outside, huddled together while the temperature is as low as 12 degrees. That is regardless of whether they force the main door open or they have to use the dog door.

When I can keep the door closed, I'm still seeing gains of about 40 degrees. It reached 99 degrees today and it stays around 40 at night. Measured at an area behind the space heater.

Started seeds for spinach, purple carrots, cilantro, dill and cucumbers inside the solarium today. I think most of them should grow. Cucumbers are questionable but the rest all grow well in cool conditions. Plus the broccoli is already reaching the point where I can transplant it into larger containers.

If I make it through December without frost damage the ambient temperature should increase by late January. Then I'll be able to start getting a few long growing crops like tomatoes started from seed again.

Good and bad

2014-11-20T20:43:00.000-08:00

Well, since completing the solarium it has helped the temperature inside the house. Mostly by blocking the wind from the west wall. It has also allowed solar gain during the day. However, temps have been dropping as low as the low teens at night. Since I didn't have a decent auxiliary form of heat for night, the temperature went below freezing inside the solarium.

As a result of that, the tomato plants went dormant. I don't think they died off. It didn't stay below freezing long enough to damage the roots. I think they'll come back once the temperature remains above freezing in there for a while.

I set up a gas space heater in there last night. More effective and less expensive to keep going than the electric space heater.

Still, I have some cilantro seeds planted in containers with other plants and started some broccoli seeds last night. Think I'll also start some lettuce seeds. Potatoes are still going in their container. Those things will grow even if the temperature stays below 50. Maybe get some spinach started, also.

I think what I need to do is add another layer of plastic sheeting to the top, on the inside. That can be less durable than the outside film but would help reduce heat loss at night. It would also reduce light coming in but most cool weather crops don't need that much light.

Sealed up

2014-11-06T20:43:00.000-08:00

Finally got the solarium sealed up. The north wall isn't as I would like it to be in the end but had to conserve finances for now. Have a major expense next week. So, I applied tarps to the north wall on the outside to seal out the wind.

Got on the roof this evening and covered up a small opening where cables run through. It was only about 8" square. Plus a smaller space around a plumbing vent pipe.

Installed a thermometer this week which records the highest and lowest temps every 24 hours. The ambient high temperature today was 64. The high inside the solarium was 107! Now, that was at about 6' elevation. The apex reaches about 12' high, so the temperature is much higher at the apex.

I haven't installed the improvised heat pump system yet. That will just be black PVC, flexible vent pipe and an inline fan but I think should seriously recycle the heat. I'm thinking of letting it blow into the crawl space, so it warms the house from the floor up. I already have a thermal switch so it will turn on at 85 degrees and off when the temperature drops below that.

The tomato plants are loving the warmth. They were fading out until I brought them in. Now they've perked up surprisingly! They had stopped flowering but I found new flowers on it today. That's a nice surprise when the outside temperature at night has been in the 20's. I am keeping a radiant heater pointed at them on low setting at night (several feet away) and have a Mylar blanket behind them, to catch and reflect the heat back.

Planning on applying more Mylar blankets to the inside of the north wall. Since the sun shines from the south, that will reflect the heat and light coming in back and amplify it inside the solarium.

Probably going to be a little while before I get the rocket stove built. But until then I think I'll move the cinder blocks for it into the solarium. Just the mass should help absorb more heat during the day. If I direct some of the air flow from the heat pump system toward the cinder blocks, it would increase and extend that effect. Of course, the goal here is to not have to keep the electric heater running but still retain as much heat as possible.

Little more

2014-10-27T20:48:00.000-07:00

Got most of the north side of the solarium closed up this evening. I still have one section and the door to go. Should be able to get those parts done tomorrow. I do still need to install some wood panels as joints between the panels, since I used different kinds of wood that don't meet perfectly.

Pretty sure I'll be done with the entire thing this week. Weather permitting, which seems to be the case.

The closer it gets to completion, the more the dogs seem to be competing for maximizing their stench inside the solarium. Then they stay outside in the cold and rain. Dumb..as..rocks.

Sigh.. Not sure I have enough lumber. Have to prioritize and probably make a trip to Home Depot after dark one evening this week. Oh, well. I'll work on getting the north wall finished, then anchoring the top. If I run out of time this week, I can finish the bottom section next week using the portable work light. But it is only Monday, so see how fast I can get all this done.

I started letting the chicken out of the coop today. Drove the dogs insane to see the chicken wandering around. But the chicken was doing an excellent job of eating grasshoppers and other bugs. Kinda wish I had a flock of them! Maybe next year I'll do exactly that, once the dogs are desensitized to chickens being present.

The ramp in front is hardened and I was able to dampen it to help keep it hardening more. Necessary with concrete. But doing so rinsed dust away from the building process, so I was able to see that it looks pretty nice! It will look better once I apply some sealant.