Yesterday: High: 101, Low: 77, no precipitation
According to the Chronicle, we are 7 inches down on rain so far for the year. Yikes. I hope we have a good storm season this fall. We had a week of good rain when Hurricane Dolly hit a couple of weeks ago, but nothing since.
My tomatoes are going nuts, and I am loving it. Every weekend I pull off about 8-12 1 to 2 inch beauties. So far I have been picking them green, to keep the birds from getting them, but I think I am going try letting some get at least a little red on the vine. Apparently, the birds are probably just looking for water, but I am not sure how to make a birdbath that doesn’t turn into a mosquito nursery. And yeah, fountains with a 2 year old just isn’t the best idea. *grins*
I asked my mom, whom I consider to be my personal gardening guru, how much success she’s had growing veggies over the years. She tells me, “Actually, you’ve had more success than me.” Now that is downright sad, because I am a very lazy gardener (lost most of garden last year because I didn’t want to go out and water). Last year, I had a bumper crop of cucumbers, big tasty 18 inch long suckers every 3-5 days through June and July. And this year it’s tomatoes. I think she is also jealous that I have thyme growing rampant, which she says she has never been able to grow. No, she is actually jealous of the layout of my garden.
When we moved in 3 years ago, there was NOTHING but grass and two pathetic little porches in the backyard. The front was nicely landscaped, as required by the homeowner’s association, but since this was a rental house prior to us buying it, nothing had been done in the back. Well, last year, we started the big renovation. We now have a lovely trellis covered gazebo, with a lovely cobblestoned area underneath, a walkway connecting the two porches and the gazebo, and flower beds surrounding the gazebo.
And my raised beds.
I love my raised beds. They were made by my husband, 3 feet by 6 feet, and about 2 feet high. And they are smack dab in the sunlight. Full sun, all day long, from the time the sun clears the back fence to the time it hits the front fence. Perfect for growing veggies and herbs and just about anything. The first bed was carefully prepared with soil, compost, and mulch, and is so successful! The second bed . . . well, my husband clearly understands that getting high quality mulch means that it will break down into high quality soil. He just doesn’t understand that it takes a while for 36 cubic feet of it to break down. Yes, he filled the entire thing with mulch, no soil. That is why it is currently empty except for one meager little basil plant that I am babying along.
My mother, on the other hand inherited a backyard filled with over 20 trees in a small suburban backyard. She has one strip along the backfence that gets “partial sun”, and that’s it. Veggies are just not in her cards. It’s a good thing she loves ferns and amaryllis. And yes, I am jealous of her forest, even though I love the fact that I can grow food for my family.
So that is what I have been thinking about lately. Growing more food for us to eat. Produce prices are skyrocketing, but a packet of seeds is still under $5. Things that we will eat that will actually grow here:
- cucumbers (only one plant necessary!)
- squash (I’m thinking patty pan, because even if it overproduces, we can eat them small)
- tomatoes (I want to grow some big ones next)
- beans (I’m thinking about covering our still naked trellis with them)
- potatoes (you can grow them in a barrel!)
- sweet potatoes (ditto)
- lettuce (better than bagged salad, if I can get it to work)
- spinach (DD actually loves spinach salad)
- carrots (one of both kids’ favorites)
- eggplant (only one plant, we don’t eat this often)
- onions
- bell peppers
- cilantro (too expensive to buy by the bunch)
- parsley (ditto)
- dill (ditto)
- basil (ditto)
