More Gardening

 Today was dirt day. I topped off the garden box (almost, it needs more, but next year), and covered some of the shallowly planted bulbs along the house and between the lilac and the garden box. I also replanted the chipmunk-planted nut tree (butternut, bitternut, hickory? Time will tell.) and staked up the bird(?) planted sunflower.

Raised Garden Box, August 25, 2023

And despite the sad outcome of the lettuce we planted (They should be growing in that bare spot to the left back of the pool, but they all vanished!), I am pretty pleased with the outcome of the watermelon radishes (even though we only got about five and it took over two months instead of 29 days). And just look at my tomatoes ripening! So excite!

Swimming Pool Veggie Garden, August 25, 2023

So I gave myself a pep talk, when I came back inside, dirty, sweaty, itchy. I can do hard things, physically hard things! I carried (dragged) those big bags of dirt to the garden box and scooped all that dirt in, carefully spreading it around as to not squash the already growing grape hyacinths (I guess I didn't get them all, that's ok). I moved those heavy containers around. I can get all hot & sweaty & dirty, and all beat up by the mosquitoes (bit up), and it's OK! I did it and didn't die. And now I have a pretty place to look at! Proud of me.

Adventures in Gardening

My parents weren't much into gardening, but my grandparents on my mother's side were very into gardening. They built a greenhouse onto their house and would start seeds inside, 100s if not 1000s of them. They would start marigolds for the garden that ran down the length of their driveway, and tomatoes and other veggies for the big garden in the backyard.

May 28, 2023 - Marigolds

They were also into canning and preserving, even going to pick-your-own farms, gathering bushels of tomatoes, and spending days processing them into canned tomatoes to use throughout the year. My grandfather would make pickles and they both would can the tomatoes, and other veggies like beets. They also froze a lot of fruits and veggies.

June 26, 2023 - Watermelon radishes & tomatoes

I doubt I will ever get into it that much, it's far cheaper now to go and buy canned tomatoes, pickles, beets... at the store. Seeds are cheap yes, but the canning supplies are not, and there is so much work involved. Also, I've never had much luck growing my own vegetables or flowers from seed. From rained out gardens to gardens plagued with pests, or gardens that just don't produce more than a few tomatoes or squash, that's been my luck.

July 20, 2023 - Still nothing ready for harvest

This year I tried again though. I bought a kids' swimming pool and some bags of dirt -- we are blessed with gravelly loamy sand for our soil type, which isn't good for growing -- and planted a ring of marigolds for protection, and scattered some watermelon radish seeds. They took much longer than the packet said they would to come to maturity, and they were SO HOT. Also of the whole packet, I only got 5 actual radishes. I was also given some tomato seedlings from work (Ag in the Classroom started tomatoes this year) and bought a beefsteak too.

August 18, 2023 - The start of some lettuce...

Only one beefsteak has deigned to grow, but have several Romas from the seedlings. And with most of the radishes gone, Jacqueline & I thought we'd try some leaf lettuce. So we've sprinkled a packet of those seeds across the empty space. They sprouted, but now seem to be disappearing. The tomatoes, though, are finally ripening! I hope they finish before the first frost!

August 20, 2023 - Ripening Romas!

Heading Out

Monday, August 7, 2023, 6:38 AM

My photos don't upload here as easily as they used to. I think I mentioned that a few weeks ago. Google doesn't really seem to be doing anything to fix the issue; there are many complaints going back months.

Tuesday, August 8, 2023, 6:39 AM

So I'm considering posting these to Instagram as a daily project, instead of posting here weekly, since it's become such a hassle. I don't seem to get much interaction here anyway.

Wednesday, August 9, 2023, 6:39 AM
Photo by Jacqueline, enhanced by me

In other news... This summer has been a roller coaster of drought and rain, sun and clouds.

Thursday, August 10, 2023, 6:40 AM

I haven't had to water the garden much lately because of all the rain, but it also hasn't been warm enough to get the really good growth of my plants.

Friday, August 11, 2023, 6:40 AM

Of course when it was supposed to be cooler, and I had just planted my radishes, the days were hot hot hot, leading to hot hot hot radishes that didn't grow fast enough.

Saturday, August 12, 2023, 7:36 AM

So, yeah... I htink I'll be posting these on Instagram daily from now on. Follow along if you'd like! https://www.instagram.com/bunnykissd/

Sunday, August 13, 2023, 7:07 AM

Exhausted

Monday, July 31, 2023, 6:41 AM

I'm starting to realize my exhaustion is never-ending. 

Tuesday, August 1, 2023, 6:41 AM

The only way to have any kind of a life outside of work is just to push through.

Wednesday, August 2, 2023, 6:40 AM

So that's what I did this week. Saturday errands run after work over the course of a few days. 

Thursday, August 3, 2023, 6:37 AM

A fun after-work walk on Wednesday at the park, something I haven't done since last fall.

Friday, August 4, 2023, 7:55 AM

And Friday off of work to adventure! We went to see Fall Out Boy and were up SO late (3 a.m.!!!), and although I *did* wake up at 7 a.m. and take a walk, it was because I had an ankle cramp (which I always get sleeping on those soft soft mattresses), and I only walked around the giant hotel room we were given. I did open the blinds all the way to let the sun in while I did, but I didn't take a photo, and then I crashed for another hour before getting up for the day. We visited a friend vending at the Lockport Farmers' Market, had Lake Effect ice cream for lunch, Arthur Treacher's fish & chips for an early dinner, and made it home without crashing.

Sunday, August 6, 2023, 7:08 AM

This morning the sky gave a big (silent) cheer for all I did.