April 30, 2009

Wow, another gorgeous day in the Pacific NW!  When I got home from work I wanted to vent the hoop cover because it was 65 degrees, aka 80+ inside the bed.  However, on the way, I had to take this picture so folks could see what my tomatoes are doing.  They're so droopy it's unreal!



I have no idea what they are, but when I plant them this weekend, they'll not only get the handfull of 5-10-10 organic fertilizer and epsom salt, but I'll hit them with fish emulsion before I cover them with the red plastic mulch. Maybe fertilizer is what they need.  Or maybe they need to be potted up already.  Those are only 2 quart pots.  Of course I guess it cold be a disease carried by the pot. I washed it out very well before I used it. /shrug

Well, while I was venting the bed. I heard the unmistakable sound of kids playing in the back yard (I've taken to closing the gate to keep the kids from pulling the plants out of the garden.  Last week my oldest "harvested" most of the overwintered carrots that ended up in the compost because he wouldn't eat them all.  Then today my youngest "picked" a tulip for mommy, bulb and all.  Joy!

So, after a quick game of tag, aka tire out the kids, we got down to some serious gardening.  I watered the kids bins, the potato bins and the fruit bushes/trees.  Then I decided to fill the bins for planting the corn and watermelon.  Of course I grabbed two bags of used potato dirt from last year.  Again I couldn't believe how many worms were in the sealed bags.  Incredible!  I'll take it for sure.  So the bins got mostly filled with used Mel's Mix.  Then I sprinkled a generous amount of 5-10-10 fertilizer and some bloodmeal for nitrogen in the corn bin. 



Then, on top of all that, I sprinkled a bunch of (mostly) finished compost.  Then I wet it down a bit.



Notice how close the bins are to the blueberry bush.  Well that's temporary for this year only.  You see, I don't plan on letting that bush produce this year so it grows a solid root foundation and sturdy branches.  I did that last year for my first two and I can't wait to let them produce tons of berries!

Oh my word... I just noticed something writing this and looking at the picture above.  I WAS SUPPOSED TO SWITCH THE BINS LOCATIONS!  Now the corn is going to shade the heck out of the carrots.  I sure hope they get enough sun to mature because I really can't move them now Grrrr.

Well, at least the watermelon bin is in the right place.  Tonight after dark I planted four seeds of Black Mountain Watermelon (at least I think it was black), in order to hopefully get 2 plants that I'll let sprawl on the ground behind the rose bush.  Pretty nifty huh? hehe.



The reason that we didn't plant the seeds right away was that we really wanted to go for a walk.  So I decided to soak them.



My wife and youngest are under the weather, but we took it easy (no it's not the swine flu, but we did consider it... symptoms are wrong, but we're watching them).  Anyway, I still burned nearly 1,100 calories on the walk and in the garden.  Not too shabby.  Gardening and exercise.  Life is good. 

Tomorrow morning before work I plan on planting the corn that is soaking overnight.  I am trying Bodacious this time.  It doesn't look like I grew it last year.  If it doesn't work, who cares.  The kids want it and it will be a good way to show them how things grow.

Enjoy your garden!