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Cruelty to Dumb Vegetables
Oct. 17th, 2010 12:00 pmIt's wa-a-arm.
Spent this morning watering, as the garden prepares for summer. Had to top up the pond also and feed the minnows. I saw one minnow, which had definitely grown since I tipped them in a few months ago and haven't seen much of them since. My one known frog rustled around when the hose was applied to the plants around the pond.
The tomatoes are growing well, now just have to try to make sure they get enough water. We're past the stage where, to quote Peter Cundall, gardening sage, "You have to be very cruel!" The broad beans are doing well too, though it's now a race for them to produce their beans before the heat gets too much for them, which won't be long. They swoon when the temperature gets to the mid-20s, but for the moment I'm not buying any beans from the shops as these plants produce sufficient.
I've also got a second run of broccolis; one maturing and four or five smaller plants. It'll be a race with them too. My first crop was almost destroyed by caterpillars. The silver beet is fine, but it's spoiled; it lives in a pot, with proper potting mix, away from caterpillar raiding parties on the back step. Lettuce also well, feral seedings. I haven't needed to buy new seedlings for awhile, which is good.
I do need to put potatoes in, but haven't found the seeding potatoes I want. Better Pets and Gardens up the road had Royal Blues but despite their noble credentials (twice as expensive as, say, Delawares) I didn't enjoy my crop as much when I tried them before, so decided to hold out for Delawares or Ruby Lous if I can find them. I've got some potatoes in from the last crop, using some of the one-bite potatoes on the principle of, "let's go back and try that one again" but that's only about five plants. With potatoes, you really need to put in as many as you can, given that you get about 1-5 potatoes per plant, for four months of care.
If the apocalypse really did come, I'd have to dig up the entire lawn space and probably devote much of that to potatoes, but for now I'll save my strength.
Spent this morning watering, as the garden prepares for summer. Had to top up the pond also and feed the minnows. I saw one minnow, which had definitely grown since I tipped them in a few months ago and haven't seen much of them since. My one known frog rustled around when the hose was applied to the plants around the pond.
The tomatoes are growing well, now just have to try to make sure they get enough water. We're past the stage where, to quote Peter Cundall, gardening sage, "You have to be very cruel!" The broad beans are doing well too, though it's now a race for them to produce their beans before the heat gets too much for them, which won't be long. They swoon when the temperature gets to the mid-20s, but for the moment I'm not buying any beans from the shops as these plants produce sufficient.
I've also got a second run of broccolis; one maturing and four or five smaller plants. It'll be a race with them too. My first crop was almost destroyed by caterpillars. The silver beet is fine, but it's spoiled; it lives in a pot, with proper potting mix, away from caterpillar raiding parties on the back step. Lettuce also well, feral seedings. I haven't needed to buy new seedlings for awhile, which is good.
I do need to put potatoes in, but haven't found the seeding potatoes I want. Better Pets and Gardens up the road had Royal Blues but despite their noble credentials (twice as expensive as, say, Delawares) I didn't enjoy my crop as much when I tried them before, so decided to hold out for Delawares or Ruby Lous if I can find them. I've got some potatoes in from the last crop, using some of the one-bite potatoes on the principle of, "let's go back and try that one again" but that's only about five plants. With potatoes, you really need to put in as many as you can, given that you get about 1-5 potatoes per plant, for four months of care.
If the apocalypse really did come, I'd have to dig up the entire lawn space and probably devote much of that to potatoes, but for now I'll save my strength.