The weather has been pleasant lately. Okay, yesterday was too hot and I had to retreat to the shade after an hour. I only occasionally risk my health to satisfy my macho desire to push myself "just a little further."
I'm already being remiss on my weeding chores, but every time I do pull some weeds, I cover the area with wet cardboard or six layers of wet newspaper (brown paper bags are also good) and top it with three to four inches of good, semi-composted mulch. That way, I won't have to do any real weeding in that area again for most of the season. This time of year, grass seeds that have sprouted are shallow-rooted and easy to pull. I procrastinated last year until the easy to pull thing was no longer an option.
Because of the unpredictable weather and life in general, I got behind on much of my planting and have had to scale back the number of crops in cultivation. I planted Daikon radishes the end of February and they are already bolting (putting up tall flower stalks). And I still have some transplanting to do.
The difference is really amazing when I go out each day to check on the garden. I've been told that plants grow most at night, and I believe it. Mornings are always kind of exciting, because I don't know what to expect.
I intermixed companion plants with my potatoes last year, but it created problems with harvest, because my potatoes were ready to dig before the other plants were finished. What to plant with potatoes is probably less important than things not to plant. Potatoes and tomatoes are susceptible to the same diseases, so they are better kept apart.
I'm already being remiss on my weeding chores, but every time I do pull some weeds, I cover the area with wet cardboard or six layers of wet newspaper (brown paper bags are also good) and top it with three to four inches of good, semi-composted mulch. That way, I won't have to do any real weeding in that area again for most of the season. This time of year, grass seeds that have sprouted are shallow-rooted and easy to pull. I procrastinated last year until the easy to pull thing was no longer an option.
Because of the unpredictable weather and life in general, I got behind on much of my planting and have had to scale back the number of crops in cultivation. I planted Daikon radishes the end of February and they are already bolting (putting up tall flower stalks). And I still have some transplanting to do.
This is how my tomato plants are doing now and below is how they were doing around two weeks ago.
My onion and potato plants are growing steadily. I've planted cayenne and Anaheim hot peppers between rows of onions in this wide-row type bed. The two are compatible companions and their differing nutritional needs and height of growth prevent any conflict between the two. My two rows of potatoes have grown quite fast. The bare dirt between rows is where I stacked the soil from the planting trenches. As the plants grew, I filled in the trenches, burying the stalks to encourage more roots and better production of potatoes. I'll be covering the bare dirt with mulch to prevent weeds from springing up.
I have an entire row of various varieties of bell peppers. They are getting a slower start, but I think they will catch up. This seems to be typical in the gardens around here. I'm going to be adding several dozen hot pepper plants in the coming weeks.
My peas are looking healthy. The Daikon radishes I inter-planted are a mixed bag. Some look beautiful, growing dense and low, while others are shooting up seed stalks. I planted the radishes for soil improvement anyway.
In every instance, I added compost and other organic material before planting time. When I was ready to plant or transplant, I mixed a good balanced plant food, as-well-as bone meal, into the planting holes or the soil in planting furrows, except the peas. Peas need few added nutrients and gather their own nitrogen. In order to improve their chances, I mixed in an inoculant of nitrogen-fixing micro organisms.
Some weeks ago, I bought the big tomato plant above at a garden center to prove a point. I predicted that the smaller plant next to it would catch up quickly.
Here they are now. The garden center plant is on the left. The two plants are both healthy and they both have blossoms and small tomatoes. While the garden center plant will likely produce ripe tomatoes at least a couple of weeks earlier, it probably won't produce as many as the plant on the right.
Other than a few problems with flea beetles on the potato and tomatillo plants, I'm not overrun by bugs yet and natural protections took care of the flea beetles.
Things are growing fast and so far, so good.
Stephen
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