Where Did June Go?

Well this post is way over due. For some reason the entire month of June just flew by. We have spent everyday that wasn’t pouring out trimming and cleaning out old shrubs; cleaning up established beds; graded and planted new lawn areas; and planting a few new things. All of this along with our everyday chores seemed quite overwhelming. We also had 3 weekends of weddings out of state this month and the American Cancer Society Relay for Life. Although they were wonderful and wouldn’t have missed them for the world, our vege garden took a back seat to our schedule. This was not the smartest thing to do. I’m paying for it with more weeding and replanting than I normally do this time of year. I truly missed our weekend time. I like working in the garden during the week but love working in the garden with Joe. It is better than our “windshield time”. We garden and get lots of talking and sharing done. There is some very therapeutic about getting the dirt under your nails.

Knowing I didn’t want to spend lots of time moving a sprinkler around the garden this summer, I used a secret we used in our CT garden. I pounded an iron pipe into the ground in the center of the garden. It sticks out of the garden about 3 ½ feet. Then anchored a really nice Gilmore pulsating arm sprinkler in the pipe. It is fully adjustable and reaches all the way to the corners of the garden. I picked up two of these sprinklers at Ocean State Job Lot. They are made with all brass fittings and were only $6.00 each. Last one I had like this lasted over 25 years. Much better than those plastic ones.

The second crop of beans and peas has been planted and coming up. My squashes are doing well after being planted late with the exception of my zucchini. Both of my zucchini mounds have been lost. But at least there is still time to plant a fall crop.

Those potatoes I planted are now showing its above ground growth. I never grew any potatoes before so this is very exciting for me! I can’t wait to taste a few of new potato morsels.

Even the new horseradish bed is showing signs of life. All sorts of green shoots are peeking through the black gold soil. I can’t wait to harvest some of this in the fall. One of my favorite things is fresh horseradish. One just has to make sure to process it with the windows open and plenty of ventilation. Trust me….I learned this the hard way. First batch I ever made put me on the kitchen floor passed out.

More layers are still being added to the lasagna portion of the garden. It is fun to know we are not only growing our garden but growing our garden soil for next year at the same time. I’m an avid recycler. I even took the plastic bucket that the dishwasher detergent came in and am using it for my compost scraps. I cut them up small to use them in the green layers of the lasagna.

I was surprised that the asparagus I planted this year has grown and ferned out. I had to read up on them and learned that you shouldn’t wait two years to harvest. You can harvest after one year. So I’m certainly looking forward to next year. http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1603.html states that the more you harvest the more you stimulate growth on the crowns. This link has a wealth of information on asparagus and is worth the read.

On another note, I use an SPF 80 while in the garden and I still get a dark tan. I don’t get burnt but I’m sure getting “carmelized.” I wish someone would invent garden gloves that wouldn’t give you tan lines. Hmmmmmm.

I can’t believe I’m already thinking of this. But with our short growing season here, one of the things we need to get on our list of things to do is some cold frames to put directly over plants in the garden. We have plenty of old window sashes to work with and should get these done before we have any of our cold nights in September.

Okay .. back to work.