The plants which I thought might be onions aren't. They appear to be some version of Allium, a garlic variant, with garlic style cloves and a slight garlic odor. They're going to bloom at this time, waxy onion-dome shaped flower pods peeling back to reveal a snowball of blossoms. Not much of a garlic taste at this time, I'll see what they're like after the blossoms wilt, when if garlic they'd be ready to harvest.
It's just crazy what all grows in this yard, domestic and invasive species growing in a forest edge style of semi-shade giving way to full meadow. And remove one obnoxious ground cover and another appears in it's place, seemingly out of thin air. The latest pestilential ground cover does a great job of smothering everything, even grass, which takes some doing! Long stems, with velcro-like stickery bits, about every eight inches or so a ring of leaves, slender things, and the seed pods are small BBs with stickery bits so they hold onto your clothing [and animal fur] so they can hitch rides and become widely scattered. The stickery bits on the stems make them act like they were sticky in a sap fashion when it's not a sap style stickyness, little brats sink hooks into your skin, can actually leave welts/rashes in their wake.
And the seedlings all over the place, let it go wild and in twenty years this would be a grove of mixed Oak/Walnut/Maple/Filbert, never mind the three apple trees. And the occasional holly.
2009-06-18
2009-06-14
Still more garden stuff
Same day as last post, went out and suddenly there were five butternut squash seedlings, and the two I'd previously seen were realized to both be zucchini. The butternut squash are all from the same planting area, so unless I attempt transplanting they'll be kinda cramped. The zucchini are from separate planting areas, crowding should not be a problem; the problem is that one got attacked by a snail last night, and one leaf and part of the other got eaten, just hope it pulls through. Our yard is crawling with snails, also some slugs but the slugs are not so pervasive.
I've gone through and pruned back all the new blackberry growth, except for anything which had blossoms; berries are good, brambles are bad. My plan is to go through and try to dig up the obvious blackberries after the berries have ripened, in the mean time keep them pruned back so it doesn't turn into the horrible bramble mass that it had been prior to my hacking them back last fall.
I've gone through and pruned back all the new blackberry growth, except for anything which had blossoms; berries are good, brambles are bad. My plan is to go through and try to dig up the obvious blackberries after the berries have ripened, in the mean time keep them pruned back so it doesn't turn into the horrible bramble mass that it had been prior to my hacking them back last fall.
2009-06-13
Garden update
When I planted, I wasn't sure how everything would do, it's been 30+ years since I've planted anything remotely resembling a vegetable garden; not so for my parents', but for me doing it of my own free will, we're talking back before we moved from Salem, pre-1976, a number of years before then actually.
I'd say we're looking at a high germination rate for the peas, sprouting up all along the two rows I planted, way too close together. The beans, on the other hand, so far... I count three. Yes, three; big bean crop in our future. And to date one Butternut Squash and one zucchini, which is something like a 1 in 20 germination rate for that lot.
Both the peas and beans are pole varieties, at the moment what I'm using for that purpose are those tomato support thingies, the ones with three graduated rings and three stakes to support them. They'll do for a bit, but down the line I'll probably need to add longer stakes, presuming the legumes want to climb higher. But the tomato supports were kicking around in the way, so they were handy to the task.
And wandering around the yard, checking things out, I found, you guessed it, more Clematis striving to creep all over. A couple or three mini-infestations, now history.
I've determined how to quickly differentiate the sprawl-all-over-invasive blackberries from the we-actually-planted-them blackberries [aside from sprawl vs non-sprawl]; the invasive ones have noticeably darker leaves. This will help when I resume working on blackberry control, although part of me wants to see if I can keep them semi-controlled, 'cause they taste soo good, even though there is no such thing as a controled Himalayan Blackberry, they live to bramble, dreaming of the day they will cover the Earth in a layer ten feet deep.
I've discovered something interesting. If you stick a somewhat freshly cut Walnut branch into the ground in the late Fall to mark a possible Clematis infestation, it will take root and put forth much new growth in the Spring. I need to decide if I want a Walnut growing at that location, it's kinda close to the fence.
Also, squirrels will plant acorns a good block+ from the nearest Oak; we've got little Oak trees sprouting up all over the yard, pulling them out is getting to be a nuisance. And I've no idea whatsoever about where the squirrels have been finding the Filberts; those I try to leave alone, just to see if they'll make it. And then there's the Holly growing under the porch, nasty prickly thing, keep prunning it down when it grows through the slats. It's right next to a fern, also a volunteer under the porch, the fern is at least 20 years old now, like the one in the yard just past the rhubarb.
Guess this'll do for now.
I'd say we're looking at a high germination rate for the peas, sprouting up all along the two rows I planted, way too close together. The beans, on the other hand, so far... I count three. Yes, three; big bean crop in our future. And to date one Butternut Squash and one zucchini, which is something like a 1 in 20 germination rate for that lot.
Both the peas and beans are pole varieties, at the moment what I'm using for that purpose are those tomato support thingies, the ones with three graduated rings and three stakes to support them. They'll do for a bit, but down the line I'll probably need to add longer stakes, presuming the legumes want to climb higher. But the tomato supports were kicking around in the way, so they were handy to the task.
And wandering around the yard, checking things out, I found, you guessed it, more Clematis striving to creep all over. A couple or three mini-infestations, now history.
I've determined how to quickly differentiate the sprawl-all-over-invasive blackberries from the we-actually-planted-them blackberries [aside from sprawl vs non-sprawl]; the invasive ones have noticeably darker leaves. This will help when I resume working on blackberry control, although part of me wants to see if I can keep them semi-controlled, 'cause they taste soo good, even though there is no such thing as a controled Himalayan Blackberry, they live to bramble, dreaming of the day they will cover the Earth in a layer ten feet deep.
I've discovered something interesting. If you stick a somewhat freshly cut Walnut branch into the ground in the late Fall to mark a possible Clematis infestation, it will take root and put forth much new growth in the Spring. I need to decide if I want a Walnut growing at that location, it's kinda close to the fence.
Also, squirrels will plant acorns a good block+ from the nearest Oak; we've got little Oak trees sprouting up all over the yard, pulling them out is getting to be a nuisance. And I've no idea whatsoever about where the squirrels have been finding the Filberts; those I try to leave alone, just to see if they'll make it. And then there's the Holly growing under the porch, nasty prickly thing, keep prunning it down when it grows through the slats. It's right next to a fern, also a volunteer under the porch, the fern is at least 20 years old now, like the one in the yard just past the rhubarb.
Guess this'll do for now.
2009-06-06
Garden planted. Post numbering
OK, so this is the actual post 100, I'd worked with Blogger's listing in the create post section, and I've got two posts which are saved as drafts and that threw the count off. If I ever finish them they'll show up with the initial date of creation from way back when instead of the actual posting date, which will make this post 102. Like anyone really cares.
Now, the garden. Planted peas, beans, butternut squash and zucchini two days ago, having soaked the seeds overnight, and soaked the ground as well. If they all germinate it'll be very overcrowded, but I'm banking on inexperience keeping germination to a reasonable level. Stuck bunches of apple pruning branches in the ground with the peas and beans, for them to clamber on, may need to add more sticks depending upon that germination thang.
Guess this'll do for now. Weather has been cloudy and chill the last two days, and the SAD thing seems to be kicking in again; really prefer it when it's hot and bright, sometimes I really miss Tucson's weather, or a Chicago summer, even with the added humidity.
Now, the garden. Planted peas, beans, butternut squash and zucchini two days ago, having soaked the seeds overnight, and soaked the ground as well. If they all germinate it'll be very overcrowded, but I'm banking on inexperience keeping germination to a reasonable level. Stuck bunches of apple pruning branches in the ground with the peas and beans, for them to clamber on, may need to add more sticks depending upon that germination thang.
Guess this'll do for now. Weather has been cloudy and chill the last two days, and the SAD thing seems to be kicking in again; really prefer it when it's hot and bright, sometimes I really miss Tucson's weather, or a Chicago summer, even with the added humidity.
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