Posted on 06/12/2021 4:24:59 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
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Good Morning. I am currently on daily squirrel watch as one comes around to “help” early in the morning. My herb garden is in full swing. I have been enjoying fresh peppermint tea all week.
I will be making my first batch of pesto this week. I put three basils in one pot, a large Genoese, mid sizes red, and tiny leaf Greek basil. The guy that sold me the basil plant told me I’d have a pretty pot and he was right.
I put in some Johnny Jump ups and have been adding them to cocktails as a garnish. They are pretty and give off a hint of violet.
Lots of dill, oregano and sage flavored dishes right now.
The Swiss chard is almost ready for the first picking. Hopefully I get as much as I did last year.
Hey Diana, I have a question for you and your followers..
Was given some black gold, old manure, which I spread on my garden and I think the horses digested some hay that, while growing, was treated with weed killer. Now certain things won’t grow well in my garden.
I’ve decided to let the garden go fallow for a year. Do you think this problem will resolve over time?
Garden is OK this morning.
The bird netting kept everything upright.
“I have been enjoying fresh peppermint tea all week.”
Thanks for the reminder to put out a jar of Sun Tea to steep! May as well make the best of all this heat and sunshine! That Basil combination sounds lovely!
We finally had RAIN, yesterday - though it was 10 minutes of hail (pea sized) then about 40 minutes of gentle, soaking rain with rumbling thunder, then 50MPH winds from the EAST, which is a bad thing! Blew a panel out of my greenhouse - AGAIN - but I found the pieces and nothing is broken.
And I have this to report, that almost a month after planting these toms in the garden in this densely-populated city, with temps ranging from 40's to some 90's, and plants which began as seeds in cups about 4-6 weeks previous and were grown under some window sun and cheap grow lights, then this is what we have in the front section which gets sun about 6-7 hours a day, thank God (the bucket and cover on the ground are there to prevent water from the roof splashing in that area as it does):.
In case you are wondering, the containers around the plants are my attempt to reduce watering by concentrating the water around the plant (pour H20 in container as needed).
Then we have the side which gets about 4 to 6 hours of sun, with the rest of al;most 50 tomato plants, and 14 butternut squash, and even a couple pepper and watermelon plants a neighbor gave us:
In contrast to 5-15:
But then we have this (is it Early Blight?):
As some may know, last year some sort of blight wiped out most of the crop beginning about August, and I cut and sprayed copper fungicide, and the plants were recovering, but then they frost came. I could not find the fungicide I bought until today (prayed) and so I intent to use some.
To reduce the amount of the water bill for the landlord (who gives us a real break on the rent) then I save water in barrels that I cover to keep the mosquitoes out (though a one second spray of non-stick pam keeps them from flying out if some get in). The screen on top is a homemade rig used to screen soil (1/2" screen) and is places on top since the squirrels insist on tearing open the porous covering to see what is inside. Though they only have done it once per season.
Then (for the women) there is the aesthetic section, with fence built with donated lumber by a neighbor from a demolition job, thank God, and flowers that needed a home and showed up incrementally, mostly from the landlord.
Thanks and glory be to God who has granted us grace and help to serve and praise Him.
The weed killer should not be an issue. The horse gut would’ve digested all of that.
Manure, even well composted, still is high in Nitrogen, so things that don’t like/require much Nitrogen would react by under-performing, for sure.
It will correct itself in time, but if you don’t want to waste garden space, and still produce some food this season, try planting:
Lettuces, Arugula, Spinach, Kale, Mustard Greens, Cabbages, Brussels Sprouts, Pole Beans, Sweet Corn or Celery. They all like Nitrogen.
Root Vegetables won’t be happy in high Nitrogen, so anything that produces food ‘below ground’ will still be a problem for you for a while. (Potatoes, Radishes, Turnips, Onions, Leeks, etc.)
In higher Nitrogen, Peppers and Tomatoes and Eggplant and Cukes and Zukes and other plants that produce ‘fruit’ above ground will grow big and leafy, but fruit production will be lacking.
It’s Science! :)
Much to Beau’s dismay, I only top dress our Kitchen Garden raised beds from our manure compost pile every 3-4 years. I’m one that prefers to personally give whatever I’m growing a custom nutritional diet, versus having too much Nitrogen.
Background: My home is in PA, which is a transition zone. The soil is lousy; poor shallow topsoil with a shale base. My grass variety is 'turf type tall fescue'. Last year, a heat wave and constant winds killed much of my grass on my south side. Stupid me: I thought the grass had gone dormant only to learn that persistent heat absent water will kill even grasses designed for drought. I've since learned the lesson that you need to water under persistent dry conditions.
Last fall, I reseeded to replace the dead grass. Today, my southern exposure lawn is a mix of 'turf type tall fescue', annual grass and weeds.
Any suggestion for:
1. Improving my soil.
2.Killing intermixed weeds.
3. Reseeding for next year.
Thanks for any suggestion(s).
I’m always up early all summer long. Can’t guarantee that in the winter months, though! :) Too much to do before it gets too hot to do it.
Not Early Blight on the tomatoes. Either a watering or nutritional issue with the yellowing of the leaves.
Thanks. Good advice!
Any suggestion for:
1. Improving my soil. You can top dress with bagged compost if you don’t mind how it will look for a while. It’s really hard to improve the soil below the grass, but if you have a bare area now anyway, I’d do that.
2. Killing intermixed weeds. Use a granular Weed & Feed in the Spring, and again in the Fall following instructions on the package. It’s not cheap, but some brands of fertilizer/weed control have a three-four step process throughout the year. Depends upon how perfect you want the lawn to look.
3. Reseeding for next year. Early Spring or late fall (while you still have some time for growing before it freezes) are your best time for seeding, and water, water, water while it’s getting established. A light layer of straw or hay* on top really makes a difference, or purchase those seeding mats that are already seeded, but the mat dissolves as the grass grows up.
*Hay generally has some annual Timothy Grass seed in it, but that will die off; it won’t overtake your new lawn or anything.
Pro Tip: Find the OLDEST guy or gal at your local hardware store or garden center; they love nothing more than to tell you all about lawn care! :)
Amen to that! Just shared that with several.
Got up early to cut grass. It has been raining every day for about two weeks. Was a low chance for more this morning. Got all dressed to cut and went out too see my very tall grass soaked from all night rains. No cutting grass this morning. But my garden is growing like crazy!
I also live in PA.
Consider removing as much dead grass as possible (a dethatching machine will do wonders and will save you back breaking work with a rake). Do the entire lawn but concentrate on the dead areas. Run your lawn mower and bag up the dead stuff as much as possible. It will be dusty work.
Spread a light to medium coat of sand over the lawn and then aerate your lawn. This is very good for poor soil that has a high clay content.
You can either rent an aerator & dethatcher or hire someone to do it.
After aerating generously fertilize your lawn with a good soil treatment that won’t burn, such as Milorganite. Top seed the entire lawn, especially dead areas.
Spread peat moss over the top, as much as you can manage/afford. Water well. Peat moss will work like hay to help your seeds grow but will also help your soil down the road. It will look worse until it looks better.
Don’t worry about weeds. Anything green is OK at this point. Once the grass is well established (a couple of months or so) use weed & feed. Spot seed where needed.
By fall you’ll be glad you did. By Spring you’ll be very happy.
(Scroll down! Resource start at post 114 of the Jan 9-15 Thread!)
Cowabunga! :)
Good idea. And I had good buckets for this. Time to raid the neighborhood recycle bins!
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