Finally decided this past Sunday to get off my ass and work on the beds as I have neglected them too long. Soooooooo after sleeping in a good while (10ish) it was off the the garden to see what damage I could do. I picked what tomatoes were left and started pulling them all out. The weather is really starting to change here and I saw no point of leaving them up any longer. After pulling the 20th tomato stake I said to myself "I really didn't think I planted this many?" Another 20 stakes later and I was done. After that came the weeding of the wire grass (damn stuff.) I dug all around each bed, digging deep and pulling because, if you don't get the roots you're wasting your time. And in doing this process I unknowingly ran into a nest of fire ants. Now, for those of you that do not have the pleasure of meeting these fine creatures let me clue you in. They like sandy soil, are small, swarm like crazy, and when they bite you know it.... for days afterwards. I got some good bites on my left wrist as proof. Welts and blisters is what they leave. I hate them with a passion. Back to the garden. I had planted a row of red cabbage and some lettuce mix that surprisingly has done well. Time for a trim and more growth.
That's carrots to the left of the lettuce. They are so so right now. I have picked most of the bigger green pepper but still have a lot of small banana peppers to pick, so we'll probably freeze those.
Eggplant. Anybody need eggplant? I tried to grow this stuff at our old house with limited success. Now I keep pulling these things off left and right. Need to find a way to preserve them if I can. I picked three Sunday.
Well, after all was said and done I got all of the beds weeding and cleaned out that I wanted to, leaving the peppers and eggplants to their own devices. Sprinkled Preen on the newly weeded beds and there you have it.
I am considering adding a few more beds next year and even toying with the idea of getting some dirt and mixing it with the soil we have and doing direct planting. I still have a few things to iron out and some positives.
- One is that my tomato's skins always split, on every one of them! They grow too fast on the inside for the outside to keep up so my only guess is soil nutrients.
- Corn. For some reason I must be the only person in the south that can not grow corn. They came up good but that was it. Nothing but dead kernels.
- Bad year for cukes too. I think they get too much sun so I'll have to build a big greenhouse near their bed to shade them :) After the pool, I know honey!
- Peppers have done really good this year. Not the big plants I'm used to but they have done well.
- Eggplant: Nothing else to say about them.
- Beans: So, so. Their dying off still baffles me.
I have a list in my head for next year that include potatoes and onions that I never got around to this year. I also have a window pane that I plan on turning into a cold frame. And I have to build an upstairs bedroom, bath, rec room, finish the garage..................................
Something else I found that likes our sandy soil.
Moles. We found a dead one on the road next to the house last month but there's apparently more. I thought about putting chicken wire in the bottom of the beds but I didn't. Now I wish I had. Now for some mole repellent on top of the fire ant killer!
Cars. Driving to the office late Sunday afternoon in my speed mobile (Plymouth Neon, don't ask) a car cuts me off on the beltline (the circular highway that surrounds Raleigh.) So I hit the brakes and my foot hits the floor. Nurse the car to the office only to find a busted brake line on the rear. Great! Something else to do. We really didn't want to spend the money on a newer vehicle right now but we know it's coming. I hate buying cars. So I'll try to get this one fixed and pray that The Wife's car holds out for a while. Ahhhhhh! The oldest boy is due back from deployment soon so he'll be taking my truck (after a modest fee he'll have to pay which was part of the agreement that we worked out, and that I am now regretting) so I know it will be soon to head to the motor mile. Ahhhhh! again. We are looking with trepidation on what we need. All I know is that I don't need this right now.
The youngest boy has gotten me into paintball and I actually really enjoy it. We have a course that is literally 4 minutes from our house that we go to. He's got his gun setup and I got myself a basic model and we have fun. And in playing this sport I have found the younger people that attend and play are really good kids. I haven't yet seen any problems as everyone seems to get along together and tries to help everyone out. Surprised to be sure as you hear of so many troubled youth nowadays.
Foot still hurting and paintball didn't help it so The Wife talked me into orthopedic soles for my shoes. Hope this helps because I look like the Hunchback of Notre Dame walking around right now. It hurts.
No WOF of the Week as I really haven't had the time to catch her stupidness lately.
Until next time keep your feet moving.
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