Garden Update -- May 30, 2011

There hasn’t been a garden update in over a month, so it’s right time to fix that problem. When last I blogged about the garden it was mid-April, the weather was still crappy, and I was putting up my new electric fence, hoping it would keep out all manner of animals from the garden. Once the 2 lines of fence were installed, I found out rather quickly that the electric fence wasn’t an end-all solution to my problems. Within days of the electric fence being installed, Sage and I found rabbits in our garden on an almost daily basis. I wasn’t upset that the electric fence wasn’t working; rather, I was dumbfounded how the rabbit could get through my metal RABBIT-PROOF fence! When I went into the garden to try to corral the rabbit out through the main gate, I found out how he was getting in. He wasn’t jumping over the fence, but rather THROUGH the fence. See, my metal fence has very little spacing on the bottom, but the top half has larger openings, about 4” x 6”. The rabbit, a big as he was, was able to jump right through one of the small openings, and bound away. I then decided it was time to triple the protection on my fence, and I took some of the plastic chicken fencing I had (from the first year of the garden) and put it right up next to the metal fence. The chicken fencing has much smaller openings, barely big enough for a mouse to get through. This was the original fencing I had back in 2009, but I ended up tearing it down and putting the metal fence around it as the rabbits gnawed through the plastic to get at my peas. (See this blog for that story.) But with my new system, I think I’ve covered all my bases. I put the plastic fence INSIDE the metal fence barrier, and right up against it. Now the rabbits can’t jump through the metal fence, and can’t get to the plastic fence to gnaw at it. And hopefully the squirrels will be repelled by the electric fence, but if not, I think they have a hard time climbing over the plastic chicken fence, and maybe that will keep them out. Only time will tell.

My three lines of defense: electric, metal, and plastic.

Once the electric fence was finished I had to keep the lines clear as much as possible. As you can see above, there are lots of weeds around the wires. Anything that touches the wire completes the circuit connection, and would drain the batteries very fast. So 2 weeks ago I went about the task of weeding around the fence perimeter -- inside and outside.

This was a fun 2 hours

I noticed almost immediately that the weeding helped. Whereas when I first installed the electric fence I noticed that the electric pulse was kind of weak, once I finished weeding and tested the fence, it gave me a pretty strong shock. Squirrels -- you have been warned!

On May 15 I took a bunch of photos, but never put them up. So today will be some photos of everything in the garden, with photos 2 weeks apart to show the growth in that short amount of time. First up, the peas, which are doing really well, and hopefully within 2 weeks we'll have some to eat.

May 15: My first 2 batches on the left, my last batch on the right.

May 30: the peas today, growing high

The romaine lettuce is also looking very good, and I could begin eating baby romaine any day now (but I prefer to wait for the big leaf to be ready.)

May 15: Romaine lettuce (almost looks like weeds)

May 30: Romaine looking strong but cramped. Another batch is coming up to the right.

The potatoes have grown really fast since we planted them. I put them in before heading to St. Lucia, and when we got back they were already 6" tall. It seems that they keep growing another 6" each week or so. I've been mounding the potatoes with dirt every other week, to make sure the new potatoes don't get exposed to sunlight.

May 15: Potatoes peaking out.

May 30: Potatoes gone wild.

Finally, the new vegetables that I've planted. Last year I planted my tomatoes and peppers in mid-May, and they did okay. This year I wanted to do the same, but wondered whether I should. The weather in MA has been cold and wet all spring, and on May 15 the soil temperature was just under 60 degrees. My information on tomatoes suggests not planting until the soil is 60, and for peppers it suggests waiting until it's 65 degrees. However, I have a short season in my backyard, mostly because of the lack of full-day sun the backyard gets. Therefore I need to try to get my plants in as early as possible in order to give my plants the best chance of getting a good harvest. It's a tricky game to play, but a necessary one.

First step was to work some compost into the soil. Unfortunately I've been bad at turning the compost in my pile very often, so I actually don't have a lot of "homemade" compost to use. Instead, I buy the good shit -- literally.

Moo Doo -- don't settle for imitations

With my cow manure in hand (ewww), and my beds cleaned out and tilled up, I went about my planting. I'm once again putting peppers on the side of the house, near my blackberry bushes. It's only been 2 weeks since I planted, but the peppers are doing really well.

May 15: Peppers planted low and slow.

May 30: Peppers sprouting up bit by bit.

I also bought a bunch of chili peppers for the Topsy Turvy again this year. This hanging basket did really well last year, and I have high hopes again for plenty of hot peppers.

Topsy Turvy Peppers

I planted a couple pumpkin plants again this year. I just need to make sure the vines don't jump the fence and leave the garden this year, and hopefully we'll have homemade jack-o-lanterns for Halloween.

May 15: Pumpkins.

May 30: Pumpkins looking for room to spread.

Finally, I planted tomatoes of course. No major change in the 2 weeks since they were planted, so I only have one photo.

Tomatoes in cages

Doug surveys his realm. And is fackin' knackered as well.

I'll try to keep more regular updates, but it might be closer to monthly this year. Or, whenever the next set of animals end up penetrating my garden fortress, whichever comes first.

The rest of the house gardens are in the middle of blooming as well. Irises and lilies are coming up in the front, and our azaleas and rhododendrons are blooming as well. This azalea bush in the back is one of Sage's favorites. This photo doesn't do the bright magenta color justice.

Blooming azalea

Speaking of justice (not really, just trying to segue), I should give an update on that weight challenge/bet I had with Sage. The final # I hit before leaving for St. Lucia was 203.5 lbs. For those of you scoring at home, that was a loss of 13.5 pounds. So while I didn't hit the 20 I was going for, I did beat Sage's challenge of 10 pounds. That's what we call a win-win situation. I've gained a couple back since, but not too much, and I have another goal in mind for Labor Day when we're off to Colorado. Stay tuned.