Let's Stay Holmes

Caught Red Handed

I finally figured out what’s eating my petunias.

This little green eating machine was caught red handed while I was deadheading the blooms. I’m not sure if he’s friend or foe but I left him alone with his meal, just in case.

We have a TOMATO!!

I almost missed it. I was watering the garden and musing about how it doesn’t make sense that we can have so many blooms but no fruit.

And there it was! Yayyyy!!!!

After this week’s wind wreaking havoc on the corn and beans, the appearance of mites on the tomatoes, and the general drama of will they- won’t they even sprout up, I have discovered what looks like powdery mildew on the cucumbers.

I can’t be too sure that’s what’s going on here but it doesn’t look good.

As I mentioned, I didn’t thin these puppies out and I’m glad I haven’t yet what with the wind and now this.

My cucumber-y notes from a great YouTube video I watched the other day say to use baking soda, 1 tablespoon per gallon. Which is great because I already have that in my pantry. What I don’t have is a way to spray it on. My watering can is of the spout variety.

So to the store I go.

Shade Cloth

How do you garden in 100 degree temperatures? Shade cloth!

I got these hoops and 50% shade cloth to give the garden a fighting chance to live this summer. The cloth isn’t really fabric, more like a plastic-y veil. I’ve heard burlap works too. This is my first time trying this so we’re going to experiment with installation, placement, and timing!

I’ve seen shade cloth done in a variety of ways. I chose hoops and clips since the garden is tiny and the ground surrounding the raised beds is really difficult to dig into, but stakes might have been a more secure choice given how high the winds can get.

After installing shade cloth we have a covered wagon, and a hot mess…

Hopefully these plants won’t die of dysentery

Here’s what the inside looks like. I’ll have to adjust these if the corn grows to full potential

The tomato cages are giving the shade cloth some structure but it’s not as neat as the first bed. I ran out of clips too and stupidly thought one package would be enough! I bet some regular old binder clips would work just as well and might last longer in the heat.

You can see how much wind damage there is in the garden from the latest storm. The corn is blown over, and each plant is now leaning to the south. Some stems are broken and I’m hoping things will bounce back. With any luck we will be done with high winds for a little while, the plants will grow straight up again, and my new shade cloths won’t end up halfway down the street in my neighbor’s yard!

I do have some concern that there won’t be enough light let in while these are covered. We’ll see how much growth we get. But I think having a little shade and slow growth is better than getting scorched, which is what will happen for sure if I don’t try to make an adjustment. At least that’s what happened to last year’s tomatoes when the heat set in.

I am learning that this is what it is to have a garden – working with the conditions you have to make little adjustments until you get the result you want.

Wind Damage

The winds were blowing pretty high last night so I didn’t know what to expect when I went to water the garden this morning. It could be anything from the arch or pots blowing over, to finding my bench in another part of the yard entirely.

I went outside last evening to batten down the hatches on the patio – folding up the side table, moving the succulents and mother in law tongue out of harm’s way, and putting my kid’s plastic yard toys back in his bin. There really isn’t anywhere in our yard that is safe from that kind of whipping wind that seems to gust and swirl around.

There wasn’t anything to be done about the garden, either, except I could have moved the potted seedlings indoors. Of course when the plants are mature that won’t be an option.

I did see some devastation in the garden. The tender leaves were wind-whipped, some blown completely off, leaving nothing but the stem. The corn all laid down from the force of the gusts.

Bean leaves are misshapen after being whipped about

It’s disappointing to see the pretty little garden take a beating, especially when it’s just starting out. One thing I am glad of is that I did not thin the cucumbers out yet, as most of those plants are now damaged and I’ll have to take some time to let them grow before I make my final selections. The sad truth is it’s just too late in the season to start over because the plants need to be well established before the high temperatures of summer.

What’s Going On In The Garden

We have some new developments…

I thought everything was going swimmingly with all the new seeds I set out. The garden really looks pretty and green, and orderly.

I thought to myself, gee I think I really have got this gardening thing down. Just stick seeds in the ground and remember to water them… no big deal. Brown thumb no more!

Au contraire. It turns out my work here is far from over.

Today I discovered some mysterious spots on the tomatoes. When I asked my friend who has a vast knowledge of all things gardening, she said I have mites and to use neem oil on my plants.

(Oh, and she mentioned I need to thin out my cucumbers, too.)

Side note, I watched a YouTube video an hour long about growing cucumbers. Something I never thought I would do. I always thought the topic of gardening was as boring as, well, watching grass grow. But I did learn a few things, such as when you thin your plants you can just snip them with scissors instead of yanking out the whole plant and risk damaging the roots of the plant you actually want. Who knew?

When I get around to thinning the cukes I am totally going to let my kid pull a few out, though. Because the whole joy of gardening for our family is about digging in the dirt together and seeing something green sprout up, together. And my little guy is too young for scissors.

What A Difference A Day Makes

A 24 hour comparison of seedling growth. This is so not what I was expecting!

Sprouts!

We have sprouts!

They seemed like they popped up overnight!

I Wasn’t Going To Do This But…

I just couldn’t help myself today.

I said to myself, I’m not going to fret about the garden, or weed, or adjust anything today. I’m just going to enjoy my yard and breathe.

But I did it anyway. I committed an act of gardening today.

It happened while I was watching my son blow bubbles in the yard. As I set my water glass down next to my succulents, I noticed they were a mess.

This arrangement was one of those Home Depot specials. I was having some friends over that night and my patio needed… something. My budget was $15 and I totally thought that would be enough to get a little pot and some plants. When I got there the individual succulents were $4.99 but you can get an arrangement of 4-5 varieties in a cheapy plastic container for $10.99. Sold!

The cheapy plastic container leaks badly and it will dump over with the slightest pressure. So these plants just kind of sit on the table and languish until somebody remembers to water them and rotate them. They get their dose of afternoon sun and that’s about it.

But they seem to like it there. Maybe a little too much, because there had been a lot of growth and with succulents that means dead leaves underneath the new ones. And there were a ton of dead leaves hanging out in their small space. So, having the advantage of just getting my nails done, it was really easy to just start picking the leaves out with my claws while watching my kiddo. Multitasking for the win.

But then I discovered this cute little rosette and another leaf with roots. So of course I had to stick them in pots and welcome them to the fold.