Sunday, July 16, 2017

A Month

It was June 18 when I could get back to the garden. It has been a busy month, and if I don't jot down something to mark time and space, I will forget the causes of the success or failure of my work.
I got three loader buckets of horse manure from the stables. I unloaded the manure and dumped it at one end of the penitentiary. I finished fixing the wagon garden to be ready for the soil: first I lined the bottom with plastic; then I added some surplus pavers; then a substantial amount of rocks, and finally I filled the bed with a mix of my compost, the horse manure, and peat moss. Then I filled the four beds I had built this past winter and spring. I planted tomatoes of several varieties (from my own seeds) in three of the four beds, and peppers and eggplant in the fourth (also from my own seeds).
The yard was parched and I had to water everything starting from the fruit trees. They are looking better now, and:
the apple tree is loaded with fruit

the old peach is promising a good crop (not too visible in this picture)
the young peach has three peaches on it, and here is the picture of one
Unfortunately all three grafts failed. The plum and apricot crops also failed.
The grape vines have very little fruit, and I had to repair the damage to one vine caused by the wind that accompanies our monsoons. I hope to train the vine to circle over the "gate" I built

Of the vegetables, the green beans are the fastest growing, some in the box by the greenhouse and some in the wagon garden 

The five volunteer tomato plants in the greenhouse trough are loaded with flowers
and the ones in the boxes are coming along
I am thinning them down as the stronger ones elbow out the weaker plants, thus performing a sort of vegetable eugenics. We'll have to see if there is enough summer left to enjoy the produce.
And Nancy added a nice touch just outside the door to the yurt
So, a part of the old Ponderosa has been put to good use.

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