Saturday, May 29, 2010

Lazy Blogger

OK, so are you still a blogger even though you haven't blogged in over a month or more?? My day job, teaching art to 180- 6th, 7th and 8th graders and full time parenting of two teenagers has kept me busy, but enough with the excuses.

Garden update- Well, a few of the seedlings that survived the stolen cold frame (see 3/27 blog - The Cold Frame) were planted. I did go to my local nursery for summertime favorites like eggplant and cucumbers. And after only 7 weeks in the ground I ate my first cuke. Tonight I will harvest from the garden for a first of the season mini feast, some eggplant, green beans, a cuke, tiny pear tomatoes and some swiss chard.

The onions that my son planted last October were finally pulled and a friend made some green onion kim chee. For fun and color, I planted some zinnias and nasturtium flowers. Growing up in upstate New York, my mom saved us a bed that we seeded with zinnias for summer cut flowers and I have always enjoyed their hardy color in the heat of the summer.

The yellow neck and zucchini plants are huge. They were seedlings that made it out of the cold frame that last month. They were the easiest to start from seeds, but I still hold my breath as the flowers bloom and die off and wonder if they will ever actually turn into squash or mysteriously die or not even grow before the harvest. Last year rolly polly bugs enjoyed them before we ever got a chance to see the squash grow. I tried treating them with diatomaceous earth, but it was too late. The bugs had been in the compost I spread and they did what they were supposed to do which is devour and decompose everything in sight. This year, I spread out the compost on the soil for about 2 weeks before I tilled it into the soil, so the bugs could wander off to find new food or be eaten themselves by birds. That seemed to do the trick and I don't have them in them in the garden. Tilling in diatomaceous earth might have been a good preventative as well.

I have many part time pioneering projects this summer planned. With only 2 more days of school left and 2 ½ months of vacation, I am looking forward to spending time doing the things I love. Next, a four chicken backyard coop. I have only been talking about this for over a year. After that I'll be making and installing another rain barrel. Later today, I'll be heading out to Agarita Farms in Fredricksburg, Texas. This family farm is owned by a high school friend and his wife in the picturesque Hill Country about 90 miles west of Austin. You can check out the farm at www.agaritacreek.com or on Facebook.