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Saturday, June 9, 2012

Garden Close Up and Analysis - Part II


Bed 7: Peas
We southerners love our peas! For us, peas aren't green and they aren't green pods. What northerners call 'peas', we call 'green peas'. What northerners call cowpeas / southern peas, we call 'peas'. Our 'peas' are black-eyes peas, purple-hull peas, cream peas. Our 'green peas' are snow peas and green peas. Peas (southern) are the one thing that do just fine in Texas heat, so I planted them later in the season and will harvest them throughout the summer. They have already started producing pods...can't wait.

Bed 8: Potatoes
This was my first attempt at growing potatoes and I wouldn't say it was a failure, but I also wouldn't call it a success either. I mean, I declared war on an imaginary enemy, had to then declare a truce, and I am still confused. All I know is that I did not harvest as much as I'd hoped for, but I did have a decent harvest...with half a bed still left to harvest. I will definitely try again this fall. I will also solarize this soil over the next two months just in case that really was a fungus.


Bed 9: Cucumbers, Popcorn, and Pumpkin
The plan for this bed was that the cukes would grow up the trellis, the pumpkin would vine along the ground under the popcorn. Well the cukes aren't climbing and the pumpkin isn't vining. Cucumbers aren't natural climbers; they have to be trained...every. single. day. The Wee-B-Little pumpkin appears to be a bush because it ain't vining. Oh well. The cucumber beetles have found the cucumbers. So much so, that today is the first day that I should be harvesting from them and their vine is barely a foot long. I decided to cover them with tulle to see if this gives them enough relief to produce at least one jar of pickles.

Update: Its been a couple days since I took that pic and the cucumbers are now taking off!


Bed 10: Cover Crop Wheat
The wheat is actually ready. I just don't know what to do with it. I am supposed to be tilling it into the ground to get the ground ready for a late summer planting, but I don't want to waste the wheat berries. But I don't want to thresh and sift them either. So there they stand.

Bed 11: Sweet Potatoes
I sure hope this crop does better than the potato crop. It probably will just because we don't eat them as often. That's ok, I'll take some sweet potato fries. This is another pretty vine that could easily grow in a front bed without sticking out.


Bed 12: Melons and Popcorn
The plan here is similar to Bed 9. The canteloupe is to climb the trellis, the watermelon is to vine along the groung under the popcorn. The canteloupe are climbing with some help and the melons are vining with no help at all. Here, the corn didn't have a great germination rate, but that is ok because I think I overplanted the melons and they would probably choke the corn anyway. I hope for 3-4 melons and maybe 6-9 canteloupes.

Had to protect them from the cucumber beetles.
Since protecting the cantaloupe, the melons seem to have come under attack. Now they need protecting too. Sheesh. I'm out of tulle. Where's my 50% off coupon for Joanns? Still cheaper and more effective than spraying I guess.

1 comment:

  1. I really never thought of using tulle like that. Very creative of you.

    ReplyDelete