May 24, 2020
Well May is almost over. Just one more week left. I have really not gotten much done with all the extra time that's been given to me with the Coronavirus. I'm a little disappointed at how much my body has gone down hill and can't do as much as it used to do. I can still do what I used to do but for only a couple hours a day and then it takes the rest of the day to recover. I want to get some major improvements done to the Urban Ranch as well. I really thought after nine years at Terra Nova Gardens it would look a lot better than it does. I guess those heavy work years with great accomplishments are gone. It was what I thought would probably happen. I have to get some thing worked out that will move forward but at a much slower pace to deal with the aging body issue.
The living poor man's patio looks fairly decent this year. I built two pedestals to set flower plants on beside the driveway on the West side. It's a great display. The project for the patio is the replacing of the chair wood. I have one Cedar board to begin the process. It looks fairly simple with just cutting the board to the right length and bolting them onto the frame. The frames are in good shape it's just the wood that needs attention.
This is the beginning of the bucket garden for this year. I now have the tomatoes in the gutter nearest the grass planted. The next gutter in the middle has four peppers planted. I have more peppers to plant and complete the pepper planting in the bucket garden. I have enough peppers to put some out at Terra Nova Gardens. The first gutter is now on automatic bottom gutter watering with the float valve in place and adjusted. I discovered last year that until the roots make their way down to the net cup and out into the gutter, top watering needs to happen. I will use the suckers from the tomatoes to start more tomato plants this year. Supposedly it will work quite well. I'll give it a try and see if it works for me.
I have the moveable fence up around the sweet corn. The batteries are charged and the fencer was tested. All are in good condition still so it's ago to put up the electric wire around the steel fence and once again the sweet corn will be protected. I tried the circle growing method with corn again this year but I've decided that it's just too much work and won't visit that method again. It's just easier and quicker to plant in rows. I still need to prepare the second bed for sweet corn.
I've started cleaning up the front Rugosa Roses by the road. Much of the initial growth has died off for some reason. I'm hoping by cleaning it up and mulching the ground again it will regrow. It really looked great after about four or five years but the last couple years it's really struggled. I'm wondering if it's because of Tim's spraying for weeds along the road. I suspect the drift hits the bushes and doesn't kill them but really makes them sick.
The Urban Ranch planted sprouted corn seeds are up and growing. Only one didn't come up. I'm going to sprout some more for Terra Nova Gardens.
May 26, 2020
Today is another rain day. It's been a rain week so far. It's good for gardens planted but not good for planting gardens.
I have been working on restoring the patio furniture wood. It was given to me a few years ago by Teresa my cousin. It lasted some years but being outside all the time even in the Winter takes a toll on patio furniture. It's time to replace the wood in the complete set. The frame is still very solid and doesn't have much rust on it.
What a difference this makes. It was a little tricky to do the back as not only was it curved on the ends but it was slanted 15 degrees. It's not as smoothly cut as the original but good enough for me. So now it's on to the next chair and then a bench and table top.
Well May is almost over. Just one more week left. I have really not gotten much done with all the extra time that's been given to me with the Coronavirus. I'm a little disappointed at how much my body has gone down hill and can't do as much as it used to do. I can still do what I used to do but for only a couple hours a day and then it takes the rest of the day to recover. I want to get some major improvements done to the Urban Ranch as well. I really thought after nine years at Terra Nova Gardens it would look a lot better than it does. I guess those heavy work years with great accomplishments are gone. It was what I thought would probably happen. I have to get some thing worked out that will move forward but at a much slower pace to deal with the aging body issue.
I've started cleaning up the front Rugosa Roses by the road. Much of the initial growth has died off for some reason. I'm hoping by cleaning it up and mulching the ground again it will regrow. It really looked great after about four or five years but the last couple years it's really struggled. I'm wondering if it's because of Tim's spraying for weeds along the road. I suspect the drift hits the bushes and doesn't kill them but really makes them sick.
The Urban Ranch planted sprouted corn seeds are up and growing. Only one didn't come up. I'm going to sprout some more for Terra Nova Gardens.
May 26, 2020
Today is another rain day. It's been a rain week so far. It's good for gardens planted but not good for planting gardens.
