Garden July 2021

Thursday, July 1

Summer Garden List

TNG Continue to build cage

TNG Prepare strawberry bed

TNG Continue to work on pathway

TNG Continue weed management

TNG Work on water tower

TNG Replace weak posts

TNG Work on North fence.

TNG Work on tree cleanup

UR Cleanup back yard

UR Start working on concrete block raised bed

UR Work on side yard cleanup

UR Set up second gutter auto water

UR Clean up weeds in backyard circle

UR Clean up front patio

Thursday July 1

Today will be at the Urban Ranch. I will take another photo for the first GRIT blog on the new platform. I would like to get weeding done along the fence line around the compost pile. There are so many things that need done at Terra Nova Gardens and the Urban Ranch. The back issue is slowing me down a little but I'm pressing forward with a little help from my friends. Those would be Aspirin, Tylenol, and Advil. One of each covers all the pain and muscle relaxing.

The cool mornings are wonderful. I'm not sure when I sprayed those noxious weeds but it killed them dead. The carcass of them is a black skeletal plant. I think it took about a month to completely kill them. I sprayed another section of the yard. I'm not spraying the whole thing at one time in an attempt not to have a lot of drift into garden areas. I might get granular weed killer to lay down by the back fence so as not to have spray drift into the neighbors garden.   

These are the things necessary for rooting strawberries. I'm not sure why I never thought about making my own wire staples but I didn't. I bought two bags of wire staples for the Wurtz mulch project when I could have just made them. I have several new stolons to pot up but my back was killing me today. I just know when this episode is over the temperature outside will be blistering hot. I've been trying to back off on the physical work but it's not getting better. Every so often the back will flare up for about a week then it will go away for several months.

Friday, July 2

Filled auto water tank for tomatoes. It is still working great.

Monday, July 5

Sick day today. No gardening or yard work. The plants need water so I'm going to slowly get them watered. I started with the buckets. Then the rest of the backyard plants after a rest.

Those tomatoes are starting to suck up the water. The roots are down in the gutter so they get as much as they want. It's at least a couple gallons a day plus top water.

Tuesday, Jul 6

Still recovering from the sick bug that is attacking me. I did get outside and do a little watering today and a small harvest.

This was the harvest for today. One tomato and one strawberry. Maybe tomorrow I'll pot more strawberries. I am still not doing much physical activity because I don't want a relapse back into this crud I'm fighting.

This is a better way to water the tomatoes. Most all the water goes directly to the roots of the tomato. This is a five pint bottle and drains well.  The cap is on the bottle top and the bottom was cut off the bottle. Then the bottle is buried beside, in this case a tomato plant but could be any plant, upside down with the cap four to six inches under ground level. A small soldering tool melted four holes in the neck of the bottle just below the cap for the water to drain out when inverted into the ground.

Wednesday, July 7

It rained last night. We got .66 inches of rain and it filled my water tank up again. It was needed. So it's another low key garden day.

Thursday, July 8

I want to get the second gutter set up for auto watering today and start the annual fence line cleanup. I have a $5 coupon to use at Ace hardware to use for the Flex Seal paste, if they have it. Just checked the website and they do so it's a go to setup the auto water for second gutter. That should help the plants get through the day hot days ahead.

Wednesday, July 13

Today is a day for Urban Ranch backyard cleanup. There's probably more than one day's work to be done. I should prioritize that list of things to do.

Water all plants

Trim back yard

Mow back yard

Pot strawberries

Set up 2nd auto water

Clean up fence line

This is the beginning of the day at Terra Nova Gardens. This is what happens when the gardener doesn't frequent the garden for 10 days. And there's three inches of rain that has fallen. There's a pathway under there some where. The tedious task of removing all the grass debris is time consuming but necessary. Weed control is always a challenge when trying to tame a parcel of land that has been wild all it's life.

See there is a pathway under all that growth. I like to pull the grass out by the roots. I could have cleaned up the path with a trimmer in about 30 minutes instead of the 4 hours that it took to pull out all the grass. The reason I like to pull out the grass is that it won't grow back if I pull it up by the roots. This will have some stragglers that will pop up but mostly the path will be clear. Eventually a trench will be dug out to a depth of 4 to 6 inches and filled with mulch. I have enough mulch for many pathways to be filled.

A tree branch has fallen at Terra Nova Gardens and is on the back fence. It wedged itself around another tree and doesn't rest full weight on the fence. It would have crushed the fence if that would have happened. I think I can trim it up without too much trouble.

This is the end of the branch that is laying on top of the back fence. I'm hoping to trim this up but just let the rest of the branch continue to hang in the tree that it's lodged around. This is a majorly big branch but it really didn't do any damage to the fence that I can see.

 Wednesday, July 14

Today gardening will be minimal as it rained. 

Fill gutters and auto water tank

Mow back yard

Pot strawberries

Set up 2nd auto water

Clean up fence line

There are still some things to do even if the rain continues. I'm hoping the grass will dry enough to get mowing done. That it the priority for today. If that can't happen then I can do setup for the second auto water gutter and fence cleanup. 

 Thursday, July 15

Mow & Trim Front yard

Mow 35th street

Pot strawberries

Set up 2nd auto water

Clean up fence line

The temperature today is 75 and cloudy but the dew point is 68 degrees which makes it a sweaty day. 

Monday, July 19

Cut boards for seed starting area

Pot strawberries

Set up 2nd auto water

Clean up fence line

I got a couple things accomplished today. I've been wanting to set up the second gutter watering. I'm not sure I have it set quite right. I'll find out by tomorrow. Now I have one more gutter to set up and I'm done with auto watering setup for the gutters.

I really need to get the strawberry potting done. There's many that need potting up. Some are probably ready to move but the thing is there's a second plant on the same stolon. I'm not sure I can snip the stolon off the main plant with the second plant not rooted.

Tuesday, July 20

UR Pot strawberries

UR Clean up fence line

UR water all plants and fill gutter tanks

TNG cutup trees

TNG pull weeds

I most likely won't get to Terra Nova Gardens until after Bradley goes to work. I do want to work on the trees that are down today. I didn't make it to Terra Nova Gardens

Wednesday, July 21

UR Pot strawberries

UR Clean up fence line

TNG cutup trees

TNG pull weeds

Life goes on. The cherry tomatoes are starting to flush. The cucumbers are producing but very minimal. The fruit is a prickly kind that I don't especially like. The neighbor's cucumbers are very nice and he has given me many of them to eat. I slice them up, throw in a few cherry tomatoes, chop up some onions and season with Mrs. Dash with ranch dressing. It's a very tasty summer salad.

I am hoping to make it out to Terra Nova Gardens to cut the South side tree back away from the entrance to neighbor Tim's garden area. 

Here's the harvest for today. There are a bunch more cherry and grape size tomatoes that could be harvested but they can stand on the plant a few days longer while I eat these. Some bigger tomatoes are starting to ripen. I've had the cherries for quite a while but the Early Girl is bringing in more. I haven't harvested any tomatoes off the others just yet but it looks like they might start turning soon. The high wind storm didn't knock any tomatoes over but they didn't push them over to a leaning position. The south side is difficult to water and look for tomatoes. I might have to trim that side up a little. I'm surprised that the strawberries are starting to produce. There are many stolons and I really have to pot up some of the strawberries before they get rooted in. Many of the stolons have multiple plants. I didn't know that they did that.

I eat as many as I can but I will have to give some away soon.

Thursday, July 23

UR Pot strawberries

UR Clean up fence line

TNG cutup trees

TNG pull weeds

UR weed strawberries

UR Fill gutter tanks

Life is just a bowel of strawberries. I'm going to like my strawberry beds when I get them started. That might be what I need to do at Terra Nova Gardens. I should plant more berry bushes and less garden. Berries are perennial and come back every year without planting. I think that would be better for Terra Nova Gardens especially if I get the cages up and running because it would protect the aerial assault as well as the ground assault. 

Saturday, July 24

UR Pot strawberries

UR Clean up fence line

TNG pull weeds

Some watering was done yesterday but not a complete one. I'm puzzled about the second auto gutter watering tank. The tank drains but the gutter is never full but there's not indication that there's a leak. Is it the plants are sucking up that much water. I'm not sure. 

The cucumbers are slowly producing but not real heavy. The cucumbers have flowers but many don't get pollinated. I'm thinking that spot I have for them is not a good spot for pollinators. I'm wondering if I can pollinate them somehow.

Sunday, July 25

UR Clean up fence line

TNG pull weeds

Fill tomato gutter tank

Water all plants except strawberries 

I am letting the gutter under the pepper plant drain down to goop up the west end of the gutter. It has a leak. The flex paste works great to seal up the leaks. The auto water for the gutters need to be tweaked a little and have an adjustable level. I have it figured out how to do it. I just have to do it. It involves a section of 2x4 and lag bolts for adjusters.

Monday, July 26

UR Pot strawberries

UR Clean up fence line

UR Fill gutter tanks

UR build auto water adjusters

TNG cleanup trees

TNG pull weeds

It's the beginning of the harvest flush. There are many green and red peppers but none are big. They are just average size. I should start harvesting them and using them in the breakfast and salads that I eat.

Tuesday, July 27

UR Pot strawberries

UR Clean up fence line

UR Fill gutter tanks

UR build auto water adjusters

TNG cleanup trees

TNG pull weeds

The plan for today is to get some of the small projects done at Urban Ranch and spend time at Terra Nova Gardens in the evening after 4 p.m. when the shade invades the garden. 

The weed issue is totally out of control again and it needs daily attention to get it back under control.

Thursday, July 28

UR Pot strawberries

UR Clean up fence line

UR Fill gutter tanks

UR build auto water adjusters

TNG cleanup trees

TNG pull weeds

I will make an attempt to work at Terra Nova Gardens. There is much to accomplish there. First on the agenda will be water all the corn plants if they are still standing and water the potato plants as well. The heat will have taken a toll on them for sure. The next task will be to pull weeds as much as I can. The heat will be a factor for sure and I don't want to over do it. I will need to be out there more in August and September. Things are beginning to tighten up as far as time and things to accomplish. 

I still haven't started working on the third raised bed in the back yard. That will definitely be a challenge. When I start that it will require a land fill run. The old rotten timbers will be hauled away along with many other things in the side yard to be cleaned up. My list of things to get accomplished has not dwindled much this summer.

It seems that every year since 2017 (my best garden year) March and April has been taken up by family and friend responsibilities. I suspect that might be the issue once again next year. The last couple years it's been Grandma Carroll's care responsibility. She looks like she will continue life for quite some time but things can deteriorate quickly when in the 90s. So if it happens I just know it will happen in March and April.