In my previous garden post I expressed concern about when I might get to plant anything out in my garden; I wasn't sure when the fence would be repaired or when my husband might get around to tilling. As it turned out, the fence repairs were put off for a few weeks, and my husband did the tilling in mid-May. So May 18-20 I planted peas, potatoes, green beans, corn, beets, lettuce, radishes, carrots, and my gladiolus corms.
Meanwhile, the seeds I had started in the little greenhouse at the beginning of the month were doing well enough to sit out on the deck in the morning sunlight. I can't take credit for the tomato plants, however! Some of them came from a neighbor, and some came from a store in town, as did the peppers. I only started 4 kinds of squash, 2 varieties of cucumbers, dill, and zinnias.
On May 29 I decided to set the tomato plants out in the garden. My husband cut up some 4-gallon plastic buckets with his Sawzall in which to plant the tomatoes, so the water is contained better when we hand-water.
The weather was/is unseasonably hot and dry, so I rigged up a little bit of shade using pieces of cardboard boxes and some firewood to keep it from blowing away. The next day I re-positioned the cardboard on the southwest side of the tomato cages and propped it up with the wood, but a persistent breeze knocked most of it down before long.
A friend gave me a clump of oregano, so I put it in a tire, partly to help contain the water and partly to help contain the plant, which I know will want to spread all over.
I purchased a white sage plant at a local gardening center. I have no idea what to expect from it, but it was pretty and I felt the urge to grow some sage, so I bought it.
One of my sisters told me she used empty gallon milk jugs (with the bottoms cut out and no lid) to protect her small herb plants from the elements until they were sturdier. I thought I would try that out, too. So I scrounged the neighborhood for empty milk jugs and set them over the squash plants, the peppers, and the basil. The only photo I have of this is three photos up, in the corner of the photo of the tomatoes.
What she forgot to tell me was she had done this in April! I was trying it in early June with unusually warm weather. I had a few doubts lurking in the back of my brain, but ignored them. Yes, it was a largely-failed experiment. I did that on a Saturday, was gone all day Sunday, and when I checked on Monday there was sadness. The herbs were fine. The peppers were just a little pale. The squash plants were all very baked. The zucchini and yellow squash plants may survive, but the Red Kuri plants don't look good at all. I am particularly sad because I had started those myself and nursed them along, and then I inadvertently murdered them. Oops.
I had four seeds left, so I promptly planted them between those pathetic plants. I hope they sprout and grow quickly!
After that, I switched to the method used by my other sister's husband: newspaper tents. For 2 or 3 days I put them out late in the morning and took them down late in the afternoon, thus protecting the seedlings from the intense midday sunshine. This is what I ought to have done in the first place. Well, live and learn seems to be the story of my life. After 40 years of gardening, there's still more to learn.
I have more gardening tales to tell, but will save them for another post or two. Thanks for reading about my gardening adventures!
I hope your Red Kuri comes back, you have a lot of green but no leaves so I would give them a 50/50 chance which is better than nothing. I use old window screens to cover my new plants or sometimes I keep them in the shade and slowly give them more sun, but you are putting them in the ground so you can not move them around. We grow everything in pots that we put up off of the ground because of nematodes. The only two things we can grow in the ground are little tomatoes, we have never planted them here but they come up everywhere, they taste good just small. The other is Seminole squash, it is native here. The vine from ours covers about 600 or more yards stretched out. The picture is a piece of one that I had to pull out straight so I could weedeater around it, luckily it was an end piece.
Wow, that's quite the squash vine!!
I kept my little plants in their starter pots for quite a while because I could move them around, but sooner or later they have to go out into the garden.
I like that you recycle in your garden, as using those tires is a great idea.
Seeing your herbs growing makes me very happy, and I wish you all the best with them.
Thanks for the lovely tips:)))
And thank you for stopping by and reading!
This small effort will turn into big trees and will help many of us live in fresh air, your efforts are worth appreciating. keep doing this great work.
I hope to harvest a nice crop of vegetables in about two months!