I don't know the variety. It was here when we bought the place, 8 years ago. I'd like to divide it and plant in a nicer spot. The stems are juicy and pink inside, an it makes a nice pink rhubarb pie.
Might make a good freezer jam, too.
Friday, May 15, 2020
First Rhubarb Harvest. 5.15.2020
Today I harvested some rhubarb. I was going to make a pie, but it was kind of a "COVID-19" and too much other bad news day, so I didn't. Tomorrow.
I don't know the variety. It was here when we bought the place, 8 years ago. I'd like to divide it and plant in a nicer spot. The stems are juicy and pink inside, an it makes a nice pink rhubarb pie.
Might make a good freezer jam, too.
I don't know the variety. It was here when we bought the place, 8 years ago. I'd like to divide it and plant in a nicer spot. The stems are juicy and pink inside, an it makes a nice pink rhubarb pie.
Might make a good freezer jam, too.
Thursday, May 14, 2020
More Bearded Iris Blossoms. 5.14.2020
Here is the white orphaned irise today. It's nice. Unlike "Immortality", it doesn't look like wet tissue paper after a rain.
Here is what that iris rhizome looked like 5.21.2020 after I cleaned it up, after pulling it out of the brush pile. It's amazing that it bloomed in almost exactly one year. Irises are rugged. That blossom was probably from the largest of these rhizome pieces.
Here is a view of the iris garden today.
Here is what that iris rhizome looked like 5.21.2020 after I cleaned it up, after pulling it out of the brush pile. It's amazing that it bloomed in almost exactly one year. Irises are rugged. That blossom was probably from the largest of these rhizome pieces.
Here is a view of the iris garden today.
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| "Immortality". It actually does not look like wet tissue paper this time. 5.14.2020 |
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| Honorabile or Sans Souci, which may be the same thing. 5.14.2020 |
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| "Spiced Custard" 5.14.2020 |
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| "Red Dirt Road". 5.14.2020 |
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| "Edith Wolford". 5.14.2020 |
Some Efforts to Warm The Soil a Little. 5.14.2020
Soil temp is running about 58 to 60 this am. I found some "Wall-o-water"-type cover systems that I bought last year at Bi-mart but never used. A long time ago, I used these to give tomatoes a head start.
Since I have two "Bodaceous" and two "Better Boy" plants, I set up a water cover for one each of those. There was one to spare, so I set that up on the "Early Girl Bush" tomato.
Today it's been raining all day. After about 8 hours, the soil temp is only 62 in these units, but give them some sun and I imagine they will warm up better
After a week or two, we can see if the covered tomato plants are bigger than the uncovered ones of the same type.
For the raised bed with peppers, I added "Quonset hut" made from fencing, and topped that with clear polyethylene painter's dropcloth. The Quonset looks like this, which is on some tomatoes. An additional package of the polyethylene painter's dropcloth should come today via Amazon, in which case those tomatoes will also get a warming cover.
Here is the set-up on the peppers, in a raised bed. Also, in front of that raised bed is a planted row of Lima bean seeds that I soaked last night. I'm sure they also need some warmth.
Since I have two "Bodaceous" and two "Better Boy" plants, I set up a water cover for one each of those. There was one to spare, so I set that up on the "Early Girl Bush" tomato.
Today it's been raining all day. After about 8 hours, the soil temp is only 62 in these units, but give them some sun and I imagine they will warm up better
After a week or two, we can see if the covered tomato plants are bigger than the uncovered ones of the same type.
For the raised bed with peppers, I added "Quonset hut" made from fencing, and topped that with clear polyethylene painter's dropcloth. The Quonset looks like this, which is on some tomatoes. An additional package of the polyethylene painter's dropcloth should come today via Amazon, in which case those tomatoes will also get a warming cover.
Here is the set-up on the peppers, in a raised bed. Also, in front of that raised bed is a planted row of Lima bean seeds that I soaked last night. I'm sure they also need some warmth.
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
Vegetable Garden Update. 5.13.2020
I planted some bean seeds, Landreth Bush Bean, shown. These are some of my newest seeds, actually packaged for this year. I'll soak the Limas overnight and plant tomorrow.
I think some of the other bush beans I planted two days ago have started to germinate. I saw a couple of beans sticking above the soil. It could be that rain washed the soil away, but I'm hopeful. That was the Dragon's Tongue bush bean.
I think the soil temp is OK for about everything now Today was overcast and drizzly, with soil temp 68 F in the afternoon.
I cleared most of the rest of one of the messiest raised beds. My inclination has always been to garden organically, but now I don't feel like I have that luxury. Still, I'm not using pesticides, just Osmocote and a little Miracle Grow here and there. For these, I treated the soil with Osmocote at the instruction amount. This is not the Jalapeno bed, with two slicing cucumber plants at the back. I raised all of these from seeds, planting last month. For peppers, it might have been smarter to start in Feb or March, but I wasn't up to it then. They are small, but I think they will do OK as the weather heats up.
I wondered if it was too cool a couple of weeks ago for planting pumpkins and squashes in the vegetable garden. I did cover them at night for two weeks. Since I stopped covering them a few days ago, they are really taking off. I'm most interested in the Pink Banana Squashes, for nostalgic reasons. It's growing nicely. Those French Pumpkins are good too. There may not be enough room for all of these, depends on whether the vines grow faster than the potatoes grow to clear out that area for spread. It might work out OK.
I think some of the other bush beans I planted two days ago have started to germinate. I saw a couple of beans sticking above the soil. It could be that rain washed the soil away, but I'm hopeful. That was the Dragon's Tongue bush bean.
I think the soil temp is OK for about everything now Today was overcast and drizzly, with soil temp 68 F in the afternoon.
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| Soil Temperature today, 5.13.2020 |
I cleared most of the rest of one of the messiest raised beds. My inclination has always been to garden organically, but now I don't feel like I have that luxury. Still, I'm not using pesticides, just Osmocote and a little Miracle Grow here and there. For these, I treated the soil with Osmocote at the instruction amount. This is not the Jalapeno bed, with two slicing cucumber plants at the back. I raised all of these from seeds, planting last month. For peppers, it might have been smarter to start in Feb or March, but I wasn't up to it then. They are small, but I think they will do OK as the weather heats up.
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| Jalapeno Pepper Plants in a Raised Bed. 5.13.2020 |
I wondered if it was too cool a couple of weeks ago for planting pumpkins and squashes in the vegetable garden. I did cover them at night for two weeks. Since I stopped covering them a few days ago, they are really taking off. I'm most interested in the Pink Banana Squashes, for nostalgic reasons. It's growing nicely. Those French Pumpkins are good too. There may not be enough room for all of these, depends on whether the vines grow faster than the potatoes grow to clear out that area for spread. It might work out OK.
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| Galeux d'Esynes Pumpkin. 5.13.2020 |
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| Pink Banana Squash. 5.13.2020 |
Orphaned Bearded Irises, First Bloom. 5.13.2020
These grew from rhizomes found while walking Rufus. The white one was in the power company easement where a lot of people walk their dogs, and some dump yard waste, which is probably illegal. The others were from a curbside "Free Irises" box, just rhizomes. The sign said "purple and yellow" but that doesn't quite seem accurate. One is not quite open, looks similar to Shah Jehan. The last is the variety "Sunny Disposition", which I thought had died and I three the rhizomes into the woodlot, discovering growing rhizomes a year or two later and planting to see what would grow. At the time, the only yellow that I had was "Sunny Disposition", and this looks exactly like it, so that clinches the ID.
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| Unknown White Iris from Walking Rufus. 5.12.2020 |
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| Unknown Irises From Walking Rufus. 5.13.2020 |
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| Iris Sunny Disposition. 5.13.2020 |
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