| Last week, my boyfriend told me it was going to rain all this week. We would have a torrential downpour. I decided to put off any more work in the garden (aside from weeding) until after the rain. Besides, I was going to Phoenix from Sunday until Wednesday. With luck the rain would be done before I got home. Then I could get back into the garden. And boy was I excited to do so! I've got all kinds of seeds ready to plant - sunflowers, marigolds, several types of lettuce, spinach, chard, arugula (for my boyfriend - I HATE arugula!!!!!), and more. Plus I've got my new dragonfruit cacti AND now that I've been gardening for a month I'm starting to uncover what I've done wrong and I'd like to right it. |
| I arrived home yesterday to overcast skies and forecasts for more rain. I walked around in the garden a bit, trying to pull some weeds, help the pea vines that fell down, and see what was growing. Hmm, several nasturtium plants sprouted. So did the garlic. The squash plants are growing bigger. The ones that unexpectedly showed up smack in the middle of our carrots might become a problem, actually. The cabbage plants are bigger (slightly) and the carrots are getting kind of bushy and looking VERY carroty. They need thinning. The broccoli is still pretty pathetic. The few plants that sprouted look great, but that's only 4 plants out of the 20 or so seeds I planted. Lesson learned: Plant broccoli in little containers, NOT directly into the ground. Ditto on cauliflower. I've got about 5 containers of broccoli seeds planted that should sprout in about a week. But overall, the ground was just too wet to even walk on. My feet sank in the mud. Looks like I have to wait until after the rain to do any more gardening. This feels like a punishment.
Today I awoke to more rain. Around noon I took our little one to the "chicken place" (City Farmers Nursery) to pet a chicken. Typically the chickens have a yard they share with the horse, goats, and other poultry. Right now a Rhode Island Red pullet has an injured foot so she's in a little cage near the cash registers. It's a nice opportunity for the kids to pet a chicken, so long as they don't traumatize her and prolong her injury. Fortunately our little one was very gentle. I didn't go to the nursery to buy anything but I started making purchases with my eyes as soon as we arrived. Hmm, rosemary and dill. Definitely need that. And how about those bush monkeyflower plants for only $6.99? They are native California plants with lovely flowers that attract insects. And the name is funny, since Bush really DOES look like a monkey. Oh, and I want a milkweed plant too. I want to attract some monarch butterflies to our yard! My gardening addiction may prove to be more expensive than my knitting habit! And I'm really starting to think about asking our neighbors if I can plant stuff in their yard because our yard is just too small to satisfy my gardening fever!
The rain slowed to a stop as we left the nursery. I waited for it to start up again, but when it didn't I got hopeful. Could I finally get out into the yard to plant our "Salad Bar"? I checked the weather report's Hour by Hour forecast. Rain all day today. Dammit. Well how about tomorrow? Rain. Hmm. I checked the 10 day forecast. OK, rain today and tomorrow but then it stops. We've got three sunny days, rain on Tuesday, three more sunny days, and rain on the following Saturday.
It's amazing how people can live their lives entirely unaffected by the weather until they start gardening or doing other outdoor activities (like biking or hiking). I also want to take our girls on a hike for a picnic this weekend. It looks like that's a go, even if we'll have puddles to jump over as we hike.
For the full story about "Flower Power Farm" (the name we chose for our garden):
Part 1: Preparing the soil and planting the carrot seeds
Part 2: Preparing the soil for peas and cruciferous veggies
Part 3: Enter the Pests
Part 4: The Carrots Sprouted!
Part 5: Gardening with the Kids
Part 6: The Peas Sprouted!
Part 7: The Cabbage Sprouted!
Part 8: The Garlic, Broccoli, and Nasturtiums Sprouted
Part 9: Fruit Tree Propagation Workshop |
