First, I want to apologize to all of my readers for not posting last week. If you have been following my posts, you know we have had rain, rain, and more rain in Central Missouri! Last week we actually had four days in a row without any rain so I worked outside as hard as a 78-year-old lady can work! I mow my own yard with an electric, self-propelled, walk-behind mower and I finally was able to mow the low places in my yard for the first time this year without mowing water! It takes me longer this year to mow because I am collecting my grass clippings for compost in my garden. The garden is new this year, tilled from part of my lawn. Consequently, I am having to battle grass and weeds! I have devised a system of laying down strips of cardboard between the garden rows and putting grass mulch on top of that to smother the grass that tries to grow back. I will eventually put some sand on top of the clippings to help amend the soil when my compost strips decompose.
After I mowed the grass, which takes me two whole days, I began really working in my garden. I used hoops and an old sheer curtain and clothespins to cover the brussels sprouts. This is an experiment to see if I can keep the white moths from laying eggs which hatch into voracious little green worms that devour brassicas. (I’m always trying an experiment to frugally solve a problem.)
Next, I “mudded in” a row of potatoes, a row of onion sets, and a row of corn. I meant to plant two rows of sweet corn, but I got too tired. I also planted three rhubarb roots in the mud. It will be interesting to see if any of it grows.
I had planted edible pod peas earlier in one of my raised beds and they are all up. I will need to create some type of trellis for them to climb on in a few days (when it stops raining again!).
My strawberries that I planted last summer are blooming, so that’s exciting news to me! The blackberry stalks are all leafed out and look good. Maybe I will get some berries this summer! The gooseberry bush that I set out in the rain a few weeks ago has not done anything yet–I hope it lives. I have an elderberry bush to plant whenever it stops raining again.
Most exciting of all for me — the man who is going to set and hook up my rainbarrels to water the garden this summer (hard to believe as wet as it is now) came this morning in the light rain to look over where I wanted the barrels. He took the barrels and all the connectors home with him to start working on them in his dry garage! It is supposed to not rain tomorrow, so maybe I will have a garden watering system installed by tomorrow night.
In between all the yard and garden work I did this week, I also helped my quilt ladies set up and then helped run a Quilt Bingo. The money we made will go to help various charities to which we contribute.
AND I bid and bought some useful items from a local on-line auction, but that’s a story for another time!
I wish you all a happy and blessed week. Until next time —
EcoGrandma 