garden day
Apr. 26th, 2020 06:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eorToday was another outdoor day. It was overcast, but not cold and no wind, so pleasant for working. After yesterday's activity, I started out tired and a bit sore and progressively got more so. But there was a lot accomplished. I tilled the garden. Derien moved all the sand I had accumulated Friday then spread grass seed on various bare spots in the lawn.
I looked at the weather and saw it's not supposed to get below freezing for the next 10 days and most of the days are going to be close to 40 at night. Plus rain was in the forecast for tonight and overcast for the next few days. So I decided it was time to start putting the hardier stuff in the ground. The soil temps are already warmer than they usually are in early May. We put up the pea trellises and planted two short rows of peas beneath them. Then we planted out one of the flats of lettuce seedlings, which made 2 double rows and a little tiny row of leftovers. Over 40 lettuce plants in all. Then planted three varieties of radishes. I scraped some of the debris off the bricks that remain around the garden (weeds grow between the bricks and have to be cleaned off at least twice a year). Then we put up the deer deterrents: Irish Spring Soap and fishing line suspended on pvc poles above the forest side of the fence. Then we set up our rabbit deterrence boards on all the gates. The only part of the garden that doesn't have a short brick wall around it to discourage short hungry critters is the back corner. We dug up some stray bricks from here and there and managed to extend the brick wall to cover about half the remaining space. Still 10 or 15 feet to go, but we put some loose stuff by the fence there so that it will at least be a bit of a visual block. Laid down some landscape pavers that had been just kind of tossed about behind the garden fence, so it'll be easier to get around back there and mow.
When we got back inside I looked at the weather forecast again to make sure we would get rain, otherwise we have to water what we just planted. Wunderground said rain, 1/2inch tonight. National weather service says 2 inches of snow. The peas and the radishes will be happy with that, the lettuce, probably not so much. So we quickly improvised some hoop houses for the lettuce. If it blows hard, they may not stand up, literally. But if it's just rain or a bit of snow they should do alright, plus they'll be slightly warmer tonight from being mostly enclosed, each enclosure has an open end. Now exhausted, ready to go back to work tomorrow morning.
I looked at the weather and saw it's not supposed to get below freezing for the next 10 days and most of the days are going to be close to 40 at night. Plus rain was in the forecast for tonight and overcast for the next few days. So I decided it was time to start putting the hardier stuff in the ground. The soil temps are already warmer than they usually are in early May. We put up the pea trellises and planted two short rows of peas beneath them. Then we planted out one of the flats of lettuce seedlings, which made 2 double rows and a little tiny row of leftovers. Over 40 lettuce plants in all. Then planted three varieties of radishes. I scraped some of the debris off the bricks that remain around the garden (weeds grow between the bricks and have to be cleaned off at least twice a year). Then we put up the deer deterrents: Irish Spring Soap and fishing line suspended on pvc poles above the forest side of the fence. Then we set up our rabbit deterrence boards on all the gates. The only part of the garden that doesn't have a short brick wall around it to discourage short hungry critters is the back corner. We dug up some stray bricks from here and there and managed to extend the brick wall to cover about half the remaining space. Still 10 or 15 feet to go, but we put some loose stuff by the fence there so that it will at least be a bit of a visual block. Laid down some landscape pavers that had been just kind of tossed about behind the garden fence, so it'll be easier to get around back there and mow.
When we got back inside I looked at the weather forecast again to make sure we would get rain, otherwise we have to water what we just planted. Wunderground said rain, 1/2inch tonight. National weather service says 2 inches of snow. The peas and the radishes will be happy with that, the lettuce, probably not so much. So we quickly improvised some hoop houses for the lettuce. If it blows hard, they may not stand up, literally. But if it's just rain or a bit of snow they should do alright, plus they'll be slightly warmer tonight from being mostly enclosed, each enclosure has an open end. Now exhausted, ready to go back to work tomorrow morning.
