I spent some time clearing out the edge lawn-edge of my garden plot. When I was digging out the weeds and clumps of grass, I dug up Japanese beetles and some kind of larvae I've only seen on websites and pesticide packages.

I've tried to be "brave" about squishing up the posts that will ruin my plants, but doing it with my hands is so hard. I have to be wearing gloves, and it helps if I can pick up the creature with soil so I don't have to look at the guts or feel the crunch.

The wind has been blowing around the green mesh fencing I have on the outside edge of my plot. It's an east-west fence and it billows in the northern and southern wind. The posts are holding up well, but the bottom edge isn't secure. When I cleaned it up, I pinned down the edges with garden staples. I probably bought twice as many as I needed, but I'm covered to be sure and I have extra just in case.

I cloched a few of the greens I bought at the farmer's market on Saturday. It really worked well with the spinach and lettuce. In just a couple of days they look really great.

Some of the baby tomato plants I started and transferred to the garden have completely disappeared. Not even a wilted, flattened stem. I hope that they might just be sleeping from the shock and they'll perk up in a few days. It's happened before with other plants, but I've never started tomatoes before. I still have some that haven't been moved, so I will let them grow more before I put them in the ground. I'm very happy to say that not all of the tomatoes I've already planted have died. I'm very excited to see what happens.

I didn't get to the garden today, but I plan on going out tomorrow when it's not very, very hot. I churned up the dirt a bit. With the rain and watering, the silt washed away leaving a shiny shellac of silica on top. The water just runs off to the low spots. So far I'm not able to churn up all of the garden because in areas I've seeded, the plants aren't big enough to see clearly. When the water washes over the top the baby plants are deep enough that their stems are locked into the silica and they aren't washed away.

I'll take more pictures tomorrow. I've also got to install the strings for the beans and other climbers (they're doing great).

This bit of weather coming up is really warm for Minnesota in May. We've had a really warm spring (and winter, and fall), but there is always a chance that something strange can happen with the weather. I think we'll skip the tornadoes this week since it's already been warmish.

Pictures! Tomorrow! Yay!

*happy dance*

A few days ago, I had a dream about creatures that look like meal worms being inside vegetables that were cut open.

Then I had a dream that my hands were cupped full of seeds and there were meal worms squirming around in the seeds.

This morning, I had a dream that a large part of my plastic mesh fence blew over onto the garden. I went to the garden and my neighbors laughed at me for my lousy fence and when I pulled up the fence to stake it in, all of the soil beneath was carpeted with seedlings. And they didn't have any.

I've had a lot of dreams about the garden, but I think this group means something special.

I haven't been able to work in the garden for days because of all of the rain, but I thought I'd check it. We had rain again today and we got another .25 inch. The bird feeder was completely empty and seeds were scattered everywhere.

I straightened up the fence with the longer poles I bought this weekend and filled the bird feeder.The brussel sprout seeds I scattered are sprouting! Delicate lines of sprouts show where the lettuce and carrots will grow and all of the alums are shooting up green stems!

I'm not sure I should be so giddy. Honestly, this isn't about the wonder of nature, it's about validation that I didn't screw up.

I can hear a lot of birds at the feeder - all kinds of song. I will gladly buy bird seed for having that sound in the evening.

It's rain again

 We had a wicked rain storm again last night. Thunder and lightning and driving rain that sounded like hail.

I checked the rain gauge this morning and for all day yesterday and last night, we had 2.5 inches of rain. That's nearly 5 inches in the last 3 days. We might get rain again tonight.

This morning my squash seedlings were flattened and the leaves were pasted down with mud. The plastic mesh fence caught a lot of wind and  came loose in places - the peas couldn't hold on to it. All of the water highlighted the high spots with sand and low spots with silt. I can level things. Everything is very fixable and it's kind of nice to have a test like this so early in the season

It's going to be good. Hopefully it will be warm enough in 2 weeks that I can get serious about transplanting the peppers and tomatoes.

It looks like the brussel sprouts might be sprouting and the onions are spouting too.

Good stuff.

1st Market day of the season

I went to the Farmer's Market for the first time today. I was looking for the guy who sells cat grass and seeds. He's not there all season, so I was really happy to find him. I got oat grass and wheat grass seed for $5. It's plenty to keep a couple of pots in rotation to keep Emma happy.

I also acquired some head scarfs, sun-dried tomato and roasted garlic oil with balsamic vinegar and I got some mendhi and a bindi from my friend Judi.

It's been stormy for several days now. I stopped by the garden and checked my rain gauge. We got .5 inch of rain last night. We had another really heavy rain this afternoon and we may have more rain tonight.

There are tornado warnings in Minnesota again tonight. Yesterday, a tornado touched down in Kiester, MN (near my hometown) according to a Twin Cities station, but I couldn't get feedback from anyone on FB for details. Social media is the way to go for rural disasters. People can post without electricity or phone and the word can get out fast. Two years ago, there was a lot of damage from a tornado that hopped through that area. I was worried this might be the same, but according to today's news, only one farmstead was hit and the owners actually lived in a farmhouse 2 miles away, so all were safe.

We're in for possible tornadoes in Minnesota again tonight. Before tornadoes come rain, wind, and sometimes hail. Sometimes thunder and lightning.

We won't see the super moon tonight, but we'll get more rain. I'll check the rain gauge tomorrow. It may be around 2 inches.

rain, cheerful rain

It rained last night and this morning we had a heavy rain blow through with high wind. It was supposed to hail to, but we didn't get any here.
There is no need to work at it today.
grow! grow! grow!

in the dirt!

It rained last night and the weather is supposed to warm up, and the hose is finally available, so I decided it's time to put some seedlings in the ground.

I am very happy to report that all of the soil prep seems to have done it's job. We've had rain a couple of times now and the top layer has not run off downhill leaving sand. Everything stayed put.

The rhubarb is doing well. The flowers in the bed I put in the other day are starting to perk up, and the marigolds around the garden look very happy.

I decided today is the day for peas. Some of the vines were well over a foot in the apartment and the tendrils were getting frustrated with nothing to hang on to. In they went. I also put in a couple of butternut squash and a zucchini. I have more vines that are ready to go.

It's time to transplant the tomato and pepper seedlings from the jiffy starter trays into cups. They're doing really well. (I couldn't remember which is which because I didn't label them when I put in the seeds. The true leaves are out and now I can tell which are which.)

red cherry tomatoes

mixed sweet peppers

Close-up of the red cherry tomatos

It really, really, really looks like a garden now. I took some pictures while things were messy, but it's a start for the record. Next week it will look even greater. Lots of things should be sprouting.

Warm sunny days, rain at night. I couldn't ask for more.

Oo, I forgot. I put two pepper seedlings in just to see if they will survive. Tomatoes and peppers usually go in about three weeks from now, but it might work. 

30 April The Weather

We've been in a cold spurt for over a week now. It's a flux in weather that isn't unusual here. The temperature has been closer to normal - our mid-80's a month ago was too much to hope for, but sometimes it's hard to tell.

I've been watching things because I actually have seeds and plants in the ground, but I just pulled up the weather and I was surprised. I thought when I looked at the weather yesterday, we were going to be in the 60's this week but look! Rainy and warm is a nice way for the plants to get going.

Some of the seedlings are in the greenhouse and the rest are in the apartment. Fingers crossed!

For the next 10 days...

They call this a shelf cloud

Second day of 95F+ = severe storms = no need to water

Can you hear the music from Jaws?
Danger approaches.

The weather man on the 5pm news is very excited. Tornado warning: There are "take cover immediately" warnings for places to the west. Also 2" hail. The rest of us are in a severe thunderstorm warning which means rain and wind is coming and tornadoes may follow that.

My afternoon plan was to hang out by the garden with a beverage and a book, but I got side-tracked. I'll watch the storm from my sofa.

It's not all about snow here.

News From The Trenches

Baby birds be damned, I ran errands today. I'm trying to feel empowered by being a 2 legged creature near the top of the food chain, but when I got home, a sparrow was on the ground next to my parking spot looking kind of pissed that I drove away with her babies and nest in my car. I feel so bad!

I decided to firm up the sides of the trenches I dug between the beds. I bought cedar fence pickets (on sale!). Voila! very pretty, tidy looking beds.
Beans: Green beans are putzy. Long beans are growing up and sending out shoots.
Carrots: Finally sprouted, but under 1 inch tall.
Cucumbers: Vines are showing promise. Slow to grow.
Flowers:  The purchased flowers have re-flowered. The sweet peas and other climbers have sprouted. Sunflowers are growing tall and fast.
Herbs: Cat mint is going crazy and is ready to flower. Cilantro and dill (volunteer) took some big hits when I dug out the trenches, but I'm sure they'll come back quick. Herbs in the baskets aren't growing. Lemon grass is fantastic. Chives are making slow progress. Leeks are doing nicely. The greens on the garlic lay flat to the ground as though broken, but they've stayed green - I'll replant.
Onions: Red and yellow onions are growing really well. The greens can be cut and the onions are ready to harvest as scallions.
Peas: Snow peas are in harvest and still flowering. Plants from seeds are growing nicely.
Peppers: Flowers and unripe babies.
Salad Greens: Contained have grown over 6" and are ready to eat. The 3" plants were totally flattened and destroyed by rain. One row that's a bit protected is growing well.
Tomatoes: Flowers and unripe babies.
Squash: HUGE blossoms. Butternut squash are slow. Yellow squash blossoms are almost too big to be yellow squash.

It rained again today, but just enough to wet the ground. I watered a bit to settle the soil into the new boxes. I'm still waiting for a long stretch of temps over 80F to get everything moving.

No Rain!!!

It didn't rain yesterday! Not a drop! After running all of my errands, it was getting late in the day, and I decided to dig the trenches before going into the house.

The trenches are in the same place as the boards were, but a bit wider (shovel width). I crumbled the soil and scattered it onto the top of the beds. The deeper soil is so nice and black and full of worms. Nadya, a neighbor a few plots down, bought dog-eared fence slats (the wide flat bits) and pushed them against the sides of her beds. I think I might do that as todays get-out-of-the-house project.

Except for my new passengers.

While getting an oil change that turned into major ($700+) car repairs, the mechanics discovered my car is chirping. They brought me into the shop to show me the broken spring in the front suspension and point out the baby bird chirps coming from under the trunk.

On the lift, we could see an area in the rear, drivers side corner of the body frame that the momma bird could have climbed into and nested. "See, you've been carrying around those babies away from their momma. She's probably looking for them. You've got those babies away from their momma. She's probably freaked out looking for them." *sigh* *cringe* I'm a kidnapper.

I looked it up on the net, and there isn't a whole lot of information about what to do after the eggs have hatched. I'm pretty sure the instigators are sparrows. When they hatch, they stay in the nest for about 2 weeks. They may be ready to leave soon, so I'm going to keep driving. No extra food or anything for freaked out Momma because I don't want any of them to get the idea that my car is super-convenient. I hate the idea of it though.

Don't Even Bother

My cat (Emma) did that thing, where she runs around bouncing off of things like she's possessed, but part of it was bouncing off of me. At 5am. Run into the bedroom, jump on the bed, jump on my chest, turn, run away. Jump on the bed, jump onto the shelves next to the bed, chase tail, jump off shelf onto my chest, run away. All while cat grumbling.

I got up for a few hours, and eventually went back again. I finally woke up around 2:30p and the day was pretty much over. I had a few errands and before I'd finished, it started to rain again. I didn't even bother to check the garden today. The shovel for re-trenching is still in the back seat of the car.

Now I'm in really cozy jammies, I've planted myself on the couch, and I'm done for the day.

Yesterday the chiropractor touched my fibro spots (they aren't always so sensitive) and my brain is suffering fibroPTSD. I'm supposed to go back on Friday morning - other parts are crooked and locked up - but I'm already getting nervous. It's so sensitive today, even sitting up against the sofa pillows hurts. I'm going to have to take some pills and go back to sleep.

No touchy.

Rainy Soltice

I checked on things this morning before the rain. The small salad greens are matted to the soil - totally flattened. I'm going to start them (again). I'm not sure it's going to be OK for them until all of this rain stops. My carrots haven't sprouted at all and it's been weeks. I've still got soybean gaps.

Today was an ELL tutoring session with Zhenfang. She brought me seeds that are either coriander or a lettucy-green plant she gave me to try yesterday. I'm going to start these seeds indoors. It will help me figure out what they are, and I hope they'll last better than they might in the muck outside.


Happily, the tomato plants are still making babies. Anatoli is happy and has asked/hinted in his very broken English that he wants some because I have so many plants and they are already bearing fruit. I've also gotten requests for green tomatoes from two non-gardeners, I've promised some to Wyman (lives on my floor) and a new guy in the building named Ron.

The thunderstorm last night brought us more than an inch of rain according to my garden gauge.  It was overcast most of the day, and rained again at 2 p.m. Shortly after, we had severe weather and tornado warnings in this county (Hennepin) and the surround.

I fell asleep for a few hours (I sleep a lot), so I missed any excitement that may have happened. It's coming on 8:45p. The clouds are parting and rays of sunshine are beaming down between the gaps.

The parting of the clouds, and the sunbeams are more impressive than this. Cellphone
camera into the sunset does not a pretty picture make. Retail lights are coming on.
Ach, suburbs. I try to not look down at the shops. Sky only for me.

 I've just checked the forecast. We'll get more rain after midnight, showers and thunderstorms tomorrow, and some rain on Thursday. We won't have 80F temps until next week. I stopped by a hardware store today and came home with a shovel. I'm going to re-dig the trenches in the garden a little wider and a little deeper.

My apartment overlooks the garden (from the 12th floor) and though I'm too high to see the garden without a stretch, I can hear the neighbors working (hammering stakes today), wind chimes, and birds.

My view from above.

It Smells Like Rain. Again.

The soil in our garden is strange to me. Instead of black, rich topsoil like that where I grew up (at least 2 feet deep), the garden soil is really sandy with dirt that is more like silt.

When I dug a hole for my water storage, I got almost 15 inches before I hit a 1.5 inch layer of sand. Below that was a dirt layer where I've found insulated wire and pipes. Below that is a compacted clay mix. I came across enough buried pipe that I had to stop digging. I'm not sure what was in this spot before the building was made in 1981, but the stuff left behind is under our yard and garden; our top 1-2 feet of soil are a cover job for the construction junk below.

Sand collected on the surface of the soil after the rain.

When it rains, the rain will flatten the surface of the soil. When it's smoothed out, the water rolls off instead of absorbing and pool in low spots. The silt gets washed off the high spots and sand is left behind. Since I've trenched a bit  between my beds, the trenches fill with the silty dirt, I scoop it up and put it back on the bed and mix it in after the rain.

If it has rained, we all go out with hoes and small cultivators to scratch up the surface of the soil. If we don't break up the sand on the surface, it turns really hard like concrete, which makes the water situation worse. The turning of the surface also helps with weeds, and gives the surface texture to attempt to keep the soil and water in place.

I've got two problems. The rain keeps washing away the top of the soil. The other problem is the overcast cool. We really need a stretch of warm, sunny days to dry things up and put them to rights. The plants just won't grow when it's this cool.

A shiny, sandy crust after the rain. Seeds trying to break out.

The latest soybeans I planted are coming in very slowly. Many of the first set of seed I planted rotted from the cool damp. This second set is barely breaking through and there are still a lot of bald spots. I can't scratch up this surface because I don't want to disrupt the seeds that haven't emerged yet or the root systems of the very small stuff.

According to the news, Minnesota farms have had twice the amount of rain we'd normally have and the crops are half as tall. Standing water is starting to drown the plants and hay that could be harvested can't be because heavy equipment would get stuck in the mud. It's too early to say the crops are badly damaged, but more rain is worrisome. Though I live in the suburbs now, I grew up listening to KBEW in the morning before school with Paul Harvey and the daily commodity prices. Somehow crop status was burned into my brain as a measure to determine if all is right with the world.

The rain is supposed to start in the next few hours and it is supposed to rain on and off for at least three more days. Severe weather is also possible.

Think good thoughts for us.

Rainin'

Yesterday, there was a deep rumble in the sky that promises more rain than electricity in the storm that was coming. I'd been sleeping most of the day (thanks fibro) so I was glad to find a reason to go out in the rain.

I have no idea why people run to escape the rain. In a little rain, it seems kind of hysterical to run away from it. In heavy rain, one minute more isn't really going to change things; wet is wet. I've never been terribly particular about my hair or my outfit, maybe that's the rub. There is nothing about any measure of downpour that will make me run from it. I love the rain.

Today I had more energy than I have had in days. I had an appointment and ran errands (alien-abduction-like lost time in the craft/sewing store). First the radio talked about a freak storm, then I could see it coming when I left the grocery store. I did my daily garden check before the rain came, but I wound up scrambling to get the cloche back on the delicate plants.  The wind had turned wicked and I did not want to lose any plants. I've already lost 2 tomatoes to wind this year. Last year 60mph winds (tornado nearby) literally spun my bush green beans and pulled them out of the ground. Today, I didn't have enough cloche to cover everything - it felt like I was choosing one child over another.

I checked the rain gauge, and we had 2.5 inches of rain before this storm even had a chance to start!

The storm's passed and I can see the sunset happening. I'm going to go un-cloche the kiddies once again so I don't smother the poor darlings. I'm gonna check that rain gauge too.

No still. No quiet.

The wind that started yesterday and turned into tornadoes last night raged on all day today. Everything that could bend, including people, were being whipped around by a heavy wind from the south and the sound was constant.

I had to do some gardening today. I didn't get to plant anything yesterday, it had to go in today to take advantage of the warmer weather and the lack of rain today.

When I got there, no one was in the garden. Apparently 2pm is the time to go to be alone.
The trellis/arbor thing I put up yesterday was still standing. I added a few zip ties here and there to tighten things that I couldn't get to last night.
I hoed up weeds from between plants and loosened the hard packed soil.
I planted soybeans, sweet peas, carrots, and muscaline salad mix.
I moved around some of the seedlings to better spots.
I planted climbing flower seeds next to the arbor uprights.
I had to cover plants that I had uncovered a few days ago, the wind had them laying almost flat. Only one small tomato plant was broken on the main stem, but I'm still hopeful it may still grow. Some of the very small plants were covered with upside down 20oz soda bottles with the tops cut off.  I can't leave those on if the weather gets too warm, so I've got to check them in the morning.
I was able to water everything really well before the rest of the gang turned up to use the hose.

As soon as I came inside, I fell asleep.  I'd been fighting the wind for 4 hours and I guess it just wore me out.

The temperature has dropped pretty fast and the wind is calm. It's in the 50F's tonight, but it's supposed to be warm and humid tomorrow. I'm really glad I was able to garden today. Grow, baby, grow.

I'm thinking of tornadoes tonight. I'm watching a documentary on the tornado clusters that have happened so far in 2011. I was just in the middle of a tornado-struck neighborhood last week, but the idea of it didn't reach me until tonight. Last year, some tornadoes went through the rural area where I grew up. Farms were flattened, and rescue teams had to go from farm to farm to check on people's welfare because telephone lines were down. Livestock were pulled up into the tornado and then were dropped in fields and on roads. I guess the idea of a tornado in the countryside scares me more than a tornado in the city.

P.S. I tutor Zhenfang in English on Mondays and Tuesdays. We're working on verbs, but took a little break to learn some more idioms today. Two idioms were covered today - "Shut up!" and "You're pissing me off." She's not a shy gal, but I was surprised at how quickly she picked up "Shut up!" and "You are making me very angry!" She really liked it. I guess learning how to tell people off would be more fun than conjugating regular and irregular verbs.

Un-cloched

The covers are off the plants from last night. I've brought in the containers that still have bottoms so I can cut them off (sunlight and ventilation). They'll go back to the garden to protect the little plants. They make a nice windbreak, keep the soil damp, and keep the plants warm. I've seen nearly everyone else use them, but I wasn't really clear about the purpose.

I found an article. Thank goodness Google can turn "plastic plant cover" into "cloche". Google "cloche" and french bells, hats, and plant covers turn up. I just happen to be watching a very old movie and I've just about decided I need to make a cloche hat for myself made from knitting I've fulled.

I've also started a mental plan to make the climbing frame sturdy. It's OK for peas and cucumbers, but the squash will tear it apart and pull it down from the weight.

It's supposed to rain most of the weekend so my chores are few as long as it stays warm enough.

God's Polaroids

I've been watching God take Polaroids for a couple of hours. Far off in the west.

The TV has been beeping and flashing with warnings of all kinds for near, but far away places.

Quickly, the thunder came close to mumble along with the lightning and now it is raining steady.

I bought a cat tree for Emma yesterday. It's next to the windows, so I opened them a crack to give her some outside air. It hasn't done much for me, but now that the air outside is musical and churning, it's stirring the air in the apartment a bit. Nature is coming in.

Things are really rumbling and the sky will crack open very soon. It's going to be a fabulous storm. The papparazi is here.

Calendars and clocks exist to measure time, but that signifies little because we all know that an hour can seem as eternity or pass in a flash, according to how we spend it. ~ Michael Ende

My cup runneth over

It was so foggy and rainy this morning, I didn't think I'd get any garden time. There was a peak of blue sky this afternoon, but before sunset, the clouds had rolled in and more rain is coming.

I decided to check on things before dark. Everything that was still in the soda bottle seed starters were completely soaked and many overflowed with water. According to the rain gauge, we got nearly 2 inches of rain last night - too much for my containers.

I planted everything from containers - tomatoes, brussel sprouts, peppers, and squash. In the ground, it looks like a lot of plants. Zhenfang brought me some sweet peas to fill in a gap where the seeds haven't sprouted. She's got a 20' fence with sprouted peas so far. *envy*

Everything already in the ground looks good. The carpet of weeds that are coming in are actually dill. They've grown just enough now to let the feather leaves loose. It grows wild here. Once it gets about 3 feet tall, it goes to seed. The seeds drop, and repeat several times per summer. Like last year, I'm sure we'll have continuous harvests of dill, so if you'd like some, just let me know.

The gals from Ukraine have collected what they call Russian dill seeds and they've offered to share them with me. They've told me that American dill doesn't smell the same. I've kept some seeds from last year, but I don't know what kind they are. I'll clarify the kind I've got when it comes up.

Leaving the garden tonight, I really don't have room for anything else in the garden. I have maybe 2' to keep my gardening tools and stuff. All is well.

Grow baby, grow!

Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant. ~Robert Louis Stevenson