Claim it. Own it.

I got a late start today. Copied the garden  plan I'd made into a notebook. I've spent so much time reading up on different combinations of plants and what additives each kind of plant needs when it's transplanted, that I can't remember it all.

Home Sweet Home
The Land is outlined in red, my plot is in white.

I hung fence around the perimeter of my plot. I put up the garden trellis, but I made it bigger and a slightly different shape, dug out about a foot of soil from inside the trellis to mound around the edges. Tomatoes will go on the mounds and be trained up (and over?) the trellis.

I flattened the soil inside and used boards to hold up the mounds from the inside so it wouldn't fall in. I laid some carpet strips on the inside to keep the packed dirt down, weed free, and not too mucky.

Mr Hu, Mr Tse, Mrs Lang, Mrs. Gao, Mr. Bu, and a few others were outside working in their plots. As I was working on the trellis, they asked if I was building a house. The carpet made it a done deal for them, they couldn't stop laughing.

I am often the recipient of shaking heads, chuckling, and outright laughter. Sometimes people just cruise by to watch me, some come right up to me and take tools (or whatever) out of my hands to try to stop what I'm doing because they think I am making some kind of monumental mistake. I don't mind being different, but interference or anything more than a casual suggestion just pisses me off. I rolled with it the first year and a half, but last summer, I lost my patience. There is no benefit in "being nice to old people" around here. The respect doesn't go both ways. I'm not used to this, but it's got to be a cultural thing I'm missing. I've decided it's better to stand my ground and cut off the pushy people. I'd rather be left alone because people think I'm crazy than be pestered and patronized by friends.

There trellis is open to the fence on the north side of my plot. I don't want to make too much shade for my neighbor without losing vertical space. I left an opening on the side so I can get inside the trellis area. I'm using it to store my water reservoir, tools, stakes, and other things I don't want stolen. It does look like a little house and by mid-summer, I hope it's covered in tomato plants, flowers and climbing vines, with a cool, shady place inside.

I laid in three rows of soybean seed, all of the yellow onions and garlic. I put in three rows of carrot seed, and I set in the reclaimed onions I took out last week. We still don't have access to water, so I didn't water anything in. The soil is really light and was pretty warm today. I hope the dry, cool conditions will keep the garlic and onion starts from rotting until I can water them. Tomorrow I hope.

I've set aside and "alum patch" for all of the onions, garlic, and carrots. They are supposed to play together nicely and they will be near-ish tomatoes, soybeans, brussel sprouts and peas, which is supposed to be OK. When I first drew the plan, I thought I might have planned too much space for them, but when I've put them in the ground, it looks like it will be OK.

The plot seemed to change shape as the day went along. First it looked so big, then too small, then bigger than the other plots that are still untouched. By the end of the day, I checked the fence line. I'm glad I put it in before I started. My plot looks so much bigger than the plot next to mine. I felt guilty, but everything checked out OK. I adjusted the hay bales so they didn't push the fence over the north boundary.

Dehydrated and worn out, I cleaned up my mess of twine and fence packaging and came in. I think I was outside for 4 or 5 hours. I finished a lot more than I thought I would. I'm going to try to get water to the garden tomorrow, put in the last of the onions, get the peas going, plant the rhubarb and chives I'd brought inside and water it all in. Tomorrow.

It's supposed to be in the 30's Thursday and Friday nights, so the live growing things will have to be kept inside until they are tougher, then cloched when outside.

My antsy self is satisfied. The plot is mine.

My garden plan today

2011 Recap

Last summer I decided to plant Russian Mammoth Sunflowers. I'd read up on them and was excited to see if I could get close to the 10 foot goal. When the stalks were about 5 feet tall, they started to bloom (very early) and accelerated seed production. When trees do this, it means they are under stress and they're going to try to drop seeds before they die. These sunflowers were on the back border of my garden plot. When I checked them, I saw that all of the leaves on one side of the stalk had been cut off. Long story short, my garden neighbor, Alexi, cut them off without telling me. When I discovered it, Valentina (Alexi's wife) was in the garden and I was really mad and asked her what happened. When I saw Alexi, we went through several stages: he was mad that I upset his wife and got up in my face about it, he would never apologize (Jesus died to forgive all of his sins), and he mocked me. The idea that I was upset with him because of what he did versus the value of the damaged plants didn't seem to sink in.

When my sunflowers continued to die off because and there was so much anamosity going on with Alexi, the garden wasn't a pleasure. The blog was put together so my sister's kids could watch the plants grow since they didn't have a garden at home. The special focus was to be the line of sunflowers at the back of the garden, and when they withered and died, I lost heart.

My peppers never grew taller than about 14 inches, but by the end of the summer, I had full sized peppers that touched the ground. Most of my neighbors didn't get any fruit from their peppers.

My tomatoes got to be six to seven feet tall/long. Cherry, grape, and pear tomatoes did great. I was giving them away. Full size tomatoes in our part of the country were really bad. They took a long time to grow and were full size by September, but never turned red. In our community garden with just shy of 1000 tomato plants, folks were pretty devastated.
My sweet peas barely produced. The Asian long beans only produced 4 beans. Brussels sprouts were strange. One plant developed a stalk that was 6 inches across and didn't get very tall. The other got about 3 feet tall, but since the season had such a slow start, it didn't have a chance to produce like it could have. Edamame was very successful. I'd never grown them before and planted them too close to each other. Then ended up flattening out the plants on the sides so all could get sun. My butternut squash did great again. My herbs (lavender, mint, cat mint, sage, rosemary, chives) did really well. Flowers were a bust until late in the season.
It was such a strange year weather-wise that overall, I think the garden was successful, but not all at the same time.

A Sunny Day in the Trenches

I love the way the cedar planks lining the beds looks. Better yet, the plants seem to like them.

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.

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.

What a day

I went shopping this morning as planned. I picked up some peas and soybeans at the garden store. I went to the hardware store. The temp raised 10 degrees in an hour and humidity was ridiculous. I took a nap.

When I made it to the garden, there was no one there. I measured and built the top portion of the arbor-thing I've been working on for the big climbing veg. I thought I was being clever, but I had some problems. It sounds easy. In my head it sounded easy, but the uprights kept twisting out of true. A neighbor saw me struggling and came to help. Then another. Both speak English well, but they kept talking to each other in Chinese and I was kind of left out. She spoke the best English, but even standing next to her, she couldn't always hear me speak - double hearing aids.  It got a little ridiculous.  By this time, I'd been in the direct sun for a few hours in 85F+ temps. I was getting a little heat-stroke-y: shaky, nauseous, headache.

We were going three different directions for a while. More neighbors came out, so a peanut gallery ensued.  There was a constant chatter in Chinese about the next step in building, but it did not include me. The wind came up, I felt sick, and no one was listening to me. Eventually everything that was to be upright, resembled vertical. Stakes were planted and tied to the verticals. I just wanted to get on with my life,
BUT
first one, then another neighbor and another came by pointing and made comments in Chinese and English mixed together. Collectively, the nay-sayerss were that the arbor is to tall, "unequal" (crooked), leaning, and that I was a fool for trying to build it on a windy day (it wasn't windy when I started).

As I tried to explain, getting more and more pissed off, Mr Hu came into my garden plot, grabbed an upright and started to rock it to show me how the wind would blow it over (loosening the dirt and rocking the stakes.) He started arguing with another neighbor (in Chinese) about how bad or good the structure was. Occasionally, someone would shoot me a quick translation, then jump into the argument in Chinese. Eight people arguing in Chinese getting louder and louder, trying to talk over each other, not a soul paying any attention to me. Yelling, arguing, and gesturing. I don't speak Chinese in the slightest, but I know the words for yes, no, good, bad, tie, cut, measure, and of course, I recognized my own name.

I lost it.

Speaking basic English "You must stop pulling on that Hu. I know it is not straight. It is OK" turned  into  "You are making me angry! Listen to me! You are really pissing me off! Everyone! Stop talking! No more 'bad Jennifer, no Jennifer, bad Jennifer.' STOP. HU! Stop pulling on that! It's not finished! Stop pulling on it! Leave it!" Zhenfang was laughing at me. I don't think she got it. I pantomimed covering my mouth and pointed at Hu and then at anyone I could make eye contact with.

I was completely soaked in sweat. My head was throbbing. I was pissed. I'd added crossbars to keep the whole thing from torquing. Everything was good enough for me to leave it. I packed up, came inside, rehydrated, and fell asleep in the air conditioning.

Two hours later, I went outside. Hu was there. He told me he thought the arbor was OK. (I think they started to understand how frustrated I was after I left.) Everyone else from the afternoon building saga were gone. I intended to get the planting in, but I spent my time truing up the arbor. Then it was too dark to plant.

Zhenfang came out to water her garden then went home. She came outside again, told me to stop because the sky was black (night). I finished what I was doing (she helped) and put away my tools. She handed me a bottle of water and threw an arm over my shoulder.
"You're a good friend," I said. We came in together.

I peeled off the gross clothes to get in the shower, but there was a knock at the door. It had to be Zhenfang. She brought me food - sweet potato mash and rice steamed in banana leaves. I love her!

The shower commenced and I hung all the wet, gross stuff to dry out. Oversized t-shirt, comfy shorts. Cat asleep on my lap.

I booted my computer so I could share these deep, deep thoughts, but Norton Security didn't work. A very nice man online fixed it remotely (LOVE)

Now, here I am.

The wind picked up. Thunder. Little flashes. I might have sunburn on my face. Rain - it would have been perfect if I'd planted today. The TV is beeping and flashing tornado warnings. Well shit.

I'm going to bed with my dinner, my cat and a puzzle book.

so there

Ooo... it's 1:01a, so it's a new day.

so there

Three inches of rain

Three inches of rain in two days is too much. Overnight, it rained. This morning, things were OK as I went to church, but when I came home, it rained so hard it was difficult to see. It must have been worse for the people heading in the other direction. At every bridge there were 5 or 6 cars pulled over, taking cover.

The wicked weather makes for wicked pain in my joints. I fell asleep when I got home, but I could hear the rain and a near continuous rumble go on for hours.

The rain stopped and I went to check on things. One of the trenches I dug between the beds had 3 inches of water in it and some of the little plants were flattened. The peas seedlings (bought and gifted), however, were standing up straight and were taking advantage of the full western sun. They've sent their curly climbers off and growing, so I hope they'll find the netting and take off. The peas I planted as seeds are above ground and clusters of leaves are ready to unfurl. I'm glad to see them.

At church, there is a room of giveaway stuff the turned up when the crannies were cleaned up. There was a box of 2 quart white, plastic containers, but no lids. I decided to bring the whole box home, use what I want, and give the rest to the neighbors. Other garden neighbors shelter their tomato and pepper plants with old plastic pots, milk jugs, pails, and other containers with the bottom cut out. The container is put over a plant and sunk partially.  The roots are undisturbed, and there is room for the plant to grow up through the hole. One man told me the containers make the plants grow tall instead of wide at ground level. One told me it's helpful to keep rain and/or wind from hurting the seedlings. I wonder if the shelter doesn't create a heat well around the plant.

I cut the bottoms and placed about 25 containers. I decided that every other plant would he covered and the in-between plants would get shelter and reflection from the containers on other plants. I focused on the tomato and pepper seedlings and one or two brussel sprouts. Since I don't actually understand why I'm doing this, I left big patches without containers and exposed to the elements - my control group (says the 6th grade science fair geek.) I asked the only other neighbor in the garden, and she told me they should come off in about a week.

When I planted the soybeans, I noticed that they'd surface after a couple of days (no sprouts) and the seeds would roll around in the wind. I'd make the holes a little deeper, put the seeds back into rows, and a few days later they'd be back at the surface rolling around.

Now that the soy beans are sprouted, I can see where they've landed. At least 10 had rolled into Anatoli's garden, across the plot line by about 5 inches. I dug them up and replanted them in my plot, but I was afraid someone might think I was taking Anatoli's plants, so I worked quickly.

I left the garden with a bit of chat. It's started to rain again, so I took some pictures of the land, and came in. The sky's blue again and is warming up the apartment. More progress for the plants tomorrow. Time for another nap.

Growing Details May 10 Map

Facing East

Facing West

April 29

MOSTLY chartreuse green peppers, but I've also started some green beans and more squash.

Brussel Sprouts

Teeny tiny brussel sprout. It's not looking good. This is the best of the three. They've all laid down.

CP1

Only 1 decent sized tomato left. The rest of the plants are peppers.

CP2

 Soda Bottles

Mixed Tray

Soy Beans

I don't quite know why these look so weird, but they are getting more leaf sprouts, so I hope they will outgrow the awkward phase.

Squash

Seven seeds. One sprout. These are seeds I kept from the squash I grew last year, so I'm not sure how much success to expect.

Seed stretch

I figured out what "seed stretch" is. My seedlings were getting tall, but only had 2 leaves and were very thin and fragile. Some of them died at a certain height. They're stretching to get to moving air. When they get there, they grow more... leaves. I've cut the containers down to soil level. They can catch the breeze, but the cat has better access. So far she's only really after the soybeans. Gonna hafta lock away everything while I'm away. Learning, learning, learning.

April 18

Second round of almost 72. Chartreuse green sweet bell peppers.

Brussel Sprouts

Such a little tiny sprout will hopefully be a 3 foot stalk o'sprout buds.

*fingers crossed* 

CP1 

CP2 

Soda Bottles 

Mixed Tray

Squash 

Soy Beans

The soybean sprouts are 3 days old and freakishly big compared to everything else.

The garden is going to be tilled on the 21st.

I wanted a full plot, but I only get 1/2 because it's all sold out. The guy in charge said "we are old people" "next year, you take my garden, I don't want" and the unspoken - maybe someone will... die. It cost me $3.25. Seeds are coming along gangbusters - soybeans freakishly so. Garden neighbors were pretty hard on me last year for wasting space. It's gonna be loaded up this year. Dad's gonna help me with climbing structures and manure.