Got up this morning, stalled a short bit, ate a little cereal, and loaded up - tiller, plants, tools, tubs in case I brought composted horse manure to the garden like last year, cooler with drinks and snacks, iPod in case I was in the mood for that, etc. Brett was kind enough to volunteer to come out, help me unload the tiller and take some pics - cool!
Here are the two plots - end to end. You see grass in the foreground (the driving/parking area), and then it drops off at the marker (#60 has been my plot since I started doing this, and then the second plot got added last year), and then you see alllll the fun weeds that have sprouted this season. Another handy reason to have the tiller - tear 'em up! Those taller patches of green halfway back were a ton of volunteer sunflowers - I didn't plant sunflowers at that area, but they could've been mine or Barry's (neighboring gardener) that got moved by the plow. Even after all of the tilling, I left some of the edge ones - love the sunflowers!
Here Brett caught me in action moving homegrown flats of plants - I think that's nasturtiums, dill, and cilantro? Take note of The Devil's Tiller behind me...
And here's the bane of my existance - the tiller I rented from Home Depot. Remember how I said the guy was very helpful and informative? Apparently he forgot to tell me that the wheel on front was only for transportation - NOT for tilling. Hey - all other tillers I've seen have wheels, so why wouldn't this one? I didn't know!
Note the amazingly muscular calves as I try to force the tiller through one of it's many stops - the wheel was a constant pain, catching in divots in the ground. It didn't pull itself forward, and the tines didn't do a good enough job of pulling (because there was a wheel still attached!) Those sunflowers you see in the pic? They only have a few more minutes left to live...
"Do you want me to beat you like the red-headed stepchild that you are?!?!"
Oh - and I'm still not sure why there's a dividing line down the middle of the back plot. I took care of that! ;-)
And thanks to the delay here (that was a particularly troublesome corner of the garden, with or without the wheel problems).
Annnnd we're going again...but not for long, trust me!
So it wasn't until about two hours later (yes, two), with more struggling, that the front wheel suddenly fell off as I was wrestling with the tiller. This wrestling usually meant pushing all my body weight against it to nudge it forward and, when that didn't work, I'd pull it back through the dirt (sucker's HEAVY) and get it going again, hoping it'd work it's way through whatever was stopping it. Often this also didn't fix the problem, so I'd have to go around to the front, lift and pull, and start it on a fresh un-tilled patch of dirt.
When that wheel first fell off I KNOW my first thought was "oh shit! at least I paid the extra $5 broken parts insurance!" and then "ah ha - screw you evil tiller - you had that coming!"
But then I tried the tiller without the wheel. WOW - that was a lot easier! Believe me, I HAD considered the wheel maybe being a problem, but I couldn't find a pin to pull out and release it (turns out the pin was missing - hence the "falling off" part) Suddenly things started going well - I still made a number of more passes width-wise and length-wise through the two plots, loosening up the soil so it was a nice fluffy area free of growing weeds (yes, I realize some will come back - but DEATH TO THE ONES THAT WERE ALREADY THERE!) >:-)
With all this craziness, I think it took me maybe 3 1/2 hours to make all my passes through with the tiller. By that time I was physically exhausted (yes, that sounds like a drama queen thing to say, but seriously, I was WORN OUT). I'd stopped a few times to drink water, drink Coke, eat a banana over two breaks, eat some peanuts for energy (thanks to the personal trainers!), etc... Once all the tilling was done, I really didn't have much energy to form nice rows and plant stuff. I'd get a cramp in a leg muscle, or just find I needed to sit. (Call me wuss)
I DID manage to form two rows just short of half the length of the plot, and got in all the peppers, all the onions (red, yellow and white), and three types of green beans (Maxibels (LOVED them last year), Blue Lake (reliable) and Gator Green, which I'm trying for the first time this year). I'm too tired to list the peppers right now - but there are quite a few varieties, and MOST of my pepper seedlings have survived so far - hopefully they make it out there in the big cruel world!
I met a friendly, chipper couple out there as well - Brian and Jenny. They'd started considerably earlier with their two plots - two weeks ago - and had feared they lost some of their tomatoes to the recent frosts (luckily all is good). They seem to have a really organized garden, and have only been at this two years. Last year they gardened at home and found they wanted more space. Well, with two plots, they sure got it!! We swapped some "what are you growing" stories, I shared some experience with all the evil bugs they'll meet this summer (including, sorry Steven and Farmgirl, some very NON-organic solutions!), and Brian was kind enough to help me re-load the tiller into the back of the CR-V.
I'm a bit disappointed in myself because I ended out packing most of the plants back up in the car and bringing them home. I didn't want to stay out there more than the five hours I'd already spent - I wanted to come home, shower, and eat. When I got home, I informed Brett I was NOT cooking dinner. Turns out Olive Garden was quite yummy - we really enjoy carry out from there because each person EASILY gets two meals from their servings. I HIGHLY recommend one of their current specials - the Chicken Caprese - which is sauteed chicken over angel hair, basil and tomatoes with a garlic sauce, all topped with mozerella. I have to say I really didn't find more than a couple flecks of basil, but was too tired to add my own - tasted just fine as is, and certainly gave me another recipe to try to imitate. Normally I get their Herb Garlic Chicken con Broccoli, which is SOOOOO GOOD. I'm glad I got daring and tried something new tonite.
Turns out Brett picked up a couple super cheap movies while running his errands, so we watched The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury with dinner. It was an Aeon Flux-animation-like short movie (30 minutes?), telling the story of what happened between Pitch Black and the Chronicles of Riddick sequel. These are two of those movies that soooo many people panned (at least the second one), ripping to pieces, saying they hate Vin Diesel, etc. Sorry folks - but we ain't that fancy! We really enjoyed both live action movies, and this little animation flick was quite enjoyable as well... Although I AM glad Brett got it for only $.50! ;-)
Oh, dead tired, need to get to bed. Finished making vanilla bean ice cream a short while ago (half of which I added Ghirardelli semi-sweet choc chunks to), and now I've got chocolate ice cream about to come out of the ice cream maker (one of the perks of having TWO ice cream makers - no waiting 24 hrs before making another flavor!). Since we were assigned "dessert" for Randy and Larry's Memorial Day Cookout With The Guys tomorrow, I figured it was a great chance to show off the homemade ice cream that none of the guys have gotten to try yet. PLUS we'll pick up some store baked brownies on the way - should be a nice combo! (Yes Peter, STORE BOUGHT! GASP! I KNOW! LOL) I'm too tired to do anything else tonite - I'm not making brownies... 'Sides, this way the ice cream will get the spotlight (HOPEFULLY!) [Mmmm...just tasted the chocolate - needs a few more minutes]
I really SHOULD get out to the garden early in the morning and plant more stuff, but I doubt that's gonna happen. I'm hoping to get a nice peaceful nite of sleep - hopefully without anymore acid reflux attacks like the last two nites (Brett thinks I might have an ulcer?)
Oh heck - one last garden pic. This was just after we got there - I don't even think we'd fully unloaded the CR-V yet? Let's call this "oh crap, what have I gotten myself into again this year?!?!" LOL
HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!
10 comments:
Impressively busy day for you, Jeph. Great photos - you're looking in terrific shape as well. I feel comparatively lazy for having "only" done 11 loads of laundry.
But wow, I'm looking forward to the photos of the plants coming up, budding, blooming, and fruiting!
Store-bought is fine on a weekend like this. Don't let it happen again!
LOL
Glad you're feeling better and the tiller thing is too funny.
I didn't realize you had such a big plot, I usually equate community gardens with tiny plots.
I've got pretty much everything planted and I harvesting the last of the rapini and radishes. Time to plant more. Everything is going great, the potatoes are almost 2 feet tall already. My only worry is I'm going to New York in two weeks for 5 days and I'm leaving the watering chores to my Mom who has a black thumb.
Uh oh Steven - If I lived close enough, I'd run over and water for ya! LOL
Haven't started any radishes yet... As you can see, I haven't started MOST things yet!
The community garden plots are 16x40 feet ($15 for the year), and I have two that are end-to-end. I met a friendly couple yesterday, new to the gardening thing, who have two side-by-side. I kinda like that look better - less likely to drag a hose through the pepper patch at one end while going to water something at the far end!
ONLY eleven loads Peter!? Maaaan! I'm so glad I have Brett to take care of laundry duties here! ;-)
And, yessir! No more storebought brownies! ;-)
Oh you done hit a sore spot about dragging the hose! I need to rig up some protection for the beds at the corners that doesn't look fugly, but doesn't cost an arm and a leg. The other consideration is that the space between the beds is EXACTLY the width of the lawn mower.
My main plot is 25 x 100 and I'm always dragging a hose through something. I really should run some pipe out there and put in some drip irrigation, but I really enjoy the time spent watering in the evening with the bats and the swallows chasing bugs overhead.
You're not so far away you couldn't water..it's only about an hour and a half each way if the traffic is good. I'm only going for five days so even if Mom only manages to get the watering done every other day I think it'll be fine and the potatoes are mulched so well I think they can probably go a week without water.
Oh I forgot, Peter's laundry sounds like mine.. I'm always "doing the laundry" which in Steven-speak is running out to the Mall to buy clean clothes.
I remember the days of college when it was easier to run downtown to Eaton's and buy new underwear rather than make time for laundry. One benefit to having a high rise with a common laundry room is that on a day like Sunday when everyone was out in the sun, I had the room to myself. Sometimes it's not so bad being a pasty, pale sun-avoider!
Just the same, though, Steven, your alternate strategy sounds darn appealing from time to time.
See, when I do the "buy more clothes" thing, I get the "you need to clear out some of your old stuff" line from the significant other! ;-) I think his trick is to not let us get anymore hangers - we're keeping zero sum status in the closets perhaps?
Steven - I agree about the hose situation. I keep thinking the slightly raised beds I shovel into place each year (since the plots are tilled under every winter/spring) should be high enough along the edges to guide the hoses down the walkways and not tear through the plants.
Who am I kidding?!?!
Do you ever watch Fresh From The Garden on the DIY Network!? Last season they cycled through the series a couple times, and I kept catching the one where Joe Lamp'l (the host) was building his fenced in, permanent raised beds where he installed all the hose systems, had pipes running underground along the main walkways, etc. Pure gardening heaven!
Peter - doesn't all this talk make you want a garden somewhere?! I bet you could find a rental plot near you guys! ;-)
I broke down and bought like 20 of those cheap hose-guide spikes from Lowes yesterday and they seem to be doing okay. I really planned on at least running a water line out to the garden this year, but I got so tied up in building the raised beds for my Uncle that it just ate into my time.
As far as the buying new stuff thing goes, I say to myself "If I don't buy all these hideous camo cargo shorts on the clearance rack at Old Navy to wear in the garden, some unfortunate child will be forced to wear them to school by their cheap Mom." I'm doing the youth a public service!
LOL Sounds sexy! And young and hip too! That's ok - I now fit back into the slightly-shorter-than-is-currently-popular dark olive green shorts with ELASTIC around the waste (as well as a button). Friends always made fun of me when they found out about the elastic, saying that's what old guys wear. These weren't old-guy-style shorts...and the elastic made 'em SO comfy.
Now that I fit in 'em again I'm using them for gardening. I might even consider wearing them otherwise if they didn't have paint splatters on them. Wouldn't even worry about the lack of length! (Trust me, they're no shorty shorts!)
Great site lots of usefull infomation here.
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