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Week 14 - Discoveries

Time in: 2pm
Time out: 6pm

Our first tomatoes are here! This one is called "Heartland" and here's what it says on the label: An excellent performer ideal for small space gardeners. Dwarf, compact plants produce mid-size, 6-8 ounce fruit, bright-red in color. Great fresh flavor. 80 days. Indeterminate.

Our final paper still remains the focus of this week, which is due sometime next week. So we're working out the kinks on that.

As for our garden duties, a few plants were moved around, hopefully to their benefit! The squash plants are getting really long and some small fruits are starting to set. It was suggested by Jared and Steve that they be moved to the ground.

I was a bit relentless to move them from their containers since they looked rather content clambering up the trellises. However, I ended up doing so regardless since it is true that once the fruit start to grow, gravity will not be so kind.

The tomatillos (grown from seed) were transplanted into the containers the squash once were. I think they'll be happy there.

By the way, this is the last blog of the semester. And coincidentally, we both have plans to move in the upcoming months so with that in mind, the blogging may not come on a weekly schedule. Still, wherever we go, there is always earth to turn, pictures to take and something to say about it. Besides, I never knew how fun this blogging thing was until now!

On another note, we harvested our first cucumber of the season. Boy, was it tasty!!

Here are some extra pics from the past few months work. I'm putting these up mainly for nostalgic purposes.








Summer's just around the bend, maybe we'll see you at the harvest party!

Week 13 - Paper Writing

Time in: 1pm
Time out: 3pm


There are always more things to do in the garden. We are only at the beginning.

For these couple of weeks, however, we are using the time we have to work on our final paper for our Horticulture projects class.

It'll be an quick run-down of all the things we learned, the mistakes we made as well as our triumphs.

Week 12 - Growing and Shading

Time in: 10am

Time out: 2pm

Holy Adillos! It has been about 15 days since I took a pic of the overall garden and there has been considerable growth - Here's a May first and a May fifteenth picture juxtapoxed.

Last Monday, we followed through with our plans to build a 8x10 ft. frame for a shade awning in front of the clematis plants to be sure they don't burn in the summer heat.

Thank you uncle Greg for helping to cut and sew the shade cloth and thank you Steve and Jared for building the frame!


It has been about a month since the plants were given an extra boost. This time, we used Gro-Power. 100% organic and made strictly from humus.

Some beautiful moments:

The first flower of the white clematis plant in bloom. In particular, this clematis is called Clematis pfordtii.

We got a couple of tomato plants growing out of the lower holes in the compost heap. Does anyone know what the one on the top is?...

The squash plants seem to be enjoying themselves.

I had no idea that eggplants have thorns!











A growing cuke. Hiding beneath the shade of its large, green leaves.

The tallest and largest tomato plant is called Marriane's Peace.

Week 11 - And They're Off!

Time in: 10am

Time out: 1pm

The tomato plants are growing, and these little cages just aren't cutting it any longer! So our main project for this week is to expand the cages. Easy yet time consuming.

The chopping of the pepper tree will have an effect the clematis plants. It was their primary source of shade, especially from the upcoming months of scorching heat we will soon be experiencing.

With Steve's handyman help, we've figured out a way to protect the newly exposed side of the shed by making a sort of awning with recycled wood and fabric. More on that next week!

Here are a few extra images:

Week 10 (part two) - Attack of the Tree Squirrels!

Time in: 8am

Time out: 9am

On our way to Santa Cruz, we received a phone call from my mom. The tree squirrels ransacked the garden!!

When we came home, we found out that our next door neighbor did a large pruni ng job on their California Pepper tree (Schinus molle). We're pretty sure that a lot of tree squirrel families lived within those sawed off branches. In turn, they probably panicked and attempted to search for food anywhere they can. Thankfully, because of the chicken wire, the tomatoes were untouched!

We also needed to replace the chili pepper flakes since their potency probably dulled out after a few weeks of watering.

Next Week's Tasks:

• Get more chili pepper flakes...It's on!!!

• Expand the chicken wire
  

• Maintenance

Week 9 - Stakes not Steaks

Time in: 5pm
Time out: 7pm


With the gracious help from my handy-man step father, Steve, we were able to find a way to prepare stakes for the tomatoes. At no cost!


We did this by dismantling a rickety old trellis we had (it may have been my older sister's if I am not mistaken).

Jared helped in the process by removing all the rusty old nails that held it together.

My dad then cut it down to an even 4 feet.

Steve and Jared secured the stakes into the ground, we decided on two per tomato plant.

And...Wallah!


Next week's tasks:

• A 4 day trip to Santa Cruz!!!

Week 8 - Spring Break

Time in: 10am
Time out: 2pm






With the generous help of my mom, we were able to fertilize the tomato plants with worm-gro. We scattered 3 scoops under each plant. It may have been too much as the worm castings are quite concentrated in nutrient value (1 scoop probably would have sufficed). Soaking the tomato patches will help to leach the extra microorganisms out of the roots and ground.

I also picked out two climbers for the other side of the shed. A light lavender and a white clematis.



Here are the steps I took to help guarantee the success of these climbers ( I got the information in a book all about Clematis they sell in my place of work):


Step 1: Soak root balls for at least 1/2 an hour

Step 2: Dig a hole 2 or 3 times larger (about 2 x 3 ft/60 x 100 in. deep) than the root ball. Fill
bottom with pottery shards or sticks for about 8 inches. This will help with the aeration
and drainage of the soil.

Step 3: Backfill the hole gently with garden compost.

Step 4: Make a circular dam with compost and fill with water. Let water drain naturally.










Here are some other miscellaneous images from the garden





Next week's tasks:

• Add the rest of the drippers where they are needed

• Make stakes for the tomatoes

• Plant legumes (Christmas Lima)
  

Week 7 - Drip Drip Drip

Time in: 5:30pm
Time out: 7:30pm


This week, we extended the drip system to include the veggies we planted in 5 gallon containers at the side of the shed.

We also extended the drip to include the area on the other side of the shed by running a line under the deck. Plans are currently being made to plant 3 to 4 climbers in this area.

Week 6 - Getting there!

Friday, March 27 2009



Time in: 4pm
Time out: 8pm

This is the day that we really laid down a lot of the ground-work for the tomato patch. These tasks included:

• Deciding on a layout for the tomatoes, then planting them. We used a theme for each lot. One for the classic red kind, one for the extra-large kind, one for color (striped red and orange or purple) and one for "odds and ends" (we both picked out a variety we thought sounded odd or interesting).

• Planting marigolds and sowed nasturtium seeds.

• Installing individual lines (from the main drip-line) to each tomato plant. We also snaked a line through the marigold plants and one for the nasturtium seeds.

• Adding extra hot chili pepper flakes around the tomato plants

• Mulching

• Creating small cages for individual tomato plant for added protection from squirrels
  

• Setting up timer for drip irrigation. Since the tomato plants are still seedlings, it was suggested to us that they should be watered a little more in the first couple of weeks, so we decided to set the timer on for 5 minutes every 48 hours at 7:30am and pm. We are crossing our fingers that it will work!
  

Next week's tasks:

• Plant eggplant, squash and cucumbers in 5 gallon containers

• Set up the drip irrigation for the 5 gallon containers
  

• Plant legumes alongside tomato plants (more on this later)
  

• Plan for the small lot on the other side of the shed