Gardening, flowers and veggies: 2015

[Queen K]

I wouldn't mind some of those borage seeds, hint hint.

Summer is upon us and the sunflowers are already getting eaten by the birds. Two Golden Finches were photographed yesterday eating the seeds in our yard.

Pepper plants are loving the heat. Zukes etc.

Most of the flowers are just looking beat up though. I hope today is cooler.

[Bpeep]

My poor broccoli would enjoy some cooler weather.
The corn is loving it tho.

[Queen K]

Kale chips in London Drugs: 6.99, made with pink salt mind you.

My kale? Healthy, green, growing and oh, home made kale chips: sea salt, olive oil, dusting of garlic powder, home grown kale: a buck per oven tray full, and that's including the electricity.

[Bsuds]

You forgot the cost of the water.

[Queen K]

Planted the latest veggies I've ever planted before. Three tomato plants and four cukes and a pepper plant.

I watered them in well and staked the tomatos. If I get four or five veggies off the lot of them, I'll be happy for such a late planting.

Cukes got a long way to go though.

We are overrun by zukes though. And cherry tomatos are rolling in.

[Lady tehMa]

Zuchinni producing, raspberries just about done, birds got all my haskaps (need to remember to put up netting next year!), blueberries struggling (but I discovered that they like leftover coffee), Blackberries coming along (first picking in today's lunch). Cherry tomatoes and regular tomatoes starting to produce, squash and pumpkins fruiting, and all my spinach went to seed. Lettuce, celery, chard & kale all looking pretty good.

[Queen K]

I got a person picking up a pile of bricks from my yard today. Yeehawwww, one more pile of junk gone. Now I won't have to move them here and there.

I'm removing aggressively seeded plants today and digging out all the bindweed I can see down to a three inch below the dirt level if I can.

New plants are greening up and showing signs of rejuvenation after being root bound.

Sunflowers are getting tied up and Goldfinch have moved in for good eating. (That's always the plan with the sunflowers, makes for good photography).

I'm cleaning out a compost bin and digging in the rich earth. Have to move some flowers soon now that they are big enough for the move.

[Queen K]

To anyone who thinks the rain actually did something for the plants: Nope. Dig down two inches or less and you'll see watering is still an issue.

[Queen K]

To anyone who thinks the rain actually did something for the plants: Nope. Dig down two inches or less and you'll see watering is still an issue.

Edited to add: Yeeeehawwww lovely person picked up the red bricks just now. If anyone has red bricks to unload for whatever reason, PM me and I'll pass the info to her.

[Lady tehMa]

Mmmmm Blackberries!

[Bpeep]

Get some sulphur for your blueberries lady tehma .
Blueberries like a pretty acidic soil- Ph 4.5 to 5.5. Water the sulphur in to the soil. The water will create sulfuric acid.
Blueberries are shallow rooted and have a matted bunch of thin roots. Just chop the sulphur a bit into the surface, dont dig it in. Just enough so it won't wash away. Use a spoon to do it. You can also buy phosphoric acid at a garden store - they call it Ph down, and mix it with water in a bucket and water them with it. It's a total pita and you'll need a meter to check the pH. Cheap on eBay. Just a couple drops will create the desired Ph on a 20 liter bucket. Once you get soil acidic it's easy to keep it there. Mulch with coffee, a few conifer needles. The correct Ph for your blueberry bushes will give you huge harvests. The plant won't do well in neutral or high Ph.
Plant two different varieties of them for better pollination and bigger berries.
I had killer blueberry harvests this year. Got one more little picking coming up and that's it. I'm so glad I put in another row of them this spring. Those will start producing a bit next year.

[Lady tehMa]

I have 3 different varieties, I dug in peat when I planted them, and I mulch with pine needles and use my leftover coffee on them. I'll try the sulphur next weekend (already have this weekend booked up!)

Thanks for the tips Bman, they're much appreciated :)

[Queen K]

I'm following the blue berry advice as well.

[Queen K]

We found the perfect acid amendment at a wonderful yard sale on Saturday. And a box of bone meal, so bonus.

Rona has lots of paste tomato plants for sale at $1.50/plant. Roma's etc.

We bought three extra tomato plants.

[Lady tehMa]

Tomatoes and cukes are going gangbusters! I can't believe how many spaghetti squash I have, and after 3 years of sad zucchini, I found the place it loves and am having troubles keeping up. Eating piles of green beans and kale and chard . . . :D