Britesea - Living the good life in rural Oregon

[Britesea]

Yesterday I took out my spinach because it was already bolting in the heat, and replaced them with some rainbow swiss chard. Today I find out we have weather projections of snow and freezing weather next week. SHEESH! I will have to cover my chard and lettuces to protect them. My winter squashes have already graduated to 6" pots and look like they are getting ready to bloom, and I keep telling them to slow down; I can't put them out yet. The cukes and tomatoes are right behind them, also in 6" pots, but not as far along. Meanwhile, the peppers are poking along in their 4" pots and only a couple of inches tall. And only ONE melon sprouted

We topped up two more of the raised beds, so they are ready for planting. I was thinking beets and green beans, but now I'm not sure I want to risk the beans rotting in suddenly cold soil, or poking their heads out of the ground only to get smacked with snow.

I discovered a new wasp nest inside some of my stacked empty pots. I managed to get rid of it without getting stung, thanks to smearing peppermint oil on my arms and neck-- best wasp repellent ever!

Debating between smothered pork chops and a baked ham slice. Either one would be good with some broccoli and asparagus.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Glad the wasps didn't get ya. Thanks for the peppermint oil tip - I didn't know that!

 

[wyoDreamer]

I read that if you put mint leaves in the bottom of a candle holder and then place a lit tea light on top of them, that will keep the bugs away. Have you ever tried that and does it work?

 

[Britesea]

haven't tried that but it sounds like an easy thing to try. I know lots of bugs don't like menthol

 

[Britesea]

got some more work done in the garden today, before the rain started. We finished filling one of the new raised beds (redwood, 12" deep, 9'x3') with our soil mix (50% topsoil, 50% compost). Not easy- we had to keep shooing the chickens away; they were glomming onto that nice soft dirt as fast as they could; spreading it all over the place. We have the wood for 2 more beds the same size, which we can hopefully get done over the course of the week.

I had some potatoes crop up in the middle of the bed that I planted them in 3 YEARS ago and keep trying to eradicate. This time, when I dug them up, I found I had missed about 6 good sized potatoes that were sprouting again. I dug them up and we discussed things. I decided since they seem to REALLY want to grow in my garden, I would relocate them to one of the undeveloped borders where they can duke it out with the raspberries and the weeds. It occurred to me that even if we aren't eating potatoes right now, that will not always be the case. Having a patch establish itself in an out-of-the-way spot will be nice when we want to harvest them again. Our soil is not quite acid enough for them so we get scabby potatoes, but they are still edible once you peel off the corky parts.

I also wandered around the garden picking up trash and discarded equipment etc that had accumulated in the corners, so things look a lot nicer now. (especially compared to the rest of our yard, lol).

Anyway, DH is whining about being hungry... you'd think he needed fuel or something after a morning of hauling dirt around.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Sounds like dh’s back is getting better!

 

[Britesea]

Rain again today. I managed to pull the weeds in the pea bed, and fertilized and cultivated the favas and the cabbages before the rain drove me indoors. Hopefully it will stop soon and I can go out and fertilize the kale and broccoli.

Only one of my 4 melon seedlings sprouted, but I got that one transplanted into a larger pot too.

DH and DS are still out in the rain, building me another raised bed frame. I anticipate at least DS in the house any minute. You'd think he was the Wicked Witch of the West, lol.

I made Shoyu Chicken last night, with a nice big green salad. Not sure what to do tonight, we need to go into town this afternoon so maybe I'll stop and pick something up. Salmon sounds nice.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Salmon sounds nice.

I agree!

 

[wyoDreamer]

I had to look up Shoyu Chicken - and now I will have to make it, lol. It sounds divine!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

It does sound good!