Pandemic Garden Club
Jul. 10th, 2020 05:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scrubjayspeaksWelcome to the July edition of Pandemic Garden Club! Growing good things in strange times!
Anyone is welcome to comment with what they're growing right now, things they would like to try, problems they're encountering, and questions they have. Share resources, answer questions, shout encouragement.
As for myself...
Big excite in the garden this week: pest control! We found a local service who can provide gopher management. It's traps only, no poison. That was a strict requirement for us, on account of both the many loose cats and dogs in the area and the various predator/scavenger wildlife. Any of those could be killed by the knock-on effects of poison in a dead gopher. This service came out for the initial setup and will return to check and reset the traps for several weeks. The price was pretty reasonable, and they were willing to come all the way out to us in the middle of nowhere without making a fuss about it.
All of this is happening because the gophers are absolutely ravaging all garden areas this year. Just out of control. And we've never had any real luck in setting traps ourselves, so it will be worth it to hire a pro if it actually helps get their population under control. You'll see pink flags in the photos, marking where traps are set.
Speaking of photos:
(click to embiggen as always)
The flower garden...looks like heck. The clarkia have all gone to seed, which is wonderful but unsightly. The flowers here are dwarf godetia (technically also a variety of clarkia, which turns out to be a big winner in this area), which have stepped up to fill the sudden gap in blooms. Two of the four o'clocks are blooming, with more still growing. But in general, the place is looking pretty sparse and shabby.
On the other hand! Pumpkin patch!
The pumpkin patch is not actually my territory--mum takes care of it. I thought it might be of interest, though, because it is LORGE. I helped plant it, which consisted of a few fancy varieties in the center of those four jump standards (we were using them to hold up shade cloth over the seedlings). Around the edges, we planted what in agriculture is classified as a "too damn many" of jack-o-lantern and pie pumpkin seeds saved from ones we bought. They were multiple years old, so we didn't think they would germinate well.
We were profoundly incorrect. The seeds dumped by the handful into rows have turned into a terrifying mass of plant. Those standards are about five feet tall, for scale. Looking down into the mass of vines feels like looking into a green and leafy abyss, or possibly into my very soul.
I love it more than words can express.
Anyone is welcome to comment with what they're growing right now, things they would like to try, problems they're encountering, and questions they have. Share resources, answer questions, shout encouragement.
As for myself...
Big excite in the garden this week: pest control! We found a local service who can provide gopher management. It's traps only, no poison. That was a strict requirement for us, on account of both the many loose cats and dogs in the area and the various predator/scavenger wildlife. Any of those could be killed by the knock-on effects of poison in a dead gopher. This service came out for the initial setup and will return to check and reset the traps for several weeks. The price was pretty reasonable, and they were willing to come all the way out to us in the middle of nowhere without making a fuss about it.
All of this is happening because the gophers are absolutely ravaging all garden areas this year. Just out of control. And we've never had any real luck in setting traps ourselves, so it will be worth it to hire a pro if it actually helps get their population under control. You'll see pink flags in the photos, marking where traps are set.
Speaking of photos:
(click to embiggen as always)
The flower garden...looks like heck. The clarkia have all gone to seed, which is wonderful but unsightly. The flowers here are dwarf godetia (technically also a variety of clarkia, which turns out to be a big winner in this area), which have stepped up to fill the sudden gap in blooms. Two of the four o'clocks are blooming, with more still growing. But in general, the place is looking pretty sparse and shabby.
On the other hand! Pumpkin patch!
The pumpkin patch is not actually my territory--mum takes care of it. I thought it might be of interest, though, because it is LORGE. I helped plant it, which consisted of a few fancy varieties in the center of those four jump standards (we were using them to hold up shade cloth over the seedlings). Around the edges, we planted what in agriculture is classified as a "too damn many" of jack-o-lantern and pie pumpkin seeds saved from ones we bought. They were multiple years old, so we didn't think they would germinate well.
We were profoundly incorrect. The seeds dumped by the handful into rows have turned into a terrifying mass of plant. Those standards are about five feet tall, for scale. Looking down into the mass of vines feels like looking into a green and leafy abyss, or possibly into my very soul.
I love it more than words can express.
