This great big beautiful back yard doesn't do much for me in the heat of the Sacramento summer. When I walk through it so I can clean up after Rocky, the "grass" crunches under my feet. So I try to stay up close to the house and my garden, and when I water the garden I get a small part of the grass around it watered as well. I can call it grass, but it's mostly crabgrass and weeds. I don't know what to do about it, and hate to pay a landscaper to make it better as I don't own the property. Mainly I try to just focus on the garden, but I'm going to need professional advice on how to get rid of the "sticker" plants that grow in abundance. I get those annoying stickers in my socks whenever I walk out there, and Rocky got one in his nose. I saw him shaking his head frantically trying to dislodge it, and I was able to remove it before he inhaled it further. I gave him a dose of Benadryl and he slept for most of the day!
Speaking of the garden, I am getting so impatient for something to happen. I have lots of big yellow flowers on the squash plants, and when I was out looking at them I saw a bee buzzing among the flowers so I'm sure they are being polinated, but so far nothing I recognize as a yellow squash or green zucchini has formed. I did notice a whole lot of cherry tomatoes that are almost ready to be picked. This past weekend I gave Jeannie several tomatoes including some of the cherry variety. in recent years I've noticed that I get indigestion when eating tomatoes, although not from heirloom tomatoes I've bought in the grocery. Next year I am going to grow only heirloom seeds of everything.
My son Steve may come over on Wednesday and rototill the rest of the garden plots, so I will have a lot to do to make them suitable for planting my fall garden. It will be nice to watch for something else to grow besides tomatoes and zucchini. I also planted marigold seeds along the sides of the garden beds as well as along the front walkway, and have never gotten a single flower bud. The plants are growing and look healthy, but I don't think the flowers should take that long to pop out. Like I've said, this whole effort has been a learning experience for me, and I will know how to do things better next season.
I remember the old days when I was a kid; my mom always grew tomatoes and got a great yield from the plants, although I don't remember her fussing a whole lot with them, worrying about removing the sucker shoots, or anything like that. She always reaped a huge amount, although she might have put more effort into it than I recall. I am the oldest of 8, so I'm sure she had several other kids on hand and I don't know how she found much time to devote to growing tomatoes. I only have one youngster to worry about, and he eats whatever I put down around the tomato plants - coffee grounds, eggshells, plant food, etc. Sometimes I don't know what to do with that boy!
I'm glad I don't have a lawn in this heat all you get are weeds and stickers, and like you said it just crunches under your feet. But I would love to have a garden of some kind but to use that much water here it makes me feel guilty. Your garden will yeild you some veggies soon.
ReplyDeleteI think I should be getting squash soon, and have already given Jeannie some of the tomatoes, which she reports are delicious. I picked one for myself this evening and will eat it tomorrow. I don't use that much water that it makes me feel guilty. I may have to eventually find other ways to get water - I read where someone said to take some of the water from the washing machine final rinse, and use it on the garden. I think I should be able to find creative ways to gather water. I'm pretty conservative with all utilities, but I'm sure I could catch some water that otherwise flows down the drain.
DeleteWhen I had a garden many, many years ago I used the washing machine water from the washing and rinsing. The garden was beautiful but the machine was out on a porch and could run it right to the garden. If you put out some buckets to catch rain water that would be a great way to get extra water. Just my 2 cents LOL
DeleteWe won't see rain here until probably December, Also, my washing machine is on the other side of the house, so no help there. I could maybe bail it out by hand from the final rinse, and I might try that the next time I use the machine.
DeleteIf you ever find out how to get rid of stickers I will certainly be interested. While the cats do a good job of removing them themselves I sometimes have to remove them from their tails.
ReplyDeleteI can tell you are so into your garden because you are already planning your fall garden.
I want to get rid of all the weeds in my yard that grow stickers. It would be too big a job for me as a renter to take on myself. I have never liked desert or desert climates because of all the plants with thorns and stickers
ReplyDeletePlanning my falln garden is what keeps me sane and feeling alive.