Waiting Out the Down Time

Sorry for the hiatus - it's been a busy couple of weeks.

In the meantime, the garden is slowly coming along. At this point, we have 7 long containers planted with greens (green and red leaf lettuce, mesclun mix, mache, arugula, kale and spinach). It seems that most of these didn't do well after being transplanted - especially the lettuces. Last week, Betsy and Ashwin helped me reseed, and those brand new little guys are just starting to pop up. Since they won't be transplanted, hopefully they'll do a bit better.

Some smaller containers are planted, too. After getting a strawberry seedling from our friend, Shannon, we were inspired to grab a few more: enough for three hanging baskets and some squirrel distraction (we're considering planting a strawberry or two down on the ground to sacrifice those to the squirrels who may fill up before reaching our garden). The garlic chives are looking good.

A good three weeks ago, we planted our whiskey barrel with some flowers. Ashwin and Amy (another ENVSer) seeded sunflowers well before the packet suggested (it recommended waiting until the last frost to plant sunflowers). Because it was a beautiful day and I generally sacrifice good, patient planning for immediate fun, we went ahead and tried. Finally, about two weeks later the sunflowers popped up (8 out of the 9 seeds, actually). A week later they're about three inches tall. The sunflowers should eventually reach 9 feet in height.

Pests are already becoming a major concern. I've already mentioned the squirrel problem. They've ripped out a kale plant and every few days rummage through our containers looking for seeds. A fellow gardener and scientist (so she knows what she's talking about!) told us that peeing in your garden can help keep squirrels away. As our garden is not so much a garden, I hesitated on this advice. However, after Betsy's, Ashwin's and my reseeding efforts were promptly destroyed by the damn things, I've since been trying this technique out. Yes, watch where you step! Since then, squirrel appearances have diminished but not altogether disappeared. As a secondary measure, every time I see a squirrel out there I run after it - with broom in hand. Sure, they'll leave, but they don't seem nearly scared enough. Still trying to work this problem out.

Wasps are trying to resettle the hollow, hot walls of our deck. Through the many holes you can see the remnants of last year's wasp cities. It's pretty spooky. Ashwin and Betsy and I went around duck taping every hole we saw to politely suggest that the wasps try a different location this summer.

Tomorrow, Brian and I are heading to Utah for some fun. We'll be moving the still-mobile garden over to Charlie's for safe keeping. By the time we return, we'll have passed the last average frost date and then things will really start progressing. We'll plant the three kiddie pools and every other container. I can't wait!

Since I'll be road tripping, there will be another break until my next post, but keep checking back because I'm going to continue the blog. For those of you who don't know, this blog was the idea of my science professor, Sharon, who suggested that I cover my garden deck via a blog for my final science project. In addition to being the coolest grad school final ever, it's been a lot of fun sharing the process with all of you. Thanks again for the great idea, Sharon! And thanks to everyone else for your enthusiasm and support. I also love, love, love to hear about everyone else's gardening efforts - keep sharing your experiences with me.

See you soon!