Above: “Elephant” Photo by Stuart Bassil / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elephant.jpg
This has been another week of split time between Overleaf the House and Overleaf the Garden. I’m doing a little bit on each, and I have to keep telling myself that I’m not on a strict deadline to complete either, so I don’t need to stress about it.
Inside the house at Overleaf I’ve continued with my organization process. I have all my “monthly boxes” and “sorting boxes.” set up and projects assigned to each week. I opened a couple of the boxes marked “Decorative” and found a few fondly remembered treasures that most likely are going right back into storage until I get our library set up, but just seeing them gives me some inspiration to continue and lets me know I’m moving in the right direction. I completed my first week’s project, and it’s been a good feeling seeing what looked like an insurmountable task turned into a series of small easily completed steps. I’m eating that proverbial elephant, one step at a time. It’s a funny thing about that proverb… no one ever says which end to start with, and no one ever mentions the elephant isn’t interested in being eaten. Ah well, “Bon Appétit!”
Below: Assorted tabletop tchotchkes from time spent in NYC.
Outside, I finished reclaiming all the recycled bricks I’ve collected by hand chipping mortar off of each one. It‘s a tedious job that almost became a meditation for me. Tap… tap… tap… tap… chip! Tap… tap… tap… tap… chip! Tap… tap… tap… tap… clunk! Sometimes they break. I have a good pile of mostly complete bricks ready for use around the garden. Meanwhile, I had wanted to clear out some of the spent plantings from the summer garden, but noticed the tomatoes I thought were past their prime have sprouted new growth and blossoms. I guess the cloudy and occasionally rainy weather revived them for a final round before Autumn, so I’ve left the tomatoes a little longer to see if they set fruit. I don’t expect much, since they’ve been notorious this year for blooming and either not setting fruit or dropping what it does set. I went ahead and pulled the pole beans that last week looked like they were ready for another round. They gave one last burst of buds and blooms, then shriveled up and turned brown. So they are done. The okra has also showed some last minute promise, but despite the new leaves, it hasn’t resumed blooming at all, so they are on their way out. The okra is in the experimental “Hugelkultur” bed, which is a technique that uses buried rotting logs to hold moisture and provide soil nutrients. It wasn’t necessarily a flop as a gardening technique, the plants grew well enough, but I couldn’t discern any real improvement in water usage, and I wasn’t thrilled with having to plant around the buried logs, which ended up preventing me from planting as much as I had planned. I’ve decided to dig out the remaining rotting wood and go another route. I did manage to go to a garden center (I’ve switched to Lowes) and purchase some additional inexpensive garden soils. I selected a mix of top soil and composted manures for selective use in several of the raised beds.
Outside, I finished reclaiming all the recycled bricks I’ve collected by hand chipping mortar off of each one. It‘s a tedious job that almost became a meditation for me. Tap… tap… tap… tap… chip! Tap… tap… tap… tap… chip! Tap… tap… tap… tap… clunk! Sometimes they break. I have a good pile of mostly complete bricks ready for use around the garden. Meanwhile, I had wanted to clear out some of the spent plantings from the summer garden, but noticed the tomatoes I thought were past their prime have sprouted new growth and blossoms. I guess the cloudy and occasionally rainy weather revived them for a final round before Autumn, so I’ve left the tomatoes a little longer to see if they set fruit. I don’t expect much, since they’ve been notorious this year for blooming and either not setting fruit or dropping what it does set. I went ahead and pulled the pole beans that last week looked like they were ready for another round. They gave one last burst of buds and blooms, then shriveled up and turned brown. So they are done. The okra has also showed some last minute promise, but despite the new leaves, it hasn’t resumed blooming at all, so they are on their way out. The okra is in the experimental “Hugelkultur” bed, which is a technique that uses buried rotting logs to hold moisture and provide soil nutrients. It wasn’t necessarily a flop as a gardening technique, the plants grew well enough, but I couldn’t discern any real improvement in water usage, and I wasn’t thrilled with having to plant around the buried logs, which ended up preventing me from planting as much as I had planned. I’ve decided to dig out the remaining rotting wood and go another route. I did manage to go to a garden center (I’ve switched to Lowes) and purchase some additional inexpensive garden soils. I selected a mix of top soil and composted manures for selective use in several of the raised beds.
While the soil is better off than when I started, I’m still working on getting the soil texture “just right.” My first attempts have left me with garden soil that tends to form a hard crust that doesn’t absorb water easily. I’ve researched it and determined it’s caused by the composition of the garden soil, and the fact that our rather heavy east Texas rainstorms compact the soil surface. When it dries the soil particles cement together in a layer just a few millimeters thick, and water just runs off. Since I have raised beds, that means most of the water ends up on the pathways, and not the plants. Suggested remedies are adding more composted kitchen waste, more manure, and mulching with leaf mold to increase the organic content and improve water absorption. The added organic material should encourage more soil bacteria, soil fungus, and earthworms to colonize the beds, which will further help with soil texture and fertility. It all sounds reasonable, so I’m giving it a shot. I wonder if I can get elephant manure?
Next Week: Pull the remaining okra plants and prep the bed for winter crops. Decide if the tomatoes are worth saving/prolonging, and remove them if needed. Prep beds and plant seeds for the Autumn/Winter garden. Remove the “Hugelkultur” experimental bed and add soil to make up for the bulk of the removed wood. Place stepping stones where possible.