Mid-downpour update

Well it’s well and truly pouring now, at this late hour- but it was dry enough for me to take stock of the garden before it got dark today.

There has been a criminal in the 4×4 bed! Probably a cat. Always the problem with a low newly sowed raised bed- the local cat population just thinks “yay, new litter box!” Luckily there wasn’t any poop to be seen just the footsteps (and probably urine) of a local ruffian.

(Probably the cute grey ruffian that belongs to my neighbor- oh man if I wasn’t allergic she is the fluffiest… ahem.)

Luckily the soil seems loose enough that it is draining well which is great news and means I probably won’t have to re-sow the seeds I planted- and since they’re going to be nice and watered, they’ll probably come up early too.

Fingers crossed.

In other news a few days ago I picked the last of the atomic red carrots in the low green pot

They were of course delicious. This leaves me with an empty pot.

It’s about 18 inches in diameter which for a low pot gives me a fair amount of options as far as vegetables go. It was basically *just* deep enough for carrots, but barely, and since I have the dedicated carrot bed now…

Maybe a few leeks? The lowness of the pot does mean unless I put it on a platform (kinda a no go it’s a pretty heavy pot) It’s gonna have a few bug issues. The carrots had a scale insect/aphid issue exacerbated by ants- which was no biggie since carrot stems are not yummy- carrot roots are, and the bugs were ignoring the roots. I’m leaning toward leeks because like all members of the alliums, their inherent stank makes them highly bug resistant.

Also yummy. Also I’ve never grown leeks and I’d like to try!

I also have some scrap wood I could make a pot shelf out of… but that’s crazy talk, and will have to wait til I’m less busy.

The umbrella has held!

The baby tomatoes are still viable if unripe!

The beacons are lit- Gondor calls for aid!

Now onto the semi bad news

That’s mold growing on my lovage’s soil. It’s on the other one too-

I cut back the non-viable leaves to reveal the new growth and discovered more than new growth.

Well what I discovered was new growth- just not the kind of new growth I want.

See this is the problem I’m having with the lettuce- too much moisture leading to moldy stems, though in the lovage’s case the stems seem to be fine, it’s the soil. I checked all the other potted plants and they’re all fine- except for the flat leaf parsley.

Which adds a bit to the puzzle since lovage and parsley are in the same family, so that they are both getting moldy when other plants aren’t- makes me think this family of plants may just be a tad susceptible.

Nothing I can do about it now- but as soon as the rains stop I’ll take the top layer of soil and dump it- replace it- then spray it with the neem oil, which is not only a bug killer, but an anti-fungal.

Luckily the lovage plants themselves look fine, have a ton of new growth, and the scale insect issue has abated.

Which leads to the last bit of semi-bad news.

Rain means the return of grass weeds and grass like weeds. The return of oxalis and the return of clover. The return of really stubborn burrs and stinging nettles.

The return of the push mower.

*sigh*

It’s a good workout anyways.