~Robert Louis Stevenson~

Great is the sun, and wide he goes
Through empty heaven with repose;
And in the blue and glowing days
More thick than rain he showers his rays.

Though closer still the blinds we pull
To keep the shady parlour cool,
Yet he will find a chink or two
To slip his golden fingers through.

The dusty attic spider-clad
He, through the keyhole, maketh glad;
And through the broken edge of tiles
Into the laddered hay-loft smiles.

Meantime his golden face around
He bares to all the garden ground,
And sheds a warm and glittering look
Among the ivy's inmost nook.

Above the hills, along the blue,
Round the bright air with footing true,
To please the child, to paint the rose,
The gardener of the World, he goes.

The most interesting project to me this year is an irrigation system for watering plants at root level. I would like to try something like this some time but instead I found a great idea using milk jugs and liter soda bottles for deep down under ground watering to try this year. I found it at: Old Vegetable Patch, an Australian organic gardener's site. I found out the hard way in my early days of gardening that sprinkling and misting the plants each day is not how to water a garden. It didn't encourage the deep root growth.

We aren't in a drought or under any water restrictions but with prices rising and everything costing more, I'm looking for ways to save on the water bill, conserve water and keep the vegetable plants healthy.

I used my tiniest craft drill bit to drill tiny holes in gallon milk jugs and 2 liter soda bottles, then buried them under ground and up to the opening, just as they are in the Old Vegetables Patch's Dry Garden with Old Milk Cartons. These are for quick deep down watering. I made some of the milk jugs with tinier holes by using a needle which allows the water to trickle out and drip slower, making my watering job easier by not having to refill as often. Now I want to work out something for catching and holding rain water.

The temperature finally warmed up enough to plant the vegetables and seeds the last week of May. In the picture above showing the milk carton irrigation, I now have Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans, Asian Suyo Cucumbers, Sweet Dumpling Squash, Kale and Jet Star tomato but I don't have a current picture yet.

In the front part of my garden, I have Black Cherry tomato, Italian Heart of the Bull tomato, Double Rich tomato, my Uncle's mystery heirloom 1926 tomato, Burbank tomato, Sweet Peppers, and Jalapeno Peppers. In this area, I'll use nets, stakes, and trellis to help contain and grow vertical for fitting in this small space. The first few weeks I water with the hose/sprinkler and watering can fairly often until the plants get established. Now that the temperature is staying in the upper 80s to 90s, I've started to use the buried milk cartons for deep down watering. It will be interesting to see how this helps plant growth in addition to saving a bit on the water bill.

"During periods of dry weather, the addition of irrigation water to home gardens is a must for plant growth. Most vegetable gardens need at least 1 inch of rain or irrigation water per week for steady growth .... adequate soil moisture is more critical as crops begin to flower and mature fruits .... if you're curious as to how much an inch of water is -- it's about 60 gallons for each 100 square feet of garden." ~University of Georgia College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences, Cooperative Extension Service~

My lettuce didn't do very well last year so I'm trying something different. I'm experimenting with using containers for growing lettuce. I found these containers at Dollar Tree for a dollar each and used my craft drill for drilling holes in the bottom of the containers, then shaped rubber wire in arch shape to support the garden cloth canopies which let in sun, air, water and keeps out birds and (most, not all) bugs -- the garden cloth canopies are held in place by large rubber bands. The last few weeks of May were gloomy and cool, perfect for starting lettuce and they're growing well so far. One part of the experiment will be moving these portable gardens to cooler areas in the shade as the temperature gets higher, either on our back patio, along the west side of the privacy fence which gives shade in the afternoon, or on front porch which is shaded all the time. Some of the different lettuces I've planted:

Sweet Valentine Romaine from Southern Exposure Seeds - 55 days, the sweetest flavored lettuce, heads hold long into the heat without bolting, extremely deep red leaves are slightly smaller than other cos varieties.

Tom Thumb, Bibb Butterhead from Southern Exposure Seeds - 48 days, Pre-1850, Space-saving miniature butterhead, apple-sized head can be used whole in individual salads, tender leaves are medium-green and crumpled.

Mesclun Mix from Seed Savers Exchange, Territorial Seeds, & our own from mixing some of these seeds.

Jericho from Freedom Seeds, Southern Exposure or Seeds of Change - 60 days, Israeli introduction, Bred for desert heat, Jericho thrives in our hot summers. The tall (24"), heavy, light green heads retain their sweetness even when other lettuces have gone bitter or gone to seed. Good tipburn resistance, a favorite among market growers.

Yugoslavian Red Butterhead from Southern Exposure Seeds - 58 days, heirloom from a peasant family in Marburg, Yugoslavia. Introduced in 1987 by SESE, red tinged leaves form heads 10" across, interior leaves are quite pretty: creamy yellow-green dappled with red, succulent with a buttery flavor, decorative and tasty lettuce, ideal for garnishes.

Green Oak Leaf from Seed Savers Exchange - 50 days, known as Baltimore or Philadelphia Oakleaf in the 1880s, resistant to hot weather, long-standing, never bitter, excellent quality even in late summer, Looseleaf.

Webb's Wonderful from Seed Savers Exchange - 65-70 days, English crisphead type, stands well in heat. Very large and robust heads with crumpled leaves. Fine distinct flavor and good texture. Slow to bolt, holds at market stage well, recommended for planting in the South.

A picture of our Giant Russian Mammoth Sunflowers, taken yesterday June 15, three weeks later than pic from May 22nd in first post. They're five feet now, maybe a bit more.

Who doesn't have toilet paper rolls? Who saves toilet paper rolls? Everyone has them I know but most are tossed out or recycled. I may be one of few who saved them throughout the winter but I did so we could experiment with starting seeds in them. I saw it here and made mine into squares.

I intended to make all of them into square seed starters by folding them in half, and in half again, scoring the sides to fold inward to form a bottom. It was easy but time consuming so I ended up using some of them in their original round shape.

All my tomato, cucumber, squash seeds did well in these and have been transplanted in the garden now. Only the Herbs are waiting to transplanted: Chamomile, English Lavender, Lemon Balm, Spearmint, Calendula, Scarlett Flax, Chia, Shiso, Parsley, Thyme, Sweet Basil, Oregano, Rosemary, Cilantro, Tarragon, and Sage. The clear containers are shoebox storage containers I found at Dollar Tree for $1.00 each. This was great for saving a bit of money in the garden budget and recycling.

We couldn't resist having the Giant Russian Mammoth Sunflowers in our yard and garden again. We had such a good time watching our sunflowers grow last year and decided to include them again. One of the little guys I use to babysit for, who lives directly behind me, enjoyed the Seed Germination-Root System project too but when asked to choose one or the other project to do with me this summer, he chose to grow Sunflowers along his fence. So, there are many Sunflower seedlings beginning to push their way up through the soil along his fence and he is excited.

Last year's sunflowers were successful as far as growing but they didn't follow the sun as they are suppose to. I think they were planted too close to the privacy fence which kept them in the shade far too long so they grew permanently facing east. Just a guess, I really don't know.

This year the main Giant Russian Mammoth Sunflowers are in the center of the garden which got started early from sunflowers of last year (germinated approximately end of April or first week in May). They will get full sun nearly all day long.

This picture below was taken May 22nd, about three weeks later, and they were about two feet tall. They're are almost five feet tall today but I don't have a current picture because it's raining.


There are also sunflowers along the north side near the garage (germinated/through the soil around May 22nd and are approximately 2-2.5 foot high) and the west side of the yard (germinated/through the soil around May 29th and are approximately one foot high). These will be in full sun most all day long too.

Pictures of main Giant Russian Mammoth Sunflowers in center of garden June 15th.

Pictures of the Giant Russian Mammoth Sunflowers again on June 29th.

Pictures of the Giant Russian Mammoth Sunflowers again on July 6th.

Pictures of the Giant Russian Mammoth Sunflowers again on July 20th.

Poem and antique image from a post last summer: Sunflowers

May came and went with plenty of cloudy, cool, rainy days and garden work was slow. The main garden activity was merely adding humus and manure compost to the garden soil in between rain showers and doctor appointments. I've been busy taking my mother and sister to doctor appointments due to their heart/health issues so I haven't been at the computer much.

As the saying goes, "when it rains, it pours" - as of last Friday, I am no longer taking care of my three little boys because one of the parents is out of a job due to their place of employment filing bankruptcy. They no longer need me for child care so I am out of a job and income. I'm rethinking, looking at options available for me and not sure what I'm doing yet.

In the mean time, we're continuing a huge spring project: "Spring Cleaning" and decluttering -- so huge we're continuing it throughout the summer. We've accumulated so much and now that I don't have the little guys around, it's a good time to sort through things and get rid of what we don't use or need -- we plan to have a garage sale. I hope to paint the kitchen too, which was also a spring
project but got delayed. For six or seven years it's been a light tan or beige to make the most of a small, dark, north facing kitchen, which has become boring says Orangeblossom. My dh and Daisy don't have a preference. Orangeblossom likes red. I like yellow. Perhaps there will be a yellow-red combination. With Orangeblossom being older now and busy baking more, she has come up with good suggestions for getting better organized. She's in charge of organizing the cooking and baking equipment. All three of us are learning about better kitchen organization and management.

My Peony is in the center of my vegetable garden. I haven't wanted to take the time or the risk of transplanting it so there it stays. It bloomed beautifully and I managed to capture a photo of it which I entered in a local photo contest:
Our entire backyard is 32' X 50' - nice but not very large. We use the back northeast corner for our garden area, which measures 10' X 25' so this limited space restricts us from growing some of the large vining vegetables we'd like to grow. Almost every inch of earth in the garden area is used so I've been reading through the good information and gardening forum at the Path to Freedom web site. Their garden/yard is a wonderful example of how to grow more in small areas, especially for city gardeners like me. The girls and I have some garden projects started and I hope to post about them soon: Sunflowers (again), lots of flower seed planted, herbs started in toilet paper rolls, container lettuces, an irrigation system, and finally the warm weather vegetables.