This Spring I decided to resurrect my gardening abilities after spending the last couple of years working on expanding my knowledge base in a totally unrelated field.
The drive to get the garden producing again was due to my need to fulfill the want for vegetables I only look at in the store. Hubby doesn't really enjoy eating some of the morsels I have known since childhood, so I make concessions. However, now I have the opportunity, I am going to take advantage. Seeds are relatively inexpensive compared to what they charge in the retail setting for the end product.
My flannel wearing tomato has gained in size appreciably and there are good sized tomatoes getting the red hue as of July 14th.
As you can see my early set tomato has gained company. In the row next to it I planted white potatoes that my sister had given me from her kitchen cupboard. It is said they don't make good specimens for replanting but the only thing left to see is how big they will be when they are ready to be dug.
When my focus was on picking berries the rains decided to come, and the weeds flourished since they were the ones inhabiting this space for quite sometime. One good thing was that the vegetables had an established start so they could withstand some competition until I got back to defending their position. The battle of the weeds will probably never totally end; over time there might be less.
Yes, solutions such as mulches etc...do exist, but I like bare ground best, with wide row plantings for vegetables suited to that method.
I like space saving measures with viney plants to try to keep them from swallowing up too much area. It also helps to keep the fruits, or veggies from getting so dirty, or wet that disease rots them before they are ready to harvest.
I am all for recycling materials for structures in the garden if I find them. Presently, I am removing a makeshift fence made by the previous owners of our property. They included some fence panels which I intend to place on the wooden fence posts in my garden to promote plant alternating rows from season to season.
I really like making/having the concrete reinforcing wire cages for use with both tomatoes and cucumbers.
Time to get to other things...So, I will leave you all for now.
Stay cool and safe !!! ;)