The Weekend

....very productive. Many things done. Will always gets so worried as the week goes by-tasks seem to multiply and this is a very hard time of the season. Then the weekend comes, our members show up to help and the list is back to a reasonable size - not nearly so scary. We've gotten almost everything in the ground, whether it be seed or plants we've started. Just as the flats at the greenhouse dwindle in number, it's time to start more yellow squash, more zucchini, more cucumbers...because what's out there is just the first go-round. So it never looks like we'll be at the point of no flats with seedlings in them - don't know if that's good or bad. And my word it has gotten hot out there. One of the many big deals this weekend was the mulching and staking of the tomatoes that are NOT in the greenhouse.and maybe my sense of time through the morning is skewed I don't know, but it seemed like they got this done in about 40 minutes...which is very fast work! And a huge relief, I don't mind saying. In addition, the field peas were planted, and two more rows of green beans; the little rainbow chard plants put in among their big brothers and sisters The herb beds got some attention in the weeding department, and Will is out there now fertilizing and hilling up the corn. A word about fertilizer. All of the organic choices are pretty darn stinky. I don't know which is worse; crab meal, chicken stuff, or fish emulsion. Because this time it's fish emulsion (pretty much ground up and liquidized fish) I vote for that. I dont remember how many gallons of the stuff Will bought but it was a LOT. He rigged up this system whereby he puts (I think) about 5 gallons in a big 55-gallon tank, then fills it up the rest of the way with water. Then he attached it to a frame on the back of the ancient Farmall tractor and fits plastic piping to it - with a valve you can turn on and off. The pipe has holes dilled exactly where the rows of plants are. So he cranks the whole mess up and gets positioned and I have to get in there and open the valve. Thank goodness it didn't splurt all over me. It's pretty ingenious - but it still smells to high heaven.
and VERY IMPORTANTLY!...the little watermelon plants have been awaiting their new home! One of our new members is a couple who I swear have been here every single weekend for many many weeks! and they showed up today, Sunday...and because of that, the watermelon rows were lined with hoses (for watering) and laid with black plastic! do i get a halelujah!?

no, we didn't get the plants in this evening but we will tomorrow - that is small potatoes compared to preparing the rows...a VERY big deal. Thank you and you know who you are!

And now for some flowering plants; potatoes! :garlic

div align="center">borage (see the bee?)eggplant
and I leave you with the first tomatoes of the season...