Potato Farm - Pullin' Weeds

Since we've had a ton of rain the weeds are growing just as well as the plants. Today we went up to the "potato farm" to pull more weeds. Pulling weeds is hard work, but since we have so many weeds and the rows in some areas are close together it is a bit of a challenge today. We had about 13 folks pulling weeds which help. In some of the bare spots we planted some beans and of course we got to sample more of the smaller potatoes we uncovered.

Epworth Veggie Garden - Carrots and Lettuce

A quick check on some of the seeds planted a week or so ago. Looks like we have some carrots coming up as well as lettuce. I'll need to take some time to thin out the carrots soon. The lettuce I'll let grow as it is and probably just pull it out when it is ready and replant instead of cutting off the tops and letting the grow several times. If the temperature gets in the upper 80s or 90s the lettuce will become bitter.




















I also planted some lettuce in between the rows of tomatoes to utilize some of the empty garden space. We'll see how it works out when the tomatoes get a bit taller.

Buckeye Lake - Poison Ivy?

I'm a bit worried we have some poisonous plants in the garden. Last year a couple of us got into some and we just miserable for several days. I figured it was time to "suit up" and get rid of some of the weeds and vines. This evening the kids played outside of the garden and I came in with long sleeves and gloves to see if I could clean up the garden a bit. I didn't get everything out I wanted to, but it is a good start.

My Tomato

I had a few cement blocks left over from the other gardens so I had set them aside to figure out what plant I should grow inside this small area. Seemed like this would be a good spot for a single tomato plant. The other day as I was cleaning out the compost bin I can across this volunteer tomato. We've had plenty of volunteer tomato plants that have popped up in the garden. Almost all of them are from cherry tomatoes from previous years. I've learned that these cherry tomato volunteers (probably from a hybrid plant) do not produce very well. This volunteer plant looks like a Brandywine tomato plant. I can tell from the "potato" like leaves. I have high hopes for this tomato plant and look forward to what this plant will produce.

Epworth Veggie Garden - Cement Blocks

This afternoon we continued to work on the "cement gardens" at Epworth. We've got the cement block garden painted blue and planted cabbage in the center and roses from my secret pal at church in the holes of the cement blocks. We also added some topsoil to some of the wading pool gardens. Wood chips are being used around the pools and the blocks to not only make the area look better, but to also keep the temperature down. The container gardens will dry out much quicker than the main garden.

Northwold Garden

The corn is growing well at the Northwold garden. We still have lots of room to plant stuff. This year we've had such a wet spring that we have not gotten as much planted as we'd like. Looks good for the corn to be "knee high by the 4th of July."

Potatoes

We headed out to Delaware to pull some weeds at the "potato farm." With all the rain the weeds have been a challenge. This time of year weed issues are expected. We started to get a better system after an hour or two, but then came more rain. Hopefully we can get back up there and take care of the rest of the weeds. The potatoes are looking good. If we can work on getting rid of the weeds and the potato beetles we;ll be doing good.