Still not much new
Still too hot, dry, and windy for much to grow. The green beans I planted are toasting in the sun, only a few still hanging on. Still washing aphids by the herds off my peppers.
I did pull out the nasty cukes, since they were just infested with God-only knows what. I refreshed the dirt where the tomatoes and cukes were, and found some really big, ugly grubs in there. Threw them out into the lawn to fry in the sun, or be eaten by mockingbirds. Either way works.
Speaking of mockingbirds, I just barely managed to save some baby plants from that bugger the other day. I’d put some baby zinnias and dahlias on the picnic table to start hardening off, and just happened to glance out the window in time to see that bugger light on the table and start eying my babies as if deciding which buffet item to eat first. Ran out the door yelling at it, then set about finding something to protect them. Now I keep them covered when they’re out there, at least until they’re a bit bigger.
I had a bush bean plant starting to blossom the other day, and was getting all excited at the prospect of at least a few green beans. Went out the next day to find the blossoms and a good number of the leaves just gone. I put a cage around them, too, and haven’t seen any new violations. Then there were the lablab beans. They had a few nice blossoms on them one day, next day…nothing. Can’t put them in a cage, so am still trying to figure out what to do about that, aside from shooting me a mockingbird – and going to jail! This is war!
My baby tomatoes are just about ready to be planted in their new homes. I’ve left them out overnight and in direct sun for a couple days, despite the feeling that I’m torturing the poor babies. They’ve survived, so far, so I guess it’s time to plant them. I’ll get started on that tomorrow, I guess.
I mentioned that the green beans were frying; think I may have an idea to help. I’ve got all those nice containers, and some baby sunflower seeds, as well as a blue salvia almost ready to be planted. I decided to plant a few baby sunflowers and the salvia in a container on the windward side of the green bean planter. Maybe they’ll get just tall enough to be a bit of a windbreak and give a bit of shade. At this point, I’m desperate and liable to come up with any number of weird ideas.
Sigh…gardening in TX is not for the faint of heart.
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