Tue, 12 Sep 2006
What's Wrong With Jack's Garden?
I haven't written much of late about Jack's garden. Jack became discouraged because his tomato plants did not produce as many fruits as he harvested last year. His garden has "gone to seed", so to speak. He should be able to harvest some peppers as evidenced in the photo and possibly some zucchini and cucumbers.
posted at: 09:02 | path: /JacksGarden2006 | link for this entry
Wed, 30 Aug 2006
What's Wrong With Jack's Garden?
Jack will enjoy some fresh peppers from his garden. The peppers loved the heat wave we suffered through over the summer. Jack could pick this pepper right now and enjoy it.
posted at: 21:27 | path: /JacksGarden2006 | link for this entry
Mon, 28 Aug 2006
What's Wrong With Jack's Garden?
Jack is very discouraged over his garden. He shouldn't be. This was a poor year for tomatoes. His squash plants look healthy but are starting to show a little powdery mildew. A baking soda and water application will chase that away.
posted at: 08:44 | path: /JacksGarden2006 | link for this entry
Sat, 26 Aug 2006
What's Wrong With Jack's Garden
Jack's garden is now overcome by weeds. He has the possibility to have some cucumbers and melons along with a few tomatoes, but the weeds are overpowering them all.
posted at: 08:50 | path: /JacksGarden2006 | link for this entry
Wed, 16 Aug 2006
What's Wrong With Jack's Garden?
Jack's garden is overgrown with weeds. They grow like crazy in his garden plot. Next year, we may try growing in black plastic to prevent the weeds from taking over.
posted at: 09:45 | path: /JacksGarden2006 | link for this entry
Tue, 15 Aug 2006
What's Wrong With Jack's Garden?
Nothing is wrong with this japonica shrub that lives happily on the edge of Jack's driveway. It blooms beautifully in the late spring and now adds a nice sublte bit of color to the landscape.
posted at: 18:37 | path: /JacksGarden2006 | link for this entry
Tue, 08 Aug 2006
What's Wrong With Jack's Garden?
Jack's zucchini and squash vines are doing well, but with the excess water in his yard, the fruits are overcome. Hopefully, August will prove to be a bit drier than July and he will be able to harvest some nice vege's.
posted at: 08:43 | path: /JacksGarden2006 | link for this entry
Sat, 05 Aug 2006
What's Wrong With Jack's Garden?
I visited Jack's garden during the week after a couple of days of no rainfall. Now, we've had some tremdendous storms of late, but most places dry out when no rainfall occurs for a couple of day. Not in Jack's yard. I wore little canvas shoes on the day of my visit. By the time I was returning to my car, my shoes were soaked. His yard does not drain well. The photo shows an aquatic variety of plant that carpets most of his backyard and surrounds his garden. This year, too much water is the main source of Jack's garden problems.
posted at: 14:51 | path: /JacksGarden2006 | link for this entry
Thu, 03 Aug 2006
What's Wrong With Jack's Garden
Aside from the water, Jack's garden is now invaded by weeds. They are happily growing alongside his vegetables, but weeds block sunshine (if large enough), drink up nutrients that should be taken in by the vegetables and harbor unwanted pests and diseases. Jack had been keeping up with the weeds pretty well, but with the heat and rain we've had, he just couldn't keep them at bay.
posted at: 08:13 | path: /JacksGarden2006 | link for this entry
Mon, 31 Jul 2006
What's Wrong With Jack's Garden?
Rain! Rain! That's what's wrong with Jack's garden! Too much water. Although this photo shows some healthy plants, the amount of rain we've had lately has just about sunk Jack's garden.
posted at: 08:09 | path: /JacksGarden2006 | link for this entry
Tue, 25 Jul 2006
What's Wrong With Jack's Garden?
Water. That's what's wrong with Jack's garden. Too much water. His soil is so heavy with clay, the rain just doesn't drain. His garden soil is somewhat better this year, but it is still holding too much water. We've had a good amount of rain this summer so his garden is showing the effects.
posted at: 17:01 | path: /JacksGarden2006 | link for this entry
Thu, 20 Jul 2006
What's Wrong With Jack's Garden?
Jack planted three red raspberry bushes. They are a bit fussy about the soil they live in. The Ph of Jacks' soil has been too high, so a couple of the plants did not tolerate it at all. This one, however, looks like it might make it.
posted at: 08:37 | path: /JacksGarden2006 | link for this entry
Wed, 19 Jul 2006
What's Wrong With Jack's Garden?
Look at these vines. They look good! Jack has been concerned that things aren't growing quickly. This year's garden is better than any he has ever had, at least I think so. As long as he keeps up with the baking soda and water to control the powdery mildew, his harvest should be nice.
posted at: 10:12 | path: /JacksGarden2006 | link for this entry
Mon, 17 Jul 2006
What's Wrong With Jack's Garden?
One thing troubling Jack's garden is powdery mildew. It can be seen on the leaves in the photo. If your garden has this malady, as my does, don't worry. Just spray your entire garden with a mixture of 2-3 Tablespoons of baking soda dissolved in a gallon of water. It works wonders. Repeat every 7-10 days and the powdery mildew, and a host of other bad items, will leave your garden and your plants will be healthy and happy.
posted at: 08:22 | path: /JacksGarden2006 | link for this entry
Sun, 16 Jul 2006
What's Wrong With Jack's Garden?
I'm hoping that all this hot weather we are having will dry out Jack's garden so his cucumbers and zucchinis stop rotting and falling off the vines. His lettuce should be ready to eat - at least some of the outer leaves could be harvested and enjoyed.
posted at: 13:07 | path: /JacksGarden2006 | link for this entry
Sat, 15 Jul 2006
What's Wrong With Jack's Garden?
Jack's tomatoes are well, although Jack thinks they should all be taller. Jack as added aluminum sulfite to the garden soil to help correct the Ph problem and he has treated with baking soda and water spray to eliminate the powdery mildew.
posted at: 14:53 | path: /JacksGarden2006 | link for this entry
Fri, 14 Jul 2006
What's Wrong With Jack's Garden?
Jack's melon vines are moving along well. His garden is extremely wet. Most plants don't like too much moisture. His newly formed zucchinis are falling off the vines and rotting. This is from too much moisture. Jack's soil doesn't drain well, although since adding the composted material this spring, it drains much better than it ever has. However, the soil still holds too much water and the rotting zucchinis are the end result of this. Depending on the weather, he may still get a crop of zucchinis. We'll hope Mother Nature doesn't drop too much rain on his garden.
posted at: 07:34 | path: /JacksGarden2006 | link for this entry
Wed, 12 Jul 2006
What's Wrong With Jack's Garden?
Jack's peas look pretty good. I'm afraid they may bolt with the summer heat. They have a nice set of flowers and have been eagerly climbing the fence.
posted at: 08:56 | path: /JacksGarden2006 | link for this entry
Tue, 11 Jul 2006
What's Wrong With Jack's Garden?
Jack planted four grape vines this season. He installed a very nice trellis sysstem for the vines. The area is a little shady, but the vines are doing well. He won't see grapes this year, but as long as the vines continue to thrive, next year he'll have more grapes than he can imagine right now.
posted at: 08:31 | path: /JacksGarden2006 | link for this entry
Sat, 08 Jul 2006
What's Wrong With Jack's Garden?
Jack has been saying that his garden seems to be in a state of suspended animation. He feels nothing is progressing. I couldn't disagree more. His garden is doing wonderfully well, especially compared to last year's efforts and any years before that. He has a spot of powdery mildew, which I'll show in upcoming entries. This is easily controlled. His plants seem to be slow growing. This, I believe, is the result of soil quality. Jack's soil is heavy, the Ph is too high and there seems to be an excess of nitrogen. All in all, his garden is doing well.
posted at: 08:11 | path: /JacksGarden2006 | link for this entry
Fri, 07 Jul 2006
What's Wrong With Jack's Garden?
Jack used a home soil test kit and found the Ph of his garden soil to be 7.5 - 7.7. If this seems high, it is! The lab results from last year's tests showed the same. This is unusual for this part of the country. We are usually try to sweeten our soil, not the other way around. Jack needs to add sulfur to his soil to acidify it. The other results of his home test kit where difficult to decipher. If you want to test your soil, I recommend having a lab do the tests. Contact your local county extension office for a list of labs.
posted at: 08:02 | path: /JacksGarden2006 | link for this entry
Sun, 02 Jul 2006
What's Wrong With Jack's Garden?
Jack's bean plants appear healthy and happy. Jack left me a phone message on Friday saying he used a home soil test kit and the only thing in his soil is phosphorous (why the garden is glowing - ha ha - he said). I'm pretty sure I don't trust the results as two labs tested Jack's soil last year with very different results. I haven't been able to reach Jack yet to discuss all of this, but it should be interesting. Stay tuned!
posted at: 19:45 | path: /JacksGarden2006 | link for this entry
Wed, 28 Jun 2006
What's Wrong With Jack's Garden
Jack's bean seem to be doing well, although Jack wishes they were taller. We've had a huge amount of rain in the last week - actually made up for a lack of rain so far this year to the tune of several inches. Hopefully, Jack's garden drained enough to keep all his plants happy.
posted at: 08:47 | path: /JacksGarden2006 | link for this entry
Mon, 26 Jun 2006
What's Wrong With Jack's Garden?
Jack's lettuce is growing, although slowly. It may be hard to make out the green sprigs in the photo. We've had a huge amount of rain of late. Hopefully, all his crops have faired well through it all.
posted at: 10:48 | path: /JacksGarden2006 | link for this entry
Sun, 25 Jun 2006
What's Wrong With Jack's Garden?
Jack's melons seem to be doing fine. Last year he was plauged by the squash vine borer and powdery mildew. A baking soda and water spray will control the powdery mildew and some BT will get rid of the borers.
posted at: 18:48 | path: /JacksGarden2006 | link for this entry
Thu, 22 Jun 2006
What's Wrong With Jack's Garden?
Jack's cucumbers are doing alright, but some of the leaves are yellowing, much like his raspberries but not to the same degree. Last year, we tested the soil at two different labs. Both labs came to the same conclusion - Ph on the high side - between 7.5 -7.7 - this was before Jack added some lime to the soil. Jack amended his garden soil with the lime thinking it would help, but lime raises the Ph. What we need is to lower the Ph. That calls for sulfur.
posted at: 08:27 | path: /JacksGarden2006 | link for this entry
Wed, 21 Jun 2006
What's Wrong With Jack's Garden?
After much thought, research and discussion, we've come to the conclusion that the current problem with Jack's garden is Ph. The Ph is too high. Jack needs to add sulfur to his soil. This is a bit unusual in this part of the country. Usually, we are trying to raise the Ph with lime instead of lowering it. We'll keep a close watch to see the results of adding sulfur to the soil.
posted at: 08:27 | path: /JacksGarden2006 | link for this entry
Tue, 20 Jun 2006
What's Wrong With Jack's Garden
Shown in the photo are Jack's peas. They appear to be doing well. However, just after the photo was taken, we entered an extremely hot period. Peas don't like heat. I'm crossing my fingers that they made it through our recent heat wave.
posted at: 08:20 | path: /JacksGarden2006 | link for this entry
Mon, 19 Jun 2006
What's Wrong With Jack's Garden?
Jack's tomatoes seem to be doing fine, but Jack thinks they should be bigger. The plant in the photo looks great. Some of his other tomatoes have some yellowing leaves. This may be related to high Ph.
posted at: 09:09 | path: /JacksGarden2006 | link for this entry
Sun, 18 Jun 2006
What's Wrong With Jack's Garden?
Jack's raspberry plants are in a bit of trouble. It might be a Ph problem. Jack's garden has always had a high Ph, which berries don't like. We are studying and conferring on the issue. We'll keep everyone posted on the results.
posted at: 13:54 | path: /JacksGarden2006 | link for this entry