Roll call!

Tuesday, June 17th 2008, 9:53pm by Claire

So far, the big jolt of nitrogen I gave the soil has made a huge difference.  I've got multiple peppers on multiple plants, 4 varieties of eggplants fruiting, and the tomatoes are getting heavy on the vine. I do need to figure out a bird deterrent though, I lost 3 almost-ripe romas today!

I have two baby cantaloupes hanging out on the trellises, and some tiny watermelons starting up.  We picked our first cucumber (Poona Kheera) and ate it right there.  Quite tasty. 

The sweet potatoes are cascading over the front terrace, just like I hoped they would, and really soften up the stonework. 

The failures include the New Zealand Spinach and the Blue Lake beans.  They just never really got off the ground.  My renegade pumpkins have all but succumbed to the squash vine borers, as have all of my zucchinis.  It was really disappointing to watch my glorious pumpkins wither away like that.  They were so big and cheerful next to my entryway. 

My fruit trees are not growing much.  I wouldn't be surprised if it's another nitrogen issues, so I doused them in fish emulsion as well.  My pear has a few leaves with black tips that I need to figure out before it gets worse.

I took a bunch of new pictures, but it'll be a couple days before I get them up.

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Nasturtium
Congrats! That sounds like a bumper crop. With temps hovering around 100 you must have to water that garden a lot!
Me.
We water every night, and sometimes morning and night. I'm probably going to suck it up and get some drip hoses, since temperatures aren't likely to drop any time soon.

At least I'm not wasting water on growing grass!
Me
Re: birds. I haven't tried this but if you dangle something reflective and shinny on your plants that is suppose to work. I was going to try something streamer like on our fruit trees but never got around to it. CDs might work too.

And as you'lll probably find out, fish emulsion works great on fruit trees. We definitely apply that multiple times a year.

I look forward to seeing your pictures!
Nasturtium
When I was a kid in TX my mother would hang Ball jar lids from the cherry trees to scare away the birds. I don't know if it actually worked or not. But there must have been something to it since she did it every year.
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