GrandpaâÂÂs Garden is a collection of hints and tips to help you get more enjoyment out of your garden. Grandpa in his native habitat - the garden. Suggested Grandpa's Garden Articles Yesterday Was The First Time I Didn't Go Down to the Garden It was raining. I seem to always treat the first rains like the Wicked Witch of the west. Gophers, Moles, and Cats There are enough bushes and shade there for them to hang out all day. One of the problems with sheet composting with un shredded garden waste is that it makes an ideal habitat for mice. To All Of You Still Harvesting Fall Lettuce The birds are enjoying mine and I'm ok with it. I've left the plants in the ground for them, and feel like it's the right thing to do. I Got a Bag of Fir Shavings It smells nice too. I Found Out That My Perpetual Spinach No wonder they are having a hard time producing an abundance of edible leaves. Our growing conditions convince them that they have a very short season and need to produce seeds quickly. Three Of My Tomato Plants Have Fruit I'm considering cutting back on the water already because I'm tired of not getting ripe tomatoes until August. Putting plastic around them makes me feel like I've cut the water back already so I may wait until I see some wilt before I water under it. I Got The Leaf Rake Out A little breeze is nice, but wind strong enough to blow your mulch around is annoying. It turns out I like the look of freshly raked compost and soil, and the little lines the rake leaves behind. This Is the Time of Year When I have to Increase my Garden Water Times I've been leaving the orbital sprinkler on for an hour at a time in each spot but I need to increase it to two hours. August heat causes plants to respire more, and their roots are like straws going down into the soil pulling moisture up. Growing Corn I checked Frostdate and found that an August planting can yield you a crop so in they went. I know I'm pushing it for mid August planting but I don't really need the ears because my wife's horses get the stalks as treats. I Cannot Believe That My Bloomsdale Long Standing Spinach What it does have are jagged leaves from birds eating it. Either the birds are keeping the fly's that lay the eggs away, or they are eating the maggots that emerge. My Zucchini Plants Have Outgrown Their Mini Greenhouses If we get a frost now I'll have to cover them with a garbage can. The cucumbers and melons have their greenhouses removed completely during the day now because they need the breeze on their leaves to stay cool. I've Just Read An Article About Photosynthesis It seems that it is very inefficient in plants due to the action of RuBisCo, which does not always select carbon dioxide for the process. Twenty percent of the time it chooses oxygen instead, resulting in the formation of toxic substances. More Gardening Articles
