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 December and Still No Frost I still have a pepper plant growing in the garden. The corn stalks are getting moldy and the tomato leaves are turning pale green but nothing has died yet. There's Was Another Juvenile Rat In The Trap I better add peanut butter to the shopping list, this may take awhile. There were also red buds on the oak tree. It Only Took the First Few Warm We've had a plentiful harvest this year because of the mini greenhouses and garden cats so I don't begrudge them their fling. The stalks got four feet tall so I cut them off and used them for mulch around an artichoke plant. The Mini Greenhouses I Put Over The Swiss Chard Last Fall Really Helped Not only did they not suffer from the freezes, but they stayed bird and bug free. It's great to pick leaves that are so clean that you don't even have to wash them. Now I've Got Ants I think they came in the garden to eat the dead slugs, but now they are rototilling the dirt under the plastic, loosening the plant roots, and causing them to wilt. Making nests under the plastic is not permitted, so I'm removing it. I Put The Sprinkler On My Carrot The finest of soil particles are bound together by the adhesive nature of microbial excrement. Clumps are formed in multiple sizes and shapes like chunks of gravel, and this allows air and water to pass between them. I Heard a Dove Today I'm not still looking for signs of spring, they're just whacking me in the head. The spinach I direct seeded 3 weeks ago finally came up. I Got Memorial Day Zucchini Today I picked six, 7" ones from the hill I direct seeded March 30th. The hill of transplants from February 10th are smaller, with narrower leaves, and wilt every afternoon. Melons, Zucchini, Cucumbers, And Tomatoes This is the time to start acclimating your starts to the sunlight. The ultraviolet light, that can't pass through the plastic, can burn the plant leaves if they are suddenly exposed to it all day long. The Second Week In April Is the Traditional Time I'll be planting my second patch of corn because the first planting is doing so well. I've had to cover it four nights so far so I wouldn't recommend that early a planting for anyone but the goombahs who would rather be in their gardens than anywhere else. Melon Time Movable mulch modules. The spring planted kale went to seed so I pulled it up and moved the hay flakes from there to under the fall planted Brussels sprouts. Cherry Tomatoes Overripening Every morning I pick the red ones and put them on the kitchen windowsill and the next morning half of them are overripe. Weird. More Gardening Articles
