August 21, 2019
I used a machete to clear one of my pathways in the garden. I traditionally clip the vines and branches off by hand but the results are the same. Hacking away at the plants you've spent so long nurturing makes you feel like a beast, but it's so much less time consuming. All the chopped material went on a corn patch burm, and I chopped it a little more to make it more homogenous and eye pleasing..
Using garden waste to retard the advancement of my Creeping Jenny is working out better than expected. Not only is the corn patch not getting invaded, but I'm gaining ground. The burm keeps getting moved back from the patch as the Jenny dies, and the barren ground gets covered with a layer of compost..
August 22, 2019
If I don't find a place to plant my beets soon, I'll be too late. I keep putting the seed packet in my back pocket and walking around the garden looking for a spot, but can't find it. I've got short four foot places, but that small of a row is as if it's half picked already. I'd like to have them within the orbital sprinkler's circle that I'll be watering my broccoli and cauliflower transplants with, because they will all get watered every day..
The rest of the garden will be getting less and less water as the fall temperatures decline. I seem to have some symmetry and balance issuses that I can't put into words. The beet seeds need to be planted somewhere where they look good growing, but I can't find it..
August 23, 2019
After picking gallon size bags of string beans over the course of several weeks from my 6' long second planting of bush beans, the leaves started turning yellow. The soil was a little dry around them so I soaked it. The leaves did not turn green again, and there were only a few blossoms in them, so I pulled them up. The third planting has lots of flowers which means there will only be a short interruption of harvesting. The open space provided room to plant a double row of beets..
I just raked back the straw to widen the planting area, and planted the rows 8" apart. Boards went over them and I can forget about them for a few days. We got another rain to soak them in, and the green circles of grass under the trees in the fields has been given a chance to survive..