June 17, 2019
The first planting of corn is tasseled and the leaves are covered in dusty yellow pollen. It looks like overkill but is just a reminder that we lack a sophisticated understanding of nature. The pollen that is not needed for fertilizing the corn kernals will be utilized by multiple processes that depend on it for survival. It's not wasted. It's abundance. The corn has increased it's water consumption significantly now, and I find myself soaking the ground beneath it every three days..
My water wand works wonders in irrigating it. I used to depend on leaves wilting a bit to tell me it needed water, but now the sheen of the leaves let's me know. The onions are bulbing now so their water needs have increased also. They would like water every day to keep from producing double bulbs but I'm skipping a day because I've got so many other plants to water..
June 18, 2019
The onion patch got weeded yesterday. Onions don't throw enough shade to inhibit weed growth so I've got to keep weeding them. I noticed some of the bulbs are already four inches in diameter and ready for harvest. We planted burmuda onions this year because the yellow onions were sold out, and burmuda onions don't store for as long a time as yellow ones because they don't form tough outer skins, so I can't wait for all the stems to dry out and harvest the whole patch at once. That's cool though because we get sweet burmuda onions all summer long..
Usually corn gets planted in the vacant onion patch but this year it may be too late to plant. I've hacked out another spot for corn by some blackberry bushes and will let them battle it out for the last corn planting. The blackberries are growing so fast that I can't park my wheelbarrow next to them without their trying to engulf it..
June 19, 2019
I rigged up my shade cloth for some hand weeding yesterday and put the sprinkler on up wind of me. It was the coolest summer weeding I've ever experienced. The slightest breeze misted me and I got a really thorough job done. I tend to rush when I'm weeding in the sun because I know I'll over heat in a short time, but in the shade I lolygag along sniffing, examining, poking, looking around and thoroughly enjoying my time on the ground. I see lots of bugs and get every tiny root. It's great to know that hot summer days will never interfear with my love of gardening again..
I also got to apply compost by the handful from a five gallon bucket. This time of year the major compost additions are done and it's only the young transplants that need it. This hands on micromanagement of garden amendments is conducive to a state of mind that shows respect for nature's incredible complexity, beauty, and bounty. I feel like I'm tending a Japanese garden, with all the attention to detail that it entails..
