The Weed Patch That I Occulted

Bob Bauer

September 04, 2018 (Last Updated: March 06, 2023) | Reading Time: 1 minutes

September 04, 2018

The weed patch that I occulted and planted with corn is doing exceptionally poorly. The corn wilts rapidly and thoroughly every few days. I think the lack of organic matter applied to the ground over the years allowed it to remain in it's natural clay composition. The term "hard pan" comes to mind, where the plant roots are forced to grow parallel to the soil surface because they can't penetrate the soil..

I should have rototilled the area before planting. Any new planting area should be rototilled at least once so you can see what you're up against and get organic material worked into the top 8" or so. No till gardening is not always practical because enough mulch can be hard to acquire..

September 05, 2018

There is still time to get in a fall lettuce crop if you find starts at you local garden center. They should also have cole crop six packs available. It's too late for me to plant starts of anything except lettuce because I'm 400' feet above the valley floor. Altitude makes a significant difference in growing veggies and I mistakenly followed the advice of those lowlanders for years..

Local gardening experts are starting fall gardens now, as attested to by the availability of an assortment of starts, few of which my climate will let mature. Starting from seeds allows me to get an early start on a fall garden that will wrap up before all the downhill lowlifes..

September 06, 2018

I thinned my Kohlrabi yesterday. It was fun. I have a suture removal scissors that I use and it allows me to cut the stems at ground level, perpendicular or parallel to me, one at a time or five at a time. Thinning goes so quickly that I wonder why I was so adverse to spending the time to do it when I was younger. Crowded plants get stunted and misshapen so you end up throwing half the row away at harvest time..

"Thin 'em small and harvest them all". Sprinkling seeds thinly in the row gives you gaps and empty spaces that are unsightly and a waste of space. Thinning an 8' row of anything takes less than five minutes and you'll enjoy walking past it every day..

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