August 17, 2016
We had a little breeze today so I got to watch the hollyhocks sway, and the dragonflies giving piggyback rides. It's nice to have a little wind while you're working in the garden because as soon as your shirt gets wet you start to feel cooler. Got a lot done in-between shade sitting, rocking and musing. It's too hot to transplant the kale and spinach but I got them thinned to four inches apart which is the ideal distance for me to not damage the roots of the ones I leave behind. Also got a corn patch chopped off at the ground and covered the area with a couple inches of compost..
I may not be planting the spot again until April but I can't stand to see barren ground. Picked enough cantaloupe, watermelon and honeydew melon that I needed to use the wheelbarrow to get them up to the house. Everything ripens more quickly in the heat..
August 18, 2016
One of the prime tenants of gardening is to not water in the evening because the moisture remaining on the leaves promotes diseases, mold, fungus and aphids. I've always found that hard to follow because mornings were a time to go to work, and evenings were when you had time to spend in the garden. Being retired now I still find it difficult because in the morning all the plants are so perky and shiny with dew that they don't want water, but in the evening are dull leaved and wilted, and perk up within minutes of watering. Mornings for me are better spent picking all the crisp fresh produce..
An evening wind that comes up every night might be why I don't have the problems associated with evening watering. We learn the gardening rules and then do what we want and see if it works..