July 22, 2019
You know you're a gardening geek if you're more comfortable with your knee pads on. I strap mine on first thing, no matter what I'm planning to do, because I will inevitably kneel on a rock, sharp stick, thorn or wet spot. There is always something close to the ground that needs inspection. I discovered baby squash bugs yesterday and if you spray them with soapy water you won't have adult squash bugs decimating your plants next month. Crop rotation keeps the bugs from being able to pop up out of the ground under the cover of the canopy of squash leaves, and makes them travel in the open to them..
This reduces their numbers by predation. Luckily soapy water works on the adult bugs too because grabbing them and squishing them is gross. But hey, I'm a guy that's more comfortable in knee pads..
July 23, 2019
Watering the garden is a learning experience because it changes as you amend your soil. From year to year you will be building better water retention by mulching the ground and adding organic material. Watching your plants closely shows you the different soil conditions in various parts of your plot. The odds are you don't have a homogeneous patch of ground but a number of sections of different watering requirements. This time of year I need to increase the water on my melons..
One hour of watering with an orbital sprinkler needs to be done every third day now. It feel excessive but melons don't always show you they need water by wilting. They can just slow down their growth rate and produce vines that are not robust and spreading out across the ground, and under sized fruit. You won't always know until you harvest..
July 24, 2019
If you have spaced your melon plantings out you can now begin harvesting them as they ripen, instead of having to deal with them being ready to pick all at the same time. One of my first plantings of watermelon have ripend and I gathered up the straw around the mound and tucked it under the watermelon vines of a plant that has softball sized melons on it. Recycling straw mulch is a bit frugal but fun. The old mound won't need mulch because I'll be covering it with compost and letting it percolate all winter..
The new mound needs it now to keep the ripening fruit off of the dirt and the water from evaporating out of it. The trickle down nutrients from it's decomposition are probably not sufficient for the plant's requirements at this busy stage of growth, so regular applications of fish emulsion will ensure hearty development. I don't really mind getting small melons but they remind me I've been remiss..
