August 12, 2017
I saw a patch of Creeping Jenny today that was wilting in the summer heat and put a sprinkler on it. That may be the difference between gardeners and non gardeners. Even though the vines slowly encroach on my planting zones and walkways I can't stand to see it slowly dying from lack of water. It's unsightlyness is unpleasant in contrast to the rest of the garden and indicates the ground below is becoming uninhabitable for earthworms, microbes and soil dwelling organisms..
The soil is a complex matrix of interactive fungus, bacteria and microscopic insects that is alive with activity. It's an ecosystem that has far reaching significance, and more necessary for our survival than we commonly admit..
August 13, 2017
The best excuse for doing nothing that man ever came up with is fishing. The worst excuse for exercise is golf. Gardening is somewhere in between. I can carry a two gallon watering can around for 20 minutes and feel justified to sit in the shade for half an hour. Sometimes the sitting time is more beneficial than the work time. I saw a yellow jacket going up and down like a periscope around each of my new cauliflower transplants and realized that's why I find cabbage moth caterpillars holes in the leaves but no caterpillars on them..
The yellow jacket hunts throughout the garden to my benefit. They are only really a problem when you have children around. Kids move quickly and impulsively so they get stung more often. I don't ever get stung in the garden. They may be used to seeing me there..
August 14, 2017
Now's a good time to thin your apples. I was walking by the orchard and saw windfall apples which means nature has started the course and we would be wise to continue it. Make sure no two apples are touching. This provides an entry point for parasites. Remove all distorted fruit and any with sun scald. I allow 4" between fruit and take the ones on the tip of a branch off..
You can put boards under overloaded branches to hold them up but I find the difficulties of mowing around them intolerable. We have a pear tree that never needs thinning. It gets several soakings every summer by my putting an occilating sprinkler under it and leaving it on overnight, and produces such incredible fruit that I have a hard time sharing. It's also time to take the three or four largest garlic cloves out of the cooks stash and put them in your seed box. We will be planting them in November, which is right around the corner..
