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Write it Down! – Little Jobs in the Garden
Do you journal about your garden? Do you know want to be entertained and learn from your own garden efforts? Of course you do. That is why Donna Balzer wrote the Three Year Gardener’s Gratitude Journal: Part Diary, Part Personal Growing Guide. This guide is packed with fun tidbits and garden information as well as garden stories. Donna shows you how to use it in your garden.
If it is little jobs for little people you are excited about sharing then watch the second half when Donna works with her grandkids in the garden. Tips for getting kids involved? Just do it yourself and they will follow and the messier the better.
Tomatoes… Have you found the perfect variety?
Before I tell you something about the tomatoes I am growing this year let me admit my own bias. I am a fan of the newest hybrids because I love the flavour and richness they bring. Since reading the book Ripe: The Search for the Perfect Tomato by Arthur Allen (2010, Counterpoint Press) I have been excited about the potential of all the new tomato genetics brought to us via scientists going back to the wild looking for new flavours, new colours, new interest, new genetics.
Is My Watermelon Ripe?
Knowing when your watermelon is ripe helps you pick it at the peak of perfection. Pick it too early and it is light pink and only half as sweet. Pick too late and it is soft and decomposing. In Northern gardens summer is ending soon so we have to make a call…. here’s how I do it. UPDATED September 18, 2018
Drip Irrigation in the Greenhouse
Here is the Little Jobs in the Garden video about my new drip system. I have been adjusting the system so that I water twice a day. I find the timers easy to set and right now I water at 5 Am and at the peak of the heat at 1 PM. The system runs for 10 minutes now each time.
The second video is all about how plants in the cabbage family are not good companions for my tomatoes. Did you know some plants like cabbage and sunflowers are allelopaths? They can slow down or damage other plants.
Kids Engaged in Gardening
So my grandkids love watermelons. And eating peas. But how do I get them away from their monster trucks and into the greenhouse? I do it with water. All ages love to water and they love to play with the various hoses and sprinklers I have in my greenhouse and garden. I also let them discover the excitement of the treasure hunt when it comes to pulling potatoes.
Oh Dear! Deer in My Garden
So my grandkids love watermelons. And of course I want to please my grandkids so I promised to grow watermelons for their August visit. But this year, more than ever before, the deer are eating my watermelon plants. I even sprayed all around the plants with Bobbex to deter the deer. And that’s when they took a really big bite – of the biggest fruit. So I took the next step and put up a mechanical barrier. Watch the video of me covering and protecting my watermelons from deer this summer
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