Journal 5-01-08

Happy May day!

I just came in from the garden and have a feeling of hopefulness.

The eggplant is doing well and has a nice big flower on it. The pepper is also producing!

Everything in the porch bed is doing really well. There are lots of little shoots coming up that are interesting and exciting, though I know that most of them are weeds. I can't tell what is what at the moment (except the clover, which is easy to spot AND quite prolific) so I think that I'll leave it alone and see what develops. I have come to the realization that "weed" is in the eye of the beholder. Some of the things that are prized here are weeds in Alaska, and vice versa. I think that this is the true definition of a weed: "A plant or shrub that grows without help or care, and therefore cannot be fully appreciated." Some of the things coming up are rather nice. Maybe I'll just take a natural approach and let grow what will grow (except grass--grass irritates me!)

The peas are growing like gang-busters, and I'm going to have to start training them up the porch pretty soon.

Well, that does it for the happy side of the yard. Now we move over to the ghetto. The wall bed is still providing the same challenges as before. The Nasturtiums, Lavender. and sunflowers are doing very well. The rose is hanging on. The begonia and the tomato are (alas) cradled in the bosom of their creator. Here is a Memento mori for the Tomato (in case you can't tell, it is the shrivelly brown thing next to the happy sunflower seedling):

I have decided that I must cut my losses with the wall bed and leave it to the nasturtiums and sunflowers. There is still lots of room in the porch bed. All-in-all, things are coming along very nicely.

Yesterday when I got home Mrs. L was here cutting and trimming and (GASP!) spraying weed killer. She has, to this point, left my little effort alone, but I don't really like the idea of lots of poisons back there. It IS her house, and my garden grows thanks to her tolerance, so I had better just keep my mouth shut.

Mum's the word.

BB

Journal 4-27-08

Just an update:

I haven't done much more than normal maintenance lately. I've been tending, and watering, and weeding. I am more convinced than ever that the wall bed must be left to the nasturtiums--everything else is doing badly.

Happily, the porch bed is doing very well. The peas are coming up quickly.

The weather has been hot, humid, and the air has been filled with vog. It's really oppressive and unpleasant. I can only imagine what life is like on the Big Island! This morning the sky looks more clear than it has for a week. Perhaps things will get back to normal.

Journal 4-20-08

It's been raining pretty hard all night, but the sky is clear at the moment and the stars and the full moon are out.

I surveyed the garden yesterday and experienced a mix of joy and chagrin. The eggplant has TWO! healthy purple flowers on it, and the pepper is growing little buds.

In the bed, things are not so rosy. The begonia, which I put where the pepper had been, is dying. The sunflower that was near that spot is dead [click on the pictures to see better detail].

The rose seems burned and the tomato is rather crusty too. Only the nasturtiums and lavender are ok (though something has been eating holes in the nasturtium leaves--no biggie, at the moment). Zach and I were puzzling over it and we had an idea. The "blight" that seems to be sweeping the wall bed looks rather like burning. The dogs up above pee near the edge of the wall. I'm wondering if it either seeps down the wall and comes out in the bed (the wall being stacked volcanic rock) or if Kekoa--the male--may spray a little and get some on my flower bed. In the photo I've included you can see the area above where the dogs pee and the area below where my flowers are trying to grow.

The rosemary that grows above the wall has a huge brown spot of burn, and I often smell urine from up there, so it seems plausible. The sickness seems to be most concentrated on the one end and becomes less pronounced further down the bed.
If this is the case, I think that I may have to abandon that bed and move everything--perhaps to the bed under the stairs. That would be ok, as everything over there is thriving. Maybe I can just leave the nasturtiums, which seem to be unaffected, and let them take over the wall bed. If they can survive, it would end up being very pretty when they flower.

Gardening seems to be an exercise in patience, faith, and hope--three things that I have in small supply most of the time--I perhaps I'll end up growing with my flowers.

Journal 4-13-08

Well, this was an eventful garden day. I decided, rather late in the afternoon, to do something about the compost. I went to Star Market's nursery and bought a box of compost activator made up up blood meal, bone meal, and chicken manure. I also bought an orange begonia.

When I came home we looked at the compost and found that it was moldy, very wet, and had a smell slightly reminicent of the breath of Beelzebub. It was unanimously decided that the batch I had should be scrapped and we would start over. This time Zach and I poked holes in the bin and we are going to do a better job of balancing the brown and the green. The problem is that I have much more green than brown material most of the time, so I'll have to be a bit more scrupulous about saving leaves and newspaper, etc. This photo is the new and improved compost (brown only at the mo')

I would really like to get composting worms, and I'm going to get down to looking into it tomorrow.

Everything is doing pretty well.The tomato has two babies now, but it also seems to have a sickness that worries me.

The leaves on the top of the plant are turning a bit black and looks kind of dry. It has been really really wet over the last couple of days, and I'm wondering if some of the plants in the wall bed have become a bit waterlogged. The seedlings are growing like gangbusters, so the rain isn't all bad! I am going to do a little research on the tomato problem and see if I can diagnose it.

Green gardener's guide by Joe Lamp'l

Cool Springs Press, 2008

This is a really informative, readable book--I think that I might like to add it to my library.

Journal 4-10-08

It's still rainy and wet, so i didn't do much in the garden today except survey everything. I DID pull up the Goji berry bush. It was worse than ever, and the sources I consulted suggested that it would be better for the other plants in the bed to get rid of it. I was very sorry, but I would hate to have everything else get sick and die.

On a happier note, the habenero is doing better than it ever has! I guess that not having millions of bugs living in its roots is a relief! The seedlings are ROBUST thanks to all the rain, and the eggplant is looking very happy. Everything else is doing fine, so I feel heartened, even though I was forced to perform some tough love.

Tomorrow I plan to get a thermometer so that I can take accurate temperature readings.

[Photos will be added to this post tomorrow--it was wet and a little dark when I was out there earlier. ]

Journal 4-09-08

Wx 553a: 71 degrees, 79% humidity, NE 8 mph, Mostly cloudy

It rained most of today. I did some research at the library and determined that the Goji Berry may be suffering from powdery mildew, which is a fungus. I found a recipe for an anti-fungal made from garlic minced and mixed with water. I made some and sprayed it on the leaves. I hope that it's not too late, since all the leaves look sick and many have fallen off. I'll just have to wait and see.

It's too wet to do any other work outside--I don't want to spread any diseases to any of the other children.

Journal 4-08-08

Wx 553a: Partly cloudy, 67 degrees, NE 3 MPH

This afternoon I spent about an hour digging around in the dirt behind the stump. I think that the roots there belong to the stump. When I got it weeded out a little I planted poppies, columbine, and thyme in sort of a sprinkling way--hoping to get an untamed wildflower effect. We'll see.

The Goji berry plant is sick. I don't know if it is shock from being transplanted, or too much rain (it's been pouring all night and part of the day since Saturday). It has bcome rather pale green--almost yellow--and has some white stuff on the leaves that looks like dust but doesn't rub off. I added some fertilizer to the soil in that bed and hope that it will help. Everything else is doing very well--the little tomato is coming along nicely. The eggplant lost its flower again--I think that something ate it this time. It looks like a few snails have been at it. I am going to research natural ways of fending off snails (besides my current method--picking them up and turning them around so that they'll wander off somewhere else).

I received my first seed catalog today--Burpee. I am planning to curl up with it and dream about what I want to order (and can't because the Department of Agriculture won't let me ;->).

Later: I read the Burpee catalog. It is quite wonderful, with every flower and vegetable I can imagine planting. Unfortunately it contains this little paragraph:
"State regulations prevent us from shipping the following products to these states:
AK, HI: Garlic, Fruits, Potatoes, Annual Flower plants, bulbs, Perennial Plants, All Herb and Vegetable Plants."
That about covers it, I think. Perhaps they should just say "Forget it, you pathetic island dweller." I've never actually NOT lived in either Alaska or Hawaii, so I can only imagine the wonderous joy of being able to order ANYTHING and having it arrive in a relatively inexpensive and timely manner ;->. Ah well, back to KMart.

Journal 4-06-08

Wx: 0653Aa 71 degrees NE 7 Partly Cloudy, rain

The last couple of days have been pretty rainy. It's nice for the garden, since everything is really coming up.

I just went outside to look around and found that there is a little green tomato on the tomato plant! The picture below is pretty fuzzy, but you can barely see it. I immediately made a cloche for it out of chicken wire so that the birds don't take the tomatoes--that was the problem I had last time I tried to grow them.

I'm pretty excited! I'm also excited because the eggplant has another flower. It had one when I planted it, but I think that the stress of transplanting was too much because it fell off. I can't wait to harvest my own eggplant!!!

Everything else is doing well. The pepper seems to be rallying in spite of its encounter with the Borg. I am hoping that, with care, it will survive.

Journal 4-3-08

Wx: 553a: 69 degrees. 70% humidity, N 5mph, rain


Well, today's time in the garden was a mix of happiness and chagrin. The seedlings that I planted in my Goodwill pot on May 29 are already starting to come up. The really cool thing is that this morning, when I surveyed my kingdom, nothing was showing in that bed and now they are an inch tall! Rain is a wondrous thing!



After looking over my seedlings and inspecting everything else on the porch side of my garden, I moved over to the wall bed and noted that there were new tunnels under the pepper (but nothing else). I looked very closely and saw a few big black ants running around in the bed.
As a result of my ongoing battle with the scurvy little beasts inside the house, I have become something of an expert in ant psychology. I plugged the tunnels and watched. Soon the ants on the surface began to show signs of distress. When their distress turned to hysterics I knew that there was a nest down there!
I finally found it--in the roots of the pepper! I dug the pepper up and cleaned out the dirt around the roots. I also filled the hole in the bed with soil and drenched it.
The ants were crawling all over me carrying little bundles. Finally I got it all contained (pretty much) and replanted the pepper in a quarantine pot for the time being. I am hoping that it will recover from this catastrophe and grow into a fine plant with little psychological scarring. There are still lots of ants running amok on the bed, but I think that they will disperse when they have finally come to grips with the awful reality that the nest is no more.

Whew! what an adventure. I was thinking as I was re-potting the pepper that, when I was in Alaska, the definition of wildlife in the garden was deer, bears, porcupines, and the neighbor's dog. Here it is ants, huge mentally deficient carpenter bees, reptiles, and the neighbor's children.

Journal 4-02-08

Wx 633a: 71 degrees, 76% humidity, NE 13 mph, light rain

It rained last night so everything got a drink. I have a slight problem when it rains: the railing on the staircase drips water onto the step below and onto the bed where the tulip is. Any plant that sits in that spot will get the Chinese water torture, and the bed gets too much water. I have tried putting a pot under the rail, but it fills pretty quickly and overflows. I need to figure out a way to channel that water AND make good use of it.

Later:

I just planted the EM and the Goji Berry bush in the bed by the stairs. I also planted, from seeds, peas (hopefully to climb up the pillars of the porch), Columbine, and thyme.

I started digging around between the wall and the raised bed and found the remains of something that had a massive root system (though the roots are rather fine, not thick) and that had little things attached at the roots that look like beets, but that are hard. I started with an idea of pulling it all out, but it goes pretty deep and the ground is hard packed. Instead I think that I will water that area to soften it up and see if I can get whatever is down there to come back up. I know that it's probably a futile endeavour, but at least I'll make it easier to dig out if nothing happens. The picture at right shows the area where I unearthed the roots. In the foreground is the stump of a tree that was chopped down some time ago. Since cutting a tree off at the ankles like that (around these parts) usually results in lusher vegetation than ever, I assume that the trunk was treated with something to prevent it from coming back. I don't think that this tree is related to the other root system, but I may be wrong. I have no idea what kind of a tree the stump was -- it was chopped long before my time on this side of the house.

Although it rained a lot last night and this morning, the day turned out to be clear and hot. Everything was dry when I arrived home, so I watered those of my brood that needed it. The tomato is doing as well as ever, but the flowers seem to be gone again. It certainly isn't sick, so I wonder if something is eating them. I found some old chicken wire in the yard, so I'm going to make a cloche for the tomato and see if that helps it's reproductive efforts.

I am pleased with the results of my gardening so far, though i keep expecting to go out one morning to find that everything has died during the night! I am beginning to think, however, that I might actually make a success of this after all!

Journal 4-01-08

Wx 853a: 78 degrees, 52% humidity, wind NE 18 mph

After work today I came home and finished clearing out the stair bed. I smoothed it over and then enriched and watered it. Next: plant the Goji Berry!! I'm pretty excited about finally populating that bed. I will take a picture tomorrow--it was too dark when I was finally done tonight.

There is something rather weird going on with the Habenero. It is slowly, slowly declining. I looked closely and saw that there are holes in the soil around it that lead to hollow tunnels, like something (a teacup mole?) is burrowing under it. None of the other plants in the bed are suffering from this problem. I'm not sure what it is that is eating it, but I'm going to do a little research. There are lots of beetle-like bugs in the dirt, but I don't think that they are bothering anything else. The lizards don't seem to care for plants except as stepping stones from one place to another. It's strange.

Everything else is doing well. The rose seems to be improving since I started watering it more often. The lavender is quite nice, and the tomato is getting little buds. The eggplant is pretty hearty, too, though the leaves have a lot of snail or slug damage. That was there when I bought it, and I think that it is only an aesthetic concern. By far the healthiest and most vibrant plant in my garden is the tulip, which is funny since it has been beheaded and is just a bunch of flower-less stalks with leaves! It gives me hope that the bulb might be plucky enough to survive a tropical winter.

Journal 3-31-08

Wx 724a: 74 degrees, scattered clouds, 62% humidity. Wind NE 12 mph. (from NOAA)

Later: I went out and took some pictures of everything--I have scattered them throughout this journal to highlight what I've written on previous days. Everything looks happy and healthy.

This morning I started germinating some apple seeds--we'll see if they do anything. It might be exciting to grow a tree from my pre-run apple!

Journal 3-30-08

850a 78 degrees (airport), 60% humidity, partly cloudy (from NOAA)

Yesterday evening I inspected my little rose plant because it was looking rather sad and found that it was very thirsty! It may have been a mistake to put it in the wall bed since it is so hot and dry there. Everything else in the bed can take heat and drought so I will have to be diligent about seeing that the rose gets enough water.

This morning I moved the compost into a closed container because I found that it was overrun with big black ants and that they were moving from the compost to the raised bed. I would rather not have the container covered since it will encourage a great stink, but I also don't want lots of bugs. We'll see how that works out.

I planted mums in the metal Easter pail that I bought last week. I poked holes in the bottom. The pail is pale pink and the mums are lavender, so the color scheme is nice. I put it on the stairs where it will get sun and shade throughout the day.

I think that we're going to Kahala today, so I am going to see if Longs has a cheap outdoor thermometer. I would like to keep track of how hot it really gets out by the wall. Right now (850a) the official Honolulu weather reports 76 degrees (at the airport), 60% humidity, and partly cloudy. Yesterday was similar at this time of day and the temperature got into the mid-eighties. My yard gets full sun in the afternoon and can be amazingly hot. The tomato and Lavender seem to love it! The pepper is rather indifferent at the moment and the rose is whispering, "Agua..." Everything else seems to be doing very well and is staying wet enough.

Later: We went to University and King and I visited the Star Market nursery. I bought a Euphore Milii (delicate pale yellow flower on a thick stalk with large, sharp thorns) and a little cactus of the Hens and Chicks variety. I potted the cactus immediately but am going to wait and put the EM in the stair bed when I finally have it cleaned out. It has been a long job because there is so much junk in there, but the end is in sight.

I've still been fretting about my compost. I have been seriously thinking about looking into getting worms now that they are legal in Hawaii. We'll see, I guess. For the moment the compost will be ok.

You Grow Girl by Gayla Trail

Simon and Schuster, 2005

Useful and practical. Fun.

Martha Stewart Gardening: Month by Month by Martha Stewart

C. Potter, 1991

Very useful and full of pictures. Combo coffee-table book and garden primer. Not really practical for tropical gardening but gives very valuable advice on technique.

First Garden by C.Z. Guest

Putnam, 1976
Illustrated by Cecil Beaton

Lovely, conversational book. Very simple and practical. Eastcoast temperate.

Garden Primer by Barbara Damrosch

Workman Pub 1988
(there is a revised version of this available)

Journal 3-29-08

Went to KMart and bought a shovel (my trowel is too small for some of the work I want to do). I also got several packets of seeds and some potting soil. I am planning to plant seeds in the pots on the porch. I will enumerate what I got when I plant them.

The Hibiscus was beautiful this morning--the flowers were bright and vibrant.

Yesterday I bought a Goji Berry bush, but I haven't planted it yet because I want it to go in the bed under the stairs but I have to finish clearing the roots and junk in the dirt.

Later I cleared some more of the undesirable material under the porch until I was bent over and stiff. I will do more tomorrow.

I prepped the soil in a new pot I bought at Goodwill yesterday. I will plant the seeds when the water has drained a bit. I want to see if the holes I poked in the pot are sufficient.

Later: the pot seems to drain well, so I planted Marigolds and Morning Glories. I also put three marigolds in the stair bed next to the Tulip and one in the wall bed.

I planted poppy seeds in the wall bed.

--

This afternoon while I was working on the stairway bed I overturned a large chunk of rock that was sitting at the far end under the stairs. A bunch of bugs came scurrying out, including a small roach that up-ended itself and lay on its back, legs wiggling. Suddenly a lizard appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the roach, gobbling it up with gusto. The lizard moved over to a piece of rubber that was waiting to be thrown away and watched me work for about 25 minutes. He showed me his throat a bit at first, but soon calmed down and just observed my activities. It was really strange because I dug, and tugged at weeds, and went about my business within inches of him and he sat and watched without fear. Maybe the residents of the garden are getting to know me.

Journal 3-28-08

Deadheaded the Tulips. I will now let the rest wither and feed the bulb. I plan to bring it in for the winter and keep it in the fridge.

Journal 3-26-08

Pruned the Hibiscus, cutting off dead branches. Also cut off one branch that appeared diseased.

Purchased a plant at Foodland called "Kalanchoe". All sources indicate that it is a succulent that should be given short days from Sept 1-Christmas. I'll put it in a pot so that it can come in the house this winter.

Journal 3-25-08

Continued to pull weeds and grass from around the M-in-a-B. I have cleared quite a bit of that, as well. I found that it is rotting underneath and some is not in very good shape.

I think I'll leave what's directly under the stairs and clear out the area in the sun in favor of something else.

I started a compost outside in the big black pot that I was using for clippings. I'm trying to be selective about what goes into the compost so that I don't get too many weeds.

Journal 3-24-08

I received a response from mom about the plant under the stairs--it is Moses-in-a-Boat. I'm definitely going to thin it.

My plan, for the moment, is to fertilize once every two weeks. We'll see how that works out.

Pulled lots of grass from the stairway bed.

Journal 3-23-08

Easter. Fertilized everything and tidied. The Hibiscus is looking greener and everything seems to be doing very well. The seedlings are coming up very quickly now--both the seedlings in the bed and those in the pot. Very hopeful.


Zach surprised me with a goose statue for my garden--it is watching over the wall bed!

Journal 3-21-08

Planted an Eggplant in the staircase bed.

Fertilized all beds (including Hibiscus and Cactus) with Miracle-Grow All Purpose. I used half strength.

Thinned under the stairs.

Weeded out the raised bed and disposed of cactus suckers.

While I was cleaning out the raised bed I found part of the rose bush from last year. On closer examination I have concluded that the bush behind the cactus is not a rose, but that the rose was destroyed. Pity--I was rather looking forward to tending it.

Journal 3-20-08

The Tulips were open wide this morning--they were getting lots of sun and plenty of rain. I'm not sure if one, or the other, or both together was responsible for the response.

Bed #1 gets lots of sun and wind and dries out quickly. I'm making an effort to provide plenty of water but I'm worried about overwatering.

Journal 3-19-08

Bought a Tulip this am but haven't planted it yet. I think it'll go by the stairs in the border bed. That bed still needs some prep work. I'll do that when I get home.

Later: Prepped the bed and planted the tulip. It looks very nice.

Journal 3-18-08

Last nite went out and tidied a bit. Thinned the aloe and the Rosemary.

Reading the Garden Primer--need to try to think like a plant!

Journal 3-15-08

Added a small cherry tomato to the bed against the wall.

Removed the dead vine from the cactus in the raised bed against the north corner. The vine was clinging tenaciously but I got it all--it looks much better now. I'm not sure what I want to do about the cactus. Since they are as alien as martians to me. I have to read about it.

Planted Nasturtium seeds along the west border and sunflower seeds against the wall. I hope it doesn't get too crowded.

I thinned out the rosemary and did a little clean-up and weeding. I also cleaned out the bed next to the stairs. It seems to be good dirt, tho there are lots of roots.

The rest of the area under the porch contains a short gree/purple plant that reminds me of a succulent. They are very prolific, and I'm thinking that I'll thin them out. I'd like to identify them first.

Journal 3-13-08

Planted a miniature rose bush early this morning. Pink (fucsia).

According to First Gardener, by CZ Guest, my instincts seem to be pretty good so far.

Journal 3-12-08

Mixed potting mix into the bed. Contains bark, poultry manure, peat moss.

Original soil is loose red dirt--volcanic. The Aloe and Rosemary seem to thrive in it without help, but enrichment won't hurt.

The new bed is 4 feet long by 1 foot wide and is situated against the wall parallel with the sidewalk. It gets full sun part of the day. I planted Habenero Pepper on the north end and a lavender bush on the south end. The pepper is a little puny, but I hope it will perk up. The Lavender is very healthy. I watered generously after the sun was gone.