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!