Garden Update…


It’s been a little while since I updated the whole Moby farm experience… but then we’re at this point of the summer where everything is growing strong and coming into that soon to be harvesting time. It does seem like it was just yesterday that we were just popping the little seedlings in the ground and now, how they have grown!

We are really experiencing some hot hot temperatures and a real lack of good rain. I keep watching weather.com and they will say, rain is coming, tomorrow, and then they push it back a few hours, a half a day, then a day and then more. No one seems to have a good handle on it.

I know that next year, I’m going to have to develop some sort of watering system that makes sense. I’ll have to get my water pressure problem addressed so that I can run a decent sprinkler. And I want my rainwater system in place for sure. I can see the pressure that this heat and inconsistent water is doing for my yield this year.

Well, as you can see above, my little pair of Meyer lemon trees are doing nicely. They were but twigs when I first got them… as much as I would have LOVED to buy decent sized mature trees, the 60 – 100 dollar price tags were just tooo much for me! So I opted for the little $6 twigs and go them going. I made the decision to bring them outside for most of the summer and warm fall. I’m hoping that a real good nearly 3 season time outside, in the sun, will help to get through our winter. The way they are leafing out and have good solid growth, I think they will be good and strong when they must be brought in. I just hope that when it starts to turn that I don’t forget them some night and freeze the little darlings!


My one strong apple tree is really doing a good job this year. 9 apples on the little guy. He started with almost 20 and the birds and other issues seem to have thinned the crop. My other trees had a few, but lost them all. They are still trying to get good and established, so I’m not worried. But I think we might actually have a WHOLE pie worth of the little dudes this year! They are just starting to redden up a bit. The tree is a red delicious, but her neighbors are golden and another variety. I believe we might be creating a new Moby Apple here at the homestead!



I haven’t sprayed them or done anything to the fruit, just kind of letting it take it’s course. I’ve noticed quite a few Japanese beetles though, and I think that I might have to do a little reading up on them. They are eating a lot of the leaves and all, just being a little destructive.



I am ashamed to show off my berry patch! (hahaha) It’s a mess. I just got sidetracked and let it go wild and well, as you can see, it SO needs to be weeded and gotten back into shape. Silly me. Well, just another chore for a nice cooler day… soon… soooooon. We got a nice little crop of berries and added a few new plants and blueberry bushes as well. They are all still young and not super productive, but that’s okay. Someday, they will be a great asset to the Moby farm.


This is Fat Jack. He looks like our Jack, but well, much more rotund. He might be Jack’s dad, but we don’t know. Fat Jack has been hanging around a bit more, because I think the words out that we like cats and we feed them. He’s taken to lounging on the hood of Old Blue, Jessy’s car, but I think we might try and discourage that. I’ve never been a fan of mixing cats and cars.



The south side Moby camouflage program is working nicely. The new side beds are generating rapid height and hiding the boring side of the Moby just so nicely. I think we might actually have sunflowers within a week or so. That really makes me happy, I love sunflowers!



Look! You can almost not see my nasty boarded up window anymore! How cool!

(Yeah, I know, I need to fix that soon. Before winter if I can. It is very secure and Tim got it all nice and snug, it doesn’t leak air at all. But it’s not very attractive. But, hey, all things in time. It’s on the list. In the meanwhile, hopefully the sunflowers will keep on doing their thing and take care of it for awhile!)

The monster tomatoes are doing fantastic on the side of the house. The beds are good and hot, filled with awesome compost and just really growing well. Not very weedy either. Most of the weed block fabric we put down is already fading and deteriorating, obviously NOT the 5 year fabric they toted. But that’s okay, I accidentally bought too much of the stuff, so I’ll be able to lay it down again next year and hopefully that will really help to banish the majority of weed seed from the compost.


I did something new this year. I planted flower decoys in the beds. And they are working! ZInnias and marigolds. For some reason, the bugs are eating up the flowers and haven’t touched the tomatoes and corn. And I have fallen in love with zinnias! What beautiful little flowers! The colors have been delightful and they are so pretty! I am most definitely going to be planting more of these little gems all over next year. They are so pretty.



They are not taking up that much space, and if they help the yeild and keeping me from having to spray nasty stuff, hey, that works for me. And they are so pretty! I have to clip a few for my desk tomorrow morning on my doggie walk. I just have to!



Oh my gosh, I must have 24,958 green tomatoes on my plants. My 41 plants. of 10 different varieties. What was I thinking? (hahaha….) I’m going to have to dig under the jungle of growth and see just what varieties are where. I know that I planted two of each variety in each of the four big side beds. And two in the back. I have paste and cherry and huge ones and prize winners… all growing like mad. I plan to go and pinch back some of the top leggy growth of the plants soon. I’ll have so many, there’s no need to go nuts trying to stake them and train them and all. Just going to lop off some of the top growth and force them to concentrate on the fruit they’ve already got cooking. I haven’t gotten a single red one yet, though. And I keep looking. Soon. Sooooooon.

There is a great sense of pride for me this year. Everything in the garden came from seed that we planted. Everything! How cool is that? All heirloom varieties as well. We have totally enjoyed almost 18 pounds of produce so far off the Moby farm. Mostly beans and onions and garlic and cukes! Almost every day there are more pickles in the yard and if we don’t keep at it, they get huge and turn yellowy on us! After last year’s terrible pickle harvest, I’m glad to have discovered the errors of our ways. They are right next to the faucet and get the first drink of the day even if I’m not able to get to everyone. They just seem to need regular watering to really go nuts.


Out in front, the black-eyed Suzies are going to town! They are just doing better and better each year. I need to shoot a new picture of the estate and I think after we mow tomorrow, I just might do that. I love my flowers, they are important in a garden. They just seem to add something delightful to your garden. It’s that whole “take time to smell the flowers” sort of thing. And perennials are wonderful. Makes it easy to have a nice bit of landscaping.


My little peach tree is sure trying hard to get a crop done for me. There must be 20 or 30 fruit on the tree. I’ve noticed that there are quite a few bugs also working the crop, and I might need to consider some sort of fruit tree spray next year. They are lovely looking though, the peaches. They are starting to get a nice little blush over them and you can smell that lovely scent when you get near to the tree. I hope we see some fruit off of it, and I can make a little peach preserves this year from our own tree. That is SO cool.


A pair of cukes I picked from my tour. The longer one is a Parisian heirloom pickle. They are super good. We’ve been just slicing them after a big of a frig chill and salting a bit and just eating them as they come off the vine… super good. I did get a peck of pickles at the Farmer’s Market today, so I will probably save up some of our own pickles for the processes. Going to make Vodka pickles, bread and butter slices and try a home made relish! Going to be fun!

Well, that’s the tour. Everything is growing pretty good, hanging in there. We actually started a second planting of peppers where we dug up our garlic and onion patch. The green beans are just about done, and I’m going to be planting fall broccoli and peas in the beds and in the cold frames pretty soon. Carrots too I think. And we have another pair of apple trees that I’m going to plant in containers for the south side of the hut. I would have dug them in, but there are power lines and such all over, so I think we’re going to try deep containers for them! Hey, I got them for $3 each, deep discounted and the last of the little dwarf tree stock at Lowes. If they make it, great, if not, well, I’m out $6 bucks. They are doing well so far just in their little teeny 3 gallon pails! They’re going to love their new homes!

But that’s another post!

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About Mobymom

the banjo player for Deepwater Bluegrass, and the editor of BuckeyeBluegrass.com as well as the main graphic designer of the Westvon Publishing empire. She is a renaissance woman of many talents and has two lovely daughters and a rehab mobile home homestead to raise.

Comments

Garden Update… — 3 Comments

  1. Wow. You got one great garden there. Your apple tree is definitely irresistible! I would love to have an apple tree that I can get desserts from. LOL . Furthermore, the cucumbers look really fresh! Thanks for sharing some photos of your future harvest! The peach looks tasty too!

  2. Your apples really are doing great! I would love to have an apple tree in the garden but needed a little more space for it. Anyways, your place looks really cool. and I mean cold! I think even summer won’t be able to warm it up because of all the trees and plants! LOL