Location: Rockaway, NY City Soil: sand, sand sand Soil treatment- as much compost as I can generate, generous amount of peat moss, about 50 pounds of store-bought manure (what happened to bags of manure? They now contain about 50% filler. When I was a kid, it was all poo. I _really_ need to get to Belmont race track in the Fall to try and scoop some fresh horse manure:), limestone, and small applications of both blood and bone meal.
Got a really late start on the garden this year because of work. But coming along great now. Had nice harvests of lettuce and peas earlier. And just last week I had some friends over and I sent their kid into the beds to harvest their own lettuce! I cannot believe it hasn't bolted- I still have a half-dozen plants in and they're doing great. Also have started some Slo-Bolt to stick in during August. I keep the lettuce next to a fence on the south side of the yard that gets about
3 hours of direct sun, and at least 6 hours of indirect light.Tomatoes have finally appeared! (That tells you how late I was!) As have cucumbers. Beans growing great, but no harvest for at least a week. And I have zucchini! I gave up on zucchini for a few years because I got wonderful vegetative growth, some flowers, then....nothing. Yes, I know the male flowers fall off. I just never seemed to get female fruiting flowers. This year I have about 4 zukes on my single plant, and I cannot wait!
Stupid basil started to flower, but I got it in time. SNIP!
Cut back the marigolds, petunias, and alyssum (SNIP! SNIP! SNIP!) and they all came back beautifully. Full flower again :)
All in all, I cannot complain now, although I ranted about the rainy spring we had here (come to think of it, that's what got me started so late, combined with work). It didn't help that my cold frame fell apart and I still have not had the get-up-and-go to rebuild one, even though I have all the parts and hardware :(
Best growing!
Chris