So, the summer crop of experiments has been harvested, dug up, and composted over the back fence, and the soil has been turned over. It was a good crop - all credit to GW for defying the drought and the record heat this summer. We had basil, chili peppers, cucumbers, a couple of watermelons, and a ton of really awesome cherry tomatoes. Among the casualties were the pumpkins, which died of some horrible bacterial infection that turned the insides of their stems to goo. The cilantro lasted about ten minutes, its delicate little leaves fried by the intense sun like mosquitoes in a bug zapper. But a great many gardening lessons were learned, and the next go should be easier.
Last weekend Avery was helping GW plant some carrot seeds, and he decided to fertilize. He doesn't just use Miracle-Gro - he has this rust-colored concoction in a milk jug that he made himself, and although the plants love it, GW's the first to acknowledge that it smells like the rear end of a cow with dysentery. Noticing this, Av commented on it and asked her dad what, exactly, this foul stuff was made of. "Mostly it's chopped up fish parts," he replied helpfully. She seems to have made a highly appropriate pronunciation error of that last word. We thought it was pretty funny.
Nice!! I love the analogies... and the fact that GW makes his own plant food... cause, of course he does!
ReplyDeleteIf I get around to pulling up what I have now loving called my "sod for small condos" garden, we will try for a good fall/winter crop of carrots, spinach, and broccoli.
We used to use TerraCycle's liquid worm poop and it ROCKED... alas they stopped making it... so we use nothing. eh well.