End of summer...

 Summer officially ended six days ago, it was hot, cloudy and humid as it has been the past couple of weeks. Only thing alive in my garden plots is still the oregano. We did get a spattering of rain, drizzle really so nothing much watered the ground due to the heat. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evenings for the most part are clear and calm, the caterpillars are ravaging the liquidamber trees again but doesn't seem to be as much as last year. Still some damage but last time I could get a broom and sweep up the poop on the sidewalk but not this time. It rained the night before I was going to do it so that didn't work out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evidence of both rain and caterpillars at the entrance to the garden the day after. Only other sign was damp soil on the right which is due to the grade of the soil draining in that direction. Rocky was feeling brave and decided to thoroughly investigate the lizard home, gathering some spider webs on his nose as well. (The dark clumps are from roots I pulled out of the west bed a few days before).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I saw a DIY  video on making your own seedling containers out of a toilet paper tube. They were using a much longer tube than my TP is on but I did have a paper towel tube. Measured the total length (11 inches), did some math and it worked out I would get four small containers out of one tube. The only measurement I did not have was how deep to cut the tabs to fold on the bottom. I guessed and that's why there's one just a tad taller than the other. I saved out another tube today and will see about getting some soil soon. I watered the west bed thoroughly the other day and got the shovel and the cultivator out to mix it all around. Needs another bag or two of soil as well. I didn't bother watering down the raised bed or the south bed because that needs a good hose with a sprayer on it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay so I dumped one bucket of water on the west side of the raised bed and stirred it around. Hoping there will be some soil on sale next month.

It is also fungus season. I noticed this white cap, mostly eaten by snails or slugs yesterday while taking Rocky out, the next day, it is almost completely gone. Next time I need to get rid of mollusks I'll have to remember that.

Until I get a better hose or fix the existing one, planting will have to wait. Still rather warm but nights are starting to cool down. It's almost full dark by 7 pm now so gardening is earlier in the day, forgot to get out and water the oregano today. Oh well. It'll survive. Something about that patch of grass too, I think someone is letting their dog pee there. Several spots of dead grass just on the surface. 

Not my yard, not my problem. 

Long time, nothing to post

 The weather continues as it has, cooling only slightly this week but then will bump up again. The difference is only about 10 degrees so not enough to leave things open during the day.

The stalwart liquidamber tree and some bare branches in the foreground from caterpillar damage on another one. I haven't seen much damage compared to last year even though I saw a few Mourning Cloak butterflies flitting around a month ago. Yes this is the same picture as last time but that's because not much has changed.

I finally gave up on the tomato and pulled it up. It should have a LOT more roots than that which explains why it's doing so poorly. So on the compost it went, the cage I laid down on the south bed and then proceeded to think.

I decided yesterday to dump the remaining three bags of soil in the bed. Temperature just before sunset was still in the low 80's but at least it was shaded on the garden.

Not much of a level difference after using the cultivator and the shovel to mix things around. I also added a couple of cups of fertilizer and mixed it in because that's what you do. I didn't water because the hose is still useless. I've been using the bucket and jug because there wasn't much to water but now, I need another three or four bags of soil and a good spray nozzle. I need that soil level up to the top so next month I'm hoping to get two bags of raised bed soil and two of the in ground. If there's any on sale that's what I'll get. Oh.. I just noticed in that picture, the one pair of boards look really spooky.

So I decided to get the sprayer from my hose off and opened the closet to find... the rest of the other hose.

What boggles my mind is how can a hose that still has the coiling memory of a practically unused hose have a nozzle that looks totally worn out? Why did they just toss that part of the hose in there instead of throwing it away? I'll be taking both those hoses and tossing them in the trash hopefully tonight. I'm just absolutely at a loss for reasoning and words on the condition of the hose and the reasoning.

No extra money this month, again. So unless something comes through in the next few weeks another wait until next month to try and get supplies.