Pear tree troubles...

In the Garden:

Pears!

My Pear tree out front has been keeping me very busy this year. Call it what you will, a blooper or a blunder, the ingenious idea of putting the veggie garden and the compost pit as near to the Pear as I did was just that, a huge blooper... or blunder.

Number one, the tree has never really grown any edible fruit for us, just the squirrels. They simply don't get big enough to get past that bitter, gritty, tiny stage. This year, I am surprised I didn't get to eat a few because I was so diligently fertilizing it without even knowing it!

Yep, here's number two, I went to turn my compost shortly after starting it at the foot of the tree and the tines of my fork hit roots! Lots of roots! Not a stitch of compost available for me to spread in my veggie garden, all the kitchen scraps where feeding the tree. Bummer. So I kind of have a new plan of action, that is to put the pit in over drive by throwing as much compost able stuff on it, that the tree can't keep up with it and grow into it.

Then there is the third reason why it has kept me so busy this year, every single tiny Pear the squirrels picked to eat the seeds out of the middle where dropping right into the veggie garden! It didn't matter if I raked it everyday, there would be the same amount again in just a few hours! I left them for a little while and they started to ferment right there in the garden. The smell of that is not so terrific. I was happy when the last ones dropped, but now the tree is dropping leaves due to the pretty dry weather, what a mess, and I know it is only going to get worse and repeat itself every year! I think I will install a few posts around the garden and put some heavy duty netting or even that clear corrugated material at an angle. Yeah, that's what I will do! On a lighter note, I have enjoyed the garden so much, the fresh herbs and okra that just keep coming are great. The thrill of the next growing season ahead is just beginning to set in.
So, my hats off to you gardeners who do things right the first time around, I am sure you exist... somewhere! If you happen to read this and have any fruitful advise, I would be much obliged.

The compost that fed the Pears!

Pears!

Pears!

Linked up to http://www.attainable-sustainable.net/patchwork-living-blogging-bee-3/

gardening vs. laundry

In the Garden:
Obviously the garden won the debate, I mean just look at all the incriminating photos below.
(Who wants to look at photos of laundry anyways?)  This is interesting, did you know you burn more calories gardening than doing laundry? No, really, someone actually devised a chart with specific caloric burn per 1 minute of laundry vs. 1 minute of gardening, with  a whopping 2 times or more calories burned during gardening. I guess they were bored because it really doesn't take a scientist to figure out which one gets you moving more, does it?

I am so glad I worked in the garden today, as soon as I stepped outside, I could feel the cool air, a definite sign that Fall is on it's way to Atlanta. Focusing on the vegetable bed, I pulled up the Green Beans and the Cucumber vines and collected my bamboo sticks to store for the Winter. I cleaned all the yellow and brown  foliage off the 'Mortgage Lifter' Tomato plants and pruned them back a little. I removed the Ground Cherry plants that had gotten too wild, dropping fruit everywhere which I still haven't figured out how to eat or if I even like them. Ate a few right off the plant and it was just too strange, a little sweet and gritty with tiny seeds.

I raked the bed and then harvested my pots of 'Nikola' Potatoes, recycling the nice compost and peat mix by spreading it in the vegetable garden. I got enough for dinner tonight and I planted the too-small-to-eat ones back in a new pot for a Winter harvest. Then I spread a good amount of Garden-Tone all over and made note of the empty spaces I have now to plant my Fall/Winter crops. Tilled those areas up with a garden fork and planted what 'Dragon' Carrots, Radishes and Leaf lettuce Mix seeds I had. I layed out my new soaker hose, because my old one had a hole in it, spraying much needed water right up into the air. Turned the new one on for about an hour and then hand watered areas it misses. So now I have to remember, I have little seeds out there counting on me to keep them moist every day because, although it is cooler in the mornings, it still gets super hot during the day!

That wraps up the gardening part of my day, now... I will need to get to the laundry.

Eggplant all staked up

Eggplant

Crimson Okra Bloom

The Garden. I try to "wish" the dump truck bigger
so I can do some "real" landscaping.

Jalapeno Peppers

Basil