The Garden Gets Hosed

This weekend was a productive one and Craig was busy in the garden. Our plans for gardening were just some maintenance that ended up in additions. No, we did not plant any new veggies (although we looked and the late fall plants are not available yet), but we did change the way the garden was watered.

We knew that next spring when we plant tomatoes and other similar veggies that we would need to ensure that the watering was only on the roots and not the leaves, (again, thanks to Ray for the tid-bits of info) so yesterday, after having a fun family breakfast, we set off for Lowes. We bought 50' of soaker hose and 4 cubic feet of additional garden soil.

Surveying the garden when we got home, I realized that if we were going to lay the soaker hose, we needed to at least clear the back bed closest to the house. Otherwise, come spring, we would have to take out the hose to clear it when we wanted to plant. It just made sense to go ahead and do it now - in 98 degree weather with no cloud cover...  My husband actually asked me why it is that I always choose to do manual (yard) labor when it is smoldering outside.  I didn't have an answer then, and I still don't now. 

So I cleared the bed. Since it was the back bed up against the house, and fearing that I might hurt the beds that were already planted, I used a hand trowel and a hand cultivator instead of the shovel to pull the remaining grass and weeds. Thankfully the strong grass and weed killer that my husband had sprayed before the garden was even started, worked great and the brown strands that remained were fairly easy to dig up and remove. 

Of the 4 beds, this most recent was the easiest. I'm not sure if this is because I used hand tools over the shovel, if it was the complete death of the grass, or the very real fact that I am getting pretty good at this digging thing that made the difference. For whatever reason it went quickly and after a short break, Craig brought out the hose and we started to lay it out. 

To look at the rolled hose you would think "That is not going to anywhere near long enough" and I said that to my husband who offered to run back to Lowes to get more. It was a good thing that I didn't take him up on that offer. When you get 50' of hose all unrolled and laid out you realize... that is a $^&! load of hose. Once Craig and I got ourselves untangled from the clutches of the hose, we placed it in the beds and around as much of the plants that we could without smashing them. 

It took us a while to get it laid where we thought it would do the most good and soak the roots of all the plants. Craig was a great micro manager. He would instruct me where to place the hose, walk over and say: "Hummm, I don't know Momma". I had to laugh, because frankly, I didn't know if it was right either. 

There is one problem with that back bed being empty and with the hose laid in it. There is nothing, as we found out with our first test run, to soak up the water in that back corner of the garden. It doesn't help that my loving bulldog, in an attempt to stay cool in the southern heat, had dug out a hole in the very back right corner and with all the grass and weeds gone, it becomes a small swimming pool. Great for frogs but worries me about mosquitoes. What I did find however, is that the pool was not there long and it was absorbed within 15-20 min by the bare ground. 

With the hose in place we set out to fill up the beds to the levels they are supposed to be and to cover the hose with the garden soil. This is absolutely Craig's favorite part of gardening. He loves playing in the dirt. Perhaps when he gets to pull up the grown vegetables he will find another favorite part, but for now, if it has to do with the soil, digging in it, dumping and spreading it out, anything, he is all in it. I'm lucky if he lets me help. 

Adding Soil To Cover The Hose

Filling The Beds

Spreading The Soil

With the hose in place, covered, and the beds full, Craig and I stood back to admire our now irrigated, in our own very minor way, garden. 

It was time for the second test run of our new watering system, that and I wanted to make sure that enough water would make it to the plants through the extra soil. While I was worried about the plants not getting enough water, Craig was concerned about too much. He has only known hoses to produce relatively strong streams of water and he thought that was what would be coming from the hose we had just placed. 

"Momma", he said very seriously, " won't the hose shoot the vegetables into the air? They're just babies and won't know to hold on to the ground."

A lot of times his innocence and kind-hearted nature makes me stop and smile. This was definitely one of those times. I explained to him that the hose was a different type than the one we had been using, and that this hose would be very gentle to our "baby" veggies. 

Where we are now

The lettuce, mint, oregano, and basil are doing well. Actually, the lettuce looks really good. All but one of the plants have really taken off and look strong and healthy with beautiful, large green leaves. The one basil plant that we were worried about has rebounded nicely, and the mint and oregano have new growth and look like that may be expanded a little bit. The lettuce should be ready in about 4-6 more weeks or so. The leaves (according to a local extension office) are too young. They would likely be bitter. 

The basil and mint however can be used now. The mint smells wonderful and as soon as the evenings are cool enough to warrant hot tea, we will use it! The Greek oregano is not ready yet as it will actually produce buds on the plant. I have no idea how much time is left before we should see that. 

The broccoli and turnips look good as well. They are a week behind the others, but they look to be establishing themselves well. I think we are still out a good 1-3 months (broad range I know, but all the info I have is so conflicting) from anything that Craig can get in there and harvest. He is so excited about broccoli, and he still swears that I loves turnips... Guess we will see if that is really true in a few months. 

On a sad note...

Well, it's sad for me. Most know that I love frogs (and toads), so you can image my guilt now that I am sure I have caused neurological damage and/or blindness to an innocent toad.

I was using some roundup around the outside of the railroad ties to ensure that nothing would creep into the garden beds. I had lifted one of the ties and was lightly spraying under it. The toad was buried into the ground under the tie, and my approach must have made him look up. I didn't see him until he began flailing his front little legs and frantically wiping his eyes and face.

 I went to get some water to wash his little body, but when I got back from the back porch with my water glass he had moved into the center of the newly cleared bed, looking normal. I poured a little water on him (mainly I wanted to make sure he wasn't dead) and he hopped toward the side of the house. 

I breathed a sigh of relief. At this point I convinced myself that he was going to be just fine, and that maybe it was not a direct hit with the chemical. I watched as he approached the house and jumped squarely into it.  He bounced off the house and he changed his direction to move towards the porch. He took one small hop forward. Then one to the right, and then another to the right. Then one forward, followed by one to the left. If I didn't know better I would have thought this little toad had been out on an all night bender. 

If you ever wondered if amphibians can stumble, we now have the answer - yes. So assuming that the toad has survived the last 48 hours, my guess is he is either blind, suffering neurological problems, or both. So sad and I feel awful.