No more worms

I have never sprayed a fruit tree with a pesticide before, but a few weeks ago I was in the Grange Coop where I was told how to do it. I bought an organic spray called Monterey Garden Insect Spray with spinosad in it. The best time to give a tree its first spray of the season is when the blossoms are 90% gone. I may have missed the ideal time by a few days. I would say the blossoms are 97% gone, but today was the first chance I had to do i,t so I did it. At first I tried to used the pump sprayer. Ha! I got more spray on me and the thing was difficult to use. I ended up pouring the spray into a spray bottle and doing the job with it. I had to use a ladder to reach the upper part of the tree. I used about 3/4 of a gallon of spray for four trees. If the spray works, we should have a good crop of apples this fall. The two Golden Delicious apple trees in the yard are loaded. They are the ones I did the most though job pruning. The two Red Delicious trees in the garden have fewer but they do have some apples forming. The Gravenstein apple tree has no apples forming. I gave it a quick mist but left it mostly untreated. I am suppose to spray the trees 5 more times before harvest. I hope I remember to do so. It will be the first time to grow apples without sharing them with the worms.

Let Us Harvest

I am eating my second harvest of lettuce. I can not post a picture of these beautiful greens because I can not find my camera. I thinned the thickly sprouted rows of Super Gourmet Salad Mix by Territorial Seed Company. The lettuce plants are big enough to make a colorful bouquet of green and purplish red leaves. There are enough lettuce starts to provide me with baby greens every day for the next couple of weeks.

Only the strong survive

I remember how excited I was when the seeds sprouted in the peat pots, but when I saw how thin and scraggly they grew, I feared they would not fare well when transplanted. Indeed, that was the case. The chard transplants I planted last Saturday in the garden are holding on by their toenails. The Nasturtium starts in the garden area are all but dead.

The combination of cold nights and blaring sun were too much for these delicate starts. The ones I transplanted in the gooseberry pot look better and may survive and the few I transplanted in the flowerbed by the house will most likely survive, though all are still quite fragile and subject to perishing if severe weather manifests itself.
The weather is no problem this week-end. It has been a dreary week-end with heavy rain. I found a few dry minutes to run a shovel over the garden and remove a few weeds, but for the most part I stayed in a warm, dry house and let the earth rejoice in the wetness. This weather may be the best chance for the remaining transplants to survive.
I think the peas are dancing.

Sprouting report

Tanya helped me sow seed March 18. Now 5 and 1/2 weeks later I am happy to report the lettuce, onions, and spinach all came up successfully, but the 2004 and 2005 carrot seeds were not so lucky. Very few carrots germinated. This proves the point about using good seed. Old seed is for those who can't buy new seed.

The surprise in all this is the fact that the spinach seeds I planted early, before Justin tilled the garden, also came up. I now have a very random patch of spinach and a random patch of pole peas and bush peas. The peas I planted, before Justin tilled, also came up in the general vicinity of where I planted them but with a wild and free look to their placement. I should get enough peas to feed everyone I know and then some.

Neat rows needing to be thinned.

Random spinach results of tilling after planting


Neat rows of peas


The random, wildly tillled peas.

Transplants

Today I transplanted the nasturtium and chard starts into the garden. Yesterday I tried starting the Mantis but could not get it to start so I used a shovel to dig weeds and scrape the top soil. Today I used the shovel to prepare the soil for planting the starts. The transplants were very delicate. I hope they survive.

I also planted one package of Chioggia Beets and a few Early Wonder Beets.

I'm feeling a little bit like a delicate transplant. Yesterday Sanford told me he was going to put the farm on the market by the end of the week. As I listen to the geese honking up by the pond and breathe in the fragrant beauty of spring on this 11 acres, my heart has wilted a little with the knowledge that I may be leaving my home at a time when it is at it's loveliest. I put my trust in God, hoping I'll take root and blossom where the Master Gardener places me. The joy of sowing has vanished as I anticipate the harvest going to strangers. Lord, restore my joy and let me find pleasure in the process. If the work I do should bless others, help me to offer that blessing without regret or selfish longing. Give me the grace to offer it wholeheartedly to your purpose and will. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.

Sprouts

How exciting! I saw the first pea sprouts today.

The tiny round leaves are folded together like hands folded in prayer.

The first of my peat pots also show signs of life.
Six Hollyhock sprouts
are sticking their pale necks out of the dark moss
with two green leaves opened in praise to the Creator.

First Day of Spring

Since I attended a workshop all day Saturday, March 21, I don't think I will count yesterday as the first day of my spring vacation. For me, today is the first day of spring and the weather could not have been more typical of a Southern Oregon Spring Vacation day. This morning on my way to church the storm clouds hung low on the hills surrounding the valley. A few drops of rain and snow fell but it did not feel cold enough to go back inside for a warmer coat. By the time I reached Ashland the sun was peeping through the clouds reflecting brightly off the snow covered hills. During church service snow began falling again. After church service I drove to Medford through joyful sunshine. By the time I reached Medford it was sleeting. While sitting in a parking lot the sun came out and warmed up the inside of the car, then the clouds blew together and covered the sun while the wind rocked the car. When I got to Home Depot in Phoenix sleet was being driven through every crack in the outdoor gardening section. I walked back to my car with an umbrella hunched against the storm. When I got to my mother's home in Talent, a gentle snow was falling. It covered everything with a thin blanket of soft snow. Within 15 minutes the snow had all melted. I had just got inside my house when a strong wind pounded the house and shook the windows. The trees looked as if they would blow over. More sleet was blown against every inch of the house, scratching at the window panes. Now, all is quiet. The daffodils shine through the wet mist as a sun beam waves good night.