Erin's Garden Journal—June 21, 2015

June 21, 2015

Cut the broken pear tree off cleanly at a shallow angle. Left the rootstock in the ground in case it sends up suckers (they probably won't be the cultivar we want, but they will still be a fruit tree). Treated the broken-off woody stem with root hormone and planted it in a pot filled with special potting soil. Pinched off the leaves so that it will (hopefully) focus all its energy on making new roots. Keeping the pot in my own yard, which is more sheltered from wind and direct sun.

The Six Week Bush Beans from Urban Harvest have sprouted (planted 7 days ago). Looks like 100% germination, which is impressive since the seeds are a year old and stored in a damp-ish basement apartment.

Ongoing problems with animals digging in the garden. Maybe we can add some kind of low barrier around the edge.

One of the broccoli plants has had several leaves chewed. Pest did not leave any evidence of its identity.

Some sprouts are showing up in the area where Sheilah planted greens, but it's hard to say yet whether they are incidental weeds or deliberate plants.

Snehlata tells me one of the trees in our yard is a mulberry. I had no idea they grew so big. Being a cautious sort, I looked it up. There are apparently no poisonous look-alikes for mulberry, so I'm very happy to bow to Snehlata's wisdom. The fruits are ripening now. We should see about harvesting them.

The rain barrels are almost empty again. Good thing the stands for the other three barrels are almost ready. We should see about growing some living mulch (annual clover? Greens?) once our seeds have sprouted more, to keep moisture in the soil. Watering is becoming a very time-consuming chore. It would be nice to have longer hoses on the rain barrels to reach directly to the garden.

Sanded down the posts for the sign. Once they are stained, we can bolt them in and hang the sign at last.