Today is Sunday, June 9th,2013. It's been raining for a good part of this day. The old rain gauge measured a full inch of rain today. The gardens needed it after missing out on the last 2 rain events. The raised beds in the Veggie garden along with mulch has kept everything growing and producing with no problem. We're coming up on the time of year when I will have to start watering the garden unless it continues to rain. I plan to use drip lines again this year. It worked very well last year even with the short term drought we had in June/July 2012.

It's that time again. Today is Saturday March 30,2013. Besides being my seet Wife's Birthday it is the day before Easter. My Father-In -Law, JD, gave me some Strawberry plants that he was about to turn under. I planted those in an existing raised bed that I had Lettuce and Spinach in last Fall & Winter. I built 2 more raised beds last week and I am getting anxious to turn the Garden but it is way too wet. I also bought some Cedar lumber at Home Depot this morning. Should make for some long lasting raised beds when I get a chance to build it. Hopefully tomorrow. Rain moving in tonight. I planted Lettuce in an existing raised bed on Thursday. Seems to be doing well so far. Pics to follow when I get my Memory card emptied.

Gardening On The Rocks: Today is Tuesday, October 16,2012. I spent most of...

Gardening On The Rocks: Today is Tuesday, October 16,2012. I spent most of...: Today is Tuesday, October 16,2012. I spent most of this day burning piles of brush and junk leftover from building Chicken roosts this past ...

Today is Tuesday, October 16,2012. I spent most of this day burning piles of brush and junk leftover from building Chicken roosts this past Spring. I have been cutting a Big Bowlful of Greens from the Fall Garden for Lunch/Supper everyday for the last 2 weeks. Lettuce, Spinach, Collards and Kale are all doing well. Swiss Chard is coming on a little more slowly than I expected. It should be coming in about the time the lettuce is done. Believe it or not I am still getting Summer veggies from the garden. I picked a half bushel basket of Peppers last week. I picked another Watermelon and gave it to the chickens and ducks for a treat for them. They devoured it in less than an hour. Basil is still blooming and looking no worse for wear. We have had our share of rain over the last 2 weeks. Seems like it rains every 2 or 3 days. No complaints except the fact that it is very muddy in the garden and hard to pull weeds. I cleared a spot behind the chicken/duck pen that I plan on planting Blueberries this Spring. I would like to have about 6 to 8 Blueberries in 3 foot raised beds. It will require cages around them to keep rabbits out until they are large enough to be out of reach.

Well believe it or not it is time to plant for Fall crops. The summer garden is really starting to fade. I pulled up 1 whole bed of squash and zucchini last week. I then reworked the bed with my garden rake and planted beets, spinach and mixed greens in that bed this morning. It is drizzly this morning so it is a perfect time to plant seeds. I also pulled up some lettuce that had bolted and started to flower. I decided not to save any of the lettuce seed because I'm not sure if it is hybrid or not. It came in a pack from Burpee that was a mix of different varieties. I scratched that bed up a little and then planted more mixed greens. All of the seeds I planted this morning are Heirloom seeds and I am planning on saving the seeds from these for Spring planting. I started some seeds in homemade flats last week. Some of the seed germinated in 2 days. I have the flats in the garden in a bed that is covered with shade cloth. I think the seedlings will need some shade from the hot August sun before it cools down some in September. I thinned the seedlings out some this morning so they will have room to grow on. I've been feeding them with 1/4 strength Organic fertilizer. They are doing nicely so far. I will give them about 2 more weeks before I transplant them into their new homes. Peppers and tomatoes are still producing great fruit. Cucumbers are pretty much done though. Next year I will plant the Cucumbers in succession so we will have them all the way through until Frost. Several Watermelons are still growing on the vines. The vines are starting to look tired though and if we don't get enough rain they will never make it to finish ripening. Corn is done and I will pull the stalks for decorating. The corn did very well this year despite record heat and dry. The key was keeping it watered during this time. Sunflowers are looking tired and I may pull them by the end of the month.

I suppose you can say the drought of 2012 is somewhat over. We've gotten rain nearly every day for the past 4 days. I estimate nearly 3 inches of rain has fallen. There is more predicted for the next 2 days but rain is usually hit and miss this time of year. Either way I am grateful for the rain we've gotten this past weekend. The garden has really responded nicely. Sunflowers showed their first blooms this weekend. Have found only one watermelon so far but it is growing like crazy and already bigger than a softball. I picked 6 squash/zucchini this morning before work. Cheryl picked several Peppers Saturday and made homemade hot sauce. It is steeping in the fridge for 2 weeks before we eat it. Lots of tomatoes on the vines but very few ripe ones. Of course with rain comes the weeds and grass. I suppose I will devote lots of time later this week hoeing weeds and cutting grass. No complaints here! I received the seeds I ordered from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. today. I mainly ordered greens for the Fall garden. Should be planting them in late July or early August.

Well I guess I wasn't quite ready for record setting heat this past week. The hottest day on record in Middle Tennessee was this past Thursday June 28,2012 officially recorded at 109 degrees F.( many folks tweeted temps at 113-our guage read 110  at the hottest part of the day) Worried about the Chickens and Ducks with this record heat. I have been putting ice in their water bowls as often as I can. The garden looks relatively unscathed but I have been watering with Soaker Hoses early in the Morning most every day. Cucumbers still coming in about 2 or 3 a day. Soaker hoses and mulch is the secret. Our Air conditioner inside the house went "kaput" last night around 7:00PM. I thought it would be a sleepless night but we ran fans in the bedroom on High and stayed fairly cool. We both slept pretty well considering. Put in a new unit this morning with help from JD. (your the bestest JD!).House is nice and cool today. I think I may have waited too long to water the Witch Hazel and The Stewartia. They do not look happy at all. We caught a raccoon in a live trap last night. My neighbor wanted to kill it and have it stuffed so they came and took him (or her) away this morning. Poor thing was on death row and didn't even know it. I'm gonna go up to the Veggie garden to water late this afternoon when it cools down a bit. It is now 6:00 PM and the temp is still 103 outside. Maybe 7:30 or later before I water. Soaker hoses Rule!!!