At any point in the year, if you were to ask me if I am busy I would most likely say I have a million things to do. That might be a bit of an exaggeration, but I always have multiple projects going. Some are just part of home ownership, but most are self-imposed.
Today, I chose a project that isn’t critical above some that are. That drives my wife nuts. I do what I can when I can when I feel like it. This year we planted pumpkins in raised beds right along side our other vegetables. Listen to me when I say Don’t do that. The pumpkins will take over. This is also true with our watermelon, squash, and gourds. I watched a gourd vine wrap itself around a tomato plant and over a week’s time drag it a good four feet. Poor tomato plant never stood a chance.
So, I had the idea of extending our garden yet again and put the viney creepers straight into the ground next year. We definitely have the room. Sounds simple, yes? Well…. That means I have to move and add fencing. The critters will make all the effort pointless without a fence. That means I also had to pull poles up that I drove ridiculously deep into the ground. After finally finding the correct tool and using the correct way all the poles were up that needed relocated.
Of course I had to go buy more fence and another gate. This gate will go on the opposite side right next to our compost piles. Now to get to what I did today… At some point I will need to till the new section. I’ll go into the tiller fiasco in a later rant blog. Well anyways, I “fired” up the new tiller and made fairly quick work of tilling the fence line so as to not have to fight it when I till it all. It’s a fairly large section. Maybe 360sq feet. Then I got tired and a shear bolt broke, and a belt slipped off the mower that would start. Time to give up for the day.
Tomorrow is a busy day as well, but no time for gardening. Mom needs someone to take her to get cataract surgery. That would be me. And Nik Macioci has a book launch tomorrow night. I am the keeper of the “tap-to-pay”. I’ll be there.
I guess this all boils down to making room for pumpkins. It’s quite satisfying growing something that is usually only found in big patches, the grocery store, or a Boy Scout fundraiser. We had quite a few this year. Tons of gourds off of ten seeds, and a wasteful amount of squash. The watermelon I’m still learning.
The pictures I’m posting are of the original garden (that fence isn’t coming down), the addition of raised beds the next year (there are currently twenty), and the grass patch that will become the pumpkin patch. I can’t wait to make Linus and Sally cutouts.
Everything looks a mess right now. Our growing season is done except for some bean plant, pepper plants, and a whole lot of weeds. Please continue to watch how this all develops.
Let’s talk soon…
The Renaissance Maniac 