karl.tsakos.us/blog

What’s old is new again. Especially if it’s poison ivy. Despite having been poisoned and then most of it’s roots ripped from the ground my poison ivy has started to grow again. Only a couple of small spots, but it’s still here. I will proceed with some surgical strikes (unlike the carpet bombing of last fall) where I carefully paint the herbicide onto it’s leaves. Let it die off gently, and then rip it’s roots from the ground. Again.

That’s item one in the list of things I don’t want growing in my yard and garden. The second is the abundance of maple sprouts. I have removed between two and six of them every day from the garden beds. That doesn’t include the small saplings I have mown over, or the larger saplings that will require clipping and forcible eviction from the yard.

On the wanted growth front, I’m getting to a point where I’m guessing more than I have been. Some plants seem to be done growing (the radishes) while others seem to be in need of thinning (lettuce) and others, well, I have no clue what stage they’re in or how I should be tending them. I’ll just let them be and see where things go.

I planted some unexpected garlic and potatoes in the garden. Despite being planted in the wrong season, the garlic seems to be doing well. I haven’t yet had any signs of further growth from the potatoes. I say “unexpected” and “further growth” because they weren’t intended to be planted in the garden this year. The garlic came from a clove I bought in the store that started to sprout. I planted it in a window box and it took off. I moved it to the garden and it continues to thrive. The potatoes were from a bag my mother gave me. She had bought some bulk potatoes at Costco and gave me a bag. I put the bag at the top of the cellar stairs when I promptly forgot about them. When I rediscovered them they had constructed a rather impressive root system. So I planted them in the garden.

I also replanted my rosemary bush, which I’ve had for several years. It’s always lived in a window box in the kitchen. Now it’s in a large pot as the centerpiece of my garden. We’ll see if it likes being outdoors for the first time in it’s life. So far so good.

All the plants which were already here when I moved in are lush and green with the exception of the hedge upon which I sprayed poison ivy killer, but even that’s coming back. The lawn is lush and healthy. Too healthy as a matter of fact. I’m going to have to revisit the mulching around my garden as the grass is poking through in several spots. I guess I should have been more thorough in how I dealt with it.

My radishes are ready for harvest. Can’t wait to see what I do with them. If I follow the lead of one of my local squirrels , I will just dig them up and eat them raw. Or, just eat the skin off of them to be more exact. Also, my carrots and beets are starting to produce carrot and beet like leaves. The lettuce and mustard greens are almost ready to be eaten as baby greens. I will most likely have a baby lettuce salad in the near future. You know, to thin the lettuce patch.

In other news, I ordered and installed a rain barrel. I’ll expand on that in another entry. In a couple of weeks my seedlings will be ready to plant in the garden and the weather will be warm enough to do so. More on that story as it develops?