Early August check up, preparing for the Fall.

I have 2 new containers, each 4' x 8'. I built them last week and today I prepped them for planting. First, I made sure all the weeds were gone and the soil was leveled. Soil in both were tested along with the compost I was about to add (see blog from August 3rd). Next, I added half of a large garbage can of compost to each and leveled it off. Note that I did not mix it in the soil, I spread it out as a topping for the soil so that when I begin planting the seeds will start out in the compost and any nutrients that leak out will go into the native soil. Finally, I topped each container off with half of a large garbage can full of lawn clippings that had cooked for a week.

Since it's the first weekend of the month, I did some fertilizing. Fertilized the navel orage tree (it's only 2 1/2 feet tall right now with 16 oz of citrus fertilizer 6-4-6. Fertilized the blueberry bushes with 8oz of Rose fertilizer 12-6-10.

Black eyed peas are doing AWESOME! Lots of pods, some of which are showing the peas. Next year, I need to plant a lot more black eyed pease, probably 100 sf, as other crops die out. Tomatos are probably ready to pull but my wife is sort of attached to them so I'll hold off a bit longer. I wasn't really impressed with them anyway and I plan to try a different type in the fall. Left 3 romain lettuce plants in place and one is starting to flower. I'll harvest the seeds soon for a fall planting of romain. Scotch bonnets are at the end of their harvest, a few left to pick but not much. Picked some basil and set it up in a dryer along with some green onions I clipped. I'll do a seperate blog about this simple drying technique I learned.