Transplanting the Corn

Today marks the beginning of some nice, warm weather.  It's a perfect time to set out the corn.  I started the seeds in the potting shed - actually 2 plantings as the first one had spotty germination.  Only one section of my 32-section planter has failed to produce a corn seedling but I haven't given up on that one yet.

The bed was started a while ago with 3 wheelbarrows of soil removed.  The soil was put on top of composting vegetation to grow squash on, but that's another post!  Today I raked 2 wheelbarrow loads of finished compost on the bed.

This year, I'm going to plant the corn in a different pattern.  It seems to me that it will grow more stably if I plant the seedlings in small bunches with a bean in the centre.  I drew 8 rough circles in the soil, each of which will hold 4 seedlings and one bean.  My planter has large holes in each section, which allow me to poke a finger up to help ease out the seedlings.  Corn isn't really meant to be transplanted, but I do it anyway!

After the circles were planted (one has only 3 seedlings) a Fortex bean seed was planted in the centre of each.  The beans will grow up the stalks of corn and give them stability while adding nitrogen to the soil - a happy pairing.

Finally, the bed was given a good watering.  Tonight I'll put Remay cloth over the corn to give it extra protection.  In the background, you can see that the Italian heritage beans are flourishing and almost ready to start climbing the bean frame.

In the rest of the garden things are growing well.  The snow peas are in flower and within the week I will be picking the bounty.

A Bonica rose which came from my daughter, is in full bloom.  It always puts on a great show.  Too bad it's unscented.

Not to be left out, Abraham Darby, a David Austen rose, is in full bloom giving us beauty and lovely scent to boot.

Rebuilding the Compost Bin - Part One

In my last post, I bewailed the fact that the cedar trees had been invading my garden.  Then yesterday, I discovered they had gotten into the compost bin as well!  We had carefully built the compost bin on a concrete slab raised up from the ground so that the cedar roots couldn't get in.  We built this compost bin about 15 years ago and it has served us well.  It was constructed entirely out of cedar planks and posts which came from trees taken down on our property.

Rotting cedar boards which have let in the cedar roots.

The boards at the bottom of the bin were starting to rot but I hadn't realized that the bottom board on the back had popped out, spilling compost out the back and providing an avenue for the cedar trees to make their way into my compost!  From the size of the roots I chopped off, they had been in for a couple of years.

First on the agenda was removing the compost.  The bin is a 2-section compost box.  I first removed and sifted from the right-hand side which contained my finished compost.  And it was full of roots.  I got a whole wheel barrow full of cedar roots from this section.

Cedar roots!

Then I mostly emptied the left-hand section which was compost in the making.  The material which was the least broken down was piled on the grass.  That which was partially composted went on a tarp next to it.  When the compost bin has been rebuilt, the roughest material will go on the bottom of one side followed by the most broken down on the top.  This side was well-populated with worms, both the normal earthworms and red wigglers, and the cedar roots had only just started to creep in.  Notably, the side filled with roots had hardly any worms at all.

When most of the material was removed, my husband was free to deconstruct the bin.

Deconstruction of the compost bin

Some of the boards can be re-used, but posts and some planks will need replacing.  Luckily we have the materials on hand.  Stay tuned for Part Two!

Butternut Squash in the Compost Bin

About 5 years ago I had an extra tomato plant and nowhere to put it.  I finally decided to try it in one side of my compost bin.  I was astounded with how huge it got and how productive it was.  I've grown something in the compost bin every year since.  The last 2 years I tried cantaloupe which was marginally successful.  The vines were delicate and I had quite a battle with wood bugs.  This year I've decided to plant a couple of butternut squash plants.

I started the seeds a month ago from the last 3 seeds in my Waltham Butternut Squash package.  I hadn't realized I had so few seeds.  Fortunately 2 of the seeds sprouted, and I decided that today was the day to plant them.

One side of the bin had finished compost in it.  There were some self-seeded plants growing which had to be pulled out first.  Luckily for us, there were several potato plants which yielded tiny baby potatoes - and we enjoyed them with our dinner tonight!  The compost was surprisingly dry.  We have had quite a warm, dry spring, but I had no idea that it was that dry.  A thorough watering moistened the soil.

Waltham Butternut Squash

I dug 2 big holes, watered them well, then backfilled so that the soil around the plants would be thoroughly moistened.  The plants were popped in, protected with water bottle sleeves and container soil was added around them for weed suppression.  And another thorough watering.  Another day I'll mulch the compost with shredded maple leaves.

May is an amazing month for flowers.  The rhododendrons are mostly finished by the end of the month, but the the peonies and bursting into bloom.  Above is a closeup of Bowl of Beauty, which certainly lives up to its name.  Having grown bomb varieties for so many years and endured the staking required to protect them from the rain, I now really appreciate varieties like Bowl of Beauty which look gorgeous and are not as labour-intensive.

Cantaloupe!

I had originally been going to post about disappointments in the garden and cantaloupe was going to be the star of the post.  I'd Googled "cantaloupe+harvest" to see how you tell when they were ripe.  Apparently the stem starts to separate from the fruit - much as a cake will start to separate from the pan when it's baked - but I hadn't seen any of that on my cantaloupes.  I did pick one when I started to see a little bit of yellow on the netted skins - but it was only partially ripe and totally tasteless.

Then I noticed that one was starting to rot, so a few days ago, I picked the last 2 cantaloupes and brought them in the house.  I'd been going to chuck them, but decided to cut them open first.  Surprise! Beautiful, deep orange inside - and deliciously sweet!

Okay, maybe I will grow them again next year - with some changes.  I'll start them a bit earlier and coddle them in the potting shed longer.  When I plant them out - again in the compost bin - I'll protect the tender stems with water bottle collars.  The damage that wood bugs did to the stems this year probably set the plants back quite a bit.  And I might grow 3 plants instead of the 2 that I grew this year.

This year's crop was certainly pretty meagre when you consider the time and effort that went into producing 2 small fruits, but they weren't taking up room in the garden, so perhaps they're worth another try.

Three Sisters - Part 2 (and a few other things!)

Now that the Three Sisters bed has been prepared, I've been waiting patiently until I could take the next step.  Today I seeded the squash.  I've decided to plant Early Butternut Squash in the Three Sisters bed and zucchini in the tires at the back of the bed.  I seeded three pots with the squash and two pots of zucchini - one is Zucchini Black Beauty and the other Corgette Primula F1.  I put two seeds in each pot and will pinch off the weaker seedling.

The squash component of Three Sisters Garden is started.

Then I decided to try my hand at melons.  I purchased the seeds (Cantaloupe Tirreno) from West Coast Seeds a couple of years ago but hadn't been organized enough to try it, so I now planted three seeds in each of two pots.  I will grow the melons in one side of my compost bin.  This will give them a sheltered spot with rich soil.  I've tried this twice before; the first time with a tomato and the second with squash.  The results were incredible!  I have no doubt it will work again.

My saggy compost bin

A word or two about my compost bin.  My husband built the compost bin a number of years ago.  It has two sides so I can toss the compost from one side to the other and always have some ready to use.  It's on a concrete base so the cedar roots can't invade it and as you'll see from the photo, is starting to sag a bit.  For now it's just propped up but I imagine we'll have to replace it in the near future.  Many years ago when we moved to Thetis Island, a horsey friend gave me a small container of red wiggler worms.  My compost box is inhabited by a seething mass of them!  I also have a black plastic compost bin which I use for kitchen waste.  What with the two-sided bin and the plastic composter, I always have red wigglers to add to a new start - and some to give away to friends!  The side that the melons will go into has lots of uncomposted material but the red wigglers with their voracious appetites will make short work of that.

Red wigglers - the best composters ever!

Squashes planted, there was time to check on how the rest of the garden is doing.

A forest of tomato seedlings in the potting shed

Snow peas sprouting at the base of the zig zag fence, lettuces, mescalun

The garlic is right on schedule.

Asparagus is up - start the water boiling!