11/9: it got windy and warm and blew all the newspaper mulch off the garlic bed. it's ll to the good though because then i could see that most of the garlic has healthy sprouts.

10/27: planted 3 close rows of garlic half way west to east along that prepared southern border. fertilized garlic and tulips with fish emulsion.

10/24: removed old plants from the southern 3rd of the garden and tilled it with a spade to get ready for the garlic. put cardboard along the weedy southern edge to get ready to expand there.

10/22: gave away some nice carrots. raked over the gravel triangle of the rear driveway and threw out the weeds. i want that part to become a big bright bushy wildflower type area and get some birds and bees up in here. put cardboard along the top of the wall to the patio. i want to do some espalier stuff over the steps and patio.

10/16: planted about 20 tulips at each end of the driveway and mulched. cardboard in the middle section where i didn't have enough mulch... planted about 20 tulips along the border between the back patio and the yard.

10/14: cut up and turned over the old driveway area with the spade. 27.5' x 3' will become a tulip bed. cut the grass. dug a rosemary plant to keep inside for the winter. removed some 10-foot-high tree-weeds from by the south fence. planted pastel tulips in the driveway portion on the side of the house. dug little 6" holes with the bulb planter, put in a pinch of bulb food, covered that thinly with soil, put in the bulb and crumbled in the rest of the soil. left the grass on top basically intact.

10/13: took the rest of the habaneros - a ton

10/8: tons of great beets. still getting some tomatoes but it's hard to get yellowing ones before they rot.

8/28: sprayed on the pest control from (recipies)

8/21: thinned the beets to 4" between plants

8/14: sprayed on the pest control from (recipies)
most likely contracted west nile virus. more than 30 mosquito bites and already exhibiting stupor.

8/10: sprayed on the feeding mix from (recipies)

8/7: many beets visible - wow

8/3: spread 6 50lb bags of sand on the extension area. roto-tilled the new space and the spaces where the carrots, squash and borage were.
planted two new rows of carrots, a row of beets and several brussel sprouts.
watered heavily and turned on the soaker hose for 45 min.
view the new garden layout

8/2: removed the rest of the dead borage
pulled the tomatoes west off of most of the basil and exposed the eastern edge of the current garden
spaded out 77 square feet of sod to prepare the eastern extension

7/24: dug the rest of the carrots - some were okie dokey / all smallish

7/18: dug out 4 tiny carrots - either they're not ready yet or the soil was not suitable for root crops. i'm looking into sand for the fall crops.
sprayed with pest control from (recipies)

7/17: removed squash plants - they were infected with and destroyed by Squash Vine Borer

7/15: watered early am

7/14: first tomato

7/10: sprayed on feeding mix from (recipies)

7/4: getting tons of squash an cucumbers

6/30: sprayed on pest control from (recipies)

several of the plants should have had more space. the squash needs 4 feet all around. same with the cucumbers. borage should be like 2 feet apart. the tomatoes are very big bushes that need another foot. the broccoli, despite not producing broccoli, are huge plants that could use another foot.

6/27: tied up the outrigger tomato branches - should have done that weeks ago...
the cucumber plant is sprawling like a suburb so i put in a cage and layed some of the more outrageous vines on top of if - hopefully they will grab it instead of the tomatoes, squash, carrots, rosemary, etc.
took another squash and some catnip for my cat-friends

6/21: it's very dry... watered at 7:30a
took the first squash this afternoon

6/19: sprayed on the feeding mixture from (recipies) - including fish emulsion

6/17: a roma tomato and a squash are visibly occuring

6/16: carefully can-watered everything at the base

the garden is very full like a jungle

6/14: sprayed with the pest control from (recipies) at 9:30pm
watered the compost

6/9: sprayed bt on everything
watered the compost thoroughly again

6/8: watered a thirsty garden except for habaneros which prefer hellfire sun and no hope of water
pulled the remaining concentrations of weeds by they roots
prepared 2 new beds at the ends of the old driveway - planted some wild flower seeds in one end and the leftover mint and catnip seeds in the other end
put a bunch of shredded newspapers on the compost and the sod from the new beds on top of that and watered profusely

6/7: planted the ivy in front again

6/5: dug up a ton of weeds and removed the extra broccoli plants

6/3: pinched off lots of basil to make pesto
watered a very dry garden

6/1: mom pinched off some basil and cilantro

5/31: thinned carrots to 2in between plants - did a couple transplants to the thinner areas
observed growth in the habaneros for the first time - it was hot and dry today

5/30: saw tons of little yellow butterflies and their eggs so i sprayed on more bt

5/29: bt has helped a lot - no new looper damage

5/26: identified an infestation of cabbage loopers in my broccoli
went and got some bt and a garden sprayer
will need a longer hose but i got it on

5/25: layed in grass clippings around tomatoes and broccoli
transplanted from the cache to replace a cutwormed broccoli
everything has been growing very quickly in the last couple warm, humid days

5/21: some more stuff got munched so i got some 3ft chicken wire aka "poultry mesh" and fenced off the back so it should be secure at least from white dogs and large, dumb rabbits
everything should be ok except maybe one broccoli that can be replaced from the cache
watered everything - no rain today or yesterday
retarded lawnboy weed-wacked my ivy

5/19: broke down and bought 4 kinds of rosemary, 3 kinds of mint, east indian lemon grass (don't it smell so sweet - may repel mosquitoes too)
planted + watered the new stuff and pulled a bunch of weeds

5/18: cucumbers, squash, carrots, borage all mostly visible
pulled some weeds
thinned the broccoli down to one plant at each site and the cache of spare's from the spilled seed bank
fish emulsion on everything

5/14: watered stuff since it was warm and dry today

another mini-tour showing broccoli, cilantro, peppers, tomatoes, basil, mint, a marigold and the nice puppy Shadow

5/11: planted borage in six spots - no rosemary on the south side - probably wouldn't come up anyway...

5/10: planted a couple ivy clippings in the front by the walk to try an cover my concrete front yard
finally planted the marigolds - 7 tiny little seedlings

5/8: pulled a ton of weeds and grass
replanted some of the stuff that hadn't come up the first time - that means rosemary, catnip, one cilantro site and the mint
i tasted a leaf of the cilantro that had sprouted - tastes like cilantro times 100 - very encouraging
planted the cucumbers and squash in neat hills per the instructions
planted carrots all along a row with a rosemary in the middle to control carrot flies

video of Booyaa Turtle making his/her way ... the only way he/she know how

5/7: i think all the transplants are now ok
pulled some weeds and found a turtle under the overhang on the patio
i think it's an alligator snapping turtle - should get to be around 150 pounds in 11-13 years - and generally a busta - could live to be 100 years old - might make a good watch dog

5/6: pulled tons of weeds around the yard to rebuild the compost heap
carefully transplanted 3 basil seedlings to where i wanted them.
broccoli transplants are thriving

5/5: replaced 2 tomato plants - other 2 are ok
pulled some weeds
put in a mint plant i got from a landscaping job
watered everything very well - it's real bright and 90 degrees and breezey

another mini-tour realvideo showing the rows of broccoli, row of peppers, tomato setup with animal damaged plants and cilantro sprouts

5/1: tomatoes lookin shabby - picked up some new plants from catholic urban programs
planted little habanero plants where the jalapenos are supposed to be cause i got the plants from catholic urban programs
some more weeds
fish emulsion on the habaneros
very carefully transplanted and watered some more broccoli seedlings where i want them out of the seed spill area - the first transplant attempts all fried in a day - i'm hoping these are more mature and being careful and watering right away + it's cloudy today so maybe they can grow roots before they get blasted

4/29: more weeds than ever - pulled for at least 90 min until the sun went down and i couldn't see them
some more limited tomato leaf nibbling - plastic covers back on

4/28: cilantro is visible
two tomato plants had their tops removed - i think dogs did it - luckily i had two more and planted them by the old ones
fish emulsion on the tomatoes

4/24: tons of weeds
installed 4 little tomato plants - it was very windy so I put on the plastic protectors until they get solidly in
the lawnmower man "helped me out" by removing my freaking compost heap
i'll kill him

4/19: the widespread, underground terrorist network of weeds and grass seems to have gotten a foot hold in the caves and valleys of the garden - they may have commandeered portions of the humanitarian fertilizer drops for their own use

4/18: weeded and watered

4/17: weeded and took grass out for like an hour
rearranged the broccoli seedings some more and removed the plastic tubes
watered everything

4/15: less weeding - finally
planted cilantro, catnip, north side rosemary
watered everything - fish emulsion on the new stuff as always
made a little video showing the whole plot, broccoli seedlings and plastic plant protectors

4/14: more weeding
the broccoli is up! some of the seeds had spilled and those were doing great so i distributed the strong ones amoung the weaker planting sites

4/13: weeded some more - still lots of grass and weeds left and peeking up
planted the basil and mint / watered with fish emulsion

4/10: Cleaned out all the remaining weeds and grass I could find
marked off the perimeter again with twine and stakes
planted broccoli seeds in place - cut the tops and bottoms off plastic drink containers to press in around the seeds
watered the broccoli with 1gal/1tbsp fish emulsion

4/6: Decided on a heap configuration for the outdoor compost for ease of construction
Raked everything smooth and removed tons of mulched grass and weeds
Moved the first load of rotting table scraps out and covered with sawdust and mulch
Watered the compost heap (10 gallons) and sprinkled the smooth, raked garden

4/4: Marked the 12x17 area with wood stakes and string
Sliced down through edges of the sod with a spade
Removed a 3x3 patch of sod for the carpenter (nw corner)
Removed the stakes and roto-tilled the garden with my parents' nice roto-tiller
A Robin and a Blue-jay stopped by to get some worms

4/1: Picked up some sawdust - I'm really starting to need an outdoor compost bin