The Plant Lady

Divided some clumps of Maximillian Sunflowers to give to friends. They spread pretty readily and could definitely challenge the vegetables that I want to grow where they are at. I will have to keep up on them as my Squash & melons develop.

Almost done turning under the future tomato bed. The Honda FG110 cultivator that we bought last week does a fantastic job, but it does get a little bound up with the longer clover stems. I think i should have whacked them back before they got so tall. They are very fibrous. It did great in the areas i had whacked down better.

Planted my winter squash (12 varieties) and melon (12 varieties) seeds today. Gave them all about 2 feet of room, 4 seeds per hole. I will thin to two.

Got on top of the Chamomile, which is growing like weeds everywhere. if it would stay low, it would be nice in the pathways, but it's only interested in getting tall & flowering. Need to plant something very low-growing and creeping in between the pathway stones. mint? thyme? 

Pond project is back in progress. holes are drilled through the earthen walls of the two pond pools. Now we have to order bulkheads & the liner.

Compost pile is doing okay, but there's too much rock getting mixed in because the area isn't clear enough, and it's too close to the fence, so rocks are getting kicked into it. I think we are going to try trench composting - now that we have a cultivator.

Here's what our tadpoles look like now:

 The new eggs out in the garden pond haven't hatched yet...they should be hatching any day now. 

CK & I bought a roto-tiller today:

It works awesome!!! way better than turning the soil under with a shovel. My back was killing me! It still gives me a workout, though. :) 

there are some people that don't agree with turning the soil; that it ruins the natural matrix formed by the soil particles & creatures. But it also is the best way to disturb developing pests. and the plants just seem to thrive more in well-draining, loose soil!