Gardening, travel expenses

Since there was very little I could do on the apartment I chose to spend the day Saturday working in the garden. Mama, Victoria and I got three rows of vegetables planted as well as finishing out two of the first rows Grandpa and Mama planted. Mama finished one of the unfinished rows with onions (Texas Super Sweet) and I finished another row with beets.

An older lady we know in Bowie wanted us to plant beets so she can can them. She has very limited space in her yard and we have an abundance of it at the farm. She has also asked for okra – which I will be happy to provide. We also planted a second row of peas as well as a row of Swill chard and spinach. We have made plans to plant a full row of bulbs to delineate the orchard from the garden; since they are within the same fenced area and will plant a row of flowers in the center f the garden.

This garden is not for the faint of heart. It is sixty feet by one hundred feet; actually sixty foru feet by one hundred and seven feet. The smaller dimensions represent the plant-able space. Which, by my math, equals thirty rows spaced three feet apart (so we can use the tiller for weed control) and sixty feet in length. That will yield a lot of vegetables and fruit. So far we have five rows, sixty feet in length or roughly three hundred feet of vegetables. That is if everything grows as it should.

I also built two cold frames. That is the proper name for what I have been calling hot boxes. We are planning on using them to start pepper and tomato plants. That effort should begin in the middle of the month. Based on information we have gleaned from listening to Neal Sperry – a local gardening expert – we are trying to do the starter plants again. We have failed miserably in the past. Maybe we will do better informed this year.

We also learned in the few minutes we listened on Sunday as we drove to church, that I will never be able to grow cherry trees in this area. The oscillation between hot and cold here starts the cherry tree pushing sap into the braches weeks before it should causing it to freeze and die when the weather turns cold enough. There were ways offered to keep this from happening, but one missed warm day and the next freeze will kill the tree. Oh, well.

We also learned that the peaches we are looking for to plant in this area are those requiring 750 to 800 chilling hours. Each variety of tree produces an enzyme that inhibits the plant from blooming too early. This chemical is spent out slowly and degenerated by each hour below the chilling temperature – normally calculated to be 40-45 degrees. If you try to grow a fruit tree that needs 1000 hours it would not bloom until several months later than required to set and ripen fruit. One that needs only 200 chilling hours would bloom too early and be killed off by the frost. Isn’t God clever?

Mama and I drove over to Borger this morning. I always enjoy having her with me but it always costs me far more to have her with me. I have made two trips over to Borger/Amarillo without her so it was far past time for her to come. She has a lot of visiting to do as well as some shopping to catch up on. People used to say, two can live a cheaply as one.

I have found that does not apply when I am with Mama.