Garden Growth–20th April, 2019

The rains did come in various waves, and the rain barrel filled completely, so it was easy to fill one jug between the rains.  Temperatures hit higher than expected to just above 70°F.  Did more inside than out today.

• Watered the seedlings, and I need to thin the cilantro in the herb grow kit as they seem to be crowding each other to death.  Of the 28 (I think?) I had transplanted, none have survived.  I’m not sure why other than that room may have been too cold for even those chill loving plants.
• The potatoes are growing like crazy.  Two are now over a foot tall–one has two stems at 16″, and another just broke 13″ today.  There are still two or three that have not broken above soil level, and may never.  I read up on potatoes today, and in particular about how some use up to a foot of straw on them to try to keep them cooler when the hot summer suns come around.  Apparently too hot, and they stop growing below.  Also read about how some variants can still develop potato seed (pods?) that look like a “green cherry tomato” that will have on average 100 seeds inside, but the seeds are considered weaker than using eye seeders, as the (pod) seeds rarely produce new potatoes, partly because that trait has been bred out of them, hence the weakness.
• Took out kitchen scraps, realized the compost bin may be just a bit too close to the property line to leave room for both a walkway along it as well as space for the hedgerow we hope to make.  We discussed it, and I’m thinking moving the fence frame of the bin a foot further away from the property line may be enough.  I need to pull up notes on average width hedges to get an idea of how far off I might be.
• I did test out the new gloves today on a young blackberry cane that had traveled quite a ways to start taking root, and pulled it out of the ground and looped it among brush with no piercing of any kind.  Older canes might not go so well, but I’m satisfied with this for now.
• We did a quick walk around where I only collected a few bits of brush, before we used some of the doghouse wood to mark out where we hope to build a better grape arbor.
• We also discussed the idea of planting some catnip in hanging pots, as I’d read it can attract ladybugs and having them higher up might help them not get squished by cats.
• Scanned the plot of our land so I could enlarge the rear yard portion to print out.  This scale will make it easier to layout this year’s plans for this rear yard, in particular the kitchen garden areas, which we’ll work on this upcoming week.
• Still trying to ID what the tree/shrub with the catkins is, which are now starting to leaf out.