Infrastructure Archives : Page 13 of 17 : Cast Iron Garden

July 17, 2021July 17, 2021

Chosen!! A tale of bumbling

I am very honored to announce I have received one of the highest endorsements of my garden I can think of: we have a bumblebee nest!

They are in the wren house, in the abandoned nesting material.

They look so much less round here than when out pollinating flowers, so much so that I tried to get closer for a confirmation photo.

So! That last picture, the bumblebee flying? Yes, well, I have found their limit is about a meter or so. Keep scrolling to see three of my four stings and one unlucky bumblebee that clung to me into the house and got squished in a panic, sadly. Content warning if you keep scrolling down: squished bee, reddish stings, puffy knuckle. No blood.

Briar was interested in an ice cube abandoned after Wes got out the more useful bag of frozen peas n carrots for me. **Last chance to turn back from sad bee and sting pics!!!!**

Right arm sting. This was the unlucky and persistent bee we squished in house. I feel bad about that.

We kept the dead bee for identification. Tentative identification by several people is American Bumblebee, *Bombus pennsylvanicus*.

Another above shot. Pattern of yellow and black seems to be how they are identified.

This morning my two arm and one neck stings not too bad. Last night the arm ones hurt when bounced (ie when I took dog on her bike ride) and the knuckle hurt to flex. This morning the ring finger knuckle is very puffy and definitely hurts more to flex.

Note how the affected knuckle doesn’t wrinkle up like all the others.

Unaffected left ring knuckle for comparison.

We’ve been walking by here all summer with no problems, but I decided to put a chair out for safety for now. Finger pointing at bees.

You can see it’s on the way to the door to the garage. I think it should bee fine but for a few days at least I am going to go around!

June 26, 2021June 26, 2021

Rainbow garden ready for rain

The marigolds for yellow have started to sprout!

This picture shows a broader view of the zinnias.

Break time in the backyard. Fun native grass.

I like the yellow near the middle of this red moss rose.

Alright back to rainbow garden! These are the recently arrived plants in the clever box. They even put finger holds to help you get the pots out without dumping them out!

In the front, two pineapple sage and ‘Jacob Kline’ beebalm, all red.

Looking the other way from purple. Here I added three ‘Diane’ purple *Salvia greggii*.

Once I got the plants in, I worked on the back trapezoidal bed. I got the general shape of it and the forecast rain over the next few days should let me get it smoother afterwards.

June 22, 2021June 23, 2021

Assorted day off activities and observations

Several strawberry runners took root so I snipped the runners.

I set out a tray of dirt to try to capture more strawberry runners.

The Chef helped me cut down the yaupon holly that was planted in a bad spot. It kept hitting the garage roof and gutter. Nine of ten water barrels are now in place for use!

Dinner… I made it this time. It includes a few of the new tomatoes (as well as a store tomato) and fresh garden basil and oregano.

Drying coriander (the cilantro seeds) for later harvest!

June 16, 2021June 16, 2021

Progress on new beds

Excess dirt from our new geothermal HVAC installation is becoming a series of raised beds. I am shaping them for 20-50 min each evening while trying not to overheat.

In the previous photo you might have noticed the dwarf peach tree’s support stick. The tree was very unhappy in its temporary bucket so I prioritized its island and planted it this evening.

A parent robin was stocking up on food in the freshly moved dirt. I know it was a parent because it kept adding food instead of eating it immediately.

June 9, 2021June 9, 2021

Little things growing

Some of tepary beans have started to climb!

*Salvia coccinea* seedlings emerge in an earwig-free environment.

Likewise, maybe the baby basil will have more luck away from earwigs.

June 5, 2021June 5, 2021

Harvesting onions and hilling potatoes

Briar smiles over the bounty. The Chef is going to chop and dehydrate the stems/leaves for green onions. About 1.6 kg of green onion from both varieties.

Put the last tub of city compost on the potatoes to “hill” them so they put out more roots. All the bags are fully opened up now.

May 10, 2021May 10, 2021

Basil and oregano pizza

Basil on top of cheese and oregano is hiding below cheese. Salad is the big Boston lettuce that is heading right now.

Basil outside hasn’t come up yet so I’m still nursing along the window basil. I’m hoping this harvesting will encourage them to get bushier and more leaves. The red rubin in particular are spindly. The mammolo basil (the green ones) have bigger leaves but not very many.

May 7, 2021May 7, 2021

BEAN CENTRAL HERE WE COME

A very kind friend came over this evening and helped us attach a 100 ft roll of welded steel fence to our new wooden backyard fence. Now all I have to do is clear more of the non-bean plants near the fence base, and wait a few weeks for the soil to warm up sufficiently for tepary beans. I might start some runner beans in the shadier areas so they stay cool longer.

April 23, 2021April 23, 2021

Suspense

Did the tender plants (tomatoes, peppers, ground cherries, potatoes, and runner beans) make it yesterday??? Tuesday night into Wednesday morning it got down to 29F in Norman, apparently a new record low (the previous being 30F in 1918. SEE WHO WEATHERED THE WEATHER!!

Tommy toe tomato did not make it. Note how the leaves are a darker, mushy/soft green and drooping. Goner.

Both of my new tomato varieties, supposed to be better for canning, died. One was the Amish paste (not pictured), which I have more of in pots. The other was Hungarian heart tomato (pictured). I have planted some more seeds and put them in the warm plant window to sprout. The culprit is pictured on the left… oatmeal container cardboard does not insulate enough. I thought it would be nicer since they’re tall and big, but apparently you need more, like the air trapped in corrugated cardboard. All the survivors were under towels, glass jars, plastic jars, plastic pots with newspapers, cardboard boxes, or even leaves-as-mulch (one Peruvian ground cherry in the backyard). A few branches got frosted but they can be trimmed off.

One branch of this potato died when the box top fell in (I had set another bag of potatoes on top). But the rest of the plants were fine. An example of corrugated cardboard doing its insulation job. I was surprised that an uncovered potato in a raised bed did not completely die of frost. Only a branch or two was dead.

Three casualties of a late frost, and all due to poor choices of insulation (which I now know to avoid), are really not bad. I’m pretty pleased.

April 7, 2021April 7, 2021

Another night, another earwig

I put petroleum jelly around the bases of the four test plants. I took pictures of two. I also covered the Brunswick cabbage again with a jar since it got eaten a lot last night when uncovered.