It's 82 degrees outside, I'm wearin' my tie-dyed t-shirt, a pair of cutoffs and some funky sneakers and putting in more tomatoes while trying to figure out how to grow potatoes correctly.
If you're stuck in snow on the east coast, I'm thinking of you. Really. Today is a short list of things to do: run to Home Depot and grab a couple of healthy brandywine tomato vines, plant the suckers, then check my window sill Greene houses to see how the herbs, watermelons and Havana tobacco is doing.
Last year my gardens were attacked by wave upon wave of horned tomato worms. And, yes, I know they're not really worms but a moth caterpillar. I also know-- based on family lore, that tobacco plants make a good barrier against insect infestation. So in January, armed with that knowledge, I bought some Havana and Argentinian tobacco seed. What I didn't know is that native nicotine seeds are the shape and consistently of snuff. SO, bent over my little plant incubators, the fine seed exposed, I sneezed. Good Bye to about $5 worth of seed. Apparently enough the seed was blown into the planters for a few specs to germinate. "Hmmmmmmm" i wondered, "I betcha eBay has some tobacco growers offering seed." Yup they did. So I ordered a couple of tenth grams of Havana seeds and patiently waited for a mail package from the good folks at the Catalpa Tree Company in New Jersey.
The packet arrived within five days of the transaction and whoa, was I happy. The seeds had been pelletized so I grabbed my tweezers and droped the pellets into my starters. Eight days later about 80 percent of the seeds have germinated and today is "remove the lid from the germinator day" Depending on how much growth I get in the next six days, next weekend they go into my pioneer garden about five feet from the tomatoes.
If you've never seen Havana tobacco plants in full bloom go to the Internet and look at pictures. They hit six to eight feet in height and produce very nice looking flowers. In the back of my mind, I have a mental image of me in my straw panama hat, about six inches of home made cigar stuck in my mouth walking through tall rows. Oh one of the things I know how to do is make and roll my own cigars. In a different age I could roll one handed, but that wasn't exactly tobacco and I don't do that anymore.
Oh wow, man, back to the garden My seedlings in the upper kitchen garden are zooming right up. I've got bush beans, lettuce and radishes that could end up the size of Neptune out there as well as potatoes that I'm sure are planted incorrectly. Thanks, Chris Shipley, for telling me potatoes need to be planted "green side up."
The things you learn from the red headed daughter of a Methodist preacher.
My other goal this year is to grow decent-sized melons. It's something of a quest for me and I've failed miserably every time I've tried to grow a seedless watermelon. My "all time" best watermelon was a two-pounder i inadvertently grew last year underneath a very bushy beefsteak tomato plant.
That's about it it in the garden today. I've got a decent start on my tan, the tractor "Bambi" Deere is fueled. it's blades have been sharpened, Gloria The Queen Mother Gopher lies resting in her funerary mound next to my garden, and as soon as I get back down the hill and finish my weeding, I may take a nap with my dog "Perro." If I feel really industrious I may change the oil in my ATV, put in a new spark plug and adjust its valves. Or, I just may nap..
Hmmmmmmmmm, choices.
And that's life from the slow lane of a driveway to a mountain top here in rural northern San Diego County.
Comments