This MG course is addicting

I always seem to head straight to Lowe's after class to get more plants for the gardens. Today I spent over $103 on MORE young peppers (not the sweet bell kind, but hotter ones grown for salsa and chile!) and some bee balm, coneflowers, and four bags of soil.

Kevin agreed to help with the container construction, and we also agreed on getting 4x4 boxes that would make gardening easier rather than using long rows. I have a list of close to 20 vegetables I plan on trying out, from the usual beans, tomatoes, peppers and peas that are already growing in small boxes, to lettuce, spinach, cabbage, beets and squash for the latter months. The west end of the back yard will be utilized for the garden, still allowing the dogs their run area, but allowing the plants some shade from the tall hedge shrubs along the west fence. Our summers are too hot for the plants to survive without some afternoon shade.

Today we talked about garden pests. Mel, the woman I worked with last Earth Day, brought in a few pests for us to identify. Next week we talk fruit and nut trees.

My fruit trees aren't looking too good right now. The Santa Rose plum looks like it's dying from the top down. None of the trees remaining in the back yard have sprouted new branches this year except my apricot.