July 30, 2011

VEG: Hot, hot, hot

written by Yvonne

It's hot outside. Very, very hot. Last weekend we started our outdoor stuff as early as we could and braved the heat to get some things done in the garden. Overall we've been somewhat disappointed with our summer garden so far. We just haven't had the success we did last year and are lacking some summer staples like tomatoes, herbs, hot peppers, and such. Aside from squash and cucumbers we have managed to grow one thing well; weeds. I worked on papering and pine needling the bit of ground on the side of the house we tilled up in spring, while Tom (and Olive) worked on the vegetable beds. This was the bed that housed the squash, green beans, and dill. We'd already pulled out the beans and squash so Tom set down a layer of newspaper...


and topped it with pine needles.  The newspaper will snuff out the weeds and the pine needles will be a nice mulch around our fall plants.


He did the same with the okra and tomato bed.


After sweating at least a rain barrel's worth of sweat, we moved inside to cool off. Last Christmas I gave Tom a device to use to make our own peat pots out of newspaper. Here's how it works.

Cut strips of paper 3"x10" long. Wrap three strip of paper around the wooden press.


Keep wrapping until the strips are fully around the press.


Fold the ends of the paper against the bottom of the press.


Mash the press into the form.


The form pushes the paper together so that it holds.


Newspaper pots!
Next post?  We'll see if these things actually work.

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