Natural Science Forum / Biology / Botany / June 2009

Well, the good news is that I am finished for this season with
the transplanting of crowded out and shaded out plants such
as asparagus, rhubarb, lillies, tulips, peonies and some
black-walnuts.

So now on to the next projects-- grass mowing and watering
and wood cleanup.

But this is the first year that I have experienced a drought
right in the middle of Springtime. The past 5 years all have all
dry years but that was concentrated in July and August. This
year it is starting in May and we are 8 cm behind in rain (3 inches).
Our average yearly total is 66 cm of rainfall (26 inches).

This is the year for me to ALTERNATE as a new method of
coping with work projects. By alternating, I mean that last year
I canned 350 quart jars of fruit and managed to only eat 100
so far and in a month can begin eating strawberries and juneberries
and cherries. So what I plan to do is eat Fresh this season, and
do little to no canning.

Also, in alternating, I plan to leave the strawberries in the ground
for this season, and next season dig them up and put in huge
3 gallon pots for the entire season and then come late Autumn
put back into a cold frame. So as to alternate the strawberries
between ground and pots.

I find this alternation as a easy way to manage the work
schedule better.

Now for years I have been plagued by asparagus drooping down
to the ground and getting in the way of mowing. This year I
plant to tomato cage the asparagus before it crowns out
and thus the tomato cage keeps them upright in the wind.

And as for watermelon and cucumbers with their carpeting of the ground
and
interfering with mowing or weeding. Here I plan to use some
old used sheet metal roofing and surround a row of watermelon
on both sides so the runners run on top of the sheet metal.

Every year should be an improvement over last year.

Archimedes Plutonium
www.iw.net/~a_plutonium
whole entire Universe is just one big atom
where dots of the electron-dot-cloud are galaxies