The concrete crew was really great. They were careful with all the sprinklers, trees, and plants. Of course, there were a few casualties. We lost a hill of cucumbers, but I think we’re still going to have way more than we can handle. We also lost some pumpkins, but again, I’m sure we’ll have many more than we know how to use.

We’ve been talking about getting a deck and a patio since we moved in to this house almost 2 years ago. Well, those plans took a quick turn this week. We figured this was a good time to do some of this work. With the construction industry on a down cycle, we hoped to find someone that really needed some work. After the first bid came in, we realized that the construction industry in Utah isn’t as desperate as we had hoped. The first few bids were coming in a little higher than we thought, so we asked our friend Brett if we were way off base in our expectations. Brett made a phone call to check the prices of a few things, such as a concrete pump, and the next thing you know, we’ve got a crew pouring a patio less than 48 hours later.

We started the long process of pulling weeds this week. The garden area is starting to look pretty good, but the outlying areas are still out of control. We did manage to weed around most the squash and pumpkin hills, but it wasn’t until after I took the pictures this week.

Rob and Amber are in town from Oklahoma. They helped us weed the front of the garden and plant a couple rows of potatoes. We had no idea what we were doing, so it’ll be interesting to see if any of them actually grow and produce any potatoes.

Charmaine mixed up some Miracle Grow and poured it on several of the plants. Most of the plants started growing like crazy after that, but some decided to give up and die… sometimes a single pumpkin hill would have an example of each… one plant decided to grow like crazy and another decided to die. I decided to increase the amount of water each station was getting, thinking that the combination of the fertilizer and hot sun was what killed some of them. We should know if it’s helping by next week.

As the posts are starting to pile up, it’s becoming obvious that the way I was inserting pictures before was painful to the reader. I’ve gone to a gallery style with this post. That should make it easier to see what you want to see without being forced to scroll a mile to see the next post. Let me know if this new way is any better for you.

It’s hard to believe this garden has been in the ground for a month now. The weeds are taking over the garden and the plants don’t seem to want to grow. It’s pretty frustrating. I think it’s time we pull some weeds, fertilize, and start thinning some of the radish, carrot, turnip, and leek rows.

We keep talking about planting peas and potatoes, but we haven’t gotten around to either of those yet. Maybe we’ll do the potatoes when we start weeding this week? Time will tell.

Weedy Garden – June 12, 2008

Black Manuka – June 12, 2008
One of the bright spots this week is the addition of 3 grape plants along the back fence. Charmaine picked up 3 different kinds, but I only remember the name of this one… the Black Manuka.

Corn Row 1 – June 12, 2008
The first row of corn continues to do well, but you can see the weeds are doing even better

Radishes – June 12, 2008
It’s obvious now that I planted about 80 feet of radishes in about 6 feet of space

Turnips – June 12, 2008
The turnips need to be thinned as well

Beets – June 12, 2008
The beets need to be thinned as well

Carrots – June 12, 2008
The weeds are getting so big and so numerous that it’s hard to tell there are any carrots here at all

Cucumbers – June 12, 2008
The row of cucumbers is doing nicely. The grass clippings along side it seem to be keeping the weeds at bay.

Peppers and Brussels Sprouts – June 12, 2008
The peppers and Brussels sprouts starts made it through the wind and the cold

Green Onions – June 12, 2008
The two small rows of green onions at the front of the garden are doing well

Pumpkin Hills – June 12, 2008
The seven hills of pumpkins, which were planted earlier than anything else in the entire garden, are still failing to impress me, but I’m not giving up on them just yet.

Blackberry – June 12, 2008
We may not have a way to water the blackberry bush, and it may be tiny for a few more years, but it looks like we’ll get at least a couple berries this year anyway.