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bluesgardenSo I'm currently down with a strained Achilles tendon. I strained it last Monday, managed to run on Wednesday, and haven't been able to since. This is part of what was making me so cranky at the end of last week, particularly after I planted some containers on Thursday and ended up hurting all over as well as limping around. I tried running on Saturday and, quite literally, couldn't make even one stride, so I've accepted that I just have to let it heal and then play catch-up.
By 'letting it heal' I meant 'no running', but today I'm in bed thanks to a trip to the grocery store and a very hot afternoon of cooking yesterday. I'm quite used to my feet hurting in the summer time, regardless of my footwear - my legs/feet and standing have always been a problem - and I'd already limped all around the grocery store, but by the time I was halfway through what I planned on cooking/baking, I realized that everything was hurting more than usual and my ankle had swollen up. This probably didn't aid the healing process. Whoops? By then it was 9pm and the other things could wait, so I threw in the towel, showered, and crawled into bed with an ice pack, co-opting D's two pillows to prop up my ankle.
Another item entry in Blue's Cranky Week was discovering that my tomato plants had contracted a virus, thanks to the excessively wet spring and apparently brought in by the tomato plant I didn't mean to buy. Long story short, I wasn't entirely sure, at first, what the problem was and so delayed treatment until Sunday. I was hoping it was fish fertilizer left on the leaves and possibly burning them a bit (it looked like sunburnt leaves more than anything) but thought that if it were a virus, then they were goners. They're really beautiful plants this year, and the potential loss was considerably more heartbreaking than losing twice as many to drowning last year.
Sunday, I finally realized that it could well be a fungus, not a virus, and that it could potentially be treated with copper fungicide along with removing the infected parts of each plant (with sterilization procedures between each one, to avoid spreading it). So I broke out the supplies and set about trying to salvage things. They're now considerably less bushy, consisting mainly of a few branches at the top and a sturdy stem, but they seem to be holding their own. I'll cover what I did in more detail in another post, but I'm cautiously optimistic.
RAIN OMG. The truth is, we're not accustomed to this level of rain in spring, but considering it's been two years running, I'm thinking that we in this area had better be learning right quick. I have quite a few containers planted at this point, and the ones with new seeds are sheltered from the downpours, meaning I have to water them, but the small seeds aren't getting washed out. Tomatoes and other plants obviously need to be protected from giving diseases any opening by being careful to water at the base of the plants rather than tipping the watering can over the top of the leaves and by ensuring adequate air flow. Copper fungicide (approved for organic use, btw) may also become a more common preventative around here. Raised beds will help - by not having to till next year, in theory, and by slowly building up the garden beds, they'll be less subject to high water levels and it should allow me to plant things earlier.
I'm not sure the sunflowers are going to make it, but they're hanging in there. They should have been set out at least 2 weeks ago, but they don't have a area around the pups pen even prepared yet thanks to the rains. We'll see. If nothing else, then it's a loss, but the bed will be ready for next year, possibly a raised bed with sides even; D does have a lot of scrap lumber down at his mom's right now. D also has a long, wooden, relatively shallow, v-shaped trough, also down at his mother's, that may be made off with for herbs. The seed potatoes continue to hang out in the living room and the sweet potato slips are largely doing okay in their jars of water. There have been a few losses in the slips, but most of them are healthy and even putting on a few new leaves. The peas haven't produced any pods yet, but they're pretty lush, and the greens are doing well. I harvested radishes (and their greens), as well as some spinach, Red choi, and Da Cheong Chae last week, although they're still in the fridge crisper! I have a couple of recipes to try the choi leaves in (stir-frys - stir-fries? - essentially), but it's been so bloody hot that I just haven't done so yet.
Speaking of containers, the sheltered ones have more Asian greens starting (which germinated in 2 days!) as well as some lettuce. They also have transplants of kale, chard, cabbage, and kohlrabi. Inside there are more transplants of all the previous except the cabbage, just in need of a container to live in. *starts eyeballing anything that will hold dirt and drain water*
So that's the catch-up, pictures forthcoming after I edit, crop, and upload them. Right this minute, though, I feel a nap coming on. :)
By 'letting it heal' I meant 'no running', but today I'm in bed thanks to a trip to the grocery store and a very hot afternoon of cooking yesterday. I'm quite used to my feet hurting in the summer time, regardless of my footwear - my legs/feet and standing have always been a problem - and I'd already limped all around the grocery store, but by the time I was halfway through what I planned on cooking/baking, I realized that everything was hurting more than usual and my ankle had swollen up. This probably didn't aid the healing process. Whoops? By then it was 9pm and the other things could wait, so I threw in the towel, showered, and crawled into bed with an ice pack, co-opting D's two pillows to prop up my ankle.
Another item entry in Blue's Cranky Week was discovering that my tomato plants had contracted a virus, thanks to the excessively wet spring and apparently brought in by the tomato plant I didn't mean to buy. Long story short, I wasn't entirely sure, at first, what the problem was and so delayed treatment until Sunday. I was hoping it was fish fertilizer left on the leaves and possibly burning them a bit (it looked like sunburnt leaves more than anything) but thought that if it were a virus, then they were goners. They're really beautiful plants this year, and the potential loss was considerably more heartbreaking than losing twice as many to drowning last year.
Sunday, I finally realized that it could well be a fungus, not a virus, and that it could potentially be treated with copper fungicide along with removing the infected parts of each plant (with sterilization procedures between each one, to avoid spreading it). So I broke out the supplies and set about trying to salvage things. They're now considerably less bushy, consisting mainly of a few branches at the top and a sturdy stem, but they seem to be holding their own. I'll cover what I did in more detail in another post, but I'm cautiously optimistic.
RAIN OMG. The truth is, we're not accustomed to this level of rain in spring, but considering it's been two years running, I'm thinking that we in this area had better be learning right quick. I have quite a few containers planted at this point, and the ones with new seeds are sheltered from the downpours, meaning I have to water them, but the small seeds aren't getting washed out. Tomatoes and other plants obviously need to be protected from giving diseases any opening by being careful to water at the base of the plants rather than tipping the watering can over the top of the leaves and by ensuring adequate air flow. Copper fungicide (approved for organic use, btw) may also become a more common preventative around here. Raised beds will help - by not having to till next year, in theory, and by slowly building up the garden beds, they'll be less subject to high water levels and it should allow me to plant things earlier.
I'm not sure the sunflowers are going to make it, but they're hanging in there. They should have been set out at least 2 weeks ago, but they don't have a area around the pups pen even prepared yet thanks to the rains. We'll see. If nothing else, then it's a loss, but the bed will be ready for next year, possibly a raised bed with sides even; D does have a lot of scrap lumber down at his mom's right now. D also has a long, wooden, relatively shallow, v-shaped trough, also down at his mother's, that may be made off with for herbs. The seed potatoes continue to hang out in the living room and the sweet potato slips are largely doing okay in their jars of water. There have been a few losses in the slips, but most of them are healthy and even putting on a few new leaves. The peas haven't produced any pods yet, but they're pretty lush, and the greens are doing well. I harvested radishes (and their greens), as well as some spinach, Red choi, and Da Cheong Chae last week, although they're still in the fridge crisper! I have a couple of recipes to try the choi leaves in (stir-frys - stir-fries? - essentially), but it's been so bloody hot that I just haven't done so yet.
Speaking of containers, the sheltered ones have more Asian greens starting (which germinated in 2 days!) as well as some lettuce. They also have transplants of kale, chard, cabbage, and kohlrabi. Inside there are more transplants of all the previous except the cabbage, just in need of a container to live in. *starts eyeballing anything that will hold dirt and drain water*
So that's the catch-up, pictures forthcoming after I edit, crop, and upload them. Right this minute, though, I feel a nap coming on. :)
