Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Wind.

I think the "weather" i dislike the most is wind.  Especially this year.  Its constantly blowing and since i decided to try using plastic in the garden again this year, the wind is being a special pest.  Last season i used 5 mil plastic that was in a 10 foot wide roll. I rolled it out and cut it down the middle making strips the length of the garden and 5 feet wide.  My planting rows were about 3 feet wide that year so i had 2 extra feet of plastic to tuck in.  This year my hubby asked if i would make the rows wide enough to get the Mantis tiller through so weeds could be cleaned out before they became an issue. So this year i bought 4 mil plastic that was 6 feet wide so i could split it down the middle for 3 foot wide strips.  How i love the amnesia that comes with a long winter. Three feet is not wide enough to cover my rows and to reach the packed soil in the walking rows so i can pin it snugly down.  The edges end in the soft dirt.  This is very much appreciated by the wind.
I was pinning as much as i could keep down with bricks until i ran out of bricks.  Then i used a couple old wooden fence posts we kept around. Then i added the metal ones.  Now i have started filling old milk jugs with water. I had saved a bunch of them when i had planned a few wintersowing projects. At least saving them became useful. 
So now, i have the rows that have plastic and are planted pinned down... the wind is still highly annoying.  


At least the prune plum finally started blooming the other day.  
Not expecting a bumper crop but at least it should be something.