So as we move into the second week of July, things are gradually starting to look a little bit more ” vegetable like” in the giornaledibarganews vegetable garden. The tomato plants and now all coming up to shoulder height and starting to show a few greentomatoes hidden in the foliage.
The secret weapon which we used last month, the rabbit droppings seem to be doing their stuff. It was only administered to one row of the plants, the other row acting as control and there does seem to be a slight difference in the amount of foliage between the two rows, but not so very scientific experiment really as it could just be that the row facing the sun has grown more. More rigid controls will have to be done before we can say that the rabbit droppings have actually made that much different from the moment we’re quite happy thinking that it has
The maize plants are also doing well – these too now coming up to shoulder height but they will need daily watering to keep on growing at that rate.
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…..and there lies the problem – the stream which runs by the side of the field has gradually this month become just a mere trickle.
Water or rather the absence of water, is just about to become the most important talking point amongst those who have anything to do with agriculture in this area.
First it was torrential rain that held everything up – making planting seeds at least a month or even six weeks later than normal. Now have to deal with the complete opposite.
Does it look as though it is going to rain ?
Not any time soon would be the quick answer to that.
On the positive side, the potato plants are now looking firm, strong and flowering and for the moment little sign of those hungry porcupines. It would seem that the electric fence is holding up and doing its job.
On the negative side, apart from the obvious lack of water, the main problem at the moment are the flies and biting insects which appear as if by magic every time the water hose comes out making life quite miserable.
So many of them you can’t help but end up breathing them in.
Long sleeve shirts and trousers tucked in socks keeps the bulk of them at bay but unprotected ears are viciously penalised.
This morning bright red and puffy ears made me look as though I had just gone two rounds with Mike Tyson …. damn those insects.
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