This is a maintenance log by resident. Updated as needed. Weekend of June 18-19 planning on applying Neptune’s Harvest fertilizer and doing minor cleanup. Will plant potato left on garden as two plants in empty spaces.
May 21, 2022
This was Herb Day where we unpotted the carefully placed plants and put them in the ground.
June 18, 2022
Cleanup herbs and apply Neptune’s Harvest liquid fish fertilizer. Rate of application was 1/4 cup well shaken fertilizer to 2 gallons of water in sprinkling can. Each quadrant receives one of these for a total of four sprinkling cans for the entire garden.
June 25, 2022
Applied liquid fertilizer as indicated in June 18th post. Sprinkler was running when applied. Rate of application was 1/4 cup to 2 1/2 gallons of water. Dill is still weak, potatoes have not sprouted yet. Will return Sunday for some trimming.
July 2, 2022
Potato update: This morning I went over to take a look and gather a little cilantro for breakfast. I was delighted to find that the two potato “spuds” I had planted a couple of weeks ago have sprouted. Most likely a child left the big russet potato in the garden hoping to make it grow. The soil over there has a lot of roots in it which may produce crazy shaped potatoes. Stay tuned best guess is end of August.
July 3, 2022
Applied liquid fertilizer at same rate as previous applications. Removed all dill plants as they were mature when purchased and did not root at all. Did some rearranging to reduce crowding and accomplish “fill in” of sparse spaces. Also started some dill and basil seeds with a seedling soil. Did some trimming of yellow leaves and shaping. Will return Fourth of July to trim and water in the dill and basil seeds planted today. The potatoes look great today! They do send up foliage quickly and go like crazy for about four weeks.
July 4, 2022
Returned to water-in seeds planted yesterday and transplants used to fill in spaces. It was great to see Luis this morning and share our progress with the herb garden.
July 9, 2022
Applied liquid fertilizer at 1/2 rate above. Performed some trim and clean up. Observed evidence of children running across corners over newly seeded areas. Not likely these will sprout. Observing what is being picked: basil, cilantro, parsley. Hearty plants: oregano, sage, thyme, mint. Next year suggestion is tarragon. Consider putting more popular plants near the edges. Want to learn more about the sunlight pattern over the season as well.
July 11, 2022
Communicated progress with Luis. Children issues reviewed and also our mutual amusement with the potato left on the garden by a child that I split into two plants that are growing beautifully now. Maybe early September there will be a harvest.
July 16, 2022
Applied liquid fertilizer at one half rate. This means 1/2 cup fertilizer to 5 gallons of water for the four quadrants. Did some trimming of flowers as some herbs have “bolted”. The potatoes look great can see some blossoms. The seeds for dill and basil planted in the corners did not work out because children kept walking over those spots.
For next year I would recommend removing pots and scoring roots and then doing the placement. Let the children dig the holes and place the prepared plant in the hole. Some evidence this year that this was not done and some plants did not get a good start and are not properly ” seated” in their space. (sitting too high relative to soil level.)
Will start to think about the mix of herbs for next year’s order. The number we had is fine for the coverage of the space. Maybe can get some more excitement going with additional herbs.
July 23, 2022
We are in a heat wave as temperatures have been hitting low to mid-nineties for several days. Good news is that lows are in the mid to upper seventies. Today I just watered and trimmed the herbs. “Bolting” particularly in cilantro has been ongoing for about ten days now. These small flowers are cut off to focus the energy of the plant in making leaves not seeds for next year. You have to keep up with it. Potatoes look great! I look forward to introducing Luis to the harvesting which would be early to mid-September.
It would be great if we could locate the child(ren) who left the potato on the garden which I split into two and planted.
July 31, 2022
Continuing to remove blossoms from cilantro and perform general trimming. Some herbs are thriving: sage, oregano, rosemary, mint. Some have been harvested: cilantro, parsley, basil. Will perform inventory by quadrant prior to removing (cilantro) that is no longer vibrant. Applied liquid fertilizer today at 1/4 strength to the slower less vigorous plantings. Suggestion for next year is to arrange plantings so that most popular herbs are at the edge and the hearty varieties are more on the inside. Another suggestion is to add Asian herbs (i.e. Indian, Chinese, Korean, Japanese) to add some interest and appeal. Can “ready to harvest” be advertised on the elevator monitors? Luis will be on vacation for two weeks beginning August 9th.
August 8, 2022
I met with Luis at the Herb Garden. The original cilantro is “done”. We communicated to Phil that we could use a dozen or so plants for second planting. I mentioned basil, cilantro, and flat leaf parsley. I sent an email to Phil volunteering to plant these in Luis’ absence and remove the spent ones. Will follow up with Phil end of week to see if I have a weekend project!
August 11, 2022
Phil called this morning. He has purchased twenty-four plants which I expect to get in over the weekend.
August 13, 2022
Second planting of twenty-four herb plants completed. Basil, cilantro, and flat leaf parsley. This was the perfect amount for replacements as some May planted herbs were “done”. Watered in and will return next day morning to water again. Updated Phil on progress.
August 20, 2022
The new plantings from a week ago are doing OK. Have watered them about four times since planting. This morning I found that the potato plants had been pulled since my last visit to the garden Friday noon while providing a tour of Brook House. Phil reports that the potatoes were removed and placed in pots. May get over to do some weeding Sunday AM.