My Labor Day Project

Labor Day 2013

As the days were getting cooler, I had planned to re-arrange the raspberries in my yard.  Since I didn’t have a good harvest for a few years, I decided to replant the whole patch.  My plants are all summer-bearing raspberries.  As the rest of my garden is in raised beds, I started to build boxes for the raspberries as well. 

Spring 2011

 

Here are the instructions which I followed:

 

Two boxes were done in the spring.  When I filled the boxes, I used topsoil, fertilizer 10-10-10, Acidifier for soil, some peat moss, and compost from my garden. 
The two rows on the left were the spring-planted, and they showed a little better yield than the other side (right row).  When I replanted the right side this fall, I cut the canes back to about 12-15 inches, with just a few leaves remaining on the canes.  I discarded all the old canes (brown and woodsy), and any plant which looked meek. 

With all the work, I hope that next year’s harvest will be plentiful again.

The Mystery of the Meager Raspberry Harvest

Some years ago I brought home three raspberry plants from our relatives in Minnesota.  They are spring bearing plants.  Over the years they multiplied and I have 2 twelve feet rows now.  I take good care of my raspberry plants, fertilize them in the spring with alfalfa meal, cut out the spend canes (they are usually brown and woody), and loosen up the soil.  For the past years, during June and early July, I had a bumper crop of filling up tray after tray for many days, enough to make delicious jam, freeze some for Jello and eat some with my breakfast cereal.

This year, after making all the same preparations, I harvested for the most part, maybe 10 berries on some days. What happened?
We had a lot of rain during the spring season here in South West Ohio.  Could that be the problem?  Then I heard a report on TV about the disappearing honey bees. I do all my gardening with organic fertilizer (I read that organic farms are not plagued with honeybees disappearing).

It seems that honeybees have been disappearing nationwide.  That maybe o.k. for my amateur garden project, but what about the fields of farmers who are providing our food supply?  I did some research on that and found that it is a dilemma which may threaten our food supplies in general.

Honeybees and other insects are important not just for the sweet honey but for pollination of all the fruits trees, bushes and vegetables.

Even scientists are puzzled by this phenomena.  The discussion goes from global warming, increased usage of pesticides, cell phone usage  (increase of electrical disturbances), to general collapsing of bee colonies.

For those of us living in cities and suburbs the disappearance of honeybees maybe good news, especially  for parents of children worrying about getting stung by a bee.  But it is a  real concern for the farmers who supply our foods.

From the vanishing bees website:



Have you ever thought about what bees do for us?  By flying from flower to flower they gather nectar and pollen.  One bee only produces very little honey in her lifetime.  That’s why they live in colonies, their power is in the numbers.  The greater importance than producing the sweet honey is their function of pollination.  By flying form plant to plant they are touching the stamen and the pistil and pollination takes place.  For plants which are not self-pollinating, this is crucial for producing fruits and therefore new life.

I am crossing my fingers that next year I will have a better harvest.  I saw some bees buzzing over the cleome flowers which always self-seed themselves.  That gives me hope for the next season.

Labor Day Project

Fall 2008









I had plans for this landscaping project for a while. Last year I was health-wise unable do it. In the spring I missed the planting season. When the end of summer came along (at least by the calendar in September), I knew it was the right time.

I had hoped that my son could help with this work, but he had to work that weekend. I started to move some soil on Thursday and then again on Friday. By Saturday morning I was in full swing. Because I wanted to sift the soil to find the hidden bulbs of tulips, daffodils, crocus, hyacinths, etc. it became a big job to move the soil. It was also hot and became hotter as the day went on. Many times during the whole project I thought of just stopping and doing it “some other time.” I had a certain picture in my mind and I also looked at the neighbor’s front yard and how pretty it looked, and I just couldn’t stop. So, I just took some breaks and continued.

Every once in a while my husband (he has a physical condition which does not allow him to do such kind of work) came out and encouraged me. He also helped me fix my sifter. After I bought a new piece of hardware cloth from the hardware store, he helped me put it back on the old frame.

By Sunday morning I could see the end of the groundcover go to my compost pile. We had to make several trips to Home Depot to purchase the bricks, since we have just a regular car and could only get 20 at a time. I had calculated 50 or so. Well, we ended up needing 82, since there is such a slope and we needed 4 layers on top of each other at the lower side.

The moral of the story is that we need perseverance to finish any project and be willing to encounter any setback as a stepping stone. Because of my determination and commitment to get this project done, I found energy and strength within myself which surprised me.

I am very pleased with the end result after I planted some hardy plants for now and a lot of blooming bulbs for next spring. I am looking forward to see the daffodils and crocus bloom next year.









Spring 2009








I hope that in the years to come I can add bulbs in the Fall and it will fill out more. (4-16-09)