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April 09, 2002 - 8:27 p.m. On Lease? Nope, no way, never! But when it comes to the garden, I try to cheat any way I can. I have two examples for today�s entry. Cheat number 1:
What are these, you might ask? Well, someone might ask, anyway� This is the best way to cheat Mother Nature and beat your neighbors to harvesting the first ripe tomato every summer. The brand name for the product is �Wall-o-water�. This product is made from heavy gauge green plastic. It is composed of 20- 3� tall, 2� wide plastic tubes that are bonded together on the bias. Each tube is then filled with tap water, resulting in a cone-shaped mini greenhouse. Inside of each you can plant whatever frost-tender crop you desire. Most gardeners use them for tomatoes only, but I have also used them for broccoli and (this year) peppers. The way this ingenious product works is simple: the water inside each tube heats in the sunlight enough to raise the temperature inside by about 15� to 20� F. At night, even if the outside temperature drops as low as 20�, the water slowly gives off its stored heat, protecting the tender plants from harm. Supposedly, even if the water inside the tubes freezes the plants inside are still protected from harm by the stored heat in the soil. I have never had this happen, but I have had snow fall on my garden, and the tomato plants inside stayed safe and warm. I always start a few cherry tomato plants every year in January, 6 weeks before my main crop, to put into these things. This year, I added a �Gypsy� sweet pepper, just to see if it will work for them, too. How well does it work, as far as getting fruit earlier than normal? The best I have done is harvesting a handful of ripe �Super Sweet 100� cherry tomatoes on June 2, five weeks before my main crop started producing fruit! You have to remove them before it starts getting hot (about May 15th here), but that�s all there is to extra work. Well worth the time and expense (about $4 each, and they last for about 5 years each) if you ask me�. Cheat #2: I am in a constant battle with the local wildlife here. Who gets to eat what I plant, the rabbits, squirrels, and birds- or me? Now, don�t get me wrong. I expect to loose part of my crop to nature. I don�t mind that. Just consider it my way of helping the little critters get by. But when the squirrels take one bite out of every other peach, ruining the harvest Or when the rabbits finds my freshly-sprouted green beans or baby cabbage transplants and cuts them off at ground level. That�s where my generosity ends. This year, the rabbits are confused. They started showing up last week, sitting by the back gate. I�m sure they were waiting for me to deposit my tender broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower plants into the soil for them to consume. Not this year. I planted all of these plants inside of a chicken wire box I built last summer. The bottom is buried about 4 inches below the ground (no digging under to get inside), and all the plants are far enough away from the fence to keep the bunnies from snacking on them. I watched one very large, very fat bunny push his head against the fence for 20 minutes tonight. He would push, back up, hop a few hops, and push again. He never got in, and my plants are looking good. When they get much larger, the bunnies can chop on the outer-most leaves, leaving the main plant alone.
That is fine with me. I get the crop, they get the snack. I have one problem, though�..I always grow extra Cole crop plants to replace what gets eaten every year. Now, I have tons of plants leftover. I guess I will plant some at work, and then give the rest away. I will start less plants next year, if these survive the rest of the way��.. Nothing interesting happened at work today. How did you guess? I did get some help from the sign crew (from London), who used their bucket truck to string a new rope for our flagpole. Last week, when I was changing our tattered flags (up since 9/11, and due for replacement) the rope snapped on me, causing me to hit both of my hands on the pole. I was trying to stretch the rope to go over the anchor, and it gave way. I still have about 10 small chunks of flesh missing from my knuckles. I bought a new rope last week, and today was the day I got to fly a new U.S. and State flag . See, I told you nothing interesting happened at work today��.
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