Zucchini doesn’t like it much better. This picture was taken late last month, when we actually had some sun during the day. My summer veggies were happy then, me too. In order to move my vegetables to follow the sun as it travels across the sky each day, I was planning on putting wheels under each container. My zucchini is in a round pot which I already had before I started my garden this past January, and it’s on a dolly with wheels. I have been relocating it each afternoon for the last week or so. It’s happier in the sun than it was in the shade. The powdery mildew that has been attacking it, and my summer squash, seems to be backing off some. I think it has helped that I don’t let the infected leaves stay on the plant. I have been removing the worst of them, and putting them in a paper sack before throwing them in the trash.
Wednesday, when I was walking toward the other end of the three-story, twenty-four unit condo complex where I live, I noticed that the breezeway on the other end of the building was in full sun. That was a surprise. This area is the mirror image of where my garden is located, and faces north. Evidently, as the sun has moved to a position higher in the sky as we approach summer, this part of the building receives more sun. It makes sense. I should have figured this out earlier, but it never occurred to me to look.
This is good news, not great news, but pretty good nonetheless. It will save me both time and money. I still want to go visit several nurseries and home improvement stores, as soon as the sun comes out. (Some people window shop at the mall. I do it in garden stores.) I want to pot another tomato plant to make up for the slow growth of the one I already have. This means I’ll need another “deck box”, a bag of playground sand and some more Garden Time potting soil from Lowe’s. But I won’t need six sets of wheels! I already have a hand truck and a couple of bungee cords. I’ll slide the edge of the hand truck under a potted deck box and secure it with two long bungee cords. This way, it will stay in place while I take it on the short ride to the other end of my building.
I won’t be moving all of my containers though. The carrots and broccoli (yes, I am still harvesting a few side shoots every so often) are still happy where they are. Keeping them near my front door will remind me to walk to the other end of the building to water the other four pots each morning. Out of sight out of mind is really true. I believe that gardens need to be as close to the front or back door as possible. If you can see them from the kitchen window, that’s even better.
Decades ago the belief was that gardens belong far away from the house. I guess people thought they were unattractive. My garden was at the rear of my half acre yard. This isn’t as much land as people have who live in the countryside, but for a suburb in Southern California, it was unusually large. It was a bit of an uphill hike to reach my garden, although the garden itself was flat. In the summer, when the temperature hit the low hundreds, it wasn’t as much fun going up there to check things out. The garden was huge, but watering was easy. I used drip irrigation and would again, if I wasn’t living in a condo and gardening in six or seven large pots. With half of my garden being on one end of the building, and the other half on the other end, I’m going to buy another white five gallon paint bucket and little plastic “feet” to raise it off the surface of the walkway. This way, I will only have to carry water every other week. There is no faucet on either end of this building above ground level, so I fill up the container in my garden from my kitchen sink once a week using a plastic pitcher. With two buckets, the water will last twice as long.
This makes watering convenient. Having the water waiting there for me has a second benefit. The chlorine evaporates. This is better for the plants. I also happen to have a second plastic cup from CPK. This is what I use to actually move the water from the bucket to the plants. These cups are small enough to fit my hand (I’m a small woman), and big enough to water each pot with just one dip into the bucket. They came home with my grandsons one day when we went for pizza. Sure, I could buy something fancy, but why? I leave the cup in the bucket. It’s plastic and doesn’t deteriorate. I never have to go looking for it. Using them to water my plants is easy.
I am hoping that my summer vegetables will be much happier at the other end of my building. The short walk to water them each morning shouldn’t be problem. I can use the exercise. Maybe the powdery mildew won’t do so much damage with more sunshine on my plants. I guess I should have used my eyes instead of just my brain to try to solve the sun movement dilemma. If you no longer have the sun you once had, look around. It has to have gone somewhere. Maybe it hasn’t moved very far. With having our vegetable plants in pots, moving our garden is an option others don’t have. But remember, look first. It’s easier.
Until next time,
Elizabeth
