Beautiful New York winter
It's been quiet on the gardening front but last week New York got slammed by a snow storm and it turned into a winter wonderland. We took advantage of the fresh snow and went skiing at the Catskills for the weekend. Catskills is about 2 hours north of NYC. Up in the Catskills, they had over 7 feet of snow in 4 days. I've never seen anything like it. Many people are still out of electricity and there were a lot of down trees. We have a little bamboo forest at my work campus and it was destroyed by the snowstorm, I kinda felt bad because it's been there for a long time and it really isn't something you can rebuild. I wonder if this is an indication of a really warm summer?
My deck.
Skiing at Hunter Mountain.
Near Kaaterskill Falls.
Ice climbing.
Vacation checklist Part II
So how did my plants do after a week of neglect? The good news is most of the plants survived but some of them didn't do too well.
As expected, the Calibrachoa didn't do too well (Drip-It pro at the back... more on that later). It looks pathetic.
So is the Lobelia:
I just need to repeat this again... Drip-It Pro Watering System does NOT work! DO NOT BUY IT! After a week, the water level is still the same. I've given it a second chance and that's it, they are going into the trash.
The good news is my Earthboxes did a really good job of keeping my vegetables alive. Although I think the water reservoir was close to empty when I got back. Not only did my vegetable plants survived but I got some harvest too:
Plants that had the watering crystals did fantastic and they were nice and healthy. Once again my DIY watering system did a great job of keeping the Mandevilla, Fairy rose, and herbs box alive. Look at the Mandevilla... it's climbing higher than my modified trellis.
From this:
To this:
Vacation checklist
I just came back from a week long vacation to my home town in Toronto, Canada. Like many of you I worry about my garden when I go away for more than 3 days. Are my vegetables going to survive in the hot and humid days of summer? What about the Calibrachoa and Lobelia that needs constant watering, are they going to make it? Will the Earthboxes do what they were advertised? I had my fingers crossed and here's my checklist.
Drip-it Pro Watering System - I don't have much luck with these but it's better than nothing. Last time I used them the water level was the same after several days and I couldn't figure out how to make it work.
Fill up the water tank and secure the solar panel for my DIY solar drip water system - this system is setup to water my most water hungry plants - Mandevilla, Fairy rose, and herbs box.
Load up the two Earthboxes with water.
Watering crystals - first year I've used these and they seem to do a decent job. I mix them with the soil and use them mostly for the plants under shade. So far the plants only need occasional watering on hot days. I don't use them for edible plants because I'm not sure if they are scientifically proved to be safe.
And hope for the best! Stay tune for my next post to see what my garden looks like after I come back from vacation.
