Lots of plants, almost ready to get transplanted into the big garden.
It's good to have internet access again. I've pulled up the cold frame for the year, and we're going to get rain later today. I hope the high winds bypass us, though.
/johnny
Last night we had high winds, thunder and lightening, but I never saw a drop of rain. Our rain barrels are full though, so no worries yet.
Potatoes are greening. Indoor tomato has 4 almost ripe cherry tomatoes. Basil needs to be harvested. Covers are off the garlic and perennials.
Plan to continue prepping the beds this weekend. I have been planning the container gardening which will be stepped up this year. I can add more than 100 sq. feet if I put lots of containers on the back patio with walkways around and in between.
Hubby went to Walmart and came home with several gardening magazines. I have been reading the Mother Earth Guide to Organic Gardening. It's chock full of good stuff and lots of websites for additional info.
It has a section on Building food for self sufficiency too. This reminds me that their website has some interesting stuff too: www.MotherEarthNews.com
I will be ordering some stuff from Diana's Company-Jungs as soon as payday gets here. This is a year that I am not ordering much, because I over ordered last year, and need to use those seeds while the viability is still really good.
Have a great weekend. God Bless.
Hello from the police state of Connecticut! It’s still quite chilly here but my snowdrops, crocus and primroses are coming along beautifully. Tulips and daffodils seem to be unaffected by the recent cold snap and are about 2” out of the ground. I planted sugar snap and super sugar snap peas about a week ago; they have yet to sprout, but the ornamental sweet peas that I planted along a trellis have sprouted. I love this time of year. :) Happy gardening!
Pinging the list. Sunken Civ has alerted me to this posting by orsonweb regarding sources of seeds.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3137873/posts
Lots of plants, almost ready to get transplanted into the big garden.
It's good to have internet access again. I've pulled up the cold frame for the year, and we're going to get rain later today. I hope the high winds bypass us, though.
/johnny
I read your description of the deck corn. I am really looking forward to getting those started. Still haven’t received my containers from the Mega Store. Hope they can fill the back order soon.
I think I’m going to try some peas tomorrow, it looks like upper 60’s here early next week, enough to get them going.
Glad to hear you got some springtime up your way. I know you are thrilled.
It’s 82deg here, and bright sunshine, too.
GETTING EARLY ZUCCHINI SQUASH.... Honey bees don't like to visit squash flowers. Solitaire bees do, but they don't emerge very early in the year. Do your first few squash shrivel up and fall off the vine? Mine used to, but not anymore. Early in the day, each morning, I hand pollinate my squash. I also do the same with tomato plants to get early tomatoes.
It is May 4th and the squash and tomato garden in our front yard is doing very well.
But the solitaire bees are not out and about yet. Regular honey bees don't pollinate squash.
Father Nature comes to the rescue with a brush made of pheasant tail feather barbells.
The top flower is a female flower with large bulbous heads in the center.
The bottom flower is a male flower with a pistil with pollen on it.
The top flower is the female flower with a tiny squash behind the flower.
The bottom flower is a male flower with just a stem behind the flower.
Father Nature to the rescue. Here is the pheasant tail feather brush loaded with pollen.
I have first loaded the brush with pollen from a male flower. The pollen sticks to the brush.
I merely brush the pollen on the center of the female flower and Voila, the job is done.
Now the tiny squash behind the female flower will develop into a mature squash.
Good Hunting... from Varmint Al
Put some tomato seedlings and spinach seeds in yesterday. I also have shallots, onions and garlic planted. I have carrots growing in a container, since my neighbor had good luck with that last year.
I’ll be putting turnips and leaf lettuce in the garden tomorrow. I plan to plant some bush beans and see how they grow. I have enough room for a few bushes and we love fresh beans.
Here in Maryland, the snow is almost off the ground on our little farm. Normally at this time of year, we have had to mow at least once, but it still looks like December here - no new grass, no greening of the trees - a very late spring. We are just now getting a tree guy out to fix the damage from the February ice storm (tree guys have been uber busy) - we lost a few trees and the tops off some really old ones. I stood on my front step and watched the tops of my trees break off and fall to the ground. My heart fell, too.
It should be above freezing this week so I am finally going to start my lavender seeds. I’m digging up my hosta paths (tired of giving the deer a salad bar) and planting lavender instead. The hosta were gorgeous - for a couple weeks - until the marauders came. They don’t like lavender and I’ve had good luck with it so far, so it seems a fair switch to me. I have many takers for the hosta.
I got some Ozark Beauty strawberry plants today and I’ll get them in. We got a bumper crop of blueberries last year but I don’t think the bushes made it through this horrid winter. Guess I have to get some new ones.
The jury is out on the fig as well.
We are shearing the alpacas early this year so I hope the frigid days are gone for good.
Looking forward to getting my hand in some dirt this weekend - between the rainstorms! Looks like the flowers and fruits and beehives (and maybe the alpaca babies) will be a bit late this year.
I planted some pole bean, corn, and squash seed yesterday. Tomatoes and pepper plants are already in the ground, and the cooler weather crops will come out in a couple days.
Today, the Mrs and I have been partaking of some spring cleaning in the front enclosure. I broke out the old cement mixer and have been dumping soil from old pots into it and repotting plants. So far, I've repotted the Bay Tree, 2 Natal Plum bushes, several banana trees, and a Date palm.
It's amazing how the potting soil compacts over a year, and how little it takes to break it up again. I've been mixing in fresh horse manure to complement the older soil.
Our mulberry tree is full of immature fruit already. It should start ripening in a couple weeks. Hopefully, I can beat the birds to it.
I've been having trouble with grapes. I've planted muscadines and Siebel 9110 because of the problem with Pierces Disease in the area, but I just don't seem to have any luck with them. The amazing grape is one that I grew from a grape seed from the grocery store........It just doesn't seem to be affected by anything and keeps plugging along.
I have to leave to pick up daughter from the car repair place. Be back later to continue discussions.
Off topic but an important reminder. We just got a call from someone trying to sell us something for a local charity. Of course, we didn’t fall for it and made a couple of calls afterward to verify our suspicions. Sure enough it was a scam to get credit card numbers and reported it. FRiends, be careful and aware.
Hi all. Greetings from middle Tennessee. Weather is warming up with thunderstorms on the way. Daffodils are up. Tulips on the way. Still planning the garden.
Question-I should know this and feel stupid for asking but when it states “days to harvest/maturity” on seed packets does that mean days from when you planted the seed, or days from actual germination or what?
Sure good reading everyones posts. Thanks!
Pansies blooming, daffys too. Sowed seeds of parsley, rosemary, oregano and swiss chard a couple of days ago. Lily shoots poking through the ground. Rained today and more on the way. It never dries out so there may be a permanent lake near the building!
Hello, Everyone!
Checking into class tardy again!
Just got back from a recognition day for my weight loss organization. Received my 5 year consecutive been-at-goal pin! Gardening would not be possible without my having made the effort to try to win my fitness back. Plus, I’m now discovering that gardening helps me in my health program of maintenance. I encourage any and all who may be challenged as I have been (and continue to be) to never give up on yourself and to summon that courage to confront what is holding you back. If I could do it, you can do it. It IS possible! /fitness sermon concluded LOL! >
Just before I left, I put my sprouted seedlings into dirt cups, and while the cups aren’t as pretty as Johnnie’s picture of his, I am pleased with them! Plus I don’t have quite as many! :-)
Onions
I’m sad to report that I am beginning to suspect that my potted sprouted grocery store onion has not survived. The leaves have dried out, and the root seems to have rotted. I fear that after almost killing it from not enough water, I overcompensated and put too much water in the pot. I have not seen the walking onions make an appearance yet which I planted last fall... Not really. Before the last freeze I saw a little show of green, but none since then. *Sigh*
I do have some walking onion sets which I held in reserve, so perhaps I can still get them established. Have not set out the grocery store onion sets Darlin and I bought several days ago.
Tomatoes
The 2 heirloom and 1 hybrid Lowes tomato plants are blooming and seem very happy! :-D The Atkins heirloom tomato seeds have sprouted nicely.
I still have not planted the onion sets.
Parsley
I had some parsley sprouts which I planted, just as last year, and just as last year, they do not seem to have made an appearance. I read in my herb gardening book last night that they are VERY sensitive to transferring, so that is probably where I have been making my mistakes. The book says that parsley really should be sewn in the place you want it to grow. Still have not seen evidence of come-back of the parsley I was trying to see if would overwinter. That last freeze does seem to have killed it....however, the oregano and thyme, which have in the past come back have not done so yet either, so Darlin said not to give up quite yet. So we’re still lookin’!
Remembering back, I think I had tried to plant some parsley in place several years ago and had not been successful. The likelihood perhaps is that the seeds in that instance may have been too old or unviable for some reason. But I don’t truly know. Think good thoughts for me to break through the self perception that parsley does not love me! LOL!
New Seedlings
The seeds I planted and which have sprouted and continue to pursue life with dirt around their toes are (WOW!They are very enthusiastic - and getting with it!:
TBone Squash
Daikon Radish
Asian long trellis beans
Atkins tomato sprouts
Plantain
Flax
Sugar Snap Peas
Cucumbers
Potatoes
I have not done much with the sprouted sweet potatoes. The two that have access to the best window conditions are the ones that probably will survive, but the others in the less good condition are still alive. Their vines are really long and leggy and twined about things and may be difficult to extract to put outside. Darlin said we should try them, but they may not make it. The white grocery store potato is still sprouting in the root veggie basket and when the weather is for sure good, I’ll cut it up into 2 or 3 pieces and start it out.
Home Despot
While in the Big City yesterday, we went to a Home Despot and I found some Miracle Grow GUARANTEED-to-grow “seed pods” with the dirt, fertilizer, and 2 seeds in them. I decided to try 1 each of the bush beans and the zucchini squash. (I know, I know - a sucker is born every day! LOL!)Maybe I can ward off the squash bugs this year and actually HAVE some squash! Other people in our area do, so let’s see if I can too! They had some beautiful lettuce plants, but I shy away from them after last year. Probably a mistake which I might reconsider.
I have other seeds, but don’t want to have too many to care for. I do still want to put in my okra and sunflower seeds. Temps have been dipping here at night to near freezing, and Darlin advised that just in case, I probably should still be in the mode of putting out and bringing in for now. Maybe next week?
Hope everyone is in Garden Springtime Heaven these days!
I made a bit of progress over the weekend. Cleaned out and re-mulched the asparagus bed, cleaned out some of Mrs. Augie’s flowerbeds, hauled home another trailer load of horse poo and mulched most of my orchard trees. Still have half a trailer load of poo to unload on the garden so I’ll have something to do in the evenings this week after I get home from work.