I've never grown spirea, so this should be fun!
Well we did get a few days of nice spring like weather in the 60s and 70s, and some beautiful sunshine. So we did get some yard work done. I got a couple of beds of potatoes planted - covered them with straw in case we had freezing temps, since we are not yet at the last frost date.
These potaoes were from Dakota Pearls that I grew myself last year, so this is a new experiment on my part. I have some butte russet and potatoes from the grocery that sprouted before I could use them all that I will be trying out this year too.
Hubby has some seed potatoes that he purchased, but is needing to make a bed to plant them in. All of his existing patches except one small one is within 50 feet of our walnut trees, so he will be coming up with a minumum of 3 beds further away from the walnut trees to use for rotation of nightshades with other veggies.
I planted my Walmart pot of potatoes and stuck it in front of the window. I have 3 containers of soil from last year's container plants a little over half full. I will add about 4 inches of mushroom compost and plant lettuce and spinach to grow indoors for a while.
I harvested basil grown indoors and a bunch of 4 cherry tomatoes that are slightly larger in diameter than a quarter. Salad tonight!
So I have been doing some reading on organic and homemade fertilizers, and compost. From the organic mother earth book that Hubby bought: the 3 cheapest organic fertilizers:
Soybean meal $5/lb 7-2-1 Cottonsead meal $6/lb 6-1-1 Alfalfa meal $$9/lb 3-1-2
So I have been reading also about some of the "free" stuff like used coffee grounds, eggshells etc. I have to refresh my memory as well as get more details doncha know.
Here's a link that has several links to articles that may be interesting, if any one is interested in the subject:
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/fertilizing-plants-coffee-grounds-eggshells-44657.html
http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/liquid-fertilizers-zm0z11zhun.aspx#axzz2xwfj67Ic
I haven't read the Mother Earth Article or explored all the other links yet, but it's been very interesting reading so far.
Have a great weekend. God Bless.
It’s Summertime in FL...85 degrees every day! :-)
Pinging the List.
I've never grown spirea, so this should be fun!
Peas, green bean and tomatoes are my garden veggies that can’t be reproduced at the store. If people have others (tastewise) let me know.
What are nightshades? Also, I had a 4 ft east facing retaining wall put up in my back yard to flatten a sloping yard.
The upper side of the wall is mostly grass now - nice level lawn. On the lower side of the wall is an area I’ve put in some garden areas. Excellent morning sun but after lunch, area is shaded by the wall.
Suggestions on what I might successfully plant? I’m going for beans, and maybe a section with corn later in the spring since the stalks should be above the wall and still get PM sun.
Thoughts anyone?
My son and I just finished planting starters for Rosemary, Thyme, Parsley and Lemongrass. Hopefully we are not too early. If so we will rig up a little hotbox for them!
greeneyes - Forgot it was garden thread day. Whew, it was 90-something yesterday but today is nicer in the 70s and through the weekend. We’re having company tomorrow and I had planned on getting the little seedlings transplanted today and tomorrow. I did get some salad fixin’s and peas (yes, late) planted this morning and hubby worked on the hoses so the garden has water again. Will read up on the compost links as I have a kitchen bucket for that sort of thing.
VA - Nightshades include most of our garden favorites including tomatoes, peppers and potatoes. They contain alkaloid which causes some people joint and digestive problems. That’s why you’re supposed to eat potatoes that have turned green.
You’ve got the right idea with planting something tall by the wall so it’ll get the sun.
Johnny - I saw that big red weather radar spot headed your way last night and wondered how your plants survived. Heard there was grapefruit size hail at Denton. Two waves were barrelling down on us so we moved the seedlings into the garage but the storms split at nearly arm’s reach from us so nothing.
Erik - Nice set up.
Hi Greeneyes and everyone!
Parsley
I have written in the past that last year and earlier this year, I was having trouble with my parsley growing from seed. I learned that it is highly sensitive to being transferred, and so, keeping that in mind, I was able to collect the ones that had sprouted on the paper towel in my sprout tray by cutting out that section with them on it, and putting them all into a cup with soil which can then be planted in its final home without disturbing the roots.
I was so excited a couple days ago to see my little baby parsleys making an appearance!
Seedlings
The other seedlings I sprouted a couple weeks ago which have been transferred to small sprouting cups with soil are also doing well. I have among those, the T Squash, sugar snap peas, flax, trellis beans, Asian (long!) green beans, daikon radish, and Atkins tomatoes.
Darlin reminded me that I had not started sunflower yet, so today I went through my seed library and put together three sprout trays containing:
Four kinds of OKRA: Clemson spineless, Jing Orange, Stelley, and Eagle Pass
HERBS and GREENS: Cumin, Cilantro, Strawberry Spinach, and New Zealand Spinach
FLOWERS: Sunflower, Echinacea, Chamomile
BEANS: Pinto, Black Bean, Great White Northern, Cranberry
GRAIN: Emmer, Red Amaranth
SQUASH: I’m gonna try again the White Bush Squash which was such a disappointment last year. I don’t know at this point if I’ll try any other squash this season. Except I do plan at least one zucchini. I had not tried that last year. The yellow squash was a real bust!
PLANS:
I have a GARLIC set containing 3 garlic bulbs which are actually sprouting that I plan to plant as soon as the frost date is past. I also discovered that I still have some ASPARAGUS roots from last year that I never got my round tuit to plant. I plan to give them a go to see if they’ll grow. I also have those two little “guaranteed-to-grow” seed cups that I’ll try.
Potatoes:
The sweet potato sprouts are as last reported and just waiting for the after frost date. The white potato I was reporting last week has increased the size of its sprouts, and I am waiting for a couple days before the after frost date to cut it up and let the callous form, as advised last week. (THANKS!)
Carrots
I also have a couple of different kinds of CARROTS that I want to try. I did manage to sprout some in the garden last year, but they did not make it. This year I’m going to try little ones that do not require deep soil.
Onions
I still plan to set out the onion sets Darlin and I got at the grocery store!
OH OH OH!!! I am delighted to report that the WALKING ONION I set out right before that last freeze is actually making an appearance. The ones I set out in the fall have not appeared. I fear the last freeze got them because their pot is not sheltered from the north wind.
The temps have not been officially freezing, but they have been getting down to just above freezing. We have elected not to set anything out till the after frost date.
Hope all is well with all of you!
~ ~ ~
Thanks for the links, greeneyes! I just was prompted from your post that while we do not use coffee, I go to some gatherings where coffee with grounds is served. I could easily obtain the coffee grounds from our refreshment committee!
Planted my purchased Snap Dragons, boxwood basil (grows in mounds, and German Thyme. Lily shoots are poking out of the ground. Parsley and oregano seeds sprouting. Pansies blooming up a storm and outdoor violets following close behind. Picked flowers to my heart’s content.
Planted my purchased Snap Dragons, boxwood basil (grows in mounds, and German Thyme. Lily shoots are poking out of the ground. Parsley and oregano seeds sprouting. Pansies blooming up a storm and outdoor violets following close behind. Picked flowers to my heart’s content.
I also was inspired by Square Foot gardening. This is my 4th year. I now have over 600 sq. ft. of garden beds on the property. I used electrical conduit for my hoops. It holds up in my harsh climate.
I prefer alfalfa for my nitrogen. No soy is allowed on the property. We got 4 Buff Orpingtons Wednesday. Next year, free nitrogen from their poop. (laughing) We have to build a movable coop next week. They will go all over are meadow that the furtherest beds are. They have to be caged “free range” up here. Death from above and below is too numerous to thwart any other way.
The ground is no longer frozen. I uncovered 15 feet that has our strawberry plants. They perked right up after I got the beds tended. I get at least 60 pints from them. The outer gardens in the meadow will be uncovered next week, compost forked into them, ready to plant by the end of the month. The tobacco, tomatoes and peppers will be started in a small growing tent in the garage this month, too. My garlic planted last fall is already 8” tall. A few onions I stuck in also came up. I do not know if the artichokes came up in the outer area yet.
This month will be brassicas, spinach, more onions and carrots. Next month will be everything else. After getting each bed planted, I cover them in plastic, making a ton of tunnel greenhouses. It is one way to grow things in the northern regions. Our growing season is very short.
Oh, be sure to go very light on nitrogen wherever you plant carrots and other root crops. Otherwise, your carrots come out like little headless and armless people... Forked. They still taste great, but a booger to peel.
All nightshades get a dose of finely crushed eggshells and pinch of sulfur, blood meal, bone meal and bat poop. That seems to make them happy. Beans and legumes get a pinch of fish emulsion.
I cannot wait to get started. The chickens will be helpful, eating bugs and providing next year’s composted poop fertilizer. A perk- my egg allergy may from what they are normally fed, soy. I found an organic feed that uses lentils and nuts for the plant part of their feed. Soy-free eggs and meat. One can hope. At least the family can enjoy them if it is not the cause, yes? .
Do potatoes need full sunlight?
I have an aging Apricot tree that I want to cut down but the old girl still gives huge amounts of fruit every year on the left over branches that are left.
Anyway, If I plant some potatoes near the apricot tree, the area will not be blessed with sunlight (I have huge pecan and walnut trees on the property next door, I’m amazed my backyard gets any sun at all.)
I just realized I never wrote about last weekend, so this is a 2-week update.
Last Sunday I went out to my land for the first time since November (I think). I hate living so far away from there! I keep hoping I’ll get the house finished enough to move in soon. But it’ll probably be a while since my “house” is still just a hole in the ground.
Most of the plastic sheeting I’d put down last year was in tatters, and the piece of landscaping fabric had come loose in the middle. That wasn’t to suprizing, there’s some nasty wind on that hill. What was suprizing was finding several of the lawn staples in a nice neat pile in the middle of the garden! No human footprints except mine, so I think the coons are pulling them up to see what’s under the fabric.
Fences just got moved higher on my priority list.
I pinned that sheet back down, and laid out another one. We’ll see how long that stays down. I’m going for a 2000 square foot garden this year, mostly seed stock for my business. Although I’ll still eat plenty out of it :)
On the subject of the seed business, last year I spent way too many hours chopping tomatoes by hand to extract the seeds. Yesterday it occured to me that the Victorio strainers are supposed to be able to spit the seeds and skins of a tomato out one side, and tomato puree out the other. Might that work better? I hope so, especially since I’m expanding my list of tomato varieties this year. I started pricing the strainers, and spotted one at an online thrift store auction for $5. So far I’m the only bidder! I’ll know Tuesday if I won. Even if it doesn’t work for seed-saving, it’ll help with the canning some.
Today, I started collecting parts for an electric fence. I don’t have enough to buy all the supplies at once, but I paid off one of my debts last month, so I used part of what I’d been paying and got a solar fence charger and a few posts. My “ideal” fence would be a mesh small enough to keep rabbits out, with an electrified wire at the top to keep climbing varmits out. If I put a line of trellises inside that fence, I should be able to get the same effect as a doubled fence, which keeps deer out, while still maximising the usable space.
This afternoon I was going to move the rabbit fences in the back yard, but I ended up only able to do one of them. It was a lot more exhausting than I thought, and I’m not sure but I might have overworked my shoulder. It’s sending me little warning twinges, but not full-blown “overdid it” alarms. I gave that garden bed a good cleaning while I had the fence off, that’s hard to do with the fence up.
Dad had been working on a different construction project today, and after he finished he decided to help me. That usually doesn’t go well. This time he must have been worn out, because when I told him I could handle it, he listened! And later when I was done, he actually told me it looked good!!! He never does that, whenever I build something he tears it apart and redoes it.
I think he might be sick or something.
At any rate, one bed down, one to go. I’m ordering parts for a PVC trellis for my cucumbers, I found some of the fittings at the hardware store but not all of them. I priced out a trellis for my tomatoes, but the shape I need it to be would have required the really expensive 6-way fittings. So, I’ll just build it out of wire shelving I’ve got sitting around. It won’t be as pretty, but it’ll work.
I sold another packet of cucumber seeds yesterday :) So far, that’s the only thing that’s selling. Although to be fair, I haven’t got much of a selection yet. Next fall I should have a much wider variety. I’m even growing andrographis this year! It’s an herb with antibacterial and antiviral properties. Back when they thought I had Lyme’s disease, this was one of the things the doctor put me on.
Hi all,
This will be my first try and growing regular potatoes this year. Found this article which evaluates 7 methods for growing potatoes. I’m going to try the grow bag method. Looking forward to trying them out