Also, the tomato stalks I cut last year and stuck in dirt have grown quite a bit, and several have flowers. I will be transplanting those as soon as I think the frost won't be a problem.(experimenting how to get earlier tomatoes than usual).
Since they have grown in length, I plan to pull off many of the leaves, and just keep the leaves and flowers and bury all the rest of the stem.
Garlic is looking fine with just a bit of brown from frigid winter temps. Spinach and winter lettuce planted last fall are growing and need to be picked and something else planted.
One of the raised beds has been entirely taken over by a wild mint, so that's number 1 project. Number two project is to plant taters left over from last year, and then buy some Yukon Gold for this year additional tater planting.
Strawberries are perking up - hoping to get a crop this year. So busy with other things right now barely have time to do anything with garden or housework, so garden stuff takes a back seat for a while, as the housework is in the middle seat.
I can't believe that March has already come and practically gone. Have a great weekend.
Prayers up for all. God Bless.
With help from Mrs AR, the wood chipper went from the farthest away barn (naturally!), down to the garden. Spent about 2 hours making chips out of about 40-45 feed sacks of the pinecones...nature’s little fire grenades...she’s been cleaning off the hill behind the house. Only overloaded & jammed it twice. LOL
I managed to get a nearly even layer over three sections of the garden. After they were chipped, I tilled them in, as well as re-tilling the adjacent areas that got chipped & tilled last Fall. The cherry tree prunings went through it, too. Mrs AR picked up the empty sacks, put a tarp over the chipper, and did some weeding while I tilled.
We finished just as it began to sprinkle; it’s raining now, and has been off & on, ever since.
The tiller’s tires are holding pressure just fine, since I sealed them to the rim during the previous tilling session on the 20th of March.
Yesterday, after work, I got a jump start on winter by bucking three logs into firewood.
The sweet potato “seed” has a large, well developed root system in the water, and has started pushing sprouts out of the eyes. Should have rooted slips ready to go by last-frost.
I was going to prune the rose bushes but discovered as many as 10 buds in various stages of forming! Lettuce producing very well.
The kale I seeded in the dirt is up and looking good. Radishes are up all over the place. No sign yet of carrots or rutabagas. The fall-planted garlic is a foot tall and looking very nice.
I stopped by the nursery on Saturday and bought cabbage/broccoli/cauliflower/brussels sprouts. Nephew gave me a hand laying weed mat and setting the plants.
Thought you all might find this FR thread about tomatoes interesting :)
Big, Red and Tasteless: Why Tomatoes Lost Their Flavor
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3541077/posts?page=47