The salt mine gave me hell this week, and I missed a day watering my seedlings in the greenhouse. Had several things that were wilted almost to the point of falling over, but I gave them a good drink of pond water and it looks like most everything is going to come out of it ok.
Soil temp in the starter cells was 60° when I checked it this morning, but it was cold enough for long enough last night to freeze the top of my watering pan.
The blossoms on Mrs. Augie's magnolia tree were crisp like a potato chip. They will all be brown and yucky by tomorrow.
I'm hoping to find some time this weekend to stomp the woods and see if I can locate some morels. People are starting to find them so it's just a matter of getting out there and doing it.
For those of us in the Midwest/Upper Midwest (we had a little bit of short-lived snow this morning) it should be noted that lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage etc. are all cool weather plants that do well in this climate.
Don’t bother with most vegetables, annuals or perennials at this time unless you are willing to do all the homework, moving and temperature work and so forth for a few weeks if you are zones 5-7.
BTW, I work in one of the largest greenhouses in the country so I see a lot of the inside stuff.
Native plants always do best in our sometimes harsh conditions:
Penstemon:
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Straw flowers can take the heat:
Lemons are exploding, these are very sour:
Starry Night Petunias:
And a volunteer honeysuckle that is trying to take over my front porch - for 30 years. I let it bloom then hack it back. Smells heavenly even though it is a pest.
Happy Spring Gardening to all!
Grrr. Something’s still eating my seedlings. Heading out now to see if I still have a bunch of chicken wire. I put the field fence around the front yard garden which should rule out rabbits. Got the hen cooped up which rules that out. Too cold for bugs. Could be chipmunks.
I’m hypersensitive to the bitterness that exists in most leafy vegetables. I keep trying, though. This year I’m testing a lettuce variety called “Merlot” that’s supposed to be completely bitter-free. It’s going around my tomato plants, along with beets and dwarf basil, so even if it doesn’t taste good enough to eat, it can at least help keep the weeds back.
If anyone else knows of a variety of greens that are 100% bitter-free, I would love to know.
Mr mm and I just built a few nesting platforms for robins and other platform nesting birds.
They have been building nests under our eaves on stuff like light fixtures, so we figured we’d give them more appropriate housing.
I get a small pot, plant markers and with the leftover top section, remove lid and use as cutworm collar. Even ends up with little teeth to jab into the soil. Mater plant is in a repurposed single serving cereal container. Getting ready to pot it up to a GoJo hand cleaner container. I'm using tote lids as seedling trays.
This starting from seed is new to me. Tried maters once before but it was just in front of a window so they got real leggy and didn't turn out to be very healthy and half died before planting out time. They also had no heat mats so they got colder than they should have. Didn't turn out too well so I ended up buying 2 one gal tomato plants that already had maters on them. Talk about gardening with zero patience needed.
I'm not really behind according to Johnny's seed starting calculator aside from reseeding some due losing some to a rabbit and a few to a man-made drought when I didn't check on seedlings for 2-3 days. I just never really put much thought into that 6-8 weeks between seeding and planting out for some things. Maters and peppers seeded a month ago and don't go out for another month.
All the maters and peppers have been potted up and take up more room now. I reseeded half the 72 cell tray with things I lost and they just started germinating but both grow lights have up-potted plants under them.
Gonna have to steal a shop light and use it over the up-potted plants and then use one or both of the 2 foot grow lights on the 72 cell tray. I'll make a little stand for the light(s) so I can move the whole thing to maintain temperature. I've got a piece of styrofoam under the tray so a hard surface won't suck the heat out of the seedlings.
Mostly because of it being my first time, not being fully ready and wanting avoid spending a bunch more money. Been making pots & labels. Just made my third batch of potting mix because I'm all out of store bought. I still have some peat left and have been scraping up leaf mold/humus from a low spot I've been raking leaves into for 10 years, grinding charcoal into biochar with an old meat grinder, adding very aged manures, screening stuff. Been rearranging stuff and now have to rearrange more things to add a light. Had to build a fence and then wrap in chicken wire to exclude rabbits. I'll need to till, lay cardboard down with some old compost/manure on top to plant maters and peppers. Then there's still supports for pole beans, cucumbers and maters.
Then there's a bigger area with better soil that I haven't even prepped yet and need to move some electric fence to. That might not get done in time for potatoes which is what I usually grow there. After having fed hay to the goats there, I really need to till it and put down clear poly and leave it until late Summer. Then I get to start all over with hardy crops again but in larger quantities. If I want taters, that means cutting up a plastic drum into three pieces to grow taters in and finding something to add into them for cover.
There's the high tunnel frame that will cost several hundred dollars to close in. After having watched Charles Dowding with his glass greenhouse and conservatory, I really want to build a lean to style greenhouse on the South wall of the house. Been wanting to for a while. Looked at garden windows because I have four South facing windows. Those things are pricey @ $2k. Root cellar. Can't forget that. Mostly gravel for soil in my one little North facing elevation. Tried the dirt scoop and grader blade on the tractor but it wouldn't do anything. Even tried a pick but it just hits a rock and stops. Gonna have to get a backhoe in there, concrete for walls, roof and wood for forms, something for a door.
Another year or two, bunch of work, several thousand dollars and I'll be set up to grow some stuff. Maybe even do the farmer's market. Oh wait. That means a wash and pack station and walk in cooler.
