Blogs

I prepared the veggie bed. I must've added about 6 inches of compost to it! I hope the 2 (haha) tomatoes I planted will be happy. I am planning on adding peppers and various herbs. Maybe I'll plant the lavender seeds my mom got me in there too- it's a raised bed so it should get plenty of drainage.

I still need to turn my other compost pile and add a bunch of "green" to it. Not a whole lot of fun without a pitchfork. I just don't want to spend $20- $30 for one!!

Some of the sweet pea seeds I planted about 4 days ago have sprouted! (dance of joy)

I took a bunch of photos the last few days. Now I just need to get DH off of the PS3 so he can offload them. Hopefully I'll have them posted tonight *fingers crossed*

I was going to post this in the compost thread, but it was a pretty long so I'm putting it in my blog instead.

So, I had off from work on Monday. It's Patriots Day here in Massachusetts, the hub of the American Revolution, and many years ago they made it a state holiday. There are lots of flags flying, lots of wearing of red, white and blue, and the running of the Boston Marathon where people from all over the world descend upon the state and run themselves into the ground.

Me? I decided to celebrate working in my victory garden and starting a new spring compost pile. But I had a problem. All I had was brown stuff. Being spring, I didn't have a bunch of fully grown, recently harvested, green stems and such. I only had all of the brown leaves and spent grass I raked from around the yard and under the grape vines. So what do I do? I could just make the pile with just the brown stuff, but it would never heat up respectably and it would take too long to break down. (I like my women like I like my compost piles - tall and hot. Sorry, I couldn't resist throwing that in.)  I'm going to need this stuff in like a month when my young plants start taking off. I had to get some green stuff, or the equivalent of green stuff, i.e., I needed a source of nitrogen.

Off to Agway!

Looking around I found some likely candidates - blood meal - this stuff is a great source of nitrogen, about 40% by weight, but it was a little pricey. I had used it in the past with good success. This was a possibility, but I wanted to see what else I could find.

Next, I found cottonseed meal. This wasn't as high in nitrogen as the blood meal, but still respectable. I had also used this to good effect. Plus, it was plant based, which I liked. The only problem here was that they only had the 25 pound bag for $27.00. Moving on.......

This was when the Agway employee asked me if I needed any help. They're like that there. (No, I don't work for Agway, smarta$$!) I told him my dilemma - I need a nitrogen source and I don't want to spend a lot of money. Voila! He shows me Urea. It's made by Espoma, it's organic, it's 45% nitrogen, and it's only $10.00 for a 5 pound bag. Sold!

With a few thank yous exchanged I take my compost supercharger back home and dutifully build my yard-waste lasagna by layers - brown leaves, water, sprinkle a handful or two of urea, a couple shovel-fulls of almost-finished compost. Repeated 5-10 times. Pop the cover on it and bake in the sun for 24 hours.  Yummo!

I get satisfaction out of doing things well, and this includes making a good compost pile.  Today, I get out of work and dash home to check on it. I grab my turning fork and start turning it over. And yep, I can feel that heat starting already! But then, I notice the smell.  It's unpleasant, but not overwhelming.  And there is the definite twang of ammonia. Darn it, I put in too much urea! The wee little beasties have too much nitrogen and can't metabolize it all and are just releasing it as ammonia. The ammonia smell was weak, and I didn't see any of the urea pellets in the pile, so I'm hoping that this is as bad it will get.  I'm going to need to turn it every day or two until the smell goes away.

Anyway, lesson learned. In the future, a half of a handful of urea per layer will probably suffice when using it in place of the green garden scraps in a compost pile.

If I had thought about it, this would have made a good video clip as part of my compost series - "Choosing of the green! Sources of nitrogen to get your compost pile fired up."

Regards,

Robe
rt

FINALLY! The planets have aligned and I found myself with both the time and warm enough weather to get outside and DO something in the yard. I managed to turn my compost piles, adding in quite a bit of stuff that had been stacking up on the deck, waiting for an opportunity to add to the mix!

I pruned my grape vines(3). I think I finally have a plan for them beyond "let them ramble unchecked and grow tendrils into the shingles". one will grow to the left of the front door under the picture window. One will grow right. And one will grow around the corner of the house, trained down the railing on the steps to the deck. Let's see if the vines understood that, too.

One thorn in the back of my mind, however is that I saw a GROUNDHOG while I was out there. He visited me once last spring and took out about a half dozen of my pole beans. But from what I've heard about these great white garden sharks I think I got off easy. I'm thinking he's going to be a bigger problem this year, given that he's apparently only mildly intimidated by me as it is. When he saw me he seemed to take his time moseying away. And I'm not sure, but I think he flipped me the bird when I turned around. I'm going to start lifting weights and stop shaving to show him I'm not a dude to mess with.

Update on plants (roll Taps). The olives and the pomegranates died - all of them. I don't know why. Maybe I overwatered, watered too much with the water from the frog's aquarium, left the grow light on too long, didn't transplant them in time (I think it was this actually), didn't water them enough, let them get too hot near the air register, etc. Anyway, I have more seeds. I managed to save two of the longan berry plants (I think, the jury is still out .)

My Black Magic elephant ear has spider mites. I'm hoping I can keep him just long enough to get him outside and then I know he'll be fine.

Hope springs eternal!

Props to my new friends stereoman and brown thumb! Loved the emails, pictures and blogs!

Here's something to noodle on, why is getting dirty fun, but staying dirty is gross. Weird.

See you all in bed, garden bed that is. ;-)

Robert

Thanks to some help from the forums I am running two compost beds. I feel like I am well on my way to healthy dirt - Hopefully eating 30 bags of leaves per year instead of bagging and sending them to the landfill.

I can tell it is composting as I try to turn it with all the wrong tools. I have a sharpshooter shovel, a traditional shovel, and a right angle pitchfork. The sharpshooter is made for trenching. It turns out to be quite handy for digging a deep, narrow hole to dump more wets/greens down lower so that they don't smell. The right angle fork is semi-handy for rolling stuff around. But today I got a novel idea while in a Big Lots surplus/cheap-crap store. I was looking for a real pitchfork on the cheap. Alas, they had none.

Instead, I bought a $9 hand tiller which looks like a 4 ft tall T-handle (about 16 inches across the "T") with 5 spikes on the end in a semi-square pattern (picture the "5" side on a single dice (die?)). I jab that sucker as low as I can get and start twisting back and forth while applying pressure to sink it to the bottom. It rolls in oxygen and makes for a handy turn-in-place tool if you let it roll up 30 degrees - or even to the top of the pile as you keep twisting. This rolls more lateral material around instead of a straight vertical chute.

Disclaimer: This is not as easy as falling off a ladder. I've apparently got some masochistic tendencies as I opt for hand tools many times and I do not shy away from elbow grease. I'm one part stubborn, one part cheap, and 2 parts lazy desk marshmallow. I determined that extra sweat will probably be the only thing between me and a Cheetoh-lined early grave. At least that is how I enable my inner cheapskate. We're codependent in the same body.

I will post pictures at some point of the tool in action.

Trowel on,

BrownThumb

I spent yesterday afternoon tootling about in the front yard. I mowed our "lawn" , which is really more a patch of weeds than anything. After its mowed, it actually looks pretty decent. My dreams of fescue were squelched by the drought last year....maybe this fall i can do that. Once the mowing was done, I pulled some weeds, cut back some vinca, hacked down the curry plant (it had gotten very raggedy and woody, will be interesting to see if it comes back), and I also watered the autumn ferns. It looks as though the layer of compost applied to the top of that bed last summer is really coming through for us...I have never had so many new fronds appearing at once on these ferns. It looks so pretty! Here is a view of the front yard as seen from my front porch today:

As you can see, my girl and my hubby are enjoying the freshly mowed weeds :)

The redbud looks so amazing right now as well! Also, the ajuga is blooming and is adding a nice shot of color:

The dogwood is almost in all of its glory. It is in the same bed that got the compost dressing and i do think it is helping the dogwood also, in seasons past, the dogwood has suffered from one of its common fungal diseases that causes the blossoms to fall off before they fully open. It looks like we might not have that prob this year :)

On a recent shopping trip with my mom, I picked up this cool garden art windchime and I have been enjoying it as I sit on my front porch:

Its very overcast today and a bit cool and breezy, so I am not sure if I will venture out in the garden later or not. I have been thinking more about creek planting lately and trying to decide what to plant on the opposite bank...I still have yet to have the moment of brilliant inspiration. I do need to get back there with the weedeater so that all my hard work spent cleaning everything out doesn't go to waste....it will if I don't stay on top of things back there. I am anxiously awaiting the emerging of the great gunnerra that went in the ground a few weeks ago...i check for growth every day :)

I did hear an ad on the radio that our local home depot has 5 dollar coreopsis and hostas, so i may venture down there this afternoon. Tomorrow the forecast is thunder storms, so I better do what I have to do today :)

Great to find this place. I lurked & learned as I was starting to compost this week. I'm not so much of a joiner/blogger/online denizen but I have to say this is the best online set of gardening information and community that I have run across in my last 3 yrs of experimenting and beginning to learn the craft.

You guys rock! I look forward to continuing the journey with such a skilled, interested, and interesting crowd.  I tend to get divided interests due to job and family (3 kids) - but I have maintained some sort of growing endeavour for the last few years.

I have far more dead plants to my credit than living success stories - Hence, the "brown thumb" moniker.

Claim to fame:  I once killed an artificial ficus. Hard? Yes, but I have a deep bag of tricks.  Beware aggressive dusting. Currently, I have one 4" cilantro batch that is regretting ever catching my eye. I'll post about it for consultation. 

Success Story: Pomegranates - blog you later.

I just got a massive compost heap moving thanks to the garden guide community. This is my first year seeding and boy, do I have A LOT to learn.

I am typing this as my back is screaming about weeding the 8x16 raised-bed veggie garden. I couldn't garden last yr, so I was forced to pay the piper by "sod-cutting" a VERY established weed bed out of my lucious dirt.

I'm excited to find this group and you will be hearing about my successes and learning opportunities this season. I look forward to learning from (and with) all of you.

Topics to watch:

• composting heap - not heated up yet
• garden in recovery
• lower back on strike
• seeds underway - no idea what I am doing
• 2" starter plants and tranplanted orange mint looking for a home
• 2 grape vines and a blueberry looking for the right time to go in the ground
• Containers vs garden bed due to sunlight restriction (trees encroaching)
• One brown thumber looking for redemption

Remember this guy??  Frankie our newest pup, fits in perfect here except for the fact that he loves to rile up the other dogs ALL the time - he's a full time job, but oh so cute and he's enjoying the Sunshine that we had today!  The sun shining brightly sure makes it alot easier to handle this Cold weather!  Remember Daylight Savings Time this weekend - clocks spring ahead an hour.

This week I spent a whole lot of hours transplanting - I usually start seeds in a tray and then when they get too cluttered and need more room to grow I will pull some out (ever so carefully) and plant them in small pots.  This year I ordered 100 pots and I knew I would need more, but DH suggested I start out small.  Well, yesterday I ordered 400 more - I went through those first 100 in No time!!  The picture is a tray full of transplants I made up for a friend - I will keep them here under lights until time to plant outside which is another 2 months or so - yes, yes, I start seeds very early but it's OK ... I just can't stop myself LOL

Tomatoes, peppers, basil ... per his request.  I may add another tray of flowers or who knows what I will come up with!  I also plan on making up a nice tray like this for Mom for Mother's Day and I am SURE there will be more trays I give to family and friends....Easter is right around the corner.

Nowwwww....for the update on the worm bin composting!!!  The following pictures of the worms are not for the weak of stomach - so be prepared :-)   Actually, before I started composting with worms I thought they were SO gross and slimey and .... they still are, but I got used to them!  Especially when I had to pick up one or two after they fell out of the bin or had a cluster land on my hand .........ewwww   It's just something ya get used to ....

Picture #1    This is the bottom bin

Now what I do on occassion is stir them up so I can see how things are going in there and the next picture shows how I stirred this up a bit and there is still some leaves and newspaper that needs to decompose so I will let this go for AT least another 2 weeks and not add any more food scrapes or anything ...

In the meantime, I added kitchen scraps to the bin above this one along with wet shredded newspaper and there is some action already going on in there but this is the place I will be adding food scraps, leaves, etc. from now on and the bin above that I added some stuff to get it going kinda.  When the time comes I will take that bottom bin and place it on top of the other two and stir it up, let the light get to it to encourage the worms to travel to the next bin and Voila I will have a bin of worm castings!  I hope I am making sense here ... but the thing IS - this is not an easy thing to do or learn (for me at least).  In time I imagine it will become second nature and something I am used to, kinda like the cluster of worms landing on my hand LOL

Ok time to go work on dinner - but to tell ya the truth after taking and posting these worm pictures - I lost my appetite!  Go Wormsssssss............

OK, so it's just above freezing here in the north east section of PA...   and two days of rain brought floods to many places...   If only I had a place to put it... my sump pump moved about 15,000 gallons of water from the sump in the basement.   And I do grey water collection to be h2o conserviatve... go figure.

Just started a vermi-culture project test project in the basement...   My daily travels collect coffee grounds from  local places,,,   for months they have been collecting on tom of the snow and ice caked compost heap out back...   will have to see if all this stuff I've been seeing about these critters (worms)  is for real.   Will look forward to my home grown potting soil coming into fruition in about two weeks... wish me luck.  

hmmm   how do I get the underline function turned off???

Ask your local Starbucks location if they are participating in Grounds for your Garden!  It's supposed to be a national effort, but some locations need coaxing.

Am putting thoughts together for DIY worm farm for teachers...   Looks like it will go together nicely.     Found cities in Canada that use a similar system for in-apartment composting!  How kewl is that?

 Enjoy the day!

 Jeff in PA

I guess its official that the daily chores of spring/summer began today since it was my first lawn mowing of the season. I mowed the back where the veggie beds are. I really have created quite an obstacle course back there with all those veggie beds and fruit trees...but my dream is to eventually do away with all the grass back there. It looks so nice all freshly cut :)

I also did the first spring turning of the compost pile and added some nice shredded leaves to bulk it up a bit and get it ready to cook away in the summer heat.

Tomorrow,
rain is in the forecast so i know all the plants will love it!

My tulip magnolia is starting to bloom, the daffodils by the azaleas are beginning to bloom, the tulips are coming up in the front yard, and the azaleas are bursting with buds...

THE EXCITEMENT CONTINUES....

Geez, I hope when the door of the compost tumbler is opened and the black gold is seen for the first time I hope that the moment lives up to the expectations I have placed on it.  Since I have been dreaming of the availability of compost-almost on demand- for a couple of years now my expectations may be a bit high!  It was fun to put the tumbler together and all last week it spoke to me from the garage.  It said.........If you put me outside and fill me up, tumble me daily........I will make compost .  Alas, Mother Nature had another plan.  Rain, snow, sleet, rain, snow, sun, rain...........

Yesterday the sun was shining, it was such a beautiful day.  The boat show didn't happen for us so I suggested we take out the tumbler so I could get to it.  Knowing that the ground would be muddy DH was easily convinced that this could still be done today.  It is enough to say that our shoes were covered in mud but the massive tumbler is in place.

The manual says that the ratio for success is four parts brown and one part green and that the tumbler should be 2/3 full in order to reach the proper temperature.  I had been saving kitchen compostable items and was sure that this would be enough.  DH went inside and I proceeded to fill my bucket with the kitchen items and then four buckets of leaves.  I can see that getting green stuff this time of year is going to be a challenge.  In the summer there will be plenty of grass, plant pieces and kitchen stuff.  For now if I want to get compost in two weeks I need to get this bad boy 2/3 the way full.

There are some options here, contact a local grocery store and see about getting the produce cast offs but then there is the pick up and hauling.........but more importantly the cutting up [compost will happen faster if the pieces are smaller-but this step isn't necessary] and then storing the items.  Being that the compost pile is frozen the options are limted as far as storing without inviting every wild creature in the neighborhood over.

This is where the instant gratification girl in me comes out.  I want to dump stuff in, turn turn turn and then in about two weeks open the door and ........get the gold.  I can continue to fill this up, turning daily and then when there is enough in there stuff in there stop adding and the process starts.  Something to think about today.

I took a picture from the deck but it doesn't do the size justice because of the distance so today when I go out to turn it I will bring the camera and take a better picture to post.

Off to the races!

(I hope this post goes through ok...with all the weird stuff going on with the site today...)

The last few days we have had a good steady rain. Great for our drought situation! Of course, I have gotten used to doing something in the yard most every afternoon. So, instead...I had some nice cups of coffee on the front porch and watched the rain :)

One morning, when I woke up...I noticed an owl perched on the fence by the creek. We hear owls a lot around here...and my husbad has named the one we hear, Norbert. Maybe this was Norbert showing himself :) . A little later, I also saw some sort of giant bird walking across the creek (might have been a white herron?) I couldn't catch a picture of him though. Here is a little shot of the owl:

It dried up enough today for my hubby to go get some loads of compost for the newly built veggie beds! Hooray!!!

And, in case there was any question as to the necessity of the chicken wire surrounds:

HAH! needless to say...the doggies had a fun day in the garden too!

While my husband was picking up the loads I also took advantage of the wet ground and did my first (of many, I am sure) spring weeding sessions! It felt good to get that done. We got most of the beds full and just need to finish up one bed. Yeah! Gotta love progress!

It has happened, it arrived!  Of course I am an the only one here doing a jig-  What you ask?

The twin compost tumbler!  For the last few years I have salivated over the tumblers.  You have to understand that our soil is clay-I know, hard to believe, but clay oh and ROCKS.  This area is full of rocks and ledge.  Not the best combo for gardening in the traditional sense.  When I was turned onto the concept of Lasagna Gardening last year I embraced is, tried it, loved it!  Living in a rural area many of the items are free for the taking once you make connections but the amount of compost that could be had from our kitchen scraps, grass clippings and leaves was like an untapped gold mine.

As much as I enjoy watching my seedlings grow, the life of the compost pile just didn't bring me the same joy and I find myself impatient.  Lasagna gardening is very rewarding and the three new beds will soon be layered and ready to plant.

Because my yard plans always include improving the soil in current beds in addition to creating more the concept of having compost galore on a routine basis............well it got me.  I squirreled away for such an extravagent item and fortunately this year,none of the cars needed tires when it was time to order.  It will be hard to keep my mind of putting it together as I make my way through the workday.

My hubby worked so hard for me this weekend and construction of my veggie beds is complete! Hooray! We went from 2 to 5 total. Next year we will add 3 more for a grand total of 8 :)

As you can see: He had a little help too:

Milo approves:

Now, we just have to fill them all with compost and then hubby will build the wire fence panels to keep out the wildlife. I am super excited to implement my companion garden plan that I worked up:

While he was busy working away for me...I tackled a couple of projects of my own.

First, I bermed up some compost around the porch where I plan to sew flower seeds this season. I can't put anything permanent there....b/c we hope to rebuild the deck in the near future. So, I purchased Sweet Pea Flower Seeds, Moon Flower Seeds, Sunflowers, Bells of Ireland and Sweet Alyssum. I got the compost nice and spread and then put up a temporary fence so the seeds can germinate in peace and free of doggie paws. Once they get growing well, I will take up the fence.

Then, I saw an episode of curb appeal that inspired me to try a paint technique on my front walk. I was going to extend this even onto the driveway...but our driveway is REALLY beat up and I think it might have accentuated the flaws instead of hiding them. So, for now...the walkway only got the special treatment.

BEFORE:

And After:

I just got a gallon of porch paint and applied it with a wet sponge. Its subtle, but that was the idea. It just gives it a little somethin'. The biggest difference is the bottom step going up to the door. It had been added by a previous owner and the brick did not match the house, so I did some sponging on it to make it blend better.

I have pretty much gotten all of my to do list done and now it is a matter of waiting for spring to sew seeds and plant plants. Once the weather is forcasted into the 70's for a couple of days...I will spray some weedy spots too.

I am very excited that our little cold front was a small one and we were back into the 60's today. Yay! When the little one went down for her nap, I began work on my to-do list. It actually didn't take me much time at all :) I did some various small pruning tasks and then set out to try my new pole pruner. It was a bit tricky...but after a good lesson from my hubby, it seemed to do the trick. We just took off some lower branches from a large tree in the backyard...to keep things opened up. My husband was kind enough to pick up a load of compost on his way home from work, so I also got that spread. I spread it around the back porch where I plan grow a flower garden from seed this spring. It looks great and the small bit of leftover compost is sitting in water tonight for a good batch of compost tea that I will use to water the azaleas with. Tomorrow is my hubby's day off, so we will hopefully get the veggie beds finished up :)

Here are some fun shots I took around my front yard today in between chores:

The daffodils are emerging under the redbud tree:

>

Crocus bulbs emerging: ( I always forget that their foliage has that great variagation on it until I see it each spring)

m>Creeping Phlox starting its first flush of blooms:

>

Clematis Armandi forming its buds:

I am just loving the anticipation of spring!

So, I talked to G today about how we really couldn't do much until we treated the dirt at the end to make it soil. He totally got it but was a bit put out as we really wanted to put the Walla Walla sweet onions in today...so, I came inside and got Carry to take me to the local Home Depot and we got some 'emergency cow poop', came home and I dumped about a bag and a half between the two spaces.

At this very moment I am reading a book called 'Cubed Foot Gardening' by Christopher O. Bird. Well, I really like what he has to say. So, we are doing an intensive seasonal rotation garden. Going through it I decided to ignore the packets suggestions (I know! WHAT ARE YOU THINKING???) Either way, I looked through our last frost, possible first frost...and found that for some reason (Ring of fire? Could it be the volcanoes? Hmmm...maybe ;) ) that our growing season is actually LONGER then where I grew up in NC! Maybe a month or so longer! Wow.

So, we planted! We planted the Walla Walla's that we were going to anyways, but they also planted the smooth leafed Olympic spinach according to the 'cubed ft design. Spinach is kinda tall so it gets the north side of the garden all over! Then we put the onions in front of the spinach to fill the area on the north side. On the south side I planted all the lettuces and some onions. I put the butterleaf and greenleaf through my newly opened area and then in his 'garlic rectangle' G put early radishes. So, assuming things work the way I have been reading, both online and in the book, and from what I saw last year....we should have solid green in about a month! wOOt!

Next week? Cold Frames based out of the containers that our greens come in.
We shall plant the tomatoes, we have Brandywine and my cross breed black prince/brandywines from last year, and some cherry sweets for G cuz that boy can GO through some maters!!! our deal, on his side he can eat all of them he wants, on ours, ASK! LOL!

Honestly....pics...
soon. I took some but the batteries need to charge up a bit, had to chare them a tad to take pics. Damn we need a new camera, haha.

Well I did get some things on my list done today.  The red onion seedlings, shallots, asparagus (went with the in ground method this time) all planted.  Cut back some of the roses, esp. the one at the front porch.  And one bed of lantana, an my grape vines, hibiscus an some of the lavender obiedient plant stems that had gotten bit an cut the suckers off the 2 magnolia trees I had cut down last year,  they were in a really bad spot.   I am noticing a lot less tree roots where I have some raised beds at by cutting them down. 

Got 6 trays filled with some potting soil, now to go thru some seeds an decide what to start seeding out.  Added compost to the existing asparagus container beds that didn't get it in the fall.   One thing I did notice when I was loosing the soil where the red onion sets were being planted was how rich the soil is looking.  Back in the fall I had planted brocolli an cauliflower there an had added composted manure an it has finally paid off, I hope.  So far its not looking so sandy, but nice rich soil.  

I hauled the cuttings to the woods an burned the other pile while looking around for a place to experiment with the Strawbale Garden method.  I think I'll put it either on the side of the house an use a somewhat level area near the garden to grow some corn.  I don't ever have much luck with corn, but I keep trying.  Thank goodness I have a BIL that farms in case I fail at it once again I can get some from him.  Will try an get the red onion bulb babies planted tomorrow if I'm not to tired after work.  Now to call it a day!

A worm bin is definitely a challenge and a learning trip if I ever had one!  I still have not mastered it but have gotten better - the trick is time and patience.  April will officially be one year since I purchased this unit and the picture looks so shiny and brand new - it's worn in now ....

It has 3 drawers or sections and the lower one with the spigot you can turn and it releases liquid which I use for watering my plants -  compost tea which I dilute with water.  Now I did try and make my own before I bought this and many folks do make their own with great success.  I think I just wasn't that mechanically gifted for constructing one of these on my own.  Basically you can make one with a plastic bin and probably at this point I would attempt making one again since I have experienced the worm bin life lol   Making compost with worms is No overnight miracle by any means - I thought it would be and learned otherwise.  I did lose a few bins due to my impatience - the one I thought would be really wonderful was adding weeds from our pond  OMG bad move!  You have to balance dry material with wet material and just let the worms be.  The moving up and down from one bin to another I still have not figured out - I put kitchen scraps, leaves, shredded paper in two of the bins and then I kinda stop adding to the bottom one (let them work on the material) and hope for the best.  When I am planting new seeds or plants I will dig around and grab what compost I can and add it to the soil.  These are not earthworms they are red wiggler worms which are much smaller and I did receive complete instructions for setting up and maintaining the worm bin.  There are books out there and websites so information is plentiful.  I came across this one site where this guy had a worm FARM and had tons of worms and piles of compost which he sold.  I truly believe this is an art and one that takes time and patience to master.....so I wait.

This is the third week end in a row that it has rained,  but today so far it hasn't an is suppose to hit near 60* so I'm hoping to get outside an get some things done.  My truck is loaded with hay that isn't usable except for compost that I need to unload b4 tomorrow.  I have a pile of Jon Quill bulbs that need to go in the ground. And I haven't finished pinestrawing my beds yet.  I can't decide if I want to do away with one of my large beds or not  an turn it into another veggie bed.  Either way I go it'll have to be watered this summer an chances are this summer will be like the others, hot an humid an probably dry.

I still have some lantana to cut back an here I thought I had it all done b4 it got cold.  Yesterday we unloaded DH's truck full of crush an run to fill in the holes in the driveway where the water beat a gullly in.  Still have a few roses to prune the dead out of.  Dang I'm tired just thinking about this,  anyone wanna come over a help?   I can at least feed you good!   

We are in zone 7B here. Almost time to gear up! I have a couple of the large boxes that salad comes in so am going to introduce our youngest to cold framing. He is going to grow Kohlrabi this year so it looks like, the best bet, would be to go ahead and cold frame the starts at the end of this month, beginning of next as our last frost SHOULD be about March 24th.

The other item he is going to grow is Walla Walla sweet onions. He got the area ready and composted in Fall so they will have he perfect setting and I plan to place them randomly as they also lend to being a pest deterrant.

I need to get a new pic of my Parsley, you can't see it between the last of the tomatoes there but it has gone plumb crazy with the nice cold weather, beautiful tufts of green-ness, like giant green snowballs (the pastry...if you can call them that, haha). I had put it in for two reasons, one, I love fresh parsley, but more so for the fact that parsley and tomatoes are companion plants. I had the added benefit of having something nice and green through these winter months on my side.

Interestingly enough, the garlic (this hedges his space, sides and back, random side and back on my side) decided to come up with our warm snap. Nature came to her sense and was all over the being winter again these past few days and the garlic does not seem to care so maybe it will just keep going. G there is excited as this is the first results he is seeing for all his hard work, he went out the other day  'just to look at the garlic'.  Hard to teach an 8 year old patience but he has been pretty good at it (or he just kinda forgot for a bit, hehe).

We had quite the weekend in the garden! Very productive! I got a lot of things checked off of my to do list :) I divided some Iris, transplanted some cannas to pots, spread pine straw in the back yard, moved a pile of compost to the veggie bed, planted 70 allium bulbs and started the sculpture for the front window seat bed. But, most noteworthy is the 30 foot tree my husband took out for me! I felt kinda bad as it is a nice tree, however...it had been planted way too close to the tree next to it and during the growing season, it was growing crooked trying to reach the sun. Not a huge problem now, but would be in the future and then would be too costly to fix, so my hubby took it out.

Before:

During:

After:

>

Its funny, it looked much larger once it was on the ground LOL! Now it will be another chore getting rid of all the brush! Whats going in its place? 3 Threaded False Cypress and possibly a blue evergreen of some sort. The vines are doing fun things right now too. The winter jasmine is just starting to bloom :) I look forward to watching them in the spring as they cover the chain link fence.

This week I will finish spreading the pine straw in the back and will finish up the sculpture in the front. But I tell ya, I sure am worn out! I don't have quite to energy now that I am 6 mo pregnant. I guess I better get as much done as I can before I am 9 mo!

0 Comment

 

Add a Comment