MsDawn77's Blog

Back & slowly progressing...
Jun 7, 2010 | 7:43 PM PST

I haven't been on here in awhile, but I'm back.  My gardening this year has been slow, but progressive. I've laid out my 2 veggie plots...one strictly for the pumpkins. The other for my tomatoes & whatever else I decide to put in.

 Wednesday I will be getting a few bags of dirt to put in my pumpkin patch for a something more healthy than the ground dirt. Tuesday night I will soak the seeds over night to help promote germination.

 By Friday I will have my tomatoes in the ground.  2 of them are growing like they are on steroids, the others are catching up nicely.  Will have to be in the ground this week because they will be to big for their pots, and I can't afford to by bigger ones.  There are actually a 2-3 plants per pot. I think I will just plant them like that...just leave a couple feet of space on either side for growth.

 I plan to put in more plants than just tomatoes in the 2nd veggie plot...but I will probably buy them already grown, instead of trying from seeds. It's getting a little late in the season...I think...to try seeds in the ground. I have some baby onions and some radish seeds to try.

That's it for now. I did post some pictures for plants to be identified in the Plant Identification forum. 3 plants...found them along my fence line...so I weeded to let them grow.

 

Tomato Transplant & Other Randoms
May 10, 2010 | 10:27 PM PST

Today I filled up 7 small-medium size plastic pots with some dirt and transplanted my tomato seedlings to them. I also put in 2 spikes each of Jobe tomato plant food.  Now if the weather around here would warm up again, so I can get them outside for some direct sunlight.  Right now I just put them by a sunny window.

I've got started on my Scrapbook Garden.  I've decided to turn my pond area into an outdoor habitat for our turtle, Herbia (Redneck/Red-eared Slider).  This will require of the use of chicken wire or similar type fencing. I will be enclosing the whole pond, plus a little strip of land, so she can get out and roam a bit. Although maybe I should just put the fencing around the pond area entirely. Would be easier than what I'm currently thinking...as the fence needs to buried about 6-12 inches in the ground to prevent her from digging out, plus it needs to have a wide board at the bottom to preven getting caught in the wire. Also discovered that the height needs to be about 3 times her length to prevent climbing.

I will be putting in some water plants in the pond to help create shade, as the pond will be in full sun all day. I need to think of some tallish plants to put on the south and west sides of the fence to help create more shade, or at least one side. All plants will have to be turtle friendly plants, especially the ones in the pond, as she could eat them.

Scrapbook Gardening
May 8, 2010 | 2:30 PM PST
Tags: scrapbook , gardening , planning garden

I've decided to do a scrapbook garden to help plan for next year. I know the planting season for this year is about to start, but I don't have the money or resources to do much this year. This year is just some tomatoe, craving pumpkins, & possiblly radish in the fall...which I might container plant instead of ground planting.

In case your not sure what I'm referring to with Scrapbook Gardening, it's just that, a scrapbook. I plan to take various pictures of my yard, especially areas I wish to do some gardening in. Than I will print the pictures & place them in a scrapbook. BUT I will also be searching gardening magazines & websites to cut out or print out pictures of plants, landscaping materials, pots, pond equipment, etc. I will also be including references to websites, magazines, & books for the things I find. Possiblly even include basic instructions for plants I know I want...basic stuff like when to start seedings, when to plant, etc ...along with a good reference that I can refer to when needed.

Doing a scrapbook garden will allow me to plan throughly for the seeding & planting season. It will give me time to research plants.  I wish there was a way I could do the scrapbooking on my computer. I do have a scanner so I can just scan magazine & book pictures right to my computer. Than just save pictures from websites. I think if I do it on the computer, my best will be using a word processor & do like Garden Diary.

I will have to think on the best way to put all together...by doing on the computer I would save money. Doing it by hand would provide more hands on manipulation...but I would have to spring for printer ink, a scrapbook, paper, etc.

 

Tomato Seedlings & cat mishap
May 8, 2010 | 12:57 AM PST
Tags: beefsteak tomato , Cherry Tomato , cat , seedings , dirt pellet

I think it was in March that I brought a tomato seeding kit from a local dollar store for $3.  I am unemployed, as is my husband, so I find what I can cheap, on sale, for free, or make my own for most of what I do in life...when I can.

The kit had seeds for Beef Steak & Cherry tomatoes. 10 dirt pellets. 1 plastic tray with a "greenhouse" lid.

I placed the dirt pellets in the tray, watered them so they expanded and added seeds.  I decided to make 5 Beef Steak & 5 Cherry. I even made a cut in the tray lip to indicate which row was which.  Brilliant idea...at least I thought so...should've tied ribbons around them.

Since March & beginning of April was still kind of chilly outside, I would water the seeds & than place them in on a sunny window sill...this usually turned out to be my kitchen window above my sink.  On one day, just after some of the seedings started, my husband & I were chatting by the sink. He started to pour out some old orange juice into the sink when I noticed my seed tray was no longer in the on the window sill. I told him to stop, which he looked at me mildly confused. I pointed out the seedings. He was immediately concerned since he knew that gardening is important to me.  Some of the seeding fell into the sink, some fell on the surface behind the faucet. A couple of the seeding pellets got "juiced"...LOL!!

I picked them, put them back in the tray...no longer knowing which had what tomato seed...told you I should wrapped them with ribbons.  After thinking about it, I realized my female cat, Marble, had to have been the one to knock them down. The window wasn't open and of the 2 cats, she's the only one that trys to sit in that window.

After about a week or so, I noticed only 5 pellets were growing. My husband suggested I flip the others incase I had put them in upside down. Sure enough 2 more started to grow. The other 3 after another week or so, I just tossed. Figure if they hadn't grown by now, they probably weren't going to.

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Now, my next plan is to transfer these pellets to medium size pots until the seedings get to be about 6 inches tall, than I will transplant them to the ground.  I will be adding tomato plant food to the dirt to help them along.  Each pellet has 3-4 seedlings a piece.  I debating planting them in the ground as a cluster like that.  I'm hoping more Beef Steak survived than Cherry, since most of my family members prefer Beef Steak.

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Well, that's it for my first blog on this site. Thanks for reading.