The Plots....finally an update!!

I have to apologize for not posting a plot update in awhile. There has been progress there this past week. However, I either forgot the camera or got hit by a sudden wind and rain storm or maybe just forgot to take some pictures. Anyway here's what has been happening at the plots. Warning....lots of pictures!!

The bed on the left is the strawberry bed. It was planted last Sunday with 3 varieties of Strawberries. 26, Jewel June bearing, 26 Annapolis Early June bearing and 30 Ozark Beauty ever bearing. That's 82 plants total. I hope that is enought to keep "The Italian" and my "Little Garden Helper" happy!! Speaking of "The Italian", he framed out the bed today.

The bed in the back to the right is one of two Asparagus beds. That bed was planted yesterday with Jersey Supreme and framed out as well. The marked off area in the front of the picture is where we are going to have our little shelter. As you can see the soil there is nice and dark. When I was digging the asparagus bed I ran into some heavy clay. I removed the clay and used some of the good dirt. I also added lots of manure, composted manure and peat to the bed. As the asparagus grows I will continue to add compost to the dirt as I back fill it.

This is what some of the clay soil looked like that I dug out of the asparagus bed. I am using this soil to put around the exterior of the beds as they are framed in. We were going to sink the framing into the ground a bit more....but I decided not to as I will be adding lots of compost to the beds as soon as I can find a good source for it.

This is bed #5 which is next to the Strawberry bed. "The Italian" framed out the bed yesterday and I planted 30' feet of English Peas on the right side of the bed. I didn't put up any type of trellis for the peas yet. I am thinking that I will use some bamboo and netting that I have available.

Here is the second Asparagus bed which is in the front of the plots on the right side. "The Italian" framed it out yesterday and it will be planted with Purple Passion Asparagus tomorrow.

Bed #2 was framed yesterday. I planted about 12' of Snow Peas on the right side toward the middle. I also put up some trellis for the peas. To the right of this bed is Bed #1.

Bed #1 was planted on Wednesday and Saturday with Broccoli, Cabbage and some Pak Choi. I wasn't able to finish it on Wednesday as we were hit with some horrible wind and rain in an instant. I will also plant Brussels Sprouts and Cauliflower in this bed. I think that it looks like my pot bed right now!

Today I dug up the remaining abandoned strawberries that were in Bed #3 and the pathways. I ended up with two buckets of very old and tuff strawberries. I don't think that they were tended to in years. Hopefully one of the gardeners will want them and will be able to get some good roots from some some of the runners.

All of the raspberries that were at the plots are starting to show some green!

Even the canes that are still in the garbage can are showing some green!

That's it for now!! I will most likely do at least a couple of posts on the plots this week. The weather has finally gotten warmer and I will be over there catching up!!

It was Transplant Tuesday

Yesterday it was so cold, damp, windy and rainy. First thing in the morning I had to go pick up some eggs from a woman that I found on Craigslist (I got the idea to look on there from Granny). They are absolutely beautiful!! They are a combination of white, brown, green and blue eggs. About a mile down the road from the Egg Lady, I stopped at a farm and picked up a bale of straw. It looks good, hopefully it won't be seedy like the straw I got last year. The farmer also had dried cow manure for a dollar a bucket, bucket included! I only had room in the trunk for one big bucket. I will be going back for more though! I don't think anything can make a gardener happier then some nice cow poo!!

When I got home I spent many hours in the basement re-potting the tomatoes and some herbs.

This is the back germinating table....full of tomatoes! I need about 80 plants for us and others. I grow tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and some herbs for family and friends. The extra plants will be sold at the flea market....if I don't kill any in the greenhouse!

Here you can see both tables.

The peppers are looking good on the table in the tool area of the basement!

and so are the eggplant! This picture makes them look bigger then they really are.....but I thought it was a cool picture.

The marigolds are coming along too.

I will be planting some peas at the plots on Thursday. So I decided to soak them in the vitamin C solution that I posted about here. The peas that were sown here at the house are finally starting to sprout. I saw a couple that had popped out of the ground and were trying to run away yesterday!

Peas Soaking

Since the weather would just not clear up, I decided to make some more seed mats, like Granny does. These are spinach mats. I really think the mats will save me a lot of time!!

It's off to the plots today!! I will do a post on what has been going on over there in a day or two.



Harvest Monday... Cold Frame Crops.....4/4/2011

We had a few nice little harvests from the cold frames this week. The cold frames crops are really starting to grow now with the longer days and a bit warmer temperatures.

7 oz. of Arugula

Two nice little heads of lettuce, which made two very nice dinner salads. The lettuce on the left is Quattro Stagioni Sel. Rossina Di Pescia. These seeds were given to me by my in-laws from their most recent trip to Italy. I think it is such a beautiful lettuce! It tastes good too!

Harvest Total - 1 lb. 4 oz.
 
Arugula - 7 oz.
Collards - 7 oz.
Lettuce - 6 oz.
 

Stop By Daphne's Dandelions our host of Harvest Monday to see what is going on in gardens around the globe!

Busy day at the Home Garden

Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day! The sun was shining all day and the temperature had to be at least 60F!! I had a list of things to get done at the home garden and actually accomplished everything! I started out this morning making many carrot seed mats as done by Granny. Around noon I started working outside in the garden.

It was such a beautiful day even the little daffodils were happy in the messy herb garden!



I cleaned up and re-arranged both cold frames. I moved some of the plants around and set-up two Kozy Koats in the right cold frame and four in the one small bed bedhind the cold frames. They will accommodate six of the early tomatoes. I will also plant four more early tomatoes in the bed covered by the greenhouse.

Right cold frame all cleaned up with some extra room for probably lettuce or spinach.

Left cold frame all cleaned up. I am going to sow some spinach in all of the empty spaces.

I took some of the straw off of the garlic and moved some kale to an empty space in the bed. The straw I got last year was not very good and I was getting weeds and grass growing from it. There are no signs of the peas popping up yet which are planted around the perimeter of this bed.

Kale moved to the garlic bed.

"The Italian" was out and about, so I took it upon myself to put the greenhouse up. I was going to wait for him, but wasn't sure what time he would get home or if the weather would hold out. Even though it usually takes two or three people to do put it up....I thought "what the heck, I can do this by myself"! As you can see it is like a pop-up tent. You have to lay it out and start by putting in two side supports on each side. No problem....I'll just go inside the collapsed greenhouse and put them in. Well the first one went in just fine. Then I realized that one of the velcro straps that you wrap around the poles was tangled in my hair! I managed to free myself with the collapsed greenhouse on my head and preceded to erect the greenhouse. After about 30 minutes of tugging, pulling and forcing the poles into their designated pockets....it was up!! As I sat on the steps to take a break.....guess who pulled up??? "The Italian" 

"The Italian" staked and tied the greenhouse in place.

We usually put the greenhouse up about a month earlier. It will stay up until the danger of frost has passed, around May 15.

Bay Laurel Tree.......update

Many of you may remember the post I did in the beginning of February about my Bay Laurel Tree trimming. The cuttings that I tried to root did well for awhile and then died. I was hoping for the best but knew that the odds of them rooting was not the best. They really require a warm humid environment to root and my basement is not that.

I am very pleased though that I finally trimmed that tree. I think that I did it at the right time of year for my tree as it always seems to shoot out in the early spring.

The lower branch that I trimmed now has four shoots growing!

The upper branch that I trimmed now has five shoots!

The tree is definitely going to look much better. Now I'm thinking that I should have trimmed the other longer branch a bit. I'll trim that one next year.