What's Growing On at The Plots mid-April

I've been spending a lot of time at the plots on the weekends. Due to the weather, some garden is behind compared to last year.....but, it's looking good and I'm happy!!!

View from the front left

Bed #1 with newly planted Broccoli and Garlic in the back

The Broccoli was planted over the weekend and it's looking good!

I put the pots around the plants to protect them from the windy weather we were having

 

All of the Garlic came up.

It's not as tall as last year. But, that's due to the dry weather. I'm sure it will catch up with some nice rain and warm weather.

 

I've been working on the Raspberry Trellises

It's hard to see from this pic. I'm adding some T's and wire to the posts to support them. I will finish them up this coming weekend.

Blackberry & Raspberry Bed

I've planted onions around the edges of the blackberries and in every location that I have room. Hopefully we will have a good onion harvest this year.....unlike last year

The Jersey Supreme Asparagus is coming up!

It looks like we will be having some asparagus for dinner this week!

 

The Purple Passion Asparagus has yet to pop up

 

I finally made a decision on Tomato Cages.

These are from Burpee. They had great reviews and I got a great deal! I found a coupon code for 25% off and then another coupon code for free shipping! I purchased 18 cages for around $200.

These cages are 5' tall before you put them in the ground and they fold up!

I hope they work as well as the reviews say they do!

There are Snow Peas & Snap Peas planted in two locations. They've all popped up since the rain!

The Strawberry Bed has been cleaned out.....

and they're looking good!

 

Another view of the plots.

You can see some additional Broccoli plants and onions planted in Bed #5.

I stopped by the plots on Monday and saw this pretty Bluebird. I think I spent 15 minutes taking pictures of him. He's a beauty!

 

I also took about 100 pictures of the Community Garden. Most of the gardeners have their plots ready to go. That's another post! 

  

Home Garden Update mid-April

Wow, I can't believe it's mid-April already and that I haven't posted in a month! I have been reading a lot of blogs though. It's just been very busy with work, life and the garden.

The cold weather and then the hot dry weather has passed and the weather has turned to normal for this time of the year. So.....I finally managed to get the home garden cleaned up this weekend.

The Right Cold Frame Bed

is planted with onions and carrots under the boards. I use Granny's Seed Mat Method.It works great!

The Left Cold Frame Bed

is planted with Asian Veggies, Kale, Collards and Lettuce

The over-wintered Spinach is really taking off!

I harvest this nice big colander of spinach on Sunday

"The Italian" sautéed it with olive oil and garlic....yum!

 

The Peas finally sprouted after our rain this past week!

They're all popping through the ground!

 

I usually plant my early Tomatoes in this bed.

This year I sowed 2 rows of Little Marvel Peas and 2 rows of Carrots.

Slicing Cucumbers will be sown on the right side in about a month

The Herb Garden has been cleaned out.

It was a mess from that Sandy blowing through here last fall!

The Rosemary made it through the winter for the first time!

Lots of Happy Daffodils in the Herb Garden too!

 

In the basement, there are a few Large Tomatoes......

smaller tomatoes......

and even smaller tomatoes!

They will be a nice size when it's time to plant them out.

There are a lot of peppers growing....medium and small

Way too much Celery!!

Cauliflower, Cabbage & Eggplant

The Broccoli has already be planted at the plots.

I'll post on the plots tomorrow.

 

So, how's your garden coming along???

 

Garden Update......busy, busy, busy!!!

Spring is just around the corner! We were blessed with two nice warm days over the weekend. Do you believe it was 62 on Saturday and the mid 50's on Sunday?? So....I went over to the plots to get some work done. This is the best weather for doing this type of work.

I took down 4 of the 5 trellises and laid them on the beds where they will be this year. I forgot the drill-driver both days. So, I couldn't move the last one. I also turned over about half of one of the big beds. I am pleased to report that there are lots of worms!!!

I turned over the one end of this bed where the broccoli will be planted. The garlic is at the other end of this bed.

  

I removed most of the straw from the garlic bed.

 

The bed in the middle was also turned over. This is where I will plant some cauliflower. The two end beds is where the asparagus is planted. No signs of grow yet.

 

As you can see (click on any picture to enlarge), the top of the soil is quite dry for this time of the year.

The raspberries were pruned. I totally forgot to cut them back in the late fall!

I added some additional bunny protection to the fencing. It was too low and we had a bunny living in the garden last year. I managed to get about half of the perimeter finished. Hopefully I will be able to finish it next weekend.

  

There is one full table of starts in the basement. I am in the process of pre-sprouting the peppers and eggplant. By the end of the week, there will be another table going!

 

The greens and lettuce and doing well and......

 

I think it's time to thin the celery!

 

How's your garden prepping coming along???

Starting Early Crops, the Winter Garden & Seed Starting/Planting Schedule

Today I finally got some of my early crops started! I was planning on starting some crops last weekend. However, cleaning up the basement and fixing my one germinating table took more time than I expected.

Since last year was my first time trying to use soil blocks......and I didn't do all that well with them. I decided to start my first plantings in containers. I am however planning to start my Broccoli, Cabbage & Cauliflower in soil blocks.

 I started Collards, Arugula, Tatsoi, Pak Choi, Baby Choi, 4 varieties of Kale and 6 varieties of Lettuce. All of these will be planted out in the empty cold frames very early.

These pretty and colorful tomato cages are the only thing in the cold frames right now. "The Italian" got them for me for my Birthday in December. I think they are really cool! He had them all lined up in a path from where I park my car to the back door and then a special present in the last one!

 

I didn't get around to planting the cold frames this past fall. Life got hectic and truthfully I think it was best for the soil. Last year I had slugs all winter and lots of bugs all season due to the mild winter we had. Maybe a good freeze will help things out a bit. That's my excuse reason and I'm sticking to it!

 

The overwintered spinach (the only way I can grow it) is doing well. The plants are very close right now. I will space them out once the weather permits.

 

There are some burned leaves. But, we will have happy Spinach this Spring!

 

I also started two varieties of Leeks, Caratan & Large American Flag. Large American Flag is new variety for me. I received the seeds from Seeds of the Month Club and am happy to try a new variety. I wanted to try another variety.....so, we shall see how they do.

 

The Celery was also sown today. This year I sowed my tried and true variety, Golden Self Blanching. I also started another new variety from Seeds of the Month Club, Utah. I'm really excited to see how the Utah celery does. Let's just hope we don't have more celery than last year!

 

Also sown were some Herbs; Rosemary, Basil (for inside), Winter Savory, Summer Savory, Cumin & Lemon Grass.

 

 

 My seed starting & planting schedule for this year is as follows:

 

February 23/24 - Start Broccoli & Cabbage

March 9/10 - Start Cauliflower, Eggplants & Peppers

March 16/17 - Peas Outside

March 30/31 - Start Tomatoes

March 30-Mid April - Potatoes, Onions, Carrots, maybe Beets & Greens Outside, weather permitting

April Mid-Late - Broccoli Outside

April -Late to May-Early - Cauliflower Outside

May Early - Start Squash & Melons

May-Early to Mid - Tomatoes Outside

May-Late - Peppers & Eggplants Outside

May-Late to Early June - Direct sow, Beans, Cucumbers, Squash, Popcorn and any other warm crops that I forgot!

 

I'm sure this will change a bit, as it always does. But, that's the plan for now! How are you making out with your garden planning for this year???

A Sad Day for our Neighborhood

Tuesday morning we were wakened at 4:30 AM by the sound of sirens. They really didn't sound that close to our home, but they were. Through the dark, we could see smoke in the distance and some flashing lights less then a block away. "The Italian" thought it may be our lovely neighborhood restaurant.....and sadly enough it was. Some of you may have read this post. Not only we were sadden by the thought of this 105 year old restaurant burning. We were also sadden by the thought of all of the bee hives that were most likely lost.

We sat and talked about what we could do to help. "The Italian" decided to offer to donate his services to help our neighbor get through all the bureaucracy that lies ahead. After I left for work, he walked down and talked to the owner. "The Italian" is meeting with planning and zoning today to start the process of variances that will be needed to rebuild this historic restaurant in our neighborhood which is now zoned residential.

The fire early

You can still see the tops of the bee hives here

Our brave firefighters in the frigid cold

A later picture of the fire. The section on the right is where the bee hives used to be. Most of the building was torn down later in the day due to structural instability.

At our last Community Garden meeting, we had discussed getting some hives at the garden. I was planning to talk to the owner this winter about putting a couple of hives at the Community Garden. If the owner would like to start some new hives and the committee agrees, we can help each other and have his hives at the Community Garden.

Our Neighborhood will not be complete until this sign is hanging once again.