Where's the Rain

We have been short on rain lately.  Hopefully, the sprinkles we are getting right now will lead to a significant rainfall. Plants thrive on rainwater and, moreover, it saves me time watering in new seedlings. UPDATE: Still no measureable rain.

I have two areas of morning glory seedlings, one around the lamppost and the other in a container near the deck. I don't know what I was thinking. I thought the MG's in the container were a shorter variety than the one planted around the lamppost.  I went ahead and moved the ones around the lamppost to the upper flower bed and replaced them with extras from the container.  May not have been worth the effort; all of these varieties will grow well over six feet.  Picotee is the only variety that I have in my stash that doesn't grow over six feet and I have not started any of those seeds. 

I neatened up the zaatar pot (strawberry pot) on the deck.  I pinched off the dead/sickly leaves/seedlings. The seedlings planted into the small side openings were having difficulty setting foot.  The ones planted on the top are doing well.

I picked up a $9.00 lawnmower at a yard sale this morning.  According to the owner, it was only used eight times and I believe him, it looked brand new.  The owner couldn't get it to start after numerous tries this spring.  Well, after a few minor adjustments by my husband, presto! The lawnmower was purring like a kitten.  The flower and vegetable gardens look so much better with a freshly manicured lawn.  Tomorrow morning I will weedwack the edgings. 

Where Have the Brassicas Gone?

I worked most of the early morning transplanting seedlings into the flower bed.  The lower quarter will be completed tomorrow morning. The seedlings planted today include:

1. Sunflowers, Autumn Beauty (seeds) - Annual
2. Hollyhocks, Nigra - Perennial
3. Rock Soapwort - Perennial
4. Salvia, Blue Bedder - Annual
5. Black-Eyed Susan - Perennial
6. Gypsophia, Covent Garden - Annual

Other chores completed today:

• Removed daylilies that were too crowded or misplaced in the flower bed. 
• Placed newly-painted, white metal tower in flower garden.
• Transferred five geraniums with reddish pattern on leaves to separate area in flower bed.
• Set up another trellis in raised bed (bottom rung broke off). 
• Neatened labels in herb containers on deck.
• Watered flower, vegetable and herb beds.
• Planted Pansy (Swiss Giant Mix) into container near farmer's porch. 

Major Disappointment

The majority of the brassicas have been chomped down sometime in the last 24 hours.  A few cabbage and kale stand, but the rest have probably nourished a neighborhood squirrel.  Those three beds were prepared, planted, mulched, hooped and ready for Agribon coverage tomorrow.  I was a day late. The question is whether I should reseed directly now or just wait until late summer for a fall harvest.

First Harvest

Today was the first substantial harvest, two varieties of spinach, America and Bloomsdale Longstanding.  I slightly prefer the flavor of Bloomsdale Longstanding, but both were delicious, fresh and untouched by insects or animals.  The two varieties are very similar in color, shape, texture and size of leaves.

Over the past two weeks, I have also harvested small amounts of lettuce, parsley and arugula.

Annuals and Perennials

I planted a mix of annuals and perennials in the upper half of the front yard flower bed.  The challenge is to distribute height, flower color, and leaf size, color and texture appropriately across the bed.  It takes some effort planning the layout, but is quite rewarding. When I finish the lower half tomorrow, I will take a total count of seedlings planted.  My guess is that it will be over 500, but it could be more.

Some perennials were first divided and replanted. They included sedum, a crawling white flower (name unknown), and a crawling bright green plant (name unknown).

I also removed two tall grasses from the lower end of the bed.

The new seedlings planted in the upper half include:

1. Impatiens, Dwarf Pink Baby - Annual
2. Portulaca, Double Mixture - Annual
3. Snapdragons, Tetra Ruffled Supreme - Annual
4. Alyssum, Carpet of Snow - Annual
5. Potentilla - Perennial
6. African Daisies - Annual
7. Verbena - Annual
8. Petunia, Wave Purple - Annual
9. Chinese Forget-Me-Nots, Firmamenty - Annual
10. Dahlia, Unwin's Dwarf Mixed - Annual
11. Lupines, Russell's Prize Mix - Perennial
12. Blanketflower, Burgundy - Perennial
13. Delphinium, Pacific Giants - Perennial
14. Nasturium, Gleam Mix - Annual
15. Lavender, Vera - Perennial
16. Viola, Johnny Jump Up - Perennial
17. Hibiscus, White - Perennial
18. Cosmos, Bright Lights - Annual
19. Salvia, Scarlett - Annual
20. Echinacaea - Perennial

We are still in a very dry weather pattern.  The plants in small containers are suffering and I need to water them two, sometimes three times a day. Rain in not in the forecast until Monday or Tuesday of next week. 

Wednesday's Schedule

The crooked fence and thin grass are distractions; will address them this weekend. 

What did I do today?

• Finished tilling the flower bed. I noticed poison ivy against the fence as I moved down the hill. Stayed clear of it until I figure out how to safely remove it.
• Set up the hose in front yard.  Intend to buy a splitter and buy another Sears rubber hose to water the row garden in the back yard.  Having hoses ready and at hand is the secret to keeping up with the watering schedule. 
• Weeded dandelions in front west side and around fruit trees. 
• Weeded dandelions in front yard hill but not the area around the three fruit trees (another day). 
• Trimmed the three WPI bushes severely.  I should have cut them back to the ground earlier in the spring as I had done in prior years.  Not sure what to expect; we'll see. 
• Swept the bottom of the driveway to street -- street sweeper was in the neighborhood. 
• Trimmed the peach and two apple trees on upper hill.
• Placed trays of annual and perennial flowers on newly tilled flower bed.  Also decided which flowers will be placed on the north side of the hoophouse and in containers. 
• I tipped over the window box with white lisbon onions.  Rather than replanting onions, I sowed Detroit Golden Beets. 
• Neatened up the labeling system in outdoor beds using wooden paint stirrers from Ace Hardware.
• Removed shredded leaf mulch from four raised beds and spread around planted raised beds.

My Motto is...

Early to bed and early to rise, makes a gardener happy, healthy and wise!!  And how I love the quiet of the morning! 

This is what I accomplished today before my favorite little people arrived for a visit:

• Watered seedlings and seeds recently planted. 
• Planted a large container of cumin for the herb garden on deck. 
• Planted seeds of swiss chard (Rhubarb variety) in and amongst the swiss chard seedlings planted yesterday. 
• Plated additional arugula, Slow Bolt, in and amongst the arugula seedlings planted yesterday. 
• Sorted seeds ready to plant over the next few days. They included: peas (short and requiring trellis); carrots (orange and multi-colored); beans (bush and pole); pumpkins (miniature, baking and jack-o-lantern sizes); and radishes (multi-colored Easter Egg variety). 
• Set up two white trellises. 
• Transplanted strawberry plants from raised bed #1.  They were occupying valuable real estate; I decided to move them around the blueberry bushes.  I will also move another bed of strawberries in June after they bear fruiit.  Four raised beds of strawberries are plenty.  I don't expect good production from the strawberries around the blueberry bushes being on the north side of the stockade fence but, at the very least, they will look nice as a ground cover. 

Before dinner, I tilled half of the flower bed in preparation of planting out seedlings Wednesday afternoon. So many of the flower seedlings have outgrown their pots and need nutrition badly.  Tomorrow is the day for this important chore. 

Planting Out Rest of Cool Weather Crops

I had a very accomplished day in the garden:

• Raked up seed pods dropped by the willow tree in the neighbor's yard. 
• Skimmed the seed pods, leaves and insects off the pool. 
• Thinned cilantro, pak choy, beets (Detroit Dark Red), radishes (French Breakfast and Red Champion), lettuce (Parris Island), argula (organic) and dill in rear, right raised bed in hoophouse. 
• Moved arugula (organic), lettuce (Parris Island), fennel and pak choy seedlings to outdoor raised bed. 
• Transplanted cilantro and fennel to various sized herb pots for use on deck. 
• Planted sixteen basil seedlings in outdoor raised bed. Planted some into various sized herb pots for use on deck.
• Declared the chinese broccoli seeds planted in the hoophouse not viable.  
• Thinned and transplanted endive into the space that was occupied by non-viable chinese broccoli seeds. 
• Moved soil from other raised beds to prep the two brassica beds under hoops. Planted swiss chard (Rainbow and Fordhook), broccoli (Calebrese), cauliflower, cabbage (Danish and Golden Acre), brussel sprouts and kale (Lacinato, Winter Bor and Dwarf Blue Yates). I ultimately created a third brassica bed to accomodate all of the seedlings.  Bought another three PVC pipes in the afternoon. 
• Inter-cropped brassica bed with lettuce. 
• Planted celery (only four had survived the heat in the hoophouse).
• Planted chamomile (10). 
• Planted zaatar oregano (4). 
• Planted rosemary (4). 
• Planted common oregano (4). 
• Planted common thyme (3). 
• Planted lemongrass (3). 
• Placed tomato cage over large sage plant in raised bed. 
• Moved small sage from raised bed (had wintered over) to one of the large herb pots on the deck. 

Here are some pictures I took of the back yard: 

 

Mother's Day

We enjoyed time with family!  Before they arrived, I pulled all the plants out of the hoophouse and set them in their flats out and about in the yard.  Have plenty of planting ahead!!

Saturday's Adventures

Today's garden chores:

• To begin, I went to local yard sales and bought a garden tower and aluminum screening.  Not sure how I will use them.
• I trimmed the lilac bushes, the bush from WPI (name unknown), the grapevines on the arbor, the kiwi raspberry canes and the blueberry bushes.  
• I need to research online how to propagate blueberry cuttings.  In the meantime, I placed a dozen cuttings into pre-moistened compost/soil.
• Even though last night was in the 40's and the early morning was cloudy, I opened the hoophouse door too late and overheated many plants.  I really have neglected the hoophouse seedlings in the rear for a few days now and I paid dearly. Unfortunately, I lost many celery, red cabbage, swiss chard, broccoli, parsley and lettuce. The remaining vegetables need to be planted in the outdoor raised beds post haste.  They have outgrown their 6-packs and dry out very easily. I decided to rotate the location of seedlings in the hoophouse, bringing the ones in the rear to the front. 
• I watered the seedlings on the growlight fixture in the family room. 
• I tidied the Alyssum and African Daisy seedlings and pierced holes in their cups (oops, forgot to do it at sowing time).
• I trimmed the petunias and topped off the tall ones.  The leaves are very delicate, snapping off easily.

Seeds Sowed Today

• Zinnias, Bright Pink (harvested 2014)
• Zinnias, Red (harvested 2014) 
• Zinnias, Thumbelina Mix (window box on deck railing) 
• Zinnias, Purple Prince (three 4-packs) 
• Marigolds, yellow (harvested 2014)
• Yellow Squash, Early Prolific Straightneck (two 4-packs)
• Zucchini, Dark (2 4-packs)
• Morning Glory, Shiva (mixed with Chocolate in pot to climb deck railing)
• Morning Glory, Chocolate (mixed with Shiva in pot to climb deck railing)
• Morning Glory, Early Call  (around the front yard lamp post, will likely plant a low growing flower around it, not sure which one). 
• Snapdragons, Dwarf Kimosa Mix (in front of morning glory's pot near deck)
• Okra, Clemson Spineless (three 4-packs) 
• Lettuce, Buttercrunch (one 6-pack)

Feeling Accomplished

I completed many chores today, all by 8:30 am!!  I won't tell you what time I woke up!!

• Pounded in stakes on right side of shed. 
• Set up patio area with grill.
• Moved spinach boxes and "spice rack" to pea stone patio area.
• Set up tomato buckets surrounding deck.
• Reconfigured sitting areas around pool.
• Set up wooden American flag decoration on rear gate.
• Refreshed compost/soil mix in deck window box.  Disposed of old strawberry plants and will use it for annuals. 
• Set up garden stool and waste pail in upper garden. 
• Watered hoophouse plants. 
• Weeded pea stone around pool.
• Weeded area in front of "Noah's Ark" planting area. 
• Used hose to clean cement patios around pool. 
• Used strawberry pot to create zaatar herb garden.

Seeds Sowed Today

• Corn, Early Sunglow (30 in container)
• Corn, Silver Queen (30 in container)
• Corn, Peaches & Cream (30 in container)
• Mammoth Russian Sunflowers (25 in container)
• Autumn Beauty Sunflowers (25 in container)
• Boston Pickling Cucumbers (30)
• Waltham Butternut Squash (20)

Here's a picture diary of the day's activities:

Can't decide where I am going to situate the three trellises. 

A zaatar oregano pot

The latest batch of sowing seeds

Having pails scattered about the yard is helpful for collecting weeds. 

The rhubarb is looking very healthy -- so far, the best I have ever grown. 

The bones of the brassica cages: arches with their shadows. 

The last four stakes will hold back the mulch.

Another yard sale find!  I love it!

I planted four potato seeds in each large barrel. 

After a good scrub, the grill will be ready to crank out BBQ delights!

The spinach is doing very well.  Tomatoes will surround the deck in the large pots. 

An assortment of annuals is planned for this pot.

The coleus and geraniums look great on the center shelving unit.
The seedlings in the raised beds need to be thinned. 

Looking through the rear window of the hoophouse.

The scarecrow startles me when I work in the upper garden. 

Haste Makes Waste

Today I watered all the plants in the hoophouse, the raised beds, the seedlings on the growlight shelving unit and outdoor containers.  I didn't do a very thorough job, though, and lost some seedlings in the hoophouse to the heat of the past few days.

I tilled and evened out the compost/soil in five raised beds.

I cut out the flower stalks that were growing in the rhubarb.

Additional chores:

• I set up the 3/4" tubing over two raised beds in preparation of covering the brassicas with Agribon 19.
• I evened out the wood chip mulch in the upper portion of the raised beds, particularly around the compost bins.
• I weeded the beds that had strawberry plants in them.

Potatoes and Onion Sets

Potatoes 

Yesterday I cut up the larger potatoes into two pieces.  I pinched off smaller sprouts to leave one dominant sprout on each potato seed. Today I planted the red, gold and russet potatoes in a raised bed. The white potatoes and the remaining red, gold and russet potatoes will go in buckets this weekend.

Onion Sets 

I planted red and yellow onion sets in a raised bed. Both the Walla Walla and Sweet Spanish onion starts looked very poor so I chose to put the white onion sets in their place.

Thin and Tend

It is raining this morning so I chose to move my chores under cover. The only chore I did today was to thin and tend to seedlings in the greenhouse.

Postscript #1 - Germination from the Nasturium, Gleam (sowed April 29, 7 days).  May have germinated one day earlier.
Postscript #2 - Eggplants are looking lanky but much healthier.

A Perfect Spring Day

Today is going to be in the 80's and the warmth is very welcomed!

At 5:30 am I started the day by cutting up wooden stakes to contain the wood chip mulch around the raised beds on the hill. I pounded those stakes ten inches deep to make new edgings.

I moved some of the mulch behind and around the four new raised beds and relocated some near the bay window foundation. Everything looks much neater now.

Next I put four additional 3'x5' raised beds that my husband constructed this weekend on the south and west sides of the hoophouse.  The number of beds around the hoophouse is now totals six. The wood chip mulch that was stored there all winter needs another year or so to decompose into rich compost.  Some of this mulch will be used in the traditional row garden seen behind the pool.

The other outdoor chores I finished today includes:

• Planted Onion, Walla Walla and Sweet Spanish starts, Lowe's.  They were below average in quality. I planted the best of the lot and threw away about one third of the bundles. 
• Planted Garlic, California Softnecks, Lowe's.  Some of the bulbs had rotted before I had a chance to get them into the ground. 
• Planted Shallots, two different varieties, Lowe's. 

I also watered the strawberry plants, rhubarb, perennial herbs and generally tidied up the raised beds. 

Here are more images of the garden:

Postscript #1 - The three containers of Spinach, Bloomsdale Long Standing, (sowed April 27, 8 days) have germinated.  Also the spinach in the hoophouse, Noble Giant, (sowed April 26, 9 days) has also germinated.
Postscript #2 - The hosta that was divided and moved last week has adjusted well to its new home.
Postscript#3 - The eggplant leaves once again look thin and parched.