Hello Again

After many issues with my computer, I had to relent and buy a new laptop.  Happily, I received my new laptop Sunday.  And what a relief it is to have a machine that works.  Took a little time to get used to it but I think i have the hang of it now.  Now that the issue is resolved, there is much to tell/relate.  Given winter is right around the corner, time is of the essence.

I was doing chores this past Thursday in my backyard.  Having completed my work there, I went out front to discover that a sizeable tote of spent flowers and plants was sitting in my driveway.  Apparently, one of my neighbors knows that I am an avid composter.  If it's green or brown, it will most likely end up in one of my 4 units.  So, I carried it back to my garden area to begin the prepping process.  I put the cuttings into my wheel barrow.  Here is the result of that.

I then took a shovel and sliced through the mass in order to speed its decomposition.  I lightly watered them down and went on with my chores.  Here is how they looked after the chopping.  I was happy to get these as its a pretty good unexpected haul and will definitely go a long ways to giving me the bulk that is necessary.

I put the container in my driveway, not knowing who exactly gave me them.  I then worked in my greenhouse and went inside my house, noticing that the container was now gone.  Next morning, I woke up to yet another set of plant debris in my driveway.  This one was a little bigger in mass than the first one as shown below.

I then added these to the previous donations and cut/watered them like I did before.  Here are before and after pictures of my compost treasure. 

I went to put the container back in my driveway and my neighbor accross the street walked over to retrieve her container.  I thanked her for it and she said it was easier to do this than to bag them up and she knew I composted so might as well put them to good use.  People surprise you sometimes.    

I have left the cuttings in the container and actually added a few pots of spent soil and some grass cuttings.  It rained on them over the weekend so they are off to a good start.  I'll add them to my working composter at the end of this week before the weather turns.  

It's great to be able to post again without the computer wonking out on me.  There is a lot to cover and I will do so over the next week.  I have a bunch of competing outside tasks to get accomplished this week as the weather is currently unseasonably warm and I plan on taking advantage of it.  I'm not complaining but as we all know, there are only so many hours in a day.        

So, in my next post, I will take stock of the progress of the seedlings I have currently growing.  Lots to write about but It will get done.  Until next time everybody, Happy Gardening!

 

Greenhouse update

Well, after a few sunny days, it became apparent that having the sun block on just one side did reduce the temps in the greenhouse. It kept it from going over 100 but, just barely. The temps were still consistently hitting the upper 80's to low 90's. That is a big improvement but still wasn't enough. So, I cut another 4 pieces for the other side. I proceeded to cut them Monday so about 25% of the upper windows were blocked and after a few days, the temps moderated to the upper 80's on a 93 degree sunny day. Here is an inside view of what the greenhouse looks like now. Once the temps drop a bit, this should allow for a better result with the plants. It is supposed to be mostly in the mid 80's for the next week so that will definitely help.

I have been getting the various planters set up for seeding in the fall crops as seen below. The two larger planters in the foreground were given to me by my in-laws as they no longer had any interest is using them. They are Garden patch grow boxes that they purchased a few years ago. They are quite ingenious as they operate with a water reservoir underneath where the plants grow. The soil you use wicks the moisture up to the plant roots. This prevents all the problems of wet plants and the myriad issues this causes. This is the first year I have attempted anything with them so it is yet another experiment.

Here are a few detailed pictures which show the units parts. The first is the bottom reservoir. It has two channels which you fill with the mix. This allows the soil to absorb and wet the ground slowly from the bottom from both ends as can be seen here.

Once you load the two chambers, you then proceed to fill the upper chamber with the medium to the top. I had to overcome two issues with these. The first is that I did not have the overlay planting guide that comes with the unit and secondly, I did not have the fertilizer tubes that you normally lay into the soil. My in-laws did not see the need to keep the guide and naturally, the fertilizer tubes dissolve in a planting cycle. I looked up the planting guide which gave me an approximate feeling for where and how spaced apart my plants should be. As far as the fertilizer tubes, I had my own fertilizers that are for the specific types of veggies I will be growing. With that in mind, I decided to forego buying the tubes at $9.00 plus shipping each. I have a pretty good feel for what the plants will need and when given my experience with them.

After I finished loading those two units, I then filled the two narrow planters with my mix. The bigger units will be used for lettuce and spinach initially. The smaller units will be for planting carrots. All of these will be staggered so we won't be overrun with a ton of the various harvests all at one time. I also have plans to plant chard and onions in a few other planters. I will look for other plants that I can grow that we eat. I'm thinking of growing Peppers in my basement over the winter as I have read it can be done with a few modifications. Just another experiment. 

My mix for all of these is an adaptation of what I have used in the past years plus a few amendments that I think need to be included. I started with 2 parts of a lightweight potting mix I have used previously. I added 1 part of a garden soil mix to the potting mix which had nutrients the potting mix didn't. Then I proceeded to add 1 part of vermiculite(vegetable variety) for water retention and creating spaces in the soil for root growth. And finally, I added 1 part spaghmum peat moss to soften the soil for easy root penetration.

I filled all the units with the same mixture so I could control the need for water. Fertilizer will be mixed in to the planters based upon the needs of the specific plants being grown in them. I will need to get the plants started along with seeding in the Winter Rye in each of my beds. There is a lot to do. I do have several tomato plants that have begun putting on tomatoes - much to my surprise. They have just really taken off in the last 3 weeks so there is, after their poor starts - hope. 

Well, that's all for now. As the weather outlook looks very favorable over the next week, I hope to be able to get a good chunk of the planters and beds seeded. I will update my progress in the next few days. So, until next time - Happy gardening everyone!

Been a while

It has been a while since I last posted. Much has been going on in the garden and a lot more has been happening outside the garden. My wife and I decided that we needed to tear down the Patio Enclosure we inherited with the house when we bought it many years ago. It served its purpose all these years. We have many fond memories of our sons' birthday parties, our many family Christmas open houses, the many Christmas' we spent in there as our son grew up. One memory that is very present is when we bought him a huge Lego Starwars set for Christmas. The thing must have had a million pieces.

He and I sat down on the floor and began the task at hand. And, as I sat there watching him connect the pieces (with little help from me), I marveled at how he systematically and logically assembled that behemoth of a starship. It was the first time I can remember being in awe of him. 

But, all good things come to an end. Lately, when we were in the back room, you could feel the floor giving in and shaking a bit. It was time for it to go before we procrastinated too long. So we have been on a journey of getting contractor bids, and deciding how and what we wanted this new room to look like.

Trust me, it was a process that soaked up bunches of time with conversations with the contractor, deciding on the contractor and the myriad decisions attendant to creating a new living space. It's going to be worth it as the old room certainly outlived it purpose.
So, I have been away from the blog but have been busy with getting the garden roaring into summer. It's been quite a balancing act these last few weeks. I was out one morning at around 4:30 with my work light and head lamp transplanting my tomatoes. Had to be done and couldn't be delayed much longer. I know it seems a bit extreme but you can get a ton done at that hour of the day. The birds kept me company once the sun started to rise and I think I chased off a few pesky squirrels.
I will endeavor to try to post during our construction phase which starts in a little while. Here's hoping it all goes without a snag. But, lets be realistic here, there will be issues. We will persevere. Until the next time, Happy Gardening everyone!

Taking stock

Yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous day in our region. We hit a high of 78 in our area with periodic clouds. Given we have had mostly unseasonably cooler weather recently, it was a nice surprise that felt really nice. As I walked to the garden with a mental list of what I was going to accomplish, I decided that it was actually going to be a day of minimal input on my part where I would just soak up the garden. Not sure what triggered the change of heart, but I just went with the flow.
So, I grabbed a garbage bag and walked the garden while gathering up the various limbs and other debris that has been deposited by my tree through all the storms we have had. Then I checked the various plants and watered those that needed it. I had a pile of cardboard that I have been working on periodically to shred for my composting. So, I finally finished that process under the shade of my tree. I put the cardboard into my one empty bin and covered that with a heaping of leaf mold. I watered that all down and went about the rest of my meanderings. 
Overall, at this stage of the gardening season, I came to the conclusion that my garden is coming along quite well. I am growing many new plants that I never had. New to me are peas, onions and potatoes. While I nurse them along, I have many plants that are also coming along nicely. Is it worth the effort? Absolutely.
Despite the challenges that this Spring season has presented, the garden is doing about as well as can be expected. There will be more issues I am sure. But that is part of the allure of gardening for me - overcoming the obstacles.
Speaking of issues, our weather is on a projected downward trajectory this week. We have freeze warnings being talked about for Mother's day this Sunday. And the outlook for the rest of May is for colder weather than normal with rain. So much for Spring eh?
But I will continue to dig in and garden. Sure, I'm going to have to adapt to the circumstances but don't we all. Today is a new day and there is lots to do in the garden. And that will keep me moving along. So I'd better get going as the new week is ahead and there's plenty to do. Take care everyone. Until next time, Happy Gardening everyone!

Moving forward

Posted on May 1, 2020 6:14 PM

Yesterday was quite a wet day for most of the east coast. It started out windy with strong gusts here. I could see the approaching storm to the west but it wasn't raining when I woke up around 6AM. I waited until it got lighter and poked my head out. It was rather warm and despite the winds, really not too bad of a day. I gathered myself and went to the garden and decided it was time to transplant my onion seedlings. I did notice that a crew was delivering shingles by crane to one of my backyard neighbors. Glad it wasn't me as the winds were increasing in intensity.
So, I assembled all my tools and opened the structure where I decided to plant them. As I kept an eye on the approaching storm, I dug the holes and transplanted the 11 seedlings in about 45 minutes. I watered them down, took the picture below and closed off the structure as a little rain was starting. I then closed everything up and went inside as the winds picked up a little more and it began to rain steadily. That's what I call just in time planting. Here is the result of my endeavors.

The storm hit way too hard for me to do much else the rest of the day. We had areas around us that flooded with over a foot of water or more. We received about an inch of rain overall but the winds and the high tides combined to push the local rivers over their banks. Not a pleasant experience for all those involved.
Wednesday, I assembled my fence garden pots in order to seed in more Spinach. I had 5 existing plants which I just cut back on Tuesday for salads. So, I planted in the remaining 7 units with Spinach seeds. I used a mixture of the Miracle Grow Organics soil, sifted compost from my composter, and some seed starting mix at the top to place the seed in. This was a unit a saw on sale last year at our local BJ's. It worked pretty well last year so I am hoping it will do the same or better this year.

Also on Wednesday, I planted in my recycled shoe holder. Yes, I am one of those people who saves things not knowing if I'll ever use it. I just look at the item and, if it is unusual, I more than likely will keep it. In this case, both the tubing and the shoe caddy were saved from the garbage by me. You just never know.
After I hung it on the back wall of my greenhouse, I cut holes in the bottom of each pouch and inserted tubing that I had saved for future purposes probably 3 years ago. I then filled the first container with the dirt and wetted it down to see if the water would empty into the container below. The test confirmed that indeed, the water did flow through. I then proceeded to fill another 7, each time testing to be sure of the drainage. Once that was finished, I had my wife pick out the herbs she would use. She picked the 8 she thought would be used by us. No sense in growing something you won't use. Never understood folks who did that unless a neighbor or other family member were going to use it.

I did check on my beans and cabbage plants. All seem to be coming along fine. With regards to the beans, I used some bean seeds that are probably 4 years old along with brand new beans I just recently bought locally. The older seeds are still quite viable when compared to the newer seeds. I have other seeds from 2010 that I planted early this year that gave me near 90% germination.

I attribute that to the fact that I keep my seeds in a small "dorm" refrigerator and that I keep them in photo cases. I simply pull the proper colored container for the seeds I need and leave the others in the fridge. They are in the container that signifies the season that they are planted. For instance, the yellow and green are for spring. I have the seeds that are typically planted in that season stored in those boxes. Along with this, I have an excel spreadsheet that lists the various 265 seed packets that I have and what year they are from. And, each line is color coded to match the color of the boxes. I bought this at my wife's urging as they are really made for keeping photos. Yes, there was some upfront labor involved, but I haven't bought any seed packets that I didn't know I already had anymore. And this is so much more time efficient than my previous storage system. I say its worth every bit of time I have saved.

Much to my delight, when I looked at the area where I planted my potato starts, there was one that already broke through the ground and evidence that another 6 were beginning to break through too. If that holds up, I will be very pleased by that. I say that because the potato is probably far and away the most caloric and nutritionally dense vegetable. They are rich in carbs, fiber, vitamin C, B6, potassium and manganese. When processed, they lose a fair portion of everything. So, I am cautiously excited as I had a little doubt about the potatoes I received. Apparently, looks are deceiving. Here is a look at my first ever potato plant. LOL!

That's about all I have for this Friday. Much still going on in the garden so I am hoping the weather can moderate. Until next time, Happy Gardening everyone.

Status

Well, after a wet weekend (mainly Sunday), I decided to check the status of my garden. It appears that my efforts have borne out some decent results. We have received about an inch and three quarters of rain from Thursday through Sunday evening. There were pretty strong winds on Thursday but were calm the rest of the duration. When I ventured out into the garden, the first thing I noticed was that the ground I was walking on was quite saturated. I don't believe this was due to the recent rains but rather from the cumulative effects of the many storms over the past few weeks. There is only so much rain the ground can absorb. And the future forecasts are indicating we should have three rainy days in the next five.
So, I first checked the tomato bed where I put the plastic on an incline to divert the water. When I exposed a portion of the bed, it became immediately apparent as can be seen below that my efforts were worth it. I don't think I will keep the plastic on the bed long term but rather until I transplant the tomatoes probably round mid-May. I might incline the soil in the bed a little to divert some of the water but time will tell. Right now though, I'll keep it covered to prevent weeds from populating the bed.

Next. I checked the row cover and cloches in the bed where I planted Spinach and Bibb Lettuce. The bed underneath the row cover as well as the soil under the cloches were wet from when I watered them Thursday but neither showed any signs of water saturation. Another good sign. I hope that the seeds will germinate and I can get some good crops from them. Here is what I found under the tunnel.

The peas are rolling along although I do have to be aware that even on an overcast day, the cloches have to be vented as the air can get quite warm in them. They all seem to have had a growth spurt and may be ready to come out from under the cloches. I'll keep an eye on them this week and decide when to uncover them.
I have lots going on in the greenhouse presently. Yesterday, while it was raining, I started 36 cantaloupe seeds in my greenhouse. It's always pretty warm in there so I don't mind doing the work. I've been cleaning out some of the old plants as they are past their peak production periods. I'm trying to move more of the plants out in the garden but that will have to wait a little while longer until the weather settles into Spring. It's supposed to hit 75 on Sunday but then take a small dive after that. But again, I only count on about two days out with any forecast. 
Well, that's all I have at this time. I'm going to continue with the coverings and such for the foreseeable future. I will be keeping an eye on everything and begin removing them once the weather settles down. Until next time, Happy Gardening everyone!

Spring Preparations

As I said in my last post, the weather is beginning to affect planting schedules in a serious way. In the region where I live, we are experiencing a very wet and cool Spring. We had a pretty nice March but April has been decidedly different. And that has forced me to take steps that I would never have considered before.
Once again, I took an inventory of what I had stored away and made a plan that would allow me to continue with the necessary plantings that I needed to get accomplished. After all, plants have a window of seasonality where they will grow proficiently. Outside of that, your crops will not perform as they are "wired".
On a side note, my brother called me this past yesterday and we ended up talking about our gardens and the dreadful weather. He related that last Tuesday his area had a hard freeze with a temp of 27. Most of his plants were dead Wednesday morning. He said that he was so frustrated this year with the weather, but questioned what could he do. I could feel and relate to his frustration.
So, with that in mind, I began my quest to adapt to the weather we are getting. I consider it a challenge to say the least. I gathered up my various structures and other implements to decide how I was going to place them in my garden.
I had beans and lettuce already planted in one bed so I had to get those covered. After measuring, I decided to put a Flowerhouse portable mini greenhouse over the beans. It is 5 ft. wide and 9 ft. long. I generally use it to harden off my seedlings but it fit the bill for protection. So I placed it and thankfully, it covered the already seeded area perfectly. After that was completed, I still needed to cover the lettuce seeds. For that, I used a solar logic mini hothouse which I have used to grow carrots in the winter before I had my greenhouse. After measuring that, it fit right between the Flowerhouse unit and my greenhouse. So, that took care of my planted bed as shown in this photo.

Next, I wanted to seed in two rows of lettuce and spinach in the next bed. And, given the forecast called for rains through next Tuesday, it had to be protected or the seeds would otherwise rot in the ground. Too much water is a very bad thing. The only thing worse is a hard freeze or appreciable snow.
After thinking it through, I decided to employ the adjustable fleece tunnel to plant the spinach. Then, I gathered up 4 of the rectangular cloches and my 3 bell cloches. I will use the cloches for my Bibb lettuce planting. I then lined up the tunnel along the one side of the bed and set up the cloches on the other side. I seeded them in Wednesday and watered them down for the next couple of days. Hopefully, these steps will keep the ground dry enough to allow the seeds to grow. Here is a picture of the setup.

When I finished with these set ups, I turned my attentions to my third bed which will be where I will be planting my tomatoes. I came up with a plan to slope the bed to channel the water off the bed. I raked the bed to effect a slope left to right in hopes of diverting the water into the adjacent garden path by topping them off with the garden plastic I used previously. I placed a run of walkway bricks on the high side, then laid the plastic over them and put bricks on top of the placed stones. Then I pulled the plastic taught on the other side of the bed and pinned them down with more bricks. This way, the water will drain off the bed. Or at least that is the hope. Here is a snapshot of the bed as it sat Thursday afternoon..
t shall be seen as to whether I am successful or just wasting my time. As I finish this post, it is beginning to pour outside. This will be the pattern for Thursday night through Friday afternoon. I will eventually wander out to see what the verdict is Friday once the downpours stop. The forecasts call for rain on Saturday then alternating days of showers and or rains through Wednesday. So it continues.
Well, that's all I have to say about my weather travails. Until next time, Happy Gardening everyone!

Will we ever see warm temperatures again?

This is our morning sky today. As you can see, our skies have turned decidedly purple. I am currently listening to Prince on Amazon music. It kind of sets the tone. I went out earlier this morning to tie everything down as the NWS is calling for thunderstorms in the next hour or so. The weather has been rather cool for the past week and that is not good. I seeded in two rows of beans, lettuce seeds and transplanted a pea seedling too Wednesday evening. I used my trusty garden knife for spacing the beans. I crowed them a little bit by spacing them 2" apart. I am hoping they will support each other this way. But, having followed the weather forecasts, I knew I had to devise a way to protect the seeds and the transplant. As seen below, I first planted the two rows of bean seeds, watered them and then covered them with the vented square cloches. I then seeded in the two patches of lettuce and covered them the same method I did with the beans.
 

I placed the lettuce up against the greenhouse in order to prolong the growing season. Being unfamiliar with the new layout I have, I am almost certain that this area will be in the shadows of the greenhouse until probably late June. I am hoping the diffused sun will result in a cooler temperature soil. I'll be keeping an eye out on that. 

Likewise, I planted the one pea plant and covered it with one of my home made cloches given its one plant. As our low Thursday night was very close to freezing, I was grateful I covered them up. I live near a small river so our temps were moderated somewhat by it. Naturally, since we were only 2 degrees away from freezing, we came very close to a frost.

Over the weekend, I went to a local pop up plant, flower and vegetable sale. I found a few tomato plants, and some flowers for our front porch - all at a pretty decent price. The people running and attending the sale all practiced the distancing guidelines. The merchant made sure it wasn't overrun so that was good. The overall message I am hearing from our local greenhouses is that selections will be down as they are just not able to man the greenhouse appropriately. That makes sense as seedling propagation is very labor intensive on the front and back ends of the process. Kind of makes me thankful that I have my greenhouse.

I decided on Sunday to transplant 5 more of my pea plants. So I planted them as the weather was overcast and cooler. The seedlings were getting kind of big and I need the trays for additional seed starting. So, I planted the five and here is the first starts of Peas I have ever done, complete with their cloches. I take the tops off during the day and close them up at night. I have been told peas are almost foolproof. We shall see.

I then planted an additional five plants on the opposite side of the trellis Monday evening in the same manner.

There is a lot going on as I begin to roll out the plants from the greenhouse. Besides erecting my fence, the tomato system and the structure for cucumbers, I have had to contend with the noticeably different weather that we are having. It is not a local thing from everything I am reading. Our farmers are now contending with many more serious issues due to the coronavirus, historically high rain totals and the breakdown of the supply chain in various places. One has to put all this into context though. My response was to up my gardening efforts and to broaden my plantings. I have been a gardener for 5 decades now - yes, I am old(er). And I am not alone in this effort as I believe people are seeing the issues at their grocery stores. It kind of harkens back to what happened in the US and many other countries during WWII. We had the Victory Gardens and Britain had the Wartime Farms. Thanks to a tip from a friend, I watched a very interesting series on YouTube called The Wartime Farms. It's definitely worth a look.

As an example of our weather, as I was writing this, we experienced a horrendous thunderstorm. It's approach was very ominous as seen below.
 
You could hear the thunder and see some lightning. As it approached, there was a very sudden uptake in the winds and rain. The wind was forcing the rain horizontally to the point that both of my rain gauges were dry when I checked after the storm. The storm lasted about 20 minutes and it was pounding everything. Everything, that is, except my plantings. I took some precautions that, if not taken, I would have probably lost the various plants I had. I will outline the precautions I took in my next post. But, my point is this. In the past, I would not have considered taking the unusual efforts I did. But, these storms are getting more ferocious and damaging than in the past. Tonight, there is a large area freeze warning in effect. Again, if my crops weren't covered, many if not all would probably die tonight.
We have to realize that our climate is changing and I, personally, believe it is heading towards cooler, shorter growing seasons. I am convinced of this due to what is happening here and in most countries around the world. Weather is crazy everywhere. And, to wrap this up, the world production of food has fallen precipitously for the last 3 years due to erratic weather. That is why I am gardening not for fun, but for production. I only wish I had 3-4 acres of land to work instead of my backyard. I could do so much more but I will be content to do what I can for my family. And in the final analysis, that's all that matters
So, in my next post, I will go into detail as to my precautions that I had to implement to account for a much cooler than normal spring this year. I will also bring everything up to date as I said earlier, it's been crazy busy. Until next time, stay safe and Happy Gardening everyone!