How did I get so busy!

It's been pretty hectic in the garden recently. I have been planting my transplants into the garden directly and seeding in some beds while I tend to my plants in the greenhouse. So much to do and so worth it in the long run. Where to start is the real question I am perplexed by right now.
I planted sets of potatoes in the garden and in two grow bags about a month ago. I was a little apprehensive as I was trying a new technique and the potatoes I bought from a local source seemed dubious. Last year was my first foray into potatoes and they turned out okay. They were a tad bit small for my liking but it was, my first attempt.
The local potatoes had very few tubers but I planted them anyways. The red potatoes had numerous tubers which made me feel okay. Well after a month, here is how they are looking in the garden.

The ones on the left are Yukon Golds and the taters of the right are Red Potatoes.
The grow bag potatoes which are more of the Yukon Gold potatoes have taken off rapidly. I would venture a guess that their growth has been faster than the ones in the ground at this time. Here is a side by side shot of their present state after I mounded them up.

Hoping for larger sized potatoes this year as I feel I just might know what I am actually doing.
I also have been seeding in successive green bean plantings. My first planting was almost totally destroyed by what I presume were the neighborhood squirrels.
I replanted the first batch and then planted another set of 9. I always plant them in sets of 9 as that is what fits in a square foot. Green Beans are prolific so I space the plantings about a week apart. We'll share any excess with the in-laws. And, if there are even more, we'll find someone in the neighborhood who I am sure would take them.

I do have tomatoes and cucumber plants that I'm holding in the greenhouse. How much longer is anyone's guess. They can't stay much longer as that will affect the plants output. Here in my region, Mother's Day is the prescribed date to plant the summer season plants. But, the weather isn't exactly following the script. We are looking at highs into the next week or so of only the mid 60's. That means the lows will be at or near 40. And, another factor is most of the days will be partly to mostly cloudy. I will transplant them under cover by mid-week next week if the weather isn't to straighten out. Here is a picture I took about 4 days ago of 5 of my tomato plants. They are healthy at this point so there is hope.

The onions are doing great in the garden but the ones I planted in the container in the greenhouse are having some issues. Not sure what exactly but I believe it's just too hot in there. Even if I open the vent fully and leave the door open with a screen, it's getting into the 80's in there. Next year, I will plant my complete set of onions in the garden under cover.
I am growing plants this year that I am not that entirely familiar with. The change in weather (for whatever reason) is not helping with growing the plants either. Most of the gardeners I know are noticing the weather more than usual. It definitely is a bigger factor than normal.
Well, this is all for now. I will loop back and will try to be more consistent. Until next time, Happy Gardening Everyone.

Sown and growing

 The weather here has turned backed to normal. It is seasonably cool here now. We got a bit complacent last week as we hit the 70's for three days straight. But, that hasn't stopped the clock either. There is much to do as I say and time keeps on ticking. I hear it loud and clear.

I line with that, I have been seeding in the various Spring vegetables that I need this year. I especially like to grow my own plants to allow me to have varieties of plants that I want. Choice is a wonderful thing in most cases. One other point is that seedlings from the various stores are amazingly expensive as I have seen tomato plants at about $4.00 each. You could spend a small fortune if you have a garden of any size and not get best tasting veggies.
So, here is one set of what I call my "mix". It is made up of Parsley, Cabbage, Broccoli and Onions. They are about 2 weeks old as of today.

Then I have another planter of spinach which is also about 2 weeks old too.

I have also planted Tomatoes, Cucumbers and Peppers in another planter. Since this was done about 3 days ago, there aren't any seedling yet. I have them on a heat mat and covered with a plastic dome. I did see one cucumber seedling poking through so it should be anytime now for the rest of the plants to pop up - or not. I plant more seeds than I need plants because there are failures in every seeding.

Right now, this is about all I can do until the soils outside warm up a bit. And, if the forecasts are to be believed, it may get even colder towards the end of this month. The seasons are changing as we go through what I have heard of as a solar minimum sun cycle. Whatever is happening, our weather has been different in many ways so one has to adapt to them.
I did get out yesterday to stake out my onion beds which should be planted very shortly. I have structures to cover the area so that probably will be what I do. Here is how I staked the area. I will plant the onion sets I have at 9 per square foot. If that ends up in overcrowding, I will pull some of the onions to allow more space. But, if I get 9 per square foot, that will result in 288 onions. This is my first year with onions and I bought a pound of yellow onions. I may not have 288 but I will plant as many as I can/need. I am also considering planting one block and see where that takes me. I have some decisions to make so that will be a moment of planting situation.

The planting season is getting underway pretty quickly. There is a lot to do and I have been getting steadily busier as each week passes. There may be a few time lapses in my writing but rest assured, I will write. So, until the next opportunity, Happy Gardening Everyone!

What's happening in the garden.

Here's hoping your Christmas/Holiday was all you hoped it to be.  We are fast approaching the end of 2016 as hard as that seems to fathom.  And while this is traditionally the time I generally am disconnected from the garden, this is not the year for that.  I have been thinking a lot about the garden and how I can make it produce more benefits for the family and neighbors.  The one glaring area where I have seldom ventured in all my gardens is with respect to a winter garden.  I have thought about it from time to time but have never put forth a serious effort given our cold temperatures and the subsequent snows from January through early March.  As I have related, I have been busily attempting to grow a winter garden this year with some good results so far.  I took the picture below Saturday morning.

As can be seen, the lettuces are not faring too well at this point.  I think it is due to a combination of picking the wrong variety of lettuces and the lack of a strong enough sun getting through the layers. The other crops, however such as the spinach, carrots and onions seem to be faring quite well at this time.  So, overall, I'd say it is definitely a mix bag of results.  The true test will be when our winter weather is upon us and how frozen the ground in the structure actually gets.  

I went out today and made a path to this part of the garden as it was getting quite muddy given the rains we have had.  I raked the ground and laid foot stones to the plants as can be seen below.

As you can see, it will reduce the mud situation for me until it snows.  I'll cross that bridge when the soon approaching time comes.  My plan is to plant the area with grass this Spring so I don't have to deal with weeds next year.  You can also see that the winter rye is doing fairly well in the beds given it's late planting and the temperatures.  It will at least have laid down roots for the next summer crops which will add structure and nutrients.

I am also continuing to add plant material and kitchen scraps to my compost bin.  This isn't the usual time of the year to be doing this but our temps have been somewhat moderate.  The weather is supposed to be very mild through this week with a high of 60 tomorrow and mid-high 40's the rest of the week.  While the process of the breakdown has slowed at this point, I had a bunch of scraps yesterday from our Christmas family dinner so I decided since it was almost 50 yesterday and was going to remain that way for a few days, why not add them to the existing pile? You can see that in the photo below. 

The egg carton is biodegradable and so are the paper towels.  The egg shells will break down with a little effort on my part in the spring and the potato peels will disappear eventually.  After I added the various items, I covered them with a heavier layer of decomposing grass cuttings I saved just for this use.  

I will add some leaves in the early spring along with kitchen scraps to get the decay process reignited for the next season.  But for now, I have to keep an eye on the temps to insure that the edible scraps actually break down.  I don't want to invite any uninvited guest to my yard.  

Below is a picture of the units that I use to compost given our areas population of field mice.  They have worked out really well for my area,

I also began prepping for my first plants to start from seed.  According to my calculations, Broccoli and Cabbage need to be started around the 22nd of January and Cauliflower follows on the 29th .  I also plan on growing peas this year.  As I said early in this post, I plan on making this garden the best ever and that entails a wider array of plants - and a lot of planning.  So, I won't be having a bumper crop of tomatoes or peppers like I did in 2016.  

That's a wrap for all that is going on in the garden at this time.  Seems like it's a lot but it has been somewhat therapeutic to say the least.  This is probably my last post for 2016 so I will wish you and yours a very Happy and Safe New Years.  Until next time, Happy Gardening everyone!