Just picked this batch of lettuce from my greenhouse.  I have many more but I generally only pick what I need for the next meal.  Can't wait to eat this bit of organic freshness tonight.  Hope your day is going well and you haven't been too impacted by all the weather systems these past few weeks.  Untilnext time, Happy Gardening!

Progress on seedlings

I spent an hour or so this morning planting new and redundant seedings. I seeded in 44 seed starts with various vegetables that needed to be started plus a round of seconds on some for surety. As seen in the pictures, my seedlings are progressing well. I will be transplant them into larger pots shortly and am hoping that I can put them in my greenhouse from there. Given the weather has been cooler and mainly cloudy, I'm not sure that my seedlings will fare well in the greenhouse at this time. So, I decided to start a few seconds to be ready just in case.


I now have roughly 132 seedlings and seeded cells in my basement. That's much more than I normally start but the prices of the early plants in the stores seem higher than last year. I have more than ample seeds to grow a wide ranging and varied selection of veggies. Having the lights and space to start the seeds and a greenhouse to harden them off in is a small luxury. I decided last fall that I would definitely be much more aggressive given the prices and quality of the vegetables in the stores.

Some of the seedlings you see are from 6-10 year old seeds. I am getting a very good germination rate on most of them which I attribute to how I store and handle my seeds. I recently watched a Youtube video from a well known gardener regarding seed storage. Everything they pointed out was an affirmation of what I was doing. Except, I took it another step further which is what I believe keeps my seeds fresher and longer lasting. I've always believed that seeds could last decades if properly handled.
That subject will be the theme of my next post. I will detail what I do and what my general results have been. So, until the next post, I hope you are growing well. Happy gardening everyone!!

 

Awww..September arrives!

Well, as the summer winds down, your thoughts should turn to harvesting the last of your summer crop and if you are of the mind, beginning preps for fall crops.  I have busily been harvesting that which is ready.  My friends the squirrels have become more active lately and thus are also partaking of my last crops.  Luckily, there is enough for all of us so I don't begrudge them the few items they have absconded with.  Everyone has to eat after all.
I did some harvesting of the summer crops this morning.  I decided it was time to pull my watermelon I have been eyeing for quite some time.  As seen below, it's a Celebrity watermelon that has grown to 17" and 15 lbs.  Haven't cut it open yet but we will tonight.  This is the first time I've grown this type so we shall see what all that time and effort has come to.

With fall in mind, last weekend I planted 18 po.ts in my two hydroponic systems.  The crops are essentially various lettuces, carrots and a smattering of various herbs.  It may be a little late on getting them planted but as you can see, they are taking off rather nicely.  The first system to the left is one that I bought from cleanairgardening.com after seeing similar systems at Disney many years ago. The one on the right is a makeshift one I cobbled together after buying the fixture

from a closeout sale of a retailer.

Both systems work well but I would give the nod to the Clean air system for it's compact size.   But the re-purposed unit is quite good with root crops like carrots which is what you see in some of the bowls.  I feed them with the nutrient solutions I also buy from Clean air seen below to the left.  The Coke bottles have each nutrient solution and I mix 3/4 of a teaspoon of each into a gallon of water and flood the systems with that in the morning and evening.  Growth is always good.

My wife, son and I also picked our concord grapes yesterday that we have growing along our fence. We made organic (because I don't do anything but water them) grape juice and jam.  Can't wait to try the juice tomorrow morning.  I'm going to either grow more vines from cuttings or buy more plants to increase our yield.
Well, that's all for this Sunday afternoon.  It's been quite active this weekend and probably will stay that way for another month or two if the weather holds.  Hopefully by next week, I will be able to report on my progress of getting sunflower seeds from the plants we have along our driveway.  Until then, happy gardening everyone!

Early July musings

After partaking in the usual festivities of the July 4th weekend, I woke up this morning to pick my first batch of green beans in the early morning hours of a calm, quiet Sunday morning.  Of course, my trusty companion Barkley meandered along with me as we made our way out to the garden. I think he was expecting some kind of treat but it was not meant to be.  It was the first set of beans for this season which reminded me that I needed to plant some more seeds for future crops.  There is nothing that can even begin to describe the taste of fresh picked green beans.  I mean, just look at this scad of beans I picked this morning.

Don't those look great?  Can't wait to eat them as these are so far superior in taste to that which you will find in any grocery store.  I didn't plant a ton of these but rather have spread them out over several weeks by planting about 18 seeds every week.  That way, they don't lose their taste.  

On another note, I am getting ready to pick a bunch of Bell Boy and California Wonder Peppers in the next couple of days.  I took a picture of one Cal Wonder just to show the quality you can get in the garden.  

And, in further proof that I am succeeding(I think) in my organic quest, while perusing the garden this afternoon, I found a guest that I never would have thought I would have seen.  Take a look. 

I am no expert, but logic tells me a frog would not be in my garden if I were using pesticides and such in it.  The tiny creature surprised me as he just hopped out from under one of the pepper plants and stayed still while I went about my business.  I can't really remember seeing a frog in my garden before so I will take that as a sign things are going in the right direction in my organic quest.  Frogs, for the most part, are very good to have in the garden as they eat insects by the bunches.  Now, with that being said, they aren't that selective either and thus can eat beneficial insects too.  Most of my experience says they are good for the garden so I am very happy to oblige this little visitor.  Who knows, he may stay.   

Well, that's all for now.  If you have any questions or concerns regarding your garden space, let me know as I would be glad to assist you with your needs or issues.  Until then, happy gardening everyone!

Its been hectic!

Well, it's has been a while and I certainly apologize for that.  My job has been hectic, work in the garden has ramped up immensely and best of all, my son is getting ready to graduate from college very soon. So, to say life is rolling along would be an understatement.  But still, I do have to apologize for going off the grid for this timeframe.  I will endeavor to be more consistent in the future.

So, garden-wise there have been some successes and alas, failures.  Failure, in one respect or another, is part of the vegetable gardening world.  This failure is really not that big in the whole scheme of things although it is disappointing.  As I have related to you, my goal with my gardening is to stay "organic" in all things.  Last fall I researched various fertilizers to use in the starting of my plants. I switched to an "organic" fertilizer from my preferred one which wasn't certified organic.  After having used this one this year, I would say it was a big let down in regards to my pepper plants.  I am not sure why it didn't feed them enough nutrients, but their growth seems very weak.  My tomatoes seem to be a little behind but not so far behind as the peppers.  Now, if these were the plants I was depending on for my food source this year, then that would be a huge issue.  As it is, my remedy for the situation is to run down to my go to plant supplier and buy theirs.  Of course, this means I will have to substitute their variety for mine, but that is the price to pay this year.  A minor price no doubt.

I finally finished the reconstruction of my beds that I started last fall yesterday.  I will get pictures up shortly once I have plants in them so you can get a sense of what my garden looks like.  Yesterday was one of those days you only get 4-5 times in spring or summer - maybe.  Beautiful sunlight, mild temperatures and a very gentle breeze.  To say I was in my element is an understatement.  I did my sniff test just to jog my brain out of it's doldrums.  What a sweet aroma it has.  All the winter rye has broken down and the beds are now ready for the year.  The soil is a nice dark brown, still cool to touch and friable.  Just the way you want it now.  

I built a structure over the area where I am planting my cool crops this year.  I will need to shade the plants from the sun towards the end of their growing cycle.  I had some left over weed fabric that I tested and it worked pretty well,  Light got through it and at the same time, it shaded the area.  I tested the soil this morning with my hand test and the soil under it was noticeably cooler than the surrounding uncovered areas.  I planted 3 cabbages and will be adding cauliflower and broccoli in the next couple of days.  I'll let you know how this works out in future posts.

Well, that's all I have at this time.  There is so much ground to cover when it comes to vegetables that it is nearly impossible for me to know what you may be interested in at this time.  Let me know and I'll be sure to address it in one of my upcoming posts.  Till the next post, keep on gardening!