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!

Time to begin?

That's a tough question to answer.  The weather is at times saying yes and then cruelly, no.  We are currently at 43 degrees right now.  I walked out to my garden plots and the when I dug into the soil, it was cold and wet.  Not a big surprise as the weather has been quite seasonal.
So, what can be done given the soils are not ready for planting even the hardiest of seeds.  My answer is quite simple.  I will begin the process of clearing out my plastic greenhouse.  I placed one of my remote thermometers in it to get a gauge of what the temperature ranges are at this time.  Once the coldest temps are consistently above freezing, I will then set up the various hydroponic systems I have and  begin seeding in the early crops.  I was behind the curve the last time I planted in it and the crops bolted before I could get a decent crop produced due to too much summer heat.  It's a delicate balance to get the seeds in at the right time.  One season is not like the other in this area. 
I did a little cleaning around the beds when I was outside Saturday morning.  The rains and snows took a little toll on the them.  Nothing huge as everything looks to have come through the winter.  The winter rye is in a sort of dormant state but that will change with a few more weeks of 50 degree weather.  It will be soon enough before I have to cut the rye and start working it into the soil.
I also eyed up the area where I will be building the glass greenhouse this spring.  Lots to do there so I just need to start chipping away at that in small chunks.  The next step is to remove the bricks and paver stones in the area of the greenhouse floor.
Once those are removed, I can then use the rototiller to break up the ground where I will be starting the base of the unit.  That won't be for a little while yet as the ground is wet and we are expecting some freezing temps in the near future.
I took out some kitchen scraps this afternoon and buried them in the unfinished composter.  I did this in order to get the processes moving to create bacteria once the temps moderate.  There will be slow decomposition for now and even that is fine.  It was deep enough to perhaps awaken or feed the existing microbes that exist that far down.   
It was nice to get out in the yards and tool around the various points to get the gardening juices flowing again.  Spring is about a month or so away but hope has been rekindled.  It should be an interesting year given my focus on making the garden contribute to our household.  There is  big difference between gardening as a hobby and gardening to augment our food supply.  We shall see how it turns out.  It is a challenge for sure.  So, there is where the gardening progress is at this point in the year.  Till next time, Happy gardening everyone!

Rain,rain go away!!!

Our weather, for what feels like a small part of eternity, has been just dreadful.  Our area has been deluged with one day after another of soaking rains.  When you step out onto the lawns, the ground just chortles at you with a robust squishing sound as your sneakers begin to sink quickly into what should be terra firma.  Such is the plight of most backyard gardeners here in the Mid-Atlantic and beyond.
Today is not starting out too much better either.  It is humid with a grey overcast sky and about 70 degrees.  This is actually an improvement of sorts in that it is not raining at this point.   Here's what our better day looks like.

Yeah, it may be grey, but we'll take it at this point.
The weather has presented quite the issue here as those gardeners who had planted their crops before this stretch of london type weather are trying to keep them alive at this point.  And those who haven't planted them yet - like me - are just biding time and watching their transplants sit in idle.  Neither is a very good situation for the crops.
My hydroponic plants are doing okay but not great.  While they are suffering from a lack of sunlight they are growing adequately as can be seen below.  I've stepped up the nutrient concentrations I've fed them to try to compensate for this with very mixed results.  One cannot replace the sun for an extended period of time like we have had.

At this time, I am just waiting for the weather to turn and am doing as much as I can to be ready when the weather breaks.  Much like most other gardeners I would suspect.  I do believe that when it turns, we will be going directly into summer.  Seems that this has been the pattern of late here in the Mid-Atlantic.  We just do not have the ususal progression from Winter to Spring to Summer anymore. Spring seems to have been shortened and the transistions are much more abrupt.
On another somewhat related note, our area is getting a new neighbor of import.  A company called Gotham Greens has just recently announced that they are going to build a 100,000 square foot hydroponic organic greenhouse.  It will be located in the Tradepoint Atlantic business complex which is near my neighborhood.  This is a redevelopment site of the closed Bethlehem Steel Company Mill which had been active at this site since 1889.  The site for Gotham Greens is supposed to be completed in 2019 and will sell to restaurants and the various grocery food chains in the region.   
Well, that's all there is for now.  Hopefully, on my next report, I will have good news about the weather and thus, more to report on.  Until that time, have a great time gardening in your backyard!  Happy gardening everyone!