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!

Beginning of Spring!

After all, Punxsutawney Phil has predicted an earlier Spring - right?  Well, maybe not given his 40% accuracy rate.  But, one can always hope I guess?  After having a brutal week of very extreme temperatures due to the recent polar vortex, we have begun to turn back to normal temps.  We hadn't had much in the way of winter type weather up until then.  I do prefer that we have a period where the ground actually freezes.  I believe that the freezing of the ground eliminates pests, fungus and general issues in the soil.
I have been busy trying to get myself prepared for the upcoming season.  I took stock of my many seeds about a week or so ago.  I really need to reign in my penchant for buying seeds as I peruse home improvement stores.  I have over 175 seed packets in my small dorm fridge.  That's seems insane to me so I will begin to throw out the older packets as I go along.  One things for sure, I don't need any seeds as the season begins.
I am trying to better utilize the space I have this year.  I need to plan with the goal in mind to not over plant vegetables like Tomato's and Peppers.  I always give away at least half the harvest by the end of the year.  And eventually, I end up either letting the crops rot on the plants or throw them away as everybody has had their fill of them.  To me, that is such a huge waste of my energy, time and space.
So, the task at hand right now is to plan what I am going to grow.
My first project is to get my greenhouse up and running.  Not a small task but if I break it down into smaller steps, I should be able to get it erected soon enough.  Then, after that is in place, I need to reorganize the area behind my garage.  I have a 275 gallon container that I need to hook up along with moving my 4 composters so that I have access to everything.  Again, not a small task but it is necessary.
Along with those two projects, I need to reorganize the garden and determine what plants I will be growing.  I have a plastic greenhouse that I can use to start growing lettuces and the like earlier this year.  Barring any major snowstorms, it should hold up to the weather for the Spring.  Beyond that, I will be relying on the various growers for crops.  I have several and they each have a few crops that are different from the others.  I generally get a pretty well rounded selections and can even find most of the harder to get heirloom plants. 
I would add pictures but the ground in and around my gardens amounts to mud.  Better to leave the picture taking to another day.  But once things dry out a little - maybe this weekend - I'll get some snaps.  Until then, everyone enjoy the day!

Steady growth!

I ventured back into the garden this afternoon to check the progress of the Winter Rye grass growth.  I really didn't expect much improvement given the weather we have been having.  With temps in the upper 50's for the most part, there was some hope that the grass may have had a spurt.  We did have about 3 days of 70 degrees with rain during that time span last week so I was also hoping that would  be the final probable push.  As can be seen in the pictures below, the grass did actually grow quite well.

With the original seeding and the subsequent second patch seeding, the grass seems to have filled in very well.  It also has grown to the point that the roots will crowd out the weeds that will ultimately come in the spring.  That is the primary reason I do this.  The secondary, and not to be ignored, reason for this is for the roots to hold in the nutrients that are in the soil for the next years crops.
So, even though I got a late start and the weather took a cooler turn than normal, I am quite pleased with where the grass is at this time.  It will continue to grow during the winter months but not too much.  Once spring hits, it will revive and begin to grow again.  All bonuses to be sure.
So, now I will concentrate on cleaning up the yards and get them prepped for winter which is right around the corner.
Well, that's all there is to report now.  Happy gardening everyone! 

Preparations for Spring 2019

Fall, having made it's appearance, mandates that I have to begin the process of getting my garden beds ready for the oncoming winter that is right around the corner.  Having let all of my beds rest this year, there isn't any time left for planning or any other activity except to get the much needed Winter Rye seeded into the beds.  I wish it were going to be easy but that just isn't the case here.  See, I intended to do a a lot of work in the gardens this summer but it seems that time just flew by like a migrating bird.  My only question is how was it possible without me noticing?
I could say I was busy here, there and everywhere.  And I could say it was the weathers fault too.  After-all, we did have a very wet and soggy summer.  Seemed like it rained every Saturday and twice as much on Sunday.  But that just isn't how it happened.  See, I was, in point of fact, lazy.  That's right, I am a man and I am admitting to falling prey to laziness.  It happens.  But, I understand that it's real hard to grasp the concept of being lazy about gardening for an ENTIRE summer.  It is what it was.
So now, I am left with the fallout.  When I was taking the pictures below of the state of the gardens as I found them, it struck me that I should be embarrassed.  After some mental flagellation, I decided to accept what it is and move on.  No sense in bemoaning the past as they say.  So, be that as it may, this is the state of my gardens in all their natural beauty.  

Not a pretty site indeed.  As you can notice, the ground is wet.  That is the story of this summer.  It has rained consistently and heavy the entire summer.  I have friends who have gardens and they say their plants/crops were very much affected by the wet soils.  Low yields and yellowing plants were the mainstays of the summer.  Not to mention the tomatoes which were good one day and then broken open the next from excessive rains.  Now, to be frank here, my beds were absolutely overrun with weeds several times.  I had to resort to using my lawnmower to control the weed growth as the soil was just too wet for my Mantis rototiller.  Even using that, I had issues keeping it under control.  
I am under the impression that if I had gardened this year, I would have been very upset with the way I imagine it would have turned out.  So maybe, this was God's way of relieving my stress.  He does, as it is said, work in mysterious ways.     
So, to work I went and with the given wet ground, I had to go the old school route to get the beds drying out.  I can't just throw the seed into the cleared ground.  So I brought out what I consider the mother of all gardening hoes.  See the monster below.

Looks can be deceiving here.  This is a very old hoe that I inherited from my wife's grandfathers' garage.  It's made of heavy iron and is very industrial.  But I will tell you this, it is super effective when it comes to weeding and breaking up tough soils.  

So the hoe and I went to work on the beds.  It took a very concerted effort, but I finally removed what I have to call a very stubborn group of weeds.   After about 4 hours of tilling with the hoe, I was able to clear all of the weeds away from the beds.  After raking them over several days to remove the dead weed debris, I then seeded in the Winter Rye for the cover crop I use each winter.  I use a rotary lawn seeder to broadcast the seeds as best as possible.  And after seeding the beds, I cover the seeds with about an inch of peat moss to dissuade birds from stealing them.  

It's been about a week since I seeded the 3 beds.  After waiting out the rain this afternoon, I went out to check on how the Rye was growing.  All in all, the rye seemed to be doing good.  I used 1 year old seed so I expected a little germination issue.  I have to be honest, there were a few more areas than I anticipated.  It probably had to do with the fact that I was a little late in the season getting it in.  But with that taken into account, I was pleased with what I encountered.

                   

The brown areas are where I seeded in new seeds earlier this month.  There are plants coming up but there were bare spots around them so I decided to experiment to see if I could get thicker coverage.  Again, I should of seeded about mid September but was just not able to get to it.  We shall see how it works out in about a week.  We're supposed to get rains tomorrow and Tuesday morning so that may work in my favor.  As I say, nothing ventured - nothing gained.  

Well, that's all there is for now.  The gardens should keep me busy for about another month so I hope I can get it all done.  Happy gardening to everyone!    

Time to get back into gear

After having spent the last week on a glorious cruise in the Western Carribean, it sure is hard to get oneself back into the swing of things.  But, we must trudge on as the saying goes putting one foot in front of the other.  As you may or may not know, I am not actively gardening this year due to the confluence of various factors.  And that is where I am today - a gardener without a garden.
While I do not have an active garden in my backyard, I am assisting a friend with his.  It's a different feeling working on someone else's yard.  But, at least I get snippets of time working in his garden so I am not totally cut off from the activity - my passion.
His is a traditional garden in that it is layed out in a semi-rectangular space.  He has many tomatoes, asparagus and cucmber plants in the space which do not show up well on this photo. 

We dug a trench system aroungd the bed due to the heavy rains we had in late June.  The water runs from his neighbors fenced yard to the right and runs accross the plot.  It resulted in many plants dying from root rot.  Hopefully the trench will direct some of the heavier rains away from the plants.  I haven't been to the plot in about two weeks due to all the work and vacation activities involved.
I will get some up to date pics this weekend hopefully.
My beds are another story though.  They are what you would call laying dormant or resting this year.  It may turn out to be the best thing though as resting fields is a practice of many gardeners in order to allow the soil to recharge.  I will need to begin to work the plots and I still have a my greenhouse to construct later as fall begins.  Here are the beds in the current state of being.

As I said, they need some tender loving care over the next few months.  My goal is to add store bought amendments (OMNI rated) to the beds along with some home made compost and leaves I gathered last fall.  That should do the trick for right now.  But, before I add the amendments, I will need to till the beds to loosen the tension of the soil surface.  I do this so the the nutrients that are being added are absorbed deeper into the soil.
That's all I have at this time.  When I get up and running in the next few days, I will add more entries into my blog.  So, happy gardening everyone!  Until next time - garden away!