And life goes on

Lot's going on on the homefront these days. Seems as though all my electronic devices are dieing at the same time. I have no cable, no internet and the microwave is on the fritz too. I have been a bit busy trying to make things happen inside, but not so busy that I couldn't get some seeds planted!
I started my Delicata and Spaghetti squashes in peat pots this weekend. And because my Golden Purslane isn't doing so hot outside I started that in peats as well.
I was able to edge the entire yard - and Max was a huge help. I will load that picture once I can get online from home (yup squeezing in a little personal work at work again). The mulch should be delivered today but before putting it down I need to trim the forsythias and other bushes. It makes such a mess on the nicely laid mulch when I do it after.
I also got some 1 x 4 x 8 pine planks to build some not to sturdy bean trellises. I will be lucky if the last the season but at least it is something. Those pictures will follow as well - providing Comcast can fix my modem :)

Another rainy weekend

It's been raining again and it is supposed to get down to the mid-thirties tonight. I heard on the news that there is a chance of snow in parts of New England too! So much for Spring, huh?
I was able to harvest some asparagus last weekend. The stalks were very thin but I couldn't help myself - I just had to cut them. Don't they look pretty?
I have plans to go to Depot or maybe the Grossman's Outlet to buy some wood to build a melon/squash trellis. I got this super easy design from Organic Gardening. It looks like even I can do this and I stink at building things!
I am already looking at more spring bulbs for the front and side yard. This year all the giant hyacinths came up and the rest of the yard looks so blah. I love the look of all that color blooming after a long, dreary winter and Brecks has a $25 coupon if you spend $25 along with a $10 saving if you spend $75 or more. Sounds like a plan to me!
The lettuce in the garden now is officially stolen. Every little seedling is gone. Hopefully the ones in the window boxes will stay put. Not sure if the Swiss Chard seeds got stolen too. As of right now I have nothing coming up. The purslane on the porch is finally starting to come up. I am not sure if everything is just slow to germinate or it is because of this crazy weather we have been having. Fingers crossed that eventually the real Spring will arrive and everything will just pow - pop up.

Raspberries, tomatoes and stuff

So, I planted 8 red potato seeds and only 1 yukon gold today. That is all I had : (
I am using potatoes that I got from Boston Organics I couldn't use them all cooking wise so I let them grow 'eyes", then cut them, and then placed them in a sunny window to harden up. Hopefully this works because digging a 5 foot long, 12 foot deep, 12 foot wide trench for no reason will certainly make me mad!
i was also able to up-pot my chocolate cherry and sungold tomatoes. The first picture is back from March 28 and is of both those and the green zebra.
This second picture is the chocolate and sungold just before up-potting.









And here is my inconspicuous raspberry trellis. If you look closely you can see the wire running about 2 feet from the bottom and then again about 6 feet high. This all started out as a itsy bitsy bush in a 4 inch pot that I bought at Home Depot three years ago!

Over the weekend I was also able to transplant my kale. Some is in the garden and some is along the back fence and them even more is along the side fence. I just don't like wasting perfectly good seedlings. Kind of like my spider plant, when it grows babies I need to find a home for them - I just can't throw them away.
In two smaller sized whiskey barrels I started the Northern Lights Swiss Chard. Nothing has come up thus far in the garden with the Fordhook Giant but they say 5-17 days for germination. I did have lettuce coming up but all of a sudden poof - it is all gone. Kinda pisses me off so I started more salad bowl in my window boxes along with some Jericho. I think the birds are having a field day in my garden this spring!
Some good news is that the spinach is finally coming along. I haven't had luck in the past with spinach but it is looking somewhat hopeful right now.

Finally - the peas have risen!

I guess I should be thankful that they are coming up at all after all that rain, but I planted the seeds back on March 21 and just this week I can see them popping up. Pity though, they will need to be pulled out to make room for the tomatoes on Memorial Day weekend. I think the only ones that I will see a harvest from are the dwarf grays. They are only 58 days. The 75 days ones - hasta la vista baby - peas or no peas.
I planted some Fordhook Giant chard yesterday. It is my first time attempting to grow chard I also have Northern Lights but those are for containers. Tomorrow the weather forecast is 85! Holy heat. The poor peas, spinach and lettuce. They are all just peaking out an tomorrow will be a huge slap in the face for these cool loving crops.
I definitely need to load some pictures. My tomatoes are looking really good - well at least I think they are - I have never grown them from seed before. The seedlings are all starting to grow their first set of true leaves and it has only been a few weeks. Good, right? I am attempting for the third and final year to get Garlic Chives going from seed. Half of them have started to emerge but that is as far as I usually get. Once they are 3-4" high I set them out near my rose bushes and them POW - nothing. So, pictures will be coming so you can see the progress....

Well Hello Sun!

Thankfully the rain has stopped - finally. After four days of non-stop rain and flooding we finally had a picture perfect spring day! I was able to get a lot of yard work done - raking up left over leaves, clearing out the asparagus bed, and cutting back all the dead growth from all of the perennials. The asparagus is actually coming up now. I pulled off the salt marsh hay from one of the rows two weeks ago and just pulled off the other row today and found some very sun deprived white stalks growing! I put down some of the asparagus food as well as some slug deterrent - just to be safe. I did go slug hunting with my trusty soapy water bin and found only 6 itsy bitsy babies - but better to get them now then when they are huge and eating everything in sight!
My mom helped me with the raspberry trellis today too. I didn't want to have the unsightly wooden posts so I used some green poles rescued from the victory garden last year and some donated galvanized wire from my neighbor, and fellow gardener, Tom. I love free!!! It isn't perfect but I think it will work to keep that crazy bush under control.
The daffodils are finally starting to bloom. I don't know why ours are so late. Everyone else has had blooms for over a week but ours are just starting to show their pretty faces. Well, at least the ones along side the driveway. The ones out along the front fence look like they are starting to get blooms which is a huge step in the right direction seeing as last year they were to shy to bloom.
The hostas are are all starting to peek out as well. I spread some diatomaceous earth around them to keep the god awful slugs from having afield day. It really pisses me off that birds allegedly eat slugs yet I have more slugs eating away in my garden than I can count. I have bird feeders, bird baths, and perches all over the yard - I guess these city birds are just too lazy to go looking for the meaty slug when they can get the seed for free!