Checking in

So I was able to get the gluten down on Saturday. I had just enough to do the whole yard. Garden's Alive will be getting an order from me soon! Nothing doing yet on the lettuce and pea front in the garden. I think all the rain last week may have washed the lettuce seeds away so I did another sowing of Salad Bowl just to be safe. I also planted my spinach today. I added in some bone meal for added nutrients and apparently Freddie, the part lab, part goat mix rescued last April, likes bone meal. He was caught numerous times with his head sticking through the fence licking the soil! I am going to have to keep an eye on that one - the manure should be a HUGE treat for him!

Here is where my kale stands as of today. I think my mistake in the fall is that I transplanted too early. I like using the muffin tins because it allows me to water from the bottom. I used the Neptune's Seaweed liquid fertilizer the other day when I watered in hoping to give the right nutrients. The growing instructions say to add "appropriate nutrients" but doesn't specify which one! Hopefully it likes seaweed!

The tomato seedlings are looking good. Tomorrow I head off to Depot to get some florescent lights to help them along. I have them under a heated greenhouse right now, but I am a bit concerned about the amount of light they are getting. No spindly tomato plants for me!

Well, Hello Snow!

I wasn't able to get a picture of the snow before heading out to work this morning but yup, in typical New England fashion it is snowing today. I planted three types of peas last Saturday - Dwarf Grey Sugarsnap, Snowbird and Sugarsnap. Hopefully they are hardy enough to withstand the freezing temps that are expected tonight. My buttercrunch lettuce also made it into the garden and not too sure if that will survive either. Thankfully I still have tons of seeds left to try again.
I was able to get my three different tomatoes - Sungold, Chocolate Cherry and Green Zebra - into peat pots on Sunday. I have them on top of the fridge right now and everyone except the Zebra has started to sprout. The Winterbor Kale is coming along nicely in the south facing window in the bedroom. Soon the tomatoes will join them. If the snow/rain/slush will hold off this weekend I am planning on getting the corn gluten down - better late than never. The Dogwoods from Arbor Day also need to find their permanent home this weekend. Fingers crossed that Mother Nature cooperates.

Finally - Spring has arrived!

Well, not officially according to the calendar, but weather-wise, woo-hoo!! After the torrential rains over the weekend (which I thankfully missed having been on vacation) the sky is cloudless, the temperature in the 60’s and the crocuses in bloom. The jonquils, daffodils and tulips have all broken the soil and are peeking up getting ready to spread even more spring cheer. I cannot wait to get out this weekend and get my hands dirty. It has been far too long!! I have some serious yard clean up duties to conquer. There are the straggler leaves that have been around since fall, the broken limbs and twigs from this past storm, old growth to be cut back and the cover crops to be tilled. I also need to get the corn gluten down and the salt marsh hay off the asparagus beds. Home Depot is also on the menu for supplies to finish my raspberry bush support as well as some wood to build a squash trellis. The greenhouse needs to dusted off and brought up from the basement so I can get some of my seeds started and last but not least the Easter decoration need to get put out/up. All this and I really only have Sunday to get it done. My sisters and I are throwing my mom a surprise retirement party on Saturday, so that whole day is a bust. Whew – I’m getting tired just thinking about it.

It's That Time Again

It has been quiet the past few months. I have been planning the garden out on graph paper and today I ordered all my seeds. Yup, this year the garden is growing from seed! This will be my first year attempting to start everything from seed. Well, except the eggplant, I cheated and ordered plants. I have never grown eggplant before so I thought I would start safe. As for seeds I went with the standards - tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, lettuce, spinach, peas and beans. I am also going to attempt swiss chard, garden purslane and cantaloupe. Hopefully I have enough space to put all the flats! I am also trying out the new cow pots. They are made from cow manure and are supposed to be better than regular peat pots - both for the environment and the plants. I have been itching to get into the garden and cannot wait. This year everything is coming from Territorial Seed. I have had great success with them in the past, so fingers crossed it will be a stellar year!

Record breaking weather (again)

So it hit 67 today - December 3rd! Can you even believe it? It has been way too long since I updated this - bad blogger I am. The gardens have all been cleared out and cleaned up and I planted my green manure in my garden and Tom and I covered the Victory Garden with newspapers and cardboard in the hopes of keeping down some of the obnoxious weeds that grew feet in seconds all summer long. Although it was 67 today we have had a few frosts overnight so I thought I would dig up some of the parsnips.

and as you can see I still suck at growing root crops. The seeds were put down in mid July and should have been ready by mid October clearly these are not edible. Hairy, forked and REALLY pliable. I guess there is always next year.
Oh and because of this unseasonably warm weather we have been having my giant hyacinths and daffodils are now sprouting. I am hoping that they come back again in the spring when they are supposed to! They are a good 2 inches up already. I don't think mulching will help at this point. I also found some more asparagus spears growing yesterday. Those suckers grew from Spring till now. Fingers crossed that I get such a big harvest next year too!

A Disappointing Harvest

So the weather this Spring and Summer left a lot to be desired. It was AWFUL! Rainy Spring and cool Summer doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room for the crops I was attempting to grow. Let's see...in a nutshell:
Corn: was eaten by city critters. I'm placing my bets on raccoons. Not that the ears were bigger than 4: anyway. With all the rain in we had it drowned out the seedlings.
Delicata Squash - 1 squash per plant does not a harvest make.
Spaghetti Squash - none bigger than the size of a small bowling ball. And here I thought they were supposed to be oblong!
Onions - lost some to I have no idea what and the ones I did harvest were small, small small. But useful for a single size serving w/o having to store it.
Carrots - lets just say root crops aren't my thing!
Potatoes - they got so darn big they fell over and died prematurely so the harvest was small as well.
Lettuce - the seeds were devoured by the birds
Asparagus Bean - not nearly as plentiful as last year. But maybe it was because the seeds were a year old.
Zucchini - usually I can't get my neighbors to take anymore from me because I have such a huge crop. This year maybe 3-4 per plant - and I planted 6 plants!
The success stories are few:
Kentucky Blue Wonder Pole Beans - 12 seeds must have produced at least 5-6 pounds, if not more of beans. My neighbors are officially sick of beans! And I still have new flowers coming every day.
Sweet 100 and Bonnie Grape Tomatoes: WOW!!! That's all I have to say about those.
2009 wasn't the best of years but there is always 2010!!!!!

And on to the winter crops

Hard to believe in 90 degree weather that I am planning my winter crops, but apparently this is the time of year to do so. A few weeks ago I planted parsnips in my yard in an area that will need to be dug up in spring anyway, so I figured 'why not?'. I also planted some over in the V-yard (victory garden) - 4 or 5 rows, I can't really remember now. I have them protected w/ the oh so famous chicken wire in the hopes that the birds and squirrels don't harvest the seeds.
Today I transplanted the ripbor kale into both my yard and the V-yard. I am hoping that I placed mine high enough up on the hill that the dogs won't trample it - you never can tell with the three amigos! I direct seeded some more kale along with some spinach over in the V-yard. The spinach only takes 40 days (give or take) and I have plenty more seeds, I just ran out of room. I am hoping to find some more space somewhere to plant more.
I added a bit more of the salad bowl here and valamaine lettuce over in the V-yard. Both are hardy in the summer heat. And with the weather we have been getting lately it is hard to tell if it will be hot and dry like a typical August or rainy and cool like it has been the majority of this growing season.
I think that this is the first and last growing season for the V-yard. The bank came by earlier this week and they are putting the house up for auction (again). I am not worried about any of the winter crops that have been planted. The inside of the house needs so much work that if the house is bought the outside will be the least of their worries.
Although the place is an eye sore. I am hoping it goes unsold. With all the trial and error that Tom and I have gone through this year with that garden, I think that next years will be stellar. Let's just hope no one buys it!