Schizandra from seed

Chinese magnolia vine is another name for Schisandra Chinensis.

It is a medicinal plant with red berries that grow in clusters a little like grapes and a little like currants. Its also called the "5 flavor berry" as the berry has the tastes of sweet, sour, bitter, salty and pungent. The berry is basically supposed to be good for just about everything and contains antioxidants, trace vit/min and other goodnesses that i can't think of off the top of my head.  Basically,  its considered another of the "Superfruits".

Ok,  that said,  i'm going to try growing it from seed.  I bought a packet of seeds from Bountiful Gardens the year before last and just never got to do anything with them.  The price was around $2.00.





I looked around online to get more ideas on how to germinate the seeds,  they are considered difficult.  Apparently it can take over a year with some seeds,  but can be just a few weeks in others.  Hopefully i have good luck.  The other thing with this plant is that there are 2 sexes and both are needed for berries.  I need enough to germinate so i have a chance at getting at least one male or at least one female.  They grow well from cuttings i understand,  so if i get one of each,  i'll be fine.  I tried searching online to see how to tell the sexes apart visually (before berries, of course) but i didn't find anything,  so i'm working blind.

Dried berries:



Soaking the dried berries.





I'm using one of my seed sprouting jar toppers.



Berries after about 12 hours of soaking in room temp water.



Seeds removed from the pulp.


Some of the berries had 2 seeds and others had one.  I ended up with 26 seeds to work with.

I'm also following some directions given here:  How to grow Schizandra from seed.  They say to soak the seeds for about 5 days,  changing the water daily. 
Back in the jar they go. 


A bunch of them  are floating though.  I hope that is not a bad sign.  Usually floating seed is bad seed...  who knows?   A packet only costs $2.50 now,  i could always try again if this does not work...  but it will set me back in the time it will take to get berries.

We'll see how it goes!

All ready

Seed orders are complete.  I'm 99% sure i have everything i need for this year.

Product #: 3201-BOLTARDY BEET (46 days)
Price: $1.25
Quantity: 1
Subtotal: $1.25

Product #: 35-RUBY QUEEN BEET (60 days)
Price: $0.95
Quantity: 1
Subtotal: $0.95

Product #: 48-MAJOR BROCCOLI (F1 hybrid 43 d
Price: $1.50
Quantity: 1
Subtotal: $1.50

Product #: 13201-GENERAL LEE CUKE (F1 hybrid 66
Price: $1.35
Quantity: 1
Subtotal: $1.35

Product #: 136-NATIONAL PICKLING CUCUMBER (52
Price: $0.95
Quantity: 1
Subtotal: $0.95

Product #: 139-DIVA CUCUMBER (58 days)
Price: $2.25
Quantity: 1
Subtotal: $2.25

Product #: 146-BOSTON PICKLING CUKE (heirloom
Price: $0.95
Quantity: 1
Subtotal: $0.95

Product #: W482-MINOWASE RADISH (55 days heirl
Price: $1.25
Quantity: 1
Subtotal: $1.25

Product #: 371-EARLY BUTTERNUT (F1 hybrid 82
Price: $1.50
Quantity: 2
Subtotal: $3.00

Product #: 41602-MORTGAGE LIFTER TOMATO (77 day
Price: $1.35
Quantity: 1
Subtotal: $1.35

Product #: 41204-MATTS WILD CHERRY TOMATO (55 d
Price: $1.65
Quantity: 1
Subtotal: $1.65

Product #: 428-MARTINOS ROMA TOMATO (heirloom
Price: $1.35
Quantity: 1
Subtotal: $1.35

Product Total: $17.80
Discounts Applied: $0.00
Tax: $0.89
Shipping: $3.95
Special_Handling: $0.00
Order_Total: $22.64

I have my seed starting soil, plenty of plastic pots from last year,  though i might get some square peat pots for the cukes and squashes later on. I would like a seedling heat mat,  but i don't have the $20-$40 to spare right now.  I will need something to warm my pepper seeds.
 I'm going to try one more year (did i say that last year?) to grow peppers at home,  this will use up the rest of the seeds i have this way.  I don't have much luck with them,  germination or growing. If they do germinate well,  they don't produce much in the summer or the earwigs get to them.  Same with eggplant.  But....  i am planning to use black plastic mulch this year.  It might be just the thing.


Oh,  boy.  I got some serious sticker shock the other day. 
I get tons of catalogs every spring and i will flip through some of them if i have time.  The last 3 years or so,  i really haven't done much browsing in other catalogs.  Well,  the nice, shiny Burpee catalog caught my eye and i started paging through.

Holy. Moly.
There are some insane prices in there.  Average packet price seems to be about $5.  See above prices from Pinetree and why i almost choked.
Ok,  in Burpee's defense,  i'm sure there are more seeds in their packets than in Pinetree's....  30 from Pinetree to Burpee's 50....  but if i only need  5-10 seeds each year and can save my own seeds,  that is just crazy.
I'm ok with buying the occasional $4 packet of seeds for something unusual or unique or perennial but at those prices i could not fill my garden. 

There.  That is pretty much it for buying,  just have to wait on things to arrive.  Meanwhile i'll find the time to clear off my seed starting spaces, sort through things and get organized.

Maybe i'll actually get some pictures to post instead of these pure text entries.

Order up!

Started ordering things this weekend.
Went to Renee's Garden Seeds and got my hibiscus seeds,  then over to Pinetree and ordered a couple pounds of Adirondack Blue seed potatoes.  The picture at their website is not very good,  i don't think they are trying to be shady,  but the example photo is extremely blue, lol.  Anyway. I also bought some bush bean seeds for Dragon Langerie and Carson Yellow.  Oh and a nice sunflower mix.

I went through my stash and found that i am in the market for new tomato, cucumber, beet and broccoli seeds.
I only have 5 Beit Alpha cucumber seeds left and 5 Boston Pickling as well as 5 Spacemaster (which i think i'll skip this year).  I have plenty of Specialty White, but all these seeds are getting old and i expect maybe 2 plants out of the 5 seeds.

I have plenty of seed for the two varieties of San Marzano tomatoes (Lampadina and the ones i got from Providence Acres). I also have plenty of German Orange Strawberry. I don't think i grew those again last year.  The year before, they got horrible blossom end rot,  not a one was edible.  I also have plenty of Banana Legs left,  but we really didn't like them all that much. Too acidic, not very flavorful. The Sweet Chelsea cherry tomatoes crack and split like crazy...  not impressed.   I'm not sure if i will plant Pruden's Purple again this year.  Absolutely delicious tomato,  but last year the stem end scars and radial cracking were so big and deep, half the fruit was useless for slices.  It was annoying in years past,  but 2012 was unacceptable.

I only have a few beet seeds left,  not enough for even a small block of them,  so i will need to get a new packet of something.

I only have Waltham broccoli seeds left, though i have plenty.

There was something else i was sure i wanted...  but it has totally slipped my mind at the moment!
Well, on to studying the catalogs.

I may get some seeds for Starbor kale....  i honestly don't remember what became of the seeds.  There seems to be no evidence that i ever grew it.  I think i started some last year,  but they were no-shows...  its a mystery.

I'm itching..

...to get going starting seeds.  However,  its still too soon.  I could go ahead and Wintersow i guess,  but the way these last few springs have gone,  i'm not sure how well it will work out. Wild temperature swings are not helpful.  Also,  i don't really have an open surface outside to put anything on. I do still have those two, tall greenhouses,  but i have nothing to strap them to when the wind blows.

I do need to go through my seed stash again, begin to plot my garden and clear off that pathetic excuse for a seedling shelf that gets cluttered up with all sorts of things in the off season. lol  I wish i could use my greenhouses for shelves instead.  Maybe if my mental state (which has been on a low for a few weeks) perks up i'll be able to come up with something.   The good Lord knows i have plenty of odds and ends to work with!

I know i'll have to mail order a few packets of seeds this year.  Those hibiscus seeds i want can be found at Renee's Garden Seeds for $2.99 a pack currently.

I'm going to try and start the leonotis leonuris early.  I was going to try and direct seed them,  but i have the worst luck with direct sowing and weeding.  Another reason i don't like to grow carrots. The leonotis take time to flower and we are just on the low end of being hot enough for them to really take off.  I intend to get a big head start on them. My concern with starting too early is keeping them from getting leggy before i can plant them out.

I'd like to try growing a half or whole row of sunflowers perhaps. The wild birds enjoy the seeds from my Jerusalem artichokes very much,  so maybe they'd like big sunflower discs?  I'm going to see if our oldest daughter (now 14) would like to help me select the varieties.

Ground cherries are a definite "go" for this year.  Interestingly enough, i found canned ground cherries at Reny's a few weeks ago. They were labeled as "Golden Berries". They were packed in a heavy syrup.  I picked up a couple cans for $2.99 each.  They were ok, wouldn't buy them again really  but i would consider trying to can them myself if i could find some recipe guidelines.  I have also seen them sold on the interwebz in dried form.  Quite expensive. I do have a dehydrator.  Lots of the berries went to waste last year simply because i couldn't keep up and they can be somewhat tedious to harvest.

We're planning to use plastic mulch in the rows this year to keep down on those cursed weeds.  It seems that every year the worst thing that happens is that the weeds take over so quickly. I just can't seem to keep up.
I'm considering the possibility that the plastic mulch might make the ground cherries easier to harvest.

I'll also have to do something about tomato blight.  It took my plants down so quickly i didn't have a chance.

Since today is Friday (it took me three days to pick this entry into existence), i'll plan on making use of any uninterrupted time on Saturday to look through seeds.  I especially need to get my garden mapped out and printed off before my GrowVeg subscription runs out.

Looking around online...

I wanted to know more about the type of hibiscus that is often found in herbal teas.  I found that it is a plant often called sorrel, roselle, and even Florida cranberry.

 Here's a website with photos:
Discover the many uses of the Roselle plant.

And a website with a nice video:
Roselle, Plant of the Week

 So...  now that i know what it is called,  i of course want to find out if i can grow it myself...
 Looks possible,  but it needs a lot of room... 3 foot spacing minimum- but it can be container grown.  I think if i decide to try it,  i'll go with the container option.  I have a nice 30 gallon rubber tub that i could fill with soil.
Dave's Garden

Seeds available at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/ROSELLE-HIBISCUS-Sabdariffa-Fruit-Flower/dp/B004Z3HUU6

Just a bit of snow...

For my area at least,  this predictive map was spot on:

]

It was nice to stay in and watch the snow fall,  and blow around.  We were lucky like most and didn't lose power which allowed us to enjoy two days of quiet, enforced relaxation.  School was called off for Friday
When all was said and done we got around 24-28 inches of snow.  its hard to tell really because it blew and drifted so much.


Poor Molly had to go pee in this. It was still blowing and snowing when she had to go out on Saturday morning.  We had a 4 foot drift on the front steps that she and i had to plow through but the wind had blown a clear spot at the end of the drift.


Here's a couple videos of the clearout.

Front part of the house.  I took this leaning out of the living room window.


Backyard from the driveway:


We had a snow drift that covered the kitchen window entirely.


Well,  that's it for the storm update.

January Thaw

Not my favorite time of winter at all.  Things get muddy and slushy,  the snow looks dingy.  The air warms up just enough to tease of spring that is well over another month and a half away.  Our temperature right now is 53 degrees F with bright sun and cloudless skies. Pretty when you look up...icky when you look down.

 However,  the seed catalogs are coming in like mad.  I got my first one before Christmas,  Pinetree Garden Seeds.  I tend to order from them the most.  Their prices are great, lots of variety, good customer service, quick shipping and especially important- they are local here in southern Maine.  So i was happy to get the catalog so soon. Another nice surprise was that Kitazawa seeds sent their catalog early this year.  Normally they are one of the last to arrive.  By then its a little too late to order.  I know i could go online, but i like to plot my orders by catalog and go online to submit my orders.

I don't tend to order flowers anymore since my focus has been on edible landscaping in fruit or berry form.  I know there are a number of perennial herbs,  but after filling all my available space with those dwarf trees and medium shrubs, there really isn't any other spot to put them.  The only non-edible flowering plants i kept are my old fashioned bleeding heart and some stargazer lilies that hubby keeps mowing over.  If he can stop hitting the lilies long enough for me to find them, i'll probably dig them up and give them to my mom.

On another note...   i have been currently noticing a large population of robins lingering in the area.  Where i grew up- less than 15 miles away,  we didn't see robins in the winter.  It was always a big deal to see the "first robin of spring" pecking for worms in the recently thawed earth.  It was taken for granted that they all flew south for the winter.  Experience bore it out.  Since moving into a more towny area i have noted that they apparently  don't all go south. So i looked it up.  Robin Migration .  Seems what i have been seeing is not unusual. Based on what i read on that link,  things make sense.   Our town's streets are lined with trees that produce tiny crabapple-like berries,  a small park about two blocks away is lined with ornamental berry trees.  We have many ash trees as well in the neighborhood. Looks like the robins have plenty of food for the winter over here.  At my youthful home, the pickings must be slim.  Not many ash trees are usual.  Its mostly pine, oak, maple, spruces and other pine trees. The fruit is all in the summer,  blueberries, raspberries, choke cherries, etc., but nothing that lingers through the winter.  Anyway,  i thought that was interesting.

Well i'm signing out for the evening.  Most of my entries take the whole day, picked at a bit at a time.

I have a nice fantasy novel to sit back and read.  We installed new flooring this weekend and i'm sore from the effort.   I'm going to take some valerian, read and call it a night. :o)

'Tis The Season!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Updates

A little update on my summer and fall.

I got lots of elderberries this summer.  I picked about a third of them which amounted to about 2 pounds.

 I made elderberry syrup out of them.  I boiled them, added sugar and then strained them with my coffee press since i didn't have a jelly bag or muslin.

This picture is of the squashed i picked. Four Delicata and nine Butternut.  I processed all of them into dehydrated powder for easier storage.  More on that later.

The Red Russian kale did awesome again this year.  I should always grow it.  Even the dog likes it,  and our toddler does too.

My tomatoes blighted out early this year,  it was pretty sad.  I hardly got to use any of them because they rotted so quickly.  Worse thing was that it was really a bumper crop coming on.

Butterflies!

I managed to find three Monarch caterpillars at the end of summer.  They were quite large at the time and only about four days from pupating,  so we didn't have to wait long for butterflies.

My 3 year old helping me release one back into the "wild".

 Another shot.

The release spot.  It wasn't quite ready to fly,  but i didn't want to leave it in the jar too long so it would rip its wings.

A small harvest of Jerusalem Artichokes.  This all came from a spot about three feet square.  I have 10 feet of them....

 Here's a particularly large one:

Processing squash into powder:

These are the ones i used, plus one more Butternut and a pie pumpkin.

Topped and tailed for safer handling.

Seeded.

 Baked, then scooped out and mashed a bit.

My largest stainless steel bowl....   mostly full of almost all the squash and pumpkin.

  
I ran the mush through my Foley food mill to get a uniform consistency.

I spread the puree thinly on the dehydrator trays lined with plastic clingfilm.

Started up the dehydrator and went outside to look around.

I found more ripe Goji berries.

This is their first year and between the two plants i must have gotten almost 50 berries.  I'm liking that!

Playing outside for a bit.  Its getting very cold.  We've had a number of frosts by now and its been as cold as 22 degrees.

A day and a half later...   once the top was dry enough,  i peeled off the plastic and flipped the sheets of puree to continue drying.

I broke the sheets into chips which i ran through the blender until ground into powder.

End product:

Quart jar mostly full of squash/pumpkin powder.  Convenient for rehydrating to be eaten with a little butter and sugar or to be made into pies.  Such a reduction in volume is worth the time and effort!

Much easier to store this way,  especially with an oxygen absorber packet inside.


That's all for now!

Mushroom articles

http://gardentenders.com/members/Radicalfarmergal/blog/series/464

http://www.growveg.com/growblogpost.aspx?id=261

Frost advisory for tonight.

Looks like gardening season may come to a close earlier than normal this year. Its September 19,  normally we're frost free  until  within a week of  October first.  Its just an advisory, however, but it is a definite sign of the end of summer.

In a way, i'll be glad to get everything taken apart and put away. Since the tomatoes got blighted i have not weeded and things are looking pretty bad out there!

Other than the ground cherries, nothing has really been providing any longer.  Well...besides the kale.

Last night's heavy wind and rain blew the Jerusalem artichokes around quite a bit.  They are still pretty much upright, but they are leaning in all directions.  I think after a hard frost hits, i'll have hubby take the heavy duty weed whacking blade to the stalks, clear them away and start digging as needed.

We'll be weed whacking the rest of the garden too.  Hubby wants to rake all the plant trash into a pile and burn it this fall so the garden will be cleaner in the spring.  i guess its worth a try. 

Summer is almost gone.

Its been cool out these last few days. Which has been welcome. There was even a frost warning last night for northwestern Maine.

The garden did ok this year. Not great but acceptable.  My tomatoes got blighted out, but they were productive enough we ended up with plenty of good ones we were even ablevto share a few.

The kale was , as usual, spectacular.

The butternut winter squash has done well too. I managed to get 8 very niced size squashes. The delicata plant that survived gave me 4.

The cucumbers did ok. I was getting about three every other day, but then the vines just dried up.

I was not able to keep up with the green beans, but i planned on saving the seeds anyway.

The elberberries have done nicely too. I managed to pick a pound and a half and de-stem them over the course of a day.  I plan to make syrup ou
t of them if i can find the time.

The grapes were beset by Japanese
etles so they look pretty sad.  Last year i sprayed them along with the apple tree, but i abandoned my schedule for spraying... no apples this year though we are nibbling grapes off the uneven bunches.

The Carmine Jewel cherry plants are doing well,  leafing out nicely. So are the beach plums and the seaberries.
The goji surprised me and flowered.  I have even picked 6 or 7 berries and there are more yet to ripen.

I would have had lingonberries if my youngest daughter hadn't plucked the green berries off.

The prune plum is growing well despite even more Japanese beetles, the autumn olive is growing like the weed that it is. The Jerusalem artichokes are going like gangbusters despite the powdery mildew they have.

The summer squash were delicious while they lasted, which didn't seem very long.

The big thing this summer has been the Aunt Molly's ground cherries!  They are very sweet and good, tasting like non-acidic pineapple.  My youngest daughter loves them. Every day she picks a bunch and eats them on the spot.

The weeds did get away from me again this year but not as bad as last year!


Well this is my first attempt at posting a full entry from my phone, so we'll see if it posts.

test two

from my phone

A lot going on actually

I just don't know where to start.

The blueberries are almost done,  we've gotten a number of overflowing handfuls of beautiful, flavorful berries this year. That's even with my youngest daughter grabbing the unripe ones before they all started to ripen.

My tomatoes are going strong.  We have many green tomatoes growing and sizing up.  We ran out of tomato cages this Spring so only about a third are caged up,  the others are kinda growing naturally-- which i know is going to turn into a big mess, lol.  I know they can be staked,  but that takes pruning and its way too late for that.   Besides,  after all my reading i still don't get how to stake and prune tomatoes.

Out weeding and my daughter pulled up my Kai Lan Queen kales.  I guess its ok.  We haven't more than snacked from them.  If i grow them again i'll do a whole row,  they don't seem to produce enough tips for a meal all at once if you only plant 3.

Three days ago she picked our first Golden Zebra summer squash.  It was a little small (5 inches or less) but it was crisp and flavorful.  I'll plant it again.  More are on the way.

Funny thing happened to one of my beach plums and one of my cherry plants.  The main stem seems to have died,  all the leaves crumbled and dried,  but both are resprouting at the roots.  They are on opposite ends of the yard and looked like they got hit with Round-up or something.  Butthey are coming back strong anyway.

The green beans are flowering right now, looks like a good potential crop.

The weather has finally cooled down,  we'd been dry and hot for the last 2 weeks the lawn is going brown in places which has my hubby all annoyed. 


Well thats it for now.  I'm still working on getting my phone working for posting,  hopefully i'll get some pics up with it soon!

phone test

Phone thing

Well the phone thing isn't going well. For it to work,  i had to switch from my Yahoo account sign-in to my Google account.  Fair enough.
But on my phone,  Google does not recognise my password which i have reset about 5 times now.  I don't know what is going on,  but it stinks!

After a few weeks

I've been busy,  not so  much in the garden but with fun family stuff.  The garden is doing well,  things are getting huge.  I'd like to post some pictures soon.

I got a new Droid Razor phone the other week.  I've been playing with  it.  I used to have just a basic flip phone which didn't even have a camera,  but this is a really cool phone.  The camera on it is better than my actual camera.  I think there is a way i can take pictures on the phone and upload them to and post on Blogger.  I haven't figured this out yet,  though i did figure out how to get things on Facebook.  So i'll be posting pics that way if i find that it can be done and i figure out how to do it.  If not i'll go back to actual camera and cable.

Well so far summer has gone nicely.

There are a ton of grape clusters,  we've gotten some nice handfulls of blueberries and they taste wonderful.  The York and Nova elderberries are in full bloom.

The temps have been  wonderful, mid and upper 70's.  We got a lot of rain about 3 weeks ago, but its been pleasantly dry since.

Well,  i'll go play with my phone and do some weeding this evening.

Photo post

Grape patch

Autumn Olive,  growing like the weed that it is.

The healthier of the two Carmine Jewel cherry plants

Blueberries and Lingonberries

Lingonberry flowers

Blueberries in fruit

Side bed all filled up

The less impressive Carmine Jewel cherry,  i hope it survives winter

The Yard

Wild kitty in my garden,  digging in the bean row

Other end of the Yard

Autumn Olive a few weeks later-- even bigger than before

Goldbeere Elderberry

York (left) and Nova (right) Elderberries

Caerulea Blue elderberry

Grape row

Full garden shot

Photo shortly after getting most everything planted in.

I've enjoyed things so far this year.  I have managed to keep up with the weeds at this point- using my scuffle hoe.  Keeping my 3-year-old and feral kitties out of the garden has been the main challenge.  I lost a cucumber plant the other day to one of the two. At this point, its too late to do anything about it.

Next year i definitely have to get an earlier start with seeds,  i held myself too tight this time and then ran out of time.  The older my little one gets,  the easier it should be,  i'll be able to direct her away from things more easily. 

Its been a cool couple of weeks,  its been in the 60's during the day,  40-50's overnight.  We are expecting 90 degree weather in the next few days,  the cool air does not seem to have damaged anything,  but things like the beans are growing slowly.  The tomatoes are about to bloom though and the grapes are in full flush right now.  The cukes and squashes have just kind of sat there.

We'll see what a few days in the 90's can do to get things going.

Finished planting

I weeded everything with my old garden weasel, then dug the last two rows.  Then i planted the squashes and cucumbers and the three Job's tears seedlings.  I also planted a third row of green beans.  The ones i planted a week ago still haven't come up,  its been a bit cool out so hopefully its just that.

I've had not-so-good germination this year.

  None of the 3 Beit Alpha seeds sprouted,  only one of the 3 Delicata squash sprouted,  out of 4 Spacemaster cukes, only 2 came up.  The Banana Legs tomatoes sprouted 2 out of four.  Happiness came from the Golden Zebra summer squash.  Every seed came up,  i actually had to thin them.

I managed to get everything done just before some thunderstorms blew up,  so everything is being watered in naturally.

Its  supposed to be sunny and warm through next week once the storms clear out tonight.

Cats in the garden.

Not my cat,  hes a 100% indoor gentleman.  Its the neighborhood cats that get me.  They like my garden as a litter box and they scamper across the rows.  They also use it as their own fighting arena.  One night a tomato plant got broken due to a squabble.  I mounded the soil up around the broken part of the stem,  it has recovered  nicely,  but it still was annoying.

Its still better than woodchucks (which i haven't seen yet).  There's a rumor of a fisher in the area. So i think its likely that it may have been hunting them.  They also go after cats, so though the cats bother me, i hope they won't be killed like that.

Drenched

We got some good rain this weekend,  its been a steady downpour since Saturday evening.

My hubby wanted me to try those Jobe's fertilizer spikes for tomatoes since our soil is so sandy we suspect much of the fertilizers get washed away rather quickly.  I poked them in the other day,  i expect them to make a difference.

My squash and cuke seeds and seedlings are still in the flat,  they are going slow and some are not germinating at all.  I'll be lucky if i get one Delicata plant.  The butternut are large though and almost ready to go in.

I really started them too late,  but the germination  percent is quite disappointing. I planted two seeds in each pot.

The rain has overflowed the flats so i'll need to drain them...again.  So much rain,  its been steady for almost 3 days now.  I expect my green bean seeds have been well watered by now, lol

Stanley will have to be staked again,  the water on his leaves has him bending down  alarmingly once more.  I'm still not understanding this pruning thing,  i simply don't know what needs to be cut.  I let my grapes go this year,  it warmed up way too fast for me to get in and winter prune,  so i'm letting them go just to see what it "looks like" when they grow on their own.  I think i have enough of a handle on how to prune grapes that i can make repairs next spring.

I need also to make name plates for my plants.  I'm not sure how i'll do this.  They are outgrowing their nursery tags and they'll have to be removed .....  and i'm forgetful. I want to know who is who.  I am very disorganised at the same time i like to be precise.  I'll spend hours charting and graphing,  but in the end i just wing it.   Like this year.   I mapped and plotted with my Grow Veg subscription,  but when it got  down to it,  i didn't print it off,  i just dug in and planted.  This year i didn't even label varieties,  some of the tomatoes i recognise by sight this year (pruden's purple, san marzanos and aunt molly's ground cherries) and the kales (red russian and kai lan queen),  i know where the beans are.  The squashes i'll know by the time they grow and the cukes will sort themselves out.  Once the rain stops and i can start digging again,  i'll plant them out.

I did find my camera cable (yay!)   but no pics because of the rain.  I plan to do a picture post soon. Maybe i'll do one of those "Wordless Wednesday" posts i see other bloggers doing.

Beans

I planted two rows of Provider bush beans today. Time will tell if i have set myself up for inundation or not.  But then i usually plant double the seeds in the same area of row, so this may actually be the right    way to go.

Oh,  i found the first firefly on my hubby's shoulder  this evening,  i was pretty cool.  We were out having a cigar  and there it was. Brilliant!

Thunder and rain

It would have been nice to know we were going to get heavy rain overnight and today.  I would have planted bean seeds.  Last night the forecast called for 0.08 inches of rain.  My guess is about 3.0 inches of rain.  It was nice, however,  to be woken up a few times last night by flashes of lightening and rumbles of thunder.  I find it relaxing.

If i had known,  i would have finished mounding and digging the rows and planted those green bean seeds,  i don't like to manually water if i can help it.  It would have been perfect.

But the tomatoes are enjoying it and the kales and ground cherries. It has been on the dry side since i planted and the rain was really needed.

Still,  it would have been nice to know! lol

Ginger Beer

I haven't tried making it yet,  but soon...oh, soon!

From "Not Dabbling in Normal"  is a great tute on homemade ginger beer:

http://notdabblinginnormal.wordpress.com/2012/05/26/make-your-own-ginger-beer/

Kale

Got all the kales planted Sunday. At least the ones that came up...   i  know,  in reverse.  Kale should have gone in before the tomatoes.  But that's how i roll. lol

One of the Job's Tears finally sprouted.  That will be popped in when its finally recognisable so it won"t be mistaken for regular grass.

The Delicata squash are no-shows so far.  The only cukes up right now are the Specialty White and Boston Pickling.

Tomatoes Planted

Got all the tomatoes planted today.  What a relief to get that  done on time. 

Seasonal notes

Found the first Junebug of the year last  night. I'll have to watch the Seabuckthorn because i  guess the only things that bother them  are Junebugs.

Grapes are getting flower clusters already,  i counted quite a few.


My Hoya Shepherdi is blooming again.   Yummy scent!

The cucumbers are finally starting to  sprout.  Specialty White and Boston Pickling are the firsts....  oy vey, was i late starting them!

We've been getting that  humid,  rain\sun weather that can be so annoying.


I'm hoping to plant this Sunday and i wish i chanced it a few weeks ago,  it would have been a winning bet this year.  We haven' t had a frost in weeks.  The days have been about 70, so the soil has been warm. 

Squash and cukes, finally...!

Saturday,  i actually found time to plant the cuke and squash seeds.  I seeded three of each:

Delicata- bush,  winter squash
Butternut- bush, winter squash
Yellow Zebra, summer squash

Cukes:

Beit Alpha
Boston pickling
Spacemaster
Specialty White

I'm still not sure if i'm going to try starting my broccoli late as it is or buy seedlings this year.  I think i'll have to buy at this point.

It stinks because my goal all along has been to  grow my own stuff all from seed,  and eventually start saving my seeds so i don't even have to buy any.
I'm taking  some steps back this year because i just have been too busy or mentally 'off'.  I mentioned in the comments section of a favorite blog this morning, that last year's weed war was such a disaster that i'm almost afraid to garden again this year. It was so depressing. I've lost a lot of enthusiasm for gardening over the weeds.  When i was gardening in tiny plots and longing for a big garden like i grew up with,  the weeds were well within control,  but with my little daughter,  mental/physical issues and other stuff,  the big garden is more than a challenge.
But i won't give up.  I just have to figure it out.

The grapes are leafing out well,  the bloom on the apple tree has blown,  the lilacs are in full flower all the way to the tips of the clusters.   Usually they aren't like that until Memorial Day.  We're  about 2 weeks ahead this year.  Yesterday it was 80 and night temps were in the 50's.
My tomato seedlings are in full sun now and stay out at night.  My kales are growing well,  though they are small because i planted so darn late.

Well,  i guess that is it for now.  i have other not as fun stuff to do! ;o)

Last plant

My male Seabuckthorn came in this morning (Friday),  so that is the last of my plants.

Did i mention that my dad delivered me 3/4 of a yard of black mulch on Monday?  I expect it to be almost more than enough to mulch all the beds fairly deep.  I'll be working on that over the next few days or weeks if the rain stays away  ...after i get Mr Seabuckthorn planted.  He's acclimating right now.

Marechal Foch (grape) is the first to open leaves this year,  such a vigorous plant.

Some of the blossoms are dropping off of the blueberry plants.  I really hope something pollinated them.

It looks like i can gauge the timing of my grapes leafing out  when the apple tree is in full bloom.

My tomato seedlings look good,  i just put them out in the shade today (Saturday),  the night time temps look steady in the high 40's to mid 50's,  so i think its ok.   They have reached the maximum height of my lights,  so its time to get them some real light.  It will be time to sow more things in the next couple days.

All in.

Thanks to my hot, husky hubby all my plants (except for the male Seabuckthorn) are in the ground.  This includes the cherries which required the removal of 3 non-fruiting ornamentals which are waiting for my parents to pick up tomorrow. A few bulbs came up with them, daffodils and a pink hyacinth.

He helped me dig a couple holes before he wandered off to mow the lawn after the plants were dug.  I did the rest which wasn't too hard.

I am so relieved that its all done,  there's nothing worse for me than worrying over plants that are waiting to be planted.  I'm always afraid i'll never get to it and by the time i do,  it may be too late-- bare roots moldering in plastic or getting pot-bound or dried out in nursery pots.

But its all done and i survived the anxiety!


On another note,  the apple has opened a few blossoms,  the blueberries are almost in full bloom.  The Jerusalem Arties are annoyingly migrating to the more fertile edge of the garden....  hopefully, by making a walking path in the area and stepping on them will quell their enthusiasm. I plan to do a thorough (as much as possible) harvest of them this fall.
The kale are coming up now,  so i'm happy all in all.

Incoming Orders

Gawsh, i wish i had my camera cable!

My Raintree order came in and things are looking good.  The only thing that didn't come in was my male Seabuckthorn,  but its on backorder and will be shipped around the end of next week.

My order from Pinetree came in as well.

So looks like i am all ready but for the seed starting and digging.

I dug up the seemingly dead elderberry today,  it came up easily enough to do it totally by hand (no shovels or trowels etc.) which was interesting.

My Goldbeere elderberry is a beautiful creature.  It came as a 1 gallon potted,  it already has a flower cluster on it.  The other came as a bare root, so its not as impressive but it has some shoots on it.  Even the cheap Beach Plums (less than $5 each) are larger than expected.  The Goji are nice as well. The Titan Seabuckthorn looks healthy and sturdy too.  I am happy.

I'm also glad that i got the Golden Zebra summer squash this year too.

I am all enthused :o)

Seedlings

My kale seeds are beginning to come up (outdoors i figure they can handle the chilly weather we are having now).  My tomato seedlings are getting their second set of leaves...  the Aunt Molly's are up too..  Two of the Banana Legs have done nothing,  one more day on those and i'll reseed.  Its almost time to start the cukes and squashes.  I never do those very early,  even under 4 lights they get leggy on me.

My Raintree order is expected to arrive tomorrow with my Sea Buckthorns, Gojis, Beach Plums and 2 Elderberries.

The Carmine Jewel cherry plants are looking good in their little pots.

So far the apple tree has not bloomed,  its blossoms are pink in bud right now, but i'm glad there are no blossoms,  there is nothing  out to really fertilize them right now anyway- too chilly.  Its been in the high 40's and mid 50's,  the bees are not out.

My dad came over last Friday and tilled,  he'll come over and till again when its time to plant.  We may get more manure if there is time.

There isn't much else going on right now,  i haven't gotten the non-fruiting plants or the dead, unnamed elderberry out yet.  Maybe this weekend?

Oh and i made a small order at Pinetree,  i had forgotten to order Delicata squash seeds.  I want to try them.  I also got more Provider bush beans as i was running out.  I also tried again to get Golden Zebra summer squash,  last year they had to substitute 49'r because they didn't have any more Golden Zebra.  I also  ordered some nylon trellis netting for the cucumbers to grow on.

That's it.

Catch-up

Didn't i say i was going to plug in the list of what i seeded the other day?

So i'll do it now:

Tomatoes
4 Pruden's Purple
2 Sweet Chelsea
4 San Marzano Lampadina
4 Banana Legs
4 San Marzano from Providence Acres
3 Aunt Molly'sGround Cherries (also from Providence Acres)

Everything is up except 2 Banana Legs and the 4 Aunt Molly's

Kale
3 Red Russian
3 Kai Lan Queen
1 Starbor   (only had one seed left!)
3 Peacock Red- Flowering
3 Fringed Formula- Flowering
3 Teasel
2 Saltwort

None up yet.  They are outside anyway.  In the weirdly warm weather  we've been getting.

I may rethink the teasel. I often wanted it for a couple interesting seedheads, but further research calls it a potentially noxious weed,  and i had assumed this biennial plant was an annual and not hardy to my area.

I am going to try and make room for some Job's Tears and Leonotis,  Job's Tears have such pretty seeds for beading and i love the Leonotis flowers.

So...  i'll probably stuff  some Job's Tear seeds in the Teasel pots and call it good.  Same with the Saltwort.  Further  research on that shows seed viability of about 4 months. {facepalm} My seeds are 2 years old.  Bleh.

My Carmine Jewel cherry trees came today.  They look pretty good actually. Small,  but fully leafed, sturdy little things.  I am not disappointed.  Wish i could post a pic,  but like i mentioned before,  i can't find my camera-to-laptop cable or my minidisk adapter.

The grapes are now waking up and getting full sun much of the day.  The apple is getting pink buds.  The blueberries are getting ready to blossom. The prune plum has leafed out, lilac buds are the length of my index finger, grape buds are swelling, the Autumn olive is looking good, the asparagus is almost 2 feet tall (can be harvested next spring).  Well,  i think that is it for today...

Seeds Started

Got my tomatoes and kales seeded in pots tonight. I had some extra space so i went ahead and planted some teasel for fun. Not much else going on except for the incredible weather.  I'll record the seed list tomorrow.  Too tired from chasing somebody small and cute around outside.

Sunburnt

Just a little.  But this is the earliest time i have ever gotten a sunburn. I kept loading the sunscreen onto my little one,  but forgot to apply it to myself.

The lilacs are making little flower buds now.  I must get seeds started soon. Hopefully tomorrow.

Early Spring Continues

The weather was gorgeous today. We were easily in the 70's.  Budding and leafing is well underway for most things. The apple tree is almost ready to open its leaf buds,  the lilacs have leaves that are thumb sized.  The horseradish has been awake for weeks now,  the asparagus are popping up,  the blueberries are sending out red buds,  elderberries are sending out shoots. Daffodils are blooming, Stanley (prune plum) is waking up. I've got the rhubarb covered by a black rubber tub to blanch it. Also, my from-seed Autumn olive is leafing.

First mow of the lawn was done today.

Its been so dry though.  Fire warnings have been issued almost daily and we have not had more than a token rain shower or two for what seems like a very long time.

We are still getting the occasional frost.  Of course i'm worried about flowering and killing frosts.  But there's nothing i can do really.


i ...think... my unnamed elderberry might be dead.  its showing no signs of waking up,  while York and Nova are stretching out.  Its ok though,  i'd rather have named plants anyhow.  I have Goldbeere and Caerulea coming. I'll just dig it up and throw it out.  New plants should be here by the end of the month.

I was hoping to start digging up the unwanted plants this weekend,  but our oldest daughter spent the weekend at my parents' house so i had nobody to watch the youngest daughter while i dug.  So maybe sometime this week since it is April vacation.

I'm hoping to get my seeds started this week as well.  Its Sunday now and 7 weeks to last frost.  After years of starting way too early i have finally learned to cool my jets and wait.  I'll start tomatoes first and squashes later.  Cukes too.
I'm also not using 9packs this year.  The wells are just too small for good root growth.  i never have time or the room to pot-up,  so i'm using the paper flats i saved from last years' marigolds and 3" single pots saved from herbs i bought from Garden Spot.

Well i guess that is it for today.  I started writing this Saturday and its now Sunday morning and the little one wants desperately to go outside,  so out we go!
.-
.

Some more rearranging

I decided that the Rose of Sharon (double, pink) that is by the elderberries, will go.  I'm giving it to  my mom. It gets too big and bushy, i don't like the shredded looking flowers and it does not produce fruit.  It just sits there, annoying me.  So it will be moved to a new home.   I also decided the same for the small hydrangea (not the big old PeeGee) and the purple smoke bush.  Both need more room than i have in their spots.  I tried keeping them dwarfed by pruning,  but they just look stunted, not dwarfed  There is a difference in my eyes.  My mom is very willing to take them.

So, to fill the gaps,  i decided i want fruit.  Small fruit.  Not apples or pears.   Cherries sounded nice.  Also considering my oldest daughter's recent fascination with the Washington D.C. and Japan Cherry Blossom Festivals,  it seemed like a good idea.  So i did some researching for very small, treelike cherry types.  Carmine Jewel seems to fit the bill.  Not cheap and based on reviews,  not very big for almost $30 each,  but excellent in all other respects (i got to use the $25 off coupon). But,  i have gotten used to mail-order companies and have had no trouble with DOAs and replacements,  so i'm taking the chance.  I also have made no  major purchases since last summer (My Raintree order, due to be shipped the end of this month),  no more than $5 in seeds.  All i need is seed starting mix and time.  After these cherry trees come,  i will be officially out of room.

Carmine Jewel is expected to be very hardy,  compact- almost bushlike tree form,  high yeilding, 6.5 foot plant.  The fruit are sweet and a bit tart,  but get sweeter the longer they are left to ripen.  The flowers are supposed to be pretty and fragrant which is nice because other than the apple,  i no longer have flowering plants that smell pretty.

So,  maybe this weekend,  i'll be digging up the old plants and the cherries should be arriving shortly after.

I need to  find my camera's cable so i can post pictures again.

Nomal weather again

Woke up to snow this  morning,  just a dusting that was soon gone.  The ground is warm enough so it didn't stick really.  The temps were above freezing anyhow.  I doubt it hurt much in the way of plants.

The maples are flowering as of Sunday,  my elderberries were also showing buds. I have one unnamed one that i got a year before the Nova and York that seems to die to the ground each year...  not  sure if i will keep it  if that is the way things are going to be. It takes longer to start than the others; barely berried last year and had tiny fruit.  I don't want to kill it,  but if its not going to produce it won't be part of my landscape.  I don't have enough room to waste.

Its been cold since Sunday.  It rained that day and has been dry  and very windy from then on.We are under fire danger warnings due to the dryness and wind.  We are pretty dry op here from getting very little snow all winter. 

String of gorgeous weather

We have been in the 60's the last few days. Its lovely and distracting.  I have had the windows open for the last 5 days.  I am more than 10 weeks from the last frost date and at least 2-3 weeks from being able to start seeds.  I was going to Wintersow this year, but in a way, i'm glad i did not.  We didn't get much snow at all and we were quite warm some days.  I bet i would have had sprouts that were soon frozen again.

I'm a bit worried about my fruiting trees and bushes.  Though there are no obvious signs of early budding, if this weather keeps up and we get a frost, i'm sure to lose blossoms.  I spent a good bit of time outside with my youngest daughter, so i was able to get a close look at things.  The lilacs do look like they are waking up.  It feels like May, not March.

 I was surprised to see a honey bee today. She buzzed right up to my face so there was no mistaking what it was....  it worries me that the ladies are coming out already-- there are absolutely no flowers out yet.  At least as far as i have seen...  dandelions sometimes appear early- and if i still had crocuses i might expect to see them just breaking the surface but not blooming.  I hope she was a domestic and her beekeeper is feeding sugar water.

The snow is gone from the yard, all but the shady part of he fence where the grapes are.  A few strips of ice are left.  The rhubarb is waking up. No word from the chives and welsh onions yet.

I have decided not to use the hoops this year, Unfortunately they allow the weeds to get a big jump on me, they are tedious to install and tedious to take down.  Difficult to unhitch when it was time to weed. I think i'll just use the Remay as floating covers instead.  We are also considering using black mulch to keep down the weeds this time.  The weeds always get away from me and go to seed,  so even with a 3-year old garden i still have weeds like a first year.

We are supposed to get into the 80's on Thursday.  We'll see how much stranger this Spring can get!