Ridiculously Large Seed list for 2011

I'm working on it right now. Its looking better already. (see the left column)
 The drawer is looking neater too:

I realized i still had remaining seeds of things i thought i was out of.  This means i will be less likely to make another order. I only have half a packet of Provider bush bean left, so i'll look out for more of them on the seed racks at the usual stores.  I also noticed that i have things that i forgot i had- i was glad to see i had plenty of cabbage for this year. I have hardly any carrots left, but i might not plant them anyway.  I'll see how much room i have with the garden planner program.

I'm starting to get spring fever, i'll start reading Dick Raymond's   Joy of Gardening this evening most likely.  I've been paging through his  Down To Earth for the last couple days.

I'm hoping to be able to do what i did last year- planting the entire garden from seeds myself, its cheaper than buying from a greenhouse- even a good local one. There's more satisfaction in it as well.  Someday i'll maybe manage to plant the whole thing with my own saved seed.  I tried to find some non-hybrid varieties when i shopped last year- i do have a few good ones.  Instead of kinda playing around like i let myself last year, i'll concentrate on saving and storing seed.  It should be fun.  I own a copy of From Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth  so i'll have good information to start.

I wonder how thick the Jerusalem Artichokes will come in this year.  I harvested a few small baskets of them in the fall and they were delicious roasted with butter and herbes de provence .


Still getting lots of rain this evening. There are flood watches in most areas,  so far no major puddles here but the snow has really gone down in the above 40 degree weather.  Tomorrow i'll get pictures of the remaining snow to compare the ones i took the other day- its already quite a bit melted.

Meanwhile, here's a picture of Caper enjoying a heating pad while he watches TV.

And i'll copy my seed stash list here because i'll be needing to remove it from the sidebar for 2012 so this post can keep the record of it.  Its about 85% complete:

Ridiculously Large Seed list for 2011

• Annual Flower- Stocks- Excelsior Mix- 2010- Pinetree
• Annual- Amaranthus Caudatus- Love Lies Bleeding- 2008- Pinetree
• Annual- Burgundy Frillytunia- 2008- Pinetree
• Annual- Convolvulus- Blue Enchantment-2010- Burpee
• Annual- Convolvulus- Ensign Red-2010- Burpee
• Annual- Cosmos- Bright Lights mix- 2010- Bentley Seeds
• Annual- Four O' Clocks- Kelidoscope Mix- 2010- Burpee
• Annual- Marigold- Dwarf double mixed colors- 2006- American Seed (5 packets)
• Annual- Morning Glory- Clarke's Heavenly Blue-2010- American Seed (4 packs)
• Annual- Morning Glory- Pink Star-2010- Burpee
• Annual- Morning Glory- Sunrise serinade- 2010- Burpee
• Annual- Nasturtium- Burpee's Tall Mix- 2010- Burpee
• Annual- Nicotiant, Only The Lonely- 2008- Pinetree
• Annual- Scabiosa, House Hybrids- 2010- Hardyplants.com
• Annual- Schizanthus- Angel Wings- 2000-Pinetree
• Bean- Provider- 2008- Pinetree
• Beans- Jacob's Cattle- 2008- Pinetree
• Beans- Kentucky Wonder Pole- 2005- Ferry Morse
• Beet- Crosby Egyptian-2010- Pinetree
• Broccoli rapa- Spring Raab- 2010- harts
• Broccoli- Gypsy- 2010-Pinetree
• Broccoli- Purple Sprouting- 2010- Pinetree
• Broccoli- Waltham- 2010- Pinetree
• Brussels Sprouts- Bubbles- 2008- Pinetree
• Bush- American Blackcurrant-2010- Bountiful Gardens
• Bush- American Elderberry-2010- Bountiful Gardens
• Bush- American Elderberry-2010- eBay Seller
• Bush- Bush Cherry- 2010- Bountiful Gardens
• Bush- Chinese Wolfberry (Goji)- 2010- Richters
• Bush- Gooseberry, Pixwell- 2010- self prepared
• Bush- Nanking Cherry- 2010- self prepared
• Bush- Seabuckthorn- 2010- Richters
• Cabbage- Early Golden Acre- 2002- American Seed
• Cabbage- Krautman- 2010- Pinetree
• Cabbage- Mamoth Red Rock- 2010- Pinetree
• Cabbage- Point One- 2010- Pinetree
• Carrot- Cosmic Purple- 2010- Pinetree (very few)
• Collards- Vates- 2010- Pinetree
• Corn- Hopi Blue Dent- 2010- Pinetree (2 packs)
• Cucumber- Beit Alpha- 2010- Pinetree
• Cucumber- Boston Pickling- 2010-Pinetree
• Cucumber- Spacemaster- 2010- Pinetree
• Eggplant- Ornamental Chinese mini Pumpkin- 2010- Amishland
• Eggplant- Slim Jim- 2008- Pinetree
• Gourd- Birdhouse gourd- 2010- Ferry Morse
• Greens- Aurgula- 2010- Harts
• Greens- lettuce- Buttercrunch- 2008- Liberty Gardens
• Greens- Midnight Red Amaranth-2008- Pinetree
• Greens- Red Shiso- 2010- Pinetree
• Greens- Rose Orach- 2008- Pinetree
• Greens- Saltwort- 2010- Pinetree
• Herb- ANise- 2009- Richters
• Herb- Chives-2010- Park
• Herb- Curled Chervil-2010- Richters
• Herb- French Thyme-2009- Richters
• Herb- Garden Sage- 2009- Richters
• Herb- Genovese Basil- 2009- Richters
• Herb- Greek Oregano-2009- Richters
• Herb- Monarda Didyma, Panorama Red Shades, 2010- Hardyplants.com
• Herb- Oregano, Italian- 2010- Park
• Herb- Parsley, Italian flatleaf- 2010- Richters
• Herb- Roseroot-2010- Richters
• Herb- Rue-2010- Pinetree
• Herb- Sweet Marjoram- 2009- Richters
• Herb- Welsh Onions- 2010- Pinetree
• Herb- Winter Savory- 2009- Richters
• Houseplant- Hypoestes- Polkadot Plant-2000- Pinetree
• Kale- Chinese Kai Lan Queen- 2010- Pinetree
• Kale- Flowering- Fringed Formula- 2010- Pinetree
• Kale- Flowering- Peacock Red- 2010 - Pinetree
• Kale- Red Russian-2010- Pinetree
• Kale- Starbor- 2010 - Pinetree
• Kohlrabi- Early Purple Vienna- 2010- Pinetree
• Kohlrabi- Kossack- 2010- Pinetree
• Leeks- Large American Flag- 2010- Pinetree
• Okra- Cajun Delight- 2002- Johnny's
• Okra- Cajun Delight- 2008- Pinetree
• Okra- Clemson Spineless- 2002- Ferry Morse
• Okra- Clemson Spineless- 2003- Ferry Morse
• Okra- Red Burgundy- 2010- Pinetree
• Onion- Ailsa Craig Exhibition- 2010- Pinetree
• Onion- Southport Red Globe- 2010- Pinetree
• Ornamental- Job's Tears- 2010- Amishland
• Ornamental- Pod Corn- 2010- Pinetree
• Ornamental- Teasel- 2010-Pinetree
• Pepper- Ornamental- Habanero- 2001- Johnny's
• Pepper- Zsa Zsa- 2010- Pinetree
• Pepper-Hot Jalapeno CChile- Early Jalapeno- 2001- Johnny's
• Peppers- Ancho 101 hot- 2000- Totally Tomatoes
• Peppers- Fooled You jalapeno- 2008- Pinetree
• Perennial- Amole, Soap Plant- 2010- Bountiful Gardens
• Perennial- Leonotis Leonurus, 2010- Hardyplants.com
• Perennial- Pleurisy Root (orange milkweed)- 2010- Richters
• Perennial- Rudbeckia Hirta- Autumn Colors- 2010- Hardyplants.com
• Perennial- Shasta Daisy- Alaska- 2008- Liberty Garden
• Perennial- Siberian Motherwort- 2010- Richters
• Perennial- Yellow Echinacea, paradoxa- 2010- Richters
• Perennial-Nettle, stinging- 2010- Richters
• Radish- French Breakfast- 2010- Pinetree
• Radish- Hailstone-2010- Pinetree
• Radish- Round Black- 2010- Pinetree
• Rutabaga- Laurentian- 2010- Pinetree
• Salsify- Sandwich Island Mammoth-2010- Pinetree
• SeaKale- Lily White- 2010- Bountiful Gardens
• Shallot- Mirage-2010- Pinetree
• Sorghum- White Popping- 2009- Pinetree
• Soybean- Beer Friend- 2009- Pinetree
• Swiss Chard- Bright Lights- 2010- Pinetree
• Tomatillo- Purple- 2002- Johnnys
• Tomato- Banana Legs- 2010- Pinetree
• Tomato- Elberta Girl- 2000- Totally Tomatoes
• Tomato- German Orange Strawberry- 2010- Pinetree*
• Tomato- Heirloom Tall Vine Cherokee Purple- 2002- Johnny's (only ONE seed left)
• Tomato- San Marzanl Lampadina- 2010- Pinetree *
• Tomato- Sweet Chelsea- 2010-Pinetree *
• Tomato-Siberia- 2000- Totally Tomatoes
• Tree- Hawthorn- 2010- Bountiful Gardens
• Tree- Mulberry- 2010- Richters
• Tree- Serviceberry-2010- Bountiful Gardens
• Veggie- Pak Choi- Brisk Green- 2010- Pinetree
• Vines- Schizandra- Chinese matrimony or magnolia vine- 2010- Bountiful Gardens
• Watermelon- Pony Yellow- 2010- Pinetree
• Watermelon- Tom Watson- 2010- Pinetree
• Winter Squash- Long Island Cheese- 2010- Pinetree
• Winter Squash- Red Eye- 2008- Pinetree

Woodchuck, part 3.

So, woodchuck number three has been captured and is awaiting relocation.

We actually caught this one last night.  I had the trap set and baited for the last couple days (i think i am getting pretty good at anticipating their entry points) and i had been checking it every so often.  I had spread some blood meal and bone meal on Thursday, but i watered the whole garden deeply yesterday morning, washing much of it away- at least the smell.

But hubby was outside last night, enjoying a cigar and the new patio set he cobbled together from the clearance sections of a few stores. (It looks nice and it all actually matches.) And he kept hearing this clashing metal sound.  After a good 45 minutes he remembered that i'd set the trap and he went to check it.  There was the  groundhog.
So hubby and the groundhog spent the evening  at the patio set, in front of the  fire pit, chatting it up.   Hubby gave it another apple and a few greens.  He placed two small pieces of plywood in a tipi shape to help it relax overnight.

So anyway, its now been moved to the shade and in a few minutes it will be relocated- hubby has some errands to run in that direction but has other things to be doing right now...

I did find it interesting that the first woodchuck was caught in broad daylight- brazen little thing-  that was the crazy one that attacked me and gave me "Lord of the Flies" mental flashbacks for  3 weeks....

The second woodchuck was caught in the early morning and this third one was an evening raider.
I guess they all find their little niche.
And they all found my Havahart.
Of course they found my veggies first.

This one sampled everything though. Carrot & parsnip tops, sweet potato leaves, cabbage, JA leaves, collards, the remains of my broccoli... but not the Swiss chard or Kale.  That kale...  i wonder if the other stuff is simply tastier or woodchucks don't like kale.  Seems unlikely, but if kale would be safe from them i'd grow rows of it forever.  Anyhow, the only things it really damaged are the 3 collard plants.

I haven't cleared out the broccoli and chard yet because the seeds i planted for a fall crop have not sprouted yet.  None of them.  Six types of seed, from different places and no sign of a seedling. I'm a little surprised at this.

I'm trying to think of something i can direct sow into those spots that will actually produce before the end of the season, but i'm not sure of anything- Johnny's SS blog did mention dill and cilantro can still grow this time of year in this area, but time is running out quickly.  I wish i'd planted more beans & cukes and i wonder if its too hot to plant peas.
We have had some cool nights and daytime temps have been cool, high 70's.  Its been great weather for humans.  Its also been dry, no rain the last 4 days and none in sight for the next three at least.

No ripe tomatoes yet. The Romas are starting to get that bronzy look though, where the red pigment starts to come through and mixes with the green.
I have a lot of very green tomatoes and the Polfast has a giant tomato on it.
I guess i have to see if i can look up what weather conditions are conducive to tomato ripening. I have been reading garden boards and blogs a lot and i keep seeing that other people's 'maters aren't ripening the usual way this year.

I picked a huge bunch of basil yesterday and made Macadamia, Roasted Garlic & Basil Pesto. I had to leave the garlic out of hubby's cause he's scared of garlic.  Until he tried mine (i added the roasted and smashed garlic to half the batch in a separate bowl), and realized he was being silly.
I made one of those  "meat" with 40 cloves one time and the aroma of it freaked him out. I thought it was delicious but he was traumatized i guess.  Its been 5 years, but he still thinks i was trying to drive him out of the house that night, lol.

Oh, speaking of garlic, i think i might pick the bulb fennel, it hasn't grown at all for weeks and i'm sure its planning to bolt, but when i pick it i think i will sow some buckwheat there and in the fall after first frost i will plant some garlic.  So i can't wait to have baby fennel, roasted in EVOO.

I picked another pound or so of green beans and probably another 3-4 pounds of summer squashes. We've been eating and sharing it out.
I can pick the squash daily, the green beans get picked every other day and are still producing  nicely.

One of the oval watermelons is about the size of a Nerf football and the round watermelons are approaching croquet ball size.  I picked one of the slicing cucumbers the other day, it was over a foot long but not over ripe and the pickling cukes are averaging one good sized cuke a day.  I need to plant a lot more of these next summer if i want to use them for more than a daily snack.

I haven't felt up to doing any work in the flower beds and where hubby has seeded the bare half of the yard i can't really get in to put the edging around my grape and berry row.  It also seems like the corner brackets i wanted to get from Lowe's are unavailable. What a shock. >8o(

So not much going on but weeding, woodchucks and trying to decide what to do next if at all....

There are things going on, but trying to write something about them isn't all that exciting.  They are little tidbits like:

The globe artichokes are growing very slowly, i wonder why.  Its my first year with them so i have no basis for comparison. Maybe this is normal?

and

The corn is growing like crazy i need to remember to give them some blood meal and side dress them with some fertilizer which i have yet to buy.

There are a bunch of things i need to do still, like harvest castings from the indoor worm bin.

The roller brush with the herbicide....it hasn't happened yet.

Things i need to complain about, like how Triscuit seems to think they invented some "Home Gardening Movement"....  puhleease....  home gardening has been going on in my family since half my ancestors came over on boats and before that my other ancestors were already here and had things figured out quite well, thank you very much.  Triscuit, who sells a box of crackers for almost $3, made of ingredients that costs them less than 3 cents a box wants to encourage me to 'eat healthy'... Without getting into it too much, i'll just say that a load of manure has more potential nutrition in it than a Triscuit.

Things that i am dreading, like pruning off the clusters of flowers from my Marechal Foch.  I know i have to, i intend to, i prepared myself mentally for the reality that grapes have to be treated in just such a way, especially up here where every bit of energy they gather their first summer must be  used to fortify themselves for the zone 5 winter ahead. But i want to see grapes. I'm also being a bit pessimistic in expecting the winter to kill the vines and this might be the closest i'll get to having grapes.  I want to see the process through.  But i have to follow the instructions on this.  Not anecdotal instructions, but ones that come from people who have worked with grapes for years, pruned plants on the order of millions....
Now i know i seem a little obsessed, but this is my hobby and some things take a certain amount of obsession to be done right.  I really get into things in the beginning, i take in all the information i can find, i think about it, mull it over.  Later, if i find that the information i have collected is good and following it has led me to succeed in that area, i let up on the obsession and let the guidelines i found become second nature.  If i hit a snag, i become obsessive in that one area until i get it solved.
If it wasn't for some of these challenges i think gardening wouldn't be so much fun.  No its not fun to see my prized broccoli and cabbages being decimated by a furry subterranean Houdini...  but researching, trying and failing to deter the creature, constructing, reconstructing, and deconstructing the the defenses gave me a challenge with a deadline.  The deadline was determined by the appetite of my  foe and the growth rate of my vegetables.  The irony is that in the end the solution (to this one single raider- it certainly won't work forever) was the first thing i thought of, but the last thing i expected to work.  This taught me to never leave any options out. 
Oh, did i say how i caught him? I went to a nice Messageboard made up from hunters and trappers in Michigan. I told them of my situation and that i needed a bait that would be more interesting and tempting than my fresh garden vegetables.  I was advised to load up the trap, groundhogs are greedy. A piece or two of store-bought broccoli was not going to be tempting enough, but a whole pile of delicious things would be visibly tempting.  So i used a small plastic plate and loaded it up with chunks of banana, muskmelon, watermelon, the sacrificed stubs of what had been some of my raided plants, peanut butter, fresh sweet corn, both grape and strawberry jelly....  Within 12 hours i had captured my little furry enemy.
I thanked the guys for their help and my garden has been untouched since.
The rule of woodchucks unfortunately is that there are always more where the first one came from, so i won't declare any sort of victory- ever. 
I wonder if my garden would be as interesting to me if Eden-like, it brought forth all manner of unblemished deliciousness.  I have thought about that often and i really think it still would.  Its that seed planting thing. You can plant a million seeds, but each time one germinates and breaks the soil, there is a thrill that does not get old. Even when things go without a hitch, there is always something else to decide, something to change or something to try out. A different plant, method or technique.

Every morning i go to the window and take a peek at my rows.  I normally don't get to escape the house and really take a close look until the little one has begun her nap or the oldest one has gotten up and can watch the little one for me. I often start my mornings with a journal entry here. I'll start at 6:30 and usually by 11 i can get it published.  I type between breakfast and cleanup...cups of coffee. The dog goes out and comes back in. I look out the window a few times and try to remember if i recorded some interesting (to me at least) observation about weather, plants, sky....  first sighting of what insect -friendly or ferocious, what flowers are in bloom- which ones have done extra well this year and which were duds.  I try to remember bare spots, crowded spaces and plans to change it. I look along the areas waiting to be planted and try to remember if i have planned to plant one thing or three things in that exact spot.  I stare at the sun and shade patterns as the season changes and try to decide if there will be enough sun there for the plants i want to grow all season.  I wish there was a way to chart it.  I wish i had time to chart it.  i am almost tempted to get some spray paint and trace the shadows at hourly intervals and then photo it for later reference.  Is that too weird?  Should i care if it is?  It will tell me what i want to know, so why not?
Obsession is only bad if it causes a problem.
I'm a failed perfectionist, i think that is why i feel the need to chart everything....

I did find this interesting webtool:
www.suncalc.net

I may even buy this gadget:
http://www.lusterleaf.com/SunCalc/1875.htm

It has good reviews.

I'm also researching the EasyBloom products which are more expensive, but also provide more than just sunlight readings.

So i might buy another gadget to play with.

Another thing i never got to was the pine litter i planned to gather for the blueberry plants. I was going to mulch them under the row cover with the pine to get the soil nicely acidic.  I could probably still do it, but coordinating it might be complicated.  I might simply buy a package of Job's Fertilizer spikes for acid loving plants.  That is if they acidify the soil as well as fertilize.  I'll look it up to be sure.

Its getting close to the time when i have to do something with the Suffolk red grape. I have been putting it off.  If i try making it into a potted plant i will have to find a winter home for it.  Even if it would make it through the winter, it can't stay where it is right now.  It messes up the pattern of plants i have along the fence. Its also in the way because i need to extend the landscape fabric down the line to add in my beach plums, autumn olive, goji and sea-buckthorn, etc.

I did get the cuttings of the porcelainberry vine and the silky dogwood. I don't know if they will root, but i guess it is worth a shot.  I might prune the silky dogwood down to the nubs again in the next couple of days and i just might try digging it up and moving it.  Then i'll have to move the purple smokebush over.  The hydrangea will have to be pruned hard since its getting far too big.  I wanted a short accent plant, not another tree sized hydrangea.

I'm  tempted to use Roundup on the whole area and then start over.  I have some clematis that i don't want to lose though.  And i'd hate to lose my spring bulbs.  When i actually think about it, i relent, and that is why nothing gets done.

Today's weather started out dim, which is probably a good thing. If it was blazing sun the temp would be well over 85 by now.  The sun is just starting to peek out of a hazy sky. This is sunburn weather.  Humidity is 68%.  I will need to water this evening or tomorrow early. I planted two more celery stubs and 4 inches down the soil was a bit dry feeling.

I have been prepping some 2 liter plastic bottles to hold some of the seedlings i have yet to plant anywhere. They can't go into the flowerbeds yet so they are kind of stuck in the seed flats still.  I'll lose them all if i don't plant them into something soon.  I made the bottles into self-watering pots. Ugly but serviceable. There they can stay until later when i have space to put them.  I am still saving milk jugs for Wintersowing,  i'll save them until i use them all up.

Seeds...

Those Zsa Zsa pepper seeds just like to sit i guess....  i just decided to put them on a heat pad. My actual Seedling Heat Mat does not seem to be working anymore, but i did dig up a ZooMed heat pad for reptiles that i had saved from when we had pets that needed it. I have never had germination trouble with peppers, sweet or hot, so i am annoyed with these seeds.

Asparagus seedling count... out of i think 70 seeds i got 40 to germinate so far.  There are more coming up here and there so that number might increase,  but if it does not i have plenty as of now. It is a good deal, 40 plants for about $2.00 from seed.

Now that i have had more time to wait and see what definitely did not survive the frost i counted them up. Since it was quite a disruption and i had no extra seeds of some things, i will have to redo the GrowVeg plot.... again...  Funny thing is thaat about 2 weeks ago, i thought i wouldn't need to do that again until January lol.  I'm lucky that i enjoy these things.  Someone around my age who is more into Clubbing, partying and stuff like that would probably find me incredibly boring.
Good. 
That way they leave me alone! ;0)
I am a novice home brewer, i love a glass or two at a time of a good wine, i intend to grow some fruits that can also be made into wine, and the only mixed drink i really enjoy is a sweet-tart margarita,  but i don't understand the obsession with getting drunk every weekend or even every night.  I like to be social, but frankly i am more interested in tomato varieties than pop culture and social alcoholism.

Oh, where was i...? Oh yes, how boring i am.  And to prove it,  here is another boring list!

Of what maybe made it through the frosty night and what seeds i replanted out of the remainder of my Ridiculously Large Seed Stash:

What made it:
Tomato- Pruden's Purple (5)
Tomato- Yellow Pear (2)
Tomato- Polfast (3)
Tomatillo- Purple (4)
Tomato- Roma (2?)
Artichokes- Imperial Star (2)
Sweet Pepper- New Ace (2)
Hot pepper, Jalapeno- Fooled You (4)
Summer Squash- Patty Pan Sunburst (1)
Eggplant- Slim Jim (5)

Anything not listed was a total loss.

Assorted Herbs survived, many of the perennial flowering plants i sowed did fine. The herb that took the hardest hit was the Basil, i had 2 types and i lost at least half of the 18 cells i seeded.
I did lose the single Loenotis leonurus seed that had sprouted at the time so i have to find the space to start those again.
Other plants that went through the cold night that aren't listed have done fine. Like the asparagus, broccoli, pak choi, lettuce....  The only thing that isn't doing well with no real excuse is the durned cauliflower. The two sprouts that didn't get sunburned haven't grown hardly a bit and the seeds i stuck in over a week ago have shown no sign of sprouting.  Really disappointing.  I almost wonder if the seedlings that croaked really were sunburned, they may have been from bad seed.  So maybe i got 2 packs of bad seed this year.  Not good.  I might put the few remaining cauliflower seeds into peat pellets and see if it was a bad batch.
Things are starting to get frustrating.

This is the list of what got replanted, 6 each except the salsify- 12 of those:

Tomato- Empire Hybrid
Sweet Pepper- Red Knight
Hot Pepper- Chiltepin
Tomato- Siberian
Tomato-Black from Tula
Sweet Pepper- New Ace
Cucumber- Summer Dance
Cucumber- Alibi
Pattypan Summer Squas- Sunburst
Summer Squash- Sundance
Winter Squash- Long Island Cheese
Winter Squash- Red Eye

Acorn Squash- Carnival
Melon- Hale's Best
Melon- Rocky Ford
Melon- Banana
Watermelon- Pony Yellow
Watermelon- Tom Watson
Tomato- Yellow Pear
Eggplant, Ornamental- Scarlet Chinese
Salsify- Sandwich Island Mamoth
Beans, half bush- Appaloosa
Job's Tears

Later i'll edit my stash list so i don't miss ordering anything for next year that i want to plant again. I already started a list of things to buy again when i was low on them, but now i am out.

I also put together a list of the "Last Chance" varieties at Pinetree, those are the seeds they will discontinue before next catalog. A few of my favorites are on it, so i need to stock up on those and store them well in hopes that get back in the catalog before i use them up or they expire.  See, i may need to get a mini fridge for a better reason that before.

Still reading Root Cellaring, the beginning is full of garden advice so far and i'm getting into the part of the book where they are starting to discuss actual storage. They put in a nice list of varieties that they have found to be 'good keepers' well suited to root cellar storage, i am finding that to be very helpful and i recognise many of the varieties and their suggested sources.

 I may stick pretty close to their suggestions for next year.

Its cloudy today and i went out to water the carrots and radishes i planted. The radishes are no-shows so far and i don't know if the carrots are sprouting...? There are sprouts here and there under the boards and i don't know if they are weeds. They aren't numerous enough for me to tell if they are in the grid formation i made my seed tape in...I'm used to tiny gardens made mostly up of weed-free potting soil and bagged manure, not wild dirt. Seed tape is more obvious without weeds. And have not tried growing carrots for at least 3 years now and it has been longer since before that.  So i really don't remember what a carrot seedling looks like with just seed leaves.  So, since it is a cloudy day i took the boards off and hopefully if the seedlings are not weeds the sun won't burn them. I thought carrots are supposed to take weeks to sprout, so i am befuddled.

I'd like to know where my radish sprouts are...
Again, i see sprouts in the radish bed, but they aren't coming up in a line like the seeds i planted.  I know things shift a little when watered or the roots sometimes move the leaves off to the side, but not halfway across the row.

I'll just keep waiting.

Seed day..

Got my seeds from Amishland Heirloom Seeds this morning. The seeds look good, She was unfortunately, out of one of the seed packs i really wanted, it was a mini melon that is very early since it needs much less growing time.  Since i lost most all my melon plants in the frost on Monday, i was looking forward to this little melon.  BUT- its not like it is her problem, she is a small operation and it is early May. I was happy she had enough seeds for me at all this year. Snooze, i lose....  but i will remember to order from her next year!  I hope to add her to my recommended shopping list too.

I also managed to replant many of my seeds, there were a number of them that i had no replacement seeds for and there are now even more that i am totally out of.
I am mostly upset about the Roma tomatoes...  i really wanted lots of paste tomatoes this summer. We use those more than the juicier types and i hoped to learn how to can this year and spaghetti sauce was high on my list. Hubby loves tomato products.

But i separated out the 'hopefully not dead' and i have about 1/4 left... the Roma tomatoes are among those but i completely lost my Garden Peach and Black from Tula tomatoes.  The Romas might pull through.  I have one Black from Tula that i kept, the seed had just sprouted and it almost looks fine.  But i don't know if it will get anywhere cause late seedlings are often very weak and don't do a whole lot after  finally sprouting.  But i kept some just in case they pull through,  even then i expect weak plants. This will be a hard setback to recover from.

I really wish i'd brought them in, but the forecast tripped me up... still i should have simply taken the precaution.

I was pretty surprised to see that the Slim Jim eggplant and the New Ace peppers were fine. At least from where i can see. The seedlings must be small enough to have withstood the frost. The ZsaZsa peppers are still no-shows.  Even the second batch i planted 6 days ago (and have kept inside) are showing absolutely nothing.  I have never had unexplained bad germination from Pinetree before...  i wonder if this is a batch problem or if it is too early to tell.  Obviously they are not a good wintersowing variety since they were the only seeds that did not do anything..
Everything else i planted was... if it wasn't such a weird spring the seedlings probably would have stayed smaller and taken that hard frost better.
I got an email from Farmer's Almanac yesterday and they had an article on how the last 3 days historically carry frosts...  If they had sent it Sunday, i might have taken it as historical advice.

This is stuff i need to remember for next year! lol

But in all i guess it is ok.  I fortunately had some seeds left, and there is a good nursery nearby, though i really wanted to do this completely on my own this year... I almost made it!
I will have to edit my Ridiculously Long Seed List...maybe  it won't be so ridiculous after all.

Scary thing is that i may go hog wild next winter and buy another huge bunch of seeds to replace all the empty packets i produced this year!  It almost makes me look forward to January.


Oh, i did plant a few Salsify seeds to fill up space in the resown flats and i took the Marigold flat and resowed in the cells where nothing had sprouted. So i am out of those Marigold seeds.

I have to go through my herb flats and resow some more no-shows and my Basil that got frosted.

I consoled myself by ordering some books at Amazon.
I found some pretty decent used prices...
"The Pruning Book"  i got for $6.84 shipped
"Seed to Seed"  for $11.94 shipped

I also bought "Root Cellaring" on Kindle for PC -which i thought was awesome since i use my netbook for reading PDF books, and now i can read Kindle books without buying a Kindle.  "Root Cellaring" cost $9.99, no paying for shipping.  Amazon had a few other books for a few dollars that i grabbed andthere were a couple good freebies.  So i have plenty to read- as if i didn't before. :0)

I checked Henry Field's website for my Fig tree since i have heard nothing...  shipping date is now set for May 19-26..... *sigh*
My Venous Orange isn't looking so hot.  The curled leaves dropped a couple days ago. It simply looks yellower than the others, so i don't know if it will slowly die or not. But the other two do look fine.

I didn't get the Parsnips planted yet,  with the replanting i had to do, i ran out of time.
So i think that is it for today.

I wonder if i am going to have enough PVC for the number of hoops i need.  I wonder if hubby is going to have a cow if i decide i need more.  He just might if i can't make do with what i've got.
I am pretty sure i won't have enough for the anchor sockets...  I can cut those and find out pretty fast since hubby bought a PVC cutter a while back.  I had forgotten this and planned to use the shoelace saw trick. It works (i have done it many times before) but it makes a mess.  The PVC cutter works just like a pruning shears.  It is much faster too.

I may need sand bags to hold down the Reemay edges, but i won't be sure until i get it all set up.

I  think i decided what to do about hoop clips.  I'm going to get some of the thinner walled PVC and split them up one side, then to protect the Reemay from rough edges, i can cut scraps of polar type fleece into pads to go between the clip and the Reemay covered hoop.   If i leave plenty of extra material around the edges it should cushion any rubbing that the wind will cause.   I have plenty of fleece fabric.

As soon as the little  one gets settled down for her late morning nap i will be out there, trying to finish up the walking rows.  After that, the hard labor will be mostly over. I am very sore from yesterday, but the idea is that i can get this hard stuff done, then rest a few whole days.  I can get some frost resistant things planted this weekend. Like radishes and salsify, kale and onions.  The rest of the rows, like where the corn is going, can be covered in black plastic to speed up the soil heating.

 Some things will need row cover as soon as they are planted.  I keep seeing cabbage butterflies in the yard and while i don't mind picking a few caterpillars out of my broccoli as i am cleaning it for the table, i don't want an infestation.

I also have to decide how i want to measure out the garden in the opposite direction. I where i am trialing so many plants this year and using up old seeds before they go bad, i need to measure carefully to fit them all in but still let them have the right amount of room. But i don't want to go through the tedium of laying the string out in the opposite direction and i know that i will trip over it all anyway.
Maybe i will just make a giant ruler out of a scrap of plywood and use the 100' tape measure. Since i will have the hoops spaced 4' apart that will also be a measurement guide.



I think i will end up with extra space in the melon/squash patch since i charted it out for one plant per hill, but i plan to plant 2 to 3 per hill and won't need half the space i charted. I might be able to put the popping sorghum in there, but that needs as much room as corn....


Also found this while puttering around, looking at more season extenders:
DIY Wall-o-Water

I happen to have a sudden surplus of 2 liter bottles. And suddenly, while wondering where to store them until next year, I saw The Light !
Take six or seven 2 liter bottles. Group them around one in the center so you have a circle of bottles.
Duct tape the group together at half-way up.
Now pull out the center bottle so you have a kind of 'donut'.
Put in the garden over a new tomato transplant. Fill with water from your hose.
Instant Wall-O-Water.
Cost, 10 cents deposit each in Michigan, plus duct tape.
Plants will get some light from through the 2 liter bottles and eventually grow above them.
The heat of the sun will warm the water in the bottles.
Six bottles times two liters is 12 liters.
That's three gallons, roughly.
One BTU is the heat stored in one gallon of water by one degree Farenheit.
If you can store twenty degrees of warmth during the day, that gets you 60 BTU's of heat stored for the cool nights.
Throwing a cap over this setup would conserve that warmth to deter fr*st.
And it's not unreasonable that you could store more heat in the water than that.
Paint the bottles on the North side of the plant black to store more heat. Add a pinch of salt to the water to push the heat storage a bit.
You might get up to 120 BTUs stored in the bottles, ideally.
Enough to last through a 38 degree night. Maybe.

Oh and i just ordered some more seeds from a small grower: Amishland Seeds
She had this odd eggplant that i have seen called "Pumpkin on a Stick"  they are very bitter though edible, but i want them as an ornamental.  I am also getting a super tiny and very early type of watermelon from her called Golden Midget.  I hope she has a quick mail out system. :o)

Housework time....