Wordy Wednesday

I see other bloggers doing "Wordless Wednesday" entries and i always thought it was a cute idea.  But i'm too much of a babbler for that.  When i was little, my Nonnie gave me a CB handle of "Ratchet Jaw", so you see, it has been a lifelong habit.  Add to that the fact that few of my friends and family are interested in gardening, so blogging/journaling about it is a necessary outlet.

I have been taking pictures,  things are really starting to perk up.  The Consort currants are already getting ready to bloom.  The blueberries are as well.  I have gotten all the edging installed, only have 2 bags of mulch left to use- and i think that will be all i need.  The garden has been plowed,  two rows have been raised most of my berry plants have been planted,  just waiting for the last of them to arrive...

It had rained the last two days, so things came to a halt for a bit.  The little one hasn't been taking her naps on schedule either...

Anyway, today i got the rest of the walkways carved out

Look who's getting ready to bloom

Consort, blackcurrant

Look who's coming up

Jerusalem Artichokes

look who's not awake yet

Beach Plum

Look who came back

Roseroot

Look who's waiting to fill the space

Red Pearl lingonberries

Look who is getting bigger

Autumn Olive i started from seed last year

Look who's in full bloom

Old fashioned bleeding heart

I got  the red and white onions planted this evening and i also planted part of a packet of Pinetree's Radish Mix... i added last year's remaining hailstone and French breakfast seeds in there as well.   The 15th should be the 'safe' date to get planting warmer weather stuff.  I need to get the kale, broccoli, cabbage seeded in, but i can only do so much in a day.  But i should be able to do most of it when hubby comes home from work,  i have a couple evenings to get things in before it rains this weekend.  I like when it rains after i plant, this means i don't have to water!

Row cover is done....for now.

Since i only ended up having enough hoops for three full rows (out of 5), i only needed to cover those three.
It was not too difficult really, or complicated, but it did take a lot of fussing.  If i had an extra person to do little things like hold one end of the row cover while i pulled the other end taut, i would probably have smoother looking rows.  But it certainly is functional and i don't think it looks all too bad.
Someone driving by won't think i have garbage in my yard.

The hardest part of it was cutting it to the right length without wasting a whole bunch of it at the ends.I thought the wind was going to be a real problem, but it actually helped.   I had started earlier today when there was no wind, but about 20 minutes after i got out there- it started to pick up. I thought it was going to be more trouble,  but the wind really made it easier to drape the cover over the hoops and release the folds.
Sometimes the wind got too frisky and blew the cover out of my  control, but it was easy to straighten it back out.

Those binder clips are great!

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Waiting to go in

When i got them all finished (or as finished as i felt like them being) , i planted the hardy stuff:

Kale- Red Russian
Broccoli- Gypsy
Pak Choi-  Brisk Green
Collards- Vates
Kholrabi- Early Purple Vienna
Cabbage- Point One
Swiss Chard- Bright Lights

Add that to the parsnips,  3 types of radishes and the two types of carrots and i almost feel accomplished.

Of course, this means i have to do another plan...
see this:

Yeah, its blurry and it makes my eyes hurt too, but what i mean is that since i had to cover only 3 rows and still plant out some early stuff, i had to rearrange things by which rows were ready to use.
 So all the brassicas and suchlike went into the same row. Since they are one of the veggies most readily attacked by bugs, they needed the row covers immediately.
That means that Row 3 where most of them were scheduled, will not be where they are put.  They will have to go in Row 2.
So, yeah...more shuffling.
Glad i enjoy it....wish i had more time!

Got the electric fence done today too. Just one strand for now- i will have a total of 3 when its done. I need to go turn it on, its 8pm and the woodchucks come out in the morning so i should turn it on before bed.  I put lots of marking flags on it. I don't want to zap people, just groundhogs and the cats that try to use the garden as a litter box.

The tomatoes will go in Row1 soon.

Almost done reading "Root Cellaring",  great book so far!

Almost 10pm.  I need to go to bed and try to sleep!

Flying fig and string-marking the garden.

The delivery estimate for my fig tree from Henry field's has changed. It used to have an estimated ship date of 5-3-10/5-10-10. Now it is scheduled for 5-11-10/5-18-10.

Oh, i can't forget to make room in the garden planner for my popping sorghum...!

11:30 am update.

It took me almost 2 hours cause i am so slow,  but i got the garden all marked out.

First thing i did was re-peg the corners. My dad plowed under one or two and in some places he tilled well within where i had marked. Its ok, but i have to recalculate some square footage because of it.

When i got the pegs in, i strung the pegs together to mark out the perimeter. Once that was done, i used our 100' flexible tape measure to mark the string with a Sharpie in 1' increments. Then i took fluorescent survey tape and made little flags and numbered them and tied them on.  If i didn't do that i would have had to run back and forth along the garden to count the Sharpie marks to be sure my rows were corresponding from one end  to the other.

 It is all strung here.
I was thrilled to see that i still ended up with 5 rows and plenty of walking room between.  The last row toward the trees is even bigger than i had expected. It is 6 feet wide so it will be the perfect spot for all the melons, cucumbers and winter  squash...and those gourds.

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I made a 1' edging along the starting side so that we will have room to put some boards or bricks to make a sharp border,  if we don't  it will at least be a buffer between the lawn mower and the garden pants.

In the picture below, i used clothes pins to mark the per foot measurements. The pink flags were great, but it was time consuming. While i was rifling around for my other shoes, i noticed i had a whole pack of new clothespins. They will still be usable for laundry after this, so why not?

I'm hoping this won't be an issue...  but i am 1.5' short over here... This should be 28' long.  I might get out the mantis or just hand-straighten it.

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This end is fine. :0)

Measuring the squash and melon bed.  I love extra room!
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The apples are officially in bloom....

Are they supposed to smell?  Cause i'm not getting even a whiff...  but i have had so many bad sinus infections, my sense of smell is almost gone.

I don't know what this is all about. Maybe the branch was damaged and its being weird or maybe the Bonide can't  fix whatever this issue  is?  I'll have to look it up

I can see a chewed leaf right up against the white post.  Maybe my Bonide mixture was too weak?

Or maybe it really just reduces insect damage...  i guess that makes sense. Eliminating it entirely might not be as good as it sounds,  chemical overkill.
I don't know.  All products sell themselves as a cure-all.

Well, i am beat.  It is very nice out, but hot in the sun. The ground is uneven in the garden where it was tilled... the soft spots were a killer on my leg.  I hope to get the walkways scooped and the soil up on the beds tomorrow.

I'm debating on whether to use the Ortho snail-be-gone stuff yet.  It has been a fairly dry spring for us here.. Last year it was so wet that all my plants were snail eaten. The earwigs were coming into the house and getting trapped in our clean dishes! It was disgusting.  Since the snails have not been a bother yet, i'm not sure what to do. The earwigs have always been a problem. Every year they destroy my sweet peppers by boring holes into the fruit and then feasting on it all cozy-like from the interior. They also attack my corn,  worse than the caterpillars. But i have not seen any yet.  I don't know if i should be proactive or if it might be too late by the time i realize they are an issue...

I think i will treat...  it might rain this evening or overnight and the instructions say to use it on damp ground for best results. So i might do this later tonight or tomorrow in the morning.  I have to watch the dog around the area i put it.

Oh... and before i forget, i need to get ready to plant carrots and parsnips. This  means i need to get ready to make the seed tape for easier planting, better seed economy and  almost no thinning. So i hope to be able to make up a sort of tutorial to post for fun.

Also i need to remind myself of something i came across recently. When planting seeds directly in the ground that are the type that can only be covered thinly (like carrots and parsnips), the way to keep them moist is to cover the planted area with a board.  Plant the seeds, cover them normally, water them in and then cover with a board. Check daily for signs of germination then remove the board but continue to water frequently.