Where is the sun?

On the 14th we had a  barely sunny day- that was the day i planted most of the garden.  On the 21st, we finally had a sunny day-  well most of it anyway. There were a few thunder storms that rolled through, but it was nice enough.

Now we are back to the grey weather.

Surprisingly, the tomatoes look pretty happy. I can' get a good look at the rest of things.  Its too yucky out to play with wet row cover...  the rest of the garden looks pretty boring.  No sign of anything sprouting besides the radishes.

It is supposed to be warm tody-  70-'s even without the sun. I'll take it!


One thing  i have already decided this year that i will not do again is direct seed.  The rain has mostly drummed out my stations and it will be a while before i can distinguish my plants from the weeds. The extra effort of  filling seed trays and keeping the mini greenhouse from flying away is well worth preventing my weeding out my broccoli and coddling a weed by mistake.

I'm already quite worried this mistake (direct seeding) is going to become a serious problem shortly.
I'm almost considering simply going to the local greenhouse and buying their seedlings before its too late.

Took some pictures

The aerial view

 You can see he newer part of the garden, the soil isn't the same rich, dark brown as the rest

Under the hoops, not as bad as i thought. Looks like even the cukes might be sprouting way back there

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Stanley prune plum breaking bud

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Apple tree, first open bloom

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Dahlia from the nursery

Another dahlia from the nursery,  they are labeled "figaro mix"

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Nothing but rain!

I have not seen the sun since the 14th. That was the day i planted most of the garden.  I knew it was going to rain soon at the time, but i did not expect skies completely full of clouds and/or rain the entire week.  The forecast is showing NO sun until the 23rd.  Normally we get some breaks in the clouds, but not a one in all these days.  Very depressing, and my tomatoes look pale.  I don't know what to do.

This is going to be an awful year for slugs and snails.  If everything makes it, that is.

I am also worried that when the sun does come out it will toast my tomato seedlings.

This summer isn't getting off to a good start.

Well, at least the radishes are sprouting and the plum tree is breaking dormancy. The elderberry plants are beginning to shoot out and the apple tree is trying to open some blossoms.

Different, in a good way.

This year is different from last.  It feels a little strange.
This year, there was less to do and more time to do it.
The newness was exciting. Not that it feels same-old, but what felt like a headlong dive into unknown territory has become a comfortable pace.  The biggest question last year was "Will it work at all?". This year its "Can i do it again?"

Last year there were more fun plants, ones i have never tried before.  This year is a bit more practical and  based on last year's successes.

This year, less panicking.
Less measuring.
Fewer copies of drawing plans-  thanks to the GrowVeg subscription.
Less work- all the row cover socket pieces were already cut.

Most of the stuff that needed to be  bought and prepared has been done all the way from buying and measuring the row cover fabric to buying and fitting the PVC row cover supports. 

I have my All American pressure canner, my Excalibur dehydrator.

I didn't buy much, had most of my seeds already- a few berry plants, a fruit tree.

Above mentioned equipment are reusable as intended. Flats saved from last year, lights for seedlings, mini greenhouse- not even needed this year... all those strings and stakes i used to mark the rows because i wasn't convinced it was all going to fit

The garden is even more conservative.  Mostly made up of the things that did well last year.  Extra broccoli and cabbage in case of woodchuck damage. I plan to use hoops and row cover on them once the seeds have sprouted.  I have already seen woodchucks beyond the fence.

It just seems strange. Last year was such a flurry of activity, this year is placid. I almost feel like i forgot something.

The only things i'm experimenting with this year is seed saving, the field corn, and i might buy some greenhouse plastic to hold off frosts at the end of the season- maybe try a bit of late planting.

Besides that it was pretty straight-forward.

I  got the asparagus bed started, i know what to expect from Jerusalem artichokes, i understand how to prune an apple tree.  I know my grapes all made it through the winter and my elderberry did too. Now i get to see if i will get some fruits from them. I have welsh onions that are perennial for garlicky green onion flavor. 

I have everything perennial in its place. Now its just upkeep and harvest.

Sounds fun to me!

Garden mostly planted.

It is supposed to rain the next few days, so unless i wanted to put off planting for another week, today had to be the day.


The only things i did not plant were beans, rutabaga, corn, eggplants and peppers, and the herbs.

I decided to plant more potatoes than planned. I did 20'.  I have no idea how much that will get me, but its a tryout.  The varieties were Gold Rush and Norland Reds.

The rest of what i planted were:

Kossack kholrabi
Gypsy broccoli
Broccoli raab
Nutri-bud broccoli
Purple sprouting broccoli

Mammoth red rock cabbage
Krautman cabbage

Kai lan queen kale

Sweet Chelsea tomato
San Marzano tomato
Pruden's purple tomato
German orange strawberry tomato
Banana legs tomato

Special white cucumber
Boston pickling cucumber
Beit alpha cucumber
Spacemaster cucumber

49er summer squash

Crosby Egyptian beet (just a few seeds were left)

&

Early butternut winter squash


I had planted onions and radishes earlier this week,  so they are in also.

The soil has to warm up more before the eggplant, beans, corn and peppers can go in, the soil seemed warm enough for the rest.


I also spread some blood meal on the tomatoes and put the hoops and Reemay over the tomato row (it has the cukes and summer squash in that row as well.

Hubby is going to get some lime and 10-10-10 fert for me and i'll broadcast that later.

I put Hollytone over the blueberries.

I'm assuming that since it is going to rain the next few nights, frost is not going to be a concern at all.

I'm exhausted and i'll hurt for a few days.

But the major chunk of the work is done...except upkeep and harvest.

And catching woodchucks.


(oh a sideline note, my last entry happened to be shortly before a Blogger maintenance fiasco. I lost all comments before i could reply o them. I got emails that they were there, but hey got lost along the way :o(  )

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!

Productive day, productive week.

Got the garden tilled again, and getting the rows carved out.  Hubby did it for me really,  i started smoothing out the top of the beds

I'm taking the rows in the opposite direction this year,  i'll see what works best.

It was getting dark so we halted work for the night.

I was getting worried a bit later that my measurements were off, i just doesn't look like i can fit 6 rows in there,  but i remeasured and i have 35' as planned. 

Oh, this morning we moved hubby's antenna- the one that features prominently in most of my pics of the garden from the side door of he house

It used to be at the corner of the driveway but now it is to the left and in front of the shed. We also got the tarp-covered fence panels up and out of the way,  so the backyard is less of an eyesore! Yay!

I'll also post pics of my previous week's efforts on the flower beds:

Elderberry sticks

Mini Vineyard

Stanley plum

What a difference two years makes!

Apple tree waking up

Blueberries getting buds

Grape leaves developing

Side of the house,  ready for berry plants!  They'll be assorted things from seed (i need to get going on them)

A Junebug in May???

So, the beds are all ready for berries, the garden is ready to have the rows all dug.  I may try planting radishes this week.  Maybe kale next week?

I planted the lingonberries last night.

Oh and my comfrey crowns...well hubby thought they were weeds growing out of the bag of potting soil...so he weeded them!  I got really mad.  To make amends he bought me a giant bag of soil and i replanted what was left of the roots in my giant pretends-to-be-terracotta flower box.  Out of 6 of them, 4 should pull through i think. They were already trying to send up new leaves.  He does this sort of thing so often i can't laugh it off anymore. I try, but i can't. 
This was last night, so i'm calm now. :o)
But...he's not allowed to weed anything ever again.  No unauthorized "helping". lol

The weather was gorgeous today, it was great to work outside!  Its supposed to be nice for the rest of the week.

More planting

My Stark Bros order arrived  Wednesday.  As usual, things looked great.  The Stanley plum tree is better than elbow-high even after planting (i paid the extra couple dollars for the supreme since it was on sale and i got $5 off for visiting their FB page and my dollar amount got me free shipping).  The lingonberry plants are nice and vibrant looking and the Nova and York elderberries had gigantic roots.

From what i had been reading, the Stanley is prone to some rust and fungal issues so i'll have to get it some things like Bordeaux mix and maybe Captan.  I think something like that is needed for the tomatoes to protect them from late and early blights... so i may have the right stuff in the shed already. I'll have to get it and check the label

I managed to get the plum and the two elderberries planted yesterday, the lingonberries will have to wait a bit.  It has been rainy the last few days so it was a good time to plant but i got myself too achy and worn out to do as much as i want.  But the three biggest plants are settling in.

Because of the rain i did not take any photos but today is sunny so i might.  They won't be exciting since most of the plants are dormant and simply look like sticks of various shades of brown.


A reminder to myself about the "chilly Saints Days"  I don't normally go for folklore, as i consider these things as little more than superstition... but last year i was busted by this one:

Three Chilly Saints

The article came to me in the Old Farmer's Almanac e-newsletter last  year, but i didn't read it until after my post entitled "Ouch". That was the morning of the night we had a hard frost that took out many of my wintersown seedlings.  This year i have no seedlings outdoors  and i won't begin trying to garden until after those days.

The main reason i was caught by that last round of frosts was because last year was so warm, many things were early- if i remember correctly, the apple tree was in bloom already (its just barely budding right now). My double pink rose of sharon got nipped pretty bad and only had three blooms on it late summer.

Anyhow, i'll consider the days after the 11-13th as potential 'last frost dates'.

Neatening things up

I have been threatening to do something about the flowerbeds and the grape row since last spring.  I finally got the bed in front of the house taken care of, but there were more things to do.

That is what i have been doing for the last week.

This bed was full of all sorts of things that were getting choked out by goldenrod. I actually made a real effort to weed all of it out last year, but it was a losing battle.  Once that stuff takes hold, its all over the place.  I'm going to miss a lot of plants that were in there, but i have to make the sacrifice.  I couldn't take care of it and it would be slowly destroyed anyway.  So i dug in and did it.

This is where i had to take a rest on this one.  I really needed to get to the grape row started too.  I wish, once again, that i had done before pics, but if i really need them i can look at pics of previous tears.

So, this is after digging out every bulb and iris that remained. I still need to Roundup the surviving goldenrod and lay down the landscape fabric, then mulch.

Right side, from my side window looking toward the nice neighbors' house

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And the rest of it.

I gave our nice neighbors first dibbs on whatever they wanted from it, they took quite a few things which made a good dent in the work i needed to do.  I dug out another two boxes of plant material, which went to my mom.  After so many weeds choking things for the last 2-3 years, there wasn't as much left as i thought there would be.


Now the major project which has taken many days, was the grape row.  I had to remove all the landscape fabric i laid down last year because the wind blew it so hard it tore away from everything i had holding it.

I had to move one Edelweiss grape from the right end to the left end because it was in the right spot to get almost no sun.  So now the grape row is bookended by the Edelweiss vines.   That shadier spot will get 2 new Elderberry plants that should arrive by UPS on Wednesday.

The project ended up being more ambitious than i had expected.  It needed a string line pegged in, then the edge cut in... the landscape edging was very challenging to install and i got it as perfect as i had patience for.  I'll fine tune it as summer goes on.  Then the fabric went down.  A calm day began to get breezy right about then, lol.

About 14 bags of mulch later....

Still not quite finished.  I have more fabric, but we need another 12 bags of mulch at least to finish this end and the other bed.

The extra part that juts out is for the dwarf Stanley Prune plum.  I hope there is enough room for it and i'm glad i got a dwarf.  That tree is coming in the shipment with the elderberries and also 3 Lingonberry plants.

My dad came over on Sunday and tilled the garden. Hubby acquiesced to the extra 6 feet i wanted. So now my garden is about 40'x30'- i'll get a more accurate size when the time comes to string line for the rows.

One more tilling is needed and then i can shovel out the walking rows and get the row cover supports put in.  First planting time is in about 3 weeks or less.  I can do radishes first and shortly after that,  broccoli, cabbage, onions and other such things can go in.

The asparagus is coming up and so is the horseradish

I also managed to get in the first spraying on the apple tree on Sunday.

I also completely removed the silky dogwood (gave to my parents), then pruned the hydrangea and the purple smoke tree.  The smoke tree is also being trained to grow toward the opposite side of the bed.

I am so glad i have made headway in the fruit and berry gardens.  It was tormenting me in my sleep.  It will be a huge relief when it is done and the weed-blocking landscape fabric and deep mulch should reduce weeds to almost nothing.  Any weed that pokes its head up along the edges will be easy to cap off with Roundup.

Looking forward to a Summer of moderate maintenance.

Hands almost too achy to type...

Hubby and i  got the garden area cleaned up a bit last week. No tilling yet, but we raked up the dry plants and the stalks from the cabbage family.  Made a small pile of it and burned it.
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.And then i tackled the neglected front flower bed.  I should have taken a before picture but i was so intent on getting started i didn't think of it.

But this is how it turned out.  Four blueberries.  The same ones i got from Stark Bros last year  Two are Patriot and two are Blueray.  Both are fairly short at maturity, so they won't get in front of the windows- at least that is the plan.

This is the plant material i removed from it. Mostly tulip and daff bulbs, and iris roots. I'll miss my crown imperial frittilaria ,  but they are all going to my mom.
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The rest was a striped grass that almost took over and weedy grass that escaped the lawn.

I dug it all out-  including the 2 roses,  i replanted  the maroon climbing rose right next to the hydrangea tree-  they should make a lovely pair when they are both in bloom.
Then i laid down landscape fabric to keep anything from reappearing and covered it all with mulch.

I made another small order to Stark Bros. and bought 3 lingonberry plants. They will go between the blueberries. I also got two different elderberry plants now that they are allowed- York and Nova.  They will go where the blueberries were.

I also plan to move one of the grapes more to the East of the fence so they get more sun. Elderberries can take more shade so they should be well off there.

I also got a dwarf Stanley prune plum tree.  That will go next to the hydrangea tree.

So i think that is it for now.

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Its finally feeling like Spring.

It really is.  Yesterday was gorgeous, around 60 degrees, mostly sunny- but humid.  A few showers that didn't last long...  except for the mosquitoes, it was perfect.  We had a nice little Resurrection Sunday dinner at my parents' house.

Last night it stayed warm, temps only in the 40's, no frost.  My daughter opened the window in the room where my seedlings are staying, they need to get used to outdoor temps.

The seedlings are doing well.  One of the Sweet Chelsea seedlings looks nothing like the others.  I plan to set it off to the side in the garden and see what it does.  I'll get a picture later.

Hubby likes the idea of putting berry plants in place of the flowerbeds. It will save work for both of us. I'll miss the flowers, but i'll enjoy the easier upkeep. He's already bought me a few bags of mulch so i'll be ready to go as soon as i can.

It rained buckets on Saturday, so dad didn't get over to till the garden,  that will have to wait until next week.

I can't believe i may be able to plant in the garden in as little as 3 weeks!  It does not quite feel like it right now....

I hope i can keep a better handle on the weeds this year. I have been reading about weeding techniques using tools i already have- different shaped hoes.  I have scuffle, stirrup and the classic type. I should be able to take care of weeds well enough with no bending. Last year the problem was time,  i was unable to get out there to work.  I most likely will have the same trouble this year- but hoe weeding might allow me to be more efficient.

I think that's it for today!

April showers...

Not much to journal about today other than rainfall.   We got about 2 inches of it over the weekend. Temperatures stayed above freezing, but not by much.  There is no longer any snow or ice in the yard and the angle of the sun is moving in a way that the grapes are getting more direct sun.  The currants are on the brink of leafing out.  The blueberry plants are sporting ever-growing leaf buds,  the elder hasn't woken up yet, but does not appear dead- just slow.
The daffs are in full bloom, the crown imperials are budding and will bloom soon.  I have emailed my mom offering her all the flowers from both front beds so i can replace them with berry bushes.  I may move the blueberries to that area or get some other things-  the autumn olive that i  grew from seed is still indoors (about 10" tall) and will likely be planted in the side garden.  I need to start some goji, sea buckthorn, seakale and other berry plants... i have been saying i'm going to do this for months, eventually it will happen!

Hubby started to rake the garden debris into a pile in the middle of the garden to burn it. Though the rain had soaked everything and fire danger was very low, the wind picked up and we decided it wasn't a good day for it.  So we put the fire out halfway through.  If we could just get a day without this annoying wind, we'd be able to do it.

Its been chilly and mostly cloudy today, but the warmup is well on its way.  I have been checking the small asparagus bed daily now,  but nothing yet. Its likely too early.  The Welsh onions are perking up nicely and the chives at the corner of the side bed are coming up. 

I decided i should try blanching the rhubarb this year.  It seems to be the thing to do- so i'll give it a go. I bet it will be nice!  I used my 30 gallon, black rubber tub.  It won't blow over easily and is completely light-proof.


So that's it today!

Did i ever write anything about Phoenixworm Composting?

Its yet another form of Vermicomposting.  The insects are voracious eaters, multiply quickly but are harmless.  Its the larvae of a wasp-like fly, (no sting) called a Soldier Fly, that do the work.  They break down compost very quickly and excess larvae can be fed to chickens as a very nutritious treat (high in protein and calcium), making them multi-purpose. Another good thing about them is that they also consume meat and dairy- something that Red Wigglers cannot do. 

They are not expensive to try-  i have wanted to try them myself ever since i read about them last fall.  This is the most recommended online place that i have found. Phoenixworms.com

A google search for them will show many articles about the specifics. Happy hunting!

A few days worth....

Sunday---

I took a few pictures yesterday, some things are waking up and i'm getting a first look at finding out which things survived the winter.

The comfrey crowns are definitely waking up.  They seem to have done quite well wintering-over in my last resort solution- a full bag of potting soil with holes poked in.

The roseroot seedlings that i didn't get to do anything with last year are still alive and beginning to wake up.  Its a type of sedum, the roundish lumps are hard to see...

The rhubarb is coming up, this means the ground is thawing.

The grapes and blueberries are still under a snowpile.  I tried to speed up some melting by opening up a black plastic trash bag and laying it down. I hoped it would catch the sun enough to help,  it sort of did in the small spot it was placed
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 We are expecting temps in the high 50's and possible rain,  so maybe the rest will be washed away.  That line is the only snow still on the ground in our yard.

Hubby helped me scrape away quite a bit of it and the edges which were packed by refreezing was breakable. We crushed it into chunks and tossed it into the dryer parts of the lawn.  We got a good bit of it cleared away.  Now that the landscape fabric is exposed, melting should speed up quite a bit.

Monday--

thunder overnight and more later that morning
we actually were able to have the bedroom window open all last night
steady rain most of the day. Temps in the high 40's
The grapes are thawing out nicely.

We do have a crocus in bloom and the daffodils are  making decent headway. That's a good sign.
I managed to rake out the debris from the front and side flower beds Sunday. I think once the tulips, daffs and other things are done blooming i will dig them up and share them with my mom.  The iris and roses will go too.  Then i'll put down landscape fabric then mulch it.  I may put something in later in the summer after any weeds have been choked out.  I really can't put much in there right off because it is so full of weeds, which is one of the main reasons why it needs to be cleaned out entirely anyway.

Tuesday---

Last night it stayed in the 60's over much of the state until well after midnight. Its in the mid 50's right now at about 10am.

Temps expected to reach mid to high 60's with plenty of sun and a dry breeze.
The grapes, blueberries, currants and elderberry are 90% free of the ice.  There is some ice behind them, but it no longer goes right up to the base of the plants.  Some of them are getting swollen leaf buds even though the ground around them is rock hard.  Today's expected weather should make a huge difference now that the black landscape fabric is mostly exposed.

According to the forecasters,  we shouldn't expect this weather to last to stick around for tonight.  We may get a rain/snow mix overnight.  We are only supposed to get around 40 degrees tomorrow and plenty of rain- better than snow!  Hopefully, Thursday will bring back temps in the 50's or better.  For the remainder if the extended forecast, we will stay cooler- 40's- and more rain toward the end of it.

So...the ground will have a slow thaw and things will remain quite wet. I'm glad the garden is on a mild slope, this will help it to stay drier than most other areas.  I'm hoping my dad will be willing to come and till it on the next dry weekend.  I'm hoping to have him till it at least twice before the final pass-through the day before planting.
I wish we had one of these. Then i wouldn't have to make my dad need to load his onto a trailer 4 times a year just for me.

Where last year was so unusually warm, this year is almost normal- perhaps a bit cooler.  It feels weird though- i spent so much time recording how spring was going last year i tend to remember it better than if i had not. So to me, it seems like things are way behind.  At this time of year i'm always close to chewing my nails off in anticipation no matter what the weather is, which means its not an accurate gauge.   I love winter, but after 4 months of being snowbound, its hard to not get excited about gardening for those of us who really enjoy it.

Both the tomato, eggplant and pepper seedlings are doing quite well. The Banana Legs tomatoes have sprouted and now look quite normal- so my apologies to Pinetree- it looks like the seed was fine. I bet this variety may simply be slower to germinate than the rest of what i have.
Many of the seedlings are getting into their first set of seed leaves. The peppers and eggplant are looking nice and stocky. The tomatoes are not spindly, but they are already getting tall, the lights are only about 3" above them and they have almost reached it.  The lights should be very intense, but it looks as if i will end up with some lanky tomato plants this year anyway.  So i'm making a note here to start things a bit later next year- perhaps a week from now would have been just as well.  Its ok. Now that i have a method and means to remind myself of these things, i can learn by it.

Pictures:

Yellow Crocus

Pink Bleeding Hearts are waking up

Roseroot sedum are green up and enlarging quickly

Rhubarb is really unfolding

Currants getting leaf buds

Blueberries are waking up

Garden looks a mess right now, hopefully not for long.

I have to get into my berry plant seeds and get them started or i'll never get large enough plants to use in the yard.  I have been putting it off because someone small and cute does not like to take naps and i am so tuckered out by the time she does, i end up napping too- and i have never been able to do that before. It just isn't right. I literally cannot stay awake at times.  Hopefully this goes away for the summer or the garden is going to be in trouble!