Stanley Prune Plum in Flower

He bloomed for me on Mother's Day :o)



We got some much needed rain over the last few days and warm temps,  its been nice.  Today (Monday) is feeling cold by comparison.  Its about 50 degrees out,  we've been spoiled by high 60's and mid 70's.

(Tuesday)  Last night we did have frost warnings.  I worried a bit about the prune plum blossoms,  but there was not much i could do about it,  so i just brought my seedlings in and went to bed.  Looks like we escaped the frost because the blooms all look fine.

The apple tree is about to bloom,  so i went for one more spraying with Bonide.   Its not easy since i had to use the hand pump sprayer,  not as efficient as the hose end sprayer.  Hopefully i gave it a good enough soaking.  I hit the grapes too.

Looks like i got close to 100% germination on my squash, melon and cuke seeds:



And it looks like i'll get blooms from the Autumn Olive this year too:


My dad came and tilled the garden once more:



Hopefully this week,  i'll get the rows dug out and the black plastic mulch laid out so i can plant next week!

Lessons in seed starting soil.

Because of generally decent price and constant availability,  i normally use Miracle Grow Seed starting mix.  After i used up most of the Miracle Grow i bought a bag of Pro Mix potting soil and continued seeding.  The Pro Mix seedlings look very different than the MG seedlings.

This is two seedlings of Ancient Sweet peppers growing in Pro Mix



And these are Snapper sweet peppers and Raveena eggplant growing in MG




Also,  my tomato seedlings have also  had a purple tinge to the underside of their leaves when grown in MG, though MG SS mix claims to have extra nitrogen in it.  I can't seem to get that color to show up well in pictures.



Now the eggplant and peppers in the peat pots...   it could have something to do with that and the fact that the Ancients are in a paper tray,  but its pretty drastic for that to make such a difference.

So,  even though the Pro Mix was not labeled for seed starting ( i forget the exact product,  but i'll remember the packaging for next year)  i'll be using it next year instead of the MG.  I sterilize it anyway when i wet the soil in a bucket.

No more Miracle Grow.

A walk around the yard

Starting with the Stanley prune plum.  I'm really hoping it blooms this year.  I think there might be a chance,  but i don't see any signs yet. Not too sure what to look for,  i think they bloom later than apples and may not show buds until a while later.


Autumn olive.  I grew it from seed about 3 years ago now.  Its supposed to be self-fertile and is a lot like Goumi.


Carmine Jewel cherry.  Year 2.  After paying so much for these tiny plants last year,  i am so happy to see this one doing so well.



Goldbeere elderberry.  This one has golden yellow berries.  It tried to bloom last year,  but it was too soon after planting.


Nova elderberry...  lots of berries last year,  i didn't get to pick them all.  It needs some pruning.


York elderberry.  Smaller berries than Nova,  but just as prolific.


One of the grapes waking up. Not sure which because the vines are all mixed up.


Apple tree greening up nicely.  I'll need to spray it again this weekend.


Strawberry pot. I'm unsure if i'll get strawberries this year or if it takes a full year,  this is my first serious try.


Blueberry and lingonberry bed


The other Carmine Jewel cherry, looking good.


Beach plum,  the smaller of the two last year, but growing.


The beach plum that got broken from the snow.  It should recover i hope.


Female "Titan" sea buckthorn.


The male without a special name...  i was a little annoyed when i got this one.  The company went out of stock so he came about a month late last year. I had paid for a gallon pot and the female was definitely a full gallon plant.  When the male arrived,  i suspected it was a 6" potted plant put into a one gallon pot, then shipped. I don't expect them to bloom for the first time in the same year.


Phoenix Tears gojiberry:


The other Goji.  They both have flower buds but they start out tiny.


This is the blueberry that had a rough winter:


This is the one that looks the best:

Warm and dry.

I hate to complain though,  its actually too dry.  We have had no rain for over a month if i remember correctly. Its been windy also...  not breezy...windy.  Anyway,  its so dry that authorities have asked people to not even use gas grills for outdoor cooking.  Unfortunately,  this weather just screams out for grilled food...  luckily we don't have  a water shortage,  its just the old grass and dry brush in the woods that have them worried. Once things leaf out  and green up, it won't be so risky.  We have a 50% chance of rain for Thursday and a 10% for Friday.  I hope we get some.  Luckily the majority of my plants are drought tolerant.

As far as the plants go,  things are looking great.  They are pushing out leaves and sizing up.  The goji already have tiny flower buds about the size of this o.
The rough looking blueberry at least looks like it will recover.  The others are getting ready to bloom.  I think i'll cover them with something this winter.

The Sparkle strawberries came in on Saturday and were planted in the big terracotta looking pot.  I ordered 10 but got 11,  so that was nice.



The Ancient sweet peppers on the right look so good compared to the ones i sowed weeks before.  Basil and borage on the left:


Older peppers, eggplant and parsley:




Tomatoes


Tea hibiscus and green shiso.  the red never came up.


Small asparagus harvest


Still having to bring the seedlings in at night.


Its supposed to stay in the 40's tonight so maybe i won't have to take them in.  Supposed to be in the 70's today,  yay!

I got the cukes, squash and melons planted on Sunday

Freshly tilled garden

Yesterday,  my dad came and rototilled the garden.  Is there anything better at this time of year than to see the fresh soil all smooth and ready for planting?



He suggested one more load of manure and another tilling which he said he's do for me this Sunday.

First picking of asparagus and rhubarb.

This year is the fourth year for my asparagus from seed.  The shoots are large and strong enough for me to pick a few.  While not much for a meal,  they are nice for snacking on while wandering in the yard.

Since i learned if from Mal's Allotment,  i have been blanching my rhubarb.  It was definitely a very nice thing to have discovered. The stalks are more  tender and not so acidic and the colors are lovely.



My Aunt Molly's ground cherries are a big disappointment this year.  Out of 6 pots, 5 sprouted. One never developed leaves, another died of damping off. The surviving plants are tiny and stunted.  I was hoping to share them with my mother and father,  but it looks like i'll only have enough for my own garden.  I really wanted to try canning and dehydrating them,  but it looks like it won't happen.

I actually had a very disappointing spring with seeds so far.  Many things refused to sprout or have grown so slowly.  The brussels sprouts were a total disaster.  Of six pots, not a one sprouted.  Old seed...  but i didn't think they were that old.

The only thing excelling are the tomatoes, broccoli and the Ancient sweet peppers.

Maybe all new seed next  year?

Getting ready to finish starting seeds and using the greenhouse.

I have put my seedlings into the greenhouse to acclimate to outdoor conditions...mainly the cool nights.   It sure heats up in there and i have an old sleeping blanket covering the top to shade the seedlings from the strongest sunlight.  In a few days i'll be able to take the blanket off and only use it to try and keep heat in if  we get a really cold night.  So far for the long term forecast the night temps are expected to stay in the high 30's and lower 40's.  So its time to go for sink or swim.  Of course if frost is expect, the plants will spend the night in the house.





So far the plants are all leafing out and the lilacs are showing flower buds.  They usually bloom about Memorial Weekend,  which is in about 3 weeks.





Everything is really leafing out nicely,  looks so far like everything made it through winter,  two of the blueberry plants took it hard though.  They got some sort of frost bite and the tips of their branches are dead,  but they are resilient and should recover even if they bloom a little later than their buddies.

The beach plum that got broken from heavy snow seems to have survived the break and is getting leaf buds,  though it was also later than the other beach plum.I can't wait until things are fully leafed out.  I' was hoping the Stanley plum would flower this year- its third year here,  but it does not look like it has flower buds on it so far.

Still no strawberries in the mail....  i wonder if they are coming at all at this point.  No big deal either way,  there is always next year.

I need to get the seeds started for the cukes and Minnesota melons.  I also need to replant some of the pots where nothing came up with nasturtiums.

I was thinking about something when our mail carrier went by.  I'm hoping planting flowers near the mail box won't cause a problem.  I have heard of mail carriers getting stung by bees while delivering because the homeowner planted something like morning glories to grow up the mail box post.  My flower box is about 4 feet away,  so i hope it won't be a problem.  I usually have a smaller  pot out there where i would plant petunias,  but the pot was small and didn't attract much.  The bigger pot should have way more flowers,  so its something to keep in mind.

There. Got the nasturtium seeds put in.  It was easy since i didn't have to fill pots with soil.

I just got done talking to the Nice Neighbors and she's going to give me two pots like my large terracotta looking one.  Yay!  Looks like i'll have a place to put more things soon...  i just need the soil for it.

Blogging outdoors and pics of what is growing.

Its  a bit chilly out today but its been so nice i decided to take the laptop outside and try making my entry from the table in the driveway.  Its interesting how 65 degrees indoors on a winter day can feel so cold,  but 65 degrees outdoors in the spring feels balmy.  Unfortunately its the breeze that is bringing a bit of chill to the air and the sun is behind a bit of hazy clouds right now.  But that should be clearing up soon.  Its supposed to reach the high 60's today and Thursday is expected to be in the 70's.   Sounds fine to me!

So far nothing iss flowering of course,  but leaves are popping out all over.  I managed to get the fruit trees sprayed yesterday and my dad delivered me a new trailer load of well-rotted horse manure. The garden badly needed some fresh poop.  My soil is rather sandy and the organic matter from the other year has broken completely down,  so we needed some fluffy richness.

Here is one of the goji plants setting out some nice healthy leaves


This is the male seabuckthorn


And the female


One of the beach plums waking up


One of the cherries


Blueberry and lingonberry


A not-so-good photo of Stanley's leaf buds


Autumn olive



The other cherry


The elderberries


The grapes are still sleeping.  If i remember correctly,  they don't begin to leaf out until the apple is about to bloom.


Speaking of the apple...


Hubby, spreading out the manure for me.


We still have piles of garden rubbish that needs to be burned,   but we have not had rain for quite a while so its been too dry to safely burn anything.   No rain in the forecast either for the next week or so.  If we don't get rain we will probably have to cart off the stuff and let it break down in a pile somewhere.

I may start bring out the brassica seedlings to begin hardening them off today or tomorrow.  I need to get the sunflowers started and i'm a bit late on trying to get some herbs started.  I had a number of things that didn't germinate quite the numbers i had hoped for,  so i may have some gaps to fill.

I'm hoping my dad will be able to come by this weekend and till the soil,  i'm hoping for two tills before planting.  This should disrupt many of the weeds and get the warmth deeper into the soil.  It may not matter in the end because we are going to try using black plastic in the rows this year to block out all those confounded weeds.  But i won't be able to use it on the bush bean rows or the potatoes,  so its best to do what we can to keep the weeds in check.

Speaking of potatoes,  my Adirondack blues came in last Thursday.  My daughter is happy with the skin color of them.  We won't get a look inside until its time to chunk them up to plant,  but i bet they will look pretty cool.   I have grown a few blue potatoes before...  i think they were All Blues,  i got a small box of them from Walmart one year,  enough for just a little plot in one of my little gardens many years back.

I ordered 10 Sparkle strawberry plants that should be arriving soon,  they didn't come today.  I was going to put them in a container,  but i'm not sure which one i might use.  I almost hope they are out of stock and i'll get a refund or credit,  because i ran out of options.  I used to have a round, white pot by the front door.  Its been here since before we bought the house 10 years ago.  It finally developed a big crack in the side so it was time to go.  I'm replacing it with my big terracotta-looking pot that is about 3'x12".


  I was going to put the strawberries in there,  but i kind of want flowers in there since its going to be in the front...  i was thinking the nasturtiums would look nice. But then,  i want strawberries and since i don't really have many purely decorative flowering plants anymore a big pot of strawberries won't be out of place with my landscaping.  So, we'll see.  If the strawberries are out of stock (they were in stock when i ordered,  but the next day they were listed as sold out,  and i'm pretty sure Pinetree is good at updating their stock accurately-  but this time of year things run out fast and they are very busy so things might slip through.)  I did just look across the yard and remembered this:

Maybe that will be the place for the "nasties".

The goji seeds i planted for my mom have come up nicely,  one is really big and the others look fine.  The schizandra are not doing anything noticeable yet.

*Sigh*  I just can't wait to plant the garden and enjoy a warm summer.