Flower bulbs are all looking good....
Spring blooms are almost all done though, summer bloomers are poking up through the mulch and been growing a lot this past week with all the hot and sunny weather
Some of the herb/tomato seeds are sprouting too....
And the starter plants we put in the ground seem to be doing well....
Found probably a dozen or so morels in the backyard so far this spring.....funky lookin' things aren't they?
Wife and I won't touch 'em, but I got a friend who loves them so we've been giving them all to him.
Had a visitor in one of our hanging baskets the other day....
The mourning dove is still there. Looks like she has a nice little nest built in the hanging basket.
The flowers are much larger now and conceals the nest & the bird very well; haven't seen any eggs yet.
"Mint bed"
All 4 plants came back from last year: spearmint (back left), peppermint (back right), pineapple mint (front left), chocolate mint (front right)
Haven't kept up on weeding this bed so need to get out this weekend and take care of that.
Trying the tomatoes in a different location this year, seem to be doing very well.....
Tomatoes on both "ends" and a full row of tomatoes against the deck. About 15 plants total now.
5-6 squash on the right side in front of the tomato plants.
Had some fennel coming up on the left side in front of the tomato plants but the squirrels dug them all up.
Close up of squash and tomatoes:
Where the tomatoes were last year is becoming the "herb" bed....
Fennel in the lower left, bare spot in the lower right had fennel too but squirrels got to it as well.
A few pepper plants and 1 stevia plant behind that.
Oregano, taragon, and basils behind those.
And dill plants in the back.
Tomato plants are almost as tall as the deck now, lots of good buds and nice sized fruits coming on them. Squash and peppers are doing well too. Herbs have really taken off in the past week except for the basil plants, they are not doing well at all.
Filled in the empty spaces with some radish, beet, and lettuce seeds; sprouts are coming along nicely.
(This pic is from last week, tomato plants have probably shot up another 6 inches since then.)
Second "harvest". Picked about 3 dozen cherry tomatoes so far. These are the first two squashes, wasn't too sure what type of seeds they were but looks like they're pattypans.
Pup guarding the plants, keeping those pesky squirrels at bay.
BONUS
Update on the mourning dove that was in the hanging basket on the front porch.
She built a nest in the basket, and soon after we noticed 2 little eggs in the nest. She has gotten so comfortable around us that she will let my wife set the basked down, water around her, and put it back up without flying away. One of the eggs hatched this week because my wife saw a baby in the nest last night, not sure if the second egg hatched or not.
Wife taking basket down
There's mama dove sitting on her nest
Watering around mama, she doesn't fly away anymore, just sits and watches.
Fun stuff. I wish I had a garden. Grow me some veggies like corn ... make tortillas ..... for tortilla chips. Maybe some tomato, onions and avocado. Grow some cheese and carne asada ........ Nachos. Yeah, Nachos.
"It's plume, bro. Nothing to worry about. Got any Opus?" The suppose to be DZR
Fun stuff. I wish I had a garden. Grow me some veggies like corn ... make tortillas ..... for tortilla chips. Maybe some tomato, onions and avocado. Grow some cheese and carne asada ........ Nachos. Yeah, Nachos.
I went easy on beds this year 6 different potatoes and some onions cause of surgery. My wife, I believe, has no idea where the garden is located. So, I had to make it easy on myself. The tomatoes are in pots facing the West for best exposure.
Nice looking garden there Jim. Just pulled my garlic planted in the fall and 2 big crowns of broccoli. Cucumbers and beans are growing like weeds. Have to get some pics up. Busy trying to re-locate a family of woodchucks before they find a way into the garden
Looking out the window & seeing 6+ inches of snow on the ground .... enough of this!
Can't wait for warm temps & spring to arrive.
Got some new "gardening goodies" back around xmas --- heat mats, lights, & a variety of seed trays.
Hoping to have better success by starting indoors this year.
Got a shelf & spot picked out in the basement, just need to do a little rearranging and get all set up.
Lettuce, tomatoes, peppers and sunflowers are all on the "indoor" list. Aiming to have them started by mid-month.
Our raised beds are peeking out of the snow. Been working up our seed order and should be ready to order this week. I grew some nicotina rustica (original Aztec tobacco) for ceremony a couple of years ago and I think I'll do it again. Got to lime everthing and turn our cover crops in. Four more weeks.
Spring garden in and doing well. All greens in the ground and cucumber and tomato plants already over a foot tall and vining with flowers on both waiting until this weekend to go into the ground. All other plants will go in the ground in two weeks, such as squash and zucchini squash, as they are a bit more tender. Beans in three weeks. Over the winter I built a hothouse to start my plants early this year without worrying about freezing temperature's. If I am not blocked until later today I will take some photos of it and post them. It is totally warmed through the heat of composting alone and was very cheap to build.
Got our seed order yesterday. Will start tomatoes, fennel and tobacco in flats tomorrow.. Going to lime the raised beds and turn the soil in the next week.
Got our seed order yesterday. Will start tomatoes, fennel and tobacco in flats tomorrow.. Going to lime the raised beds and turn the soil in the next week.
Have you PH tested your soil? I over limed my garden this past season and it actually harmed my whole production for the year. Just asking.
haven't tested the soil this year. We have been lightly liming our beds evry spring for the past twenty or so years. The old timers in these parts say that if you see moss growing add lime.
Got our seed order yesterday. Will start tomatoes, fennel and tobacco in flats tomorrow.. Going to lime the raised beds and turn the soil in the next week.
+1
got my seeds in this week and planning to get the flats set up on the heat mats this weekend
4 varieties of tomatoes ...
jalapenos, anchos, and mini-bell peppers ...
2 types of squash ...
basil & sunflowers ...
Got our seed order yesterday. Will start tomatoes, fennel and tobacco in flats tomorrow.. Going to lime the raised beds and turn the soil in the next week.
+1
got my seeds in this week and planning to get the flats set up on the heat mats this weekend
4 varieties of tomatoes ...
jalapenos, anchos, and mini-bell peppers ...
2 types of squash ...
basil & sunflowers ...
excited
........I started my seeds and the began to grow fine. Then a week in they became leggy. I did not use a grow light and used a heat mat. Now I have to start over. Very frustrating because I thought I could wait on the light a bit. WRONG! Would a good grow bulb, not light tube hovering over 3' x 3' be ample lighting? I cant afford a huge light bulb system. But south window makes my plants stretch out too long, too fast.Please help!
Got our seed order yesterday. Will start tomatoes, fennel and tobacco in flats tomorrow.. Going to lime the raised beds and turn the soil in the next week.
+1
got my seeds in this week and planning to get the flats set up on the heat mats this weekend
4 varieties of tomatoes ...
jalapenos, anchos, and mini-bell peppers ...
2 types of squash ...
basil & sunflowers ...
excited
........I started my seeds and the began to grow fine. Then a week in they became leggy. I did not use a grow light and used a heat mat. Now I have to start over. Very frustrating because I thought I could wait on the light a bit. WRONG! Would a good grow bulb, not light tube hovering over 3' x 3' be ample lighting? I cant afford a huge light bulb system. But south window makes my plants stretch out too long, too fast.Please help!
This is my first time using heat mats & lights.
The few times I've done seeds in the past I'd just put them in front of a big south facing window.
Regarding lights: My father-in-law has been using "regular" T8 fluorescent shop lights for seed starting for years and that's what I'm going to use as well. Similar to this: http://t.homedepot.com/p/Lithonia-Lighting-2-Light-White-T8-Fluorescent-Residential-Shop-Light-1233-RE/202994372
He's always had good results, hoping I do as well. I'll let you know how it turns out
Hey Beck, I actually enjoyed many of the things you posted here in the past. The Garden thread is certainly one of them. I hope to get my garden back in shape in the next couple weeks.. The rabbits have had a long winter and I don't mind sharing. Been feeding them my older store bought stuff most of the winter,they will be glad to get some fresh produce.
haven't tested the soil this year. We have been lightly liming our beds evry spring for the past twenty or so years. The old timers in these parts say that if you see moss growing add lime.
Hey Beck, I actually enjoyed many of the things you posted here in the past. The Garden thread is certainly one of them. I hope to get my garden back in shape in the next couple weeks.. The rabbits have had a long winter and I don't mind sharing. Been feeding them my older store bought stuff most of the winter,they will be glad to get some fresh produce.
Rabbits are becoming a big problem for my garden. I'm actually trying to figure a humane way of moving or should I say relocating them to a different but similar ground before they start to reproduce this year.
Got our seed order yesterday. Will start tomatoes, fennel and tobacco in flats tomorrow.. Going to lime the raised beds and turn the soil in the next week.
+1
got my seeds in this week and planning to get the flats set up on the heat mats this weekend
4 varieties of tomatoes ...
jalapenos, anchos, and mini-bell peppers ...
2 types of squash ...
basil & sunflowers ...
excited
........I started my seeds and the began to grow fine. Then a week in they became leggy. I did not use a grow light and used a heat mat. Now I have to start over. Very frustrating because I thought I could wait on the light a bit. WRONG! Would a good grow bulb, not light tube hovering over 3' x 3' be ample lighting? I cant afford a huge light bulb system. But south window makes my plants stretch out too long, too fast.Please help!
This is my first time using heat mats & lights.
The few times I've done seeds in the past I'd just put them in front of a big south facing window.
Regarding lights: My father-in-law has been using "regular" T8 fluorescent shop lights for seed starting for years and that's what I'm going to use as well. Similar to this: http://t.homedepot.com/p/Lithonia-Lighting-2-Light-White-T8-Fluorescent-Residential-Shop-Light-1233-RE/202994372
He's always had good results, hoping I do as well. I'll let you know how it turns out
I use regular shop lights over my seeds as well. You need to keep the light as close to the plants as possible or they will get leggy. I use a piece of chain or rope from the rafters where I can raise it as they grow.
SO far this year the hothouse has been working great. Heated by rotting mulch through a four inch PVC pipe that curls three times before letting fresh and warm air into the heated space. On the coldest days we have had it never get below forty-six degree's inside.
Just checked the hothouse and found a few cucumbers about a inch long already and a few tomato plants, which are already two feet tall, blooming. I hope this is a promise of a great year for everyone's gardens. Good luck this year and may all your plants produce abundantly.
Comments
Spring blooms are almost all done though, summer bloomers are poking up through the mulch and been growing a lot this past week with all the hot and sunny weather
Some of the herb/tomato seeds are sprouting too....
And the starter plants we put in the ground seem to be doing well....
Found probably a dozen or so morels in the backyard so far this spring.....funky lookin' things aren't they?
Wife and I won't touch 'em, but I got a friend who loves them so we've been giving them all to him.
Had a visitor in one of our hanging baskets the other day....
* I have a new address as of 3/24/18 *
The flowers are much larger now and conceals the nest & the bird very well; haven't seen any eggs yet.
"Mint bed"
All 4 plants came back from last year: spearmint (back left), peppermint (back right), pineapple mint (front left), chocolate mint (front right)
Haven't kept up on weeding this bed so need to get out this weekend and take care of that.
Trying the tomatoes in a different location this year, seem to be doing very well.....
Tomatoes on both "ends" and a full row of tomatoes against the deck. About 15 plants total now.
5-6 squash on the right side in front of the tomato plants.
Had some fennel coming up on the left side in front of the tomato plants but the squirrels dug them all up.
Close up of squash and tomatoes:
Where the tomatoes were last year is becoming the "herb" bed....
Fennel in the lower left, bare spot in the lower right had fennel too but squirrels got to it as well.
A few pepper plants and 1 stevia plant behind that.
Oregano, taragon, and basils behind those.
And dill plants in the back.
* I have a new address as of 3/24/18 *
Tomato plants are almost as tall as the deck now, lots of good buds and nice sized fruits coming on them. Squash and peppers are doing well too. Herbs have really taken off in the past week except for the basil plants, they are not doing well at all.
Filled in the empty spaces with some radish, beet, and lettuce seeds; sprouts are coming along nicely.
(This pic is from last week, tomato plants have probably shot up another 6 inches since then.)
Second "harvest". Picked about 3 dozen cherry tomatoes so far. These are the first two squashes, wasn't too sure what type of seeds they were but looks like they're pattypans.
Pup guarding the plants, keeping those pesky squirrels at bay.
BONUS
Update on the mourning dove that was in the hanging basket on the front porch.
She built a nest in the basket, and soon after we noticed 2 little eggs in the nest. She has gotten so comfortable around us that she will let my wife set the basked down, water around her, and put it back up without flying away. One of the eggs hatched this week because my wife saw a baby in the nest last night, not sure if the second egg hatched or not.
Wife taking basket down
There's mama dove sitting on her nest
Watering around mama, she doesn't fly away anymore, just sits and watches.
* I have a new address as of 3/24/18 *
;-) ;-) ;-)
* I have a new address as of 3/24/18 *
Yes the mint goes crazy like a weed, can't kill it even if i tried
* I have a new address as of 3/24/18 *
Can't wait for warm temps & spring to arrive.
Got some new "gardening goodies" back around xmas --- heat mats, lights, & a variety of seed trays.
Hoping to have better success by starting indoors this year.
Got a shelf & spot picked out in the basement, just need to do a little rearranging and get all set up.
Lettuce, tomatoes, peppers and sunflowers are all on the "indoor" list. Aiming to have them started by mid-month.
* I have a new address as of 3/24/18 *
Rodney
Have you PH tested your soil? I over limed my garden this past season and it actually harmed my whole production for the year. Just asking.
Rodney.
got my seeds in this week and planning to get the flats set up on the heat mats this weekend
4 varieties of tomatoes ...
jalapenos, anchos, and mini-bell peppers ...
2 types of squash ...
basil & sunflowers ...
excited
* I have a new address as of 3/24/18 *
The few times I've done seeds in the past I'd just put them in front of a big south facing window.
Regarding lights: My father-in-law has been using "regular" T8 fluorescent shop lights for seed starting for years and that's what I'm going to use as well. Similar to this: http://t.homedepot.com/p/Lithonia-Lighting-2-Light-White-T8-Fluorescent-Residential-Shop-Light-1233-RE/202994372
He's always had good results, hoping I do as well. I'll let you know how it turns out
* I have a new address as of 3/24/18 *
The old timers always knew best.
Rabbits are becoming a big problem for my garden. I'm actually trying to figure a humane way of moving or should I say relocating them to a different but similar ground before they start to reproduce this year.
I use regular shop lights over my seeds as well. You need to keep the light as close to the plants as possible or they will get leggy. I use a piece of chain or rope from the rafters where I can raise it as they grow.