Gardening 2010

[heidiiiii]

The beets and lettuce seeds are coming up in the seed trays. Chelsea had her pre-K plant them beginning of this month. They are doing well. I am hoping we get to keep a few for our raised bed at the garden.

I have done most of my early spring weeding. I have a few more to do but basically it is all done. Yard is looking good! I am glad my back is feeling better.

We have some devastating news in our area (as well as the rest of the country). Many species of bats are dying off because of something called White Nose Syndrome. This will change our ecological system immensely. There will be many more bugs out there because the bats will not be around to eat them.

[KathieB]

Yikes, Heidi, that's awful news about the bats.

[jujurodgers]

I finally got some things planted, inside...mostly in my greenhouse which we built attached to house....unfortunately the cats took to thinking it was a great quasi outdoor litter box! sighh! LOL my MIL bought me a wonderful dwarf lemon tree and hopefully it will survive this high up (7500 ft) in the greenhouse...have a greenhouse window box in my kitchen and planted basil seeds, cant wait! tomatoes in greenhouse and lots of seeds...i can see it now :wub:) pic of the greenhouse when it was in the making so you can see it is not huge, but fun! and with it i get tomatoes into dec if i keep the house warm! otherwise there is 3 months of growing season outside! I built the greenhouse so i could finally have tomatoes! LOL and another pic from inside the house, my art/laundry room...easy access! (ramblind cause i want spring here!! LOL)

That is awful about the bats!!! we have lots of bats up here and i love it! sun goes down and you see them swooping down

[woodland_miniatures]

Julie, that's a great little greenhouse - I'm envious! I'm in a ground-level apartment, so I can't make major mods like that, but at least there's a pretty good-sized patio I can work with. Our growing season here (Cascade Mts in WA state near Snoqualmie Pass, about 3,000 ft.) is about 3-1/2 months long - where are you? If you haven't already, check into short-season tomato varieties like Stupice and other veggies that were bred for northern climates like Russia and Canada - they ARE out there and DO actually produce in three months, if you've started the seedlings indoors. Can't wait to see what you grow in your greenhouse!

We've actually got sunshine today, the first after several icky dark rainy days, and I have moved my seedlings outdoors for a while. :wub:

[heidiiiii]

Here is a burst of color for you!

I am going to go plant shopping either today or tomorrow. I have not decided yet. LOL It is GORGEOUS today and all weekend. Love it!

[Anna]

Great colour and inspiration bursts from that pic Heidi!

Over here it has turned grey and windy with a touch of rain showers now and again... Oh well, good evening to pet the SF kit...

Hugs

[jujurodgers]

Julie, that's a great little greenhouse - I'm envious! I'm in a ground-level apartment, so I can't make major mods like that, but at least there's a pretty good-sized patio I can work with. Our growing season here (Cascade Mts in WA state near Snoqualmie Pass, about 3,000 ft.) is about 3-1/2 months long - where are you? If you haven't already, check into short-season tomato varieties like Stupice and other veggies that were bred for northern climates like Russia and Canada - they ARE out there and DO actually produce in three months, if you've started the seedlings indoors. Can't wait to see what you grow in your greenhouse!

We've actually got sunshine today, the first after several icky dark rainy days, and I have moved my seedlings outdoors for a while. :wub:

Thanks! I love my greenhouse! I did have a koi pond in there dug down into the ground with a waterfall but I decided, after they died, it was too much work, one less thing to maintain :throw: so am planting gourds in the pond pot area this year. I have never heard of those! will have to check that out. I am in NM along the continental divide. For several years i started tomatoes indoors early march and then planted outside in june....like 60 plants each time! i usually ended up getting a handful of tomatoes by the time the freeze set in, one summer it froze in june! and another year my horse ate all the plants LOL want to grow enough to can but kind of gave up on that and did the greenhouse...at least i could have fresh tomatoes each day! but the high elevation/short growing season plants sound great!!! thanks!!! My daughter lives in seattle...things grow big there! she also has a small patio and wants to grown something LOL snowing here all day today!

[woodland_miniatures]

I moved here from Seattle about 2-1/2 years ago and am still trying to adjust to the difference in growing season. I keep trying to put plants out much too early for here, but when it would be the right time for Seattle....takes some getting used to! And after two summers of completely dismal "crops" from my veggies, I started to look at what the "locals" were planting, and they were varieties I'd never heard of before, either. Early Girl tomatoes (great for Seattle) just aren't quite "early" enough for here! There are quite a few varieties bred for short-season growing, even as short as you and I have. Hey, if it says it thrives in Siberia, I figure it just might stand a chance here!:wub:

[jujurodgers]

I moved here from Seattle about 2-1/2 years ago and am still trying to adjust to the difference in growing season. I keep trying to put plants out much too early for here, but when it would be the right time for Seattle....takes some getting used to! And after two summers of completely dismal "crops" from my veggies, I started to look at what the "locals" were planting, and they were varieties I'd never heard of before, either. Early Girl tomatoes (great for Seattle) just aren't quite "early" enough for here! There are quite a few varieties bred for short-season growing, even as short as you and I have. Hey, if it says it thrives in Siberia, I figure it just might stand a chance here!:wub:

LOL i moved here 10 yrs ago from the coast of calif (3 hrs north of la) so it surely took adjustments for me too! My birthday is march 19 and i would always find myself buying plants in ca on my bday, not realizing it was cause spring was in a couple days! All i can do here is dream in the spring LOL....i thought that too when you said russia and canada! wow if it grows there it must grow here!!!

[grazhina]

I always used to want a greenhouse. I know exactly where I'd put it, right behind the garage where it would get southerly sun all day.

Right now I'm keeping my tray of seedlings on my back deck under one of those big rectangular storage boxes. I've got a note on my microwave to remind myself to bring them in every night. :wub:

[jujurodgers]

I planned my greenhouse in my head for quite a few years before i got enough money to build it! and while not huge it really is wonderful! especially in the high desert here where not a lot is green throughout the year! always something in the greenhouse growing! have to tweak some things this year though so it will stay warmer in the winter and not drive our heating bill up like crazy!!! But i do love seeing my tomato plants grow over 6 ft tall and last into dec!!

[heidiiiii]

Off to get dressed and buy some plants!

Yeehaa!

LOL

I will report back with what I acquire.

[kellee]

FLowers are all bloomed.!! still a few to go. The Apple tree & Pear tree had buds about 2 weeks ago... I have not done any veggies in a few years, but I want to this year. Wish I knew someone that canned.!!! I need to plant some veggies to help with the food bill a little. We took our pond out this spring.. to much work for me to tend with right now.!

Kellee

[grazhina]

I decided to kill some plants.

I've got a serious clover problem, especially in part of the backyard garden. When we moved here 12 years ago I made flower beds in the back yard and have been fighting a losing fight with clover for at least the past 10.

In one week one section turned into a veritable carpet of clover. Last year I had dug up that whole section, pulling out every bit of clover and replanting all the perennials. I just couldn't take it anymore.

I dug out a dozen or so Rudbeckia and transplanted them somewhere else, then I got out the Spectracide and mixed it extra strong and sprayed every green thing that was left in the clover zone except for one strip at the end that wasn't in too bad a shape. There are some plants I still wanted to try and keep, but I can't move them yet. The clover zone looked nice and brown this evening.

As soon as my new load of loam comes in, I'm going to cart some of it over and replant the clover zone with a nice bush and a mess of mulch.

I also hate those blasted weed grasses, which are as hard to get rid of as clover. I read last year that clover is one of the most difficult plants there is to eradicate. It can take many, many years or spraying and weeding to do so.

I need loam. The loam I spread in the new planting area where the pool used to be really sank and compacted over winter. I had a small lake there when the spring thaw and rains came. I needs lots and lots of loam. DH hates it that he has to buy dirt. We have no natural good dirt, just sand and clay.

I just gave myself some flowers. :lol: Here....you all can have some too.

[KathieB]

Grazhina, I feel your pain. Two summers ago I went on a rampage with Round-up and Weed-B-Gone to eradicate grass and weeds, particularly a stubborn vine. There is a great deal of satisfaction in watching them turn up their toes and wither to a dull brown. I'm trying not to use any more chemicals than necessary now, as despite what the labels say about not compromising the soil, enough poison remains to inhibit growth of new plants there for at least a year. We'll see what this year brings.

[MiniKat]

I'm watching plants for that the previous home owner put in before she sold us this house. All kinds of interesting gems are popping up everywhere and it's a surprise every time.

Soon I will know where the empty places are and I can fill in the gaps. Weeding is "interesting" right now since I'm not sure what is what, but there are a few things I can recognize as being invasive like thistles and baby trees.

[KathieB]

Kathleen, it's fun to see what comes up at a new house. I usually wait a year before doing any gardening, just so I can see what's what.

[woodland_miniatures]

Oh, am I sore! I spent all afternoon working on my patio garden, transferring indoor seedlings to outdoor pots, laying down more soil in my flower bed, and just generally bending, stooping and lifting. Bought two bags of cedar bark mulch and yet another two bags of topsoil, as well as a very large clay pot, and then had to make two trips with my granny grocery cart to get it all home from the hardware store. But, since the clay pot (a 24"-er) was the last one left from a whole pallet the hardware store owner had bought two years ago and it had a small chip on its rim, he let me have it for only $12, and that made it really hard to resist. I see zucchini growing very happily in it, with a big tomato/cuke cage to support the vines, and I happen to already have three of those that I salvaged from a neighbor who moved away and left them.

I also have a growing area in the hall by my apartment door, and that was what the cedar mulch was for. Laid down a layer of that, and put several pots of coleus seed there, and would love to have a big fern. Maybe later - there's not a whole lot of light from the windows at my end of the hall and I thought lots of bright, colorful coleus plants might look pretty good there.

Now, I'm just hoping the overnight low temps stay well above freezing so all the baby plants I put out today, and the seeds I planted, stay alive. Weather report SAYS it's to be in the upper 30's and low 40's.....

But, oh brother, I'm hobbling around tonight, and may not make it out of bed at all tomorrow.

[heidiiiii]

I planted some bibb lettuce transplants in my barrel and put it by the front steps. The front yard gets lots of sun and it will be simple to walk down there to pick some to eat. I also planted a spare rose bush my neighbor gave me.

I also have the same lettuce growing at the community garden. I wanted to do an experiment to see how they both grew. I will take pics at the community garden later. I have beets to plant there.

[woodland_miniatures]

Heidi, I also have lettuce babies planted and yipeee, they are growing! Didn't plant bibb lettuce, though I love it, have two big containers with green leaf in one and something called "Gourmet Salad Mix" in the other - the plants are big enough to see they are a mix of greens and reds.

Also gonna try beets in my flower bed, will plant the seeds probably later this week. I adore baby beets and greens!

Alas, it doesn't look like we are going to have our Sunday farmer's market this year, so I'm glad I went mostly with veggies this year. So sad that the market appears to be yet another casualty of this rotten economy....

[KathieB]

Came home from the weekend trip to Chicago with a lot of plants, something I hadn't expected! Went to a nursery that had all kinds of wild plants for sale, like May apples, shooting stars, etc., things we just don't see in nurseries here. Can't wait to get outside to plant them, but first have to wait out some thunderstorms headed this way. It's going to be a muddy mess getting them planted, but I can't wait to see them in place. Doing a happy dance.

[heidiiiii]

Cool beans!!

Our neighbor is a tree dude. He cut all his trees in his yard. He is cutting trees in our neighbors yard and tomorrow he is going to trim some of our trees. $150 and he will haul away the branches!

WooHoo!

I am glad. It was getting dark in the yard.

[woodland_miniatures]

Cool beans, where????? Soon I hope in my yard! I did just put up a cage for them to climb, in the hopes that I DO have green beans soon LOL!

It's great to have neighbors who can do just what you need done - mine is sitting in the sun drinking beer this lovely morning. S'all right, he shared a banana cream pie the other night....:woohoo:

[KathieB]

I've been reading up on moles. We have lots of mole trails in one area of the front yard and another area in back. Don't think I'll bother trying to poison 'em. From what I read on line, the poisons aren't effective unless you can convince an earthworm to pack a very tiny capsule of cyanide and participate in a murder/suicide pact. Mostly the moles eat earthworms and like damp woodland soil. Hel-LO! I'm building a mole habitat in the back yard! Sheesh. Will try irritating them until they move by stamping down their trails every day. Several people said that will cause them to move or at least burrow deeper so they won't nudge the plant roots or cause tunnel humps. Maybe I can talk Lloyd into doing it ... if I think he can do it without trampling plants. And they're solitary buggers. All of this is being done by one or two teensy moles. What workers!

I read that the only sure-fire way of getting rid of them is to trap & kill them. No, thanks. I'd rather find a way to live in harmony.

[woodland_miniatures]

That's really interesting info about the moles, Kathie. The house next door (my apartment faces their back yard) has been riddled with mole hills all this damp and warmish winter and early spring. Oddly enough, though the only thing separating their backyard from our strip of lawn is a row of small evergreen trees, the mole(s) never seemed to cross that line - wonder why? Anyway, I haven't seen any hills or burrow trails out there for a few weeks now, so either the mole(s) moved on or one of the neighborhood cats got it.

It's been absolutely gorgeous weather the last few days - up in the high 60's and mid-70's during the day, lots of sun, and well above 40 overnight, with more of the same to come, so I took a chance and planted the last of the seeds today. My lettuce, kale, spinach, radishes and baby bok choi are all well up and growing nicely, but I'm still waiting for the cherry tomatoes, peppers, squash and cukes, and just today planted chard, beets, parsley and chives, as well as a few flowers.

That's my problem - I plant stuff and expect it to BE there full grown the next day.....