Garden Update......busy, busy, busy!!!

Spring is just around the corner! We were blessed with two nice warm days over the weekend. Do you believe it was 62 on Saturday and the mid 50's on Sunday?? So....I went over to the plots to get some work done. This is the best weather for doing this type of work.

I took down 4 of the 5 trellises and laid them on the beds where they will be this year. I forgot the drill-driver both days. So, I couldn't move the last one. I also turned over about half of one of the big beds. I am pleased to report that there are lots of worms!!!

I turned over the one end of this bed where the broccoli will be planted. The garlic is at the other end of this bed.

  

I removed most of the straw from the garlic bed.

 

The bed in the middle was also turned over. This is where I will plant some cauliflower. The two end beds is where the asparagus is planted. No signs of grow yet.

 

As you can see (click on any picture to enlarge), the top of the soil is quite dry for this time of the year.

The raspberries were pruned. I totally forgot to cut them back in the late fall!

I added some additional bunny protection to the fencing. It was too low and we had a bunny living in the garden last year. I managed to get about half of the perimeter finished. Hopefully I will be able to finish it next weekend.

  

There is one full table of starts in the basement. I am in the process of pre-sprouting the peppers and eggplant. By the end of the week, there will be another table going!

 

The greens and lettuce and doing well and......

 

I think it's time to thin the celery!

 

How's your garden prepping coming along???

Starting Early Crops, the Winter Garden & Seed Starting/Planting Schedule

Today I finally got some of my early crops started! I was planning on starting some crops last weekend. However, cleaning up the basement and fixing my one germinating table took more time than I expected.

Since last year was my first time trying to use soil blocks......and I didn't do all that well with them. I decided to start my first plantings in containers. I am however planning to start my Broccoli, Cabbage & Cauliflower in soil blocks.

 I started Collards, Arugula, Tatsoi, Pak Choi, Baby Choi, 4 varieties of Kale and 6 varieties of Lettuce. All of these will be planted out in the empty cold frames very early.

These pretty and colorful tomato cages are the only thing in the cold frames right now. "The Italian" got them for me for my Birthday in December. I think they are really cool! He had them all lined up in a path from where I park my car to the back door and then a special present in the last one!

 

I didn't get around to planting the cold frames this past fall. Life got hectic and truthfully I think it was best for the soil. Last year I had slugs all winter and lots of bugs all season due to the mild winter we had. Maybe a good freeze will help things out a bit. That's my excuse reason and I'm sticking to it!

 

The overwintered spinach (the only way I can grow it) is doing well. The plants are very close right now. I will space them out once the weather permits.

 

There are some burned leaves. But, we will have happy Spinach this Spring!

 

I also started two varieties of Leeks, Caratan & Large American Flag. Large American Flag is new variety for me. I received the seeds from Seeds of the Month Club and am happy to try a new variety. I wanted to try another variety.....so, we shall see how they do.

 

The Celery was also sown today. This year I sowed my tried and true variety, Golden Self Blanching. I also started another new variety from Seeds of the Month Club, Utah. I'm really excited to see how the Utah celery does. Let's just hope we don't have more celery than last year!

 

Also sown were some Herbs; Rosemary, Basil (for inside), Winter Savory, Summer Savory, Cumin & Lemon Grass.

 

 

 My seed starting & planting schedule for this year is as follows:

 

February 23/24 - Start Broccoli & Cabbage

March 9/10 - Start Cauliflower, Eggplants & Peppers

March 16/17 - Peas Outside

March 30/31 - Start Tomatoes

March 30-Mid April - Potatoes, Onions, Carrots, maybe Beets & Greens Outside, weather permitting

April Mid-Late - Broccoli Outside

April -Late to May-Early - Cauliflower Outside

May Early - Start Squash & Melons

May-Early to Mid - Tomatoes Outside

May-Late - Peppers & Eggplants Outside

May-Late to Early June - Direct sow, Beans, Cucumbers, Squash, Popcorn and any other warm crops that I forgot!

 

I'm sure this will change a bit, as it always does. But, that's the plan for now! How are you making out with your garden planning for this year???

Decisions, Decisions.........

It's that time of the year....time to make decisions! My seed inventory has been done for a couple of weeks now. Then I had to decide what seeds I "needed". Once that was done. I placed a couple of small seed orders. Which should have been enough. Then I started reading everyone's blogs. That got me thinking about some other things that I "needed" I mean "wanted". So, I placed just one more small order. Hopefully, I will have enough will power to stop! But, you all know how this is! Maybe I should join or start some type of group.....Seeds Anonymous????

This week I have been updating what varieties I am going to grow and how many of each I should plant. This leads to.....how am I going to fit everything in??? The next thing that came up is my tomato supports. The way I support them at home, doesn't work at the plots. So, I need to come up with something better. That got me doing some on-line research on tomato supports. There are a lot of great ways to support tomatoes. But, I really need to come up with something that won't take me forever to build, doesn't cost a fortune and is easy to store.

So far I have come up with two different supports that I think will work.

This one has really peeked my interest.

It's made out of PVC & Conduit.

 

I also really want some of these

Yes, the Texas Tomato Cage!

I know they are pricey.....but, "The Italian" got me the pressure canner for Christmas.....and maybe I can out live them and make the investment worth it!

 

So, what have I decided???? I think I'm going to buy one 6-Pack of the Texas cages and make some of the supports out of the PVC. I guess I better see how much they are going to cost to make first!

 

If any of you have any great support ideas....I'm open for suggestions!!

 

How's your garden planning coming along????

 

Work Progresses at the Dust Bowl...a/k/a the Plots

Work is progressing at the plots. Yesterday was a scorcher though. It was 90 degrees at noon and we still haven't had any rain.  How crazy is that??? It's April!!

The long bed to the left is the potato bed. 

This bed is amended and ready to be planted. The potatoes will be planted tonight or tomorrow. I have held off planting due to the excessive heat. I also marked off the pathways so I wouldn't walk on the soil where the beds will be located. 

This is the compost that the county dumped. It's not the best. I put a thick layer on top of the grass along the fence. Hopefully this will decompose the grass. I will be planting pole beans & corn along this fence. I still haven't put the gate up. It's not my top priority at this time. I did decide to move it a couple of feet to the right. So, it's a good thing that it hasn't been installed.

I think this will be my problem area. This is some of the compost from the county which was tilled into the soil when they did the last tilling. As you can see, there are some clumps of grass that are starting to grow. I'm going to shovel as much of this compost onto the paths that I can. Then I am thinking that I should cover this with a tarp to help decompose the grass. 

This is a picture toward the back of the plots. I have the posts and gates laying by the big pile of dirt. I think that the gates will go up as soon as I finish the strawberry bed along the back. 

This is the back of the plots. The bed on the right is the strawberry bed. I installed the bunny fencing and framed out the bed. Then I started prepping the soil. This is a process. First I pull out the clumps of grass that have any life in them, lay the clumps on the path or on top of the dirt and relocate any worms that I find. Then I add some of the organic manure that I purchased last year to the soil. By the next day, the grass clumps are dead. So, I crumble them up and add them back to the bed. This drought is a blessing and a curse. It is making it easier to deal with the clumps of grass...since they die so quickly. Next, I water the bed then add another layer of some of the bagged hummus that I purchased, water again. Then add some of the good dirt, water again, mix in a little and water again!! I've been spending a great deal of time watering the soil!

The bed on the left is the raspberry and blackberry bed. The raspberries are doing well and the blackberries have yet to be transplanted. The straw is really doing it's job and keeping the moisture in. 

The Asparagus transplants are sending up new shoots!!! Yippee!!!

So what gardening did you do in that crazy heat yesterday????

We've Got Dirt!!!

Yesterday my load of nice good dirt was delivered to the plots!! There's nothing like a big pile of good dirt to make a gardener happy!

Look at that dirt...isn't it great??? 

Now I can get my potatoes and onions in!!

Wednesday, I marked off and turned over the 3' x 25' potato bed. The bunny fencing was also installed along this side.Today I will put the boards together, they are just laying there. Then I will amend the soil with some good poop and soil. Then it will be ready for planting.

After the soil was delivered, I put the fencing up along this side. I started to pound in the post supports for the gate. But I broke the piece of wood and dinner was ready....so, I went home. Those post supports are 2' long and take a lot of pounding! I plan to finish putting up the gates today. Hopefully, "The Italian" will be able to come over after work and install them correctly!

Working at the Dust Bowl....a/k/a....the plots!!

I have been diligently working on the new plots the past few days. It's so dry & windy here that it has been like working in a dust bowl! I come home with a thin layer of dust all over. It's in my ears, my teeth, my hair, up my nose and just about anywhere dust can get. Boy, I sure home we get a good rain soon. We do have a chance of a few showers today. If that does occur, it most likely will happen when I am over there working.

Not the best pics.

The county finally moved the barrel of rocks that was in my way. I took some of the compost and put a thick layer on the edge where they didn't till. I will also add some good soil, when delivered on top. I'm going to plant pole beans and corn along the fence in this area. 

The "guys" brought me two 55 gallon drums yesterday! They also hammered the two taller stakes at the end deeper into the ground for me with "Big Bertha"! Thanks a bunch guys!!  Along the right side we have the two transplanted asparagus beds and a 13' bed in the middle for onions. I amended the soil with the bagged hummus and manure that I purchased last fall on sale for 75% off. The asparagus has been covered with straw to keep the moisture in and weeds down. I will add some good soil in the front of the beds and then plant some Parsley and I think the Fava Beans that are growing in my basement.

I transplanted a bunch of Raspberries in a large bed near the back of the plots. This bed is 5' x 20'. There are 4 rows of raspberries about 4' apart. This soil was also amended and the plants covered with some straw as well. After I took these pictures, I brought the lumber over to frame out 3 more of the beds.

Look at the gardens....boy, the gardeners have been busy!!!

There is something going on everywhere!

We have running water!

I am just amazed at how much has happened here in the past week!

There is action everywhere!

And planting!

And Whitie!! 

He is our most senior gardener. I believe he is 83 or 86...I can't remember. He has two plots, end to end. He comes and goes all day. He has his plots amended and I think he said he planted 50 lbs of potatoes!

I have been reading through your blogs. But, there's not enough time in the day right now for me to leave comments. Happy Gardening Everyone!!

New Garden Plots..........Day 2........Work Stop

I went over to the new plots at around 8:15 this morning to begin Day 2. Some of the county workers were there for awhile working on some of the trees in the back. Then Dora came with her crew to put in the permanent markers. Her boss also showed up. Around noon I left to go home and have lunch with "The Italian".

This is what I got done this morning. Another 3' bed along the side. I also moved the rocks to the end of the plot near the road.

This is from the other side. 

The bed to the right I did yesterday and also about another 7' more to the left.

Just as I was getting ready to go back to the plots, Dora called. They have decided to get someone else in there to till this better. There are many plots that have ruts 2' deep and the sod is in huge clumps. There are also some areas that were totally missed. I was a little upset at first. But, I think in the long run, it will be much better. They have calls in to some people with heavy tillers that you put on the back of a tractor. It seems that the equipment the county has is not heavy enough to do this correctly.

Hopefully, they can someone in there soon............I have gardening to do!

New Garden Plots......Day 1........OMG!!!

Before I went to the new site, I had to go to the old plots and work for a couple of hours. I removed all of the old short rusted T Posts for Dora. Then I trimmed back the blackberries and removed their supports. There were three 9' posts with wire fencing. Boy, was that a job! Then I had to go search for a Port O Pottie down at the ball fields!!

When I got to the new site, I have to admit that I was a bit overwhelmed at first. Then I remember what my honorary Mother said to me. It's like eating an elephant....just a little at a time. First I got out my measuring tape to make sure that they were the size they were supposed to be. Next I got out my field tape and strung it down two sides. Then I started leveling out the one end. The only way to do this is to lay the turned sod over as flat as you can, remove big rocks and fill in with some loose soil. I found many a nice big worms under the sod! That made me very happy!

I don't know if you can tell from this picture how hilly and uneven it is. The turned over sod seems like mountains!

I managed to level out about 10' x 30' when I bent over and heard something rip! Yes, my old jeans gave way! 

Now I only have another 30' x 30' to go. After I am done with this step. I will either put the fencing down two sides or start framing out the beds. That will depend on when they get the permanent posts in place. The beds for the Strawberries, Blackberries, Raspberries, Asparagus, Onions and Potatoes will be the first to be done. I am definitely having a big load of soil delivered as soon as I can. I'm going to put down paper and then put soil on top. That is the only way I can do this site and be able to garden this year. 

There were a two other gardeners there today. Whitie, the nice gardener who gave me wonderful Sweet Corn on a few occasions and Sweet Potatoes last year. He is in his 80's and told me he is also having some soil delivered. Steve, the guy who watered my plots for me last year was also there. He got out his rototiller and tilled for about 20 minutes and then left. 

Tomorrow, will be day 2.............I wonder if I can finish the next 30 feet????

Community Garden Update

I had not heard from the woman at Farmland Preservation who was in charge of the gardens for some time. I sent her an e-mail and did not hear back, which in itself was strange.


So, I decided to call Dora, who is also on the Garden Move Committee. Dora is a very experienced gardener. She does a lot of work for Penn State and also took care of Mrs. Rodale's gardens until her passing. 


For some reason our county has had some budget cutbacks. This in itself is strange to me since our county in very much in the green for several years now. They eliminated the woman's position. But, they hired Dora on a very part time basis to take care of both of the Community Gardens. This is good news since Dora has a great understanding of gardening!


The game plan is that the soil will be disked  by the woman who runs our county seed farm within the next two weeks. Then Dora and her crew will mark off all the plots. Our plots are in the first section. So, hopefully I will be over there working on the hardscaping within a few weeks. 


My plan is to install the fencing and gate first. This will probably take two days....maybe one, if I'm lucky. Then I will work on each bed and the soil as needed for the crops that need to go in first. I am not planning on being able to plant Spring Broccoli & Cauliflower at this time. But, you never know! I guess that it won't hurt to start some extra plants for over there.


I also changed the garden layout for the plots after talking to Dora. The road is at the end of the one plot and the path at the front. The paths will be tilled soil in the beginning. So, I figured it would be much better to have the gate at the end. This will also make it easier for me to load and unload.

This is the new layout for the plots. The shaded areas along the end are for pole beans and popcorn. I also have detailed layouts for each individual bed and the home gardens. I will try to get them posted soon. 

Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard...........1/19/2012

Last season I canned approximately 300 jars of goodness. My "Preserving Page" is not totally accurate since I tend to forget to add some things to it.

Yesterday I did an inventory of the canned goods in the cupboard. We started out with about 220 jars of misc. foods and 81 jars of tomatoes and tomato puree. To date we have 120 jars of misc. food and 38 jars of tomatoes and tomato puree. We gifted a lot of canned goods for Christmas as we always do. However, we did not gift one single jar of tomatoes or tomato puree. In five months we used 53% of our tomatoes and tomato puree. That means that I'm going to have to ration "The Italian's" tomato use in order to make it through. I guess that my 100 jar goal is a must around here.

With regard to other "stored goods", it looks like we are going have "just enough" garlic and onions. I am however increasing the amount of these two items in the garden this year since "just enough" is not enough. We are not going to have potatoes for much longer. I'm sure we will survive since we both need to loose some poundage right now. The potato plantings are also increasing this year. Although our squash storage is adequate, I am changing some of the varieties for this year.

We are definitely good in the herb and spice department. But, very short in the carrot department. We only have two carrots left. My new garden plans include a lot more carrots. There is enough frozen celery left to use for cooking. This year I am going to plant some celery later in the season and try storing it in sand for the winter.

As far as the frozen veggie inventory goes, I have yet to do it. I am positive that we will have plenty to get us through the year though....especially when it comes to peppers!

The cold frames have been doing very well. We did harvest all of the Pak Choi a couple of weeks ago and I am planning to harvest the giant Baby Choi soon.

So, what have we been cooking this past week?? Well, Tuesday I made a great Split Pea Soup! I found the recipe here. Sunday my in-laws gave us a great ham bone with lots of meat on it....and what a great winter dinner it made!

I only made a couple of changes to the recipe. I did not add salt or bullion cubes and used some beef stock and some water instead of all water. I also used ground white pepper instead of peppercorns.

Split Pea & Ham Soup

Ingredients:

• 8 cups water ( or a combination of water and beef stock)
• 1 large ham bone
• 2 cups green dried split peas
• 2 large carrots diced small
• 2 medium onions chopped small
• 2 large celery ribs, include leaves, chop small
• 1 large bay leaf
• 2 beef bullion cubes -  I did not use any bullion
• 1 teaspoon salt - I did not use any salt
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed black peppercorns - I used ground white pepper
• 1 pinch dried thyme

Directions:

1.   Rinse peas well in cold water and add to a large cooking pot.
2.   Measure 8 cups of water and add to cooking pot.
3.   Bring to boil, remove from heat, cover and let sit for 1 hour.
4.   Return to stove and bring back to boil.
5.   Add ham bone, carrots, onions, celery, bay leaf, beef bouillon, salt, peppercorns and dried thyme.
6.   Reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
7.   Remove ham bone and cut off any remaining ham, cut into bite size pieces and return to soup.
8.   Discard bone & bay leaf
9.   Adjust seasonings to taste.
10.  Serve & Enjoy!

As usual I forgot to take a picture before dinner! This is my lunch bowl the next day.

So, what's been going in or out of your Cupboard lately......and how's your inventory???

Garden Planning.......Decisions, Decisions

I have been diligently working on the garden layouts for the plots. As of today, we have two plots side by side. We may get another plot. But, I am not counting on it.

I've managed to fit most everything in the smaller space. All of the paths aren't as wide as I had before. This little change has given me quite a bit more space then I thought we would have.

As many of you know, I have a lot of different varieties of seeds that I have collected over the years. Some of them I have purchased and others have been free or gifted to me. I don't plant everything that I have every year. But, I do plant a lot of different varieties each year.

I am having a hard time making a decision on the watermelons. I have four varieties and only two locations for them to be planted. I guess that I could plant two varieties in each location. However, I am concerned about cross-pollination??? For this reason I am thinking of planting two varieties.

These are the varieties of watermelon seeds that I have; Sugar Baby, Moon & Stars, Congo & Crimson Sweet. So, have any of you planted any of these varieties.....and how were they???

Here is a link to the Plots Layout. I was planning on posting this as a picture. But, I have been having technical difficulties all day!!! I also have detailed layouts completed for each bed. Once I get my computer issues under control, I will post them.

I have had nothing but problems since this computer updated last week! I can't even comment on some of your blogs!! Sorry Jane!

It's Garden Planning Time!!!

I have been spending a lot of time working on this year's garden planning. So far, I have gone through all of my seeds & updated my list, ordered all of the seeds that I "NEED"  with the exception of seed potatoes and onion plants. The varieties and sources for them have been selected. All I have to do now is order them. Do you believe that I have 171 different varieties of seeds??

I have also created a new Excel workbook. This workbook includes a sheet with all of my veggie seed varieties, source of seed, how many days, age of seed, quantity and gardening costs. The second sheet has all of the dates for germinating & planting, how much we need and how many of each veggie will be planted where. The third sheet has all of the herbs & flower information. The fourth sheet is for the weekly harvests. This sheet adds everything up and calculates the value of the harvests. I am in the process of adding additional sheets to this workbook which will include details of each variety which links to the first sheet. I will probably add sheets with the garden layouts to the workbook also. Putting all this together takes a lot of time. But, it's much better then having the information in several different places. It will also make my life much easier when things get going in the garden. It may sound a little nerdy....but, I just love doing it!

I do have preliminary layouts for the plots and home garden done. Right now they are done in pencil on graph paper. You would think that I would have them done on the computer. But, I really like having them on paper. That way, I can change things and also take the paper with me to the plots....just in case I forget what I had planned.

This year I am adjusting the starting dates to many of the veggies for two reasons. One, last year I thought I was going to go crazy with all of the tomato, pepper and eggplant starts. The plants got so big so fast. I grow these for myself and four other people. Two, with the Community Garden moving. I really don't want the plants too big too early. At this point, it's anyone's guess when the ground will be ready over there.

So, what kind of garden planning are you doing???

Digging at the Plots

Even though Mother Nature is still not cooperating with my gardening schedule, "The Italian" and I did get some work done at the plots. Yesterday the two of us went over there for a couple of hours. I did some digging and "The Italian" re-measured everything, straightened up and inventoried the fencing, posts etc. that was left there.

Today my "Little Garden Helper" was supposed to come over and go to the plots with us. Well, he woke up with a cold and did not come over. Even though the weather today was much colder then it was supposed to be, I decided to go to the plots and finish digging the one bed. "The Italian" stayed  home and worked on the drawings for the plots and his water storage system. I will post the drawings in a day or two.

The one side bed which is 3' x 34' is turned over. I also installed the bunny fencing along this side. This bed will have broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and onions....so I really need to get it ready to go!

I started to dig this bed where one of the two varieties of asparagus will be planted....but, I got so darn cold I went home!

We are planning to get at least three more large beds dug this week and framed out....we will see if Mother Nature cooperates with our plans!!!

Plots...........Phase I Complete!

Tuesday I spent a few more hours at the plots. It was a really nice day and the temperature outside reached 50 F! I am happy to say that the plots are completely cleared and the beds are marked off! We may have to make some minor adjustments on the beds, but the general layout is in place.

While I was working I  met a new gardener that stopped by to see his plot. His plot is two down from ours. He is a very nice older retired chemist who will definitely be a good niehgbor. I also met a very nice retired couple who live nearby and occasionally take their daily walk through the community gardens. They gave me the scoop on some of the gardeners and the former lack of management at the gardens. With new management in place, hopefully the neglected plots will be taken care of.

Here they are completely cleared and marked off!

It's hard to see from this picture, but there is a lot of good 3' fencing and lots of tomato cages that were left at the plots.

The berry area is under control and all of the excess bushes and roots have been removed!

There is an old cold frame in the back next to where I'm going to set-up the compost area and lots and lots of 3' fenceing and posts! As you can see, I put all of the good flower pots back there too.

Phase II will hopefully start on Friday. I'm going to start installing the bunny fencing and install a section of fence that is missing at the back of the plots.

Working on the Plots - Day 3

The weather was good again today to go work on the plots. I spent a good 3 hours or more over there and got a lot more accomplished. I would have spent more time there. However, tomorrow is "The Italian's" BD and I had to get home to bake bread and a BD cake.

All of the brush is piled up and I started to mark off where everything is going to be.

Pile of junk that will have to be disposed of. I think that the county will pick it up. There were a lot of flower pots with the bottoms cut out. As I'm writing this.... maybe I should keep them to put around the plants when they are first sown. They would be protected from wind that way. I was planning to keep that wire box....but all of the wood is rotted and there is an old cold frame in the back that I can use.

A couple of  beds marked off. I really want to get them all marked so we don't walk on the soil where the beds are going to be.

A few more hours of work and they will be cleaned up and marked off. It doesn't look like I will be able to go back until Tuesday.