Saturday Morning Gardening
During the workaday week, I have little time for gardening... so on warm, sunny spring mornings like this one, I was eager to get out and work in the soil, get caught up on maintenance tasks, and finish planting the vegetable seeds. (I still have some more herbs to tuck in...)
The maintenance tasks completed today were: Added two inches of dirt and compost mixed on the potato tower, added compost to the onion beds, added bone meal to the shrubs that we're trying to start from volunteers (this helps them establish roots), composted the strawberries and zucchinis, and everything got a good dose of fertilizer 5-5-5 because it's a good starter fertilizer for young, tender plants. Most of everything got a good hand watering including the irises and the magnolia tree, which was just planted this spring.
I prepared three more beds for seeds: eggplant, golden melons, and pole beans—all organic.
To start it off I assessed where things were at. The lettuce looks fine and needs a good picking. I'll get that done soon...
The potatoes had grown quite a bit in the south bed, so it was time to add another layer of compost dirt around them to enable them to send out another layer of potato buds from which to grow another layer of potatoes. Think we can yield about a bushel of potatoes from one of these chicken wire cages. I'm looking forward to that. If we put a second tier of chicken wire on, we should yield about 100 lbs. of potatoes from one of these!
The microgreens are going to seed. These plants were started from organic seeds, so I'll need to capture some of the seeds to be able to use them for the next planting.
Next is the organic spinach. It too is going to seed, which means more seed capturing...
Notice the difference in the photos. Today, it was bright and sunny and the plants really are reflecting that reality. Made them look gorgeous in the photographs.
The arugula looks like a field of blossoms and seed. The last time I tried to pick the seeds was on a very windy day, making it close to impossible. I'll have to go out later tonight and gather some then. Remember this was the arugula that was planted last fall on September 19th that we ate from the whole winter. Eight months later it's finally going to seed. We ate well...
The peas, carrots, and radishes were planted a few months ago when it was still fairly chilly out. They seem like they are just now starting to take off—giving us a few blooms to look at. We're thinking that we'll have to add a lot more sand to the soil to really make the carrots take off. When I clear out one of the other beds that have gone to seed, I'll try that. I have some organic, multi-color carrots to try this experiment on...
I sprinkled the cauliflower and the red cabbage with baby powder to keep the bunnies that live next door away. I think they'll be tempted to just pull up a chair with a knife, fork, and bib and help themselves. What do you think?
OK, remember when the broccoli seedlings got fried in the portable greenhouse? I had some seeds left in the packet, so I direct seeded them last week or the week before. Right afterwards the winds were very strong. I didn't know if any of the seeds would even still be there, let alone be determined enough to sprout. This morning when I cut back the black cloth, lo and behold, I had new broccoli babies. Some in each of the holes. We're off to a good start!
The jalepeno and green peppers appear to be thriving in this soil and these conditions. I think they like the sun, the heat, the wind, and the water. Go peppers!
Today, when looking at the tomato plants (we have 12), I noticed that one has fruit on it already.
Take a look at that!
A few of the tomato seedlings from the greenhouse burn... actually survived. They hadn't really been hardened off when I felt that I had to get them out of the greenhouse and plant them. Again, the winds were brutal and I couldn't imagine how these very fragile, tender young seedlings could withstand the strong winds and the fluctuating temperatures. Today when I cut back the black weed barrier, I noticed two of the seedlings were hanging in strong. They are still small, but they'll make it. They are also heirloom plants, so I'm particularly interested to learn what quality of tomatoes they produce because I'll be able to keep their seeds for future years.
The raspberry bush looks very healthy. Planted it last fall and it looks like it'll thrive in this environment.
Planted a couple of strawberry plants a month or so ago. Didn't think I'd see any fruits from it until its second season, but alas... introductory fruit. Can't wait til I get to taste them! I put the baby powder around them also to keep those bunnies away...
The row of beets are sprouting quite nicely now. Planted those about six weeks ago now from my recollection. I subsequently read that beets don't grow well in Kansas, but I do recall how the beet greens were very well worth it last fall. If I can't grow the beets themselves, at least I can enjoy their greens.
Bon appetit!
Spring Planting
It's that really busy time of year... spring planting time. Every year when spring rolls around there's winter clean up to do, garden bed prep to tend to, seeds and plants to buy and get in the ground, watering, lawn mowing, and mulching that demands one's time... so I often find myself wondering "What happened to spring when all is said and done?"This year I've been out in it more, prepping a much larger garden section this year, but I have limited time to devote to planting seeds and plants that I have to pace myself to get it all in at the right times. Now that I'm shooting pictures and blogging about it to I have to plan when to do those steps as well. Needless to say... it's busy around here!
Yesterday, in preparation for more planting, I harvested the greens that had grown during the week. This was the first yield of green leaf lettuce along with the other greens that I've been harvesting all fall and winter. We consumed some of it for dinner, but I still have lots for the week.
It looks so fresh and light; and tasted as good as it looks!
Here's the bed where the green leaf lettuce came from...
With the garden experiments that we're indulging in this year, we're growing three barrels of potatoes in these cages. The first layer of sprouting is coming along quite well. As the plants grow taller, then I'll add more soil and another layer of potatoes will grow from the sides of the sprouted plants. I'm told that you can yield 100 lbs of potatoes from one of these wire cages, so we should have potatoes coming out of our ears before we know it!
Since we're on the topic of potatoes, we can include sweet potatoes into the mix. I had some fruitless sweet potato cuttings given to my by my son's piano teacher. The plant has really taken off and is such a delightful light green. I'm told that to grow the fruited sweet potato plants, just slice the potato and sprout them in water. When the sprouts are big enough cut a slip from it and plant the slip... voila, sweet potatoes. See the next exhibit. Here's hoping for my first time of growing sweet potatoes to come up with some success!
How's that for up close and personal?!
Today I planted broccoli seeds and eight different herbs from seed. I had started sprouting seeds back in the end of February, but one hot day in the portable greenhouse without proper ventilation turned them into cooked sprouts. I was very sad... I think I'm still sad about them because I wanted them to do so well. It's really hard learning to practice detachment when I was rooting for those babies so enthusiastically. It was like a tsunami of heat came and just wiped them out. Nothing in comparison to what the people in Japan are dealing with, but massive deaths, even when it's my little seedlings is still hard to take. I've been told to not put any emotional attachment on it, but it's easier said than done.
Anyway, I have these cute little signs that I can write on with permanent marker to label the herb beds. I planted chives, cilantro, basil, rosemary, greek oregano, english thyme, and sage. I hope they do well. I covered them with some manure too to give them a boost.
I remember when I lived in California that oregano turned out to be a perennial; I'll have to research that for zone 6a to see what it is here. I marvel at the power and potency of these tiny little seeds. They seem so insignificant when one can barely see a zillion of them in your hand... then when they start growing and growing and growing and producing all that they are meant to produce, it's such a marvel. I think it's a good analogy for us humans—full of potential and the ability to produce much bounty on this planet. The seed doesn't doubt its worth or its goodness, it just produces as it is meant to. I think we should take some lessons from nature, don't you?
We planted the peas, carrots, and radishes quite some time ago when it was still cold outside... They seem like they are starting to get going now... I sprinkled some baby powder around the edges to keep the bunny rabbits away. Spotted a big bunny rabbit just this morning. I don't think it has discovered the wonders of the garden yet and I'm sorta hoping to keep it that way.
You can also see in the background how the red cabbage and cauliflower are coming along. Don't they look lovely?
The peppers look pretty nice too... four of them are jalepeno plants, the rest are green peppers. We're going to have green peppers coming out of our ears. I think we'll investigate selling vegetables at the farmer's market here in town...
I have several beds of onions too: vidalia, red onions, and white onions... they're coming along too...
On the tomato side of things, there are several heirloom, a couple of hybrid types, and then some heirloom seeds that I'm hoping will sprout and turn into real plants. There's a couple of the sprouted tomatoes that actually made it through the greenhouse meltdown, so they must be tough!
Lastly, here's the flower bed... it has a raspberry bush tucked in and a blueberry bush too. There are quite a few knockout rose bushes too that bloom all summer long and give a good punch of color to the perimeter of the yard. I figured that would give the neighbors something pretty to look at, but I think they are also enjoying the vegetable foliage that's growing in the background. FYI... I also tied back my daffodils to make room for other plants that could be coming along. I planted some marigold seeds too to keep the bunnies away... first time I've ever thought that marigolds were a good thing.
OK, folks, I think I'll call it a weekend...
Back to work tomorrow... thankfully, I've been enjoying my job...
Bon appetit!
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