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Almost finished planting... So close...

Category: Vegetable Gardening | Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2014 4:28 pm

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Saturday I was late arriving home. I had about a half-hour or so to try and get some planting done. I did as much as I could until it was dark and I couldn't see anymore and was being eaten by bugs. Most of it is done; just finished yesterday, but discovered that I have to plant more beans. I planted 4 in my shade bed about a month ago. Two are doing well, the third sprouted but appears to have been snipped somehow and died. The forth didn't sprout. I did plan to put more in the sun garden but I'm not sure I have the space for them anymore. I'll see what I can do about that.
I figure I can plant my potted celery in the shade garden, in the spots where those beans were supposed to be.
It is amazing that no matter how I draw it out, I can always fit much more in my drawing than I can in the actual garden. Why is that?
Anyway, I hope to get the beans in either today or tomorrow, and then I can relax. The most difficult part is over.


Last edited: Mon Jun 02, 2014 4:30 pm

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Finally finished mending the fence... Closer...

Category: Vegetable Gardening | Posted: Tue May 27, 2014 2:51 pm

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We finally finished mending the fence for the sun garden.
I turned the bed and threw in some alfalfa pellets and will probably rake in some Jobe's Organic today, if I can beat the storm. I was planning on planting yesterday, but ran out of time. I figured I'd do it today but we are expecting some hail storms in the area and I don't want to expose my little seedlings to that. I guess I'll have to do it tomorrow.
Also, I wanted to rake some alfalfa pellets into the shade bed, but spotted a little chipmunk. I certainly don't want to give the little guy any ideas by spreading alfalfa over the bed, as there is no fence around it yet. I'll probably just use the Jobe's on it and water with fish emulsion. That should be sufficient until we can get the fence built.

The little chipmunk was sooo cute. He came running out of my work area and stopped when he spotted me. He just sat there, about 3 feet away, watching me. I then heard a noise and, when I looked up, saw the neighbor's cat climbing over the fence to go back home. I guess my presence saved the little guy from certain death. It is funny that they know to run to a human when a cat is around.
That is the second time it has happened to me. The first time was 20 years ago at a friend's house. What a fond memory. It is rewarding when an animal, especially a wild one, shows it's trust in you.
I guess it considered me the lesser of two evils. Again, it was me or the cat.
I saw the chipmunk about 20 feet away, and was keeping my distance as to not scare it, planning on quietly walking away when I spotted a cat stalking it. I yelled "hey!" at the cat, surprising it and getting it's attention on me. The chipmunk looked up, saw the cat, and started running towards me as I ran to it. I put my hands to the ground and he ran right into them, up my arm and onto my shoulder. I walked over to a tree, put my arm up, hand to the tree, and the little guy scampered up to safety. The cat, obviously disappointed, skulked away.


Last edited: Tue May 27, 2014 4:23 pm

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A beautiful weekend gone to waste!

Category: Vegetable Gardening | Posted: Tue May 20, 2014 6:49 pm

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My other half mowed the lawn and got ready to go to work. He worked all weekend. All I could do was clean the deer fence and put some wood where it is supposed to go, but no real fence mending happened. Maybe this coming weekend we'll get it done and I can get my impatient squash in the ground. So many blossoms going to waste!
My little inch long squash is yellow now. I guess I'll pluck it and eat it. Should I share it with him? lol!
I have been putting the veggie plants outside during the day for some sun and fresh air, hoping that the pollinators will show some interest. The spiders definitely are interested!
The shade garden is doing very well. Half of my purple beans are sprouted, 75% of my peas are sprouted and growing quickly, all of my radishes are sprouted, the lettuce and carrots look like they are doing well. I think the swiss chard is sprouted, but I can't be sure if it is the chard or a weed yet since I only planted two seeds. I'll keep my eye on it.




( photo / image / picture from Beeker's Garden )





Last edited: Fri Aug 22, 2014 1:11 am

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Shade garden done! Time to get the sun garden ready!

Category: Vegetable Gardening | Posted: Wed May 07, 2014 3:07 pm

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I ordered 2 cy of topsoil to be delivered Thursday. Rain caused our delivery to be put off until Saturday.
No problem.
Saturday was beautiful and we got some extra soil due to having to reschedule and they also were an hour late. My other half said it looked like we got a whole cy extra!
It was quite clumpy, so it isn't as perfect as I would have hoped, but that is my own fault because we didn't screen it before putting it in the bed. We still got the bed full and planted. Pictures to come soon.
Now, time to mend the fence of the sun garden and get that ready for planting!!! My squash is very impatient and starting to show it's displeasure. I'll have to repot it to buy some more time. I hope to get it all done this coming weekend.

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Almost there...

Category: Vegetable Gardening | Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2014 12:29 pm

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Ha!
If the weather forecast is correct... ahem... I should be able to plant next weekend. Finally!
I also jabbed my thermometer into the ground and it is almost 50 degrees. Closer...

We have built our raised bed, but we found out that the compost we were planning on using isn't that trustworthy. I've been told to spread it at the end of the season and let the rains clean out any possible pesticides and weed killers that may be mixed in. Now what?! What will we do for this season?! We may just dig up some soil from one part of our yard and cart it over to our raised bed and use the hole we make as a compost ditch. We will probably still have to supplement it with store-bought soil. Ugh, more drama and more money spent. I hope we can get it right next year. Meanwhile, we will go pick up some chicken manure to help make the soil we dig up more nutritious.

I know that we learn from our mistakes, but it is frustrating when I do so much research and planning, and my mistakes are all soil related. I guess that isn't so bad, but really, what can you do with out good soil? How much compost can only two people make? Besides, until I start getting food from the garden, there won't be much of any compost at all since we are eating canned and frozen veggies. There aren't any scraps to throw away.

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Snow in the forecast...

Category: Vegetable Gardening | Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2014 5:50 pm

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Snow in the forecast, sprouts in my window.

Still having trouble taking this down...


( photo / image / picture from Beeker's Garden )


I wonder why...


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Sprouts!

Category: Vegetable Gardening | Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2014 5:06 pm

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Everything is sprouting except the peppers, eggplant, and watermelon. I took the covers off the sprouted ones and placed them in the front window, where they will get plenty of light. It is a bit windy today, so I'm hoping it doesn't get too cool. I'm keeping an eye on them and turned my daytime heat in the house up to 65.




brand new sprout ( photo / image / picture from Beeker's Garden )






New sprouts in window ( photo / image / picture from Beeker's Garden )


I placed the three sleepy-heads on top of the light to get a little more warmth for about a half-hour, then put them back on the tank itself. I didn't want the seeds to get too warm. That should have done the trick this time.



Wake up! ( photo / image / picture from Beeker's Garden )


Wow. I have to clean that algae! My snails are not doing their jobs! Like I said, a green thumb inside, brown outside. I hope all goes well this coming season.



Sleepy heads with my fish. ( photo / image / picture from Beeker's Garden )


Update:
Since taking this picture, I have reprimanded my snails for not doing their jobs and cleaned the algae myself.
It's just so difficult to find good help nowadays!


Last edited: Sun Mar 16, 2014 12:50 am

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Day 1: 3 weeks later than planned

Category: Vegetable Gardening | Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2014 4:11 pm

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Ha.
So much for wanting to start my seeds last month!
Saturday, as in, this past Saturday. 3 weeks later.

Oh well.

I'm off to a rough start.
Sprained my ankle, so I couldn't very well be walking all over to get stuff together and then standing in the basement working on it. I'm getting a bit better now, so I made the trip to the store to get a heat mat and grow light. Nothing.
Thankfully, they had seed starting soil.
So, I planted my seeds in my little makeshift
mini-greenhouses (egg cartons in plastic chinese food containers) while I did the laundry. Then placed them atop the dryer while I dried. Hopefully the heat from that helped wake them up. Now, since the laundry is done, I have them atop the fish tanks for light and warmth and switch them to the window during the brightest, warmest part of the day. I hope that will do the trick until I can get what I need.
I'll attach pictures when I can get them together.


Last edited: Mon Mar 10, 2014 4:12 pm

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First season was both better and worse than expected...

Category: Vegetable Gardening | Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2014 2:10 pm

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First season was both better and worse than expected... yes, it is possible.
I moved into my new rent 2 years ago. For the first year, I watched the yard. I tried to find a spot that would get enough sun for a veggie garden. Living on a main road with neighbors that have many tall trees in their yards, it isn't easy to find a suitable spot far enough from the road that gets enough sun. My front yard is very sunny, but it is too close to the road. I did find one small spot on the side of the house that just made it. With help, the plot was marked, sod cut, soil tilled, and fence built. Everything looked beautiful. I had high hopes and expectations.
I started putting the plants in; 7 tomato plants (3 different types), 1, pepper plant, 6 baby spinach plants, 12 lettuce, 6 kohlrabi, 4 broccoli, 2 summer squash, 2 winter squash, 6 bush beans, 6 peas, 1 eggplant, and 1 watermelon. But they didn't do all that much. After about a month, I realized that I didn't do anything to amend the soil. No manure, or ferts of any kind. I ran to the store and found some dry organic ferts to rake into the soil. My hopes and expectations were dashed. There was improvement, but short-lived. After another month, I added another shot of ferts. I was holding steady. Everything but the peppers and broccoli were blossoming. The broccoli didn't sprout at all. The peppers never blossomed all season. I know the season was bad, but I see where I went wrong. I didn't get the harvest I was hoping for, but I did get enough to give a little away to friends and family. Considering the mistakes I made, I realize that I did do quite well.
This year, I hope will be different. I plan to do things differently. I plan to move the spinach, lettuce, peas, and beans to a different part of the yard that gets more shade. I plan to amend the soil in advance and move a few things around. We'll see how it goes.

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