I Don't Know Why Weeding

Bob Bauer

January 11, 2020 (Last Updated: March 06, 2023) | Reading Time: 2 minutes

Forest and Stream in Winter

January 11, 2020

I don't know why weeding was so much fun yesterday, maybe it's because the sun came out. Winter gardening can be an emotional rollercoaster ride. Bright sunshine bombards our retinas with photons reflected off leaves, water droplets, compost mulch, straw and grass blades and increases the vibrancy of colors. It seems to excite our cerebrum into a feeling of joyful participation in our surroundings. The dullness that clouds contribute removes a dimension, and dampens enthusiasm..

The warmth of sunshine feels like life entering us. It's palpable benignity is a mood alterer. It's sensual intrusion a welcome vistor. We get to pause in our labors and cherish the moment..

January 12, 2020

We had frozen spinach last night for dinner and I loved it. It made me want to plant more spinach this year. I always plant half a pack of seeds in the spring and save the second half for fall planting, but this year I'm going to plant the whole pack in spring. One 8' row always looks like enough, but I'll plant two 8' rows eight inches apart on February 5th..

I will also stop looking negatively at the overwintering spinach, trim off the yellow and misshapen leaves, and appreciate it for what it is. It's not supposed to be aesthecly pleasing now, it's supposed to be dormant and waiting with abundant roots for warmer weather, so that it can provide the earliest crop. My bad..

January 13, 2020

I've been having a hard time enjoying my overwintering lettuce because it looks bad. It started getting mold on the leaves and I wanted to pull it out. I took the lids off the cold frames to increase air circulation and saw the edges of the leaves where I had last picked were brown. Like my spinach it was very unattractive. I couldn't imagine wanting to eat those leaves, but realized that the leaves that grow out in the spring will be clean, fresh and tender, so I just need to be patient..

Having a garden for your viewing pleasure, and for healthy veggie production, can sometimes have conflicts. It can be a balancing act that changes with your mood and energy level. Sometimes growing veggies is just an excuse to create a beautiful environment for you to play in, and other times it's the purpose you require to feel fulfilled..

More from Efundies

Gardening Resolutions

Im'a gonna get more exercise. I think we Grampa gardeners could all get on that bandwagon.

Had a Prankster Visit the Garden Last Night

I found the zip lock bag that I keep my bar soap in shredded. Half the bar is missing and what's left is full of teeth marks.

Good News All You Pizza Lovers

Now that tomatoes have risen on the nutritional scale so has pizza, because tomato sauce counts. If you put onions, peppers, mushrooms and olives on it you get health food instead of junk food.

It Got Down To 20°F Last Night

I've got a clean raised bed in the greenhouse that's just begging to grow something. I even dragged two furrows 10" apart in it because it looks better that way than flat.

Grow More Greenhouse Review 2018

I recently purchased an 8x12 EasyGrow Greenhouse from LittleGreenhouse.com. I chose the EasyGrow kit mostly because of cost.

It's Time To Pick Out That Perfect Pumpkin

I've not always had pumpkins but I've always been able to find something to decorate. One year it was an old watermelon that refused to ripen.

There Are Two Foot Tall Snapdragons Growing

They are too big to transplant so I will either have to make a new trellis or plant my peas on the fence line. If I had a north side of my garden fence, that wasn't covered in grape vines, this would be fine because the majority of the peas would develop on the south side of the vines, and the deer couldn't eat them.

Plant Snow Peas in January

Peas get planted in there this month so I have to start closing the door. February 2nd is outdoor pea planting time here but I get to start them a month early in the greenhouse.

I Was Surprised at How Well the Brussel's Sprouts Overwintered

It seems a shame but they were only eye candy. Peas are one of natures edible candies.

January is time to Start Seeds

I had to wear my rubber boots to check the trap in the garden. It was buried.

Planting Onions and Garlic

The planting diagram on the package showed you should make the holes 5"deep and 4" wide. The planting instructions said to plant them "only deep enough so that the tops of sets are covered with soil".

November Is a Good Time To Get Garden Pathways Mulched

Leaves are plentiful this time of year so that's what I use. They stay in the low spots, which my pathways are, so l don't need to continually rake them back.

I got to Fish Emulsion my Crucifers Today

Plant asparagus once, and harvest it for 20 years. If everything in the garden was as easy, we'd have nothing left to do except weeding.

Hydroponic Lettuce

After discovering bus boxes from the restaurant industry I think I've found the best possible solution. They are food grade plastic and nice and deep.

Whelp I Did It Again - Rigged Up My Shade Cloth

Rigged up my shade cloth and got a huge chunk of ground cleared. I was glad I had watered it the day before because it took only about 15 min.

Brown Black and Blue Bird Sitting on Brown Tree Twig

I Don't Have the Heart to Cover

The birds are voraciously fighting over them as if they are in a life or death situation.

Garden Chair

I move it from sun to shade and do most of my prioritizing from it. From this throne I can see when the corn leaves are starting to turn dull, or the zucchini leaves wilt and know it's time to water.

Try Eating the Leaves of your Broccoli

There was nothing in the water after the first rince. I don't know how long it will be before we eat them because the cook turned her nose up at them.

I Had To Put My Mini Greenhouses Over the Swiss Chard

I Had To Put My Mini Greenhouses Over the Swiss Chard

I Never Did Get My Horseradish Harvested

The freezing nights came and killed the leaves, they fell to the ground, the earthworms came up at night and ate them, and now there's just stalks radiating from the base. I guess I could go ahead and dig some of the roots up, wash them and peel them with a potato peeler.

Snow is a Good Insulator in the Garden

All my "pretty pictures" are gone as if someone wiped the whiteboard clean. It reminds me of a moonscape and it's still coming down.

Green and White Bird on White Flowers

A Flock of Sparrows Dive Bombed

They were everywhere, covering all the plants, and scarifying the ground.

Getting The Weeding Done In The Garden

I had broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and Brussels sprouts in rootbound six packs, and didn't have time to weed outside the areas they were going. They got planted in assorted rows in two patches because they have the same water requirements.

I Found a Wilted Corn Patch Today

90° temperatures and full sun all day so I shouldn't be surprised. Watering is becoming an every day necessity now, and I'm glad the plants can tell us when they need it.

No Gardening Got Done On Christmas Day

Once you get out of the house and start moving around lots of things will dispel your cabin fever. Being cold makes you want to go back in but a fire keeps you entertained.

Artichokes are a fun and easy to grow plant.

The Artichokes That I Divided Are Growing Already.

The leaves are spreading out and the plants are getting taller.

I Made a Funny Discovery Today

With a week of rainy weather forecasted I would be wise to postpone my traditional April 15th planting of corn. I planted it on March 20th last year in my over abundant optimism at being re zoned at 8b, and had 10 frost nights all the way up to May 20th in which they required covering.

I Picked the Last of the Artichokes

Some of the chokes were wilted. I'll add artichokes to my list of wilted veggies.

We Had Kale Last Night

I guess the cold nights that sweeten up the brussels sprouts also make the kale more tasty. Dunno, gonna pick some more today.

It's Time To Make Up Your Christmas List

The stems that came out from your main plants, touched down on the ground and rooted, are called daughters. You can cut the stems and dig up the plants, replant the daughters, and double your strawberry patch.

I Scored a Whole Wheelbarrow Full of Wet Hay

It's a welcome looking contrast to all the melon mounds that are encircled by leaves. I don't have any leaves in storage for spring yet because I keep finding more places for them.

Spring is Right Around the Corner

Broken stems, missing tips, chewed spots, bent, twisted and pathetic. This was not a good year to try and get an early start.

I Got a Fourth Planting of Lettuce

Why so much lettuce you might ask. Well, truth be known, my third planting didn't come up.

It's Time To Get Your Winter Squash

Acorn, spaghetti, and butternut squash will start to mold if they sit on the damp ground for too long. Cut them from the vines leaving an inch of stem, wipe them down with a 1% bleach solution, and put them in a cool place that doesn't freeze.

Happy New Year Gardeners

Sitting inside the greenhouse door, watching the snow blow horizontally by, listening to the freight train roar of the wind, I wondered if I should put off starting my spring garden. Some days gardening is just an excuse for not doing other things like work.

Now Is A Good Time To Get Rid of Bermuda Grass

When the soil is soaked down to eight inches or so you have better luck with not breaking off the runners as you pull them up. Each runner has a tuft of roots every inch along it, and a nub for stem development, and can grow underground for two feet.

Photography of Leafless Tree Surrounded by Snow

My Youngest Son Got a Pop up Greenhouse

He doesn't want to 'pop it up' until snow is out of the forecast because he doesn't want to start his flower seeds in an igloo.

Green Peas on Black Round Plate

PGIF (Peas Go in First) Spring Planting

(Peas Go In First) Spring planting is hearlded by the planting of the peas.

Hands on a Pile of Dirt

I Keep Hauling My Garden Trimmings

It's much easier to trudge through the mud with the cart than try to burn wet sticks in the rain.

Perpetual Spinach

It was 10' tall so I trimmed it way back to 5' because I don't want more shade. It couldn't be in a better spot though because it's close to the eastern fence in an area of ornamental plantings.