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".
Yesterday I Discovered Baby Carrots Growing In the Shade
I had planted them in early spring and thought the slugs had gotten them. I forgot about them and some germinated, grew a bit, and then went dormant due to the lack of sunlight.
The Most Colorful Thing In the Garden
They seem to be taking over the fence line from the grapes. They don't lose their leaves in the winter so I'm getting more and more seclusion.
I Got a Bag of Fir Shavings
It smells nice too.
My Garden Often Feels Like A Dissertation
An extremely complex body of work composed one word at a time. I find myself absorbing it one word at a time and letting sentences unfold.
Three Of My 10 Tadpoles Came Out Of Hiding Today
We Can Go Ahead And Plant Beets, Carrots, Green Onions, And Lettuce
I'll probably plant it April 15th like I used to do before our zone change. I'm going to slide everything back because climate change is causing unpredictable weather.
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.
Extend Your Artichoke Season
New shoots should come up now and produce a fall harvest. Around them are 4" thick flakes of moldy hay that I put down last winter under which is a teeming mass of earthworms and sow bugs.
I've Always Liked Bringing the Cauliflower In
That won't be the case anymore. Each of the four cauliflower heads that I just harvested had between 6 and 10 cabbage moth cattapillers hiding up inside.
Now That the Leaves Have Fallen Off
It's much easier to see where you want to cut . I don't think there's a right way or wrong way trim them unless you're a commercial grower.
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.
A Flock of Sparrows Dive Bombed
They were everywhere, covering all the plants, and scarifying the ground.
I Trapped Another Rat In The Same Place
It was the same size too, and I'm wondering if I got two adults or two adolescents. I guess I'll find out by resetting the trap and waiting.
Woke Up to the Sound of Wind Turbines this Morning
The package says 7-15 days for them to sprout, so the seed starting mat I had them on cut the germination time in half. I got cucumbers started today and some " Black tomato " seeds that were given to me.
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.
Letting All The Volunteer Swiss Chard Grow
I have swung back to a more formal preference, with defined borders. I would prefer the chard plants all in a row somewhere, but they are so deep rooted that transplanting them could be a disaster.
December is Time to Think About Next Years Seeds
One of the first things you learn about gardening is the importance of crop rotation, and you will try to follow it, and be destined to failure. I never have enough room to rotate effectively nor do I think it's required in small backyard gardens.
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.
The Only Problem With the Incredible Amount of Kale
I'm going to try putting Apple Cider Vinegar on it to kill the taste. It's the jagged leafed purple and green kind that used to taste more like spjnach.
I'm Delighted To Have A Coyote Patrolling The Garden
Every garden invader is at risk now. Mice, gophers, rats, possums, raccoons, rabbits and squirrels are all prey, so I should be having fewer invasions.
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.
Another Warm Sunny Day and I Begin Thinking
I did the first batch of them on February 10th last year and struggled to keep them alive through innumerable freezes and relentless rain. Our last frosts we're on May 7th, May 18th, and I heard the wind turbine early on May 25th.
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's Time To Pull the Mulch Back
Encircling them with Deadline is always a Spring chore for me. I can usually put my cold frames over them to keep the cats from stepping on the bait, but this year they are way too big.
Hydroponic Dutch Buckets
I've never had as wonderful growth as I've had in dutch buckets. The results are simply amazing.
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.
Grow More Greenhouse Review 2018
I recently purchased an 8x12 EasyGrow Greenhouse from LittleGreenhouse.com. I chose the EasyGrow kit mostly because of cost.
The Carrots are Up
I've been holding off until warmer weather to plant summer crops, but it rained today and I had my choice of kneeling down in the rain weeding, or sitting on the rug in front of the fake fireplace planting seeds. I realized that I want the perpetual spinach to be mature by the fall so I can cut it back to overwinter, so I needed to get it started now.
Hydroponic Pea Shoots
Pea shoots are one of the best crops to grow in hydroponics.
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.
I Cannot Believe That My Bloomsdale Long Standing Spinach
What it does have are jagged leaves from birds eating it. Either the birds are keeping the fly's that lay the eggs away, or they are eating the maggots that emerge.
PGIF (Peas Go in First) Spring Planting
(Peas Go In First) Spring planting is hearlded by the planting of the peas.
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.
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 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.
There Was Dirt Scattered Across the Shavings
The birds had been scratching in the Perpetual Spinach bed. At first I was annoyed but quickly realized that they were eating the leaf miner larvae that were overwintering in the soil.
Corn's Up - I Was Surprised
I was surprised. I only looked under the board to see if there were pill bugs or slugs hiding.
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.
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.
