Well the Frost Was On the Pumpkin
It seems early, but with 70°days in the extended forecast, maybe I'll get my Indian Summer after all. I don't actually have any pumpkin again this year.
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'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.
When the Ground is Frozen Stay Out of the Garden
I can get a pretty good soil amendment using only leaves and grass clippings but additional garbage makes for a sticky, chunky mess. You can get a bag of steer manure for $.
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.
I Caught A Third Rat In The Same Spot
Same size too, so either he was a visiting uncle, or I'm working on a family of siblings. I've got to rethink my piling garden waste mixed with blackberry vines and grape trimmings along the fence lines because it's way too enabling for them.
A Flock of Sparrows Dive Bombed
They were everywhere, covering all the plants, and scarifying the ground.
The Artichokes That I Divided Are Growing Already.
The leaves are spreading out and the plants are getting taller.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Winter Tree Pruning
The sap has retreated to the roots so there is less bleeding from the cut. It's also a good excuse to build a burn pile.
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.
I Got a Bag of Fir Shavings
It smells nice too.
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.
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.
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.
Lettuce and Zucchini
The lettuce are getting dappled sunlight, not complete shade , so they can continue to photosynthesize. They also enjoy the extra humidity when I sprinkle water on the stalks.
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 Don't Know Why Weeding
Winter gardening can be an emotional rollercoaster ride.
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.
Merry Christmas Gardeners
I got three cloches and two pop up mini greenhouses. I can extend my gardening earlier in the spring and later into the fall.
PGIF (Peas Go in First) Spring Planting
(Peas Go In First) Spring planting is hearlded by the planting of the peas.
I Had To Put My Mini Greenhouses Over the Swiss Chard
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 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.
Leggy Veggie Starts
Sometimes I intentionally "test" one theory against another, and sometimes nature forces that test on me.
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.
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.
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.
My First Attempt At Gardening
I had caught two toads and wanted to keep them as pets. I got some small potted plants, rocks, sticks and sand and created a mini jungle.
I Got A Row Of Peas Planted
The puppy's name is Anny, and my garden may never be the same. She thoroughly enjoyed running up and down the bird netted trellis, barking and biting at it.
Grandpas Garden
Grandpas Garden is a collection of knowledge from an avid grandpa who happens to have an amazing garden.
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 Don't Have the Heart to Cover
The birds are voraciously fighting over them as if they are in a life or death situation.
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.
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 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.