Another Day of Yard Work, Hard Work

Today I set out the rest of my seedlings and mulched the front gardens.  Michael painted the rose trellises and I put them out today.  I had to string the rose canes to the trellis so they wouldn't fall.

I also put in my dahlia bulbs, zinnias and bachelor's button plants.  I'm very excited to see what they bring! 

Before I called it quits for the day, I dug up my remaining three basil plants and stuck them in a pot.  We're definitely putting up that fence in the fall!

I was very excited to see tiny yellow flowers on my cucumber plants!  Now, if I could just keep the pests away from everything...  And Shadow is turning out to be a major pest. He keeps trampling through my garden beds, as well as lying down in the cool dirt. The fence will have to keep him out, too!

Memorial Day Weekend - Journal Entry

These past 2 or 3 days have been cold and rainy.  Just a few minutes ago, I stepped outside to see how my plants are all doing.  What I saw was a little discouraging.

First, I went over to see my basil plants.  I noticed one of the seedlings had been eaten a couple of days ago, and then last night I discovered another plant was missing.   I suspect rabbits.  So, last night I put some clear plastic covers over the plants.  I have 4 basil plants left.  Yikes!  I plan on growing more seed, but I'm going to have to put some sort of protective cage around them.

Next, I walked over to my vegetable garden, half planted.  I had gone out last night to check the temperature of the soil and plants, because it was a very cold evening - 39 degrees.  As I was checking the temperature, I noticed that one of my eggplant seedlings had been ripped out of the ground and was just laying there.  When I went to replant it, I discovered the deep hoof impression that can only belong to a deer.  I hate deer.

So. I ran to the garage to grab a bottle of coyote urine that I bought to deter these pests.  One of my former instructors from WMMGA insists that it works, so I'm giving it a shot.  I soaked the cotton balls in the 3 vials that were provided with the urine and set them outside - one by the basil and 2 by the vegetable garden.  Because that didn't seem like enough, I dribbled more urine around the perimeter of the garden.

Today, as I inspected the garden, I can see that the plants are having a rough time.  The tomato plants actually look pretty good, but everything else looks a little battered.  Between the deer, rabbits, insects, cold, wind and rain, these little plants are having a rough beginning.

I'm just going to have to build a fence.  Eight feet high!!  It's not going to look great, but I don't care.  I'm tired of fighting these deer.  And coyote urine doesn't cut it.  After I came back in the house, I discovered that Shadow smelled disgusting!!! Apparently, he likes smell of coyote urine, and he managed to get it all over his fur.  Jamie had to sleep with him in the family room so that he wouldn't smell up the rest of the house, and then this morning gave him a bath.

On the positive side, the perennial garden looks beautiful!  There are a dozen plus alliums in bloom, and they look lovely with the small, yellow irises.  The taller, showier purple/yellow irises are also in bloom, and the purple midnight salvia looks magnificent.  Also in bloom are the pink geraniums, and the peonies, and white Japanese iris are about to bloom.  My new purple baptisia plant is also in bloom.

Photo courtesy of Treefarmsystem.org



The Herb Garden

This week, I put my thyme and basil seedlings in the herb garden.  As I know how much rabbits love basil, I put a little fence around it immediately.  To no avail.  Something got in and ate one of the basil plants.  Could it be a bird?  I check around the fence for openings and piled more bricks around the base.  Anyway, I am very pleased with both the thyme and the basil. 

I also purchased a rosemary plant at the Wisteriahurst Plant Sale. I have read that it is very difficult to start rosemary from seed and it's better off to just buy a plant.  This plant cost $3.00.  Much better to part with the 3 bucks then to waste so much time trying to grow something difficult.

As you can see from the above photo, the parsley is taking off!  I planted this last year, and as it is a biennial, it's back for its second year.  It looks like it's going to go to seed soon.  I may try to save some of these seeds and see what they do. 

I need to hurry up and actually cook something with this stuff!  I should also dry some and make some parsley pesto.

Setting Up the Vegetable Garden

This has been an extremely busy time.  For more than a week, I have been gradually exposing the seedlings to higher and lower temperatures, as well as more and more hours of sun.  It's made for a lot of running around, since many afternoons have been both rainy and sunny.  I have been watching the weather reports to make sure that the plants never sat outside below 50 degrees.  They have been getting maximum sunlight, too, so I have had to make sure the plants didn't dry out.  All and all, they have gotten used to being outdoors.

The weather report said the cold nights were over - meaning not really going below 50 degrees, so I decided to start putting the plants n the ground.  I had fertilized the soil weeks ago, so all I have to do is dig the holes, add a little fertilizer for each plant (3 T).  It's an organic fertilizer for tomatoes and vegetables.

 

 

So far, I have planted 9 Bellstar Tomatoes, 7 Yellow Pear Tomatoes, 8 cabbage, 8 eggplant, 8 bell pepper, 8 watermelon and 7 cantaloupe plants.

 

 

For the tomato plants, I cut off the lowest branches, as they seem to suck up a lot of the plants energy/food, but won't bear fruit.  At least I don't think those branches will.  I read on a gardening website that it's good to do this, as well as plant a bit of the tomato plant's stem in the ground - I think this is so it will grow more roots and strengthen the plant.

 



So, now some of my concerns:

1. Only after I put the plants in the ground did I discover that the next 2-3 days are going to be cold.  One of the nights will actually dip down to 38 degrees!! I think I may try to cover the seedlings at night to protect them.  I'm not sure how yet, but I'm going to have to act fast.
2. I did not rake/level the garden as thoroughly as I should have, so it is pretty uneven in parts.  I'm not sure how this will effect the plants, but in the fall I'm going to rototill everything! I would have/should have done it this spring, but as always, I just can't seem to get to everything.
3. I'm worried about pesky critters eating my plants.  I still haven't figured out how I'm going to enclose this huge garden....
4. I did not even think to leave paths between the rows of vegetables, so it's going to be a little challenging moving about the garden.  I have only planted half of the garden, so I will be sure to leave myself more room when I plant the rest.
5. I did not put any stakes in for the tomato plants and am considering doing it this weekend so I don't disturb the roots later.

Garden Notes - May 6, 2013

The days are getting longer and warmer, and it's looking really beautiful outside:

I have been working hard with my seedlings, preparing garden beds, and even putting up a fence to protect my lettuce and spinach from rabbits:

 Well, the lettuce and spinach is barely visible, but it still needs protecting!

Also, I've been enjoying all the daffodils, forsythia and bleeding hearts in my house:

Update on Blueberry Bushes

I put in my blueberry hedge in September.  Well, it didn't take long for the critters to discover them, and they immediately devoured the tender stems:



I recently surveyed the damage and could see that if these bushes are going to survive, they are going to need protection of some sort.  This picture shows nibbled branches:

I also needed to amend the soil, because the soil test reported that this soil is too alkaline.  I added some "Holly Food", which is good for blueberries, too.  It needs to be applied again in a couple of months:

So, I picked up some wire mesh and constructed some "cages" yesterday (April 22).  After I amended the soil, I buried the bottoms of the cages in the soil and covered them with some dirt and mulch, to help keep them anchored:

Today, I went out to inspect them, and I discovered that some creature was trying to dig under the cages!!! Four of them!!!!

I was glad to know that I had protected these plants.  Well, later in the day, I caught the creature in the act:







Guilty!

"Who, me?!"

Yes, you!

I had to put Shadow in the house after he did it again.

Anyway, like the fruit trees, I never got around to pruning the older blueberry bushes, and will have to make it a priority next March.  It's not the end of the world, but neglecting the bushes sure won't bring much fruit.

Incidentally - one of the biggest mistakes I made was buying such immature plants.  I should have paid more to have bigger plants, then we'd be eating blueberries so much sooner.  I'll be lucky if I get blueberries in 3 to 5 years!