Garden Notes - May 27, 2013

I was outside by 10:30 this morning, determined to make the best use of this gorgeous day.  I didn't stop until 4:30.  I only stopped because I could feel my shoulders stinging from sunburn.  But, it was a productive day!

First, I brought out all my plants into the sunshine and checked everything that I had already planted.

Next, I went to work in the front.  Jamie is anxious to get the mulch down, but I wanted to prune all the azalea bushes, hollies, and Japanese barberry bushes first.  I pruned them as far back as I could. Every year we mulch first, but then after I prune the bushes, I feel like I'm scooping up all the mulch when I pick up the branches.

I also did a lot of weeding up front. I still need to fertilize all the bushes up front, but I can do this after the mulch is laid.  The front is now ready for mulch.

The front took most of the day, but after I fertilize and mulch, I won't have to think about it again until next year.  And it looks so pretty!  Michael finished painting the rose trellises, so I'll put those in place tomorrow or Wednesday. And I planted the Snowball marigolds that I grew by the Midnight salvia and roses.  It should look lovely when they bloom (although I think the salvia will be spent).

Then I worked a little bit on the perennial garden.  I planted the Baptisia plant I bought at the plant sale, as well as the two Rose Campion plants.  I weeded a little bit and cut some dead canes off the climbing rose, and had to prune back a butterfly bush the a deer pushed over. Grrrr.





I planted all of my French marigolds, too - some at the edge of the perennial garden, some along the edge of my bean garden, and the rest along the edge of my vegetable garden.

Actually, before I planted the marigolds, I started to rake and shovel the vegetable garden.  It was impossible!  It was all hard and lumpy, and now I feel really bad that I put my seedlings into such unprepared soil!

When I realized that it would take me all day to prepare the soil, and that I already had an aching back, I worked up the courage to pull the rototiller out.  I was worried that I wouldn't be able to start it up, since I'm not really good with machinery.  Well, it started up (after a prayer!).  In no time, the vegetable garden, James' pumpkin patch and my bean garden were in perfect condition for planting!



So, moving right along!  Tomorrow, I plan on putting in the rest of my seedlings, all of my seeds, and my dahlias.  I plan on setting up some fences and the rose trellises, doing some fertilizing and setting out some mulch.  Another busy day!

A couple of concerns.  The deer and rabbits.  And the fact that a few of the plants are struggling (see plant on left.  Yikes!).

Seedlings

Everything's Growing!

I have been so busy these days, but I spend as much time in my garden as I can.  My two biggest regrets are that I have not had the time to prune my fruit trees, or blueberry bushes, and I still haven't done anything about protecting them.  I have been spending what little free time I have starting seeds, pruning, cleaning up the yard and amending the soil.  Here are some pictures of what's going on around here:

My thyme seedlings have developed their first set of true leaves, so I thinned them out by using tiny scissors to cut out any extras, and then I transplanted them into newspaper pots that I made:

How tiny these plants are!  I can't wait to smell these leaves this summer!  Hey!  I just noticed that the "cup" has "for His Kingdom" printed on it, upside down! The other has the words "Christian" and "philosophy" on it.  It's thyme for His Kingdom!

I planted 2 kinds of cucumbers, 2 kinds of marigolds, some zinnias and bachelor's buttons on the 17th - the cucumbers began to sprout after 1 day; everything else is sprouting today (19th):





 

I hung up a new light in my basement, since I was running out of room with my other 2 lights.  I calculated that I have about 250 little plants growing down there! So, I needed another light.  I learned in my WMMGA class that you don't have to buy special, expensive lights.  I bought a shop light for $20 and 2 T5 fluorescent bulbs.  I couldn't insert the bulbs at first, and ended up going back to Home Depot where a saleswoman showed me how. I then bought 4-foot chains to hang the lamp from the ceiling, so I can adjust it as the plants grow.  The chains that the light came with were only a few inches long:

 





Outdoors, things are popping up all over the place!  All the daffodil bulbs that Jamie planted are coming up:

 

 



Sadly, Jamie and I are going to have this tree taken down in November.  The kids grew up swinging from its branches.

Also, I see signs of peonies, bleeding hearts, chives, foxglove, forsythia and apple blossoms, plus tiny blue flowers that I don't know the name of:

And of course, the weeds are here:

 

 

Well, I guess these are "winter annuals"!  James asked, "Mom, what are all these tiny white flowers?"  I said, "Weeds". "What are weeds?"  "Plants that are growing where you don't want them to grow."  James felt sorry for the weeds.

 

A few weeks ago, the end of March, I planted lettuce, spinach and green onions in with the garlic:

 

 

 

The garlic is taking off:

 

 

 

And of course, there's Shadow.  He thinks it's his garden.  The neighbor's dog, Abby, thinks it's her garden, too.  I had to chase her out the other day, because she was rolling around in the manure I put down.  Sheesh! I have a hard enough time with the deer and the rabbits, never mind a dachshund!

 

Speaking of pests, notice how there are no fences in any of these pictures.  I had a "fence guy" come out this week to look at the yard.  Still don't know how we're going to fence it all in.



Sowing Eggplant, Thyme, Marigold, and Pepper Seeds

I started some new plants today, and I found it was super-easy because I purchased a couple of "greenhouses".  These include the tray, a clear plastic "greenhouse dome" and 36 pellets (or "plugs").  For only $5.00 apiece at Ocean State Job Lot, this seems like the way to go!

So easy!  I filled 2 trays with warm water until the pellets expanded into little pots with soil.  Then I put a seed or two into each one, covered with a little peat moss, put on the dome and finished!  I didn't forget to label the trays, so I won't forget which plants are growing in which tray.  Then, I placed them on the heating pads in my bedroom.  And, I won't forget to take the domes off and give the plants light as soon as they begin to emerge!

What I'm growing: 

• German Winter Thyme:  14-21 days to germinate (this took 3 days with heat)
• Eggplant, "Galine" (this took 5 days with heat)
• Marigold, "Snowball":  7-14 days to germinate (this took 2 days with heat)
• Pepper, "California Wonder":  10-21 days to germinate (beginning after 7 days, but slow)

These are the thyme sees, after just 3 days.

April 7 - These thyme seedlings are now a week old, and still tiny-tiny.  I wonder how I'm supposed to thin them and transplant them, as they seem so small and delicate.  I wonder if I should have sprouted them in wet paper towels first, and then transplanted each one in its own, separate pot?  Maybe I'll try that next time.

Here are my eggplant seedlings after 7 days.  They look pretty good: