Still Waiting for Spring!

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday, and we are still in need of heat in the house!   Common, really?!!!   Next week better start warming up because the following week I will be in Florida and there is alot of vege garden work that needs to be done, and plants put in!

Checked yesterday (4/18 - Happy Birthday Johnny!) and realized that my snow pea seeds have done nothing, dug up where they were planted....zilch!  So I have some seeds from the new packet presprouting, by then the ground should be a little more receptive and warm.  Found radish seeds sprouting in that same bed and the spinach, well they are coming up slow too because of the cold.......sleet and snow the other night did not help!

In my herb bed I found turnip seedlings starting, as well as a couple of spinach seedlings....here is one lonely one...

In the one part of the main bed I was able to prepare earlier, here are a couple of broccoli plants that have survived the cold nights we are still getting....

Very happy with the baby bok choi plants, who have also been surviving the cold nights!

Why all the netting your may ask?   Well even though I have a small chicken wire fence around my beds, the squirrels enjoy digging everything up.  So far I have kept them at bay.  Once plants are large enough I can remove the plastic netting.

There are signs of spring in the garden, the daffodils have been putting on a fantastic show for me.  Here are some for your enjoyment, as well as my nice white hyacinth!  These doubles are my favorite, but all daffodils have been perfect this year too!  Even at my campsite!

So here I sit still waiting for warmer weather, hoping to get outside today to work on the garden bed (without freezing) in between preparing for tomorrow's Easter feast.  As you can see from the next picture, things are growing way too well and I MUST PLANT OUTSIDE very very soon!

Everyone have a blessed Easter and will be chatting with you soon!

Deb

What, What?!!!!

Would you believe I woke up this morning to a coating of snow/sleet on the ground?   What the heck happened to my spring?   Thankfully anything outside in the garden was not affected.  The hanging baskets and sunflower seedlings in my flimsy greenhouse are holding up.  Getting very cold again tonight....really?!

Just a short post tonight.  Had to transplant all my peppers to individual pots and better soil.   They are growing so very very slowly.  Will be putting them upstairs in my bedroom window, which is south facing and always very warm, good for peppers.  The tomatoes that I moved to bigger pots last week, wow have they taken off!   Hoping by this time next week the weather is steady because they have to go outside.  Matter of fact I am going to Florida on the 26th, so I really need to get all the vege garden bed up and running by end of next week.   So many plants to get outside!

One thing I did find, which I was surprised at, was one of the lemon seeds I planted for the fun of it has sprouted!  Should be interesting to see in time how far I can get it to grow.

No new seeds started, mostly because I am out of room. Had to repot the shasta daisy and nasturtium seedlings that I have for my campground garden because the wind knocked them off the shelf they were on in the greenhouse.  Lost all but two marigolds, but have tons of that seed and they grow fast.  Still so mad that they fell.   GRRRRRR

So ends today's chat.  Have a good evening everyone....I will be back in a few days with some pictures!

deb

Cool rainy spring so far.....

As I am writing tonight, we are expecting rain later......it sprinkled after dinner, a cold rain.  Tomorrow is supposed to be a high of maybe 49 and rain, rain, rain.  Weekend looks good though.   Seems that we will be getting rain every third day or so.  Daytime temps will (after tomorrow) be in the low 50's at least so that is somewhat a start to spring.

What has been happening in my garden?  Have not planted any seeds of plants that I would like to get started because, quite frankly, still out of room!  LOL!!   The adventures of my mammouth sunflower seeds is that four days ago I potted up another 5 sprouted seeds, and one doubled up pot.  I tossed out one of the seeds because it started to rot.  There are still about 10 seeds left, not sure if they will sprout or not, but letting them sit for another week.    Alot of the sunflowers from the sampler pack that I planted are sprouting, those are for the campground garden bed.   Some shasta daisies and nasturtiums are up (also for campground gardening).  My newest planted lettuce seeds are also coming up.  I have been taking some trays outside these past few days as it has been partly cloudy and cool so I knew they would not dry up.  Yes they are inside at night.

Today I planted two hanging planters (campground too) with the sprouted sweet pea seeds.  Alot of morning glory seeds are up but the nights are still too cold to leave them out overnight.  May be another week or so for them.

Worked on my herb bed section of the garden today.  Was able to move alot of the saffron crocus from the side bed to this permanent herb bed.  I have more that can be moved, but no more room in that bed.  Hoping for a large crop of saffron threads this year.  Will have to find another spot for them or just give them away.  Planted my chive plant too, cold won't hurt that.  The old thyme plant is still going strong and found my french tarragon plant coming back to life!   In that bed also was planted more spinach seeds (around the three garlic I planted last fall), turnip and parsnip seeds.  With the parsnips I used a technique I saw years ago.  I used a stick to wiggle a long hole where I wanted each parsnip to grow.  Then I filled it with vermiculite (can use light weight planting soil), added seed, and covered with soil.  This is supposed to aid the root in growing long and straight.  Will see at end of season when they are fully grown.  So there are 18 parsnips planted and 9 turnips.  Didn't bother watering any of the newly planted items because the soil is damp and it is going to rain for the next 24 hours.    I also replanted four snow pea seeds because they have not sprouted, and the one I had inside in a pot did not sprout either, just rotted.  Bought a brand new pack of seed today.......may just plant them on Monday as I am not sure the old ones (three yrs old) are still viable....they were last year.   Hmm, maybe will plant three or four seeds in the sweet pea hanging baskets so when they are done the snow peas will grow.......not really sure if I want to do that.  I do have other places at the trailer where I can plant peas......will depend on my mood tomorrow.

Last weekend attended an herb growing seminar.  Not really anything I didn't know, but I enjoyed seeing the farm it was at.   Too bad it was raining that day.  :-(    I bought myself a couple of bay laurel plants, a couple of scented geraniums and an oregano that was labeled "hot and spicy"....we will see!

I am sure there is something I am forgetting to put down.  Oh yeah, my chinese giant pepper has sprouted, no hope for the last three large peppers.   Speaking of which, they are growing slowly but that is ok.  I did have to transplant my supersteak tomato into a larger pot.  The other ones will be transplanted to bigger pots next week.

That is all for today folks.  Keep thinking spring and keep planting!

Deb

Spring is finally here!

At least for now, cautiously optimistic.  Highs are to be in the 50's and lows in the 40's for a good week, once we get through the next three days and were told to expect almost 3" of rain.  I will take it over snow!

  Crocus today

So far today the rain has held off around these parts, has been mostly cloudy and windy and according to the weather channel is currently 63 degrees.  If it was not cloudy and windy it would feel that warm.  Despite that this morning I decided to finally put things in the ground.  I had started snow pea seeds in peat pots, that have not yet sprouted but put the whole thing in the ground.  Am hoping they have started at least putting out a root and this will give them a head start.  Ripped off the top half inch or so of the pot before planting.  Have 4 seeds on each side of the net (2 per peat pot), that will give me more than enough snow peas... I always get more than I can use.  Picture of my planting them is below:

While I was outside I also planted radish and spinach seeds in their assigned spots.   Figuring the rain will give them a good start and crossing my fingers the weather stays consistent now.

I have been busy doing other plantings.  Two days ago I took some old Manmmoth Sunflower seeds and decided to try to pre-sprout them.  Out of 28 seeds, 7 of them already sprouted as of today - and I planted those in dirt.  Here is a pic of them with their little roots:

I think when the time comes I am going to pre-sprout the corn seeds to give them a headstart too.

I also planted a pack of mixed sunflowers for campground use.  They are just in regular cell packs, no rush on them growing. 

Last nite I got a burst of energy and moved seedlings to individual pots.  I transplanted 16 pots (2 per pot) of african daisy seedlings 7 dahlia seedlings (plus one double pot), and about 10 snapdragon pots.  These have been the most successful of all my seedlings.   I am looking at the tomato seedlings, they will need to be moved to larger pots in another couple of weeks.  The pepper seedlings are growing slowly, but that is because the room is cool.  Today I finally found one "big dipper" seedling starting to pop up.  Yeah!  My word they take so long to sprout!

Keep saying that I really need more room for plants and wish I had a greenhouse.......

I have more plants than space on the rack!

Am even growing plants up in my sewing room:

yes that is my sewing machine on the right

I am very happy with all that I have growing.  The list of seeds sprouted recently are the celosia (red velvet, fireglow and yellow....amigo red is slow to start, only 3 so far), portulacas, gerbera daisy, penstemon, heuchera, coreopsis (only 3 early sunrise so far), two of my new lettuces - buttercrunch and green towers, and believe it or not some of the hibiscus seeds that I saved from my back yard plants and one of the peanuts I had planted is sprouting!   

It is definitely time to start moving some flower seeds to their respective permanent places.  The morning glory are really taking off so they have to be put in hanging baskets along with the sweet peas.  Maybe will mix half and half in the baskets so I always have something blooming.   Impatiens and petunias also need to be put in larger pots....again running out of room!  LOL!!!

That is all for now,whew!  Hoping the weather stays good for me so I can get bok choi outside next week and continue working on the main garden bed.  Ordered myself a leaf shredder to be able to tackle the mess called my yard, provide mulch for the garden beds, and hopefully help the compost heap break down faster (yes that has to be moved too).

Enjoy the warmer weather everyone, until next time!

Deb

Could this be the last snowstorm of the season (again....)

After a beautiful Friday and Saturday, came a cold and gray Sunday.  Today was beautifully sunny, not out of the low 30's!  Tomorrow and Wednesday snow  - again!  They predict we get 2-4", which is what they said last time and we got 7".   Where is my spring?

Because I went away to the campground on Thursday, it has been days since I logged in here.  So many things are starting to grow.  The "split personality" morning glories are all up, with the other morning glory seeds starting to show life.  Still waiting for my main crop of peppers to come up, the hot ones are up and growing.   When I came home last night saw that the heuchera, penstemon, some of the celosias  and the portulaca are all up - need to get another plant light up.   The gerbera daisies are all up to, so excited about them.  The flavored thymes are also getting going.

Today I received new lettuce seed and replanted them:  buttercrunch, four seasons and a romaine.   Have snow pea seeds soaking overnight, tomorrow will be planting them in peat pots.  This weekend promises to be spring like finally.   Think tomorrow I may start presprouting spinach seed to give them a little head start.

I also bought more flower seeds over the weekend, painted daisy and regular white ones.   This week I have to start my zinnia, marigold and sunflower seeds........maybe I need two additional lights up!    Yikes!

Promise next time will come up with some pictures.   Lots to show!   Heck it will be snowing so I might as well work on seeds and plants!  LOL!!!

Keep warm tonight my friends, sounds like spring is only a few days away!

Deb

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY !!

It is St Patrick's Day, spring is just 3 days away and what do I wake up to?  7" of snow!   This time of year is "traditionally" time to plant peas, I can't even see the garden at this point.  End of week will be closer to normal averages, HOWEVER next week (starting monday) will be arctic cold again.  Why do I feel I will never ever get into my garden this year?  Wish there was a way to heat my garden so I can start growing peas and spinach.  :-(

Being I was away this weekend (camping season starts) was not able to say that several new items have sprouted.  My african daisies sprouted on Friday as well as the final bit of thai basil.....well except for one lousy cell, maybe I missed putting seed in there.  Yesterday found that the grape tomato has sprouted.  No peppers have sprouted yet, but I know those buggers take forever.  No rush at this point because it seems we will never have spring.   

Tomorrow am going to start soaking morning glory seeds to be planted on Wednesday.  Want to use these in hanging baskets both at home and at the trailer.  Time to start zinnia also, but sort of out of room and have not decided how many I really need.  Heck will start them tomorrow.  Nothing else has sprouted yet, maybe tomorrow something will come up.

Think tomorrow I also will be transplanting the mini lettuces and the few spinach I got to sprout indoors into a large saucer planter, which is supposed to be for use at my campsite, again until spring comes it will be stuck indoors.  But moving them to the planter will free up a little space under the lights.  Fear I will have to bring some plants upstairs to my bedroom, which gets south western sun.  Hate to do that because plants become leggy, but have no choice at this point.  Wish I had room for more lights.  I have a PVC stand we made years ago for lights, but that is in the greenhouse.  I do have more lights, wonder if I can figure a way to set them up indoors.......unless I finally clear out my craft room there is no room for that.....darn.

Ok now I know what I need to do ...  clean!  LOL!!!

Here's hoping the nice weather at the end of this week keeps out the cold for next week......and that the first day of spring comes and stays!  Keep warm my friends!

Deb

So much for spring

We got up to a good 60 degrees again today, but this taste of spring is short lived......a line of thunderstorms coming in another couple of hours followed by the arctic cold again, only 28 tomorrow.  Really?!  Will the real spring please stand up!

What's happening plant wise today?  My genovese basil are sprouting and I think I saw one or two purple basils....will check tomorrow.  Of my flavored basils, only the Siam (Thai) basil has not sprouted.  Has only been 7 days, if they don't come up in another week, will buy new seeds, these were from 2011.

This morning I was looking at the mini bok choi seedlings in the self watering cells (which is not working well because I am using cloth instead of wicking material that I need to find) and they were looking long, so I planted them in the final four cells in the large cell pack the geraniums are in (pictured below).

Hoping they will get alot bigger and stronger, not that we will be planting anything outside anytime soon.  

Speaking of outside, although I covered the freshly turned garden bed with wire yesterday, the damned squirrels found a way in a dug a real big hole............not even gardening yet and already those critters are pissing me off !!!

What seeds did I plant today?  The mini bell peppers that I totally forgot about, these are for pots for my campsite.  I found a very large plastic box with a mesh bottom in my yard (had wood in it), realized I can use that for a garden box at the campground!  Whoohooo!!

Also planted thyme seeds (common, french, lemon & orange), oregano, marjoram, penstemon and the Villa Roma sweet pea seeds I started soaking yesterday.  Also for the hell of it, had saved three raw peanut seeds and today finally planted them.  Not sure if they will even grow, but I had the extra spots so why not.  The wisteria seeds I was not sure about, all four of them have sprouted so there is hope for the peanuts.

There is so much more I will be starting from seed in the next few weeks, but really am out of room!   That is a good thing as it means I am successful this year.......although success will be proven once all these plants grow and mature, provided someday the weather straightens out.......sigh......

So here we sit waiting for thunderstorms and bitter cold temperatures.....wish I was waiting for thunderstorms and WARM temperatures!   

Until next time, keep planting!

deb