So, as we approach 2021 and hopefully a better year, there is much to do to prepare for the upcoming growing season. As part of that, I am determined to construct a fence around my beds and put up a fence to deter the ever present squirrels. Even though we have some dogs who occasionally catch one every once in awhile, that does nothing to suppress the populations. And these critters are ravenous. As part of this, I have accumulated a fair number of bamboo poles. I have sorted out the poles by whether or not I could get 1 or 2 six and a half foot sections from them. I will need 44 poles to install as supports for a wire fence. Once I finished sorting, I had 56 possible poles. Additionally, I also have about 10 poles that I'll be able to use as plant supports. Here is picture of the poles laid out in my backyard.
There is a lot of preparation to get to and the time to get them completed is fast approaching. It won't be long before its time to cut down the winter rye and begin working the cuttings into the soil. True, alot will depend on the weather and various other factors but Spring will be here before we know it. And, as we are all aware, time waits for noone.
There are a lot of other projects that I have in the garden but squirrrel deterrence is tops on the list. I will also be upgrading the walkways between the beds this year. I am still researching what may be the best materials to use but I have a little bit of time remaining on that. These, and the many other smaller projects that are waiting, will need to be addressed as time and weather allow.
This is all I have at this time. I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and hope you get the opportunity to enjoy the season. Until next time, Happy Gardening everyone!
A gardener can get too busy to see what's right in front of them. This past weekend was very mild weatherwise. Our high on Sunday was a very balmy 68. Not your usual December weather. I went into my greenhouse Saturday and just stood there. It occurred to me that while I was so busy planting my indoor seedlings, I had not really paid attention to the greenhouse. It was a mess to put it bluntly. A picture is worth a thousand words so I will just save myself a little hand fatigue. Here is what my reality was.
Things can get away from you pretty quickly. So, after assessing the situation, I started a wholesale cleanout of the structure. It took about 2-3 hours to remove the clutter and get things set back in order. It was a beautiful day so at least I got to enjoy the weather while I was at it. The picture below shows the unit after cleaning and organizing.
After finishing the cleanup, I determined that the fencing I put up in case of snow was actually blocking the afternoon sun from reaching some of the plants. You can see the checkerboard lighting on the green floor in the picture above. So, while I was cleaning up the various racks and relocating the plants, I watched as the sun moved across the sky during the afternoon. Once I was finished, I determined that I needed to cut the fence and where i needed to cut it.
So, on Sunday morning, I took my jigsaw and cut where I thought the sun was being blocked. After cutting the fencing, I noticed that the actual panes of the greenhouse were dirty. So, I washed them inside and out thinking this may give my plants a better strength of sunlight - if only until the next storms. Once that was completed, I decided to move some of my indoor plants out to the greenhouse. The weather forecast was showing a period of about 2-3 days of above normal temps. I wanted to take advantage of that to let the plants acclimate slowly. It also would allow me to start more seedlings downstairs. I moved a total of 7 spinach and lettuce plants onto the south facing racks where they should survive. I now have about 15 plants in the greenhouse and another 15 in the basement.
I watered these Sunday evening and then harvested the mature leaves Monday morning. I got about 2-3 salads worth. I hope this is the first of many more salads to come as it was very nice to have a fresh salad for dinner Monday night. As I write this, we're expecting anywhere from 3-12" of snow depending on who you listen to. I tend to believe it will be a wash and we'll perhaps get 3-4". I was in a grocery store this morning and people are panicking and buying accordingly. Just what we need, another run on the grocery stores. It'll be alright and we'll be just fine.
So, this is all I have to write about at this time. I am going to be doing some planting in my basement so I will be writing about that in an upcoming post along with the progress of the greenhouse plants. Until that time, Happy Gardening everyone!
It has been roughly two weeks since I loaded the remaining leaves into my four composters and the garbage can composter. I decided it was time to check progress on them as I want to insure they are decomposing at a steady rate. This is going to be a major additive to my soils this spring.
So, I checked on the garbage cans' current status first. Despite the rains of the past weeks, the top layer looked dried out. This wasn't surprising as we have had many windy days here and it is uncovered. So, I decided to turn the leaves by using my compost turner. When turned, the leaves were putting off steam as it was 37 degrees at the time. They were moderately wet and looked as though the breakdown was in process. Here are pictures of the leaves before and after I turned them.
They will need to be moistened and turned several times before spring in order to speed up the breakdown needed.
I then checked the composter where I alternately layered ground wood chips and leaves. Upon opening, the leaves at the top were dried much like the other unit. So, I began to turn the front half of the pile to see if there was any difference between them and the untouched remainder of this pile. The leaves that I turned were moderately wet in comparison and also seemed to be breaking down. A good sign. Much like the other unt, they too will need more water and turnings to get them into a rapid state of decomposition.Below are before and after glimpses of the unit.
All in all, I am happy with the progress but do need to attend to them more frequently. I have a desired result that is time sensitive. A lot will depend on the weather as colder temps will impact these piles more than anything else. Only time will tell.
Well, that's all I have for now. I will be updating the greenhouse progress in my next post.
I have to keep myself busy these days. I have always had a lot of what I call nervous energy. But when I retired, it seems it was magnified. So, this morning I was tending to my plants and ventured a walk out to my greenhouse to check on the spinach and lettuce seedlings. After lightly watering them, I walked around the structure to inspect it as we had some pretty good wind gusts last night. As I was doing this, I checked on my greenhaus teepee structure I use in the spring to harden off seedlings. It was a little dirty from being outside but none the worse for the wear.
And I suddenly had an idea. So, I took it and opened it up over one of the beds that had rye in it. I had an idea to use it to see if I can plant spinach and lettuce in it and grow them with the rye. The rye should act as a protective crop early on and will hopefully supply nutrients to the seedlings. Or so I am surmising. I don't have anything to lose and it will be interesting to see what unfolds. Here is a picture of the current setup. I'm going to plant the seeds tomorrow afternoon as it is going to rain here on Friday and Saturday. We're supposed to have sun most of this afternoon and most of Thursday. That may allow the soil to warm a bit before I seed it in.
If this works, I will then know that I can use this or a similar piece to stretch the crops well into December or beyond. I am always looking for ways to extend the season or better utilize the space I have. I don't like having a non productive month.
And on a side note, I harvested all the mature leaves from my lettuce plants yesterday and was able to get probably 3 salads worth of lettuce. I naturally made a salad last night and I have to say it was quite tasty. Nothing like a fresh salad in early December. There is much more lettuce and spinach to come but I wanted to be sure that the plants continued to produce and not go to seed early.
Well, that's all I have for now. Until next time, Happy Gardening everyone!
The indoor plants seem to be thriving and the greenhouse seedings also seem to be doing better. I attribute the greenhouse turnaround to the cooler weather that has set in. The highs in there are now reaching into the low 80's. That allows the soil in the containers to stay cooler which is critical for the plants to grow. Time will tell but so far so good.
I seeded in my two big planters in my greenhouse last Friday (27th). The left side has the Giant Nobel variety of spinach and the right side has the Bloomsdale Long Standing variety of spinach. My main goal is to plant the various vegetables so that we have as constant and fresh of a supply as possible. Not easy by any means. One issue is the difference of the growth patterns between my downstairs and the greenhouse. I am taking copious notes and can always reference this blog for additonal detail. Here is the "spinach patch" as it stands now.
I then planted in the second unit with different lettuce varieties. In this one, I planted Iceberg in the front with 2 Bibb lettuce seedings (Limestone) in the middle and finished the far end wth a single planting of Giant Ceasar. Interestingly though, there are two volunteer plants on each side of where I started the new Giant Ceasar. This lettuce appeared after I troweled the dirt to prepare for the next crop. Probably just some seeds that were hibernating at the time. I am going to let them grow as I don't think they'll crowd the ceasar lettuce. Here is a snap of their progress as of Sunday morning.
I have two nice plants of lettuce which I will be cutting and storing for my next salad. These were not doing so well until the weather turned. Then they just took off. I didn't touch them other than an occasional watering. Guess mother nature knows what she's doing. Can't wait to fix a small salad with this.
A lot of growth has been occuring in my basement grow area too. I have 9 spinach plants, 11 lettuce, 1 cucumber plant and 15 carrots plants at this time. Adding the 8 spinach and 6 lettuce plants from the greenhouse, I figure I have a good start for the winter months. I just have to plant the succession crops at the right time. Here are few pics of the basement plants.
Despite the colder temperatures we have been experiencing, the winter rye cover crop contiues to grow - albeit at a slower rate. Today, as I write this, we are getting a very constant rain which started overnight. We're supposed to get thunderstorms this afternoon with strong rains. It is much needed for sure. Here is a photo I took yesterday afternoon as the sun was hitting it.
I wanted to take advantage of a free shipping offer from one of my seed suppliers on Saturday for winter rye. Unfortunately, they were sold out of it. That was the first time I have experienced that. But, I did a pivot and bought crimson clover which acts the same as the rye as far as soil health. And, from what I have learned, it is better to use a different cover crop occasionally. All wins as the freight generally costs as much as the seeds.
We, like everyone else, have been busily prepping and buying for Christmas. I generally go all out to decorate our front porch but have decided to scale that back this year. One tradition we have had since buying it, is that our jolly snowman is put on the porch. He needs a little restoration which probably will happen this summer. I just wanted to share him with you along with a geranium I have kept alive since Mothers' day.
Thanksgiving was nice but certainly different. It is amazing to me that we have been going through all of these quarantine steps for 9 going on 10 months. We can only hope that the vaccines are what they say they are and we can get back to something closer to normal. Still a ways to go but there is light at the end of the tunnel. We just have to have faith in God and believe we're turning the corner.
I have to get on with my day at this point as there is much to do and time is flying by. Until next time, Happy Gardening everyone!
