First thing Saturday I put the Tomatoes & Peppers in the poly tunnel and notice the first tomato of the season. Mister early tomato might just pan out. I will be putting everything out in the poly tunnel now that is under the grow light. I have been bring them inside at night, hopefully our night time temps warn up soon as it is a pain moving 8 flats of plants.
I then used up the remaining rhubarb in an Upside Down Rhubarb Cake, The recipe can be found here. The only thing I changed was adding strawberries to the mix.
I planted the seeded Yellow Onions & Shallots. I planted them in blocks, Eliot Coleman style, 4 to a hole with each block of 4 being spaced 12" apart. I then direct seeded early wonder beets, chioggia beets & atomic red carrots in between the onions. The end lettuce is Yugoslavian Red lettuce planted out from the cold frame.The last garden task was finishing rough digging all the new raised beds by removing 12" of soil. All that is left to do now is finish any final adjustments on the framing and level off the bottoms to an even 12". I will refill hopefully this week with trucked in triple mix.
After all that the rest of the weekend was spent cleaning out the basement for the arrival of the water meter mover guy on Monday. The basement has been a disaster ever since we renovated the house, there was basically only pathways down there. It was a lot of work but had to be done to be able to move the meter reader out of my veggie patch.
Here it is tucked up against the front porch hand rail. Now there will be no more stepping on my beautiful soil to read it. It will also provides much better access to read it during the winter months.
That cake looks worth a try. I love rhubarb desserts. And I did not know one can buy triple mix ready made. That would save a lot of time, plus probably some money.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog. Truly a garden to aspire to.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't mind me asking, how do you germinate your seeds. I'm a first year gardener and had very poor results from seeds purchased from OSC. I tried various methods but with lacklustre results.
Thanks for your time.
MGR
I removed two rubarb plants to make room for something else. Now I wish I had just one of those roots back.
ReplyDeleteJohn
Sande - The cake was very good but a little time consuming with all its steps. Probably best to try in on the weekend like I did. The place the triple mix comes from literally has a mountain of it. $30 dollars a yard so it is pretty affordable.
ReplyDeleteMGR - The best why to start seed is in one of those trays with a clear dome like they sell at many stores. Plant the seeds in good potting soil, in cell packs and water very well. Then place them in the dome and leave them in until they germinate. This year I added a heat mat and it gets things germinating even sooner. The only other thing to add is to keep your lights as close to the seedlings as possible, within an inch is fine. Hope this helps.
John - They are nice to have around this time of year. Not some much come July when they are taking up a lot of space though.
They look great! That cake looks so good. With some coffee, I bet it was perfect!
ReplyDeleteYour cake does look delicious. Good luck with the onions and shallots. We've grown shallots for years, and they always do very well in the garden!
ReplyDeleteI've really been enjoying your blog! I'm down in Iowa, first time gardening and have no clue. BUT I have been posting videos of what I've been trying to do, if you have any suggestions I could use 'em!
ReplyDeletehttp://forcedsimplicity.com/growingfreedom/
Yeah for moving the meter. Good move Dan. Looking great-especially the cake.
ReplyDeleteYou certainly are busy. Harvest time should be quite the event.
ReplyDeleteLeighAnn - The cake is very good, we still have half of it to eat. I think Cake & Coffee sounds great, that will be the next thing on my list.
ReplyDeleteDP - This will be my first time growing shallots. I hope they do as well as yours.
Ron - I will check out your page tonight.
Tina - I am glade the meter reader is gone. The guy has really freaked me out a few times popping around the corner at me.
Rosemary - I hope to be busy canning & freeze this year.